and in the open spaces the sun
beat down mercilessly upon the two hapless ones. As they proceeded into
the depths of the forest they were shielded somewhat from the worst of
the heat. Gradually upon their city-bred nostrils there stole the odor
of conifers, accompanied by a myriad of other forest odors. Both sniffed
the air appreciatively.

"This is sure the life," remarked Perry. "If I weren't so darn thirsty
now...." He became lost in mournful thought.

* * * * *

A considerable time passed. The newspaper men trudged wearily along
until finally another bend brought them to the beginning of a steep
descent. The forest had thinned out to nothing.

"Seems to me I smell smoke," blurted out Handlon suddenly. "Must be that
we are approaching the old party's lair. Remember? Bland said that
he--"

"Uh huh!" the other grunted, almost inaudibly. Now that they seemed to
be arriving at their destination something had occurred to him. He had
fished from his pocket a sheaf of clippings and was perusing them
intently. "Bland said, 'Get the copy'," he muttered irrelevantly and
half to himself.

The clippings all related directly to Professor Kell or to happenings
local to Keegan. Some were of peculiar interest. The first one was
headlined thus:

MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE OF ROBERT MANION AND DAUGHTER STILL
UNSOLVED

The piece contained a description of the missing man, a fairly
prosperous banker who had been seen four days previously driving through
Keegan in a small roadster, and one of the girl, who was in the car with
him. It told that the banker and his daughter were last seen by a farmer
named Willetts who lived in a shack on the East Keegan road, fleeing
before a bad thunder storm. He believed the pair were trying to make the
Kell mansion ahead of the rain. Nothing more of the Manions or their car
had been seen, and their personal effects remained at their hotel in a
nearby village unclaimed. The heavy rain had of course effectually
obliterated all wheel tracks.

Another clipping was fairly lengthy, but Perry glanced only at the
headlines:

KELL STILL CARRYING ON HIS STRANGE EXPERIMENTS

Has Long Been Known to Have Fantastic Theories. Refuses to
Divulge Exact Methods Employed, or Nature of Results

Still another appeared to be an excerpt from an article in an
agricultural paper. It read:

A prize bull belonging to Alton Shepard, a Keegan cattle
breede