"Why, it said Pax was getting tired of nothing being done and wanted action of some sort. Said that men were dying like flies, and he proposed to put an end to it at any cost. And--and----" "Yes! Yes!" ejaculated Liban breathlessly. "And he would give further evidence of his control over the forces of nature to-night." "Ha! Ha!" Von Koenitz leaned back in amusement. "My friend," he chuckled, "you--are--the 'nut'!" What form Hood's resentment might have taken is problematical; but as the German's words left his mouth the electric lights suddenly went out and the windows rattled ominously. At the same moment each occupant of the room felt himself sway slightly toward the east wall, on which appeared a bright yellow glow. Instinctively they all turned to the window which faced the north. The whole sky was flooded with an orange-yellow aurora that rivalled the sunlight in intensity. "What'd I tell you?" mumbled Hood. The Executive Mansion quivered, and even in that yellow light the faces of the ambassadors seemed pale with fear. And then as the glow slowly faded in the north there floated down across the aperture of the window something soft and fluffy like feathers. Thicker and faster it came until the lawn of the White House was covered with it. The air in the room turned cold. Through the window a large flake circled and lit on the back of Rostoloff's head. "Snow!" he cried. "A snowstorm--in August!" The President arose and closed the window. Almost immediately the electric lights burned up again. "Now are you satisfied?" cried Liban to the German. "Satisfied?" growled Von Koenitz. "I have seen plenty of snowstorms in August. They have them daily in the Alps. You ask me if I am satisfied. Of what? That earthquakes, the aurora borealis, electrical disturbances, snowstorms exist--yes. That a mysterious bugaboo is responsible for these things--no!" "What, then, do you require?" gasped Liban. "More than a snowstorm!" retorted the German. "When I was a boy at the gymnasium we had a thunderstorm with fishes in it. They were everywhere one stepped, all over the ground. But we did not conclude that Jonah was giving us a demonstration of his power over the whale." He faced the others defiantly; in his voice was mockery. "You may retire, Mr. Hood," said the President. "But you will kindly wait outside." "That is an honest man if ever I saw one, Mr. President," announced Sir John, after the operator had gone out. "I am satisfied that we are in communication with a human being of practically supernatural powers." "What, then, shall be done?" inquired Rostoloff anxiously. "The world will be annihilated!"