"Rather fusses you a bit, doesn't it, Murray? Well, never mind. I didn't expect to come back here when I left, but needs must, you know, as they say on earth. I don't wonder that it surprises you to find me speaking to you with the lips of this poor hulk of flesh--not very much like the one in which you knew me, is it?--but it will suffice, even if it has a pair of lungs badly engorged because of a very shaky heart. Your laboratory will show the kidneys affected, too. Oh, it's an incipient wreck that I'm holding together simply for my use--because I need it, and because I wanted to get down here with you." "With--me?" I faltered. Almost as surprising as all else was his calm announcement that he was here because he wanted to see me. He smiled slightly. "Yes--you, of course. Murray, come down to facts and quit speculation. There is nothing surprising in that. You were the only man on earth who knew my story--who had the truth--who could understand--and I knew you understood a good bit of the forces involved--the spiritual forces, that is. So, when I needed certain information which I couldn't gain save in the flesh, I knew you were the man to help me gain it--the one man to whom I could appeal with a chance of success. But in order to reach you I had to limit my choice of earthly bodies. That's how I came to choose this thing at which you're looking--" "But--but--" I interrupted. "Good Heavens, Croft! I never dreamed of your reversing the process. I--" He shook his head. "It's a poor rule that won't work both ways, isn't it, Murray?" he said. I nodded. "Yes--of course. And you've really done it--come back--like this?" I asked the question as I would have asked a similar one of Croft, because now I was convinced that I was speaking to the man himself--his intelligence, that is. And he answered me without the least hesitation: "Yes. And it's your job to keep me alive until I can gain what I came for--to help me, if you will. Earth possesses knowledge I need on Palos for my work--you can help me gain it just as well here as anywhere else. 'Stone walls do not a prison make,' Murray or 'iron bars a cage.' Man, it's your cooperation for the advancement of a wonderful people I've come a-seeking. I want you to prescribe a certain course of study as a part of my treatment and discuss the things I'm after with me. Do you catch my plan?" Oh, yes, I caught it. I began to understand. Bizarre, wonderful, beyond anything imaginable as it seemed, I felt that I appreciated the whole concept of his scheme. And I was flattered--I confess that I thrilled at his words--that he should have come to me for such aid as he felt I would give. All at once I had the feeling that a wonderful privilege was placed in my hands---that I was to have a part in this remarkable adventure between two worlds which Croft had made his. I made an effort to rally my staggering senses, and, as one will at such a time, I made a casual rather than a pertinent remark: