complete collapse of the nervous system. Death would at once ensue and not leave a trace of its cause. So subtle was the work of this poison that it defied all medical diagnosis. Its operation was impossible to detect. Autopsies were vain. The police of London, New York, Bombay, Shanghai could only surmise that such a thing existed without being able to prove the fact. Indeed they were faced by a problem with which they could not deal; a problem so elusive that it merged cause in effect.
Succinctly and gently, with the air of a British judge addressing a British jury, Lien Weng expounded all this to John Endor. He was required to use the lethal weapon formally entrusted to him now by the decree of the Council of Seven within the time appointed and in the manner specified.
"And if, sir, one does not choose to carry out this horrible task?" said Endor, quietly.
"Sir," was the President's soft reply, "since you have taken the oath of our Society is it really necessary for me to answer your question?"
Endor looked earnestly at the faces of the six men around him, as if he would peer into their minds. Again he was undecided as to what his immediate course of action should be. His first thought was to defy these fanatics by flinging the phial into the fire. But as his fingers closed upon the slender tube of glass, the mysterious prana deep down in every healthy nature intervened to save him. An overt act of that
