locked, seemed to give a little under the preesure of my knee. Setting my lamp upon the floor, I put my shoulder against it and gave a long, steady shove. Under this force it opened quite readily.
"My stockinged feet made no noise, while the ease with which I was able to force the door showed that the hinges had been recently oiled. Inside, a lamp was burning.
"I hesitated in the doorway. Then my startled gaze made out a second room, partitioned from the first by curtains, pushed partly back.
"Across my field of vision moved the gaunt figure of The Bodymaster. He was clad in the faded bathrobe in which I had first seen him, and he held a lamp in his hand. The light shone upon his thin, cruel face. He approached the side of the bed and stood gazing down upon its occupant.
"Something seemed to draw me closer. Upon the bed lay a corpse—a blond-haired giant—stripped to the waist. As Lessman, his evil gaze still upon the mammoth figure, held the lamp a trifle aloft, the dead man writhed and twisted as if in mortal agony!
"The Bodymaster stretched forth one thin hand. The man upon the bed stiffened—then sat bolt upright, his bloodshot eyes glaring!
"Involuntarily I took a step backward.
"As God is my judge, the eyes were those of a corpse—glassy, unseeing! And while I still looked. the body slipped backward, the curious writhing movements ceased, and that which lay upon the bed was only insensate clay.
"Now or never was the time to strike. Grasping my cudgel more firmly, I raised it over my head. The back of the Bodymaster was turned toward me. I had him off his guard. I was about to bring the club down across his head when, without turning his gaze, he spoke:
"'Sit down, my friend, and throw your cane aside. You can not strike. Your arm is palsied.'
"The cane dropped from my fingers. I attempted to lower my arm to recover it. Impossible. I was unable to move. My arm was held aloft as by an unseen hand.
"The Bodymaster turned toward me with a smile.
"'Sit down!' he commanded.
"My arm dropped to my side. Like a drunken man I staggered to a chair."
CHAPTER VII.
"SEATING himself opposite me, Lessman pushed a box of cigars across the table.
"'Help yourself,' he smiled, selecting one for himself. 'You are some sixty seconds ahead of time. I hardly expected you to be so prompt.’
"'Expected me!' I ejaculated.
"He nodded. 'Naturally,' he responded. 'How else do you suppose you got here? You certainly did not expect that I would make so great an oversight as to leave your door unlocked? I wanted you—wanted to have a talk with you. My mind willed that you should come, and you are here.'
"He waved his hand with a slight gesture as if dismissing the entire subject. For a second there was silence. Then he resumed:
"'Our little fracas of the other night taught me that you are a man of more than ordinary mental ability: in fact, you are the first who has ever disobeyed my unspoken commands. And, more than that, you showed me that you are the man I have been seeking all these years.'
"His eyes burned with enthusiasm as he continued.
"'Man,' he went on, 'my experiments have been a success. True, lives have been destroyed. But what is life? Your man-made theology teaches you that life is but a span of a few years in eternity; you snap the
