Elizabeth was kneeling there, and David stood behind her. Next to David stood the little woman who had been our neighbor in the Strangers’ House, and a multitude of men and women, and children, too, watched me through the gloom. “Where am I? Who are all these?” I asked. Then, lighting upon a more momentous question, “How long have I been here?” “Three days, Arnold,” whispered Elizabeth. “Then in two days—two days—” I gasped. “No, Arnold, tomorrow is the day,” interposed David, coming up to me softly. “Sanson has proclaimed a meeting in the Temple at sunrise, and it is now late afternoon. We are all in his trap. He must have found you, taken you unaware, and fired at you, but afterward he changed his mind and brought you here in his dispatchplane, where he found Bishop Alfred awaiting him, and Elizabeth and myself, who had gone back to find him. I bought a few days’ respite by surrender, and there was even pleasure in the thought that my daughter will not meet her fate in Lembken’s palace.” “Where, then?” I asked, struggling painfully up. “In the Vivisection Bureau—with these,” he answered, indicating the assemblage. “Where are we, David?” I cried in anguish. “Beneath it. In the vaults where Sanson keeps his morons, Christians, criminals, and dogs, to await the table.” I was upon my feet raving like a madman, making my way round the vault, striking my fists against the damp stone walls, crazed with the thought of Esther. They followed me, and some laid their hands on me in restraint, but I thrust them away. They thought I could not bear to share their wretched fate. But the nearness of the crisis, the thought of Esther in Sanson’s power deprived me of my senses. The vault was an enormous one, the only access being at the far end, by means of an oak gate, heavily barred. In this further portion were chained, all along the walls, the dogs destined for the experimental work above. As I drew near the gate the howling broke forth afresh. It steadied me; I came back to my senses; somebody was at my side, clasping my arm and speaking a few timid words in my ear. I swung around and caught at the little woman who had been our neighbor. She had her children with her, and the three held each other closely, as if their last hour had begun. “What are you doing here?” I asked. I did not know David was near, but at the words he clasped me in his arms.