An instant's pause; then: "First let me remind you that we have been doing all we could to elevate our spiritual selves. We are daily trying to eliminate all that is animal, all that is gross and bemeaning in us, even to the extent of reducing the flavors of our foods to the lowest tolerable point. And despite all this, we have not been able to get rid of sex jealousy!
"We still have the beast within us! No matter how pure our love may be, it is always tainted with rivalry! Always the husband and wife are held down by this mutual envy, forever dragging at their heels, constantly holding them back from the lofty heights of spiritual power to which they aspire!"
He paused, and Savarona's voice broke in, triumphantly: "You are right, Estra! You are right, except you did not mention that this jealousy becomes less and less as one grows older!
"Now, my discovery will put an end to your beast, Estra! My experiments took this lad before he had become a man, and allowed his brain to develop, while his body stopped growing! He is a man in mentality, and an innocent boy in body!
"Estra, I have done the thing you wish! This boy will never know jealousy, because he will never know love!"
The man in the room with the four answered in a flash: "So you have, Savarona, but only for men! No female can benefit by what you have done!"
"But I tell you that, within the past few minutes, a child has been born under circumstances which can be repeated at any time, and for any sex!"
"In this case," the Venusian's voice changed curiously; "in this case, however, it was a girl; for the mother controlled the sex in the customary manner." At this, the doctor's interest became acute. At the same time, the other three felt a tremendous, inexplicable thrill.
"Friends"—and Extra's face shone in his enthusiasm—"friends, for the first time in creation the human male germ has been dispensed with! The intellect has done what the laboratory could not do!
"I have the honor to announce that my sister, Amra, has just given birth"—his voice fairly rang—"has just given birth to a girl baby, whose only father was her mother's brain!"