' Dame Nature gave him her heart
unwooed. He trifled with science as some men trifle with love,
tossing aside with a smile discoveries which would have made
another famous. This"--tapping his breast pocket--"was one of
them."
"You astound me. Do I understand you to mean that Dr. Kreener
had invented a process for reducing any form of plant life to
this condition?"
"Almost any form," was the guarded reply. "And some forms of
animal life."
"What!"
"If you like"--the stranger leaned forward and grasped my arm--"I
will tell you the story of Dr. Kreener's last experiment."
I was now intensely interested. I had not forgotten the heroic
death of the man concerning whose work this chance acquaintance
of mine seemed to know so much. And in the cadaverous face of
the stranger as he sat there regarding me fixedly there was a
promise and an allurement. I stood on the verge of strange
things; so that, looking into the deep-set eyes, once again I
felt the cloak being drawn about me, and I resigned myself
willingly to the illusion.
From the moment when he began to speak again until that when I
rose and followed him from Malay Jack's, as I shall presently
relate, I became oblivious of my surroundings.
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