more than fifteen or
twenty feet above its bottom. And I was still almost that far from the
top. With the stature I had then attained, I could have climbed the
remaining distance easily, but for the fact that the wall above had
grown too smooth to afford a foothold. The effects of the drug had again
worn off, and I sat down and prepared to take another dose. I did
so--the smallest amount I could--and held ready in my hand a pill of the
other kind in case of emergency. Steadily the walls closed in.

"A terrible feeling of dizziness now came over me. I clutched the rock
beside which I was sitting, and it seemed to melt like ice beneath my
grasp. Then I remembered seeing the edge of the canon within reach above
my head, and with my last remaining strength, I pulled myself up, and
fell upon the surface of the ring. You know the rest. I took another
dose of the powder, and in a few minutes was back among you."

The Chemist stopped speaking, and looked at his friends. "Well," he
said, "you've heard it all. What do you think of it?"

"It is a terrible thing to me," sighed the Very Young Man, "that you did
not bring Llyda with you."

"It would have been a terrible thing if I had brought her. But I am
going back for her."

"When do you plan to go back?" asked the Doctor after a moment.

"As soon as I can--in a day or two," answered the Chemist.

"Before you do your work here? You must not," remonstrated the Big
Business Man. "Our war here needs you, our nation, the whole cause of
liberty and freedom needs you. You cannot go."

"Lylda needs me, too," returned the Chemist. "I have an obligation
towards her now, you know, quite apart from my own feelings. Understand
me, gentlemen," he continued earnestly, "I do not place myself and mine
before the great fight for democracy and justice being waged in this
world. That would be absurd. But it is not quite that way, actually; I
can go back for Lylda and return here in a week. That week will make
little difference to the war. On the other hand, if I go to France
first, it may take me a good many months to complete my task, and during
that time Lylda will be using up her life several times faster than I.
No, gentlemen, I am going to her first."

"That week you propose to take," said the Banker slowly, "will cost this
world thousands of lives that you could save. Have you thought of that?"

The Chemist flushed. "I can recognize the salvation of a nation or a
cause," he returned