her. Will you please leave me alone, now,
so that I can continue?"

Doherty laughed derisively. "What a story," he jeered.

"Keep quiet, Doherty," ordered Phillips. "Now, Professor Lambert, your
explanation of Miss Crawford's disappearance does not sound logical to
us, but still we are willing to give you every chance to bring her
back, if what you say is true. We cannot leave you entirely alone,
because you might try to escape or you might carry out your threat of
suicide. Therefore, I am going to sit over there in the corner,
quietly, where I can watch you but will not interfere with your work.
We will give you until midnight to prove your story. Then you must go
with us to the district attorney. Do you agree to that?"

* * * * *

Lambert nodded, eagerly. "I agree. Let me work in peace, and if I do
not succeed then you may take me anywhere you wish. If you can," he
added, in an undertone.

Doherty and the others, at Phillips' orders, filed from the
laboratory. "One thing more, professor," said Phillips, when they were
alone and the professor was preparing to work. "How do you explain the
fact, if your story is true, that Miss Crawford was killed and made to
disappear, while you yourself, close by, were uninjured?"

"Do you see these garments?" asked Lambert, indicating some black
clothes which lay on a bench nearby. "They insulated me from the
current and partially protected me from the sound. Though the force
was very great, great enough to penetrate my insulation, it was
handicapped in my case because of the garments."

"I see. Well, you may go on."

Phillips moved in the chair he had taken, from time to time. He could
hear the noises of his men, still searching the premises for Madge
Crawford, and Professor Lambert heard them, too.

"Will you tell your men to be quiet?" he cried at last.

There were dark circles under Lambert's eyes. He was working in a
state of feverish anxiety. When the girl he loved had dematerialized
from under his very eyes, panic had seized him; he had ripped away
wires to break the current and lost the thread of his experiment, so
that he could not reproduce it exactly without much labor.

The scientist put on the black robes, and Phillips wished he too had
some protective armor, even though he did believe that Lambert had
told them a parcel of lies. The deaf mute's story was not too
reassuring. Phillips warned his companions to be more quiet, and