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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Skylark of Space, by Edward Elmer Smith
+and Lee Hawkins Garby
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: The Skylark of Space
+
+
+Author: Edward Elmer Smith and Lee Hawkins Garby
+
+
+
+Release Date: March 21, 2007  [eBook #20869]
+Most recently updated April 18, 2011
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SKYLARK OF SPACE***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Greg Weeks, L. N. Yaddanapudi, David Dyer-Bennet, and
+the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team
+(https://www.pgdp.net)
+
+
+
+Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this
+      file which includes the original illustrations.
+      See 20869-h.htm or 20869-h.zip:
+      (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/0/8/6/20869/20869-h/20869-h.htm)
+      or
+      (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/0/8/6/20869/20869-h.zip)
+
+
+      +----------------------------------------------------------+
+      | Transcriber's note                                       |
+      |                                                          |
+      | This etext was produced from Amazing Stories August,     |
+      | September and October 1928. Extensive research did not   |
+      | uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this     |
+      | publication was renewed.                                 |
+      |                                                          |
+      | Other notes and a list of corrections made will be found |
+      | at the end of the book.                                  |
+      +----------------------------------------------------------+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE SKYLARK OF SPACE
+
+by
+
+EDWARD ELMER SMITH
+
+In Collaboration with
+
+LEE HAWKINS GARBY
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Cover Page]
+
+
+    +--------------------------------------+
+    |                                      |
+    | _Perhaps it is a bit unethical and   |
+    | unusual for editors to voice their   |
+    | opinion of their own wares, but when |
+    | such a story as "The Skylark of      |
+    | Space" comes along, we just feel as  |
+    | if we must shout from the housetops  |
+    | that this is the greatest            |
+    | interplanetarian and space flying    |
+    | story that has appeared this year.   |
+    | Indeed, it probably will rank as one |
+    | of the great space flying stories    |
+    | for many years to come. The story is |
+    | chock full, not only of excellent    |
+    | science, but woven through it there  |
+    | is also that very rare element, love |
+    | and romance. This element in an      |
+    | interplanetarian story is often apt  |
+    | to be foolish, but it does not seem  |
+    | so in this particular story._        |
+    |                                      |
+    | _We know so little about             |
+    | intra-atomic forces, that this       |
+    | story, improbable as it will appear  |
+    | in spots, will read commonplace      |
+    | years hence, when we have atomic     |
+    | engines, and when we have solved the |
+    | riddle of the atom._                 |
+    |                                      |
+    | _You will follow the hair-raising    |
+    | explorations and strange ventures    |
+    | into far-away worlds with bated      |
+    | breath, and you will be fascinated,  |
+    | as we were, with the strangeness of  |
+    | it all._                             |
+    |                                      |
+    +--------------------------------------+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+The Occurrence of the Impossible
+
+
+Petrified with astonishment, Richard Seaton stared after the copper
+steam-bath upon which he had been electrolyzing his solution of "X," the
+unknown metal. For as soon as he had removed the beaker the heavy bath
+had jumped endwise from under his hand as though it were alive. It had
+flown with terrific speed over the table, smashing apparatus and bottles
+of chemicals on its way, and was even now disappearing through the open
+window. He seized his prism binoculars and focused them upon the flying
+vessel, a speck in the distance. Through the glass he saw that it did
+not fall to the ground, but continued on in a straight line, only its
+rapidly diminishing size showing the enormous velocity with which it was
+moving. It grew smaller and smaller, and in a few moments disappeared
+utterly.
+
+The chemist turned as though in a trance. How was this? The copper bath
+he had used for months was gone--gone like a shot, with nothing to make
+it go. Nothing, that is, except an electric cell and a few drops of the
+unknown solution. He looked at the empty space where it had stood, at
+the broken glass covering his laboratory table, and again stared out of
+the window.
+
+He was aroused from his stunned inaction by the entrance of his colored
+laboratory helper, and silently motioned him to clean up the wreckage.
+
+"What's happened, Doctah?" asked the dusky assistant.
+
+"Search me, Dan. I wish I knew, myself," responded Seaton, absently,
+lost in wonder at the incredible phenomenon of which he had just been a
+witness.
+
+Ferdinand Scott, a chemist employed in the next room, entered breezily.
+
+"Hello, Dicky, thought I heard a racket in here," the newcomer remarked.
+Then he saw the helper busily mopping up the reeking mass of chemicals.
+
+"Great balls of fire!" he exclaimed. "What've you been celebrating? Had
+an explosion? How, what, and why?"
+
+"I can tell you the 'what,' and part of the 'how'," Seaton replied
+thoughtfully, "but as to the 'why,' I am completely in the dark. Here's
+all I know about it," and in a few words he related the foregoing
+incident. Scott's face showed in turn interest, amazement, and pitying
+alarm. He took Seaton by the arm.
+
+"Dick, old top, I never knew you to drink or dope, but this stuff sure
+came out of either a bottle or a needle. Did you see a pink serpent
+carrying it away? Take my advice, old son, if you want to stay in Uncle
+Sam's service, and lay off the stuff, whatever it is. It's bad enough to
+come down here so far gone that you wreck most of your apparatus and
+lose the rest of it, but to pull a yarn like that is going too far. The
+Chief will have to ask for your resignation, sure. Why don't you take a
+couple of days of your leave and straighten up?"
+
+Seaton paid no attention to him, and Scott returned to his own
+laboratory, shaking his head sadly.
+
+Seaton, with his mind in a whirl, walked slowly to his desk, picked up
+his blackened and battered briar pipe, and sat down to study out what he
+had done, or what could possibly have happened, to result in such an
+unbelievable infraction of all the laws of mechanics and gravitation. He
+knew that he was sober and sane, that the thing had actually happened.
+But why? And how? All his scientific training told him that it was
+impossible. It was unthinkable that an inert mass of metal should fly
+off into space without any applied force. Since it had actually
+happened, there must have been applied an enormous and hitherto unknown
+force. What was that force? The reason for this unbelievable
+manifestation of energy was certainly somewhere in the solution, the
+electrolytic cell, or the steam-bath. Concentrating all the power of his
+highly-trained analytical mind upon the problem--deaf and blind to
+everything else, as was his wont when deeply interested--he sat
+motionless, with his forgotten pipe clenched between his teeth. Hour
+after hour he sat there, while most of his fellow-chemists finished the
+day's work and left the building and the room slowly darkened with the
+coming of night.
+
+Finally he jumped up. Crashing his hand down upon the desk, he
+exclaimed:
+
+"I have liberated the intra-atomic energy of copper! Copper, 'X,' and
+electric current!
+
+"I'm sure a fool for luck!" he continued as a new thought struck him.
+"Suppose it had been liberated all at once? Probably blown the whole
+world off its hinges. But it wasn't: it was given off slowly and in a
+straight line. Wonder why? Talk about power! Infinite! Believe me, I'll
+show this whole Bureau of Chemistry something to make their eyes stick
+out, tomorrow. If they won't let me go ahead and develop it, I'll
+resign, hunt up some more 'X', and do it myself. That bath is on its way
+to the moon right now, and there's no reason why I can't follow it.
+Martin's such a fanatic on exploration, he'll fall all over himself to
+build us any kind of a craft we'll need ... we'll explore the whole
+solar system! Great Cat, what a chance! A fool for luck is right!"
+
+He came to himself with a start. He switched on the lights and saw that
+it was ten o'clock. Simultaneously he recalled that he was to have had
+dinner with his fianc�e at her home, their first dinner since their
+engagement. Cursing himself for an idiot he hastily left the building,
+and soon his motorcycle was tearing up Connecticut Avenue toward his
+sweetheart's home.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+Steel Becomes Interested
+
+
+Dr. Marc DuQuesne was in his laboratory, engaged in a research upon
+certain of the rare metals, particularly in regard to their
+electrochemical properties. He was a striking figure. Well over six feet
+tall, unusually broad-shouldered even for his height, he was plainly a
+man of enormous physical strength. His thick, slightly wavy hair was
+black. His eyes, only a trifle lighter in shade, were surmounted by
+heavy black eyebrows which grew together above his aquiline nose.
+
+Scott strolled into the room, finding DuQuesne leaning over a delicate
+electrical instrument, his forbidding but handsome face strangely
+illuminated by the ghastly glare of his mercury-vapor arcs.
+
+"Hello, Blackie," Scott began. "I thought it was Seaton in here at
+first. A fellow has to see your faces to tell you two apart. Speaking of
+Seaton, d'you think that he's quite right?"
+
+"I should say, off-hand, that he was a little out of control last night
+and this morning," replied DuQuesne, manipulating connections with his
+long, muscular fingers. "I don't think that he's insane, and I don't
+believe that he dopes--probably overwork and nervous strain. He'll be
+all right in a day or two."
+
+"I think he's a plain nut, myself. That sure was a wild yarn he sprung
+on us, wasn't it? His imagination was hitting on all twelve, that's
+sure. He seems to believe it himself, though, in spite of making a flat
+failure of his demonstration to us this morning. He saved that waste
+solution he was working on--what was left of that carboy of platinum
+residues after he had recovered all the values, you know--and got them
+to put it up at auction this noon. He resigned from the Bureau, and he
+and M. Reynolds Crane, that millionaire friend of his, bid it in for ten
+cents."
+
+"M. Reynolds Crane?" DuQuesne concealed a start of surprise. "Where does
+he come in on this?"
+
+"Oh, they're always together in everything. They've been thicker than
+Damon and Pythias for a long time. They play tennis together--they're
+doubles champions of the District, you know--and all kinds of things.
+Wherever you find one of them you'll usually find the other. Anyway,
+after they got the solution Crane took Seaton in his car, and somebody
+said they went out to Crane's house. Probably trying to humor him. Well,
+ta-ta; I've got a week's work to do yet today."
+
+As Scott left DuQuesne dropped his work and went to his desk, with a new
+expression, half of chagrin, half of admiration, on his face. Picking up
+his telephone, he called a number.
+
+"Brookings?" he asked, cautiously. "This is DuQuesne. I must see you
+immediately. There's something big started that may as well belong to
+us.... No, can't say anything over the telephone.... Yes, I'll be right
+out."
+
+He left the laboratory and soon was in the private office of the head of
+the Washington or "diplomatic" branch, as it was known in certain
+circles, of the great World Steel Corporation. Offices and laboratories
+were maintained in the city, ostensibly for research work, but in
+reality to be near the center of political activity.
+
+"How do you do, Doctor DuQuesne?" Brookings said as he seated his
+visitor. "You seem excited."
+
+"Not excited, but in a hurry," DuQuesne replied. "The biggest thing in
+history has just broken, and we've got to work fast if we get in on it.
+Have you any doubts that I always know what I am talking about?"
+
+"No," answered the other in surprise. "Not the slightest. You are widely
+known as an able man. In fact, you have helped this company several
+times in various deal--er, in various ways."
+
+"Say it. Brookings. 'Deals' is the right word. This one is going to be
+the biggest ever. The beauty of it is that it should be easy--one simple
+burglary and an equally simple killing--and won't mean wholesale murder,
+as did that...."
+
+"Oh, no, Doctor, not murder. Unavoidable accidents."
+
+"Why not call things by their right names and save breath, as long as
+we're alone? I'm not squeamish. But to get down to business. You know
+Seaton, of our division, of course. He has been recovering the various
+rare metals from all the residues that have accumulated in the Bureau
+for years. After separating out all the known metals he had something
+left, and thought it was a new element, a metal. In one of his attempts
+to get it into the metallic state, a little of its solution fizzed out
+and over a copper steam bath or tank, which instantly flew out of the
+window like a bullet. It went clear out of sight, out of range of his
+binoculars, just that quick." He snapped his fingers under Brookings'
+nose. "Now that discovery means such power as the world never dreamed
+of. In fact, if Seaton hadn't had all the luck in the world right with
+him yesterday, he would have blown half of North America off the map.
+Chemists have known for years that all matter contains enormous stores
+of intra-atomic energy, but have always considered it 'bound'--that is,
+incapable of liberation. Seaton has liberated it."
+
+"And that means?"
+
+"That with the process worked out, the Corporation could furnish power
+to the entire world, at very little expense."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A look of scornful unbelief passed over Brookings' face.
+
+"Sneer if you like," DuQuesne continued evenly. "Your ignorance doesn't
+change the fact in any particular. Do you know what intra-atomic energy
+is?"
+
+"I'm afraid that I don't, exactly."
+
+"Well, it's the force that exists between the ultimate component parts
+of matter, if you can understand that. A child ought to. Call in your
+chief chemist and ask him what would happen if somebody would liberate
+the intra-atomic energy of one hundred pounds of copper."
+
+"Pardon me, Doctor. I didn't presume to doubt you. I will call him in."
+
+He telephoned a request and soon a man in white appeared. In response to
+the question he thought for a moment, then smiled slowly.
+
+"If it were done instantaneously it would probably blow the entire world
+into a vapor, and might force it clear out of its orbit. If it could be
+controlled it would furnish millions of horsepower for a long time. But
+it can't be done. The energy is bound. Its liberation is an
+impossibility, in the same class with perpetual motion. Is that all, Mr.
+Brookings?"
+
+As the chemist left, Brookings turned again to his visitor, with an
+apologetic air.
+
+"I don't know anything about these things myself, but Chambers, also an
+able man, says that it is impossible."
+
+"As far as he knows, he is right. I should have said the same thing this
+morning. But I do know about these things--they're my business--and I
+tell you that Seaton has done it."
+
+"This is getting interesting. Did you see it done?"
+
+"No. It was rumored around the Bureau last night that Seaton was going
+insane, that he had wrecked a lot of his apparatus and couldn't explain
+what had happened. This morning he called a lot of us into his
+laboratory, told us what I have just told you, and poured some of his
+solution on a copper wire. Nothing happened, and he acted as though he
+didn't know what to make of it. The foolish way he acted and the
+apparent impossibility of the whole thing, made everybody think him
+crazy. I thought so until I learned this afternoon that Mr. Reynolds
+Crane is backing him. Then I knew that he had told us just enough of the
+truth to let him get away clean with the solution."
+
+"But suppose the man _is_ crazy?" asked Brookings. "He probably is a
+monomaniac, really insane on that one thing, from studying it so much."
+
+"Seaton? Yes, he's crazy--like a fox. You never heard of any insanity in
+Crane's family, though, did you? You know that he never invests a cent
+in anything more risky than Government bonds. You can bet your last
+dollar that Seaton showed him the real goods." Then, as a look of
+conviction appeared upon the other's face, he continued:
+
+"Don't you understand that the solution was Government property, and he
+had to do something to make everybody think it worthless, so that he
+could get title to it? That faked demonstration that failed was
+certainly a bold stroke--so bold that it was foolhardy. But it worked.
+It fooled even me, and I am not usually asleep. The only reason he got
+away with it, is, that he has always been such an open-faced talker,
+always telling everything he knew.
+
+"He certainly played the fox," he continued, with undisguised
+admiration. "Heretofore he has never kept any of his discoveries secret
+or tried to make any money out of them, though some of them were worth
+millions. He published them as soon as he found them, and somebody else
+got the money. Having that reputation, he worked it to make us think him
+a nut. He certainly is clever. I take off my hat to him--he's a wonder!"
+
+"And what is your idea? Where do we come in?"
+
+"You come in by getting that solution away from Seaton and Crane, and
+furnishing the money to develop the stuff and to build, under my
+direction, such a power-plant as the world never saw before."
+
+"Why get that particular solution? Couldn't we buy up some platinum
+wastes and refine them?"
+
+"Not a chance," replied the scientist. "We have refined platinum
+residues for years, and never found anything like that before. It is my
+idea that the stuff, whatever it is, was present in some particular lot
+of platinum in considerable quantities as an impurity. Seaton hasn't all
+of it there is in the world, of course, but the chance of finding any
+more of it without knowing exactly what it is or how it reacts is
+extremely slight. Besides, we must have exclusive control. How could we
+make any money out of it if Crane operates a rival company and is
+satisfied with ten percent profit? No, we must get all of that solution.
+Seaton and Crane, or Seaton, at least, must be killed, for if he is left
+alive he can find more of the stuff and break our monopoly. I want to
+borrow your strong-arm squad tonight, to go and attend to it."
+
+After a few moments' thought, his face set and expressionless, Brookings
+said:
+
+"No, Doctor. I do not think that the Corporation would care to go into a
+matter of this kind. It is too flagrant a violation of law, and we can
+afford to buy it from Seaton after he proves its worth."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Bah!" snorted DuQuesne. "Don't try that on me, Brookings. You think you
+can steal it yourself, and develop it without letting me in on it? You
+can't do it. Do you think I am fool enough to tell you all about it,
+with facts, figures, and names, if you could get away with it without
+me? Hardly! You can steal the solution, but that's all you can do. Your
+chemist or the expert you hire will begin experimenting without Seaton's
+lucky start, which I have already mentioned, but about which I haven't
+gone into any detail. He will have no information whatever, and the
+first attempt to do anything with the stuff will blow him and all the
+country around him for miles into an impalpable powder. You will lose
+your chemist, your solution, and all hope of getting the process. There
+are only two men in the United States, or in the world, for that matter,
+with brains enough and information enough to work it out. One is
+Richard B. Seaton, the other is Marc C. DuQuesne. Seaton certainly won't
+handle it for you. Money can't buy him and Crane, and you know it. You
+must come to me. If you don't believe that now, you will very shortly,
+after you try it alone."
+
+Brookings, caught in his duplicity and half-convinced of the truth of
+DuQuesne's statements, still temporized.
+
+"You're modest, aren't you, Doctor?" he asked, smiling.
+
+"Modest? No," said the other calmly. "Modesty never got anybody anything
+but praise, and I prefer something more substantial. However, I never
+exaggerate or make over-statements, as you should know. What I have said
+is merely a statement of fact. Also, let me remind you that I am in a
+hurry. The difficulty of getting hold of that solution is growing
+greater every minute, and my price is getting higher every second."
+
+"What is your price at the present second?"
+
+"Ten thousand dollars per month during the experimental work; five
+million dollars in cash upon the successful operation of the first power
+unit, which shall be of not less than ten thousand horsepower; and ten
+percent of the profits."
+
+"Oh, come, Doctor, let's be reasonable. You can't mean any such figures
+as those."
+
+"I never say anything I don't mean. I have done a lot of dirty work with
+you people before, and never got much of anything out of it. You were
+always too strong for me; that is, I couldn't force you without exposing
+my own crookedness, but now I've got you right where I want you. That's
+my price; take it or leave it. If you don't take it now, the first two
+of those figures will be doubled when you do come to me. I won't go to
+anybody else, though others would be glad to get it on my terms, because
+I have a reputation to maintain and you are the only ones who know that
+I am crooked. I know that my reputation is safe as long as I work with
+you, because I know enough about you to send all you big fellows, clear
+down to Perkins, away for life. I also know that that knowledge will not
+shorten my days, as I am too valuable a man for you to kill, as you
+did...."
+
+"Please, Doctor, don't use such language...."
+
+"Why not?" interrupted DuQuesne, in his cold, level voice. "It's all
+true. What do a few lives amount to, as long as they're not yours and
+mine? As I said, I can trust you, more or less. You can trust me,
+because you know that I can't send you up without going with you.
+Therefore, I am going to let you go ahead without me as far as you
+can--it won't be far. Do you want me to come in now or later?"
+
+"I'm afraid we can't do business on any such terms as that," said
+Brookings, shaking his head. "We can undoubtedly buy the power rights
+from Seaton for what you ask."
+
+"You don't fool me for a second, Brookings. Go ahead and steal the
+solution, but take my advice and give your chemist only a little of it.
+A very little of that stuff will go a long way, and you will want to
+have some left when you have to call me in. Make him experiment with
+extremely small quantities. I would suggest that he work in the woods at
+least a hundred miles from his nearest neighbor, though it matters
+nothing to me how many people you kill. That's the only pointer I will
+give you--I'm giving it merely to keep you from blowing up the whole
+country," he concluded with a grim smile. "Good-bye."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+As the door closed behind the cynical scientist, Brookings took a small
+gold instrument, very like a watch, from his pocket. He touched a button
+and held the machine close to his lips.
+
+"Perkins," he said softly, "M. Reynolds Crane has in his house a bottle
+of solution."
+
+"Yes, sir. Can you describe it?"
+
+"Not exactly. It is greenish yellow in color, and I gather that it is in
+a small bottle, as there isn't much of the stuff in the world. I don't
+know what it smells or tastes like, and I wouldn't advise experimenting
+with it, as it seems to be a violent explosive and is probably
+poisonous. Any bottle of solution of that color kept in a particularly
+safe place would probably be the one. Let me caution you that this is
+the biggest thing you have ever been in, and _it must not fail_. Any
+effort to purchase it would be useless, however large a figure were
+named. But if the bottle were only partly emptied and filled up with
+water, I don't believe anyone would notice the difference, at least for
+some time, do you?"
+
+"Probably not, sir. Good-bye."
+
+Next morning, shortly after the office opened, Perkins, whose principal
+characteristic was that of absolute noiselessness, glided smoothly into
+Brookings' office. Taking a small bottle about half full of a
+greenish-yellow liquid from his pocket, he furtively placed it under
+some papers upon his superior's desk.
+
+"A man found this last night, sir, and thought it might belong to you.
+He said this was a little less than half of it, but that you could have
+the rest of it any time you want it."
+
+"Thank you, Perkins, he was right. It is ours. Here's a letter which
+just came," handing him an envelope, which rustled as Perkins folded it
+into a small compass and thrust it into his vest pocket. "Good morning."
+
+As Perkins slid out, Brookings spoke into his telephone, and soon
+Chambers, his chief chemist, appeared.
+
+"Doctor Chambers," Brookings began, showing him the bottle, "I have here
+a solution which in some way is capable of liberating the intra-atomic
+energy of matter, about which I asked you yesterday. It works on copper.
+I would like to have you work out the process for us, if you will."
+
+"What about the man who discovered the process?" asked Chambers, as he
+touched the bottle gingerly.
+
+"He is not available. Surely what one chemist can do, others can? You
+will not have to work alone. You can hire the biggest men in the line to
+help you--expense is no object."
+
+"No, it wouldn't be, if such a process could be worked out. Let me see,
+whom can we get? Doctor Seaton is probably the best man in the country
+for such a research, but I don't think that we can get him. I tried to
+get him to work on the iridium-osmium problem, but he refused."
+
+"We might make an offer big enough to get him."
+
+"No. Don't mention it to him," with a significant look. "He's to know
+nothing about it."
+
+"Well, then, how about DuQuesne, who was in here yesterday? He's
+probably next to Seaton."
+
+"I took it up with him yesterday. We can't get him, his figures are
+entirely out of reason. Aren't there any other men in the country who
+know anything? You are a good man, why don't you tackle it yourself?"
+
+"Because I don't know anything about that particular line of research,
+and I want to keep on living awhile longer," the chemist replied
+bluntly. "There are other good men whom I can get, however. Van
+Schravendyck, of our own laboratory, is nearly as good as either Seaton
+or DuQuesne. He has done a lot of work on radio-activity and that sort
+of thing, and I think he would like to work on it."
+
+"All right. Please get it started without delay. Give him about a
+quarter of the solution and have the rest put in the vault. Be sure that
+his laboratory is set up far enough away from everything else to avoid
+trouble in case of an explosion, and caution him not to work on too much
+copper at once. I gather that an ounce or so will be plenty."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The chemist went back to his laboratory and sought his first assistant.
+
+"Van," he began, "Mr. Brookings has been listening to some lunatic who
+claims to have solved the mystery of liberating intra-atomic energy."
+
+"That's old stuff," the assistant said, laughing. "That and perpetual
+motion are always with us. What did you tell him?"
+
+"I didn't get a chance to tell him anything--he told me. Yesterday, you
+know, he asked me what would happen if it could be liberated, and I
+answered truthfully that lots of things would happen, and volunteered
+the information that it was impossible. Just now he called me in, gave
+me this bottle of solution, saying that it contained the answer to the
+puzzle, and wanted me to work it out. I told him that it was out of my
+line and that I was afraid of it--which I would be if I thought there
+was anything in it--but that it was more or less in your line, and he
+said to put you on it right away. He also said that expense was no
+object; to set up an independent laboratory a hundred miles off in the
+woods, to be safe in case of an explosion; and to caution you not to use
+too much copper at once--that an _ounce or so_ would be plenty!"
+
+"An ounce! Ten thousand tons of nitroglycerin! I'll say an ounce would
+be plenty, if the stuff is any good at all, which of course it isn't.
+Queer, isn't it, how the old man would fall for anything like that? How
+did he explain the failure of the discoverer to develop it himself?"
+
+"He said the discoverer is not available," answered Chambers with a
+laugh. "I'll bet he isn't available--he's back in St. Elizabeth's again
+by this time, where he came from. I suggested that we get either Seaton
+or DuQuesne of Rare Metals to help us on it, and he said that they had
+both refused to touch it, or words to that effect. If those two turned
+down a chance to work on a thing as big as this would be, there probably
+is nothing in this particular solution that is worth a rap. But what
+Brookings says goes, around here, so it's you for the woods. And don't
+take any chances, either--it is conceivable that something might
+happen."
+
+"Sure it might, but it won't. We'll set up that lab near a good trout
+stream, and I'll have a large and juicy vacation. I'll work on the stuff
+a little, too--enough to make a good report, at least. I'll analyze it,
+find out what is in it, deposit it on some copper, shoot an electrolytic
+current through it, and make a lot of wise motions generally, and have a
+darn good time besides."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+Seaton Solves the Problem of Power
+
+
+"Well, Mart," said Seaton briskly, "now that the Seaton-Crane Company,
+Engineers, is organized to your satisfaction, let's hop to it. I suppose
+I'd better beat it downtown and hunt up a place to work?"
+
+"Why not work here?"
+
+"Your house? You don't want this kind of experimenting going on around
+here, do you? Suppose a chunk of the stuff gets away from me and tears
+the side out of the house?"
+
+"This house is the logical place to work. I already have a complete
+machine shop and testing laboratory out in the hangar, and we can easily
+fit up a chemical laboratory for you up in the tower room. You can have
+open windows on four sides there, and if you should accidentally take
+out the wall there will be little damage done. We will be alone here,
+with the few neighbors so thoroughly accustomed to my mechanical
+experiments that they are no longer curious."
+
+"Fine. There's another good thing, too. Your man Shiro. He's been with
+you in so many tight pinches in all the unknown corners of the world on
+your hunting trips and explorations that we can trust him, and he'll
+probably come in handy."
+
+"Yes, we can trust him implicitly. As you know, he is really my friend
+instead of my man."
+
+During the next few days, while workmen were installing a complete
+chemical laboratory in the tower room, Seaton busied himself in
+purchasing the equipment necessary for the peculiar problem before him.
+His list was long and varied, ranging from a mighty transformer, capable
+of delivering thousands of kilovolts down to a potentiometer, so
+sensitive that it would register the difference of potential set up by
+two men in shaking hands.
+
+From daylight until dark Seaton worked in the laboratory, either alone
+or superintending and assisting the men at work there. Every night when
+Crane went to bed he saw Seaton in his room in a haze of smoke, poring
+over blueprints or, surrounded by abstruse works upon the calculus and
+sub-atomic phenomena, making interminable calculations.
+
+Less than two miles away lived Dorothy Vaneman, who had promised to be
+his wife. He had seen her but once since "the impossible" had happened,
+since his prosaic copper steam-bath had taken flight under his hand and
+pointed the way to a great adventure. In a car his friend was to build,
+moved by this stupendous power which he must learn to control, they
+would traverse interstellar space--visit strange planets and survey
+strange solar systems.
+
+While he did not forget his sweetheart--the thought of her was often in
+his mind, and the fact that her future was so intimately connected with
+his own gave to every action a new meaning--he had such a multitude of
+things to do and was so eager to get them all done at once that day
+after day went by and he could not find time to call upon her.
+
+Crane remonstrated in vain. His protests against Seaton's incessant work
+had no effect. Seaton insisted that he _must_ fix firmly just a few more
+points before they eluded him, and stuck doggedly to his task.
+
+Finally, Crane laid his work aside and went to call upon the girl. He
+found her just leaving home, and fell into step beside her. For awhile
+she tried to rouse herself to be entertaining, or at least friendly, but
+the usual ease with which she chatted had deserted her, and her false
+gayety did not deceive the keen-minded Crane for an instant. Soon the
+two were silent as they walked along together. Crane's thoughts were on
+the beautiful girl beside him, and on the splendid young genius under
+his roof, so deeply immersed in his problem that he was insensible to
+everything else.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"I have just left Dick," Crane said suddenly, and paying no attention to
+her startled glance. "Did you ever in your life see anyone with his
+singleness of purpose? With all his brilliance, one idea at a time is
+all that he seems capable of--though that is probably why he is such a
+genius. He is working himself insane. Has he told you about leaving the
+Bureau?"
+
+"No. Has he? Has it anything to do with what happened that day at the
+laboratory? I haven't seen him since the accident, or discovery,
+whichever it was, happened. He came to see me at half-past ten, when he
+was invited for dinner--oh, Martin, I had been _so_ angry!--and he told
+such a preposterous story, I've been wondering since if I didn't dream
+it."
+
+"No, you didn't dream it, no matter how wild it sounded. He said it, and
+it is all true. I cannot explain it to you; Dick himself cannot explain
+it, even to me. But I can give you an idea of what we both think it may
+come to."
+
+"Yes, do."
+
+"Well, he has discovered something that makes copper act mighty
+queer--knocks it off its feet, so to speak. That day a piece went up and
+never did come down."
+
+"Yes, that is what is so preposterous!"
+
+"Just a moment, please," replied the imperturbable Crane. "You should
+know that nothing ordinary can account for Dick's behavior, and after
+what I have seen this last week I shall never again think anything
+preposterous. As I said, this piece of copper departed, _via_ the
+window, for scenes unknown. As far as a pair of good binoculars could
+follow it, it held to a perfectly straight course toward those scenes.
+We intend to follow it in some suitable vehicle."
+
+He paused, looking at his companion's face, but she did not speak.
+
+"Building the conveyance is where I come in," he continued in his
+matter-of-fact voice. "As you know, I happen to have almost as much
+money as Dick has brains, and some day, before the summer is over, we
+expect to go somewhere. We do not know where, but it will be a long way
+from this earth."
+
+There was a silence, then Dorothy said, helplessly:
+
+"Well, go on.... I can't understand...."
+
+"Neither can I. All I know is that Dick wants to build a heavy steel
+hull, and he is going to put something inside it that will take us out
+into space. Only occasionally do I see a little light as he tries to
+explain the mechanism of the thing to me."
+
+After enjoining upon her the strictest secrecy he repeated the story
+that Seaton had told him, and informed her as to the present condition
+of affairs.
+
+"It's no wonder the other chemists thought he was crazy, is it, Martin?"
+
+"No, especially after the failure of his demonstration the next morning.
+You see, he tried to prove to the others that he was right, and nothing
+happened. He has found out since that an electrical machine in another
+room, which was not running that morning, played a very important part.
+When the copper refused to act as it had the night before they all took
+the snap judgment that he had suffered an attack of temporary insanity,
+and that the solution was worthless. They called him 'Nobody Holme'."
+
+"It almost fits, at that!" exclaimed Dorothy, laughing.
+
+"But if he thought of that," she added, thoughtfully, "if he was
+brilliant enough to build up such a wonderful theory ... think out such
+a thing as actually traveling to the stars ... all on such a slight
+foundation of fact ... I wonder why he couldn't have told me?"
+
+She hadn't meant to utter the last thought. Nobody must know how being
+left out of it had hurt her, and she would have recalled the words if
+she could. Crane understood, and answered loyally.
+
+"He will tell you all about it very soon, never fear. His is the mind of
+a great scientist, working on a subject of which but very few men have
+even an inkling. I am certain that the only reason he thought of me is
+that he could not finance the investigation alone. Never think for an
+instant that his absorption implies a lack of fondness for you. You are
+his anchor, his only hold on known things. In fact, it was about this
+that I came to see you. Dick is working himself at a rate that not even
+a machine can stand. He eats hardly anything, and if he sleeps at all, I
+have never caught him at it. That idea is driving him day and night, and
+if he goes on the way he is going, it means a breakdown. I do not know
+whether you can make him listen to reason or not--certainly no one else
+can. If you think you can do it, that is to be your job, and it will be
+the biggest one of the three."
+
+"How well you understand him," Dorothy said, after a pause. "You make me
+feel ashamed, Martin. I should have known without being told. Then I
+wouldn't have had these nasty little doubts about him."
+
+"I should call them perfectly natural, considering the circumstances,"
+he answered. "Men with minds like Dick's are rare. They work on only one
+track. Your part will be hard. He will come to you, bursting with news
+and aching to tell you all about his theories and facts and
+calculations, and you must try to take his mind off the whole thing and
+make him think of something else. It looks impossible to me."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The smile had come back to Dorothy's face. Her head, graced by its
+wealth of gleaming auburn hair, was borne proudly, and glancing mischief
+lit her violet eyes.
+
+"Didn't you just tell me nothing is impossible? You know, Martin, that I
+can make Dicky forget everything, even interstellar--did I get that word
+right?--space itself, with my violin."
+
+"Trying to beguile a scientist from his hobby is comparable only to
+luring a drug addict away from his vice ... but I would not be surprised
+if you could do it," he slowly replied.
+
+For he had heard her play. She and Seaton had been caught near his home
+by a sudden shower while on horseback, and had dashed in for shelter.
+While the rain beat outside and while Shiro was preparing one of his
+famous suppers, Crane had suggested that she pass the time by playing
+his "fiddle." Dorothy realized, with the first sweep of the bow, that
+she was playing a Stradivarius, the like of which she had played before
+only in her dreams. She forgot her listeners, forgot the time and the
+place, and poured out in her music all the beauty and tenderness of her
+nature. Soft and full the tones filled the room, and in Crane's vision
+there rose a home filled with happy work, with laughter and
+companionship, with playing children who turned their faces to their
+mother as do flowers to the light. Sensing the girl's dreams as the
+music filled his ears, he realized as never before in his busy,
+purposeful life how beautiful a home with the right woman could be. No
+thought of love for Dorothy entered his mind, for he knew that the love
+existing between her and his friend was of the kind that nothing could
+alter, but he felt that she had unwittingly given him a great gift.
+Often thereafter in his lonely hours he had imagined that dream-home,
+and nothing less than its perfection would ever satisfy him.
+
+For a time they walked on in silence. On Dorothy's face was a tender
+look, the reflection of her happy thoughts, and in Crane's mind floated
+again the vision of his ideal home, the home whose central figure he was
+unable to visualize. At last she turned and placed her hand on his arm.
+
+"You have done a great deal for me--for us," she said simply. "I wish
+there were something I could do for you in return."
+
+"You have already done much more than that for me, Dorothy," he
+answered, more slowly even than usual. "It is hard for me to express
+just what it is, but I want you to know that you and Dick mean much to
+me.... You are the first real woman I have ever known, and some day, if
+life is good to me, I hope to have some girl as lovely care for me."
+
+Dorothy's sensitive face flushed warmly. So unexpected and sincere was
+his praise that it made her feel both proud and humble. She had never
+realized that this quiet, apparently unimaginative man had seen all the
+ideals she expressed in her music. A woman expects to appear lovely to
+her lover, and to the men who would be her lovers if they could, but
+here was a man who neither sought nor expected any favors, saying that
+he wanted some girl as lovely for his own. Truly it was a compliment to
+be cherished.
+
+After they had returned to the house and Crane had taken his departure,
+Dorothy heard the purr of a rapidly approaching motorcycle, and her
+heart leaped as she went to the door to welcome her lover.
+
+"It seems like a month since I saw you last, sweetheart!" he exclaimed,
+as he lifted her clear from the floor in a passionate embrace and kissed
+in turn her lips, her eyes, the tip of her nose, the elusive dimple in
+her cheek, and the adorable curve of her neck.
+
+"It seems longer than that to me, Dicky. I was perfectly miserable until
+Martin called this afternoon and explained what you have been doing."
+
+"Yes, I met him on the way over. But honestly, Dottie, I simply couldn't
+get away. I wanted to, the worst way, but everything went so slow...."
+
+"Slow? When you have a whole laboratory installed in a week? What would
+you call speed?"
+
+"About two days. And then, there were a lot of little ideas that had to
+be nailed down before they got away from me. This is a horribly big job,
+Dottie, and when a fellow gets into it he can't quit. But you know that
+I love you just the same, even though I do appear to neglect you," he
+continued with fierce intensity. I love you with everything there is in
+me. "I love you, mind, body and spirit; love you as a man should love
+the one and only woman. For you are the only woman, there never was and
+never will be another. I love you morally, physically, intellectually,
+and every other way there is, for the perfect little darling that you
+are."
+
+She moved in his embrace and her arms tightened about his neck.
+
+"You are the nearest thing to absolute perfection that ever came into
+this imperfect world," he continued. "Just to think of a girl of your
+sheer beauty, your ability, your charm, your all-round perfection, being
+engaged to a thing like me, makes me dizzy--but I sure do love you,
+little girl of mine. I will love you as long as we live, and afterward,
+my soul will love your soul throughout eternity. You know that,
+sweetheart girl."
+
+"Oh, Dick!" she whispered, her soul shaken with response to his love. "I
+never dreamed it possible for a woman to love as I love you. 'Whither
+thou goest....'"
+
+Her voice failed in the tempest of her emotion, and they clung together
+in silence.
+
+They were finally interrupted by Dorothy's stately and gracious mother,
+who came in to greet Seaton and invite him to have dinner with them.
+
+"I knew that Dot would forget such an unimportant matter," she said,
+with a glint of Dorothy's own mischief in her eyes.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+As they went into the dining-room Dorothy was amazed to see the changes
+that six days had wrought in Seaton. His face looked thin, almost
+haggard. Fine lines had made their appearance at the corners of his eyes
+and around his mouth, and faint but unmistakable blue rings encircled
+his eyes.
+
+"You have been working too hard, boy," she reproved him gravely.
+
+"Oh, no," he rejoined lightly. "I'm all right, I never felt better. Why,
+I could whip a rattlesnake right now, and give him the first bite!"
+
+She laughed at his reply, but the look of concern did not leave her
+face. As soon as they were seated at the table she turned to her father,
+a clean-cut, gray-haired man of fifty, known as one of the shrewdest
+attorneys in the city.
+
+"Daddy," she demanded, "what do you mean by being elected director in
+the Seaton-Crane Company and not telling me anything about it?"
+
+"Daughter," he replied in the same tone, "what do you mean by asking
+such a question as that? Don't you know that it is a lawyer's business
+to get information, and to give it out only to paying clients? However,
+I can tell you all I know about the Seaton-Crane Company without adding
+to your store of knowledge at all. I was present at one meeting, gravely
+voted 'aye' once, and that is all."
+
+"Didn't you draw up the articles of incorporation?"
+
+"I am doing it, yes; but they don't mean anything. They merely empower
+the Company to do anything it wants to, the same as other large
+companies do." Then, after a quick but searching glance at Seaton's worn
+face and a warning glance at his daughter, he remarked:
+
+"I read in the _Star_ this evening that Enright and Stanwix will
+probably make the Australian Davis Cup team, and that the Hawaiian with
+the unpronounceable name has broken three or four more world's records.
+What do you think of our tennis chances this year, Dick?"
+
+Dorothy flushed, and the conversation, steered by the lawyer into the
+safer channels, turned to tennis, swimming, and other sports. Seaton,
+whose plate was unobtrusively kept full by Mr. Vaneman, ate such a
+dinner as he had not eaten in weeks. After the meal was over they all
+went into the spacious living-room, where the men ensconced themselves
+in comfortable Morris chairs with long, black cigars between their
+teeth, and all four engaged in a spirited discussion of various topics
+of the day. After a time, the older couple left the room, the lawyer
+going into his study to work, as he always did in the evening.
+
+"Well, Dicky, how's everything?" Dorothy asked, unthinkingly.
+
+The result of this innocent question was astonishing. Seaton leaped to
+his feet. The problem, dormant for two hours, was again in complete
+possession of his mind.
+
+"Rotten!" he snapped, striding back and forth and brandishing his
+half-smoked cigar. "My head is so thick that it takes a thousand years
+for an idea to filter into it. I should have the whole thing clear by
+this time, but I haven't. There's something, some little factor, that I
+can't get. I've almost had it a dozen times, but it always gets away
+from me. I know that the force is there and I can liberate it, but I
+can't work out a system of control until I can understand exactly why it
+acts the way it does." Then, more slowly, thinking aloud rather than
+addressing the girl:
+
+"The force is attraction toward all matter, generated by the vibrations
+of all the constituent electrons in parallel planes. It is directed
+along a line perpendicular to the plane of vibration at its center, and
+approaches infinity as the angle theta approaches the limit of Pi
+divided by two. Therefore, by shifting the axis of rotation or the plane
+of vibration thus making theta vary between the limits of zero and Pi
+divided by two...."
+
+He was interrupted by Dorothy, who, mortified by her thoughtlessness in
+getting him started, had sprung up and seized him by the arm.
+
+"Sit down, Dicky!" she implored. "Sit down, you're rocking the boat!
+Save your mathematics for Martin. Don't you know that I could never find
+out why 'x' was equal to 'y' or to anything else in algebra?"
+
+She led him back to his chair, where he drew her down to a seat on the
+arm beside him.
+
+"Whom do you love?" she whispered gayly in his ear.
+
+After a time she freed herself.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"I haven't practised today. Don't you want me to play for you a little?"
+
+"Fine business, Dottie. When you play a violin, it talks."
+
+She took down her violin and played; first his favorites, crashing
+selections from operas and solos by the great masters, abounding in
+harmonies on two strings. Then she changed to reveries and soft,
+plaintive melodies. Seaton listened with profound enjoyment. Under the
+spell of the music he relaxed, pushed out the footrest of the chair, and
+lay back at ease, smoking dreamily. The cigar finished and his hands at
+rest, his eyes closed of themselves. The music, now a crooning lullaby,
+grew softer and slower, until his deep and regular breathing showed that
+he was sound asleep. She stopped playing and sat watching him intently,
+her violin in readiness to play again, if he should show the least sign
+of waking, but there was no such sign. Freed from the tyranny of the
+mighty brain which had been driving it so unmercifully, his body was
+making up for many hours of lost sleep.
+
+Assured that he was really asleep, Dorothy tip-toed to her father's
+study and quietly went in.
+
+"Daddy, Dick is asleep out there in the chair. What shall we do with
+him?"
+
+"Good work, Dottie Dimple. I heard you playing him to sleep--you almost
+put me to sleep as well. I'll get a blanket and we'll put him to bed
+right where he is."
+
+"Dear old Dad," she said softly, sitting on the arm of his chair and
+rubbing her cheek against his. "You always did understand, didn't you?"
+
+"I try to, Kitten," he answered, pulling her ear. "Seaton is too good a
+man to see go to pieces when it can be prevented. That is why I
+signalled you to keep the talk off the company and his work. One of the
+best lawyers I ever knew, a real genius, went to pieces that same way.
+He was on a big, almost an impossible, case. He couldn't think of
+anything else, didn't eat or sleep much for months. He won the case, but
+it broke him. But he wasn't in love with a big, red-headed beauty of a
+girl, and so didn't have her to fiddle him to sleep.
+
+"Well, I'll go get the blanket," he concluded, with a sudden change in
+his tone.
+
+In a few moments he returned and they went into the living-room
+together. Seaton lay in exactly the same position, only the regular
+lifting of his powerful chest showing that he was alive.
+
+"I think we had better...."
+
+"Sh ... sh," interrupted the girl in an intense whisper. "You'll wake
+him up, Daddy."
+
+"Bosh! You couldn't wake him up with a club. His own name might rouse
+him, particularly if you said it; no other ordinary sound would. I
+started to say that I think we had better put him to bed on the
+davenport. He would be more comfortable."
+
+"But that would surely wake him. And he's so big...."
+
+"Oh, no, it wouldn't, unless I drop him on the floor. And he doesn't
+weigh much over two hundred, does he?"
+
+"About ten or eleven pounds."
+
+"Even though I am a lawyer, and old and decrepit, I can still handle
+that much."
+
+With Dorothy anxiously watching the proceeding and trying to help,
+Vaneman picked Seaton up out of the chair, with some effort, and carried
+him across the room. The sleeping man muttered as if in protest at being
+disturbed, but made no other sign of consciousness. The lawyer then
+calmly removed Seaton's shoes and collar, while the girl arranged
+pillows under his head and tucked the blanket around him. Vaneman bent a
+quizzical glance upon his daughter, under which a flaming blush spread
+from her throat to her hair.
+
+"Well," she said, defiantly, "I'm going to, anyway."
+
+"My dear, of course you are. If you didn't, I would disown you."
+
+As her father turned away, Dorothy knelt beside her lover and pressed
+her lips tightly to his.
+
+"Good night, sweetheart," she murmured.
+
+"'Night," he muttered in his sleep, as his lips responded faintly to her
+caress.
+
+Vaneman waited for his daughter, and when she appeared, the blush again
+suffusing her face, he put his arm around her.
+
+"Dorothy," he said at the door of her room, using her full name, a very
+unusual thing for him, "the father of such a girl as you are hates to
+lose her, but I advise you to stick to that boy. Believe in him and
+trust him, no matter what happens. He is a real man."
+
+"I know it, Dad ... thank you. I had a touch of the blues today, but I
+never will again. I think more of his little finger than I do of all the
+other men I ever knew, put together. But how do you know him so well? I
+know him, of course, but that's different."
+
+"I have various ways of getting information. I know Dick Seaton better
+than you do--better than he knows himself. I have known all about every
+man who ever looked at you twice. I have been afraid once or twice that
+I would have to take a hand, but you saw them right, just as you see
+Seaton right. For some time I have been afraid of the thought of your
+marrying, the young men in your social set are such a hopeless lot, but
+I am not any more. When I hand my little girl over to her husband next
+October I can be really happy with you, instead of anxious for you.
+That's how well I know Richard Seaton.... Well, good night, daughter
+mine."
+
+"Good night, Daddy dear," she replied, throwing her arms around his
+neck. "I have the finest Dad a girl ever had, and the finest ... boy.
+Good night."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It was three o'clock the following afternoon when Seaton appeared in the
+laboratory. His long rest had removed all the signs of overwork and he
+was his alert, vigorous self, but when Crane saw him and called out a
+cheery greeting he returned it with a sheepish smile.
+
+"Don't say anything, Martin--I'm thinking it all, and then some. I made
+a regular fool of myself last night. Went to sleep in a chair and slept
+seventeen hours without a break. I never felt so cheap in my life."
+
+"You were worn out, Dick, and you know it. That sleep put you on your
+feet again, and I hope you will have sense enough to take care of
+yourself after this. I warn you now, Dick, that if you start any more of
+that midnight work I will simply call Dorothy over here and have her
+take charge of you."
+
+"That's it, Mart, rub it in. Don't you see that I am flat on my back,
+with all four paws in the air? But I'm going to sleep every night. I
+promised Dottie to go to bed not later than twelve, if I have to quit
+right in the middle of an idea, and I told her that I was coming out to
+see her every other evening and every Sunday. But here's the dope. I've
+got that missing factor in my theory--got it while I was eating
+breakfast this afternoon."
+
+"If you had eaten and slept regularly here and kept yourself fit you
+would have seen it before."
+
+"Yes, I guess that's right, too. If I miss a meal or a sleep from now on
+I want you to sand-bag me. But never mind that. Here's the explanation.
+We doped out before, you know, that the force is something like
+magnetism, and is generated when the coil causes the electrons of this
+specially-treated copper to vibrate in parallel planes. The knotty point
+was what could be the effect of a weak electric current in liberating
+the power. I've got it! It shifts the plane of vibration of the
+electrons!"
+
+"It is impossible to shift that plane, Dick. It is fixed by physical
+state, just as speed is fixed by temperature."
+
+"No, it isn't. That is, it usually is, but in this case it may be
+shifted. Here's the mathematical proof."
+
+So saying, Seaton went over to the drafting table, tacked down a huge
+sheet of paper, and sketched rapidly, explaining as he drew. Soon the
+two men were engaged in a profound mathematical argument. Sheet after
+sheet of paper was filled with equations and calculations, and the table
+was covered with reference books. After two hours of intense study and
+hot discussion Crane's face took on a look of dawning comprehension,
+which changed to amazement and then to joy. For the first time in
+Seaton's long acquaintance with him, his habitual calm was broken.
+
+"By George!" he cried, shaking Seaton's hand in both of his. "I think
+you have it! But how under the sun did you get the idea? That calculus
+isn't in any of the books. Where did you get it? Dick, you're a wonder!"
+
+"I don't know how I got the idea, it merely came to me. But that Math is
+right--it's _got_ to be right, no other conclusion is possible. Now, if
+that calc. is right, and I know it is, do you see how narrow the
+permissible limits of shifting are? Look at equation 236. Believe me, I
+sure was lucky, that day in the Bureau. It's a wonder I didn't blow up
+the whole works. Suppose I hadn't been working with a storage cell that
+gave only four amperes at two volts? That's unusually low, you know, for
+that kind of work."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Crane carefully studied the equation referred to and figured for a
+moment.
+
+"In that case the limit would be exactly eight watts. Anything above
+that means instant decomposition?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+Crane whistled, a long, low whistle.
+
+"And that bath weighed forty pounds--enough to vaporize the whole
+planet. Dick, it cannot be possible."
+
+"It doesn't seem that way, but it is. It certainly makes me turn cold
+all over, though, to think of what might have happened. You know now why
+I wouldn't touch the solution again until I had this stuff worked out?"
+
+"I certainly do. You should be even more afraid of it now. I don't mind
+nitroglycerin or T.N.T., but anything like that is merely a child's
+plaything compared to this. Perhaps we had better drop it?"
+
+"Not in seven thousand years. The mere fact that I was so lucky at first
+proves that Fate intended this thing to be my oyster. However, I'll not
+tempt the old lady any farther. I'm going to start with one millionth of
+a volt, and will use a piece of copper visible only under a microscope.
+But there's absolutely no danger, now that we know what it is. I can
+make it eat out of my hand. Look at this equation here, though. That
+being true, it looks as though you could get the same explosive effect
+by taking a piece of copper which had once been partially decomposed and
+subjecting it to some force, say an extremely heavy current. Again under
+the influence of the coil, a small current would explode it, wouldn't
+it?"
+
+"It looks that way, from those figures."
+
+"Say, wouldn't that make some bullet? Unstabilize a piece of copper in
+that way and put it inside a rifle bullet, arranged to make a short
+circuit on impact. By making the piece of copper barely visible you
+could have the explosive effect of only a few sticks of dynamite--a
+piece the size of a pea would obliterate New York City. But that's a
+long way from our flying-machine."
+
+"Perhaps not so far as you think. When we explore new worlds it might be
+a good idea to have a liberal supply of such ammunition, of various
+weights, for emergencies."
+
+"It might, at that. Here's another point in equation 249. Suppose the
+unstabilized copper were treated with a very weak current, not strong
+enough to explode it? A sort of borderline condition? The energy would
+be liberated, apparently, but in an entirely new way. Wonder what would
+happen? I can't see from the theory--have to work it out. And here's
+another somewhat similar condition, right here, that will need
+investigating. I've sure got a lot of experimental work ahead of me
+before I'll know anything. How're things going with you?"
+
+"I have the drawings and blue-prints of the ship itself done, and
+working sketches of the commercial power-plant. I am working now on the
+details, such as navigating instruments, food, water, and air supplies,
+special motors, and all of the hundred and one little things that must
+be taken into consideration. Then, as soon as you get the power under
+control, we will have only to sketch in the details of the power-plant
+and its supports before we can begin construction."
+
+"Fine, Mart, that's great. Well, let's get busy!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+Steel Liberates Energy--Unexpectedly
+
+
+DuQuesne was in his laboratory, poring over an abstruse article in a
+foreign journal of science, when Scott came breezily in with a newspaper
+in his hand, across the front page of which stretched great headlines.
+
+"Hello, Blackie!" he called. "Come down to earth and listen to this tale
+of mystery from that world-renowned fount of exactitude and authority,
+the _Washington Clarion_. Some miscreant has piled up and touched off a
+few thousand tons of T.N.T. and picric acid up in the hills. Read about
+it, it's good."
+
+DuQuesne read:
+
+
+     MYSTERIOUS EXPLOSION!
+
+     MOUNTAIN VILLAGE WIPED OUT OF EXISTENCE!
+     TWO HUNDRED DEAD, NONE INJURED!
+
+     FORCE FELT ALL OVER WORLD. CAUSE UNKNOWN.
+     SCIENTISTS BAFFLED.
+
+     HARPER'S FERRY. March 26.--At 10: 23 A.M. today, the village of
+     Bankerville, about thirty miles north of this place, was totally
+     destroyed by an explosion of such terrific violence that
+     seismographs all over the world recorded the shock, and that
+     windows were shattered even in this city. A thick pall of dust and
+     smoke was observed in the sky and parties set out immediately. They
+     found, instead of the little mountain village, nothing except an
+     immense, crater-like hole in the ground, some two miles in diameter
+     and variously estimated at from two to three thousand feet deep. No
+     survivors have been found, no bodies have been recovered. The
+     entire village, with its two hundred inhabitants, has been wiped
+     out of existence. Not so much as a splinter of wood or a fragment
+     of brick from any of the houses can be found. Scientists are unable
+     to account for the terrific force of the explosion, which far
+     exceeded that of the most violent explosive known.
+
+"Hm ... m. That sounds reasonable, doesn't it?" asked DuQuesne,
+sarcastically, as he finished reading.
+
+"It sure does," replied Scott, grinning. "What'd'you suppose it was?
+Think the reporter heard a tire blow out on Pennsylvania Avenue?"
+
+"Perhaps. Nothing to it, anyway," as he turned back to his work.
+
+As soon as the visitor had gone a sneering smile spread over DuQuesne's
+face and he picked up his telephone.
+
+"The fool did it. That will cure him of sucking eggs!" he muttered.
+"Operator? DuQuesne speaking. I am expecting a call this afternoon.
+Please ask him to call me at my house.... Thank you."
+
+"Fred," he called to his helper, "if anyone wants me, tell them that I
+have gone home."
+
+He left the building and stepped into his car. In less than half an hour
+he arrived at his house on Park Road, overlooking beautiful Rock Creek
+Park. Here he lived alone save for an old colored couple who were his
+servants.
+
+In the busiest part of the afternoon Chambers rushed unannounced into
+Brookings' private office. His face was white as chalk.
+
+"Read that, Mr. Brookings!" he gasped, thrusting the _Clarion_ extra
+into his hand.
+
+Brookings read the news of the explosion, then looked at his chief
+chemist, his face turning gray.
+
+"Yes, sir, that was our laboratory," said Chambers, dully.
+
+"The fool! Didn't you tell him to work with small quantities?"
+
+"I did. He said not to worry, that he was taking no chances, that he
+would never have more than a gram of copper on hand at once in the whole
+laboratory."
+
+"Well ... I'll ... be ... damned!" Slowly turning to the telephone,
+Brookings called a number and asked for Doctor DuQuesne, then called
+another.
+
+"Brookings speaking. I would like to see you this afternoon. Will you be
+at home?... I'll be there in about an hour. Good bye."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+When Brookings arrived he was shown into DuQuesne's study. The two men
+shook hands perfunctorily and sat down, the scientist waiting for the
+other to speak.
+
+"Well, DuQuesne, you were right. Our man couldn't handle it. But of
+course you didn't mean the terms you mentioned before?"
+
+DuQuesne's lips smiled; a hard, cold smile.
+
+"You know what I said, Brookings. Those terms are now doubled, twenty
+thousand and ten million. Nothing else goes."
+
+"I expected it, since you never back down. The Corporation expects to
+pay for its mistakes. We accept your terms and I have contracts here for
+your services as research director, at a salary of two hundred and forty
+thousand dollars per annum, with the bonus and royalties you demand."
+
+DuQuesne glanced over the documents and thrust them into his pocket.
+
+"I'll go over these with my attorney to-night, and mail one back to you
+if he approves the contract. In the meantime, we may as well get down to
+business."
+
+"What would you suggest?" asked Brookings.
+
+"You people stole the solution, I see...."
+
+"Don't use such harsh language, Doctor, it's...."
+
+"Why not? I'm for direct action, first, last and all the time. This
+thing is too important to permit of mincing words or actions, it's a
+waste of time. Have you the solution here?"
+
+"Yes, here it is," drawing the bottle from his pocket.
+
+"Where's the rest of it?" asked DuQuesne as he noted the size of the
+bottle.
+
+"All that we found is here, except about a teaspoonful which the expert
+had to work on," replied Brookings. "We didn't get it all, only half of
+it. The rest of it was diluted with water, so that it wouldn't be
+missed. After we get started, if you find it works out satisfactorily,
+we can procure the rest of it. That will certainly cause a disturbance,
+but it may be necessary...."
+
+"Half of it!" interrupted DuQuesne. "You haven't one-twentieth of it
+here. When I saw it in the Bureau, Seaton had about five hundred
+milliliters--over a pint--of it. I wonder if you're double-crossing me
+again?"
+
+"No, you're not," he continued, paying no attention to the other's
+protestations of innocence. "You're paying me too much to want to block
+me now. The crook you sent out to get the stuff turned in only this
+much. Do you suppose he is holding out on us?"
+
+"No. You know Perkins and his methods."
+
+"He missed the main bottle, then. That's where your methods make me
+tired. When I want anything done, I believe in doing it myself, then I
+know it's done right. As to what I suggest, that's easy. I will take
+three or four of Perkins' gunmen tonight. We'll go out there and raid
+the place. We'll shoot Seaton and anybody else who gets in the way.
+We'll dynamite the safe and take their solution, plans, notes, money,
+and anything else we want."
+
+"No, no, Doctor, that's too crude altogether. If we have to do that, let
+it be only as a last resort."
+
+"I say do it first, then we know we will get results. I tell you I'm
+afraid of pussyfooting and gumshoeing around Seaton and Crane. I used to
+think that Seaton was easy, but he seems to have developed greatly in
+the last few weeks, and Crane never was anybody's fool. Together they
+make a combination hard to beat. Brute force, applied without warning,
+is our best bet, and there's no danger, you know that. We've got away
+clean with lots worse stuff."
+
+"It's always dangerous, and we could wink at such tactics only after
+everything else has failed. Why not work it out from this solution we
+have, and then quietly get the rest of it? After we have it worked out,
+Seaton might get into an accident on his motorcycle, and we could prove
+by the state of development of our plans that we discovered it long
+ago."
+
+"Because developing the stuff is highly dangerous, as you have found
+out. Even Seaton wouldn't have been alive now if he hadn't had a lot of
+luck at the start. Then, too, it would take too much time. Seaton has
+already developed it--you see, I haven't been asleep and I know what he
+has done, just as well as you do--and why should we go through all that
+slow and dangerous experimental work when we can get their notes and
+plans as well as not? There is bound to be trouble anyway when we steal
+all their solution, even though they haven't missed this little bit of
+it yet, and it might as well come now as any other time. The Corporation
+is amply protected, and I am still a Government chemist. Nobody even
+suspects that I am in on this deal. I will never see you except after
+hours and in private, and will never come near your offices. We will be
+so cautious that, even if anyone should get suspicious, they can't
+possibly link us together, and until they do link us together, we are
+all safe. No, Brookings, a raid in force is the only sure and safe way.
+What is more natural than a burglary of a rich man's house? It will be a
+simple affair. The police will stir around for a few days, then it will
+all be forgotten and we can go ahead. Nobody will suspect anything
+except Crane, if he is alive, and he won't be able to do anything."
+
+So the argument raged. Brookings was convinced that DuQuesne was right
+in wanting to get possession of all the solution, and also of the
+working notes and plans, but would not agree to the means suggested,
+holding out for quieter and more devious, but less actionable methods.
+Finally he ended the argument with a flat refusal to countenance the
+raid, and the scientist was forced to yield, although he declared that
+they would have to use his methods in the end, and that it would save
+time, money, and perhaps lives, if they were used first. Brookings then
+took from his pocket his wireless and called Perkins. He told him of the
+larger bottle of solution, instructing him to secure it and to bring
+back all plans, notes, and other material he could find which in any way
+pertained to the matter in hand. Then, after promising DuQuesne to keep
+him informed of developments, and giving him an instrument similar to
+the one he himself carried, Brookings took his leave.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Seaton had worked from early morning until late at night, but had
+rigorously kept his promise to Dorothy. He had slept seven or eight
+hours every night and had called upon her regularly, returning from the
+visits with ever-keener zest for his work.
+
+Late in the afternoon, upon the day of the explosion, Seaton stepped
+into Crane's shop with a mass of notes in his hand.
+
+"Well, Mart, I've got it--some of it, at least. The power is just what
+we figured it, so immensely large as to be beyond belief. I have found:
+
+"First: That it is a practically irresistible _pull_ along the axis of
+the treated wire or bar. It is apparently focused at infinity, as
+near-by objects are not affected.
+
+"Second: I have studied two of the border-line regions of current we
+discussed. I have found that in one the power is liberated as a similar
+attractive force but is focused upon the first object in line with the
+axis of the bar. As long as the current is applied it remains focused
+upon that object, no matter what comes between. In the second
+border-line condition the power is liberated as a terrific repulsion.
+
+"Third: That the copper is completely transformed into available energy,
+there being no heat whatever liberated.
+
+"Fourth: Most important of all, that the X acts only as a catalyst for
+the copper and is not itself consumed, so that an infinitesimally thin
+coating is all that is required."
+
+"You certainly have found out a great deal about it," replied Crane, who
+had been listening with the closest attention, a look of admiration upon
+his face. "You have all the essential facts right there. Now we can go
+ahead and put in the details which will finish up the plans completely.
+Also, one of those points solves my hardest problem, that of getting
+back to the earth after we lose sight of it. We can make a small bar in
+that border-line condition and focus it upon the earth, and we can use
+that repulsive property to ward off any meteorites which may come too
+close to us."
+
+"That's right. I never thought of using those points for anything. I
+found them out incidentally, and merely mentioned them as interesting
+facts. I have a model of the main bar built, though, that will lift me
+into the air and pull me all around. Want to see it work?"
+
+"I certainly do."
+
+As they were going out to the landing field Shiro called to them and
+they turned back to the house, learning that Dorothy and her father had
+just arrived.
+
+"Hello, boys!" Dorothy said, bestowing her radiant smile upon them both
+as Seaton seized her hand. "Dad and I came out to see that you were
+taking care of yourselves, and to see what you are doing. Are visitors
+allowed?"
+
+"No," replied Seaton promptly. "All visitors are barred. Members of the
+firm and members of the family, however, are not classed as visitors."
+
+"You came at the right time," said Crane, smiling. "Dick has just
+finished a model, and was about to demonstrate it to me when you
+arrived. Come with us and watch the...."
+
+"I object," interrupted Seaton. "It is a highly undignified performance
+as yet, and...."
+
+"Objection overruled," interposed the lawyer, decisively. "You are too
+young and impetuous to have any dignity; therefore, any performance not
+undignified would be impossible, _a priori_. The demonstration will
+proceed."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Laughing merrily, the four made their way to the testing shed, in front
+of which Seaton donned a heavy leather harness, buckled about his
+shoulders, body and legs; to which were attached numerous handles,
+switches, boxes and other pieces of apparatus. He snapped the switch
+which started the Tesla coil in the shed and pressed a button on an
+instrument in his hand, attached to his harness by a small steel cable.
+Instantly there was a creak of straining leather and he shot vertically
+into the air for perhaps a hundred feet, where he stopped and remained
+motionless for a few moments. Then the watchers saw him point his arm
+and dart in the direction in which he pointed. By merely pointing,
+apparently, he changed his direction at will; going up and down, forward
+and backward, describing circles and loops and figures of eight. After a
+few minutes of this display he descended, slowing up abruptly as he
+neared the ground and making an easy landing.
+
+"There, oh beauteous lady and esteemed sirs," he began, with a low bow
+and a sweeping flourish--when there was a snap, and he was jerked
+sidewise off his feet. In bowing, his cumbersome harness had pressed the
+controlling switch and the instrument he held in his hand, which
+contained the power-plant, or bar, had torn itself loose from its
+buckle. Instead of being within easy reach of his hand it was over six
+feet away, and was dragging him helplessly after it, straight toward the
+high stone wall! But only momentarily was he helpless, his keen mind
+discovering a way out of the predicament even as he managed to scramble
+to his feet in spite of the rapid pace. Throwing his body sidewise and
+reaching out his long arm as far as possible toward the bar, he
+succeeded in swinging it around so that he was running back toward the
+party and the spacious landing field. Dorothy and her father were
+standing motionless, staring at Seaton; the former with terror in her
+eyes, the latter in blank amazement. Crane had darted to the switch
+controlling the coil, and was reaching for it when Seaton passed them.
+
+"Don't touch that switch!" he yelled. "I'll catch that thing yet!"
+
+At this evidence that Seaton still thought himself master of the
+situation, Crane began to laugh, though he still kept his hand near the
+controlling switch. Dorothy, relieved of her fear for her lover's
+safety, could not help but join him, so ludicrous were Seaton's antics.
+The bar was straight out in front of him, about five feet above the
+ground, going somewhat faster than a man could run. It turned now to the
+right, now to the left, as his weight was thrown to one side or the
+other. Seaton, dragged along like a small boy trying to hold a runaway
+calf by the tail, was covering the ground in prodigious leaps and
+bounds; at the same time pulling himself up, hand over hand, to the bar
+in front of him. He soon reached it, seized it in both hands, again
+darted into the air, and descended lightly near the others, who were
+rocking with laughter.
+
+"I said it would be undignified," chuckled Seaton, rather short of
+breath, "but I didn't know just how much so it was going to be."
+
+Dorothy tucked her fingers into his hand.
+
+"Are you hurt anywhere, Dick?"
+
+"Not a bit. He led me a great chase, though."
+
+"I was scared to death until you told Martin to let the switch alone.
+But it was funny then! I hadn't noticed your resemblance to a
+jumping-jack before. Won't you do it again sometime and let us take a
+movie of it?"
+
+"That was as good as any show in town, Dick," said the lawyer, wiping
+his eyes, "but you must be more careful. Next time, it might not be
+funny at all."
+
+"There will be no next time for this rig," replied Seaton. "This is
+merely to show us that our ideas are all right. The next trip will be in
+a full-scale, completely-equipped boat."
+
+"It was perfectly wonderful," declared Dorothy. "I know this first
+flight of yours will be a turning-point or something in history. I don't
+pretend to understand how you did it--the sight of you standing still up
+there in the air made me wonder if I really were awake, even though I
+knew what to expect--but we wouldn't have missed it for worlds, would
+we, Dad?"
+
+"No. I am very glad that we saw the first demonstration. The world has
+never before seen anything like it, and you two men will rank as two of
+the greatest discoverers."
+
+"Seaton will, you mean," replied Crane, uncomfortably. "You know I
+didn't have anything to do with it."
+
+"It's nearly all yours," denied Seaton. "Without your ideas I would have
+lost myself in space in my first attempt."
+
+"You are both wrong," said Vaneman. "You, Martin, haven't enough
+imagination; and you, Dick, have altogether too much, for either of you
+to have done this alone. The honor will be divided equally between you."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+He turned to Crane as Dorothy and Seaton set out toward the house.
+
+"What are you going to do with it, commercially? Dick, of course, hasn't
+thought of anything except this space-car--equally of course, you have?"
+
+"Yes. Knowing the general nature of the power and confident that Dick
+would control it, I have already drawn up sketches for a power-plant
+installation of five hundred thousand electrical horsepower, which will
+enable us to sell power for less than one-tenth of a cent per
+kilowatt-hour and still return twenty percent annual dividends. However,
+the power-plant comes after the flyer."
+
+"Why? Why not build the power-plant first, and take the pleasure trip
+afterward?"
+
+"There are several reasons. The principal one is that Dick and I would
+rather be off exploring new worlds, while the other members of the
+Seaton-Crane Company, Engineers, build the power-plant."
+
+During the talk the men had reached the house, into which the others had
+disappeared some time before. Upon Crane's invitation, Vaneman and his
+daughter stayed to dinner, and Dorothy played for awhile upon Crane's
+wonderful violin. The rest of the evening was spent in animated
+discussion of the realization of Seaton's dreams of flying without wings
+and beyond the supporting atmosphere. Seaton and Crane did their best to
+explain to the non-technical visitors how such flight was possible.
+
+"Well, I am beginning to understand it a little," said Dorothy finally.
+"In plain language, it is like a big magnet or something, but different.
+Is that it?"
+
+"That's it exactly," Seaton assured her.
+
+"What are you going to call it? It isn't like anything else that ever
+was. Already this evening you have called it a bus, a boat, a kite, a
+star-hound, a wagon, an aerial flivver, a sky-chariot, a space-eating
+wampus, and I don't know what else. Even Martin has called it a vehicle,
+a ship, a bird, and a shell. What is its real name?"
+
+"I don't know. It hasn't got any that I know of. What would you suggest,
+Dottie?"
+
+"I don't know what general name should be applied to them, but for this
+one there is only one possible name, 'The Skylark.'"
+
+"Exactly right, Dorothy," said Crane.
+
+"Fine!" cried Seaton. "And you shall christen it, Dottie, with a big
+Florence flask full of absolute vacuum. 'I christen you "The Skylark."
+BANG!'"
+
+As the guests were leaving, at a late hour, Vaneman said:
+
+"Oh, yes. I bought an extra _Clarion_ as we came out. It tells a wild
+tale of an explosion so violent that science cannot explain it. I don't
+suppose it is true, but it may make interesting reading for you two
+scientific sharps. Good night."
+
+Seaton accompanied Dorothy to the car, bidding her a more intimate
+farewell on the way. When he returned, Crane, with an unusual expression
+of concern on his face, handed him the paper without a word.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"What's up, old man? Something in it?" he asked, as he took the paper.
+He fell silent as he read the first words, and after he had read the
+entire article he said slowly:
+
+"True, beyond a doubt. Even a _Clarion_ reporter couldn't imagine that.
+It's all intra-atomic energy, all right--some poor devil trying our
+stunt without my horseshoe in his pocket."
+
+"Think, Dick! Something is wrong somewhere. You know that two people did
+not discover X at the same time. The answer is that somebody stole your
+idea, but the idea is worthless without the X. You say that the stuff is
+extremely rare--where did they get it?"
+
+"That's right, Mart. I never thought of that. The stuff _is_ extremely
+rare. I am supposed to know something about rare metals, and I never
+heard of it before--there isn't even a gap in the Periodic System in
+which it belongs. I would bet a hat that we have every milligram known
+to the world at present."
+
+"Well, then," said the practical Crane. "We had better see whether or
+not we have all we started with."
+
+Asking Shiro to bring the large bottle from the vault, he opened the
+living-room safe and brought forth the small vial. The large bottle was
+still nearly full, the seal upon it unbroken. The vial was apparently
+exactly as Seaton had left it after he had made his bars.
+
+"Our stuff seems to be all there," said Crane. "It looks as though
+someone else has discovered it also."
+
+"I don't believe it," said Seaton, their positions now reversed. "It's
+altogether too rare."
+
+He scanned both bottles narrowly.
+
+"I can tell by taking the densities," he added, and ran up to the
+laboratory, returning with a Westphal balance in his hand. After testing
+both solutions he said slowly:
+
+"Well, the mystery is solved. The large bottle has a specific gravity of
+1.80, as it had when I prepared it; that in the vial reads only 1.41.
+Somebody has burglarized this safe and taken almost half of the
+solution, filling the vial up with colored water. The stuff is so strong
+that I probably never would have noticed the difference."
+
+"But who could it have been?"
+
+"Search me! But it's nothing to worry about now, anyway, because whoever
+it was is gone where he'll never do it again. He's taken the solution
+with him, too, so that nobody else can get it."
+
+"I wish I were sure of that, Dick. The man who tried to do the research
+work is undoubtedly gone--but who is back of him?"
+
+"Nobody, probably. Who would want to be?"
+
+"To borrow your own phrase, Dick, Scott 'chirped it' when he called you
+'Nobody Holme.' For a man with your brains you have the least sense of
+anybody I know. You know that this thing is worth, as a power project
+alone, thousands of millions of dollars, and that there are dozens of
+big concerns who would cheerfully put us both out of the way for a
+thousandth of that amount. The question is not to find one concern who
+might be backing a thing like that, but to pick out the one who is
+backing it."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+After thinking deeply for a few moments he went on:
+
+"The idea was taken from your demonstration in the Bureau, either by an
+eye-witness or by someone who heard about it afterward, probably the
+former. Even though it failed, one man saw the possibilities. Who was
+that man? Who was there?"
+
+"Oh, a lot of the fellows were there. Scott, Smith, Penfield, DuQuesne,
+Roberts--quite a bunch of them. Let's see--Scott hasn't brains enough to
+do anything. Smith doesn't know anything about anything except amines.
+Penfield is a pure scientist, who wouldn't even quote an authority
+without asking permission. DuQuesne is ... hm-m ... DuQuesne ... he ...
+I...."
+
+"Yes. DuQuesne. I have heard of him. He's the big black fellow, about
+your own size? He has the brains, the ability, and the inclination, has
+he not?"
+
+"Well, I wouldn't want to say that. I don't know him very well, and
+personal dislike is no ground at all for suspicion, you know."
+
+"Enough to warrant investigation. Is there anyone else who might have
+reasoned it out as you did, and as DuQuesne possibly could?"
+
+"Not that I remember. But we can count DuQuesne out, anyway, because he
+called me up this afternoon about some notes on gallium; so he is still
+in the Bureau. Besides, he wouldn't let anybody else investigate it if
+he got it. He would do it himself, and I don't think he would have blown
+himself up. I never did like him very well personally--he's such a cold,
+inhuman son of a fish--but you've got to hand it to him for ability.
+He's probably the best man in the world today on that kind of thing."
+
+"No, I do not think that we will count him out yet. He may have had
+nothing to do with it, but we will have him investigated nevertheless,
+and will guard against future visitors here."
+
+Turning to the telephone, he called the private number of a well-known
+detective.
+
+"Prescott? Crane speaking. Sorry to get you out of bed, but I should
+like to have a complete report upon Dr. Marc C. DuQuesne, of the Rare
+Metals Laboratory, as soon as possible. Every detail for the last two
+weeks, every move and every thought if possible. Please keep a good man
+on him until further notice.... I wish you would send two or three
+guards out here right away, to-night; men you can trust and who will
+stay awake.... Thanks. Good night."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+Direct Action
+
+
+Seaton and Crane spent some time developing the object-compass. Crane
+made a number of these instruments, mounted in gymbals, so that the
+delicate needles were free to turn in any direction whatever. They were
+mounted upon jeweled bearings, but bearings made of such great strength,
+that Seaton protested.
+
+"What's the use, Mart? You don't expect a watch to be treated like a
+stone-crusher. That needle weighs less than half a gram. Why mount it as
+though it weighed twenty pounds?"
+
+"To be safe. Remember the acceleration the Lark will be capable of, and
+also that on some other worlds, which we hope to visit, this needle will
+weigh more than it does here."
+
+"That's right, Mart, I never thought of that. Anyway, we can't be too
+safe to suit me."
+
+When the compasses were done and the power through them had been
+adjusted to one-thousandth of a watt, the lowest they could maintain
+with accuracy, they focused each instrument upon one of a set of most
+carefully weighed glass beads, ranging in size from a pin-head up to a
+large marble, and had the beads taken across the country by Shiro, in
+order to test the sensitiveness and accuracy of the new instruments. The
+first test was made at a distance of one hundred miles, the last at
+nearly three thousand. They found, as they had expected, that from the
+weight of the object and the time it took the needle to come to rest
+after being displaced from its line by a gentle tap of the finger, they
+could easily calculate the distance from the compass to the object. This
+fact pleased Crane immensely, as it gave him a sure means of navigation
+in space. The only objection to its use in measuring earthly distances
+was its extreme delicacy, the needle focused upon the smallest bead in
+the lot at a distance of three thousand miles coming to rest in little
+more than one second.
+
+The question of navigation solved, the two next devoted themselves to
+perfecting the "X-plosive bullet," as Seaton called it. From his notes
+and equations Seaton calculated the weight of copper necessary to exert
+the explosive force of one pound of nitro-glycerin, and weighed out, on
+the most delicate assay-balance made, various fractions and multiples of
+this amount of the treated copper, while Crane fitted up the bullets of
+automatic-pistol cartridges to receive the charges and to explode them
+on impact.
+
+They placed their blueprints and working notes in the safe, as usual,
+taking with them only those notes dealing with the object-compass and
+the X-plosive bullet, upon which they were still working. No one except
+Shiro knew that the original tracings, from which the blue-prints had
+been made, and their final, classified notes were always kept in the
+vault. They cautioned him and the three guards to keep a close watch
+until they returned. Then they set out in the biplane, to try out the
+new weapon in a lonely place where the exploding shells could do no
+damage.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+They found that the X-plosive came fully up to expectations. The
+smallest charge they had prepared, fired by Crane at a great stump a
+full hundred yards away from the bare, flat-topped knoll that had
+afforded them a landing-place, tore it bodily from the ground and
+reduced it to splinters, while the force of the explosion made the two
+men stagger.
+
+"She sure is big medicine!" laughed Seaton. "Wonder what a real one will
+do?" and drawing his pistol, he inserted a cartridge carrying a much
+heavier charge.
+
+"Better be careful with the big ones," cautioned Crane. "What are you
+going to shoot at?"
+
+"That rock over there," pointing to a huge boulder half a mile away
+across the small valley. "Want to bet me a dinner I can't hit it?"
+
+"No. You forget that I saw you win the pistol trophy of the District."
+
+The pistol cracked, and when the bullet reached its destination the
+great stone was obliterated in a vast ball of flame. After a moment
+there was a deafening report--a crash as though the world were falling
+to pieces. Both men were hurled violently backward, stumbling and
+falling flat. Picking themselves up, they looked across the valley at
+the place where the boulder had stood, to see only an immense cloud of
+dust, which slowly blew away, revealing a huge hole in the ground. They
+were silent a moment, awed by the frightful power they had loosed.
+
+"Well, Mart," Seaton broke the silence, "I'll say those one-milligram
+loads are plenty big enough. If that'd been something coming after
+us--whether any possible other-world animal, a foreign battleship, or
+the mythical great sea-serpent himself, it'd be a good Indian now. Yes?
+No?"
+
+"Yes. When we use the heavier charges we must use long-range rifles.
+Have you had enough demonstration or do you want to shoot some more?"
+
+"I've had enough, thanks. That last rock I bounced off of was no pillow,
+I'll tell the world. Besides, it looks as though I'd busted a leg or two
+off of our noble steed with my shot, and we may have to walk back home."
+
+An examination of the plane, which had been moved many feet and almost
+overturned by the force of the explosion, revealed no damage that they
+could not repair on the spot, and dusk saw them speeding through the air
+toward the distant city.
+
+In response to a summons from his chief, Perkins silently appeared in
+Brookings' office, without his usual complacent smile.
+
+"Haven't you done anything yet, after all this time?" demanded the
+magnate. "We're getting tired of this delay."
+
+"I can't help it, Mr. Brookings," replied the subordinate. "They've got
+detectives from Prescott's all over the place. Our best men have been
+trying ever since the day of the explosion, but can't do a thing without
+resorting to violence. I went out there myself and looked them over,
+without being seen. There isn't a man there with a record, and I haven't
+been able so far to get anything on any one of them that we can use as a
+handle."
+
+"No, Prescott's men are hard to do anything with. But can't you...?"
+Brookings paused significantly.
+
+"I was coming to that. I thought one of them might be seen, and I talked
+to him a little, over the phone, but I couldn't talk loud enough without
+consulting you. I mentioned ten, but he held out for twenty-five. Said
+he wouldn't consider it at all, but he wants to quit Prescott and go
+into business for himself."
+
+"Go ahead on twenty-five. We want to get action," said Brookings, as he
+wrote an order on the cashier for twenty-five thousand dollars in
+small-to-medium bills. "That is cheap enough, considering what
+DuQuesne's rough stuff would probably cost. Report tomorrow about four,
+over our private phone--no, I'll come down to the caf�, it's safer."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The place referred to was the Perkins Caf�, a high-class restaurant on
+Pennsylvania Avenue, heavily patronized by the diplomatic, political,
+financial, and sporting circles of upper-class Washington. It was famous
+for its discreet waiters, and for the absolutely private rooms. Many of
+its patrons knew of its unique telephone service, in which each call
+went through such a devious system of relays that any attempt to trace
+it was hopeless; they knew that while "The Perkins" would not knowingly
+lend itself to any violation of law, it was an entirely safe and
+thoroughly satisfactory place in which to conduct business of the most
+secret and confidential character; a place from which one could enjoy
+personal conversation with persons to whom he wished to remain invisible
+and untraceable: a place which had never been known to "leak." For these
+reasons it was really the diplomatic and political center of the
+country, and over its secret wires had gone, in guarded language,
+messages that would have rocked the world had they gone astray. It was
+recognized that the place was occasionally, by its very nature, used for
+illegal purposes, but it was such a political, financial, and diplomatic
+necessity that it carried a "Hands Off" sign. It was never investigated
+by Congress and never raided by the police. Hundreds of telephone calls
+were handled daily. A man would come in, order something served in a
+private room, leave a name at the desk, and say that he was expecting a
+call. There the affair ended. The telephone operators were hand-picked,
+men of very short memories, carefully trained never to look at a face
+and never to remember a name or a number. Although the precaution was
+unnecessary, this shortness of memory was often encouraged by bills of
+various denominations.
+
+No one except Perkins and the heads of the great World Steel Corporation
+knew that the urbane and polished proprietor of the caf� was a criminal
+of the blackest kind, whose liberty and life itself were dependent upon
+the will of the Corporation; or that the restaurant was especially
+planned and maintained as a blind for its underground activities; or
+that Perkins was holding a position which suited him exactly and which
+he would not have given up for wealth or glory--that of being the
+guiding genius who planned nefarious things for the men higher up, and
+saw to it that they were carried out by the men lower down. He was in
+constant personal touch with his superiors, but in order to avoid any
+chance of betrayal he never saw his subordinates personally. Not only
+were they entirely ignorant of his identity, but all possible means of
+their tracing him had been foreseen and guarded against. He called them
+on the telephone, but they never called him. The only possible way in
+which any of his subordinates could get in touch with him was by means
+of the wonderful wireless telephone already referred to, developed by a
+drug-crazed genius who had died shortly after it was perfected. It was a
+tiny instrument, no larger than a watch, but of practically unlimited
+range. The controlling central station of the few instruments in
+existence, from which any instrument could be cut out, changed in tune,
+or totally destroyed at will, was in Perkins' office safe. A man
+intrusted with an unusually important job would receive from an unknown
+source an instrument, with directions sufficient for its use. As soon as
+the job was done he would find, upon again attempting to use the
+telephone, that its interior was so hopelessly wrecked that not even the
+most skilled artisan could reproduce what it had once been.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+At four o'clock Brookings was ushered into the private office of the
+master criminal, who was plainly ill at ease.
+
+"I've got to report another failure, Mr. Brookings. It's nobody's fault,
+just one of those things that couldn't be helped. I handled this myself.
+Our man left the door unlocked and kept the others busy in another room.
+I had just started to work when Crane's Japanese servant, who was
+supposed to be asleep, appeared upon the scene. If I hadn't known
+something about jiu-jutsu myself, he'd have broken my neck. As it was, I
+barely got away, with the Jap and all three guards close behind me...."
+
+"I'm not interested in excuses," broke in the magnate, angrily. "We'll
+have to turn it over to DuQuesne after all unless you get something
+done, and get it done quick. Can't you get to that Jap some way?"
+
+"Certainly I can. I never yet saw the man who couldn't be reached, one
+way or another. I've had 'Silk' Humphreys, the best fixer in the
+business, working on him all day, and he'll be neutral before night. If
+the long green won't quiet him--and I never saw a Jap refuse it yet--a
+lead pipe will. Silk hasn't reported yet, but I expect to hear from him
+any minute now, through our man out there."
+
+As he spoke, the almost inaudible buzzer in his pocket gave a signal.
+
+"There he is now," said Perkins, as he took out his wireless
+instrument. "You might listen in and hear what he has to say."
+
+Brookings took out his own telephone and held it to his ear.
+
+"Hello," Perkins spoke gruffly into the tiny transmitter. "What've you
+got on your chest?"
+
+"Your foot slipped on the Jap," the stranger replied. "He crabbed the
+game right. Slats and the big fellow put all the stuff into the box,
+told us to watch it until they get back tonight--they may be late--then
+went off in Slats' ship to test something--couldn't find out what. Silk
+tackled the yellow boy, and went up to fifty grand, but the Jap couldn't
+see him at all. Silk started to argue, and the Jap didn't do a thing but
+lay him out, cold. This afternoon, while the Jap was out in the grounds,
+three stick-up men jumped him. He bumped one of them off with his hands
+and the others with his gat--one of those big automatics that throw a
+slug like a cannon. None of us knew he had it. That's all, except that I
+am quitting Prescott right now. Anything else I can do for you, whoever
+you are?"
+
+"No. Your job's done."
+
+The conversation closed. Perkins pressed the switch which reduced the
+interior of the spy's wireless instrument to a fused mass of metal, and
+Brookings called DuQuesne on the telephone.
+
+"I would like to talk to you," he said. "Shall I come there or would you
+rather come to my office?"
+
+"I'll come there. They're watching this house. They have one man in
+front and one in back, a couple of detectaphones in my rooms here, and
+have coupled onto this telephone.
+
+"Don't worry," he continued calmly as the other made an exclamation of
+dismay. "Talk ahead as loud as you please--they can't hear you. Do you
+think that those poor, ignorant flat feet can show me anything about
+electricity? I'd shoot a jolt along their wires that would burn their
+ears off if it weren't my cue to act the innocent and absorbed
+scientist. As it is, their instruments are all registering dense
+silence. I am deep in study right now, and can't be disturbed!"
+
+"Can you get out?"
+
+"Certainly. I have that same private entrance down beside the house wall
+and the same tunnel I used before. I'll see you in about fifteen
+minutes."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+In Brookings' office, DuQuesne told of the constant surveillance over
+him.
+
+"They suspect me on general principles, I think," he continued. "They
+are apparently trying to connect me with somebody. I don't think they
+suspect you at all, and they won't unless they get some better methods.
+I have devices fitted up to turn the lights off and on, raise and lower
+the windows, and even cast shadows at certain times. The housekeeper
+knows that when I go to my library after dinner, I have retired to
+study, and that it is as much as anyone's life is worth to disturb me.
+Also, I am well known to be firmly fixed in my habits, so it's easy to
+fool those detectives. Last night I went out and watched them. They hung
+around a couple of hours after my lights went out, then walked off
+together. I can dodge them any time and have all my nights free without
+their ever suspecting anything."
+
+"Are you free tonight?"
+
+"Yes. The time-switches are all set, and as long as I get back before
+daylight, so they can see me get up and go to work, it will be all
+right."
+
+Brookings told him briefly of the failures to secure the solution and
+the plans, of the death of the three men sent to silence Shiro, and of
+all the other developments. DuQuesne listened, his face impassive.
+
+"Well," he said as Brookings ceased. "I thought you would bull it, but
+not quite so badly. But there's no use whining now. I can't use my
+original plan of attack in force, as they are prepared and might be able
+to stand us off until the police could arrive."
+
+He thought deeply for a time, then said, intensely:
+
+"If I go into this thing, Brookings, I am in absolute command.
+Everything goes as I say. Understand?"
+
+"Yes. It's up to you, now."
+
+"All right, I think I've got it. Can you get me a Curtiss biplane in an
+hour, and a man about six feet tall who weighs about a hundred and sixty
+pounds? I want to drive the plane myself, and have the man, dressed in
+full leathers and hood, in the passenger's seat, shot so full of
+chloroform or dope that he will be completely unconscious for at least
+two hours."
+
+"Easy. We can get you any kind of plane you want in an hour, and Perkins
+can find a man of that description who would be glad to have a dream at
+that price. But what's the idea?... Pardon me, I shouldn't have asked
+that," he added, as the saturnine chemist shot him a black look from
+beneath his heavy brows.
+
+Well, within the hour, DuQuesne drove up to a private aviation field and
+found awaiting him a Curtiss biplane, whose attendant jumped into an
+automobile and sped away as he approached. He quickly donned a heavy
+leather suit, similar to the one Seaton always wore in the air, and drew
+the hood over his face. Then, after a searching look at the lean form of
+the unconscious man in the other seat, he was off, the plane climbing
+swiftly under his expert hand. He took a wide circle to the west and
+north.
+
+Soon Shiro and the two guards, hearing the roar of an approaching
+airplane, looked out and saw what they supposed to be Crane's biplane
+coming down with terrific speed in an almost vertical nose-dive, as
+though the driver were in an extremity of haste. Flattening out just in
+time to avert destruction it taxied up the field almost to the house.
+The watchers saw a man recognizable as Seaton by his suit and his
+unmistakable physique stand up and wave both arms frantically, heard him
+shout hoarsely "... all of you ... out here," saw him point to Crane's
+apparently lifeless form and slump down in his seat. All three ran out
+to help the unconscious aviators, but just as they reached the machine
+there were three silenced reports and the three men fell to the ground.
+DuQuesne leaped lightly out of the machine and looked narrowly at the
+bodies at his feet. He saw that the two detectives were dead, but found
+with some chagrin that the Japanese still showed faint signs of life. He
+half drew his pistol to finish the job, but observing that the victim
+was probably fatally wounded he thrust it back into its holster and
+went on into the house. Drawing on rubber gloves he rapidly blew the
+door off the safe with nitro-glycerin and took out everything it
+contained. He set aside a roll of blueprints, numerous notebooks, some
+money and other valuables, and a small vial of solution--but of the
+larger bottle there was no trace. He then ransacked the entire house,
+from cellar to attic, with no better success. So cleverly was the
+entrance to the vault concealed in the basement wall that he failed to
+discover it.
+
+"I might have expected this of Crane," he thought, half aloud, "after
+all the warning that fool Brookings persisted in giving him. This is the
+natural result of his nonsense. The rest of the solution is probably in
+the safest safe-deposit vault in the United States. But I've got their
+plans and notes, and enough solution for the present. I'll get the rest
+of it when I want it--there's more than one way to kill any cat that
+ever lived!"
+
+Returning to the machine, DuQuesne calmly stepped over the bodies of the
+detectives and the unconscious form of the dying Japanese, who was
+uttering an occasional groan. He started the engine and took his seat.
+There was an increasing roar as he opened the throttle, and soon he
+descended upon the field from which he had set out. He noted that there
+was a man in an automobile at some distance from the hangar, evidently
+waiting to take care of the plane and his still unconscious passenger.
+Rapidly resuming his ordinary clothing, he stepped into his automobile
+and was soon back in his own rooms, poring over the blueprints and
+notebooks.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Seaton and Crane both felt that something was wrong when they approached
+the landing field and saw that the landing-lights were not burning, as
+they always were kept lighted whenever the plane was abroad after dark.
+By the dim light of the old moon Crane made a bumpy landing and they
+sprang from their seats and hastened toward the house. As they neared it
+they heard a faint moan and turned toward the sound, Seaton whipping out
+his electric torch with one hand and his automatic pistol with the
+other. At the sight that met their eyes, however, he hastily replaced
+the weapon and bent over Shiro, a touch assuring him that the other two
+were beyond the reach of help. Silently they picked up the injured man
+and carried him gently into his own room, barely glancing at the wrecked
+safe on the way. Seaton applied first-aid treatment to the ghastly wound
+in Shiro's head, which both men supposed to be certainly fatal, while
+Crane called a noted surgeon, asking him to come at once. He then
+telephoned the coroner, the police, and finally Prescott, with whom he
+held a long conversation.
+
+Having done all in their power for the unfortunate man, they stood at
+his bedside, their anger all the more terrible for the fact that it was
+silent. Seaton stood with every muscle tense. He was seething with rage,
+his face purple and his eyes almost emitting sparks, his teeth clenched
+until the muscles of his jaws stood out in bands and lumps. His right
+hand, white-knuckled, gripped the butt of his pistol, while under his
+left the brass rail of the bed slowly bent under the intensity of his
+unconscious muscular effort. Crane stood still, apparently impassive,
+but with his face perfectly white and with every feature stern and cold
+as though cut from marble. Seaton was the first to speak.
+
+"Mart," he gritted, his voice husky with fury, "a man who would leave
+another man alone to die after giving him that, ain't a man--he's a
+thing. If Shiro dies and we can ever find out who did it I'll shoot him
+with the biggest explosive charge I've got. No, I won't either, that'd
+be too sudden. I'll take him apart with my bare hands."
+
+"We will find him, Dick," Crane replied in a level, deadly voice
+entirely unlike his usual tone. "That is one thing money can do. We will
+get him if money, influence, and detectives can do it."
+
+The tension was relieved by the arrival of the surgeon and his two
+nurses, who set to work with the machine-like rapidity and precision of
+their highly-specialized craft. After a few minutes, the work completed,
+the surgeon turned to the two men who had been watching him so intently,
+with a smile upon his clean-shaven face.
+
+"Merely a scalp wound, Mr. Crane," he stated. "He should recover
+consciousness in an hour or so." Then, breaking in upon Seaton's
+exclamation, "It looks much worse than it really is. The bullet glanced
+off the skull instead of penetrating it, stunning him by the force of the
+blow. There are no indications that the brain is affected in any way,
+and while the affected area of the scalp is large, it is a clean wound
+and should heal rapidly. He will probably be up and around in a couple
+of days, and by the time his hair grows again, he will not be able to
+find a scar."
+
+As he took his leave, the police and coroner arrived. After making a
+thorough investigation, in which they learned what had been stolen and
+shrewdly deduced the manner in which the robbery had been accomplished,
+they departed, taking with them the bodies. They were authorized by
+Crane to offer a reward of one million dollars for information leading
+to the arrest and conviction of the murderer. After everyone except the
+nurses had gone, Crane showed them the rooms they were to occupy while
+caring for the wounded man. As the surgeon had foretold, Shiro soon
+recovered consciousness. After telling his story he dropped into a deep
+sleep, and Seaton and Crane, after another telephonic conference with
+Prescott, retired for the rest of the night.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+The Object-Compass at Work
+
+
+Prescott, after a sleepless night, joined Seaton and Crane at breakfast.
+
+"What do you make of it, Mr. Prescott?" asked Crane. "Seaton here thinks
+it was DuQuesne, possibly acting for some foreign power, after our
+flying-machine to use in war. I think it was some big industrial concern
+after our power-plant. What is your opinion?"
+
+"I haven't any," replied the great detective after a moment. "Either
+guess may be true, although I am almost positive that Dr. DuQuesne had
+nothing to do with it, either way. It was no ordinary burglary, that is
+certain from Shiro's story. It was done by someone who had exact
+information of your movements and habits. He chose a time when you were
+away, probably not so much from fear of you as because it was only in
+your absence that he could succeed as he did in getting all the guards
+out at once where he could handle them. He was a man with one accomplice
+or who worked alone, and who was almost exactly Seaton's size and build.
+He was undoubtedly an expert, as he blew the safe and searched the whole
+house without leaving a finger-print or any other clue, however slight,
+that I can find--a thing I have never before seen done in all my
+experience."
+
+"His size should help in locating him," declared Crane. "While there are
+undoubtedly thousands of men of Dick's six-feet-one and two-fifths, they
+are fairly well scattered, are they not?"
+
+"Yes, they are, but his very size only makes it worse. I have gone over
+all the records I could, in the short time I have had, and can't find an
+expert of that class with anywhere near that description."
+
+"How about the third guard, the one who escaped?" asked Seaton.
+
+"He wasn't here. It was his afternoon off, you know, and he said that he
+wouldn't come back into this job on a bet--that he wasn't afraid of
+anything ordinary, but he didn't like the looks of things out here. That
+sounded fishy to me, and I fired him. He may have been the leak, of
+course, though I have always found him reliable before. If he did leak,
+he must have got a whale of a slice for it. He is under constant watch,
+and if we can ever get anything on him, I will nail him to the cross.
+But that doesn't help get this affair straightened out. I haven't given
+up, of course, there are lots of things not tried yet, but I must admit
+that temporarily, at least, I am up a stump."
+
+"Well," remarked Seaton, "that million-dollar reward will bring him in,
+sure. No honor that ever existed among thieves, or even among
+free-lances of diplomacy, could stand that strain."
+
+"I'm not so sure of that, Dick," said Crane. "If either one of our ideas
+is the right one, very few men would know enough about the affair to
+give pertinent information, and they probably would not live long enough
+to enjoy the reward very thoroughly. Even a million dollars fails in
+that case."
+
+"I rather agree with Mr. Crane, Seaton. If it were an ordinary
+affair--and I am as sure it is not as the police are that it is--a
+reward of that size would get us our man within two days. As it is, I
+doubt very much that the reward will do us any good. I'm afraid that it
+will never be claimed."
+
+"Wonder if the Secret Service could help us out? They'd be interested if
+it should turn out to be some foreign power."
+
+"I took it up with the Chief himself, just after it happened last night.
+He doesn't think that it can be a foreign country. He has their agents
+pretty well spotted, and the only one that could fill the bill--you know
+a man with that description and with the cold nerve to do the job would
+be apt to be known--was in San Francisco, the time this job was pulled
+off."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"The more you talk, the more I am convinced that it was DuQuesne
+himself," declared Seaton, positively. "He is almost exactly my size and
+build, is the only man I know of who could do anything with the solution
+after he got it, and he has nerve enough to do anything."
+
+"I would like to think it was DuQuesne," replied the detective,
+thoughtfully, "but I'm afraid we'll have to count him out of it
+entirely. He has been under the constant surveillance of my best men
+ever since you mentioned him. We have detectaphones in his rooms, wires
+on his telephone, and are watching him night and day. He never goes out
+except to work, never has any except unimportant telephone calls, and
+the instruments register only the occasional scratching of a match, the
+rustle of papers, and other noises of a man studying. He's innocent."
+
+"That may be true," assented Seaton doubtfully, "but you want to
+remember that he knows more about electricity than the guy that invented
+it, and I'm not sure that he can't talk to a detectaphone and make it
+say anything he wants it to. Anyway, we can soon settle it. Yesterday I
+made a special trip down to the Bureau, with some notes as an excuse, to
+set this object-compass on him," taking one of the small instruments
+from his pocket as he spoke. "I watched him a while last night, then
+fixed an alarm to wake me if the needle moved much, but it pointed
+steady all night. See! It's moving now. That means that he is going to
+work early, as usual. Now I'm morally certain that he's mixed up in this
+thing somewhere, and I'm not convinced that he isn't slipping one over
+on your men some way--he's a clever devil. I wonder if you wouldn't take
+this compass and watch him yourself tonight, just on general principles?
+Or let me do it. I'd be glad to. I say 'tonight' because if he did get
+the stuff here he didn't deliver it anywhere last night. It's just a
+chance, of course, but he may do it tonight."
+
+After the compass had been explained to the detective he gladly
+consented to the plan, declaring that he would willingly spend the time
+just to watch such an unheard-of instrument work. After another hour of
+fruitless discussion Prescott took his leave, saying that he would mount
+an impregnable guard from that time on.
+
+Late that evening Prescott joined the two men who were watching
+DuQuesne's house. They reported that all was perfectly quiet, as usual.
+The scientist was in his library, the instruments registering only the
+usual occasional faint sounds of a man absorbed in study. But after an
+hour of waiting, and while the microphones made a noise as of rustling
+papers, the needle of the compass moved. It dipped slowly toward the
+earth as though DuQuesne were descending into the cellar, but at the
+same time the shadow of his unmistakable profile was thrown upon the
+window shade as he apparently crossed the room.
+
+"Can't you hear him walk?" demanded Prescott.
+
+"No. He has heavy Turkish rugs all over the library, and he always walks
+very lightly, besides."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Prescott watched the needle in amazement as it dipped deeper and deeper,
+pointing down into the earth almost under his feet and then behind him,
+as though DuQuesne had walked beneath him. He did not, could not,
+believe it. He was certain that something had gone wrong with the
+strange instrument in his hand, nevertheless he followed the pointing
+needle. It led him beside Park Road, down the hill, straight toward the
+long bridge which forms one entrance to Rock Creek Park. Though
+skeptical, Prescott took no chances, and as he approached the bridge he
+left the road and concealed himself behind a clump of trees, from which
+point of vantage he could see the ground beneath the bridge as well as
+the roadway. Soon the bridge trembled under the weight of a heavy
+automobile going toward the city at a high rate of speed. He saw
+DuQuesne, with a roll of papers under his arm, emerge from under the
+bridge just in time to leap aboard the automobile, which slowed down
+only enough to enable him to board it in safety. The detective noticed
+that the car was a Pierce-Arrow limousine--a car not common, even in
+Washington--and rushed out to get its number, but the license plates
+were so smeared with oil and dust that the numbers could not be read by
+the light of the tail lamp. Glancing at the compass in his hand he saw
+that the delicate needle was now pointing steadily at the fleeing car,
+and all doubts as to the power of the instrument were dispelled. He
+rejoined his men, informed them that DuQuesne had eluded them, and took
+one of them up the hill to a nearby garage. There he engaged a fast car
+and set out in pursuit, choosing the path for the chauffeur by means of
+the compass. His search ended at the residence of Brookings, the General
+Manager of the great World Steel Corporation. Here he dismissed the car
+and watched the house while his assistant went to bring out the fast
+motorcycle used by Prescott when high speed was desirable.
+
+After four hours a small car bearing the license number of a distant
+state--which was found, by subsequent telegraphing, to be unknown to the
+authorities of that state--drove under the porte-coch�re, and the hidden
+watcher saw DuQuesne, without the papers, step into it. Knowing now what
+to expect, Prescott drove his racing motorcycle at full speed out to the
+Park Road Bridge and concealed himself beneath the structure, in a
+position commanding a view of the concrete abutment through which the
+scientist must have come. Soon he heard a car slow down overhead, heard
+a few rapid footfalls, and saw the dark form of a large man outlined
+against the gray face of the abutment. He saw the man lift his hand high
+above his head, and saw a black rectangle appear in the gray, engulf the
+man, and disappear. After a few minutes he approached the abutment and
+searched its face with the help of his flash-light. He finally succeeded
+in tracing the almost imperceptible crack which outlined the door, and
+the concealed button which DuQuesne had pressed to open it. He did not
+press the button, as it might be connected to an alarm. Deep in thought,
+he mounted his motorcycle and made his way to his home to get a few
+hours of sleep before reporting to Crane whom he was scheduled to see at
+breakfast next morning.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Both men were waiting for him when he appeared, and he noticed with
+pleasure that Shiro, with a heavily-bandaged head, was insisting that he
+was perfectly able to wait on the table instead of breakfasting in bed.
+He calmly proceeded to serve breakfast in spite of Crane's
+remonstrances, having ceremoniously ordered out of the kitchen the
+colored man who had been secured to take his place.
+
+"Well, gentlemen," the detective began, "part of the mystery is
+straightened out. I was entirely wrong, and each of you were partly
+right. It was DuQuesne, in all probability. It is equally probable that
+a great company--in this case the World Steel Corporation--is backing
+him, though I don't believe there is a ghost of a show of ever being
+able to prove it in law. Your 'object-compass' did the trick."
+
+He narrated all the events of the previous night.
+
+"I'd like to send him to the chair for this job," said Seaton with
+rising anger. "We ought to shoot him anyway, damn him--I'm sorry duels
+have gone out of fashion, for I can't shoot him off-hand, the way things
+are now--I sure wish I could."
+
+"No, you cannot shoot him," said Crane, thoughtfully, "and neither can
+I, worse luck. We are not in his class there. And you must not fight
+with him, either"--noting that Seaton's powerful hands had doubled into
+fists, the knuckles showing white through the tanned skin--"though that
+would be a fight worth watching and I would like to see you give him the
+beating of his life. A little thing like a beating is not a fraction of
+what he deserves and it would show him that we have found him out. No,
+we must do it legally or let him entirely alone. You think there is no
+hope of proving it, Prescott?"
+
+"Frankly, I see very little chance of it. There is always hope, of
+course, and if that bunch of pirates ever makes a slip, we'll be right
+there waiting to catch 'em. While I don't believe in holding out false
+encouragement, they've never slipped yet. I'll take my men off DuQuesne,
+now that we've linked him up with Steel. It doesn't make any difference,
+does it, whether he goes to them every night or only once a week?
+
+"No."
+
+"Then about all I can do is to get everything I can on that Steel crowd,
+and that is very much like trying to get blood out of a turnip. I intend
+to keep after them, of course, for I owe them something for killing two
+of my men here, as well as for other favors they have done me in the
+past, but don't expect too much. I have tackled them before, and so have
+police headquarters and even the Secret Service itself, under cover, and
+all that any of us has been able to get is an occasional small fish. We
+could never land the big fellows. In fact, we have never found the
+slightest material proof of what we are morally certain is the truth,
+that World Steel is back of a lot of deviltry all over the country. The
+little fellows who do the work either don't know anything or are afraid
+to tell. I'll see if I can find out what they are doing with the stuff
+they stole, but I'm not even sure of doing that. You can't plant
+instruments on that bunch--it would be like trying to stick a pin into a
+sleeping cat without waking him up. They undoubtedly have one of the
+best corps of detectives in the world. You haven't perfected an
+instrument which enables you to see into a closed room and hear what is
+going on there, have you?" And upon being assured that they had not, he
+took his leave.
+
+"Optimistic cuss, ain't he?" remarked Seaton.
+
+"He has cause to be, Dick. World Steel is a soulless corporation if
+there ever was one. They have the shrewdest lawyers in the country, and
+they get away legally with things that are flagrantly illegal, such as
+freezing out competitors, stealing patents, and the like. Report has it
+that they do not stop at arson, treason, or murder to attain their ends,
+but as Prescott said, they never leave any legal proof behind them."
+
+"Well, _we_ should fret, anyway. Of course, a monopoly is what they're
+after, but they can't form one because they can't possibly get the rest
+of our solution. Even if they should get it, we can get more. It won't
+be as easy as this last batch was, since the X was undoubtedly present
+in some particular lot of platinum in extraordinary quantities, but now
+that I know exactly what to look for, I can find more. So they can't get
+their monopoly unless they kill us off...."
+
+"Exactly. Go on, I see you are getting the idea. If we should both
+conveniently die, they could get the solution from the company, and have
+the monopoly, since no one else can handle it."
+
+"But they couldn't get away with it, Mart--never in a thousand years,
+even if they wanted to. Of course I am small fry, but you are too big a
+man for even Steel to do away with. It can't be done."
+
+"I am not so sure of that. Airplane accidents are numerous, and I am an
+aviator. Also, has it ever occurred to you that the heavy forging for
+the Skylark, ordered a while ago, are of steel?"
+
+Seaton paused, dumbfounded, in the act of lighting his pipe.
+
+"But thanks to your object-compass, we are warned." Crane continued,
+evenly. "Those forgings are going through the most complete set of tests
+known to the industry, and if they go into the Skylark at all it will be
+after I am thoroughly convinced that they will not give way on our first
+trip into space. But we can do nothing until the steel arrives, and with
+the guard Prescott has here now we are safe enough. Luckily, the enemy
+knows nothing of the object-compass or the X-plosive, and we must keep
+them in ignorance. Hereinafter, not even the guards get a look at
+anything we do."
+
+"They sure don't. Let's get busy!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+DuQuesne and Brookings met in conference in a private room of the
+Perkins Caf�.
+
+"What's the good word, Doctor?"
+
+"So-so," replied the scientist. "The stuff is all they said it was, but
+we haven't enough of it to build much of a power-plant. We can't go
+ahead with it, anyway, as long as Seaton and Crane have nearly all their
+original solution."
+
+"No, we can't. We must find a way of getting it. I see now that we
+should have done as you suggested, and taken it before they had warning
+and put it out of our reach."
+
+"There's no use holding post-mortems. We've got to get it, some way, and
+everybody that knows anything about that new metal, how to get it or how
+to handle it, must die. At first, it would have been enough to kill
+Seaton. Now, however, there is no doubt that Crane knows all about it,
+and he probably has left complete instructions in case he gets killed in
+an accident--he's the kind that would. We will have to keep our eyes
+open and wipe out those instructions and anyone who has seen them. You
+see that, don't you?"
+
+"Yes, I am afraid that is the only way out. We must have the monopoly,
+and anyone who might be able to interfere with it must be removed. How
+has your search for more X prospered?"
+
+"About as well as I expected. We bought up all the platinum wastes we
+could get, and reworked all the metallic platinum and allied metals we
+could buy in the open market, and got less than a gram of X out of the
+whole lot. It's scarcer than radium. Seaton's finding so much of it at
+once was an accident, pure and simple--it couldn't happen once in a
+million years."
+
+"Well, have you any suggestions as to how we can get that solution?"
+
+"No. I haven't thought of anything but that very thing ever since I
+found that they had hidden it, and I can't yet see any good way of
+getting it. My forte is direct action and that fails in this case, since
+no amount of force or torture could make Crane reveal the hiding-place
+of the solution. It's probably in the safest safe-deposit vault in the
+country. He wouldn't carry the key on him, probably wouldn't have it in
+the house. Killing Seaton or Crane, or both of them, is easy enough, but
+it probably wouldn't get us the solution, as I have no doubt that Crane
+has provided for everything."
+
+"Probably he has. But if he should disappear the stuff would have to
+come to light, or the Seaton-Crane Company might start their
+power-plant. In that case, we probably could get it?"
+
+"_Possibly_, you mean. That method is too slow to suit me, though. It
+would take months, perhaps years, and would be devilishly uncertain, to
+boot. They'll know something is in the wind, and the stuff will be
+surrounded by every safeguard they can think of. There must be some
+better way than that, but I haven't been able to think of it."
+
+"Neither have I, but your phrase 'direct action' gives me an idea. You
+say that that method has failed. What do you think of trying indirect
+action in the shape of Perkins, who is indirection personified?"
+
+"Bring him in. He may be able to figure out something."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Perkins was called in, and the main phases of the situation laid before
+him. The three men sat in silence for many minutes while the crafty
+strategist studied the problem. Finally he spoke.
+
+"There's only one way, gentlemen. We must get a handle on either Seaton
+or Crane strong enough to make them give up their bottle of dope, their
+plans, and everything...."
+
+"Handle!" interrupted DuQuesne. "You talk like a fool! You can't get
+anything on either of them."
+
+"You misunderstand me, Doctor. You can get a handle of some kind on any
+living man. Not necessarily in his past, you understand--I know that
+anything like that is out of the question in this case--but in his
+future. With some men it is money, with others power, with others fame,
+with others women or some woman, and so on down the list. What can we
+use here? Money is out of the question, so are power and fame, as they
+already have both in plain sight. It seems to me that women would be our
+best chance."
+
+"Hah!" snorted the chemist. "Crane has been chased by all the women of
+three continents so long that he's womanproof. Seaton is worse--he's
+engaged, and wouldn't realize that a woman was on his trail, even if you
+could find a better looking one to work on him than the girl he's
+engaged to--which would be a hard job. Cleopatra herself couldn't swing
+that order."
+
+"Engaged? That makes it simple as A B C."
+
+"Simple? In the devil's name, how?"
+
+"Easy as falling off a log. You have enough of the dope to build a
+space-car from those plans, haven't you?"
+
+"Yes. What has that to do with the case?"
+
+"It has everything to do with it. I would suggest that we build such a
+car and use it to carry off the girl. After we have her safe we could
+tell Seaton that she is marooned on some distant planet, and that she
+will be returned to earth only after all the solution, all notes, plans,
+and everything pertaining to the new metal are surrendered. That will
+bring him, and Crane will consent. Then, afterward, Dr. Seaton may go
+away indefinitely, and if desirable, Mr. Crane may accompany him."
+
+"But suppose they try to fight?" asked Brookings.
+
+Perkins slid down into his chair in deep thought, his pale eyes under
+half-closed lids darting here and there, his stubby fingers worrying his
+watch-chain restlessly.
+
+"Who is the girl?" he asked at last.
+
+"Dorothy Vaneman, the daughter of the lawyer. She's that auburn-haired
+beauty that the papers were so full of when she came out last year."
+
+"Vaneman is a director in the Seaton-Crane Company. That makes it still
+better. If they show fight and follow us, that beautiful car we are
+making for them will collapse and they will be out of the way. Vaneman,
+as Seaton's prospective father-in-law and a member of his company,
+probably knows something about the secret. Maybe all of it. With his
+daughter in a space-car, supposedly out in space, and Seaton and Crane
+out of the way, Vaneman would listen to reason and let go of the
+solution, particularly as nobody knows much about it except Seaton and
+Crane."
+
+"That strikes me as a perfectly feasible plan," said Brookings. "But you
+wouldn't really take her to another planet, would you? Why not use an
+automobile or an airplane, and tell Seaton that it was a space-car?"
+
+"I wouldn't advise that. He might not believe it, and they might make a
+lot of trouble. It must be a real space-car even if we don't take her
+out of the city. To make it more impressive, you should take her in
+plain sight of Seaton--no, that would be too dangerous, as I have found
+out from the police that Seaton has a permit to carry arms, and I know
+that he is one of the fastest men with a pistol in the whole country. Do
+it in plain sight of her folks, say, or a crowd of people; being masked,
+of course, or dressed in an aviator's suit, with the hood and goggles
+on. Take her straight up out of sight, then hide her somewhere until
+Seaton listens to reason. I know that he _will_ listen, but if he
+doesn't, you might let him see you start out to visit her. He'll be sure
+to follow you in their rotten car. As soon as he does that, he's our
+meat. But that raises the question of who is going to drive the car?"
+
+"I am," replied DuQuesne. "I will need some help, though, as at least
+one man must stay with the girl while I bring the car back."
+
+"We don't want to let anybody else in on this if we can help it,"
+cautioned Brookings. "You could go along, couldn't you, Perkins?"
+
+"Is it safe?"
+
+"Absolutely," answered DuQuesne. "They have everything worked out to the
+queen's taste."
+
+"That's all right, then. I'll take the trip. Also," turning to
+Brookings, "it will help in another little thing we are doing--the
+Spencer affair."
+
+"Haven't you got that stuff away from her yet, after having had her
+locked up in that hell-hole for two months?" asked Brookings.
+
+"No. She's stubborn as a mule. We've given her the third degree time
+after time, but it's no use."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"What's this?" asked DuQuesne. "Deviltry in the main office?"
