of apprehension as they came softly nearer and nearer
to the barred door. At last they halted before it, to
be followed by a gentle knock.

"Daddy!" came the sweet tones of a girl's voice.

The man made an effort to take a firm grasp upon
himself that no tell-tale evidence of his emotion might
be betrayed in his speech.

"Daddy!" called the girl again, a trace of anxiety in
her voice this time. "What IS the matter with you,
and what ARE you doing? You've been shut up in
that hateful old room for three days now without a
morsel to eat, and in all likelihood without a wink of
sleep. You'll kill yourself with your stuffy old experiments."

The man's face softened.

"Don't worry about me, sweetheart," he replied in a
well controlled voice. "I'll soon be through now--soon
be through--and then we'll go away for a long vacation--
for a long vacation."

"I'll give you until noon, Daddy," said the girl in a
voice which carried a more strongly defined tone of
authority than her father's soft drawl, "and then I
shall come into that room, if I have to use an axe, and
bring you out--do you understand?"