The gimlet eyes of the old white-haired scientist regarded the newspaperman sharply. "And that is?" he questioned. There was no way out of it, thought Henry. He'd have to humor the old fellow. "The Horror," he replied, "appeared on Earth, so far as the knowledge of man is concerned, about six months ago." Dr. White nodded approvingly. "You state the facts very aptly," he said. "How so?" "When you say 'so far as the knowledge of man is concerned.'" "Why is that?" "You will understand in due time. Please proceed." Vaguely the newspaperman wondered whether he was interviewing the scientist or the scientist interviewing him. * * * * * "They were first reported," Woods said, "early this spring. At that time they wiped out a small village in the province of Quebec. All the inhabitants, except a few fugitives, were found dead, killed mysteriously and half eaten, as if by wild beasts. The fugitives were demented, babbling of black shapes that swept down out of the dark forest upon the little town in the small hours of the morning. "The next that was heard of them was about a week later, when they struck in an isolated rural district in Poland, killing and feeding on the population of several farms. In the next week more villages were wiped out, in practically every country on the face of the Earth. From the hinterlands came tales of murder done at midnight, of men and women horribly mangled, of livestock slaughtered, of buildings crushed as if by some titanic force. "At first they worked only at night and then, seeming to become bolder and more numerous, attacked in broad daylight." The newspaperman paused. "Is that what you want?" he asked. "That's part of it," replied Dr. White, "but that's not all. What do these Horrors look like?" "That's more difficult," said Henry. "They have been reported as every conceivable sort of monstrosity. Some are large and others are small. Some take the form of animals, others of birds and reptiles, and some are cast in appalling shapes such as might be snatched out of the horrid imagery of a thing which resided in a world entirely alien to our own." * * * * * Dr. White rose from his chair and strode across the room to confront the other. "Young man," he asked, "do you think it possible the Horror might have come out of a world entirely alien to our own?" "I don't know," replied Henry. "I know that some of the scientists believe they came from some other planet, perhaps even from some other solar system. I know they are like nothing ever known before on Earth. They are always inky black, something like black tar, you know, sort of sticky-looking, a disgusting sight. The weapons of mankind can't affect them. Explosives are useless and so are projectiles. They wade through poison gas and fiery chemicals and seem to enjoy them. Elaborate electrical barriers have failed. Heat doesn't make them turn a hair."