"The watch is not here!"
"Perhaps he was called. See!"
But before Gnom could execute the order a commotion arose in the passage. A voice called from outside:
"Officer of the hour prays audience with The Manager."
"Enter."
An officer with an extreme hunchback dashed in, bowed low before The Manager.
"It is the end!" he gasped. "They watched our glowing ships plunge under the water, and they are setting bombing rockets for this area. The first ranging shots have already been fired. Listen!"
After a few moments there came a dull thud, as though a blow had been struck against the ceiling. A pendent drop of water fell. The Manager's hairless face became bleak.
"I made great plans, great inventions—forgot a simple detail!" He slumped as he stood, a mixture of the absurd and the tragic. The mutation that had made a brilliant mind had nevertheless left it incomplete, and none had realized it until in this extremity. Again came that dull shock, and this time it seemed a little stronger.
The Manager shook off his apathy. His great eyes burned with livid fire, as he called: