in which he was working upon some mysterious problem. His children did
not know what it was, nor, of course, did I. And none of us had ever
been in the laboratory, except that when occasion offered we stole
surreptitious peeps.

I recall Dr. Kent as a kindly, iron-gray haired gentleman. He was
stern with the discipline of his children; but he loved them, and was
indulgent in a thousand ways. They loved him; and I, an orphan, began
looking upon him almost as a father. I was interested in chemistry. He
knew it, and did his best to help and encourage me in my studies.

* * * * *

There came an afternoon in the summer of 1956, when arriving at the
Kent house, I ran upon a startling scene. The only other member of the
household was a young fellow of twenty-five, named Franz Polter. He
was a foreigner, born, I understood, in one of the Balkan
Protectorates; and he was here, employed by Dr. Kent as laboratory
assistant. He had been with the Kents, at this time, two years. Alan
and Babs did not like him, nor did I. He must have been a clever,
skilful chemist. No doubt he was. But in aspect he was, to us,
repulsive. A hunchback, with a short thick body; dangling arms that
suggested a gorilla; barrel chest; a lump set askew on his left
shoulder, and his massive head planted down with almost no neck. His
face was rugged in feature; a wide mouth, a high-bridged heavy nose;
and above the face a great shock of wavy black hair. It was an
intelligent face; in itself, not repulsive.

But I think we all three feared Franz Polter. There was always
something sinister about him, quite apart from his deformity.

I came, that afternoon, upon Babs and Polter under a tree on the Kent
lawn. Babs, at fourteen with her long black braids down her back,
bare-legged and short-skirted in a summer sport costume, was standing
against the tree with Polter facing her. They were about of a height.
To my youthful imaginative mind rose the fleeting picture of a young
girl in a forest menaced by a gorilla.

I came upon them suddenly. I heard Polter say:

"But I lof you, And you are almos' a woman. Some day you lof me."

He put out his thick hand and gripped her shoulder. She tried to twist
away. She was frightened, but she laughed.

"You--you're crazy!"

He was suddenly holding her in his arms, and she was fighting him. I
dashed forward. Babs was always a spunky sort of girl. In spite of her
fear now, she kept on l