"Maudlin, sentimental fool!" he cried. "Who dare say no to me?"

I laid a hand upon the hilt of my long-sword and looked him steadily in the eye.

"Ras Thavas," I said, "you are master in your own house; but while I am your

guest treat me with courtesy."

He returned my look for a moment but his eyes wavered. "I was hasty," he said.

"Let it pass." That, I let answer for an apology – really it was more than I had

expected – but the event was not unfortunate. I think he treated me with far

greater respect thereafter; but now he turned immediately to the slab bearing

the mortal remains of 4296-E-2631-H.

"Prepare the subject for revivification," he said, "and make what study you can

of all its reactions." With that he left the room.

I was now fairly adept at this work which I set about with some misgivings but

with the assurance that I was doing right in obeying Ras Thavas while I remained

a member of his entourage. The blood that had once flowed through the veins of

the beautiful body that Ras Thavas had sold to Xaxa reposed in an hermetically

sealed vessel upon the shelf above the corpse. As I had before done in other

cases beneath the watchful eyes of the old surgeon I now did for the first time

alone. The blood heated, the incisions made, the tubes attached and the few

drops of life-giving solution added to the blood, I was now ready to restore

life to that delicate brain that had lain dead for ten years. As my finger

rested upon the little button that actuated the motor that was to send the

revivifying liquid into those dormant veins, I experienced such a sensation as I

imagined no mortal man has ever felt.

I had become master of life and death, and yet at this moment that I stood there

upon the point of resurrecting the dead I felt more like a murderer than a

saviour. I tried to view the procedure dispassionately through the cold eye of

science, but I failed miserably. I could only see a stricken girl grieving for

her lost beauties. With a muffled oath I turned away. I could not do it! And

then, as though an outside force had seized upon me, my finger moved unerringly

to the button and pressed it. I cannot explain it, unless upon the theory of

dual mentality, which may explain many things. Perhaps my subjective mind

directed the act. I do not know. Only I know that I did it, the motor started,

the level of the blood in the container commenced gradually to lower.

Spell-bound, I stood watching. Presently the vessel was empty. I shut off the

motor, removed the tubes, sealed the openings with tape. The red glow of life

tinged the body, replacing the sallow, purplish hue of death. The breasts rose

and fell regularly, the head turned slightly and the eyelids moved. A faint sigh

issued from between the parting lips. For a long time there was no other sign of

life, then, suddenly, the eyes opened. They were dull at first, but presently

they commenced to fill with questioning wonderment. They rested on me and then

passed on about that portion of the room that was visible from the position of

the body. Then they came back to me and remained steadily fixed upon my

countenance after having once surveyed me up and down. There was still the

questioning in them, but there was no fear.

"Where am I?" she asked. The voice was that of an old woman – high and harsh. A

startled expression filled her eyes.