Half an hour later, she had led them into the University laboratory, a corner of which had been partitioned off. There a twenty-four-inch telescope-like tube shot up through the ceiling; while nearer at hand was a table covered with complicated electrical devices. "Well, trot out your discoveries!" barked Wiley. From a compartment Miss Landers drew three pairs of binoculars, with wires attached. "Adjust these, gentlemen," she instructed. Automatically each man reached for a pair. And as they took them, a look of triumph crossed the woman's averted face. She pressed a button--and with what astonishing results! [Illustration: Her finger sought the button behind her; found it...] All three men gasped, and began to writhe. A convulsive shudder shot through each; they sagged, and fell to the floor; then gradually all three stiffened, except for their necks and faces, which still twitched spasmodically. At the same time, the young woman pressed a buzzer; and three men, in the uniforms of university guards, hastened in with ropes, which they wound around the helpless trio. "What--what in hell's name is this?" sputtered Wiley, as he began to recover from the first shock. "We--we're paralyzed!" "That's just it," stated the lady, calmly. "You're paralyzed, from the necks down. I merely wanted to introduce you to another little invention of your friend Dan Holcomb. He asked me to show it to you, with his compliments. You see, the rays of telurox, much diluted and carried over a wire, will temporarily paralyze the human nerve centers. But have no fear. The spell will wear off in half an hour." "This--this is an outrage!" groaned Hogarth, as he lay amid his ropes. "Not at all. I'm sure, when you're no longer paralyzed, you won't mind signing a little paper, containing an order for the release of Mr. Holcomb--" "What the devil makes you so interested in Holcomb?" flared back Wiley. "Well, it's only that I happen to be his wife. Mary Landers is the name of a cousin of mine. Dan and I have been planning to get him out of your dungeon when you locked him up there again, as we expected you would. I'm simply carrying out his ideas." Angry sounds, like the growls of enraged bears, came from the throats of all three prisoners. "If we sign," demanded Malvine, "will you let us go?" "There's only one promise I can make. If you don't sign, my friends here"--she designated the three guards--"will see that you remain paralyzed." The conspirators were trapped, and they knew it; were caught like rats in a corner, beyond rescue by the corrupt system they had built up. And so, after their paralysis had begun to wear off and they had been re-paralyzed several times in succession, they bowed their heads in capitulation. "Come on," snarled Hogarth, "give us that damned paper!" He glanced over the sheet, and an even angrier snarl came from his throat. "You must think we're crazy, young lady!" he roared. "You can go to hell before we'll sign!"