+
+"Yes. This Margaret Spencer claims that we swindled her father out of an
+invention and indirectly caused his death. She secured a position with
+us in search of evidence. She is an expert stenographer, and showed such
+ability that she was promoted until she became my secretary. Our
+detectives must have been asleep, as she made away with some photographs
+and drawings before they caught her. She has no real evidence, of
+course, but she might cause trouble with a jury, especially as she is
+one of the best-looking women in Washington. Perkins is holding her
+until she returns the stolen articles."
+
+"Why can't you kill her off?"
+
+"She cannot be disposed of until after we know where the stuff is,
+because she says, and Perkins believes, that the evidence will show up
+in her effects. We must do something about her soon, as the search for
+her is dying down and she will be given up for dead."
+
+"What's the idea about her and the space-car?"
+
+"If the car proves reliable we might actually take her out into space
+and give her the choice between telling and walking back. She has nerve
+enough here on earth to die before giving up, but I don't believe any
+human being would be game to go it alone on a strange world. She'd
+wilt."
+
+"I believe you're right, Perkins. Your suggestions are the best way out.
+Don't you think so, Doctor?"
+
+"Yes, I don't see how we can fail--we're sure to win, either way. You
+are prepared for trouble afterward, of course?"
+
+"Certainly, but I don't think there will be much trouble. They can't
+possibly link the three of us together. They aren't wise to you, are
+they, Doctor?"
+
+"Not a chance!" sneered DuQuesne. "They ran themselves ragged trying to
+get something on me, but they couldn't do it. They have given me up as a
+bad job. I am still as careful as ever, though--I am merely a pure
+scientist in the Bureau of Chemistry!"
+
+All three laughed, and Perkins left the room. The talk then turned to
+the construction of the space-car. It was decided to rush the work on
+it, so that DuQuesne could familiarize himself with its operation, but
+not to take any steps in the actual abduction until such time as Seaton
+and Crane were nearly ready to take their first flight, so that they
+could pursue the abductors in case Seaton was still obdurate after a few
+days of his fianc�e's absence. DuQuesne insisted that the car should
+mount a couple of heavy guns, to destroy the pursuing car if the faulty
+members should happen to hold together long enough to carry it out into
+space.
+
+After a long discussion, in which every detail of the plan was carefully
+considered, the two men left the restaurant, by different exits.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+The Trial Voyage
+
+
+The great steel forgings which were to form the framework of the Skylark
+finally arrived and were hauled into the testing shed. There, behind
+closed doors, Crane inspected every square inch of the massive members
+with a lens, but could find nothing wrong. Still unsatisfied, he fitted
+up an electrical testing apparatus in order to search out flaws which
+might be hidden beneath the surface. This device revealed flaws in every
+piece, and after thoroughly testing each one and mapping out the
+imperfections he turned to Seaton with a grave face.
+
+"Worse than useless, every one of them. They are barely strong enough to
+stand shipment. They figured that we would go slowly until we were well
+out of the atmosphere, then put on power--then something would give way
+and we would never come back."
+
+"That's about the right dope, I guess. But now what'll we do? We can't
+cancel without letting them know we're onto them, and we certainly can't
+use this stuff."
+
+"No, but we will go ahead and build this ship, anyway, so that they will
+think that we are going ahead with it. At the same time we will build
+another one, about four times this size, in absolute secrecy, and...."
+
+"What d'you mean, absolute secrecy? How can you keep steel castings and
+forgings of that size secret from Steel?"
+
+"I know a chap who owns and operates a small steel plant, so
+insignificant, relatively, that he has not yet been bought out or frozen
+out by Steel. I was able to do him a small favor once, and I am sure
+that he will be glad to return it. We will not be able to oversee the
+work, that is a drawback. We can get MacDougall to do it for us,
+however, and with him doing the work we can rest assured that there will
+be nothing off color. Even Steel couldn't buy _him_."
+
+"MacDougall! The man who installed the Intercontinental plant? He
+wouldn't touch a little job like this with a pole!"
+
+"I think he would. He and I are rather friendly, and after I tell him
+all about it he will be glad to take it. It means building the first
+interplanetary vessel, you know."
+
+"Wouldn't Steel follow him up if he should go to work on a mysterious
+project? He's too big to hide."
+
+"No. He will go camping--he often does. I have gone with him several
+times when we were completely out of touch with civilization for two
+months at a time. Now, about the ship we want. Have you any ideas?"
+
+"It will cost more than our entire capital."
+
+"That is easily arranged. We do not care how much it costs."
+
+Seaton began to object to drawing so heavily upon the resources of his
+friend, but was promptly silenced.
+
+"I told you when we started," Crane said flatly, "that your solution and
+your idea are worth far more than half a million. In fact, they are
+worth more than everything I have. No more talk of the money end of it,
+Dick."
+
+"All right. We'll build a regular go-getter. Four times the size--she'll
+be a bear-cat, Mart. I'm glad this one is on the fritz. She'll carry a
+two-hundred-pound bar--Zowie! Watch our smoke! And say, why wouldn't it
+be a good idea to build an attractor--a thing like an object-compass,
+but mounting a ten-pound bar instead of a needle, so that if they chase
+us in space we can reach out and grab 'em? We might mount a machine-gun
+in each quadrant, shooting X-plosive bullets, through pressure gaskets
+in the walls. We should have something for defense--I don't like the
+possibility of having that gang of pirates after us, and nothing to
+fight back with except thought-waves."
+
+"Right. We will do both those things. But we should make the power-plant
+big enough to avert any possible contingency--say four hundred
+pounds--and we should have everything in duplicate, from power-plant to
+push-buttons."
+
+"I don't think that's necessary, Mart. Don't you think that's carrying
+caution to extremes?"
+
+"Possibly--but I would rather be a live coward than a dead hero,
+wouldn't you?"
+
+"You chirped it, old scout, I sure would. I never did like the looks of
+that old guy with the scythe, and I would hate to let DuQuesne feel that
+he had slipped something over on me at my own game. Besides, I've
+developed a lot of caution myself, lately. Double she is, with a skin of
+four-foot Norwegian armor. Let's get busy!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+They made the necessary alteration in the plans, and in a few days work
+was begun upon the huge steel shell in the little mountain steel-plant.
+The work was done under the constant supervision of the great
+MacDougall, by men who had been in his employ for years and who were
+all above suspicion. While it was being built Seaton and Crane employed
+a force of men and went ahead with the construction of the space-car in
+the testing shed. While they did not openly slight the work nearly all
+their time was spent in the house, perfecting the many essential things
+which were to go into the real Skylark. There was the attractor, for
+which they had to perfect a special sighting apparatus so that it could
+act in any direction, and yet would not focus upon the ship itself nor
+anything it contained. There were many other things.
+
+It was in this work that the strikingly different temperaments and
+abilities of the two men were most clearly revealed. Seaton strode up
+and down the room, puffing great volumes of smoke from his hot and
+reeking briar, suggesting methods and ideas, his keen mind finding the
+way over, around, or through the apparently insuperable obstacles which
+beset their path. Crane, seated calmly at the drafting-table,
+occasionally inhaling a mouthful of smoke from one of his specially-made
+cigarettes, mercilessly tore Seaton's suggestions to shreds--pointing
+out their weaknesses, proving his points with his cold, incisive
+reasoning and his slide-rule calculations of factors, stresses, and
+strains. Seaton in turn would find a remedy for every defect, and
+finally, the idea complete and perfect, Crane would impale it upon the
+point of his drafting pencil and spread it in every detail upon the
+paper before him, while Seaton's active mind leaped to the next problem.
+
+Not being vitally interested in the thing being built in the shed, they
+did not know that to the flawed members were being attached faulty
+plates, by imperfect welding. Even if they had been interested they
+could not have found the poor workmanship by any ordinary inspection,
+for it was being done by a picked crew of experts picked by Perkins. But
+to make things even, Perkins' crew did not know that the peculiar
+instruments installed by Seaton and Crane, of which their foreman took
+many photographs, were not real instruments, and were made only nearly
+enough like them to pass inspection. They were utterly useless, in
+design and function far different from the real instruments intended for
+the Skylark.
+
+Finally, the last dummy instrument was installed in the worthless
+space-car, which the friends referred to between themselves as "The
+Cripple," a name which Seaton soon changed to "Old Crip." The
+construction crew was dismissed after Crane had let the foreman overhear
+a talk between Seaton and himself in which they decided not to start for
+a few days as they had some final experiments to make. Prescott reported
+that Steel had relaxed its vigilance and was apparently waiting for the
+first flight. About the same time word was received from MacDougall that
+the real Skylark was ready for the finishing touches. A huge triplane
+descended upon Crane Field and was loaded to its capacity with strange
+looking equipment. When it left Seaton and Crane went with it, "to make
+the final tests before the first flight," leaving a heavy guard over the
+house and the testing shed.
+
+A few nights later, in inky blackness, a huge shape descended rapidly in
+front of the shed, whose ponderous doors opened to receive it and closed
+quickly after it. The Skylark moved lightly and easily as a wafted
+feather, betraying its thousands of tons of weight only by the hole it
+made in the hard-beaten earth of the floor as it settled to rest.
+Opening one of the heavy doors, Seaton and Crane sprang out into the
+darkness.
+
+Dorothy and her father, who had been informed that the Skylark was to be
+brought home that night, were waiting. Seaton caught up his sweetheart
+in one mighty arm and extended his hand past her to Vaneman, who seized
+it in both his own. Upon the young man's face was the look of a
+victorious king returning from conquest. For a few minutes disconnected
+exclamations were all that any of the party could utter. Then Seaton,
+loosening slightly his bear's hold upon Dorothy, spoke.
+
+"She flies!" he cried exultantly. "She flies, dearest, like a ray of
+light for speed and like a bit of thistledown for lightness. We've been
+around the moon!"
+
+"Around the moon!" cried the two amazed visitors. "So soon?" asked
+Vaneman. "When did you start?"
+
+"Almost an hour ago," replied Crane readily; he had already taken out
+his watch. His voice was calm, his face quiet, but to those who knew him
+best a deeper resonance in his voice and a deeper blue sparkle in his
+eyes betrayed his emotion. Both inventors were moved more than they
+could have told by their achievement, by the complete success of the
+great space-cruiser upon which they had labored for months with all the
+power of their marvelous intellects. Seaton stood now at the summit of
+his pride. No recognition by the masses, no applause by the multitudes,
+no praise even from the upper ten of his own profession could equal for
+him the silent adulation of the two before him. Dorothy's exquisite face
+was glorified as she looked at her lover. Her eyes wonderful as they
+told him how high he stood above all others in her world, how much she
+loved him. Seeing that look; that sweet face, more beautiful than ever
+in this, his hour of triumph; that perfect, adorable body, Seaton forgot
+the others and a more profound exaltation than that brought by his
+flight filled his being--humble thankfulness that he was the man to
+receive the untold treasure of her great giving.
+
+"Every bit of mechanism we had occasion to use worked perfectly," Crane
+stated proudly. "We did not find it necessary to change any of our
+apparatus and we hope to make a longer flight soon. The hour we took on
+this trip might easily have been only a few minutes, for the Lark did
+not even begin to pick up speed."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Shiro looked at Crane with an air of utter devotion and bowed until his
+head approached the floor.
+
+"Sir," he said in his stilted English. "Honorable Skylark shall be
+marvelous wonder. If permitting, I shall luxuriate in preparing suitable
+refreshment."
+
+The permission granted, he trotted away into the house, and the
+travelers invited their visitors to inspect the new craft. Crane and the
+older man climbed through the circular doorway, which was at an
+elevation of several feet above the ground. Seaton and Dorothy
+exchanged a brief but enthusiastic caress before he lifted her lightly
+up to the opening and followed her up a short flight of stairs. Although
+she knew what to expect, from her lover's descriptions and from her own
+knowledge of "Old Crip," which she had seen many times, she caught her
+breath in amazement as she stood up and looked about the
+brilliantly-lighted interior of the great sky-rover. It was a sight such
+as had never before been seen upon earth.
+
+[Illustration: In the exact center of the huge shell was a spherical
+network of enormous steel beams. Inside this structure could be seen a
+similar network which, mounted upon universal bearings, was free to
+revolve in any direction.]
+
+She saw a spherical shell of hardened steel armor-plate, fully forty
+feet in diameter; though its true shape was not readily apparent from
+the inside, as it was divided into several compartments by horizontal
+floors or decks. In the exact center of the huge shell was a spherical
+network of enormous steel beams. Inside this structure could be seen a
+similar network which, mounted upon universal bearings, was free to
+revolve in any direction. This inner network was filled with machinery,
+surrounding a shining copper cylinder. From the outer network radiated
+six mighty supporting columns. These, branching as they neared the hull
+of the vessel, supported the power-plant and steering apparatus in the
+center and so strengthened the shell that the whole structure was nearly
+as strong as a solid steel ball. She noticed that the floor, perhaps
+eight feet below the center, was heavily upholstered in leather and did
+not seem solid; and that the same was true of the dozen or more
+seats--she could not call them chairs--which were built in various
+places. She gazed with interest at the two instrument boards, upon which
+flashed tiny lights and the highly-polished plate glass, condensite, and
+metal of many instruments, the use of which she could not guess.
+
+After a few minutes of silence both visitors began to ask questions, and
+Seaton showed them the principal features of the novel craft. Crane
+accompanied them in silence, enjoying their pleasure, glorying in the
+mighty vessel. Seaton called attention to the great size and strength of
+the lateral supporting columns, one of which was immediately above their
+heads, and then led them over to the vertical column which pierced the
+middle of the floor. Enormous as the lateral had seemed, it appeared
+puny in comparison with this monster of fabricated steel. Seaton
+explained that the two verticals were many times stronger than the four
+laterals, as the center of gravity of the ship had been made lower than
+its geometrical center, so that the apparent motion of the vessel and
+therefore the power of the bar, would usually be merely vertical.
+Resting one hand caressingly upon the huge column, he exultantly
+explained that these members were "the last word in strength, made up of
+many separate I-beams and angles of the strongest known special steel,
+latticed and braced until no conceivable force could make them yield a
+millimeter."
+
+"But why such strength?" asked the lawyer doubtfully. "This column alone
+would hold up Brooklyn Bridge."
+
+"To hold down the power-plant, so that the bar won't tear through the
+ship when we cut her loose," replied Seaton. "Have you any idea how fast
+this bird can fly?"
+
+"Well, I have heard you speak of traveling with the velocity of light,
+but that is overdrawn, isn't it?"
+
+"Not very much. Our figures show that with this four-hundred-pound
+bar"--pointing to the copper cylinder in the exact center of the inner
+sphere--"we could develop not only the velocity of light, but an
+acceleration equal to that velocity, were it not for the increase in
+mass at high velocities, as shown by Einstein and others. We can't go
+very fast near the earth, of course, as the friction of the air would
+melt the whole works in a few minutes. Until we get out of the
+atmosphere our speed will be limited by the ability of steel to
+withstand melting by the friction of the air to somewhere in the
+neighborhood of four or five thousand miles per hour, but out in space
+we can develop any speed we wish, up to that of light as a limit."
+
+"I studied physics a little in my youth. Wouldn't the mere force of such
+an acceleration as you mention flatten you on the floor and hold you
+there? And any sudden jar would certainly kill you."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"There can't be any sudden jar. This is a special floor, you notice. It
+is mounted on long, extremely heavy springs, to take up any possible
+jar. Also, whenever we are putting on power we won't try to stand up,
+our legs would crimple up like strings. We will ride securely strapped
+into those special seats, which are mounted the same as the floor, only
+a whole lot more so. As to the acceleration...."
+
+"That word means picking up speed, doesn't it?" interrupted Dorothy.
+
+"The rate of picking up speed," corrected Seaton. "That is, if you were
+going forty miles per hour one minute, and fifty the next minute, your
+acceleration would be ten miles per hour per minute. See? It's
+acceleration that makes you feel funny when you start up or down in an
+elevator."
+
+"Then riding in this thing will be like starting up in an elevator so
+that your heart sinks into your boots and you can't breathe?"
+
+"Yes, only worse. We will pick up speed faster and keep on doing it...."
+
+"Seriously," interrupted the lawyer, "do you think that the human body
+can stand any such acceleration as that?"
+
+"I don't know. We are going to find out, by starting out slowly and
+increasing our acceleration to as much as we can stand."
+
+"I see," Vaneman replied. "But how are you going to steer her? How do
+you keep permanent reference points, since there are no directions in
+space?"
+
+"That was our hardest problem," explained Seaton, "but Martin solved it
+perfectly. See the power-plant up there? Notice those big supporting
+rings and bearings? Well, the power-plant is entirely separate from the
+ship, as it is inside that inner sphere, about which the outer sphere
+and the ship itself are free to revolve in any direction. No matter how
+much the ship rolls and pitches, as she is bound to do every time we
+come near enough to any star or planet to be influenced by its
+gravitation, the bar stays where it is pointed. Those six big jackets in
+the outer sphere, on the six sides of the bar, cover six pairs of
+gyroscope wheels, weighing several tons each, turning at a terrific
+speed in a vacuum. The gyroscopes keep the whole outer sphere in exactly
+the same position as long as they are kept turning, and afford us not
+only permanent planes of reference, but also a solid foundation in those
+planes which can be used in pointing the bar. The bar can be turned
+instantly to any direction whatever by special electrical instruments on
+the boards. You see, the outer sphere stays immovably fixed in that
+position, with the bar at liberty to turn in any direction inside it,
+and the ship at liberty to do the same thing outside it.
+
+"Now we will show you where we sleep," Seaton continued. "We have eight
+rooms, four below and four above," leading the way to a narrow, steep
+steel stairway and down into a very narrow hall, from either side of
+which two doors opened. "This is my room, the adjoining one is Mart's.
+Shiro sleeps across the hall. The rest of the rooms are for our guests
+on future trips."
+
+Sliding back the door, he switched on the light and revealed a small but
+fully-appointed bedroom, completely furnished with everything necessary,
+yet everything condensed into the least possible space. The floor, like
+the one above, was of cushioned leather supported by springs. The bed
+was a modification of the special seats already referred to. Opening
+another sliding door, he showed them an equally complete and equally
+compact bathroom.
+
+"You see, we have all the comforts of home. This bathroom, however, is
+practical only when we have some force downward, either gravitation or
+our own acceleration. The same reasoning accounts for the hand-rails you
+see everywhere on board. Drifting in space, you know, there is no
+weight, and you can't walk; you must pull yourself around. If you tried
+to take a step you would bounce up and hit the ceiling, and stay there.
+That is why the ceilings are so well padded. And if you tried to wash
+your face you would throw water all over the place, and it would float
+around in the air instead of falling to the floor. As long as we can
+walk we can use the bathroom--if I should want to wash my face while we
+are drifting, I just press this button here, and the pilot will put on
+enough acceleration to make the correct use of water possible. There are
+a lot of surprising things about a trip into space."
+
+"I don't doubt it a bit, and I'm simply wild to go for a ride with you.
+When will you take me, Dicky?" asked Dorothy eagerly.
+
+"Very soon, Dottie. As soon as we get her in perfect running condition.
+You shall be the first to ride with us, I promise you."
+
+"Where do you cook and eat? How do you see out? How about the air and
+water supply? How do you keep warm, or cool, as the case may be?" asked
+the girl's father, as though he were cross-examining a witness.
+
+"Shiro has a galley on the main floor, and tables fold up into the wall
+of the main compartment. The passengers see out by sliding back steel
+panels, which normally cover the windows. The pilot can see in any
+direction from his seat at the instrument-board, by means of special
+instruments, something like periscopes. The windows are made of optical
+glass similar to that used in the largest telescopes. They are nearly as
+thick as the hull and have a compressive resistance almost equal to that
+of armor steel. Although so thick, they are crystal clear, and a speck
+of dust on the outer surface is easily seen. We have water enough in
+tanks to last us three months, or indefinitely if we should have to be
+careful, as we can automatically distill and purify all our waste water,
+recovering absolutely pure H2O. We have compressed air, also in tanks,
+but we need very little, as the air is constantly being purified. Also,
+we have oxygen-generating apparatus aboard, in case we should run short.
+As to keeping warm, we have electric heating coils, run by the
+practically inexhaustible power of a small metal bar. If we get too near
+the sun and get too warm, we have a refrigerating machine to cool us
+off. Anything else?"
+
+"You'd better give up, Dad," laughingly advised his daughter. "You've
+thought of everything, haven't you, Dick?"
+
+"Mart has, I think. This is all his doing, you know. I wouldn't have
+thought of a tenth of it, myself."
+
+"I must remind you young folks," said the older man, glancing at his
+watch, "that it is very late and high time for Dottie and me to be going
+home. We would like to stay and see the rest of it, but you know we must
+be away from here before daylight."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+As they went into the house Vaneman asked:
+
+"What does the other side of the moon look like? I have always been
+curious about it."
+
+"We were not able to see much," replied Crane "It was too dark and we
+did not take the time to explore it, but from what we could see by means
+of our searchlights it is very much like this side--the most barren and
+desolate place imaginable. After we go to Mars, we intend to explore the
+moon thoroughly."
+
+"Mars, then, is your first goal? When do you intend to start?"
+
+"We haven't decided definitely. Probably in a day or two. Everything is
+ready now."
+
+As the Vanemans had come out in the street car, in order to attract as
+little attention as possible, Seaton volunteered to take them home in
+one of Crane's cars. As they bade Crane goodnight after enjoying Shiro's
+"suitable refreshment" the lawyer took the chauffeur's seat, motioning
+his daughter and Seaton into the closed body of the car. As soon as they
+had started Dorothy turned in the embrace of her lover's arm.
+
+"Dick," she said fiercely. "I would have been worried sick if I had
+known that you were way off there."
+
+"I knew it, sweetheart. That's why I didn't tell you we were going. We
+both knew the Skylark was perfectly safe, but I knew that you would
+worry about our first trip. Now that we have been to the moon you won't
+be uneasy when we go to Mars, will you, dear?"
+
+"I can't help it, boy. I will be afraid that something terrible has
+happened, every minute. Won't you take me with you? Then, if anything
+happens, it will happen to both of us, and that is as it should be. You
+know that I wouldn't want to keep on living if anything _should_ happen
+to you."
+
+He put both arms around her as his reply, and pressed his cheek to hers.
+
+"Dorothy sweetheart, I know exactly how you feel. I feel the same way
+myself. I'm awfully sorry, dear, but I can't do it. I know the machine
+is safe, but I've got to prove it to everybody else before I take you on
+a long trip with me. Your father will agree with me that you ought not
+to go, on the first trip or two, anyway. And besides, what would Madam
+Grundy say?"
+
+"Well, there _is_ a way...." she began, and he felt her face turn hot.
+
+His arms tightened around her and his breath came fast.
+
+"I know it, sweetheart, and I would like nothing better in the world
+than to be married today and take our honeymoon in the Skylark, but I
+can't do it. After we come back from the first long trip we will be
+married just as soon as you say ready, and after that we will always be
+together wherever I go. But I can't take even the millionth part of a
+chance with anything as valuable as you are--you see that, don't you,
+Dottie?"
+
+"I suppose so," she returned disconsolately, "but you'll make it a short
+trip, for my sake? I know I won't rest a minute until you get back."
+
+"I promise you that we won't be gone more than four days. Then for the
+greatest honeymoon that ever was," and they clung together in the dark
+body of the car, each busy with solemn and beautiful thoughts of the
+happiness to come.
+
+They soon reached their destination. As they entered the house Dorothy
+made one more attempt.
+
+"Dad, Dick is just too perfectly mean. He says he won't take me on the
+first trip. If you were going out there wouldn't mother want to go along
+too?"
+
+After listening to Seaton he gave his decision.
+
+"Dick is right, Kitten. He must make the long trip first. Then, after
+the machine is proved reliable, you may go with him. I can think of no
+better way of spending a honeymoon--it will be a new one, at least. And
+you needn't worry about the boys getting back safely. I might not trust
+either of them alone, but together they are invincible. Good-night,
+children. I wish you success, Dick," as he turned away.
+
+Seaton took a lover's leave of Dorothy, and went into the lawyer's
+study, taking an envelope from his pocket.
+
+"Mr. Vaneman," he said in a low voice, "we think the Steel crowd is
+still camping on our trail. We are ready for them, with a lot of stuff
+that they never heard of, but in case anything goes wrong, Martin has
+written between the lines of this legal form, in invisible ink A-36,
+exactly how to get possession of all our notes and plans, so that the
+company can go ahead with everything. With those directions any chemist
+can find and use the stuff safely. Please put this envelope in the
+safest place you can think of, and then forget it unless they get both
+Crane and me. There's about one chance in a million of their doing that,
+but Mart doesn't gamble on even that chance."
+
+"He is right, Dick. I believe that you can outwit them in any situation,
+but I will keep this paper where no one except myself can ever see it,
+nevertheless. Good-night, son, and good luck."
+
+"The same to you, sir, and thank you. Good-night."
+
+
+
+
+    +--------------------------------------+
+    |                                      |
+    | _The author of this story, being a   |
+    | chemist of high standing and an      |
+    | excellent mathematician, gives us a  |
+    | rare gem in this interplanetary      |
+    | tale. For one thing, he suggests an  |
+    | interesting use of the action of     |
+    | acceleration. In this instalment it  |
+    | is made to take the place of gravity |
+    | when the interplanetary vehicle is   |
+    | out in open space. In order to get   |
+    | the gravity effect, a positive or    |
+    | negative acceleration could be given |
+    | out.                                 |
+    |                                      |
+    | This instalment retains its easy     |
+    | flow of language and continues to    |
+    | develop surprise episodes with a     |
+    | remarkable degree of realism._       |
+    |                                      |
+    +--------------------------------------+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+Indirect Action
+
+
+The afternoon following the homecoming of the Skylark, Seaton and
+Dorothy returned from a long horseback ride in the park. After Seaton
+had mounted his motorcycle Dorothy turned toward a bench in the shade of
+an old elm to watch a game of tennis on the court next door. Scarcely
+had she seated herself when a great copper-plated ball alighted upon the
+lawn in front of her. A heavy steel door snapped open and a powerful
+figure clad in aviator's leather, the face completely covered by the
+hood, leaped out. She jumped to her feet with a cry of joyful surprise,
+thinking it was Seaton--a cry which died suddenly as she realized that
+Seaton had just left her and that this vessel was far too small to be
+the Skylark. She turned in flight, but the stranger caught her in three
+strides. She found herself helpless in a pair of arms equal in strength
+to Seaton's own. Picking her up lightly as a baby, DuQuesne carried her
+over to the space-car. Shriek after shriek rang out as she found that
+her utmost struggles were of no avail against the giant strength of her
+captor, that her fiercely-driven nails glanced harmlessly off the heavy
+glass and leather of his hood, and that her teeth were equally
+ineffective against his suit.
+
+With the girl in his arms DuQuesne stepped into the vessel, and as the
+door clanged shut behind them Dorothy caught a glimpse of another woman,
+tied hand and foot in one of the side seats of the car.
+
+"Tie her feet, Perkins," DuQuesne ordered brusquely, holding her around
+the body so that her feet extended straight out in front of him. "She's
+a wildcat."
+
+As Perkins threw one end of a small rope around her ankles Dorothy
+doubled up her knees, drawing her feet as far away from him as possible.
+As he incautiously approached, she kicked out viciously, with all the
+force of her muscular young body behind her heavy riding-boots.
+
+The sharp heel of one small boot struck Perkins squarely in the pit of
+the stomach--a true "solar-plexus" blow--and completely knocked out, he
+staggered back against the instrument-board. His out-flung arm pushed
+the speed lever clear out to its last notch, throwing the entire current
+of the batteries through the bar, which was pointed straight up, as it
+had been when they made their landing, and closing the switch which
+threw on the power of the repelling outer coating. There was a creak of
+the mighty steel fabric, stressed almost to its limit as the vessel
+darted upward with its stupendous velocity, and only the
+carefully-planned spring-and-cushion floor saved their lives as they
+were thrown flat and held there by the awful force of their acceleration
+as the space-car tore through the thin layer of the earth's atmosphere.
+So terrific was their speed, that the friction of the air did not have
+time to set them afire--they were through it and into the perfect vacuum
+of interstellar space before the thick steel hull was even warmed
+through. Dorothy lay flat upon her back, just as she had fallen, unable
+even to move her arms, gaining each breath only by a terrible effort.
+Perkins was a huddled heap under the instrument-board. The other
+captive, Brookings' ex-secretary, was in somewhat better case, as her
+bonds had snapped like string and she was lying at full length in one of
+the side-seats--forced into that position and held there, as the design
+of the seats was adapted for the most comfortable position possible
+under such conditions. She, like Dorothy, was gasping for breath, her
+straining muscles barely able to force air into her lungs because of the
+paralyzing weight of her chest.
+
+DuQuesne alone was able to move, and it required all of his Herculean
+strength to creep and crawl, snake-like, toward the instrument-board.
+Finally attaining his goal, he summoned all his strength to grasp, not
+the controlling lever, which he knew was beyond his reach, but a cut-out
+switch only a couple of feet above his head. With a series of convulsive
+movements he fought his way up, first until he was crouching on his
+elbows and knees, and then into a squatting position. Placing his left
+hand under his right, he made a last supreme effort. Perspiration
+streamed from him, his mighty muscles stood out in ridges visible even
+under the heavy leather of his coat, his lips parted in a snarl over his
+locked teeth as he threw every ounce of his wonderful body into an
+effort to force his right hand up to the switch. His hand approached it
+slowly--closed over it and pulled it out.
+
+The result was startling. With the mighty power instantly cut off, and
+with not even the ordinary force of gravitation to counteract the force
+DuQuesne was exerting, his own muscular effort hurled him up toward the
+center of the car and against the instrument-board. The switch, still in
+his grasp, was again closed. His shoulder crashed against the levers
+which controlled the direction of the bar, swinging it through a wide
+arc. As the ship darted off in the new direction with all its old
+acceleration, he was hurled against the instrument board, tearing one
+end loose from its supports and falling unconscious to the floor on the
+other side. After a time, which seemed like an eternity, Dorothy and the
+other girl felt their senses slowly leave them.
+
+With four unconscious passengers, the space-car hurtled through empty
+space, its already inconceivable velocity being augmented every second
+by a quantity bringing its velocity near to that of light, driven onward
+by the incredible power of the disintegrating copper bar.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Seaton had gone only a short distance from his sweetheart's home when
+over the purring of his engine he thought he heard Dorothy's voice
+raised in a scream. He did not wait to make sure, but whirled his
+machine about and the purring changed instantly to a staccato roar as he
+threw open the throttle and advanced the spark. Gravel flew from beneath
+his skidding wheels as he negotiated the turn into the Vaneman grounds
+at suicidal speed. But with all his haste he arrived upon the scene just
+in time to see the door of the space-car close. Before he could reach it
+the vessel disappeared, with nothing to mark its departure save a
+violent whirl of grass and sod, uprooted and carried far into the air by
+the vacuum of its wake. To the excited tennis-players and the screaming
+mother of the abducted girl it seemed as though the great metal ball had
+vanished utterly--only Seaton, knowing what to expect, saw the line it
+made in the air and saw for an instant a minute dot in the sky before it
+disappeared.
+
+Interrupting the clamor of the young people, each of whom was trying to
+tell him what had happened, he spoke to Mrs. Vaneman.
+
+"Mother, Dottie's all right," he said rapidly but gently. "Steel's got
+her, but they won't keep her long. Don't worry, we'll get her. It may
+take a week or it may take a year, but we'll bring her back," and
+leaping upon his motorcycle, he shattered all the speed laws on his way
+to Crane's house.
+
+"Mart!" he yelled, rushing into the shop, "they've got Dottie, in a bus
+made from our plans. Let's go!" as he started on a run for the testing
+shed.
+
+"Wait a minute!" crisply shouted Crane. "Don't go off half-cocked. What
+is your plan?"
+
+"Plan, hell!" barked the enraged chemist. "Chase 'em!"
+
+"Which way did they go, and when?"
+
+"Straight up, full power, twenty minutes ago."
+
+"Too long ago. Straight up has changed its direction several degrees
+since then. They may have covered a million miles, or they may have come
+back and landed next door. Sit down and think--we need all your brains
+now."
+
+Regaining his self-possession as the wisdom of his friend's advice came
+home to him, Seaton sat down and pulled out his pipe. There was a tense
+silence for an instant. Then he leaped to his feet and darted into his
+room, returning with an object-compass whose needle pointed upward.
+
+"DuQuesne did it," he cried exultantly. "This baby is still looking
+right at him. Now let's go--make it snappy!"
+
+"Not yet. We should find out how far away they are; that may give us an
+idea."
+
+Suiting action to word, he took up his stopwatch and set the needle
+swinging. They watched it with strained faces as second after second
+went by and it still continued to swing. When it had come to rest Crane
+read his watch and made a rapid calculation.
+
+"About three hundred and fifty million miles," he stated. "Clear out of
+our solar system already, and from the distance covered he must have had
+a constant acceleration so as to approximate the velocity of light, and
+he is still going with full...."
+
+"But nothing can possibly go that fast, Mart, it's impossible. How about
+Einstein's theory?"
+
+"That is a theory, this measurement of distance is a fact, as you know
+from our tests."
+
+"That's right. Another good theory gone to pot. But how do you account
+for his distance? D'you suppose he's lost control?"
+
+"He must have. I do not believe that he would willingly stand that
+acceleration, nor that he would have gone that far of his own accord. Do
+you?"
+
+"I sure don't. We don't know how big a bar they are carrying, so we
+can't estimate how long it is going to take us to catch them. But let's
+not waste any more time, Mart. For Cat's sake, let's get busy!"
+
+"We have only those four bars, Dick--two for each unit. Do you think
+that will be enough? Think of how far we may have to go, what we may
+possibly get into, and what it will mean to Dottie if we fail for lack
+of power."
+
+Seaton, though furiously eager to be off, paused at this new idea, and
+half-regretfully he replied:
+
+"We are so far behind them already that I guess a few hours more won't
+make much difference. It sure would be disastrous to get out near one of
+the fixed stars and have our power quit. I guess you're right, we'd
+better get a couple more--make it four, then we'll have enough to chase
+them half our lives. We'd better load up on grub and X-plosive
+ammunition, too."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+While Crane and Shiro carried additional provisions and boxes of
+cartridges into the "Skylark," Seaton once more mounted his motorcycle
+and sped across the city to the brass foundry. The manager of the plant
+took his order, but blandly informed him that there was not that much
+copper in the city, that it would be a week or ten days before the order
+could be filled. Seaton suggested that they melt up some copper cable
+and other goods already manufactured, offering ten times their value,
+but the manager was obdurate, saying that he could not violate the rule
+of priority of orders. Seaton then went to other places, endeavoring to
+buy scrap copper, trolley wire, electric cable, anything made of the
+ruddy metal, but found none for sale in quantities large enough to be of
+any use. After several hours of fruitless search, he returned home in a
+towering rage and explained to Crane, in lurid language, his failure to
+secure the copper. The latter was unmoved.
+
+"After you left, it occurred to me that you might not get any. You see,
+Steel is still watching us."
+
+Fire shot from Seaton's eyes.
+
+"I'm going to clean up that bunch," he gritted through his teeth as he
+started straight for the door.
+
+"Not yet, Dick," Crane remonstrated. "We can go down to Wilson's in a
+few minutes, and I know we can get it there if he has it. The "Skylark"
+is all ready to travel."
+
+No more words were needed. They hurried into the space-car and soon were
+standing in the office of the plant in which the vessel had been built.
+When they had made their wants known, the iron-master shook his head.
+
+"I'm sorry, Crane, but I have only a few pounds of copper in the shop,
+and we have no suitable furnace."
+
+Seaton broke out violently at this, but Crane interrupted him,
+explaining their inability to get the metal anywhere else and the
+urgency of their need. When he had finished, Wilson brought his fist
+down upon his desk.
+
+"I'll get it if I have to melt up our dynamos," he roared. "We'll have
+to rig a crucible, but we'll have your bars out just as soon as the
+whole force of this damned scrap-heap can make 'em!"
+
+Calling in his foreman, he bellowed orders, and while automobiles
+scoured the nearby towns for scrap copper, the crucible and molds were
+made ready.
+
+Nearly two days passed before the gleaming copper cylinders were
+finished. During this time Crane added to their already complete
+equipment every article he could conceive of their having any use for,
+while Seaton raged up and down the plant in a black fury of impatience.
+Just before the bars were ready, they made another reading on the
+object-compass. Their faces grew tense and drawn and their hearts turned
+sick as second followed second and minute followed minute and the needle
+still oscillated. Finally, however, it came to rest, and Seaton's voice
+almost failed him as he read his figures.
+
+"Two hundred and thirty-five light-years, Mart. They're lost, and still
+going. Good-bye, old scout," holding out his hand, "Tell Vaneman that
+I'll bring her back or else stay out there myself."
+
+"You must be crazy, Dick. You know I am going."
+
+"Why? No use in both of us taking such a chance. If Dottie's gone, of
+course I want to go too, but you don't."
+
+"Nonsense, Dick. Of course this is somewhat farther than we had planned
+on going for our maiden voyage, but where is the difference? It is just
+as safe to go a thousand light-years as only one, and we have power and
+food for any contingency. There is no more danger in this trip than
+there is in one to Mars. At all events, I am going whether you want me
+to or not, so save your breath."
+
+"You lie like a thief, Mart--you know what we are up against as well as
+I do. But if you insist on coming along, I'm sure glad to have you."
+
+As their hands met in a crushing grip, the bars were brought up and
+loaded into the carriers. Waving good-bye to Wilson, they closed the
+massive door and took their positions. Seaton adjusted the bar parallel
+with the needle of the object-compass, turned on the coil, and advanced
+the speed-lever until Crane, reading the pyro-meters, warned him to slow
+down, as the shell was heating. Free of the earth's atmosphere, he
+slowly advanced the lever, one notch at a time, until he could no
+longer support the increasing weight of his hand, but had to draw out
+the rolling support designed for that emergency. He pushed the lever a
+few notches farther, and felt himself forced down violently into the
+seat. He was now lying at full length, the seat having automatically
+moved upward so that his hand still controlled the lever. Still he kept
+putting on more power, until the indicator showed that more than
+three-quarters of the power was in operation and he felt that he could
+stand but little more.
+
+"How are you making it, Mart?" he asked, talking with difficulty because
+of the great weight of his tongue and jaws.
+
+"All right so far," came the response, in a hesitating, almost
+stammering voice, "but I do not know how much more I can take. If you
+can stand it, go ahead."
+
+"This is enough for awhile, until we get used to it. Any time you want
+to rest, tell me and I'll cut her down."
+
+"Keep her at this for four or five hours. Then cut down until we can
+walk, so that we can eat and take another reading on distance. Remember
+that it will take as long to stop as it does to get up speed, and that
+we must be careful not to ram them. There would be nothing left of
+either car."
+
+"All right. Talking's too darn much work, I'll talk to you again when we
+ease down. I sure am glad we're on our way at last."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+Lost In Space
+
+
+For forty-eight hours the uncontrolled atomic motor dragged the
+masterless vessel with its four unconscious passengers through the
+illimitable reaches of empty space, with an awful and constantly
+increasing velocity. When only a few traces of copper remained in the
+power-plant, the acceleration began to decrease and the powerful springs
+began to restore the floor and the seats to their normal positions. The
+last particle of copper having been transformed into energy, the speed
+of the vessel became constant. Apparently motionless to those inside it,
+it was in reality traversing space with a velocity thousands of times
+greater than that of light. As the force which had been holding them
+down was relaxed, the lungs, which had been able to secure only air
+enough to maintain faint sparks of life, began to function more normally
+and soon all four recovered consciousness, drinking in the life-giving
+oxygen in a rapid succession of breaths so deep that it seemed as though
+their lungs must burst with each inhalation.
+
+DuQuesne was the first to gain control of himself. His first effort to
+rise to his feet lifted him from the floor, and he floated lightly to
+the ceiling, striking it with a gentle bump and remaining suspended in
+the air. The others, who had not yet attempted to move, stared at him in
+wide-eyed amazement. Reaching out and clutching one of the supporting
+columns, he drew himself back to the floor and cautiously removed his
+leather suit, transferring two heavy automatic pistols as he did so. By
+gingerly feeling of his injured body, he discovered that no bones were
+broken, although he was terribly bruised. He then glanced around to
+learn how his companions were faring. He saw that they were all sitting
+up, the girls resting, Perkins removing his aviator's costume.
+
+"Good morning, Doctor DuQuesne. What happened when I kicked your
+friend?"
+
+DuQuesne smiled.
+
+"Good morning, Miss Vaneman. Several things happened. He fell into the
+controls, turning on all the juice. We left shortly afterward. I tried
+to shut the power off, and in doing so I balled things up worse than
+ever. Then I went to sleep, and just woke up."
+
+"Have you any idea where we are?"
+
+"No, but I can make a fair estimate, I think," and glancing at the empty
+chamber in which the bar had been, he took out his notebook and pen and
+figured for a few minutes. As he finished, he drew himself along by a
+handrail to one of the windows, then to another. He returned with a
+puzzled expression on his face and made a long calculation.
+
+"I don't know exactly what to make of this," he said thoughtfully. "We
+are so far away from the earth that even the fixed stars are
+unrecognizable. The power was on exactly forty-eight hours, since that
+is the life of that particular bar under full current. We should still
+be close to our own solar system, since it is theoretically impossible
+to develop any velocity greater than that of light. But in fact, we
+have. I know enough about astronomy to recognize the fixed stars from
+any point within a light-year or so of the sun, and I can't see a single
+familiar star. I never could see how mass could be a function of
+velocity, and now I am convinced that it is not. We have been
+accelerating for forty-eight hours!"
+
+He turned to Dorothy.
+
+"While we were unconscious, Miss Vaneman, we had probably attained a
+velocity of something like seven billion four hundred thirteen million
+miles per second, and that is the approximate speed at which we are now
+traveling. We must be nearly six quadrillion miles, and that is a space
+of several hundred light-years--away from our solar system, or, more
+plainly, about six times as far away from our earth as the North Star
+is. We couldn't see our sun with a telescope, even if we knew which way
+to look for it."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+At this paralyzing news, Dorothy's face turned white and Margaret
+Spencer quietly fainted in her seat.
+
+"Then we can never get back?" asked Dorothy slowly.
+
+At this question, Perkins' self-control gave way and his thin veneer of
+decency disappeared completely.
+
+"You got us into this whole thing!" he screamed as he leaped at Dorothy
+with murderous fury gleaming in his pale eyes and his fingers curved
+into talons. Instead of reaching her, however, he merely sprawled
+grotesquely in midair, and DuQuesne knocked him clear across the vessel
+with one powerful blow of his fist.
+
+"Get back there, you cowardly cur," he said evenly. "Even though we are
+a long way from home, try to remember you're a man, at least. One more
+break like that and I'll throw you out of the boat. It isn't her fault
+that we are out here, but our own. The blame for it is a very small
+matter, anyway; the thing of importance is to get back as soon as
+possible."
+
+"But how can we get back?" asked Perkins sullenly from the corner where
+he was crouching, fear in every feature. "The power is gone, the
+controls are wrecked, and we are hopelessly lost in space."
+
+"Oh, I wouldn't say 'hopelessly,'" returned the other, "I have never
+been in any situation yet that I couldn't get out of, and I won't be
+convinced until I am dead that I can't get out of this one. We have two
+extra power bars, we can fix the board, and if I can't navigate us back
+close enough to our solar system to find it, I am more of a dub than I
+think I am. How about a little bite to eat?"
+
+"Show us where it is!" exclaimed Dorothy. "Now that you mention it, I
+find that I am starved to death."
+
+DuQuesne looked at her keenly.
+
+"I admire your nerve, Miss Vaneman. I didn't suppose that that animal
+over there would show such a wide streak of yellow, but I was rather
+afraid that you girls might go to pieces."
+
+"I'm scared blue, of course," Dorothy admitted frankly, "but hysterics
+won't do any good, and we simply _must_ get back."
+
+"Certainly, we must and we will," stated DuQuesne calmly. "If you like,
+you might find something for us to eat in the galley there, while I see
+what I can do with this board that I wrecked with my head. By the way,
+that cubby-hole there is the apartment reserved for you two ladies. We
+are in rather cramped quarters, but I think you will find everything you
+need."
+
+As Dorothy drew herself along the handrail toward the room designated,
+accompanied by the other girl who, though conscious, had paid little
+attention to anything around her, she could not help feeling a thrill of
+admiration for the splendid villain who had abducted her. Calm and cool,
+always master of himself, apparently paying no attention to the terrible
+bruises which disfigured half his face and doubtless half his body as
+well, she admitted to herself that it was only his example, which had
+enabled her to maintain her self-control in their present plight. As she
+crawled over Perkins' discarded suit, she remembered that he had not
+taken any weapons from it. After a rapid glance around to assure herself
+that she was not being watched, she quickly searched the coat, bringing
+to light not one, but two pistols, which she thrust into her pocket. She
+saw with relief that they were regulation army automatics, with whose
+use she was familiar from much target practise with Seaton.
+
+In the room, which was a miniature of the one she had seen on the
+Skylark, the girls found clothing, toilet articles, and everything
+necessary for a long trip. As they were setting themselves to rights,
+Dorothy electing to stay in her riding suit, they surveyed each other
+frankly and each was reassured by what she saw. Dorothy saw a girl of
+twenty-two, of her own stature, with a mass of heavy, wavy black hair.
+Her eyes, a singularly rich and deep brown, contrasted strangely with
+the beautiful ivory of her skin. She was normally a beautiful girl,
+thought Dorothy, but her beauty was marred by suffering and privation.
+Her naturally slender form was thin, her face was haggard and worn. The
+stranger broke the silence.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"I'm Margaret Spencer," she began abruptly, "former secretary to His
+Royal Highness, Brookings of Steel. They swindled my father out of an
+invention worth millions and he died, broken-hearted. I got the job to
+see if I couldn't get enough evidence to convict them, and I had quite a
+lot when they caught me. I had some things that they were afraid to
+lose, and I had them so well hidden that they couldn't find them, so
+they kidnapped me to make me give them back. They haven't dared kill me
+so far for fear the evidence will show up after my death--which it will.
+However, I will be legally dead before long, and then they know the
+whole thing will come out, so they have brought me out here to make me
+talk or kill me. Talking won't do me any good now, though, and I don't
+believe it ever would have. They would have killed me after they got the
+stuff back, anyway. So you see I, at least, will never get back to the
+earth alive."
+
+"Cheer up--we'll all get back safely."
+
+"No, we won't. You don't know that man Perkins--if that is his name. I
+never heard him called any real name before. He is simply
+unspeakable--vile--hideous--everything that is base. He was my jailer,
+and I utterly loathe and despise him. He is mean and underhanded and
+tricky--he reminds me of a slimy, poisonous snake. He will kill me: I
+know it."
+
+"But how about Doctor DuQuesne? Surely he isn't that kind of man? He
+wouldn't let him."
+
+"I've never met him before, but from what I heard of him in the office,
+he's even worse than Perkins, but in an entirely different way. There's
+nothing small or mean about him, and I don't believe he would go out of
+his way to hurt anyone, as Perkins would. But he is absolutely cold and
+hard, a perfect fiend. Where his interests are concerned, there's
+nothing under the sun, good or bad, that he won't do. But I'm glad that
+Perkins had me instead of 'The Doctor,' as they call him. Perkins raises
+such a bitter personal feeling, that anybody would rather die than give
+up to him in anything. DuQuesne, however, would have tortured me
+impersonally and scientifically--cold and self-contained all the while
+and using the most efficient methods, and I am sure he would have got it
+out of me some way. He always gets what he goes after."
+
+"Oh, come, Miss Spencer!" Dorothy interrupted the half-hysterical girl.
+"You're too hard on him. Didn't you see him knock Perkins down when he
+came after me?"
+
+"Well, maybe he has a few gentlemanly instincts, which he uses when he
+doesn't lose anything by it. More likely he merely intended to rebuke
+him for a useless action. He is a firm Pragmatist--anything that is
+useful is all right, anything that is useless is a crime. More probably
+yet, he wants you left alive. Of course that is his real reason. He went
+to the trouble of kidnapping you, so naturally he won't let Perkins or
+anybody else kill you until he is through with you. Otherwise he would
+have let Perkins do anything he wanted to with you, without lifting a
+finger."
+
+"I can't quite believe that," Dorothy replied, though a cold chill
+struck at her heart as she remembered the inhuman crime attributed to
+this man, and she quailed at the thought of being in his charge,
+countless millions of miles from earth, a thought only partly
+counteracted by the fact that she was now armed. "He has treated us with
+every consideration so far, let's hope for the best. Anyway, I'm sure
+that we'll get back safely."
+
+"Why so sure? Have you something up your sleeve?"
+
+"No--or yes, in a way I have, though nothing very definite. I'm Dorothy
+Vaneman, and I am engaged to the man who discovered the thing that makes
+this space-car go...."
+
+"That's why they kidnapped you, then--to make him give up all his rights
+to it. It's like them."
+
+"Yes, I think that's why they did it. But they won't keep me long. Dick
+Seaton will find me, I know. I feel it."
+
+"But that's exactly what they want!" cried Margaret excitedly. "In my
+spying around I heard a little about this very thing--the name Seaton
+brings it to my mind. His car is broken in some way, so that it will
+kill him the first time he tries to run it."
+
+"That's where they underestimated Dick and his partner. You have heard
+of Martin Crane, of course?"
+
+"I think I heard his name mentioned in the office, together with
+Seaton's, but that's all."
+
+"Well, besides other things, Martin is quite a wonderful mechanic, and
+he found out that our Skylark was spoiled. So they built another one, a
+lot bigger, and I am sure that they are following us, right now."
+
+"But how can they possibly follow us, when we are going so fast and are
+so far away?" queried the other girl, once more despondent.
+
+"I don't quite know, but I do know that Dick will find a way. He's
+simply wonderful. He knows more now than that Doctor DuQuesne will ever
+learn in all his life, and he will find us in a few days. I feel it in
+my bones. Besides, I picked Perkins' pockets of these two pistols. Can
+you shoot an automatic?"
+
+"Yes," replied the other girl, as she seized one of the guns, assured
+herself that its magazine was full, and slipped it into her pocket. "I
+used to practise a lot with my father's. This makes me feel a whole lot
+better. And call me Peggy, won't you? It will seem good to hear my name
+again. After what I've been through lately, even this trip will be a
+vacation for me."
+
+"Well, then, cheer up, Peggy dear, we're going to be great friends.
+Let's go get us all something to eat. I'm simply starved, and I know you
+are, too."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The presence of the pistol in her pocket and Dorothy's unwavering faith
+in her lover, lifted the stranger out of the mood of despair into which
+the long imprisonment, the brutal treatment, and the present situation
+had plunged her, and she was almost cheerful as they drew themselves
+along the hand-rail leading to the tiny galley.
+
+"I simply can't get used to the idea of nothing having any weight--look
+here!" laughed Dorothy, as she took a boiled ham out of the refrigerator
+and hung it upon an imaginary hook in the air, where it remained
+motionless. "Doesn't it make you feel funny?"
+
+"It is a queer sensation. I feel light, like a toy balloon, and I feel
+awfully weird inside. If we have no weight, why does it hurt so when we
+bump into anything? And when you throw anything, like the Doctor did
+Perkins, why does it hit as hard as ever?"
+
+"It's mass or inertia or something like that. A thing has it everywhere,
+whether it weighs anything or not. Dick explained it all to me. I
+understood it when he told me about it, but I'm afraid it didn't sink in
+very deep. Did you ever study physics?"
+
+"I had a year of it in college, but it was more or less of a joke. I
+went to a girls' school, and all we had to do in physics was to get the
+credit; we didn't have to learn it."
+
+"Me too. Next time I go to school I'm going to Yale or Harvard or some
+such place, and I'll learn so much mathematics and science that I'll
+have to wear a bandeau to keep my massive intellect in place."
+
+During this conversation they had prepared a substantial luncheon and
+had arranged it daintily upon two large trays, in spite of the
+difficulty caused by the fact that nothing would remain in place by its
+own weight. The feast prepared, Dorothy took her tray from the table as
+carefully as she could, and saw the sandwiches and bottles start to
+float toward the ceiling. Hastily inverting the tray above the escaping
+viands, she pushed them back down upon the table. In doing so she lifted
+herself clear from the floor, as she had forgotten to hold herself down.
+
+"What'll we do, anyway?" she wailed when she had recovered her position.
+"Everything wants to fly all over the place!"
+
+"Put another tray on top of it and hold them together," suggested
+Margaret. "I wish we had a birdcage. Then we could open the door and
+grab a sandwich as it flies out."
+
+By covering the trays the girls finally carried the luncheon out into
+the main compartment, where they gave DuQuesne and Perkins one of the
+trays and all fell to eating hungrily. DuQuesne paused with a glint of
+amusement in his one sound eye as he saw Dorothy trying to pour ginger
+ale out of a bottle.
+
+"It can't be done, Miss Vaneman. You'll have to drink it through a
+straw. That will work, since our air pressure is normal. Be careful not
+to choke on it, though; your swallowing will have to be all muscular out
+here. Gravity won't help you. Or wait a bit--I have the control board
+fixed and it will be a matter of only a few minutes to put in another
+bar and get enough acceleration to take the place of gravity."
+
+He placed one of the extra power bars in the chamber and pushed the
+speed lever into the first notch, and there was a lurch of the whole
+vessel as it swung around the bar so that the floor was once more
+perpendicular to it. He took a couple of steps, returned, and advanced
+the lever another notch.
+
+"There that's about the same as gravity. Now we can act like human
+beings and eat in comfort."
+
+"That's a wonderful relief, Doctor!" cried Dorothy. "Are we going back
+toward the earth?"
+
+"Not yet. I reversed the bar, but we will have to use up all of this one
+before we can even start back. Until this bar is gone we will merely be
+slowing down."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+As the meal progressed, Dorothy noticed that DuQuesne's left arm seemed
+almost helpless, and that he ate with great difficulty because of his
+terribly bruised face. As soon as they had removed the trays she went
+into her room, where she had seen a small medicine chest, and brought
+out a couple of bottles.
+
+"Lie down here, Doctor DuQuesne," she commanded. "I'm going to apply a
+little first-aid to the injured. Arnica and iodine are all I can find,
+but they'll help a little."
+
+"I'm all right," began the scientist, but at her imperious gesture he
+submitted, and she bathed his battered features with the healing lotion
+and painted the worst bruises with iodine.
+
+"I see your arm is lame. Where does it hurt?"
+
+"Shoulder's the worst. I rammed it through the board when we started
+out."
+
+He opened his shirt at the throat and bared his shoulder, and Dorothy
+gasped--as much at the size and power of the muscles displayed, as at
+the extent and severity of the man's injuries. Stepping into the
+gallery, she brought out hot water and towels and gently bathed away the
+clotted blood that had been forced through the skin.
+
+"Massage it a little with the arnica as I move the arm," he directed
+coolly, and she did so, pityingly. He did not wince and made no sign of
+pain, but she saw beads of perspiration appear upon his face, and
+wondered at his fortitude.
+
+"That's fine," he said gratefully as she finished, and a peculiar
+expression came over his face. "It feels one hundred per cent better
+already. But why do you do it? I should think you would feel like
+crowning me with that basin instead of playing nurse."
+
+"Efficiency," she replied with a smile. "I'm taking a leaf out of your
+own book. You are our chief engineer, you know, and it won't do to have
+you laid up."
+
+"That's a logical explanation, but it doesn't go far enough," he
+rejoined, still studying her intently. She did not reply, but turned to
+Perkins.
+
+"How are you, Mr. Perkins? Do you require medical attention?"
+
+"No," growled Perkins from the seat in which he had crouched immediately
+after eating. "Keep away from me, or I'll cut your heart out!"
+
+"Shut up!" snapped DuQuesne. "Remember what I said?"
+
+"I haven't done anything," snarled the other.
+
+"I said I would throw you out if you made another break," DuQuesne
+informed him evenly, "and I meant it. If you can't talk decently, keep
+still. Understand that you are to keep off Miss Vaneman, words and
+actions. I am in charge of her, and I will put up with no interference
+whatever. This is your last warning."
+
+"How about Spencer, then?"
+
+"I have nothing to say about her, she's not mine," responded DuQuesne
+with a shrug.
+
+An evil light appeared in Perkins' eyes and he took out a wicked-looking
+knife and began to strop it carefully upon the leather of the seat,
+glaring at his victim the while.
+
+"Well, _I_ have something to say...." blazed Dorothy, but she was
+silenced by a gesture from Margaret, who calmly took the pistol from her
+pocket, jerked the slide back, throwing a cartridge into the chamber,
+and held the weapon up on one finger, admiring it from all sides.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Don't worry about his knife. He has been sharpening it for my benefit
+for the last month. He doesn't mean anything by it."
+
+At this unexpected show of resistance, Perkins stared at her for an
+instant, then glanced at his coat.
+
+"Yes, this was yours, once. You needn't bother about picking up your
+coat, they're both gone. You might be tempted to throw that knife, so
+drop it on the floor and kick it over to me before I count three.
+
+"One." The heavy pistol steadied into line with his chest and her finger
+tightened on the trigger.
+
+"Two." He obeyed and she picked up the knife. He turned to DuQuesne, who
+had watched the scene unmoved, a faint smile upon his saturnine face.
+
+"Doctor!" he cried, shaking with fear. "Why don't you shoot her or take
+that gun away from her? Surely you don't want to see me murdered?"
+
+"Why not?" replied DuQuesne calmly. "It is nothing to me whether she
+kills you or you kill her. You brought it on yourself by your own
+carelessness. Any man with brains doesn't leave guns lying around within
+reach of prisoners, and a blind man could have seen Miss Vaneman getting
+your hardware."
+
+"You saw her take them and didn't warn me?" croaked Perkins.
+
+"Why should I warn you? If you can't take care of your own prisoner she
+earns her liberty, as far as I am concerned. I never did like your
+style, Perkins, especially your methods of handling--or rather
+mishandling--women. You could have made her give up the stuff she
+recovered from that ass Brookings inside of an hour, and wouldn't have
+had to kill her afterward, either."
+
+"How?" sneered the other. "If you are so good at that kind of thing, why
+didn't you try it on Seaton and Crane?"
+
+"There are seven different methods to use on a woman like Miss Spencer,
+each of which will produce the desired result. The reason I did not try
+them on either Seaton or Crane is that they would have failed. Your
+method of indirect action is probably the only one that will succeed.
+That is why I adopted it."
+
+"Well, what are you going to do about it?" shrieked Perkins. "Are you
+going to sit there and lecture all day?"
+
+"I am going to do nothing whatever," answered the scientist coldly. "If
+you had any brains you would see that you are in no danger. Miss Spencer
+will undoubtedly kill you if you attack her--not otherwise. That is an
+Anglo-Saxon weakness."
+
+"Did you see me take the pistols?" queried Dorothy.
+
+"Certainly. I'm not blind. You have one of them in your right coat
+pocket now."
+
+"Then why didn't you, or don't you, try to take it away from me?" she
+asked in wonder.
+
+"If I had objected to your having them, you would never have got them.
+If I didn't want you to have a gun now, I would take it away from you.
+You know that, don't you?" and his black eyes stared into her violet
+ones with such calm certainty of his ability that she felt her heart
+sink.
+
+"Yes," she admitted finally, "I believe you could--that is, unless I
+were angry enough to shoot you."
+
+"That wouldn't help you. I can shoot faster and straighter than you can,
+and would shoot it out of your hand. However, I have no objection to
+your having the gun, since it is no part of my plan to offer you any
+further indignity of any kind. Even if you had the necessary coldness of
+nerve or cruelty of disposition--of which I have one, Perkins the other,
+and you neither--you wouldn't shoot me now, because you can't get back
+to the earth without me. After we get back I will take the guns away
+from both of you if I think it desirable. In the meantime, play with
+them all you please."
+
+"Has Perkins any more knives or guns or things in his room?" demanded
+Dorothy.
+
+"How should I know?" indifferently; then, as both girls started for
+Perkins' room he ordered brusquely:
+
+"Sit down, Miss Vaneman. Let them fight it out. Perkins has his orders
+to lay off you--you lay off him. I'm not taking any chances of getting
+you hurt, that's one reason I wanted you armed. If he gets gay, shoot
+him; otherwise, hands off completely."
+
+Dorothy threw up her head in defiance, but meeting his cold stare she
+paused irresolutely and finally sat down, biting her lips in anger,
+while the other girl went on.
+
+"That's better. She doesn't need any help to whip that yellow dog. He's
+whipped already. He never would think of fighting unless the odds were
+three to one in his favor."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+When Margaret had returned from a fruitless search of Perkins' room and
+had assured herself that he had no more weapons concealed about his
+person, she thrust the pistol back into her pocket and sat down.
+
+"That ends that," she declared. "I guess you will be good now, won't
+you, Mr. Perkins?"
+
+"Yes," that worthy muttered. "I have to be, now that you've got the drop
+on me and DuQuesne's gone back on me. But wait until we get back! I'll
+get you then, you...."
+
+"Stop right there!" sharply. "There's nothing I would rather do than
+shoot you right now, if you give me the slightest excuse, such as that
+name you were about to call me. Now go ahead!"
+
+DuQuesne broke the silence that followed.
+
+"Well, now that the battle is over, and since we are fed and rested, I
+suggest that we slow down a bit and get ready to start back. Pick out
+comfortable seats, everybody, and I'll shoot a little more juice through
+that bar."
+
+Seating himself before the instrument board, he advanced the speed lever
+slowly until nearly three-quarters of the full power was on, as much as
+he thought the others could stand.
+
+For sixty hours he drove the car, reducing the acceleration only at
+intervals during which they ate and walked about their narrow quarters
+in order to restore the blood to circulation in their suffering bodies.
+The power was not reduced for sleep; everyone slept as best he could.
+
+Dorothy and Margaret talked together at every opportunity, and a real
+intimacy grew up between them. Perkins was for the most part sullenly
+quiet, knowing himself despised by all the others and having no outlet
+here for his particular brand of cleverness. DuQuesne was always
+occupied with his work and only occasionally addressed a remark to one
+or another of the party, except during meals. At those periods of
+general recuperation, he talked easily and well upon many topics. There
+was no animosity in his bearing nor did he seem to perceive any directed
+toward himself, but when any of the others ventured to infringe upon his
+ideas of how discipline should be maintained, DuQuesne's reproof was
+merciless. Dorothy almost liked him, but Margaret insisted that she
+considered him worse than ever.
+
+When the bar was exhausted, DuQuesne lifted the sole remaining cylinder
+into place.
+
+"We should be nearly stationary with respect to the earth," he remarked.
+"Now we will start back."
+
+"Why, it felt as though we were picking up speed for the last three
+days!" exclaimed Margaret.
+
+"Yes, it feels that way because we have nothing to judge by. Slowing
+down in one direction feels exactly like starting up in the opposite
+one. There is no means of knowing whether we are standing still, going
+away from the earth, or going toward it, since we have nothing
+stationary upon which to make observations. However, since the two bars
+were of exactly the same size and were exerted in opposite directions
+except for a few minutes after we left the earth, we are nearly
+stationary now. I will put on power until this bar is something less
+than half gone, then coast for three or four days. By the end of that
+time we should be able to recognize our solar system from the appearance
+of the fixed stars."
+
+He again advanced the lever, and for many hours silence filled the car
+as it hurtled through space. DuQuesne, waking up from a long nap, saw
+that the bar no longer pointed directly toward the top of the ship,
+perpendicular to the floor, but was inclined at a sharp angle. He
+reduced the current, and felt the lurch of the car as it swung around
+the bar, increasing the angle many degrees. He measured the angle
+carefully and peered out of all the windows on one side of the car.
+Returning to the bar after a time, he again measured the angle, and
+found that it had increased greatly.
+
+"What's the matter, Doctor DuQuesne?" asked Dorothy, who had also been
+asleep.
+
+"We are being deflected from our course. You see the bar doesn't point
+straight up any more? Of course the direction of the bar hasn't changed,
+the car has swung around it."
+
+"What does that mean?"
+
+"We have come close enough to some star so that its attraction swings
+the bottom of the car around. Normally, you know, the bottom of the car
+follows directly behind the bar. It doesn't mean much yet except that we
+are being drawn away from our straight line, but if the attraction gets
+much stronger it may make us miss our solar system completely. I have
+been looking for the star in question, but can't see it yet. We'll
+probably pull away from it very shortly."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+He threw on the power, and for some time watched the bar anxiously,
+expecting to see it swing back into the vertical, but the angle
+continually increased. He again reduced the current and searched the
+heavens for the troublesome body.
+
+"Do you see it yet?" asked Dorothy with concern.
+
+"No, there's apparently nothing near enough to account for all this
+deflection."
+
+He took out a pair of large night-glasses and peered through them for
+several minutes.
+
+"Good God! It's a dead sun, and we're nearly onto it! It looks as large
+as our moon!"
+
+Springing to the board, he whirled the bar into the vertical. He took
+down a strange instrument, went to the bottom window, and measured the
+apparent size of the dark star. Then, after cautioning the rest of the
+party to sit tight, he advanced the lever farther than it had been
+before. After half an hour he again slackened the pace and made another
+observation, finding to his astonishment that the dark mass had almost
+doubled its apparent size! Dorothy, noting his expression, was about to
+speak, but he forestalled her.
+
+"We lost ground, instead of gaining, that spurt," he remarked, as he
+hastened to his post. "It must be inconceivably large, to exert such an
+enormous attractive force at this distance. We'll have to put on full
+power. Hang onto yourselves as best you can."
+
+He then pushed the lever out to its last notch and left it there until
+the bar was nearly gone, only to find that the faint disk of the monster
+globe was even larger than before, being now visible to the unaided eye.
+Revived, the three others saw it plainly--a great dim circle, visible as
+is the dark portion of the new moon--and, the power shut off, they felt
+themselves falling toward it with sickening speed. Perkins screamed with
+mad fear and flung himself grovelling upon the floor. Margaret, her
+nerves still unstrung, clutched at her heart with both hands. Dorothy,
+though her eyes looked like great black holes in her white face, looked
+DuQuesne in the eye steadily.
+
+"This is the end, then?"
+
+"Not yet," he replied in a calm and level voice. "The end will not come
+for a good many hours, as I have calculated that it will take at least
+two days, probably more, to fall the distance we have to go. We have all
+that time in which to think out a way of escape."
+
+"Won't the outer repulsive shell keep us from striking it, or at least
+break the force of our fall?"
+
+"No. It was designed only as protection from meteorites and other small
+bodies. It is heavy enough to swing us away from a small planet, but it
+will be used up long before we strike."
+
+He lighted a cigarette and sat at case, as though in his own study, his
+brow wrinkled in thought as he made calculations in his notebook.
+Finally he rose to his feet.
+
+"There's only one chance that I can see. That is to gather up every
+scrap of copper we have and try to pull ourselves far enough out of line
+so that we will take an hyperbolic orbit around that body instead of
+falling into it."
+
+"What good will that do us?" asked Margaret, striving for self-control.
+"We will starve to death finally, won't we?"
+
+"Not necessarily. That will give us time to figure out something else."
+
+"You won't have to figure out anything else, Doctor," stated Dorothy
+positively. "If we miss that moon, Dick and Martin will find us before
+very long."
+
+"Not in this life. If they tried to follow us, they're both dead before
+now."
+
+"That's where even you are wrong!" she flashed at him. "They knew you
+were wrecking our machine, so they built another one, a good one. And
+they know a lot of things about this new metal that you have never
+dreamed of, since they were not in the plans you stole."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+DuQuesne went directly to the heart of the matter, paying no attention
+to her barbed shafts.
+
+"Can they follow us through space without seeing us?" he demanded.
+
+"Yes--or at least, I think they can."
+
+"How do they do it?"
+
+"I don't know--I wouldn't tell you if I did."
+
+"You'll tell if you know," he declared, his voice cutting like a knife.
+"But that can wait until after we get out of this. The thing to do now
+is to dodge that world."
+
+He searched the vessel for copper, ruthlessly tearing out almost
+everything that contained the metal, hammering it flat and throwing it
+into the power-plant. He set the bar at right angles to the line of
+their fall and turned on the current. When the metal was exhausted, he
+made another series of observations upon the body toward which they were
+falling, and reported quietly:
+
+"We made a lot of distance, but not enough. Everything goes in, this
+time."
+
+He tore out the single remaining light-wire, leaving the car in darkness
+save for the diffused light of his electric torch, and broke up the only
+remaining motor. He then took his almost priceless Swiss watch, his
+heavy signet ring, his scarf pin, and the cartridges from his pistol,
+and added them to the collection. Flashing his lamp upon Perkins, he
+relieved him of everything he had which contained copper.
+
+"I think I have a few pennies in my pocketbook," suggested Dorothy.
+
+"Get 'em," he directed briefly, and while she was gone he searched
+Margaret, without result save for the cartridges in her pistol, as she
+had no jewelry remaining after her imprisonment. Dorothy returned and
+handed him everything she had found.
+
+"I would like to keep this ring," she said slowly, pointing to a slender
+circlet of gold set with a solitaire diamond, "if you think there is any
+chance of us getting clear."
+
+"Everything goes that has any copper in it," he said coldly, "and I am
+glad to see that Seaton is too good a chemist to buy any platinum
+jewelry. You may keep the diamond, though," as he wrenched the jewel out
+of its setting and returned it to her.
+
+He threw all the metal into the central chamber and the vessel gave a
+tremendous lurch as the power was again applied. It was soon spent,
+however, and after the final observation, the others waiting in
+breathless suspense for him to finish his calculations, he made his curt
+announcement.
+
+"Not enough."
+
+Perkins, his mind weakened by the strain of the last few days, went
+completely insane at the words. With a wild howl he threw himself at the
+unmoved scientist, who struck him with the butt of his pistol as he
+leaped, the mighty force of DuQuesne's blow crushing his skull like an
+eggshell and throwing him backward to the opposite side of the vessel.
+Margaret lay in her seat in a dead faint. Dorothy and DuQuesne looked at
+each other in the feeble light of the torch. To the girl's amazement,
+the man was as calm as though he were safe in his own house, and she
+made a determined effort to hold herself together.
+
+"What next, Doctor DuQuesne?"
+
+"I don't know. We have a couple of days yet, at least. I'll have to
+study awhile."
+
+"In that time Dick will find us, I know."
+
+"Even if they do find us in time, which I doubt, what good will it do?
+It simply means that they will go with us instead of saving us, for of
+course they can't pull away, since we couldn't. I hope they don't find
+us, but locate this star in time to keep away from it."
+
+"Why?" she gasped. "You have been planning to kill both of them! I
+should think you would be delighted to take them with us?"
+
+"Far from it. Please try to be logical. I intended to remove them
+because they stood in the way of my developing this new metal. If I am
+to be out of the way--and frankly, I see very little chance of getting
+out of this--I hope that Seaton goes ahead with it. It is the greatest
+discovery the world has ever known, and if both Seaton and I, the only
+two men in the world who know how to handle it, drop out, it will be
+lost for perhaps hundreds of years."
+
+"If Dick's finding us means that he must go, too, of course I hope that
+he won't find us, but I don't believe that. I simply know that he could
+get us away from here."
+
+She continued more slowly, almost speaking to herself, her heart sinking
+with her voice:
+
+"He is following us, and he won't stop even if he does see this dead
+star and knows that he can't get away. We will die together."
+
+"There's no denying the fact that our situation is critical, but you
+know a man isn't dead until after his heart stops beating. We have two
+whole days yet, and in that time, I can probably dope out some way of
+getting away from here."
+
+"I hope so," she replied, keeping her voice from breaking only by a
+great effort. "But go ahead with your doping. I'm worn out." She drew
+herself down upon one of the seats and stared at the ceiling, fighting
+to restrain an almost overpowering impulse to scream.
+
+Thus the hours wore by--Perkins dead; Margaret still unconscious;
+Dorothy lying in her seat, her thoughts a formless prayer, buoyed up
+only by her faith in God and in her lover; DuQuesne self-possessed,
+smoking innumerable cigarettes, his keen mind grappling with its most
+desperate problem, grimly fighting until the very last instant of
+life--while the powerless space-car fell with an appalling velocity,
+faster and faster; falling toward that cold and desolate monster of the
+heaven.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+The Rescue
+
+
+Seaton and Crane drove the Skylark in the direction indicated by the
+unwavering object-compass with the greatest acceleration they could
+stand, each man taking a twelve-hour watch at the instrument board.
+
+Now, indeed, did the Skylark justify the faith of her builders, and the
+two inventors, with an exultant certainty of their success, flew out
+beyond man's wildest imaginings. Had it not been for the haunting fear
+for Dorothy's safety, the journey would have been one of pure triumph,
+and even that anxiety did not prevent a profound joy in the enterprise.
+
+"If that misguided mutt thinks he can pull off a stunt like that and get
+away with it, he's got another think coming," asserted Seaton, after
+making a reading on the other car after several days of the flight. "He
+went off half-cocked this time, for sure, and we've got him foul. We'd
+better put on some negative pretty soon hadn't we, Mart? Only a little
+over a hundred light-years now."
+
+Crane nodded agreement and Seaton continued:
+
+"It'll take as long to stop, of course, as it has taken to get out here,
+and if we ram them--GOOD NIGHT! Let's figure it out as nearly as we
+can."
+
+They calculated their own speed, and that of the other vessel, as shown
+by the various readings taken, and applied just enough negative
+acceleration to slow the Skylark down to the speed of the other
+space-car when they should come up with it. They smiled at each other in
+recognition of the perfect working of the mechanism when the huge vessel
+had spun, with a sickening lurch, through a complete half-circle, the
+instant the power was reversed. Each knew that they were actually
+traveling in a direction that to them seemed "down," but with a
+constantly diminishing velocity, even though they seemed to be still
+going "up" with an increasing speed.
+
+Until nearly the end of the calculated time the two took turns as
+before, but as the time of meeting drew near both men were on the alert,
+taking readings on the object-compass every few minutes. Finally Crane
+announced:
+
+"We are almost on them, Dick. They are so close that it is almost
+impossible to time the needle--less than ten thousand miles."
+
+Seaton gradually increased the retarding force until the needle showed
+that they were very close to the other vessel and maintaining a constant
+distance from it. He then shut off the power, and both men hurried to
+the bottom window to search for the fleeing ship with their powerful
+night-glasses. They looked at each other in amazement as they felt
+themselves falling almost directly downward, with an astounding
+acceleration.
+
+"What do you make of it, Dick?" asked Crane calmly, as he brought his
+glasses to his eyes and stared out into the black heavens, studded with
+multitudes of brilliant and unfamiliar stars.
+
+"I don't make it at all, Mart. By the feel, I should say we were falling
+toward something that would make our earth look like a pin-head. I
+remember now that I noticed that the bus was getting a little out of
+plumb with the bar all this last watch. I didn't pay much attention to
+it, as I couldn't see anything out of the way. Nothing but a sun could
+be big enough to raise all this disturbance, and I can't see any close
+enough to be afraid of, can you?"
+
+"No, and I cannot see the Steel space-car, either. Look sharp."
+
+"Of course," Seaton continued to argue as he peered out into the night,
+"it is theoretically possible that a heavenly body can exist large
+enough so that it could exert even this much force and still appear no
+larger than an ordinary star, but I don't believe it is probable. Give
+me three or four minutes of visual angle and I'll believe anything, but
+none of these stars are big enough to have any visual angle at all.
+Furthermore...."
+
+"There is at least half a degree of visual angle!" broke in his friend
+intensely. "Just to the left of that constellation that looks so much
+like a question mark. It is not bright, but dark, like a very dark
+moon--barely perceptible."
+
+Seaton pointed his glass eagerly in the direction indicated.
+
+"Great Cat!" he ejaculated. "I'll say that's some moon! Wouldn't that
+rattle your slats? And there's DuQuesne's bus, too, on the right edge.
+Get it?"
+
+As they stood up, Seaton's mood turned to one of deadly earnestness, and
+a grave look came over Crane's face as the seriousness of their
+situation dawned upon them. Trained mathematicians both, they knew
+instantly that that unknown world was of inconceivable mass, and that
+their chance of escape was none too good, even should they abandon the
+other craft to its fate. Seaton stared at Crane, his fists clenched and
+drops of perspiration standing on his forehead. Suddenly, with agony in
+his eyes and in his voice, he spoke.
+
+"Mighty slim chance of getting away if we go through with it, old
+man.... Hate like the devil.... Have no right to ask you to throw
+yourself away, too."
+
+"Enough of that, Dick. You had nothing to do with my coming: you could
+not have kept me away. We will see it through."
+
+Their hands met in a fierce clasp, broken by Seaton, as he jumped to the
+levers with an intense:
+
+"Well, let's get busy!"
+
+In a few minutes they had reduced the distance until they could plainly
+see the other vessel, a small black circle against the faintly luminous
+disk. As it leaped into clear relief in the beam of his powerful
+searchlight, Seaton focused the great attractor upon the fugitive car
+and threw in the lever which released the full force of that mighty
+magnet, while Crane attracted the attention of the vessel's occupants by
+means of a momentary burst of solid machine-gun bullets, which he knew
+would glance harmlessly off the steel hull.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+After an interminable silence, DuQuesne drew himself out of his seat. He
+took a long inhalation, deposited the butt of his cigarette carefully in
+his ash tray, and made his way to his room. He returned with three heavy
+fur suits provided with air helmets, two of which he handed to the
+girls, who were huddled in a seat with their arms around each other.
+These suits were the armor designed by Crane for use in exploring the
+vacuum and the intense cold of dead worlds. Air-tight, braced with fine
+steel netting, and supplied with air at normal pressure from small tanks
+by automatic valves, they made their wearers independent of surrounding
+conditions of pressure and temperature.
+
+"The next thing to do," DuQuesne stated calmly, "is to get the copper
+off the outside of the ship. That is the last resort, as it robs us of
+our only safeguard against meteorites, but this is the time for
+last-resort measures. I'm going after that copper. Put these suits on,
+as our air will leave as soon as I open the door, and practically an
+absolute vacuum and equally absolute zero will come in."
+
+As he spoke, the ship was enveloped in a blinding glare and they were
+thrown flat as the vessel slowed down in its terrific fall. The thought
+flashed across DuQuesne's mind that they had already entered the
+atmosphere of that monster globe and were being slowed down and set
+afire by its friction, but he dismissed it as quickly as it had
+come--the light in that case would be the green of copper, not this
+bluish-white. His next thought was that there had been a collision of
+meteors in the neighborhood, and that their retardation was due to the
+outer coating. While these thoughts were flickering through his mind,
+they heard an insistent metallic tapping, which DuQuesne recognized
+instantly.
+
+"A machine-gun!" he blurted in amazement. "How in...."
+
+"It's Dick!" screamed Dorothy, with flashing eyes. "He's found us, just
+as I knew he would. You couldn't beat Dick and Martin in a thousand
+years!"
+
+The tension under which they had been laboring so long suddenly
+released, the two girls locked their arms around each other in a
+half-hysterical outburst of relief. Margaret's meaningless words and
+Dorothy's incoherent praises of her lover and Crane mingled with their
+racking sobs as each fought to recover self-possession.
+
+DuQuesne had instantly mounted to the upper window. Throwing back the
+cover, he flashed his torch rapidly. The glare of the searchlight was
+snuffed out and he saw a flashing light spell out in dots and dashes:
+
+"Can you read Morse?"
+
+"Yes," he signalled back. "Power gone, drifting into...."
+
+"We know it. Will you resist?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Have you fur pressure-suits?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Put them on. Shut off your outer coating. Will touch so your upper door
+against our lower. Open, transfer quick."
+
+"O. K."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Hastily returning to the main compartment, he briefly informed the girls
+as to what had happened. All three donned the suits and stationed
+themselves at the upper opening. Rapidly, but with unerring precision,
+the two ships were brought into place and held together by the
+attractor. As the doors were opened, there was a screaming hiss as the
+air of the vessels escaped through the narrow crack between them. The
+passengers saw the moisture in the air turn into snow, and saw the air
+itself first liquefy and then freeze into a solid coating upon the metal
+around the orifices at the touch of the frightful cold outside--the
+absolute zero of interstellar space, about four hundred sixty degrees
+below zero in the every-day scale of temperature. The moisture of their
+breath condensed upon the inside of the double glasses of their helmets,
+rendering sight useless.
+
+[Illustration: DuQuesne seized her and tossed her lightly through the
+doorway in such a manner that she would not touch the metal, which would
+have frozen instantly anything coming into contact with it.]
+
+Dorothy pushed the other girl ahead of her. DuQuesne seized her and
+tossed her lightly through the doorway in such a manner that she would
+not touch the metal, which would have frozen instantly anything coming
+into contact with it. Seaton was waiting. Feeling a woman's slender form
+in his arms, he crushed her to him in a mighty embrace, and was
+astonished to feel movements of resistance, and to hear a strange,
+girlish voice cry out:
+
+"Don't! It's me! Dorothy's next!"
+
+Releasing her abruptly, he passed her on to Martin and turned just in
+time to catch his sweetheart, who, knowing that he would be there and
+recognizing his powerful arms at the first touch, returned his embrace
+with a fierce intensity which even he had never suspected that she could
+exert. They stood motionless, locked in each other's arms, while
+DuQuesne dove through the opening and snapped the door shut behind him.
+
+The air-pressure and temperature back to normal, the cumbersome suits
+were hastily removed, and Seaton's lips met Dorothy's in a long,
+clinging caress. DuQuesne's cold, incisive voice broke the silence.
+
+"Every second counts. I would suggest that we go somewhere."
+
+"Just a minute!" snapped Crane. "Dick, what shall we do with this
+murderer?"
+
+Seaton had forgotten DuQuesne utterly in the joy of holding his
+sweetheart in his arms, but at his friend's words, he faced about and
+his face grew stern.
+
+"By rights, we ought to chuck him back into his own tub and let him go
+to the devil," he said savagely, doubling his fists and turning swiftly.
+
+"No, no, Dick," remonstrated Dorothy, seizing his arm. "He treated us
+very well, and saved my life once. Anyway, you mustn't kill him."
+
+"No, I suppose not," grudgingly assented her lover, "and I won't,
+either, unless he gives me at least half an excuse."
+
+"We might iron him to a post?" suggested Crane, doubtfully.
+
+"I think there's a better way," replied Seaton. "He may be able to work
+his way. His brain hits on all twelve, and he's strong as a bull. Our
+chance of getting back isn't a certainty, as you know." He turned to
+DuQuesne.
+
+"I've heard that your word is good."
+
+"It has never been broken."
+
+"Will you give your word to act as one of the party, for the good of us
+all, if we don't iron you?"
+
+"Yes--until we get back to the earth. Provided, of course, that I
+reserve the right to escape at any time between now and then if I wish
+to and can do so without injuring the vessel or any member of the party
+in any way."
+
+"Agreed. Let's get busy--we're altogether too close to that dud there to
+suit me. Sit tight, everybody, we're on our way!" he cried, as he turned
+to the board, applied one notch of power, and shut off the attractor.
+The Skylark slowed down a trifle in its mad fall, the other vessel
+continued on its way--a helpless hulk, manned by a corpse, falling to
+destruction upon the bleak wastes of a desert world.
+
+"Hold on!" said DuQuesne sharply. "Your power is the same as mine was,
+in proportion to your mass, isn't it?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Then our goose is cooked. I couldn't pull away from it with everything
+I had, couldn't even swing out enough to make an orbit, either
+hyperbolic or elliptical around it. With a reserve bar you will be able
+to make an orbit, but you can't get away from it."
+
+"Thanks for the dope. That saves our wasting some effort. Our
+power-plant can be doubled up in emergencies, thanks to Martin's
+cautious old bean. We'll simply double her up and go away from here."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"There is one thing we didn't consider quite enough," said Crane,
+thoughtfully. "I started to faint back there before the full power of
+even one motor was in use. With the motor doubled, each of us will be
+held down by a force of many tons--we would all be helpless."
+
+"Yes," added Dorothy, with foreboding in her eyes, "we were all
+unconscious on the way out, except Dr. DuQuesne."
+
+"Well, then, Blackie and I, as the huskiest members of the party, will
+give her the juice until only one of us is left with his eyes open. If
+that isn't enough to pull us clear, we'll have to give her the whole
+works and let her ramble by herself after we all go out. How about it,
+Blackie?" unconsciously falling into the old Bureau nickname. "Do you
+think we can make it stop at unconsciousness with double power on?"
+
+DuQuesne studied the two girls carefully.
+
+"With oxygen in the helmets instead of air, we all may be able to stand
+it. These special cushions keep the body from flattening out, as it
+normally would under such a pressure. The unconsciousness is simply a
+suffocation caused by the lateral muscles being unable to lift the
+ribs--in other words, the air-pumps aren't strong enough for the added
+work put upon them. At least we stand a chance this way. We may live
+through the pressure while we are pulling away, and we certainly shall
+die if we don't pull away."
+
+After a brief consultation, the men set to work with furious haste.
+While Crane placed extra bars in each of the motors and DuQuesne made
+careful observations upon the apparent size of the now plainly visible
+world toward which they were being drawn so irresistibly, Seaton
+connected the helmets with the air-and oxygen-tanks through a valve upon
+the board, by means of which he could change at will the oxygen content
+of the air they breathed. He then placed the strange girl, who seemed
+dazed by the frightful sensation of their never-ending fall, upon one of
+the seats, fitted the cumbersome helmet upon her head, strapped her
+carefully into place, and turned to Dorothy. In an instant they were in
+each other's arms. He felt her labored breathing and the wild beating of
+her heart, pressed so closely to his, and saw the fear of the unknown in
+the violet depths of her eyes, but she looked at him unflinchingly.
+
+"Dick, sweetheart, if this is good-bye...."
+
+He interrupted her with a kiss.
+
+"It isn't good-bye yet, Dottie mine. This is merely a trial effort, to
+see what we will have to do to get away. Next time will be the time to
+worry."
+
+"I'm not worried, really ... but in case ... you see ... I ... we ..."
+
+The gray eyes softened and misted over as he pressed his cheek to hers.
+
+"I understand, sweetheart," he whispered. "This is not good-bye, but if
+we don't pull through we'll go together, and that is what we both want."
+
+As Crane and DuQuesne finished their tasks, Seaton fitted his
+sweetheart's helmet, placed her tenderly upon the seat, buckled the
+heavy restraining straps about her slender body, and donned his own
+helmet. He took his place at the main instrument board, DuQuesne
+stationing himself at the other.
+
+"What did you read on it, Blackie?" asked Seaton.
+
+"Two degrees, one minute, twelve seconds diameter," replied DuQuesne.
+"Altogether too close for comfort. How shall we apply the power? One of
+us must stay awake, or we'll go on as long as the bars last."
+
+"You put on one notch, then I'll put on one. We can feel the bus jump
+with each notch. We'll keep it up until one of us is so far gone that he
+can't raise the bar--the one that raises last will have to let the ship
+run for thirty minutes or an hour, then cut down his power. Then the
+other fellow will revive and cut his off, for an observation. How's
+that?"
+
+"All right."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+They took their places, and Seaton felt the vessel slow down in its
+horrible fall as DuQuesne threw his lever into the first notch. He
+responded instantly by advancing his own, and notch after notch the
+power applied to the ship by the now doubled motor was rapidly
+increased. The passengers felt their suits envelope them and began to
+labor for breath. Seaton slowly turned the mixing valve, a little with
+each advance of his lever, until pure oxygen flowed through the pipes.
+The power levers had moved scarcely half of their range, yet minutes now
+intervened between each advance instead of seconds, as at the start.
+
+As each of the two men was determined that he would make the last
+advance, the duel continued longer than either would have thought
+possible. Seaton made what he thought his final effort and waited--only
+to feel, after a few minutes, the upward surge telling him that DuQuesne
+was still able to move his lever. His brain reeled. His arm seemed
+paralyzed by its own enormous weight, and felt as though it, the rolling
+table upon which it rested, and the supporting framework were so
+immovably welded together that it was impossible to move it even the
+quarter-inch necessary to operate the ratchet-lever. He could not move
+his body, which was oppressed by a sickening weight. His utmost efforts
+to breathe forced only a little of the life-giving oxygen into his
+lungs, which smarted painfully at the touch of the undiluted gas, and he
+felt that he could not long retain consciousness under such conditions.
+Nevertheless, he summoned all his strength and advanced the lever one
+more notch. He stared at the clock-face above his head, knowing that if
+DuQuesne could advance his lever again he would lose consciousness and
+be beaten. Minute after minute went by, however, and the acceleration of
+the ship remained constant. Seaton, knowing that he was in sole control
+of the power-plant, fought to retain possession of his faculties, while
+the hands of the clock told off the interminable minutes.
+
+After an eternity of time an hour had passed, and Seaton attempted to
+cut down his power, only to find with horror that the long strain had so
+weakened him that he could not reverse the ratchet. He was still able,
+however, to give the lever the backward jerk which disconnected the
+wires completely--and the safety straps creaked with the sudden stress
+as, half the power instantly shut off, the suddenly released springs
+tried to hurl five bodies against the ceiling. After a few minutes
+DuQuesne revived and slowly cut off his power. To the dismay of both men
+they were again falling!
+
+DuQuesne hurried to the lower window to make the observation, remarking:
+
+"You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din."
+
+"Only because you're so badly bunged up. One more notch would've got my
+goat," replied Seaton frankly as he made his way to Dorothy's side. He
+noticed as he reached her, that Crane had removed his helmet and was
+approaching the other girl. By the time DuQuesne had finished the
+observation, the other passengers had completely recovered, apparently
+none the worse for their experience.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Did we gain anything?" asked Seaton eagerly.
+
+"I make it two, four, thirteen. We've lost about two minutes of arc. How
+much power did we have on?"
+
+"A little over half--thirty-two points out of sixty possible."
+
+"We were still falling pretty fast. We'll have to put on everything
+we've got. Since neither of us can put it on we'll have to rig up an
+automatic feed. It'll take time, but it's the only way."
+
+"The automatic control is already there," put in Crane, forestalling
+Seaton's explanation. "The only question is whether we will live through
+it--and that is not really a question, since certain death is the only
+alternative. We must do it."
+
+"We sure must," answered Seaton soberly.
+
+Dorothy gravely nodded assent.
+
+"What do you fellows think of a little plus pressure on the oxygen?"
+asked Seaton. "I think it would help a lot."
+
+"I think it's a good idea," said DuQuesne, and Crane added:
+
+"Four or five inches of water will be about all the pressure we can
+stand. Any more might burn our lungs too badly."
+
+The pressure apparatus was quickly arranged and the motors filled to
+capacity with reserve bars--enough to last seventy-two hours--the
+scientists having decided that they must risk everything on one trial
+and put in enough, if possible, to pull them clear out of the influence
+of this center of attraction, as the time lost in slowing up to change
+bars might well mean the difference between success and failure. Where
+they might lie at the end of the wild dash for safety, how they were to
+retrace their way with their depleted supply of copper, what other
+dangers of dead star, planet, or sun lay in their path--all these were
+terrifying questions that had to be ignored.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+DuQuesne was the only member of the party who actually felt any
+calmness, the quiet of the others expressing their courage in facing
+fear. Life seemed very sweet and desirable to them, the distant earth a
+very Paradise! Through Dorothy's mind flashed the visions she had built
+up during long sweet hours, visions of a long life with Seaton. As she
+breathed an inaudible prayer, she glanced up and saw Seaton standing
+beside her, gazing down upon her with his very soul in his eyes. Never
+would she forget the expression upon his face. Even in that crucial
+hour, his great love for her overshadowed every other feeling, and no
+thought of self was in his mind--his care was all for her. There was a
+long farewell caress. Both knew that it might be goodbye, but both were
+silent as the violet eyes and the gray looked into each other's depths
+and conveyed messages far beyond the power of words. Once more he
+adjusted her helmet and strapped her into place.
+
+As Crane had in the meantime cared for the other girl, the men again
+took their places and Seaton started the motor which would automatically
+advance the speed levers, one notch every five seconds, until the full
+power of both motors was exerted. As the power was increased, he turned
+the valve as before, until the helmets were filled with pure oxygen
+under a pressure of five inches of water.
+
+Margaret Spencer, weakened by her imprisonment, was the first to lose
+consciousness, and soon afterward Dorothy felt her senses leave her. A
+half-minute, in the course of which six mighty surges were felt, as more
+of the power of the doubled motor was released, and Crane had gone,
+calmly analyzing his sensations to the last. After a time DuQuesne also
+lapsed into unconsciousness, making no particular effort to avoid it, as
+he knew that the involuntary muscles would function quite as well
+without the direction of the will. Seaton, although he knew it was
+useless, fought to keep his senses as long as possible, counting the
+impulses he felt as the levers were advanced.
+
+"Thirty-two." He felt exactly as he had before, when he had advanced the
+lever for the last time.
+
+"Thirty-three." A giant hand shut off his breath completely, though he
+was fighting to his utmost for air. An intolerable weight rested upon
+his eyeballs, forcing them backward into his head. The universe whirled
+about him in dizzy circles--orange and black and green stars flashed
+before his bursting eyes.
+
+"Thirty-four." The stars became more brilliant and of more variegated
+colors, and a giant pen dipped in fire was writing equations and
+mathematico-chemical symbols upon his quivering brain. He joined the
+circling universe, which he had hitherto kept away from him by main
+strength, and whirled about his own body, tracing a logarithmic spiral
+with infinite velocity--leaving his body an infinite distance behind.
+
+"Thirty-five." The stars and the fiery pen exploded in a wild
+coruscation of searing, blinding light and he plunged from his spiral
+into a black abyss.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+In spite of the terrific stress put upon the machine, every part
+functioned perfectly, and soon after Seaton had lost consciousness the
+vessel began to draw away from the sinister globe; slowly at first,
+faster and faster as more and more of the almost unlimited power of the
+mighty motor was released. Soon the levers were out to the last notch
+and the machine was exerting its maximum effort. One hour and an
+observer upon the Skylark would have seen that the apparent size of the
+massive unknown world was rapidly decreasing; twenty hours and it was so
+far away as to be invisible, though its effect was still great; forty
+hours and the effect was slight; sixty hours and the Skylark was out of
+range of the slightest measurable force of the monster it had left.
+
+Hurtled onward by the inconceivable power of the unleashed copper demon
+in its center, the Skylark flew through the infinite reaches of
+interstellar space with an unthinkable, almost incalculable
+velocity--beside which the velocity of light was as that of a snail to
+that of a rifle bullet; a velocity augmented every second by a quantity
+almost double that of light itself.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+Through Space Into the Carboniferous
+
+
+Seaton opened his eyes and gazed about him wonderingly. Only half
+conscious, bruised and sore in every part of his body, he could not at
+first realize what had happened. Instinctively drawing a deep breath, he
+coughed and choked as the undiluted oxygen filled his lungs, bringing
+with it a complete understanding of the situation. Knowing from the lack
+of any apparent motion that the power had been sufficient to pull the
+car away from that fatal globe, his first thought was for Dorothy, and
+he tore off his helmet and turned toward her. The force of even that
+slight movement, wafted him gently into the air where he hung suspended
+several minutes before his struggles enabled him to clutch a post and
+draw himself down to the floor. A quick glance around informed him that
+Dorothy, as well as the others, was still unconscious. Making his way
+rapidly to her, he placed her face downward upon the floor and began
+artificial respiration. Very soon he was rewarded by the coughing he had
+longed to hear. He tore off her helmet and clasped her to his breast in
+an agony of relief, while she sobbed convulsively upon his shoulder. The
+first ecstasy of their greeting over, Dorothy started guiltily.
+
+"Oh, Dick!" she exclaimed. "How about Peggy? You must see how she is!"
+
+"Never mind," answered Crane's voice cheerily. "She is coming to
+nicely."
+
+Glancing around quickly, they saw that Crane had already revived the
+stranger, and that DuQuesne was not in sight. Dorothy blushed, the vivid
+wave of color rising to her glorious hair, and hastily disengaged her
+arms from around her lover's neck, drawing away from him. Seaton, also
+blushing, dropped his arms, and Dorothy floated away from him,
+frantically clutching at a brace just beyond reach.
+
+"Pull me down, Dick!" she called, laughing gaily.
+
+Seaton, seizing her instinctively, neglected his own anchorage and they
+hung in the air together, while Crane and Margaret, each holding a
+strap, laughed with unrestrained merriment.
+
+"Tweet, tweet--I'm a canary!" chuckled Seaton. "Throw us a rope!"
+
+"A Dicky-bird, you mean," interposed Dorothy.
+
+"I knew that you were a sleight-of-hand expert, Dick, but I did not know
+that levitation was one of your specialties," remarked Crane with mock
+gravity. "That is a peculiar pose you are holding now. What are you
+doing--sitting on an imaginary pedestal?"
+
+"I'll be sitting on your neck if you don't get a wiggle on with that
+rope!" retorted Seaton, but before Crane had time to obey the command
+the floating couple had approached close enough to the ceiling so that
+Seaton, with a slight pressure of his hand against the leather, sent
+them floating back to the floor, within reach of one of the handrails.
+
+Seaton made his way to the power-plant, lifted in one of the remaining
+bars, and applied a little power. The Skylark seemed to jump under them,
+then it seemed as though they were back on Earth--everything had its
+normal weight once more, as the amount of power applied was just enough
+to equal the acceleration of gravity. After this fact had been
+explained, Dorothy turned to Margaret.
+
+"Now that we are able to act intelligently, the party should be
+introduced to each other. Peggy, this is Dr. Dick Seaton, and this is
+Mr. Martin Crane. Boys, this is Miss Margaret Spencer, a dear friend of
+mine. These are the boys I have told you so much about, Peggy. Dick
+knows all about atoms and things; he found out how to make the Skylark
+go. Martin, who is quite a wonderful inventor, made the engines and
+things for it."
+
+"I may have heard of Mr. Crane," replied Margaret eagerly. "My father
+was an inventor, and I have heard him speak of a man named Crane who
+invented a lot of instruments for airplanes. He used to say that the
+Crane instruments revolutionized flying. I wonder if you are that Mr.
+Crane?"
+
+"That is rather unjustifiably high praise, Miss Spencer," replied Crane,
+"but as I have been guilty of one or two things along that line, I may
+be the man he meant."
+
+"Pardon me if I seem to change the subject," put in Seaton, "but where's
+DuQuesne?"
+
+"We came to at the same time, and he went into the galley to fix up
+something to eat."
+
+"Good for him!" exclaimed Dorothy. "I'm simply starved to death. I would
+have been demanding food long ago, but I have so many aches and pains
+that I didn't realize how hungry I was until you mentioned it. Come on,
+Peggy, I know where our room is. Let's go powder our noses while these
+bewhiskered gentlemen reap their beards. Did you bring along any of my
+clothes, Dick, or did you forget them in the excitement?"
+
+"I didn't think anything about clothes, but Martin did. You'll find your
+whole wardrobe in your room. I'm with you, Dot, on that eating
+proposition--I'm hungry enough to eat the jamb off the door!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+After the girls had gone, Seaton and Crane went to their rooms, where
+they exercised vigorously to restore the circulation to their numbed
+bodies, shaved, bathed, and returned to the saloon feeling like new men.
+They found the girls already there, seated at one of the windows.
+
+"Hail and greeting!" cried Dorothy at sight of them. "I hardly
+recognized you without your whiskers. Do hurry over here and look out
+this perfectly wonderful window. Did you ever in your born days see
+anything like this sight? Now that I'm not scared pea-green, I can enjoy
+it thoroughly!"
+
+The two men joined the girls and peered out into space through the
+window, which was completely invisible, so clear was the glass. As the
+four heads bent, so close together, an awed silence fell upon the little
+group. For the blackness of the interstellar void was not the dark of an
+earthly night, but the absolute black of the absence of all light,
+beside which the black of platinum dust is pale and gray; and laid upon
+this velvet were the jewel stars. They were not the twinkling,
+scintillating beauties of the earthly sky, but minute points, so small
+as to seem dimensionless, yet of dazzling brilliance. Without the
+interference of the air, their rays met the eye steadily and much of the
+effect of comparative distance was lost. All seemed nearer and there was
+no hint of familiarity in their arrangement. Like gems thrown upon
+darkness they shone in multi-colored beauty upon the daring wanderers,
+who stood in their car as easily as though they were upon their parent
+Earth, and gazed upon a sight never before seen by eye of man nor
+pictured in his imaginings.
+
+Through the daze of their wonder, a thought smote Seaton like a blow
+from a fist. His eyes leaped to the instrument board and he exclaimed:
+
+"Look there, Mart! We're heading almost directly away from the Earth,
+and we must be making billions of miles per second. After we lost
+consciousness, the attraction of that big dud back there would swing us
+around, of course, but the bar should have stayed pointed somewhere near
+the Earth, as I left it. Do you suppose it could have shifted the
+gyroscopes?"
+
+"It not only could have, it did," replied Crane, turning the bar until
+it again pointed parallel with the object-compass which bore upon the
+Earth. "Look at the board. The angle has been changed through nearly
+half a circumference. We couldn't carry gyroscopes heavy enough to
+counteract that force."
+
+"But they were heavier there--Oh, sure, you're right. It's mass, not
+weight, that counts. But we sure are in one fine, large jam now. Instead
+of being half-way back to the Earth we're--where are we, anyway?"
+
+They made a reading on an object-compass focused upon the Earth.
+Seaton's face lengthened as seconds passed. When it had come to rest,
+both men calculated the distance.
+
+"What d'you make it, Mart? I'm afraid to tell you my result."
+
+"Forty-six point twenty-seven light-centuries," replied Crane, calmly.
+"Right?"
+
+"Right, and the time was 11:32 P. M. of Thursday, by the chronometer
+there. We'll time it again after a while and see how fast we're
+traveling. It's a good thing you built the ship's chronometers to stand
+any kind of stress. My watch is a total loss. Yours is, too?"
+
+"All of our watches must be broken. We will have to repair them as soon
+as we get time."
+
+"Well, let's eat next! No human being can stand my aching void much
+longer. How about you, Dot?"
+
+"Yes, for Cat's sake, let's get busy!" she mimicked him gaily. "Doctor
+DuQuesne's had dinner ready for ages, and we're all dying by inches of
+hunger."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The wanderers, battered, bruised, and sore, seated themselves at a
+folding table, Seaton keeping a watchful eye upon the bar and upon the
+course, while enjoying Dorothy's presence to the full. Crane and
+Margaret talked easily, but at intervals. Save when directly addressed.
+DuQuesne maintained silence--not the silence of one who knows himself to
+be an intruder, but the silence of perfect self-sufficiency. The meal
+over, the girls washed the dishes and busied themselves in the galley.
+Seaton and Crane made another observation upon the Earth, requesting
+DuQuesne to stay out of the "engine room" as they called the
+partially-enclosed space surrounding the main instrument board, where
+were located the object-compasses and the mechanism controlling the
+attractor, about which DuQuesne knew nothing. As they rejoined DuQuesne
+in the main compartment, Seaton said:
+
+"DuQuesne, we're nearly five thousand light-years away from the Earth,
+and are getting farther at the rate of about one light-year per minute."
+
+"I suppose that it would be poor technique to ask how you know?"
+
+"It would--very poor. Our figures are right. The difficulty is that we
+have only four bars left--enough to stop us and a little to spare, but
+not nearly enough to get back with, even if we could take a chance on
+drifting straight that far without being swung off--which, of course, is
+impossible."
+
+"That means that we must land somewhere and dig some copper, then."
+
+"Exactly.
+
+"The first thing to do is to find a place to land."
+
+Seaton picked out a distant star in their course and observed it through
+the spectroscope. Since it was found to contain copper in notable
+amounts, all agreed that its planets probably also contained copper.
+
+"Don't know whether we can stop that soon or not," remarked Seaton as he
+set the levers, "but we may as well have something to shoot at. We'd
+better take our regular twelve-hour tricks, hadn't we, Mart? It's a
+wonder we got as far as this without striking another snag. I'll take
+the first trick at the board--beat it to bed."
+
+"Not so fast, Dick," argued Crane, as Seaton turned toward the
+engine-room: "It's my turn."
+
+"Flip a nickel," suggested Seaton. "Heads I get it."
+
+Crane flipped a coin. Heads it was, and the worn-out party went to their
+rooms, all save Dorothy, who lingered after the others to bid her lover
+a more intimate good-night.
+
+Seated beside him, his arm around her and her head upon his shoulder,
+Dorothy exclaimed:
+
+"Oh, Dicky, Dicky, it is wonderful to be with you again! I've lived as
+many years in the last week as we have covered miles!"
+
+Seaton kissed her with ardor, then turned her fair face up to his and
+gazed hungrily at every feature.
+
+"It sure was awful until we found you, sweetheart girl. Those two days
+at Wilson's were the worst and longest I ever put in. I could have wrung
+Martin's cautious old neck!
+
+"But isn't he a wiz at preparing for trouble? We sure owe him a lot,
+little dimpled lady."
+
+Dorothy was silent for a moment, then a smile quirked at one corner of
+her mouth and a dimple appeared. Seaton promptly kissed it, whereupon it
+deepened audaciously.
+
+"What are you thinking about--mischief?" he asked.
+
+"Only of how Martin is going to be paid what we owe him," she answered
+teasingly. "Don't let the debt worry you any."
+
+"Spill the news, Reddy," he commanded, as his arm tightened about her.
+
+She stuck out a tiny tip of red tongue at him.
+
+"Don't let Peggy find out he's a millionaire."
+
+"Why not?" he asked wonderingly, then he saw her point and laughed:
+
+"You little matchmaker!"
+
+"I don't care, laugh if you want to. Martin's as nice a man as I know,
+and Peggy's a real darling. Don't you let slip a word about Martin's
+money, that's all!"
+
+"She wouldn't think any less of him, would she?"
+
+"Dick, sometimes you are absolutely dumb. It would spoil everything. If
+she knew he was a millionaire she would be scared to death--not of him,
+of course, but because she would think that he would think that she was
+chasing him, and then of course he would think that she was, see? As it
+is, she acts perfectly natural, and so does he. Didn't you notice that
+while we were eating they talked together for at least fifteen minutes
+about her father's invention and the way they stole the plans and one
+thing and another? I don't believe he has talked that much to any girl
+except me the last five years--and he wouldn't talk to me until he knew
+that I couldn't see any man except you. Much as we like Martin, we've
+got to admit that about him. He's been chased so much that he's wild. If
+any other girl he knows had talked to him that long, he would have been
+off to the North Pole or somewhere the next morning, and the best part
+of it is that he didn't think anything of it."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"You think she is domesticating the wild man?"
+
+"Now, Dick, don't be foolish. You know what I mean. Martin is a perfect
+dear, but if she knew that he is _the_ M. Reynolds Crane, everything
+would be ruined. You know yourself how horribly hard it is to get
+through his shell to the real Martin underneath. He is lonely and
+miserable inside, I know, and the right kind of girl, one that would
+treat him right, would make life Heaven for him, and herself too."
+
+"Yes, and the wrong kind would make it...."
+
+"She would," interrupted Dorothy hastily, "but Peggy's the right kind.
+Wouldn't it be fine to have Martin and Peggy as happy, almost, as you
+and I are?"
+
+"All right, girlie, I'm with you," he answered, embracing her as though
+he intended never to let her go, "but you'd better go get some
+sleep--you're all in."
+
+Considerably later, when Dorothy had finally gone, Seaton settled
+himself for the long vigil. Promptly at the end of the twelve hours
+Crane appeared, alert of eye and of bearing.
+
+"You look fresh as a daisy, Mart. Feeling fit?"
+
+"Fit as the proverbial fiddle. I could not have slept any better or
+longer if I had had a week off. Seven hours and a half is a luxury, you
+know."
+
+"All wrong, old top. I need eight every night, and I'm going to take
+about ten this time."
+
+"Go to it, twelve if you like. You have earned it."
+
+Seaton stumbled to his room and slept as though in a trance for ten
+hours. Rising, he took his regular morning exercises and went into the
+saloon. All save Martin were there, but he had eyes only for his
+sweetheart, who was radiantly beautiful in a dress of deep bronze-brown.
+
+"Good morning, Dick," she hailed him joyously. "You woke up just in
+time--we are all starving again, and were just going to eat without
+you!"
+
+"Good morning, everybody. I would like to eat with you, Dottie, but I've
+got to relieve Martin. How'd it be for you to bring breakfast into the
+engine room and cheer my solitude, and let Crane eat with the others?"
+
+"Fine--that's once you had a good idea, if you never have another!"
+
+After the meal DuQuesne, who abhorred idleness with all his vigorous
+nature, took the watches of the party and went upstairs to the "shop,"
+which was a completely-equipped mechanical laboratory, to repair them.
+Seaton stayed at the board, where Dorothy joined him as a matter of
+course. Crane and Margaret sat down at one of the windows.
+
+She told him her story, frankly and fully, shuddering with horror as she
+recalled the awful, helpless fall, during which Perkins had met his end.
+
+"Dick and I have a heavy score to settle with that Steel crowd and with
+DuQuesne," Crane said slowly. "We have no evidence that will hold in
+law, but some day DuQuesne will over-reach himself. We could convict him
+of abduction now, but the penalty for that is too mild for what he has
+done. Perkins' death was not murder, then?"
+
+"Oh, no, it was purely self-defense. Perkins would have killed him if he
+could. And he really deserved it--Perkins was a perfect fiend. The
+Doctor, as they call him, is no better, although entirely different. He
+is so utterly heartless and ruthless, so cold and scientific. Do you
+know him very well?"
+
+"We know all that about him, and more. And yet Dorothy said he saved her
+life?"
+
+"He did, from Perkins, but I still think it was because he didn't want
+Perkins meddling in his affairs. He seems to me to be the very
+incarnation of a fixed purpose--to advance himself in the world."
+
+"That expresses my thoughts exactly. But he slips occasionally, as in
+this instance, and he will again. He will have to walk very carefully
+while he is with us. Nothing would please Dick better than an excuse for
+killing him, and I must admit that I feel very much the same way."
+
+"Yes, all of us do, and the way he acts proves what a machine he is. He
+knows just exactly how far to go, and never goes beyond it."
+
+They felt the Skylark lurch slightly.
+
+"Oh, Mart!" called Seaton. "Going to pass that star we were headed
+for--too fast to stop. I'm giving it a wide berth and picking out
+another one. There's a big planet a few million miles off in line with
+the main door, and another one almost dead ahead--that is, straight
+down. We sure are traveling. Look at that sun flit by!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+They saw the two planets, one like a small moon, the other like a large
+star, and saw the strange sun increase rapidly in size as the Skylark
+flew on at such a pace that any earthly distance would have been covered
+as soon as it was begun. So appalling was their velocity that their ship
+was bathed in the light of that sun for only a short time, then was
+again surrounded by the indescribable darkness. Their seventy-two-hour
+flight without a pilot had seemed a miracle, now it seemed entirely
+possible that they might fly in a straight line for weeks without
+encountering any obstacle, so vast was the emptiness in comparison with
+the points of light that punctuated it. Now and then they passed so
+close to a star that it apparently moved rapidly, but for the most part
+the silent sentinels stood, like distant mountain peaks to the travelers
+in an express train, in the same position for many minutes.
+
+Awed by the immensity of the universe, the two at the window were
+silent, not with the silence of embarrassment, but with that of two
+friends in the presence of something beyond the reach of words. As they
+stared out into the infinity each felt as never before the pitiful
+smallness of even our whole solar system and the utter insignificance of
+human beings and their works. Silently their minds reached out to each
+other in mutual understanding.
+
+Unconsciously Margaret half shuddered and moved closer to her
+companion, the movement attracting his attention but not her own. A
+tender expression came into Crane's steady blue eyes as he looked down
+at the beautiful young woman by his side. For beautiful she undoubtedly
+was. Untroubled rest and plentiful food had erased the marks of her
+imprisonment; Dorothy's deep, manifestly unassumed faith in the ability
+of Seaton and Crane to bring them safely back to Earth had quieted her
+fears; and a complete costume of Dorothy's simple but well-cut clothes,
+which fitted her perfectly, and in which she looked her best and knew
+it, had completely restored her self-possession. He quickly glanced away
+and again gazed at the stars, but now, in addition to the wonders of
+space, he saw masses of wavy black hair, high-piled upon a queenly head;
+deep down brown eyes half veiled by long, black lashes; sweet, sensitive
+lips; a firmly rounded but dimpled chin; and a perfectly-formed young
+body.
+
+After a time she drew a deep, tremulous breath. As he turned, her eyes
+met his. In their shadowy depths, still troubled by the mystery of the
+unknowable, he read her very soul--the soul of a real woman.
+
+"I had hoped," said Margaret slowly, "to take a long flight above the
+clouds, but anything like this never entered my mind. How unbelievably
+great it is! So much vaster than any perception we could get upon earth!
+It seems strange that we were ever awed by the sea or the mountains ...
+and yet...."
+
+She paused, with her lip caught under two white teeth, then went on
+hesitatingly:
+
+"Doesn't it seem to you, Mr. Crane, that there is something in man as
+great as all this? Otherwise, Dorothy and I could not be sailing here in
+a wonder like the Lark, which you and Dick Seaton have made."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Since from the first, Dorothy had timed her waking hours with those of
+Seaton--waiting upon him, preparing his meals, and lightening the long
+hours of his vigils at the board--Margaret took it upon herself to do
+the same thing for Crane. But often they assembled in the engine-room,
+and there was much fun and laughter, as well as serious talk, among the
+four. Margaret was quickly accepted as a friend, and proved a delightful
+companion. Her wavy, jet-black hair, the only color in the world that
+could hold its own with Dorothy's auburn glory, framed features
+self-reliant and strong, yet of womanly softness; and in this genial
+atmosphere her quick tongue had a delicate wit and a facility of
+expression that delighted all three. Dorothy, after the manner of
+Southern women, became the hostess of this odd "party," as she styled
+it, and unconsciously adopted the attitude of a lady in her own home.
+
+Early in their flight, Crane suggested that they should take notes upon
+the systems of stars through which were passing.
+
+"I know very little of astronomy," he said to Seaton, "but with our
+telescope, spectroscope, and other instruments, we should be able to
+take some data that will be of interest to astronomers. Possibly Miss
+Spencer would be willing to help us?"
+
+"Sure," Seaton returned readily. "We'd be idiots to let a chance like
+this slide. Go to it!"
+
+Margaret was delighted at the opportunity to help.
+
+"Taking notes is the best thing I do!" she cried, and called for a pad
+and pencil.
+
+Stationed at the window, they fell to work in earnest. For several hours
+Crane took observations, calculated distances, and dictated notes to
+Margaret.
