"Don't you remember the manna in the wilderness, the children of Israel, and the forty years they fed upon it. Dr. Gonzales, who was really a fine chemist before he went dotty, got the idee fixe that all human ills were due to improper food. He tackled the problem, at first scientifically, but later on he had a vision that he was really the reincarnation of the Prophet Moses. Moses and manna--the connection is obvious and the secret was soon in his possession. He manufactured the stuff in his own laboratory and lived on it himself--at least to the verge of physical extinction. Then he went gunning for subjects, and you know the rest. The rubbish fills you up without nourishing you, and what you lived on was really stimulants alone--the wine and coffee." "But will you tell me--how did you chance to find--" "For the first few days I didn't dream of interfering--it was your own adventure. But on Monday--that's yesterday, you know--I determined to look things up a bit. So I walked into No. 231 and scared Mr. Red-Fez into a few plain truths. His real name is Dawson, you know." "Yes." "It was simply an immensely improved sort of phonograph that Gonzales had invented. None of the harshness and squeakiness of tone that you associate with the ordinary instrument. Partly a new method of making the records and partly a system of qualifying chambers that refine and purify the tones. It is wonderful enough to deceive anybody, and, of course, he had all his records ready to hand." "Then the Lady Allegra, the Lady Allegra--" "'Vox et preterea nihil,'" quoted Indiman. He left the room quietly, and I lay there on the lounge staring up at the ceiling. "'Vox et preterea nihil.'" Two months have passed and I am slowly recuperating in body and mind. But there are some things not to be forgotten--for instance, "Ah, fors e lui," when sung by the most beautiful voice in all the world. Indiman proposes that we shall go to the Utinam Club, dine, and spend the night. Well, we don't often indulge in that rather questionable amusement, although we are accustomed to use the club freely throughout the daytime. All the more reason, then, that once in a while--I need a distraction and there are some interesting psychological deductions--But hang casuistry; it is enough to say that we did go.