"And if he does not know how? If he cannot help us?"
"That'll be too bad. Because then we'll just keep on strangling him." He laughed harshly. "Oh, yes. Vance may win. We may not be able to save Elaine. But"—and his face was terrible to see—"Vance certainly won't live long enough to gloat much!"
A spark of hope sprang into Professor Duchard's blue eyes.
"I wish I could believe you—"
"Forget it. We've got more important things to do than wishing. Look out that window!"
The white-haired scientist turned to the casement toward which the other pointed. Saw dawn reddening the eastern sky.
"It's morning already," Mark went on determinedly. "In a few hours more, we can start things rolling by having you call up Vance."
"Call up Vance? What would I say?"
The devil's bitter mirth played in the other's eyes. But it was a mirth spiked with menace.