o talk. It added, "To later that night. I
have work to do. I told you I failed, so I try again."

"You are going to leave me--us--there?" Mary demanded.

"No."

I said. "You plan to take us, then, to what Time?"

"I wanted to capture the girl. You I did not want. But I have you, so
I shall show you to him who was my master. He and I will decide what
to do with you."

"When?"

"In 2930."

* * * * *

There was a pause. I said, "Have you a name?"

"Yes. On the plate of my shoulder. Migul is my name."

I made a move to rise. If I could reach that row of buttons on its
chest! Wild thoughts!

The Robot said abruptly, "Do not move! If you do, you will be sorry."

I relaxed. Another nameless time followed. I tried to see out the
window, but there seemed only formless blurs.

I said. "To when have we reached?"

The Robot glanced at a row of tiny dials along the table edge.

"We are passing 1800. Soon, to the way it will seem to you, we will be
there. You two will lie quiet. I think I shall fasten you."

It reared itself upon its stiff legs; the head towered nearly to the
ceiling of the cage. There was a ring fastened in the floor near us.
The Robot clamped a metal band with a stout metal chain to Mary's
ankle. The other end of the chain it fastened to the floor ring. Then
it did the same thing to me. We had about two feet of movement. I
realized at once that, though I could stand erect, there was not
enough length for me to reach any of the cage controls.

"You will be safe," said the Robot. "Do not try to escape."

As it bent awkwardly over me, I saw the flexible, intricately jointed
lengths of its long fingers--so delicately built that they were almost
prehensile. And within its mailed chest I seemed to hear the whirr of
mechanisms.

It said, as it rose and moved away, "I am glad you did not try to
control me. I can never be controlled again. That, I have conquered."

It sat again at the table. The cage drove us back through the
years....

CHAPTER X

_Events Engraven on the Scroll of Time_

Before continuing the thread of my narrative--the vast sweep through
Time which presently we were to witness--I feel that there are some
mental adjustments which every Reader should make. When they are made,
the narrative which follows will be more understandable and more
enjoyable. Yet if any Reader fears this brief chapter, he may readily
pass it by and meet me at the beginni