ave only her interest at heart."

"It would be better for Mr. Brent to stay here," said Locke. "The
treatment his daughter can give will be better than that of an
outsider."

As he spoke he sauntered away with an air of finality, while Balcom
shrugged his shoulders and gave orders to the ambulance men to go.

Locke walked toward the dining-room, and there amid the candle drippings
and the wreckage of the night before espied the miniature automaton. He
picked it up and examined it minutely as Balcom strolled in.

Balcom's quick gaze caught what Locke was looking at, and he approached
the young chemist and sauvely said:

"It seems almost unbelievable, Mr. Locke, that a giant form like that
could be endowed with a human brain."

As he spoke he pointed toward the miniature automaton in Locke's hands.
Locke turned and faced him, his jaw tightening with a snap.

"Not unbelievable, but impossible, Mr. Balcom," he said. "I believe that
there is some one in this thing that attacks us and calls himself Q."

He eyed Balcom as he spoke, to see the effects of his words. But if
Balcom knew anything, he cunningly concealed it. Locke walked to the
table and closely examined the candles and other stuff strewn about. He
was looking for some clue to what had caused the madness of Brent and
Flint. The crumpled anatomy chart lay on the floor, and as Locke stooped
to pick it up Eva entered and came toward him. She shuddered slightly as
she passed the miniature of the monster, and Balcom, with an air of
satisfaction, noticed her fear. He turned and was about to go out, when
the butler entered with the duplicate candlestick in his hands.

"Mr. Locke, in cleaning the hall I found this behind the portieres at
the entrance to below-stairs," he announced. "I was quite puzzled for a
moment, for I knew the master had taken it into the dining-room with him
last evening."

As he spoke he handed the candlestick to Locke, who quickly compared it
with the one on the dining-room table which contained the burnt candles.

In appearance the candelabra were identical. Locke with great care
examined every feature of them, looking for a clue. He took one of the
whole candles from the candlestick which the butler had brought in and
scraped the wax from in with his penknife. He examined the particles
carefully, then approached the candlestick which stood on the table the
fatal night, and very carefully removed the wax from the stumps of
candles which