laboratory I wish to bring to the house,"
he announced. "If you will come this way--" He opened the back door. Led
the antique dealer down the brick walk to the laboratory.

Together, they stepped inside.

The door swung shut. In the silence its jarring slam echoed like a shot
fired in a tomb.

Vance cleared his throat.

"So this is your laboratory, professor--"

* * * * *

Mark Carter stepped out of the shadows. His tanned face looked as if it
had been carved from the rock of ages. His eyes were pools of sudden
death.

He spoke:

"Elaine's gone, Vance. Through the mirror. We want her back."

Just that. Nothing more. But suddenly Vance was shaking.

"What are you talking about? I don't know what you mean."

Professor Duchard said:

"You are lying. I have examined the mirror. I tested with black light.
It showed the picture of the first Elaine Duchard."

"You're mad," said Vance. "You don't make sense."

"I fear I make too much sense, Adrian Vance. I wish I could disbelieve
my own mind. But I cannot. I know that you have found a way to pass the
barrier between space and time. I know that you have projected Elaine's
mind into the past, leaving her body behind in a state of suspended
animation."

"And we want her back, Vance," Mark broke in. "We want her back right
now!"

He was moving forward, a juggernaut of menace, clenched fists
half-raised.

"Keep away from me!" the antiquarian shrilled. His greasy face was
paste-colored with terror. "Keep away! Don't touch me!"

The other caught his shoulders. Shook him as a terrier shakes a rat.

"Tell us!" he thundered. "Tell us how to bring her back!"

"I don't know what you're talking about! There wasn't anything wrong
with the mirror I sent Elaine!"

"Tell us--"

The professor caught Mark's arm.

"Stop!" he begged. "Do not hurt him. There is a better way."

"A better way? What do you mean?"

The scientist turned to Vance.

"I am sure you are telling the truth," he said. "I feel certain the
mirror is harmless." His tone was silky. A thin smile rippled across his
aged face.

He was like a cat playing with a mouse.

"Only our friend, young Mr. Carter, remains to be convinced," he went
on. "However, we shall have no difficulty in proving him wrong."

Adrian Vance stared at the professor in terrified fascination. His lips
moved, but no words came.

The savant hurried across to an ancient desk which stood in one co