the old fellow the village. A
surge of the old tenderness welled up in him and he wanted to take her
in his arms.

"Wait," she said, swiftly rising. "I'll let you judge for yourself.
Here--go into the laboratory and talk with Tom."

She pushed him forward and through a door that closed softly behind
him. He was in a large room that was cluttered with the most
bewildering array of electrical mechanisms he had ever seen. Joan had
remained outside.

* * * * *

Tom Parker, his hair grayer and forehead higher than when Bert had
seen him last, rose from where he was stooping over a work bench. He
advanced, smiling, and his black eyes were alight with genuine
pleasure. Bert had anticipated a less cordial welcome.

"Albert Redmond!" exclaimed the older man. "This is a surprise. Glad
to see you, boy, glad to see you."

He meant it, Tom did, and Bert wrung the extended hand heartily. Yet
he dared not tell of Joan's note. The two men had always been the very
best of friends--except in the matter of Joan's future.

"You haven't changed much," Bert ventured.

Tom Parker laughed. "Not about Joan, if that is what you mean. She
likes the work and will go far in it. Why, Bert--"

"Sa-ay, wait a minute." Bert Redmond's mien was solemn. "I saw her
outside, Tom, and was shocked. She isn't herself--doesn't look at all
well. Haven't you noticed, man?"

The older man sobered and a puzzled frown crossed his brow. "I have
noticed, yes. But it's nonsense, Bert, I swear it is. She has been
having dreams--worrying a lot, it seems. Guess I'll have to send her
to the doctor?"

"Dreams? Worry?" Bert thought of the old man called Gramp.

"Yes. I'll tell you all about it--what we're working on here--and show
you. It's no wonder she gets that way, I guess. I've been a bit loony
with the marvel of it myself at times. Come here."

Tom led him to an intricate apparatus which bore some resemblance to a
television radio. There were countless vacuum tubes and their
controls, tiny motors belted to slotted disks that would spin when
power was applied, and a double eyepiece.

"Before I let you look," Tom was saying, "I'll give you an idea of it,
to prepare you. This is a mechanism I've developed for a study of the
less-understood dimensions. The results have more than justified my
expectations--they're astounding. Bert, we can actually see into these
realms that were hitherto unexplored. We can examine at close r