ced
very grudgingly.

"The time of my departure is at hand. Is there anything else, gentlemen,
before I leave you?" asked the Chemist, beginning to disrobe.

"Please tell Lylda I want very much to meet her," said the Very Young
Man earnestly, and they all laughed.

When the room was cleared, and the handkerchief and ring in place once
more, the Chemist turned to them again. "Good-by, my friends," he said,
holding out his hands. "One week from to-night, at most." Then he took
the pills.

No unusual incident marked his departure. The last they saw of him he
was calmly sitting on the ring near the scratch.

Then passed the slow days of watching, each taking his turn for the
allotted six hours.

By the fifth day, they began to hourly expect the Chemist, but it passed
through its weary length, and he did not come. The sixth day dragged by,
and then came the last--the day he had promised would end their
watching. Still he did not come, and in the evening they gathered, and
all four watched together, each unwilling to miss the return of the
adventurer and his woman from another world.

But the minutes lengthened into hours, and midnight found the
white-faced little group, hopeful yet hopeless, with fear tugging at
their hearts. A second week passed, and still they watched, explaining
with an optimism they could none of them feel, the non-appearance of
their friend. At the end of the second week they met again to talk the
situation over, a dull feeling of fear and horror possessing them. The
Doctor was the first to voice what now each of them was forced to
believe. "I guess it's all useless," he said. "He's not coming back."

"I don't hardly dare give him up," said the Big Business Man.

"Me, too," agreed the Very Young Man sadly.

The Doctor sat for some time in silence, thoughtfully regarding the
ring. "My friends," he began finally, "this is too big a thing to deal
with in any but the most careful way. I can't imagine what is going on
inside that ring, but I do know what is happening in our world, and what
our friend's return means to civilization here. Under the circumstances,
therefore, I cannot, I will not give him up.

"I am going to put that ring in a museum and pay for having it watched
indefinitely. Will you join me?" He turned to the Big Business Man as he
spoke.

"Make it a threesome," said the Banker gruffly. "What do you take me
for?" and the Very Young Man sighed with the tragedy of youth.