"It is a possibility," Reader Rawson admitted. "One which we can neither accept nor reject safely. And we must learn the truth as soon as possible. If this man is really He, we must not spurn Him on mere suspicion. If he is a man, come to help us, we must accept his help; if he is speaking the truth, the people who sent him could do wonders for us, and the greatest wonder would be to make us, again, a part of a civilized community. And if he is the Enemy--" "If it is really He," Murray said, "I think we are on trial." "What do you mean, son? Oh, I see. Of course, I don't believe he is, but that's mere doubt, not negative certainty. But if I'm wrong, if this man is truly He, we are being tested. He has come among us incognito; if we are worthy of Him, we will penetrate His disguise." "A very pretty problem, gentlemen," the Tenant said, smacking his lips over his brandy. "For all that it may be a deadly serious one for us. There is, of course, nothing that we can do tonight. But tomorrow, we have promised to help our visitors, whoever they may be, in searching for this crypt in the city. Murray, you were to be in charge of the detail that was to accompany them. Carry on as arranged, and say nothing of our suspicions, but advise your men to keep a sharp watch on the strangers, that they may learn all they can from them. Stamford, you and Verner and I will go along. We should, if we have any wits at all, observe something." * * * * * "Listen to this infernal thing!" Altamont raged. "'_Wielding a gold-plated spade handled with oak from an original rafter of the Congressional Library, at three-fifteen one afternoon last week--_' One afternoon last week!" He cursed luridly. "Why couldn't that blasted magazine say _what_ afternoon? I've gone over a lot of twentieth century copies of that magazine; that expression was a regular cliche with them." Loudons looked over his shoulder at the photostated magazine page. "Well, we know it was between June thirteen and nineteen, inclusive," he said. "And there's a picture of the university president, complete with gold-plated spade, breaking ground. Call it Wednesday, the sixteenth. Over there's the tip of the shadow of the old Cathedral of Learning, about a hundred yards away. There are so many inexactitudes that one'll probably cancel out another."