Hale observed him thoughtfully. When that great brain weakened, the consequences would be frightful. * * * * * Sir Basil, as though he had made a sudden decision, went over to that part of his machine which he called the molecule-disintegrator. "Oakham!" he called out. "I have taken you partly into my confidence. Now I want to show you something. Come here." Hale obeyed with misgivings. The scientist pointed out the window to a group of Indians, anxious relatives of Unani Assu. "Watch!" he ordered. Turning one of the projectors on the machine toward the window, he sighted carefully and pressed a button. Immediately one of the Indians fell to the ground and struggled. His companions began dancing around him in evident joy. Faintly to the laboratory came a familiar chant, which Hale recognized as Ana's death song. Dust to dust Mind to Mind-- He will shed his body As the green snake sheds his skin. As Hale watched, the struggling Indian's body seemed to shrink, and then, instantly, it disappeared. "Watch them scatter the dust!" said the scientist. One of the Indians stooped and blew upon the grass. "What have you done!" Hale gasped. "You've killed this one. Oh, I see now! These poor devils are totally ignorant that you are killing them for practice. They worship you while you turn them to--silver dust!" He turned angrily on the scientist as though he longed to strike him. "Keep cool, young man!" Sir Basil held up his fleshless hand. "There is no death! Change, yes; but no permanent blotting out of consciousness. Can't you see the horror of it as nature works? When your time for release comes, as it inevitably will, your mind-electron might find new enslavement in a worm!" * * * * * Hale's reply came hotly. "If that is true, why do you murder these poor devils deliberately!" "My dear Oakham, perhaps you are not so brilliant as I had hoped! All that I have done thus far is only child's play, in preparation for my real work. Haven't you guessed by now what I am getting ready to do?" "No; I'm a poor guesser." The scientist made a gesture of mock despair. "Then let me tell you. The molecule-disintegrator is active only on organic structures. When I concentrate it so"--he reached out again, sighted the projector on some point beyond the window and pressed a button--"one single living organism passes out. See that jupati tree by the rock disappear?" Before Hale's eyes, the tall, slender tree melted into air. "But," continued Sir Basil, "if I should _broadcast_ my molecule-disintegrator on electron magnetic waves, destruction would pass out in all directions, following the curve of the earth's surface, penetrating earth, air, water." He wet his lips carefully. "You understand?" Hale stiffened suddenly. "I understand. No life could survive these vibrations of destruction? Through every corner of the earth where life lurks, they would reach?"