+
+"The stars are wonderfully different!" she exclaimed to him once. "That
+planet, I'm sure, has strange and lovely life upon it. See how its color
+differs from most of the others we have seen so near? It is rosy and
+soft like a home fire. I'm sure its people are happy."
+
+They fell into a long discussion, laughing a little at their fancies.
+Were these multitudes of worlds peopled as the Earth? Could it be that
+only upon Earth had occurred the right combination for the generation of
+life, so that the rest of the Universe was unpeopled?
+
+"It is unthinkable that they are all uninhabited," mused Crane. "There
+must be life. The beings may not exist in any form with which we are
+familiar--they may well be fulfilling some purpose in ways so different
+from ours that we should be unable to understand them at all."
+
+Margaret's eyes widened in startled apprehension, but in a moment she
+shook herself and laughed.
+
+"But there's no reason to suppose they would be awful," she remarked,
+and turned with renewed interest to the window.
+
+Thus days went by and the Skylark passed one solar system after another,
+with a velocity so great that it was impossible to land upon any planet.
+Margaret's association with Crane, begun as a duty, soon became an
+intense pleasure for them both. Taking notes or seated at the board in
+companionable conversation or sympathetic silence, they compressed into
+a few days more real companionship than is ordinarily enjoyed in months.
+Oftener and oftener, as time went on, Crane found the vision of his
+dream home floating in his mind as he steered the Skylark in her
+meteoric flight or as he strapped himself into his narrow bed. Now,
+however, the central figure of the vision, instead of being an
+indistinct blur, was clear and sharply defined. And for her part, more
+and more was Margaret drawn to the quiet and unassuming, but utterly
+dependable and steadfast young inventor, with his wide knowledge and his
+keen, incisive mind.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Sometimes, when far from any star, the pilot would desert his post and
+join the others at meals. Upon one such occasion Seaton asked:
+
+"How's the book on astronomy, oh, learned ones?"
+
+"It will be as interesting as Egyptian hieroglyphics," Margaret replied,
+as she opened her notebook and showed him pages of figures and symbols.
+
+"May I see it, Miss Spencer?" asked DuQuesne from across the small
+table, extending his hand.
+
+She looked at him, hot hostility in her brown eyes, and he dropped his
+hand.
+
+"I beg your pardon," he said, with amused irony.
+
+After the meal Seaton and Crane held a short consultation, and the
+former called to the girls, asking them to join in the "council of war."
+There was a moment's silence before Crane said diffidently:
+
+"We have been talking about DuQuesne, Miss Spencer, trying to decide a
+very important problem."
+
+Seaton smiled in spite of himself as the color again deepened in
+Margaret's face, and Dorothy laughed outright.
+
+"Talk about a red-headed temper! Your hair must be dyed, Peggy!"
+
+"I know I acted like a naughty child," Margaret said ruefully, "but he
+makes me perfectly furious and scares me at the same time. A few more
+remarks like that 'I beg your pardon' of his and I wouldn't have a
+thought left in my head!"
+
+Seaton, who had opened his mouth, shut it again ludicrously, without
+saying a word, and Margaret gave him a startled glance.
+
+"Now I _have_ said it!" she exclaimed. "I'm not afraid of him, boys,
+really. What do you want me to do?"
+
+Seaton plunged in.
+
+"What we were trying to get up nerve enough to say is that he'd be a
+good man on the astronomy job," and Crane added quickly:
+
+"He undoubtedly knows more about it than I do, and it would be a pity to
+lose the chance of using him. Besides, Dick and I think it rather
+dangerous to leave him so much time to himself, in which to work up a
+plan against us."
+
+"He's cooking one right now, I'll bet a hat," Seaton put in, and Crane
+added:
+
+"If you are sure that you have no objections, Miss Spencer, we might go
+below, where we can have it dark, and all three of us see what we can
+make of the stargazing. We are really losing an unusual opportunity."
+
+Margaret hid gallantly any reluctance she might have felt.
+
+"I wouldn't deserve to be here if I can't work with the Doctor and hate
+him at the same time."
+
+"Good for you, Peg, you're a regular fellow!" Seaton exclaimed. "You're
+a trump!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Finally, the enormous velocity of the cruiser was sufficiently reduced
+to effect a landing, a copper-bearing sun was located, and a course was
+laid toward its nearest planet.
+
+As the vessel approached its goal a deep undercurrent of excitement kept
+all the passengers feverishly occupied. They watched the distant globe
+grow larger, glowing through its atmosphere more and more clearly as a
+great disk of white light, its outline softened by the air about it. Two
+satellites were close beside it. Its sun, a great, blazing orb, a little
+nearer than the planet, looked so great and so hot that Margaret became
+uneasy.
+
+"Isn't it dangerous to get so close, Dick? We might burn up, mightn't
+we?"
+
+"Not without an atmosphere," he laughed.
+
+"Oh," murmured the girl apologetically, "I might have known that."
+
+Dropping rapidly into the atmosphere of the planet, they measured its
+density and analyzed it in apparatus installed for that purpose, finding
+that its composition was very similar to the Earth's air and that its
+pressure was not enough greater to be uncomfortable. When within one
+thousand feet of the surface, Seaton weighed a five-pound weight upon a
+spring-balance, finding that it weighed five and a half pounds, thus
+ascertaining that the planet was either somewhat larger than the Earth
+or more dense. The ground was almost hidden by a rank growth of
+vegetation, but here and there appeared glade-like openings.
+
+Seaton glanced at the faces about him. Tense interest marked them all.
+Dorothy's cheeks were flushed, her eyes shone. She looked at him with
+awe and pride.
+
+"A strange world, Dorothy," he said gravely. "You are not afraid?"
+
+"Not with you," she answered. "I am only thrilled with wonder."
+
+"Columbus at San Salvador," said Margaret, her dark eyes paying their
+tribute of admiration.
+
+A dark flush mounted swiftly into Seaton's brown face and he sought to
+throw most of the burden upon Crane, but catching upon his face also a
+look of praise, almost of tenderness, he quickly turned to the controls.
+
+"Man the boats!" he ordered an imaginary crew, and the Skylark descended
+rapidly.
+
+Landing upon one of the open spaces, they found the ground solid and
+stepped out. What had appeared to be a glade was in reality a rock, or
+rather, a ledge of apparently solid metal, with scarcely a loose
+fragment to be seen. At one end of the ledge rose a giant tree
+wonderfully symmetrical, but of a peculiar form. Its branches were
+longer at the top than at the bottom, and it possessed broad, dark-green
+leaves, long thorns, and odd, flexible, shoot-like tendrils. It stood as
+an outpost of the dense vegetation beyond. Totally unlike the forests of
+Earth were those fern-like trees, towering two hundred feet into the
+air. They were of an intensely vivid green and stood motionless in the
+still, hot air of noonday. Not a sign of animal life was to be seen; the
+whole landscape seemed asleep.
+
+The five strangers stood near their vessel, conversing in low tones and
+enjoying the sensation of solid ground beneath their feet. After a few
+minutes DuQuesne remarked:
+
+"This is undoubtedly a newer planet than ours. I should say that it was
+in the Carboniferous age. Aren't those trees like those in the
+coal-measures, Seaton?"
+
+"True as time, Blackie--there probably won't be a human race here for
+ages, unless we bring out some colonists."
+
+Seaton kicked at one of the loose lumps of metal questioningly with his
+heavy shoe, finding that it was as immovable as though it were part of
+the ledge. Bending over, he found that it required all his great
+strength to lift it and he stared at it with an expression of surprise,
+which turned to amazement as he peered closer.
+
+"DuQuesne! Look at this!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+DuQuesne studied the metal, and was shaken out of his habitual
+taciturnity.
+
+"Platinum, by all the little gods!"
+
+"We'll grab some of this while the grabbing's good," announced Seaton,
+and the few visible lumps were rolled into the car. "If we had a pickaxe
+we could chop some more off one of those sharp ledges down there."
+
+"There's an axe in the shop," replied DuQuesne. "I'll go get it. Go
+ahead, I'll soon be with you."
+
+"Keep close together," warned Crane as the four moved slowly down the
+slope. "This is none too safe, Dick."
+
+"No, it isn't, Mart. But we've got to see whether we can't find some
+copper, and I would like to get some more of this stuff, too. I don't
+think it's platinum, I believe that it's X."
+
+As they reached the broken projections, Margaret glanced back over her
+shoulder and screamed. The others saw that her face was white and her
+eyes wide with horror, and Seaton instinctively drew his pistol as he
+whirled about, only to check his finger on the trigger and lower his
+hand.
+
+"Nothing but X-plosive bullets," he growled in disgust, and in helpless
+silence the four watched an unspeakably hideous monster slowly appear
+from behind the Skylark. Its four huge, squat legs supported a body at
+least a hundred feet long, pursy and ungainly; at the extremity of a
+long and sinuous neck a comparatively small head seemed composed
+entirely of a cavernous mouth armed with row upon row of carnivorous
+teeth. Dorothy gasped with terror and both girls shrank closer to the
+two men, who maintained a baffled silence as the huge beast passed his
+revolting head along the hull of the vessel.
+
+"I dare not shoot, Martin," Seaton whispered, "it would wreck the bus.
+Have you got any solid bullets?"
+
+"No. We must hide behind these small ledges until it goes away,"
+answered Crane, his eyes upon Margaret's colorless face. "You two hide
+behind that one, we will take this one."
+
+"Oh, well, it's nothing to worry about, anyway. We can kill him as soon
+as he gets far enough away from the boat," said Seaton as, with Dorothy
+clinging to him, he dropped behind one of the ledges. Margaret, her
+staring eyes fixed upon the monster, remained standing until Crane
+touched her gently and drew her down beside him.
+
+"He will go away soon," his even voice assured her. "We are in no
+danger."
+
+In spite of their predicament, a feeling of happiness flowed through
+Crane's whole being as he crouched beside the wall of metal with one arm
+protectingly around Margaret, and he longed to protect her through life
+as he was protecting her then. Accustomed as he was to dangerous
+situations, he felt no fear. He felt only a great tenderness for the
+girl by his side, who had ceased trembling but was still staring
+wide-eyed at the monster through a crevice.
+
+"Scared, Peggy?" he whispered.
+
+"Not now, Martin, but if you weren't here I would die of fright."
+
+At this reply his arm tightened involuntarily, but he forced it to
+relax.
+
+"It will not be long," he promised himself silently, "until she is back
+at home among her friends, and then...."
+
+There came the crack of a rifle from the Skylark. There was an awful
+roar from the dinosaur, which was quickly silenced by a stream of
+machine-gun bullets.
+
+"Blackie's on the job--let's go!" cried Seaton, and they raced up the
+slope. Making a detour to avoid the writhing and mutilated mass they
+plunged through the opening door. DuQuesne shut it behind them and in
+overwhelming relief, the adventurers huddled together as from the
+wilderness without there arose an appalling tumult.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The scene, so quiet a few moments before, was instantly changed. The
+trees, the swamp, and the air seemed filled with monsters so hideous as
+to stagger the imagination. Winged lizards of prodigious size hurtled
+through the air, plunging to death against the armored hull.
+Indescribable flying monsters, with feathers like birds, but with the
+fangs of tigers, attacked viciously. Dorothy screamed and started back
+as a scorpion-like thing with a body ten feet in length leaped at the
+window in front of her, its terrible sting spraying the glass with
+venom. As it fell to the ground, a huge spider--if an eight-legged
+creature with spines instead of hair, many-faceted eyes, and a bloated,
+globular body weighing hundreds of pounds, may be called a
+spider--leaped upon it and, mighty mandibles against poisonous sting,
+the furious battle raged. Several twelve-foot cockroaches climbed nimbly
+across the fallen timber of the morass and began feeding voraciously
+upon the body of the dead dinosaur, only to be driven away by another
+animal, which all three men recognized instantly as that king of all
+prehistoric creatures, the saber-toothed tiger. This newcomer, a tawny
+beast towering fifteen feet high at the shoulder, had a mouth
+disproportionate even to his great size--a mouth armed with four great
+tiger-teeth more than three feet in length. He had barely begun his
+meal, however, when he was challenged by another nightmare, a something
+apparently half-way between a dinosaur and a crocodile. At the first
+note the tiger charged. Clawing, striking, rending each other with their
+terrible teeth, a veritable avalanche of bloodthirsty rage, the
+combatants stormed up and down the little island. But the fighters were
+rudely interrupted, and the earthly visitors discovered that in this
+primitive world it was not only animal life that was dangerous.
+
+[Illustration: The great tree standing on the farther edge of the island
+suddenly bent over, lashing out like a snake and grasping both. It
+transfixed them with the terrible thorns, which were now seen to be
+armed with needlepoints and to possess barbs like fish-hooks.]
+
+The great tree standing on the farther edge of the island suddenly bent
+over, lashing out like a snake and grasping both. It transfixed them
+with the terrible thorns, which were now seen to be armed with
+needlepoints and to possess barbs like fish-hooks. It ripped at them
+with the long branches, which were veritable spears. The broad leaves,
+armed with revolting sucking disks, closed about the two animals, while
+the long, slender twigs, each of which was now seen to have an eye at
+its extremity, waved about, watching each movement of the captives from
+a safe distance.
+
+If the struggle between the two animals had been awful, this was
+Titanic. The air was torn by the roars of the reptile, the screams of
+the great cat, and the shrieks of the tree. The very ground rocked with
+the ferocity of the conflict. There could be but one result--soon the
+tree, having absorbed the two gladiators, resumed its upright position
+in all its beauty.
+
+The members of the little group stared at each other, sick at heart.
+
+"This is NO place to start a copper-mine. I think we'd better beat it,"
+remarked Seaton presently, wiping drops of perspiration from his
+forehead.
+
+"I think so," acquiesced Crane. "We found air and Earth-like conditions
+here; we probably will elsewhere."
+
+"Are you all right, Dottie?" asked Seaton.
+
+"All right, Dicky," she replied, the color flowing back into her cheeks.
+"It scared me stiff, and I think I have a lot of white hairs right now,
+but I wouldn't have missed it for anything."
+
+She paused an instant, and continued:
+
+"Dick, there must be a queer streak of brutality in me, but would you
+mind blowing up that frightful tree? I wouldn't mind its nature if it
+were ugly--but look at it! It's so deceptively beautiful! You wouldn't
+think it had the disposition of a fiend, would you?"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A general laugh relieved the nervous tension, and Seaton stepped
+impulsively toward DuQuesne with his hand outstretched.
+
+"You've squared your account, Blackie. Say the word and the war's all
+off."
+
+DuQuesne ignored the hand and glanced coldly at the group of eager,
+friendly faces.
+
+"Don't be sentimental," he remarked evenly as he turned away to his
+room. "Emotional scenes pain me. I gave my word to act as one of the
+party."
+
+"Well, may I be kicked to death by little red spiders!" exclaimed
+Seaton, dumbfounded, as the other disappeared. "He ain't a man, he's a
+fish!"
+
+"He's a machine. I always thought so, and now I know it," stated
+Margaret, and the others nodded agreement.
+
+"Well, we'll sure pull his cork as soon as we get back!" snapped Seaton.
+"He asked for it, and we'll give him both barrels!"
+
+"I know I acted the fool out there," Margaret apologized, flushing hotly
+and looking at Crane. "I don't know what made me act so stupid. I used
+to have a little nerve."
+
+"You were a regular little brick, Peg," Seaton returned instantly. "Both
+you girls are all to the good--the right kind to have along in ticklish
+places."
+
+Crane held out his steady hand and took Margaret's in a warm clasp.
+
+"For a girl in your weakened condition you were wonderful. You have no
+reason to reproach yourself."
+
+Tears filled the dark eyes, but were held back bravely as she held her
+head erect and returned the pressure of his hand.
+
+"Just so you don't leave me behind next time," she returned lightly, and
+the last word concerning the incident had been said.
+
+Seaton applied the power and soon they were approaching another planet,
+which was surrounded by a dense fog. Descending slowly, they found it to
+be a mass of boiling-hot steam and rank vapors, under enormous pressure.
+
+The next planet they found to have a clear atmosphere, but the ground
+had a peculiar, barren look; and analysis of the gaseous envelope proved
+it to be composed almost entirely of chlorin. No life of an earthly type
+could be possible upon such a world, and a search for copper, even with
+the suits and helmets, would probably be fruitless if not impossible.
+
+"Well," remarked Seaton as they were again in space, "we've got enough
+copper to visit several more worlds--several more solar systems, if
+necessary. But there's a nice, hopeful-looking planet right in front of
+us. It may be the one we're looking for."
+
+Arrived in the belt of atmosphere, they tested it as before, and found
+it satisfactory.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+The Mastery of Mind Over Matter
+
+
+They descended rapidly, directly over a large and imposing city in the
+middle of a vast, level, beautifully-planted plain. While they were
+watching it, the city vanished and the plain was transformed into a
+heavily-timbered mountain summit, the valleys falling away upon all
+sides as far as the eye could reach.
+
+"Well, I'll say that's SOME mirage!" exclaimed Seaton, rubbing his eyes
+in astonishment. "I've seen mirages before, but never anything like
+that. Wonder what this air's made of? But we'll land, anyway, if we
+finally have to swim!"
+
+The ship landed gently upon the summit, the occupants half expecting to
+see the ground disappear before their eyes. Nothing happened, however,
+and they disembarked, finding walking somewhat difficult because of the
+great mass of the planet. Looking around, they could see no sign of
+life, but they _felt_ a presence near them--a vast, invisible something.
+
+Suddenly, out of the air in front of Seaton, a man materialized: a man
+identical with him in every feature and detail, even to the smudge of
+grease under one eye, the small wrinkles in his heavy blue serge suit,
+and the emblem of the American Chemical Society upon his watch-fob.
+
+"Hello, folks," the stranger began in Seaton's characteristic careless
+speech. "I see you're surprised at my knowing your language. You're a
+very inferior race of animals--don't even understand telepathy, don't
+understand the luminiferous ether, or the relation between time and
+space. Your greatest things, such as the Skylark and your
+object-compass, are merely toys."
+
+Changing instantly from Seaton's form to that of Dorothy, likewise a
+perfect imitation, the stranger continued without a break:
+
+"Atoms and electrons and things, spinning and whirling in their dizzy
+little orbits...." It broke off abruptly, continuing in the form of
+DuQuesne:
+
+"Couldn't make myself clear as Miss Vaneman--not a scientific
+convolution in her foolish little brain. You are a freer type, DuQuesne,
+unhampered by foolish, soft fancies. But you are very clumsy, although
+working fairly well with your poor tools--Brookings and his
+organization, the Perkins Caf� and its clumsy wireless telephones. All
+of you are extremely low in the scale. Such animals have not been known
+in our universe for ten million years, which is as far back as I can
+remember. You have millions of years to go before you will amount to
+anything; before you will even rise above death and its attendant
+necessity, sex."
+
+The strange being then assumed form after form with bewildering
+rapidity, while the spectators stared in dumb astonishment. In rapid
+succession it took on the likeness of each member of the party, of the
+vessel itself, of the watch in Seaton's pocket--reappearing as Seaton.
+
+"Well, bunch," it said in a matter-of-fact voice, "there's no mental
+exercise in you and you're such a low form of life that you're of no use
+on this planet; so I'll dematerialize you."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A peculiar light came into its eyes as they stared intently into
+Seaton's, and he felt his senses reel under the impact of an awful
+mental force, but he fought back with all his power and remained
+standing.
+
+"What's this?" the stranger demanded in surprise, "This is the first
+time in history that mere matter--which is only a manifestation of
+mind--has ever refused to obey mind. There's a screw loose somewhere."
+
+"I must reason this out," it continued analytically, changing
+instantaneously into Crane's likeness. "Ah! I am not a perfect
+reproduction. This is the first matter I have ever encountered that I
+could not reproduce perfectly. There is some subtle difference. The
+external form is the same, the organic structure likewise. The molecules
+of substance are arranged as they should be, as are also the atoms in
+the molecule. The electrons in the atom--ah! There is the difficulty.
+The arrangement and number of electrons, as well as positive charges,
+are entirely different from what I had supposed. I must derive the
+formula."
+
+"Let's go, folks!" said Seaton hastily, drawing Dorothy back toward the
+Skylark. "This dematerialization stunt may be play for him, but I don't
+want any of it in my family."
+
+"No, you really _must_ stay," remonstrated the stranger. "Much as it is
+against my principles to employ brute force, you must stay and be
+properly dematerialized, alive or dead. Science demands it."
+
+As he spoke, he started to draw his automatic pistol. Being in Crane's
+form, he drew slowly, as Crane did; and Seaton, with the dexterity of
+much sleight-of-hand work and of years of familiarity with his weapon,
+drew and fired in one incredibly rapid movement, before the other had
+withdrawn the pistol from his pocket. The X-plosive shell completely
+volatilized the stranger and hurled the party backward toward the
+Skylark, into which they fled hastily. As Crane, the last one to enter
+the vessel, fired his pistol and closed the massive door, Seaton leaped
+to the levers. As he did so, he saw a creature materialize in the air of
+the vessel and fall to the floor with a crash as he threw on the power.
+It was a frightful thing, like nothing ever before seen upon any world;
+with great teeth, long, sharp claws, and an automatic pistol clutched
+firmly in a human hand. Forced flat by the terrific acceleration of the
+vessel, it was unable to lift either itself or the weapon, and lay
+helpless.
+
+"We take one trick, anyway!" blazed Seaton, as he threw on the power of
+the attractor and diffused its force into a screen over the party, so
+that the enemy could not materialize in the air above them and crush
+them by mere weight. "As pure mental force, you're entirely out of my
+class, but when you come down to matter, which I can understand, I'll
+give you a run for your money until my angles catch fire."
+
+"That is a childish defiance. It speaks well for your courage, but ill
+for your intelligence," the animal said, and vanished.
+
+A moment later Seaton's hair almost stood on end as he saw an automatic
+pistol appear upon the board directly in front of him, clamped to it by
+bands of steel. Paralyzed by this unlooked-for demonstration of the
+mastery of mind over matter, unable to move a muscle, he lay helpless,
+staring at the engine of death in front of him. Although the whole
+proceeding occupied only a fraction of a second, it seemed to Seaton as
+though he watched the weapon for hours. As the sleeve drew back, cocking
+the pistol and throwing a cartridge into the chamber, the trigger moved,
+and the hammer descended to speed on its way the bullet which was to
+blot out his life. There was a sharp click as the hammer fell--Seaton
+was surprised to find himself still alive until a voice spoke,
+apparently from the muzzle of the pistol, with the harsh sound of a
+metallic diaphragm.
+
+"I was almost certain that it wouldn't explode," the stranger said,
+chattily. "You see, I haven't derived that formula yet, so I couldn't
+make a real explosive. I could of course, materialize beside you, under
+your protective screen, and crush you in a vise. I could materialize as
+a man of metal, able to stand up under this acceleration, and do you to
+death. I could even, by a sufficient expenditure of mental energy,
+materialize a planet around your ship and crush it. However, these crude
+methods are distasteful in the extreme, especially since you have
+already given me some slight and unexpected mental exercise. In return,
+I shall give you one chance for your lives. I cannot dematerialize
+either you or your vessel until I work out the formula for your peculiar
+atomic structure. If I can derive the formula before you reach the
+boundaries of my home-space, beyond which I cannot go, I shall let you
+go free. Deriving the formula will be a neat little problem. It should
+be fairly easy, as it involves only a simple integration in ninety-seven
+dimensions."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Silence ensued, and Seaton advanced his lever to the limit of his
+ability to retain consciousness. Almost overcome by the horror of their
+position, in an agony of suspense, expecting every instant to be hurled
+into nothingness, he battled on, with no thought of yielding, even in
+the face of those overwhelming mental odds.
+
+"You can't do it, old top," he thought savagely, concentrating all the
+power of his highly-trained mind against the intellectual monster. "You
+can't dematerialize us, and you can't integrate above ninety-five
+dimensions to save your neck. You can't do it--you're slipping--you're
+all balled up right now!"
+
+For more than an hour the silent battle raged, during which time the
+Skylark flew millions upon millions of miles toward Earth. Finally the
+stranger spoke again.
+
+"You three win," it said abruptly. In answer to the unspoken surprise of
+all three men it went on: "Yes, all three of you got the same idea and
+Crane even forced his body to retain consciousness to fight me. Your
+efforts were very feeble, of course, but were enough to interrupt my
+calculations at a delicate stage, every time. You are a low form of
+life, undoubtedly, but with more mentality than I supposed at first. I
+could get that formula, of course, in spite of you, if I had time, but
+we are rapidly approaching the limits of my territory, outside of which
+even I could not think my way back. That is one thing in which your
+mechanical devices are superior to anything my own race developed before
+we became pure intellectuals. They point the way back to your Earth,
+which is so far away that even my mentality cannot grasp the meaning of
+the distance. I can understand the Earth, can visualize it from your
+minds, but I cannot project myself any nearer to it than we are at
+present. Before I leave you, I will say that you have conferred a real
+favor upon me--you have given me something to think about for thousands
+of cycles to come. Good-bye."
+
+Assured that their visitor had really gone, Seaton reduced the power to
+that of gravity and Dorothy soon sat up, Margaret reviving more slowly.
+
+"Dick," said Dorothy solemnly, "did that happen or have I been
+unconscious and just had a nightmare?"
+
+"It happened, all right," returned her lover, wiping his brow in relief.
+"See that pistol clamped upon the top of the board? That's a token in
+remembrance of him."
+
+Dorothy, though she had been only half conscious, had heard the words of
+the stranger. As she looked at the faces of the men, white and drawn
+with the mental struggle, she realized what they had gone through, and
+she drew Seaton down into one of the seats, stroking his hair tenderly.
+
+Margaret went to her room immediately, and as she did not return,
+Dorothy followed. She came back presently with a look of concern upon
+her face.
+
+"This life is a little hard on Peggy. I didn't realize how much harder
+for her it would be than it is for me until I went in there and found
+her crying. It is much harder for her, of course, since I am with you,
+Dick, and with you, Martin, whom I know so well. She must feel terribly
+alone."
+
+"Why should she?" demanded Seaton. "We think she's some game little guy.
+Why, she's one of the bunch! She must know that!"
+
+"Well, it isn't the same," insisted Dorothy. "You be extra nice to her,
+Dick. But don't you dare let her know I told you about the tears, or
+she'd eat me alive!"
+
+Crane said nothing--a not unusual occurrence--but his face grew
+thoughtful and his manner, when Margaret appeared at mealtime, was more
+solicitous than usual and more than brotherly in its tenderness.
+
+"I shall be an interstellar diplomat," Dorothy whispered to Seaton as
+soon as they were alone. "Wasn't that a beautiful bee I put upon
+Martin?"
+
+Seaton stared at her a moment, then shook her gently before he took her
+into his arms.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The information, however, did not prevent him from calling to Crane a
+few minutes later, even though he was still deep in conversation with
+Margaret. Dorothy gave him an exasperated glance and walked away.
+
+"I sure pulled a boner that time," Seaton muttered as he plucked at his
+hair ruefully. "It nearly did us.
+
+"Let's test this stuff out and see if it's X, Mart, while DuQuesne's out
+of the way. If it is X, it's SOME find!"
+
+Seaton cut off a bit of metal with his knife, hammered it into a small
+piece of copper, and threw the copper into the power-chamber, out of
+contact with the plating. As the metal received the current the vessel
+started slightly.
+
+"It _is_ X! Mart, we've got enough of this stuff to supply three
+worlds!"
+
+"Better put it away somewhere," suggested Crane, and after the metal had
+been removed to Seaton's cabin, the two men again sought a
+landing-place. Almost in their line of flight they saw a close cluster
+of stars, each emitting a peculiar greenish light which, in the
+spectroscope, revealed a blaze of copper lines.
+
+"That's our meat, Martin. We ought to be able to grab some copper in
+that system, where there's so much of it that it colors their sunlight."
+
+"The copper is undoubtedly there, but it might be too dangerous to get
+so close to so many suns. We may have trouble getting away."
+
+"Well, our copper's getting horribly low. We've got to find some pretty
+quick, somewhere, or else walk back home, and there's our best chance.
+We'll feel our way along. If it gets too strong, we'll beat it."
+
+When they had approached so close that the suns were great stars widely
+spaced in the heavens, Crane relinquished the controls to Seaton.
+
+"If you will take the lever awhile, Dick, Margaret and I will go
+downstairs and see if we can locate a planet."
+
+After a glance through the telescope, Crane knew that they were still
+too far from the group of suns to place any planet with certainty, and
+began taking notes. His mind was not upon his work, however, but was
+completely filled with thoughts of the girl at his side. The intervals
+between his comments became longer and longer until they were standing
+in silence, both staring with unseeing eyes out into the trackless void.
+But it was in no sense their usual companionable silence. Crane was
+fighting back the words he longed to say. This lovely girl was not here
+of her own accord--she had been torn forcibly from her home and from her
+friends, and he would not, could not, make her already difficult
+position even more unpleasant by forcing his attentions upon her.
+Margaret sensed something unusual and significant in his attitude and
+held herself tense, her heart beating wildly.
+
+At that moment an asteroid came within range of the Skylark's watchful
+repeller, and at the lurch of the vessel, as it swung around the
+obstruction, Margaret would have fallen had not Crane instinctively
+caught her with one arm. Ordinarily this bit of courtesy would have gone
+unnoticed by both, as it had happened many times before, but in that
+heavily-charged atmosphere it took on a new significance. Both blushed
+hotly, and as their eyes met each saw that which held them spellbound.
+Slowly, almost as if without volition, Crane put his other arm around
+her. A wave of deeper crimson swept over her face and she bent her
+handsome head as her slender body yielded to his arms with no effort to
+free itself. Finally Crane spoke, his usually even voice faltering.
+
+"Margaret, I hope you will not think this unfair of me ... but we have
+been through so much together that I feel as though we had known each
+other forever. Until we went through this last experience I had intended
+to wait--but why should we wait? Life is not lived in years alone, and
+you know how much I love you, my dearest!" he finished, passionately.
+
+Her arms crept up around his neck, her bowed head lifted, and her eyes
+looked deep into his as she whispered her answer:
+
+"I think I do ... Oh, Martin!"
+
+Presently they made their way back to the engine-room, keeping the
+singing joy in their hearts inaudible and the kisses fresh upon their
+lips invisible. They might have kept their secret for a time, had not
+Seaton promptly asked:
+
+"Well, what did you find, Mart?"
+
+A panicky look appeared upon Crane's self-possessed countenance and
+Margaret's fair face glowed like a peony.
+
+"_Yes_, what _did_ you find?" demanded Dorothy, as she noticed their
+confusion.
+
+"My future wife," Crane answered steadily.
+
+The two girls rushed into each other's arms and the two men silently
+gripped hands in a clasp of steel; for each of the four knew that these
+two unions were not passing fancies, lightly entered into and as lightly
+cast aside, but were true partnerships which would endure throughout the
+entire span of life.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A planet was located and the Skylark flew toward it. Discovering that it
+was apparently situated in the center of the cluster of suns, they
+hesitated; but finding that there was no dangerous force present, they
+kept on. As they drew nearer, so that the planet appeared as a very
+small moon, they saw that the Skylark was in a blaze of green light, and
+looking out of the windows, Crane counted seventeen great suns,
+scattered in all directions in the sky! Slowing down abruptly as the
+planet was approached, Seaton dropped the vessel slowly through the
+atmosphere, while Crane and DuQuesne tested and analyzed it.
+
+"Pressure, thirty pounds per square inch. Surface gravity as compared to
+that of the Earth, two-fifths. Air-pressure about double that of the
+Earth, while a five-pound weight weighs only two pounds. A peculiar
+combination," reported Crane, and DuQuesne added:
+
+"Analysis about the same as our air except for two and three-tenths per
+cent of a gas that isn't poisonous and which has a peculiar, fragrant
+odor. I can't analyze it and think it probably an element unknown upon
+Earth, or at least very rare."
+
+"It would have to be rare if you don't know what it is," acknowledged
+Seaton, locking the Skylark in place and going over to smell the strange
+gas.
+
+Deciding that the air was satisfactory, the pressure inside the vessel
+was slowly raised to the value of that outside and two doors were
+opened, to allow the new atmosphere free circulation.
+
+Seaton shut off the power actuating the repeller and let the vessel
+settle slowly toward the ocean which was directly beneath them--an ocean
+of a deep, intense, wondrously beautiful blue, which the scientists
+studied with interest. Arrived at the surface, Seaton moistened a rod in
+a wave, and tasted it cautiously, then uttered a yell of joy--a yell
+broken off abruptly as he heard the sound of his own voice. Both girls
+started as the vibrations set up in the dense air smote upon their
+eardrums. Seaton moderated his voice and continued:
+
+"I forgot about the air-pressure. But hurrah for this ocean--it's
+ammoniacal copper sulphate solution! We can sure get all the copper we
+want, right here, but it would take weeks to evaporate the water and
+recover the metal. We can probably get it easier ashore. Let's go!"
+
+They started off just above the surface of the ocean toward the nearest
+continent, which they had observed from the air.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+Nalboon of Mardonale
+
+
+As the Skylark approached the shore, its occupants heard a rapid
+succession of heavy detonations, apparently coming from the direction in
+which they were traveling.
+
+"Wonder what that racket is?" asked Seaton.
+
+"It sounds like big guns," said Crane, and DuQuesne nodded agreement.
+
+"Big guns is right. They're shooting high explosive shells, too, or I
+never heard any. Even allowing for the density of the air, that kind of
+noise isn't made by pop-guns."
+
+"Let's go see what's doing," and Seaton started to walk toward one of
+the windows with his free, swinging stride. Instantly he was a-sprawl,
+the effort necessary to carry his weight upon the Earth's surface
+lifting him into the air in a succession of ludicrous hops, but he soon
+recovered himself and walked normally.
+
+"I forgot this two-fifths gravity stuff," he laughed. "Walk as though we
+had only a notch of power on and it goes all right. It sure is funny to
+feel so light when we're so close to the ground."
+
+He closed the doors to keep out a part of the noise and advanced the
+speed lever a little, so that the vessel tilted sharply under the pull
+of the almost horizontal bar.
+
+"Go easy," cautioned Crane. "We do not want to get in the way of one of
+their shells. They may be of a different kind than those we are familiar
+with."
+
+"Right--easy it is. We'll stay forty miles above them, if necessary."
+
+As the great speed of the ship rapidly lessened the distance, the sound
+grew heavier and clearer--like one continuous explosion. So closely did
+one deafening concussion follow another that the ear could not
+distinguish the separate reports.
+
+"I see them," simultaneously announced Crane, who was seated at one of
+the forward windows searching the country with his binoculars, and
+Seaton, who, from the pilot's seat, could see in any direction.
+
+The others hurried to the windows with their glasses and saw an
+astonishing sight.
+
+"Aerial battleships, eight of 'em!" exclaimed Seaton, "as big as the
+Idaho. Four of 'em are about the same shape as our battleships. No
+wings--they act like helicopters."
+
+"Four of them are battleships, right enough, but what about the other
+four?" asked DuQuesne. "They are not ships or planes or anything else
+that I ever heard of."
+
+"They are animals," asserted Crane. "Machines never were and never will
+be built like that."
+
+As the Skylark cautiously approached, it was evident to the watchers
+that four of the contestants were undoubtedly animals. Here indeed was a
+new kind of animal, an animal able to fight on even terms with a
+first-class battleship! Frightful aerial monsters they were. Each had an
+enormous, torpedo-shaped body, with scores of prodigiously long
+tentacles like those of a devil-fish and a dozen or more great, soaring
+wings. Even at that distance they could see the row of protruding eyes
+along the side of each monstrous body and the terrible, prow-like beaks
+tearing through the metal of the warships opposing them. They could see,
+by the reflection of the light from the many suns, that each monster was
+apparently covered by scales and joints of some transparent armor. That
+it was real and highly effective armor there could be no doubt, for each
+battleship bristled with guns of heavy caliber and each gun was vomiting
+forth a continuous stream of fire. Shells bursting against each of the
+creatures made one continuous blaze, and the uproar was
+indescribable--an uninterrupted cataclysm of sound appalling in its
+intensity.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The battle was brief. Soon all four of the battleships had crumpled to
+the ground, their crews absorbed by the terrible sucking arms or
+devoured by the frightful beaks. They did not die in vain--three of the
+monsters had been blown to atoms by shells which had apparently
+penetrated their armor. The fourth was pursuing something, which Seaton
+now saw was a fleet of small airships, which had flown away from the
+scene of conflict. Swift as they were, the monster covered three feet to
+their one.
+
+"We can't stand for anything like that," cried Seaton, as he threw on
+the power and the Skylark leaped ahead. "Get ready to bump him off,
+Mart, when I jerk him away. He acts hard-boiled, so give him a real
+one--fifty milligrams!"
+
+Sweeping on with awful speed the monster seized the largest and most
+gaily decorated plane in his hundred-foot tentacles just as the Skylark
+came within sighting distance. In four practically simultaneous
+movements Seaton sighted the attractor at the ugly beak, released all
+its power, pointed the main bar of the Skylark directly upward, and
+advanced his speed lever. There was a crash of rending metal as the
+thing was torn loose from the plane and jerked a hundred miles into the
+air, struggling so savagely in that invisible and incomprehensible grip
+that the three-thousand-ton mass of the Skylark tossed and pitched like
+a child's plaything. Those inside her heard the sharp, spiteful crack of
+the machine-gun, and an instant later they heard a report that paralyzed
+their senses, even inside the vessel and in the thin air of their
+enormous elevation, as the largest X-plosive bullet prepared by the
+inventors struck full upon the side of the hideous body. There was no
+smoke, no gas or vapor of any kind--only a huge volume of intolerable
+flame as the energy stored within the atoms of copper, instantaneously
+liberated, heated to incandescence and beyond all the atmosphere within
+a radius of hundreds of feet. The monster disappeared utterly, and
+Seaton, with unerring hand, reversed the bar and darted back down toward
+the fleet of airships. He reached them in time to focus the attractor
+upon the wrecked and helpless plane in the middle of its
+five-thousand-foot fall and lowered it gently to the ground, surrounded
+by the fleet.
+
+The Skylark landed easily beside the wrecked machine, and the wanderers
+saw that their vessel was completely surrounded by a crowd of
+people--men and women identical in form and feature with themselves.
+They were a superbly molded race, the men fully as large as Seaton and
+DuQuesne; the women, while smaller than the men, were noticeably taller
+than the two women in the car. The men wore broad collars of metal,
+numerous metallic ornaments, and heavily-jeweled leather belts and
+shoulder-straps which were hung with weapons of peculiar patterns. The
+women carried no weapons, but were even more highly decorated than were
+the men--each slender, perfectly-formed body scintillated with the
+brilliance of hundreds of strange gems, flashing points of fire. Jeweled
+bands of metal and leather restrained their carefully-groomed hair;
+jeweled collars encircled their throats; jeweled belts, jeweled
+bracelets, jeweled anklets, each added its quota of brilliance to the
+glittering whole. The strangers wore no clothing, and their smooth skins
+shone a dark, livid, utterly indescribable color in the peculiar,
+unearthly, yellowish-bluish-green glare of the light. Green their skins
+undoubtedly were, but not any shade of green visible in the Earthly
+spectrum. The "whites" of their eyes were a light yellowish-green. The
+heavy hair of the women and the close-cropped locks of the men were
+green as well--a green so dark as to be almost black, as were also their
+eyes.
+
+"Well, what d'you know about that?" pondered Seaton, dazedly. "They're
+human, right enough, but ye gods, what a color!"
+
+"It is hard to tell how much of that color is real, and how much of it
+is due to this light," answered Crane. "Wait until you get outside, away
+from our daylight lamps, and you will probably look like a Chinese
+puzzle. As to the form, it is logical to suppose that wherever
+conditions are similar to those upon the Earth, and the age is anywhere
+nearly the same, development would be along the same lines as with us."
+
+"That's right, too. Dottie, your hair will sure look gorgeous in this
+light. Let's go out and give the natives a treat!"
+
+"I wouldn't look like that for a million dollars!" retorted Dorothy,
+"and if I'm going to look like that I won't get out of the ship, so
+there!"
+
+"Cheer up, Dottie, you won't look like that. Your hair will be black in
+this light."
+
+"Then what color will mine be?" asked Margaret.
+
+Seaton glanced at her black hair.
+
+"Probably a very dark and beautiful green," he grinned, his gray eyes
+sparkling, "but we'll have to wait and see. Friends and
+fellow-countrymen, I've got a hunch that this is going to be SOME visit.
+How about it, shall we go ahead with it?"
+
+Dorothy went up to him, her face bright with eagerness.
+
+"Oh, what a lark! Let's go!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Even in DuQuesne's cold presence, Margaret's eyes sought those of her
+lover, and his sleeve, barely touching her arm, was enough to send a
+dancing thrill along it.
+
+"Onward, men of Earth!" she cried, and Seaton, stepping up to the
+window, rapped sharply upon the glass with the butt of his pistol and
+raised both hands high above his head in the universal sign of peace. In
+response, a man of Herculean mold, so splendidly decorated that his
+harness was one blazing mass of jewels, waved his arm and shouted a
+command. The crowd promptly fell back, leaving a clear space of several
+hundred yards. The man, evidently one in high command, unbuckled his
+harness, dropping every weapon, and advanced toward the Skylark, both
+arms upraised in Seaton's gesture.
+
+Seaton went to the door and started to open it.
+
+"Better talk to him from inside," cautioned Crane.
+
+"I don't think so, Mart. He's peaceable, and I've got my gun in my
+pocket. Since he doesn't know what clothes are he'll think I'm unarmed,
+which is as it should be; and if he shows fight, it won't take more than
+a week for me to get into action."
+
+"All right, go on. DuQuesne and I will come along."
+
+"Absolutely not. He's alone, so I've got to be. I notice that some of
+his men are covering us, though. You might do the same for them, with a
+couple of the machine guns."
+
+Seaton stepped out of the car and went to meet the stranger. When they
+had approached to within a few feet of each other the stranger stopped.
+He flexed his left arm smartly, so that the finger-tips touched his left
+ear, and smiled broadly, exposing a row of splendid, shining, green
+teeth. Then he spoke, a meaningless jumble of sounds. His voice, though
+light and thin, nevertheless seemed to be of powerful timbre.
+
+Seaton smiled in return and saluted.
+
+"Hello, Chief. I get your idea all right, and we're glad you're
+peaceable, but your language doesn't mean a thing in my young life."
+
+The Chief tapped himself upon the chest, saying distinctly and
+impressively:
+
+"Nalboon."
+
+"Nalboon," repeated Seaton, and added, pointing to himself:
+
+"Seaton."
+
+"See Tin," answered the stranger, and again indicating himself, "Domak
+gok Mardonale."
+
+"That must be his title," thought Seaton rapidly. "Have to give myself
+one, I guess."
+
+"Boss of the Road," he replied, drawing himself up with pride.
+
+The introduction made, Nalboon pointed to the wrecked plane, inclined
+his head in thanks, and turned to his people with one arm upraised,
+shouting an order in which Seaton could distinguish something that
+sounded like "See Tin, Bass uvvy Rood." Instantly every right arm in the
+assemblage was aloft, that of each man bearing a weapon, while the left
+arms snapped into the peculiar salute and a mighty cry arose as all
+repeated the name and title of the distinguished visitor.
+
+Seaton turned to the Skylark, motioning to Crane to open the door.
+
+"Bring out one of those big four-color signal rockets, Mart!" he called.
+"They're giving us a royal reception--let's acknowledge it right."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The party appeared, Crane carrying the huge rocket with an air of
+deference. As they approached, Seaton shrugged one shoulder and his
+cigarette-case appeared in his hand. Nalboon started, and in spite of
+his utmost efforts at self-control, he glanced at it in surprise. The
+case flew open and Seaton, taking a cigarette, extended the case.
+
+"Smoke?" he asked affably. The other took one, but showed plainly that
+he had no idea of the use to which it was to be put. This astonishment
+of the stranger at a simple sleight-of-hand feat and his apparent
+ignorance of tobacco emboldened Seaton. Reaching into his mouth, he
+pulled out a flaming match, at which Nalboon started violently. While
+all the natives watched in amazement, Seaton lighted the cigarette, and
+after half consuming it in two long inhalations, he apparently swallowed
+the remainder, only to bring it to light again. Having smoked it, he
+apparently swallowed the butt, with evident relish.
+
+"They don't know anything about matches or smoking," he said, turning to
+Crane. "This rocket will tie them up in a knot. Step back, everybody."
+
+He bowed deeply to Nalboon, pulling a lighted match from his ear as he
+did so, and lighted the fuse. There was a roar, a shower of sparks, a
+blaze of colored fire as the great rocket flew upward; but to Seaton's
+surprise, Nalboon took it quite as a matter of course, saluting as an
+acknowledgment of the courtesy.
+
+Seaton motioned to his party to approach, and turned to Crane.
+
+"Better not, Dick. Let him think that you are the king of everything in
+sight."
+
+"Not on your life. If he is one king, we are two," and he introduced
+Crane, with great ceremony, to the Domak as the "Boss of the Skylark,"
+at which the salute by his people was repeated.
+
+Nalboon then shouted an order and a company of soldiers led by an
+officer came toward them, surrounding a small group of people,
+apparently prisoners. These captives, seven men and seven women, were
+much lighter in color than the rest of the gathering, having skins of a
+ghastly, pale shade, practically the same color as the whites of their
+eyes. In other bodily aspects they were the same as their captors in
+appearance, save that they were entirely naked except for the jeweled
+metal collars worn by all and a massive metal belt worn by one man. They
+walked with a proud and lofty carriage, scorn for their captors in every
+step.
+
+Nalboon barked an order to the prisoners. They stared in defiance,
+motionless, until the man wearing the belt who had studied Seaton
+closely, spoke a few words in a low tone, when they all prostrated
+themselves. Nalboon then waved his hand, giving the whole group to
+Seaton as slaves. Seaton, with no sign of his surprise, thanked the
+giver and motioned his slaves to rise. They obeyed and placed themselves
+behind the party--two men and two women behind Seaton and the same
+number behind Crane; one man and one woman behind each of the others.
+
+Seaton then tried to make Nalboon understand that they wanted copper,
+pointing to his anklet, the only copper in sight. The chief instantly
+removed the trinket and handed it to Seaton; who, knowing by the gasp of
+surprise of the guard that it was some powerful symbol, returned it with
+profuse apologies. After trying in vain to make the other understand
+what he wanted, he led him into the Skylark and showed him the remnant
+of the power-bar. He showed him its original size and indicated the
+desired number by counting to sixteen upon his fingers. Nalboon nodded
+his comprehension and going outside, pointed upward toward the largest
+of the eleven suns visible, motioning its rising and setting, four
+times.
+
+He then invited the visitors, in unmistakable sign language, to
+accompany him as guests of honor, but Seaton refused.
+
+"Lead on, MacDuff, we follow," he replied, explaining his meaning by
+signs as they turned to enter the vessel. The slaves followed closely
+until Crane remonstrated.
+
+"We don't want them aboard, do we, Dick? There are too many of them."
+
+"All right," Seaton replied, and waved them away. As they stepped back
+the guard seized the nearest, a woman, and forced her to her knees;
+while a man, adorned with a necklace of green human teeth and carrying a
+shining broadsword, prepared to decapitate her.
+
+"We must take them with us, I see," said Crane, as he brushed the guards
+aside. Followed by the slaves, the party entered the Skylark, and the
+dark green people embarked in their airplanes and helicopters.
+
+Nalboon rode in a large and gaily-decorated plane, which led the fleet
+at its full speed of six hundred miles an hour, the Skylark taking a
+placing a few hundred yards above the flagship.
+
+"I don't get these folks at all, Mart," said Seaton, after a moment's
+silence. "They have machines far ahead of anything we have on Earth and
+big guns that shoot as fast as machine-guns, and yet are scared to death
+at a little simple sleight-of-hand. They don't seem to understand
+matches at all, and yet treat fire-works as an every-day occurrence."
+
+"We will have to wait until we know them better," replied Crane, and
+DuQuesne added:
+
+"From what I have seen, their power seems to be all electrical. Perhaps
+they aren't up with us in chemistry, even though they are ahead of us in
+mechanics?"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Flying above a broad, but rapid and turbulent stream, the fleet soon
+neared a large city, and the visitors from Earth gazed with interest at
+this metropolis of the unknown world. The buildings were all the same
+height, flat-roofed, and arranged in squares very much as our cities are
+arranged. There were no streets, the spaces between the buildings being
+park-like areas, evidently laid out for recreation, amusement, and
+sport. There was no need for streets; all traffic was in the air. The
+air seemed full of flying vehicles, darting in all directions, but it
+was soon evident that there was exact order in the apparent confusion,
+each class of vessel and each direction of traffic having its own level.
+Eagerly the three men studied the craft, which ranged in size from
+one-man helicopters, little more than single chairs flying about in the
+air, up to tremendous multiplane freighters, capable of carrying
+thousands of tons.
+
+Flying high over the city to avoid its congested air-lanes, the fleet
+descended toward an immense building just outside the city proper, and
+all landed upon its roof save the flagship, which led the Skylark to a
+landing-dock nearby--a massive pile of metal and stone, upon which
+Nalboon and his retinue stood to welcome the guests. After Seaton had
+anchored the vessel immovably by means of the attractor, the party
+disembarked, Seaton remarking with a grin:
+
+"Don't be surprised at anything I do, folks. I'm a walking storehouse of
+junk of all kinds, so that if occasion arises I can put on a real
+exhibition."
+
+As they turned toward their host, a soldier, in his eagerness to see the
+strangers, jostled another. Without a word two keen swords flew from
+their scabbards and a duel to the death ensued. The visitors stared in
+amazement, but no one else paid any attention to the combat, which was
+soon over; the victor turning away from the body of his opponent and
+resuming his place without creating a ripple of interest.
+
+Nalboon led the way into an elevator, which dropped rapidly to the
+ground-floor level. Massive gates were thrown open, and through ranks of
+people prostrate upon their faces the party went out into the palace
+grounds of the Domak, or Emperor, of the great nation of Mardonale.
+
+Never before had Earthly eyes rested upon such scenes of splendor. Every
+color and gradation of their peculiar spectrum was present, in solid,
+liquid, and gas. The carefully-tended trees were all colors of the
+rainbow, as were the grasses and flowers along the walks. The fountains
+played streams of many and constantly-changing hues, and even the air
+was tinted and perfumed, swirling through metal arches in billows of
+ever-varying colors and scents. Colors and combinations of colors
+impossible to describe were upon every hand, fantastically beautiful in
+that peculiar, livid light. Diamonds and rubies, their colors so
+distorted by the green radiance as to be almost unrecognizable; emeralds
+glowing with an intense green impossible in earthly light, together with
+strange gems peculiar to this strange world, sparkled and flashed from
+railings, statues, and pedestals throughout the ground.
+
+"Isn't this gorgeous, Dick?" whispered Dorothy. "But what do I look
+like? I wish I had a mirror--you look simply awful. Do I look like you
+do?"
+
+"Not being able to see myself, I can't say, but I imagine you do. You
+look as you would under a county-fair photographer's mercury-vapor arc
+lamps, only worse. The colors can't be described. You might as well try
+to describe cerise to a man born blind as to try to express these
+colors in English, but as near as I can come to it, your eyes are a dark
+sort of purplish green, with the whites of your eyes and your teeth a
+kind of plush green. Your skin is a pale yellowish green, except for the
+pink of your cheeks, which is a kind of black, with orange and green
+mixed up in it. Your lips are black, and your hair is a funny kind of
+color, halfway between black and old rose, with a little green and...."
+
+"Heavens, Dick, stop! That's enough!" choked Dorothy. "We all look like
+hobgoblins. We're even worse than the natives."
+
+"Sure we are. They were born here and are acclimated to it--we are
+strangers and aren't. I would like to see what one of these people would
+look like in Washington."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Nalboon led them into the palace proper and into a great dining hall,
+where a table was already prepared for the entire party. This room was
+splendidly decorated with jewels, its many windows being simply masses
+of gems. The walls were hung with a cloth resembling silk, which fell to
+the floor in shimmering waves of color.
+
+Woodwork there was none. Doors, panels, tables, and chairs were
+cunningly wrought of various metals. Seaton and DuQuesne could recognize
+a few of them, but for the most part they were unknown upon the Earth;
+and were, like the jewels and vegetation of this strange world, of many
+and various peculiar colors. A closer inspection of one of the marvelous
+tapestries showed that it also was of metal, its threads numbering
+thousands to the inch. Woven of many different metals, of vivid but
+harmonious colors in a strange and intricate design, it seemed to writhe
+as its colors changed with every variation in the color of the light;
+which, pouring from concealed sources, was reflected by the
+highly-polished metal and innumerable jewels of the lofty, domed
+ceiling.
+
+"Oh ... isn't this too perfectly gorgeous?" breathed Dorothy. "I'd give
+anything for a dress made out of that stuff, Dick. Cloth-of-gold is
+common by comparison!"
+
+"Would you dare wear it, Dottie?" asked Margaret.
+
+"_Would_ I? I'd wear it in a minute if I could only get it. It would
+take Washington by storm!"
+
+"I'll try to get a piece of it, then," smiled Seaton. "I'll see about it
+while we are getting the copper."
+
+"We'd better be careful in choosing what we eat here, Seaton," suggested
+DuQuesne, as the Domak himself led them to the table.
+
+"We sure had. With a copper ocean and green teeth, I shouldn't be
+surprised if copper, arsenic, and other such trifles formed a regular
+part of their diet."
+
+"The girls and I will wait for you two chemists to approve every dish
+before we try it, then," said Crane.
+
+Nalboon placed his guests, the light-skinned slaves standing at
+attention behind them, and numerous servants, carrying great trays,
+appeared. The servants were intermediate in color between the light and
+the dark races, with dull, unintelligent faces, but quick and deft in
+their movements.
+
+The first course--a thin, light wine, served in metal goblets--was
+approved by the chemists, and the dinner was brought on. There were
+mighty joints of various kinds of meat; birds and fish, both raw and
+cooked in many ways; green, pink, purple, and white vegetables and
+fruits. The majordomo held each dish up to Seaton for inspection, the
+latter waving away the fish and the darkest green foods, but approving
+the others. Heaping plates, or rather metal trays, of food were placed
+before the diners, and the attendants behind their chairs handed them
+peculiar implements--knives with razor edges, needle-pointed stilettoes
+instead of forks, and wide, flexible spatulas, which evidently were to
+serve the purposes of both forks and spoons.
+
+"I simply can't eat with these things!" exclaimed Dorothy in dismay,
+"and I don't like to drink soup out of a can, so there!"
+
+"That's where my lumberjack training comes in handy," grinned Seaton.
+"With this spatula I can eat faster than I could with two forks. What do
+you want, girls, forks or spoons, or both?"
+
+"Both, please."
+
+Seaton reached out over the table, seizing forks and spoons from the air
+and passing them to the others, while the natives stared in surprise.
+The Domak took a bowl filled with brilliant blue crystals from the
+major-domo, sprinkled his food liberally with the substance, and passed
+it to Seaton, who looked at the crystals attentively.
+
+"Copper sulphate," he said to Crane. "It's a good thing they add it at
+the table instead of cooking with it, or we'd be out of luck."
+
+Waving the copper sulphate away, he again reached out, this time
+producing a pair of small salt-and pepper-shakers, which he passed to
+the Domak after he had seasoned the dishes before him. Nalboon tasted
+the pepper cautiously and smiled in delight, half-emptying the shaker
+upon his plate. He then sprinkled a few grains of salt into his palm,
+stared at them with an expression of doubting amazement, and after a few
+rapid sentences poured them into a dish held by an officer who had
+sprung to his side. The officer studied them closely, then carefully
+washed his chief's hand. Nalboon turned to Seaton, plainly asking for
+the salt-cellar.
+
+"Sure, old top. Keep 'em both, there's lots more where those came from,"
+as he produced several more sets in the same mysterious way and handed
+them to Crane, who in turn passed them to the others.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The meal progressed merrily, with much conversation in the sign-language
+between the two parties. It was evident that Nalboon, usually stern and
+reticent, was in an unusually pleasant mood. The viands, though of
+peculiar flavor, were in the main pleasing to the palates of the Earthly
+visitors.
+
+"This fruit salad, or whatever it is, is divine," remarked Dorothy,
+after an experimental bite. "May we eat as much as we like, or had we
+better just eat a little?"
+
+"Go as far as you like," returned her lover. "I wouldn't recommend it,
+as a steady diet, as I imagine everything contains copper and other
+heavy metals in noticeable amounts, and probably considerable arsenic,
+but for a few days it can't very well hurt us much."
+
+After the meal, Nalboon bade them a ceremonious farewell, and they were
+escorted to a series of five connecting rooms by the royal usher,
+escorted by an entire company of soldiers, who mounted guard outside the
+doors. Gathered in one room, they discussed sleeping arrangements. The
+girls insisted that they would sleep together, and that the men should
+occupy the rooms at either side. As the girls turned away, the four
+slaves followed.
+
+"We don't want these people, and I can't make them go away!" cried
+Dorothy.
+
+"I don't want them, either," replied Seaton, "but if we chase them out
+they'll get their heads chopped off. You girls take the women and we'll
+take the men."
+
+Seaton waved all the women into the girls' room, but they paused
+irresolutely. One of them went up to the man wearing the metal belt,
+evidently their leader, and spoke to him rapidly as she threw her arms
+around his neck. He shook his head, motioning toward Seaton several
+times as he spoke to her reassuringly. With his arm about her tenderly,
+he led her to the door, the other women following. Crane and DuQuesne
+having gone to their rooms with their attendants, the man wearing the
+belt drew the blinds and turned to assist Seaton in taking off his
+clothes.
+
+"I never had a valet before, but go as far as you like if it pleases
+you," remarked Seaton, as he began to throw off his clothes. A multitude
+of small articles fell from their hiding-places in his garments as he
+removed them. Almost stripped, Seaton stretched vigorously, the muscles
+writhing and rippling in great ridges under the satin skin of his broad
+back and mighty arms and shoulders as he filled his capacious lungs and
+twisted about, working off the stiffness caused by the days of
+comparative confinement.
+
+The four slaves stared in open-mouthed astonishment at this display of
+muscular development and conversed among themselves as they gathered up
+Seaton's discarded clothing. Their leader picked up a salt-shaker, a
+couple of silver knives and forks, and some other articles, and turned
+to Seaton, apparently asking permission to do something with them.
+Seaton nodded assent carelessly and turned to his bed. As he did so, he
+heard a slight clank of arms in the hall as the guard was changed, and
+lifting the blind a trifle he saw that guards were stationed outside as
+well. As he went to bed, he wondered whether the guards were guards of
+honor or jailers; whether he and his party were honored guests or
+prisoners.
+
+Three of the slaves, at a word from their chief, threw themselves upon
+the floor and slept, but he himself did not rest. Opening the apparently
+solid metal belt, he took out a great number of small tools, many tiny
+instruments, and several spools of insulated wire. He then took the
+articles Seaton had given him, taking great pains not to spill a single
+grain of salt, and set to work. Hour after hour he labored, a strange,
+exceedingly complex instrument taking form under his clever fingers.
+
+
+
+
+    +--------------------------------------+
+    |                                      |
+    | _By the time you finish reading the  |
+    | final instalment of "The Skylark of  |
+    | Space," we are certain that you will |
+    | agree with us that it is one of the  |
+    | outstanding scienti-fiction stories  |
+    | of the decade; an interplanetarian   |
+    | story that will not be eclipsed      |
+    | soon. It will be referred to by all  |
+    | scienti-fiction fans for years to    |
+    | come. It will be read and reread.    |
+    | This is not a mere prophecy of ours, |
+    | because we have been deluged with    |
+    | letters since we began publishing    |
+    | this story. In the closing chapters, |
+    | you will follow the adventures with  |
+    | bated breath, and you will find that |
+    | though the two preceding instalments |
+    | were hair-raising and thought        |
+    | absorbing, the final instalment      |
+    | eclipses the others a good deal.     |
+    | Plots, counterplots, hair-raising    |
+    | and hair-breadth escapes, mixed with |
+    | love, adventure and good science     |
+    | seem to fairly tumble all over the   |
+    | pages. By the time you finish this   |
+    | instalment, you will wish to go back |
+    | to the beginning of the story and    |
+    | read it more carefully and thrill    |
+    | all over again._                     |
+    |                                      |
+    +--------------------------------------+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+Nalboon Unmasked
+
+
+After a long, sound sleep, Seaton awoke and sprang out of bed. No sooner
+had he started to shave, however, than one of the slaves touched his
+arm, motioning him into a reclining chair and showing him a keen blade,
+long and slightly curved. Seaton lay down and the slave shaved him with
+a rapidity and smoothness he had never before experienced, so
+wonderfully sharp was the peculiar razor. After Seaton had dressed, the
+barber started to shave the chief slave, without any preliminary
+treatment save rubbing his face with a perfumed oil.
+
+"Hold on a minute," interjected Seaton, who was watching the process
+with interest, "here's something that helps a lot." He lathered the face
+with his brush and the man looked up in surprised pleasure as his stiff
+beard was swept away without a sound.
+
+Seaton called to the others and soon the party was assembled in his
+room, all dressed very lightly, because of the unrelieved and unvarying
+heat, which was constant at one hundred degrees. A gong sounded, and one
+of the slaves opened the door, ushering in a party of servants bearing a
+table, ready set. During the meal, Seaton was greatly surprised at
+hearing Dorothy carrying on a halting conversation, with one of the
+women standing behind her.
+
+"I knew that you were a language shark, Dottie, with five or six
+different ones to your credit, but I didn't suppose you could learn to
+talk this stuff in one day."
+
+"I can't," she replied, "but I've picked up a few words of it. I can
+understand very little of what they are trying to tell me."
+
+The woman spoke rapidly to the man standing behind Seaton, and as soon
+as the table had been carried away, he asked permission to speak to
+Dorothy. Fairly running across to her, he made a slight obeisance and in
+eager tones poured forth such a stream of language that she held up her
+hand to silence him.
+
+"Go slower, please," she said, and added a couple of words in his own
+tongue.
+
+There ensued a strange dialogue, with many repetitions and much use of
+signs. She turned to Seaton, with a puzzled look.
+
+"I can't make out all he says, Dick, but he wants you to take him into
+another room of the palace here, to get back something or other that
+they took from him when they captured him. He can't go alone--I think he
+says he will be killed if he goes anywhere without you. And he says that
+when you get there, you must be sure not to let the guards come inside."
+
+"All right, let's go!" and Seaton motioned the man to precede him. As
+Seaton started for the door, Dorothy fell into step beside him.
+
+"Better stay back, Dottie, I'll be back in a minute," he said at the
+door.
+
+"I will not stay back. Wherever you go, I go," she replied in a voice
+inaudible to the others. "I simply will not stay away from you a single
+minute that I don't have to."
+
+"All right, little girl," he replied in the same tone. "I don't want to
+be away from you, either, and I don't think that we're in any danger
+here."
+
+Preceded by the chief slave and followed by half a dozen others, they
+went out into the hall. No opposition was made to their progress, but a
+full half-company of armed guards fell in around them as an escort,
+regarding Seaton with looks composed of equal parts of reverence and
+fear. The slave led the way rapidly to a room in a distant wing of the
+palace and opened the door. As Seaton stepped in, he saw that it was
+evidently an audience-chamber or court-room, and that it was now
+entirely empty. As the guard approached the door, Seaton waved them
+back. All retreated across the hall except the officer in charge, who
+refused to move. Seaton, the personification of offended dignity, first
+stared at the offender, who returned the stare, and stepped up to him
+insolently, then pushed him back roughly, forgetting that his strength,
+great upon Earth, would be gigantic upon this smaller world. The officer
+spun across the corridor, knocking down three of his men in his flight.
+Picking himself up, he drew his sword and rushed, while his men fled in
+panic to the extreme end of the corridor. Seaton did not wait for him,
+but in one bound leaped half-way across the intervening space to meet
+him. With the vastly superior agility of his earthly muscles he dodged
+the falling broadsword and drove his left fist full against the fellow's
+chin, with all the force of his mighty arm and all the momentum of his
+rapidly moving body behind the blow. The crack of breaking bones was
+distinctly audible as the officer's head snapped back. The force of the
+blow lifted him high into the air, and after turning a complete
+somersault, he brought up with a crash against the opposite wall,
+dropping to the floor stone dead. As several of his men, braver than the
+others, lifted their peculiar rifles, Seaton drew and fired in one
+incredibly swift motion, the X-plosive bullet obliterating the entire
+group of men and demolishing that end of the palace.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+In the meantime the slave had taken several pieces of apparatus from a
+cabinet in the room and had placed them in his belt. Stopping only to
+observe for a few moments a small instrument which he clamped upon the
+head of the dead man, he rapidly led the way back to the room they had
+left and set to work upon the instrument he had constructed while the
+others had been asleep. He connected it, in an intricate system of
+wiring, with the pieces of apparatus he had just recovered.
+
+"That's a complex job of wiring," said DuQuesne admiringly. "I've seen
+several intricate pieces of apparatus myself, but he has so many
+circuits there that I'm lost. It would take an hour to figure out the
+lines and connections alone."
+
+Straightening abruptly, the slave clamped several electrodes upon his
+temples and motioned to Seaton and the others, speaking to Dorothy as he
+did so.
+
+"He wants us to let him put those things on our heads," she translated.
+"Shall we let him, Dick?"
+
+"Yes," he replied without hesitation. "I've got a real hunch that he's
+our friend, and I'm not sure of Nalboon. He doesn't act right."
+
+"I think so, too," agreed the girl, and Crane added:
+
+"I can't say that I relish the idea, but since I know that you are a
+good poker player, Dick, I am willing to follow your hunch. How about
+you, DuQuesne?"
+
+"Not I," declared that worthy, emphatically. "Nobody wires me up to
+anything I can't understand, and that machine is too deep for me."
+
+Margaret elected to follow Crane's example, and, impressed by the need
+for haste evident in the slave's bearing, the four walked up to the
+machine without further talk. The electrodes were clamped into place
+quickly and the slave pressed a lever. Instantly the four visitors felt
+that they had a complete understanding of the languages and customs of
+both Mardonale, the nation in which they now were, and of Kondal, to
+which nation the slaves belonged, the only two civilized nations upon
+Osnome. While the look of amazement at this method of receiving
+instruction was still upon their faces, the slave--or rather, as they
+now knew him, Dunark, the Kofedix or Crown Prince of the great nation of
+Kondal--began to disconnect the wires. He cut out the wires leading to
+the two girls and to Crane, and was reaching for Seaton's, when there
+was a blinding flash, a crackling sound, the heavy smoke of burning
+metal and insulation, and both Dunark and Seaton fell to the floor.
+
+Before Crane could reach them, however, they were upon their feet and
+the stranger said in his own tongue, now understood by every one but
+DuQuesne:
+
+"This machine is a mechanical educator, a thing entirely new, in our
+world at least. Although I have been working on it for a long time, it
+is still in a very crude form. I did not like to use it in its present
+state of development, but it was necessary in order to warn you of what
+Nalboon is going to do to you, and to convince you that the best way of
+saving your lives would save our lives as well. The machine worked
+perfectly until something, I don't know what, went wrong. Instead of
+stopping, as it should have done, at teaching your party to speak our
+languages, it short-circuited us two completely, so that every
+convolution in each of our brains has been imprinted upon the brain of
+the other. It was the sudden formation of all the new convolutions that
+rendered us unconscious. I can only apologize for the break-down, and
+assure you that my intentions were of the best."
+
+"You needn't apologize," returned Seaton. "That was a wonderful
+performance, and we're both gainers, anyway, aren't we? It has taken us
+all our lives to learn what little we know, and now we each have the
+benefit of two lifetimes, spent upon different worlds! I must admit,
+though, that I have a whole lot of knowledge that I don't know how to
+use."
+
+"I am glad you take it that way," returned the other warmly, "for I am
+infinitely the better off for the exchange. The knowledge I imparted was
+nothing, compared to that which I received. But time presses--I must
+tell you our situation. I am, as you now know, the Kofedix of Kondal.
+The other thirteen are fedo and fediro, or, as you would say, princes
+and princesses of the same nation. We were captured by one of Nalboon's
+raiding parties while upon a hunting trip, being overcome by some new,
+stupefying gas, so that we could not kill ourselves. As you know, Kondal
+and Mardonale have been at war for over ten thousand karkamo--something
+more than six thousand years of your time. The war between us is one of
+utter extermination. Captives are never exchanged and only once during
+an ordinary lifetime does one ever escape. Our attendants were killed
+immediately. We were being taken to furnish sport for Nalboon's party by
+being fed to one of his captive kolono--animals something like your
+earthly devilfish--when the escort of battleships was overcome by those
+four karlono, the animals you saw, and one of them seized Nalboon's
+plane, in which we were prisoners. You killed the karlon, saving our
+lives as well as those of Nalboon and his party.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Having saved his life, you and your party should be honored guests of
+the most honored kind, and I venture to say that you would be so
+regarded in any other nation of the universe. But Nalboon, the Domak--a
+title equivalent to your word 'Emperor' and our word 'Karfedix'--of
+Mardonale, is utterly without either honor or conscience, as are all
+Mardonalians. At first he was afraid of you, as were we all. We thought
+you visitors from a planet of our fifteenth sun, which is now at its
+nearest possible approach to us. After your display of superhuman power
+and ability, we expected instant annihilation. However, after seeing the
+Skylark as a machine, discovering that you are short of power, and
+finding that you are gentle instead of bloodthirsty by nature, Nalboon
+lost his fear of you and resolved to rob you of your vessel, with its
+wonderful secrets of power. Though we are so ignorant of chemistry that
+I cannot understand the thousandth part of what I just learned from you,
+we are a race of mechanics and have developed machines of many kinds to
+a high state of efficiency, including electrical machines of all kinds.
+In fact, electricity, generated by our great waterfalls, is our only
+power. No scientist upon Osnome has ever had an inkling that
+intra-atomic energy exists. Nalboon cannot understand the power, but he
+solved the means of liberating it at a glance--and that glance sealed
+your death-warrants. With the Skylark, he could conquer Kondal, and to
+assure the downfall of my nation he would do anything.
+
+"Also, he or any other Osnomian scientist would go to any lengths
+whatever--would challenge the great First Cause itself--to secure even
+one of those little bottles of the chemical you call 'salt.' It is far
+and away the scarcest and most precious substance in the world. It is so
+rare that those bottles you produced at the table held more than the
+total amount previously known to exist upon Osnome. We have great
+abundance of all the heavy metals, but the lighter metals are rare.
+Sodium and chlorin are the rarest of all known elements. Its immense
+value is due, not to its rarity, but to the fact that it is an
+indispensable component of the controlling instruments of our wireless
+power stations and that it is used as a catalyst in the manufacture of
+our hardest metals.
+
+"For these reasons, you understand why Nalboon does not intend to let
+you escape and why he intends that this kokam (our equivalent of a day)
+shall be your last. About the second or third kam (hour) of the sleeping
+period he intends to break into the Skylark, learn its control, and
+secure the salt you undoubtedly have in the vessel. Then my party and
+myself will be thrown to the kolon. You and your party will be killed
+and your bodies smelted to recover the salt that is in them. This is the
+warning I had to give you. Its urgency explains the use of my untried
+mechanical educator; the hope that my party could escape with yours, in
+your vessel, explains why you saw me, the Kofedix of Kondal, prostrate
+myself before that arch-fiend Nalboon."
+
+"How do you, a captive prince of another nation, know these things?"
+asked Crane, doubtfully.
+
+"I read Nalboon's ideas from the brain of that officer whom the Karfedix
+Seaton killed. He was a ladex of the guards--an officer of about the
+same rank as one of your colonels. He was high in Nalboon's favor, and
+he was to have been in charge of the work of breaking into the Skylark
+and killing us all. Let me caution you now; do not let any Mardonalian
+touch our hands with a wire, for if you do, your thoughts will be
+recorded and the secrets of the Skylark and your many other mysterious
+things, such as smoking, matches, and magic feats, will be secrets no
+longer."
+
+"Thanks for the information," responded Seaton, "but I want to correct
+your title for me. I'm no Karfedix--merely a plain citizen."
+
+"In one way I see that that is true," replied the Kofedix with a puzzled
+look. "I cannot understand your government at all--but the inventor of
+the Skylark must certainly rank as a Karfedix."
+
+As he spoke, a smile of understanding passed over his face and he
+continued:
+
+"I see. Your title is Doctor of Philosophy, which must mean that you are
+the Karfedix of Knowledge of the Earth."
+
+"No, no. You're way off. I'm...."
+
+"Certainly Seaton is the Karfedix of Knowledge," broke in DuQuesne. "Let
+it go at that, anyway, whatever it means. The thing to do now is to
+figure a way out of this."
+
+"You chirped it then, Blackie. Dunark, you know this country better than
+we do; what do you suggest?"
+
+"I suggest that you take my party into the Skylark and escape from
+Mardonale as soon as possible. I can pilot you to Kondalek, the capital
+city of our nation. There, I can assure you, you will be welcomed as you
+deserve. My father, the Karfedix, will treat you as a Karfedix should be
+treated. As far as I am concerned, nothing I can ever do will lighten
+the burden of my indebtedness to you, but I promise you all the copper
+you want, and anything else you may desire that is within the power of
+man to give you."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Seaton thought deeply a moment, then shook Dunark's hand vigorously.
+
+"That suits me, Kofedix," he said warmly. "I thought from the first that
+you were our friend. Shall we make for the Skylark right now, or wait a
+while?"
+
+"We had better wait until after the second meal," the prince replied.
+"We have no armor, and no way of making any. We would be helpless
+against the bullets of any except a group small enough so that you could
+kill them all before they could fire. The kam after the second meal is
+devoted to strolling about the grounds, so that our visiting the Skylark
+would look perfectly natural. As the guard is very lax at that time, it
+is the best time for the attempt."
+
+"But how about my killing his company of guards and blowing up one wing
+of his palace? Won't he have something to say about that?"
+
+"I don't know," replied the Kofedix doubtfully. "It depends upon whether
+his fear of you or his anger is the greater. He should pay his call of
+state here in your apartment in a short time, as it is the inviolable
+rule of Osnome, that any visitor shall receive a call of state from one
+of his own rank before leaving his apartment for the first time. His
+actions may give you some idea as to his feelings, though he is an
+accomplished diplomat and may conceal his real feelings entirely. But
+let me caution you not to be modest or soft-spoken. He will mistake
+softness for fear."
+
+"All right," grinned Seaton. "In that case I won't wait to try to find
+out what he thinks. If he shows any signs of hostility at all, I'll open
+up on him."
+
+"Well," remarked Crane, calmly, "if we have some time to spare, we may
+as well wait comfortably instead of standing in the middle of the room.
+I, for one, have a lot of questions to ask about this new world."
+
+Acting upon this suggestion, the party seated themselves upon
+comfortable divans, and Dunark rapidly dismantled the machine he had
+constructed. The captives remained standing, always behind the visitors
+until Seaton remonstrated.
+
+"Please sit down, everybody. There's no need of keeping up this farce of
+your being slaves as long as we're alone, is there, Dunark?"
+
+"No, but at the first sound of the gong announcing a visitor we must be
+in our places. Now that we are all comfortable and waiting, I will
+introduce my party to yours.
+
+"Fellow Kondalians, greet the Karfedo Seaton and Crane," he began, his
+tongue fumbling over the strange names, "of a distant world, the Earth,
+and the two noble ladies, Miss Vaneman and Miss Spencer, soon to be
+their Karfediro.
+
+"Guests from Earth, allow me to present to you the Kofedir Sitar, the
+only one of my wives who accompanied me upon our ill-fated hunting
+expedition."
+
+Then, still ignoring DuQuesne as a captive, he introduced the other
+Kondolians in turn as his brothers, sisters, cousins, nieces, and
+nephews--all members of the great ruling house of Kondal.
+
+"Now," he concluded, "after I have a word with you in private, Doctor
+Seaton, I will be glad to give the others all the information in my
+power."
+
+He led Seaton out of earshot of the others and said in a low voice:
+
+"It is no part of Nalboon's plan to kill the two women. They are so
+beautiful, so different from our Osnomian women, that he intends to keep
+them--alive. Understand?"
+
+"Yes," returned Seaton grimly, his eyes turning hard, "I get you all
+right--but what he'll do and what he thinks he'll do are two entirely
+different breeds of cats."
+
+Returning to the others, they found Dorothy and Sitar deep in
+conversation.
+
+"So a man has half a dozen or so wives?" Dorothy was asking in surprise.
+"How do you get along together? I'd fight like a wildcat if my husband
+tried to have other wives!"
+
+"We get along splendidly, of course," returned the Osnomian princess in
+equal surprise. "I would not think of being a man's only wife. I
+wouldn't consider marrying a man who could win only one wife--think what
+a disgrace it would be! And think how lonely one would be while her
+husband is away at war--we would go insane if we did not have the
+company of the other wives. There are six of us, and we could not get
+along at all without each other."
+
+"I've got a compliment for you and Peggy, Dottie," said Seaton. "Dunark
+here thinks that you two girls look good enough to eat--or words to that
+effect." Both girls flushed slightly, the purplish-black color suffusing
+their faces. They glanced at each other and Dorothy voiced the thought
+of both as she said:
+
+"How can you, Kofedix Dunark? In this horrible light we both look
+perfectly dreadful. These other girls would be beautiful, if we were
+used to the colors, but we two look simply hideous."
+
+"Oh, no," interrupted Sitar. "You have a wonderfully rich coloring. It
+is a shame to hide so much of yourselves with robes."
+
+"Their eyes interpret colors differently than ours do," explained
+Seaton. "What to us are harsh and discordant colors are light and
+pleasing to their eyes. What looks like a kind of sloppy greenish black
+to us may--in fact, does--look a pale pink to them."
+
+"Are Kondal and Mardonale the only two nations upon Osnome?" asked
+Crane.
+
+"The only civilized nations, yes. Osnome is divided into two great and
+almost equal continents, separated by a wide ocean which encircles the
+globe. One is Kondal, the other Mardonale. Each nation has several
+nations or tribes of savages, which inhabit various waste places."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"You are the light race, Mardonale the dark," continued Crane. "What are
+the servants, who seem half-way between?"
+
+"They are slaves...."
+
+"Captured savages?" interrupted Dorothy.
+
+"No. They are a separate race. They are a race so low in intelligence
+that they cannot exist except as slaves, but they can be trained to
+understand language and to do certain kinds of work. They are harmless
+and mild, making excellent servants, otherwise they would have perished
+ages ago. All menial work and most of the manual labor is done by the
+slave race. Formerly criminals were sterilized and reduced to unwilling
+slavery, but there have been no unwilling slaves in Kondal for hundreds
+of karkamo."
+
+"Why? Are there no criminals any more?"
+
+"No. With the invention of the thought recorder an absolutely fair trial
+was assured and the guilty were all convicted. They could not reproduce
+themselves, and as a natural result crime died out."
+
+"That is," he added hastily, "what we regard as crime. Duelling, for
+instance, is a crime upon Earth; here it is a regular custom. In Kondal
+duels are rather rare and are held only when honor is involved, but here
+in Mardonale they are an every-day affair, as you saw when you landed."
+
+"What makes the difference?" asked Dorothy curiously.
+
+"As you know, with us every man is a soldier. In Kondal we train our
+youth in courage, valor, and high honor--in Mardonale they train them in
+savage blood-thirstiness alone. Each nation fixed its policy in bygone
+ages to produce the type of soldier it thought most efficient."
+
+"I notice that everyone here wears those heavy collars," said Margaret.
+"What are they for?"
+
+"They are identification marks. When a child is nearly grown, a collar
+bearing his name and the device of his house is cast about his neck.
+This collar is made of 'arenak,' a synthetic metal which, once formed,
+cannot be altered by any usual means. It cannot be scratched, cut, bent,
+broken, or worked in any way except at such a high temperature that
+death would result, if such heat were applied to the collar. Once the
+arenak collar is cast about a person's neck he is identified for life,
+and any adult Osnomian not wearing a collar is put to death."
+
+"That must be an interesting metal," remarked Crane. "Is your belt a
+similar mark?"
+
+"This belt is an idea of my own," and Dunark smiled broadly. "It looks
+like opaque arenak, but isn't. It is merely a pouch in which I carry
+anything I am particularly interested in. Even Nalboon thought it was
+arenak, so he didn't trouble to try to open it. If he had opened it and
+taken my tools and instruments, I couldn't have built the educator."
+
+"Is that transparent armor arenak?"
+
+"Yes, the only difference being that nothing is added to the matrix to
+color or make opaque the finished metal. It is in the preparation of
+this metal that salt is indispensable. It acts only as a catalyst, being
+recovered afterward, but neither nation has ever had enough salt to make
+all the armor they want."
+
+"Aren't those monsters--karlono, I think you called them--covered by the
+same thing? And what are those animals, anyway?" Dorothy asked.
+
+"Yes, they are armored with arenak, and it is thought that the beasts
+grow it, the same as fishes grow scales. The karlono are the most
+frightful scourge of Osnome. Very little is known of them, though every
+scientist has theorized upon them since time immemorial. It is very
+seldom that one is ever killed, as they easily outfly our swiftest
+battleships, and only fight when they can be victorious. To kill one
+requires a succession of the heaviest high-explosive shells in the same
+spot, a joint in the armor; and after the armor is once penetrated, the
+animal is blown into such small fragments that reconstruction is
+impossible. From such remains it has been variously described as a bird,
+a beast, a fish, and a vegetable; sexual, asexual, and hermaphroditic.
+Its habitat is unknown, it being variously supposed to live high in the
+air, deep in the ocean, and buried in the swamps. Another theory is that
+they live upon one of our satellites, which encounters our belt of
+atmosphere every karkam. Nothing is certainly known about the monsters
+except their terrible destructiveness and their insatiable appetites.
+One of them will devour five or six airships at one time, absorbing the
+crews and devouring the cargo and all of the vessels except the very
+hardest of the metal parts."
+
+"Do they usually go in groups?" asked Crane. "If they do, I should think
+that a fleet of warships would be necessary for every party."
+
+"No, they are almost always found alone. Only very rarely are two found
+together. This is the first time in history that more than two have ever
+been seen together. Two battleships can always defeat one karlon, so
+they are never attacked. With four battleships Nalboon considered his
+expedition perfectly safe, especially as they are now rare. The navies
+hunted down and killed what was supposed to be the last one upon Osnome
+more than a karkam ago, and none have been seen since, until we were
+attacked...."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The gong over the door sounded and the Kondalians leaped to their
+positions back of the Earthly visitors. The Kofedix went to the door.
+Nalboon brushed him aside and entered, escorted by a full company of
+heavily-armed soldiery. A scowl of anger was upon his face and he was
+plainly in an ugly mood.
+
+"Stop, Nalboon of Mardonale!" thundered Seaton in the Mardonalian tongue
+and with the full power of his mighty voice. "Dare you invade my privacy
+unannounced and without invitation?"
+
+The escort shrank back, but the Domak stood his ground, although he was
+plainly taken aback. With an apparent effort he smoothed his face into
+lines of cordiality.
+
+"I merely came to inquire why my guards are slain and my palace
+destroyed by my honored guest?"
+
+"As for slaying your guards, they sought to invade my privacy. I warned
+them away, but one of them was foolish enough to try to kill me. Then
+the others attempted to raise their childish rifles against me, and I
+was obliged to destroy them. As for the wall, it happened to be in the
+way of the thought-waves I hurled against your guards--consequently it
+was demolished. An honored guest! Bah! Are honored guests put to the
+indignity of being touched by the filthy hands of a mere ladex?"
+
+"You do not object to the touch of slaves!" with a wave of his hand
+toward the Kondalians.
+
+"That is what slaves are for," coldly. "Is a Domak to wait upon himself
+in the court of Mardonale? But to return to the issue. Were I an honored
+guest this would never have happened. Know, Nalboon, that when you
+attempt to treat a visiting Domak of MY race as a low-born captive, you
+must be prepared to suffer the consequences of your rashness!"
+
+"May I ask how you, so recently ignorant, know our language?"
+
+"You question me? That is bold! Know that I, the Boss of the Road, show
+ignorance or knowledge, when and where I please. You may go."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+The Escape from Mardonale
+
+
+"That was a wonderful bluff, Dick!" exclaimed the Kofedix in English as
+soon as Nalboon and his guards had disappeared. "That was exactly the
+tone to take with him, too--you've sure got him guessing!"
+
+"It seemed to get him, all right, but I'm wondering how long it'll hold
+him. I think we'd better make a dash for the Skylark right now, before
+he has time to think it over, don't you?"
+
+"That is undoubtedly the best way," Dunark replied, lapsing into his own
+tongue. "Nalboon is plainly in awe of you now, but if I understand him
+at all, he is more than ever determined to seize your vessel, and every
+darkam's delay is dangerous."
+
+The Earth-people quickly secured the few personal belongings they had
+brought with them. Stepping out into the hall and waving away the
+guards, Seaton motioned Dunark to lead the way. The other captives fell
+in behind, as they had done before, and the party walked boldly toward
+the door of the palace. The guards offered no opposition, but stood at
+attention and saluted as they passed. As they approached the entrance,
+however, Seaton saw the major-domo hurrying away and surmised that he
+was carrying the news to Nalboon. Outside the door, walking directly
+toward the landing dock, Dunark spoke in a low voice to Seaton, without
+turning.
+
+"Nalboon knows by this time that we are making our escape, and it will
+be war to the death from here to the Skylark. I do not think there will
+be any pursuit from the palace, but he has warned the officers in charge
+of the dock and they will try to kill us as soon as we step out of the
+elevator, perhaps sooner. Nalboon intended to wait, but we have forced
+his hand and the dock is undoubtedly swarming with soldiers now. Shoot
+first and oftenest. Shoot first and think afterward. Show no mercy, as
+you will receive none--remember that the quality you call 'mercy' does
+not exist upon Osnome."
+
+Rounding a great metal statue about fifty feet from the base of the
+towering dock, they saw that the door leading into one of the elevators
+was wide open and that two guards stood just inside it. As they caught
+sight of the approaching party, the guards raised their rifles; but,
+quick as they were, Seaton was quicker. At the first sight of the open
+door he had made two quick steps and had hurled himself across the
+intervening forty feet in a long football plunge. Before the two guards
+could straighten, he crashed into them, his great momentum hurling them
+across the elevator cage and crushing them into unconsciousness against
+its metal wall.
+
+"Good work!" said Dunark, as he preceded the others into the elevator,
+and, after receiving Seaton's permission, distributed the weapons of the
+two guards among the men of his party. "Now we can surprise those upon
+the roof. That was why you didn't shoot?"
+
+"Yes, I was afraid to risk a shot--it would give the whole thing away,"
+Seaton replied, as he threw the unconscious guards out into the grounds
+and closed the massive door.
+
+"Aren't you going to kill them?" asked Sitar, amazement in every feature
+and a puzzled expression in her splendid eyes. A murmur arose from the
+other Kondalians, which was quickly silenced by the Kofedix.
+
+"It is dishonorable for a soldier of Earth to kill a helpless prisoner,"
+he said briefly. "We cannot understand it, but we must not attempt to
+sway him in any point of honor."
+
+Dunark stepped to the controls and the elevator shot upward, stopping at
+a landing several stories below the top of the dock. He took a peculiar
+device from his belt and fitted it over the muzzle of his strange
+pistol.
+
+"We will get out here," he instructed the others, "and go up the rest of
+the way by a little-used flight of stairs. We will probably encounter
+some few guards, but I can dispose of them without raising an alarm. You
+will all stay behind me, please."
+
+Seaton remonstrated, and Dunark went on:
+
+"No, Seaton, you have done your share, and more. I am upon familiar
+ground now, and can do the work alone better than if you were to help
+me. I will call upon you, however, before we reach the dock."
+
+The Kofedix led the way, his pistol resting lightly against his hip, and
+at the first turn of the corridor they came full upon four guards. The
+pistol did not move from its place at the side of the leader, but there
+were four subdued clicks and the four guards dropped dead, with bullets
+through their brains.
+
+"Seaton, that is _some_ silencer," whispered DuQuesne. "I didn't suppose
+a silencer could work that fast."
+
+"They don't use powder," Seaton replied absently, all his faculties
+directed toward the next corner. "The bullets are propelled by an
+electrical charge."
+
+In the same manner Dunark disposed of several more guards before the
+last stairway was reached.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Seaton," he whispered in English, "now is the time we need your rapid
+pistol-work and your high-explosive shells. There must be hundreds of
+soldiers on the other side of that door, armed with machine-cannon
+shooting high-explosive shells at the rate of a thousand per minute. Our
+chance is this--their guns are probably trained upon the elevators and
+main stairways, since this passage is unused and none of us would be
+expected to know of it. Most of them don't know of it themselves. It
+will take them a second or two to bring their guns to bear upon us. We
+must do all the damage we can--kill them all, if possible--in that
+second or two. If Crane will lend me a pistol, we'll make the rush
+together."
+
+"I've a better scheme than that," interrupted DuQuesne. "Next to you,
+Seaton, I'm the fastest man with a gun here. Also, like you, I can use
+both hands at once. Give me a couple of clips of those special
+cartridges and you and I will blow that bunch into the air before they
+know we're here."
+
+It was decided that the two pistol experts should take the lead, closely
+followed by Crane and Dunark. The weapons were loaded to capacity and
+put in readiness for instant use.
+
+"Let's go, bunch!" said Seaton. "The quicker we start the quicker we'll
+get back. Get ready to run out there, all the rest of you, as soon as
+the battle's over. Ready? On your marks--get set--go!"
+
+He kicked the door open and there was a stuttering crash as the four
+automatic pistols simultaneously burst into practically continuous
+flame--a crash obliterated by an overwhelming concussion of sound as the
+X-plosive shells, sweeping the entire roof with a rapidly-opening fan of
+death, struck their marks and exploded. Well it was for the little group
+of wanderers that the two men in the door were past masters in the art
+of handling their weapons; well it was that they had in their tiny
+pistol-bullets the explosive force of hundreds of giant shells! For rank
+upon rank of soldiery were massed upon the roof; rapid-fire cannon,
+terrible engines of destruction, were pointing toward the elevators and
+toward the main stairways and approaches. But so rapid and fierce was
+the attack, that even those trained gunners had no time to point their
+guns. The battle lasted little more than a second, being over before
+either Crane or Dunark could fire a shot, and silence again reigned even
+while broken and shattered remnants of the guns and fragments of the
+metal and stone of the dock were still falling to the ground through a
+fine mist of what had once been men.
+
+Assured by a rapid glance that not a single Mardonalian remained upon
+the dock, Seaton turned back to the others.
+
+"Make it snappy, bunch! This is going to be a mighty unhealthy spot for
+us in a few minutes."
+
+Dorothy threw her arms around his neck in relief. With one arm about
+her, he hastily led the way across the dock toward the Skylark, choosing
+the path with care because of the yawning holes blown into the structure
+by the terrific force of the explosions. The Skylark was still in place,
+held immovable by the attractor, but what a sight she was! Her crystal
+windows were shattered; her mighty plates of four-foot Norwegian armor
+were bent and cracked and twisted; two of her doors, warped and
+battered, hung awry from their broken hinges. Not a shell had struck
+her: all this damage had been done by flying fragments of the guns and
+of the dock itself; and Seaton and Crane, who had developed the new
+explosive, stood aghast at its awful power.
+
+They hastily climbed into the vessel, and Seaton assured himself that
+the controls were uninjured.
+
+"I hear battleships," Dunark said. "Is it permitted that I operate one
+of your machine guns?"
+
+"Go as far as you like," responded Seaton, as he placed the women
+beneath the copper bar--the safest place in the vessel--and leaped to
+the instrument board. Before he reached it, and while DuQuesne, Crane,
+and Dunark were hastening to the guns, the whine of giant
+helicopter-screws was plainly heard. A ranging shell from the first
+warship, sighted a little low, exploded against the side of the dock
+beneath them. He reached the levers just as the second shell screamed
+through the air a bare four feet above them. As he shot the Skylark into
+the air under five notches of power, a steady stream of the huge bombs
+poured through the spot where, an instant before, the vessel had been.
+Crane and DuQuesne aimed several shots at the battleships, which were
+approaching from all sides, but the range was so extreme that no damage
+was done.
+
+They heard the continuous chattering of the machine gun operated by the
+Kofedix, however, and turned toward him. He was shooting, not at the
+warships, but at the city rapidly growing smaller beneath them; moving
+the barrel of the rifle in a tiny spiral; spraying the entire city with
+death and destruction! As they looked, the first of the shells reached
+the ground, just as Dunark ceased firing for lack of ammunition. They
+saw the palace disappear as if by magic, being instantly blotted out in
+a cloud of dust--a cloud which, with a spiral motion of dizzying
+rapidity, increased in size until it obscured the entire city.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Having attained sufficient altitude to be safe from any possible pursuit
+and out of range of even the heaviest guns, Seaton stopped the vessel
+and went out into the main compartment to consult with the other
+members of the group, about their next move.
+
+"It sure does feel good to get a breath of cool air, folks," he said, as
+he drew with relief a deep breath of the air, which, at that great
+elevation, was of an icy temperature and very thin. He glanced at the
+little group of Kondalians as he spoke, then leaped back to the
+instrument board with an apology on his lips--they were gasping for
+breath and shivering with the cold. He switched on the heating coils and
+dropped the Skylark rapidly in a long descent toward the ocean.
+
+"If that is the temperature you enjoy, I understand at last why you wear
+clothes," said the Kofedix, as soon as he could talk.
+
+"Do not your planes fly up into the regions of low temperature?" asked
+Crane.
+
+"Only occasionally, and all high-flying vessels are enclosed and heated
+to our normal temperature. We have heavy wraps, but we dislike to wear
+them so intensely that we never subject ourselves to any cold."
+
+"Well, there's no accounting for tastes," returned Seaton, "but I can't
+hand your climate a thing. It's hotter even than Washington in August;
+'and that,' as the poet feelingly remarked, 'is going some!'
+
+"But there's no reason for sitting here in the dark," he continued, as
+he switched on the powerful daylight lamps which lighted the vessel with
+the nearest approach to sunlight possible to produce. As soon as the
+lights were on, Dorothy looked intently at the strange women.
+
+"Now we can see what color they really are," she explained to her lover
+in a low voice. "Why, they aren't so very different from what they were
+before, except that the colors are much softer and more pleasing. They
+really are beautiful, in spite of being green. Don't you think so,
+Dick?"
+
+"They're a handsome bunch, all right," he agreed, and they were. Their
+skins were a light, soft green, tanned to an olive shade by their many
+fervent suns. Their teeth were a brilliant and shining grass-green.
+Their eyes and their long, thick hair were a glossy black.
+
+The Kondalians looked at the Earthly visitors and at each other, and the
+women uttered exclamations of horror.
+
+"What a frightful light?" exclaimed Sitar. "Please shut it off. I would
+rather be in total darkness than look like this!"
+
+"What's the matter, Sitar?" asked the puzzled Dorothy as Seaton turned
+off the lights. "You look perfectly stunning in this light."
+
+"They see things differently than we do," explained Seaton. "Their optic
+nerves react differently than ours do. While we look all right to them,
+and they look all right to us, in both kinds of light, they look just as
+different to themselves under our daylight lamps as we do to ourselves
+in their green light. Is that explanation clear?"
+
+"It's clear enough as far as it goes, but what do they look like to
+themselves?"
+
+"That's too deep for me--I can't explain it, any better than you can.
+Take the Osnomian color 'mlap,' for instance. Can you describe it?"
+
+"It's a kind of greenish orange--but it seems as though it ought not to
+look like that color either."
+
+"That's it, exactly. From the knowledge you received from the educator,
+it should be a brilliant purple. That is due to the difference in the
+optic nerves, which explains why we see things so differently from the
+way the Osnomians do. Perhaps they can describe the way they look to
+each other in our white light."
+
+"Can you, Sitar?" asked Dorothy.
+
+"One word describes it--'horrible.'" replied the Kondalian princess, and
+her husband added:
+
+"The colors are distorted and unrecognizable, just as your colors are to
+your eyes in our light."
+
+"Well, now that the color question is answered, let's get going. I
+pretty nearly asked you the way, Dunark--forgot that I know it as well
+as you do."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Skylark set off at as high an altitude as the Osnomians could stand.
+As they neared the ocean several great Mardonalian battleships, warned
+of the escape, sought to intercept them; but the Skylark hopped over
+them easily, out of range of their heaviest guns, and flew onward at
+such speed that pursuit was not even attempted. The ocean was quickly
+crossed. Soon the space-car came to rest over a great city, and Seaton
+pointed out the palace; which, with its landing dock nearby, was very
+similar to that of Nalboon, in the capital city of Mardonale.
+
+Crane drew Seaton to one side.
+
+"Do you think it is safe to trust these Kondalians, any more than it was
+the others? How would it be to stay in the Lark instead of going into
+the palace?"
+
+"Yes, Mart, this bunch can be trusted. Dunark has a lot of darn queer
+ideas, but he's square as a die. He's our friend, and will get us the
+copper. We have no choice now, anyway, look at the bar. We haven't an
+ounce of copper left--we're down to the plating in spots. Besides, we
+couldn't go anywhere if we had a ton of copper, because the old bus is a
+wreck. She won't hold air--you could throw a cat out through the shell
+in any direction. She'll have to have a lot of work done on her before
+we can think of leaving. As to staying in her, that wouldn't help us a
+bit. Steel is as soft as wood to these folks--their shells would go
+through her as though she were made of mush. They are made of metal that
+is harder than diamond and tougher than rubber, and when they strike
+they bore in like drill-bits. If they are out to get us they'll do it
+anyway, whether we're here or there, so we may as well be guests. But
+there's no danger, Mart. You know I swapped brains with him, and I know
+him as well as I know myself. He's a good, square man--one of our kind
+of folks."
+
+Convinced, Crane nodded his head and the Skylark dropped toward the
+dock. While they were still high in air, Dunark took an instrument from
+his belt and rapidly manipulated a small lever. The others felt the air
+vibrate--a peculiar, pulsating wave, which, to the surprise of the
+Earthly visitors, they could read without difficulty. It was a message
+from the Kofedix to the entire city, telling of the escape of his party
+and giving the news that he was accompanied by two great Karfedo from
+another world. Then the pulsations became unintelligible, and all knew
+that he had tuned his instrument away from the "general" key into the
+individual key of some one person.
+
+"I just let my father, the Karfedix, know that we are coming," he
+explained, as the vibrations ceased.
+
+From the city beneath them hundreds of great guns roared forth a
+welcome, banners and streamers hung from every possible point, and the
+air became tinted and perfumed with a bewildering variety of colors and
+scents and quivered with the rush of messages of welcome. The Skylark
+was soon surrounded by a majestic fleet of giant warships, who escorted
+her with impressive ceremony to the landing dock, while around them
+flitted great numbers of other aircraft. The tiny one-man helicopters
+darted hither and thither, apparently always in imminent danger of
+colliding with some of their larger neighbors, but always escaping as
+though by a miracle. Beautiful pleasure-planes soared and dipped and
+wheeled like giant gulls; and, cleaving their stately way through the
+numberless lesser craft; immense multiplane passenger liners partially
+supported by helicopter screws turned aside from their scheduled courses
+to pay homage to the Kofedix of Kondal.
+
+As the Skylark approached the top of the dock, all the escorting vessels
+dropped away and Crane saw that instead of the brilliant assemblage he
+had expected to see upon the landing-place there was only a small group
+of persons, as completely unadorned as were those in the car. In answer
+to his look of surprise, the Kofedix said, with deep feeling:
+
+"My father, mother, and the rest of the family. They know that we, as
+escaped captives, would be without harness or trappings, and are meeting
+us in the same state."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Seaton brought the vessel to the dock near the little group, and the
+Earthly visitors remained inside their vessel while the rulers of Kondal
+welcomed the sons and daughters they had given up for dead.
+
+After the affecting reunion, which was very similar to an earthly one
+under similar circumstances, the Kofedix led his father up to the
+Skylark and his guests stepped down upon the dock.
+
+"Friends," Dunark began, "I have told you of my father, Roban, the
+Karfedix of Kondal. Father, it is a great honor to present to you those
+who rescued us from Mardonale--Seaton, Karfedix of Knowledge; Crane,
+Karfedix of Wealth; Miss Vaneman; and Miss Spencer. Karfedix DuQuesne,"
+waving his hand toward him, "is a lesser Karfedix of Knowledge, captive
+to the others."
+
+"The Kofedix Dunark exaggerates our services," deprecated Seaton, "and
+doesn't mention the fact that he saved all our lives. But for him we all
+should have been killed."
+
+The Karfedix, disregarding Seaton's remark, acknowledged the
+indebtedness of Kondal in heartfelt accents before he led them back to
+the other party and made the introductions. As all walked toward the
+elevators, the emperor turned to his son with a puzzled expression.
+
+"I know from your message, Dunark, that our guests are from a distant
+solar system, and I can understand your accident with the educator, but
+I cannot understand the titles of these men. Knowledge and wealth are
+not ruled over. Are you sure that you have translated their titles
+correctly?"
+
+"As correctly as I can--we have no words in our language to express the
+meaning. Their government is a most peculiar one, the rulers all being
+chosen by the people of the whole nation...."
+
+"Extraordinary!" interjected the older man. "How, then, can anything be
+accomplished?"
+
+"I do not understand the thing myself, it is so utterly unheard-of. But
+they have no royalty, as we understand the term. In America, their
+country, every man is equal.
+
+"That is," he hastened to correct himself, "they are not all equal,
+either, as they have two classes which would rank with royalty--those
+who have attained to great heights of knowledge and those who have
+amassed great wealth. This explanation is entirely inadequate and does
+not give the right idea of their positions, but it is as close as I can
+come to the truth in our language."
+
+"I am surprised that you should be carrying a prisoner with you,
+Karfedo," said Roban, addressing Seaton and Crane. "You will, of course,
+be at perfect liberty to put him to death in any way that pleases you,
+just as though you were in your own kingdoms. But perchance you are
+saving him so that his death will crown your home-coming?"
+
+The Kofedix spoke in answer while Seaton, usually so quick to speak, was
+groping for words.
+
+"No, father, he is not to be put to death. That is another peculiar
+custom of the Earth-men; they consider it dishonorable to harm a
+captive, or even an unarmed enemy. For that reason we must treat the
+Karfedix DuQuesne with every courtesy due his rank, but at the same time
+he is to be allowed to do only such things as may be permitted by Seaton
+and Crane."
+
+"Yet they do not seem to be a weak race," mused the older man.
+
+"They are a mighty race, far advanced in evolution," replied his son.
+"It is not weakness, but a peculiar moral code. We have many things to
+learn from them, and but few to give them in return. Their visit will
+mean much to Kondal."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+During this conversation they had descended to the ground and had
+reached the palace, after traversing grounds even more sumptuous and
+splendid than those surrounding the palace of Nalboon. Inside the palace
+walls the Kofedix himself led the guests to their rooms, accompanied by
+the major-domo and an escort of guards. He explained to them that the
+rooms were all inter-communicating, each having a completely equipped
+bathroom.
+
+"Complete except for cold water, you mean," said Seaton with a smile.
+
+"There is cold water," rejoined the other, leading him into the bathroom
+and releasing a ten-inch stream of lukewarm water into the small
+swimming pool, built of polished metal, which forms part of every
+Kondalian bathroom. "But I am forgetting that you like extreme cold. We
+will install refrigerating machines at once."
+
+"Don't do it--thanks just the same. We won't be here long enough to make
+it worth while."
+
+Dunark smilingly replied that he would make his guests as comfortable as
+he could, and after informing them that in one kam he would return and
+escort them in to koprat, took his leave. Scarcely had the guests
+freshened themselves when he was back, but he was no longer the Dunark
+they had known. He now wore a metal-and-leather harness which was one
+blaze of precious gems, and a leather belt hung with jeweled weapons
+replaced the familiar hollow girdle of metal. His right arm, between the
+wrist and the elbow, was almost covered by six bracelets of a
+transparent metal, deep cobalt-blue in color, each set with an
+incredibly brilliant stone of the same shade. On his left wrist he wore
+an Osnomian chronometer. This was an instrument resembling the odometer
+of an automobile, whose numerous revolving segments revealed a large and
+constantly increasing number--the date and time of the Osnomian day,
+expressed in a decimal number of the karkamo of Kondalian history.
+
+"Greetings, oh guests from Earth! I feel more like myself, now that I am
+again in my trappings and have my weapons at my side. Will you accompany
+me to koprat, or are you not hungry?" as he attached the peculiar
+timepieces to the wrists of the guests, with bracelets of the deep-blue
+metal.
+
+"We accept with thanks," replied Dorothy promptly. "We're starving to
+death, as usual."
+
+As they walked toward the dining hall, Dunark noticed that Dorothy's
+eyes strayed toward his bracelets, and he answered her unasked question:
+
+"These are our wedding rings. Man and wife exchange bracelets as part of
+the ceremony."
+
+"Then you can tell whether a man is married or not, and how many wives
+he has, simply by looking at his arm? We should have something like that
+on Earth, Dick--then married men wouldn't find it so easy to pose as
+bachelors!"
+
+Roban met them at the door of the great dining hall. He also was in full
+panoply, and Dorothy counted ten of the heavy bracelets upon his right
+arm as he led them to places near his own. The room was a replica of the
+other Osnomian dining hall they had seen and the women were decorated
+with the same barbaric splendor of scintillating gems.
+
+After the meal, which was a happy one, taking the nature of a
+celebration in honor of the return of the captives, DuQuesne went
+directly to his room while the others spent the time until the zero hour
+in strolling about the splendid grounds, always escorted by many guards.
+Returning to the room occupied by the two girls, the couples separated,
+each girl accompanying her lover to the door of his room.
+
+Margaret was ill at ease, though trying hard to appear completely
+self-possessed.
+
+"What is the matter, sweetheart Peggy?" asked Crane, solicitously.
+
+"I didn't know that you...." she broke off and continued with a rush:
+"What did the Kofedix mean just now, when he called you the Karfedix of
+Wealth?"
+
+"Well, you see, I happen to have some money...." he began.
+
+"Then you are the great M. Reynolds Crane?" she interrupted, in
+consternation.
+
+"Leave off 'the great,'" he said, then, noting her expression, he took
+her in his arms and laughed slightly.
+
+"Is that all that was bothering you? What does a little money amount to
+between you and me?"
+
+"Nothing--but I'm awfully glad that I didn't know it before," she
+replied, as she returned his caress with fervor. "That is, it means
+nothing if you are perfectly sure I'm not...."
+
+Crane, the imperturbable, broke a life-long rule and interrupted her.
+
+"Do not say that, dear. You know as well as I do that between you and me
+there never have been, are not now, and never shall be, any doubts or
+any questions."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"If I could have a real cold bath now, I'd feel fine," remarked Seaton,
+standing in his own door with Dorothy by his side. "I'm no blooming
+Englishman but in weather as hot as this I sure would like to dive into
+a good cold tank. How do you feel after all this excitement, Dottie? Up
+to standard?"
+
+"I'm scared purple," she replied, nestling against him, "or, at least,
+if not exactly scared, I'm apprehensive and nervous. I always thought I
+had good nerves, but everything here is so horrible and unreal, that I
+can't help but feel it. When I'm with you I really enjoy the experience,
+but when I'm alone or with Peggy, especially in the sleeping-period,
+which is so awfully long and when it seems that something terrible is
+going to happen every minute, my mind goes off in spite of me into
+thoughts of what may happen. Why, last night, Peggy and I just huddled
+up to each other in a ghastly yellow funk--dreading we knew not
+what--the two of us slept hardly at all."
+
+"I'm sorry, little girl," replied Seaton, embracing her tenderly,
+"sorrier than I can say. I know that your nerves are all right, but you
+haven't roughed it enough, or lived in strange environments enough, to
+be able to feel at home. The reason you feel safer with me is that I
+feel perfectly at home here myself, not that your nerves are going to
+pieces or anything like that. It won't be for long, though,
+sweetheart--as soon as we get the chariot fixed up we'll beat it back to
+the Earth so fast it'll make your head spin."
+
+"Yes, I think that's the reason, lover. I hope you won't think I'm a
+clinging vine, but I can't help being afraid of something here every
+time I'm away from you. You're so self-reliant, so perfectly at ease
+here, that it makes me feel the same way."
+
+"I am perfectly at ease. There's nothing to be afraid of. I've been in
+hundreds of worse places, right on Earth. I sure wish I could be with
+you all the time, sweetheart girl--only you can understand just how much
+I wish it--but, as I said before, it won't be long until we can be
+together all the time."
+
+Dorothy pushed him into his room, followed him within it, closed the
+door, and put both hands on his arm.
+
+"Dick, sweetheart," she whispered, while a hot blush suffused her face,
+"you're not as dumb as I thought you were--you're dumber! But if you
+simply won't say it, I will. Don't you know that a marriage that is
+legal where it is performed is legal anywhere, and that no law says that
+the marriage must be performed upon the Earth?"
+
+He pressed her to his heart in a mighty embrace, and his low voice
+showed in every vibration the depth of the feeling he held for the
+beautiful woman in his arms as he replied:
+
+"I never thought of that, sweetheart, and I wouldn't have dared mention
+it if I had. You're so far away from your family and your friends that
+it would seem...."
+
+"It wouldn't seem anything of the kind," she broke in earnestly. "Don't
+you see, you big, dense, wonderful man, that it is the only thing to do?
+We need each other, or at least, I need you, so much now...."
+
+"Say 'each other'; it's right," declared her lover with fervor.
+
+"It's foolish to wait. Mother would like to have seen me married, of
+course; but there will be great advantages, even on that side. A grand
+wedding, of the kind we would simply have to have in Washington, doesn't
+appeal to me any more than it does to you--and it would bore you to
+extinction. Dad would hate it, too--it's better all around to be married
+here."
+
+Seaton, who had been trying to speak, silenced her.
+
+"I'm convinced, Dottie, have been ever since the first word. If you can
+see it that way I'm so glad that I can't express it. I've been scared
+stiff every time I thought of our wedding. I'll speak to the Karfedix
+the first thing in the morning, and we'll be married tomorrow--or rather
+today, since it is past the zero kam," as he glanced at the chronometer
+upon his wrist, which, driven by wireless impulses from the master-clock
+in the national observatory, was clicking off the darkamo with an almost
+inaudible purr of its smoothly-revolving segments.
+
+"How would it be to wake him up and have it done now?"
+
+"Oh, Dick, be reasonable! That would never do. Tomorrow will be most
+awfully sudden, as it is! And Dick, please speak to Martin, will you?
+Peggy's even more scared than I am, and Martin, the dear old stupid, is
+even less likely to suggest such a thing as this kind of a wedding than
+you are. Peggy's afraid to suggest it to him."
+
+"Woman!" he said in mock sternness, "Is this a put-up job?"
+
+"It certainly is. Did you think I had nerve enough to do it without
+help?"
+
+Seaton turned and opened the door.
+
+"Mart! Bring Peggy over here!" he called, as he led Dorothy back into
+the girls' room.
+
+"Heavens, Dick, be careful! You'll spoil the whole thing!"
+
+"No, I won't. Leave it to me--I bashfully admit that I'm a regular
+bear-cat at this diplomatic stuff. Watch my smoke!"
+
+"Folks," he said, when the four were together, "Dottie and I have been
+talking things over, and we've decided that today's the best possible
+date for a wedding. Dottie's afraid of these long, daylight nights, and
+I admit that I'd sleep a lot sounder if I knew where she was all the
+time instead of only part of it. She says she's willing, provided you
+folks see it the same way and make it double. How about it?"
+
+Margaret blushed furiously and Crane's lean, handsome face assumed a
+darker color as he replied:
+
+"A marriage here would, of course, be legal anywhere, provided we have a
+certificate, and we could be married again upon our return if we think
+it desirable. It might look as though we were taking an unfair advantage
+of the girls, Dick, but considering all the circumstances, I think it
+would be the best thing for everyone concerned."
+
+He saw the supreme joy in Margaret's eyes, and his own assumed a new
+light as he drew her into the hollow of his arm.
+
+"Peggy has known me only a short time, but nothing else in the world is
+as certain as our love. It is the bride's privilege to set the date, so
+I will only say that it cannot be too soon for me."
+
+"The sooner the better," said Margaret, with a blush that would have
+been divine in any earthly light, "did you say 'today,' Dick?"
+
+"I'll see the Karfedix as soon as he gets up," he answered, and walked
+with Dorothy to his door.
+
+"I'm just too supremely happy for words," Dorothy whispered in Seaton's
+ear as he bade her good-night. "I won't be able to sleep or anything!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+An Osnomian Marriage
+
+
+Seaton awoke, hot and uncomfortable, but with a great surge of joy in
+his heart--this was his wedding day! Springing from the bed, he released
+the full stream of the "cold" water, filling the tank in a few moments.
+Poising lightly upon the edge, he made a clean, sharp dive, and yelled
+in surprise as he came snorting to the surface. For Dunark had made good
+his promise--the water was only a few degrees above the freezing point!
+After a few minutes of vigorous splashing in the icy water, he rubbed
+himself down with a coarse towel, shaved, threw on his clothes, and
+lifted his powerful, but musical, bass voice in the wedding chorus from
+"The Rose Maiden."
+
+    _"Rise, sweet maid, arise, arise,
+    Rise, sweet maid, arise, arise,
+    'Tis the last fair morning for thy maiden eyes,"_
+
+he sang lustily, out of his sheer joy in being alive, and was surprised
+to hear Dorothy's clear soprano, Margaret's pleasing contralto, and
+Crane's mellow tenor chime in from the adjoining room. Crane threw open
+the door and Seaton joined the others.
+
+"Good morning. Dick, you sound happy," said Crane.
+
+"Who wouldn't be? Look what's doing today," as he ardently embraced his
+bride-to-be. "Besides, I found some cold water this morning."
+
+"Everyone in the palace heard you discovering it," dryly returned Crane,
+and the girls laughed merrily.
+
+"It surprised me at first," admitted Seaton, "but it's great after a
+fellow once gets wet."
+
+"We warmed ours a trifle," said Dorothy. "I like a cold bath myself, but
+not in ice-water."
+
+All four became silent, thinking of the coming event of the day, until
+Crane said:
+
+"They have ministers here, I know, and I know something of their
+religion, but my knowledge is rather vague. You know more about it than
+we do, Dick, suppose you tell us about it while we wait."
+
+Seaton paused a moment, with an odd look on his face. As one turning the
+pages of an unfamiliar book of reference, he was seeking the answer to
+Crane's question in the vast store of Osnomian information received from
+Dunark. His usually ready speech came a little slowly.
