Mrs. Baker went to him quickly. "What is it, Allen?" she cried. "Mother," he said hoarsely, "it was the warden of the prison. He told me that Allen Baker had gone temporarily insane, and claimed to be Professor Ramsey Burr in my body." "But--but what is the matter?" she asked. "Cannot you finish the experiment, Allen? Can't you change the two bodies now?" He shook his head. "Mother--they electrocuted Ramsey Burr in my body at twelve forty-five to-night!" She screamed. She was faint, but she controlled herself with a great effort. "But the electrocution was not to be until morning," she said. Allen shook his head. "They are allowed a certain latitude, about twelve hours," he said. "Burr protested up to the last moment, and begged for time." "Then--then they must have come for him and dragged him forth to die in the electric chair while you were attempting the second part of the change," she said. "Yes. That was why it failed. That's why the tubes and wires burned out and why we couldn't exchange bodies. It began to succeed, then I could feel something terrible had happened. It was impossible to complete the Beta circuit, which short-circuited. They took him from the cell, do you see, while I was starting the exchange of the atoms." * * * * * For a time, the mother and her boy sat staring at one another. She saw the tall, eccentric figure of Ramsey Burr before her, yet she saw also the soul of her son within that form. The eyes were Allen's, the voice was soft and loving, and his spirit was with her. "Come, Allen, my son," she said softly. "Burr paid the price," said Allen, shaking his head. "He became a martyr to science." The world has wondered why Professor Ramsey Burr, so much in the headlines as a great scientist, suddenly gave up all his experiments and took up the practice of medicine. Now that the public furor and indignation over the death of the man Smith has died down, sentimentalists believe that Ramsey Burr has reformed and changed his icy nature, for he manifests great affection and care for Mrs. Mary Baker, the mother of the electrocuted man who had been his assistant. +--------------------------------------+ | BY NO MEANS | | _Miss the Opening Installment of | | the Extraordinary Four-Part Novel_ | | MURDER MADNESS | | _By Murray Leinster_ | | | | _Starting In Our Next Issue_ | +--------------------------------------+ The Ray of Madness _By Captain S. P. Meek_ [Illustration: "_That's the one," he exclaimed. "Hold the glass there for a moment._"] Dr. Bird discovers a dastardly plot, amazing in its mechanical ingenuity, behind the apparently trivial eye trouble of the President.