?

The questions were annoying because he felt that he knew the answers.
Yet they would not come within reach of his conscious mind.

He had little time to ponder this enigma however because at that
moment he became aware of a second presence in the room. He turned. A
man stood just inside the open door.

The naked one stared at the other with an interest that left no room
for self-consciousness nor shame. "Who are you?" he asked.

"My name is John Pride," the man answered. He was a man of erect
bearing and though there was wonder and surprise in his voice he bore
himself with a quiet dignity. "And now," he added, "may I ask you the
same question?"

* * * * *

The naked man looked down at his own body and for the first time
seemed conscious of its nudity. He glanced around the room and saw a
robe of royal purple lying across a chair by the bed. He stepped over
and lifted the robe and put it on. As he was tying the rich purple
cord around his waist he looked frankly back at John Pride and said,
"I do not know. I honestly do not know."

John Pride said, "I have wondered what I would find in this
cavern--wondered through the years. Only in my wildest fancies did I
tell myself that a fellow human--or even a living creature--awaited me
here. But now I find this is true."

The younger man regarded his visitor with a calmness that belied any
wariness between them. John Pride noted this with admiration and
respect. The young man said, "Won't you be seated?" and when his guest
was comfortable, regarded him with a smile. "Perhaps there are some
things we should talk over."

"Perhaps there are. You say you do not know your own name?"

"That only begins to sum up my ignorance. I am not only unaware of my
identity but I haven't the faintest notion of what this place
is--where it is--or how I came here."

It was John Pride's turn to stare. While doing so, he analyzed the
younger man keenly. He saw honesty and an inner warmth that attracted
him. There was something almost godlike in the clean lines of the body
he had seen and in the face. These things coupled with what he already
knew, intrigued him mightily and he resolved to approach this strange
affair with an open mind and not play the role of the unbelieving
cynic. It was time to go ahead.

* * * * *

John Pride said, "First, are you aware that there is another in this
mansion--or was?"

"I did not e