He stood between them at the round vessel, giving instructions, while they immersed the cloth in the chalky liquid--"Be careful," he warned, "not to let it touch your clothing"--and, with his pointed black beard and in his long white apron, he might have been some high priest standing beside a cauldron, instructing novices in a pagan ceremony. "That will do," he said, and covered the vat. "Now, your gloves." He removed their gauntlets and cast them into a metal container. "And is that all there is to it?" asked Zora. "That is all, my dear--until the three of us meet again. Then we shall commemorate what I am sure you will agree is the most astounding discovery in the history of chemistry." "Meanwhile," she said, "I'll get at my letter-writing." She kissed him fondly, spoke to the young man--in the condescending tone of one addressing a small child--and left the laboratory. * * * * * As the door closed behind her, Anton turned to his nephew. A sudden change had come over him. "My boy," he said gravely, "there is something I must speak to you about." He paused, passing his long fingers across his wide brow, as if uncertain how to continue. "I wish, Robin," he said finally, in a hesitant voice, "you would try to be a little more considerate of Zora. You scarcely speak to her." The young man flushed beneath his tan. "But, Uncle Anton! I _do_ try to be considerate of her. And you see how she treats me. As if I were a school kid!... But she adores _you_, Uncle Anton. She thinks you're the greatest man in the world." "Does she, indeed?" murmured Anton, and a soft light shone in his deep-set eyes. "Well, it's pleasant to hear that." "And now, Uncle Anton--if you don't mind--I think I'll run out to the Broadmoor Club and play a set or two of tennis." "Run right along, my boy--and play a set or two for me." Anton closed the door behind him, and locked and bolted it. Then he walked to the vat and lifted the cover. _The entire contents of the vat had vanished!_ He gazed into the empty vessel, his fingers caressing his pointed beard, his eyes glowing with satisfaction. And now he did a number of strange things. First, he went to an alcove and wheeled out a full-length, triple mirror, which he adjusted in the center of the room. Then he removed all his clothing. And then he walked to the vat and began a weird pantomime. He reached inside as if drawing forth various garments, and, standing before the triple mirror, he went through the motions of putting them on. And as he made these motions he gradually disappeared: first, his legs; then his feet; then the upper part of his body, and finally, as he seemed to pull an elastic cap over his head and ears, only his hands and face were visible; and these had the eery appearance of floating in space. Presently these, too, vanished as he brought forth a bowl of the milky fluid and bathed his face and hands in it, and soaked his eye-glasses and put them on.