+
+"Well, as nearly as I can explain it, it's a funny kind of a
+mixture--partly theology, partly Darwinism, or at least, making a fetish
+of evolution, and partly pure economic determinism. They believe in a
+Supreme Being, whom they call the First Cause--that is the nearest
+English equivalent--and they recognize the existence of an immortal and
+unknowable life-principle, or soul. They believe that the First Cause
+has decreed the survival of the fittest as the fundamental law, which
+belief accounts for their perfect physiques...."
+
+"Perfect physiques? Why, they're as weak as children," interrupted
+Dorothy.
+
+"Yes, but that is because of the smallness of the planet," returned
+Seaton. "You see, a man of my size weighs only eighty-six pounds here,
+on a spring balance, so he would need only the muscular development of a
+boy of twelve or so. In a contest of strength, either of you girls could
+easily handle two of the strongest men upon Osnome. In fact, the average
+Osnomian could stand up on our Earth only with the greatest difficulty.
+But that isn't the fault of the people; they are magnificently developed
+for their surroundings. They have attained this condition by centuries
+of weeding out the unfit. They have no hospitals for the feeble-minded
+or feeble-bodied--abnormal persons are not allowed to live. The same
+reasoning accounts for their perfect cleanliness, moral and physical.
+Vice is practically unknown. They believe that clean living and clean
+thinking are rewarded by the production of a better physical and mental
+type...."
+
+"Yes, especially as they correct wrong living by those terrible
+punishments the Kofedix told us about," interrupted Margaret.
+
+"That probably helps some. They also believe that the higher the type
+is, the faster will evolution proceed, and the sooner will mankind reach
+what they call the Ultimate Goal, and know all things. Believing as they
+do that the fittest must survive, and thinking themselves, of course,
+the superior type, it is ordained that Mardonale must be destroyed
+utterly, root and branch. They believe that the slaves are so low in the
+scale, millions of years behind in evolution, that they do not count.
+Slaves are simply intelligent and docile animals, little more than
+horses or oxen. Mardonalians and savages are unfit to survive and must
+be exterminated.
+
+"Their ministers are chosen from the very fittest. They are the
+strongest, cleanest-living, and most vigorous men of this clean and
+vigorous nation, and are usually high army officers as well as
+ministers."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+An attendant announced the coming of the Karfedix and his son, to pay
+the call of state. After the ceremonious greetings had been exchanged,
+all went into the dining hall for darprat. As soon as the meal was over,
+Seaton brought up the question of the double wedding that kokam, and the
+Karfedix was overjoyed.
+
+"Karfedix Seaton," he said earnestly, "nothing could please us more than
+to have such a ceremony performed in our palace. Marriage between such
+highly-evolved persons as are you four is wished by the First Cause,
+whose servants we are. Aside from that, it is an unheard-of honor for
+any ruler to have even one karfedix married beneath his roof, and you
+are granting me the privilege of two! I thank you, and assure you that
+we will do our poor best to make the occasion memorable."
+
+"Don't do anything fancy," said Seaton hastily. "A simple, plain wedding
+will do."
+
+Unheeding Seaton's remark, the Karfedix took his wireless from its hook
+at his belt and sent a brief message.
+
+"I have summoned Karbix Tarnan to perform the ceremony. Our usual time
+for ceremonies is just before koprat--is that time satisfactory to you?"
+
+Assured that it was, he turned to his son.
+
+"Dunark, you are more familiar than I with the customs of our
+illustrious visitors. May I ask you to take charge of the details?"
+
+While Dunark sent a rapid succession of messages, Dorothy whispered to
+Seaton:
+
+"They must be going to make a real function of our double wedding, Dick.
+The Karbix is the highest dignitary of the church, isn't he?"
+
+"Yes, in addition to being the Commander-in-Chief of all the Kondalian
+armies. Next to the Karfedix he is the most powerful man in the empire.
+Something tells me, Dottie, that this is going to be SOME ceremony!"
+
+As Dunark finished telegraphing, Seaton turned to him.
+
+"Dorothy said, a while ago, that she would like to have enough of that
+tapestry-fabric for a dress. Do you suppose it could be managed?"
+
+"Certainly. In all state ceremonials we always wear robes made out of
+the same fabric as the tapestries, but much finer and more delicate. I
+would have suggested it, but thought perhaps the ladies would prefer
+their usual clothing. I know that you two men do not care to wear our
+robes?"
+
+"We will wear white ducks, the dressiest and coolest things we have
+along," replied Seaton. "Thank you for your offer, but you know how it
+is. We should feel out of place in such gorgeous dress."
+
+"I understand. I will call in a few of our most expert robe-makers, who
+will weave the gowns. Before they come, let us decide upon the ceremony.
+I think you are familiar with our marriage customs, but I will explain
+them to make sure. Each couple is married twice. The first marriage is
+symbolized by the exchange of plain bracelets and lasts four karkamo,
+during which period divorce may be obtained at will. The children of
+such divorced couples formerly became wards of the state, but in my
+lifetime I have not heard of there being any such children--all divorces
+are now between couples who discover their incompatibility before
+children are conceived."
+
+"That surprises me greatly," said Crane. "Some system of trial-marriage
+is advocated among us on Earth every few years, but they all so surely
+degenerate into free love that no such system has found a foothold."
+
+"We are not troubled in that way at all. You see, before the first
+marriage, each couple, from the humblest peasantry to the highest
+royalty, must submit to a mental examination. If they are marrying for
+any reason at all other than love, such as any thought of trifling in
+the mind of the man, or if the woman is marrying him for his wealth or
+position, he or she is summarily executed, regardless of station."
+
+No other questions being asked, Dunark continued:
+
+"At the end of four karkamo the second marriage is performed, which is
+indissoluble. In this ceremony jeweled bracelets are substituted for the
+plain ones. In the case of highly-evolved persons it is permitted that
+the two ceremonies be combined into one. Then there is a third ceremony,
+used only in the marriage of persons of the very highest evolution, in
+which the 'eternal' vows are taken and the faidon, the eternal jewel, is
+exchanged. As you are all in the permitted class, you may use the
+eternal ceremony if you wish."
+
+"I think we all know our minds well enough to know that we want to be
+married for good--the longer the better," said Seaton, positively.
+"We'll make it the eternal, won't we, folks?"
+
+"I should like to ask one question," said Crane, thoughtfully. "Does
+that ceremony imply that my wife would be breaking her vows if she
+married again upon my death?"
+
+"Far from it. Numbers of our men are killed every karkam. Their wives,
+if of marriageable age, are expected to marry again. Then, too, you know
+that most Kondalian men have several wives. No matter how many wives or
+husbands may be linked together in that way, it merely means that after
+death their spirits will be grouped into one. Just as in your
+chemistry," smiling in comradely fashion at Seaton, "a varying number of
+elements may unite to form a stable compound."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+After a short pause, the speaker went on:
+
+"Since you are from the Earth and unaccustomed to bracelets, rings will
+be substituted for them. The plain rings will take the place of your
+Earthly wedding rings, the jeweled ones that of your engagement rings.
+The only difference is that while we discard the plain bracelets, you
+will continue to wear them. Have you men any objections to wearing the
+rings during the ceremony? You may discard them later if you wish and
+still keep the marriage valid."
+
+"Not I! I'll wear mine all my life," responded Seaton earnestly, and
+Crane expressed the same thought.
+
+"There is only one more thing," added the Kofedix. "That is, about the
+mental examination. Since it is not your custom, it is probable that the
+justices would waive the ruling, especially since everyone must be
+examined by a jury of his own or a superior rank, so that only one man,
+my father alone, could examine you."
+
+"Not in a thousand years!" replied Seaton emphatically. "I want to be
+examined, and have Dorothy see the record. I don't care about having her
+put through it, but I want her to know exactly the kind of a guy she is
+getting."
+
+Dorothy protested at this, but as all four were eager that they
+themselves should be tested, the Karfedix was notified and Dunark
+clamped sets of multiple electrodes, connected to a set of instruments,
+upon the temples of his father, Dorothy, and Seaton. He pressed a lever,
+and instantly Dorothy and Seaton read each other's minds to the minutest
+detail, and each knew that the Karfedix was reading the minds of both.
+
+After Margaret and Crane had been examined, the Karfedix expressed
+himself as more than satisfied.
+
+"You are all of the highest evolution and your minds are all untainted
+by any base thoughts in your marriage. The First Cause will smile upon
+your unions," he said solemnly.
+
+"Let the robe-makers appear," the Karfedix ordered, and four women, hung
+with spools of brilliantly-colored wire of incredible fineness and with
+peculiar looms under their arms, entered the room and accompanied the
+two girls to their apartment.
+
+As soon as the room was empty save for the four men, Dunark said:
+
+"While I was in Mardonale, I heard bits of conversation regarding an
+immense military discovery possessed by Nalboon, besides the gas whose
+deadly effects we felt. I could get no inkling of its nature, but feel
+sure that it is something to be dreaded. I also heard that both of these
+secrets had been stolen from Kondal, and that we were to be destroyed by
+our own superior inventions."
+
+The Karfedix nodded his head gloomily.
+
+"That is true, my son--partly true, at least. We shall not be destroyed,
+however. Kondal shall triumph. The discoveries were made by a Kondalian,
+but I am as ignorant as are you concerning their nature. An obscure
+inventor, living close to the bordering ocean, was the discoverer. He
+was rash enough to wireless me concerning them. He would not reveal
+their nature, but requested a guard. The Mardonalian patrol intercepted
+the message and captured both him and his discoveries before our guard
+could arrive."
+
+"That's easily fixed," suggested Seaton. "Let's get the Skylark fixed
+up, and we'll go jerk Nalboon out of his palace--if he's still
+alive--bring him over here, and read his mind."
+
+"That might prove feasible," answered the Kofedix, "and in any event we
+must repair the Skylark and replenish her supply of copper immediately.
+That must be our first consideration, so that you, our guests, will
+have a protection in any emergency."
+
+The Karfedix went to his duties and the other three made their way to
+the wrecked space-car. They found that besides the damage done to the
+hull, many of the instruments were broken, including one of the
+object-compasses focused upon the Earth.
+
+"It's a good thing you had three of them, Mart. I sure hand it to you
+for preparedness," said Seaton, as he tossed the broken instruments out
+upon the dock. Dunark protested at this treatment, and placed the
+discarded instruments in a strong metal safe, remarking:
+
+"These things may prove useful at some future time."
+
+"Well, I suppose the first thing to do is to get some powerful jacks and
+straighten these plates," said Seaton.
+
+"Why not throw away this soft metal, steel, and build it of arenak, as
+it should be built? You have plenty of salt," suggested Dunark.
+
+"Fine! We have lots of salt in the galley, haven't we, Mart?"
+
+"Yes, nearly a hundred pounds. We are stocked for emergencies, with two
+years' supply of food, you know."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Dunark's eyes opened in astonishment at the amount mentioned, in spite
+of his knowledge of earthly conditions. He started to say something,
+then stopped in confusion, but Seaton divined his thought.
+
+"We can spare him fifty pounds as well as not, can't we, Mart?"
+
+"Certainly. Fifty pounds of salt is a ridiculously cheap price for what
+he is doing for us, even though it is very rare here."
+
+Dunark acknowledged the gift with shining eyes and heartfelt, but not
+profuse, thanks, and bore the precious bag to the palace under a heavy
+escort. He returned with a small army of workmen, and after making tests
+to assure himself that the power-bar would work as well through arenak
+as through steel, he instructed the officers concerning the work to be
+done. As the wonderfully skilled mechanics set to work without a single
+useless motion, the prince stood silent, with a look of care upon his
+handsome face.
+
+"Worrying about Mardonale, Dunark?"
+
+"Yes. I cannot help wondering what that terrible new engine of
+destruction is, which Nalboon now has at his command."
+
+"Say, why don't you build a bus like the Skylark, and blow Mardonale off
+the map?"
+
+"Building the vessel would be easy enough, but X is as yet unknown upon
+Osnome."
+
+"We've got a lot of it...."
+
+"I could not accept it. The salt was different, since you have plenty.
+X, however, is as scarce upon Earth as salt is upon Osnome."
+
+"Sure you can accept it. We stopped at a planet that has lots of it, and
+we've got an object-compass pointing at it so that we can go back and
+get more of it any time we want it. We've got more of it on hand now
+than we're apt to need for a long time, so have a hunk and get busy,"
+and he easily carried one of the lumps out of his cabin and tossed it
+upon the dock, from whence it required two of Kondal's strongest men to
+lift it.
+
+The look of care vanished from the face of the prince and he summoned
+another corps of mechanics.
+
+"How thick shall the walls be? Our battleships are armed with arenak the
+thickness of a hand, but with your vast supply of salt you may have it
+any thickness you wish, since the materials of the matrix are cheap and
+abundant."
+
+"One inch would be enough, but everything in the bus is designed for a
+four-foot shell, and if we change it from four feet we'll have to
+redesign our guns and all our instruments. Let's make it four feet."
+
+Seaton turned to the crippled Skylark, upon which the first crew of
+Kondalian mechanics were working with skill and with tools undreamed-of
+upon Earth. The whole interior of the vessel was supported by a complex
+falsework of latticed metal, then the four-foot steel plates and the
+mighty embers, the pride of the great MacDougall, were cut away as
+though they were made of paper by revolving saws and enormous power
+shears. The sphere, grooved for the repellers and with the members,
+braces, and central machinery complete, of the exact dimensions of the
+originals, was rapidly moulded of a stiff, plastic substance resembling
+clay. This matrix soon hardened into a rock-like mass into which the
+doors, machine-gun emplacements, and other openings were carefully cut.
+All surfaces were then washed with a dilute solution of salt, which the
+workmen handled as though it were radium. Two great plates of platinum
+were clamped into place upon either side of the vessel, each plate
+connected by means of silver cables as large as a man's leg to the
+receiving terminal of an enormous wireless power station. The current
+was applied and the great spherical mass apparently disappeared, being
+transformed instantly into the transparent metal arenak. Then indeed had
+the Earth-men a vehicle such as had never been seen before! A four-foot
+shell of metal five hundred times as strong and hard as the strongest
+and hardest steel, cast in one piece with the sustaining framework
+designed by the world's foremost engineer--a structure that no
+conceivable force could deform or injure, housing an inconceivable
+propulsive force!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The falsework was rapidly removed and the sustaining framework was
+painted with opaque varnish to render it plainly visible. At Seaton's
+suggestion the walls of the cabins were also painted, leaving
+transparent several small areas to serve as windows.
+
+The second work-period was drawing to a close, and as Seaton and Crane
+were to be married before koprat, they stopped work. They marveled at
+the amount that had been accomplished, and the Kofedix told them:
+
+"Both vessels will be finished tomorrow, except for the controlling
+instruments, which we will have to make ourselves. Another crew will
+work during the sleeping-period, installing the guns and other fittings.
+Do you wish to have your own guns installed, or guns of our pattern?
+You are familiar with them now."
+
+"Our own, please. They are slower and less efficient than yours, but we
+are used to them and have a lot of X-plosive ammunition for them,"
+replied Seaton, after a short conference with Crane.
+
+After instructing the officers in charge of the work, the three returned
+to the palace, the hearts of two of them beating high in anticipation.
+Seaton went into Crane's room, accompanied by two attendants bearing his
+suitcase and other luggage.
+
+"We should have brought along dress clothes, Mart. Why didn't you think
+of that, too?"
+
+"Nothing like this ever entered my mind. It is a good thing we brought
+along ducks and white soft shirts. I must say that this is extremely
+informal garb for a state wedding, but since the natives are ignorant of
+our customs, it will not make any difference."
+
+"That's right, too--we'll make 'em think it's the most formal kind of
+dress. Dunark knows what's what, but he knows that full dress would be
+unbearable here. We'd melt down in a minute. It's plenty hot enough as
+it is, with only duck trousers and sport-shirts on. They'll look green
+instead of white, but that's a small matter."
+
+Dunark, as best man, entered the room some time later.
+
+"Give us a look, Dunark," begged Seaton, "and see if we'll pass
+inspection. I was never so rattled in my life."
+
+They were clad in spotless white, from their duck oxfords to the white
+ties encircling the open collars of their tennis shirts. The two tall
+figures--Crane's slender, wiry, at perfect ease; Seaton's
+broad-shouldered, powerful, prowling about with unconscious, feline
+suppleness and grace--and the two handsome, high-bred, intellectual
+faces, each wearing a look of eager happiness, fully justified Dunark's
+answer.
+
+"You sure will do!" he pronounced enthusiastically, and with Seaton's
+own impulsive good will he shook hands and wished them an eternity of
+happiness.
+
+"When you have spoken with your brides," he continued, "I shall be
+waiting to escort you into the chapel. Sitar told me to say that the
+ladies are ready."
+
+Dorothy and Margaret had been dressed in their bridal gowns by Sitar and
+several other princesses, under the watchful eyes of the Karfedir
+herself. Sitar placed the two girls side by side and drew off to survey
+her work.
+
+"You are the loveliest creatures in the whole world!" she cried.
+
+They looked at each other's glittering gowns, then Margaret glanced at
+Dorothy's face and a look of dismay overspread her own.
+
+"Oh, Dottie!" she gasped. "Your lovely complexion! Isn't it terrible for
+the boys to see us in this light?"
+
+There was a peal of delighted laughter from Sitar and she spoke to one
+of the servants, who drew dark curtains across the windows and pressed a
+switch, flooding the room with brilliant white light.
+
+"Dunark installed lamps like those of your ship for you," she explained
+with intense satisfaction. "I knew in advance just how you would feel
+about your color."
+
+Before the girls had time to thank their thoughtful hostess she
+disappeared and their bridegrooms stood before them. For a moment no
+word was spoken. Seaton stared at Dorothy hungrily, almost doubting the
+evidence of his senses. For white was white, pink was pink, and her hair
+shone in all its natural splendor of burnished bronze.
+
+In their wondrous Osnomian bridal robes the beautiful Earth-maidens
+stood before their lovers. Upon their feet were jeweled slippers. Their
+lovely bodies were clothed in softly shimmering garments that left their
+rounded arms and throats bare--garments infinitely more supple than the
+finest silk, thick-woven of metallic threads of such fineness that the
+individual wires were visible only under a lens; garments that floated
+and clung about their perfect forms in lines of exquisite grace. For
+black-haired Margaret, with her ivory skin, the Kondalian princess had
+chosen a background of a rare white metal, upon which, in complicated
+figures, glistened numberless jewels of pale colors, more brilliant than
+diamonds. Dorothy's dress was of a peculiar, dark-green shade,
+half-hidden by an intricate design of blazing green gems--the strange,
+luminous jewels of this strange world. Both girls wore their long, heavy
+hair unbound, after the Kondalian bridal fashion, brushed until it fell
+like mist about them and confined at the temples by metallic bands
+entirely covered with jewels.
+
+Seaton looked from Dorothy to Margaret and back again; looked down into
+her violet eyes, deep with wonder and with love, more beautiful than any
+jewel in all her gorgeous costume. Unheeding the presence of the others,
+she put her dainty hands upon his mighty shoulders and stood on tiptoe.
+
+"I love you, Dick. Now and always, here or at home or anywhere in the
+Universe. We'll never be parted again," she whispered, and her own
+beloved violin had no sweeter tones than had her voice.
+
+A few minutes later, her eyes wet and shining, she drew herself away
+from him and glanced at Margaret.
+
+"Isn't she the most beautiful thing you ever laid eyes on?"
+
+"No," Seaton answered promptly, "she is not--but poor old Mart thinks
+she is!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Accompanied by the Karfedix and his son, Seaton and Crane went into the
+chapel, which, already brilliant, had been decorated anew with even
+greater splendor. Glancing through the wide arches they saw, for the
+first time, Osnomians clothed. The great room was filled with the
+highest nobility of Kondal, wearing their heavily-jeweled, resplendent
+robes of state. Every color of the rainbow and numberless fantastic
+patterns were there, embodied in the soft, lustrous, metallic fabric.
+
+As the men entered one door Dorothy and Margaret, with the Karfedir and
+Sitar, entered the other, and the entire assemblage rose to its feet and
+snapped into the grand salute. Moving to the accompaniment of strange
+martial music from concealed instruments, the two parties approached
+each other, meeting at the raised platform or pulpit where Karbix
+Tarnan, a handsome, stately, middle-aged man who carried easily his
+hundred and fifty karkamo of age, awaited them. As he raised his arms,
+the music ceased.
+
+It was a solemn and wonderfully impressive spectacle. The room, of
+burnished metal, with its bizarre decorations wrought in scintillating
+gems; the constantly changing harmony of colors as the invisible lamps
+were shifted from one shade to another; the group of mighty nobles
+standing rigidly at attention in a silence so profound that it was an
+utter absence of everything audible as the Karbix lifted both arms in a
+silent invocation of the great First Cause--all these things deepened
+the solemnity of that solemn moment.
+
+When Tarnan spoke, his voice, deep with some great feeling, inexplicable
+even to those who knew him best, carried clearly to every part of the
+great chamber.
+
+"Friends, it is our privilege to assist today in a most notable event,
+the marriage of four personages from another world. For the first time
+in the history of Osnome, one karfedix has the privilege of entertaining
+the bridal party of another. It is not for this fact alone, however,
+that this occasion is to be memorable. A far deeper reason is that we
+are witnessing, possibly for the first time in the history of the
+Universe, the meeting upon terms of mutual fellowship and understanding
+of the inhabitants of two worlds separated by unthinkable distances of
+trackless space and by equally great differences in evolution,
+conditions of life, and environment. Yet these strangers are actuated by
+the spirit of good faith and honor which is instilled into every worthy
+being by the great First Cause, in the working out of whose vast
+projects all things are humble instruments.
+
+"In honor of the friendship of the two worlds, we will proceed with the
+ceremony.
+
+"Richard Seaton and Martin Crane, exchange the plain rings with Dorothy
+Vaneman and Margaret Spencer."
+
+They did so, and repeated, after the Karbix, simple vows of love and
+loyalty.
+
+"May the First Cause smile upon this temporary marriage and render it
+worthy of being made permanent. As a lowly servant of the all-powerful
+First Cause I pronounce you two, and you two, husband and wife. But we
+must remember that the dull vision of mortal man cannot pierce the veil
+of futurity, which is as crystal to the all-beholding eye of the First
+Cause. Though you love each other truly, unforeseen things may come
+between you to mar the perfection of your happiness. Therefore a time is
+granted you during which you may discover whether or not your unions are
+perfect."
+
+A pause ensued, then Tarnan went on:
+
+"Martin Crane, Margaret Spencer, Richard Seaton, and Dorothy Vaneman,
+you are before us to take the final vows which shall bind your bodies
+together for life and your spirits together for eternity. Have you
+considered the gravity of this step sufficiently to enter into this
+marriage without reservation?"
+
+"I have," solemnly replied the four, in unison.
+
+"Exchange the jeweled rings. Do you, Richard Seaton and Dorothy Vaneman;
+and you, Martin Crane and Margaret Spencer; individually swear, here in
+the presence of the First Cause and that of the Supreme Justices of
+Kondal, that you will be true and loyal, each helping his chosen one in
+all things, great and small; that never throughout eternity, in thought
+or in action, will either your body or your mind or your conscious
+spirit stray from the path of fairness and truth and honor?"
+
+"I do."
+
+"I pronounce you married with the eternal marriage. Just as the faidon
+which you each now wear--the eternal jewel which no force of man,
+however applied, has yet been able to change or deform in any
+particular; and which continues to give off its inward light without
+change throughout eternity--shall endure through endless cycles of time
+after the metal of the ring which holds it shall have crumbled in decay:
+even so shall your spirits, formerly two, now one and indissoluble,
+progress in ever-ascending evolution throughout eternity after the base
+material which is your bodies shall have returned to the senseless dust
+from whence it arose."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Karbix lowered his arms and the bridal party walked to the door
+through a double rank of uplifted weapons. From the chapel they were led
+to another room, where the contracting parties signed their names in a
+register. The Kofedix then brought forward two marriage
+certificates--heavy square plates of a brilliant purple metal,
+beautifully engraved in parallel columns of English and Kondalian
+script, and heavily bordered with precious stones. The principals and
+witnesses signed below each column, the signatures being deeply engraved
+by the royal engraver. Leaving the registry, they were escorted to the
+dining hall, where a truly royal repast was served. Between courses the
+highest nobles of the nation welcomed the visitors and wished them
+happiness in short but earnest addresses. After the last course had been
+disposed of, the Karbix rose at a sign from the Karfedix and spoke, his
+voice again agitated by the emotion which had puzzled his hearers during
+the marriage service.
+
+"All Kondal is with us here in spirit, trying to aid us in our poor
+attempts to convey our welcome to these our guests, of whose friendship
+no greater warrant could be given than their willingness to grant us the
+privilege of their marriage. Not only have they given us a boon that
+will make their names revered throughout the nation as long as Kondal
+shall exist, but they have also been the means of showing us plainly
+that the First Cause is upon our side, that our age-old institution of
+honor is in truth the only foundation upon which can be built a race
+fitted to survive. At the same time they have been the means of showing
+us that our hated foe, entirely without honor, building his race upon a
+foundation of bloodthirsty savagery alone, is building wrongly and must
+perish utterly from the face of Osnome."
+
+His hearers listened, impressed by his earnestness, but plainly not
+understanding his meaning.
+
+"You do not understand?" he went on, with a deep light shining in his
+eyes. "It is inevitable that two peoples inhabiting worlds so widely
+separated as are our two should be possessed of widely-varying knowledge
+and abilities, and these strangers have already made it possible for us
+to construct engines of destruction which shall obliterate Mardonale
+completely...." A fierce shout of joy interrupted the speaker and the
+nobles sprang to their feet, saluting the visitors with upraised
+weapons. As soon as they had reseated themselves, the Karbix continued:
+
+"That is the boon. The vindication of our system of evolution is easily
+explained. The strangers landed first upon Mardonale. Had Nalboon met
+them in honor, he would have gained the boon. But he, with the savagery
+characteristic of his evolution, attempted to kill his guests and steal
+their treasures, with what results you already know. We, on our part, in
+exchange for the few and trifling services we have been able to render
+them, have received even more than Nalboon would have obtained, had his
+plans not been nullified by their vastly superior state of evolution."
+
+The orator seated himself and there was a deafening clamor of cheering
+as the nobles formed themselves into an escort of honor and conducted
+the two couples to their apartments.
+
+Alone in their room, Dorothy turned to her husband with tears shining in
+her beautiful eyes.
+
+"Dick, sweetheart, wasn't that the most wonderful thing that anybody
+ever heard of? Using the word in all its real meaning, it was
+indescribably grand, and that old man is simply superb. It makes me
+ashamed of myself to think that I was ever afraid or nervous here."
+
+"It sure was all of that, Dottie mine, little bride of an hour. The
+whole thing gets right down to where a fellow lives--I've got a lump in
+my throat right now so big that it hurts me to think. Earthly marriages
+are piffling in comparison with that ceremony. It's no wonder they're
+happy, after taking those vows--especially as they don't have to take
+them until after they are sure of themselves.
+
+"But we're sure already, sweetheart," as he embraced her with all the
+feeling of his nature. "Those vows are not a bit stronger than the ones
+we have already exchanged--bodily and mentally and spiritually we are
+one, now and forever."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+Bird, Beast, or Fish?
+
+
+"These jewels rather puzzle me, Dick. What are they?" asked Martin, as
+the four assembled, waiting for the first meal. As he spoke he held up
+his third finger, upon which gleamed the royal jewel of Osnome in its
+splendid Belcher mounting of arenak as transparent as the jewel itself
+and having the same intense blue color. "I know the name, 'faidon,' but
+that's all I seem to know."
+
+"That's about all that anybody knows about them. It is a
+naturally-occurring, hundred-faceted crystal, just as you see it
+there--deep blue, perfectly transparent, intensely refractive, and
+constantly emitting that strong, blue light. It is so hard that it
+cannot be worked, cut, or ground. No amount of the hardest known
+abrasive will even roughen its surface. No blow, however great, will
+break it--it merely forces its way into the material of the hammer,
+however hard the hammer may be. No extremity of either heat or cold
+affects it in any degree, it is the same when in the most powerful
+electric arc as it is when immersed in liquid helium."
+
+"How about acids?"
+
+"That is what I am asking myself. Osnomians aren't much force at
+chemistry. I'm going to try to get hold of another one, and see if I
+can't analyze it, just for fun. I can't seem to convince myself that a
+real atomic structure could be that large."
+
+"No, it is rather large for an atom," and turning to the two girls, "How
+do you like your solitaires?"
+
+"They're perfectly beautiful, and the Tiffany mounting is exquisite,"
+replied Dorothy, enthusiastically, "but they're so awfully big! They're
+as big as ten-carat diamonds, I do believe."
+
+"Just about," replied Seaton, "but at that, they're the smallest Dunark
+could find. They have been kicking around for years, he says--so small
+that nobody wanted them. They wear big ones on their bracelets, you
+know. You sure will make a hit in Washington, Dottie. People will think
+you're wearing a bottle-stopper until they see it shining in the dark,
+then they'll think it's an automobile headlight. But after a few
+jewelers have seen these stones, one of them will be offering us five
+million dollars apiece for them, trying to buy them for some dizzy old
+dame who wants to put out the eyes of some of her social rivals. Yes?
+No?"
+
+"That's about right, Dick," replied Crane, and his face wore a
+thoughtful look. "We can't keep it secret that we have a new jewel,
+since all four of us will be wearing them continuously, and anyone who
+knows jewels at all will recognize these as infinitely superior to any
+known Earthly jewel. In fact, they may get some of us into trouble, as
+fabulously valuable jewels usually do."
+
+"That's true, too. So we'll let it out casually that they're as common
+as mud up here--that we're just wearing them for sentiment, which is
+true, and that we're thinking of bringing back a shipload to sell for
+parking lights."
+
+"That would probably keep anyone from trying to murder our wives for
+their rings, at least."
+
+"Have you read your marriage certificate, Dick?" asked Margaret.
+
+"Not yet. Let's look at it, Dottie."
+
+She produced the massive, heavily-jeweled document, and the auburn head
+and the brown one were very close to each other as they read together
+the English side of the certificate. Their vows were there, word for
+word, with their own signatures beneath them, all deeply engraved into
+the metal. Seaton smiled as he saw the legal form engraved below their
+signatures, and read aloud:
+
+     "I, the Head of the Church and the Commander-in-Chief of the armed
+     forces of Kondal, upon the planet Osnome, certify that I have this
+     day, in the city of Kondalek, of said nation and planet, joined in
+     indissoluble bonds of matrimony, Richard Ballinger Seaton, Doctor
+     of Philosophy, and Dorothy Lee Vaneman; Doctor of Music; both of
+     the city of Washington, District of Columbia, United States of
+     America, upon the planet Earth, in strict compliance with the
+     marriage laws, both of Kondal and of the United States of America.
+
+     TARNAN."
+
+     Witnesses:
+       ROBAN, Emperor of Kondal.
+       TURAL, Empress of Kondal.
+       DUNARK, Crown Prince of Kondal.
+       SITAR, Crown Princess of Kondal.
+       MARC C. DUQUESNE, Ph. D., Washington, D. C.
+
+"That is SOME document," remarked Seaton. "Probably a lawyer could find
+fault with his phraseology, but I'll bet that this thing would hold in
+any court in the world. Think you'll get married again when we get back,
+Mart?"
+
+Both girls protested, and Crane answered:
+
+"No, I think not. Our ceremony would be rather an anticlimax after this
+one, and this one will undoubtedly prove legal. I intend to register
+this just as it is, and get a ruling from the courts. But it is time for
+breakfast. Pardon me--I should have said 'darprat,' for it certainly is
+not breakfast-time by Washington clocks. My watch says that it is
+eleven-thirty P. M."
+
+"This system of time is funny," remarked Dorothy. "I just can't get used
+to having no night, and...."
+
+"And it's such a long time between eats, as the famous governor said
+about the drinks," broke in Seaton.
+
+"How did you know what I was going to say, Dick?"
+
+"Husbandly intuition," he grinned, "aided and abetted by a normal
+appetite that rebels at seventeen hours between supper and breakfast,
+and nine hours between the other meals. Well, it's time to eat--let's
+go!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+After eating, the men hurried to the Skylark. During the sleeping-period
+the vessel had been banded with the copper repellers: the machine guns
+and instruments, including the wonderful Osnomian wireless system, had
+been installed; and, except for the power-bars, she was ready for a
+voyage. The Kondalian vessel was complete, even to the cushions, but was
+without instruments.
+
+After a brief conversation with the officer in charge, Dunark turned to
+Seaton.
+
+"Didn't you find that your springs couldn't stand up under the
+acceleration?"
+
+"Yes, they flattened out dead."
+
+"The Kolanix Felan, in charge of the work, thought so, and substituted
+our compound-compensated type, made of real spring metal, for them.
+They'll hold you through any acceleration you can live through."
+
+"Thanks, that's fine. What's next, instruments?"
+
+"Yes. I have sent a crew of men to gather up what copper they can
+find--you know that we use practically no metallic copper, as platinum,
+gold, and silver are so much better for ordinary purposes--and another
+to erect a copper-smelter near one of the mines which supply the city
+with the copper sulphate used upon our tables. While they are at work I
+think I will work on the instruments, if you two will be kind enough to
+help me."
+
+Seaton and Crane offered to supply him with instruments from their
+reserve stock, but the Kofedix refused to accept them, saying that he
+would rather have their help in making them, so that he would thoroughly
+understand their functions. The electric furnaces were rapidly made
+ready and they set to work; Crane taking great delight in working that
+hitherto rare and very refractory metal, iridium, of which all the
+Kondalian instruments were to be made.
+
+"They have a lot of our rare metals here, Dick."
+
+"They sure have. I'd like to set up a laboratory and live here a few
+years--I'd learn something about my specialty or burst. They use gold
+and silver where we use copper, and platinum and its alloys where we use
+iron and soft steel. All their weapons are made of iridium, and all
+their most highly-tempered tools, such as their knives, razors, and so
+on, are made of opaque arenak. I suppose you've noticed the edge on your
+razor?"
+
+"How could I help it? It is hard to realize that a metal can be so hard
+that it requires forty years on a diamond-dust abrasive machine to hone
+a razor--or that once honed, it shaves generation after generation of
+men without losing in any degree its keenness."
+
+"I can't understand it, either--I only know that it's so. They have all
+our heavy metals in great abundance, and a lot more that we don't know
+anything about on Earth, but they apparently haven't any light metals at
+all. It must be that Osnome was thrown off the parent sun late, so that
+the light metals were all gone?"
+
+"Something like that, possibly."
+
+The extraordinary skill of the Kofedix made the manufacture of the
+instruments a short task, and after Crane had replaced the few broken
+instruments of the Skylark from their reserve stock, they turned their
+attention to the supply of copper that had been gathered. They found it
+enough for only two bars.
+
+"Is this all we have?" asked Dunark, sharply.
+
+"It is, your Highness," replied the Kolanix. "That is every scrap of
+metallic copper in the city."
+
+"Oh, well, that'll be enough to last until we can smelt the rest," said
+Seaton. "With one bar apiece we're ready for anything Mardonale can
+start. Let 'em come!"
+
+The bars were placed in the containers and both vessels were tried out,
+each making a perfect performance. Upon the following kokam, immediately
+after the first meal, the full party from the Earth boarded the Skylark
+and accompanied the Kofedix to the copper smelter. Dunark himself
+directed the work of preparing the charges and the molds, though he was
+continually being interrupted by wireless messages in code and by
+messengers bearing tidings too important to trust into the air.
+
+"I hope you will excuse all of these delays," said Dunark, after the
+twentieth interruption, "but...."
+
+"That's all right, Dunark. We know that you're a busy man."
+
+"I can tell you about it, but I wouldn't want to tell many people. With
+the salt you gave us, I am preparing a power-plant that will enable us
+to blow Mardonale into...."
+
+He broke off as a wireless call for help sounded. All listened intently,
+learning that a freight-plane was being pursued by a karlon a few
+hundred miles away.
+
+"Now's the time for you to study one, Dunark!" Seaton exclaimed. "Get
+your gang of scientists out here while we go get him and drag him in!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+As Dunark sent the message, the Skylark's people hurried aboard, and
+Seaton drove the vessel toward the calls for help. With its great speed
+it reached the monster before the plane was overtaken. Focusing the
+attractor upon the enormous metallic beak of the karlon, Seaton threw on
+the power and the beast halted in midair as it was jerked backward and
+upward. As it saw the puny size of the attacking Skylark, it opened its
+cavernous mouth in a horrible roar and rushed at full speed. Seaton,
+unwilling to have the repellers stripped from the vessel, turned on the
+current actuating them. The karlon was hurled backward to the point of
+equilibrium of the two forces, where it struggled demoniacally.
+
+Seaton carried his captive back to the smelter, where finally, by
+judicious pushing and pulling, he succeeded in turning the monster flat
+upon its back and pinning it to the ground in spite of its struggles to
+escape.
+
+Soon the scientists arrived and studied the animal thoroughly, at as
+close a range as its flailing arms permitted.
+
+"I wish we could kill him without blowing him to bits," wirelessed
+Dunark. "Do you know any way of doing it?"
+
+"We could if we had a few barrels of ether, or some of our own poison
+gases, but they are all unknown here and it would take a long time to
+build the apparatus to make them. I'll see if I can't tire him out and
+get him that way as soon as you've studied him enough. We may be able to
+find out where he lives, too."
+
+The scientists having finished their observations, Seaton jerked the
+animal a few miles into the air and shut off the forces acting upon it.
+There was a sudden crash, and the karlon, knowing that this apparently
+insignificant vessel was its master, turned in headlong flight.
+
+"Have you any idea what caused the noise just then, Dick?" asked Crane;
+who, with characteristic imperturbability, had taken out his notebook
+and was making exact notes of all that transpired.
+
+"I imagine we cracked a few of his plates," replied Seaton with a laugh,
+as he held the Skylark in place a few hundred feet above the fleeing
+animal.
+
+Pitted for the first time in its life against an antagonist, who could
+both outfly and outfight it, the karlon redoubled its efforts and fled
+in a panic of fear. It flew back over the city of Kondalek, over the
+outlying country, and out over the ocean, still followed easily by the
+Skylark. As they neared the Mardonalian border, a fleet of warships rose
+to contest the entry of the monster. Seaton, not wishing to let the foe
+see the rejuvenated Skylark, jerked his captive high into the thin air.
+As soon as it was released, it headed for the ocean in an almost
+perpendicular dive, while Seaton focused an object-compass upon it.
+
+"Go to it, old top," he addressed the plunging monster. "We'll follow
+you clear to the bottom of the ocean if you go that far!"
+
+There was a mighty double splash as the karlon struck the water, closely
+followed by the Skylark. The girls gasped as the vessel plunged below
+the surface at such terrific speed, and seemed surprised that it had
+suffered no injury and that they had felt no jar. Seaton turned on the
+powerful searchlights and kept close enough so that he could see the
+monster through the transparent walls. Deeper and deeper the quarry
+dove, until it was plainly evident to the pursuers that it was just as
+much at home in the water as it was in the air. The beams of the lights
+revealed strange forms of life, among which were huge, staring-eyed
+fishes, which floundered about blindly in the unaccustomed glare. As the
+karlon bored still deeper, the living things became scarcer, but still
+occasional fleeting glimpses were obtained of the living nightmares
+which inhabited the oppressive depths of these strange seas. Continuing
+downward, the karlon plumbed the nethermost pit of the ocean and came to
+rest upon the bottom, stirring up a murk of ooze.
+
+"How deep are we, Mart?"
+
+"About four miles. I have read the pressure, but will have to calculate
+later exactly what depth it represents, from the gravity and density
+readings."
+
+As the animal showed no sign of leaving its retreat, Seaton pulled it
+out with the attractor and it broke for the surface. Rising through the
+water at full speed, it burst into the air and soared upward to such an
+incredible height that Seaton was amazed.
+
+"I wouldn't have believed that anything could fly in air this thin!" he
+exclaimed.
+
+"It is thin up here," assented Crane. "Less than three pounds to the
+square inch. I wonder how he does it?"
+
+"It doesn't look as though we are ever going to find out--he's sure a
+bear-cat!" replied Seaton, as the karlon, unable to ascend further,
+dropped in a slanting dive toward the lowlands of Kondal--the terrible,
+swampy region covered with poisonous vegetation and inhabited by
+frightful animals and even more frightful savages. The monster neared
+the ground with ever-increasing speed. Seaton, keeping close behind it,
+remarked to Crane:
+
+"He'll have to flatten out pretty quick, or he'll burst something,
+sure."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+But it did not flatten out. It struck the soft ground head foremost and
+disappeared, its tentacles apparently boring a way ahead of it.
+
+Astonished at such an unlooked-for development, Seaton brought the
+Skylark to a stop and stabbed into the ground with the attractor. The
+first attempt brought up nothing but a pillar of muck, the second
+brought to light a couple of wings and one writhing arm, the third
+brought the whole animal, still struggling as strongly as it had in the
+first contest. Seaton again lifted the animal high into the air.
+
+"If he does that again, we'll follow him."
+
+"Will the ship stand it?" asked DuQuesne, with interest.
+
+"Yes. The old bus wouldn't have, but this one can stand anything. We can
+go anywhere that thing can, that's a cinch. If we have enough power on,
+we probably won't even feel a jolt when we strike ground."
+
+Seaton reduced the force acting upon the animal until just enough was
+left to keep the attractor upon it, and it again dived into the swamp.
+The Skylark followed, feeling its way in the total darkness, until the
+animal stopped, refusing to move in any direction, at a depth estimated
+by Crane to be about three-quarters of a mile. After waiting some time
+Seaton increased the power of the attractor and tore the karlon back to
+the surface and into the air, where it turned on the Skylark with
+redoubled fury.
+
+"We've dug him out of his last refuge and he's fighting like a cornered
+rat," said Seaton as he repelled the monster to a safe distance. "He's
+apparently as fresh as when he started, in spite of all this playing.
+Talk about a game fish! He doesn't intend to run any more, though, so I
+guess we'll have to put him away. It's a shame to bump him off, but it's
+got to be done."
+
+Crane aimed one of the heavy X-plosive bullets at the
+savagely-struggling monster, and the earth rocked with the concussion as
+the shell struck its mark. They hurried back to the smelter, where
+Dunark asked eagerly:
+
+"What did you find out about it?"
+
+"Nothing much," replied Seaton, and in a few words described the actions
+of the karlon. "What did your savants think of it?"
+
+"Very little that any of us can understand in terms of any other known
+organism. It seems to combine all the characteristics of bird, beast,
+and fish, and to have within itself the possibilities of both bisexual
+and asexual reproduction."
+
+"I wouldn't doubt it--it's a queer one, all right."
+
+The copper bars were cool enough to handle, and the Skylark was loaded
+with five times its original supply of copper, the other vessel taking
+on a much smaller amount. After the Kofedix had directed the officer in
+charge to place the remaining bars in easily-accessible places
+throughout the nation, the two vessels were piloted back to the palace,
+arriving just in time for the last meal of the kokam.
+
+"Well, Dunark," said Seaton after the meal was over, "I'm afraid that we
+must go back as soon as we can. Dorothy's parents and Martin's bankers
+will think they are dead by this time. We should start right now,
+but...."
+
+"Oh, no, you must not do that. That would rob our people of the chance
+of bidding you goodbye."
+
+"There's another reason, too. I have a mighty big favor to ask of you."
+
+"It is granted. If man can do it, consider it done."
+
+"Well, you know platinum is a very scarce and highly useful metal with
+us. I wonder if you could let us have a few tons of it? And I would like
+to have another faidon, too--I want to see if I can't analyze it."
+
+"You have given us a thousand times the value of all the platinum and
+all the jewels your vessel can carry. As soon as the foundries are open
+tomorrow we will go and load up your store-rooms--or, if you wish, we
+will do it now."
+
+"That isn't necessary. We may as well enjoy your hospitality for one
+more sleeping-period, get the platinum during the first work-period, and
+bid you goodbye just before the second meal. How would that be?"
+
+"Perfectly satisfactory."
+
+The following kokam, Dunark piloted the Skylark, with Seaton, Crane, and
+DuQuesne as crew, to one of the great platinum foundries. The girls
+remained behind to get ready for their departure, and for the great
+ceremony which was to precede it. The trip to the foundry was a short
+one, and the three scientists of Earth stared at what they
+saw--thousands of tons of platinum, cast into bars and piled up like
+pig-iron, waiting to be made into numerous articles of every-day use
+throughout the nation. Dunark wrote out an order, which his chief
+attendant handed to the officer in charge of the foundry, saying:
+
+"Please have it loaded at once."
+
+Seaton indicated the storage compartment into which the metal was to be
+carried, and a procession of slaves, two men staggering under one ingot,
+was soon formed between the pile and the storage room.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"How much are you loading on, Dunark?" asked Seaton, when the large
+compartment was more than half full.
+
+"My order called for about twenty tons, in your weight, but I changed it
+later--we may as well fill that room full, so that the metal will not
+rattle around in flight. It doesn't make any difference to us, we have
+so much of it. It is like your gift of the salt, only vastly smaller."
+
+"What are you going to do with it all, Dick?" asked Crane. "That is
+enough to break the platinum market completely."
+
+"That's exactly what I'm going to do," returned Seaton, with a gleam in
+his gray eyes. "I'm going to burst this unjustifiable fad for platinum
+jewelry so wide open that it'll never recover, and make platinum again
+available for its proper uses, in laboratories and in the industries.
+
+"You know yourself," he rushed on hotly, "that the only reason platinum
+is used at all for jewelry is that it is expensive. It isn't nearly so
+handsome as either gold or silver, and if it wasn't the most costly
+common metal we have, the jewelry-wearing crowd wouldn't touch it with a
+ten-foot pole. Useless as an ornament, it is the one absolutely
+indispensable laboratory metal, and literally hundreds of laboratories
+that need it can't have it because over half the world's supply is tied
+up in jeweler's windows and in useless baubles. Then, too, it is the
+best thing known for contact points in electrical machinery. When the
+Government and all the scientific societies were abjectly begging the
+jewelers to let loose a little of it they refused--they were selling it
+to profiteering spendthrifts at a hundred and fifty dollars an ounce.
+The condition isn't much better right now; it's a vicious circle. As
+long as the price stays high it will be used for jewelry, and as long as
+it is used for jewelry the price will stay high, and scientists will
+have to fight the jewelers for what little they get."
+
+"While somewhat exaggerated, that is about the way matters stand. I will
+admit that I, too, am rather bitter on the subject," said Crane.
+
+"Bitter? Of course you're bitter. Everybody is who knows anything about
+science and who has a brain in his head. Anybody who claims to be a
+scientist and yet stands for any of his folks buying platinum jewelry
+ought to be shot. But they'll get theirs as soon as we get back. They
+wouldn't let go of it before, they had too good a thing, but they'll let
+go now, and get their fingers burned besides. I'm going to dump this
+whole shipment at fifty cents a pound, and we'll take mighty good care
+that jewelers don't corner the supply."
+
+"I'm with you, Dick, as usual."
+
+Soon the storage room was filled to the ceiling with closely-stacked
+ingots of the precious metal, and the Skylark was driven back to the
+landing dock. She alighted beside Dunark's vessel, the _Kondal_, whose
+gorgeously-decorated crew of high officers sprang to attention as the
+four men stepped out. All were dressed for the ceremonial leave-taking,
+the three Americans wearing their spotless white, the Kondalians wearing
+their most resplendent trappings.
+
+"This formal stuff sure does pull my cork!" exclaimed Seaton to Dunark.
+"I want to get this straight. The arrangement was that we were to be
+here at this time, all dressed up, and wait for the ladies, who are
+coming under the escort of your people?"
+
+"Yes. Our family is to escort the ladies from the palace here. As they
+leave the elevator the surrounding war-vessels will salute, and after a
+brief ceremony you two will escort your wives into the Skylark, Doctor
+DuQuesne standing a little apart and following you in. The war-vessels
+will escort you as high as they can go, and the Kondal will accompany
+you as far as our most distant sun before turning back."
+
+For a few moments Seaton nervously paced a short beat in front of the
+door of the space-car.
+
+"I'm getting more fussed every second," he said abruptly, taking out his
+wireless instrument. "I'm going to see if they aren't about ready."
+
+"What seems to be the trouble, Dick? Have you another hunch, or are you
+just rattled?" asked Crane.
+
+"Rattled, I guess, but I sure do want to get going," he replied, as he
+worked the lever rapidly.
+
+"Dottie," he sent out, and, the call being answered, "How long will you
+be? We're all ready and waiting, chewing our finger-nails with
+impatience."
+
+"We'll soon be ready. The Karfedix is coming for us now."
+
+Scarcely had the tiny sounder become silent when the air was shaken by
+an urgently-vibrated message, and every wireless sounder gave warning.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+The Invasion
+
+
+The pulsating air and the chattering sounders were giving the same dire
+warning, the alarm extraordinary of invasion, of imminent and
+catastrophic danger from the air.
+
+"Don't try to reach the palace. Everyone on the ground will have time
+enough to hide in the deep, arenak-protected pits beneath the buildings,
+and you would be killed by the invaders long before you could reach the
+palace. If we can repel the enemy and keep them from landing, the women
+will be perfectly safe, even though the whole city is destroyed. If they
+effect a landing we are lost."
+
+"They'll not land, then," Seaton answered grimly, as he sprang into the
+Skylark and took his place at the board. As Crane took out his wireless,
+Seaton cautioned him.
+
+"Send in English, and tell the girls not to answer, as these devils can
+locate the calls within a foot and will be able to attack the right
+spot. Just tell them we're safe in the Skylark. Tell them to sit tight
+while we wipe out this gang that is coming, and that we'll call them,
+once in a while, when we have time, during the battle."
+
+Before Crane had finished sending the message the crescendo whine of
+enormous propellers was heard. Simultaneously there was a deafening
+concussion and one entire wing of the palace disappeared in a cloud of
+dust, in the midst of which could be discerned a few flying fragments.
+The air was filled with Mardonalian warships. They were huge vessels,
+each mounting hundreds of guns, and the rain of high-explosive shells
+was rapidly reducing the great city to a wide-spread heap of debris.
+
+Seaton's hand was upon the lever which would hurl the Skylark upward
+into the fray. Crane and DuQuesne, each hard of eye and grim of jaw,
+were stationed at their machine-guns.
+
+"Something's up!" exclaimed Seaton. "Look at the Kondal!"
+
+Something had happened indeed. Dunark sat at the board, his hand upon
+the power lever, and each of his crew was in place, grasping his weapon,
+but every man was writhing in agony, unable to control his movements. As
+they stared, momentarily spellbound, the entire crew ceased their
+agonized struggles and hung, apparently lifeless, from their supports.
+
+"They've got to 'em some way--let's go!" yelled Seaton.
+
+As his hand tightened upon the lever, a succession of shells burst upon
+the dock, wrecking it completely, all three men fancied that the world
+had come to an end as the stream of high explosive was directed against
+their vessel. But the four-foot shell of arenak was impregnable, and
+Seaton shot the Skylark upward into the midst of the enemy fleet. The
+two gunners fired as fast as they could sight their weapons, and with
+each shot one of the great warships was blown into fragments. The
+Mardonalians then concentrated the fire of their entire fleet upon their
+tiny opponent.
+
+From every point of the compass, from above and below, the enemy gunners
+directed streams of shells against the dodging vessel. The noise was
+more than deafening, it was one continuous, shattering explosion, and
+the Earth-men were surrounded by such a blaze of fire from the exploding
+shells that they could not see the enemy vessels. Seaton sought to dodge
+the shells by a long dive toward one side, only to find that dozens of
+new opponents had been launched against them--the deadly
+airplane-torpedoes of Osnome. Steered by wireless and carrying no crews,
+they were simply winged bombs carrying thousands of pounds of terrific
+electrical explosive--enough to kill the men inside the vessel by the
+concussion of the explosion, even should the arenak armor be strong
+enough to withstand the blow. Though much faster than the Osnomian
+vessels, they were slow beside the Skylark, and Seaton could have dodged
+a few of them with ease. As he dodged, however, they followed
+relentlessly, and in spite of those which were blown up by the gunners,
+their number constantly increased until Seaton thought of the repellers.
+
+"'Nobody Holme' is right!" he exclaimed, as he threw on the power
+actuating the copper bands which encircled the hull in all directions.
+Instantly the torpedoes were hurled backward, exploding as the force
+struck them, and even the shells were ineffective, exploding harmlessly,
+as they encountered the zone of force. The noise of the awful
+detonations lessened markedly.
+
+"Why the silence, I wonder?" asked Seaton, while the futile shells of
+the enemy continued to waste their force some hundreds of feet distant
+from their goal, and while Crane and DuQuesne were methodically
+destroying the huge vessels as fast as they could aim and fire. At every
+report one of the monster warships disappeared--its shattered fragments
+and the bodies of its crew hurtling to the ground. His voice could not
+be heard in even the lessened tumult, but he continued:
+
+"It must be that our repellers have set up a partial vacuum by repelling
+even the air!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Suddenly the shelling ceased and the Skylark was enveloped by a blinding
+glare from hundreds of great reflectors; an intense, searching,
+bluish-violet light that burned the flesh and seared through eyelids and
+eyeballs into the very brain.
+
+"Ultra-violet!" yelled Seaton at the first glimpse of the light, as he
+threw on the power. "Shut your eyes! Turn your heads down!"
+
+Out in space, far beyond reach of the deadly rays, the men held a short
+conference, then donned heavy leather-and-canvas suits, which they
+smeared liberally with thick red paint, and replaced the plain glasses
+of their helmets with heavy lenses of deep ruby glass.
+
+"This'll stop any ultra-violet ray ever produced," exulted Seaton, as he
+again threw the vessel into the Mardonalian fleet. A score of the great
+vessels met their fate before the Skylark was located, and, although the
+terrible rays were again focused upon the intruder in all their
+intensity, the carnage continued.
+
+In a few minutes, however, the men heard, or rather felt, a low, intense
+vibration, like a silent wave of sound--a vibration which smote upon the
+eardrums as no possible sound could smite, a vibration which racked the
+joints and tortured the nerves as though the whole body were
+disintegrating. So sudden and terrible was the effect that Seaton
+uttered an involuntary yelp of surprise and pain as he once more fled
+into the safety of space.
+
+"What the devil was that?" demanded DuQuesne. "Was it infra-sound? I
+didn't suppose such waves could be produced."
+
+"Infra-sound is right. They produce most anything here," replied Seaton,
+and Crane added:
+
+"Well, about three fur suits apiece, with cotton in our ears, ought to
+kill any wave propagated through air."
+
+The fur suits were donned forthwith, Seaton whispering in Crane's ear:
+
+"I've found out something else, too. The repellers repel even the air.
+I'm going to shoot enough juice through them to set up a perfect vacuum
+outside. That'll kill those air-waves."
+
+Scarcely were they back within range of the fleet when DuQuesne,
+reaching for his gun to fire the first shot, leaped backward with a
+yell.
+
+"Beat it!"
+
+Once more at a safe distance, DuQuesne explained.
+
+"It's lucky I'm so used to handling hot stuff that from force of habit I
+never make close contact with anything at the first touch. That gun
+carried thousands of volts, with lots of amperage behind them, and if I
+had had a good hold on it I couldn't have let go. We'll block that game
+quick enough, though. Thick, dry gloves covered with rubber are all that
+is necessary. It's a good thing for all of us that you have those fancy
+condensite handles on your levers, Seaton."
+
+"That was how they got Dunark, undoubtedly," said Crane, as he sent a
+brief message to the girls, assuring them that all was well, as he had
+been doing at every respite. "But why were we not overcome at the same
+time?"
+
+"They must have had the current tuned to iridium, and had to experiment
+until they found the right wave for steel," Seaton explained.
+
+"I should think our bar would have exploded, with all that current. They
+must have hit the copper range, too?"
+
+Seaton frowned in thought before he answered.
+
+"Maybe because it's induced current, and not a steady battery impulse.
+Anyway, it didn't. Let's go!"
+
+"Just a minute," put in Crane. "What are they going to do next, Dick?"
+
+"Search me. I'm not used to my new Osnomian mind yet. I recognize things
+all right after they happen, but I can't seem to figure ahead--it's like
+a dimly-remembered something that flashes up as soon as mentioned. I get
+too many and too new ideas at once. I know, though, that the Osnomians
+have defenses against all these things except this last stunt of the
+charged guns. That must be the new one that Mardonale stole from Kondal.
+The defenses are, however, purely Osnomian in character and material. As
+we haven't got the stuff to set them up as the Osnomians do, we'll have
+to do it our own way. We may be able to dope out the next one, though.
+Let's see, what have they given us so far?"
+
+"We've got to hand it to them," responded DuQuesne, admiringly. "They're
+giving us the whole range of wave-lengths, one at a time. They've given
+us light, both ultra-violet and visible, sound, infra-sound, and
+electricity--I don't know what's left unless they give us a new kind of
+X-rays, or Hertzian, or infra-red heat waves, or...."
+
+"That's it, heat!" exclaimed Seaton. "They produce heat by means of
+powerful wave-generators and by setting up heavy induced currents in the
+armor. They can melt arenak that way."
+
+"Do you suppose we can handle the heat with our refrigerators?" asked
+Crane.
+
+"Probably. We have a lot of power, and the new arenak cylinders of our
+compressors will stand anything. The only trouble will be in cooling the
+condensers. We'll run as long as we have any water in our tanks, then go
+dive into the ocean to cool off. We'll try it a whirl, anyway."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Soon the Skylark was again dealing out death and destruction in the
+thick of the enemy vessels, who again turned from the devastation of the
+helpless city to destroy this troublesome antagonist. But in spite of
+the utmost efforts of light-waves, sound-waves, and high-tension
+electricity, the space-car continued to take its terrible toll. As
+Seaton had foretold, the armor of the Skylark began to grow hot, and he
+turned on the full power of the refrigerating system. In spite of the
+cooling apparatus, however, the outer walls finally began to glow redly,
+and, although the interior was comfortably cool, the ends of the
+rifle-barrels, which were set flush with the surface of the revolving
+arenak globes which held them, softened, rendering the guns useless. The
+copper repellers melted and dripped off in flaming balls of molten
+metal, so that shells once more began to crash against the armor.
+DuQuesne, with no thought of quitting apparent in voice or manner, said
+calmly:
+
+"Well, it looks as though they had us stopped for a few minutes. Let's
+go back into space and dope out something else."
+
+Seaton, thinking intensely, saw a vast fleet of enemy reinforcements
+approaching, and at the same time received a wireless call directed to
+Dunark. It was from the grand fleet of Kondal, hastening from the
+bordering ocean to the defense of the city. Using Dunark's private code,
+Seaton told the Karbix, who was in charge of the fleet, that the enemy
+had a new invention which would wipe them out utterly without a chance
+to fight, and that he and his vessel were in control of the situation;
+and ordered him to see that no Kondalian ship came within battle range
+of a Mardonalian. He then turned to Crane and DuQuesne, his face grim
+and his fighting jaw set.
+
+"I've got it doped right now. Give the Lark speed enough and she's some
+bullet herself. We've got four feet of arenak, they've got only an inch,
+and arenak doesn't even begin to soften until far above a blinding white
+temperature. Strap yourselves in solid, for it's going to be a rough
+party from now on."
+
+They buckled their belts firmly, and Seaton, holding the bar toward
+their nearest antagonist, applied twenty notches of power. The Skylark
+darted forward and crashed completely through the great airship. Torn
+wide open by the forty-foot projectile, its engines wrecked and its
+helicopter-screws and propellers completely disabled, the helpless hulk
+plunged through two miles of empty air, a mass of wreckage.
+
+[Illustration: The Skylark darted forward and crashed completely through
+the great airship.... She was an embodied thunderbolt; a huge,
+irresistible, indestructible projectile, directed by a keen brain
+inside....]
+
+Darting hither and thither, the space-car tore through vessel after
+vessel of the Mardonalian fleet. She was an embodied thunderbolt; a
+huge, irresistible, indestructible projectile, directed by a keen brain
+inside it--the brain of Richard Seaton, roused to his highest fighting
+pitch and fighting for everything that man holds dear. Tortured by the
+terrible silent waves, which, now that the protecting vacuum had been
+destroyed, were only partially stopped by the fur suits; shaken and
+battered by the terrific impacts and the even greater shocks occurring
+every second as the direction of the vessel was changed; made sick and
+dizzy by the nauseating swings and lurches as the Skylark spun about the
+central chamber; Seaton's wonderful physique and his nerves of steel
+stood him in good stead in this, the supreme battle of his life, as with
+teeth tight-locked and eyes gray and hard as the fracture of high-carbon
+steel, he urged the Skylark on to greater and greater efforts.
+
+Though it was impossible for the eye to follow the flight of the
+space-car, the mechanical sighting devices of the Mardonalian vessels
+kept her in as perfect focus as though she were stationary, and the
+great generators continued to hurl into her the full power of their
+death-dealing waves. The enemy guns were still spitting forth their
+streams of high-explosive shells, but unlike the waves, the shells moved
+so slowly compared to their target that only a few found their mark, and
+many of the vessels fell to the ground, riddled by the shells of their
+sister-ships.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+With anxious eyes Seaton watched the hull of his animated cannon-ball
+change in color. From dull red it became cherry, and as the cherry red
+gave place to bright red heat, Seaton threw even more power into the bar
+as he muttered through his set teeth:
+
+"Well, Seaton, old top, you've got to cut out this loafing on the job
+and get busy!"
+
+In spite of his utmost exertions and in spite of the powerful ammonia
+plant, now exerting its full capacity, but sadly handicapped by the fact
+that its cooling-water was now boiling, Seaton saw the arenak shell
+continue to heat. The bright red was succeeded by orange, which slowly
+changed, first to yellow, then to light yellow, and finally to a
+dazzling white; through which, with the aid of his heavy red lenses, he
+could still see the enemy ships. After a time he noted that the color
+had gone down to yellow and he thrilled with exultation, knowing that he
+had so reduced the numbers of the enemy fleet that their wave-generators
+could no longer overcome his refrigerators. After a few minutes more of
+the awful carnage there remained only a small fraction of the proud
+fleet which, thousands strong, had invaded Kondal--a remnant that sought
+safety in flight. But even in flight, they still fought with all their
+weapons, and the streams of bombs dropped from their keel-batteries upon
+the country beneath marked the path of their retreat with a wide swath
+of destruction. Half inclined to let the few remaining vessels escape,
+Seaton's mind changed instantly as he saw the bombs spreading
+devastation upon the countryside, and not until the last of the
+Mardonalian vessels had been destroyed did he drop the Skylark into the
+area of ruins which had once been the palace grounds, beside the Kondal,
+which was still lying as it had fallen.
+
+After several attempts to steady their whirling senses, the three men
+finally were able to walk, and, opening a door, they leaped out through
+the opening in the still glowing wall. Seaton's first act was to
+wireless the news to Dorothy, who replied that they were coming as fast
+as they could. The men then removed their helmets, revealing faces pale
+and drawn, and turned to the helpless space-car.
+
+"There's no way of getting into this thing from the outside...." Seaton
+began, when he saw that the Kofedix and his party were beginning to
+revive. Soon Dunark opened the door and stumbled out.
+
+"I have to thank you for more than my life this time," he said, his
+voice shaken by uncontrollable emotion as he grasped the hands of all
+three men. "Though unable to move, I was conscious and saw all that
+happened--you kept them so busy that they didn't have a chance to give
+us enough to kill us outright. You have saved the lives of millions of
+our nation and have saved Kondal itself from annihilation."
+
+"Oh, it's not that bad," answered Seaton, uncomfortably. "Both nations
+have been invaded before."
+
+"Yes--once when we developed the ultra-violet ray, once when Mardonale
+perfected the machine for producing the silent sound-wave, and again
+when we harnessed the heat-wave. But this would have been the most
+complete disaster in history. The other inventions were not so deadly as
+was this one, and there were terrible battles, from which the victors
+emerged so crippled that they could not completely exterminate the
+vanquished, who were able to re-establish themselves in the course of
+time. If it had not been for you, this would have been the end, as not a
+Kondalian soldier could move--any person touching iridium was helpless
+and would have been killed."
+
+He ceased speaking and saluted as the Karfedix and his party rounded a
+heap of boulders. Dorothy and Margaret screamed in unison as they saw
+the haggard faces of their husbands, and saw their suits, dripping with
+a thick substance which they knew to be red, in spite of its
+purplish-black color. Seaton dodged nimbly as Dorothy sought to take him
+in her arms, and tore off his suit.
+
+"Nothing but red paint to stop their light-rays," he reassured her as he
+lifted her clear from the ground in a soul-satisfying embrace. Out of
+the corner of his eye he saw the Kondalians staring in open-mouthed
+amazement at the Skylark. Wheeling swiftly, he laughed as he saw a
+gigantic ball of frost and snow! Again donning his fur suit, he shut off
+the refrigerators and returned to his party, where the Karfedix gave him
+thanks in measured terms. As he fell silent, Dunark added:
+
+"Thanks to you, the Mardonalian forces, instead of wiping us out, are
+themselves destroyed, while only a handful of our vessels have been
+lost, since the grand fleet could not arrive until the battle was over,
+and since the vessels that would have thrown themselves away were saved
+by your orders, which I heard. Thanks to you, we are not even crippled,
+though our capital is destroyed and the lives of some unfortunates, who
+could not reach the pits in time, have probably been lost.
+
+"Thanks to you," he continued in a ringing voice, "and to the salt and
+the new source of power you have given us, Mardonale shall now be
+destroyed utterly!"
+
+After sending out ships to relieve the suffering of the few wounded and
+the many homeless, Dunark summoned a corps of mechanics, who banded on
+new repellers and repaired the fused barrels of the machine-guns, all
+that was necessary to restore the Skylark to perfect condition.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Facing the party from Earth, the Karfedix stood in the ruins of his
+magnificent palace. Back of him were the nobles of Kondal, and still
+further back, in order of rank, stood a multitude of people.
+
+"Is it permitted, oh noble Karfedo, that I reward your captive for his
+share in the victory?" he asked.
+
+"It is," acquiesced Seaton and Crane, and Roban stepped up to DuQuesne
+and placed in his hand a weighty leather bag. He then fastened about his
+left wrist the Order of Kondal, the highest order of the nation.
+
+He then clasped about Crane's wrist a heavily-jeweled,
+peculiarly-ornamented disk wrought of a deep ruby-red metal, supported
+by a heavy bracelet of the same material, the most precious metal of
+Osnome. At sight of the disk the nobles saluted and Seaton barely
+concealed a start of surprise, for it bore the royal emblem and
+delegated to its bearer power second only to that of the Karfedix
+himself.
+
+"I bestow upon you this symbol, Karfedix Crane, in recognition of what
+you have this day done for Kondal. Wherever you may be upon Kondalian
+Osnome, which from this day henceforth shall be all Osnome, you have
+power as my personal representative, as my eldest son."
+
+He drew forth a second bracelet, similar to the first except that it
+bore seven disks, each differently designed, which he snapped upon
+Seaton's wrist as the nobles knelt and the people back of them threw
+themselves upon their faces.
+
+"No language spoken by man possesses words sufficiently weighty to
+express our indebtedness to you, Karfedix Seaton, our guest and our
+savior. The First Cause has willed that you should be the instrument
+through which Kondal is this day made supreme upon Osnome.
+
+In small and partial recognition of that instrumentality, I bestow upon
+you these symbols, which proclaim you our overlord, the ultimate
+authority of Osnome.
+
+While this is not the way in which I had thought to bid you farewell,
+the obligations which you have heaped upon us render all smaller things
+insignificant. When you return, as I hope and trust you soon will, the
+city shall be built anew and we can welcome you as befits your station."
+
+Lifting both arms above his head he continued:
+
+"May the great First Cause smile upon you in all your endeavors until
+you solve the Mystery: may your descendants soon reach the Ultimate
+Goal. Goodbye."
+
+Seaton uttered a few heartfelt words in response and the party stepped
+backward toward the Skylark. As they reached the vessel the standing
+Karfedix and the ranks of kneeling nobles snapped into the double
+salute--truly a rare demonstration in Kondal.
+
+"What'll we do now?" whispered Seaton.
+
+"Bow, of course," answered Dorothy.
+
+They bowed, deeply and slowly, and entered their vessel. As the Skylark
+shot into the air with the greatest acceleration that would permit its
+passengers to move about, the grand fleet of Kondalian warship fired a
+deafening salute.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It had been planned before the start that each person was to work
+sixteen hours out of the twenty-four. Seaton was to drive the vessel
+during the first two eight-hour periods of each day. Crane was to
+observe the stars during the second and to drive during the third.
+DuQuesne was to act as observer during the first and third periods.
+Margaret had volunteered to assist the observer in taking his notes
+during her waking hours, and Dorothy appointed herself cook and
+household manager.
+
+As soon as the Skylark had left Osnome, Crane told DuQuesne that he and
+his wife would work in the observation room until four o'clock in the
+afternoon, at which time the prearranged system of relief would begin,
+and DuQuesne retired to his room.
+
+Crane and Margaret made their way to the darkened room which housed the
+instruments and seated themselves, watching intently and making no
+effort to conceal their emotion as first the persons beneath them, then
+the giant war-vessels, and finally the ruined city itself, were lost to
+view. Osnome slowly assumed the proportions of a large moon, grew
+smaller, and as it disappeared Crane began to take notes. For a few
+hours the seventeen suns of this strange solar system shone upon the
+flying space-car, after which they assumed the aspect of a
+widely-separated cluster of enormous stars, slowly growing smaller and
+smaller and shrinking closer and closer together.
+
+At four o'clock in the afternoon, Washington time, DuQuesne relieved
+Crane, who made his way to the engine room.
+
+"It is time to change shifts, Dick. You have not had your sixteen hours,
+but everything will be regular from now on. You two had better get some
+rest."
+
+"All right," replied Seaton, as he relinquished the controls to Crane,
+and after bidding the new helmsman goodnight he and Dorothy went below
+to their cabin.
+
+Standing at a window with their arms around each other they stared down
+with misty eyes at the very faint green star, which was rapidly
+decreasing in brilliance as the Skylark increased its already
+inconceivable velocity. Finally, as it disappeared altogether, Seaton
+turned to his wife and tenderly, lovingly, took her in his arms.
+
+"Littlest Girl.... Sweetheart...." he whispered, and paused, overcome by
+the intensity of his feelings.
+
+"I know, husband mine," she answered, while tears dimmed her glorious
+eyes. "It is too deep. With nothing but words, we can't say a single
+thing."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+The Return to Earth
+
+
+DuQuesne's first act upon gaining the privacy of his own cabin was to
+open the leather bag presented to him by the Karfedix. He expected to
+find it filled with rare metals, with perhaps some jewels, instead of
+which the only metal present was a heavily-insulated tube containing a
+full pound of metallic radium. The least valuable items in the bag were
+scores of diamonds, rubies, and emeralds of enormous size and of
+flawless perfection. Merely ornamental glass upon Osnome, Dunark knew
+that they were priceless upon Earth, and had acted accordingly. To this
+great wealth of known gems, he had added a rich and varied assortment of
+the rare and strange jewels peculiar to his own world, the faidon alone
+being omitted from the collection. DuQuesne's habitual calmness of mind
+almost deserted him as he classified the contents of the bag.
+
+The radium alone was worth millions of dollars, and the scientist in him
+exulted that at last his brother scientists should have ample supplies
+of that priceless metal with which to work, even while he was rejoicing
+in the price he would exact for it. He took out the familiar jewels,
+estimating their value as he counted them--a staggering total. The bag
+was still half full of the strange gems, some of them glowing like
+miniature lamps in the dark depths, and he made no effort to appraise
+them. He knew that once any competent jeweler had compared their cold,
+hard, scintillating beauty with that of any Earthly gems, he could
+demand his own price.
+
+"At last," he breathed to himself, "I will be what I have always longed
+to be--a money power. Now I can cut loose from that gang of crooks and
+go my own way."
+
+He replaced the gems and the tube of radium in the bag, which he stowed
+away in one of his capacious pockets, and made his way to the galley.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The return voyage through space was uneventful, the Skylark constantly
+maintaining the same velocity with which she had started out. Several
+times, as the days wore on, she came within the zone of attraction of
+various gigantic suns, but the pilot had learned his lesson. He kept a
+vigilant eye upon the bar, and at the first sign of a deviation from the
+perpendicular he steered away, far from the source of the attraction.
+Not content with these precautions, the man at the board would, from
+time to time, shut off the power, to make sure that the space-car was
+not falling toward a body directly in its line of flight.
+
+When half the distance had been covered, the bar was reversed, the
+travelers holding an impromptu ceremony as the great vessel spun around
+its center through an angle of one hundred and eighty degrees. A few
+days later the observers began to recognize some of the fixed stars in
+familiar constellations and knew that the yellowish-white star directly
+in their line of flight was the sun of their own solar system. After a
+time they saw that their course, instead of being directly toward that
+rapidly-brightening star, was bearing upon a barely visible star a
+little to one side of it. Pointing their most powerful telescope toward
+that point of light, Crane made out a planet, half of its disk shining
+brightly. The girls hastened to peer through the telescope, and they
+grew excited as they made out the familiar outlines of the continents
+and oceans upon the lighted portion of the disk.
+
+It was not long until these outlines were plainly visible to the unaided
+vision. The Earth appeared as a great, softly shining, greenish
+half-moon, with parts of its surface obscured by fleecy wisps of cloud,
+and with its two gleaming ice-caps making of its poles two brilliant
+areas of white. The returning wanderers stared at their own world with
+their hearts in their throats as Crane, who was at the board, increased
+the retarding force sufficiently to assure himself that they would not
+be traveling too fast to land upon the Earth.
+
+After Dorothy and Margaret had gone to prepare a meal, DuQuesne turned
+to Seaton.
+
+"Have you gentlemen decided what you intend to do with me?"
+
+"No. We haven't discussed it yet. I can't make up my own mind what I
+want to do to you, except that I sure would like to get you inside a
+square ring with four-ounce gloves on. You have been of too much real
+assistance on this trip for us to see you hanged, as you deserve. On the
+other hand, you are altogether too much of a thorough-going scoundrel
+for us to let you go free. You see the fix we are in. What would you
+suggest?"
+
+"Nothing," replied DuQuesne calmly. "As I am in no danger whatever of
+hanging, nothing you can say on that score affects me in the least. As
+for freeing me, you may do as you please--it makes no difference to me,
+one way or the other, as no jail can hold me for a day. I can say,
+however, that while I have made a fortune on this trip, so that I do not
+have to associate further with Steel unless it is to my interest to do
+so, I may nevertheless find it desirable at some future time to
+establish a monopoly of X. That would, of course, necessitate the death
+of yourself and Crane. In that event, or in case any other difference
+should arise between us, this whole affair will be as though it had
+never existed. It will have no weight either way, whether or not you try
+to hang me."
+
+"Go as far as you like," Seaton answered cheerfully. "If we're not a
+match for you and your gang, on foot or in the air, in body or in mind,
+we'll deserve whatever we get. We can outrun you, outjump you, throw you
+down, or lick you; we can run faster, hit harder, dive deeper, and come
+up dryer, than you can. We'll play any game you want to deal, whenever
+you want to deal it; for fun, money, chalk, or marbles."
+
+His brow darkened in anger as a thought struck him, and the steady gray
+eyes bored into the unflinching black ones as he continued, with no
+trace of his former levity in his voice:
+
+"But listen to this. Anything goes as far as Martin and I personally are
+concerned. But I want you to know that I could be arrested for what I
+think of you as a man; and if any of your little schemes touch Dottie or
+Peggy in any way, shape or form, I'll kill you as I would a snake--or
+rather, I'll take you apart as I would any other piece of scientific
+apparatus. This isn't a threat, it's a promise. Get me?"
+
+"Perfectly. Good-night."
+
+For many hours the Earth had been obscured by clouds, so that the pilot
+had only a general idea of what part of the world was beneath them, but
+as they dropped rapidly downward into the twilight zone, the clouds
+parted and they saw that they were directly over the Panama Canal.
+Seaton allowed the Skylark to fall to within ten miles of the ground,
+when he stopped so that Martin could get his bearings and calculate the
+course to Washington, which would be in total darkness before their
+arrival.
+
+DuQuesne had retired, cold and reticent as usual. Glancing quickly about
+his cabin to make sure that he had overlooked nothing he could take with
+him, he opened a locker, exposing to view four suits which he had made
+in his spare time, each adapted to a particular method of escape from
+the Skylark. The one he selected was of heavy canvas, braced with steel
+netting, equipped with helmet and air-tanks, and attached to a strong,
+heavy parachute. He put it on, tested all its parts, and made his way
+unobserved to one of the doors in the lower part of the vessel. Thus,
+when the chance for escape came, he was ready for it. As the Skylark
+paused over the Isthmus, his lips parted in a sardonic smile. He opened
+the door and stepped out into the air, closing the door behind him as he
+fell. The neutral color of the parachute was lost in the gathering
+twilight a few seconds after he left the vessel.
+
+The course laid, Seaton turned almost due north and the Skylark tore
+through the air. After a short time, when half the ground had been
+covered, Seaton spoke suddenly.
+
+"Forgot about DuQuesne, Mart. We'd better iron him, hadn't we? Then
+we'll decide whether we want to keep him or turn him loose."
+
+"I will go fetch him," replied Crane, and turned to the stairs.
+
+He returned shortly, with the news of the flight of the captive.
+
+"Hm ... he must have made himself a parachute. I didn't think even he
+would tackle a sixty-thousand-foot drop. I'll tell the world that he
+sure has established a record. I can't say I'm sorry that he got away,
+though. We can get him again any time we want him, anyway, as that
+little object-compass in my drawer is still looking right at him," said
+Seaton.
+
+"I think he earned his liberty," declared Dorothy, stoutly, and Margaret
+added:
+
+"He deserves to be shot, but I'm glad he's gone. He gives me the
+shivers."
+
+At the end of the calculated time they saw the lights of a large city
+beneath them, and Crane's fingers clenched upon Seaton's arm as he
+pointed downward. There were the landing-lights of Crane Field, seven
+peculiarly-arranged searchlights throwing their mighty beams upward into
+the night.
+
+"Nine weeks, Dick," he said, unsteadily, "and Shiro would have kept them
+burning nine years if necessary."
+
+The Skylark dropped easily to the ground in front of the testing shed
+and the wanderers leaped out, to be greeted by the half-hysterical Jap.
+Shiro's ready vocabulary of peculiar but sonorous words failed him
+completely, and he bent himself double in a bow, his yellow face
+wreathed in the widest possible smile. Crane, one arm around his wife,
+seized Shiro's hand and wrung it in silence. Seaton swept Dorothy off
+her feet, pressing her slender form against his powerful body. Her arms
+tightened about his neck as they kissed each other fervently and he
+whispered in her ear:
+
+"Sweetheart wife, isn't it great to be back on our good old Earth
+again?"
+
+
+THE END
+
+  +--------------------------------------------------------------+
+  |                                                              |
+  | Transcriber's Notes & Errata                                 |
+  |                                                              |
+  | The editorial notes associated with the three installments   |
+  | of the story have been placed in ASCII text boxes and        |
+  | incorporated at the appropriate places in the text.          |
+  |                                                              |
+  | Illustrations have been moved to the appropriate place in    |
+  | the text.                                                    |
+  |                                                              |
+  | The chemical symbol for water is represented as H2O.         |
+  |                                                              |
+  | The following typographical errors have been corrected.      |
+  |                                                              |
+  |               |Error         |Correction    |                |
+  |               |              |              |                |
+  |               |plantinum     |platinum      |                |
+  |               |refused.      |refused."     |                |
+  |               |We            |"We           |                |
+  |               |abstruce      |abstruse      |                |
+  |               |I love        |"I love       |                |
+  |               |CHAPTE        |CHAPTER       |                |
+  |               |food          |fool          |                |
+  |               |unmistakeable |unmistakable  |                |
+  |               |ever          |even          |                |
+  |               |Mat           |Mart          |                |
+  |               |gravity.      |gravity."     |                |
+  |               |completely.   |completely."  |                |
+  |               |ecstacy       |ecstasy       |                |
+  |               |embarassment  |embarrassment |                |
+  |               |Naloon        |Nalboon       |                |
+  |               |inumerable    |innumerable   |                |
+  |               |but           |"but          |                |
+  |               |efficient     |efficient."   |                |
+  |               |Dare          |"Dare         |                |
+  |               |wit           |wait          |                |
+  |               |They produce  |"They produce |                |
+  |                                                              |
+  |                                                              |
+  | Variable hyphenation                                         |
+  |                                                              |
+  | The number of times each form appears in the text is given   |
+  | in parentheses.                                              |
+  |                                                              |
+  |           |blue-prints (2)    |blueprints (4)    |           |
+  |           |border-line (3)    |borderline (1)    |           |
+  |           |break-down (1)     |breakdown (1)     |           |
+  |           |devil-fish (1)     |devilfish (1)     |           |
+  |           |Good-bye (4)       |Goodbye (1)       |           |
+  |           |good-bye (4)       |goodbye (3)       |           |
+  |           |good-night (2)     |goodnight (2)     |           |
+  |           |half-way (4)       |halfway (1)       |           |
+  |           |hand-rail (1)      |handrail (2)      |           |
+  |           |hand-rails (1)     |handrails (1)     |           |
+  |           |home-coming (1)    |homecoming (1)    |           |
+  |           |major-domo (3)     |majordomo (1)     |           |
+  |           |near-by (1)        |nearby (4)        |           |
+  |           |nitro-glycerin (2) |nitroglycerin (2) |           |
+  |           |to-night (2)       |tonight (7)       |           |
+  |                                                              |
+  +--------------------------------------------------------------+
+
+
+
+***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SKYLARK OF SPACE***
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+<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Skylark of Space, by Edward Elmer Smith and Lee Hawkins Garby</title>
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+<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Skylark of Space, by Edward Elmer Smith
+and Lee Hawkins Garby</h1>
+<pre>
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre>
+<p>Title: The Skylark of Space</p>
+<p>Author: Edward Elmer Smith and Lee Hawkins Garby</p>
+<p>Release Date: March 21, 2007  [eBook #20869]<br />
+Most recently updated April 18, 2011</p>
+<p>Language: English</p>
+<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p>
+<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SKYLARK OF SPACE***</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>E-text prepared by Greg Weeks, L. N. Yaddanapudi, David Dyer-Bennet,<br />
+    and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br />
+    (http://www.pgdp.net)</h3>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<div class="bbox"><h4 style="margin-top:0">Transcriber's Note</h4>
+
+<p>This etext was produced from Amazing Stories August, September and
+October 1928. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
+the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.<br />
+<br />
+Other notes and a list of corrections made will be found
+at the end of the book.</p></div>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr class="full" />
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<h1><i>The</i> SKYLARK <i>of</i> SPACE</h1>
+
+<h2><i>By Edward Elmer Smith</i></h2>
+
+<h4>In Collaboration with</h4>
+
+<h2>LEE HAWKINS GARBY</h2>
+
+<div class="sidebar"><p><span style="float: left; font-size: 400%; line-height: 0.9em; padding-right: 0.1em;">P</span>erhaps it is a bit unethical and unusual for editors
+to voice their opinion of their own wares, but when such
+a story as "The Skylark of Space" comes along, we just feel
+as if we must shout from the housetops that this is the greatest
+interplanetarian and space flying story that has appeared
+this year. Indeed, it probably will rank as one of the great
+space flying stories for many years to come. The story is
+chock full, not only of excellent science, but woven through
+it there is also that very rare element, love and romance.
+This element in an interplanetarian story is often apt to be
+foolish, but it does not seem so in this particular story.</p>
+
+<p>We know so little about intra-atomic forces, that this
+story, improbable as it will appear in spots, will read commonplace
+years hence, when we have atomic engines, and
+when we have solved the riddle of the atom.</p>
+
+<p>You will follow the hair-raising explorations and strange
+ventures into far-away worlds with bated breath, and you
+will be fascinated, as we were, with the strangeness of it all.</p></div>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width:452px">
+<img src="images/001.jpg" width="452" height="600" alt="Cover Page" title="Cover Page" />
+</div>
+
+<hr />
+
+<h3>Table of Contents</h3>
+<div style="margin-left:15%;">
+<ul class="off">
+<li><a href="#CHAPTER_I"><b>CHAPTER I</b></a><span class="ralign"><a href="#Page_390">390</a></span></li>
+<li><a href="#CHAPTER_II"><b>CHAPTER II</b></a><span class="ralign"><a href="#Page_392">392</a></span></li>
+<li><a href="#CHAPTER_III"><b>CHAPTER III</b></a><span class="ralign"><a href="#Page_395">395</a></span></li>
+<li><a href="#CHAPTER_IV"><b>CHAPTER IV</b></a><span class="ralign"><a href="#Page_400">400</a></span></li>
+<li><a href="#CHAPTER_V"><b>CHAPTER V</b></a><span class="ralign"><a href="#Page_405">405</a></span></li>
+<li><a href="#CHAPTER_VI"><b>CHAPTER VI</b></a><span class="ralign"><a href="#Page_408">408</a></span></li>
+<li><a href="#CHAPTER_VII"><b>CHAPTER VII</b></a><span class="ralign"><a href="#Page_413">413</a></span></li>
+<li><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII"><b>CHAPTER VIII</b></a><span class="ralign"><a href="#Page_528">528</a></span></li>
+<li><a href="#CHAPTER_IX"><b>CHAPTER IX</b></a><span class="ralign"><a href="#Page_532">532</a></span></li>
+<li><a href="#CHAPTER_X"><b>CHAPTER X</b></a><span class="ralign"><a href="#Page_538">538</a></span></li>
+<li><a href="#CHAPTER_XI"><b>CHAPTER XI</b></a><span class="ralign"><a href="#Page_543">543</a></span></li>
+<li><a href="#CHAPTER_XII"><b>CHAPTER XII</b></a><span class="ralign"><a href="#Page_550">550</a></span></li>
+<li><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII"><b>CHAPTER XIII</b></a><span class="ralign"><a href="#Page_553">553</a></span></li>
+<li><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV"><b>CHAPTER XIV.</b></a><span class="ralign"><a href="#Page_610">610</a></span></li>
+<li><a href="#CHAPTER_XV"><b>CHAPTER XV.</b></a><span class="ralign"><a href="#Page_616">616</a></span></li>
+<li><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI"><b>CHAPTER XVI.</b></a><span class="ralign"><a href="#Page_621">621</a></span></li>
+<li><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII"><b>CHAPTER XVII.</b></a><span class="ralign"><a href="#Page_627">627</a></span></li>
+<li><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII"><b>CHAPTER XVIII</b></a><span class="ralign"><a href="#Page_631">631</a></span></li>
+<li><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX"><b>CHAPTER XIX</b></a><span class="ralign"><a href="#Page_635">635</a></span></li>
+</ul>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_390" id="Page_390">[390]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I</h2>
+
+<h3>The Occurrence of the Impossible</h3>
+
+
+<p>Petrified with astonishment, Richard
+Seaton stared after the copper steam-bath
+upon which he had been electrolyzing his
+solution of "X," the unknown metal. For
+as soon as he had removed the beaker the
+heavy bath had jumped endwise from under his hand as
+though it were alive. It had flown with terrific speed
+over the table, smashing apparatus and bottles of chemicals
+on its way, and was even now disappearing through
+the open window. He seized his prism binoculars and
+focused them upon the flying vessel, a speck in the distance.
+Through the glass he saw that it did not fall to
+the ground, but continued on in a straight line, only its
+rapidly diminishing size showing the enormous velocity
+with which it was moving. It grew smaller and smaller,
+and in a few moments disappeared utterly.</p>
+
+<p>The chemist turned as though in a trance. How was
+this? The copper bath he had used for months was
+gone&mdash;gone like a shot, with nothing to make it go.
+Nothing, that is, except an electric cell and a few drops
+of the unknown solution. He looked at the empty space
+where it had stood, at the broken glass covering his
+laboratory table, and again stared out of the window.</p>
+
+<p>He was aroused from his stunned inaction by the
+entrance of his colored laboratory
+helper, and silently
+motioned him to clean up
+the wreckage.</p>
+
+<p>"What's happened, Doctah?"
+asked the dusky assistant.</p>
+
+<p>"Search me, Dan. I wish
+I knew, myself," responded
+Seaton, absently, lost in
+wonder at the incredible
+phenomenon of which he
+had just been a witness.</p>
+
+<p>Ferdinand Scott, a chemist
+employed in the next
+room, entered breezily.</p>
+
+<p>"Hello, Dicky, thought I
+heard a racket in here," the
+newcomer remarked. Then
+he saw the helper busily mopping up the reeking mass
+of chemicals.</p>
+
+<p>"Great balls of fire!" he exclaimed. "What've you
+been celebrating? Had an explosion? How, what,
+and why?"</p>
+
+<p>"I can tell you the 'what,' and part of the 'how',"
+Seaton replied thoughtfully, "but as to the 'why,' I
+am completely in the dark. Here's all I know about
+it," and in a few words he related the foregoing incident.
+Scott's face showed in turn interest, amazement,
+and pitying alarm. He took Seaton by the arm.</p>
+
+<p>"Dick, old top, I never knew you to drink or dope,
+but this stuff sure came out of either a bottle or a
+needle. Did you see a pink serpent carrying it away?
+Take my advice, old son, if you want to stay in Uncle
+Sam's service, and lay off the stuff, whatever it is. It's
+bad enough to come down here so far gone that you
+wreck most of your apparatus and lose the rest of it,
+but to pull a yarn like that is going too far. The Chief
+will have to ask for your resignation, sure. Why don't
+you take a couple of days of your leave and straighten
+up?"</p>
+
+<p>Seaton paid no attention to him, and Scott returned
+to his own laboratory, shaking his head sadly.</p>
+
+<p>Seaton, with his mind in a whirl, walked slowly to
+his desk, picked up his blackened and battered briar pipe,
+and sat down to study out what he had done, or what
+could possibly have happened, to result in such an unbelievable
+infraction of all the laws of mechanics and
+gravitation. He knew that he was sober and sane, that
+the thing had actually happened. But why? And how?
+All his scientific training told him that it was impossible.
+It was unthinkable that an inert mass of metal should
+fly off into space without any applied force. Since it
+had actually happened, there must have been applied
+an enormous and hitherto unknown force. What was
+that force? The reason for
+this unbelievable manifestation
+of energy was certainly
+somewhere in the
+solution, the electrolytic
+cell, or the steam-bath.
+Concentrating all the power
+of his highly-trained analytical
+mind upon the problem&mdash;deaf
+and blind to everything
+else, as was his wont
+when deeply interested&mdash;he
+sat motionless, with his forgotten
+pipe clenched between
+his teeth. Hour after
+hour he sat there, while
+most of his fellow-chemists
+finished the day's work and
+left the building and the
+room slowly darkened with the coming of night.</p>
+
+<p>Finally he jumped up. Crashing his hand down upon
+the desk, he exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p>"I have liberated the intra-atomic energy of copper!
+Copper, 'X,' and electric current!</p>
+
+<p>"I'm sure a fool for luck!" he continued as a new
+thought struck him. "Suppose it had been liberated
+all at once? Probably blown the whole world off its
+hinges. But it wasn't: it was given off slowly and in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_392" id="Page_392">[392]</a></span>
+a straight line. Wonder why? Talk about power!
+Infinite! Believe me, I'll show this whole Bureau of
+Chemistry something to make their eyes stick out, tomorrow.
+If they won't let me go ahead and develop it,
+I'll resign, hunt up some more 'X', and do it myself.
+That bath is on its way to the moon right now, and
+there's no reason why I can't follow it. Martin's such
+a fanatic on exploration, he'll fall all over himself to
+build us any kind of a craft we'll need ... we'll explore
+the whole solar system! Great Cat, what a
+chance! A fool for luck is right!"</p>
+
+<p>He came to himself with a start. He switched on
+the lights and saw that it was ten o'clock. Simultaneously
+he recalled that he was to have had dinner
+with his fianc&eacute;e at her home, their first dinner since
+their engagement. Cursing himself for an idiot he
+hastily left the building, and soon his motorcycle was
+tearing up Connecticut Avenue toward his sweetheart's
+home.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II</h2>
+
+<h3>Steel Becomes Interested</h3>
+
+
+<p>Dr. Marc DuQuesne was in his laboratory,
+engaged in a research upon certain of the rare
+metals, particularly in regard to their electrochemical
+properties. He was a striking figure. Well
+over six feet tall, unusually broad-shouldered even for
+his height, he was plainly a man of enormous physical
+strength. His thick, slightly wavy hair was black.
+His eyes, only a trifle lighter in shade, were surmounted
+by heavy black eyebrows which grew together above
+his aquiline nose.</p>
+
+<p>Scott strolled into the room, finding DuQuesne leaning
+over a delicate electrical instrument, his forbidding
+but handsome face strangely illuminated by the ghastly
+glare of his mercury-vapor arcs.</p>
+
+<p>"Hello, Blackie," Scott began. "I thought it was
+Seaton in here at first. A fellow has to see your faces
+to tell you two apart. Speaking of Seaton, d'you think
+that he's quite right?"</p>
+
+<p>"I should say, off-hand, that he was a little out of
+control last night and this morning," replied DuQuesne,
+manipulating connections with his long, muscular fingers.
+"I don't think that he's insane, and I don't believe
+that he dopes&mdash;probably overwork and nervous strain.
+He'll be all right in a day or two."</p>
+
+<p>"I think he's a plain nut, myself. That sure was a
+wild yarn he sprung on us, wasn't it? His imagination
+was hitting on all twelve, that's sure. He seems to
+believe it himself, though, in spite of making a flat
+failure of his demonstration to us this morning. He
+saved that waste solution he was working on&mdash;what
+was left of that carboy of platinum residues after he
+had recovered all the values, you know&mdash;and got them
+to put it up at auction this noon. He resigned from
+the Bureau, and he and M. Reynolds Crane, that millionaire
+friend of his, bid it in for ten cents."</p>
+
+<p>"M. Reynolds Crane?" DuQuesne concealed a start
+of surprise. "Where does he come in on this?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, they're always together in everything. They've
+been thicker than Damon and Pythias for a long time.
+They play tennis together&mdash;they're doubles champions
+of the District, you know&mdash;and all kinds of things.
+Wherever you find one of them you'll usually find the
+other. Anyway, after they got the solution Crane took
+Seaton in his car, and somebody said they went out to
+Crane's house. Probably trying to humor him. Well,
+ta-ta; I've got a week's work to do yet today."</p>
+
+<p>As Scott left DuQuesne dropped his work and went
+to his desk, with a new expression, half of chagrin, half
+of admiration, on his face. Picking up his telephone,
+he called a number.</p>
+
+<p>"Brookings?" he asked, cautiously. "This is DuQuesne.
+I must see you immediately. There's something
+big started that may as well belong to us....
+No, can't say anything over the telephone.... Yes,
+I'll be right out."</p>
+
+<p>He left the laboratory and soon was in the private
+office of the head of the Washington or "diplomatic"
+branch, as it was known in certain circles, of the great
+World Steel Corporation. Offices and laboratories were
+maintained in the city, ostensibly for research work,
+but in reality to be near the center of political activity.</p>
+
+<p>"How do you do, Doctor DuQuesne?" Brookings
+said as he seated his visitor. "You seem excited."</p>
+
+<p>"Not excited, but in a hurry," DuQuesne replied.
+"The biggest thing in history has just broken, and we've
+got to work fast if we get in on it. Have you any
+doubts that I always know what I am talking about?"</p>
+
+<p>"No," answered the other in surprise. "Not the slightest.
+You are widely known as an able man. In fact,
+you have helped this company several times in various
+deal&mdash;er, in various ways."</p>
+
+<p>"Say it. Brookings. 'Deals' is the right word. This
+one is going to be the biggest ever. The beauty of it
+is that it should be easy&mdash;one simple burglary and an
+equally simple killing&mdash;and won't mean wholesale murder,
+as did that...."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, no, Doctor, not murder. Unavoidable accidents."</p>
+
+<p>"Why not call things by their right names and save
+breath, as long as we're alone? I'm not squeamish.
+But to get down to business. You know Seaton, of
+our division, of course. He has been recovering the
+various rare metals from all the residues that have
+accumulated in the Bureau for years. After separating
+out all the known metals he had something left, and
+thought it was a new element, a metal. In one of his
+attempts to get it into the metallic state, a little of its
+solution fizzed out and over a copper steam bath or tank,
+which instantly flew out of the window like a bullet.
+It went clear out of sight, out of range of his binoculars,
+just that quick." He snapped his fingers under Brookings'
+nose. "Now that discovery means such power as
+the world never dreamed of. In fact, if Seaton hadn't
+had all the luck in the world right with him yesterday,
+he would have blown half of North America off the
+map. Chemists have known for years that all matter
+contains enormous stores of intra-atomic energy, but
+have always considered it 'bound'&mdash;that is, incapable of
+liberation. Seaton has liberated it."</p>
+
+<p>"And that means?"</p>
+
+<p>"That with the process worked out, the Corporation<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_393" id="Page_393">[393]</a></span>
+could furnish power to the entire world, at very little
+expense."</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>A look of scornful unbelief passed over Brookings'
+face.</p>
+
+<p>"Sneer if you like," DuQuesne continued evenly.
+"Your ignorance doesn't change the fact in any particular.
+Do you know what intra-atomic energy is?"</p>
+
+<p>"I'm afraid that I don't, exactly."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, it's the force that exists between the ultimate
+component parts of matter, if you can understand that.
+A child ought to. Call in your chief chemist and ask
+him what would happen if somebody would liberate
+the intra-atomic energy of one hundred pounds of
+copper."</p>
+
+<p>"Pardon me, Doctor. I didn't presume to doubt you.
+I will call him in."</p>
+
+<p>He telephoned a request and soon a man in white
+appeared. In response to the question he thought for
+a moment, then smiled slowly.</p>
+
+<p>"If it were done instantaneously it would probably
+blow the entire world into a vapor, and might force it
+clear out of its orbit. If it could be controlled it would
+furnish millions of horsepower for a long time. But it
+can't be done. The energy is bound. Its liberation is
+an impossibility, in the same class with perpetual motion.
+Is that all, Mr. Brookings?"</p>
+
+<p>As the chemist left, Brookings turned again to his
+visitor, with an apologetic air.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know anything about these things myself,
+but Chambers, also an able man, says that it is impossible."</p>
+
+<p>"As far as he knows, he is right. I should have said
+the same thing this morning. But I do know about
+these things&mdash;they're my business&mdash;and I tell you that
+Seaton has done it."</p>
+
+<p>"This is getting interesting. Did you see it done?"</p>
+
+<p>"No. It was rumored around the Bureau last night
+that Seaton was going insane, that he had wrecked a
+lot of his apparatus and couldn't explain what had happened.
+This morning he called a lot of us into his
+laboratory, told us what I have just told you, and
+poured some of his solution on a copper wire. Nothing
+happened, and he acted as though he didn't know what
+to make of it. The foolish way he acted and the apparent
+impossibility of the whole thing, made everybody
+think him crazy. I thought so until I learned this afternoon
+that Mr. Reynolds Crane is backing him. Then I
+knew that he had told us just enough of the truth to
+let him get away clean with the solution."</p>
+
+<p>"But suppose the man <i>is</i> crazy?" asked Brookings.
+"He probably is a monomaniac, really insane on that
+one thing, from studying it so much."</p>
+
+<p>"Seaton? Yes, he's crazy&mdash;like a fox. You never
+heard of any insanity in Crane's family, though, did
+you? You know that he never invests a cent in anything
+more risky than Government bonds. You can bet
+your last dollar that Seaton showed him the real goods."
+Then, as a look of conviction appeared upon the other's
+face, he continued:</p>
+
+<p>"Don't you understand that the solution was Government
+property, and he had to do something to make
+everybody think it worthless, so that he could get title
+to it? That faked demonstration that failed was certainly
+a bold stroke&mdash;so bold that it was foolhardy. But
+it worked. It fooled even me, and I am not usually
+asleep. The only reason he got away with it, is, that he
+has always been such an open-faced talker, always telling
+everything he knew.</p>
+
+<p>"He certainly played the fox," he continued, with
+undisguised admiration. "Heretofore he has never kept
+any of his discoveries secret or tried to make any money
+out of them, though some of them were worth millions.
+He published them as soon as he found them, and somebody
+else got the money. Having that reputation, he
+worked it to make us think him a nut. He certainly is
+clever. I take off my hat to him&mdash;he's a wonder!"</p>
+
+<p>"And what is your idea? Where do we come in?"</p>
+
+<p>"You come in by getting that solution away from
+Seaton and Crane, and furnishing the money to develop
+the stuff and to build, under my direction, such a
+power-plant as the world never saw before."</p>
+
+<p>"Why get that particular solution? Couldn't we buy
+up some <ins class="corr" title="Transcriber's Note: The original read 'plantinum'.">platinum</ins> wastes and refine them?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not a chance," replied the scientist. "We have refined
+platinum residues for years, and never found anything
+like that before. It is my idea that the stuff,
+whatever it is, was present in some particular lot of
+platinum in considerable quantities as an impurity.
+Seaton hasn't all of it there is in the world, of course,
+but the chance of finding any more of it without knowing
+exactly what it is or how it reacts is extremely
+slight. Besides, we must have exclusive control. How
+could we make any money out of it if Crane operates a
+rival company and is satisfied with ten percent profit?
+No, we must get all of that solution. Seaton and Crane,
+or Seaton, at least, must be killed, for if he is left alive
+he can find more of the stuff and break our monopoly.
+I want to borrow your strong-arm squad tonight, to go
+and attend to it."</p>
+
+<p>After a few moments' thought, his face set and expressionless,
+Brookings said:</p>
+
+<p>"No, Doctor. I do not think that the Corporation
+would care to go into a matter of this kind. It is too
+flagrant a violation of law, and we can afford to buy it
+from Seaton after he proves its worth."</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>"Bah!" snorted DuQuesne. "Don't try that on me,
+Brookings. You think you can steal it yourself,
+and develop it without letting me in on it? You can't do
+it. Do you think I am fool enough to tell you all about
+it, with facts, figures, and names, if you could get away
+with it without me? Hardly! You can steal the solution,
+but that's all you can do. Your chemist or the expert
+you hire will begin experimenting without Seaton's
+lucky start, which I have already mentioned, but about
+which I haven't gone into any detail. He will have no
+information whatever, and the first attempt to do anything
+with the stuff will blow him and all the country
+around him for miles into an impalpable powder. You
+will lose your chemist, your solution, and all hope of
+getting the process. There are only two men in the
+United States, or in the world, for that matter, with
+brains enough and information enough to work it out.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_394" id="Page_394">[394]</a></span>
+One is Richard B. Seaton, the other is Marc C. DuQuesne.
+Seaton certainly won't handle it for you.
+Money can't buy him and Crane, and you know it. You
+must come to me. If you don't believe that now, you
+will very shortly, after you try it alone."</p>
+
+<p>Brookings, caught in his duplicity and half-convinced
+of the truth of DuQuesne's statements, still temporized.</p>
+
+<p>"You're modest, aren't you, Doctor?" he asked,
+smiling.</p>
+
+<p>"Modest? No," said the other calmly. "Modesty
+never got anybody anything but praise, and I prefer
+something more substantial. However, I never exaggerate
+or make over-statements, as you should know.
+What I have said is merely a statement of fact. Also,
+let me remind you that I am in a hurry. The difficulty
+of getting hold of that solution is growing greater every
+minute, and my price is getting higher every second."</p>
+
+<p>"What is your price at the present second?"</p>
+
+<p>"Ten thousand dollars per month during the experimental
+work; five million dollars in cash upon the successful
+operation of the first power unit, which shall
+be of not less than ten thousand horsepower; and ten
+percent of the profits."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, come, Doctor, let's be reasonable. You can't
+mean any such figures as those."</p>
+
+<p>"I never say anything I don't mean. I have done a
+lot of dirty work with you people before, and never got
+much of anything out of it. You were always too
+strong for me; that is, I couldn't force you without
+exposing my own crookedness, but now I've got you
+right where I want you. That's my price; take it or
+leave it. If you don't take it now, the first two of
+those figures will be doubled when you do come to me.
+I won't go to anybody else, though others would be glad
+to get it on my terms, because I have a reputation to
+maintain and you are the only ones who know that I
+am crooked. I know that my reputation is safe as
+long as I work with you, because I know enough about
+you to send all you big fellows, clear down to Perkins,
+away for life. I also know that that knowledge will
+not shorten my days, as I am too valuable a man for
+you to kill, as you did...."</p>
+
+<p>"Please, Doctor, don't use such language...."</p>
+
+<p>"Why not?" interrupted DuQuesne, in his cold, level
+voice. "It's all true. What do a few lives amount to,
+as long as they're not yours and mine? As I said, I
+can trust you, more or less. You can trust me, because
+you know that I can't send you up without going with
+you. Therefore, I am going to let you go ahead without
+me as far as you can&mdash;it won't be far. Do you
+want me to come in now or later?"</p>
+
+<p>"I'm afraid we can't do business on any such terms
+as that," said Brookings, shaking his head. "We can
+undoubtedly buy the power rights from Seaton for what
+you ask."</p>
+
+<p>"You don't fool me for a second, Brookings. Go
+ahead and steal the solution, but take my advice and
+give your chemist only a little of it. A very little of
+that stuff will go a long way, and you will want to have
+some left when you have to call me in. Make him experiment
+with extremely small quantities. I would
+suggest that he work in the woods at least a hundred
+miles from his nearest neighbor, though it matters nothing
+to me how many people you kill. That's the only
+pointer I will give you&mdash;I'm giving it merely to keep
+you from blowing up the whole country," he concluded
+with a grim smile. "Good-bye."</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>As the door closed behind the cynical scientist,
+Brookings took a small gold instrument, very
+like a watch, from his pocket. He touched a button
+and held the machine close to his lips.</p>
+
+<p>"Perkins," he said softly, "M. Reynolds Crane has
+in his house a bottle of solution."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir. Can you describe it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not exactly. It is greenish yellow in color, and I
+gather that it is in a small bottle, as there isn't much
+of the stuff in the world. I don't know what it smells
+or tastes like, and I wouldn't advise experimenting with
+it, as it seems to be a violent explosive and is probably
+poisonous. Any bottle of solution of that color kept in
+a particularly safe place would probably be the one.
+Let me caution you that this is the biggest thing you
+have ever been in, and <i>it must not fail</i>. Any effort to
+purchase it would be useless, however large a figure
+were named. But if the bottle were only partly emptied
+and filled up with water, I don't believe anyone would
+notice the difference, at least for some time, do you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Probably not, sir. Good-bye."</p>
+
+<p>Next morning, shortly after the office opened, Perkins,
+whose principal characteristic was that of absolute
+noiselessness, glided smoothly into Brookings' office.
+Taking a small bottle about half full of a greenish-yellow
+liquid from his pocket, he furtively placed it
+under some papers upon his superior's desk.</p>
+
+<p>"A man found this last night, sir, and thought it
+might belong to you. He said this was a little less than
+half of it, but that you could have the rest of it any
+time you want it."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you, Perkins, he was right. It is ours.
+Here's a letter which just came," handing him an envelope,
+which rustled as Perkins folded it into a small
+compass and thrust it into his vest pocket. "Good
+morning."</p>
+
+<p>As Perkins slid out, Brookings spoke into his telephone,
+and soon Chambers, his chief chemist, appeared.</p>
+
+<p>"Doctor Chambers," Brookings began, showing him
+the bottle, "I have here a solution which in some way is
+capable of liberating the intra-atomic energy of matter,
+about which I asked you yesterday. It works on copper.
+I would like to have you work out the process
+for us, if you will."</p>
+
+<p>"What about the man who discovered the process?"
+asked Chambers, as he touched the bottle gingerly.</p>
+
+<p>"He is not available. Surely what one chemist can
+do, others can? You will not have to work alone. You
+can hire the biggest men in the line to help you&mdash;expense
+is no object."</p>
+
+<p>"No, it wouldn't be, if such a process could be worked
+out. Let me see, whom can we get? Doctor Seaton is
+probably the best man in the country for such a research,
+but I don't think that we can get him. I tried
+to get him to work on the iridium-osmium problem, but
+he refused.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_395" id="Page_395">[395]</a></span><ins class="corr" title="Transcriber's Note: Double quote mark inserted.">"</ins></p>
+
+<p><ins class="corr" title="Transcriber's Note: Double quote mark inserted.">"</ins>We might make an offer big enough to get him."</p>
+
+<p>"No. Don't mention it to him," with a significant
+look. "He's to know nothing about it."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, then, how about DuQuesne, who was in here
+yesterday? He's probably next to Seaton."</p>
+
+<p>"I took it up with him yesterday. We can't get him,
+his figures are entirely out of reason. Aren't there any
+other men in the country who know anything? You
+are a good man, why don't you tackle it yourself?"</p>
+
+<p>"Because I don't know anything about that particular
+line of research, and I want to keep on living awhile
+longer," the chemist replied bluntly. "There are other
+good men whom I can get, however. Van Schravendyck,
+of our own laboratory, is nearly as good as either
+Seaton or DuQuesne. He has done a lot of work on
+radio-activity and that sort of thing, and I think he
+would like to work on it."</p>
+
+<p>"All right. Please get it started without delay. Give
+him about a quarter of the solution and have the rest
+put in the vault. Be sure that his laboratory is set up
+far enough away from everything else to avoid trouble
+in case of an explosion, and caution him not to work on
+too much copper at once. I gather that an ounce or so
+will be plenty."</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>The chemist went back to his laboratory and sought
+his first assistant.</p>
+
+<p>"Van," he began, "Mr. Brookings has been listening
+to some lunatic who claims to have solved the mystery
+of liberating intra-atomic energy."</p>
+
+<p>"That's old stuff," the assistant said, laughing. "That
+and perpetual motion are always with us. What did
+you tell him?"</p>
+
+<p>"I didn't get a chance to tell him anything&mdash;he told
+me. Yesterday, you know, he asked me what would
+happen if it could be liberated, and I answered truthfully
+that lots of things would happen, and volunteered
+the information that it was impossible. Just now he
+called me in, gave me this bottle of solution, saying that
+it contained the answer to the puzzle, and wanted me to
+work it out. I told him that it was out of my line and
+that I was afraid of it&mdash;which I would be if I thought
+there was anything in it&mdash;but that it was more or less
+in your line, and he said to put you on it right away.
+He also said that expense was no object; to set up an
+independent laboratory a hundred miles off in the
+woods, to be safe in case of an explosion; and to caution
+you not to use too much copper at once&mdash;that an
+<i>ounce or so</i> would be plenty!"</p>
+
+<p>"An ounce! Ten thousand tons of nitroglycerin!
+I'll say an ounce would be plenty, if the stuff is any
+good at all, which of course it isn't. Queer, isn't it,
+how the old man would fall for anything like that?
+How did he explain the failure of the discoverer to develop
+it himself?"</p>
+
+<p>"He said the discoverer is not available," answered
+Chambers with a laugh. "I'll bet he isn't available&mdash;he's
+back in St. Elizabeth's again by this time, where he
+came from. I suggested that we get either Seaton or
+DuQuesne of Rare Metals to help us on it, and he said
+that they had both refused to touch it, or words to that
+effect. If those two turned down a chance to work on
+a thing as big as this would be, there probably is nothing
+in this particular solution that is worth a rap. But
+what Brookings says goes, around here, so it's you for
+the woods. And don't take any chances, either&mdash;it is
+conceivable that something might happen."</p>
+
+<p>"Sure it might, but it won't. We'll set up that lab
+near a good trout stream, and I'll have a large and
+juicy vacation. I'll work on the stuff a little, too&mdash;enough
+to make a good report, at least. I'll analyze it,
+find out what is in it, deposit it on some copper, shoot
+an electrolytic current through it, and make a lot of
+wise motions generally, and have a darn good time
+besides."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III</h2>
+
+<h3>Seaton Solves the Problem of Power</h3>
+
+
+<p>"Well, Mart," said Seaton briskly, "now that
+the Seaton-Crane Company, Engineers, is organized
+to your satisfaction, let's hop to it.
+I suppose I'd better beat it downtown and hunt up a
+place to work?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why not work here?"</p>
+
+<p>"Your house? You don't want this kind of experimenting
+going on around here, do you? Suppose a
+chunk of the stuff gets away from me and tears the
+side out of the house?"</p>
+
+<p>"This house is the logical place to work. I already
+have a complete machine shop and testing laboratory
+out in the hangar, and we can easily fit up a chemical
+laboratory for you up in the tower room. You can
+have open windows on four sides there, and if you
+should accidentally take out the wall there will be little
+damage done. We will be alone here, with the few
+neighbors so thoroughly accustomed to my mechanical
+experiments that they are no longer curious."</p>
+
+<p>"Fine. There's another good thing, too. Your man
+Shiro. He's been with you in so many tight pinches
+in all the unknown corners of the world on your hunting
+trips and explorations that we can trust him, and
+he'll probably come in handy."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, we can trust him implicitly. As you know, he
+is really my friend instead of my man."</p>
+
+<p>During the next few days, while workmen were installing
+a complete chemical laboratory in the tower
+room, Seaton busied himself in purchasing the equipment
+necessary for the peculiar problem before him.
+His list was long and varied, ranging from a mighty
+transformer, capable of delivering thousands of kilovolts
+down to a potentiometer, so sensitive that it would
+register the difference of potential set up by two men in
+shaking hands.</p>
+
+<p>From daylight until dark Seaton worked in the
+laboratory, either alone or superintending and assisting
+the men at work there. Every night when Crane
+went to bed he saw Seaton in his room in a haze of
+smoke, poring over blueprints or, surrounded by <ins class="corr" title="Transcriber's Note: The original read 'abstruce'.">abstruse</ins>
+works upon the calculus and sub-atomic phenomena,
+making interminable calculations.</p>
+
+<p>Less than two miles away lived Dorothy Vaneman,
+who had promised to be his wife. He had seen her but
+once since "the impossible" had happened, since his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_396" id="Page_396">[396]</a></span>
+prosaic copper steam-bath had taken flight under his
+hand and pointed the way to a great adventure. In a
+car his friend was to build, moved by this stupendous
+power which he must learn to control, they would traverse
+interstellar space&mdash;visit strange planets and survey
+strange solar systems.</p>
+
+<p>While he did not forget his sweetheart&mdash;the thought
+of her was often in his mind, and the fact that her
+future was so intimately connected with his own gave
+to every action a new meaning&mdash;he had such a multitude
+of things to do and was so eager to get them all done at
+once that day after day went by and he could not
+find time to call upon her.</p>
+
+<p>Crane remonstrated in vain. His protests against
+Seaton's incessant work had no effect. Seaton insisted
+that he <i>must</i> fix firmly just a few more points before
+they eluded him, and stuck doggedly to his task.</p>
+
+<p>Finally, Crane laid his work aside and went to call
+upon the girl. He found her just leaving home, and
+fell into step beside her. For awhile she tried to rouse
+herself to be entertaining, or at least friendly, but the
+usual ease with which she chatted had deserted her, and
+her false gayety did not deceive the keen-minded Crane
+for an instant. Soon the two were silent as they walked
+along together. Crane's thoughts were on the beautiful
+girl beside him, and on the splendid young genius under
+his roof, so deeply immersed in his problem that he was
+insensible to everything else.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>"I have just left Dick," Crane said suddenly, and
+paying no attention to her startled glance. "Did
+you ever in your life see anyone with his singleness of
+purpose? With all his brilliance, one idea at a time is
+all that he seems capable of&mdash;though that is probably
+why he is such a genius. He is working himself insane.
