e to describe it if asked,
but it was there. It filled the atmosphere of the room. It seemed to
emanate from--

Fenwick turned his head about. It was almost as if there was some
definite source from which the ghastly sensation was pouring over him.
The walls--the air of the room--

His eyes caught the crystal on the table by the bed.

He could feel the force of death pouring from it.

His first impulse was to pick up the thing and hurl it as far as he
could. Then in saner desperation he leaped from the bed and threw on his
clothes. He grabbed the crystal in his hand and ran out through the door
and down the stairs.

Jim Ellerbee was already there in the living room. He was seated by the
old-fashioned library table, his hand outstretched upon it. In his hand
lay the counterpart of the crystal Fenwick carried.

"Ellerbee!" Fenwick cried. "What's going on? What in Heaven's name is
coming out of these things?"

"Baker," said Ellerbee. "He smashed up on the road somewhere. He's out
there dying."

"Can you be sure? Then don't sit there, man! Let's get on our way!"

Ellerbee shook his head. "He'll be dead before we can get there."

"How do you know he cracked up, anyway? Can you read that out of the
crystal?"

Ellerbee nodded. "He kept it in his pocket. It's close enough to him to
transmit the frantic messages of his dying mind."

"Then we've got to go! No matter if we get there in time or not."

Ellerbee shook his head again. "Sam is on his way over here. He's in
touch with Baker. He says he thinks he can talk Baker back."

"_Talk_ him back? What do you mean by that?"

Ellerbee hesitated. "I'm not sure. In some ways Sam understands a lot
more about these things than I do. He can do things with the crystals
that I don't understand. If he says he can talk Dr. Baker back, I think
maybe he can."

"But we can't depend on that!" Fenwick said frantically. "Can't we get
on our way in the car and let Sam do what he thinks he can while we
drive? Maybe he can get Baker to hold on until we get him to a doctor."

"You don't understand," said Ellerbee. "Dr. Baker has gone over the
edge. He's _dying_. I know what it's like. I looked into a dying mind
once before. There is nothing whatever that a doctor can do after an
organism starts dying. It's a definite process. Once started, it's
irreversible."

"Then what does Sam--?"

"Sam thinks he knows how to reverse it."

* * * * *

There