"They were abolished three centuries ago, sir," explained the valet.
"Then how the deuce is the world populated?" demanded Dawson.
"It was sufficiently populated at the time the law abolishing children was passed, sir."
"But people die, don't they?"
"Never," replied the valet. "When Dr. Perkinbloom discovered how to separate man's mental from his physical side, by means of this little door in the cranium, all the perishable portions of man were done away with, which is how it is, sir, that, for convenience' sake, after the world was as full of consciousness as it could be comfortably, it was decided not to have any more of it."
"But these bodies, James—these bodies?"
"Oh, they are manufactured—"
"But how?"
"That, sir, is the secret of the inventor," replied the valet, "a secret which he is permitted by our government to retain, although the factories are maintained under the supervision of the Tailor-General."
Dawson was silent. He was absolutely overpowered by the revelation.