+Has he told you about leaving the Bureau?"</p>
+
+<p>"No. Has he? Has it anything to do with what
+happened that day at the laboratory? I haven't seen
+him since the accident, or discovery, whichever it was,
+happened. He came to see me at half-past ten, when he
+was invited for dinner&mdash;oh, Martin, I had been <i>so</i>
+angry!&mdash;and he told such a preposterous story, I've
+been wondering since if I didn't dream it."</p>
+
+<p>"No, you didn't dream it, no matter how wild it
+sounded. He said it, and it is all true. I cannot explain
+it to you; Dick himself cannot explain it, even to me.
+But I can give you an idea of what we both think it
+may come to."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, do."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, he has discovered something that makes copper
+act mighty queer&mdash;knocks it off its feet, so to speak.
+That day a piece went up and never did come down."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, that is what is so preposterous!"</p>
+
+<p>"Just a moment, please," replied the imperturbable
+Crane. "You should know that nothing ordinary can
+account for Dick's behavior, and after what I have seen
+this last week I shall never again think anything preposterous.
+As I said, this piece of copper departed, <i>via</i>
+the window, for scenes unknown. As far as a pair of
+good binoculars could follow it, it held to a perfectly
+straight course toward those scenes. We intend to
+follow it in some suitable vehicle."</p>
+
+<p>He paused, looking at his companion's face, but she
+did not speak.</p>
+
+<p>"Building the conveyance is where I come in," he
+continued in his matter-of-fact voice. "As you know, I
+happen to have almost as much money as Dick has
+brains, and some day, before the summer is over, we
+expect to go somewhere. We do not know where, but
+it will be a long way from this earth."</p>
+
+<p>There was a silence, then Dorothy said, helplessly:</p>
+
+<p>"Well, go on.... I can't understand...."</p>
+
+<p>"Neither can I. All I know is that Dick wants
+to build a heavy steel hull, and he is going to put something
+inside it that will take us out into space. Only
+occasionally do I see a little light as he tries to explain
+the mechanism of the thing to me."</p>
+
+<p>After enjoining upon her the strictest secrecy he
+repeated the story that Seaton had told him, and informed
+her as to the present condition of affairs.</p>
+
+<p>"It's no wonder the other chemists thought he was
+crazy, is it, Martin?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, especially after the failure of his demonstration
+the next morning. You see, he tried to prove to the
+others that he was right, and nothing happened. He
+has found out since that an electrical machine in another
+room, which was not running that morning, played a
+very important part. When the copper refused to act
+as it had the night before they all took the snap judgment
+that he had suffered an attack of temporary insanity,
+and that the solution was worthless. They called
+him 'Nobody Holme'."</p>
+
+<p>"It almost fits, at that!" exclaimed Dorothy,
+laughing.</p>
+
+<p>"But if he thought of that," she added, thoughtfully,
+"if he was brilliant enough to build up such a wonderful
+theory ... think out such a thing as actually traveling
+to the stars ... all on such a slight foundation of
+fact ... I wonder why he couldn't have told me?"</p>
+
+<p>She hadn't meant to utter the last thought. Nobody
+must know how being left out of it had hurt her, and
+she would have recalled the words if she could. Crane
+understood, and answered loyally.</p>
+
+<p>"He will tell you all about it very soon, never fear.
+His is the mind of a great scientist, working on a subject
+of which but very few men have even an inkling.
+I am certain that the only reason he thought of me is
+that he could not finance the investigation alone. Never
+think for an instant that his absorption implies a lack
+of fondness for you. You are his anchor, his only hold
+on known things. In fact, it was about this that I came
+to see you. Dick is working himself at a rate that not
+even a machine can stand. He eats hardly anything,
+and if he sleeps at all, I have never caught him at it.
+That idea is driving him day and night, and if he goes
+on the way he is going, it means a breakdown. I do not
+know whether you can make him listen to reason or not&mdash;certainly
+no one else can. If you think you can do it,
+that is to be your job, and it will be the biggest one of
+the three."</p>
+
+<p>"How well you understand him," Dorothy said, after
+a pause. "You make me feel ashamed, Martin. I
+should have known without being told. Then I wouldn't
+have had these nasty little doubts about him."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_397" id="Page_397">[397]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"I should call them perfectly natural, considering the
+circumstances," he answered. "Men with minds like
+Dick's are rare. They work on only one track. Your
+part will be hard. He will come to you, bursting with
+news and aching to tell you all about his theories and
+facts and calculations, and you must try to take his
+mind off the whole thing and make him think of something
+else. It looks impossible to me."</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>The smile had come back to Dorothy's face. Her
+head, graced by its wealth of gleaming auburn hair,
+was borne proudly, and glancing mischief lit her violet
+eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"Didn't you just tell me nothing is impossible? You
+know, Martin, that I can make Dicky forget everything,
+even interstellar&mdash;did I get that word right?&mdash;space
+itself, with my violin."</p>
+
+<p>"Trying to beguile a scientist from his hobby is comparable
+only to luring a drug addict away from his vice
+... but I would not be surprised if you could do it," he
+slowly replied.</p>
+
+<p>For he had heard her play. She and Seaton had been
+caught near his home by a sudden shower while on
+horseback, and had dashed in for shelter. While the
+rain beat outside and while Shiro was preparing one of
+his famous suppers, Crane had suggested that she pass
+the time by playing his "fiddle." Dorothy realized, with
+the first sweep of the bow, that she was playing a
+Stradivarius, the like of which she had played before
+only in her dreams. She forgot her listeners, forgot
+the time and the place, and poured out in her music all
+the beauty and tenderness of her nature. Soft and full
+the tones filled the room, and in Crane's vision there
+rose a home filled with happy work, with laughter and
+companionship, with playing children who turned their
+faces to their mother as do flowers to the light. Sensing
+the girl's dreams as the music filled his ears, he
+realized as never before in his busy, purposeful life
+how beautiful a home with the right woman could be.
+No thought of love for Dorothy entered his mind, for
+he knew that the love existing between her and his
+friend was of the kind that nothing could alter, but he
+felt that she had unwittingly given him a great gift.
+Often thereafter in his lonely hours he had imagined
+that dream-home, and nothing less than its perfection
+would ever satisfy him.</p>
+
+<p>For a time they walked on in silence. On Dorothy's
+face was a tender look, the reflection of her happy
+thoughts, and in Crane's mind floated again the vision
+of his ideal home, the home whose central figure he was
+unable to visualize. At last she turned and placed her
+hand on his arm.</p>
+
+<p>"You have done a great deal for me&mdash;for us," she
+said simply. "I wish there were something I could do
+for you in return."</p>
+
+<p>"You have already done much more than that for me,
+Dorothy," he answered, more slowly even than usual.
+"It is hard for me to express just what it is, but I want
+you to know that you and Dick mean much to me....
+You are the first real woman I have ever known, and
+some day, if life is good to me, I hope to have some
+girl as lovely care for me."</p>
+
+<p>Dorothy's sensitive face flushed warmly. So unexpected
+and sincere was his praise that it made her
+feel both proud and humble. She had never realized
+that this quiet, apparently unimaginative man had seen
+all the ideals she expressed in her music. A woman
+expects to appear lovely to her lover, and to the men
+who would be her lovers if they could, but here was a
+man who neither sought nor expected any favors, saying
+that he wanted some girl as lovely for his own.
+Truly it was a compliment to be cherished.</p>
+
+<p>After they had returned to the house and Crane had
+taken his departure, Dorothy heard the purr of a rapidly
+approaching motorcycle, and her heart leaped as
+she went to the door to welcome her lover.</p>
+
+<p>"It seems like a month since I saw you last, sweetheart!"
+he exclaimed, as he lifted her clear from the
+floor in a passionate embrace and kissed in turn her
+lips, her eyes, the tip of her nose, the elusive dimple in
+her cheek, and the adorable curve of her neck.</p>
+
+<p>"It seems longer than that to me, Dicky. I was perfectly
+miserable until Martin called this afternoon and
+explained what you have been doing."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I met him on the way over. But honestly,
+Dottie, I simply couldn't get away. I wanted to, the
+worst way, but everything went so slow...."</p>
+
+<p>"Slow? When you have a whole laboratory installed
+in a week? What would you call speed?"</p>
+
+<p>"About two days. And then, there were a lot of
+little ideas that had to be nailed down before they got
+away from me. This is a horribly big job, Dottie, and
+when a fellow gets into it he can't quit. But you know
+that I love you just the same, even though I do appear
+to neglect you," he continued with fierce intensity. <ins class="corr" title="Transcriber's Note: Double quote mark inserted.">"</ins>I
+love you with everything there is in me. I love you,
+mind, body and spirit; love you as a man should love
+the one and only woman. For you are the only woman,
+there never was and never will be another. I love you
+morally, physically, intellectually, and every other way
+there is, for the perfect little darling that you are."</p>
+
+<p>She moved in his embrace and her arms tightened
+about his neck.</p>
+
+<p>"You are the nearest thing to absolute perfection that
+ever came into this imperfect world," he continued.
+"Just to think of a girl of your sheer beauty, your
+ability, your charm, your all-round perfection, being
+engaged to a thing like me, makes me dizzy&mdash;but I sure
+do love you, little girl of mine. I will love you as long
+as we live, and afterward, my soul will love your soul
+throughout eternity. You know that, sweetheart girl."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Dick!" she whispered, her soul shaken with response
+to his love. "I never dreamed it possible for a
+woman to love as I love you. 'Whither thou goest....'"</p>
+
+<p>Her voice failed in the tempest of her emotion, and
+they clung together in silence.</p>
+
+<p>They were finally interrupted by Dorothy's stately
+and gracious mother, who came in to greet Seaton and
+invite him to have dinner with them.</p>
+
+<p>"I knew that Dot would forget such an unimportant
+matter," she said, with a glint of Dorothy's own mischief
+in her eyes.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>As they went into the dining-room Dorothy was
+amazed to see the changes that six days had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_398" id="Page_398">[398]</a></span>
+wrought in Seaton. His face looked thin, almost haggard.
+Fine lines had made their appearance at the corners
+of his eyes and around his mouth, and faint but
+unmistakable blue rings encircled his eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"You have been working too hard, boy," she reproved
+him gravely.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, no," he rejoined lightly. "I'm all right, I never
+felt better. Why, I could whip a rattlesnake right now,
+and give him the first bite!"</p>
+
+<p>She laughed at his reply, but the look of concern did
+not leave her face. As soon as they were seated at the
+table she turned to her father, a clean-cut, gray-haired
+man of fifty, known as one of the shrewdest attorneys
+in the city.</p>
+
+<p>"Daddy," she demanded, "what do you mean by being
+elected director in the Seaton-Crane Company and
+not telling me anything about it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Daughter," he replied in the same tone, "what do
+you mean by asking such a question as that? Don't
+you know that it is a lawyer's business to get information,
+and to give it out only to paying clients? However,
+I can tell you all I know about the Seaton-Crane
+Company without adding to your store of knowledge at
+all. I was present at one meeting, gravely voted 'aye'
+once, and that is all."</p>
+
+<p>"Didn't you draw up the articles of incorporation?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am doing it, yes; but they don't mean anything.
+They merely empower the Company to do anything it
+wants to, the same as other large companies do." Then,
+after a quick but searching glance at Seaton's worn face
+and a warning glance at his daughter, he remarked:</p>
+
+<p>"I read in the <i>Star</i> this evening that Enright and
+Stanwix will probably make the Australian Davis Cup
+team, and that the Hawaiian with the unpronounceable
+name has broken three or four more world's records.
+What do you think of our tennis chances this year,
+Dick?"</p>
+
+<p>Dorothy flushed, and the conversation, steered by
+the lawyer into the safer channels, turned to tennis,
+swimming, and other sports. Seaton, whose plate was
+unobtrusively kept full by Mr. Vaneman, ate such a
+dinner as he had not eaten in weeks. After the meal
+was over they all went into the spacious living-room,
+where the men ensconced themselves in comfortable
+Morris chairs with long, black cigars between their
+teeth, and all four engaged in a spirited discussion of
+various topics of the day. After a time, the older couple
+left the room, the lawyer going into his study to
+work, as he always did in the evening.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, Dicky, how's everything?" Dorothy asked,
+unthinkingly.</p>
+
+<p>The result of this innocent question was astonishing.
+Seaton leaped to his feet. The problem, dormant for
+two hours, was again in complete possession of his
+mind.</p>
+
+<p>"Rotten!" he snapped, striding back and forth and
+brandishing his half-smoked cigar. "My head is so
+thick that it takes a thousand years for an idea to filter
+into it. I should have the whole thing clear by this
+time, but I haven't. There's something, some little factor,
+that I can't get. I've almost had it a dozen times,
+but it always gets away from me. I know that the
+force is there and I can liberate it, but I can't work out
+a system of control until I can understand exactly why
+it acts the way it does." Then, more slowly, thinking
+aloud rather than addressing the girl:</p>
+
+<p>"The force is attraction toward all matter, generated
+by the vibrations of all the constituent electrons in
+parallel planes. It is directed along a line perpendicular
+to the plane of vibration at its center, and approaches
+infinity as the angle theta approaches the limit of Pi
+divided by two. Therefore, by shifting the axis of
+rotation or the plane of vibration thus making theta
+vary between the limits of zero and Pi divided by
+two...."</p>
+
+<p>He was interrupted by Dorothy, who, mortified by
+her thoughtlessness in getting him started, had sprung
+up and seized him by the arm.</p>
+
+<p>"Sit down, Dicky!" she implored. "Sit down,
+you're rocking the boat! Save your mathematics for
+Martin. Don't you know that I could never find out
+why 'x' was equal to 'y' or to anything else in algebra?"</p>
+
+<p>She led him back to his chair, where he drew her
+down to a seat on the arm beside him.</p>
+
+<p>"Whom do you love?" she whispered gayly in his
+ear.</p>
+
+<p>After a time she freed herself.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>"I haven't practised today. Don't you want me
+to play for you a little?"</p>
+
+<p>"Fine business, Dottie. When you play a violin, it
+talks."</p>
+
+<p>She took down her violin and played; first his favorites,
+crashing selections from operas and solos by the
+great masters, abounding in harmonies on two strings.
+Then she changed to reveries and soft, plaintive melodies.
+Seaton listened with profound enjoyment. Under
+the spell of the music he relaxed, pushed out the footrest
+of the chair, and lay back at ease, smoking dreamily.
+The cigar finished and his hands at rest, his eyes
+closed of themselves. The music, now a crooning
+lullaby, grew softer and slower, until his deep and
+regular breathing showed that he was sound asleep.
+She stopped playing and sat watching him intently, her
+violin in readiness to play again, if he should show the
+least sign of waking, but there was no such sign. Freed
+from the tyranny of the mighty brain which had been
+driving it so unmercifully, his body was making up for
+many hours of lost sleep.</p>
+
+<p>Assured that he was really asleep, Dorothy tip-toed
+to her father's study and quietly went in.</p>
+
+<p>"Daddy, Dick is asleep out there in the chair. What
+shall we do with him?"</p>
+
+<p>"Good work, Dottie Dimple. I heard you playing
+him to sleep&mdash;you almost put me to sleep as well. I'll
+get a blanket and we'll put him to bed right where
+he is."</p>
+
+<p>"Dear old Dad," she said softly, sitting on the arm
+of his chair and rubbing her cheek against his. "You
+always did understand, didn't you?"</p>
+
+<p>"I try to, Kitten," he answered, pulling her ear.
+"Seaton is too good a man to see go to pieces when it
+can be prevented. That is why I signalled you to keep
+the talk off the company and his work. One of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_399" id="Page_399">[399]</a></span>
+best lawyers I ever knew, a real genius, went to pieces
+that same way. He was on a big, almost an impossible,
+case. He couldn't think of anything else, didn't eat or
+sleep much for months. He won the case, but it broke
+him. But he wasn't in love with a big, red-headed
+beauty of a girl, and so didn't have her to fiddle him to
+sleep.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I'll go get the blanket," he concluded, with a
+sudden change in his tone.</p>
+
+<p>In a few moments he returned and they went into the
+living-room together. Seaton lay in exactly the same
+position, only the regular lifting of his powerful chest
+showing that he was alive.</p>
+
+<p>"I think we had better...."</p>
+
+<p>"Sh ... sh," interrupted the girl in an intense whisper.
+"You'll wake him up, Daddy."</p>
+
+<p>"Bosh! You couldn't wake him up with a club. His
+own name might rouse him, particularly if you said it;
+no other ordinary sound would. I started to say that I
+think we had better put him to bed on the davenport.
+He would be more comfortable."</p>
+
+<p>"But that would surely wake him. And he's so
+big...."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, no, it wouldn't, unless I drop him on the floor.
+And he doesn't weigh much over two hundred, does
+he?"</p>
+
+<p>"About ten or eleven pounds."</p>
+
+<p>"Even though I am a lawyer, and old and decrepit,
+I can still handle that much."</p>
+
+<p>With Dorothy anxiously watching the proceeding and
+trying to help, Vaneman picked Seaton up out of the
+chair, with some effort, and carried him across the
+room. The sleeping man muttered as if in protest at
+being disturbed, but made no other sign of consciousness.
+The lawyer then calmly removed Seaton's shoes
+and collar, while the girl arranged pillows under his
+head and tucked the blanket around him. Vaneman
+bent a quizzical glance upon his daughter, under which
+a flaming blush spread from her throat to her hair.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," she said, defiantly, "I'm going to, anyway."</p>
+
+<p>"My dear, of course you are. If you didn't, I would
+disown you."</p>
+
+<p>As her father turned away, Dorothy knelt beside her
+lover and pressed her lips tightly to his.</p>
+
+<p>"Good night, sweetheart," she murmured.</p>
+
+<p>"'Night," he muttered in his sleep, as his lips responded
+faintly to her caress.</p>
+
+<p>Vaneman waited for his daughter, and when she appeared,
+the blush again suffusing her face, he put his
+arm around her.</p>
+
+<p>"Dorothy," he said at the door of her room, using
+her full name, a very unusual thing for him, "the father
+of such a girl as you are hates to lose her, but I advise
+you to stick to that boy. Believe in him and trust him,
+no matter what happens. He is a real man."</p>
+
+<p>"I know it, Dad ... thank you. I had a touch of
+the blues today, but I never will again. I think more
+of his little finger than I do of all the other men I ever
+knew, put together. But how do you know him so
+well? I know him, of course, but that's different."</p>
+
+<p>"I have various ways of getting information. I know
+Dick Seaton better than you do&mdash;better than he knows
+himself. I have known all about every man who ever
+looked at you twice. I have been afraid once or twice
+that I would have to take a hand, but you saw them
+right, just as you see Seaton right. For some time I
+have been afraid of the thought of your marrying, the
+young men in your social set are such a hopeless lot,
+but I am not any more. When I hand my little girl
+over to her husband next October I can be really happy
+with you, instead of anxious for you. That's how well
+I know Richard Seaton.... Well, good night, daughter
+mine."</p>
+
+<p>"Good night, Daddy dear," she replied, throwing her
+arms around his neck. "I have the finest Dad a girl
+ever had, and the finest ... boy. Good night."</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>It was three o'clock the following afternoon when
+Seaton appeared in the laboratory. His long rest
+had removed all the signs of overwork and he was his
+alert, vigorous self, but when Crane saw him and called
+out a cheery greeting he returned it with a sheepish
+smile.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't say anything, Martin&mdash;I'm thinking it all,
+and then some. I made a regular fool of myself last
+night. Went to sleep in a chair and slept seventeen
+hours without a break. I never felt so cheap in my
+life."</p>
+
+<p>"You were worn out, Dick, and you know it. That
+sleep put you on your feet again, and I hope you will
+have sense enough to take care of yourself after this.
+I warn you now, Dick, that if you start any more of
+that midnight work I will simply call Dorothy over here
+and have her take charge of you."</p>
+
+<p>"That's it, Mart, rub it in. Don't you see that I am
+flat on my back, with all four paws in the air? But
+I'm going to sleep every night. I promised Dottie to
+go to bed not later than twelve, if I have to quit right
+in the middle of an idea, and I told her that I was
+coming out to see her every other evening and every
+Sunday. But here's the dope. I've got that missing
+factor in my theory&mdash;got it while I was eating breakfast
+this afternoon."</p>
+
+<p>"If you had eaten and slept regularly here and kept
+yourself fit you would have seen it before."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I guess that's right, too. If I miss a meal or a
+sleep from now on I want you to sand-bag me. But
+never mind that. Here's the explanation. We doped
+out before, you know, that the force is something like
+magnetism, and is generated when the coil causes the
+electrons of this specially-treated copper to vibrate in
+parallel planes. The knotty point was what could be
+the effect of a weak electric current in liberating the
+power. I've got it! It shifts the plane of vibration of
+the electrons!"</p>
+
+<p>"It is impossible to shift that plane, Dick. It is
+fixed by physical state, just as speed is fixed by temperature."</p>
+
+<p>"No, it isn't. That is, it usually is, but in this case it
+may be shifted. Here's the mathematical proof."</p>
+
+<p>So saying, Seaton went over to the drafting table,
+tacked down a huge sheet of paper, and sketched rapidly,
+explaining as he drew. Soon the two men were
+engaged in a profound mathematical argument. Sheet<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_400" id="Page_400">[400]</a></span>
+after sheet of paper was filled with equations and calculations,
+and the table was covered with reference
+books. After two hours of intense study and hot discussion
+Crane's face took on a look of dawning comprehension,
+which changed to amazement and then to
+joy. For the first time in Seaton's long acquaintance
+with him, his habitual calm was broken.</p>
+
+<p>"By George!" he cried, shaking Seaton's hand in
+both of his. "I think you have it! But how under the
+sun did you get the idea? That calculus isn't in any of
+the books. Where did you get it? Dick, you're a
+wonder!"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know how I got the idea, it merely came to
+me. But that Math is right&mdash;it's <i>got</i> to be right, no
+other conclusion is possible. Now, if that calc. is right,
+and I know it is, do you see how narrow the permissible
+limits of shifting are? Look at equation 236. Believe
+me, I sure was lucky, that day in the Bureau. It's a
+wonder I didn't blow up the whole works. Suppose I
+hadn't been working with a storage cell that gave only
+four amperes at two volts? That's unusually low, you
+know, for that kind of work."</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>Crane carefully studied the equation referred to
+and figured for a moment.</p>
+
+<p>"In that case the limit would be exactly eight watts.
+Anything above that means instant decomposition?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes."</p>
+
+<p>Crane whistled, a long, low whistle.</p>
+
+<p>"And that bath weighed forty pounds&mdash;enough to
+vaporize the whole planet. Dick, it cannot be possible."</p>
+
+<p>"It doesn't seem that way, but it is. It certainly
+makes me turn cold all over, though, to think of what
+might have happened. You know now why I wouldn't
+touch the solution again until I had this stuff worked
+out?"</p>
+
+<p>"I certainly do. You should be even more afraid of
+it now. I don't mind nitroglycerin or T.N.T., but anything
+like that is merely a child's plaything compared to
+this. Perhaps we had better drop it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not in seven thousand years. The mere fact that I
+was so lucky at first proves that Fate intended this
+thing to be my oyster. However, I'll not tempt the old
+lady any farther. I'm going to start with one millionth
+of a volt, and will use a piece of copper visible
+only under a microscope. But there's absolutely no
+danger, now that we know what it is. I can make it
+eat out of my hand. Look at this equation here,
+though. That being true, it looks as though you could
+get the same explosive effect by taking a piece of copper
+which had once been partially decomposed and subjecting
+it to some force, say an extremely heavy current.
+Again under the influence of the coil, a small current
+would explode it, wouldn't it?"</p>
+
+<p>"It looks that way, from those figures."</p>
+
+<p>"Say, wouldn't that make some bullet? Unstabilize
+a piece of copper in that way and put it inside a rifle
+bullet, arranged to make a short circuit on impact. By
+making the piece of copper barely visible you could have
+the explosive effect of only a few sticks of dynamite&mdash;a
+piece the size of a pea would obliterate New York
+City. But that's a long way from our flying-machine."</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps not so far as you think. When we explore
+new worlds it might be a good idea to have a liberal
+supply of such ammunition, of various weights, for
+emergencies."</p>
+
+<p>"It might, at that. Here's another point in equation
+249. Suppose the unstabilized copper were treated with
+a very weak current, not strong enough to explode it?
+A sort of borderline condition? The energy would be
+liberated, apparently, but in an entirely new way. Wonder
+what would happen? I can't see from the theory&mdash;have
+to work it out. And here's another somewhat
+similar condition, right here, that will need investigating.
+I've sure got a lot of experimental work ahead of
+me before I'll know anything. How're things going
+with you?"</p>
+
+<p>"I have the drawings and blue-prints of the ship
+itself done, and working sketches of the commercial
+power-plant. I am working now on the details, such
+as navigating instruments, food, water, and air supplies,
+special motors, and all of the hundred and one little
+things that must be taken into consideration. Then,
+as soon as you get the power under control, we will
+have only to sketch in the details of the power-plant
+and its supports before we can begin construction."</p>
+
+<p>"Fine, Mart, that's great. Well, let's get busy!"</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a><ins class="corr" title="Transcriber's Note: The original read 'CHAPTE'.">CHAPTER</ins> IV</h2>
+
+<h3>Steel Liberates Energy&mdash;Unexpectedly</h3>
+
+
+<p>DuQuesne was in his laboratory, poring over
+an abstruse article in a foreign journal of science,
+when Scott came breezily in with a newspaper
+in his hand, across the front page of which
+stretched great headlines.</p>
+
+<p>"Hello, Blackie!" he called. "Come down to earth
+and listen to this tale of mystery from that world-renowned
+fount of exactitude and authority, the <i>Washington
+Clarion</i>. Some miscreant has piled up and
+touched off a few thousand tons of T.N.T. and picric
+acid up in the hills. Read about it, it's good."</p>
+
+<p>DuQuesne read:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<h4>MYSTERIOUS EXPLOSION!</h4>
+<hr style="width: 15%;" />
+<h4 class="smcap">Mountain Village Wiped Out of Existence!<br />
+Two Hundred Dead, None Injured!</h4>
+<hr style="width: 15%;" />
+<h4 class="smcap">Force Felt All Over World. Cause Unknown.<br />
+Scientists Baffled.</h4>
+<hr style="width: 15%;" />
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Harper's Ferry</span>. March 26.&mdash;At 10: 23 A.M.
+today, the village of Bankerville, about thirty miles
+north of this place, was totally destroyed by an
+explosion of such terrific violence that seismographs
+all over the world recorded the shock, and
+that windows were shattered even in this city. A
+thick pall of dust and smoke was observed in the
+sky and parties set out immediately. They found,
+instead of the little mountain village, nothing except
+an immense, crater-like hole in the ground,
+some two miles in diameter and variously estimated
+at from two to three thousand feet deep. No survivors<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_401" id="Page_401">[401]</a></span>
+have been found, no bodies have been recovered.
+The entire village, with its two hundred
+inhabitants, has been wiped out of existence. Not
+so much as a splinter of wood or a fragment of
+brick from any of the houses can be found. Scientists
+are unable to account for the terrific force
+of the explosion, which far exceeded that of the
+most violent explosive known.</p></div>
+
+<p>"Hm ... m. That sounds reasonable, doesn't it?"
+asked DuQuesne, sarcastically, as he finished reading.</p>
+
+<p>"It sure does," replied Scott, grinning. "What'd'you
+suppose it was? Think the reporter heard a tire blow
+out on Pennsylvania Avenue?"</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps. Nothing to it, anyway," as he turned
+back to his work.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as the visitor had gone a sneering smile
+spread over DuQuesne's face and he picked up his telephone.</p>
+
+<p>"The <ins class="corr" title="Transcriber's Note: The original read 'food'.">fool</ins> did it. That will cure him of sucking
+eggs!" he muttered. "Operator? DuQuesne speaking.
+I am expecting a call this afternoon. Please ask him
+to call me at my house.... Thank you."</p>
+
+<p>"Fred," he called to his helper, "if anyone wants me,
+tell them that I have gone home."</p>
+
+<p>He left the building and stepped into his car. In
+less than half an hour he arrived at his house on Park
+Road, overlooking beautiful Rock Creek Park. Here
+he lived alone save for an old colored couple who were
+his servants.</p>
+
+<p>In the busiest part of the afternoon Chambers rushed
+unannounced into Brookings' private office. His face
+was white as chalk.</p>
+
+<p>"Read that, Mr. Brookings!" he gasped, thrusting
+the <i>Clarion</i> extra into his hand.</p>
+
+<p>Brookings read the news of the explosion, then
+looked at his chief chemist, his face turning gray.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir, that was our laboratory," said Chambers,
+dully.</p>
+
+<p>"The fool! Didn't you tell him to work with small
+quantities?"</p>
+
+<p>"I did. He said not to worry, that he was taking no
+chances, that he would never have more than a gram of
+copper on hand at once in the whole laboratory."</p>
+
+<p>"Well ... I'll ... be ... damned!" Slowly turning
+to the telephone, Brookings called a number and asked
+for Doctor DuQuesne, then called another.</p>
+
+<p>"Brookings speaking. I would like to see you this
+afternoon. Will you be at home?... I'll be there in
+about an hour. Good bye."</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>When Brookings arrived he was shown into
+DuQuesne's study. The two men shook hands
+perfunctorily and sat down, the scientist waiting for
+the other to speak.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, DuQuesne, you were right. Our man couldn't
+handle it. But of course you didn't mean the terms you
+mentioned before?"</p>
+
+<p>DuQuesne's lips smiled; a hard, cold smile.</p>
+
+<p>"You know what I said, Brookings. Those terms
+are now doubled, twenty thousand and ten million.
+Nothing else goes."</p>
+
+<p>"I expected it, since you never back down. The Corporation
+expects to pay for its mistakes. We accept
+your terms and I have contracts here for your services
+as research director, at a salary of two hundred and
+forty thousand dollars per annum, with the bonus and
+royalties you demand."</p>
+
+<p>DuQuesne glanced over the documents and thrust
+them into his pocket.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll go over these with my attorney to-night, and
+mail one back to you if he approves the contract. In
+the meantime, we may as well get down to business."</p>
+
+<p>"What would you suggest?" asked Brookings.</p>
+
+<p>"You people stole the solution, I see...."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't use such harsh language, Doctor, it's...."</p>
+
+<p>"Why not? I'm for direct action, first, last and all
+the time. This thing is too important to permit of
+mincing words or actions, it's a waste of time. Have
+you the solution here?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, here it is," drawing the bottle from his pocket.</p>
+
+<p>"Where's the rest of it?" asked DuQuesne as he
+noted the size of the bottle.</p>
+
+<p>"All that we found is here, except about a teaspoonful
+which the expert had to work on," replied Brookings.
+"We didn't get it all, only half of it. The rest
+of it was diluted with water, so that it wouldn't be
+missed. After we get started, if you find it works out
+satisfactorily, we can procure the rest of it. That will
+certainly cause a disturbance, but it may be necessary...."</p>
+
+<p>"Half of it!" interrupted DuQuesne. "You haven't
+one-twentieth of it here. When I saw it in the Bureau,
+Seaton had about five hundred milliliters&mdash;over a pint&mdash;of
+it. I wonder if you're double-crossing me again?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, you're not," he continued, paying no attention
+to the other's protestations of innocence. "You're paying
+me too much to want to block me now. The crook
+you sent out to get the stuff turned in only this much.
+Do you suppose he is holding out on us?"</p>
+
+<p>"No. You know Perkins and his methods."</p>
+
+<p>"He missed the main bottle, then. That's where your
+methods make me tired. When I want anything done,
+I believe in doing it myself, then I know it's done right.
+As to what I suggest, that's easy. I will take three or
+four of Perkins' gunmen tonight. We'll go out there
+and raid the place. We'll shoot Seaton and anybody
+else who gets in the way. We'll dynamite the safe and
+take their solution, plans, notes, money, and anything
+else we want."</p>
+
+<p>"No, no, Doctor, that's too crude altogether. If we
+have to do that, let it be only as a last resort."</p>
+
+<p>"I say do it first, then we know we will get results.
+I tell you I'm afraid of pussyfooting and gumshoeing
+around Seaton and Crane. I used to think that Seaton
+was easy, but he seems to have developed greatly in the
+last few weeks, and Crane never was anybody's fool.
+Together they make a combination hard to beat. Brute
+force, applied without warning, is our best bet, and
+there's no danger, you know that. We've got away
+clean with lots worse stuff."</p>
+
+<p>"It's always dangerous, and we could wink at such
+tactics only after everything else has failed. Why not
+work it out from this solution we have, and then quietly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_402" id="Page_402">[402]</a></span>
+get the rest of it? After we have it worked out, Seaton
+might get into an accident on his motorcycle, and we
+could prove by the state of development of our plans
+that we discovered it long ago."</p>
+
+<p>"Because developing the stuff is highly dangerous,
+as you have found out. Even Seaton wouldn't have
+been alive now if he hadn't had a lot of luck at the
+start. Then, too, it would take too much time. Seaton
+has already developed it&mdash;you see, I haven't been asleep
+and I know what he has done, just as well as you do&mdash;and
+why should we go through all that slow and dangerous
+experimental work when we can get their notes
+and plans as well as not? There is bound to be trouble
+anyway when we steal all their solution, even though
+they haven't missed this little bit of it yet, and it might
+as well come now as any other time. The Corporation
+is amply protected, and I am still a Government chemist.
+Nobody even suspects that I am in on this deal.
+I will never see you except after hours and in private,
+and will never come near your offices. We will be so
+cautious that, even if anyone should get suspicious, they
+can't possibly link us together, and until they do link
+us together, we are all safe. No, Brookings, a raid in
+force is the only sure and safe way. What is more
+natural than a burglary of a rich man's house? It will
+be a simple affair. The police will stir around for a few
+days, then it will all be forgotten and we can go ahead.
+Nobody will suspect anything except Crane, if he is
+alive, and he won't be able to do anything."</p>
+
+<p>So the argument raged. Brookings was convinced
+that DuQuesne was right in wanting to get possession
+of all the solution, and also of the working notes and
+plans, but would not agree to the means suggested,
+holding out for quieter and more devious, but less actionable
+methods. Finally he ended the argument with
+a flat refusal to countenance the raid, and the scientist
+was forced to yield, although he declared that they
+would have to use his methods in the end, and that it
+would save time, money, and perhaps lives, if they were
+used first. Brookings then took from his pocket his
+wireless and called Perkins. He told him of the larger
+bottle of solution, instructing him to secure it and to
+bring back all plans, notes, and other material he could
+find which in any way pertained to the matter in hand.
+Then, after promising DuQuesne to keep him informed
+of developments, and giving him an instrument similar
+to the one he himself carried, Brookings took his leave.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>Seaton had worked from early morning until late
+at night, but had rigorously kept his promise to
+Dorothy. He had slept seven or eight hours every night
+and had called upon her regularly, returning from the
+visits with ever-keener zest for his work.</p>
+
+<p>Late in the afternoon, upon the day of the explosion,
+Seaton stepped into Crane's shop with a mass of notes
+in his hand.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, Mart, I've got it&mdash;some of it, at least. The
+power is just what we figured it, so immensely large as
+to be beyond belief. I have found:</p>
+
+<p>"First: That it is a practically irresistible <i>pull</i> along
+the axis of the treated wire or bar. It is apparently
+focused at infinity, as near-by objects are not affected.</p>
+
+<p>"Second: I have studied two of the border-line
+regions of current we discussed. I have found that in
+one the power is liberated as a similar attractive force
+but is focused upon the first object in line with the axis
+of the bar. As long as the current is applied it remains
+focused upon that object, no matter what comes between.
+In the second border-line condition the power
+is liberated as a terrific repulsion.</p>
+
+<p>"Third: That the copper is completely transformed
+into available energy, there being no heat whatever liberated.</p>
+
+<p>"Fourth: Most important of all, that the X acts only
+as a catalyst for the copper and is not itself consumed,
+so that an infinitesimally thin coating is all that is required."</p>
+
+<p>"You certainly have found out a great deal about it,"
+replied Crane, who had been listening with the closest
+attention, a look of admiration upon his face. "You
+have all the essential facts right there. Now we can
+go ahead and put in the details which will finish up the
+plans completely. Also, one of those points solves my
+hardest problem, that of getting back to the earth after
+we lose sight of it. We can make a small bar in that
+border-line condition and focus it upon the earth, and
+we can use that repulsive property to ward off any
+meteorites which may come too close to us."</p>
+
+<p>"That's right. I never thought of using those points
+for anything. I found them out incidentally, and merely
+mentioned them as interesting facts. I have a model of
+the main bar built, though, that will lift me into the air
+and pull me all around. Want to see it work?"</p>
+
+<p>"I certainly do."</p>
+
+<p>As they were going out to the landing field Shiro
+called to them and they turned back to the house, learning
+that Dorothy and her father had just arrived.</p>
+
+<p>"Hello, boys!" Dorothy said, bestowing her radiant
+smile upon them both as Seaton seized her hand. "Dad
+and I came out to see that you were taking care of
+yourselves, and to see what you are doing. Are visitors
+allowed?"</p>
+
+<p>"No," replied Seaton promptly. "All visitors are
+barred. Members of the firm and members of the family,
+however, are not classed as visitors."</p>
+
+<p>"You came at the right time," said Crane, smiling.
+"Dick has just finished a model, and was about to
+demonstrate it to me when you arrived. Come with us
+and watch the...."</p>
+
+<p>"I object," interrupted Seaton. "It is a highly undignified
+performance as yet, and...."</p>
+
+<p>"Objection overruled," interposed the lawyer, decisively.
+"You are too young and impetuous to have
+any dignity; therefore, any performance not undignified
+would be impossible, <i>a priori</i>. The demonstration will
+proceed."</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>Laughing merrily, the four made their way to the
+testing shed, in front of which Seaton donned a
+heavy leather harness, buckled about his shoulders,
+body and legs; to which were attached numerous handles,
+switches, boxes and other pieces of apparatus.
+He snapped the switch which started the Tesla coil in
+the shed and pressed a button on an instrument in his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_403" id="Page_403">[403]</a></span>
+hand, attached to his harness by a small steel cable.
+Instantly there was a creak of straining leather and he
+shot vertically into the air for perhaps a hundred feet,
+where he stopped and remained motionless for a few
+moments. Then the watchers saw him point his arm
+and dart in the direction in which he pointed. By
+merely pointing, apparently, he changed his direction
+at will; going up and down, forward and backward, describing
+circles and loops and figures of eight. After a
+few minutes of this display he descended, slowing up
+abruptly as he neared the ground and making an easy
+landing.</p>
+
+<p>"There, oh beauteous lady and esteemed sirs," he began,
+with a low bow and a sweeping flourish&mdash;when
+there was a snap, and he was jerked sidewise off his
+feet. In bowing, his cumbersome harness had pressed
+the controlling switch and the instrument he held in
+his hand, which contained the power-plant, or bar, had
+torn itself loose from its buckle. Instead of being within
+easy reach of his hand it was over six feet away, and
+was dragging him helplessly after it, straight toward
+the high stone wall! But only momentarily was he
+helpless, his keen mind discovering a way out of the
+predicament even as he managed to scramble to his
+feet in spite of the rapid pace. Throwing his body sidewise
+and reaching out his long arm as far as possible
+toward the bar, he succeeded in swinging it around so
+that he was running back toward the party and the
+spacious landing field. Dorothy and her father were
+standing motionless, staring at Seaton; the former with
+terror in her eyes, the latter in blank amazement. Crane
+had darted to the switch controlling the coil, and was
+reaching for it when Seaton passed them.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't touch that switch!" he yelled. "I'll catch that
+thing yet!"</p>
+
+<p>At this evidence that Seaton still thought himself
+master of the situation, Crane began to laugh, though
+he still kept his hand near the controlling switch. Dorothy,
+relieved of her fear for her lover's safety, could
+not help but join him, so ludicrous were Seaton's antics.
+The bar was straight out in front of him, about five
+feet above the ground, going somewhat faster than a
+man could run. It turned now to the right, now to the
+left, as his weight was thrown to one side or the other.
+Seaton, dragged along like a small boy trying to hold a
+runaway calf by the tail, was covering the ground in
+prodigious leaps and bounds; at the same time pulling
+himself up, hand over hand, to the bar in front of him.
+He soon reached it, seized it in both hands, again
+darted into the air, and descended lightly near the
+others, who were rocking with laughter.</p>
+
+<p>"I said it would be undignified," chuckled Seaton,
+rather short of breath, "but I didn't know just how
+much so it was going to be."</p>
+
+<p>Dorothy tucked her fingers into his hand.</p>
+
+<p>"Are you hurt anywhere, Dick?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not a bit. He led me a great chase, though."</p>
+
+<p>"I was scared to death until you told Martin to let
+the switch alone. But it was funny then! I hadn't
+noticed your resemblance to a jumping-jack before.
+Won't you do it again sometime and let us take a movie
+of it?"</p>
+
+<p>"That was as good as any show in town, Dick," said
+the lawyer, wiping his eyes, "but you must be more
+careful. Next time, it might not be funny at all."</p>
+
+<p>"There will be no next time for this rig," replied
+Seaton. "This is merely to show us that our ideas are
+all right. The next trip will be in a full-scale, completely-equipped
+boat."</p>
+
+<p>"It was perfectly wonderful," declared Dorothy. "I
+know this first flight of yours will be a turning-point or
+something in history. I don't pretend to understand
+how you did it&mdash;the sight of you standing still up there
+in the air made me wonder if I really were awake, even
+though I knew what to expect&mdash;but we wouldn't have
+missed it for worlds, would we, Dad?"</p>
+
+<p>"No. I am very glad that we saw the first demonstration.
+The world has never before seen anything
+like it, and you two men will rank as two of the greatest
+discoverers."</p>
+
+<p>"Seaton will, you mean," replied Crane, uncomfortably.
+"You know I didn't have anything to do with it."</p>
+
+<p>"It's nearly all yours," denied Seaton. "Without
+your ideas I would have lost myself in space in my first
+attempt."</p>
+
+<p>"You are both wrong," said Vaneman. "You, Martin,
+haven't enough imagination; and you, Dick, have
+altogether too much, for either of you to have done this
+alone. The honor will be divided equally between you."</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>He turned to Crane as Dorothy and Seaton set out
+toward the house.</p>
+
+<p>"What are you going to do with it, commercially?
+Dick, of course, hasn't thought of anything except this
+space-car&mdash;equally of course, you have?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. Knowing the general nature of the power and
+confident that Dick would control it, I have already
+drawn up sketches for a power-plant installation of
+five hundred thousand electrical horsepower, which will
+enable us to sell power for less than one-tenth of a cent
+per kilowatt-hour and still return twenty percent annual
+dividends. However, the power-plant comes after
+the flyer."</p>
+
+<p>"Why? Why not build the power-plant first, and
+take the pleasure trip afterward?"</p>
+
+<p>"There are several reasons. The principal one is that
+Dick and I would rather be off exploring new worlds,
+while the other members of the Seaton-Crane Company,
+Engineers, build the power-plant."</p>
+
+<p>During the talk the men had reached the house, into
+which the others had disappeared some time before.
+Upon Crane's invitation, Vaneman and his daughter
+stayed to dinner, and Dorothy played for awhile upon
+Crane's wonderful violin. The rest of the evening was
+spent in animated discussion of the realization of Seaton's
+dreams of flying without wings and beyond the
+supporting atmosphere. Seaton and Crane did their
+best to explain to the non-technical visitors how such
+flight was possible.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I am beginning to understand it a little," said
+Dorothy finally. "In plain language, it is like a big
+magnet or something, but different. Is that it?"</p>
+
+<p>"That's it exactly," Seaton assured her.</p>
+
+<p>"What are you going to call it? It isn't like anything<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_404" id="Page_404">[404]</a></span>
+else that ever was. Already this evening you have
+called it a bus, a boat, a kite, a star-hound, a wagon, an
+aerial flivver, a sky-chariot, a space-eating wampus, and
+I don't know what else. Even Martin has called it a
+vehicle, a ship, a bird, and a shell. What is its real
+name?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know. It hasn't got any that I know of.
+What would you suggest, Dottie?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know what general name should be applied
+to them, but for this one there is only one possible
+name, 'The Skylark.'"</p>
+
+<p>"Exactly right, Dorothy," said Crane.</p>
+
+<p>"Fine!" cried Seaton. "And you shall christen it,
+Dottie, with a big Florence flask full of absolute
+vacuum. 'I christen you "The Skylark." BANG!'"</p>
+
+<p>As the guests were leaving, at a late hour, Vaneman
+said:</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes. I bought an extra <i>Clarion</i> as we came out.
+It tells a wild tale of an explosion so violent that science
+cannot explain it. I don't suppose it is true, but
+it may make interesting reading for you two scientific
+sharps. Good night."</p>
+
+<p>Seaton accompanied Dorothy to the car, bidding her
+a more intimate farewell on the way. When he returned,
+Crane, with an unusual expression of concern
+on his face, handed him the paper without a word.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>"What's up, old man? Something in it?" he
+asked, as he took the paper. He fell silent as
+he read the first words, and after he had read the entire
+article he said slowly:</p>
+
+<p>"True, beyond a doubt. Even a <i>Clarion</i> reporter
+couldn't imagine that. It's all intra-atomic energy, all
+right&mdash;some poor devil trying our stunt without my
+horseshoe in his pocket."</p>
+
+<p>"Think, Dick! Something is wrong somewhere. You
+know that two people did not discover X at the same
+time. The answer is that somebody stole your idea, but
+the idea is worthless without the X. You say that the
+stuff is extremely rare&mdash;where did they get it?"</p>
+
+<p>"That's right, Mart. I never thought of that. The
+stuff <i>is</i> extremely rare. I am supposed to know something
+about rare metals, and I never heard of it before&mdash;there
+isn't even a gap in the Periodic System in which
+it belongs. I would bet a hat that we have every milligram
+known to the world at present."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, then," said the practical Crane. "We had better
+see whether or not we have all we started with."</p>
+
+<p>Asking Shiro to bring the large bottle from the vault,
+he opened the living-room safe and brought forth the
+small vial. The large bottle was still nearly full, the
+seal upon it unbroken. The vial was apparently exactly
+as Seaton had left it after he had made his bars.</p>
+
+<p>"Our stuff seems to be all there," said Crane. "It
+looks as though someone else has discovered it also."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't believe it," said Seaton, their positions now
+reversed. "It's altogether too rare."</p>
+
+<p>He scanned both bottles narrowly.</p>
+
+<p>"I can tell by taking the densities," he added, and
+ran up to the laboratory, returning with a Westphal
+balance in his hand. After testing both solutions he
+said slowly:</p>
+
+<p>"Well, the mystery is solved. The large bottle has a
+specific gravity of 1.80, as it had when I prepared it;
+that in the vial reads only 1.41. Somebody has burglarized
+this safe and taken almost half of the solution,
+filling the vial up with colored water. The stuff is so
+strong that I probably never would have noticed the
+difference."</p>
+
+<p>"But who could it have been?"</p>
+
+<p>"Search me! But it's nothing to worry about now,
+anyway, because whoever it was is gone where he'll
+never do it again. He's taken the solution with him,
+too, so that nobody else can get it."</p>
+
+<p>"I wish I were sure of that, Dick. The man who
+tried to do the research work is undoubtedly gone&mdash;but
+who is back of him?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nobody, probably. Who would want to be?"</p>
+
+<p>"To borrow your own phrase, Dick, Scott 'chirped it'
+when he called you 'Nobody Holme.' For a man with
+your brains you have the least sense of anybody I know.
+You know that this thing is worth, as a power project
+alone, thousands of millions of dollars, and that there
+are dozens of big concerns who would cheerfully put
+us both out of the way for a thousandth of that amount.
+The question is not to find one concern who might be
+backing a thing like that, but to pick out the one who is
+backing it."</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>After thinking deeply for a few moments he went
+on:</p>
+
+<p>"The idea was taken from your demonstration in the
+Bureau, either by an eye-witness or by someone who
+heard about it afterward, probably the former. Even
+though it failed, one man saw the possibilities. Who
+was that man? Who was there?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, a lot of the fellows were there. Scott, Smith,
+Penfield, DuQuesne, Roberts&mdash;quite a bunch of them.
+Let's see&mdash;Scott hasn't brains enough to do anything.
+Smith doesn't know anything about anything except
+amines. Penfield is a pure scientist, who wouldn't even
+quote an authority without asking permission. DuQuesne
+is ... hm-m ... DuQuesne ... he ... I...."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. DuQuesne. I have heard of him. He's the
+big black fellow, about your own size? He has the
+brains, the ability, and the inclination, has he not?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I wouldn't want to say that. I don't know
+him very well, and personal dislike is no ground at all
+for suspicion, you know."</p>
+
+<p>"Enough to warrant investigation. Is there anyone
+else who might have reasoned it out as you did, and as
+DuQuesne possibly could?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not that I remember. But we can count DuQuesne
+out, anyway, because he called me up this afternoon
+about some notes on gallium; so he is still in the Bureau.
+Besides, he wouldn't let anybody else investigate it if
+he got it. He would do it himself, and I don't think he
+would have blown himself up. I never did like him
+very well personally&mdash;he's such a cold, inhuman son
+of a fish&mdash;but you've got to hand it to him for ability.
+He's probably the best man in the world today on that
+kind of thing."</p>
+
+<p>"No, I do not think that we will count him out yet.
+He may have had nothing to do with it, but we will<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_405" id="Page_405">[405]</a></span>
+have him investigated nevertheless, and will guard
+against future visitors here."</p>
+
+<p>Turning to the telephone, he called the private number
+of a well-known detective.</p>
+
+<p>"Prescott? Crane speaking. Sorry to get you out of
+bed, but I should like to have a complete report upon
+Dr. Marc C. DuQuesne, of the Rare Metals Laboratory,
+as soon as possible. Every detail for the last two weeks,
+every move and every thought if possible. Please keep
+a good man on him until further notice.... I wish
+you would send two or three guards out here right
+away, to-night; men you can trust and who will stay
+awake.... Thanks. Good night."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V</h2>
+
+<h3>Direct Action</h3>
+
+
+<p>Seaton and Crane spent some time developing
+the object-compass. Crane made a number of these
+instruments, mounted in gymbals, so that the delicate
+needles were free to turn in any direction whatever.
+They were mounted upon jeweled bearings, but bearings
+made of such great strength, that Seaton protested.</p>
+
+<p>"What's the use, Mart? You don't expect a watch
+to be treated like a stone-crusher. That needle weighs
+less than half a gram. Why mount it as though it
+weighed twenty pounds?"</p>
+
+<p>"To be safe. Remember the acceleration the Lark
+will be capable of, and also that on some other worlds,
+which we hope to visit, this needle will weigh more than
+it does here."</p>
+
+<p>"That's right, Mart, I never thought of that. Anyway,
+we can't be too safe to suit me."</p>
+
+<p>When the compasses were done and the power
+through them had been adjusted to one-thousandth of a
+watt, the lowest they could maintain with accuracy, they
+focused each instrument upon one of a set of most
+carefully weighed glass beads, ranging in size from a
+pin-head up to a large marble, and had the beads taken
+across the country by Shiro, in order to test the sensitiveness
+and accuracy of the new instruments. The first
+test was made at a distance of one hundred miles, the
+last at nearly three thousand. They found, as they had
+expected, that from the weight of the object and the
+time it took the needle to come to rest after being displaced
+from its line by a gentle tap of the finger, they
+could easily calculate the distance from the compass to
+the object. This fact pleased Crane immensely, as it
+gave him a sure means of navigation in space. The only
+objection to its use in measuring earthly distances was
+its extreme delicacy, the needle focused upon the smallest
+bead in the lot at a distance of three thousand miles
+coming to rest in little more than one second.</p>
+
+<p>The question of navigation solved, the two next devoted
+themselves to perfecting the "X-plosive bullet,"
+as Seaton called it. From his notes and equations Seaton
+calculated the weight of copper necessary to exert
+the explosive force of one pound of nitro-glycerin, and
+weighed out, on the most delicate assay-balance made,
+various fractions and multiples of this amount of the
+treated copper, while Crane fitted up the bullets of
+automatic-pistol cartridges to receive the charges and
+to explode them on impact.</p>
+
+<p>They placed their blueprints and working notes in
+the safe, as usual, taking with them only those notes
+dealing with the object-compass and the X-plosive bullet,
+upon which they were still working. No one except
+Shiro knew that the original tracings, from which the
+blue-prints had been made, and their final, classified
+notes were always kept in the vault. They cautioned
+him and the three guards to keep a close watch until
+they returned. Then they set out in the biplane, to try
+out the new weapon in a lonely place where the exploding
+shells could do no damage.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>They found that the X-plosive came fully up to
+expectations. The smallest charge they had prepared,
+fired by Crane at a great stump a full hundred
+yards away from the bare, flat-topped knoll that had
+afforded them a landing-place, tore it bodily from the
+ground and reduced it to splinters, while the force of
+the explosion made the two men stagger.</p>
+
+<p>"She sure is big medicine!" laughed Seaton. "Wonder
+what a real one will do?" and drawing his pistol, he
+inserted a cartridge carrying a much heavier charge.</p>
+
+<p>"Better be careful with the big ones," cautioned
+Crane. "What are you going to shoot at?"</p>
+
+<p>"That rock over there," pointing to a huge boulder
+half a mile away across the small valley. "Want to bet
+me a dinner I can't hit it?"</p>
+
+<p>"No. You forget that I saw you win the pistol
+trophy of the District."</p>
+
+<p>The pistol cracked, and when the bullet reached its
+destination the great stone was obliterated in a vast ball
+of flame. After a moment there was a deafening report&mdash;a
+crash as though the world were falling to pieces.
+Both men were hurled violently backward, stumbling
+and falling flat. Picking themselves up, they looked
+across the valley at the place where the boulder had
+stood, to see only an immense cloud of dust, which
+slowly blew away, revealing a huge hole in the ground.
+They were silent a moment, awed by the frightful
+power they had loosed.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, Mart," Seaton broke the silence, "I'll say
+those one-milligram loads are plenty big enough. If
+that'd been something coming after us&mdash;whether any
+possible other-world animal, a foreign battleship, or the
+mythical great sea-serpent himself, it'd be a good Indian
+now. Yes? No?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. When we use the heavier charges we must
+use long-range rifles. Have you had enough demonstration
+or do you want to shoot some more?"</p>
+
+<p>"I've had enough, thanks. That last rock I bounced
+off of was no pillow, I'll tell the world. Besides, it
+looks as though I'd busted a leg or two off of our noble
+steed with my shot, and we may have to walk back
+home."</p>
+
+<p>An examination of the plane, which had been moved
+many feet and almost overturned by the force of the
+explosion, revealed no damage that they could not repair
+on the spot, and dusk saw them speeding through
+the air toward the distant city.</p>
+
+<p>In response to a summons from his chief, Perkins
+silently appeared in Brookings' office, without his usual
+complacent smile.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_406" id="Page_406">[406]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Haven't you done anything yet, after all this time?"
+demanded the magnate. "We're getting tired of this delay."</p>
+
+<p>"I can't help it, Mr. Brookings," replied the subordinate.
+"They've got detectives from Prescott's all over
+the place. Our best men have been trying ever since
+the day of the explosion, but can't do a thing without
+resorting to violence. I went out there myself and looked
+them over, without being seen. There isn't a man there
+with a record, and I haven't been able so far to get anything
+on any one of them that we can use as a handle."</p>
+
+<p>"No, Prescott's men are hard to do anything with.
+But can't you...?" Brookings paused significantly.</p>
+
+<p>"I was coming to that. I thought one of them might
+be seen, and I talked to him a little, over the phone, but
+I couldn't talk loud enough without consulting you. I
+mentioned ten, but he held out for twenty-five. Said
+he wouldn't consider it at all, but he wants to quit Prescott
+and go into business for himself."</p>
+
+<p>"Go ahead on twenty-five. We want to get action,"
+said Brookings, as he wrote an order on the cashier for
+twenty-five thousand dollars in small-to-medium bills.
+"That is cheap enough, considering what DuQuesne's
+rough stuff would probably cost. Report tomorrow
+about four, over our private phone&mdash;no, I'll come down
+to the caf&eacute;, it's safer."</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>The place referred to was the Perkins Caf&eacute;, a high-class
+restaurant on Pennsylvania Avenue, heavily
+patronized by the diplomatic, political, financial, and
+sporting circles of upper-class Washington. It was famous
+for its discreet waiters, and for the absolutely private
+rooms. Many of its patrons knew of its unique
+telephone service, in which each call went through such
+a devious system of relays that any attempt to trace it
+was hopeless; they knew that while "The Perkins"
+would not knowingly lend itself to any violation of law,
+it was an entirely safe and thoroughly satisfactory place
+in which to conduct business of the most secret and confidential
+character; a place from which one could enjoy
+personal conversation with persons to whom he
+wished to remain invisible and untraceable: a place
+which had never been known to "leak." For these reasons
+it was really the diplomatic and political center of
+the country, and over its secret wires had gone, in
+guarded language, messages that would have rocked the
+world had they gone astray. It was recognized that the
+place was occasionally, by its very nature, used for illegal
+purposes, but it was such a political, financial, and
+diplomatic necessity that it carried a "Hands Off" sign.
+It was never investigated by Congress and never raided
+by the police. Hundreds of telephone calls were handled
+daily. A man would come in, order something
+served in a private room, leave a name at the desk, and
+say that he was expecting a call. There the affair
+ended. The telephone operators were hand-picked, men
+of very short memories, carefully trained never to look
+at a face and never to remember a name or a number.
+Although the precaution was unnecessary, this shortness
+of memory was often encouraged by bills of various
+denominations.</p>
+
+<p>No one except Perkins and the heads of the great
+World Steel Corporation knew that the urbane and polished
+proprietor of the caf&eacute; was a criminal of the blackest
+kind, whose liberty and life itself were dependent
+upon the will of the Corporation; or that the restaurant
+was especially planned and maintained as a blind for its
+underground activities; or that Perkins was holding a
+position which suited him exactly and which he would
+not have given up for wealth or glory&mdash;that of being
+the guiding genius who planned nefarious things for the
+men higher up, and saw to it that they were carried out
+by the men lower down. He was in constant personal
+touch with his superiors, but in order to avoid any
+chance of betrayal he never saw his subordinates personally.
+Not only were they entirely ignorant of his
+identity, but all possible means of their tracing him had
+been foreseen and guarded against. He called them on
+the telephone, but they never called him. The only
+possible way in which any of his subordinates could get
+in touch with him was by means of the wonderful wireless
+telephone already referred to, developed by a drug-crazed
+genius who had died shortly after it was perfected.
+It was a tiny instrument, no larger than a
+watch, but of practically unlimited range. The controlling
+central station of the few instruments in existence,
+from which any instrument could be cut out,
+changed in tune, or totally destroyed at will, was in
+Perkins' office safe. A man intrusted with an unusually
+important job would receive from an unknown source
+an instrument, with directions sufficient for its use. As
+soon as the job was done he would find, upon again attempting
+to use the telephone, that its interior was so
+hopelessly wrecked that not even the most skilled
+artisan could reproduce what it had once been.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>At four o'clock Brookings was ushered into the private
+office of the master criminal, who was plainly
+ill at ease.</p>
+
+<p>"I've got to report another failure, Mr. Brookings.
+It's nobody's fault, just one of those things that couldn't
+be helped. I handled this myself. Our man left the
+door unlocked and kept the others busy in another
+room. I had just started to work when Crane's Japanese
+servant, who was supposed to be asleep, appeared
+upon the scene. If I hadn't known something about
+jiu-jutsu myself, he'd have broken my neck. As it was,
+I barely got away, with the Jap and all three guards
+close behind me...."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm not interested in excuses," broke in the magnate,
+angrily. "We'll have to turn it over to DuQuesne
+after all unless you get something done, and get it done
+quick. Can't you get to that Jap some way?"</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly I can. I never yet saw the man who
+couldn't be reached, one way or another. I've had
+'Silk' Humphreys, the best fixer in the business, working
+on him all day, and he'll be neutral before night. If
+the long green won't quiet him&mdash;and I never saw a Jap
+refuse it yet&mdash;a lead pipe will. Silk hasn't reported yet,
+but I expect to hear from him any minute now, through
+our man out there."</p>
+
+<p>As he spoke, the almost inaudible buzzer in his pocket
+gave a signal.</p>
+
+<p>"There he is now," said Perkins, as he took out his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_407" id="Page_407">[407]</a></span>
+wireless instrument. "You might listen in and hear
+what he has to say."</p>
+
+<p>Brookings took out his own telephone and held it to
+his ear.</p>
+
+<p>"Hello," Perkins spoke gruffly into the tiny transmitter.
+"What've you got on your chest?"</p>
+
+<p>"Your foot slipped on the Jap," the stranger replied.
+"He crabbed the game right. Slats and the big fellow
+put all the stuff into the box, told us to watch it until
+they get back tonight&mdash;they may be late&mdash;then went off
+in Slats' ship to test something&mdash;couldn't find out what.
+Silk tackled the yellow boy, and went up to fifty grand,
+but the Jap couldn't see him at all. Silk started to
+argue, and the Jap didn't do a thing but lay him out,
+cold. This afternoon, while the Jap was out in the
+grounds, three stick-up men jumped him. He bumped
+one of them off with his hands and the others with his
+gat&mdash;one of those big automatics that throw a slug like
+a cannon. None of us knew he had it. That's all, except
+that I am quitting Prescott right now. Anything
+else I can do for you, whoever you are?"</p>
+
+<p>"No. Your job's done."</p>
+
+<p>The conversation closed. Perkins pressed the switch
+which reduced the interior of the spy's wireless instrument
+to a fused mass of metal, and Brookings called
+DuQuesne on the telephone.</p>
+
+<p>"I would like to talk to you," he said. "Shall I come
+there or would you rather come to my office?"</p>
+
+<p>"I'll come there. They're watching this house. They
+have one man in front and one in back, a couple of detectaphones
+in my rooms here, and have coupled onto
+this telephone.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't worry," he continued calmly as the other made
+an exclamation of dismay. "Talk ahead as loud as you
+please&mdash;they can't hear you. Do you think that those
+poor, ignorant flat feet can show me anything about electricity?
+I'd shoot a jolt along their wires that would
+burn their ears off if it weren't my cue to act the innocent
+and absorbed scientist. As it is, their instruments
+are all registering dense silence. I am deep in
+study right now, and can't be disturbed!"</p>
+
+<p>"Can you get out?"</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly. I have that same private entrance down
+beside the house wall and the same tunnel I used before.
+I'll see you in about fifteen minutes."</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>In Brookings' office, DuQuesne told of the constant
+surveillance over him.</p>
+
+<p>"They suspect me on general principles, I think," he
+continued. "They are apparently trying to connect me
+with somebody. I don't think they suspect you at all,
+and they won't unless they get some better methods. I
+have devices fitted up to turn the lights off and on,
+raise and lower the windows, and even cast shadows at
+certain times. The housekeeper knows that when I go
+to my library after dinner, I have retired to study, and
+that it is as much as anyone's life is worth to disturb
+me. Also, I am well known to be firmly fixed in my
+habits, so it's easy to fool those detectives. Last night
+I went out and watched them. They hung around a
+couple of hours after my lights went out, then walked
+off together. I can dodge them any time and have all
+my nights free without their ever suspecting anything."</p>
+
+<p>"Are you free tonight?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. The time-switches are all set, and as long as
+I get back before daylight, so they can see me get up
+and go to work, it will be all right."</p>
+
+<p>Brookings told him briefly of the failures to secure
+the solution and the plans, of the death of the three
+men sent to silence Shiro, and of all the other developments.
+DuQuesne listened, his face impassive.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," he said as Brookings ceased. "I thought you
+would bull it, but not quite so badly. But there's no
+use whining now. I can't use my original plan of attack
+in force, as they are prepared and might be able to
+stand us off until the police could arrive."</p>
+
+<p>He thought deeply for a time, then said, intensely:</p>
+
+<p>"If I go into this thing, Brookings, I am in absolute
+command. Everything goes as I say. Understand?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. It's up to you, now."</p>
+
+<p>"All right, I think I've got it. Can you get me a
+Curtiss biplane in an hour, and a man about six feet tall
+who weighs about a hundred and sixty pounds? I want
+to drive the plane myself, and have the man, dressed in
+full leathers and hood, in the passenger's seat, shot so
+full of chloroform or dope that he will be completely
+unconscious for at least two hours."</p>
+
+<p>"Easy. We can get you any kind of plane you want
+in an hour, and Perkins can find a man of that description
+who would be glad to have a dream at that
+price. But what's the idea?... Pardon me, I shouldn't
+have asked that," he added, as the saturnine chemist
+shot him a black look from beneath his heavy brows.</p>
+
+<p>Well, within the hour, DuQuesne drove up to a private
+aviation field and found awaiting him a Curtiss
+biplane, whose attendant jumped into an automobile and
+sped away as he approached. He quickly donned a
+heavy leather suit, similar to the one Seaton always
+wore in the air, and drew the hood over his face. Then,
+after a searching look at the lean form of the unconscious
+man in the other seat, he was off, the plane climbing
+swiftly under his expert hand. He took a wide circle
+to the west and north.</p>
+
+<p>Soon Shiro and the two guards, hearing the roar of
+an approaching airplane, looked out and saw what they
+supposed to be Crane's biplane coming down with terrific
+speed in an almost vertical nose-dive, as though
+the driver were in an extremity of haste. Flattening
+out just in time to avert destruction it taxied up the
+field almost to the house. The watchers saw a man
+recognizable as Seaton by his suit and his <ins class="corr" title="Transcriber's Note: The original read 'unmistakeable'.">unmistakable</ins>
+physique stand up and wave both arms frantically,
+heard him shout hoarsely "... all of you ... out here,"
+saw him point to Crane's apparently lifeless form and
+slump down in his seat. All three ran out to help the
+unconscious aviators, but just as they reached the machine
+there were three silenced reports and the three
+men fell to the ground. DuQuesne leaped lightly out
+of the machine and looked narrowly at the bodies at his
+feet. He saw that the two detectives were dead, but
+found with some chagrin that the Japanese still showed
+faint signs of life. He half drew his pistol to finish
+the job, but observing that the victim was probably
+fatally wounded he thrust it back into its holster and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_408" id="Page_408">[408]</a></span>
+went on into the house. Drawing on rubber gloves he
+rapidly blew the door off the safe with nitro-glycerin
+and took out everything it contained. He set aside a
+roll of blueprints, numerous notebooks, some money
+and other valuables, and a small vial of solution&mdash;but
+of the larger bottle there was no trace. He then ransacked
+the entire house, from cellar to attic, with no
+better success. So cleverly was the entrance to the vault
+concealed in the basement wall that he failed to discover
+it.</p>
+
+<p>"I might have expected this of Crane," he thought,
+half aloud, "after all the warning that fool Brookings
+persisted in giving him. This is the natural result of
+his nonsense. The rest of the solution is probably in
+the safest safe-deposit vault in the United States. But
+I've got their plans and notes, and enough solution for
+the present. I'll get the rest of it when I want it&mdash;there's
+more than one way to kill any cat that ever
+lived!"</p>
+
+<p>Returning to the machine, DuQuesne calmly stepped
+over the bodies of the detectives and the unconscious
+form of the dying Japanese, who was uttering an occasional
+groan. He started the engine and took his
+seat. There was an increasing roar as he opened the
+throttle, and soon he descended upon the field from
+which he had set out. He noted that there was a man
+in an automobile at some distance from the hangar,
+evidently waiting to take care of the plane and his still
+unconscious passenger. Rapidly resuming his ordinary
+clothing, he stepped into his automobile and was soon
+back in his own rooms, poring over the blueprints and
+notebooks.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>Seaton and Crane both felt that something was
+wrong when they approached the landing field and
+saw that the landing-lights were not burning, as they always
+were kept lighted whenever the plane was abroad
+after dark. By the dim light of the old moon Crane made
+a bumpy landing and they sprang from their seats and
+hastened toward the house. As they neared it they
+heard a faint moan and turned toward the sound,
+Seaton whipping out his electric torch with one hand
+and his automatic pistol with the other. At the sight
+that met their eyes, however, he hastily replaced the
+weapon and bent over Shiro, a touch assuring him that
+the other two were beyond the reach of help. Silently
+they picked up the injured man and carried him gently
+into his own room, barely glancing at the wrecked safe
+on the way. Seaton applied first-aid treatment to the
+ghastly wound in Shiro's head, which both men supposed
+to be certainly fatal, while Crane called a noted
+surgeon, asking him to come at once. He then telephoned
+the coroner, the police, and finally Prescott,
+with whom he held a long conversation.</p>
+
+<p>Having done all in their power for the unfortunate
+man, they stood at his bedside, their anger all the more
+terrible for the fact that it was silent. Seaton stood
+with every muscle tense. He was seething with rage,
+his face purple and his eyes almost emitting sparks, his
+teeth clenched until the muscles of his jaws stood out
+in bands and lumps. His right hand, white-knuckled,
+gripped the butt of his pistol, while under his left the
+brass rail of the bed slowly bent under the intensity of
+his unconscious muscular effort. Crane stood still, apparently
+impassive, but with his face perfectly white
+and with every feature stern and cold as though cut
+from marble. Seaton was the first to speak.</p>
+
+<p>"Mart," he gritted, his voice husky with fury, "a
+man who would leave another man alone to die after
+giving him that, ain't a man&mdash;he's a thing. If Shiro
+dies and we can ever find out who did it I'll shoot him
+with the biggest explosive charge I've got. No, I won't
+either, that'd be too sudden. I'll take him apart with
+my bare hands."</p>
+
+<p>"We will find him, Dick," Crane replied in a level,
+deadly voice entirely unlike his usual tone. "That is
+one thing money can do. We will get him if money,
+influence, and detectives can do it."</p>
+
+<p>The tension was relieved by the arrival of the surgeon
+and his two nurses, who set to work with the machine-like
+rapidity and precision of their highly-specialized
+craft. After a few minutes, the work completed,
+the surgeon turned to the two men who had
+been watching him so intently, with a smile upon his
+clean-shaven face.</p>
+
+<p>"Merely a scalp wound, Mr. Crane," he stated. "He
+should recover consciousness in an hour or so." Then,
+breaking in upon Seaton's exclamation, "It looks much
+worse than it really is. The bullet glanced off the skull
+instead of penetrating it, stunning him by the force of
+the blow. There are no indications that the brain is
+affected in any way, and while the affected area of the
+scalp is large, it is a clean wound and should heal
+rapidly. He will probably be up and around in a couple
+of days, and by the time his hair grows again, he will
+not be able to find a scar."</p>
+
+<p>As he took his leave, the police and coroner arrived.
+After making a thorough investigation, in which they
+learned what had been stolen and shrewdly deduced the
+manner in which the robbery had been accomplished,
+they departed, taking with them the bodies. They were
+authorized by Crane to offer a reward of one million
+dollars for information leading to the arrest and conviction
+of the murderer. After everyone except the
+nurses had gone, Crane showed them the rooms they
+were to occupy while caring for the wounded man. As
+the surgeon had foretold, Shiro soon recovered consciousness.
+After telling his story he dropped into a
+deep sleep, and Seaton and Crane, after another telephonic
+conference with Prescott, retired for the rest of
+the night.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI</h2>
+
+<h3>The Object-Compass at Work</h3>
+
+
+<p>Prescott, after a sleepless night, joined Seaton
+and Crane at breakfast.</p>
+
+<p>"What do you make of it, Mr. Prescott?" asked
+Crane. "Seaton here thinks it was DuQuesne, possibly
+acting for some foreign power, after our flying-machine
+to use in war. I think it was some big industrial concern
+after our power-plant. What is your opinion?"</p>
+
+<p>"I haven't any," replied the great detective after a
+moment. "Either guess may be true, although I am
+almost positive that Dr. DuQuesne had nothing to do<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_409" id="Page_409">[409]</a></span>
+with it, either way. It was no ordinary burglary, that
+is certain from Shiro's story. It was done by someone
+who had exact information of your movements and
+habits. He chose a time when you were away, probably
+not so much from fear of you as because it was
+only in your absence that he could succeed as he did in
+getting all the guards out at once where he could
+handle them. He was a man with one accomplice or
+who worked alone, and who was almost exactly Seaton's
+size and build. He was undoubtedly an expert, as he
+blew the safe and searched the whole house without
+leaving a finger-print or any other clue, however slight,
+that I can find&mdash;a thing I have never before seen done
+in all my experience."</p>
+
+<p>"His size should help in locating him," declared
+Crane. "While there are undoubtedly thousands of
+men of Dick's six-feet-one and two-fifths, they are
+fairly well scattered, are they not?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, they are, but his very size only makes it worse.
+I have gone over all the records I could, in the short
+time I have had, and can't find an expert of that class
+with anywhere near that description."</p>
+
+<p>"How about the third guard, the one who escaped?"
+asked Seaton.</p>
+
+<p>"He wasn't here. It was his afternoon off, you know,
+and he said that he wouldn't come back into this job
+on a bet&mdash;that he wasn't afraid of anything ordinary,
+but he didn't like the looks of things out here. That
+sounded fishy to me, and I fired him. He may have
+been the leak, of course, though I have always found
+him reliable before. If he did leak, he must have got
+a whale of a slice for it. He is under constant watch,
+and if we can ever get anything on him, I will nail
+him to the cross. But that doesn't help get this affair
+straightened out. I haven't given up, of course, there
+are lots of things not tried yet, but I must admit that
+temporarily, at least, I am up a stump."</p>
+
+<p>"Well," remarked Seaton, "that million-dollar reward
+will bring him in, sure. No honor that ever existed
+among thieves, or even among free-lances of diplomacy,
+could stand that strain."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm not so sure of that, Dick," said Crane. "If
+either one of our ideas is the right one, very few men
+would know enough about the affair to give pertinent
+information, and they probably would not live long
+enough to enjoy the reward very thoroughly. Even
+a million dollars fails in that case."</p>
+
+<p>"I rather agree with Mr. Crane, Seaton. If it were
+an ordinary affair&mdash;and I am as sure it is not as the
+police are that it is&mdash;a reward of that size would get
+us our man within two days. As it is, I doubt very
+much that the reward will do us any good. I'm afraid
+that it will never be claimed."</p>
+
+<p>"Wonder if the Secret Service could help us out?
+They'd be interested if it should turn out to be some
+foreign power."</p>
+
+<p>"I took it up with the Chief himself, just after it
+happened last night. He doesn't think that it can be
+a foreign country. He has their agents pretty well
+spotted, and the only one that could fill the bill&mdash;you
+know a man with that description and with the cold
+nerve to do the job would be apt to be known&mdash;was in
+San Francisco, the time this job was pulled off."</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>"The more you talk, the more I am convinced
+that it was DuQuesne himself," declared Seaton,
+positively. "He is almost exactly my size and build,
+is the only man I know of who could do anything with
+the solution after he got it, and he has nerve enough
+to do anything."</p>
+
+<p>"I would like to think it was DuQuesne," replied
+the detective, thoughtfully, "but I'm afraid we'll have to
+count him out of it entirely. He has been under the
+constant surveillance of my best men ever since you
+mentioned him. We have detectaphones in his rooms,
+wires on his telephone, and are watching him night
+and day. He never goes out except to work, never
+has any except unimportant telephone calls, and the
+instruments register only the occasional scratching of
+a match, the rustle of papers, and other noises of a
+man studying. He's innocent."</p>
+
+<p>"That may be true," assented Seaton doubtfully, "but
+you want to remember that he knows more about electricity
+than the guy that invented it, and I'm not sure
+that he can't talk to a detectaphone and make it say
+anything he wants it to. Anyway, we can soon settle
+it. Yesterday I made a special trip down to the Bureau,
+with some notes as an excuse, to set this object-compass
+on him," taking one of the small instruments from his
+pocket as he spoke. "I watched him a while last night,
+then fixed an alarm to wake me if the needle moved
+much, but it pointed steady all night. See! It's moving
+now. That means that he is going to work early,
+as usual. Now I'm morally certain that he's mixed up
+in this thing somewhere, and I'm not convinced that
+he isn't slipping one over on your men some way&mdash;he's
+a clever devil. I wonder if you wouldn't take this
+compass and watch him yourself tonight, just on general
+principles? Or let me do it. I'd be glad to. I say
+'tonight' because if he did get the stuff here he didn't
+deliver it anywhere last night. It's just a chance, of
+course, but he may do it tonight."</p>
+
+<p>After the compass had been explained to the detective
+he gladly consented to the plan, declaring that he
+would willingly spend the time just to watch such an
+unheard-of instrument work. After another hour of
+fruitless discussion Prescott took his leave, saying that
+he would mount an impregnable guard from that
+time on.</p>
+
+<p>Late that evening Prescott joined the two men who
+were watching DuQuesne's house. They reported that
+all was perfectly quiet, as usual. The scientist was in
+his library, the instruments registering only the usual
+occasional faint sounds of a man absorbed in study.
+But after an hour of waiting, and while the microphones
+made a noise as of rustling papers, the needle
+of the compass moved. It dipped slowly toward the
+earth as though DuQuesne were descending into the
+cellar, but at the same time the shadow of his unmistakable
+profile was thrown upon the window shade as
+he apparently crossed the room.</p>
+
+<p>"Can't you hear him walk?" demanded Prescott.</p>
+
+<p>"No. He has heavy Turkish rugs all over the library,
+and he always walks very lightly, besides."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_410" id="Page_410">[410]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>Prescott watched the needle in amazement as
+it dipped deeper and deeper, pointing down into the
+earth almost under his feet and then behind him, as
+though DuQuesne had walked beneath him. He did
+not, could not, believe it. He was certain that something
+had gone wrong with the strange instrument in
+his hand, nevertheless he followed the pointing needle.
+It led him beside Park Road, down the hill, straight
+toward the long bridge which forms one entrance to
+Rock Creek Park. Though skeptical, Prescott took
+no chances, and as he approached the bridge he left the
+road and concealed himself behind a clump of trees,
+from which point of vantage he could see the ground
+beneath the bridge as well as the roadway. Soon the
+bridge trembled under the weight of a heavy automobile
+going toward the city at a high rate of speed. He
+saw DuQuesne, with a roll of papers under his arm,
+emerge from under the bridge just in time to leap
+aboard the automobile, which slowed down only enough
+to enable him to board it in safety. The detective
+noticed that the car was a Pierce-Arrow limousine&mdash;a
+car not common, even in Washington&mdash;and rushed
+out to get its number, but the license plates were so
+smeared with oil and dust that the numbers could not
+be read by the light of the tail lamp. Glancing at the
+compass in his hand he saw that the delicate needle
+was now pointing steadily at the fleeing car, and all
+doubts as to the power of the instrument were dispelled.
+He rejoined his men, informed them that DuQuesne
+had eluded them, and took one of them up the hill to
+a nearby garage. There he engaged a fast car and
+set out in pursuit, choosing the path for the chauffeur
+by means of the compass. His search ended at the
+residence of Brookings, the General Manager of the
+great World Steel Corporation. Here he dismissed
+the car and watched the house while his assistant went
+to bring out the fast motorcycle used by Prescott when
+high speed was desirable.</p>
+
+<p>After four hours a small car bearing the license number
+of a distant state&mdash;which was found, by subsequent
+telegraphing, to be unknown to the authorities of that
+state&mdash;drove under the porte-coch&egrave;re, and the hidden
+watcher saw DuQuesne, without the papers, step into
+it. Knowing now what to expect, Prescott drove his
+racing motorcycle at full speed out to the Park Road
+Bridge and concealed himself beneath the structure, in
+a position commanding a view of the concrete abutment
+through which the scientist must have come. Soon
+he heard a car slow down overhead, heard a few rapid
+footfalls, and saw the dark form of a large man outlined
+against the gray face of the abutment. He saw
+the man lift his hand high above his head, and saw a
+black rectangle appear in the gray, engulf the man,
+and disappear. After a few minutes he approached
+the abutment and searched its face with the help of
+his flash-light. He finally succeeded in tracing the
+almost imperceptible crack which outlined the door, and
+the concealed button which DuQuesne had pressed to
+open it. He did not press the button, as it might be
+connected to an alarm. Deep in thought, he mounted
+his motorcycle and made his way to his home to get
+a few hours of sleep before reporting to Crane whom
+he was scheduled to see at breakfast next morning.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>Both men were waiting for him when he appeared,
+and he noticed with pleasure that Shiro, with a
+heavily-bandaged head, was insisting that he was perfectly
+able to wait on the table instead of breakfasting
+in bed. He calmly proceeded to serve breakfast in
+spite of Crane's remonstrances, having ceremoniously
+ordered out of the kitchen the colored man who had
+been secured to take his place.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, gentlemen," the detective began, "part of the
+mystery is straightened out. I was entirely wrong, and
+each of you were partly right. It was DuQuesne, in
+all probability. It is equally probable that a great company&mdash;in
+this case the World Steel Corporation&mdash;is
+backing him, though I don't believe there is a ghost of
+a show of ever being able to prove it in law. Your
+'object-compass' did the trick."</p>
+
+<p>He narrated all the events of the previous night.</p>
+
+<p>"I'd like to send him to the chair for this job," said
+Seaton with rising anger. "We ought to shoot him
+anyway, damn him&mdash;I'm sorry duels have gone out of
+fashion, for I can't shoot him off-hand, the way things
+are now&mdash;I sure wish I could."</p>
+
+<p>"No, you cannot shoot him," said Crane, thoughtfully,
+"and neither can I, worse luck. We are not in
+his class there. And you must not fight with him,
+either"&mdash;noting that Seaton's powerful hands had
+doubled into fists, the knuckles showing white through
+the tanned skin&mdash;"though that would be a fight worth
+watching and I would like to see you give him the beating
+of his life. A little thing like a beating is not a
+fraction of what he deserves and it would show him
+that we have found him out. No, we must do it legally
+or let him entirely alone. You think there is no hope
+of proving it, Prescott?"</p>
+
+<p>"Frankly, I see very little chance of it. There is
+always hope, of course, and if that bunch of pirates
+ever makes a slip, we'll be right there waiting to catch
+'em. While I don't believe in holding out false encouragement,
+they've never slipped yet. I'll take my men
+off DuQuesne, now that we've linked him up with
+Steel. It doesn't make any difference, does it, whether
+he goes to them every night or only once a week?</p>
+
+<p>"No."</p>
+
+<p>"Then about all I can do is to get everything I can
+on that Steel crowd, and that is very much like trying
+to get blood out of a turnip. I intend to keep after
+them, of course, for I owe them something for killing
+two of my men here, as well as for other favors they
+have done me in the past, but don't expect too much.
+I have tackled them before, and so have police headquarters
+and even the Secret Service itself, under cover,
+and all that any of us has been able to get is an occasional
+small fish. We could never land the big fellows.
+In fact, we have never found the slightest material
+proof of what we are morally certain is the truth, that
+World Steel is back of a lot of deviltry all over the
+country. The little fellows who do the work either
+don't know anything or are afraid to tell. I'll see if
+I can find out what they are doing with the stuff they
+stole, but I'm not even sure of doing that. You can't<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_411" id="Page_411">[411]</a></span>
+plant instruments on that bunch&mdash;it would be like trying
+to stick a pin into a sleeping cat without waking
+him up. They undoubtedly have one of the best corps
+of detectives in the world. You haven't perfected an
+instrument which enables you to see into a closed room
+and hear what is going on there, have you?" And upon
+being assured that they had not, he took his leave.</p>
+
+<p>"Optimistic cuss, ain't he?" remarked Seaton.</p>
+
+<p>"He has cause to be, Dick. World Steel is a soulless
+corporation if there ever was one. They have the
+shrewdest lawyers in the country, and they get away
+legally with things that are flagrantly illegal, such as
+freezing out competitors, stealing patents, and the like.
+Report has it that they do not stop at arson, treason, or
+murder to attain their ends, but as Prescott said, they
+never leave any legal proof behind them."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, <i>we</i> should fret, anyway. Of course, a monopoly
+is what they're after, but they can't form one
+because they can't possibly get the rest of our solution.
+Even if they should get it, we can get more. It won't
+be as easy as this last batch was, since the X was undoubtedly
+present in some particular lot of platinum in
+extraordinary quantities, but now that I know exactly
+what to look for, I can find more. So they can't get
+their monopoly unless they kill us off...."</p>
+
+<p>"Exactly. Go on, I see you are getting the idea. If
+we should both conveniently die, they could get the
+solution from the company, and have the monopoly,
+since no one else can handle it."</p>
+
+<p>"But they couldn't get away with it, Mart&mdash;never
+in a thousand years, even if they wanted to. Of course
+I am small fry, but you are too big a man for <ins class="corr" title="Transcriber's Note: The original read 'ever'.">even</ins>
+Steel to do away with. It can't be done."</p>
+
+<p>"I am not so sure of that. Airplane accidents are
+numerous, and I am an aviator. Also, has it ever
+occurred to you that the heavy forging for the Skylark,
+ordered a while ago, are of steel?"</p>
+
+<p>Seaton paused, dumbfounded, in the act of lighting
+his pipe.</p>
+
+<p>"But thanks to your object-compass, we are warned."
+Crane continued, evenly. "Those forgings are going
+through the most complete set of tests known to the
+industry, and if they go into the Skylark at all it will
+be after I am thoroughly convinced that they will not
+give way on our first trip into space. But we can do
+nothing until the steel arrives, and with the guard
+Prescott has here now we are safe enough. Luckily,
+the enemy knows nothing of the object-compass or
+the X-plosive, and we must keep them in ignorance.
+Hereinafter, not even the guards get a look at anything
+we do."</p>
+
+<p>"They sure don't. Let's get busy!"</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>DuQuesne and Brookings met in conference in
+a private room of the Perkins Caf&eacute;.</p>
+
+<p>"What's the good word, Doctor?"</p>
+
+<p>"So-so," replied the scientist. "The stuff is all they
+said it was, but we haven't enough of it to build much
+of a power-plant. We can't go ahead with it, anyway,
+as long as Seaton and Crane have nearly all their
+original solution."</p>
+
+<p>"No, we can't. We must find a way of getting it.
+I see now that we should have done as you suggested,
+and taken it before they had warning and put it out
+of our reach."</p>
+
+<p>"There's no use holding post-mortems. We've got
+to get it, some way, and everybody that knows anything
+about that new metal, how to get it or how to handle
+it, must die. At first, it would have been enough to
+kill Seaton. Now, however, there is no doubt that
+Crane knows all about it, and he probably has left
+complete instructions in case he gets killed in an accident&mdash;he's
+the kind that would. We will have to keep
+our eyes open and wipe out those instructions and anyone
+who has seen them. You see that, don't you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I am afraid that is the only way out. We
+must have the monopoly, and anyone who might be able
+to interfere with it must be removed. How has your
+search for more X prospered?"</p>
+
+<p>"About as well as I expected. We bought up all the
+platinum wastes we could get, and reworked all the
+metallic platinum and allied metals we could buy in
+the open market, and got less than a gram of X out of
+the whole lot. It's scarcer than radium. Seaton's
+finding so much of it at once was an accident, pure and
+simple&mdash;it couldn't happen once in a million years."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, have you any suggestions as to how we can
+get that solution?"</p>
+
+<p>"No. I haven't thought of anything but that very
+thing ever since I found that they had hidden it, and
+I can't yet see any good way of getting it. My forte is
+direct action and that fails in this case, since no amount
+of force or torture could make Crane reveal the hiding-place
+of the solution. It's probably in the safest safe-deposit
+vault in the country. He wouldn't carry the
+key on him, probably wouldn't have it in the house.
+Killing Seaton or Crane, or both of them, is easy
+enough, but it probably wouldn't get us the solution,
+as I have no doubt that Crane has provided for everything."</p>
+
+<p>"Probably he has. But if he should disappear the
+stuff would have to come to light, or the Seaton-Crane
+Company might start their power-plant. In that case,
+we probably could get it?"</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Possibly</i>, you mean. That method is too slow to
+suit me, though. It would take months, perhaps years,
+and would be devilishly uncertain, to boot. They'll
+know something is in the wind, and the stuff will be
+surrounded by every safeguard they can think of.
+There must be some better way than that, but I haven't
+been able to think of it."</p>
+
+<p>"Neither have I, but your phrase 'direct action' gives
+me an idea. You say that that method has failed. What
+do you think of trying indirect action in the shape of
+Perkins, who is indirection personified?"</p>
+
+<p>"Bring him in. He may be able to figure out something."</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>Perkins was called in, and the main phases of the
+situation laid before him. The three men sat in
+silence for many minutes while the crafty strategist
+studied the problem. Finally he spoke.</p>
+
+<p>"There's only one way, gentlemen. We must get a
+handle on either Seaton or Crane strong enough to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_412" id="Page_412">[412]</a></span>
+make them give up their bottle of dope, their plans, and
+everything...."</p>
+
+<p>"Handle!" interrupted DuQuesne. "You talk like
+a fool! You can't get anything on either of them."</p>
+
+<p>"You misunderstand me, Doctor. You can get a
+handle of some kind on any living man. Not necessarily
+in his past, you understand&mdash;I know that anything
+like that is out of the question in this case&mdash;but
+in his future. With some men it is money, with others
+power, with others fame, with others women or some
+woman, and so on down the list. What can we use
+here? Money is out of the question, so are power and
+fame, as they already have both in plain sight. It
+seems to me that women would be our best chance."</p>
+
+<p>"Hah!" snorted the chemist. "Crane has been chased
+by all the women of three continents so long that he's
+womanproof. Seaton is worse&mdash;he's engaged, and
+wouldn't realize that a woman was on his trail, even
+if you could find a better looking one to work on him
+than the girl he's engaged to&mdash;which would be a hard
+job. Cleopatra herself couldn't swing that order."</p>
+
+<p>"Engaged? That makes it simple as A B C."</p>
+
+<p>"Simple? In the devil's name, how?"</p>
+
+<p>"Easy as falling off a log. You have enough of the
+dope to build a space-car from those plans, haven't
+you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. What has that to do with the case?"</p>
+
+<p>"It has everything to do with it. I would suggest
+that we build such a car and use it to carry off the girl.
+After we have her safe we could tell Seaton that she
+is marooned on some distant planet, and that she will
+be returned to earth only after all the solution, all
+notes, plans, and everything pertaining to the new
+metal are surrendered. That will bring him, and Crane
+will consent. Then, afterward, Dr. Seaton may go
+away indefinitely, and if desirable, Mr. Crane may
+accompany him."</p>
+
+<p>"But suppose they try to fight?" asked Brookings.</p>
+
+<p>Perkins slid down into his chair in deep thought, his
+pale eyes under half-closed lids darting here and there,
+his stubby fingers worrying his watch-chain restlessly.</p>
+
+<p>"Who is the girl?" he asked at last.</p>
+
+<p>"Dorothy Vaneman, the daughter of the lawyer.
+She's that auburn-haired beauty that the papers were so
+full of when she came out last year."</p>
+
+<p>"Vaneman is a director in the Seaton-Crane Company.
+That makes it still better. If they show fight
+and follow us, that beautiful car we are making for
+them will collapse and they will be out of the way.
+Vaneman, as Seaton's prospective father-in-law and
+a member of his company, probably knows something
+about the secret. Maybe all of it. With his daughter
+in a space-car, supposedly out in space, and Seaton and
+Crane out of the way, Vaneman would listen to reason
+and let go of the solution, particularly as nobody knows
+much about it except Seaton and Crane."</p>
+
+<p>"That strikes me as a perfectly feasible plan," said
+Brookings. "But you wouldn't really take her to another
+planet, would you? Why not use an automobile
+or an airplane, and tell Seaton that it was a space-car?"</p>
+
+<p>"I wouldn't advise that. He might not believe it,
+and they might make a lot of trouble. It must be a
+real space-car even if we don't take her out of the city.
+To make it more impressive, you should take her
+in plain sight of Seaton&mdash;no, that would be too dangerous,
+as I have found out from the police that Seaton
+has a permit to carry arms, and I know that he is one
+of the fastest men with a pistol in the whole country.
+Do it in plain sight of her folks, say, or a crowd of
+people; being masked, of course, or dressed in an
+aviator's suit, with the hood and goggles on. Take her
+straight up out of sight, then hide her somewhere until
+Seaton listens to reason. I know that he <i>will</i> listen,
+but if he doesn't, you might let him see you start out
+to visit her. He'll be sure to follow you in their rotten
+car. As soon as he does that, he's our meat. But that
+raises the question of who is going to drive the car?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am," replied DuQuesne. "I will need some help,
+though, as at least one man must stay with the girl
+while I bring the car back."</p>
+
+<p>"We don't want to let anybody else in on this if we
+can help it," cautioned Brookings. "You could go
+along, couldn't you, Perkins?"</p>
+
+<p>"Is it safe?"</p>
+
+<p>"Absolutely," answered DuQuesne. "They have
+everything worked out to the queen's taste."</p>
+
+<p>"That's all right, then. I'll take the trip. Also,"
+turning to Brookings, "it will help in another little
+thing we are doing&mdash;the Spencer affair."</p>
+
+<p>"Haven't you got that stuff away from her yet, after
+having had her locked up in that hell-hole for two
+months?" asked Brookings.</p>
+
+<p>"No. She's stubborn as a mule. We've given her
+the third degree time after time, but it's no use."</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>"What's this?" asked DuQuesne. "Deviltry in
+the main office?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. This Margaret Spencer claims that we
+swindled her father out of an invention and indirectly
+caused his death. She secured a position with us in
+search of evidence. She is an expert stenographer, and
+showed such ability that she was promoted until she
+became my secretary. Our detectives must have been
+asleep, as she made away with some photographs and
+drawings before they caught her. She has no real evidence,
+of course, but she might cause trouble with a
+jury, especially as she is one of the best-looking women
+in Washington. Perkins is holding her until she returns
+the stolen articles."</p>
+
+<p>"Why can't you kill her off?"</p>
+
+<p>"She cannot be disposed of until after we know where
+the stuff is, because she says, and Perkins believes, that
+the evidence will show up in her effects. We must do
+something about her soon, as the search for her is dying
+down and she will be given up for dead."</p>
+
+<p>"What's the idea about her and the space-car?"</p>
+
+<p>"If the car proves reliable we might actually take
+her out into space and give her the choice between telling
+and walking back. She has nerve enough here on
+earth to die before giving up, but I don't believe any
+human being would be game to go it alone on a strange
+world. She'd wilt."</p>
+
+<p>"I believe you're right, Perkins. Your suggestions
+are the best way out. Don't you think so, Doctor?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_413" id="Page_413">[413]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I don't see how we can fail&mdash;we're sure to
+win, either way. You are prepared for trouble afterward,
+of course?"</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly, but I don't think there will be much
+trouble. They can't possibly link the three of us together.
+They aren't wise to you, are they, Doctor?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not a chance!" sneered DuQuesne. "They ran
+themselves ragged trying to get something on me, but
+they couldn't do it. They have given me up as a bad
+job. I am still as careful as ever, though&mdash;I am merely
+a pure scientist in the Bureau of Chemistry!"</p>
+
+<p>All three laughed, and Perkins left the room. The
+talk then turned to the construction of the space-car.
+It was decided to rush the work on it, so that DuQuesne
+could familiarize himself with its operation, but not
+to take any steps in the actual abduction until such
+time as Seaton and Crane were nearly ready to take
+their first flight, so that they could pursue the abductors
+in case Seaton was still obdurate after a few days of
+his fianc&eacute;e's absence. DuQuesne insisted that the car
+should mount a couple of heavy guns, to destroy the
+pursuing car if the faulty members should happen to
+hold together long enough to carry it out into space.</p>
+
+<p>After a long discussion, in which every detail of the
+plan was carefully considered, the two men left the
+restaurant, by different exits.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII</h2>
+
+<h3>The Trial Voyage</h3>
+
+
+<p>The great steel forgings which were to form the
+framework of the Skylark finally arrived and
+were hauled into the testing shed. There, behind
+closed doors, Crane inspected every square inch of the
+massive members with a lens, but could find nothing
+wrong. Still unsatisfied, he fitted up an electrical testing
+apparatus in order to search out flaws which might
+be hidden beneath the surface. This device revealed
+flaws in every piece, and after thoroughly testing each
+one and mapping out the imperfections he turned to
+Seaton with a grave face.</p>
+
+<p>"Worse than useless, every one of them. They are
+barely strong enough to stand shipment. They figured
+that we would go slowly until we were well out of the
+atmosphere, then put on power&mdash;then something would
+give way and we would never come back."</p>
+
+<p>"That's about the right dope, I guess. But now
+what'll we do? We can't cancel without letting them
+know we're onto them, and we certainly can't use this
+stuff."</p>
+
+<p>"No, but we will go ahead and build this ship, anyway,
+so that they will think that we are going ahead
+with it. At the same time we will build another one,
+about four times this size, in absolute secrecy, and...."</p>
+
+<p>"What d'you mean, absolute secrecy? How can you
+keep steel castings and forgings of that size secret
+from Steel?"</p>
+
+<p>"I know a chap who owns and operates a small steel
+plant, so insignificant, relatively, that he has not yet
+been bought out or frozen out by Steel. I was able
+to do him a small favor once, and I am sure that he
+will be glad to return it. We will not be able to oversee
+the work, that is a drawback. We can get MacDougall
+to do it for us, however, and with him doing the work
+we can rest assured that there will be nothing off color.
+Even Steel couldn't buy <i>him</i>."</p>
+
+<p>"MacDougall! The man who installed the Intercontinental
+plant? He wouldn't touch a little job like
+this with a pole!"</p>
+
+<p>"I think he would. He and I are rather friendly,
+and after I tell him all about it he will be glad to take
+it. It means building the first interplanetary vessel,
+you know."</p>
+
+<p>"Wouldn't Steel follow him up if he should go to
+work on a mysterious project? He's too big to hide."</p>
+
+<p>"No. He will go camping&mdash;he often does. I have
+gone with him several times when we were completely
+out of touch with civilization for two months at a time.
+Now, about the ship we want. Have you any ideas?"</p>
+
+<p>"It will cost more than our entire capital."</p>
+
+<p>"That is easily arranged. We do not care how much
+it costs."</p>
+
+<p>Seaton began to object to drawing so heavily upon
+the resources of his friend, but was promptly silenced.</p>
+
+<p>"I told you when we started," Crane said flatly, "that
+your solution and your idea are worth far more than
+half a million. In fact, they are worth more than
+everything I have. No more talk of the money end of
+it, Dick."</p>
+
+<p>"All right. We'll build a regular go-getter. Four
+times the size&mdash;she'll be a bear-cat, <ins class="corr" title="Transcriber's Note: The original read 'Mat'.">Mart</ins>. I'm glad
+this one is on the fritz. She'll carry a two-hundred-pound
+bar&mdash;Zowie! Watch our smoke! And say, why
+wouldn't it be a good idea to build an attractor&mdash;a thing
+like an object-compass, but mounting a ten-pound bar
+instead of a needle, so that if they chase us in space
+we can reach out and grab 'em? We might mount a
+machine-gun in each quadrant, shooting X-plosive bullets,
+through pressure gaskets in the walls. We should
+have something for defense&mdash;I don't like the possibility
+of having that gang of pirates after us, and nothing
+to fight back with except thought-waves."</p>
+
+<p>"Right. We will do both those things. But we
+should make the power-plant big enough to avert any
+possible contingency&mdash;say four hundred pounds&mdash;and
+we should have everything in duplicate, from power-plant
+to push-buttons."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't think that's necessary, Mart. Don't you
+think that's carrying caution to extremes?"</p>
+
+<p>"Possibly&mdash;but I would rather be a live coward than
+a dead hero, wouldn't you?"</p>
+
+<p>"You chirped it, old scout, I sure would. I never
+did like the looks of that old guy with the scythe, and
+I would hate to let DuQuesne feel that he had slipped
+something over on me at my own game. Besides, I've
+developed a lot of caution myself, lately. Double she
+is, with a skin of four-foot Norwegian armor. Let's
+get busy!"</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>They made the necessary alteration in the plans,
+and in a few days work was begun upon the huge
+steel shell in the little mountain steel-plant. The work
+was done under the constant supervision of the great
+MacDougall, by men who had been in his employ for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_414" id="Page_414">[414]</a></span>
+years and who were all above suspicion. While it was
+being built Seaton and Crane employed a force of men
+and went ahead with the construction of the space-car
+in the testing shed. While they did not openly slight
+the work nearly all their time was spent in the house,
+perfecting the many essential things which were to
+go into the real Skylark. There was the attractor, for
+which they had to perfect a special sighting apparatus
+so that it could act in any direction, and yet would
+not focus upon the ship itself nor anything it contained.
+There were many other things.</p>
+
+<p>It was in this work that the strikingly different temperaments
+and abilities of the two men were most
+clearly revealed. Seaton strode up and down the room,
+puffing great volumes of smoke from his hot and reeking
+briar, suggesting methods and ideas, his keen mind
+finding the way over, around, or through the apparently
+insuperable obstacles which beset their path.
+Crane, seated calmly at the drafting-table, occasionally
+inhaling a mouthful of smoke from one of his specially-made
+cigarettes, mercilessly tore Seaton's suggestions
+to shreds&mdash;pointing out their weaknesses, proving his
+points with his cold, incisive reasoning and his slide-rule
+calculations of factors, stresses, and strains.
+Seaton in turn would find a remedy for every defect,
+and finally, the idea complete and perfect, Crane would
+impale it upon the point of his drafting pencil and
+spread it in every detail upon the paper before him,
+while Seaton's active mind leaped to the next problem.</p>
+
+<p>Not being vitally interested in the thing being built
+in the shed, they did not know that to the flawed members
+were being attached faulty plates, by imperfect
+welding. Even if they had been interested they could
+not have found the poor workmanship by any ordinary
+inspection, for it was being done by a picked crew of
+experts picked by Perkins. But to make things even,
+Perkins' crew did not know that the peculiar instruments
+installed by Seaton and Crane, of which their
+foreman took many photographs, were not real instruments,
+and were made only nearly enough like them to
+pass inspection. They were utterly useless, in design
+and function far different from the real instruments
+intended for the Skylark.</p>
+
+<p>Finally, the last dummy instrument was installed in
+the worthless space-car, which the friends referred
+to between themselves as "The Cripple," a name which
+Seaton soon changed to "Old Crip." The construction
+crew was dismissed after Crane had let the foreman
+overhear a talk between Seaton and himself in which
+they decided not to start for a few days as they had
+some final experiments to make. Prescott reported
+that Steel had relaxed its vigilance and was apparently
+waiting for the first flight. About the same time word
+was received from MacDougall that the real Skylark
+was ready for the finishing touches. A huge triplane
+descended upon Crane Field and was loaded to its
+capacity with strange looking equipment. When it
+left Seaton and Crane went with it, "to make the final
+tests before the first flight," leaving a heavy guard over
+the house and the testing shed.</p>
+
+<p>A few nights later, in inky blackness, a huge shape
+descended rapidly in front of the shed, whose ponderous
+doors opened to receive it and closed quickly after
+it. The Skylark moved lightly and easily as a wafted
+feather, betraying its thousands of tons of weight only
+by the hole it made in the hard-beaten earth of the
+floor as it settled to rest. Opening one of the heavy
+doors, Seaton and Crane sprang out into the darkness.</p>
+
+<p>Dorothy and her father, who had been informed
+that the Skylark was to be brought home that night,
+were waiting. Seaton caught up his sweetheart in one
+mighty arm and extended his hand past her to Vaneman,
+who seized it in both his own. Upon the young
+man's face was the look of a victorious king returning
+from conquest. For a few minutes disconnected exclamations
+were all that any of the party could utter.
+Then Seaton, loosening slightly his bear's hold upon
+Dorothy, spoke.</p>
+
+<p>"She flies!" he cried exultantly. "She flies, dearest,
+like a ray of light for speed and like a bit of thistledown
+for lightness. We've been around the moon!"</p>
+
+<p>"Around the moon!" cried the two amazed visitors.
+"So soon?" asked Vaneman. "When did you start?"</p>
+
+<p>"Almost an hour ago," replied Crane readily; he
+had already taken out his watch. His voice was calm,
+his face quiet, but to those who knew him best a deeper
+resonance in his voice and a deeper blue sparkle in his
+eyes betrayed his emotion. Both inventors were moved
+more than they could have told by their achievement,
+by the complete success of the great space-cruiser upon
+which they had labored for months with all the power
+of their marvelous intellects. Seaton stood now at the
+summit of his pride. No recognition by the masses,
+no applause by the multitudes, no praise even from
+the upper ten of his own profession could equal for
+him the silent adulation of the two before him. Dorothy's
+exquisite face was glorified as she looked at her
+lover. Her eyes wonderful as they told him how
+high he stood above all others in her world, how much
+she loved him. Seeing that look; that sweet face, more
+beautiful than ever in this, his hour of triumph; that
+perfect, adorable body, Seaton forgot the others and
+a more profound exaltation than that brought by his
+flight filled his being&mdash;humble thankfulness that he was
+the man to receive the untold treasure of her great
+giving.</p>
+
+<p>"Every bit of mechanism we had occasion to use
+worked perfectly," Crane stated proudly. "We did
+not find it necessary to change any of our apparatus
+and we hope to make a longer flight soon. The hour
+we took on this trip might easily have been only a few
+minutes, for the Lark did not even begin to pick up
+speed."</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>Shiro looked at Crane with an air of utter devotion
+and bowed until his head approached the floor.</p>
+
+<p>"Sir," he said in his stilted English. "Honorable
+Skylark shall be marvelous wonder. If permitting, I
+shall luxuriate in preparing suitable refreshment."</p>
+
+<p>The permission granted, he trotted away into the
+house, and the travelers invited their visitors to inspect
+the new craft. Crane and the older man climbed
+through the circular doorway, which was at an elevation
+of several feet above the ground. Seaton and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_415" id="Page_415">[415]</a></span>
+Dorothy exchanged a brief but enthusiastic caress before
+he lifted her lightly up to the opening and followed
+her up a short flight of stairs. Although she knew what
+to expect, from her lover's descriptions and from her
+own knowledge of "Old Crip," which she had seen
+many times, she caught her breath in amazement as
+she stood up and looked about the brilliantly-lighted
+interior of the great sky-rover. It was a sight such
+as had never before been seen upon earth.</p>
+
+<div class="center"><div class="figcenter" style="width: 430px;">
+<img src="images/003.png" width="430" height="600" alt="Inside the Skylark." title="Inside the Skylark." />
+<span class="caption">In the exact center of the huge shell was a spherical network of enormous steel beams. Inside this structure could be seen a similar
+network which, mounted upon universal bearings, was free to revolve in any direction.</span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>She saw a spherical shell of hardened steel armor-plate,
+fully forty feet in diameter; though its true shape
+was not readily apparent from the inside, as it was
+divided into several compartments by horizontal floors
+or decks. In the exact center of the huge shell was
+a spherical network of enormous steel beams. Inside
+this structure could be seen a similar network which,
+mounted upon universal bearings, was free to revolve
+in any direction. This inner network was filled with
+machinery, surrounding a shining copper cylinder.
+From the outer network radiated six mighty supporting
+columns. These, branching as they neared the hull
+of the vessel, supported the power-plant and steering
+apparatus in the center and so strengthened the shell
+that the whole structure was nearly as strong as a solid
+steel ball. She noticed that the floor, perhaps eight
+feet below the center, was heavily upholstered in leather
+and did not seem solid; and that the same was true of
+the dozen or more seats&mdash;she could not call them chairs&mdash;which
+were built in various places. She gazed with
+interest at the two instrument boards, upon which
+flashed tiny lights and the highly-polished plate glass,
+condensite, and metal of many instruments, the use of
+which she could not guess.</p>
+
+<p>After a few minutes of silence both visitors began
+to ask questions, and Seaton showed them the principal
+features of the novel craft. Crane accompanied
+them in silence, enjoying their pleasure, glorying in
+the mighty vessel. Seaton called attention to the great
+size and strength of the lateral supporting columns,
+one of which was immediately above their heads, and
+then led them over to the vertical column which pierced
+the middle of the floor. Enormous as the lateral had
+seemed, it appeared puny in comparison with this
+monster of fabricated steel. Seaton explained that
+the two verticals were many times stronger than the
+four laterals, as the center of gravity of the ship had
+been made lower than its geometrical center, so that
+the apparent motion of the vessel and therefore the
+power of the bar, would usually be merely vertical.
+Resting one hand caressingly upon the huge column,
+he exultantly explained that these members were "the
+last word in strength, made up of many separate I-beams
+and angles of the strongest known special steel,
+latticed and braced until no conceivable force could
+make them yield a millimeter."</p>
+
+<p>"But why such strength?" asked the lawyer doubtfully.
+"This column alone would hold up Brooklyn
+Bridge."</p>
+
+<p>"To hold down the power-plant, so that the bar won't
+tear through the ship when we cut her loose," replied
+Seaton. "Have you any idea how fast this bird can
+fly?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I have heard you speak of traveling with the
+velocity of light, but that is overdrawn, isn't it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not very much. Our figures show that with this
+four-hundred-pound bar"&mdash;pointing to the copper
+cylinder in the exact center of the inner sphere&mdash;"we
+could develop not only the velocity of light, but an
+acceleration equal to that velocity, were it not for the
+increase in mass at high velocities, as shown by Einstein
+and others. We can't go very fast near the earth, of
+course, as the friction of the air would melt the whole
+works in a few minutes. Until we get out of the
+atmosphere our speed will be limited by the ability of
+steel to withstand melting by the friction of the air to
+somewhere in the neighborhood of four or five thousand
+miles per hour, but out in space we can develop any
+speed we wish, up to that of light as a limit."</p>
+
+<p>"I studied physics a little in my youth. Wouldn't
+the mere force of such an acceleration as you mention
+flatten you on the floor and hold you there? And any
+sudden jar would certainly kill you."</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>"There can't be any sudden jar. This is a special
+floor, you notice. It is mounted on long, extremely
+heavy springs, to take up any possible jar.
+Also, whenever we are putting on power we won't try
+to stand up, our legs would crimple up like strings.
+We will ride securely strapped into those special seats,
+which are mounted the same as the floor, only a whole
+lot more so. As to the acceleration...."</p>
+
+<p>"That word means picking up speed, doesn't it?"
+interrupted Dorothy.</p>
+
+<p>"The rate of picking up speed," corrected Seaton.
+"That is, if you were going forty miles per hour one
+minute, and fifty the next minute, your acceleration
+would be ten miles per hour per minute. See? It's
+acceleration that makes you feel funny when you start
+up or down in an elevator."</p>
+
+<p>"Then riding in this thing will be like starting up in
+an elevator so that your heart sinks into your boots
+and you can't breathe?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, only worse. We will pick up speed faster and
+keep on doing it...."</p>
+
+<p>"Seriously," interrupted the lawyer, "do you think
+that the human body can stand any such acceleration
+as that?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know. We are going to find out, by starting
+out slowly and increasing our acceleration to as
+much as we can stand."</p>
+
+<p>"I see," Vaneman replied. "But how are you going
+to steer her? How do you keep permanent reference
+points, since there are no directions in space?"</p>
+
+<p>"That was our hardest problem," explained Seaton,
+"but Martin solved it perfectly. See the power-plant
+up there? Notice those big supporting rings and bearings?
+Well, the power-plant is entirely separate from
+the ship, as it is inside that inner sphere, about which
+the outer sphere and the ship itself are free to revolve
+in any direction. No matter how much the ship rolls
+and pitches, as she is bound to do every time we come
+near enough to any star or planet to be influenced by
+its gravitation, the bar stays where it is pointed. Those
+six big jackets in the outer sphere, on the six sides of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_416" id="Page_416">[416]</a></span>
+the bar, cover six pairs of gyroscope wheels, weighing
+several tons each, turning at a terrific speed in a vacuum.
+The gyroscopes keep the whole outer sphere in exactly
+the same position as long as they are kept turning, and
+afford us not only permanent planes of reference, but
+also a solid foundation in those planes which can be
+used in pointing the bar. The bar can be turned
+instantly to any direction whatever by special electrical
+instruments on the boards. You see, the outer sphere
+stays immovably fixed in that position, with the bar at
+liberty to turn in any direction inside it, and the ship
+at liberty to do the same thing outside it.</p>
+
+<p>"Now we will show you where we sleep," Seaton
+continued. "We have eight rooms, four below and
+four above," leading the way to a narrow, steep steel
+stairway and down into a very narrow hall, from either
+side of which two doors opened. "This is my room, the
+adjoining one is Mart's. Shiro sleeps across the hall.
+The rest of the rooms are for our guests on future
+trips."</p>
+
+<p>Sliding back the door, he switched on the light and
+revealed a small but fully-appointed bedroom, completely
+furnished with everything necessary, yet everything
+condensed into the least possible space. The
+floor, like the one above, was of cushioned leather supported
+by springs. The bed was a modification of the
+special seats already referred to. Opening another
+sliding door, he showed them an equally complete and
+equally compact bathroom.</p>
+
+<p>"You see, we have all the comforts of home. This
+bathroom, however, is practical only when we have
+some force downward, either gravitation or our own
+acceleration. The same reasoning accounts for the
+hand-rails you see everywhere on board. Drifting in
+space, you know, there is no weight, and you can't
+walk; you must pull yourself around. If you tried to
+take a step you would bounce up and hit the ceiling,
+and stay there. That is why the ceilings are so well
+padded. And if you tried to wash your face you would
+throw water all over the place, and it would float around
+in the air instead of falling to the floor. As long as
+we can walk we can use the bathroom&mdash;if I should
+want to wash my face while we are drifting, I just
+press this button here, and the pilot will put on enough
+acceleration to make the correct use of water possible.
