"Of course! I told you I should forever cure him of his mad infatuation." "But why didn't you kill him, as you killed the others? It would have been the most merciful way." Sir Basil showed his teeth in his ugly smile. "A creator is never merciful." A quiver passed through the Indian's body and presently, he sighed deeply and opened his eyes. He seemed dazed, puzzled. He looked from Hale to the scientist, and turned seeking eyes to other parts of the laboratory. "Ana!" he called weakly. "Where is Ana?" He pulled himself a little unsteadily to his feet--to the spatulated, hairy _rodent_ feet that had come out of the life-machine. Staggering, he would have fallen, had he not thrown out his arm to steady himself. Instinctively he tried to grasp something for support, and then, for the first time, he discovered his deformity. * * * * * Hale was never to forget that expression of horror and disgust that swept over the Indian's face as he spread open his revolting extremities and stared at them. A sudden, wild roar of despair rang through the room. "Aimu! My hands!" The scientist smiled with evident amusement. "You are a grotesque sight, Unani Assu. Do you want to see Ana now?" The fright and horror faded from the Indian's face, for now he glared with hate into the mad, mocking eyes. "You did it!" the Indian ground out. "You've made me into a thing from which Ana will run screaming." Through the quiet rage of the perfectly spoken English ran a thread of sorrow. "Aimu, whom we considered too holy to name!" Choking, he hobbled away to the door, which he unbolted. As he passed out into the open, Sir Basil went over to the machine and began sighting the projector which cast forth the ray of destruction. "No!" cried Hale. "You've done enough murder for to-day." The scientist paused. "I was trying to be merciful. And then, I wonder if it is safe to let him go, hating me? Oh, well!" He shrugged his narrow shoulders. "I seldom leave the laboratory, and certainly nothing can harm me here." He touched the death-projector significantly. Hale made a mental decision. "I must find out how the damned thing works and put it out of commission." * * * * * With this determination uppermost in his mind, he assumed a more intense interest in the strange laboratory. For the next two days, he assisted Sir Basil so assiduously that he learned much about the operation of the life-machine. And gradually he stopped being horrified as the fascination of producing life in the laboratory grew upon him. After he had assisted the scientist in building living organisms from basic elements, he ceased to cringe when he remembered that perhaps it was true that Ana was created in the mysterious life-machine.