It had been a simple matter to empty the blood vessels of a dog, but this was the girl he loved, and he shuddered as he began his work.
He opened the large artery, and it was only with supreme courage that he forced himself to complete the heart=breaking task, while scalding tears ran down his cheeks unheeded.
He had scarcely terminated his work, when he heard steps in the corridor. He could feel his hair bristling, and he whirled to face the door, reaching for his radioperforer as he did so. Could Llysanorh'?... The next moment a large woman stood in the doorway.
Ralph stared at her in amazement. Then suddenly it dawned upon him that this must be the maid Fernand had provided.
She had hidden herself in abject terror when the darkness came down, and had only now mustered enough courage to investigate. The first object she had seen upon creeping to the machine room was the dead body of the Martian. Horrified, she had fainted away, but later, recovering, she crawled through the connecting tube.
She was weak, trembling with fright, and could be of no use, and Ralph hastened to get her into another room, where he put her into a comfortable chair and left her, for he could not afford to lose a minute now.
A most important task was now before him. He had to pump an antiseptic solution through the veins of Alice, and after that the blood vessels must be filled with a weak solution of Radium-K Bromide, which, taking the place of the blood would prevent her body from undergoing physical and chemical changes.
With infinite care Ralph applied himself to his difficult task. After the blood vessels had been completely filled with the Radium preparation, he sewed up the arteries. In this gruesome task he was assisted by Lylette, who had recovered sufficiently to be of some help to him.
There remained only one more thing—to apply the Permagatol, the rare gas, having the property of conserving animal tissue, which Ralph had used successfully in his dog experiment, in keeping the respiratory organs from decomposing in the absence of blood in the blood vessels.