azement. His body was like the moving machine
which stood before him! Where was he? What ever had happened to him so
suddenly? Only a few moments ago he had been in his bed, with the
doctors and his nephew bending over him, expecting him to die. The last
words he had remembered hearing was the cryptic announcement of one of
the doctors.

"He is going now."

But he hadn't died after all, apparently. A horrible thought struck him!
Was this the life after death? Or was it an illusion of the mind? He
became aware that the machine in front of him was attempting to
communicate something to him. How could it, thought the professor, when
he had no mouth. The desire to communicate an idea to him became more
insistent. The suggestion of the machine man's question was in his mind.
Telepathy, thought he.

The creature was asking about the place whence he had come. He didn't
know; his mind was in such a turmoil of thoughts and conflicting ideas.
He allowed himself to be led to a window where the machine with waving
tentacle pointed towards an object outside. It was a queer sensation to
be walking on the four metal legs. He looked from the window and he saw
that which caused him to nearly drop over, so astounded was he.

The professor found himself gazing out from the boundless depths of
space across the cosmic void to where a huge planet lay quiet. Now he
was sure it was an illusion which made his mind and sight behave so
queerly. He was troubled by a very strange dream. Carefully he examined
the topography of the gigantic globe which rested off in the distance.
At the same time he could see back of him the concourse of mechanical
creatures crowding up behind him, and he was aware of a telepathic
conversation which was being carried on behind him--or just before him.
Which was it now? Eyes extended all the way around his head, while there
existed no difference on any of the four sides of his cubed body. His
mechanical legs were capable of moving in any of four given directions
with perfect ease, he discovered.

The planet was not the earth--of that he was sure. None of the familiar
continents lay before his eyes. And then he saw the great dull red ball
of the dying sun. That was not the sun of his earth. It had been a great
deal more brilliant.

"Did you come from that planet?" came the thought impulse from the
mechanism by his side.

"No," he returned.

He then allowed the machine men--for he assumed that they were machin