+There are a lot of surprising things about a trip into
+space."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't doubt it a bit, and I'm simply wild to go for
+a ride with you. When will you take me, Dicky?"
+asked Dorothy eagerly.</p>
+
+<p>"Very soon, Dottie. As soon as we get her in perfect
+running condition. You shall be the first to ride with
+us, I promise you."</p>
+
+<p>"Where do you cook and eat? How do you see out?
+How about the air and water supply? How do you
+keep warm, or cool, as the case may be?" asked the
+girl's father, as though he were cross-examining a
+witness.</p>
+
+<p>"Shiro has a galley on the main floor, and tables
+fold up into the wall of the main compartment. The
+passengers see out by sliding back steel panels, which
+normally cover the windows. The pilot can see in any
+direction from his seat at the instrument-board, by
+means of special instruments, something like periscopes.
+The windows are made of optical glass similar to that
+used in the largest telescopes. They are nearly as thick
+as the hull and have a compressive resistance almost
+equal to that of armor steel. Although so thick, they are
+crystal clear, and a speck of dust on the outer surface
+is easily seen. We have water enough in tanks to
+last us three months, or indefinitely if we should have
+to be careful, as we can automatically distill and purify
+all our waste water, recovering absolutely pure H<sub>2</sub>O.
+We have compressed air, also in tanks, but we need
+very little, as the air is constantly being purified. Also,
+we have oxygen-generating apparatus aboard, in case
+we should run short. As to keeping warm, we have
+electric heating coils, run by the practically inexhaustible
+power of a small metal bar. If we get too near the
+sun and get too warm, we have a refrigerating machine
+to cool us off. Anything else?"</p>
+
+<p>"You'd better give up, Dad," laughingly advised his
+daughter. "You've thought of everything, haven't you,
+Dick?"</p>
+
+<p>"Mart has, I think. This is all his doing, you know.
+I wouldn't have thought of a tenth of it, myself."</p>
+
+<p>"I must remind you young folks," said the older
+man, glancing at his watch, "that it is very late and
+high time for Dottie and me to be going home. We
+would like to stay and see the rest of it, but you know
+we must be away from here before daylight."</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>As they went into the house Vaneman asked:</p>
+
+<p>"What does the other side of the moon look
+like? I have always been curious about it."</p>
+
+<p>"We were not able to see much," replied Crane "It
+was too dark and we did not take the time to explore
+it, but from what we could see by means of our searchlights
+it is very much like this side&mdash;the most barren
+and desolate place imaginable. After we go to Mars,
+we intend to explore the moon thoroughly."</p>
+
+<p>"Mars, then, is your first goal? When do you intend
+to start?"</p>
+
+<p>"We haven't decided definitely. Probably in a day
+or two. Everything is ready now."</p>
+
+<p>As the Vanemans had come out in the street car,
+in order to attract as little attention as possible, Seaton
+volunteered to take them home in one of Crane's cars.
+As they bade Crane goodnight after enjoying Shiro's
+"suitable refreshment" the lawyer took the chauffeur's
+seat, motioning his daughter and Seaton into the closed
+body of the car. As soon as they had started Dorothy
+turned in the embrace of her lover's arm.</p>
+
+<p>"Dick," she said fiercely. "I would have been worried
+sick if I had known that you were way off there."</p>
+
+<p>"I knew it, sweetheart. That's why I didn't tell you
+we were going. We both knew the Skylark was perfectly
+safe, but I knew that you would worry about
+our first trip. Now that we have been to the moon you
+won't be uneasy when we go to Mars, will you, dear?"</p>
+
+<p>"I can't help it, boy. I will be afraid that something
+terrible has happened, every minute. Won't you take
+me with you? Then, if anything happens, it will happen
+to both of us, and that is as it should be. You<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_417" id="Page_417">[417]</a></span>
+know that I wouldn't want to keep on living if anything
+<i>should</i> happen to you."</p>
+
+<p>He put both arms around her as his reply, and
+pressed his cheek to hers.</p>
+
+<p>"Dorothy sweetheart, I know exactly how you feel.
+I feel the same way myself. I'm awfully sorry, dear,
+but I can't do it. I know the machine is safe, but I've
+got to prove it to everybody else before I take you on
+a long trip with me. Your father will agree with me
+that you ought not to go, on the first trip or two, anyway.
+And besides, what would Madam Grundy say?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, there <i>is</i> a way...." she began, and he felt
+her face turn hot.</p>
+
+<p>His arms tightened around her and his breath came
+fast.</p>
+
+<p>"I know it, sweetheart, and I would like nothing
+better in the world than to be married today and take
+our honeymoon in the Skylark, but I can't do it. After
+we come back from the first long trip we will be married
+just as soon as you say ready, and after that we
+will always be together wherever I go. But I can't
+take even the millionth part of a chance with anything
+as valuable as you are&mdash;you see that, don't you, Dottie?"</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose so," she returned disconsolately, "but
+you'll make it a short trip, for my sake? I know I
+won't rest a minute until you get back."</p>
+
+<p>"I promise you that we won't be gone more than
+four days. Then for the greatest honeymoon that ever
+was," and they clung together in the dark body of the
+car, each busy with solemn and beautiful thoughts of
+the happiness to come.</p>
+
+<p>They soon reached their destination. As they entered
+the house Dorothy made one more attempt.</p>
+
+<p>"Dad, Dick is just too perfectly mean. He says he
+won't take me on the first trip. If you were going out
+there wouldn't mother want to go along too?"</p>
+
+<p>After listening to Seaton he gave his decision.</p>
+
+<p>"Dick is right, Kitten. He must make the long trip
+first. Then, after the machine is proved reliable, you
+may go with him. I can think of no better way of
+spending a honeymoon&mdash;it will be a new one, at least.
+And you needn't worry about the boys getting back
+safely. I might not trust either of them alone, but
+together they are invincible. Good-night, children. I
+wish you success, Dick," as he turned away.</p>
+
+<p>Seaton took a lover's leave of Dorothy, and went
+into the lawyer's study, taking an envelope from his
+pocket.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Vaneman," he said in a low voice, "we think
+the Steel crowd is still camping on our trail. We are
+ready for them, with a lot of stuff that they never heard
+of, but in case anything goes wrong, Martin has written
+between the lines of this legal form, in invisible ink
+A-36, exactly how to get possession of all our notes and
+plans, so that the company can go ahead with everything.
+With those directions any chemist can find and
+use the stuff safely. Please put this envelope in the
+safest place you can think of, and then forget it unless
+they get both Crane and me. There's about one chance
+in a million of their doing that, but Mart doesn't gamble
+on even that chance."</p>
+
+<p>"He is right, Dick. I believe that you can outwit
+them in any situation, but I will keep this paper where
+no one except myself can ever see it, nevertheless.
+Good-night, son, and good luck."</p>
+
+<p>"The same to you, sir, and thank you. Good-night."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_528" id="Page_528">[528]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII</h2>
+
+<h3>Indirect Action</h3>
+
+<div class="sidebar"><p><span style="float: left; font-size: 400%; line-height: 0.9em; padding-right: 0.1em;">T</span>he author of this story, being a chemist of high standing
+and an excellent mathematician, gives us a rare gem
+in this interplanetary tale. For one thing, he suggests an
+interesting use of the action of acceleration. In this instalment
+it is made to take the place of gravity when the interplanetary
+vehicle is out in open space. In order to get the
+gravity effect, a positive or negative acceleration could be
+given out.</p>
+
+<p>This instalment retains its easy flow of language and continues
+to develop surprise episodes with a remarkable degree
+of realism.</p></div>
+
+
+<p>The afternoon following the homecoming of
+the Skylark, Seaton and Dorothy returned
+from a long horseback ride in the park.
+After Seaton had mounted his motorcycle
+Dorothy turned toward a bench in the
+shade of an old elm to watch a game of tennis on the
+court next door. Scarcely had she seated herself when
+a great copper-plated ball alighted upon the lawn in
+front of her. A heavy steel
+door snapped open and a
+powerful figure clad in aviator's
+leather, the face completely
+covered by the hood,
+leaped out. She jumped to
+her feet with a cry of joyful
+surprise, thinking it was
+Seaton&mdash;a cry which died
+suddenly as she realized
+that Seaton had just left her
+and that this vessel was
+far too small to be the Skylark. She turned in flight,
+but the stranger caught her in three strides. She found
+herself helpless in a pair of arms equal in strength to
+Seaton's own. Picking her up lightly as a baby, DuQuesne
+carried her over to the space-car. Shriek after
+shriek rang out as she found that her utmost struggles
+were of no avail against the giant strength of her captor,
+that her fiercely-driven nails glanced harmlessly off
+the heavy glass and leather of his hood, and that her
+teeth were equally ineffective against his suit.</p>
+
+<p>With the girl in his arms DuQuesne stepped into the
+vessel, and as the door
+clanged shut behind them
+Dorothy caught a glimpse
+of another woman, tied
+hand and foot in one of the
+side seats of the car.</p>
+
+<p>"Tie her feet, Perkins,"
+DuQuesne ordered brusquely,
+holding her around the
+body so that her feet extended
+straight out in front
+of him. "She's a wildcat."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_530" id="Page_530">[530]</a></span></p><p>As Perkins threw one end of a small rope around her
+ankles Dorothy doubled up her knees, drawing her feet
+as far away from him as possible. As he incautiously
+approached, she kicked out viciously, with all the force
+of her muscular young body behind her heavy riding-boots.</p>
+
+<p>The sharp heel of one small boot struck Perkins
+squarely in the pit of the stomach&mdash;a true "solar-plexus"
+blow&mdash;and completely knocked out, he staggered
+back against the instrument-board. His out-flung
+arm pushed the speed lever clear out to its last notch,
+throwing the entire current of the batteries through the
+bar, which was pointed straight up, as it had been when
+they made their landing, and closing the switch which
+threw on the power of the repelling outer coating.
+There was a creak of the mighty steel fabric, stressed
+almost to its limit as the vessel darted upward with its
+stupendous velocity, and only the carefully-planned
+spring-and-cushion floor saved their lives as they were
+thrown flat and held there by the awful force of their
+acceleration as the space-car tore through the thin
+layer of the earth's atmosphere. So terrific was their
+speed, that the friction of the air did not have time to
+set them afire&mdash;they were through it and into the perfect
+vacuum of interstellar space before the thick steel
+hull was even warmed through. Dorothy lay flat upon
+her back, just as she had fallen, unable even to move
+her arms, gaining each breath only by a terrible effort.
+Perkins was a huddled heap under the instrument-board.
+The other captive, Brookings' ex-secretary, was
+in somewhat better case, as her bonds had snapped
+like string and she was lying at full length in one of
+the side-seats&mdash;forced into that position and held there,
+as the design of the seats was adapted for the most
+comfortable position possible under such conditions.
+She, like Dorothy, was gasping for breath, her straining
+muscles barely able to force air into her lungs because
+of the paralyzing weight of her chest.</p>
+
+<p>DuQuesne alone was able to move, and it required
+all of his Herculean strength to creep and crawl, snake-like,
+toward the instrument-board. Finally attaining
+his goal, he summoned all his strength to grasp, not the
+controlling lever, which he knew was beyond his reach,
+but a cut-out switch only a couple of feet above his
+head. With a series of convulsive movements he fought
+his way up, first until he was crouching on his elbows
+and knees, and then into a squatting position. Placing
+his left hand under his right, he made a last supreme
+effort. Perspiration streamed from him, his mighty
+muscles stood out in ridges visible even under the heavy
+leather of his coat, his lips parted in a snarl over his
+locked teeth as he threw every ounce of his wonderful
+body into an effort to force his right hand up to the
+switch. His hand approached it slowly&mdash;closed over it
+and pulled it out.</p>
+
+<p>The result was startling. With the mighty power
+instantly cut off, and with not even the ordinary force
+of gravitation to counteract the force DuQuesne was
+exerting, his own muscular effort hurled him up toward
+the center of the car and against the instrument-board.
+The switch, still in his grasp, was again closed. His
+shoulder crashed against the levers which controlled the
+direction of the bar, swinging it through a wide arc.
+As the ship darted off in the new direction with all its
+old acceleration, he was hurled against the instrument
+board, tearing one end loose from its supports and falling
+unconscious to the floor on the other side. After a
+time, which seemed like an eternity, Dorothy and the
+other girl felt their senses slowly leave them.</p>
+
+<p>With four unconscious passengers, the space-car
+hurtled through empty space, its already inconceivable
+velocity being augmented every second by a quantity
+bringing its velocity near to that of light, driven onward
+by the incredible power of the disintegrating copper bar.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>Seaton had gone only a short distance from his
+sweetheart's home when over the purring of his
+engine he thought he heard Dorothy's voice raised in a
+scream. He did not wait to make sure, but whirled his
+machine about and the purring changed instantly to a
+staccato roar as he threw open the throttle and advanced
+the spark. Gravel flew from beneath his skidding
+wheels as he negotiated the turn into the Vaneman
+grounds at suicidal speed. But with all his haste he
+arrived upon the scene just in time to see the door of
+the space-car close. Before he could reach it the vessel
+disappeared, with nothing to mark its departure save
+a violent whirl of grass and sod, uprooted and carried
+far into the air by the vacuum of its wake. To the
+excited tennis-players and the screaming mother of the
+abducted girl it seemed as though the great metal ball
+had vanished utterly&mdash;only Seaton, knowing what to
+expect, saw the line it made in the air and saw for an
+instant a minute dot in the sky before it disappeared.</p>
+
+<p>Interrupting the clamor of the young people, each
+of whom was trying to tell him what had happened, he
+spoke to Mrs. Vaneman.</p>
+
+<p>"Mother, Dottie's all right," he said rapidly but
+gently. "Steel's got her, but they won't keep her long.
+Don't worry, we'll get her. It may take a week or it
+may take a year, but we'll bring her back," and leaping
+upon his motorcycle, he shattered all the speed laws on
+his way to Crane's house.</p>
+
+<p>"Mart!" he yelled, rushing into the shop, "they've
+got Dottie, in a bus made from our plans. Let's go!"
+as he started on a run for the testing shed.</p>
+
+<p>"Wait a minute!" crisply shouted Crane. "Don't
+go off half-cocked. What is your plan?"</p>
+
+<p>"Plan, hell!" barked the enraged chemist. "Chase
+'em!"</p>
+
+<p>"Which way did they go, and when?"</p>
+
+<p>"Straight up, full power, twenty minutes ago."</p>
+
+<p>"Too long ago. Straight up has changed its direction
+several degrees since then. They may have covered a
+million miles, or they may have come back and landed
+next door. Sit down and think&mdash;we need all your
+brains now."</p>
+
+<p>Regaining his self-possession as the wisdom of his
+friend's advice came home to him, Seaton sat down and
+pulled out his pipe. There was a tense silence for an
+instant. Then he leaped to his feet and darted into his
+room, returning with an object-compass whose needle
+pointed upward.</p>
+
+<p>"DuQuesne did it," he cried exultantly. "This baby
+is still looking right at him. Now let's go&mdash;make it
+snappy!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_531" id="Page_531">[531]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Not yet. We should find out how far away they
+are; that may give us an idea."</p>
+
+<p>Suiting action to word, he took up his stopwatch and
+set the needle swinging. They watched it with strained
+faces as second after second went by and it still continued
+to swing. When it had come to rest Crane read
+his watch and made a rapid calculation.</p>
+
+<p>"About three hundred and fifty million miles," he
+stated. "Clear out of our solar system already, and
+from the distance covered he must have had a constant
+acceleration so as to approximate the velocity of light,
+and he is still going with full...."</p>
+
+<p>"But nothing can possibly go that fast, Mart, it's
+impossible. How about Einstein's theory?"</p>
+
+<p>"That is a theory, this measurement of distance is a
+fact, as you know from our tests."</p>
+
+<p>"That's right. Another good theory gone to pot.
+But how do you account for his distance? D'you suppose
+he's lost control?"</p>
+
+<p>"He must have. I do not believe that he would willingly
+stand that acceleration, nor that he would have
+gone that far of his own accord. Do you?"</p>
+
+<p>"I sure don't. We don't know how big a bar they
+are carrying, so we can't estimate how long it is going
+to take us to catch them. But let's not waste any more
+time, Mart. For Cat's sake, let's get busy!"</p>
+
+<p>"We have only those four bars, Dick&mdash;two for each
+unit. Do you think that will be enough? Think of
+how far we may have to go, what we may possibly get
+into, and what it will mean to Dottie if we fail for lack
+of power."</p>
+
+<p>Seaton, though furiously eager to be off, paused at
+this new idea, and half-regretfully he replied:</p>
+
+<p>"We are so far behind them already that I guess a
+few hours more won't make much difference. It sure
+would be disastrous to get out near one of the fixed
+stars and have our power quit. I guess you're right,
+we'd better get a couple more&mdash;make it four, then we'll
+have enough to chase them half our lives. We'd better
+load up on grub and X-plosive ammunition, too."</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>While Crane and Shiro carried additional provisions
+and boxes of cartridges into the "Skylark,"
+Seaton once more mounted his motorcycle and
+sped across the city to the brass foundry. The manager
+of the plant took his order, but blandly informed him
+that there was not that much copper in the city, that it
+would be a week or ten days before the order could be
+filled. Seaton suggested that they melt up some copper
+cable and other goods already manufactured, offering
+ten times their value, but the manager was obdurate,
+saying that he could not violate the rule of priority of
+orders. Seaton then went to other places, endeavoring
+to buy scrap copper, trolley wire, electric cable, anything
+made of the ruddy metal, but found none for sale in
+quantities large enough to be of any use. After several
+hours of fruitless search, he returned home in a towering
+rage and explained to Crane, in lurid language, his
+failure to secure the copper. The latter was unmoved.</p>
+
+<p>"After you left, it occurred to me that you might not
+get any. You see, Steel is still watching us."</p>
+
+<p>Fire shot from Seaton's eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm going to clean up that bunch," he gritted
+through his teeth as he started straight for the door.</p>
+
+<p>"Not yet, Dick," Crane remonstrated. "We can go
+down to Wilson's in a few minutes, and I know we can
+get it there if he has it. The "Skylark" is all ready to
+travel."</p>
+
+<p>No more words were needed. They hurried into the
+space-car and soon were standing in the office of the
+plant in which the vessel had been built. When they
+had made their wants known, the iron-master shook his
+head.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm sorry, Crane, but I have only a few pounds of
+copper in the shop, and we have no suitable furnace."</p>
+
+<p>Seaton broke out violently at this, but Crane interrupted
+him, explaining their inability to get the metal
+anywhere else and the urgency of their need. When he
+had finished, Wilson brought his fist down upon his
+desk.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll get it if I have to melt up our dynamos," he
+roared. "We'll have to rig a crucible, but we'll have
+your bars out just as soon as the whole force of this
+damned scrap-heap can make 'em!"</p>
+
+<p>Calling in his foreman, he bellowed orders, and while
+automobiles scoured the nearby towns for scrap copper,
+the crucible and molds were made ready.</p>
+
+<p>Nearly two days passed before the gleaming copper
+cylinders were finished. During this time Crane added
+to their already complete equipment every article he
+could conceive of their having any use for, while Seaton
+raged up and down the plant in a black fury of impatience.
+Just before the bars were ready, they made
+another reading on the object-compass. Their faces
+grew tense and drawn and their hearts turned sick as
+second followed second and minute followed minute
+and the needle still oscillated. Finally, however, it came
+to rest, and Seaton's voice almost failed him as he read
+his figures.</p>
+
+<p>"Two hundred and thirty-five light-years, Mart.
+They're lost, and still going. Good-bye, old scout,"
+holding out his hand, "Tell Vaneman that I'll bring her
+back or else stay out there myself."</p>
+
+<p>"You must be crazy, Dick. You know I am going."</p>
+
+<p>"Why? No use in both of us taking such a chance.
+If Dottie's gone, of course I want to go too, but you
+don't."</p>
+
+<p>"Nonsense, Dick. Of course this is somewhat
+farther than we had planned on going for our maiden
+voyage, but where is the difference? It is just as safe
+to go a thousand light-years as only one, and we have
+power and food for any contingency. There is no more
+danger in this trip than there is in one to Mars. At all
+events, I am going whether you want me to or not, so
+save your breath."</p>
+
+<p>"You lie like a thief, Mart&mdash;you know what we are
+up against as well as I do. But if you insist on coming
+along, I'm sure glad to have you."</p>
+
+<p>As their hands met in a crushing grip, the bars were
+brought up and loaded into the carriers. Waving good-bye
+to Wilson, they closed the massive door and took
+their positions. Seaton adjusted the bar parallel with
+the needle of the object-compass, turned on the coil, and
+advanced the speed-lever until Crane, reading the pyro-meters,
+warned him to slow down, as the shell was
+heating. Free of the earth's atmosphere, he slowly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_532" id="Page_532">[532]</a></span>
+advanced the lever, one notch at a time, until he could
+no longer support the increasing weight of his hand,
+but had to draw out the rolling support designed for
+that emergency. He pushed the lever a few notches
+farther, and felt himself forced down violently into the
+seat. He was now lying at full length, the seat having
+automatically moved upward so that his hand still controlled
+the lever. Still he kept putting on more power,
+until the indicator showed that more than three-quarters
+of the power was in operation and he felt that he could
+stand but little more.</p>
+
+<p>"How are you making it, Mart?" he asked, talking
+with difficulty because of the great weight of his tongue
+and jaws.</p>
+
+<p>"All right so far," came the response, in a hesitating,
+almost stammering voice, "but I do not know how much
+more I can take. If you can stand it, go ahead."</p>
+
+<p>"This is enough for awhile, until we get used to it.
+Any time you want to rest, tell me and I'll cut her
+down."</p>
+
+<p>"Keep her at this for four or five hours. Then cut
+down until we can walk, so that we can eat and take
+another reading on distance. Remember that it will
+take as long to stop as it does to get up speed, and that
+we must be careful not to ram them. There would be
+nothing left of either car."</p>
+
+<p>"All right. Talking's too darn much work, I'll talk
+to you again when we ease down. I sure am glad we're
+on our way at last."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX</h2>
+
+<h3>Lost In Space</h3>
+
+
+<p>For forty-eight hours the uncontrolled atomic
+motor dragged the masterless vessel with its four
+unconscious passengers through the illimitable
+reaches of empty space, with an awful and constantly
+increasing velocity. When only a few traces of copper
+remained in the power-plant, the acceleration began to
+decrease and the powerful springs began to restore the
+floor and the seats to their normal positions. The last
+particle of copper having been transformed into energy,
+the speed of the vessel became constant. Apparently
+motionless to those inside it, it was in reality traversing
+space with a velocity thousands of times greater than
+that of light. As the force which had been holding
+them down was relaxed, the lungs, which had been able
+to secure only air enough to maintain faint sparks of
+life, began to function more normally and soon all four
+recovered consciousness, drinking in the life-giving
+oxygen in a rapid succession of breaths so deep that it
+seemed as though their lungs must burst with each
+inhalation.</p>
+
+<p>DuQuesne was the first to gain control of himself.
+His first effort to rise to his feet lifted him from the
+floor, and he floated lightly to the ceiling, striking it
+with a gentle bump and remaining suspended in the
+air. The others, who had not yet attempted to move,
+stared at him in wide-eyed amazement. Reaching out
+and clutching one of the supporting columns, he drew
+himself back to the floor and cautiously removed his
+leather suit, transferring two heavy automatic pistols
+as he did so. By gingerly feeling of his injured body,
+he discovered that no bones were broken, although he
+was terribly bruised. He then glanced around to learn
+how his companions were faring. He saw that they
+were all sitting up, the girls resting, Perkins removing
+his aviator's costume.</p>
+
+<p>"Good morning, Doctor DuQuesne. What happened
+when I kicked your friend?"</p>
+
+<p>DuQuesne smiled.</p>
+
+<p>"Good morning, Miss Vaneman. Several things happened.
+He fell into the controls, turning on all the
+juice. We left shortly afterward. I tried to shut the
+power off, and in doing so I balled things up worse
+than ever. Then I went to sleep, and just woke up."</p>
+
+<p>"Have you any idea where we are?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, but I can make a fair estimate, I think," and
+glancing at the empty chamber in which the bar had
+been, he took out his notebook and pen and figured for
+a few minutes. As he finished, he drew himself along
+by a handrail to one of the windows, then to another.
+He returned with a puzzled expression on his face
+and made a long calculation.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know exactly what to make of this," he said
+thoughtfully. "We are so far away from the earth that
+even the fixed stars are unrecognizable. The power
+was on exactly forty-eight hours, since that is the life
+of that particular bar under full current. We should
+still be close to our own solar system, since it is theoretically
+impossible to develop any velocity greater than
+that of light. But in fact, we have. I know enough
+about astronomy to recognize the fixed stars from any
+point within a light-year or so of the sun, and I can't
+see a single familiar star. I never could see how mass
+could be a function of velocity, and now I am convinced
+that it is not. We have been accelerating for forty-eight
+hours!"</p>
+
+<p>He turned to Dorothy.</p>
+
+<p>"While we were unconscious, Miss Vaneman, we
+had probably attained a velocity of something like
+seven billion four hundred thirteen million miles per
+second, and that is the approximate speed at which we
+are now traveling. We must be nearly six quadrillion
+miles, and that is a space of several hundred light-years&mdash;away
+from our solar system, or, more plainly,
+about six times as far away from our earth as the
+North Star is. We couldn't see our sun with a telescope,
+even if we knew which way to look for it."</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>At this paralyzing news, Dorothy's face turned white
+and Margaret Spencer quietly fainted in her seat.</p>
+
+<p>"Then we can never get back?" asked Dorothy
+slowly.</p>
+
+<p>At this question, Perkins' self-control gave way and
+his thin veneer of decency disappeared completely.</p>
+
+<p>"You got us into this whole thing!" he screamed as
+he leaped at Dorothy with murderous fury gleaming in
+his pale eyes and his fingers curved into talons. Instead
+of reaching her, however, he merely sprawled
+grotesquely in midair, and DuQuesne knocked him clear
+across the vessel with one powerful blow of his fist.</p>
+
+<p>"Get back there, you cowardly cur," he said evenly.
+"Even though we are a long way from home, try to
+remember you're a man, at least. One more break like
+that and I'll throw you out of the boat. It isn't her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_533" id="Page_533">[533]</a></span>
+fault that we are out here, but our own. The blame for
+it is a very small matter, anyway; the thing of importance
+is to get back as soon as possible."</p>
+
+<p>"But how can we get back?" asked Perkins sullenly
+from the corner where he was crouching, fear in every
+feature. "The power is gone, the controls are wrecked,
+and we are hopelessly lost in space."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I wouldn't say 'hopelessly,'" returned the other,
+"I have never been in any situation yet that I couldn't
+get out of, and I won't be convinced until I am dead
+that I can't get out of this one. We have two extra
+power bars, we can fix the board, and if I can't navigate
+us back close enough to our solar system to find it, I
+am more of a dub than I think I am. How about a
+little bite to eat?"</p>
+
+<p>"Show us where it is!" exclaimed Dorothy. "Now
+that you mention it, I find that I am starved to death."</p>
+
+<p>DuQuesne looked at her keenly.</p>
+
+<p>"I admire your nerve, Miss Vaneman. I didn't suppose
+that that animal over there would show such a
+wide streak of yellow, but I was rather afraid that you
+girls might go to pieces."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm scared blue, of course," Dorothy admitted
+frankly, "but hysterics won't do any good, and we simply
+<i>must</i> get back."</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly, we must and we will," stated DuQuesne
+calmly. "If you like, you might find something for us
+to eat in the galley there, while I see what I can do
+with this board that I wrecked with my head. By the
+way, that cubby-hole there is the apartment reserved for
+you two ladies. We are in rather cramped quarters,
+but I think you will find everything you need."</p>
+
+<p>As Dorothy drew herself along the handrail toward
+the room designated, accompanied by the other girl
+who, though conscious, had paid little attention to anything
+around her, she could not help feeling a thrill of
+admiration for the splendid villain who had abducted
+her. Calm and cool, always master of himself, apparently
+paying no attention to the terrible bruises which
+disfigured half his face and doubtless half his body as
+well, she admitted to herself that it was only his example,
+which had enabled her to maintain her self-control
+in their present plight. As she crawled over
+Perkins' discarded suit, she remembered that he had
+not taken any weapons from it. After a rapid glance
+around to assure herself that she was not being watched,
+she quickly searched the coat, bringing to light not one,
+but two pistols, which she thrust into her pocket. She
+saw with relief that they were regulation army automatics,
+with whose use she was familiar from much
+target practise with Seaton.</p>
+
+<p>In the room, which was a miniature of the one she
+had seen on the Skylark, the girls found clothing, toilet
+articles, and everything necessary for a long trip. As
+they were setting themselves to rights, Dorothy electing
+to stay in her riding suit, they surveyed each other
+frankly and each was reassured by what she saw. Dorothy
+saw a girl of twenty-two, of her own stature, with
+a mass of heavy, wavy black hair. Her eyes, a singularly
+rich and deep brown, contrasted strangely with
+the beautiful ivory of her skin. She was normally a
+beautiful girl, thought Dorothy, but her beauty was
+marred by suffering and privation. Her naturally
+slender form was thin, her face was haggard and worn.
+The stranger broke the silence.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>"I'm Margaret Spencer," she began abruptly, "former
+secretary to His Royal Highness, Brookings
+of Steel. They swindled my father out of an invention
+worth millions and he died, broken-hearted. I got the
+job to see if I couldn't get enough evidence to convict
+them, and I had quite a lot when they caught me. I had
+some things that they were afraid to lose, and I had
+them so well hidden that they couldn't find them, so
+they kidnapped me to make me give them back. They
+haven't dared kill me so far for fear the evidence will
+show up after my death&mdash;which it will. However, I
+will be legally dead before long, and then they know
+the whole thing will come out, so they have brought me
+out here to make me talk or kill me. Talking won't do
+me any good now, though, and I don't believe it ever
+would have. They would have killed me after they got
+the stuff back, anyway. So you see I, at least, will
+never get back to the earth alive."</p>
+
+<p>"Cheer up&mdash;we'll all get back safely."</p>
+
+<p>"No, we won't. You don't know that man Perkins&mdash;if
+that is his name. I never heard him called any real
+name before. He is simply unspeakable&mdash;vile&mdash;hideous&mdash;everything
+that is base. He was my jailer, and I
+utterly loathe and despise him. He is mean and underhanded
+and tricky&mdash;he reminds me of a slimy, poisonous
+snake. He will kill me: I know it."</p>
+
+<p>"But how about Doctor DuQuesne? Surely he isn't
+that kind of man? He wouldn't let him."</p>
+
+<p>"I've never met him before, but from what I heard
+of him in the office, he's even worse than Perkins, but
+in an entirely different way. There's nothing small or
+mean about him, and I don't believe he would go out of
+his way to hurt anyone, as Perkins would. But he is
+absolutely cold and hard, a perfect fiend. Where his
+interests are concerned, there's nothing under the sun,
+good or bad, that he won't do. But I'm glad that
+Perkins had me instead of 'The Doctor,' as they call
+him. Perkins raises such a bitter personal feeling, that
+anybody would rather die than give up to him in anything.
+DuQuesne, however, would have tortured me
+impersonally and scientifically&mdash;cold and self-contained
+all the while and using the most efficient methods, and
+I am sure he would have got it out of me some way.
+He always gets what he goes after."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, come, Miss Spencer!" Dorothy interrupted the
+half-hysterical girl. "You're too hard on him. Didn't
+you see him knock Perkins down when he came after
+me?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, maybe he has a few gentlemanly instincts,
+which he uses when he doesn't lose anything by it.
+More likely he merely intended to rebuke him for a
+useless action. He is a firm Pragmatist&mdash;anything that
+is useful is all right, anything that is useless is a crime.
+More probably yet, he wants you left alive. Of course
+that is his real reason. He went to the trouble of kidnapping
+you, so naturally he won't let Perkins or anybody
+else kill you until he is through with you. Otherwise
+he would have let Perkins do anything he wanted
+to with you, without lifting a finger."</p>
+
+<p>"I can't quite believe that," Dorothy replied, though<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_534" id="Page_534">[534]</a></span>
+a cold chill struck at her heart as she remembered the
+inhuman crime attributed to this man, and she quailed
+at the thought of being in his charge, countless millions
+of miles from earth, a thought only partly counteracted
+by the fact that she was now armed. "He has treated
+us with every consideration so far, let's hope for the
+best. Anyway, I'm sure that we'll get back safely."</p>
+
+<p>"Why so sure? Have you something up your sleeve?"</p>
+
+<p>"No&mdash;or yes, in a way I have, though nothing very
+definite. I'm Dorothy Vaneman, and I am engaged to
+the man who discovered the thing that makes this space-car
+go...."</p>
+
+<p>"That's why they kidnapped you, then&mdash;to make him
+give up all his rights to it. It's like them."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I think that's why they did it. But they won't
+keep me long. Dick Seaton will find me, I know. I
+feel it."</p>
+
+<p>"But that's exactly what they want!" cried Margaret
+excitedly. "In my spying around I heard a little about
+this very thing&mdash;the name Seaton brings it to my mind.
+His car is broken in some way, so that it will kill him
+the first time he tries to run it."</p>
+
+<p>"That's where they underestimated Dick and his
+partner. You have heard of Martin Crane, of course?"</p>
+
+<p>"I think I heard his name mentioned in the office,
+together with Seaton's, but that's all."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, besides other things, Martin is quite a wonderful
+mechanic, and he found out that our Skylark
+was spoiled. So they built another one, a lot bigger,
+and I am sure that they are following us, right now."</p>
+
+<p>"But how can they possibly follow us, when we are
+going so fast and are so far away?" queried the other
+girl, once more despondent.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't quite know, but I do know that Dick will
+find a way. He's simply wonderful. He knows more
+now than that Doctor DuQuesne will ever learn in all
+his life, and he will find us in a few days. I feel it in
+my bones. Besides, I picked Perkins' pockets of these
+two pistols. Can you shoot an automatic?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," replied the other girl, as she seized one of
+the guns, assured herself that its magazine was full,
+and slipped it into her pocket. "I used to practise a lot
+with my father's. This makes me feel a whole lot better.
+And call me Peggy, won't you? It will seem good
+to hear my name again. After what I've been through
+lately, even this trip will be a vacation for me."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, then, cheer up, Peggy dear, we're going to be
+great friends. Let's go get us all something to eat. I'm
+simply starved, and I know you are, too."</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>The presence of the pistol in her pocket and Dorothy's
+unwavering faith in her lover, lifted the
+stranger out of the mood of despair into which the long
+imprisonment, the brutal treatment, and the present
+situation had plunged her, and she was almost cheerful
+as they drew themselves along the hand-rail leading to
+the tiny galley.</p>
+
+<p>"I simply can't get used to the idea of nothing having
+any weight&mdash;look here!" laughed Dorothy, as she took
+a boiled ham out of the refrigerator and hung it upon
+an imaginary hook in the air, where it remained motionless.
+"Doesn't it make you feel funny?"</p>
+
+<p>"It is a queer sensation. I feel light, like a toy balloon,
+and I feel awfully weird inside. If we have no
+weight, why does it hurt so when we bump into anything?
+And when you throw anything, like the Doctor
+did Perkins, why does it hit as hard as ever?"</p>
+
+<p>"It's mass or inertia or something like that. A thing
+has it everywhere, whether it weighs anything or not.
+Dick explained it all to me. I understood it when he
+told me about it, but I'm afraid it didn't sink in very
+deep. Did you ever study physics?"</p>
+
+<p>"I had a year of it in college, but it was more or
+less of a joke. I went to a girls' school, and all we
+had to do in physics was to get the credit; we didn't
+have to learn it."</p>
+
+<p>"Me too. Next time I go to school I'm going to
+Yale or Harvard or some such place, and I'll learn so
+much mathematics and science that I'll have to wear a
+bandeau to keep my massive intellect in place."</p>
+
+<p>During this conversation they had prepared a substantial
+luncheon and had arranged it daintily upon two
+large trays, in spite of the difficulty caused by the fact
+that nothing would remain in place by its own weight.
+The feast prepared, Dorothy took her tray from the
+table as carefully as she could, and saw the sandwiches
+and bottles start to float toward the ceiling. Hastily
+inverting the tray above the escaping viands, she pushed
+them back down upon the table. In doing so she lifted
+herself clear from the floor, as she had forgotten to hold
+herself down.</p>
+
+<p>"What'll we do, anyway?" she wailed when she had
+recovered her position. "Everything wants to fly all
+over the place!"</p>
+
+<p>"Put another tray on top of it and hold them together,"
+suggested Margaret. "I wish we had a birdcage.
+Then we could open the door and grab a sandwich
+as it flies out."</p>
+
+<p>By covering the trays the girls finally carried the
+luncheon out into the main compartment, where they
+gave DuQuesne and Perkins one of the trays and all
+fell to eating hungrily. DuQuesne paused with a glint
+of amusement in his one sound eye as he saw Dorothy
+trying to pour ginger ale out of a bottle.</p>
+
+<p>"It can't be done, Miss Vaneman. You'll have to
+drink it through a straw. That will work, since our air
+pressure is normal. Be careful not to choke on it,
+though; your swallowing will have to be all muscular
+out here. Gravity won't help you. Or wait a bit&mdash;I
+have the control board fixed and it will be a matter of
+only a few minutes to put in another bar and get enough
+acceleration to take the place of gravity.<ins class="corr" title="Transcriber's Note: Doublequote mark inserted.">"</ins></p>
+
+<p>He placed one of the extra power bars in the chamber
+and pushed the speed lever into the first notch, and
+there was a lurch of the whole vessel as it swung
+around the bar so that the floor was once more perpendicular
+to it. He took a couple of steps, returned, and
+advanced the lever another notch.</p>
+
+<p>"There that's about the same as gravity. Now we
+can act like human beings and eat in comfort."</p>
+
+<p>"That's a wonderful relief, Doctor!" cried Dorothy.
+"Are we going back toward the earth?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not yet. I reversed the bar, but we will have to use
+up all of this one before we can even start back. Until
+this bar is gone we will merely be slowing down."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_535" id="Page_535">[535]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>As the meal progressed, Dorothy noticed that DuQuesne's
+left arm seemed almost helpless, and
+that he ate with great difficulty because of his terribly
+bruised face. As soon as they had removed the trays
+she went into her room, where she had seen a small
+medicine chest, and brought out a couple of bottles.</p>
+
+<p>"Lie down here, Doctor DuQuesne," she commanded.
+"I'm going to apply a little first-aid to the
+injured. Arnica and iodine are all I can find, but they'll
+help a little."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm all right," began the scientist, but at her imperious
+gesture he submitted, and she bathed his battered
+features with the healing lotion and painted the
+worst bruises with iodine.</p>
+
+<p>"I see your arm is lame. Where does it hurt?"</p>
+
+<p>"Shoulder's the worst. I rammed it through the
+board when we started out."</p>
+
+<p>He opened his shirt at the throat and bared his shoulder,
+and Dorothy gasped&mdash;as much at the size and
+power of the muscles displayed, as at the extent and
+severity of the man's injuries. Stepping into the gallery,
+she brought out hot water and towels and gently
+bathed away the clotted blood that had been forced
+through the skin.</p>
+
+<p>"Massage it a little with the arnica as I move the
+arm," he directed coolly, and she did so, pityingly. He
+did not wince and made no sign of pain, but she saw
+beads of perspiration appear upon his face, and wondered
+at his fortitude.</p>
+
+<p>"That's fine," he said gratefully as she finished, and
+a peculiar expression came over his face. "It feels one
+hundred per cent better already. But why do you do
+it? I should think you would feel like crowning me
+with that basin instead of playing nurse."</p>
+
+<p>"Efficiency," she replied with a smile. "I'm taking a
+leaf out of your own book. You are our chief engineer,
+you know, and it won't do to have you laid up."</p>
+
+<p>"That's a logical explanation, but it doesn't go far
+enough," he rejoined, still studying her intently. She
+did not reply, but turned to Perkins.</p>
+
+<p>"How are you, Mr. Perkins? Do you require medical
+attention?"</p>
+
+<p>"No," growled Perkins from the seat in which he
+had crouched immediately after eating. "Keep away
+from me, or I'll cut your heart out!"</p>
+
+<p>"Shut up!" snapped DuQuesne. "Remember what
+I said?"</p>
+
+<p>"I haven't done anything," snarled the other.</p>
+
+<p>"I said I would throw you out if you made another
+break," DuQuesne informed him evenly, "and I meant
+it. If you can't talk decently, keep still. Understand
+that you are to keep off Miss Vaneman, words and
+actions. I am in charge of her, and I will put up with
+no interference whatever. This is your last warning."</p>
+
+<p>"How about Spencer, then?"</p>
+
+<p>"I have nothing to say about her, she's not mine,"
+responded DuQuesne with a shrug.</p>
+
+<p>An evil light appeared in Perkins' eyes and he took
+out a wicked-looking knife and began to strop it carefully
+upon the leather of the seat, glaring at his victim
+the while.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, <i>I</i> have something to say...." blazed Dorothy,
+but she was silenced by a gesture from Margaret,
+who calmly took the pistol from her pocket, jerked the
+slide back, throwing a cartridge into the chamber, and
+held the weapon up on one finger, admiring it from
+all sides.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>"Don't worry about his knife. He has been
+sharpening it for my benefit for the last month.
+He doesn't mean anything by it."</p>
+
+<p>At this unexpected show of resistance, Perkins stared
+at her for an instant, then glanced at his coat.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, this was yours, once. You needn't bother
+about picking up your coat, they're both gone. You
+might be tempted to throw that knife, so drop it on
+the floor and kick it over to me before I count three.</p>
+
+<p>"One." The heavy pistol steadied into line with his
+chest and her finger tightened on the trigger.</p>
+
+<p>"Two." He obeyed and she picked up the knife. He
+turned to DuQuesne, who had watched the scene unmoved,
+a faint smile upon his saturnine face.</p>
+
+<p>"Doctor!" he cried, shaking with fear. "Why don't
+you shoot her or take that gun away from her? Surely
+you don't want to see me murdered?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why not?" replied DuQuesne calmly. "It is nothing
+to me whether she kills you or you kill her. You
+brought it on yourself by your own carelessness. Any
+man with brains doesn't leave guns lying around within
+reach of prisoners, and a blind man could have seen
+Miss Vaneman getting your hardware."</p>
+
+<p>"You saw her take them and didn't warn me?"
+croaked Perkins.</p>
+
+<p>"Why should I warn you? If you can't take care of
+your own prisoner she earns her liberty, as far as I am
+concerned. I never did like your style, Perkins, especially
+your methods of handling&mdash;or rather mishandling&mdash;women.
+You could have made her give up the stuff
+she recovered from that ass Brookings inside of an
+hour, and wouldn't have had to kill her afterward,
+either."</p>
+
+<p>"How?" sneered the other. "If you are so good at
+that kind of thing, why didn't you try it on Seaton and
+Crane?"</p>
+
+<p>"There are seven different methods to use on a
+woman like Miss Spencer, each of which will produce
+the desired result. The reason I did not try them on
+either Seaton or Crane is that they would have failed.
+Your method of indirect action is probably the only
+one that will succeed. That is why I adopted it."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, what are you going to do about it?" shrieked
+Perkins. "Are you going to sit there and lecture all
+day?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am going to do nothing whatever," answered the
+scientist coldly. "If you had any brains you would see
+that you are in no danger. Miss Spencer will undoubtedly
+kill you if you attack her&mdash;not otherwise. That
+is an Anglo-Saxon weakness."</p>
+
+<p>"Did you see me take the pistols?" queried Dorothy.</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly. I'm not blind. You have one of them
+in your right coat pocket now."</p>
+
+<p>"Then why didn't you, or don't you, try to take it
+away from me?" she asked in wonder.</p>
+
+<p>"If I had objected to your having them, you would
+never have got them. If I didn't want you to have a
+gun now, I would take it away from you. You know<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_536" id="Page_536">[536]</a></span>
+that, don't you?" and his black eyes stared into her
+violet ones with such calm certainty of his ability that
+she felt her heart sink.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," she admitted finally, "I believe you could&mdash;that
+is, unless I were angry enough to shoot you."</p>
+
+<p>"That wouldn't help you. I can shoot faster and
+straighter than you can, and would shoot it out of your
+hand. However, I have no objection to your having the
+gun, since it is no part of my plan to offer you any
+further indignity of any kind. Even if you had the
+necessary coldness of nerve or cruelty of disposition&mdash;of
+which I have one, Perkins the other, and you neither&mdash;you
+wouldn't shoot me now, because you can't get
+back to the earth without me. After we get back I will
+take the guns away from both of you if I think it desirable.
+In the meantime, play with them all you
+please."</p>
+
+<p>"Has Perkins any more knives or guns or things in
+his room?" demanded Dorothy.</p>
+
+<p>"How should I know?" indifferently; then, as both
+girls started for Perkins' room he ordered brusquely:</p>
+
+<p>"Sit down, Miss Vaneman. Let them fight it out.
+Perkins has his orders to lay off you&mdash;you lay off him.
+I'm not taking any chances of getting you hurt, that's
+one reason I wanted you armed. If he gets gay, shoot
+him; otherwise, hands off completely.<ins class="corr" title="Transcriber's Note: DOuble quote mark inserted.">"</ins></p>
+
+<p>Dorothy threw up her head in defiance, but meeting
+his cold stare she paused irresolutely and finally sat
+down, biting her lips in anger, while the other girl
+went on.</p>
+
+<p>"That's better. She doesn't need any help to whip
+that yellow dog. He's whipped already. He never
+would think of fighting unless the odds were three to
+one in his favor."</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>When Margaret had returned from a fruitless
+search of Perkins' room and had assured herself
+that he had no more weapons concealed about his person,
+she thrust the pistol back into her pocket and sat
+down.</p>
+
+<p>"That ends that," she declared. "I guess you will
+be good now, won't you, Mr. Perkins?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," that worthy muttered. "I have to be, now
+that you've got the drop on me and DuQuesne's gone
+back on me. But wait until we get back! I'll get you
+then, you...."</p>
+
+<p>"Stop right there!" sharply. "There's nothing I
+would rather do than shoot you right now, if you give
+me the slightest excuse, such as that name you were
+about to call me. Now go ahead!"</p>
+
+<p>DuQuesne broke the silence that followed.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, now that the battle is over, and since we are
+fed and rested, I suggest that we slow down a bit and
+get ready to start back. Pick out comfortable seats,
+everybody, and I'll shoot a little more juice through
+that bar."</p>
+
+<p>Seating himself before the instrument board, he advanced
+the speed lever slowly until nearly three-quarters
+of the full power was on, as much as he thought
+the others could stand.</p>
+
+<p>For sixty hours he drove the car, reducing the acceleration
+only at intervals during which they ate and
+walked about their narrow quarters in order to restore
+the blood to circulation in their suffering bodies. The
+power was not reduced for sleep; everyone slept as
+best he could.</p>
+
+<p>Dorothy and Margaret talked together at every opportunity,
+and a real intimacy grew up between them.
+Perkins was for the most part sullenly quiet, knowing
+himself despised by all the others and having no outlet
+here for his particular brand of cleverness. DuQuesne
+was always occupied with his work and only occasionally
+addressed a remark to one or another of the
+party, except during meals. At those periods of general
+recuperation, he talked easily and well upon many
+topics. There was no animosity in his bearing nor did
+he seem to perceive any directed toward himself, but
+when any of the others ventured to infringe upon his
+ideas of how discipline should be maintained, DuQuesne's
+reproof was merciless. Dorothy almost liked
+him, but Margaret insisted that she considered him
+worse than ever.</p>
+
+<p>When the bar was exhausted, DuQuesne lifted the
+sole remaining cylinder into place.</p>
+
+<p>"We should be nearly stationary with respect to the
+earth," he remarked. "Now we will start back."</p>
+
+<p>"Why, it felt as though we were picking up speed for
+the last three days!" exclaimed Margaret.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, it feels that way because we have nothing to
+judge by. Slowing down in one direction feels exactly
+like starting up in the opposite one. There is no means
+of knowing whether we are standing still, going away
+from the earth, or going toward it, since we have nothing
+stationary upon which to make observations. However,
+since the two bars were of exactly the same size
+and were exerted in opposite directions except for a
+few minutes after we left the earth, we are nearly
+stationary now. I will put on power until this bar is
+something less than half gone, then coast for three or
+four days. By the end of that time we should be able
+to recognize our solar system from the appearance of
+the fixed stars."</p>
+
+<p>He again advanced the lever, and for many hours
+silence filled the car as it hurtled through space. DuQuesne,
+waking up from a long nap, saw that the bar
+no longer pointed directly toward the top of the ship,
+perpendicular to the floor, but was inclined at a sharp
+angle. He reduced the current, and felt the lurch of
+the car as it swung around the bar, increasing the angle
+many degrees. He measured the angle carefully and
+peered out of all the windows on one side of the car.
+Returning to the bar after a time, he again measured
+the angle, and found that it had increased greatly.</p>
+
+<p>"What's the matter, Doctor DuQuesne?" asked Dorothy,
+who had also been asleep.</p>
+
+<p>"We are being deflected from our course. You see
+the bar doesn't point straight up any more? Of course
+the direction of the bar hasn't changed, the car has
+swung around it."</p>
+
+<p>"What does that mean?"</p>
+
+<p>"We have come close enough to some star so that
+its attraction swings the bottom of the car around.
+Normally, you know, the bottom of the car follows
+directly behind the bar. It doesn't mean much yet except
+that we are being drawn away from our straight
+line, but if the attraction gets much stronger it may<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_537" id="Page_537">[537]</a></span>
+make us miss our solar system completely. I have been
+looking for the star in question, but can't see it yet.
+We'll probably pull away from it very shortly."</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>He threw on the power, and for some time watched
+the bar anxiously, expecting to see it swing back
+into the vertical, but the angle continually increased.
+He again reduced the current and searched the heavens
+for the troublesome body.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you see it yet?" asked Dorothy with concern.</p>
+
+<p>"No, there's apparently nothing near enough to account
+for all this deflection."</p>
+
+<p>He took out a pair of large night-glasses and peered
+through them for several minutes.</p>
+
+<p>"Good God! It's a dead sun, and we're nearly onto
+it! It looks as large as our moon!"</p>
+
+<p>Springing to the board, he whirled the bar into the
+vertical. He took down a strange instrument, went
+to the bottom window, and measured the apparent size
+of the dark star. Then, after cautioning the rest of the
+party to sit tight, he advanced the lever farther than it
+had been before. After half an hour he again slackened
+the pace and made another observation, finding to his
+astonishment that the dark mass had almost doubled its
+apparent size! Dorothy, noting his expression, was
+about to speak, but he forestalled her.</p>
+
+<p>"We lost ground, instead of gaining, that spurt," he
+remarked, as he hastened to his post. "It must be inconceivably
+large, to exert such an enormous attractive
+force at this distance. We'll have to put on full power.
+Hang onto yourselves as best you can."</p>
+
+<p>He then pushed the lever out to its last notch and
+left it there until the bar was nearly gone, only to find
+that the faint disk of the monster globe was even larger
+than before, being now visible to the unaided eye. Revived,
+the three others saw it plainly&mdash;a great dim circle,
+visible as is the dark portion of the new moon&mdash;and,
+the power shut off, they felt themselves falling
+toward it with sickening speed. Perkins screamed with
+mad fear and flung himself grovelling upon the floor.
+Margaret, her nerves still unstrung, clutched at her
+heart with both hands. Dorothy, though her eyes looked
+like great black holes in her white face, looked DuQuesne
+in the eye steadily.</p>
+
+<p>"This is the end, then?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not yet," he replied in a calm and level voice. "The
+end will not come for a good many hours, as I have
+calculated that it will take at least two days, probably
+more, to fall the distance we have to go. We have all
+that time in which to think out a way of escape."</p>
+
+<p>"Won't the outer repulsive shell keep us from striking
+it, or at least break the force of our fall?"</p>
+
+<p>"No. It was designed only as protection from meteorites
+and other small bodies. It is heavy enough to
+swing us away from a small planet, but it will be used
+up long before we strike."</p>
+
+<p>He lighted a cigarette and sat at case, as though in
+his own study, his brow wrinkled in thought as he
+made calculations in his notebook. Finally he rose to his feet.</p>
+
+<p>"There's only one chance that I can see. That is to
+gather up every scrap of copper we have and try to
+pull ourselves far enough out of line so that we will
+take an hyperbolic orbit around that body instead of
+falling into it."</p>
+
+<p>"What good will that do us?" asked Margaret, striving
+for self-control. "We will starve to death finally,
+won't we?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not necessarily. That will give us time to figure
+out something else."</p>
+
+<p>"You won't have to figure out anything else, Doctor,"
+stated Dorothy positively. "If we miss that moon, Dick
+and Martin will find us before very long."</p>
+
+<p>"Not in this life. If they tried to follow us, they're
+both dead before now."</p>
+
+<p>"That's where even you are wrong!" she flashed at
+him. "They knew you were wrecking our machine, so
+they built another one, a good one. And they know a
+lot of things about this new metal that you have never
+dreamed of, since they were not in the plans you stole."</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>DuQuesne went directly to the heart of the matter,
+paying no attention to her barbed shafts.</p>
+
+<p>"Can they follow us through space without seeing
+us?" he demanded.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes&mdash;or at least, I think they can."</p>
+
+<p>"How do they do it?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know&mdash;I wouldn't tell you if I did."</p>
+
+<p>"You'll tell if you know," he declared, his voice cutting
+like a knife. "But that can wait until after we get
+out of this. The thing to do now is to dodge that
+world."</p>
+
+<p>He searched the vessel for copper, ruthlessly tearing
+out almost everything that contained the metal, hammering
+it flat and throwing it into the power-plant. He
+set the bar at right angles to the line of their fall and
+turned on the current. When the metal was exhausted,
+he made another series of observations upon the body
+toward which they were falling, and reported quietly:</p>
+
+<p>"We made a lot of distance, but not enough. Everything
+goes in, this time."</p>
+
+<p>He tore out the single remaining light-wire, leaving
+the car in darkness save for the diffused light of his
+electric torch, and broke up the only remaining motor.
+He then took his almost priceless Swiss watch, his
+heavy signet ring, his scarf pin, and the cartridges from
+his pistol, and added them to the collection. Flashing
+his lamp upon Perkins, he relieved him of everything
+he had which contained copper.</p>
+
+<p>"I think I have a few pennies in my pocketbook,"
+suggested Dorothy.</p>
+
+<p>"Get 'em," he directed briefly, and while she was
+gone he searched Margaret, without result save for the
+cartridges in her pistol, as she had no jewelry remaining
+after her imprisonment. Dorothy returned and
+handed him everything she had found.</p>
+
+<p>"I would like to keep this ring," she said slowly,
+pointing to a slender circlet of gold set with a solitaire
+diamond, "if you think there is any chance of us getting
+clear."</p>
+
+<p>"Everything goes that has any copper in it," he said
+coldly, "and I am glad to see that Seaton is too good a
+chemist to buy any platinum jewelry. You may keep
+the diamond, though," as he wrenched the jewel out of
+its setting and returned it to her.</p>
+
+<p>He threw all the metal into the central chamber and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_538" id="Page_538">[538]</a></span>
+the vessel gave a tremendous lurch as the power was
+again applied. It was soon spent, however, and after
+the final observation, the others waiting in breathless
+suspense for him to finish his calculations, he made his
+curt announcement.</p>
+
+<p>"Not enough."</p>
+
+<p>Perkins, his mind weakened by the strain of the last
+few days, went completely insane at the words. With
+a wild howl he threw himself at the unmoved scientist,
+who struck him with the butt of his pistol as he leaped,
+the mighty force of DuQuesne's blow crushing his skull
+like an eggshell and throwing him backward to the opposite
+side of the vessel. Margaret lay in her seat in a
+dead faint. Dorothy and DuQuesne looked at each
+other in the feeble light of the torch. To the girl's
+amazement, the man was as calm as though he were
+safe in his own house, and she made a determined effort
+to hold herself together.</p>
+
+<p>"What next, Doctor DuQuesne?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know. We have a couple of days yet, at
+least. I'll have to study awhile."</p>
+
+<p>"In that time Dick will find us, I know."</p>
+
+<p>"Even if they do find us in time, which I doubt,
+what good will it do? It simply means that they will
+go with us instead of saving us, for of course they
+can't pull away, since we couldn't. I hope they don't
+find us, but locate this star in time to keep away
+from it."</p>
+
+<p>"Why?" she gasped. "You have been planning to
+kill both of them! I should think you would be delighted
+to take them with us?"</p>
+
+<p>"Far from it. Please try to be logical. I intended
+to remove them because they stood in the way of my
+developing this new metal. If I am to be out of the
+way&mdash;and frankly, I see very little chance of getting
+out of this&mdash;I hope that Seaton goes ahead with it. It
+is the greatest discovery the world has ever known, and
+if both Seaton and I, the only two men in the world
+who know how to handle it, drop out, it will be lost for
+perhaps hundreds of years."</p>
+
+<p>"If Dick's finding us means that he must go, too, of
+course I hope that he won't find us, but I don't believe
+that. I simply know that he could get us away from
+here."</p>
+
+<p>She continued more slowly, almost speaking to herself,
+her heart sinking with her voice:</p>
+
+<p>"He is following us, and he won't stop even if he
+does see this dead star and knows that he can't get
+away. We will die together."</p>
+
+<p>"There's no denying the fact that our situation is
+critical, but you know a man isn't dead until after his
+heart stops beating. We have two whole days yet, and
+in that time, I can probably dope out some way of getting
+away from here."</p>
+
+<p>"I hope so," she replied, keeping her voice from
+breaking only by a great effort. "But go ahead with
+your doping. I'm worn out." She drew herself down
+upon one of the seats and stared at the ceiling, fighting
+to restrain an almost overpowering impulse to scream.</p>
+
+<p>Thus the hours wore by&mdash;Perkins dead; Margaret
+still unconscious; Dorothy lying in her seat, her
+thoughts a formless prayer, buoyed up only by her
+faith in God and in her lover; DuQuesne self-possessed,
+smoking innumerable cigarettes, his keen mind grappling
+with its most desperate problem, grimly fighting
+until the very last instant of life&mdash;while the powerless
+space-car fell with an appalling velocity, faster and
+faster; falling toward that cold and desolate monster of
+the heaven.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X</h2>
+
+<h3>The Rescue</h3>
+
+
+<p>Seaton and Crane drove the Skylark in the direction
+indicated by the unwavering object-compass
+with the greatest acceleration they could
+stand, each man taking a twelve-hour watch at the
+instrument board.</p>
+
+<p>Now, indeed, did the Skylark justify the faith of her
+builders, and the two inventors, with an exultant certainty
+of their success, flew out beyond man's wildest
+imaginings. Had it not been for the haunting fear for
+Dorothy's safety, the journey would have been one of
+pure triumph, and even that anxiety did not prevent a
+profound joy in the enterprise.</p>
+
+<p>"If that misguided mutt thinks he can pull off a stunt
+like that and get away with it, he's got another think
+coming," asserted Seaton, after making a reading on
+the other car after several days of the flight. "He went
+off half-cocked this time, for sure, and we've got him
+foul. We'd better put on some negative pretty soon
+hadn't we, Mart? Only a little over a hundred light-years
+now."</p>
+
+<p>Crane nodded agreement and Seaton continued:</p>
+
+<p>"It'll take as long to stop, of course, as it has taken
+to get out here, and if we ram them&mdash;GOOD NIGHT!
+Let's figure it out as nearly as we can."</p>
+
+<p>They calculated their own speed, and that of the
+other vessel, as shown by the various readings taken,
+and applied just enough negative acceleration to slow
+the Skylark down to the speed of the other space-car
+when they should come up with it. They smiled at
+each other in recognition of the perfect working of
+the mechanism when the huge vessel had spun, with a
+sickening lurch, through a complete half-circle, the instant
+the power was reversed. Each knew that they
+were actually traveling in a direction that to them
+seemed "down," but with a constantly diminishing
+velocity, even though they seemed to be still going "up"
+with an increasing speed.</p>
+
+<p>Until nearly the end of the calculated time the two
+took turns as before, but as the time of meeting drew
+near both men were on the alert, taking readings on the
+object-compass every few minutes. Finally Crane announced:</p>
+
+<p>"We are almost on them, Dick. They are so close
+that it is almost impossible to time the needle&mdash;less than
+ten thousand miles."</p>
+
+<p>Seaton gradually increased the retarding force until
+the needle showed that they were very close to the other
+vessel and maintaining a constant distance from it. He
+then shut off the power, and both men hurried to the
+bottom window to search for the fleeing ship with their
+powerful night-glasses. They looked at each other in
+amazement as they felt themselves falling almost directly
+downward, with an astounding acceleration.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_539" id="Page_539">[539]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"What do you make of it, Dick?" asked Crane
+calmly, as he brought his glasses to his eyes and stared
+out into the black heavens, studded with multitudes of
+brilliant and unfamiliar stars.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't make it at all, Mart. By the feel, I should
+say we were falling toward something that would make
+our earth look like a pin-head. I remember now that I
+noticed that the bus was getting a little out of plumb
+with the bar all this last watch. I didn't pay much attention
+to it, as I couldn't see anything out of the way.
+Nothing but a sun could be big enough to raise all this
+disturbance, and I can't see any close enough to be
+afraid of, can you?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, and I cannot see the Steel space-car, either.
+Look sharp."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course," Seaton continued to argue as he peered
+out into the night, "it is theoretically possible that a
+heavenly body can exist large enough so that it could
+exert even this much force and still appear no larger
+than an ordinary star, but I don't believe it is probable.
+Give me three or four minutes of visual angle
+and I'll believe anything, but none of these stars are
+big enough to have any visual angle at all. Furthermore...."</p>
+
+<p>"There is at least half a degree of visual angle!"
+broke in his friend intensely. "Just to the left of that
+constellation that looks so much like a question mark.
+It is not bright, but dark, like a very dark moon&mdash;barely
+perceptible."</p>
+
+<p>Seaton pointed his glass eagerly in the direction indicated.</p>
+
+<p>"Great Cat!" he ejaculated. "I'll say that's some
+moon! Wouldn't that rattle your slats? And there's
+DuQuesne's bus, too, on the right edge. Get it?"</p>
+
+<p>As they stood up, Seaton's mood turned to one of
+deadly earnestness, and a grave look came over Crane's
+face as the seriousness of their situation dawned upon
+them. Trained mathematicians both, they knew instantly
+that that unknown world was of inconceivable
+mass, and that their chance of escape was none too
+good, even should they abandon the other craft to its
+fate. Seaton stared at Crane, his fists clenched and
+drops of perspiration standing on his forehead. Suddenly,
+with agony in his eyes and in his voice, he spoke.</p>
+
+<p>"Mighty slim chance of getting away if we go
+through with it, old man.... Hate like the devil....
+Have no right to ask you to throw yourself away, too."</p>
+
+<p>"Enough of that, Dick. You had nothing to do with
+my coming: you could not have kept me away. We
+will see it through."</p>
+
+<p>Their hands met in a fierce clasp, broken by Seaton,
+as he jumped to the levers with an intense:</p>
+
+<p>"Well, let's get busy!"</p>
+
+<p>In a few minutes they had reduced the distance until
+they could plainly see the other vessel, a small black
+circle against the faintly luminous disk. As it leaped
+into clear relief in the beam of his powerful searchlight,
+Seaton focused the great attractor upon the fugitive
+car and threw in the lever which released the full
+force of that mighty magnet, while Crane attracted the
+attention of the vessel's occupants by means of a momentary
+burst of solid machine-gun bullets, which he
+knew would glance harmlessly off the steel hull.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>After an interminable silence, DuQuesne drew
+himself out of his seat. He took a long inhalation,
+deposited the butt of his cigarette carefully in his
+ash tray, and made his way to his room. He returned
+with three heavy fur suits provided with air helmets,
+two of which he handed to the girls, who were huddled
+in a seat with their arms around each other. These
+suits were the armor designed by Crane for use in
+exploring the vacuum and the intense cold of dead
+worlds. Air-tight, braced with fine steel netting, and
+supplied with air at normal pressure from small tanks
+by automatic valves, they made their wearers independent
+of surrounding conditions of pressure and temperature.</p>
+
+<p>"The next thing to do," DuQuesne stated calmly, "is
+to get the copper off the outside of the ship. That is
+the last resort, as it robs us of our only safeguard
+against meteorites, but this is the time for last-resort
+measures. I'm going after that copper. Put these
+suits on, as our air will leave as soon as I open the door,
+and practically an absolute vacuum and equally absolute
+zero will come in."</p>
+
+<p>As he spoke, the ship was enveloped in a blinding
+glare and they were thrown flat as the vessel slowed
+down in its terrific fall. The thought flashed across
+DuQuesne's mind that they had already entered the
+atmosphere of that monster globe and were being
+slowed down and set afire by its friction, but he dismissed
+it as quickly as it had come&mdash;the light in that
+case would be the green of copper, not this bluish-white.
+His next thought was that there had been a collision of
+meteors in the neighborhood, and that their retardation
+was due to the outer coating. While these thoughts
+were flickering through his mind, they heard an insistent
+metallic tapping, which DuQuesne recognized
+instantly.</p>
+
+<p>"A machine-gun!" he blurted in amazement. "How
+in...."</p>
+
+<p>"It's Dick!" screamed Dorothy, with flashing eyes.
+"He's found us, just as I knew he would. You couldn't
+beat Dick and Martin in a thousand years!"</p>
+
+<p>The tension under which they had been laboring so
+long suddenly released, the two girls locked their arms
+around each other in a half-hysterical outburst of relief.
+Margaret's meaningless words and Dorothy's incoherent
+praises of her lover and Crane mingled with
+their racking sobs as each fought to recover self-possession.</p>
+
+<p>DuQuesne had instantly mounted to the upper window.
+Throwing back the cover, he flashed his torch
+rapidly. The glare of the searchlight was snuffed out
+and he saw a flashing light spell out in dots and dashes:</p>
+
+<p>"Can you read Morse?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," he signalled back. "Power gone, drifting
+into...."</p>
+
+<p>"We know it. Will you resist?"</p>
+
+<p>"No."</p>
+
+<p>"Have you fur pressure-suits?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes."</p>
+
+<p>"Put them on. Shut off your outer coating. Will
+touch so your upper door against our lower. Open,
+transfer quick."</p>
+
+<p>"O. K."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_541" id="Page_541">[541]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>Hastily returning to the main compartment, he
+briefly informed the girls as to what had happened.
+All three donned the suits and stationed themselves
+at the upper opening. Rapidly, but with unerring
+precision, the two ships were brought into place and
+held together by the attractor. As the doors were
+opened, there was a screaming hiss as the air of the
+vessels escaped through the narrow crack between them.
+The passengers saw the moisture in the air turn into
+snow, and saw the air itself first liquefy and then freeze
+into a solid coating upon the metal around the orifices
+at the touch of the frightful cold outside&mdash;the absolute
+zero of interstellar space, about four hundred sixty degrees
+below zero in the every-day scale of temperature.
+The moisture of their breath condensed upon the inside
+of the double glasses of their helmets, rendering sight
+useless.</p>
+
+<div class="center"><div class="figcenter" style="width: 427px;">
+<img src="images/042.png" width="427" height="600" alt="The Rescue." title="The Rescue." />
+<span class="caption">DuQuesne seized her and tossed her lightly through the doorway in such a manner that she would not
+touch the metal, which would have frozen instantly anything coming into contact with it.</span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Dorothy pushed the other girl ahead of her. DuQuesne
+seized her and tossed her lightly through the
+doorway in such a manner that she would not touch
+the metal, which would have frozen instantly anything
+coming into contact with it. Seaton was waiting. Feeling
+a woman's slender form in his arms, he crushed her
+to him in a mighty embrace, and was astonished to feel
+movements of resistance, and to hear a strange, girlish
+voice cry out:</p>
+
+<p>"Don't! It's me! Dorothy's next!"</p>
+
+<p>Releasing her abruptly, he passed her on to Martin
+and turned just in time to catch his sweetheart, who,
+knowing that he would be there and recognizing his
+powerful arms at the first touch, returned his embrace
+with a fierce intensity which even he had never suspected
+that she could exert. They stood motionless,
+locked in each other's arms, while DuQuesne dove
+through the opening and snapped the door shut behind
+him.</p>
+
+<p>The air-pressure and temperature back to normal,
+the cumbersome suits were hastily removed, and Seaton's
+lips met Dorothy's in a long, clinging caress.
+DuQuesne's cold, incisive voice broke the silence.</p>
+
+<p>"Every second counts. I would suggest that we go
+somewhere."</p>
+
+<p>"Just a minute!" snapped Crane. "Dick, what shall
+we do with this murderer?"</p>
+
+<p>Seaton had forgotten DuQuesne utterly in the joy
+of holding his sweetheart in his arms, but at his friend's
+words, he faced about and his face grew stern.</p>
+
+<p>"By rights, we ought to chuck him back into his
+own tub and let him go to the devil," he said savagely,
+doubling his fists and turning swiftly.</p>
+
+<p>"No, no, Dick," remonstrated Dorothy, seizing his
+arm. "He treated us very well, and saved my life
+once. Anyway, you mustn't kill him."</p>
+
+<p>"No, I suppose not," grudgingly assented her lover,
+"and I won't, either, unless he gives me at least half
+an excuse."</p>
+
+<p>"We might iron him to a post?" suggested Crane, doubtfully.</p>
+
+<p>"I think there's a better way," replied Seaton. "He
+may be able to work his way. His brain hits on all
+twelve, and he's strong as a bull. Our chance of getting
+back isn't a certainty, as you know." He turned
+to DuQuesne.</p>
+
+<p>"I've heard that your word is good."</p>
+
+<p>"It has never been broken."</p>
+
+<p>"Will you give your word to act as one of the party,
+for the good of us all, if we don't iron you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes&mdash;until we get back to the earth. Provided, of
+course, that I reserve the right to escape at any time
+between now and then if I wish to and can do so without
+injuring the vessel or any member of the party in
+any way."</p>
+
+<p>"Agreed. Let's get busy&mdash;we're altogether too close
+to that dud there to suit me. Sit tight, everybody,
+we're on our way!" he cried, as he turned to the board,
+applied one notch of power, and shut off the attractor.
+The Skylark slowed down a trifle in its mad fall, the
+other vessel continued on its way&mdash;a helpless hulk,
+manned by a corpse, falling to destruction upon the
+bleak wastes of a desert world.</p>
+
+<p>"Hold on!" said DuQuesne sharply. "Your power
+is the same as mine was, in proportion to your mass,
+isn't it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes."</p>
+
+<p>"Then our goose is cooked. I couldn't pull away
+from it with everything I had, couldn't even swing out
+enough to make an orbit, either hyperbolic or elliptical
+around it. With a reserve bar you will be able to make
+an orbit, but you can't get away from it."</p>
+
+<p>"Thanks for the dope. That saves our wasting some
+effort. Our power-plant can be doubled up in emergencies,
+thanks to Martin's cautious old bean. We'll
+simply double her up and go away from here."</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>"There is one thing we didn't consider quite
+enough," said Crane, thoughtfully. "I started
+to faint back there before the full power of even one
+motor was in use. With the motor doubled, each of us
+will be held down by a force of many tons&mdash;we would
+all be helpless."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," added Dorothy, with foreboding in her eyes,
+"we were all unconscious on the way out, except Dr.
+DuQuesne."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, then, Blackie and I, as the huskiest members
+of the party, will give her the juice until only one of us
+is left with his eyes open. If that isn't enough to pull
+us clear, we'll have to give her the whole works and
+let her ramble by herself after we all go out. How
+about it, Blackie?" unconsciously falling into the old
+Bureau nickname. "Do you think we can make it stop
+at unconsciousness with double power on?"</p>
+
+<p>DuQuesne studied the two girls carefully.</p>
+
+<p>"With oxygen in the helmets instead of air, we all
+may be able to stand it. These special cushions keep
+the body from flattening out, as it normally would
+under such a pressure. The unconsciousness is simply
+a suffocation caused by the lateral muscles being unable
+to lift the ribs&mdash;in other words, the air-pumps aren't
+strong enough for the added work put upon them. At
+least we stand a chance this way. We may live through
+the pressure while we are pulling away, and we certainly
+shall die if we don't pull away."</p>
+
+<p>After a brief consultation, the men set to work
+with furious haste. While Crane placed extra bars in
+each of the motors and DuQuesne made careful observations
+upon the apparent size of the now plainly visible<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_542" id="Page_542">[542]</a></span>
+world toward which they were being drawn so irresistibly,
+Seaton connected the helmets with the air-and
+oxygen-tanks through a valve upon the board, by
+means of which he could change at will the oxygen
+content of the air they breathed. He then placed the
+strange girl, who seemed dazed by the frightful sensation
+of their never-ending fall, upon one of the seats,
+fitted the cumbersome helmet upon her head, strapped
+her carefully into place, and turned to Dorothy. In an
+instant they were in each other's arms. He felt her
+labored breathing and the wild beating of her heart,
+pressed so closely to his, and saw the fear of the unknown
+in the violet depths of her eyes, but she looked
+at him unflinchingly.</p>
+
+<p>"Dick, sweetheart, if this is good-bye...."</p>
+
+<p>He interrupted her with a kiss.</p>
+
+<p>"It isn't good-bye yet, Dottie mine. This is merely
+a trial effort, to see what we will have to do to get away.
+Next time will be the time to worry."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm not worried, really ... but in case ... you see
+... I ... we ..."</p>
+
+<p>The gray eyes softened and misted over as he pressed
+his cheek to hers.</p>
+
+<p>"I understand, sweetheart," he whispered. "This is
+not good-bye, but if we don't pull through we'll go together,
+and that is what we both want."</p>
+
+<p>As Crane and DuQuesne finished their tasks, Seaton
+fitted his sweetheart's helmet, placed her tenderly upon
+the seat, buckled the heavy restraining straps about her
+slender body, and donned his own helmet. He took his
+place at the main instrument board, DuQuesne stationing
+himself at the other.</p>
+
+<p>"What did you read on it, Blackie?" asked Seaton.</p>
+
+<p>"Two degrees, one minute, twelve seconds diameter,"
+replied DuQuesne. "Altogether too close for comfort.
+How shall we apply the power? One of us must stay
+awake, or we'll go on as long as the bars last."</p>
+
+<p>"You put on one notch, then I'll put on one. We
+can feel the bus jump with each notch. We'll keep it
+up until one of us is so far gone that he can't raise the
+bar&mdash;the one that raises last will have to let the ship
+run for thirty minutes or an hour, then cut down his
+power. Then the other fellow will revive and cut his
+off, for an observation. How's that?"</p>
+
+<p>"All right."</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>They took their places, and Seaton felt the vessel
+slow down in its horrible fall as DuQuesne threw
+his lever into the first notch. He responded instantly by
+advancing his own, and notch after notch the power applied
+to the ship by the now doubled motor was rapidly
+increased. The passengers felt their suits envelope
+them and began to labor for breath. Seaton slowly
+turned the mixing valve, a little with each advance of
+his lever, until pure oxygen flowed through the pipes.
+The power levers had moved scarcely half of their
+range, yet minutes now intervened between each advance
+instead of seconds, as at the start.</p>
+
+<p>As each of the two men was determined that he
+would make the last advance, the duel continued longer
+than either would have thought possible. Seaton made
+what he thought his final effort and waited&mdash;only to
+feel, after a few minutes, the upward surge telling him
+that DuQuesne was still able to move his lever. His
+brain reeled. His arm seemed paralyzed by its own
+enormous weight, and felt as though it, the rolling
+table upon which it rested, and the supporting framework
+were so immovably welded together that it was
+impossible to move it even the quarter-inch necessary
+to operate the ratchet-lever. He could not move his
+body, which was oppressed by a sickening weight. His
+utmost efforts to breathe forced only a little of the
+life-giving oxygen into his lungs, which smarted painfully
+at the touch of the undiluted gas, and he felt that
+he could not long retain consciousness under such conditions.
+Nevertheless, he summoned all his strength
+and advanced the lever one more notch. He stared at
+the clock-face above his head, knowing that if DuQuesne
+could advance his lever again he would lose
+consciousness and be beaten. Minute after minute went
+by, however, and the acceleration of the ship remained
+constant. Seaton, knowing that he was in sole control
+of the power-plant, fought to retain possession of his
+faculties, while the hands of the clock told off the interminable
+minutes.</p>
+
+<p>After an eternity of time an hour had passed, and
+Seaton attempted to cut down his power, only to find
+with horror that the long strain had so weakened him
+that he could not reverse the ratchet. He was still
+able, however, to give the lever the backward jerk
+which disconnected the wires completely&mdash;and the
+safety straps creaked with the sudden stress as, half
+the power instantly shut off, the suddenly released
+springs tried to hurl five bodies against the ceiling.
+After a few minutes DuQuesne revived and slowly
+cut off his power. To the dismay of both men they
+were again falling!</p>
+
+<p>DuQuesne hurried to the lower window to make the
+observation, remarking:</p>
+
+<p>"You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din."</p>
+
+<p>"Only because you're so badly bunged up. One
+more notch would've got my goat," replied Seaton
+frankly as he made his way to Dorothy's side. He
+noticed as he reached her, that Crane had removed his
+helmet and was approaching the other girl. By the
+time DuQuesne had finished the observation, the other
+passengers had completely recovered, apparently none
+the worse for their experience.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>"Did we gain anything?" asked Seaton eagerly.</p>
+
+<p>"I make it two, four, thirteen. We've lost
+about two minutes of arc. How much power did we
+have on?"</p>
+
+<p>"A little over half&mdash;thirty-two points out of sixty
+possible."</p>
+
+<p>"We were still falling pretty fast. We'll have to
+put on everything we've got. Since neither of us can
+put it on we'll have to rig up an automatic feed. It'll
+take time, but it's the only way."</p>
+
+<p>"The automatic control is already there," put in Crane,
+forestalling Seaton's explanation. "The only question
+is whether we will live through it&mdash;and that is not
+really a question, since certain death is the only alternative.
+We must do it."</p>
+
+<p>"We sure must," answered Seaton soberly.</p>
+
+<p>Dorothy gravely nodded assent.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_543" id="Page_543">[543]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"What do you fellows think of a little plus pressure
+on the oxygen?" asked Seaton. "I think it would help
+a lot."</p>
+
+<p>"I think it's a good idea," said DuQuesne, and Crane
+added:</p>
+
+<p>"Four or five inches of water will be about all the
+pressure we can stand. Any more might burn our
+lungs too badly."</p>
+
+<p>The pressure apparatus was quickly arranged and
+the motors filled to capacity with reserve bars&mdash;enough
+to last seventy-two hours&mdash;the scientists having decided
+that they must risk everything on one trial and put in
+enough, if possible, to pull them clear out of the influence
+of this center of attraction, as the time lost in
+slowing up to change bars might well mean the difference
+between success and failure. Where they might
+lie at the end of the wild dash for safety, how they
+were to retrace their way with their depleted supply
+of copper, what other dangers of dead star, planet, or
+sun lay in their path&mdash;all these were terrifying questions
+that had to be ignored.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>DuQuesne was the only member of the party
+who actually felt any calmness, the quiet of the
+others expressing their courage in facing fear. Life
+seemed very sweet and desirable to them, the distant
+earth a very Paradise! Through Dorothy's mind
+flashed the visions she had built up during long sweet
+hours, visions of a long life with Seaton. As she
+breathed an inaudible prayer, she glanced up and saw
+Seaton standing beside her, gazing down upon her
+with his very soul in his eyes. Never would she forget
+the expression upon his face. Even in that crucial
+hour, his great love for her overshadowed every other
+feeling, and no thought of self was in his mind&mdash;his
+care was all for her. There was a long farewell caress.
+Both knew that it might be goodbye, but both were
+silent as the violet eyes and the gray looked into each
+other's depths and conveyed messages far beyond the
+power of words. Once more he adjusted her helmet
+and strapped her into place.</p>
+
+<p>As Crane had in the meantime cared for the other
+girl, the men again took their places and Seaton started
+the motor which would automatically advance the
+speed levers, one notch every five seconds, until the
+full power of both motors was exerted. As the power
+was increased, he turned the valve as before, until
+the helmets were filled with pure oxygen under a pressure
+of five inches of water.</p>
+
+<p>Margaret Spencer, weakened by her imprisonment,
+was the first to lose consciousness, and soon afterward
+Dorothy felt her senses leave her. A half-minute, in
+the course of which six mighty surges were felt, as
+more of the power of the doubled motor was released,
+and Crane had gone, calmly analyzing his sensations
+to the last. After a time DuQuesne also lapsed into
+unconsciousness, making no particular effort to avoid
+it, as he knew that the involuntary muscles would
+function quite as well without the direction of the will.
+Seaton, although he knew it was useless, fought to keep
+his senses as long as possible, counting the impulses
+he felt as the levers were advanced.</p>
+
+<p>"Thirty-two." He felt exactly as he had before,
+when he had advanced the lever for the last time.</p>
+
+<p>"Thirty-three." A giant hand shut off his breath
+completely, though he was fighting to his utmost for
+air. An intolerable weight rested upon his eyeballs,
+forcing them backward into his head. The universe
+whirled about him in dizzy circles&mdash;orange and black
+and green stars flashed before his bursting eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"Thirty-four." The stars became more brilliant and
+of more variegated colors, and a giant pen dipped in
+fire was writing equations and mathematico-chemical
+symbols upon his quivering brain. He joined the circling
+universe, which he had hitherto kept away from
+him by main strength, and whirled about his own body,
+tracing a logarithmic spiral with infinite velocity&mdash;leaving
+his body an infinite distance behind.</p>
+
+<p>"Thirty-five." The stars and the fiery pen exploded
+in a wild coruscation of searing, blinding light and he
+plunged from his spiral into a black abyss.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>In spite of the terrific stress put upon the machine,
+every part functioned perfectly, and soon after
+Seaton had lost consciousness the vessel began to draw
+away from the sinister globe; slowly at first, faster
+and faster as more and more of the almost unlimited
+power of the mighty motor was released. Soon the
+levers were out to the last notch and the machine was
+exerting its maximum effort. One hour and an observer
+upon the Skylark would have seen that the
+apparent size of the massive unknown world was
+rapidly decreasing; twenty hours and it was so far
+away as to be invisible, though its effect was still great;
+forty hours and the effect was slight; sixty hours and
+the Skylark was out of range of the slightest measurable
+force of the monster it had left.</p>
+
+<p>Hurtled onward by the inconceivable power of the
+unleashed copper demon in its center, the Skylark flew
+through the infinite reaches of interstellar space with
+an unthinkable, almost incalculable velocity&mdash;beside
+which the velocity of light was as that of a snail to
+that of a rifle bullet; a velocity augmented every second
+by a quantity almost double that of light itself.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI</h2>
+
+<h3>Through Space Into the Carboniferous</h3>
+
+
+<p>Seaton opened his eyes and gazed about him
+wonderingly. Only half conscious, bruised and
+sore in every part of his body, he could not at
+first realize what had happened. Instinctively drawing
+a deep breath, he coughed and choked as the undiluted
+oxygen filled his lungs, bringing with it a complete
+understanding of the situation. Knowing from
+the lack of any apparent motion that the power had
+been sufficient to pull the car away from that fatal
+globe, his first thought was for Dorothy, and he tore
+off his helmet and turned toward her. The force of
+even that slight movement, wafted him gently into the
+air where he hung suspended several minutes before
+his struggles enabled him to clutch a post and draw
+himself down to the floor. A quick glance around
+informed him that Dorothy, as well as the others, was
+still unconscious. Making his way rapidly to her, he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_544" id="Page_544">[544]</a></span>
+placed her face downward upon the floor and began
+artificial respiration. Very soon he was rewarded by
+the coughing he had longed to hear. He tore off her
+helmet and clasped her to his breast in an agony of
+relief, while she sobbed convulsively upon his shoulder.
+The first <ins class="corr" title="Transcriber's Note: The original read 'ecstacy'.">ecstasy</ins> of their greeting over, Dorothy started
+guiltily.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Dick!" she exclaimed. "How about Peggy?
+You must see how she is!"</p>
+
+<p>"Never mind," answered Crane's voice cheerily.
+"She is coming to nicely."</p>
+
+<p>Glancing around quickly, they saw that Crane had
+already revived the stranger, and that DuQuesne was
+not in sight. Dorothy blushed, the vivid wave of color
+rising to her glorious hair, and hastily disengaged her
+arms from around her lover's neck, drawing away
+from him. Seaton, also blushing, dropped his arms,
+and Dorothy floated away from him, frantically clutching
+at a brace just beyond reach.</p>
+
+<p>"Pull me down, Dick!" she called, laughing gaily.</p>
+
+<p>Seaton, seizing her instinctively, neglected his own
+anchorage and they hung in the air together, while
+Crane and Margaret, each holding a strap, laughed
+with unrestrained merriment.</p>
+
+<p>"Tweet, tweet&mdash;I'm a canary!" chuckled Seaton.
+"Throw us a rope!"</p>
+
+<p>"A Dicky-bird, you mean," interposed Dorothy.</p>
+
+<p>"I knew that you were a sleight-of-hand expert,
+Dick, but I did not know that levitation was one of your
+specialties," remarked Crane with mock gravity. "That
+is a peculiar pose you are holding now. What are you
+doing&mdash;sitting on an imaginary pedestal?"</p>
+
+<p>"I'll be sitting on your neck if you don't get a wiggle
+on with that rope!" retorted Seaton, but before Crane
+had time to obey the command the floating couple had
+approached close enough to the ceiling so that Seaton,
+with a slight pressure of his hand against the leather,
+sent them floating back to the floor, within reach of
+one of the handrails.</p>
+
+<p>Seaton made his way to the power-plant, lifted in
+one of the remaining bars, and applied a little power.
+The Skylark seemed to jump under them, then it
+seemed as though they were back on Earth&mdash;everything
+had its normal weight once more, as the amount of
+power applied was just enough to equal the acceleration
+of gravity. After this fact had been explained, Dorothy
+turned to Margaret.</p>
+
+<p>"Now that we are able to act intelligently, the party
+should be introduced to each other. Peggy, this is
+Dr. Dick Seaton, and this is Mr. Martin Crane. Boys,
+this is Miss Margaret Spencer, a dear friend of mine.
+These are the boys I have told you so much about,
+Peggy. Dick knows all about atoms and things; he
+found out how to make the Skylark go. Martin, who
+is quite a wonderful inventor, made the engines and
+things for it."</p>
+
+<p>"I may have heard of Mr. Crane," replied Margaret
+eagerly. "My father was an inventor, and I have heard
+him speak of a man named Crane who invented a lot
+of instruments for airplanes. He used to say that the
+Crane instruments revolutionized flying. I wonder if
+you are that Mr. Crane?"</p>
+
+<p>"That is rather unjustifiably high praise, Miss Spencer,"
+replied Crane, "but as I have been guilty of one
+or two things along that line, I may be the man he
+meant."</p>
+
+<p>"Pardon me if I seem to change the subject," put in
+Seaton, "but where's DuQuesne?"</p>
+
+<p>"We came to at the same time, and he went into the
+galley to fix up something to eat."</p>
+
+<p>"Good for him!" exclaimed Dorothy. "I'm simply
+starved to death. I would have been demanding food
+long ago, but I have so many aches and pains that I
+didn't realize how hungry I was until you mentioned
+it. Come on, Peggy, I know where our room is. Let's
+go powder our noses while these bewhiskered gentlemen
+reap their beards. Did you bring along any of
+my clothes, Dick, or did you forget them in the
+excitement?"</p>
+
+<p>"I didn't think anything about clothes, but Martin
+did. You'll find your whole wardrobe in your room.
+I'm with you, Dot, on that eating proposition&mdash;I'm
+hungry enough to eat the jamb off the door!"</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>After the girls had gone, Seaton and Crane went
+to their rooms, where they exercised vigorously
+to restore the circulation to their numbed bodies,
+shaved, bathed, and returned to the saloon feeling like
+new men. They found the girls already there, seated
+at one of the windows.</p>
+
+<p>"Hail and greeting!" cried Dorothy at sight of them.
+"I hardly recognized you without your whiskers. Do
+hurry over here and look out this perfectly wonderful
+window. Did you ever in your born days see anything
+like this sight? Now that I'm not scared pea-green,
+I can enjoy it thoroughly!"</p>
+
+<p>The two men joined the girls and peered out into
+space through the window, which was completely invisible,
+so clear was the glass. As the four heads bent,
+so close together, an awed silence fell upon the little
+group. For the blackness of the interstellar void was
+not the dark of an earthly night, but the absolute black
+of the absence of all light, beside which the black of
+platinum dust is pale and gray; and laid upon this
+velvet were the jewel stars. They were not the twinkling,
+scintillating beauties of the earthly sky, but minute
+points, so small as to seem dimensionless, yet of dazzling
+brilliance. Without the interference of the air,
+their rays met the eye steadily and much of the effect
+of comparative distance was lost. All seemed nearer
+and there was no hint of familiarity in their arrangement.
+Like gems thrown upon darkness they shone in
+multi-colored beauty upon the daring wanderers, who
+stood in their car as easily as though they were upon
+their parent Earth, and gazed upon a sight never before
+seen by eye of man nor pictured in his imaginings.</p>
+
+<p>Through the daze of their wonder, a thought smote
+Seaton like a blow from a fist. His eyes leaped to the
+instrument board and he exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p>"Look there, Mart! We're heading almost directly
+away from the Earth, and we must be making billions
+of miles per second. After we lost consciousness, the
+attraction of that big dud back there would swing us
+around, of course, but the bar should have stayed
+pointed somewhere near the Earth, as I left it. Do
+you suppose it could have shifted the gyroscopes?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_545" id="Page_545">[545]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"It not only could have, it did," replied Crane, turning
+the bar until it again pointed parallel with the object-compass
+which bore upon the Earth. "Look at the
+board. The angle has been changed through nearly
+half a circumference. We couldn't carry gyroscopes
+heavy enough to counteract that force."</p>
+
+<p>"But they were heavier there&mdash;Oh, sure, you're right.
+It's mass, not weight, that counts. But we sure are in
+one fine, large jam now. Instead of being half-way
+back to the Earth we're&mdash;where are we, anyway?"</p>
+
+<p>They made a reading on an object-compass focused
+upon the Earth. Seaton's face lengthened as seconds
+passed. When it had come to rest, both men calculated
+the distance.</p>
+
+<p>"What d'you make it, Mart? I'm afraid to tell you
+my result."</p>
+
+<p>"Forty-six point twenty-seven light-centuries," replied
+Crane, calmly. "Right?"</p>
+
+<p>"Right, and the time was 11:32 P. M. of Thursday,
+by the chronometer there. We'll time it again after a
+while and see how fast we're traveling. It's a good
+thing you built the ship's chronometers to stand any
+kind of stress. My watch is a total loss. Yours is,
+too?"</p>
+
+<p>"All of our watches must be broken. We will have
+to repair them as soon as we get time."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, let's eat next! No human being can stand
+my aching void much longer. How about you, Dot?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, for Cat's sake, let's get busy!" she mimicked
+him gaily. "Doctor DuQuesne's had dinner ready for
+ages, and we're all dying by inches of hunger."</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>The wanderers, battered, bruised, and sore, seated
+themselves at a folding table, Seaton keeping a
+watchful eye upon the bar and upon the course, while
+enjoying Dorothy's presence to the full. Crane and
+Margaret talked easily, but at intervals. Save when
+directly addressed. DuQuesne maintained silence&mdash;not
+the silence of one who knows himself to be an intruder,
+but the silence of perfect self-sufficiency. The meal
+over, the girls washed the dishes and busied themselves
+in the galley. Seaton and Crane made another
+observation upon the Earth, requesting DuQuesne to
+stay out of the "engine room" as they called the partially-enclosed
+space surrounding the main instrument
+board, where were located the object-compasses and the
+mechanism controlling the attractor, about which DuQuesne
+knew nothing. As they rejoined DuQuesne
+in the main compartment, Seaton said:</p>
+
+<p>"DuQuesne, we're nearly five thousand light-years
+away from the Earth, and are getting farther at the
+rate of about one light-year per minute."</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose that it would be poor technique to ask
+how you know?"</p>
+
+<p>"It would&mdash;very poor. Our figures are right. The
+difficulty is that we have only four bars left&mdash;enough
+to stop us and a little to spare, but not nearly enough
+to get back with, even if we could take a chance on
+drifting straight that far without being swung off&mdash;which,
+of course, is impossible."</p>
+
+<p>"That means that we must land somewhere and dig
+some copper, then."</p>
+
+<p>"Exactly.</p>
+
+<p>"The first thing to do is to find a place to land."</p>
+
+<p>Seaton picked out a distant star in their course and
+observed it through the spectroscope. Since it was
+found to contain copper in notable amounts, all agreed
+that its planets probably also contained copper.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't know whether we can stop that soon or not,"
+remarked Seaton as he set the levers, "but we may as
+well have something to shoot at. We'd better take
+our regular twelve-hour tricks, hadn't we, Mart? It's
+a wonder we got as far as this without striking another
+snag. I'll take the first trick at the board&mdash;beat it
+to bed."</p>
+
+<p>"Not so fast, Dick," argued Crane, as Seaton turned
+toward the engine-room: "It's my turn."</p>
+
+<p>"Flip a nickel," suggested Seaton. "Heads I get it."</p>
+
+<p>Crane flipped a coin. Heads it was, and the worn-out
+party went to their rooms, all save Dorothy, who
+lingered after the others to bid her lover a more intimate
+good-night.</p>
+
+<p>Seated beside him, his arm around her and her head
+upon his shoulder, Dorothy exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Dicky, Dicky, it is wonderful to be with you
+again! I've lived as many years in the last week as we
+have covered miles!"</p>
+
+<p>Seaton kissed her with ardor, then turned her fair
+face up to his and gazed hungrily at every feature.</p>
+
+<p>"It sure was awful until we found you, sweetheart
+girl. Those two days at Wilson's were the worst and
+longest I ever put in. I could have wrung Martin's
+cautious old neck!</p>
+
+<p>"But isn't he a wiz at preparing for trouble? We
+sure owe him a lot, little dimpled lady."</p>
+
+<p>Dorothy was silent for a moment, then a smile
+quirked at one corner of her mouth and a dimple appeared.
+Seaton promptly kissed it, whereupon it deepened
+audaciously.</p>
+
+<p>"What are you thinking about&mdash;mischief?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Only of how Martin is going to be paid what we
+owe him," she answered teasingly. "Don't let the
+debt worry you any."</p>
+
+<p>"Spill the news, Reddy," he commanded, as his arm
+tightened about her.</p>
+
+<p>She stuck out a tiny tip of red tongue at him.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't let Peggy find out he's a millionaire."</p>
+
+<p>"Why not?" he asked wonderingly, then he saw her
+point and laughed:</p>
+
+<p>"You little matchmaker!"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't care, laugh if you want to. Martin's as
+nice a man as I know, and Peggy's a real darling.
+Don't you let slip a word about Martin's money, that's
+all!"</p>
+
+<p>"She wouldn't think any less of him, would she?"</p>
+
+<p>"Dick, sometimes you are absolutely dumb. It would
+spoil everything. If she knew he was a millionaire
+she would be scared to death&mdash;not of him, of course,
+but because she would think that he would think that
+she was chasing him, and then of course he would think
+that she was, see? As it is, she acts perfectly natural,
+and so does he. Didn't you notice that while we were
+eating they talked together for at least fifteen minutes
+about her father's invention and the way they stole the
+plans and one thing and another? I don't believe he
+has talked that much to any girl except me the last five<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_546" id="Page_546">[546]</a></span>
+years&mdash;and he wouldn't talk to me until he knew that
+I couldn't see any man except you. Much as we like
+Martin, we've got to admit that about him. He's been
+chased so much that he's wild. If any other girl he
+knows had talked to him that long, he would have been
+off to the North Pole or somewhere the next morning,
+and the best part of it is that he didn't think anything
+of it."</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>"You think she is domesticating the wild man?"</p>
+
+<p>"Now, Dick, don't be foolish. You know what
+I mean. Martin is a perfect dear, but if she knew that
+he is <i>the</i> M. Reynolds Crane, everything would be
+ruined. You know yourself how horribly hard it is
+to get through his shell to the real Martin underneath.
+He is lonely and miserable inside, I know, and the
+right kind of girl, one that would treat him right, would
+make life Heaven for him, and herself too."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, and the wrong kind would make it...."</p>
+
+<p>"She would," interrupted Dorothy hastily, "but
+Peggy's the right kind. Wouldn't it be fine to have
+Martin and Peggy as happy, almost, as you and I are?"</p>
+
+<p>"All right, girlie, I'm with you," he answered, embracing
+her as though he intended never to let her go,
+"but you'd better go get some sleep&mdash;you're all in."</p>
+
+<p>Considerably later, when Dorothy had finally gone,
+Seaton settled himself for the long vigil. Promptly at
+the end of the twelve hours Crane appeared, alert of
+eye and of bearing.</p>
+
+<p>"You look fresh as a daisy, Mart. Feeling fit?"</p>
+
+<p>"Fit as the proverbial fiddle. I could not have
+slept any better or longer if I had had a week off.
+Seven hours and a half is a luxury, you know."</p>
+
+<p>"All wrong, old top. I need eight every night, and
+I'm going to take about ten this time."</p>
+
+<p>"Go to it, twelve if you like. You have earned it."</p>
+
+<p>Seaton stumbled to his room and slept as though in
+a trance for ten hours. Rising, he took his regular
+morning exercises and went into the saloon. All save
+Martin were there, but he had eyes only for his sweetheart,
+who was radiantly beautiful in a dress of deep
+bronze-brown.</p>
+
+<p>"Good morning, Dick," she hailed him joyously.
+"You woke up just in time&mdash;we are all starving again,
+and were just going to eat without you!"</p>
+
+<p>"Good morning, everybody. I would like to eat
+with you, Dottie, but I've got to relieve Martin. How'd
+it be for you to bring breakfast into the engine room
+and cheer my solitude, and let Crane eat with the
+others?"</p>
+
+<p>"Fine&mdash;that's once you had a good idea, if you never
+have another!"</p>
+
+<p>After the meal DuQuesne, who abhorred idleness
+with all his vigorous nature, took the watches of the
+party and went upstairs to the "shop," which was a
+completely-equipped mechanical laboratory, to repair
+them. Seaton stayed at the board, where Dorothy
+joined him as a matter of course. Crane and Margaret
+sat down at one of the windows.</p>
+
+<p>She told him her story, frankly and fully, shuddering
+with horror as she recalled the awful, helpless fall,
+during which Perkins had met his end.</p>
+
+<p>"Dick and I have a heavy score to settle with that
+Steel crowd and with DuQuesne," Crane said slowly.
+"We have no evidence that will hold in law, but some
+day DuQuesne will over-reach himself. We could convict
+him of abduction now, but the penalty for that is
+too mild for what he has done. Perkins' death was
+not murder, then?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, no, it was purely self-defense. Perkins would
+have killed him if he could. And he really deserved
+it&mdash;Perkins was a perfect fiend. The Doctor, as they
+call him, is no better, although entirely different. He
+is so utterly heartless and ruthless, so cold and scientific.
+Do you know him very well?"</p>
+
+<p>"We know all that about him, and more. And yet
+Dorothy said he saved her life?"</p>
+
+<p>"He did, from Perkins, but I still think it was because
+he didn't want Perkins meddling in his affairs.
+He seems to me to be the very incarnation of a fixed
+purpose&mdash;to advance himself in the world."</p>
+
+<p>"That expresses my thoughts exactly. But he slips
+occasionally, as in this instance, and he will again.
+He will have to walk very carefully while he is with
+us. Nothing would please Dick better than an excuse
+for killing him, and I must admit that I feel very much
+the same way."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, all of us do, and the way he acts proves what
+a machine he is. He knows just exactly how far to
+go, and never goes beyond it."</p>
+
+<p>They felt the Skylark lurch slightly.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Mart!" called Seaton. "Going to pass that star
+we were headed for&mdash;too fast to stop. I'm giving it
+a wide berth and picking out another one. There's a
+big planet a few million miles off in line with the main
+door, and another one almost dead ahead&mdash;that is,
+straight down. We sure are traveling. Look at that
+sun flit by!"</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>They saw the two planets, one like a small moon,
+the other like a large star, and saw the strange
+sun increase rapidly in size as the Skylark flew on at
+such a pace that any earthly distance would have been
+covered as soon as it was begun. So appalling was
+their velocity that their ship was bathed in the light
+of that sun for only a short time, then was again surrounded
+by the indescribable darkness. Their seventy-two-hour
+flight without a pilot had seemed a miracle,
+now it seemed entirely possible that they might fly in
+a straight line for weeks without encountering any
+obstacle, so vast was the emptiness in comparison with
+the points of light that punctuated it. Now and then
+they passed so close to a star that it apparently moved
+rapidly, but for the most part the silent sentinels stood,
+like distant mountain peaks to the travelers in an express
+train, in the same position for many minutes.</p>
+
+<p>Awed by the immensity of the universe, the two at
+the window were silent, not with the silence of <ins class="corr" title="Transcriber's Note: The original read 'embarassment'.">embarrassment</ins>,
+but with that of two friends in the presence
+of something beyond the reach of words. As they
+stared out into the infinity each felt as never before the
+pitiful smallness of even our whole solar system and
+the utter insignificance of human beings and their
+works. Silently their minds reached out to each other
+in mutual understanding.</p>
+
+<p>Unconsciously Margaret half shuddered and moved<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_547" id="Page_547">[547]</a></span>
+closer to her companion, the movement attracting his
+attention but not her own. A tender expression came
+into Crane's steady blue eyes as he looked down at the
+beautiful young woman by his side. For beautiful
+she undoubtedly was. Untroubled rest and plentiful
+food had erased the marks of her imprisonment; Dorothy's
+deep, manifestly unassumed faith in the ability
+of Seaton and Crane to bring them safely back to
+Earth had quieted her fears; and a complete costume
+of Dorothy's simple but well-cut clothes, which fitted
+her perfectly, and in which she looked her best and
+knew it, had completely restored her self-possession.
+He quickly glanced away and again gazed at the stars,
+but now, in addition to the wonders of space, he saw
+masses of wavy black hair, high-piled upon a queenly
+head; deep down brown eyes half veiled by long, black
+lashes; sweet, sensitive lips; a firmly rounded but
+dimpled chin; and a perfectly-formed young body.</p>
+
+<p>After a time she drew a deep, tremulous breath.
+As he turned, her eyes met his. In their shadowy
+depths, still troubled by the mystery of the unknowable,
+he read her very soul&mdash;the soul of a real woman.</p>
+
+<p>"I had hoped," said Margaret slowly, "to take a
+long flight above the clouds, but anything like this
+never entered my mind. How unbelievably great it is!
+So much vaster than any perception we could get upon
+earth! It seems strange that we were ever awed by
+the sea or the mountains ... and yet...."</p>
+
+<p>She paused, with her lip caught under two white
+teeth, then went on hesitatingly:</p>
+
+<p>"Doesn't it seem to you, Mr. Crane, that there is
+something in man as great as all this? Otherwise,
+Dorothy and I could not be sailing here in a wonder
+like the Lark, which you and Dick Seaton have made."</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>Since from the first, Dorothy had timed her waking
+hours with those of Seaton&mdash;waiting upon him,
+preparing his meals, and lightening the long hours of
+his vigils at the board&mdash;Margaret took it upon herself
+to do the same thing for Crane. But often they assembled
+in the engine-room, and there was much fun and
+laughter, as well as serious talk, among the four. Margaret
+was quickly accepted as a friend, and proved a
+delightful companion. Her wavy, jet-black hair, the
+only color in the world that could hold its own with
+Dorothy's auburn glory, framed features self-reliant
+and strong, yet of womanly softness; and in this genial
+atmosphere her quick tongue had a delicate wit and a
+facility of expression that delighted all three. Dorothy,
+after the manner of Southern women, became the
+hostess of this odd "party," as she styled it, and unconsciously
+adopted the attitude of a lady in her own home.</p>
+
+<p>Early in their flight, Crane suggested that they should
+take notes upon the systems of stars through which
+were passing.</p>
+
+<p>"I know very little of astronomy," he said to Seaton,
+"but with our telescope, spectroscope, and other instruments,
+we should be able to take some data that will be
+of interest to astronomers. Possibly Miss Spencer
+would be willing to help us?"</p>
+
+<p>"Sure," Seaton returned readily. "We'd be idiots to
+let a chance like this slide. Go to it!"</p>
+
+<p>Margaret was delighted at the opportunity to help.</p>
+
+<p>"Taking notes is the best thing I do!" she cried, and
+called for a pad and pencil.</p>
+
+<p>Stationed at the window, they fell to work in earnest.
+For several hours Crane took observations, calculated
+distances, and dictated notes to Margaret.</p>
+
+<p>"The stars are wonderfully different!" she exclaimed
+to him once. "That planet, I'm sure, has strange and
+lovely life upon it. See how its color differs from
+most of the others we have seen so near? It is rosy
+and soft like a home fire. I'm sure its people are
+happy."</p>
+
+<p>They fell into a long discussion, laughing a little at
+their fancies. Were these multitudes of worlds peopled
+as the Earth? Could it be that only upon Earth had
+occurred the right combination for the generation of
+life, so that the rest of the Universe was unpeopled?</p>
+
+<p>"It is unthinkable that they are all uninhabited,"
+mused Crane. "There must be life. The beings may
+not exist in any form with which we are familiar&mdash;they
+may well be fulfilling some purpose in ways so
+different from ours that we should be unable to understand
+them at all."</p>
+
+<p>Margaret's eyes widened in startled apprehension,
+but in a moment she shook herself and laughed.</p>
+
+<p>"But there's no reason to suppose they would be
+awful," she remarked, and turned with renewed interest
+to the window.</p>
+
+<p>Thus days went by and the Skylark passed one solar
+system after another, with a velocity so great that it
+was impossible to land upon any planet. Margaret's
+association with Crane, begun as a duty, soon became
+an intense pleasure for them both. Taking notes or
+seated at the board in companionable conversation or
+sympathetic silence, they compressed into a few days
+more real companionship than is ordinarily enjoyed in
+months. Oftener and oftener, as time went on, Crane
+found the vision of his dream home floating in his
+mind as he steered the Skylark in her meteoric flight
+or as he strapped himself into his narrow bed. Now,
+however, the central figure of the vision, instead of being
+an indistinct blur, was clear and sharply defined.
+And for her part, more and more was Margaret drawn
+to the quiet and unassuming, but utterly dependable and
+steadfast young inventor, with his wide knowledge and
+his keen, incisive mind.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>Sometimes, when far from any star, the pilot
+would desert his post and join the others at meals.
+Upon one such occasion Seaton asked:</p>
+
+<p>"How's the book on astronomy, oh, learned ones?"</p>
+
+<p>"It will be as interesting as Egyptian hieroglyphics,"
+Margaret replied, as she opened her notebook and
+showed him pages of figures and symbols.</p>
+
+<p>"May I see it, Miss Spencer?" asked DuQuesne from
+across the small table, extending his hand.</p>
+
+<p>She looked at him, hot hostility in her brown eyes,
+and he dropped his hand.</p>
+
+<p>"I beg your pardon," he said, with amused irony.</p>
+
+<p>After the meal Seaton and Crane held a short consultation,
+and the former called to the girls, asking
+them to join in the "council of war." There was a moment's
+silence before Crane said diffidently:</p>
+
+<p>"We have been talking about DuQuesne, Miss<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_548" id="Page_548">[548]</a></span>
+Spencer, trying to decide a very important problem."</p>
+
+<p>Seaton smiled in spite of himself as the color again
+deepened in Margaret's face, and Dorothy laughed outright.</p>
+
+<p>"Talk about a red-headed temper! Your hair must
+be dyed, Peggy!"</p>
+
+<p>"I know I acted like a naughty child," Margaret said
+ruefully, "but he makes me perfectly furious and scares
+me at the same time. A few more remarks like that 'I
+beg your pardon' of his and I wouldn't have a thought
+left in my head!"</p>
+
+<p>Seaton, who had opened his mouth, shut it again
+ludicrously, without saying a word, and Margaret gave
+him a startled glance.</p>
+
+<p>"Now I <i>have</i> said it!" she exclaimed. "I'm not afraid
+of him, boys, really. What do you want me to do?"</p>
+
+<p>Seaton plunged in.</p>
+
+<p>"What we were trying to get up nerve enough to
+say is that he'd be a good man on the astronomy job,"
+and Crane added quickly:</p>
+
+<p>"He undoubtedly knows more about it than I do,
+and it would be a pity to lose the chance of using him.
+Besides, Dick and I think it rather dangerous to leave
+him so much time to himself, in which to work up a
+plan against us."</p>
+
+<p>"He's cooking one right now, I'll bet a hat," Seaton
+put in, and Crane added:</p>
+
+<p>"If you are sure that you have no objections, Miss
+Spencer, we might go below, where we can have it dark,
+and all three of us see what we can make of the stargazing.
+We are really losing an unusual opportunity."</p>
+
+<p>Margaret hid gallantly any reluctance she might
+have felt.</p>
+
+<p>"I wouldn't deserve to be here if I can't work with
+the Doctor and hate him at the same time."</p>
+
+<p>"Good for you, Peg, you're a regular fellow!" Seaton
+exclaimed. "You're a trump!"</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>Finally, the enormous velocity of the cruiser was
+sufficiently reduced to effect a landing, a copper-bearing
+sun was located, and a course was laid toward
+its nearest planet.</p>
+
+<p>As the vessel approached its goal a deep undercurrent
+of excitement kept all the passengers feverishly
+occupied. They watched the distant globe grow larger,
+glowing through its atmosphere more and more clearly
+as a great disk of white light, its outline softened by the
+air about it. Two satellites were close beside it. Its
+sun, a great, blazing orb, a little nearer than the planet,
+looked so great and so hot that Margaret became uneasy.</p>
+
+<p>"Isn't it dangerous to get so close, Dick? We might
+burn up, mightn't we?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not without an atmosphere," he laughed.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh," murmured the girl apologetically, "I might
+have known that."</p>
+
+<p>Dropping rapidly into the atmosphere of the planet,
+they measured its density and analyzed it in apparatus
+installed for that purpose, finding that its composition
+was very similar to the Earth's air and that its pressure
+was not enough greater to be uncomfortable.
+When within one thousand feet of the surface, Seaton
+weighed a five-pound weight upon a spring-balance,
+finding that it weighed five and a half pounds, thus
+ascertaining that the planet was either somewhat larger
+than the Earth or more dense. The ground was almost
+hidden by a rank growth of vegetation, but here and
+there appeared glade-like openings.</p>
+
+<p>Seaton glanced at the faces about him. Tense interest
+marked them all. Dorothy's cheeks were flushed,
+her eyes shone. She looked at him with awe and pride.</p>
+
+<p>"A strange world, Dorothy," he said gravely. "You
+are not afraid?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not with you," she answered. "I am only thrilled
+with wonder."</p>
+
+<p>"Columbus at San Salvador," said Margaret, her
+dark eyes paying their tribute of admiration.</p>
+
+<p>A dark flush mounted swiftly into Seaton's brown
+face and he sought to throw most of the burden upon
+Crane, but catching upon his face also a look of praise,
+almost of tenderness, he quickly turned to the controls.</p>
+
+<p>"Man the boats!" he ordered an imaginary crew, and
+the Skylark descended rapidly.</p>
+
+<p>Landing upon one of the open spaces, they found
+the ground solid and stepped out. What had appeared
+to be a glade was in reality a rock, or rather, a ledge of
+apparently solid metal, with scarcely a loose fragment
+to be seen. At one end of the ledge rose a giant tree
+wonderfully symmetrical, but of a peculiar form. Its
+branches were longer at the top than at the bottom,
+and it possessed broad, dark-green leaves, long thorns,
+and odd, flexible, shoot-like tendrils. It stood as an outpost
+of the dense vegetation beyond. Totally unlike
+the forests of Earth were those fern-like trees, towering
+two hundred feet into the air. They were of an
+intensely vivid green and stood motionless in the still,
+hot air of noonday. Not a sign of animal life was to
+be seen; the whole landscape seemed asleep.</p>
+
+<p>The five strangers stood near their vessel, conversing
+in low tones and enjoying the sensation of solid ground
+beneath their feet. After a few minutes DuQuesne
+remarked:</p>
+
+<p>"This is undoubtedly a newer planet than ours. I
+should say that it was in the Carboniferous age. Aren't
+those trees like those in the coal-measures, Seaton?"</p>
+
+<p>"True as time, Blackie&mdash;there probably won't be a
+human race here for ages, unless we bring out some
+colonists."</p>
+
+<p>Seaton kicked at one of the loose lumps of metal
+questioningly with his heavy shoe, finding that it was
+as immovable as though it were part of the ledge. Bending
+over, he found that it required all his great strength
+to lift it and he stared at it with an expression of surprise,
+which turned to amazement as he peered closer.</p>
+
+<p>"DuQuesne! Look at this!"</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>DuQuesne studied the metal, and was shaken
+out of his habitual taciturnity.</p>
+
+<p>"Platinum, by all the little gods!"</p>
+
+<p>"We'll grab some of this while the grabbing's good,"
+announced Seaton, and the few visible lumps were
+rolled into the car. "If we had a pickaxe we could chop
+some more off one of those sharp ledges down there."</p>
+
+<p>"There's an axe in the shop," replied DuQuesne.
