He answered nothing, buzzing to himself softly as he pursued his thoughts. My temper was going. “What do you think has become of the sphere, anyhow?” I asked.

“Lost,” he said, like a man who answers an uninteresting question.

“Among those plants?”

“Unless they find it.”

“And then?”

“How can I tell?”

“Cavor,” I said, with a sort of hysterical bitterness, “things look bright for my Company.⁠ ⁠…”

He made no answer.