tioningly again to Balcom.

"Half of everything that girl possesses rightfully belongs to you," he
whispered.

Zita apparently did not understand. "What shall I do to obtain my
rights?" she asked.

"Do as I say," returned Balcom, as he left quickly.

It was some hours later that in the dark corner of the Graveyard of
Genius the huge rock slowly swung outward. There was a clanging and
clanking of metal. Two fiery eyes gleamed through the aperture and out
stalked the hideous monster, the Automaton. With strange ominousness it
went directly to the two models which Locke had returned, took them,
turned and went back through the great gap in the wall from which it had
come. Again slowly the huge rock swung back into place.

Locke, with some sort of intuition, had deduced that young Paul Balcom
by his very absence might have played a leading part in all the events
in which both Eva and himself had been thwarted and almost killed.
Accordingly he determined to find and trail Paul.

It was some time after the models had been stolen in his absence that,
in a taxicab, Locke, having gone from place to place which he knew Paul
frequented, at last caught sight of him leaving a dance-hall of very ill
repute. Paul was just stepping into a car which whisked him off rapidly
and Locke gave an order to his own driver to follow him.

They wove in and out of various streets and finally turned up the Drive,
where, after a few minutes, Paul's car came to a stop before a palatial
apartment-house and Paul alighted. Looking up and down the Drive and
seeing nothing to cause him suspicion, Paul entered the house.

Locke carefully noted the address, then leaned back in his cab to await
developments.

Paul was taken to the third floor and there was admitted to a gorgeous
apartment.

"I thought you'd never get here," languidly greeted the feline De Luxe
Dora.

She led him to a chaise-longue seductively, taking care, however, that
he should see a pile of unpaid bills that lay upon a table near it.

Paul was not entirely at his ease and wasted no time in coming to the
point.

"Look here, Dora," he began; "I know you can't run this shack on air. I
got your note this morning. I've been busy and I've got an idea. I've
made up my mind to take a couple of those inventions the company owns
and sell them. It means coin."

Dora's eyes gleamed avariciously.

"Be patient," Paul added, "and I'll have you swimming in gold."

At this juncture th