"How do you keep them? Surely they don't approve of what you're doing?" "They were brought here just as you were. They think they're on a very secret mission for the government, and remain as voluntary prisoners." There was a soft, whirring sound and they both turned toward the slit-like door opposite the one through which they had come earlier. Swiftly, the metal panel shot upward to reveal a disheveled Toffee, squirming in the tremendous clutches of a large, muscular young man, whose face bore the bloody handiwork of her long, sharp fingernails. Toffee's face bore only the marks of outrage. "Get those clammy hands off me!" she shrieked, "or I'll scratch that nasty face of yours right out of existence!" "You already have, lady," the young man returned peevishly. "You've probably ruined it forever." "I've done you a service then!" Toffee barked. "You should be glad to be rid of the ugly thing." "Aw, lady," the fellow protested. "Is that any way to talk?" "It's one way," Toffee retorted, and apparently anxious to have an end to the matter, she silently delivered a jabbing blow to the young man's stomach. "Oof!" was her victim's singular comment, and he immediately released her to clutch at the damaged section. Toffee pivoted and strode into the room with queenly elegance. "That," she announced with emphasis, "is no gentleman." The doctor looked at her and smiled. "Apparently you got the wrong door," he said. "Do you like my laboratory?" "It looked like a bathroom to me," Toffee snapped. "And don't rub it in, atom brain. If I'd got out the other way, you'd be plenty washed up by the time I got through with you. Make no mistake about that!" "But you didn't," the doctor grinned, then turned to Marc. "Now that the young lady has been recovered, and no harm done, I imagine you're anxious to get to your work? We've already wasted nearly an hour." Marc nodded, anxious to be away from the place at any cost. "I'll have to ask you to replace your blindfolds," the doctor said smoothly. "It's of prime importance that you do not know where this place is located. I wouldn't like to see you leading the police back here." While the business with the blindfolds was being transacted, the forgotten young man at the door seemed to recover his vagrant breath. He straightened up and glared at Toffee. "And you ain't no lady, either!" he proclaimed spitefully. Toffee clawed the air blindly. "Lead me to him!" she wailed. "Just lead me to him!" * * * * *