"Dangerous for you, you mean," I rejoined. "Do you know you have lain cataleptic for something like a week?" "Yes." He nodded again. "But I was occupied on a most important mission." "Occupied!" I exclaimed. "You mean you were engaged in some undertaking while you lay there?" I pointed to the couch where he sat. "Yes." Once more he smiled. Well, the man was sane. In fact, it seemed to me in those first few moments that he was far saner than I, far less excited, far less affected by the whole business from the first to last. In fact, he seemed quite calm and a trifle amused, while I was admittedly upset. And my very knowledge gained by years of study told me he was sane, that his was a perfectly balanced brain. There was nothing about him to even hint at anything else, save his extraordinary words. In the end I continued with a question: "Where?" "On the planet Palos, one of the Dog Star pack--a star in the system of the sun Sirius," he replied. "And you mean you have just returned from--there?" I faltered over the last word badly. My brain seemed slightly dazed at the astounding statement he had made--that I--I had called him from a planet beyond the ken of the naked eye, known only to those who studied the heavens with powerful glasses--farther away than any star of our own earthly system of planets. The thing made my senses reel. And he seemed to sense my emotions, because he went on in a softly modulated tone: "Do not think me in any way similar to those unfortunates under your charge. As an alienist you must know the truth of that, just as you knew that my trancelike sleep was wholly self-induced." "I gathered that from the volume on your desk," I explained. He glanced toward Ahmid's work. "You read the Sanskrit?" he inquired. I shook my head. "No, I read the marginal notes." "I see. Who called you here?" I explained. Croft frowned. "I cannot blame her; she is a faithful soul," he remarked. "I can comprehend her worry. I have explained to her as fully as I dared, but--she does not understand, and I remained away longer than I really intended, to tell the truth. However, now that you can reassure her, I must ask you to excuse me, doctor, for a while. Come to me in about twelve hours and I will be here to meet you and explain in part at least." He stretched himself out once more on the couch. "Wait!" I cried. "What are you going to do?" "I am going back to Palos," he told me with a smile. "But--will your body stand the strain?" I questioned, beginning to doubt his sanity after all. He met my objection with another smile. "I have studied that well before I began these little excursions of mine. Meet me at, say, four o'clock this afternoon." He appeared to relax, sighed softly, and sank again into his trance.