+"I'll go get it. Go ahead, I'll soon be with you."</p>
+
+<p>"Keep close together," warned Crane as the four<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_549" id="Page_549">[549]</a></span>
+moved slowly down the slope. "This is none too safe,
+Dick."</p>
+
+<p>"No, it isn't, Mart. But we've got to see whether we
+can't find some copper, and I would like to get some
+more of this stuff, too. I don't think it's platinum, I
+believe that it's X."</p>
+
+<p>As they reached the broken projections, Margaret
+glanced back over her shoulder and screamed. The
+others saw that her face was white and her eyes wide
+with horror, and Seaton instinctively drew his pistol as
+he whirled about, only to check his finger on the trigger
+and lower his hand.</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing but X-plosive bullets," he growled in disgust,
+and in helpless silence the four watched an unspeakably
+hideous monster slowly appear from behind
+the Skylark. Its four huge, squat legs supported a
+body at least a hundred feet long, pursy and ungainly;
+at the extremity of a long and sinuous neck a comparatively
+small head seemed composed entirely of a
+cavernous mouth armed with row upon row of carnivorous
+teeth. Dorothy gasped with terror and both
+girls shrank closer to the two men, who maintained a
+baffled silence as the huge beast passed his revolting
+head along the hull of the vessel.</p>
+
+<p>"I dare not shoot, Martin," Seaton whispered, "it
+would wreck the bus. Have you got any solid bullets?"</p>
+
+<p>"No. We must hide behind these small ledges until
+it goes away," answered Crane, his eyes upon Margaret's
+colorless face. "You two hide behind that one,
+we will take this one."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, well, it's nothing to worry about, anyway. We
+can kill him as soon as he gets far enough away from
+the boat," said Seaton as, with Dorothy clinging to him,
+he dropped behind one of the ledges. Margaret, her
+staring eyes fixed upon the monster, remained standing
+until Crane touched her gently and drew her down
+beside him.</p>
+
+<p>"He will go away soon," his even voice assured her.
+"We are in no danger."</p>
+
+<p>In spite of their predicament, a feeling of happiness
+flowed through Crane's whole being as he crouched beside
+the wall of metal with one arm protectingly around
+Margaret, and he longed to protect her through life as
+he was protecting her then. Accustomed as he was to
+dangerous situations, he felt no fear. He felt only a
+great tenderness for the girl by his side, who had
+ceased trembling but was still staring wide-eyed at the
+monster through a crevice.</p>
+
+<p>"Scared, Peggy?" he whispered.</p>
+
+<p>"Not now, Martin, but if you weren't here I would
+die of fright."</p>
+
+<p>At this reply his arm tightened involuntarily, but he
+forced it to relax.</p>
+
+<p>"It will not be long," he promised himself silently,
+"until she is back at home among her friends, and
+then...."</p>
+
+<p>There came the crack of a rifle from the Skylark.
+There was an awful roar from the dinosaur, which was
+quickly silenced by a stream of machine-gun bullets.</p>
+
+<p>"Blackie's on the job&mdash;let's go!" cried Seaton, and
+they raced up the slope. Making a detour to avoid the
+writhing and mutilated mass they plunged through the
+opening door. DuQuesne shut it behind them and in
+overwhelming relief, the adventurers huddled together
+as from the wilderness without there arose an appalling
+tumult.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>The scene, so quiet a few moments before, was
+instantly changed. The trees, the swamp, and the
+air seemed filled with monsters so hideous as to stagger
+the imagination. Winged lizards of prodigious size
+hurtled through the air, plunging to death against the
+armored hull. Indescribable flying monsters, with
+feathers like birds, but with the fangs of tigers, attacked
+viciously. Dorothy screamed and started back
+as a scorpion-like thing with a body ten feet in length
+leaped at the window in front of her, its terrible sting
+spraying the glass with venom. As it fell to the ground,
+a huge spider&mdash;if an eight-legged creature with spines
+instead of hair, many-faceted eyes, and a bloated, globular
+body weighing hundreds of pounds, may be called a
+spider&mdash;leaped upon it and, mighty mandibles against
+poisonous sting, the furious battle raged. Several
+twelve-foot cockroaches climbed nimbly across the
+fallen timber of the morass and began feeding voraciously
+upon the body of the dead dinosaur, only to be
+driven away by another animal, which all three men
+recognized instantly as that king of all prehistoric creatures,
+the saber-toothed tiger. This newcomer, a
+tawny beast towering fifteen feet high at the shoulder,
+had a mouth disproportionate even to his great size&mdash;a
+mouth armed with four great tiger-teeth more than
+three feet in length. He had barely begun his meal,
+however, when he was challenged by another nightmare,
+a something apparently half-way between a
+dinosaur and a crocodile. At the first note the tiger
+charged. Clawing, striking, rending each other with
+their terrible teeth, a veritable avalanche of bloodthirsty
+rage, the combatants stormed up and down the
+little island. But the fighters were rudely interrupted,
+and the earthly visitors discovered that in this primitive
+world it was not only animal life that was dangerous.</p>
+
+<div class="center"><div class="figcenter" style="width: 428px;">
+<img src="images/031.png" width="428" height="600" alt="The great tree attacks." title="The great tree attacks." />
+<span class="caption">The great tree standing on the farther edge of the island suddenly bent over, lashing out like a snake
+and grasping both. It transfixed them with the terrible thorns, which were now seen to be armed with
+needlepoints and to possess barbs like fish-hooks.</span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The great tree standing on the farther edge of the
+island suddenly bent over, lashing out like a snake and
+grasping both. It transfixed them with the terrible
+thorns, which were now seen to be armed with needlepoints
+and to possess barbs like fish-hooks. It ripped
+at them with the long branches, which were veritable
+spears. The broad leaves, armed with revolting sucking
+disks, closed about the two animals, while the long,
+slender twigs, each of which was now seen to have an
+eye at its extremity, waved about, watching each movement
+of the captives from a safe distance.</p>
+
+<p>If the struggle between the two animals had been
+awful, this was Titanic. The air was torn by the roars
+of the reptile, the screams of the great cat, and the
+shrieks of the tree. The very ground rocked with the
+ferocity of the conflict. There could be but one result&mdash;soon
+the tree, having absorbed the two gladiators,
+resumed its upright position in all its beauty.</p>
+
+<p>The members of the little group stared at each other,
+sick at heart.</p>
+
+<p>"This is NO place to start a copper-mine. I think
+we'd better beat it," remarked Seaton presently, wiping
+drops of perspiration from his forehead.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_550" id="Page_550">[550]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"I think so," acquiesced Crane. "We found air and
+Earth-like conditions here; we probably will elsewhere."</p>
+
+<p>"Are you all right, Dottie?" asked Seaton.</p>
+
+<p>"All right, Dicky," she replied, the color flowing back
+into her cheeks. "It scared me stiff, and I think I
+have a lot of white hairs right now, but I wouldn't have
+missed it for anything."</p>
+
+<p>She paused an instant, and continued:</p>
+
+<p>"Dick, there must be a queer streak of brutality in
+me, but would you mind blowing up that frightful tree?
+I wouldn't mind its nature if it were ugly&mdash;but look
+at it! It's so deceptively beautiful! You wouldn't
+think it had the disposition of a fiend, would you?"</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>A general laugh relieved the nervous tension,
+and Seaton stepped impulsively toward DuQuesne
+with his hand outstretched.</p>
+
+<p>"You've squared your account, Blackie. Say the
+word and the war's all off."</p>
+
+<p>DuQuesne ignored the hand and glanced coldly at
+the group of eager, friendly faces.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't be sentimental," he remarked evenly as he
+turned away to his room. "Emotional scenes pain me.
+I gave my word to act as one of the party."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, may I be kicked to death by little red spiders!"
+exclaimed Seaton, dumbfounded, as the other disappeared.
+"He ain't a man, he's a fish!"</p>
+
+<p>"He's a machine. I always thought so, and now I
+know it," stated Margaret, and the others nodded agreement.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, we'll sure pull his cork as soon as we get
+back!" snapped Seaton. "He asked for it, and we'll
+give him both barrels!"</p>
+
+<p>"I know I acted the fool out there," Margaret apologized,
+flushing hotly and looking at Crane. "I don't
+know what made me act so stupid. I used to have a
+little nerve."</p>
+
+<p>"You were a regular little brick, Peg," Seaton returned
+instantly. "Both you girls are all to the good&mdash;the
+right kind to have along in ticklish places."</p>
+
+<p>Crane held out his steady hand and took Margaret's
+in a warm clasp.</p>
+
+<p>"For a girl in your weakened condition you were
+wonderful. You have no reason to reproach yourself."</p>
+
+<p>Tears filled the dark eyes, but were held back bravely
+as she held her head erect and returned the pressure
+of his hand.</p>
+
+<p>"Just so you don't leave me behind next time," she
+returned lightly, and the last word concerning the incident
+had been said.</p>
+
+<p>Seaton applied the power and soon they were approaching
+another planet, which was surrounded by a
+dense fog. Descending slowly, they found it to be a
+mass of boiling-hot steam and rank vapors, under
+enormous pressure.</p>
+
+<p>The next planet they found to have a clear atmosphere,
+but the ground had a peculiar, barren look; and
+analysis of the gaseous envelope proved it to be composed
+almost entirely of chlorin. No life of an earthly
+type could be possible upon such a world, and a search
+for copper, even with the suits and helmets, would
+probably be fruitless if not impossible.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," remarked Seaton as they were again in
+space, "we've got enough copper to visit several more
+worlds&mdash;several more solar systems, if necessary. But
+there's a nice, hopeful-looking planet right in front of
+us. It may be the one we're looking for."</p>
+
+<p>Arrived in the belt of atmosphere, they tested it as
+before, and found it satisfactory.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII</h2>
+
+<h3>The Mastery of Mind Over Matter</h3>
+
+
+<p>They descended rapidly, directly over a large and
+imposing city in the middle of a vast, level, beautifully-planted
+plain. While they were watching
+it, the city vanished and the plain was transformed into
+a heavily-timbered mountain summit, the valleys falling
+away upon all sides as far as the eye could reach.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I'll say that's SOME mirage!" exclaimed
+Seaton, rubbing his eyes in astonishment. "I've seen
+mirages before, but never anything like that. Wonder
+what this air's made of? But we'll land, anyway, if
+we finally have to swim!"</p>
+
+<p>The ship landed gently upon the summit, the occupants
+half expecting to see the ground disappear before
+their eyes. Nothing happened, however, and they
+disembarked, finding walking somewhat difficult because
+of the great mass of the planet. Looking around,
+they could see no sign of life, but they <i>felt</i> a presence
+near them&mdash;a vast, invisible something.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly, out of the air in front of Seaton, a man
+materialized: a man identical with him in every feature
+and detail, even to the smudge of grease under one eye,
+the small wrinkles in his heavy blue serge suit, and the
+emblem of the American Chemical Society upon his
+watch-fob.</p>
+
+<p>"Hello, folks," the stranger began in Seaton's characteristic
+careless speech. "I see you're surprised at
+my knowing your language. You're a very inferior
+race of animals&mdash;don't even understand telepathy, don't
+understand the luminiferous ether, or the relation between
+time and space. Your greatest things, such as
+the Skylark and your object-compass, are merely toys."</p>
+
+<p>Changing instantly from Seaton's form to that of
+Dorothy, likewise a perfect imitation, the stranger continued
+without a break:</p>
+
+<p>"Atoms and electrons and things, spinning and whirling
+in their dizzy little orbits...." It broke off
+abruptly, continuing in the form of DuQuesne:</p>
+
+<p>"Couldn't make myself clear as Miss Vaneman&mdash;not
+a scientific convolution in her foolish little brain. You
+are a freer type, DuQuesne, unhampered by foolish,
+soft fancies. But you are very clumsy, although working
+fairly well with your poor tools&mdash;Brookings and
+his organization, the Perkins Caf&eacute; and its clumsy wireless
+telephones. All of you are extremely low in the
+scale. Such animals have not been known in our universe
+for ten million years, which is as far back as I
+can remember. You have millions of years to go before
+you will amount to anything; before you will even rise
+above death and its attendant necessity, sex."</p>
+
+<p>The strange being then assumed form after form
+with bewildering rapidity, while the spectators stared
+in dumb astonishment. In rapid succession it took on
+the likeness of each member of the party, of the vessel<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_551" id="Page_551">[551]</a></span>
+itself, of the watch in Seaton's pocket&mdash;reappearing as
+Seaton.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, bunch," it said in a matter-of-fact voice,
+"there's no mental exercise in you and you're such a
+low form of life that you're of no use on this planet;
+so I'll dematerialize you."</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>A peculiar light came into its eyes as they
+stared intently into Seaton's, and he felt his senses
+reel under the impact of an awful mental force, but he
+fought back with all his power and remained standing.</p>
+
+<p>"What's this?" the stranger demanded in surprise,
+"This is the first time in history that mere matter&mdash;which
+is only a manifestation of mind&mdash;has ever refused
+to obey mind. There's a screw loose somewhere."</p>
+
+<p>"I must reason this out," it continued analytically,
+changing instantaneously into Crane's likeness. "Ah!
+I am not a perfect reproduction. This is the first matter
+I have ever encountered that I could not reproduce
+perfectly. There is some subtle difference. The
+external form is the same, the organic structure likewise.
+The molecules of substance are arranged as they
+should be, as are also the atoms in the molecule. The
+electrons in the atom&mdash;ah! There is the difficulty.
+The arrangement and number of electrons, as well as
+positive charges, are entirely different from what I had
+supposed. I must derive the formula."</p>
+
+<p>"Let's go, folks!" said Seaton hastily, drawing Dorothy
+back toward the Skylark. "This dematerialization
+stunt may be play for him, but I don't want any
+of it in my family."</p>
+
+<p>"No, you really <i>must</i> stay," remonstrated the
+stranger. "Much as it is against my principles to employ
+brute force, you must stay and be properly dematerialized,
+alive or dead. Science demands it."</p>
+
+<p>As he spoke, he started to draw his automatic pistol.
+Being in Crane's form, he drew slowly, as Crane did;
+and Seaton, with the dexterity of much sleight-of-hand
+work and of years of familiarity with his weapon, drew
+and fired in one incredibly rapid movement, before the
+other had withdrawn the pistol from his pocket. The
+X-plosive shell completely volatilized the stranger and
+hurled the party backward toward the Skylark, into
+which they fled hastily. As Crane, the last one to
+enter the vessel, fired his pistol and closed the massive
+door, Seaton leaped to the levers. As he did so, he saw
+a creature materialize in the air of the vessel and fall
+to the floor with a crash as he threw on the power.
+It was a frightful thing, like nothing ever before seen
+upon any world; with great teeth, long, sharp claws,
+and an automatic pistol clutched firmly in a human
+hand. Forced flat by the terrific acceleration of the
+vessel, it was unable to lift either itself or the weapon,
+and lay helpless.</p>
+
+<p>"We take one trick, anyway!" blazed Seaton, as he
+threw on the power of the attractor and diffused its
+force into a screen over the party, so that the enemy
+could not materialize in the air above them and crush
+them by mere weight. "As pure mental force, you're
+entirely out of my class, but when you come down to
+matter, which I can understand, I'll give you a run for
+your money until my angles catch fire."</p>
+
+<p>"That is a childish defiance. It speaks well for your
+courage, but ill for your intelligence," the animal said,
+and vanished.</p>
+
+<p>A moment later Seaton's hair almost stood on end
+as he saw an automatic pistol appear upon the board
+directly in front of him, clamped to it by bands of steel.
+Paralyzed by this unlooked-for demonstration of the
+mastery of mind over matter, unable to move a muscle,
+he lay helpless, staring at the engine of death in front
+of him. Although the whole proceeding occupied only
+a fraction of a second, it seemed to Seaton as though
+he watched the weapon for hours. As the sleeve drew
+back, cocking the pistol and throwing a cartridge into
+the chamber, the trigger moved, and the hammer descended
+to speed on its way the bullet which was to
+blot out his life. There was a sharp click as the hammer
+fell&mdash;Seaton was surprised to find himself still
+alive until a voice spoke, apparently from the muzzle
+of the pistol, with the harsh sound of a metallic diaphragm.</p>
+
+<p>"I was almost certain that it wouldn't explode," the
+stranger said, chattily. "You see, I haven't derived
+that formula yet, so I couldn't make a real explosive. I
+could of course, materialize beside you, under your protective
+screen, and crush you in a vise. I could materialize
+as a man of metal, able to stand up under this
+acceleration, and do you to death. I could even, by a
+sufficient expenditure of mental energy, materialize a
+planet around your ship and crush it. However, these
+crude methods are distasteful in the extreme, especially
+since you have already given me some slight and unexpected
+mental exercise. In return, I shall give you one
+chance for your lives. I cannot dematerialize either
+you or your vessel until I work out the formula for
+your peculiar atomic structure. If I can derive the
+formula before you reach the boundaries of my home-space,
+beyond which I cannot go, I shall let you go
+free. Deriving the formula will be a neat little problem.
+It should be fairly easy, as it involves only a
+simple integration in ninety-seven dimensions."</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>Silence ensued, and Seaton advanced his lever to
+the limit of his ability to retain consciousness. Almost
+overcome by the horror of their position, in an
+agony of suspense, expecting every instant to be
+hurled into nothingness, he battled on, with no thought
+of yielding, even in the face of those overwhelming
+mental odds.</p>
+
+<p>"You can't do it, old top," he thought savagely, concentrating
+all the power of his highly-trained mind
+against the intellectual monster. "You can't dematerialize
+us, and you can't integrate above ninety-five dimensions
+to save your neck. You can't do it&mdash;you're
+slipping&mdash;you're all balled up right now!"</p>
+
+<p>For more than an hour the silent battle raged, during
+which time the Skylark flew millions upon millions
+of miles toward Earth. Finally the stranger spoke
+again.</p>
+
+<p>"You three win," it said abruptly. In answer to the
+unspoken surprise of all three men it went on: "Yes,
+all three of you got the same idea and Crane even
+forced his body to retain consciousness to fight me.
+Your efforts were very feeble, of course, but were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_552" id="Page_552">[552]</a></span>
+enough to interrupt my calculations at a delicate stage,
+every time. You are a low form of life, undoubtedly,
+but with more mentality than I supposed at first. I
+could get that formula, of course, in spite of you, if I
+had time, but we are rapidly approaching the limits of
+my territory, outside of which even I could not think
+my way back. That is one thing in which your mechanical
+devices are superior to anything my own race developed
+before we became pure intellectuals. They
+point the way back to your Earth, which is so far away
+that even my mentality cannot grasp the meaning of
+the distance. I can understand the Earth, can visualize
+it from your minds, but I cannot project myself any
+nearer to it than we are at present. Before I leave you,
+I will say that you have conferred a real favor upon
+me&mdash;you have given me something to think about
+for thousands of cycles to come. Good-bye."</p>
+
+<p>Assured that their visitor had really gone, Seaton
+reduced the power to that of gravity and Dorothy soon
+sat up, Margaret reviving more slowly.</p>
+
+<p>"Dick," said Dorothy solemnly, "did that happen or
+have I been unconscious and just had a nightmare?"</p>
+
+<p>"It happened, all right," returned her lover, wiping
+his brow in relief. "See that pistol clamped upon the
+top of the board? That's a token in remembrance of
+him."</p>
+
+<p>Dorothy, though she had been only half conscious,
+had heard the words of the stranger. As she looked
+at the faces of the men, white and drawn with the
+mental struggle, she realized what they had gone
+through, and she drew Seaton down into one of the
+seats, stroking his hair tenderly.</p>
+
+<p>Margaret went to her room immediately, and as she
+did not return, Dorothy followed. She came back presently
+with a look of concern upon her face.</p>
+
+<p>"This life is a little hard on Peggy. I didn't realize
+how much harder for her it would be than it is for me
+until I went in there and found her crying. It is much
+harder for her, of course, since I am with you, Dick,
+and with you, Martin, whom I know so well. She must
+feel terribly alone."</p>
+
+<p>"Why should she?" demanded Seaton. "We think
+she's some game little guy. Why, she's one of the
+bunch! She must know that!"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, it isn't the same," insisted Dorothy. "You
+be extra nice to her, Dick. But don't you dare let her
+know I told you about the tears, or she'd eat me alive!"</p>
+
+<p>Crane said nothing&mdash;a not unusual occurrence&mdash;but
+his face grew thoughtful and his manner, when Margaret
+appeared at mealtime, was more solicitous than
+usual and more than brotherly in its tenderness.</p>
+
+<p>"I shall be an interstellar diplomat," Dorothy whispered
+to Seaton as soon as they were alone. "Wasn't
+that a beautiful bee I put upon Martin?"</p>
+
+<p>Seaton stared at her a moment, then shook her gently
+before he took her into his arms.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>The information, however, did not prevent him
+from calling to Crane a few minutes later, even
+though he was still deep in conversation with Margaret.
+Dorothy gave him an exasperated glance and
+walked away.</p>
+
+<p>"I sure pulled a boner that time," Seaton muttered
+as he plucked at his hair ruefully. "It nearly did us.</p>
+
+<p>"Let's test this stuff out and see if it's X, Mart, while
+DuQuesne's out of the way. If it is X, it's SOME
+find!"</p>
+
+<p>Seaton cut off a bit of metal with his knife, hammered
+it into a small piece of copper, and threw the
+copper into the power-chamber, out of contact with the
+plating. As the metal received the current the vessel
+started slightly.</p>
+
+<p>"It <i>is</i> X! Mart, we've got enough of this stuff to
+supply three worlds!"</p>
+
+<p>"Better put it away somewhere," suggested Crane,
+and after the metal had been removed to Seaton's cabin,
+the two men again sought a landing-place. Almost in
+their line of flight they saw a close cluster of stars, each
+emitting a peculiar greenish light which, in the spectroscope,
+revealed a blaze of copper lines.</p>
+
+<p>"That's our meat, Martin. We ought to be able to
+grab some copper in that system, where there's so much
+of it that it colors their sunlight."</p>
+
+<p>"The copper is undoubtedly there, but it might be
+too dangerous to get so close to so many suns. We
+may have trouble getting away."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, our copper's getting horribly low. We've got
+to find some pretty quick, somewhere, or else walk back
+home, and there's our best chance. We'll feel our way
+along. If it gets too strong, we'll beat it."</p>
+
+<p>When they had approached so close that the suns
+were great stars widely spaced in the heavens, Crane
+relinquished the controls to Seaton.</p>
+
+<p>"If you will take the lever awhile, Dick, Margaret
+and I will go downstairs and see if we can locate a
+planet."</p>
+
+<p>After a glance through the telescope, Crane knew
+that they were still too far from the group of suns to
+place any planet with certainty, and began taking notes.
+His mind was not upon his work, however, but was
+completely filled with thoughts of the girl at his side.
+The intervals between his comments became longer and
+longer until they were standing in silence, both staring
+with unseeing eyes out into the trackless void. But it
+was in no sense their usual companionable silence. Crane
+was fighting back the words he longed to say. This
+lovely girl was not here of her own accord&mdash;she had
+been torn forcibly from her home and from her friends,
+and he would not, could not, make her already difficult
+position even more unpleasant by forcing his attentions
+upon her. Margaret sensed something unusual and
+significant in his attitude and held herself tense, her
+heart beating wildly.</p>
+
+<p>At that moment an asteroid came within range of the
+Skylark's watchful repeller, and at the lurch of the
+vessel, as it swung around the obstruction, Margaret
+would have fallen had not Crane instinctively caught
+her with one arm. Ordinarily this bit of courtesy would
+have gone unnoticed by both, as it had happened many
+times before, but in that heavily-charged atmosphere
+it took on a new significance. Both blushed hotly, and
+as their eyes met each saw that which held them spellbound.
+Slowly, almost as if without volition, Crane
+put his other arm around her. A wave of deeper crimson
+swept over her face and she bent her handsome
+head as her slender body yielded to his arms with no<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_553" id="Page_553">[553]</a></span>
+effort to free itself. Finally Crane spoke, his usually
+even voice faltering.</p>
+
+<p>"Margaret, I hope you will not think this unfair of
+me ... but we have been through so much together that
+I feel as though we had known each other forever.
+Until we went through this last experience I had intended
+to wait&mdash;but why should we wait? Life is not
+lived in years alone, and you know how much I love
+you, my dearest!" he finished, passionately.</p>
+
+<p>Her arms crept up around his neck, her bowed head
+lifted, and her eyes looked deep into his as she whispered
+her answer:</p>
+
+<p>"I think I do ... Oh, Martin!"</p>
+
+<p>Presently they made their way back to the engine-room,
+keeping the singing joy in their hearts inaudible
+and the kisses fresh upon their lips invisible. They
+might have kept their secret for a time, had not Seaton
+promptly asked:</p>
+
+<p>"Well, what did you find, Mart?"</p>
+
+<p>A panicky look appeared upon Crane's self-possessed
+countenance and Margaret's fair face glowed like a
+peony.</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Yes</i>, what <i>did</i> you find?" demanded Dorothy, as she
+noticed their confusion.</p>
+
+<p>"My future wife," Crane answered steadily.</p>
+
+<p>The two girls rushed into each other's arms and the
+two men silently gripped hands in a clasp of steel; for
+each of the four knew that these two unions were not
+passing fancies, lightly entered into and as lightly cast
+aside, but were true partnerships which would endure
+throughout the entire span of life.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>A planet was located and the Skylark flew toward
+it. Discovering that it was apparently situated
+in the center of the cluster of suns, they hesitated;
+but finding that there was no dangerous force present,
+they kept on. As they drew nearer, so that the planet
+appeared as a very small moon, they saw that the Skylark
+was in a blaze of green light, and looking out of
+the windows, Crane counted seventeen great suns, scattered
+in all directions in the sky! Slowing down
+abruptly as the planet was approached, Seaton dropped
+the vessel slowly through the atmosphere, while Crane
+and DuQuesne tested and analyzed it.</p>
+
+<p>"Pressure, thirty pounds per square inch. Surface
+gravity as compared to that of the Earth, two-fifths.
+Air-pressure about double that of the Earth, while a
+five-pound weight weighs only two pounds. A peculiar
+combination," reported Crane, and DuQuesne added:</p>
+
+<p>"Analysis about the same as our air except for two
+and three-tenths per cent of a gas that isn't poisonous
+and which has a peculiar, fragrant odor. I can't analyze
+it and think it probably an element unknown upon
+Earth, or at least very rare."</p>
+
+<p>"It would have to be rare if you don't know what it
+is," acknowledged Seaton, locking the Skylark in place
+and going over to smell the strange gas.</p>
+
+<p>Deciding that the air was satisfactory, the pressure
+inside the vessel was slowly raised to the value of that
+outside and two doors were opened, to allow the new
+atmosphere free circulation.</p>
+
+<p>Seaton shut off the power actuating the repeller and
+let the vessel settle slowly toward the ocean which was
+directly beneath them&mdash;an ocean of a deep, intense,
+wondrously beautiful blue, which the scientists studied
+with interest. Arrived at the surface, Seaton moistened
+a rod in a wave, and tasted it cautiously, then uttered a
+yell of joy&mdash;a yell broken off abruptly as he heard the
+sound of his own voice. Both girls started as the vibrations
+set up in the dense air smote upon their eardrums.
+Seaton moderated his voice and continued:</p>
+
+<p>"I forgot about the air-pressure. But hurrah for
+this ocean&mdash;it's ammoniacal copper sulphate solution!
+We can sure get all the copper we want, right here, but
+it would take weeks to evaporate the water and recover
+the metal. We can probably get it easier ashore.
+Let's go!"</p>
+
+<p>They started off just above the surface of the ocean
+toward the nearest continent, which they had observed
+from the air.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII</h2>
+
+<h3>Nalboon of Mardonale</h3>
+
+
+<p>As the Skylark approached the shore, its occupants
+heard a rapid succession of heavy detonations,
+apparently coming from the direction in which
+they were traveling.</p>
+
+<p>"Wonder what that racket is?" asked Seaton.</p>
+
+<p>"It sounds like big guns," said Crane, and DuQuesne
+nodded agreement.</p>
+
+<p>"Big guns is right. They're shooting high explosive
+shells, too, or I never heard any. Even allowing
+for the density of the air, that kind of noise isn't made
+by pop-guns."</p>
+
+<p>"Let's go see what's doing," and Seaton started to
+walk toward one of the windows with his free, swinging
+stride. Instantly he was a-sprawl, the effort necessary
+to carry his weight upon the Earth's surface lifting
+him into the air in a succession of ludicrous hops,
+but he soon recovered himself and walked normally.</p>
+
+<p>"I forgot this two-fifths gravity stuff," he laughed.
+"Walk as though we had only a notch of power on and
+it goes all right. It sure is funny to feel so light when
+we're so close to the ground."</p>
+
+<p>He closed the doors to keep out a part of the noise
+and advanced the speed lever a little, so that the vessel
+tilted sharply under the pull of the almost horizontal
+bar.</p>
+
+<p>"Go easy," cautioned Crane. "We do not want to
+get in the way of one of their shells. They may be
+of a different kind than those we are familiar with."</p>
+
+<p>"Right&mdash;easy it is. We'll stay forty miles above
+them, if necessary."</p>
+
+<p>As the great speed of the ship rapidly lessened the
+distance, the sound grew heavier and clearer&mdash;like
+one continuous explosion. So closely did one deafening
+concussion follow another that the ear could not distinguish
+the separate reports.</p>
+
+<p>"I see them," simultaneously announced Crane, who
+was seated at one of the forward windows searching
+the country with his binoculars, and Seaton, who, from
+the pilot's seat, could see in any direction.</p>
+
+<p>The others hurried to the windows with their glasses
+and saw an astonishing sight.</p>
+
+<p>"Aerial battleships, eight of 'em!" exclaimed Seaton,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_554" id="Page_554">[554]</a></span>
+"as big as the Idaho. Four of 'em are about the same
+shape as our battleships. No wings&mdash;they act like
+helicopters."</p>
+
+<p>"Four of them are battleships, right enough, but
+what about the other four?" asked DuQuesne. "They
+are not ships or planes or anything else that I ever
+heard of."</p>
+
+<p>"They are animals," asserted Crane. "Machines
+never were and never will be built like that."</p>
+
+<p>As the Skylark cautiously approached, it was evident to
+the watchers that four of the contestants were undoubtedly
+animals. Here indeed was a new kind of animal, an
+animal able to fight on even terms with a first-class battleship!
+Frightful aerial monsters they were. Each
+had an enormous, torpedo-shaped body, with scores of
+prodigiously long tentacles like those of a devil-fish
+and a dozen or more great, soaring wings. Even at
+that distance they could see the row of protruding eyes
+along the side of each monstrous body and the terrible,
+prow-like beaks tearing through the metal of the warships
+opposing them. They could see, by the reflection
+of the light from the many suns, that each monster was
+apparently covered by scales and joints of some transparent
+armor. That it was real and highly effective
+armor there could be no doubt, for each battleship
+bristled with guns of heavy caliber and each gun was
+vomiting forth a continuous stream of fire. Shells
+bursting against each of the creatures made one continuous
+blaze, and the uproar was indescribable&mdash;an uninterrupted
+cataclysm of sound appalling in its intensity.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>The battle was brief. Soon all four of the battleships
+had crumpled to the ground, their crews absorbed
+by the terrible sucking arms or devoured by the
+frightful beaks. They did not die in vain&mdash;three of
+the monsters had been blown to atoms by shells which
+had apparently penetrated their armor. The fourth was
+pursuing something, which Seaton now saw was a fleet
+of small airships, which had flown away from the scene
+of conflict. Swift as they were, the monster covered
+three feet to their one.</p>
+
+<p>"We can't stand for anything like that," cried Seaton,
+as he threw on the power and the Skylark leaped ahead.
+"Get ready to bump him off, Mart, when I jerk him
+away. He acts hard-boiled, so give him a real one&mdash;fifty
+milligrams!"</p>
+
+<p>Sweeping on with awful speed the monster seized the
+largest and most gaily decorated plane in his hundred-foot
+tentacles just as the Skylark came within sighting
+distance. In four practically simultaneous movements
+Seaton sighted the attractor at the ugly beak, released
+all its power, pointed the main bar of the Skylark directly
+upward, and advanced his speed lever. There
+was a crash of rending metal as the thing was torn loose
+from the plane and jerked a hundred miles into the
+air, struggling so savagely in that invisible and incomprehensible
+grip that the three-thousand-ton mass of the
+Skylark tossed and pitched like a child's plaything.
+Those inside her heard the sharp, spiteful crack of the
+machine-gun, and an instant later they heard a report
+that paralyzed their senses, even inside the vessel and in
+the thin air of their enormous elevation, as the largest
+X-plosive bullet prepared by the inventors struck full
+upon the side of the hideous body. There was no smoke,
+no gas or vapor of any kind&mdash;only a huge volume of
+intolerable flame as the energy stored within the atoms
+of copper, instantaneously liberated, heated to incandescence
+and beyond all the atmosphere within a radius
+of hundreds of feet. The monster disappeared utterly,
+and Seaton, with unerring hand, reversed the bar and
+darted back down toward the fleet of airships. He
+reached them in time to focus the attractor upon the
+wrecked and helpless plane in the middle of its five-thousand-foot
+fall and lowered it gently to the ground,
+surrounded by the fleet.</p>
+
+<p>The Skylark landed easily beside the wrecked machine,
+and the wanderers saw that their vessel was completely
+surrounded by a crowd of people&mdash;men and
+women identical in form and feature with themselves.
+They were a superbly molded race, the men fully as
+large as Seaton and DuQuesne; the women, while
+smaller than the men, were noticeably taller than the
+two women in the car. The men wore broad collars of
+metal, numerous metallic ornaments, and heavily-jeweled
+leather belts and shoulder-straps which were
+hung with weapons of peculiar patterns. The women
+carried no weapons, but were even more highly decorated
+than were the men&mdash;each slender, perfectly-formed
+body scintillated with the brilliance of hundreds
+of strange gems, flashing points of fire. Jeweled
+bands of metal and leather restrained their carefully-groomed
+hair; jeweled collars encircled their throats;
+jeweled belts, jeweled bracelets, jeweled anklets, each
+added its quota of brilliance to the glittering whole. The
+strangers wore no clothing, and their smooth skins shone
+a dark, livid, utterly indescribable color in the peculiar,
+unearthly, yellowish-bluish-green glare of the light.
+Green their skins undoubtedly were, but not any shade
+of green visible in the Earthly spectrum. The "whites"
+of their eyes were a light yellowish-green. The heavy
+hair of the women and the close-cropped locks of the
+men were green as well&mdash;a green so dark as to be almost
+black, as were also their eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, what d'you know about that?" pondered Seaton,
+dazedly. "They're human, right enough, but ye
+gods, what a color!"</p>
+
+<p>"It is hard to tell how much of that color is real,
+and how much of it is due to this light," answered
+Crane. "Wait until you get outside, away from our
+daylight lamps, and you will probably look like a
+Chinese puzzle. As to the form, it is logical to suppose
+that wherever conditions are similar to those upon the
+Earth, and the age is anywhere nearly the same, development
+would be along the same lines as with us."</p>
+
+<p>"That's right, too. Dottie, your hair will sure look
+gorgeous in this light. Let's go out and give the natives
+a treat!"</p>
+
+<p>"I wouldn't look like that for a million dollars!" retorted
+Dorothy, "and if I'm going to look like that I
+won't get out of the ship, so there!"</p>
+
+<p>"Cheer up, Dottie, you won't look like that. Your
+hair will be black in this light."</p>
+
+<p>"Then what color will mine be?" asked Margaret.</p>
+
+<p>Seaton glanced at her black hair.</p>
+
+<p>"Probably a very dark and beautiful green," he
+grinned, his gray eyes sparkling, "but we'll have to wait<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_555" id="Page_555">[555]</a></span>
+and see. Friends and fellow-countrymen, I've got a
+hunch that this is going to be SOME visit. How about
+it, shall we go ahead with it?"</p>
+
+<p>Dorothy went up to him, her face bright with eagerness.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, what a lark! Let's go!"</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>Even in DuQuesne's cold presence, Margaret's eyes
+sought those of her lover, and his sleeve, barely
+touching her arm, was enough to send a dancing thrill
+along it.</p>
+
+<p>"Onward, men of Earth!" she cried, and Seaton,
+stepping up to the window, rapped sharply upon the
+glass with the butt of his pistol and raised both hands
+high above his head in the universal sign of peace.
+In response, a man of Herculean mold, so splendidly
+decorated that his harness was one blazing mass of
+jewels, waved his arm and shouted a command. The
+crowd promptly fell back, leaving a clear space of several
+hundred yards. The man, evidently one in high
+command, unbuckled his harness, dropping every
+weapon, and advanced toward the Skylark, both arms
+upraised in Seaton's gesture.</p>
+
+<p>Seaton went to the door and started to open it.</p>
+
+<p>"Better talk to him from inside," cautioned Crane.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't think so, Mart. He's peaceable, and I've got
+my gun in my pocket. Since he doesn't know what
+clothes are he'll think I'm unarmed, which is as it
+should be; and if he shows fight, it won't take more
+than a week for me to get into action."</p>
+
+<p>"All right, go on. DuQuesne and I will come along."</p>
+
+<p>"Absolutely not. He's alone, so I've got to be. I
+notice that some of his men are covering us, though.
+You might do the same for them, with a couple of the
+machine guns."</p>
+
+<p>Seaton stepped out of the car and went to meet the
+stranger. When they had approached to within a few
+feet of each other the stranger stopped. He flexed his
+left arm smartly, so that the finger-tips touched his left
+ear, and smiled broadly, exposing a row of splendid,
+shining, green teeth. Then he spoke, a meaningless
+jumble of sounds. His voice, though light and thin,
+nevertheless seemed to be of powerful timbre.</p>
+
+<p>Seaton smiled in return and saluted.</p>
+
+<p>"Hello, Chief. I get your idea all right, and we're
+glad you're peaceable, but your language doesn't mean
+a thing in my young life."</p>
+
+<p>The Chief tapped himself upon the chest, saying distinctly
+and impressively:</p>
+
+<p>"Nalboon."</p>
+
+<p>"Nalboon," repeated Seaton, and added, pointing to himself:</p>
+
+<p>"Seaton."</p>
+
+<p>"See Tin," answered the stranger, and again indicating
+himself, "Domak gok Mardonale."</p>
+
+<p>"That must be his title," thought Seaton rapidly.
+"Have to give myself one, I guess."</p>
+
+<p>"Boss of the Road," he replied, drawing himself up
+with pride.</p>
+
+<p>The introduction made, Nalboon pointed to the
+wrecked plane, inclined his head in thanks, and turned
+to his people with one arm upraised, shouting an order
+in which Seaton could distinguish something that
+sounded like "See Tin, Bass uvvy Rood." Instantly
+every right arm in the assemblage was aloft, that of
+each man bearing a weapon, while the left arms snapped
+into the peculiar salute and a mighty cry arose as all
+repeated the name and title of the distinguished visitor.</p>
+
+<p>Seaton turned to the Skylark, motioning to Crane to
+open the door.</p>
+
+<p>"Bring out one of those big four-color signal rockets,
+Mart!" he called. "They're giving us a royal reception&mdash;let's
+acknowledge it right."</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>The party appeared, Crane carrying the huge
+rocket with an air of deference. As they approached,
+Seaton shrugged one shoulder and his cigarette-case
+appeared in his hand. Nalboon started, and
+in spite of his utmost efforts at self-control, he glanced
+at it in surprise. The case flew open and Seaton, taking
+a cigarette, extended the case.</p>
+
+<p>"Smoke?" he asked affably. The other took one, but
+showed plainly that he had no idea of the use to which
+it was to be put. This astonishment of the stranger at
+a simple sleight-of-hand feat and his apparent ignorance
+of tobacco emboldened Seaton. Reaching into his
+mouth, he pulled out a flaming match, at which Nalboon
+started violently. While all the natives watched in
+amazement, Seaton lighted the cigarette, and after half
+consuming it in two long inhalations, he apparently
+swallowed the remainder, only to bring it to light again.
+Having smoked it, he apparently swallowed the butt,
+with evident relish.</p>
+
+<p>"They don't know anything about matches or smoking,"
+he said, turning to Crane. "This rocket will tie
+them up in a knot. Step back, everybody."</p>
+
+<p>He bowed deeply to Nalboon, pulling a lighted match
+from his ear as he did so, and lighted the fuse. There
+was a roar, a shower of sparks, a blaze of colored fire
+as the great rocket flew upward; but to Seaton's surprise,
+Nalboon took it quite as a matter of course, saluting
+as an acknowledgment of the courtesy.</p>
+
+<p>Seaton motioned to his party to approach, and turned
+to Crane.</p>
+
+<p>"Better not, Dick. Let him think that you are the
+king of everything in sight."</p>
+
+<p>"Not on your life. If he is one king, we are two,"
+and he introduced Crane, with great ceremony, to the
+Domak as the "Boss of the Skylark," at which the
+salute by his people was repeated.</p>
+
+<p>Nalboon then shouted an order and a company of
+soldiers led by an officer came toward them, surrounding
+a small group of people, apparently prisoners. These
+captives, seven men and seven women, were much
+lighter in color than the rest of the gathering, having
+skins of a ghastly, pale shade, practically the same color
+as the whites of their eyes. In other bodily aspects they
+were the same as their captors in appearance, save that
+they were entirely naked except for the jeweled metal
+collars worn by all and a massive metal belt worn by
+one man. They walked with a proud and lofty carriage,
+scorn for their captors in every step.</p>
+
+<p>Nalboon barked an order to the prisoners. They
+stared in defiance, motionless, until the man wearing
+the belt who had studied Seaton closely, spoke a few
+words in a low tone, when they all prostrated themselves.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_556" id="Page_556">[556]</a></span>
+<ins class="corr" title="Transcriber's Note: The original read 'Naloon'.">Nalboon</ins> then waved his hand, giving the whole
+group to Seaton as slaves. Seaton, with no sign of his
+surprise, thanked the giver and motioned his slaves to
+rise. They obeyed and placed themselves behind the
+party&mdash;two men and two women behind Seaton and
+the same number behind Crane; one man and one
+woman behind each of the others.</p>
+
+<p>Seaton then tried to make Nalboon understand that
+they wanted copper, pointing to his anklet, the only
+copper in sight. The chief instantly removed the trinket
+and handed it to Seaton; who, knowing by the
+gasp of surprise of the guard that it was some powerful
+symbol, returned it with profuse apologies. After
+trying in vain to make the other understand what he
+wanted, he led him into the Skylark and showed him the
+remnant of the power-bar. He showed him its original
+size and indicated the desired number by counting to
+sixteen upon his fingers. Nalboon nodded his comprehension
+and going outside, pointed upward toward the
+largest of the eleven suns visible, motioning its rising
+and setting, four times.</p>
+
+<p>He then invited the visitors, in unmistakable sign
+language, to accompany him as guests of honor, but
+Seaton refused.</p>
+
+<p>"Lead on, MacDuff, we follow," he replied, explaining
+his meaning by signs as they turned to enter the
+vessel. The slaves followed closely until Crane remonstrated.</p>
+
+<p>"We don't want them aboard, do we, Dick? There
+are too many of them."</p>
+
+<p>"All right," Seaton replied, and waved them away.
+As they stepped back the guard seized the nearest, a
+woman, and forced her to her knees; while a man,
+adorned with a necklace of green human teeth and
+carrying a shining broadsword, prepared to decapitate
+her.</p>
+
+<p>"We must take them with us, I see," said Crane, as
+he brushed the guards aside. Followed by the slaves,
+the party entered the Skylark, and the dark green people
+embarked in their airplanes and helicopters.</p>
+
+<p>Nalboon rode in a large and gaily-decorated plane,
+which led the fleet at its full speed of six hundred miles
+an hour, the Skylark taking a placing a few hundred
+yards above the flagship.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't get these folks at all, Mart," said Seaton,
+after a moment's silence. "They have machines far
+ahead of anything we have on Earth and big guns that
+shoot as fast as machine-guns, and yet are scared to
+death at a little simple sleight-of-hand. They don't
+seem to understand matches at all, and yet treat fire-works
+as an every-day occurrence."</p>
+
+<p>"We will have to wait until we know them better,"
+replied Crane, and DuQuesne added:</p>
+
+<p>"From what I have seen, their power seems to be
+all electrical. Perhaps they aren't up with us in chemistry,
+even though they are ahead of us in mechanics?"</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>Flying above a broad, but rapid and turbulent
+stream, the fleet soon neared a large city, and the
+visitors from Earth gazed with interest at this metropolis
+of the unknown world. The buildings were all the
+same height, flat-roofed, and arranged in squares very
+much as our cities are arranged. There were no streets,
+the spaces between the buildings being park-like areas,
+evidently laid out for recreation, amusement, and sport.
+There was no need for streets; all traffic was in the
+air. The air seemed full of flying vehicles, darting in
+all directions, but it was soon evident that there was
+exact order in the apparent confusion, each class of
+vessel and each direction of traffic having its own level.
+Eagerly the three men studied the craft, which ranged
+in size from one-man helicopters, little more than single
+chairs flying about in the air, up to tremendous
+multiplane freighters, capable of carrying thousands of
+tons.</p>
+
+<p>Flying high over the city to avoid its congested air-lanes,
+the fleet descended toward an immense building
+just outside the city proper, and all landed upon its
+roof save the flagship, which led the Skylark to a landing-dock
+nearby&mdash;a massive pile of metal and stone,
+upon which Nalboon and his retinue stood to welcome
+the guests. After Seaton had anchored the vessel immovably
+by means of the attractor, the party disembarked,
+Seaton remarking with a grin:</p>
+
+<p>"Don't be surprised at anything I do, folks. I'm a
+walking storehouse of junk of all kinds, so that if occasion
+arises I can put on a real exhibition."</p>
+
+<p>As they turned toward their host, a soldier, in his
+eagerness to see the strangers, jostled another. Without
+a word two keen swords flew from their scabbards
+and a duel to the death ensued. The visitors stared in
+amazement, but no one else paid any attention to the
+combat, which was soon over; the victor turning away
+from the body of his opponent and resuming his place
+without creating a ripple of interest.</p>
+
+<p>Nalboon led the way into an elevator, which dropped
+rapidly to the ground-floor level. Massive gates were
+thrown open, and through ranks of people prostrate
+upon their faces the party went out into the palace
+grounds of the Domak, or Emperor, of the great nation
+of Mardonale.</p>
+
+<p>Never before had Earthly eyes rested upon such
+scenes of splendor. Every color and gradation of their
+peculiar spectrum was present, in solid, liquid, and gas.
+The carefully-tended trees were all colors of the rainbow,
+as were the grasses and flowers along the walks.
+The fountains played streams of many and constantly-changing
+hues, and even the air was tinted and perfumed,
+swirling through metal arches in billows of
+ever-varying colors and scents. Colors and combinations
+of colors impossible to describe were upon every
+hand, fantastically beautiful in that peculiar, livid light.
+Diamonds and rubies, their colors so distorted by the
+green radiance as to be almost unrecognizable; emeralds
+glowing with an intense green impossible in earthly
+light, together with strange gems peculiar to this
+strange world, sparkled and flashed from railings,
+statues, and pedestals throughout the ground.</p>
+
+<p>"Isn't this gorgeous, Dick?" whispered Dorothy. "But
+what do I look like? I wish I had a mirror&mdash;you look
+simply awful. Do I look like you do?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not being able to see myself, I can't say, but I
+imagine you do. You look as you would under a
+county-fair photographer's mercury-vapor arc lamps,
+only worse. The colors can't be described. You might
+as well try to describe cerise to a man born blind as to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_558" id="Page_558">[558]</a></span>
+try to express these colors in English, but as near as I
+can come to it, your eyes are a dark sort of purplish
+green, with the whites of your eyes and your teeth a
+kind of plush green. Your skin is a pale yellowish
+green, except for the pink of your cheeks, which is a
+kind of black, with orange and green mixed up in it.
+Your lips are black, and your hair is a funny kind of
+color, halfway between black and old rose, with a little
+green and...."</p>
+
+<p>"Heavens, Dick, stop! That's enough!" choked Dorothy.
+"We all look like hobgoblins. We're even worse
+than the natives."</p>
+
+<p>"Sure we are. They were born here and are acclimated
+to it&mdash;we are strangers and aren't. I would like
+to see what one of these people would look like in
+Washington."</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>Nalboon led them into the palace proper and
+into a great dining hall, where a table was already
+prepared for the entire party. This room was splendidly
+decorated with jewels, its many windows being
+simply masses of gems. The walls were hung with a
+cloth resembling silk, which fell to the floor in shimmering
+waves of color.</p>
+
+<p>Woodwork there was none. Doors, panels, tables,
+and chairs were cunningly wrought of various metals.
+Seaton and DuQuesne could recognize a few of them,
+but for the most part they were unknown upon the
+Earth; and were, like the jewels and vegetation of this
+strange world, of many and various peculiar colors.
+A closer inspection of one of the marvelous tapestries
+showed that it also was of metal, its threads numbering
+thousands to the inch. Woven of many different metals,
+of vivid but harmonious colors in a strange and intricate
+design, it seemed to writhe as its colors changed
+with every variation in the color of the light; which,
+pouring from concealed sources, was reflected by the
+highly-polished metal and <ins class="corr" title="Transcriber's Note: The original read 'inumerable'.">innumerable</ins> jewels of the
+lofty, domed ceiling.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh ... isn't this too perfectly gorgeous?" breathed
+Dorothy. "I'd give anything for a dress made out of
+that stuff, Dick. Cloth-of-gold is common by comparison!"</p>
+
+<p>"Would you dare wear it, Dottie?" asked Margaret.</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Would</i> I? I'd wear it in a minute if I could only
+get it. It would take Washington by storm!"</p>
+
+<p>"I'll try to get a piece of it, then," smiled Seaton.
+"I'll see about it while we are getting the copper."</p>
+
+<p>"We'd better be careful in choosing what we eat
+here, Seaton," suggested DuQuesne, as the Domak himself
+led them to the table.</p>
+
+<p>"We sure had. With a copper ocean and green
+teeth, I shouldn't be surprised if copper, arsenic, and
+other such trifles formed a regular part of their diet."</p>
+
+<p>"The girls and I will wait for you two chemists to
+approve every dish before we try it, then," said Crane.</p>
+
+<p>Nalboon placed his guests, the light-skinned slaves
+standing at attention behind them, and numerous servants,
+carrying great trays, appeared. The servants
+were intermediate in color between the light and the
+dark races, with dull, unintelligent faces, but quick and
+deft in their movements.</p>
+
+<p>The first course&mdash;a thin, light wine, served in metal
+goblets&mdash;was approved by the chemists, and the dinner
+was brought on. There were mighty joints of various
+kinds of meat; birds and fish, both raw and cooked in
+many ways; green, pink, purple, and white vegetables
+and fruits. The majordomo held each dish up to Seaton
+for inspection, the latter waving away the fish and
+the darkest green foods, but approving the others.
+Heaping plates, or rather metal trays, of food were
+placed before the diners, and the attendants behind
+their chairs handed them peculiar implements&mdash;knives
+with razor edges, needle-pointed stilettoes instead of
+forks, and wide, flexible spatulas, which evidently were
+to serve the purposes of both forks and spoons.</p>
+
+<p>"I simply can't eat with these things!" exclaimed
+Dorothy in dismay, "and I don't like to drink soup out
+of a can, so there!"</p>
+
+<p>"That's where my lumberjack training comes in
+handy," grinned Seaton. "With this spatula I can eat
+faster than I could with two forks. What do you want,
+girls, forks or spoons, or both?"</p>
+
+<p>"Both, please."</p>
+
+<p>Seaton reached out over the table, seizing forks and
+spoons from the air and passing them to the others,
+while the natives stared in surprise. The Domak took
+a bowl filled with brilliant blue crystals from the major-domo,
+sprinkled his food liberally with the substance,
+and passed it to Seaton, who looked at the crystals
+attentively.</p>
+
+<p>"Copper sulphate," he said to Crane. "It's a good
+thing they add it at the table instead of cooking with it,
+or we'd be out of luck."</p>
+
+<p>Waving the copper sulphate away, he again reached
+out, this time producing a pair of small salt-and
+pepper-shakers, which he passed to the Domak after
+he had seasoned the dishes before him. Nalboon tasted
+the pepper cautiously and smiled in delight, half-emptying
+the shaker upon his plate. He then sprinkled a few
+grains of salt into his palm, stared at them with an
+expression of doubting amazement, and after a few
+rapid sentences poured them into a dish held by an
+officer who had sprung to his side. The officer studied
+them closely, then carefully washed his chief's hand.
+Nalboon turned to Seaton, plainly asking for the salt-cellar.</p>
+
+<p>"Sure, old top. Keep 'em both, there's lots more
+where those came from," as he produced several more
+sets in the same mysterious way and handed them to
+Crane, who in turn passed them to the others.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>The meal progressed merrily, with much conversation
+in the sign-language between the two parties.
+It was evident that Nalboon, usually stern and reticent,
+was in an unusually pleasant mood. The viands, though
+of peculiar flavor, were in the main pleasing to the
+palates of the Earthly visitors.</p>
+
+<p>"This fruit salad, or whatever it is, is divine," remarked
+Dorothy, after an experimental bite. "May
+we eat as much as we like, or had we better just eat a
+little?"</p>
+
+<p>"Go as far as you like," returned her lover. "I
+wouldn't recommend it, as a steady diet, as I imagine
+everything contains copper and other heavy metals in
+noticeable amounts, and probably considerable arsenic,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_559" id="Page_559">[559]</a></span>
+but for a few days it can't very well hurt us much."</p>
+
+<p>After the meal, Nalboon bade them a ceremonious
+farewell, and they were escorted to a series of five
+connecting rooms by the royal usher, escorted by an
+entire company of soldiers, who mounted guard outside
+the doors. Gathered in one room, they discussed
+sleeping arrangements. The girls insisted that they
+would sleep together, and that the men should occupy
+the rooms at either side. As the girls turned away, the
+four slaves followed.</p>
+
+<p>"We don't want these people, and I can't make them
+go away!" cried Dorothy.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't want them, either," replied Seaton, <ins class="corr" title="Transcriber's Note: Double quote mark inserted.">"</ins>but if
+we chase them out they'll get their heads chopped off.
+You girls take the women and we'll take the men."</p>
+
+<p>Seaton waved all the women into the girls' room,
+but they paused irresolutely. One of them went up to
+the man wearing the metal belt, evidently their leader,
+and spoke to him rapidly as she threw her arms around
+his neck. He shook his head, motioning toward Seaton
+several times as he spoke to her reassuringly. With
+his arm about her tenderly, he led her to the door, the
+other women following. Crane and DuQuesne having
+gone to their rooms with their attendants, the man
+wearing the belt drew the blinds and turned to assist
+Seaton in taking off his clothes.</p>
+
+<p>"I never had a valet before, but go as far as you
+like if it pleases you," remarked Seaton, as he began
+to throw off his clothes. A multitude of small articles
+fell from their hiding-places in his garments as he removed
+them. Almost stripped, Seaton stretched vigorously,
+the muscles writhing and rippling in great ridges
+under the satin skin of his broad back and mighty arms
+and shoulders as he filled his capacious lungs and
+twisted about, working off the stiffness caused by the
+days of comparative confinement.</p>
+
+<p>The four slaves stared in open-mouthed astonishment
+at this display of muscular development and conversed
+among themselves as they gathered up Seaton's
+discarded clothing. Their leader picked up a salt-shaker,
+a couple of silver knives and forks, and some
+other articles, and turned to Seaton, apparently asking
+permission to do something with them. Seaton nodded
+assent carelessly and turned to his bed. As he did so,
+he heard a slight clank of arms in the hall as the guard
+was changed, and lifting the blind a trifle he saw that
+guards were stationed outside as well. As he went to
+bed, he wondered whether the guards were guards of
+honor or jailers; whether he and his party were honored
+guests or prisoners.</p>
+
+<p>Three of the slaves, at a word from their chief,
+threw themselves upon the floor and slept, but he himself
+did not rest. Opening the apparently solid metal
+belt, he took out a great number of small tools, many
+tiny instruments, and several spools of insulated wire.
+He then took the articles Seaton had given him, taking
+great pains not to spill a single grain of salt, and set
+to work. Hour after hour he labored, a strange, exceedingly
+complex instrument taking form under his
+clever fingers.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_610" id="Page_610">[610]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV.</h2>
+
+<h3>Nalboon Unmasked</h3>
+
+
+<div class="sidebar"><p><span style="float: left; font-size: 400%; line-height: 0.9em; padding-right: 0.1em;">B</span>y the time you finish reading the final instalment of
+"The Skylark of Space," we are certain that you will
+agree with us that it is one of the outstanding scienti-fiction
+stories of the decade; an interplanetarian story that will
+not be eclipsed soon. It will be referred to by all scienti-fiction
+fans for years to come. It will be read and reread.
+This is not a mere prophecy of ours, because we have been
+deluged with letters since we began publishing this story.
+In the closing chapters, you will follow the adventures
+with bated breath, and you will find that though the two
+preceding instalments were hair-raising and thought absorbing,
+the final instalment eclipses the others a good deal.
+Plots, counterplots, hair-raising and hair-breadth escapes,
+mixed with love, adventure and good science seem to fairly
+tumble all over the pages. By the time you finish this
+instalment, you will wish to go back to the beginning of the
+story and read it more carefully and thrill all over again.</p></div>
+
+<p>After a long, sound sleep, Seaton awoke
+and sprang out of bed. No sooner had
+he started to shave, however, than one of
+the slaves touched his arm, motioning him
+into a reclining chair and showing him a
+keen blade, long and slightly
+curved. Seaton lay down
+and the slave shaved him
+with a rapidity and smoothness
+he had never before
+experienced, so wonderfully
+sharp was the peculiar razor.
+After Seaton had
+dressed, the barber started
+to shave the chief slave,
+without any preliminary
+treatment save rubbing his
+face with a perfumed oil.</p>
+
+<p>"Hold on a minute," interjected
+Seaton, who was
+watching the process with
+interest, "here's something that helps a lot." He lathered
+the face with his brush and the man looked up in
+surprised pleasure as his stiff beard was swept away
+without a sound.</p>
+
+<p>Seaton called to the others and soon the party was
+assembled in his room, all dressed very lightly, because
+of the unrelieved and unvarying heat, which was
+constant at one hundred degrees.
+A gong sounded, and
+one of the slaves opened
+the door, ushering in a party
+of servants bearing a table,
+ready set. During the
+meal, Seaton was greatly
+surprised at hearing Dorothy
+carrying on a halting
+conversation, with one of
+the women standing behind
+her.</p>
+
+<p>"I knew that you were
+a language shark, Dottie,
+with five or six different
+ones to your credit, but I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_612" id="Page_612">[612]</a></span>
+didn't suppose you could learn to talk this stuff in one
+day."</p>
+
+<p>"I can't," she replied, "but I've picked up a few
+words of it. I can understand very little of what they
+are trying to tell me."</p>
+
+<p>The woman spoke rapidly to the man standing behind
+Seaton, and as soon as the table had been carried away,
+he asked permission to speak to Dorothy. Fairly running
+across to her, he made a slight obeisance and in
+eager tones poured forth such a stream of language
+that she held up her hand to silence him.</p>
+
+<p>"Go slower, please," she said, and added a couple
+of words in his own tongue.</p>
+
+<p>There ensued a strange dialogue, with many repetitions
+and much use of signs. She turned to Seaton,
+with a puzzled look.</p>
+
+<p>"I can't make out all he says, Dick, but he wants
+you to take him into another room of the palace here,
+to get back something or other that they took from
+him when they captured him. He can't go alone&mdash;I
+think he says he will be killed if he goes anywhere
+without you. And he says that when you get there,
+you must be sure not to let the guards come inside."</p>
+
+<p>"All right, let's go!" and Seaton motioned the man
+to precede him. As Seaton started for the door, Dorothy
+fell into step beside him.</p>
+
+<p>"Better stay back, Dottie, I'll be back in a minute,"
+he said at the door.</p>
+
+<p>"I will not stay back. Wherever you go, I go," she
+replied in a voice inaudible to the others. "I simply
+will not stay away from you a single minute that I
+don't have to."</p>
+
+<p>"All right, little girl," he replied in the same tone.
+"I don't want to be away from you, either, and I don't
+think that we're in any danger here."</p>
+
+<p>Preceded by the chief slave and followed by half a
+dozen others, they went out into the hall. No opposition
+was made to their progress, but a full half-company
+of armed guards fell in around them as an escort, regarding
+Seaton with looks composed of equal parts of
+reverence and fear. The slave led the way rapidly to
+a room in a distant wing of the palace and opened the
+door. As Seaton stepped in, he saw that it was evidently
+an audience-chamber or court-room, and that
+it was now entirely empty. As the guard approached
+the door, Seaton waved them back. All retreated across
+the hall except the officer in charge, who refused to
+move. Seaton, the personification of offended dignity,
+first stared at the offender, who returned the stare, and
+stepped up to him insolently, then pushed him back
+roughly, forgetting that his strength, great upon Earth,
+would be gigantic upon this smaller world. The officer
+spun across the corridor, knocking down three of his
+men in his flight. Picking himself up, he drew his
+sword and rushed, while his men fled in panic to the
+extreme end of the corridor. Seaton did not wait for
+him, but in one bound leaped half-way across the intervening
+space to meet him. With the vastly superior
+agility of his earthly muscles he dodged the falling
+broadsword and drove his left fist full against the fellow's
+chin, with all the force of his mighty arm and
+all the momentum of his rapidly moving body behind
+the blow. The crack of breaking bones was distinctly
+audible as the officer's head snapped back. The force
+of the blow lifted him high into the air, and after turning
+a complete somersault, he brought up with a crash
+against the opposite wall, dropping to the floor stone
+dead. As several of his men, braver than the others,
+lifted their peculiar rifles, Seaton drew and fired in one
+incredibly swift motion, the X-plosive bullet obliterating
+the entire group of men and demolishing that end
+of the palace.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>In the meantime the slave had taken several pieces
+of apparatus from a cabinet in the room and had
+placed them in his belt. Stopping only to observe for
+a few moments a small instrument which he clamped
+upon the head of the dead man, he rapidly led the way
+back to the room they had left and set to work upon
+the instrument he had constructed while the others had
+been asleep. He connected it, in an intricate system of
+wiring, with the pieces of apparatus he had just recovered.</p>
+
+<p>"That's a complex job of wiring," said DuQuesne
+admiringly. "I've seen several intricate pieces of apparatus
+myself, but he has so many circuits there that
+I'm lost. It would take an hour to figure out the lines
+and connections alone."</p>
+
+<p>Straightening abruptly, the slave clamped several
+electrodes upon his temples and motioned to Seaton and
+the others, speaking to Dorothy as he did so.</p>
+
+<p>"He wants us to let him put those things on our
+heads," she translated. "Shall we let him, Dick?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," he replied without hesitation. "I've got a
+real hunch that he's our friend, and I'm not sure of
+Nalboon. He doesn't act right."</p>
+
+<p>"I think so, too," agreed the girl, and Crane added:</p>
+
+<p>"I can't say that I relish the idea, but since I know
+that you are a good poker player, Dick, I am willing
+to follow your hunch. How about you, DuQuesne?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not I," declared that worthy, emphatically. "Nobody
+wires me up to anything I can't understand, and
+that machine is too deep for me."</p>
+
+<p>Margaret elected to follow Crane's example, and,
+impressed by the need for haste evident in the slave's
+bearing, the four walked up to the machine without
+further talk. The electrodes were clamped into place
+quickly and the slave pressed a lever. Instantly the
+four visitors felt that they had a complete understanding
+of the languages and customs of both Mardonale,
+the nation in which they now were, and of Kondal, to
+which nation the slaves belonged, the only two civilized
+nations upon Osnome. While the look of amazement
+at this method of receiving instruction was still upon
+their faces, the slave&mdash;or rather, as they now knew
+him, Dunark, the Kofedix or Crown Prince of the great
+nation of Kondal&mdash;began to disconnect the wires. He
+cut out the wires leading to the two girls and to Crane,
+and was reaching for Seaton's, when there was a
+blinding flash, a crackling sound, the heavy smoke of
+burning metal and insulation, and both Dunark and
+Seaton fell to the floor.</p>
+
+<p>Before Crane could reach them, however, they were
+upon their feet and the stranger said in his own<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_613" id="Page_613">[613]</a></span>
+tongue, now understood by every one but DuQuesne:</p>
+
+<p>"This machine is a mechanical educator, a thing
+entirely new, in our world at least. Although I have
+been working on it for a long time, it is still in a very
+crude form. I did not like to use it in its present
+state of development, but it was necessary in order to
+warn you of what Nalboon is going to do to you, and
+to convince you that the best way of saving your lives
+would save our lives as well. The machine worked
+perfectly until something, I don't know what, went
+wrong. Instead of stopping, as it should have done,
+at teaching your party to speak our languages, it short-circuited
+us two completely, so that every convolution
+in each of our brains has been imprinted upon the
+brain of the other. It was the sudden formation of
+all the new convolutions that rendered us unconscious.
+I can only apologize for the break-down, and assure
+you that my intentions were of the best."</p>
+
+<p>"You needn't apologize," returned Seaton. "That
+was a wonderful performance, and we're both gainers,
+anyway, aren't we? It has taken us all our lives to
+learn what little we know, and now we each have the
+benefit of two lifetimes, spent upon different worlds!
+I must admit, though, that I have a whole lot of
+knowledge that I don't know how to use."</p>
+
+<p>"I am glad you take it that way," returned the other
+warmly, "for I am infinitely the better off for the
+exchange. The knowledge I imparted was nothing,
+compared to that which I received. But time presses&mdash;I
+must tell you our situation. I am, as you now know,
+the Kofedix of Kondal. The other thirteen are fedo
+and fediro, or, as you would say, princes and princesses
+of the same nation. We were captured by one of
+Nalboon's raiding parties while upon a hunting trip,
+being overcome by some new, stupefying gas, so that
+we could not kill ourselves. As you know, Kondal and
+Mardonale have been at war for over ten thousand
+karkamo&mdash;something more than six thousand years of
+your time. The war between us is one of utter extermination.
+Captives are never exchanged and only once
+during an ordinary lifetime does one ever escape. Our
+attendants were killed immediately. We were being
+taken to furnish sport for Nalboon's party by being
+fed to one of his captive kolono&mdash;animals something
+like your earthly devilfish&mdash;when the escort of battleships
+was overcome by those four karlono, the animals
+you saw, and one of them seized Nalboon's plane,
+in which we were prisoners. You killed the karlon,
+saving our lives as well as those of Nalboon and his
+party.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>"Having saved his life, you and your party
+should be honored guests of the most honored
+kind, and I venture to say that you would be
+so regarded in any other nation of the universe. But
+Nalboon, the Domak&mdash;a title equivalent to your word
+'Emperor' and our word 'Karfedix'&mdash;of Mardonale,
+is utterly without either honor or conscience, as are
+all Mardonalians. At first he was afraid of you, as
+were we all. We thought you visitors from a planet
+of our fifteenth sun, which is now at its nearest possible
+approach to us. After your display of superhuman
+power and ability, we expected instant annihilation.
+However, after seeing the Skylark as a machine,
+discovering that you are short of power, and finding
+that you are gentle instead of bloodthirsty by nature,
+Nalboon lost his fear of you and resolved to rob you
+of your vessel, with its wonderful secrets of power.
+Though we are so ignorant of chemistry that I cannot
+understand the thousandth part of what I just learned
+from you, we are a race of mechanics and have developed
+machines of many kinds to a high state of efficiency,
+including electrical machines of all kinds. In
+fact, electricity, generated by our great waterfalls, is
+our only power. No scientist upon Osnome has ever
+had an inkling that intra-atomic energy exists. Nalboon
+cannot understand the power, but he solved the
+means of liberating it at a glance&mdash;and that glance
+sealed your death-warrants. With the Skylark, he
+could conquer Kondal, and to assure the downfall of
+my nation he would do anything.</p>
+
+<p>"Also, he or any other Osnomian scientist would go
+to any lengths whatever&mdash;would challenge the great
+First Cause itself&mdash;to secure even one of those little
+bottles of the chemical you call 'salt.' It is far and
+away the scarcest and most precious substance in the
+world. It is so rare that those bottles you produced
+at the table held more than the total amount previously
+known to exist upon Osnome. We have great abundance
+of all the heavy metals, but the lighter metals
+are rare. Sodium and chlorin are the rarest of all
+known elements. Its immense value is due, not to its
+rarity, but to the fact that it is an indispensable component
+of the controlling instruments of our wireless
+power stations and that it is used as a catalyst in the
+manufacture of our hardest metals.</p>
+
+<p>"For these reasons, you understand why Nalboon
+does not intend to let you escape and why he intends
+that this kokam (our equivalent of a day) shall be
+your last. About the second or third kam (hour) of
+the sleeping period he intends to break into the Skylark,
+learn its control, and secure the salt you undoubtedly
+have in the vessel. Then my party and myself
+will be thrown to the kolon. You and your party will
+be killed and your bodies smelted to recover the salt
+that is in them. This is the warning I had to give you.
+Its urgency explains the use of my untried mechanical
+educator; the hope that my party could escape with
+yours, in your vessel, explains why you saw me, the
+Kofedix of Kondal, prostrate myself before that arch-fiend
+Nalboon."</p>
+
+<p>"How do you, a captive prince of another nation,
+know these things?" asked Crane, doubtfully.</p>
+
+<p>"I read Nalboon's ideas from the brain of that
+officer whom the Karfedix Seaton killed. He was a
+ladex of the guards&mdash;an officer of about the same rank
+as one of your colonels. He was high in Nalboon's
+favor, and he was to have been in charge of the work
+of breaking into the Skylark and killing us all. Let
+me caution you now; do not let any Mardonalian touch
+our hands with a wire, for if you do, your thoughts
+will be recorded and the secrets of the Skylark and your
+many other mysterious things, such as smoking,
+matches, and magic feats, will be secrets no longer."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_614" id="Page_614">[614]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Thanks for the information," responded Seaton,
+"but I want to correct your title for me. I'm no
+Karfedix&mdash;merely a plain citizen."</p>
+
+<p>"In one way I see that that is true," replied the
+Kofedix with a puzzled look. "I cannot understand
+your government at all&mdash;but the inventor of the Skylark
+must certainly rank as a Karfedix."</p>
+
+<p>As he spoke, a smile of understanding passed over
+his face and he continued:</p>
+
+<p>"I see. Your title is Doctor of Philosophy, which
+must mean that you are the Karfedix of Knowledge of
+the Earth."</p>
+
+<p>"No, no. You're way off. I'm...."</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly Seaton is the Karfedix of Knowledge,"
+broke in DuQuesne. "Let it go at that, anyway, whatever
+it means. The thing to do now is to figure a way
+out of this."</p>
+
+<p>"You chirped it then, Blackie. Dunark, you know
+this country better than we do; what do you suggest?"</p>
+
+<p>"I suggest that you take my party into the Skylark
+and escape from Mardonale as soon as possible. I can
+pilot you to Kondalek, the capital city of our nation.
+There, I can assure you, you will be welcomed as you
+deserve. My father, the Karfedix, will treat you as
+a Karfedix should be treated. As far as I am concerned,
+nothing I can ever do will lighten the burden
+of my indebtedness to you, but I promise you all the
+copper you want, and anything else you may desire
+that is within the power of man to give you."</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>Seaton thought deeply a moment, then shook
+Dunark's hand vigorously.</p>
+
+<p>"That suits me, Kofedix," he said warmly. "I
+thought from the first that you were our friend. Shall
+we make for the Skylark right now, or wait a while?"</p>
+
+<p>"We had better wait until after the second meal,"
+the prince replied. "We have no armor, and no way
+of making any. We would be helpless against the
+bullets of any except a group small enough so that you
+could kill them all before they could fire. The kam
+after the second meal is devoted to strolling about the
+grounds, so that our visiting the Skylark would look
+perfectly natural. As the guard is very lax at that
+time, it is the best time for the attempt."</p>
+
+<p>"But how about my killing his company of guards
+and blowing up one wing of his palace? Won't he
+have something to say about that?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know," replied the Kofedix doubtfully. "It
+depends upon whether his fear of you or his anger is
+the greater. He should pay his call of state here in
+your apartment in a short time, as it is the inviolable
+rule of Osnome, that any visitor shall receive a call of
+state from one of his own rank before leaving his apartment
+for the first time. His actions may give you
+some idea as to his feelings, though he is an accomplished
+diplomat and may conceal his real feelings entirely.
+But let me caution you not to be modest or
+soft-spoken. He will mistake softness for fear."</p>
+
+<p>"All right," grinned Seaton. "In that case I won't
+wait to try to find out what he thinks. If he shows
+any signs of hostility at all, I'll open up on him."</p>
+
+<p>"Well," remarked Crane, calmly, "if we have some
+time to spare, we may as well wait comfortably instead
+of standing in the middle of the room. I, for
+one, have a lot of questions to ask about this new
+world."</p>
+
+<p>Acting upon this suggestion, the party seated themselves
+upon comfortable divans, and Dunark rapidly
+dismantled the machine he had constructed. The captives
+remained standing, always behind the visitors
+until Seaton remonstrated.</p>
+
+<p>"Please sit down, everybody. There's no need of
+keeping up this farce of your being slaves as long as
+we're alone, is there, Dunark?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, but at the first sound of the gong announcing
+a visitor we must be in our places. Now that we
+are all comfortable and waiting, I will introduce my
+party to yours.</p>
+
+<p>"Fellow Kondalians, greet the Karfedo Seaton and
+Crane," he began, his tongue fumbling over the strange
+names, "of a distant world, the Earth, and the two noble
+ladies, Miss Vaneman and Miss Spencer, soon to be
+their Karfediro.</p>
+
+<p>"Guests from Earth, allow me to present to you
+the Kofedir Sitar, the only one of my wives who
+accompanied me upon our ill-fated hunting expedition."</p>
+
+<p>Then, still ignoring DuQuesne as a captive, he introduced
+the other Kondolians in turn as his brothers, sisters,
+cousins, nieces, and nephews&mdash;all members of
+the great ruling house of Kondal.</p>
+
+<p>"Now," he concluded, "after I have a word with
+you in private, Doctor Seaton, I will be glad to give
+the others all the information in my power."</p>
+
+<p>He led Seaton out of earshot of the others and said
+in a low voice:</p>
+
+<p>"It is no part of Nalboon's plan to kill the two women.
+They are so beautiful, so different from our Osnomian
+women, that he intends to keep them&mdash;alive. Understand?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," returned Seaton grimly, his eyes turning
+hard, "I get you all right&mdash;but what he'll do and what
+he thinks he'll do are two entirely different breeds of
+cats."</p>
+
+<p>Returning to the others, they found Dorothy and
+Sitar deep in conversation.</p>
+
+<p>"So a man has half a dozen or so wives?" Dorothy
+was asking in surprise. "How do you get along together?
+I'd fight like a wildcat if my husband tried
+to have other wives!"</p>
+
+<p>"We get along splendidly, of course," returned the
+Osnomian princess in equal surprise. "I would not
+think of being a man's only wife. I wouldn't consider
+marrying a man who could win only one wife&mdash;think
+what a disgrace it would be! And think how lonely
+one would be while her husband is away at war&mdash;we
+would go insane if we did not have the company of the
+other wives. There are six of us, and we could not
+get along at all without each other."</p>
+
+<p>"I've got a compliment for you and Peggy, Dottie,"
+said Seaton. "Dunark here thinks that you two girls
+look good enough to eat&mdash;or words to that effect." Both
+girls flushed slightly, the purplish-black color suffusing
+their faces. They glanced at each other and Dorothy
+voiced the thought of both as she said:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_615" id="Page_615">[615]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"How can you, Kofedix Dunark? In this horrible
+light we both look perfectly dreadful. These other
+girls would be beautiful, if we were used to the colors,
+but we two look simply hideous."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, no," interrupted Sitar. "You have a wonderfully
+rich coloring. It is a shame to hide so much of
+yourselves with robes."</p>
+
+<p>"Their eyes interpret colors differently than ours do,"
+explained Seaton. "What to us are harsh and discordant
+colors are light and pleasing to their eyes.
+What looks like a kind of sloppy greenish black to us
+may&mdash;in fact, does&mdash;look a pale pink to them."</p>
+
+<p>"Are Kondal and Mardonale the only two nations
+upon Osnome?" asked Crane.</p>
+
+<p>"The only civilized nations, yes. Osnome is divided
+into two great and almost equal continents, separated
+by a wide ocean which encircles the globe. One is
+Kondal, the other Mardonale. Each nation has several
+nations or tribes of savages, which inhabit various
+waste places."</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>"You are the light race, Mardonale the dark," continued
+Crane. "What are the servants, who seem
+half-way between?"</p>
+
+<p>"They are slaves...."</p>
+
+<p>"Captured savages?" interrupted Dorothy.</p>
+
+<p>"No. They are a separate race. They are a race
+so low in intelligence that they cannot exist except as
+slaves, but they can be trained to understand language
+and to do certain kinds of work. They are harmless
+and mild, making excellent servants, otherwise they
+would have perished ages ago. All menial work and
+most of the manual labor is done by the slave race.
+Formerly criminals were sterilized and reduced to
+unwilling slavery, but there have been no unwilling
+slaves in Kondal for hundreds of karkamo."</p>
+
+<p>"Why? Are there no criminals any more?"</p>
+
+<p>"No. With the invention of the thought recorder
+an absolutely fair trial was assured and the guilty were
+all convicted. They could not reproduce themselves,
+and as a natural result crime died out."</p>
+
+<p>"That is," he added hastily, "what we regard as
+crime. Duelling, for instance, is a crime upon Earth;
+here it is a regular custom. In Kondal duels are
+rather rare and are held only when honor is involved,
+but here in Mardonale they are an every-day affair, as
+you saw when you landed."</p>
+
+<p>"What makes the difference?" asked Dorothy curiously.</p>
+
+<p>"As you know, with us every man is a soldier. In
+Kondal we train our youth in courage, valor, and high
+honor&mdash;in Mardonale they train them in savage blood-thirstiness
+alone. Each nation fixed its policy in bygone
+ages to produce the type of soldier it thought most
+efficient.<ins class="corr" title="Transcriber's Note: Double quote mark inserted.">"</ins></p>
+
+<p>"I notice that everyone here wears those heavy collars,"
+said Margaret. "What are they for?"</p>
+
+<p>"They are identification marks. When a child is
+nearly grown, a collar bearing his name and the device
+of his house is cast about his neck. This collar is
+made of 'arenak,' a synthetic metal which, once formed,
+cannot be altered by any usual means. It cannot be
+scratched, cut, bent, broken, or worked in any way
+except at such a high temperature that death would
+result, if such heat were applied to the collar. Once
+the arenak collar is cast about a person's neck he is
+identified for life, and any adult Osnomian not wearing
+a collar is put to death."</p>
+
+<p>"That must be an interesting metal," remarked Crane.
+"Is your belt a similar mark?"</p>
+
+<p>"This belt is an idea of my own," and Dunark
+smiled broadly. "It looks like opaque arenak, but isn't.
+It is merely a pouch in which I carry anything I am
+particularly interested in. Even Nalboon thought it
+was arenak, so he didn't trouble to try to open it. If
+he had opened it and taken my tools and instruments,
+I couldn't have built the educator."</p>
+
+<p>"Is that transparent armor arenak?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, the only difference being that nothing is added
+to the matrix to color or make opaque the finished
+metal. It is in the preparation of this metal that salt
+is indispensable. It acts only as a catalyst, being recovered
+afterward, but neither nation has ever had
+enough salt to make all the armor they want."</p>
+
+<p>"Aren't those monsters&mdash;karlono, I think you called
+them&mdash;covered by the same thing? And what are
+those animals, anyway?" Dorothy asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, they are armored with arenak, and it is
+thought that the beasts grow it, the same as fishes grow
+scales. The karlono are the most frightful scourge of
+Osnome. Very little is known of them, though every
+scientist has theorized upon them since time immemorial.
+It is very seldom that one is ever killed, as they
+easily outfly our swiftest battleships, and only fight
+when they can be victorious. To kill one requires a
+succession of the heaviest high-explosive shells in the
+same spot, a joint in the armor; and after the armor
+is once penetrated, the animal is blown into such small
+fragments that reconstruction is impossible. From such
+remains it has been variously described as a bird, a
+beast, a fish, and a vegetable; sexual, asexual, and
+hermaphroditic. Its habitat is unknown, it being variously
+supposed to live high in the air, deep in the ocean,
+and buried in the swamps. Another theory is that they
+live upon one of our satellites, which encounters our
+belt of atmosphere every karkam. Nothing is certainly
+known about the monsters except their terrible destructiveness
+and their insatiable appetites. One of
+them will devour five or six airships at one time, absorbing
+the crews and devouring the cargo and all of the
+vessels except the very hardest of the metal parts."</p>
+
+<p>"Do they usually go in groups?" asked Crane. "If
+they do, I should think that a fleet of warships would
+be necessary for every party."</p>
+
+<p>"No, they are almost always found alone. Only
+very rarely are two found together. This is the first
+time in history that more than two have ever been seen
+together. Two battleships can always defeat one karlon,
+so they are never attacked. With four battleships
+Nalboon considered his expedition perfectly safe, especially
+as they are now rare. The navies hunted down
+and killed what was supposed to be the last one upon
+Osnome more than a karkam ago, and none have been
+seen since, until we were attacked...."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_616" id="Page_616">[616]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>The gong over the door sounded and the Kondalians
+leaped to their positions back of the
+Earthly visitors. The Kofedix went to the door. Nalboon
+brushed him aside and entered, escorted by a full
+company of heavily-armed soldiery. A scowl of anger
+was upon his face and he was plainly in an ugly mood.</p>
+
+<p>"Stop, Nalboon of Mardonale!" thundered Seaton
+in the Mardonalian tongue and with the full power of
+his mighty voice. <ins class="corr" title="Transcriber's Note: Double quote mark inserted.">"</ins>Dare you invade my privacy unannounced
+and without invitation?"</p>
+
+<p>The escort shrank back, but the Domak stood his
+ground, although he was plainly taken aback. With
+an apparent effort he smoothed his face into lines of
+cordiality.</p>
+
+<p>"I merely came to inquire why my guards are slain
+and my palace destroyed by my honored guest?"</p>
+
+<p>"As for slaying your guards, they sought to invade
+my privacy. I warned them away, but one of them
+was foolish enough to try to kill me. Then the
+others attempted to raise their childish rifles against
+me, and I was obliged to destroy them. As for the
+wall, it happened to be in the way of the thought-waves
+I hurled against your guards&mdash;consequently it
+was demolished. An honored guest! Bah! Are honored
+guests put to the indignity of being touched by
+the filthy hands of a mere ladex?"</p>
+
+<p>"You do not object to the touch of slaves!" with a
+wave of his hand toward the Kondalians.</p>
+
+<p>"That is what slaves are for," coldly. "Is a Domak
+to wait upon himself in the court of Mardonale? But
+to return to the issue. Were I an honored guest this
+would never have happened. Know, Nalboon, that
+when you attempt to treat a visiting Domak of MY
+race as a low-born captive, you must be prepared to
+suffer the consequences of your rashness!"</p>
+
+<p>"May I ask how you, so recently ignorant, know
+our language?"</p>
+
+<p>"You question me? That is bold! Know that I, the
+Boss of the Road, show ignorance or knowledge, when
+and where I please. You may go."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV.</h2>
+
+<h3>The Escape from Mardonale</h3>
+
+
+<p>"That was a wonderful bluff, Dick!" exclaimed
+the Kofedix in English as soon as Nalboon and
+his guards had disappeared. "That was exactly
+the tone to take with him, too&mdash;you've sure got
+him guessing!"</p>
+
+<p>"It seemed to get him, all right, but I'm wondering
+how long it'll hold him. I think we'd better make a
+dash for the Skylark right now, before he has time to
+think it over, don't you?"</p>
+
+<p>"That is undoubtedly the best way," Dunark replied,
+lapsing into his own tongue. "Nalboon is plainly
+in awe of you now, but if I understand him at all, he is
+more than ever determined to seize your vessel, and
+every darkam's delay is dangerous."</p>
+
+<p>The Earth-people quickly secured the few personal
+belongings they had brought with them. Stepping out
+into the hall and waving away the guards, Seaton
+motioned Dunark to lead the way. The other captives
+fell in behind, as they had done before, and the party
+walked boldly toward the door of the palace. The
+guards offered no opposition, but stood at attention
+and saluted as they passed. As they approached the
+entrance, however, Seaton saw the major-domo hurrying
+away and surmised that he was carrying the news
+to Nalboon. Outside the door, walking directly toward
+the landing dock, Dunark spoke in a low voice to
+Seaton, without turning.</p>
+
+<p>"Nalboon knows by this time that we are making
+our escape, and it will be war to the death from here
+to the Skylark. I do not think there will be any
+pursuit from the palace, but he has warned the officers
+in charge of the dock and they will try to kill us as
+soon as we step out of the elevator, perhaps sooner.
+Nalboon intended to <ins class="corr" title="Transcriber's Note: The original read 'wit'.">wait</ins>, but we have forced his hand
+and the dock is undoubtedly swarming with soldiers
+now. Shoot first and oftenest. Shoot first and think
+afterward. Show no mercy, as you will receive none&mdash;remember
+that the quality you call 'mercy' does not
+exist upon Osnome."</p>
+
+<p>Rounding a great metal statue about fifty feet from
+the base of the towering dock, they saw that the door
+leading into one of the elevators was wide open and
+that two guards stood just inside it. As they caught
+sight of the approaching party, the guards raised their
+rifles; but, quick as they were, Seaton was quicker.
+At the first sight of the open door he had made two
+quick steps and had hurled himself across the intervening
+forty feet in a long football plunge. Before the
+two guards could straighten, he crashed into them, his
+great momentum hurling them across the elevator cage
+and crushing them into unconsciousness against its
+metal wall.</p>
+
+<p>"Good work!" said Dunark, as he preceded the others
+into the elevator, and, after receiving Seaton's permission,
+distributed the weapons of the two guards among
+the men of his party. "Now we can surprise those
+upon the roof. That was why you didn't shoot?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I was afraid to risk a shot&mdash;it would give the
+whole thing away," Seaton replied, as he threw the
+unconscious guards out into the grounds and closed
+the massive door.</p>
+
+<p>"Aren't you going to kill them?" asked Sitar, amazement
+in every feature and a puzzled expression in her
+splendid eyes. A murmur arose from the other Kondalians,
+which was quickly silenced by the Kofedix.</p>
+
+<p>"It is dishonorable for a soldier of Earth to kill a
+helpless prisoner," he said briefly. "We cannot understand
+it, but we must not attempt to sway him in any
+point of honor."</p>
+
+<p>Dunark stepped to the controls and the elevator shot
+upward, stopping at a landing several stories below the
+top of the dock. He took a peculiar device from his
+belt and fitted it over the muzzle of his strange pistol.</p>
+
+<p>"We will get out here," he instructed the others,
+"and go up the rest of the way by a little-used flight
+of stairs. We will probably encounter some few
+guards, but I can dispose of them without raising an
+alarm. You will all stay behind me, please."</p>
+
+<p>Seaton remonstrated, and Dunark went on:</p>
+
+<p>"No, Seaton, you have done your share, and more.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_617" id="Page_617">[617]</a></span>
+I am upon familiar ground now, and can do the work
+alone better than if you were to help me. I will call
+upon you, however, before we reach the dock."</p>
+
+<p>The Kofedix led the way, his pistol resting lightly
+against his hip, and at the first turn of the corridor
+they came full upon four guards. The pistol did not
+move from its place at the side of the leader, but there
+were four subdued clicks and the four guards dropped
+dead, with bullets through their brains.</p>
+
+<p>"Seaton, that is <i>some</i> silencer," whispered DuQuesne.
+"I didn't suppose a silencer could work that fast."</p>
+
+<p>"They don't use powder," Seaton replied absently,
+all his faculties directed toward the next corner. "The
+bullets are propelled by an electrical charge."</p>
+
+<p>In the same manner Dunark disposed of several more
+guards before the last stairway was reached.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>"Seaton," he whispered in English, "now is the
+time we need your rapid pistol-work and your
+high-explosive shells. There must be hundreds of soldiers
+on the other side of that door, armed with
+machine-cannon shooting high-explosive shells at the
+rate of a thousand per minute. Our chance is this&mdash;their
+guns are probably trained upon the elevators and
+main stairways, since this passage is unused and none
+of us would be expected to know of it. Most of them
+don't know of it themselves. It will take them a second
+or two to bring their guns to bear upon us. We must
+do all the damage we can&mdash;kill them all, if possible&mdash;in
+that second or two. If Crane will lend me a pistol,
+we'll make the rush together."</p>
+
+<p>"I've a better scheme than that," interrupted DuQuesne.
+"Next to you, Seaton, I'm the fastest man
+with a gun here. Also, like you, I can use both hands
+at once. Give me a couple of clips of those special
+cartridges and you and I will blow that bunch into
+the air before they know we're here."</p>
+
+<p>It was decided that the two pistol experts should
+take the lead, closely followed by Crane and Dunark.
+The weapons were loaded to capacity and put in readiness
+for instant use.</p>
+
+<p>"Let's go, bunch!" said Seaton. "The quicker we
+start the quicker we'll get back. Get ready to run out
+there, all the rest of you, as soon as the battle's over.
+Ready? On your marks&mdash;get set&mdash;go!"</p>
+
+<p>He kicked the door open and there was a stuttering
+crash as the four automatic pistols simultaneously burst
+into practically continuous flame&mdash;a crash obliterated
+by an overwhelming concussion of sound as the X-plosive
+shells, sweeping the entire roof with a rapidly-opening
+fan of death, struck their marks and exploded.
+Well it was for the little group of wanderers that the
+two men in the door were past masters in the art of
+handling their weapons; well it was that they had in
+their tiny pistol-bullets the explosive force of hundreds
+of giant shells! For rank upon rank of soldiery were
+massed upon the roof; rapid-fire cannon, terrible engines
+of destruction, were pointing toward the elevators
+and toward the main stairways and approaches. But
+so rapid and fierce was the attack, that even those
+trained gunners had no time to point their guns. The
+battle lasted little more than a second, being over before
+either Crane or Dunark could fire a shot, and silence
+again reigned even while broken and shattered remnants
+of the guns and fragments of the metal and stone of
+the dock were still falling to the ground through a fine
+mist of what had once been men.</p>
+
+<p>Assured by a rapid glance that not a single Mardonalian
+remained upon the dock, Seaton turned back
+to the others.</p>
+
+<p>"Make it snappy, bunch! This is going to be a
+mighty unhealthy spot for us in a few minutes."</p>
+
+<p>Dorothy threw her arms around his neck in relief.
+With one arm about her, he hastily led the way across
+the dock toward the Skylark, choosing the path with
+care because of the yawning holes blown into the structure
+by the terrific force of the explosions. The Skylark
+was still in place, held immovable by the attractor,
+but what a sight she was! Her crystal windows were
+shattered; her mighty plates of four-foot Norwegian
+armor were bent and cracked and twisted; two of her
+doors, warped and battered, hung awry from their
+broken hinges. Not a shell had struck her: all this
+damage had been done by flying fragments of the
+guns and of the dock itself; and Seaton and Crane,
+who had developed the new explosive, stood aghast
+at its awful power.</p>
+
+<p>They hastily climbed into the vessel, and Seaton
+assured himself that the controls were uninjured.</p>
+
+<p>"I hear battleships," Dunark said. "Is it permitted
+that I operate one of your machine guns?"</p>
+
+<p>"Go as far as you like," responded Seaton, as he
+placed the women beneath the copper bar&mdash;the safest
+place in the vessel&mdash;and leaped to the instrument board.
+Before he reached it, and while DuQuesne, Crane, and
+Dunark were hastening to the guns, the whine of giant
+helicopter-screws was plainly heard. A ranging shell
+from the first warship, sighted a little low, exploded
+against the side of the dock beneath them. He reached
+the levers just as the second shell screamed through the
+air a bare four feet above them. As he shot the Skylark
+into the air under five notches of power, a steady
+stream of the huge bombs poured through the spot
+where, an instant before, the vessel had been. Crane
+and DuQuesne aimed several shots at the battleships,
+which were approaching from all sides, but the range
+was so extreme that no damage was done.</p>
+
+<p>They heard the continuous chattering of the machine
+gun operated by the Kofedix, however, and turned
+toward him. He was shooting, not at the warships,
+but at the city rapidly growing smaller beneath them;
+moving the barrel of the rifle in a tiny spiral; spraying
+the entire city with death and destruction! As they
+looked, the first of the shells reached the ground, just
+as Dunark ceased firing for lack of ammunition. They
+saw the palace disappear as if by magic, being instantly
+blotted out in a cloud of dust&mdash;a cloud which, with a
+spiral motion of dizzying rapidity, increased in size
+until it obscured the entire city.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>Having attained sufficient altitude to be safe
+from any possible pursuit and out of range of
+even the heaviest guns, Seaton stopped the vessel and
+went out into the main compartment to consult with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_618" id="Page_618">[618]</a></span>
+the other members of the group, about their next move.</p>
+
+<p>"It sure does feel good to get a breath of cool air,
+folks," he said, as he drew with relief a deep breath
+of the air, which, at that great elevation, was of an icy
+temperature and very thin. He glanced at the little
+group of Kondalians as he spoke, then leaped back to
+the instrument board with an apology on his lips&mdash;they
+were gasping for breath and shivering with the
+cold. He switched on the heating coils and dropped
+the Skylark rapidly in a long descent toward the ocean.</p>
+
+<p>"If that is the temperature you enjoy, I understand
+at last why you wear clothes," said the Kofedix, as soon
+as he could talk.</p>
+
+<p>"Do not your planes fly up into the regions of low
+temperature?" asked Crane.</p>
+
+<p>"Only occasionally, and all high-flying vessels are
+enclosed and heated to our normal temperature. We
+have heavy wraps, but we dislike to wear them so
+intensely that we never subject ourselves to any cold."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, there's no accounting for tastes," returned
+Seaton, "but I can't hand your climate a thing. It's
+hotter even than Washington in August; 'and that,' as
+the poet feelingly remarked, 'is going some!'</p>
+
+<p>"But there's no reason for sitting here in the dark,"
+he continued, as he switched on the powerful daylight
+lamps which lighted the vessel with the nearest approach
+to sunlight possible to produce. As soon as the lights
+were on, Dorothy looked intently at the strange women.</p>
+
+<p>"Now we can see what color they really are," she
+explained to her lover in a low voice. "Why, they
+aren't so very different from what they were before,
+except that the colors are much softer and more pleasing.
+They really are beautiful, in spite of being green.
+Don't you think so, Dick?"</p>
+
+<p>"They're a handsome bunch, all right," he agreed,
+and they were. Their skins were a light, soft green,
+tanned to an olive shade by their many fervent suns.
+Their teeth were a brilliant and shining grass-green.
+Their eyes and their long, thick hair were a glossy
+black.</p>
+
+<p>The Kondalians looked at the Earthly visitors and
+at each other, and the women uttered exclamations of
+horror.</p>
+
+<p>"What a frightful light?" exclaimed Sitar. "Please
+shut it off. I would rather be in total darkness than
+look like this!"</p>
+
+<p>"What's the matter, Sitar?" asked the puzzled Dorothy
+as Seaton turned off the lights. "You look perfectly
+stunning in this light."</p>
+
+<p>"They see things differently than we do," explained
+Seaton. "Their optic nerves react differently than
+ours do. While we look all right to them, and they
+look all right to us, in both kinds of light, they look
+just as different to themselves under our daylight lamps
+as we do to ourselves in their green light. Is that
+explanation clear?"</p>
+
+<p>"It's clear enough as far as it goes, but what do
+they look like to themselves?"</p>
+
+<p>"That's too deep for me&mdash;I can't explain it, any
+better than you can. Take the Osnomian color 'mlap,'
+for instance. Can you describe it?"</p>
+
+<p>"It's a kind of greenish orange&mdash;but it seems as
+though it ought not to look like that color either."</p>
+
+<p>"That's it, exactly. From the knowledge you received
+from the educator, it should be a brilliant purple.
+That is due to the difference in the optic nerves, which
+explains why we see things so differently from the
+way the Osnomians do. Perhaps they can describe
+the way they look to each other in our white light."</p>
+
+<p>"Can you, Sitar?" asked Dorothy.</p>
+
+<p>"One word describes it&mdash;'horrible.'" replied the Kondalian
+princess, and her husband added:</p>
+
+<p>"The colors are distorted and unrecognizable, just
+as your colors are to your eyes in our light."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, now that the color question is answered, let's
+get going. I pretty nearly asked you the way, Dunark&mdash;forgot
+that I know it as well as you do."</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>The Skylark set off at as high an altitude as the
+Osnomians could stand. As they neared the ocean
+several great Mardonalian battleships, warned of the
+escape, sought to intercept them; but the Skylark
+hopped over them easily, out of range of their heaviest
+guns, and flew onward at such speed that pursuit
+was not even attempted. The ocean was quickly crossed.
+Soon the space-car came to rest over a great city, and
+Seaton pointed out the palace; which, with its landing
+dock nearby, was very similar to that of Nalboon, in the
+capital city of Mardonale.</p>
+
+<p>Crane drew Seaton to one side.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you think it is safe to trust these Kondalians,
+any more than it was the others? How would it be
+to stay in the Lark instead of going into the palace?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, Mart, this bunch can be trusted. Dunark has
+a lot of darn queer ideas, but he's square as a die. He's
+our friend, and will get us the copper. We have no
+choice now, anyway, look at the bar. We haven't an
+ounce of copper left&mdash;we're down to the plating in
+spots. Besides, we couldn't go anywhere if we had a
+ton of copper, because the old bus is a wreck. She
+won't hold air&mdash;you could throw a cat out through the
+shell in any direction. She'll have to have a lot of work
+done on her before we can think of leaving. As to
+staying in her, that wouldn't help us a bit. Steel is as
+soft as wood to these folks&mdash;their shells would go
+through her as though she were made of mush. They
+are made of metal that is harder than diamond and
+tougher than rubber, and when they strike they bore
+in like drill-bits. If they are out to get us they'll do
+it anyway, whether we're here or there, so we may as
+well be guests. But there's no danger, Mart. You
+know I swapped brains with him, and I know him as
+well as I know myself. He's a good, square man&mdash;one
+of our kind of folks."</p>
+
+<p>Convinced, Crane nodded his head and the Skylark
+dropped toward the dock. While they were still high
+in air, Dunark took an instrument from his belt and
+rapidly manipulated a small lever. The others felt the
+air vibrate&mdash;a peculiar, pulsating wave, which, to the
+surprise of the Earthly visitors, they could read without
+difficulty. It was a message from the Kofedix to
+the entire city, telling of the escape of his party and
+giving the news that he was accompanied by two great
+Karfedo from another world. Then the pulsations became<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_619" id="Page_619">[619]</a></span>
+unintelligible, and all knew that he had tuned his
+instrument away from the "general" key into the individual
+key of some one person.</p>
+
+<p>"I just let my father, the Karfedix, know that we
+are coming," he explained, as the vibrations ceased.</p>
+
+<p>From the city beneath them hundreds of great guns
+roared forth a welcome, banners and streamers hung
+from every possible point, and the air became tinted
+and perfumed with a bewildering variety of colors and
+scents and quivered with the rush of messages of welcome.
+The Skylark was soon surrounded by a majestic
+fleet of giant warships, who escorted her with impressive
+ceremony to the landing dock, while around
+them flitted great numbers of other aircraft. The tiny
+one-man helicopters darted hither and thither, apparently
+always in imminent danger of colliding with
+some of their larger neighbors, but always escaping as
+though by a miracle. Beautiful pleasure-planes soared
+and dipped and wheeled like giant gulls; and, cleaving
+their stately way through the numberless lesser craft;
+immense multiplane passenger liners partially supported
+by helicopter screws turned aside from their scheduled
+courses to pay homage to the Kofedix of Kondal.</p>
+
+<p>As the Skylark approached the top of the dock, all
+the escorting vessels dropped away and Crane saw
+that instead of the brilliant assemblage he had expected
+to see upon the landing-place there was only a
+small group of persons, as completely unadorned as
+were those in the car. In answer to his look of surprise,
+the Kofedix said, with deep feeling:</p>
+
+<p>"My father, mother, and the rest of the family. They
+know that we, as escaped captives, would be without
+harness or trappings, and are meeting us in the same
+state."</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>Seaton brought the vessel to the dock near the
+little group, and the Earthly visitors remained inside
+their vessel while the rulers of Kondal welcomed
+the sons and daughters they had given up for dead.</p>
+
+<p>After the affecting reunion, which was very similar
+to an earthly one under similar circumstances, the
+Kofedix led his father up to the Skylark and his guests
+stepped down upon the dock.</p>
+
+<p>"Friends," Dunark began, "I have told you of my
+father, Roban, the Karfedix of Kondal. Father, it is
+a great honor to present to you those who rescued us
+from Mardonale&mdash;Seaton, Karfedix of Knowledge;
+Crane, Karfedix of Wealth; Miss Vaneman; and Miss
+Spencer. Karfedix DuQuesne," waving his hand
+toward him, "is a lesser Karfedix of Knowledge, captive
+to the others."</p>
+
+<p>"The Kofedix Dunark exaggerates our services,"
+deprecated Seaton, "and doesn't mention the fact that
+he saved all our lives. But for him we all should have
+been killed."</p>
+
+<p>The Karfedix, disregarding Seaton's remark, acknowledged
+the indebtedness of Kondal in heartfelt
+accents before he led them back to the other party and
+made the introductions. As all walked toward the elevators,
+the emperor turned to his son with a puzzled
+expression.</p>
+
+<p>"I know from your message, Dunark, that our guests
+are from a distant solar system, and I can understand
+your accident with the educator, but I cannot understand
+the titles of these men. Knowledge and wealth
+are not ruled over. Are you sure that you have translated
+their titles correctly?"</p>
+
+<p>"As correctly as I can&mdash;we have no words in our
+language to express the meaning. Their government
+is a most peculiar one, the rulers all being chosen by
+the people of the whole nation...."</p>
+
+<p>"Extraordinary!" interjected the older man. "How,
+then, can anything be accomplished?"</p>
+
+<p>"I do not understand the thing myself, it is so utterly
+unheard-of. But they have no royalty, as we understand
+the term. In America, their country, every man
+is equal.</p>
+
+<p>"That is," he hastened to correct himself, "they are
+not all equal, either, as they have two classes which
+would rank with royalty&mdash;those who have attained to
+great heights of knowledge and those who have
+amassed great wealth. This explanation is entirely
+inadequate and does not give the right idea of their
+positions, but it is as close as I can come to the truth
+in our language."</p>
+
+<p>"I am surprised that you should be carrying a prisoner
+with you, Karfedo," said Roban, addressing Seaton
+and Crane. "You will, of course, be at perfect
+liberty to put him to death in any way that pleases you,
+just as though you were in your own kingdoms. But
+perchance you are saving him so that his death will
+crown your home-coming?"</p>
+
+<p>The Kofedix spoke in answer while Seaton, usually
+so quick to speak, was groping for words.</p>
+
+<p>"No, father, he is not to be put to death. That is
+another peculiar custom of the Earth-men; they consider
+it dishonorable to harm a captive, or even an
+unarmed enemy. For that reason we must treat the
+Karfedix DuQuesne with every courtesy due his rank,
+but at the same time he is to be allowed to do only
+such things as may be permitted by Seaton and Crane."</p>
+
+<p>"Yet they do not seem to be a weak race," mused
+the older man.</p>
+
+<p>"They are a mighty race, far advanced in evolution,"
+replied his son. "It is not weakness, but a
+peculiar moral code. We have many things to learn
+from them, and but few to give them in return. Their
+visit will mean much to Kondal."</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>During this conversation they had descended to
+the ground and had reached the palace, after
+traversing grounds even more sumptuous and splendid
+than those surrounding the palace of Nalboon. Inside
+the palace walls the Kofedix himself led the guests to
+their rooms, accompanied by the major-domo and an
+escort of guards. He explained to them that the rooms
+were all inter-communicating, each having a completely
+equipped bathroom.</p>
+
+<p>"Complete except for cold water, you mean," said
+Seaton with a smile.</p>
+
+<p>"There is cold water," rejoined the other, leading
+him into the bathroom and releasing a ten-inch stream
+of lukewarm water into the small swimming pool, built
+of polished metal, which forms part of every Kondalian<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_620" id="Page_620">[620]</a></span>
+bathroom. "But I am forgetting that you like
+extreme cold. We will install refrigerating machines
+at once."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't do it&mdash;thanks just the same. We won't be
+here long enough to make it worth while."</p>
+
+<p>Dunark smilingly replied that he would make his
+guests as comfortable as he could, and after informing
+them that in one kam he would return and escort
+them in to koprat, took his leave. Scarcely had the
+guests freshened themselves when he was back, but
+he was no longer the Dunark they had known. He now
+wore a metal-and-leather harness which was one blaze
+of precious gems, and a leather belt hung with jeweled
+weapons replaced the familiar hollow girdle of metal.
+His right arm, between the wrist and the elbow, was
+almost covered by six bracelets of a transparent metal,
+deep cobalt-blue in color, each set with an incredibly
+brilliant stone of the same shade. On his left wrist
+he wore an Osnomian chronometer. This was an
+instrument resembling the odometer of an automobile,
+whose numerous revolving segments revealed a large
+and constantly increasing number&mdash;the date and time
+of the Osnomian day, expressed in a decimal number
+of the karkamo of Kondalian history.</p>
+
+<p>"Greetings, oh guests from Earth! I feel more like
+myself, now that I am again in my trappings and
+have my weapons at my side. Will you accompany
+me to koprat, or are you not hungry?" as he attached
+the peculiar timepieces to the wrists of the guests, with
+bracelets of the deep-blue metal.</p>
+
+<p>"We accept with thanks," replied Dorothy promptly.
+"We're starving to death, as usual."</p>
+
+<p>As they walked toward the dining hall, Dunark
+noticed that Dorothy's eyes strayed toward his bracelets,
+and he answered her unasked question:</p>
+
+<p>"These are our wedding rings. Man and wife exchange
+bracelets as part of the ceremony."</p>
+
+<p>"Then you can tell whether a man is married or
+not, and how many wives he has, simply by looking
+at his arm? We should have something like that on
+Earth, Dick&mdash;then married men wouldn't find it so
+easy to pose as bachelors!"</p>
+
+<p>Roban met them at the door of the great dining hall.
+He also was in full panoply, and Dorothy counted ten
+of the heavy bracelets upon his right arm as he led
+them to places near his own. The room was a replica
+of the other Osnomian dining hall they had seen and
+the women were decorated with the same barbaric
+splendor of scintillating gems.</p>
+
+<p>After the meal, which was a happy one, taking the
+nature of a celebration in honor of the return of the
+captives, DuQuesne went directly to his room while
+the others spent the time until the zero hour in strolling
+about the splendid grounds, always escorted by many
+guards. Returning to the room occupied by the two
+girls, the couples separated, each girl accompanying
+her lover to the door of his room.</p>
+
+<p>Margaret was ill at ease, though trying hard to appear
+completely self-possessed.</p>
+
+<p>"What is the matter, sweetheart Peggy?" asked
+Crane, solicitously.</p>
+
+<p>"I didn't know that you...." she broke off and
+continued with a rush: "What did the Kofedix mean
+just now, when he called you the Karfedix of
+Wealth?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, you see, I happen to have some money...."
+he began.</p>
+
+<p>"Then you are the great M. Reynolds Crane?" she
+interrupted, in consternation.</p>
+
+<p>"Leave off 'the great,'" he said, then, noting her expression,
+he took her in his arms and laughed slightly.</p>
+
+<p>"Is that all that was bothering you? What does a
+little money amount to between you and me?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing&mdash;but I'm awfully glad that I didn't know
+it before," she replied, as she returned his caress with
+fervor. "That is, it means nothing if you are perfectly
+sure I'm not...."</p>
+
+<p>Crane, the imperturbable, broke a life-long rule and
+interrupted her.</p>
+
+<p>"Do not say that, dear. You know as well as I do
+that between you and me there never have been, are
+not now, and never shall be, any doubts or any
+questions."</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>"If I could have a real cold bath now, I'd feel fine,"
+remarked Seaton, standing in his own door with
+Dorothy by his side. "I'm no blooming Englishman
+but in weather as hot as this I sure would like to dive
+into a good cold tank. How do you feel after all
+this excitement, Dottie? Up to standard?"</p>
+
+<p>"I'm scared purple," she replied, nestling against
+him, "or, at least, if not exactly scared, I'm apprehensive
+and nervous. I always thought I had good nerves,
+but everything here is so horrible and unreal, that I
+can't help but feel it. When I'm with you I really
+enjoy the experience, but when I'm alone or with
+Peggy, especially in the sleeping-period, which is so
+awfully long and when it seems that something terrible
+is going to happen every minute, my mind goes
+off in spite of me into thoughts of what may happen.
+Why, last night, Peggy and I just huddled up to each
+other in a ghastly yellow funk&mdash;dreading we knew not
+what&mdash;the two of us slept hardly at all."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm sorry, little girl," replied Seaton, embracing her
+tenderly, "sorrier than I can say. I know that your
+nerves are all right, but you haven't roughed it enough,
+or lived in strange environments enough, to be able
+to feel at home. The reason you feel safer with me is
+that I feel perfectly at home here myself, not that your
+nerves are going to pieces or anything like that. It
+won't be for long, though, sweetheart&mdash;as soon as we
+get the chariot fixed up we'll beat it back to the Earth
+so fast it'll make your head spin."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I think that's the reason, lover. I hope you
+won't think I'm a clinging vine, but I can't help being
+afraid of something here every time I'm away from
+you. You're so self-reliant, so perfectly at ease here,
+that it makes me feel the same way."</p>
+
+<p>"I am perfectly at ease. There's nothing to be afraid
+of. I've been in hundreds of worse places, right on
+Earth. I sure wish I could be with you all the time,
+sweetheart girl&mdash;only you can understand just how
+much I wish it&mdash;but, as I said before, it won't be long
+until we can be together all the time."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_621" id="Page_621">[621]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Dorothy pushed him into his room, followed him
+within it, closed the door, and put both hands on his
+arm.</p>
+
+<p>"Dick, sweetheart," she whispered, while a hot blush
+suffused her face, "you're not as dumb as I thought
+you were&mdash;you're dumber! But if you simply won't
+say it, I will. Don't you know that a marriage that is
+legal where it is performed is legal anywhere, and
+that no law says that the marriage must be performed
+upon the Earth?"</p>
+
+<p>He pressed her to his heart in a mighty embrace,
+and his low voice showed in every vibration the depth
+of the feeling he held for the beautiful woman in his
+arms as he replied:</p>
+
+<p>"I never thought of that, sweetheart, and I wouldn't
+have dared mention it if I had. You're so far away
+from your family and your friends that it would
+seem...."</p>
+
+<p>"It wouldn't seem anything of the kind," she broke
+in earnestly. "Don't you see, you big, dense, wonderful
+man, that it is the only thing to do? We need
+each other, or at least, I need you, so much now...."</p>
+
+<p>"Say 'each other'; it's right," declared her lover with
+fervor.</p>
+
+<p>"It's foolish to wait. Mother would like to have
+seen me married, of course; but there will be great
+advantages, even on that side. A grand wedding, of
+the kind we would simply have to have in Washington,
+doesn't appeal to me any more than it does to
+you&mdash;and it would bore you to extinction. Dad would
+hate it, too&mdash;it's better all around to be married here."</p>
+
+<p>Seaton, who had been trying to speak, silenced her.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm convinced, Dottie, have been ever since the first
+word. If you can see it that way I'm so glad that
+I can't express it. I've been scared stiff every time I
+thought of our wedding. I'll speak to the Karfedix
+the first thing in the morning, and we'll be married
+tomorrow&mdash;or rather today, since it is past the zero
+kam," as he glanced at the chronometer upon his wrist,
+which, driven by wireless impulses from the master-clock
+in the national observatory, was clicking off the
+darkamo with an almost inaudible purr of its smoothly-revolving
+segments.</p>
+
+<p>"How would it be to wake him up and have it done
+now?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Dick, be reasonable! That would never do.
+Tomorrow will be most awfully sudden, as it is! And
+Dick, please speak to Martin, will you? Peggy's even
+more scared than I am, and Martin, the dear old
+stupid, is even less likely to suggest such a thing as
+this kind of a wedding than you are. Peggy's afraid
+to suggest it to him."</p>
+
+<p>"Woman!" he said in mock sternness, "Is this a
+put-up job?"</p>
+
+<p>"It certainly is. Did you think I had nerve enough
+to do it without help?"</p>
+
+<p>Seaton turned and opened the door.</p>
+
+<p>"Mart! Bring Peggy over here!" he called, as he
+led Dorothy back into the girls' room.</p>
+
+<p>"Heavens, Dick, be careful! You'll spoil the whole
+thing!"</p>
+
+<p>"No, I won't. Leave it to me&mdash;I bashfully admit
+that I'm a regular bear-cat at this diplomatic stuff.
+Watch my smoke!"</p>
+
+<p>"Folks," he said, when the four were together,
+"Dottie and I have been talking things over, and we've
+decided that today's the best possible date for a wedding.
+Dottie's afraid of these long, daylight nights,
+and I admit that I'd sleep a lot sounder if I knew
+where she was all the time instead of only part of it.
+She says she's willing, provided you folks see it the
+same way and make it double. How about it?"</p>
+
+<p>Margaret blushed furiously and Crane's lean, handsome
+face assumed a darker color as he replied:</p>
+
+<p>"A marriage here would, of course, be legal anywhere,
+provided we have a certificate, and we could
+be married again upon our return if we think it desirable.
+It might look as though we were taking an
+unfair advantage of the girls, Dick, but considering all
+the circumstances, I think it would be the best thing
+for everyone concerned."</p>
+
+<p>He saw the supreme joy in Margaret's eyes, and his
+own assumed a new light as he drew her into the
+hollow of his arm.</p>
+
+<p>"Peggy has known me only a short time, but nothing
+else in the world is as certain as our love. It is
+the bride's privilege to set the date, so I will only say
+that it cannot be too soon for me."</p>
+
+<p>"The sooner the better," said Margaret, with a blush
+that would have been divine in any earthly light, "did
+you say 'today,' Dick?"</p>
+
+<p>"I'll see the Karfedix as soon as he gets up," he
+answered, and walked with Dorothy to his door.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm just too supremely happy for words," Dorothy
+whispered in Seaton's ear as he bade her good-night.
+"I won't be able to sleep or anything!"</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI.</h2>
+
+<h3>An Osnomian Marriage</h3>
+
+
+<p>Seaton awoke, hot and uncomfortable, but with
+a great surge of joy in his heart&mdash;this was his
+wedding day! Springing from the bed, he released
+the full stream of the "cold" water, filling the
+tank in a few moments. Poising lightly upon the edge,
+he made a clean, sharp dive, and yelled in surprise as
+he came snorting to the surface. For Dunark had made
+good his promise&mdash;the water was only a few degrees
+above the freezing point! After a few minutes of
+vigorous splashing in the icy water, he rubbed himself
+down with a coarse towel, shaved, threw on his clothes,
+and lifted his powerful, but musical, bass voice in
+the wedding chorus from "The Rose Maiden."</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza" style="font-style: italic">
+<span class="i0">"Rise, sweet maid, arise, arise,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Rise, sweet maid, arise, arise,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">'Tis the last fair morning for thy maiden eyes,"<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>he sang lustily, out of his sheer joy in being alive, and
+was surprised to hear Dorothy's clear soprano, Margaret's
+pleasing contralto, and Crane's mellow tenor
+chime in from the adjoining room. Crane threw open
+the door and Seaton joined the others.</p>
+
+<p>"Good morning. Dick, you sound happy," said Crane.</p>
+
+<p>"Who wouldn't be? Look what's doing today," as
+he ardently embraced his bride-to-be. "Besides, I found
+some cold water this morning."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_622" id="Page_622">[622]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Everyone in the palace heard you discovering it,"
+dryly returned Crane, and the girls laughed merrily.</p>
+
+<p>"It surprised me at first," admitted Seaton, "but it's
+great after a fellow once gets wet."</p>
+
+<p>"We warmed ours a trifle," said Dorothy. "I like a
+cold bath myself, but not in ice-water."</p>
+
+<p>All four became silent, thinking of the coming event
+of the day, until Crane said:</p>
+
+<p>"They have ministers here, I know, and I know
+something of their religion, but my knowledge is
+rather vague. You know more about it than we do,
+Dick, suppose you tell us about it while we wait."</p>
+
+<p>Seaton paused a moment, with an odd look on his
+face. As one turning the pages of an unfamiliar book
+of reference, he was seeking the answer to Crane's
+question in the vast store of Osnomian information
+received from Dunark. His usually ready speech came
+a little slowly.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, as nearly as I can explain it, it's a funny kind
+of a mixture&mdash;partly theology, partly Darwinism, or at
+least, making a fetish of evolution, and partly pure
+economic determinism. They believe in a Supreme
+Being, whom they call the First Cause&mdash;that is the
+nearest English equivalent&mdash;and they recognize the
+existence of an immortal and unknowable life-principle,
+or soul. They believe that the First Cause has decreed
+the survival of the fittest as the fundamental law, which
+belief accounts for their perfect physiques...."</p>
+
+<p>"Perfect physiques? Why, they're as weak as children,"
+interrupted Dorothy.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, but that is because of the smallness of the
+planet," returned Seaton. "You see, a man of my
+size weighs only eighty-six pounds here, on a spring
+balance, so he would need only the muscular development
+of a boy of twelve or so. In a contest of strength,
+either of you girls could easily handle two of the
+strongest men upon Osnome. In fact, the average
+Osnomian could stand up on our Earth only with the
+greatest difficulty. But that isn't the fault of the
+people; they are magnificently developed for their surroundings.
+They have attained this condition by centuries
+of weeding out the unfit. They have no hospitals
+for the feeble-minded or feeble-bodied&mdash;abnormal
+persons are not allowed to live. The same reasoning
+accounts for their perfect cleanliness, moral and physical.
+Vice is practically unknown. They believe that
+clean living and clean thinking are rewarded by the
+production of a better physical and mental type...."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, especially as they correct wrong living by those
+terrible punishments the Kofedix told us about," interrupted
+Margaret.</p>
+
+<p>"That probably helps some. They also believe that
+the higher the type is, the faster will evolution proceed,
+and the sooner will mankind reach what they call the
+Ultimate Goal, and know all things. Believing as they
+do that the fittest must survive, and thinking themselves,
+of course, the superior type, it is ordained that
+Mardonale must be destroyed utterly, root and branch.
+They believe that the slaves are so low in the scale,
+millions of years behind in evolution, that they do not
+count. Slaves are simply intelligent and docile animals,
+little more than horses or oxen. Mardonalians and
+savages are unfit to survive and must be exterminated.</p>
+
+<p>"Their ministers are chosen from the very fittest.
+They are the strongest, cleanest-living, and most vigorous
+men of this clean and vigorous nation, and are usually
+high army officers as well as ministers."</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>An attendant announced the coming of the Karfedix
+and his son, to pay the call of state. After the
+ceremonious greetings had been exchanged, all went
+into the dining hall for darprat. As soon as the meal
+was over, Seaton brought up the question of the double
+wedding that kokam, and the Karfedix was overjoyed.</p>
+
+<p>"Karfedix Seaton," he said earnestly, "nothing could
+please us more than to have such a ceremony performed
+in our palace. Marriage between such highly-evolved
+persons as are you four is wished by the First Cause,
+whose servants we are. Aside from that, it is an
+unheard-of honor for any ruler to have even one karfedix
+married beneath his roof, and you are granting me
+the privilege of two! I thank you, and assure you that
+we will do our poor best to make the occasion
+memorable."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't do anything fancy," said Seaton hastily. "A
+simple, plain wedding will do."</p>
+
+<p>Unheeding Seaton's remark, the Karfedix took his
+wireless from its hook at his belt and sent a brief
+message.</p>
+
+<p>"I have summoned Karbix Tarnan to perform the
+ceremony. Our usual time for ceremonies is just before
+koprat&mdash;is that time satisfactory to you?"</p>
+
+<p>Assured that it was, he turned to his son.</p>
+
+<p>"Dunark, you are more familiar than I with the
+customs of our illustrious visitors. May I ask you
+to take charge of the details?"</p>
+
+<p>While Dunark sent a rapid succession of messages,
+Dorothy whispered to Seaton:</p>
+
+<p>"They must be going to make a real function of our
+double wedding, Dick. The Karbix is the highest
+dignitary of the church, isn't he?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, in addition to being the Commander-in-Chief
+of all the Kondalian armies. Next to the Karfedix he
+is the most powerful man in the empire. Something
+tells me, Dottie, that this is going to be SOME ceremony!"</p>
+
+<p>As Dunark finished telegraphing, Seaton turned to
+him.</p>
+
+<p>"Dorothy said, a while ago, that she would like to
+have enough of that tapestry-fabric for a dress. Do
+you suppose it could be managed?"</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly. In all state ceremonials we always wear
+robes made out of the same fabric as the tapestries, but
+much finer and more delicate. I would have suggested
+it, but thought perhaps the ladies would prefer their
+usual clothing. I know that you two men do not care
+to wear our robes?"</p>
+
+<p>"We will wear white ducks, the dressiest and coolest
+things we have along," replied Seaton. "Thank you
+for your offer, but you know how it is. We should
+feel out of place in such gorgeous dress."</p>
+
+<p>"I understand. I will call in a few of our most
+expert robe-makers, who will weave the gowns. Before
+they come, let us decide upon the ceremony. I think<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_623" id="Page_623">[623]</a></span>
+you are familiar with our marriage customs, but I will
+explain them to make sure. Each couple is married
+twice. The first marriage is symbolized by the exchange
+of plain bracelets and lasts four karkamo, during
+which period divorce may be obtained at will. The
+children of such divorced couples formerly became
+wards of the state, but in my lifetime I have not heard
+of there being any such children&mdash;all divorces are now
+between couples who discover their incompatibility before
+children are conceived."</p>
+
+<p>"That surprises me greatly," said Crane. "Some
+system of trial-marriage is advocated among us on
+Earth every few years, but they all so surely degenerate
+into free love that no such system has found a
+foothold."</p>
+
+<p>"We are not troubled in that way at all. You see,
+before the first marriage, each couple, from the humblest
+peasantry to the highest royalty, must submit to
+a mental examination. If they are marrying for any
+reason at all other than love, such as any thought of
+trifling in the mind of the man, or if the woman is
+marrying him for his wealth or position, he or she
+is summarily executed, regardless of station."</p>
+
+<p>No other questions being asked, Dunark continued:</p>
+
+<p>"At the end of four karkamo the second marriage
+is performed, which is indissoluble. In this ceremony
+jeweled bracelets are substituted for the plain ones. In
+the case of highly-evolved persons it is permitted that
+the two ceremonies be combined into one. Then there
+is a third ceremony, used only in the marriage of
+persons of the very highest evolution, in which the
+'eternal' vows are taken and the faidon, the eternal
+jewel, is exchanged. As you are all in the permitted
+class, you may use the eternal ceremony if you wish."</p>
+
+<p>"I think we all know our minds well enough to know
+that we want to be married for good&mdash;the longer the
+better," said Seaton, positively. "We'll make it the
+eternal, won't we, folks?"</p>
+
+<p>"I should like to ask one question," said Crane,
+thoughtfully. "Does that ceremony imply that my wife
+would be breaking her vows if she married again upon
+my death?"</p>
+
+<p>"Far from it. Numbers of our men are killed every
+karkam. Their wives, if of marriageable age, are
+expected to marry again. Then, too, you know that
+most Kondalian men have several wives. No matter
+how many wives or husbands may be linked together
+in that way, it merely means that after death their
+spirits will be grouped into one. Just as in your
+chemistry," smiling in comradely fashion at Seaton,
+"a varying number of elements may unite to form a
+stable compound."</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>After a short pause, the speaker went on:</p>
+
+<p>"Since you are from the Earth and unaccustomed
+to bracelets, rings will be substituted for them.
+The plain rings will take the place of your Earthly
+wedding rings, the jeweled ones that of your engagement
+rings. The only difference is that while we discard
+the plain bracelets, you will continue to wear
+them. Have you men any objections to wearing the
+rings during the ceremony? You may discard them
+later if you wish and still keep the marriage valid."</p>
+
+<p>"Not I! I'll wear mine all my life," responded Seaton
+earnestly, and Crane expressed the same thought.</p>
+
+<p>"There is only one more thing," added the Kofedix.
+"That is, about the mental examination. Since it is
+not your custom, it is probable that the justices would
+waive the ruling, especially since everyone must be
+examined by a jury of his own or a superior rank, so
+that only one man, my father alone, could examine
+you."</p>
+
+<p>"Not in a thousand years!" replied Seaton emphatically.
+"I want to be examined, and have Dorothy
+see the record. I don't care about having her
+put through it, but I want her to know exactly the kind
+of a guy she is getting."</p>
+
+<p>Dorothy protested at this, but as all four were eager
+that they themselves should be tested, the Karfedix was
+notified and Dunark clamped sets of multiple electrodes,
+connected to a set of instruments, upon the temples of
+his father, Dorothy, and Seaton. He pressed a lever,
+and instantly Dorothy and Seaton read each other's
+minds to the minutest detail, and each knew that the
+Karfedix was reading the minds of both.</p>
+
+<p>After Margaret and Crane had been examined, the
+Karfedix expressed himself as more than satisfied.</p>
+
+<p>"You are all of the highest evolution and your
+minds are all untainted by any base thoughts in your
+marriage. The First Cause will smile upon your
+unions," he said solemnly.</p>
+
+<p>"Let the robe-makers appear," the Karfedix ordered,
+and four women, hung with spools of brilliantly-colored
+wire of incredible fineness and with peculiar
+looms under their arms, entered the room and accompanied
+the two girls to their apartment.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as the room was empty save for the four
+men, Dunark said:</p>
+
+<p>"While I was in Mardonale, I heard bits of conversation
+regarding an immense military discovery possessed
+by Nalboon, besides the gas whose deadly effects
+we felt. I could get no inkling of its nature, but feel
+sure that it is something to be dreaded. I also heard
+that both of these secrets had been stolen from Kondal,
+and that we were to be destroyed by our own superior
+inventions."</p>
+
+<p>The Karfedix nodded his head gloomily.</p>
+
+<p>"That is true, my son&mdash;partly true, at least. We shall
+not be destroyed, however. Kondal shall triumph. The
+discoveries were made by a Kondalian, but I am as
+ignorant as are you concerning their nature. An obscure
+inventor, living close to the bordering ocean, was the
+discoverer. He was rash enough to wireless me concerning
+them. He would not reveal their nature, but
+requested a guard. The Mardonalian patrol intercepted
+the message and captured both him and his discoveries
+before our guard could arrive."</p>
+
+<p>"That's easily fixed," suggested Seaton. "Let's get
+the Skylark fixed up, and we'll go jerk Nalboon out
+of his palace&mdash;if he's still alive&mdash;bring him over here,
+and read his mind."</p>
+
+<p>"That might prove feasible," answered the Kofedix,
+"and in any event we must repair the Skylark and replenish
+her supply of copper immediately. That must<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_624" id="Page_624">[624]</a></span>
+be our first consideration, so that you, our guests, will
+have a protection in any emergency."</p>
+
+<p>The Karfedix went to his duties and the other three
+made their way to the wrecked space-car. They found
+that besides the damage done to the hull, many of the
+instruments were broken, including one of the object-compasses
+focused upon the Earth.</p>
+
+<p>"It's a good thing you had three of them, Mart.
+I sure hand it to you for preparedness," said Seaton,
+as he tossed the broken instruments out upon the dock.
+Dunark protested at this treatment, and placed the
+discarded instruments in a strong metal safe, remarking:</p>
+
+<p>"These things may prove useful at some future
+time."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I suppose the first thing to do is to get some
+powerful jacks and straighten these plates," said
+Seaton.</p>
+
+<p>"Why not throw away this soft metal, steel, and build
+it of arenak, as it should be built? You have plenty
+of salt," suggested Dunark.</p>
+
+<p>"Fine! We have lots of salt in the galley, haven't
+we, Mart?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, nearly a hundred pounds. We are stocked
+for emergencies, with two years' supply of food, you
+know."</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>Dunark's eyes opened in astonishment at the
+amount mentioned, in spite of his knowledge of
+earthly conditions. He started to say something, then
+stopped in confusion, but Seaton divined his thought.</p>
+
+<p>"We can spare him fifty pounds as well as not,
+can't we, Mart?"</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly. Fifty pounds of salt is a ridiculously
+cheap price for what he is doing for us, even though
+it is very rare here."</p>
+
+<p>Dunark acknowledged the gift with shining eyes and
+heartfelt, but not profuse, thanks, and bore the precious
+bag to the palace under a heavy escort. He returned
+with a small army of workmen, and after making tests
+to assure himself that the power-bar would work as
+well through arenak as through steel, he instructed the
+officers concerning the work to be done. As the wonderfully
+skilled mechanics set to work without a single
+useless motion, the prince stood silent, with a look of
+care upon his handsome face.</p>
+
+<p>"Worrying about Mardonale, Dunark?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. I cannot help wondering what that terrible
+new engine of destruction is, which Nalboon now has
+at his command."</p>
+
+<p>"Say, why don't you build a bus like the Skylark,
+and blow Mardonale off the map?"</p>
+
+<p>"Building the vessel would be easy enough, but X is
+as yet unknown upon Osnome."</p>
+
+<p>"We've got a lot of it...."</p>
+
+<p>"I could not accept it. The salt was different, since
+you have plenty. X, however, is as scarce upon Earth
+as salt is upon Osnome."</p>
+
+<p>"Sure you can accept it. We stopped at a planet
+that has lots of it, and we've got an object-compass
+pointing at it so that we can go back and get more of
+it any time we want it. We've got more of it on hand
+now than we're apt to need for a long time, so have a
+hunk and get busy," and he easily carried one of the
+lumps out of his cabin and tossed it upon the dock, from
+whence it required two of Kondal's strongest men to
+lift it.</p>
+
+<p>The look of care vanished from the face of the prince
+and he summoned another corps of mechanics.</p>
+
+<p>"How thick shall the walls be? Our battleships are
+armed with arenak the thickness of a hand, but with
+your vast supply of salt you may have it any thickness
+you wish, since the materials of the matrix are cheap
+and abundant."</p>
+
+<p>"One inch would be enough, but everything in the bus
+is designed for a four-foot shell, and if we change it
+from four feet we'll have to redesign our guns and all
+our instruments. Let's make it four feet."</p>
+
+<p>Seaton turned to the crippled Skylark, upon which
+the first crew of Kondalian mechanics were working
+with skill and with tools undreamed-of upon Earth.
+The whole interior of the vessel was supported by a
+complex falsework of latticed metal, then the four-foot
+steel plates and the mighty embers, the pride of the
+great MacDougall, were cut away as though they were
+made of paper by revolving saws and enormous power
+shears. The sphere, grooved for the repellers and with
+the members, braces, and central machinery complete,
+of the exact dimensions of the originals, was rapidly
+moulded of a stiff, plastic substance resembling clay.
+This matrix soon hardened into a rock-like mass into
+which the doors, machine-gun emplacements, and other
+openings were carefully cut. All surfaces were then
+washed with a dilute solution of salt, which the workmen
+handled as though it were radium. Two great
+plates of platinum were clamped into place upon either
+side of the vessel, each plate connected by means of
+silver cables as large as a man's leg to the receiving
+terminal of an enormous wireless power station. The
+current was applied and the great spherical mass apparently
+disappeared, being transformed instantly into the
+transparent metal arenak. Then indeed had the Earth-men
+a vehicle such as had never been seen before! A
+four-foot shell of metal five hundred times as strong
+and hard as the strongest and hardest steel, cast in one
+piece with the sustaining framework designed by the
+world's foremost engineer&mdash;a structure that no conceivable
+force could deform or injure, housing an
+inconceivable propulsive force!</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>The falsework was rapidly removed and the sustaining
+framework was painted with opaque varnish
+to render it plainly visible. At Seaton's suggestion
+the walls of the cabins were also painted, leaving
+transparent several small areas to serve as windows.</p>
+
+<p>The second work-period was drawing to a close, and
+as Seaton and Crane were to be married before koprat,
+they stopped work. They marveled at the amount that
+had been accomplished, and the Kofedix told them:</p>
+
+<p>"Both vessels will be finished tomorrow, except for
+the controlling instruments, which we will have to make
+ourselves. Another crew will work during the sleeping-period,
+installing the guns and other fittings. Do you wish to
+have your own guns installed, or guns<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_625" id="Page_625">[625]</a></span>
+of our pattern? You are familiar with them now."</p>
+
+<p>"Our own, please. They are slower and less efficient
+than yours, but we are used to them and have a
+lot of X-plosive ammunition for them," replied Seaton,
+after a short conference with Crane.</p>
+
+<p>After instructing the officers in charge of the work,
+the three returned to the palace, the hearts of two of
+them beating high in anticipation. Seaton went into
+Crane's room, accompanied by two attendants bearing
+his suitcase and other luggage.</p>
+
+<p>"We should have brought along dress clothes, Mart.
+Why didn't you think of that, too?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing like this ever entered my mind. It is a
+good thing we brought along ducks and white soft
+shirts. I must say that this is extremely informal garb
+for a state wedding, but since the natives are ignorant
+of our customs, it will not make any difference."</p>
+
+<p>"That's right, too&mdash;we'll make 'em think it's the
+most formal kind of dress. Dunark knows what's
+what, but he knows that full dress would be unbearable
+here. We'd melt down in a minute. It's plenty hot
+enough as it is, with only duck trousers and sport-shirts
+on. They'll look green instead of white, but
+that's a small matter."</p>
+
+<p>Dunark, as best man, entered the room some time
+later.</p>
+
+<p>"Give us a look, Dunark," begged Seaton, "and see
+if we'll pass inspection. I was never so rattled in my
+life."</p>
+
+<p>They were clad in spotless white, from their duck
+oxfords to the white ties encircling the open collars of
+their tennis shirts. The two tall figures&mdash;Crane's slender,
+wiry, at perfect ease; Seaton's broad-shouldered,
+powerful, prowling about with unconscious, feline suppleness
+and grace&mdash;and the two handsome, high-bred,
+intellectual faces, each wearing a look of eager happiness,
+fully justified Dunark's answer.</p>
+
+<p>"You sure will do!" he pronounced enthusiastically,
+and with Seaton's own impulsive good will he shook
+hands and wished them an eternity of happiness.</p>
+
+<p>"When you have spoken with your brides," he continued,
+"I shall be waiting to escort you into the chapel.
+Sitar told me to say that the ladies are ready."</p>
+
+<p>Dorothy and Margaret had been dressed in their
+bridal gowns by Sitar and several other princesses,
+under the watchful eyes of the Karfedir herself. Sitar
+placed the two girls side by side and drew off to
+survey her work.</p>
+
+<p>"You are the loveliest creatures in the whole world!"
+she cried.</p>
+
+<p>They looked at each other's glittering gowns, then
+Margaret glanced at Dorothy's face and a look of
+dismay overspread her own.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Dottie!" she gasped. "Your lovely complexion!
+Isn't it terrible for the boys to see us in this
+light?"</p>
+
+<p>There was a peal of delighted laughter from Sitar
+and she spoke to one of the servants, who drew dark
+curtains across the windows and pressed a switch,
+flooding the room with brilliant white light.</p>
+
+<p>"Dunark installed lamps like those of your ship for
+you," she explained with intense satisfaction. "I knew
+in advance just how you would feel about your color."</p>
+
+<p>Before the girls had time to thank their thoughtful
+hostess she disappeared and their bridegrooms stood
+before them. For a moment no word was spoken.
+Seaton stared at Dorothy hungrily, almost doubting
+the evidence of his senses. For white was white, pink
+was pink, and her hair shone in all its natural splendor
+of burnished bronze.</p>
+
+<p>In their wondrous Osnomian bridal robes the beautiful
+Earth-maidens stood before their lovers. Upon
+their feet were jeweled slippers. Their lovely bodies
+were clothed in softly shimmering garments that left
+their rounded arms and throats bare&mdash;garments infinitely
+more supple than the finest silk, thick-woven of
+metallic threads of such fineness that the individual
+wires were visible only under a lens; garments that
+floated and clung about their perfect forms in lines of
+exquisite grace. For black-haired Margaret, with her
+ivory skin, the Kondalian princess had chosen a background
+of a rare white metal, upon which, in complicated
+figures, glistened numberless jewels of pale colors,
+more brilliant than diamonds. Dorothy's dress was of
+a peculiar, dark-green shade, half-hidden by an intricate
+design of blazing green gems&mdash;the strange, luminous
+jewels of this strange world. Both girls wore
+their long, heavy hair unbound, after the Kondalian
+bridal fashion, brushed until it fell like mist about them
+and confined at the temples by metallic bands entirely
+covered with jewels.</p>
+
+<p>Seaton looked from Dorothy to Margaret and back
+again; looked down into her violet eyes, deep with
+wonder and with love, more beautiful than any jewel
+in all her gorgeous costume. Unheeding the presence
+of the others, she put her dainty hands upon his mighty
+shoulders and stood on tiptoe.</p>
+
+<p>"I love you, Dick. Now and always, here or at
+home or anywhere in the Universe. We'll never be
+parted again," she whispered, and her own beloved
+violin had no sweeter tones than had her voice.</p>
+
+<p>A few minutes later, her eyes wet and shining, she
+drew herself away from him and glanced at Margaret.</p>
+
+<p>"Isn't she the most beautiful thing you ever laid
+eyes on?"</p>
+
+<p>"No," Seaton answered promptly, "she is not&mdash;but
+poor old Mart thinks she is!"</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>Accompanied by the Karfedix and his son, Seaton
+and Crane went into the chapel, which, already
+brilliant, had been decorated anew with even greater
+splendor. Glancing through the wide arches they saw,
+for the first time, Osnomians clothed. The great room
+was filled with the highest nobility of Kondal, wearing
+their heavily-jeweled, resplendent robes of state. Every
+color of the rainbow and numberless fantastic patterns
+were there, embodied in the soft, lustrous, metallic
+fabric.</p>
+
+<p>As the men entered one door Dorothy and Margaret,
+with the Karfedir and Sitar, entered the other, and
+the entire assemblage rose to its feet and snapped into
+the grand salute. Moving to the accompaniment of
+strange martial music from concealed instruments, the
+two parties approached each other, meeting at the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_626" id="Page_626">[626]</a></span>
+raised platform or pulpit where Karbix Tarnan, a handsome,
+stately, middle-aged man who carried easily his
+hundred and fifty karkamo of age, awaited them. As
+he raised his arms, the music ceased.</p>
+
+<p>It was a solemn and wonderfully impressive spectacle.
+The room, of burnished metal, with its bizarre
+decorations wrought in scintillating gems; the constantly
+changing harmony of colors as the invisible
+lamps were shifted from one shade to another; the
+group of mighty nobles standing rigidly at attention in
+a silence so profound that it was an utter absence of
+everything audible as the Karbix lifted both arms in a
+silent invocation of the great First Cause&mdash;all these
+things deepened the solemnity of that solemn moment.</p>
+
+<p>When Tarnan spoke, his voice, deep with some great
+feeling, inexplicable even to those who knew him best,
+carried clearly to every part of the great chamber.</p>
+
+<p>"Friends, it is our privilege to assist today in a most
+notable event, the marriage of four personages from
+another world. For the first time in the history of
+Osnome, one karfedix has the privilege of entertaining
+the bridal party of another. It is not for this fact
+alone, however, that this occasion is to be memorable.
+A far deeper reason is that we are witnessing, possibly
+for the first time in the history of the Universe, the
+meeting upon terms of mutual fellowship and understanding
+of the inhabitants of two worlds separated by
+unthinkable distances of trackless space and by equally
+great differences in evolution, conditions of life, and
+environment. Yet these strangers are actuated by the
+spirit of good faith and honor which is instilled into
+every worthy being by the great First Cause, in the
+working out of whose vast projects all things are humble
+instruments.</p>
+
+<p>"In honor of the friendship of the two worlds, we
+will proceed with the ceremony.</p>
+
+<p>"Richard Seaton and Martin Crane, exchange the
+plain rings with Dorothy Vaneman and Margaret
+Spencer."</p>
+
+<p>They did so, and repeated, after the Karbix, simple
+vows of love and loyalty.</p>
+
+<p>"May the First Cause smile upon this temporary
+marriage and render it worthy of being made permanent.
+As a lowly servant of the all-powerful First
+Cause I pronounce you two, and you two, husband and
+wife. But we must remember that the dull vision of
+mortal man cannot pierce the veil of futurity, which is
+as crystal to the all-beholding eye of the First Cause.
+Though you love each other truly, unforeseen things
+may come between you to mar the perfection of your
+happiness. Therefore a time is granted you during
+which you may discover whether or not your unions
+are perfect."</p>
+
+<p>A pause ensued, then Tarnan went on:</p>
+
+<p>"Martin Crane, Margaret Spencer, Richard Seaton,
+and Dorothy Vaneman, you are before us to take the
+final vows which shall bind your bodies together for
+life and your spirits together for eternity. Have you
+considered the gravity of this step sufficiently to enter
+into this marriage without reservation?"</p>
+
+<p>"I have," solemnly replied the four, in unison.</p>
+
+<p>"Exchange the jeweled rings. Do you, Richard
+Seaton and Dorothy Vaneman; and you, Martin Crane
+and Margaret Spencer; individually swear, here in the
+presence of the First Cause and that of the Supreme
+Justices of Kondal, that you will be true and loyal, each
+helping his chosen one in all things, great and small;
+that never throughout eternity, in thought or in action,
+will either your body or your mind or your conscious
+spirit stray from the path of fairness and truth and
+honor?"</p>
+
+<p>"I do."</p>
+
+<p>"I pronounce you married with the eternal marriage.
+Just as the faidon which you each now wear&mdash;the
+eternal jewel which no force of man, however applied,
+has yet been able to change or deform in any particular;
+and which continues to give off its inward light
+without change throughout eternity&mdash;shall endure
+through endless cycles of time after the metal of the
+ring which holds it shall have crumbled in decay: even
+so shall your spirits, formerly two, now one and indissoluble,
+progress in ever-ascending evolution throughout
+eternity after the base material which is your bodies
+shall have returned to the senseless dust from whence
+it arose."</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>The Karbix lowered his arms and the bridal party
+walked to the door through a double rank of uplifted
+weapons. From the chapel they were led to
+another room, where the contracting parties signed their
+names in a register. The Kofedix then brought forward
+two marriage certificates&mdash;heavy square plates of
+a brilliant purple metal, beautifully engraved in parallel
+columns of English and Kondalian script, and heavily
+bordered with precious stones. The principals and
+witnesses signed below each column, the signatures being
+deeply engraved by the royal engraver. Leaving
+the registry, they were escorted to the dining hall, where
+a truly royal repast was served. Between courses the
+highest nobles of the nation welcomed the visitors and
+wished them happiness in short but earnest addresses.
+After the last course had been disposed of, the Karbix
+rose at a sign from the Karfedix and spoke, his voice
+again agitated by the emotion which had puzzled his
+hearers during the marriage service.</p>
+
+<p>"All Kondal is with us here in spirit, trying to aid
+us in our poor attempts to convey our welcome to these
+our guests, of whose friendship no greater warrant
+could be given than their willingness to grant us the
+privilege of their marriage. Not only have they given
+us a boon that will make their names revered throughout
+the nation as long as Kondal shall exist, but they
+have also been the means of showing us plainly that
+the First Cause is upon our side, that our age-old
+institution of honor is in truth the only foundation
+upon which can be built a race fitted to survive. At the
+same time they have been the means of showing us
+that our hated foe, entirely without honor, building
+his race upon a foundation of bloodthirsty savagery
+alone, is building wrongly and must perish utterly from
+the face of Osnome."</p>
+
+<p>His hearers listened, impressed by his earnestness,
+but plainly not understanding his meaning.</p>
+
+<p>"You do not understand?" he went on, with a deep<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_627" id="Page_627">[627]</a></span>
+light shining in his eyes. "It is inevitable that two
+peoples inhabiting worlds so widely separated as are
+our two should be possessed of widely-varying knowledge
+and abilities, and these strangers have already
+made it possible for us to construct engines of destruction
+which shall obliterate Mardonale completely...."
+A fierce shout of joy interrupted the speaker and the
+nobles sprang to their feet, saluting the visitors with
+upraised weapons. As soon as they had reseated themselves,
+the Karbix continued:</p>
+
+<p>"That is the boon. The vindication of our system
+of evolution is easily explained. The strangers landed
+first upon Mardonale. Had Nalboon met them in honor,
+he would have gained the boon. But he, with the savagery
+characteristic of his evolution, attempted to kill
+his guests and steal their treasures, with what results
+you already know. We, on our part, in exchange for
+the few and trifling services we have been able to
+render them, have received even more than Nalboon
+would have obtained, had his plans not been nullified
+by their vastly superior state of evolution."</p>
+
+<p>The orator seated himself and there was a deafening
+clamor of cheering as the nobles formed themselves into
+an escort of honor and conducted the two couples to
+their apartments.</p>
+
+<p>Alone in their room, Dorothy turned to her husband
+with tears shining in her beautiful eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"Dick, sweetheart, wasn't that the most wonderful
+thing that anybody ever heard of? Using the word
+in all its real meaning, it was indescribably grand, and
+that old man is simply superb. It makes me ashamed
+of myself to think that I was ever afraid or nervous
+here."</p>
+
+<p>"It sure was all of that, Dottie mine, little bride of
+an hour. The whole thing gets right down to where
+a fellow lives&mdash;I've got a lump in my throat right now
+so big that it hurts me to think. Earthly marriages
+are piffling in comparison with that ceremony. It's
+no wonder they're happy, after taking those vows&mdash;especially
+as they don't have to take them until after
+they are sure of themselves.</p>
+
+<p>"But we're sure already, sweetheart," as he embraced
+her with all the feeling of his nature. "Those vows
+are not a bit stronger than the ones we have already
+exchanged&mdash;bodily and mentally and spiritually we
+are one, now and forever."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII.</h2>
+
+<h3>Bird, Beast, or Fish?</h3>
+
+
+<p>"These jewels rather puzzle me, Dick. What
+are they?" asked Martin, as the four assembled,
+waiting for the first meal. As he spoke he held
+up his third finger, upon which gleamed the royal
+jewel of Osnome in its splendid Belcher mounting of
+arenak as transparent as the jewel itself and having
+the same intense blue color. "I know the name, 'faidon,'
+but that's all I seem to know."</p>
+
+<p>"That's about all that anybody knows about them.
+It is a naturally-occurring, hundred-faceted crystal, just
+as you see it there&mdash;deep blue, perfectly transparent,
+intensely refractive, and constantly emitting that strong,
+blue light. It is so hard that it cannot be worked, cut,
+or ground. No amount of the hardest known abrasive
+will even roughen its surface. No blow, however great,
+will break it&mdash;it merely forces its way into the material
+of the hammer, however hard the hammer may be. No
+extremity of either heat or cold affects it in any degree,
+it is the same when in the most powerful electric arc
+as it is when immersed in liquid helium."</p>
+
+<p>"How about acids?"</p>
+
+<p>"That is what I am asking myself. Osnomians aren't
+much force at chemistry. I'm going to try to get hold
+of another one, and see if I can't analyze it, just for
+fun. I can't seem to convince myself that a real
+atomic structure could be that large."</p>
+
+<p>"No, it is rather large for an atom," and turning to
+the two girls, "How do you like your solitaires?"</p>
+
+<p>"They're perfectly beautiful, and the Tiffany mounting
+is exquisite," replied Dorothy, enthusiastically, "but
+they're so awfully big! They're as big as ten-carat
+diamonds, I do believe."</p>
+
+<p>"Just about," replied Seaton, "but at that, they're
+the smallest Dunark could find. They have been kicking
+around for years, he says&mdash;so small that nobody
+wanted them. They wear big ones on their bracelets,
+you know. You sure will make a hit in Washington,
+Dottie. People will think you're wearing a bottle-stopper
+until they see it shining in the dark, then
+they'll think it's an automobile headlight. But after a
+few jewelers have seen these stones, one of them will
+be offering us five million dollars apiece for them, trying
+to buy them for some dizzy old dame who wants
+to put out the eyes of some of her social rivals. Yes?
+No?"</p>
+
+<p>"That's about right, Dick," replied Crane, and his
+face wore a thoughtful look. "We can't keep it secret
+that we have a new jewel, since all four of us will
+be wearing them continuously, and anyone who knows
+jewels at all will recognize these as infinitely superior
+to any known Earthly jewel. In fact, they may get
+some of us into trouble, as fabulously valuable jewels
+usually do."</p>
+
+<p>"That's true, too. So we'll let it out casually that
+they're as common as mud up here&mdash;that we're just
+wearing them for sentiment, which is true, and that
+we're thinking of bringing back a shipload to sell for
+parking lights."</p>
+
+<p>"That would probably keep anyone from trying to
+murder our wives for their rings, at least."</p>
+
+<p>"Have you read your marriage certificate, Dick?"
+asked Margaret.</p>
+
+<p>"Not yet. Let's look at it, Dottie."</p>
+
+<p>She produced the massive, heavily-jeweled document,
+and the auburn head and the brown one were very
+close to each other as they read together the English
+side of the certificate. Their vows were there, word
+for word, with their own signatures beneath them, all
+deeply engraved into the metal. Seaton smiled as he
+saw the legal form engraved below their signatures,
+and read aloud:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"I, the Head of the Church and the Commander-in-Chief
+of the armed forces of Kondal, upon the planet<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_628" id="Page_628">[628]</a></span>
+Osnome, certify that I have this day, in the city of
+Kondalek, of said nation and planet, joined in indissoluble
+bonds of matrimony, Richard Ballinger Seaton,
+Doctor of Philosophy, and Dorothy Lee Vaneman;
+Doctor of Music; both of the city of Washington,
+District of Columbia, United States of America, upon
+the planet Earth, in strict compliance with the marriage
+laws, both of Kondal and of the United States
+of America.</p>
+
+<p class="citation"><span class="smcap">Tarnan.</span>"</p>
+
+<p>
+Witnesses:<br />
+&nbsp;&nbsp;<span class="smcap">Roban</span>, Emperor of Kondal.<br />
+&nbsp;&nbsp;<span class="smcap">Tural</span>, Empress of Kondal.<br />
+&nbsp;&nbsp;<span class="smcap">Dunark</span>, Crown Prince of Kondal.<br />
+&nbsp;&nbsp;<span class="smcap">Sitar</span>, Crown Princess of Kondal.<br />
+&nbsp;&nbsp;<span class="smcap">Marc C. DuQuesne</span>, Ph. D., Washington, D. C.<br />
+</p></div>
+
+<p>"That is SOME document," remarked Seaton.
+"Probably a lawyer could find fault with his phraseology,
+but I'll bet that this thing would hold in any
+court in the world. Think you'll get married again
+when we get back, Mart?"</p>
+
+<p>Both girls protested, and Crane answered:</p>
+
+<p>"No, I think not. Our ceremony would be rather
+an anticlimax after this one, and this one will undoubtedly
+prove legal. I intend to register this just as
+it is, and get a ruling from the courts. But it is time
+for breakfast. Pardon me&mdash;I should have said 'darprat,'
+for it certainly is not breakfast-time by Washington
+clocks. My watch says that it is eleven-thirty
+P. M."</p>
+
+<p>"This system of time is funny," remarked Dorothy.
+"I just can't get used to having no night, and...."</p>
+
+<p>"And it's such a long time between eats, as the
+famous governor said about the drinks," broke in
+Seaton.</p>
+
+<p>"How did you know what I was going to say, Dick?"</p>
+
+<p>"Husbandly intuition," he grinned, "aided and abetted
+by a normal appetite that rebels at seventeen hours
+between supper and breakfast, and nine hours between
+the other meals. Well, it's time to eat&mdash;let's go!"</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>After eating, the men hurried to the Skylark.
+During the sleeping-period the vessel had been
+banded with the copper repellers: the machine guns
+and instruments, including the wonderful Osnomian
+wireless system, had been installed; and, except for the
+power-bars, she was ready for a voyage. The Kondalian
+vessel was complete, even to the cushions, but
+was without instruments.</p>
+
+<p>After a brief conversation with the officer in charge,
+Dunark turned to Seaton.</p>
+
+<p>"Didn't you find that your springs couldn't stand up
+under the acceleration?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, they flattened out dead."</p>
+
+<p>"The Kolanix Felan, in charge of the work, thought
+so, and substituted our compound-compensated type,
+made of real spring metal, for them. They'll hold you
+through any acceleration you can live through."</p>
+
+<p>"Thanks, that's fine. What's next, instruments?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. I have sent a crew of men to gather up what
+copper they can find&mdash;you know that we use practically
+no metallic copper, as platinum, gold, and silver
+are so much better for ordinary purposes&mdash;and another
+to erect a copper-smelter near one of the mines
+which supply the city with the copper sulphate used
+upon our tables. While they are at work I think I will
+work on the instruments, if you two will be kind
+enough to help me."</p>
+
+<p>Seaton and Crane offered to supply him with instruments
+from their reserve stock, but the Kofedix refused
+to accept them, saying that he would rather have
+their help in making them, so that he would thoroughly
+understand their functions. The electric furnaces were
+rapidly made ready and they set to work; Crane taking
+great delight in working that hitherto rare and very
+refractory metal, iridium, of which all the Kondalian
+instruments were to be made.</p>
+
+<p>"They have a lot of our rare metals here, Dick."</p>
+
+<p>"They sure have. I'd like to set up a laboratory and
+live here a few years&mdash;I'd learn something about my
+specialty or burst. They use gold and silver where we
+use copper, and platinum and its alloys where we use
+iron and soft steel. All their weapons are made of
+iridium, and all their most highly-tempered tools, such
+as their knives, razors, and so on, are made of opaque
+arenak. I suppose you've noticed the edge on your
+razor?"</p>
+
+<p>"How could I help it? It is hard to realize that a
+metal can be so hard that it requires forty years on a
+diamond-dust abrasive machine to hone a razor&mdash;or
+that once honed, it shaves generation after generation
+of men without losing in any degree its keenness."</p>
+
+<p>"I can't understand it, either&mdash;I only know that it's
+so. They have all our heavy metals in great abundance,
+and a lot more that we don't know anything about on
+Earth, but they apparently haven't any light metals at
+all. It must be that Osnome was thrown off the parent
+sun late, so that the light metals were all gone?"</p>
+
+<p>"Something like that, possibly."</p>
+
+<p>The extraordinary skill of the Kofedix made the
+manufacture of the instruments a short task, and after
+Crane had replaced the few broken instruments of the
+Skylark from their reserve stock, they turned their
+attention to the supply of copper that had been gathered.
+They found it enough for only two bars.</p>
+
+<p>"Is this all we have?" asked Dunark, sharply.</p>
+
+<p>"It is, your Highness," replied the Kolanix. "That
+is every scrap of metallic copper in the city."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, well, that'll be enough to last until we can smelt
+the rest," said Seaton. "With one bar apiece we're
+ready for anything Mardonale can start. Let 'em
+come!"</p>
+
+<p>The bars were placed in the containers and both
+vessels were tried out, each making a perfect performance.
+Upon the following kokam, immediately after
+the first meal, the full party from the Earth boarded
+the Skylark and accompanied the Kofedix to the copper
+smelter. Dunark himself directed the work of
+preparing the charges and the molds, though he was
+continually being interrupted by wireless messages in
+code and by messengers bearing tidings too important
+to trust into the air.</p>
+
+<p>"I hope you will excuse all of these delays," said<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_629" id="Page_629">[629]</a></span>
+Dunark, after the twentieth interruption, "but...."</p>
+
+<p>"That's all right, Dunark. We know that you're a
+busy man."</p>
+
+<p>"I can tell you about it, but I wouldn't want to tell
+many people. With the salt you gave us, I am preparing
+a power-plant that will enable us to blow Mardonale
+into...."</p>
+
+<p>He broke off as a wireless call for help sounded.
+All listened intently, learning that a freight-plane was
+being pursued by a karlon a few hundred miles away.</p>
+
+<p>"Now's the time for you to study one, Dunark!" Seaton
+exclaimed. "Get your gang of scientists out here
+while we go get him and drag him in!"</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>As Dunark sent the message, the Skylark's people
+hurried aboard, and Seaton drove the vessel
+toward the calls for help. With its great speed it
+reached the monster before the plane was overtaken.
+Focusing the attractor upon the enormous metallic beak
+of the karlon, Seaton threw on the power and the beast
+halted in midair as it was jerked backward and upward.
+As it saw the puny size of the attacking Skylark, it
+opened its cavernous mouth in a horrible roar and
+rushed at full speed. Seaton, unwilling to have the
+repellers stripped from the vessel, turned on the current
+actuating them. The karlon was hurled backward to
+the point of equilibrium of the two forces, where it
+struggled demoniacally.</p>
+
+<p>Seaton carried his captive back to the smelter, where
+finally, by judicious pushing and pulling, he succeeded
+in turning the monster flat upon its back and pinning
+it to the ground in spite of its struggles to escape.</p>
+
+<p>Soon the scientists arrived and studied the animal
+thoroughly, at as close a range as its flailing arms
+permitted.</p>
+
+<p>"I wish we could kill him without blowing him to
+bits," wirelessed Dunark. "Do you know any way of
+doing it?"</p>
+
+<p>"We could if we had a few barrels of ether, or some
+of our own poison gases, but they are all unknown here
+and it would take a long time to build the apparatus to
+make them. I'll see if I can't tire him out and get
+him that way as soon as you've studied him enough.
+We may be able to find out where he lives, too."</p>
+
+<p>The scientists having finished their observations, Seaton
+jerked the animal a few miles into the air and shut
+off the forces acting upon it. There was a sudden
+crash, and the karlon, knowing that this apparently
+insignificant vessel was its master, turned in headlong
+flight.</p>
+
+<p>"Have you any idea what caused the noise just then,
+Dick?" asked Crane; who, with characteristic imperturbability,
+had taken out his notebook and was making
+exact notes of all that transpired.</p>
+
+<p>"I imagine we cracked a few of his plates," replied
+Seaton with a laugh, as he held the Skylark in place
+a few hundred feet above the fleeing animal.</p>
+
+<p>Pitted for the first time in its life against an antagonist,
+who could both outfly and outfight it, the karlon
+redoubled its efforts and fled in a panic of fear. It
+flew back over the city of Kondalek, over the outlying
+country, and out over the ocean, still followed easily
+by the Skylark. As they neared the Mardonalian border,
+a fleet of warships rose to contest the entry of the
+monster. Seaton, not wishing to let the foe see the
+rejuvenated Skylark, jerked his captive high into the
+thin air. As soon as it was released, it headed for
+the ocean in an almost perpendicular dive, while Seaton
+focused an object-compass upon it.</p>
+
+<p>"Go to it, old top," he addressed the plunging monster.
+"We'll follow you clear to the bottom of the
+ocean if you go that far!"</p>
+
+<p>There was a mighty double splash as the karlon
+struck the water, closely followed by the Skylark.
+The girls gasped as the vessel plunged below the surface
+at such terrific speed, and seemed surprised that it had
+suffered no injury and that they had felt no jar. Seaton
+turned on the powerful searchlights and kept close
+enough so that he could see the monster through the
+transparent walls. Deeper and deeper the quarry dove,
+until it was plainly evident to the pursuers that it was
+just as much at home in the water as it was in the air.
+The beams of the lights revealed strange forms of life,
+among which were huge, staring-eyed fishes, which
+floundered about blindly in the unaccustomed glare.
+As the karlon bored still deeper, the living things became
+scarcer, but still occasional fleeting glimpses were
+obtained of the living nightmares which inhabited the
+oppressive depths of these strange seas. Continuing
+downward, the karlon plumbed the nethermost pit of
+the ocean and came to rest upon the bottom, stirring
+up a murk of ooze.</p>
+
+<p>"How deep are we, Mart?"</p>
+
+<p>"About four miles. I have read the pressure, but
+will have to calculate later exactly what depth it represents,
+from the gravity and density readings."</p>
+
+<p>As the animal showed no sign of leaving its retreat,
+Seaton pulled it out with the attractor and it broke for
+the surface. Rising through the water at full speed,
+it burst into the air and soared upward to such an
+incredible height that Seaton was amazed.</p>
+
+<p>"I wouldn't have believed that anything could fly
+in air this thin!" he exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>"It is thin up here," assented Crane. "Less than
+three pounds to the square inch. I wonder how he
+does it?"</p>
+
+<p>"It doesn't look as though we are ever going to find
+out&mdash;he's sure a bear-cat!" replied Seaton, as the karlon,
+unable to ascend further, dropped in a slanting
+dive toward the lowlands of Kondal&mdash;the terrible,
+swampy region covered with poisonous vegetation and
+inhabited by frightful animals and even more frightful
+savages. The monster neared the ground with ever-increasing
+speed. Seaton, keeping close behind it, remarked
+to Crane:</p>
+
+<p>"He'll have to flatten out pretty quick, or he'll burst
+something, sure."</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>But it did not flatten out. It struck the soft ground
+head foremost and disappeared, its tentacles apparently
+boring a way ahead of it.</p>
+
+<p>Astonished at such an unlooked-for development,
+Seaton brought the Skylark to a stop and stabbed into
+the ground with the attractor. The first attempt<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_630" id="Page_630">[630]</a></span>
+brought up nothing but a pillar of muck, the second
+brought to light a couple of wings and one writhing
+arm, the third brought the whole animal, still struggling
+as strongly as it had in the first contest. Seaton
+again lifted the animal high into the air.</p>
+
+<p>"If he does that again, we'll follow him."</p>
+
+<p>"Will the ship stand it?" asked DuQuesne, with
+interest.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. The old bus wouldn't have, but this one can
+stand anything. We can go anywhere that thing can,
+that's a cinch. If we have enough power on, we probably
+won't even feel a jolt when we strike ground."</p>
+
+<p>Seaton reduced the force acting upon the animal
+until just enough was left to keep the attractor upon it,
+and it again dived into the swamp. The Skylark followed,
+feeling its way in the total darkness, until the
+animal stopped, refusing to move in any direction, at
+a depth estimated by Crane to be about three-quarters
+of a mile. After waiting some time Seaton increased
+the power of the attractor and tore the karlon back
+to the surface and into the air, where it turned on the
+Skylark with redoubled fury.</p>
+
+<p>"We've dug him out of his last refuge and he's
+fighting like a cornered rat," said Seaton as he repelled
+the monster to a safe distance. "He's apparently as
+fresh as when he started, in spite of all this playing.
+Talk about a game fish! He doesn't intend to run
+any more, though, so I guess we'll have to put him
+away. It's a shame to bump him off, but it's got to
+be done."</p>
+
+<p>Crane aimed one of the heavy X-plosive bullets at
+the savagely-struggling monster, and the earth rocked
+with the concussion as the shell struck its mark. They
+hurried back to the smelter, where Dunark asked
+eagerly:</p>
+
+<p>"What did you find out about it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing much," replied Seaton, and in a few words
+described the actions of the karlon. "What did your
+savants think of it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Very little that any of us can understand in terms
+of any other known organism. It seems to combine
+all the characteristics of bird, beast, and fish, and to
+have within itself the possibilities of both bisexual and
+asexual reproduction."</p>
+
+<p>"I wouldn't doubt it&mdash;it's a queer one, all right."</p>
+
+<p>The copper bars were cool enough to handle, and
+the Skylark was loaded with five times its original
+supply of copper, the other vessel taking on a much
+smaller amount. After the Kofedix had directed the
+officer in charge to place the remaining bars in easily-accessible
+places throughout the nation, the two vessels
+were piloted back to the palace, arriving just in time
+for the last meal of the kokam.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, Dunark," said Seaton after the meal was
+over, "I'm afraid that we must go back as soon as we
+can. Dorothy's parents and Martin's bankers will think
+they are dead by this time. We should start right now,
+but...."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, no, you must not do that. That would rob
+our people of the chance of bidding you goodbye."</p>
+
+<p>"There's another reason, too. I have a mighty big
+favor to ask of you."</p>
+
+<p>"It is granted. If man can do it, consider it done."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, you know platinum is a very scarce and highly
+useful metal with us. I wonder if you could let us have
+a few tons of it? And I would like to have another
+faidon, too&mdash;I want to see if I can't analyze it."</p>
+
+<p>"You have given us a thousand times the value of
+all the platinum and all the jewels your vessel can carry.
+As soon as the foundries are open tomorrow we will
+go and load up your store-rooms&mdash;or, if you wish, we
+will do it now."</p>
+
+<p>"That isn't necessary. We may as well enjoy your
+hospitality for one more sleeping-period, get the platinum
+during the first work-period, and bid you goodbye
+just before the second meal. How would that be?"</p>
+
+<p>"Perfectly satisfactory."</p>
+
+<p>The following kokam, Dunark piloted the Skylark,
+with Seaton, Crane, and DuQuesne as crew, to one of
+the great platinum foundries. The girls remained behind
+to get ready for their departure, and for the great
+ceremony which was to precede it. The trip to the
+foundry was a short one, and the three scientists of
+Earth stared at what they saw&mdash;thousands of tons of
+platinum, cast into bars and piled up like pig-iron,
+waiting to be made into numerous articles of every-day
+use throughout the nation. Dunark wrote out an order,
+which his chief attendant handed to the officer in charge
+of the foundry, saying:</p>
+
+<p>"Please have it loaded at once."</p>
+
+<p>Seaton indicated the storage compartment into which
+the metal was to be carried, and a procession of slaves,
+two men staggering under one ingot, was soon formed
+between the pile and the storage room.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>"How much are you loading on, Dunark?" asked
+Seaton, when the large compartment was more
+than half full.</p>
+
+<p>"My order called for about twenty tons, in your
+weight, but I changed it later&mdash;we may as well fill that
+room full, so that the metal will not rattle around in
+flight. It doesn't make any difference to us, we have
+so much of it. It is like your gift of the salt, only
+vastly smaller."</p>
+
+<p>"What are you going to do with it all, Dick?" asked
+Crane. "That is enough to break the platinum market
+completely."</p>
+
+<p>"That's exactly what I'm going to do," returned
+Seaton, with a gleam in his gray eyes. "I'm going to
+burst this unjustifiable fad for platinum jewelry so wide
+open that it'll never recover, and make platinum again
+available for its proper uses, in laboratories and in the
+industries.</p>
+
+<p>"You know yourself," he rushed on hotly, "that the
+only reason platinum is used at all for jewelry is that
+it is expensive. It isn't nearly so handsome as either
+gold or silver, and if it wasn't the most costly common
+metal we have, the jewelry-wearing crowd wouldn't
+touch it with a ten-foot pole. Useless as an ornament,
+it is the one absolutely indispensable laboratory metal,
+and literally hundreds of laboratories that need it can't
+have it because over half the world's supply is tied
+up in jeweler's windows and in useless baubles. Then,
+too, it is the best thing known for contact points in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_631" id="Page_631">[631]</a></span>
+electrical machinery. When the Government and all
+the scientific societies were abjectly begging the jewelers
+to let loose a little of it they refused&mdash;they were selling
+it to profiteering spendthrifts at a hundred and fifty
+dollars an ounce. The condition isn't much better right
+now; it's a vicious circle. As long as the price stays
+high it will be used for jewelry, and as long as it is
+used for jewelry the price will stay high, and scientists
+will have to fight the jewelers for what little they get."</p>
+
+<p>"While somewhat exaggerated, that is about the way
+matters stand. I will admit that I, too, am rather bitter
+on the subject," said Crane.</p>
+
+<p>"Bitter? Of course you're bitter. Everybody is who
+knows anything about science and who has a brain in
+his head. Anybody who claims to be a scientist and yet
+stands for any of his folks buying platinum jewelry
+ought to be shot. But they'll get theirs as soon as we
+get back. They wouldn't let go of it before, they had
+too good a thing, but they'll let go now, and get their
+fingers burned besides. I'm going to dump this whole
+shipment at fifty cents a pound, and we'll take mighty
+good care that jewelers don't corner the supply."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm with you, Dick, as usual."</p>
+
+<p>Soon the storage room was filled to the ceiling with
+closely-stacked ingots of the precious metal, and the
+Skylark was driven back to the landing dock. She
+alighted beside Dunark's vessel, the <i>Kondal</i>, whose
+gorgeously-decorated crew of high officers sprang
+to attention as the four men stepped out. All were
+dressed for the ceremonial leave-taking, the three Americans
+wearing their spotless white, the Kondalians wearing
+their most resplendent trappings.</p>
+
+<p>"This formal stuff sure does pull my cork!" exclaimed
+Seaton to Dunark. "I want to get this straight.
+The arrangement was that we were to be here at this
+time, all dressed up, and wait for the ladies, who are
+coming under the escort of your people?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. Our family is to escort the ladies from the
+palace here. As they leave the elevator the surrounding
+war-vessels will salute, and after a brief ceremony you
+two will escort your wives into the Skylark, Doctor
+DuQuesne standing a little apart and following you in.
+The war-vessels will escort you as high as they can go,
+and the Kondal will accompany you as far as our most
+distant sun before turning back."</p>
+
+<p>For a few moments Seaton nervously paced a short
+beat in front of the door of the space-car.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm getting more fussed every second," he said
+abruptly, taking out his wireless instrument. "I'm
+going to see if they aren't about ready."</p>
+
+<p>"What seems to be the trouble, Dick? Have you
+another hunch, or are you just rattled?" asked Crane.</p>
+
+<p>"Rattled, I guess, but I sure do want to get going,"
+he replied, as he worked the lever rapidly.</p>
+
+<p>"Dottie," he sent out, and, the call being answered,
+"How long will you be? We're all ready and waiting,
+chewing our finger-nails with impatience."</p>
+
+<p>"We'll soon be ready. The Karfedix is coming for
+us now."</p>
+
+<p>Scarcely had the tiny sounder become silent when
+the air was shaken by an urgently-vibrated message,
+and every wireless sounder gave warning.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII</h2>
+
+<h3>The Invasion</h3>
+
+
+<p>The pulsating air and the chattering sounders
+were giving the same dire warning, the alarm
+extraordinary of invasion, of imminent and catastrophic
+danger from the air.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't try to reach the palace. Everyone on the
+ground will have time enough to hide in the deep,
+arenak-protected pits beneath the buildings, and you
+would be killed by the invaders long before you could
+reach the palace. If we can repel the enemy and keep
+them from landing, the women will be perfectly safe,
+even though the whole city is destroyed. If they effect
+a landing we are lost."</p>
+
+<p>"They'll not land, then," Seaton answered grimly, as
+he sprang into the Skylark and took his place at the
+board. As Crane took out his wireless, Seaton cautioned
+him.</p>
+
+<p>"Send in English, and tell the girls not to answer, as
+these devils can locate the calls within a foot and will
+be able to attack the right spot. Just tell them we're
+safe in the Skylark. Tell them to sit tight while we
+wipe out this gang that is coming, and that we'll call
+them, once in a while, when we have time, during the
+battle."</p>
+
+<p>Before Crane had finished sending the message the
+crescendo whine of enormous propellers was heard.
+Simultaneously there was a deafening concussion and
+one entire wing of the palace disappeared in a cloud of
+dust, in the midst of which could be discerned a few
+flying fragments. The air was filled with Mardonalian
+warships. They were huge vessels, each mounting
+hundreds of guns, and the rain of high-explosive shells
+was rapidly reducing the great city to a wide-spread
+heap of debris.</p>
+
+<p>Seaton's hand was upon the lever which would hurl
+the Skylark upward into the fray. Crane and DuQuesne,
+each hard of eye and grim of jaw, were stationed
+at their machine-guns.</p>
+
+<p>"Something's up!" exclaimed Seaton. "Look at the
+Kondal!"</p>
+
+<p>Something had happened indeed. Dunark sat at
+the board, his hand upon the power lever, and each
+of his crew was in place, grasping his weapon, but
+every man was writhing in agony, unable to control his
+movements. As they stared, momentarily spellbound,
+the entire crew ceased their agonized struggles and
+hung, apparently lifeless, from their supports.</p>
+
+<p>"They've got to 'em some way&mdash;let's go!" yelled
+Seaton.</p>
+
+<p>As his hand tightened upon the lever, a succession
+of shells burst upon the dock, wrecking it completely,
+all three men fancied that the world had come to an
+end as the stream of high explosive was directed against
+their vessel. But the four-foot shell of arenak was
+impregnable, and Seaton shot the Skylark upward into
+the midst of the enemy fleet. The two gunners fired
+as fast as they could sight their weapons, and with each
+shot one of the great warships was blown into fragments.
+The Mardonalians then concentrated the fire
+of their entire fleet upon their tiny opponent.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_632" id="Page_632">[632]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>From every point of the compass, from above and
+below, the enemy gunners directed streams of shells
+against the dodging vessel. The noise was more than
+deafening, it was one continuous, shattering explosion,
+and the Earth-men were surrounded by such a blaze of
+fire from the exploding shells that they could not see
+the enemy vessels. Seaton sought to dodge the shells
+by a long dive toward one side, only to find that dozens
+of new opponents had been launched against them&mdash;the
+deadly airplane-torpedoes of Osnome. Steered by
+wireless and carrying no crews, they were simply
+winged bombs carrying thousands of pounds of terrific
+electrical explosive&mdash;enough to kill the men inside
+the vessel by the concussion of the explosion, even
+should the arenak armor be strong enough to withstand
+the blow. Though much faster than the Osnomian
+vessels, they were slow beside the Skylark, and Seaton
+could have dodged a few of them with ease. As he
+dodged, however, they followed relentlessly, and in
+spite of those which were blown up by the gunners,
+their number constantly increased until Seaton thought
+of the repellers.</p>
+
+<p>"'Nobody Holme' is right!" he exclaimed, as he
+threw on the power actuating the copper bands which
+encircled the hull in all directions. Instantly the torpedoes
+were hurled backward, exploding as the force
+struck them, and even the shells were ineffective, exploding
+harmlessly, as they encountered the zone of
+force. The noise of the awful detonations lessened
+markedly.</p>
+
+<p>"Why the silence, I wonder?" asked Seaton, while
+the futile shells of the enemy continued to waste their
+force some hundreds of feet distant from their goal,
+and while Crane and DuQuesne were methodically destroying
+the huge vessels as fast as they could aim and
+fire. At every report one of the monster warships
+disappeared&mdash;its shattered fragments and the bodies of
+its crew hurtling to the ground. His voice could not
+be heard in even the lessened tumult, but he continued:</p>
+
+<p>"It must be that our repellers have set up a partial
+vacuum by repelling even the air!"</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>Suddenly the shelling ceased and the Skylark
+was enveloped by a blinding glare from hundreds
+of great reflectors; an intense, searching, bluish-violet
+light that burned the flesh and seared through eyelids
+and eyeballs into the very brain.</p>
+
+<p>"Ultra-violet!" yelled Seaton at the first glimpse of
+the light, as he threw on the power. "Shut your eyes!
+Turn your heads down!"</p>
+
+<p>Out in space, far beyond reach of the deadly rays, the
+men held a short conference, then donned heavy leather-and-canvas
+suits, which they smeared liberally with
+thick red paint, and replaced the plain glasses of their
+helmets with heavy lenses of deep ruby glass.</p>
+
+<p>"This'll stop any ultra-violet ray ever produced,"
+exulted Seaton, as he again threw the vessel into the
+Mardonalian fleet. A score of the great vessels met
+their fate before the Skylark was located, and, although
+the terrible rays were again focused upon the intruder
+in all their intensity, the carnage continued.</p>
+
+<p>In a few minutes, however, the men heard, or rather
+felt, a low, intense vibration, like a silent wave of sound&mdash;a
+vibration which smote upon the eardrums as no
+possible sound could smite, a vibration which racked
+the joints and tortured the nerves as though the whole
+body were disintegrating. So sudden and terrible was
+the effect that Seaton uttered an involuntary yelp of
+surprise and pain as he once more fled into the safety
+of space.</p>
+
+<p>"What the devil was that?" demanded DuQuesne.
+"Was it infra-sound? I didn't suppose such waves
+could be produced."</p>
+
+<p>"Infra-sound is right. They produce most anything
+here," replied Seaton, and Crane added:</p>
+
+<p>"Well, about three fur suits apiece, with cotton in
+our ears, ought to kill any wave propagated through
+air."</p>
+
+<p>The fur suits were donned forthwith, Seaton whispering
+in Crane's ear:</p>
+
+<p>"I've found out something else, too. The repellers
+repel even the air. I'm going to shoot enough juice
+through them to set up a perfect vacuum outside.
+That'll kill those air-waves."</p>
+
+<p>Scarcely were they back within range of the fleet
+when DuQuesne, reaching for his gun to fire the first
+shot, leaped backward with a yell.</p>
+
+<p>"Beat it!"</p>
+
+<p>Once more at a safe distance, DuQuesne explained.</p>
+
+<p>"It's lucky I'm so used to handling hot stuff that from
+force of habit I never make close contact with anything
+at the first touch. That gun carried thousands of volts,
+with lots of amperage behind them, and if I had had
+a good hold on it I couldn't have let go. We'll block
+that game quick enough, though. Thick, dry gloves
+covered with rubber are all that is necessary. It's a
+good thing for all of us that you have those fancy condensite
+handles on your levers, Seaton."</p>
+
+<p>"That was how they got Dunark, undoubtedly," said
+Crane, as he sent a brief message to the girls, assuring
+them that all was well, as he had been doing at every
+respite. "But why were we not overcome at the same
+time?"</p>
+
+<p>"They must have had the current tuned to iridium,
+and had to experiment until they found the right wave
+for steel," Seaton explained.</p>
+
+<p>"I should think our bar would have exploded, with
+all that current. They must have hit the copper range,
+too?"</p>
+
+<p>Seaton frowned in thought before he answered.</p>
+
+<p>"Maybe because it's induced current, and not a steady
+battery impulse. Anyway, it didn't. Let's go!"</p>
+
+<p>"Just a minute," put in Crane. "What are they going
+to do next, Dick?"</p>
+
+<p>"Search me. I'm not used to my new Osnomian
+mind yet. I recognize things all right after they happen,
+but I can't seem to figure ahead&mdash;it's like a dimly-remembered
+something that flashes up as soon as mentioned.
+I get too many and too new ideas at once. I
+know, though, that the Osnomians have defenses against
+all these things except this last stunt of the charged
+guns. That must be the new one that Mardonale stole
+from Kondal. The defenses are, however, purely Osnomian
+in character and material. As we haven't got<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_633" id="Page_633">[633]</a></span>
+the stuff to set them up as the Osnomians do, we'll
+have to do it our own way. We may be able to dope
+out the next one, though. Let's see, what have they
+given us so far?"</p>
+
+<p>"We've got to hand it to them," responded DuQuesne,
+admiringly. "They're giving us the whole range of
+wave-lengths, one at a time. They've given us light,
+both ultra-violet and visible, sound, infra-sound, and
+electricity&mdash;I don't know what's left unless they give
+us a new kind of X-rays, or Hertzian, or infra-red
+heat waves, or...."</p>
+
+<p>"That's it, heat!" exclaimed Seaton. <ins class="corr" title="Transcriber's Note: Double quote mark inserted.">"</ins>They produce
+heat by means of powerful wave-generators and by
+setting up heavy induced currents in the armor. They
+can melt arenak that way."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you suppose we can handle the heat with our
+refrigerators?" asked Crane.</p>
+
+<p>"Probably. We have a lot of power, and the new
+arenak cylinders of our compressors will stand anything.
+The only trouble will be in cooling the condensers.
+We'll run as long as we have any water in
+our tanks, then go dive into the ocean to cool off. We'll
+try it a whirl, anyway."</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>Soon the Skylark was again dealing out death and
+destruction in the thick of the enemy vessels, who
+again turned from the devastation of the helpless city
+to destroy this troublesome antagonist. But in spite of
+the utmost efforts of light-waves, sound-waves, and
+high-tension electricity, the space-car continued to take
+its terrible toll. As Seaton had foretold, the armor
+of the Skylark began to grow hot, and he turned on the
+full power of the refrigerating system. In spite of
+the cooling apparatus, however, the outer walls finally
+began to glow redly, and, although the interior was
+comfortably cool, the ends of the rifle-barrels, which
+were set flush with the surface of the revolving arenak
+globes which held them, softened, rendering the guns
+useless. The copper repellers melted and dripped off
+in flaming balls of molten metal, so that shells once
+more began to crash against the armor. DuQuesne,
+with no thought of quitting apparent in voice or manner,
+said calmly:</p>
+
+<p>"Well, it looks as though they had us stopped for a
+few minutes. Let's go back into space and dope out
+something else."</p>
+
+<p>Seaton, thinking intensely, saw a vast fleet of enemy
+reinforcements approaching, and at the same time received
+a wireless call directed to Dunark. It was from
+the grand fleet of Kondal, hastening from the bordering
+ocean to the defense of the city. Using Dunark's
+private code, Seaton told the Karbix, who was in charge
+of the fleet, that the enemy had a new invention which
+would wipe them out utterly without a chance to fight,
+and that he and his vessel were in control of the situation;
+and ordered him to see that no Kondalian ship
+came within battle range of a Mardonalian. He then
+turned to Crane and DuQuesne, his face grim and his
+fighting jaw set.</p>
+
+<p>"I've got it doped right now. Give the Lark speed
+enough and she's some bullet herself. We've got four
+feet of arenak, they've got only an inch, and arenak
+doesn't even begin to soften until far above a blinding
+white temperature. Strap yourselves in solid, for it's
+going to be a rough party from now on."</p>
+
+<p>They buckled their belts firmly, and Seaton, holding
+the bar toward their nearest antagonist, applied twenty
+notches of power. The Skylark darted forward and
+crashed completely through the great airship. Torn
+wide open by the forty-foot projectile, its engines
+wrecked and its helicopter-screws and propellers completely
+disabled, the helpless hulk plunged through two
+miles of empty air, a mass of wreckage.</p>
+
+<div class="center"><div class="figcenter" style="width: 427px;">
+<img src="images/062.png" width="427" height="600" alt="The Skylark Strikes Back." title="The Skylark Strikes Back." />
+<span class="caption">The Skylark darted forward and crashed completely through the great airship.... She was an embodied
+thunderbolt; a huge, irresistible, indestructible projectile, directed by a keen brain inside....</span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Darting hither and thither, the space-car tore through
+vessel after vessel of the Mardonalian fleet. She was
+an embodied thunderbolt; a huge, irresistible, indestructible
+projectile, directed by a keen brain inside it&mdash;the
+brain of Richard Seaton, roused to his highest fighting
+pitch and fighting for everything that man holds
+dear. Tortured by the terrible silent waves, which, now
+that the protecting vacuum had been destroyed, were
+only partially stopped by the fur suits; shaken and
+battered by the terrific impacts and the even greater
+shocks occurring every second as the direction of the
+vessel was changed; made sick and dizzy by the nauseating
+swings and lurches as the Skylark spun about
+the central chamber; Seaton's wonderful physique and
+his nerves of steel stood him in good stead in this, the
+supreme battle of his life, as with teeth tight-locked and
+eyes gray and hard as the fracture of high-carbon steel,
+he urged the Skylark on to greater and greater efforts.</p>
+
+<p>Though it was impossible for the eye to follow the
+flight of the space-car, the mechanical sighting devices
+of the Mardonalian vessels kept her in as perfect focus
+as though she were stationary, and the great generators
+continued to hurl into her the full power of their death-dealing
+waves. The enemy guns were still spitting
+forth their streams of high-explosive shells, but unlike
+the waves, the shells moved so slowly compared to
+their target that only a few found their mark, and
+many of the vessels fell to the ground, riddled by the
+shells of their sister-ships.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>With anxious eyes Seaton watched the hull of his
+animated cannon-ball change in color. From dull
+red it became cherry, and as the cherry red gave place
+to bright red heat, Seaton threw even more power into
+the bar as he muttered through his set teeth:</p>
+
+<p>"Well, Seaton, old top, you've got to cut out this
+loafing on the job and get busy!"</p>
+
+<p>In spite of his utmost exertions and in spite of the
+powerful ammonia plant, now exerting its full capacity,
+but sadly handicapped by the fact that its cooling-water
+was now boiling, Seaton saw the arenak shell continue
+to heat. The bright red was succeeded by orange,
+which slowly changed, first to yellow, then to light
+yellow, and finally to a dazzling white; through which,
+with the aid of his heavy red lenses, he could still see
+the enemy ships. After a time he noted that the color
+had gone down to yellow and he thrilled with exultation,
+knowing that he had so reduced the numbers of
+the enemy fleet that their wave-generators could no
+longer overcome his refrigerators. After a few minutes
+more of the awful carnage there remained only a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_634" id="Page_634">[634]</a></span>
+small fraction of the proud fleet which, thousands
+strong, had invaded Kondal&mdash;a remnant that sought
+safety in flight. But even in flight, they still fought
+with all their weapons, and the streams of bombs
+dropped from their keel-batteries upon the country
+beneath marked the path of their retreat with a wide
+swath of destruction. Half inclined to let the few
+remaining vessels escape, Seaton's mind changed instantly
+as he saw the bombs spreading devastation upon
+the countryside, and not until the last of the Mardonalian
+vessels had been destroyed did he drop the Skylark
+into the area of ruins which had once been the
+palace grounds, beside the Kondal, which was still lying
+as it had fallen.</p>
+
+<p>After several attempts to steady their whirling senses,
+the three men finally were able to walk, and, opening
+a door, they leaped out through the opening in the still
+glowing wall. Seaton's first act was to wireless the
+news to Dorothy, who replied that they were coming
+as fast as they could. The men then removed their
+helmets, revealing faces pale and drawn, and turned
+to the helpless space-car.</p>
+
+<p>"There's no way of getting into this thing from the
+outside...." Seaton began, when he saw that the Kofedix
+and his party were beginning to revive. Soon
+Dunark opened the door and stumbled out.</p>
+
+<p>"I have to thank you for more than my life this
+time," he said, his voice shaken by uncontrollable emotion
+as he grasped the hands of all three men. "Though
+unable to move, I was conscious and saw all that happened&mdash;you
+kept them so busy that they didn't have a
+chance to give us enough to kill us outright. You have
+saved the lives of millions of our nation and have saved
+Kondal itself from annihilation."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, it's not that bad," answered Seaton, uncomfortably.
+"Both nations have been invaded before."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes&mdash;once when we developed the ultra-violet ray,
+once when Mardonale perfected the machine for producing
+the silent sound-wave, and again when we harnessed
+the heat-wave. But this would have been the
+most complete disaster in history. The other inventions
+were not so deadly as was this one, and there were terrible
+battles, from which the victors emerged so crippled
+that they could not completely exterminate the vanquished,
+who were able to re-establish themselves in the
+course of time. If it had not been for you, this would
+have been the end, as not a Kondalian soldier could
+move&mdash;any person touching iridium was helpless and
+would have been killed."</p>
+
+<p>He ceased speaking and saluted as the Karfedix and
+his party rounded a heap of boulders. Dorothy and
+Margaret screamed in unison as they saw the haggard
+faces of their husbands, and saw their suits, dripping
+with a thick substance which they knew to be red, in
+spite of its purplish-black color. Seaton dodged nimbly
+as Dorothy sought to take him in her arms, and tore off
+his suit.</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing but red paint to stop their light-rays," he
+reassured her as he lifted her clear from the ground in
+a soul-satisfying embrace. Out of the corner of his
+eye he saw the Kondalians staring in open-mouthed
+amazement at the Skylark. Wheeling swiftly, he
+laughed as he saw a gigantic ball of frost and snow!
+Again donning his fur suit, he shut off the refrigerators
+and returned to his party, where the Karfedix gave him
+thanks in measured terms. As he fell silent, Dunark
+added:</p>
+
+<p>"Thanks to you, the Mardonalian forces, instead of
+wiping us out, are themselves destroyed, while only
+a handful of our vessels have been lost, since the grand
+fleet could not arrive until the battle was over, and
+since the vessels that would have thrown themselves
+away were saved by your orders, which I heard. Thanks
+to you, we are not even crippled, though our capital is
+destroyed and the lives of some unfortunates, who
+could not reach the pits in time, have probably been
+lost.</p>
+
+<p>"Thanks to you," he continued in a ringing voice,
+"and to the salt and the new source of power you have
+given us, Mardonale shall now be destroyed utterly!"</p>
+
+<p>After sending out ships to relieve the suffering of
+the few wounded and the many homeless, Dunark summoned
+a corps of mechanics, who banded on new repellers
+and repaired the fused barrels of the machine-guns,
+all that was necessary to restore the Skylark to
+perfect condition.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>Facing the party from Earth, the Karfedix stood
+in the ruins of his magnificent palace. Back of him
+were the nobles of Kondal, and still further back, in
+order of rank, stood a multitude of people.</p>
+
+<p>"Is it permitted, oh noble Karfedo, that I reward
+your captive for his share in the victory?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"It is," acquiesced Seaton and Crane, and Roban
+stepped up to DuQuesne and placed in his hand a
+weighty leather bag. He then fastened about his left
+wrist the Order of Kondal, the highest order of the
+nation.</p>
+
+<p>He then clasped about Crane's wrist a heavily-jeweled,
+peculiarly-ornamented disk wrought of a deep
+ruby-red metal, supported by a heavy bracelet of the
+same material, the most precious metal of Osnome.
+At sight of the disk the nobles saluted and Seaton barely
+concealed a start of surprise, for it bore the royal emblem
+and delegated to its bearer power second only to
+that of the Karfedix himself.</p>
+
+<p>"I bestow upon you this symbol, Karfedix Crane, in
+recognition of what you have this day done for Kondal.
+Wherever you may be upon Kondalian Osnome, which
+from this day henceforth shall be all Osnome, you have
+power as my personal representative, as my eldest son."</p>
+
+<p>He drew forth a second bracelet, similar to the first
+except that it bore seven disks, each differently designed,
+which he snapped upon Seaton's wrist as the nobles
+knelt and the people back of them threw themselves
+upon their faces.</p>
+
+<p>"No language spoken by man possesses words sufficiently
+weighty to express our indebtedness to you, Karfedix
+Seaton, our guest and our savior. The First
+Cause has willed that you should be the instrument
+through which Kondal is this day made supreme upon
+Osnome.</p>
+
+<p>In small and partial recognition of that instrumentality,
+I bestow upon you these symbols, which proclaim<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_635" id="Page_635">[635]</a></span>
+you our overlord, the ultimate authority of Osnome.</p>
+
+<p>While this is not the way in which I had thought
+to bid you farewell, the obligations which you have
+heaped upon us render all smaller things insignificant.
+When you return, as I hope and trust you soon will,
+the city shall be built anew and we can welcome you as
+befits your station."</p>
+
+<p>Lifting both arms above his head he continued:</p>
+
+<p>"May the great First Cause smile upon you in all
+your endeavors until you solve the Mystery: may your
+descendants soon reach the Ultimate Goal. Goodbye."</p>
+
+<p>Seaton uttered a few heartfelt words in response and
+the party stepped backward toward the Skylark. As
+they reached the vessel the standing Karfedix and the
+ranks of kneeling nobles snapped into the double salute&mdash;truly
+a rare demonstration in Kondal.</p>
+
+<p>"What'll we do now?" whispered Seaton.</p>
+
+<p>"Bow, of course," answered Dorothy.</p>
+
+<p>They bowed, deeply and slowly, and entered their
+vessel. As the Skylark shot into the air with the greatest
+acceleration that would permit its passengers to
+move about, the grand fleet of Kondalian warship fired
+a deafening salute.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>It had been planned before the start that each person
+was to work sixteen hours out of the twenty-four.
+Seaton was to drive the vessel during the first two
+eight-hour periods of each day. Crane was to observe
+the stars during the second and to drive during the
+third. DuQuesne was to act as observer during the
+first and third periods. Margaret had volunteered to
+assist the observer in taking his notes during her waking
+hours, and Dorothy appointed herself cook and
+household manager.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as the Skylark had left Osnome, Crane told
+DuQuesne that he and his wife would work in the
+observation room until four o'clock in the afternoon,
+at which time the prearranged system of relief would
+begin, and DuQuesne retired to his room.</p>
+
+<p>Crane and Margaret made their way to the darkened
+room which housed the instruments and seated themselves,
+watching intently and making no effort to conceal
+their emotion as first the persons beneath them,
+then the giant war-vessels, and finally the ruined city
+itself, were lost to view. Osnome slowly assumed the
+proportions of a large moon, grew smaller, and as it
+disappeared Crane began to take notes. For a few
+hours the seventeen suns of this strange solar system
+shone upon the flying space-car, after which they
+assumed the aspect of a widely-separated cluster of
+enormous stars, slowly growing smaller and smaller
+and shrinking closer and closer together.</p>
+
+<p>At four o'clock in the afternoon, Washington time,
+DuQuesne relieved Crane, who made his way to the
+engine room.</p>
+
+<p>"It is time to change shifts, Dick. You have not
+had your sixteen hours, but everything will be regular
+from now on. You two had better get some rest."</p>
+
+<p>"All right," replied Seaton, as he relinquished the
+controls to Crane, and after bidding the new helmsman
+goodnight he and Dorothy went below to their cabin.</p>
+
+<p>Standing at a window with their arms around each
+other they stared down with misty eyes at the very faint
+green star, which was rapidly decreasing in brilliance
+as the Skylark increased its already inconceivable velocity.
+Finally, as it disappeared altogether, Seaton
+turned to his wife and tenderly, lovingly, took her in
+his arms.</p>
+
+<p>"Littlest Girl.... Sweetheart...." he whispered,
+and paused, overcome by the intensity of his feelings.</p>
+
+<p>"I know, husband mine," she answered, while tears
+dimmed her glorious eyes. "It is too deep. With
+nothing but words, we can't say a single thing."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX"></a>CHAPTER XIX</h2>
+
+<h3>The Return to Earth</h3>
+
+
+<p>DuQuesne's first act upon gaining the privacy of
+his own cabin was to open the leather bag presented
+to him by the Karfedix. He expected to find
+it filled with rare metals, with perhaps some jewels,
+instead of which the only metal present was a heavily-insulated
+tube containing a full pound of metallic radium.
+The least valuable items in the bag were scores
+of diamonds, rubies, and emeralds of enormous size
+and of flawless perfection. Merely ornamental glass
+upon Osnome, Dunark knew that they were priceless
+upon Earth, and had acted accordingly. To this great
+wealth of known gems, he had added a rich and varied
+assortment of the rare and strange jewels peculiar to
+his own world, the faidon alone being omitted from the
+collection. DuQuesne's habitual calmness of mind almost
+deserted him as he classified the contents of the
+bag.</p>
+
+<p>The radium alone was worth millions of dollars, and
+the scientist in him exulted that at last his brother scientists
+should have ample supplies of that priceless metal
+with which to work, even while he was rejoicing in the
+price he would exact for it. He took out the familiar
+jewels, estimating their value as he counted them&mdash;a
+staggering total. The bag was still half full of the
+strange gems, some of them glowing like miniature
+lamps in the dark depths, and he made no effort to
+appraise them. He knew that once any competent
+jeweler had compared their cold, hard, scintillating
+beauty with that of any Earthly gems, he could demand
+his own price.</p>
+
+<p>"At last," he breathed to himself, "I will be what
+I have always longed to be&mdash;a money power. Now I
+can cut loose from that gang of crooks and go my
+own way."</p>
+
+<p>He replaced the gems and the tube of radium in the
+bag, which he stowed away in one of his capacious
+pockets, and made his way to the galley.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>The return voyage through space was uneventful,
+the Skylark constantly maintaining the same velocity
+with which she had started out. Several times, as
+the days wore on, she came within the zone of attraction
+of various gigantic suns, but the pilot had learned
+his lesson. He kept a vigilant eye upon the bar, and at
+the first sign of a deviation from the perpendicular he
+steered away, far from the source of the attraction.
+Not content with these precautions, the man at the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_636" id="Page_636">[636]</a></span>
+board would, from time to time, shut off the power,
+to make sure that the space-car was not falling toward
+a body directly in its line of flight.</p>
+
+<p>When half the distance had been covered, the bar
+was reversed, the travelers holding an impromptu ceremony
+as the great vessel spun around its center through
+an angle of one hundred and eighty degrees. A few days
+later the observers began to recognize some of the fixed
+stars in familiar constellations and knew that the yellowish-white
+star directly in their line of flight was the
+sun of their own solar system. After a time they saw
+that their course, instead of being directly toward that
+rapidly-brightening star, was bearing upon a barely
+visible star a little to one side of it. Pointing their
+most powerful telescope toward that point of light,
+Crane made out a planet, half of its disk shining
+brightly. The girls hastened to peer through the telescope,
+and they grew excited as they made out the
+familiar outlines of the continents and oceans upon the
+lighted portion of the disk.</p>
+
+<p>It was not long until these outlines were plainly
+visible to the unaided vision. The Earth appeared as
+a great, softly shining, greenish half-moon, with parts
+of its surface obscured by fleecy wisps of cloud, and
+with its two gleaming ice-caps making of its poles two
+brilliant areas of white. The returning wanderers
+stared at their own world with their hearts in their
+throats as Crane, who was at the board, increased the
+retarding force sufficiently to assure himself that they
+would not be traveling too fast to land upon the Earth.</p>
+
+<p>After Dorothy and Margaret had gone to prepare
+a meal, DuQuesne turned to Seaton.</p>
+
+<p>"Have you gentlemen decided what you intend to
+do with me?"</p>
+
+<p>"No. We haven't discussed it yet. I can't make
+up my own mind what I want to do to you, except that
+I sure would like to get you inside a square ring with
+four-ounce gloves on. You have been of too much
+real assistance on this trip for us to see you hanged, as
+you deserve. On the other hand, you are altogether
+too much of a thorough-going scoundrel for us to let
+you go free. You see the fix we are in. What would
+you suggest?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing," replied DuQuesne calmly. "As I am in
+no danger whatever of hanging, nothing you can say
+on that score affects me in the least. As for freeing
+me, you may do as you please&mdash;it makes no difference
+to me, one way or the other, as no jail can hold me for
+a day. I can say, however, that while I have made a
+fortune on this trip, so that I do not have to associate
+further with Steel unless it is to my interest to do so,
+I may nevertheless find it desirable at some future
+time to establish a monopoly of X. That would, of
+course, necessitate the death of yourself and Crane.
+In that event, or in case any other difference should
+arise between us, this whole affair will be as though it
+had never existed. It will have no weight either way,
+whether or not you try to hang me."</p>
+
+<p>"Go as far as you like," Seaton answered cheerfully.
+"If we're not a match for you and your gang, on foot
+or in the air, in body or in mind, we'll deserve whatever
+we get. We can outrun you, outjump you, throw
+you down, or lick you; we can run faster, hit harder,
+dive deeper, and come up dryer, than you can. We'll
+play any game you want to deal, whenever you want
+to deal it; for fun, money, chalk, or marbles."</p>
+
+<p>His brow darkened in anger as a thought struck
+him, and the steady gray eyes bored into the unflinching
+black ones as he continued, with no trace of his
+former levity in his voice:</p>
+
+<p>"But listen to this. Anything goes as far as Martin
+and I personally are concerned. But I want you to
+know that I could be arrested for what I think of you
+as a man; and if any of your little schemes touch Dottie
+or Peggy in any way, shape or form, I'll kill you
+as I would a snake&mdash;or rather, I'll take you apart
+as I would any other piece of scientific apparatus. This
+isn't a threat, it's a promise. Get me?"</p>
+
+<p>"Perfectly. Good-night."</p>
+
+<p>For many hours the Earth had been obscured by
+clouds, so that the pilot had only a general idea of what
+part of the world was beneath them, but as they
+dropped rapidly downward into the twilight zone, the
+clouds parted and they saw that they were directly over
+the Panama Canal. Seaton allowed the Skylark to
+fall to within ten miles of the ground, when he stopped
+so that Martin could get his bearings and calculate the
+course to Washington, which would be in total darkness
+before their arrival.</p>
+
+<p>DuQuesne had retired, cold and reticent as usual.
+Glancing quickly about his cabin to make sure that he
+had overlooked nothing he could take with him, he
+opened a locker, exposing to view four suits which he
+had made in his spare time, each adapted to a particular
+method of escape from the Skylark. The one he
+selected was of heavy canvas, braced with steel netting,
+equipped with helmet and air-tanks, and attached to
+a strong, heavy parachute. He put it on, tested all its
+parts, and made his way unobserved to one of the doors
+in the lower part of the vessel. Thus, when the chance
+for escape came, he was ready for it. As the Skylark
+paused over the Isthmus, his lips parted in a sardonic
+smile. He opened the door and stepped out into the
+air, closing the door behind him as he fell. The neutral
+color of the parachute was lost in the gathering twilight
+a few seconds after he left the vessel.</p>
+
+<p>The course laid, Seaton turned almost due north
+and the Skylark tore through the air. After a short
+time, when half the ground had been covered, Seaton
+spoke suddenly.</p>
+
+<p>"Forgot about DuQuesne, Mart. We'd better iron
+him, hadn't we? Then we'll decide whether we want
+to keep him or turn him loose."</p>
+
+<p>"I will go fetch him," replied Crane, and turned to
+the stairs.</p>
+
+<p>He returned shortly, with the news of the flight of
+the captive.</p>
+
+<p>"Hm ... he must have made himself a parachute.
+I didn't think even he would tackle a sixty-thousand-foot
+drop. I'll tell the world that he sure has established
+a record. I can't say I'm sorry that he got
+away, though. We can get him again any time we
+want him, anyway, as that little object-compass in my<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_641" id="Page_641">[641]</a></span>
+drawer is still looking right at him," said Seaton.</p>
+
+<p>"I think he earned his liberty," declared Dorothy,
+stoutly, and Margaret added:</p>
+
+<p>"He deserves to be shot, but I'm glad he's gone.
+He gives me the shivers."</p>
+
+<p>At the end of the calculated time they saw the lights
+of a large city beneath them, and Crane's fingers
+clenched upon Seaton's arm as he pointed downward.
+There were the landing-lights of Crane Field, seven
+peculiarly-arranged searchlights throwing their mighty
+beams upward into the night.</p>
+
+<p>"Nine weeks, Dick," he said, unsteadily, "and Shiro
+would have kept them burning nine years if necessary."</p>
+
+<p>The Skylark dropped easily to the ground in front
+of the testing shed and the wanderers leaped out, to
+be greeted by the half-hysterical Jap. Shiro's ready
+vocabulary of peculiar but sonorous words failed him
+completely, and he bent himself double in a bow, his
+yellow face wreathed in the widest possible smile.
+Crane, one arm around his wife, seized Shiro's hand
+and wrung it in silence. Seaton swept Dorothy off
+her feet, pressing her slender form against his powerful
+body. Her arms tightened about his neck as they kissed
+each other fervently and he whispered in her ear:</p>
+
+<p>"Sweetheart wife, isn't it great to be back on our
+good old Earth again?"</p>
+
+<h4>THE END</h4>
+
+
+<div class="bbox"><h4 style="margin-top:0">Transcriber's Notes &amp; Errata</h4>
+
+<p>The original page numbers from the magazine have been
+retained.</p>
+
+<p>A Table of Contents has been added.</p>
+
+<p>Some chapter headings have a period at the end, while
+others did not. No changes have been made in the transcription.</p>
+
+<p>Illustrations have been moved to the appropriate place in
+the text.</p>
+
+<p>The following typographical errors have been corrected.</p>
+
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="">
+<tr style="font-weight: bold;"><td align='left'>Page</td><td align='left'>Error</td><td align='left'>Correction</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>393</td><td align='left'>plantinum</td><td align='left'>platinum</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>395</td><td align='left'>refused.</td><td align='left'>refused."</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>395</td><td align='left'>We</td><td align='left'>"We</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>395</td><td align='left'>abstruce</td><td align='left'>abstruse</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>397</td><td align='left'>I love</td><td align='left'>"I love</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>400</td><td align='left'>CHAPTE</td><td align='left'>CHAPTER</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>401</td><td align='left'>food</td><td align='left'>fool</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>407</td><td align='left'>unmistakeable</td><td align='left'>unmistakable</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>411</td><td align='left'>ever</td><td align='left'>even</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>413</td><td align='left'>Mat</td><td align='left'>Mart</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>534</td><td align='left'>gravity.</td><td align='left'>gravity."</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>536</td><td align='left'>completely.</td><td align='left'>completely."</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>544</td><td align='left'>ecstacy</td><td align='left'>ecstasy</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>546</td><td align='left'>embarassment</td><td align='left'>embarrassment</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>556</td><td align='left'>Naloon</td><td align='left'>Nalboon</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>558</td><td align='left'>inumerable</td><td align='left'>innumerable</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>559</td><td align='left'>but</td><td align='left'>"but</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>615</td><td align='left'>efficient</td><td align='left'>efficient."</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>616</td><td align='left'>Dare</td><td align='left'>"Dare</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>616</td><td align='left'>wit</td><td align='left'>wait</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>633</td><td align='left'>They produce</td><td align='left'>"They produce</td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<p>A number of words have been variably hyphenated in the text.
+They are given in the following table.</p>
+
+<p>The number of times each form occurred is given in parentheses.</p>
+
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="">
+<tr><td align='left'>blue-prints (2)</td><td align='left'>blueprints (4)</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>border-line (3)</td><td align='left'>borderline (1)</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>break-down (1)</td><td align='left'>breakdown (1)</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>devil-fish (1)</td><td align='left'>devilfish (1)</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Good-bye (4)</td><td align='left'>Goodbye (1)</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>good-bye (4)</td><td align='left'>goodbye (3)</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>good-night (2)</td><td align='left'>goodnight (2)</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>half-way (4)</td><td align='left'>halfway (1)</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>hand-rail (1)</td><td align='left'>handrail (2)</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>hand-rails (1)</td><td align='left'>handrails (1)</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>home-coming (1)</td><td align='left'>homecoming (1)</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>major-domo (3)</td><td align='left'>majordomo (1)</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>near-by (1)</td><td align='left'>nearby (4)</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>nitro-glycerin (2)</td><td align='left'>nitroglycerin (2)</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>to-night (2)</td><td align='left'>tonight (7)</td></tr>
+</table></div></div>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr class="full" />
+<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SKYLARK OF SPACE***</p>
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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Skylark of Space, by Edward Elmer Smith
+and Lee Hawkins Garby
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: The Skylark of Space
+
+
+Author: Edward Elmer Smith and Lee Hawkins Garby
+
+
+
+Release Date: March 21, 2007  [eBook #20869]
+Most recently updated April 18, 2011
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SKYLARK OF SPACE***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Greg Weeks, L. N. Yaddanapudi, David Dyer-Bennet, and
+the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team
+(https://www.pgdp.net)
+
+
+
+Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this
+      file which includes the original illustrations.
+      See 20869-h.htm or 20869-h.zip:
+      (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/0/8/6/20869/20869-h/20869-h.htm)
+      or
+      (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/0/8/6/20869/20869-h.zip)
+
+
+      +----------------------------------------------------------+
+      | Transcriber's note                                       |
+      |                                                          |
+      | This etext was produced from Amazing Stories August,     |
+      | September and October 1928. Extensive research did not   |
+      | uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this     |
+      | publication was renewed.                                 |
+      |                                                          |
+      | Other notes and a list of corrections made will be found |
+      | at the end of the book.                                  |
+      +----------------------------------------------------------+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE SKYLARK OF SPACE
+
+by
+
+EDWARD ELMER SMITH
+
+In Collaboration with
+
+LEE HAWKINS GARBY
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Cover Page]
+
+
+    +--------------------------------------+
+    |                                      |
+    | _Perhaps it is a bit unethical and   |
+    | unusual for editors to voice their   |
+    | opinion of their own wares, but when |
+    | such a story as "The Skylark of      |
+    | Space" comes along, we just feel as  |
+    | if we must shout from the housetops  |
+    | that this is the greatest            |
+    | interplanetarian and space flying    |
+    | story that has appeared this year.   |
+    | Indeed, it probably will rank as one |
+    | of the great space flying stories    |
+    | for many years to come. The story is |
+    | chock full, not only of excellent    |
+    | science, but woven through it there  |
+    | is also that very rare element, love |
+    | and romance. This element in an      |
+    | interplanetarian story is often apt  |
+    | to be foolish, but it does not seem  |
+    | so in this particular story._        |
+    |                                      |
+    | _We know so little about             |
+    | intra-atomic forces, that this       |
+    | story, improbable as it will appear  |
+    | in spots, will read commonplace      |
+    | years hence, when we have atomic     |
+    | engines, and when we have solved the |
+    | riddle of the atom._                 |
+    |                                      |
+    | _You will follow the hair-raising    |
+    | explorations and strange ventures    |
+    | into far-away worlds with bated      |
+    | breath, and you will be fascinated,  |
+    | as we were, with the strangeness of  |
+    | it all._                             |
+    |                                      |
+    +--------------------------------------+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+The Occurrence of the Impossible
+
+
+Petrified with astonishment, Richard Seaton stared after the copper
+steam-bath upon which he had been electrolyzing his solution of "X," the
+unknown metal. For as soon as he had removed the beaker the heavy bath
+had jumped endwise from under his hand as though it were alive. It had
+flown with terrific speed over the table, smashing apparatus and bottles
+of chemicals on its way, and was even now disappearing through the open
+window. He seized his prism binoculars and focused them upon the flying
+vessel, a speck in the distance. Through the glass he saw that it did
+not fall to the ground, but continued on in a straight line, only its
+rapidly diminishing size showing the enormous velocity with which it was
+moving. It grew smaller and smaller, and in a few moments disappeared
+utterly.
+
+The chemist turned as though in a trance. How was this? The copper bath
+he had used for months was gone--gone like a shot, with nothing to make
+it go. Nothing, that is, except an electric cell and a few drops of the
+unknown solution. He looked at the empty space where it had stood, at
+the broken glass covering his laboratory table, and again stared out of
+the window.
+
+He was aroused from his stunned inaction by the entrance of his colored
+laboratory helper, and silently motioned him to clean up the wreckage.
+
+"What's happened, Doctah?" asked the dusky assistant.
+
+"Search me, Dan. I wish I knew, myself," responded Seaton, absently,
+lost in wonder at the incredible phenomenon of which he had just been a
+witness.
+
+Ferdinand Scott, a chemist employed in the next room, entered breezily.
+
+"Hello, Dicky, thought I heard a racket in here," the newcomer remarked.
+Then he saw the helper busily mopping up the reeking mass of chemicals.
+
+"Great balls of fire!" he exclaimed. "What've you been celebrating? Had
+an explosion? How, what, and why?"
+
+"I can tell you the 'what,' and part of the 'how'," Seaton replied
+thoughtfully, "but as to the 'why,' I am completely in the dark. Here's
+all I know about it," and in a few words he related the foregoing
+incident. Scott's face showed in turn interest, amazement, and pitying
+alarm. He took Seaton by the arm.
+
+"Dick, old top, I never knew you to drink or dope, but this stuff sure
+came out of either a bottle or a needle. Did you see a pink serpent
+carrying it away? Take my advice, old son, if you want to stay in Uncle
+Sam's service, and lay off the stuff, whatever it is. It's bad enough to
+come down here so far gone that you wreck most of your apparatus and
+lose the rest of it, but to pull a yarn like that is going too far. The
+Chief will have to ask for your resignation, sure. Why don't you take a
+couple of days of your leave and straighten up?"
+
+Seaton paid no attention to him, and Scott returned to his own
+laboratory, shaking his head sadly.
+
+Seaton, with his mind in a whirl, walked slowly to his desk, picked up
+his blackened and battered briar pipe, and sat down to study out what he
+had done, or what could possibly have happened, to result in such an
+unbelievable infraction of all the laws of mechanics and gravitation. He
+knew that he was sober and sane, that the thing had actually happened.
+But why? And how? All his scientific training told him that it was
+impossible. It was unthinkable that an inert mass of metal should fly
+off into space without any applied force. Since it had actually
+happened, there must have been applied an enormous and hitherto unknown
+force. What was that force? The reason for this unbelievable
+manifestation of energy was certainly somewhere in the solution, the
+electrolytic cell, or the steam-bath. Concentrating all the power of his
+highly-trained analytical mind upon the problem--deaf and blind to
+everything else, as was his wont when deeply interested--he sat
+motionless, with his forgotten pipe clenched between his teeth. Hour
+after hour he sat there, while most of his fellow-chemists finished the
+day's work and left the building and the room slowly darkened with the
+coming of night.
+
+Finally he jumped up. Crashing his hand down upon the desk, he
+exclaimed:
+
+"I have liberated the intra-atomic energy of copper! Copper, 'X,' and
+electric current!
+
+"I'm sure a fool for luck!" he continued as a new thought struck him.
+"Suppose it had been liberated all at once? Probably blown the whole
+world off its hinges. But it wasn't: it was given off slowly and in a
+straight line. Wonder why? Talk about power! Infinite! Believe me, I'll
+show this whole Bureau of Chemistry something to make their eyes stick
+out, tomorrow. If they won't let me go ahead and develop it, I'll
+resign, hunt up some more 'X', and do it myself. That bath is on its way
+to the moon right now, and there's no reason why I can't follow it.
+Martin's such a fanatic on exploration, he'll fall all over himself to
+build us any kind of a craft we'll need ... we'll explore the whole
+solar system! Great Cat, what a chance! A fool for luck is right!"
+
+He came to himself with a start. He switched on the lights and saw that
+it was ten o'clock. Simultaneously he recalled that he was to have had
+dinner with his fiancee at her home, their first dinner since their
+engagement. Cursing himself for an idiot he hastily left the building,
+and soon his motorcycle was tearing up Connecticut Avenue toward his
+sweetheart's home.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+Steel Becomes Interested
+
+
+Dr. Marc DuQuesne was in his laboratory, engaged in a research upon
+certain of the rare metals, particularly in regard to their
+electrochemical properties. He was a striking figure. Well over six feet
+tall, unusually broad-shouldered even for his height, he was plainly a
+man of enormous physical strength. His thick, slightly wavy hair was
+black. His eyes, only a trifle lighter in shade, were surmounted by
+heavy black eyebrows which grew together above his aquiline nose.
+
+Scott strolled into the room, finding DuQuesne leaning over a delicate
+electrical instrument, his forbidding but handsome face strangely
+illuminated by the ghastly glare of his mercury-vapor arcs.
+
+"Hello, Blackie," Scott began. "I thought it was Seaton in here at
+first. A fellow has to see your faces to tell you two apart. Speaking of
+Seaton, d'you think that he's quite right?"
+
+"I should say, off-hand, that he was a little out of control last night
+and this morning," replied DuQuesne, manipulating connections with his
+long, muscular fingers. "I don't think that he's insane, and I don't
+believe that he dopes--probably overwork and nervous strain. He'll be
+all right in a day or two."
+
+"I think he's a plain nut, myself. That sure was a wild yarn he sprung
+on us, wasn't it? His imagination was hitting on all twelve, that's
+sure. He seems to believe it himself, though, in spite of making a flat
+failure of his demonstration to us this morning. He saved that waste
+solution he was working on--what was left of that carboy of platinum
+residues after he had recovered all the values, you know--and got them
+to put it up at auction this noon. He resigned from the Bureau, and he
+and M. Reynolds Crane, that millionaire friend of his, bid it in for ten
+cents."
+
+"M. Reynolds Crane?" DuQuesne concealed a start of surprise. "Where does
+he come in on this?"
+
+"Oh, they're always together in everything. They've been thicker than
+Damon and Pythias for a long time. They play tennis together--they're
+doubles champions of the District, you know--and all kinds of things.
+Wherever you find one of them you'll usually find the other. Anyway,
+after they got the solution Crane took Seaton in his car, and somebody
+said they went out to Crane's house. Probably trying to humor him. Well,
+ta-ta; I've got a week's work to do yet today."
+
+As Scott left DuQuesne dropped his work and went to his desk, with a new
+expression, half of chagrin, half of admiration, on his face. Picking up
+his telephone, he called a number.
+
+"Brookings?" he asked, cautiously. "This is DuQuesne. I must see you
+immediately. There's something big started that may as well belong to
+us.... No, can't say anything over the telephone.... Yes, I'll be right
+out."
+
+He left the laboratory and soon was in the private office of the head of
+the Washington or "diplomatic" branch, as it was known in certain
+circles, of the great World Steel Corporation. Offices and laboratories
+were maintained in the city, ostensibly for research work, but in
+reality to be near the center of political activity.
+
+"How do you do, Doctor DuQuesne?" Brookings said as he seated his
+visitor. "You seem excited."
+
+"Not excited, but in a hurry," DuQuesne replied. "The biggest thing in
+history has just broken, and we've got to work fast if we get in on it.
+Have you any doubts that I always know what I am talking about?"
+
+"No," answered the other in surprise. "Not the slightest. You are widely
+known as an able man. In fact, you have helped this company several
+times in various deal--er, in various ways."
+
+"Say it. Brookings. 'Deals' is the right word. This one is going to be
+the biggest ever. The beauty of it is that it should be easy--one simple
+burglary and an equally simple killing--and won't mean wholesale murder,
+as did that...."
+
+"Oh, no, Doctor, not murder. Unavoidable accidents."
+
+"Why not call things by their right names and save breath, as long as
+we're alone? I'm not squeamish. But to get down to business. You know
+Seaton, of our division, of course. He has been recovering the various
+rare metals from all the residues that have accumulated in the Bureau
+for years. After separating out all the known metals he had something
+left, and thought it was a new element, a metal. In one of his attempts
+to get it into the metallic state, a little of its solution fizzed out
+and over a copper steam bath or tank, which instantly flew out of the
+window like a bullet. It went clear out of sight, out of range of his
+binoculars, just that quick." He snapped his fingers under Brookings'
+nose. "Now that discovery means such power as the world never dreamed
+of. In fact, if Seaton hadn't had all the luck in the world right with
+him yesterday, he would have blown half of North America off the map.
+Chemists have known for years that all matter contains enormous stores
+of intra-atomic energy, but have always considered it 'bound'--that is,
+incapable of liberation. Seaton has liberated it."
+
+"And that means?"
+
+"That with the process worked out, the Corporation could furnish power
+to the entire world, at very little expense."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A look of scornful unbelief passed over Brookings' face.
+
+"Sneer if you like," DuQuesne continued evenly. "Your ignorance doesn't
+change the fact in any particular. Do you know what intra-atomic energy
+is?"
+
+"I'm afraid that I don't, exactly."
+
+"Well, it's the force that exists between the ultimate component parts
+of matter, if you can understand that. A child ought to. Call in your
+chief chemist and ask him what would happen if somebody would liberate
+the intra-atomic energy of one hundred pounds of copper."
+
+"Pardon me, Doctor. I didn't presume to doubt you. I will call him in."
+
+He telephoned a request and soon a man in white appeared. In response to
+the question he thought for a moment, then smiled slowly.
+
+"If it were done instantaneously it would probably blow the entire world
+into a vapor, and might force it clear out of its orbit. If it could be
+controlled it would furnish millions of horsepower for a long time. But
+it can't be done. The energy is bound. Its liberation is an
+impossibility, in the same class with perpetual motion. Is that all, Mr.
+Brookings?"
+
+As the chemist left, Brookings turned again to his visitor, with an
+apologetic air.
+
+"I don't know anything about these things myself, but Chambers, also an
+able man, says that it is impossible."
+
+"As far as he knows, he is right. I should have said the same thing this
+morning. But I do know about these things--they're my business--and I
+tell you that Seaton has done it."
+
+"This is getting interesting. Did you see it done?"
+
+"No. It was rumored around the Bureau last night that Seaton was going
+insane, that he had wrecked a lot of his apparatus and couldn't explain
+what had happened. This morning he called a lot of us into his
+laboratory, told us what I have just told you, and poured some of his
+solution on a copper wire. Nothing happened, and he acted as though he
+didn't know what to make of it. The foolish way he acted and the
+apparent impossibility of the whole thing, made everybody think him
+crazy. I thought so until I learned this afternoon that Mr. Reynolds
+Crane is backing him. Then I knew that he had told us just enough of the
+truth to let him get away clean with the solution."
+
+"But suppose the man _is_ crazy?" asked Brookings. "He probably is a
+monomaniac, really insane on that one thing, from studying it so much."
+
+"Seaton? Yes, he's crazy--like a fox. You never heard of any insanity in
+Crane's family, though, did you? You know that he never invests a cent
+in anything more risky than Government bonds. You can bet your last
+dollar that Seaton showed him the real goods." Then, as a look of
+conviction appeared upon the other's face, he continued:
+
+"Don't you understand that the solution was Government property, and he
+had to do something to make everybody think it worthless, so that he
+could get title to it? That faked demonstration that failed was
+certainly a bold stroke--so bold that it was foolhardy. But it worked.
+It fooled even me, and I am not usually asleep. The only reason he got
+away with it, is, that he has always been such an open-faced talker,
+always telling everything he knew.
+
+"He certainly played the fox," he continued, with undisguised
+admiration. "Heretofore he has never kept any of his discoveries secret
+or tried to make any money out of them, though some of them were worth
+millions. He published them as soon as he found them, and somebody else
+got the money. Having that reputation, he worked it to make us think him
+a nut. He certainly is clever. I take off my hat to him--he's a wonder!"
+
+"And what is your idea? Where do we come in?"
+
+"You come in by getting that solution away from Seaton and Crane, and
+furnishing the money to develop the stuff and to build, under my
+direction, such a power-plant as the world never saw before."
+
+"Why get that particular solution? Couldn't we buy up some platinum
+wastes and refine them?"
+
+"Not a chance," replied the scientist. "We have refined platinum
+residues for years, and never found anything like that before. It is my
+idea that the stuff, whatever it is, was present in some particular lot
+of platinum in considerable quantities as an impurity. Seaton hasn't all
+of it there is in the world, of course, but the chance of finding any
+more of it without knowing exactly what it is or how it reacts is
+extremely slight. Besides, we must have exclusive control. How could we
+make any money out of it if Crane operates a rival company and is
+satisfied with ten percent profit? No, we must get all of that solution.
+Seaton and Crane, or Seaton, at least, must be killed, for if he is left
+alive he can find more of the stuff and break our monopoly. I want to
+borrow your strong-arm squad tonight, to go and attend to it."
+
+After a few moments' thought, his face set and expressionless, Brookings
+said:
+
+"No, Doctor. I do not think that the Corporation would care to go into a
+matter of this kind. It is too flagrant a violation of law, and we can
+afford to buy it from Seaton after he proves its worth."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Bah!" snorted DuQuesne. "Don't try that on me, Brookings. You think you
+can steal it yourself, and develop it without letting me in on it? You
+can't do it. Do you think I am fool enough to tell you all about it,
+with facts, figures, and names, if you could get away with it without
+me? Hardly! You can steal the solution, but that's all you can do. Your
+chemist or the expert you hire will begin experimenting without Seaton's
+lucky start, which I have already mentioned, but about which I haven't
+gone into any detail. He will have no information whatever, and the
+first attempt to do anything with the stuff will blow him and all the
+country around him for miles into an impalpable powder. You will lose
+your chemist, your solution, and all hope of getting the process. There
+are only two men in the United States, or in the world, for that matter,
+with brains enough and information enough to work it out. One is
+Richard B. Seaton, the other is Marc C. DuQuesne. Seaton certainly won't
+handle it for you. Money can't buy him and Crane, and you know it. You
+must come to me. If you don't believe that now, you will very shortly,
+after you try it alone."
+
+Brookings, caught in his duplicity and half-convinced of the truth of
+DuQuesne's statements, still temporized.
+
+"You're modest, aren't you, Doctor?" he asked, smiling.
+
+"Modest? No," said the other calmly. "Modesty never got anybody anything
+but praise, and I prefer something more substantial. However, I never
+exaggerate or make over-statements, as you should know. What I have said
+is merely a statement of fact. Also, let me remind you that I am in a
+hurry. The difficulty of getting hold of that solution is growing
+greater every minute, and my price is getting higher every second."
+
+"What is your price at the present second?"
+
+"Ten thousand dollars per month during the experimental work; five
+million dollars in cash upon the successful operation of the first power
+unit, which shall be of not less than ten thousand horsepower; and ten
+percent of the profits."
+
+"Oh, come, Doctor, let's be reasonable. You can't mean any such figures
+as those."
+
+"I never say anything I don't mean. I have done a lot of dirty work with
+you people before, and never got much of anything out of it. You were
+always too strong for me; that is, I couldn't force you without exposing
+my own crookedness, but now I've got you right where I want you. That's
+my price; take it or leave it. If you don't take it now, the first two
+of those figures will be doubled when you do come to me. I won't go to
+anybody else, though others would be glad to get it on my terms, because
+I have a reputation to maintain and you are the only ones who know that
+I am crooked. I know that my reputation is safe as long as I work with
+you, because I know enough about you to send all you big fellows, clear
+down to Perkins, away for life. I also know that that knowledge will not
+shorten my days, as I am too valuable a man for you to kill, as you
+did...."
+
+"Please, Doctor, don't use such language...."
+
+"Why not?" interrupted DuQuesne, in his cold, level voice. "It's all
+true. What do a few lives amount to, as long as they're not yours and
+mine? As I said, I can trust you, more or less. You can trust me,
+because you know that I can't send you up without going with you.
+Therefore, I am going to let you go ahead without me as far as you
+can--it won't be far. Do you want me to come in now or later?"
+
+"I'm afraid we can't do business on any such terms as that," said
+Brookings, shaking his head. "We can undoubtedly buy the power rights
+from Seaton for what you ask."
+
+"You don't fool me for a second, Brookings. Go ahead and steal the
+solution, but take my advice and give your chemist only a little of it.
+A very little of that stuff will go a long way, and you will want to
+have some left when you have to call me in. Make him experiment with
+extremely small quantities. I would suggest that he work in the woods at
+least a hundred miles from his nearest neighbor, though it matters
+nothing to me how many people you kill. That's the only pointer I will
+give you--I'm giving it merely to keep you from blowing up the whole
+country," he concluded with a grim smile. "Good-bye."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+As the door closed behind the cynical scientist, Brookings took a small
+gold instrument, very like a watch, from his pocket. He touched a button
+and held the machine close to his lips.
+
+"Perkins," he said softly, "M. Reynolds Crane has in his house a bottle
+of solution."
+
+"Yes, sir. Can you describe it?"
+
+"Not exactly. It is greenish yellow in color, and I gather that it is in
+a small bottle, as there isn't much of the stuff in the world. I don't
+know what it smells or tastes like, and I wouldn't advise experimenting
+with it, as it seems to be a violent explosive and is probably
+poisonous. Any bottle of solution of that color kept in a particularly
+safe place would probably be the one. Let me caution you that this is
+the biggest thing you have ever been in, and _it must not fail_. Any
+effort to purchase it would be useless, however large a figure were
+named. But if the bottle were only partly emptied and filled up with
+water, I don't believe anyone would notice the difference, at least for
+some time, do you?"
+
+"Probably not, sir. Good-bye."
+
+Next morning, shortly after the office opened, Perkins, whose principal
+characteristic was that of absolute noiselessness, glided smoothly into
+Brookings' office. Taking a small bottle about half full of a
+greenish-yellow liquid from his pocket, he furtively placed it under
+some papers upon his superior's desk.
+
+"A man found this last night, sir, and thought it might belong to you.
+He said this was a little less than half of it, but that you could have
+the rest of it any time you want it."
+
+"Thank you, Perkins, he was right. It is ours. Here's a letter which
+just came," handing him an envelope, which rustled as Perkins folded it
+into a small compass and thrust it into his vest pocket. "Good morning."
+
+As Perkins slid out, Brookings spoke into his telephone, and soon
+Chambers, his chief chemist, appeared.
+
+"Doctor Chambers," Brookings began, showing him the bottle, "I have here
+a solution which in some way is capable of liberating the intra-atomic
+energy of matter, about which I asked you yesterday. It works on copper.
+I would like to have you work out the process for us, if you will."
+
+"What about the man who discovered the process?" asked Chambers, as he
+touched the bottle gingerly.
+
+"He is not available. Surely what one chemist can do, others can? You
+will not have to work alone. You can hire the biggest men in the line to
+help you--expense is no object."
+
+"No, it wouldn't be, if such a process could be worked out. Let me see,
+whom can we get? Doctor Seaton is probably the best man in the country
+for such a research, but I don't think that we can get him. I tried to
+get him to work on the iridium-osmium problem, but he refused."
+
+"We might make an offer big enough to get him."
+
+"No. Don't mention it to him," with a significant look. "He's to know
+nothing about it."
+
+"Well, then, how about DuQuesne, who was in here yesterday? He's
+probably next to Seaton."
+
+"I took it up with him yesterday. We can't get him, his figures are
+entirely out of reason. Aren't there any other men in the country who
+know anything? You are a good man, why don't you tackle it yourself?"
+
+"Because I don't know anything about that particular line of research,
+and I want to keep on living awhile longer," the chemist replied
+bluntly. "There are other good men whom I can get, however. Van
+Schravendyck, of our own laboratory, is nearly as good as either Seaton
+or DuQuesne. He has done a lot of work on radio-activity and that sort
+of thing, and I think he would like to work on it."
+
+"All right. Please get it started without delay. Give him about a
+quarter of the solution and have the rest put in the vault. Be sure that
+his laboratory is set up far enough away from everything else to avoid
+trouble in case of an explosion, and caution him not to work on too much
+copper at once. I gather that an ounce or so will be plenty."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The chemist went back to his laboratory and sought his first assistant.
+
+"Van," he began, "Mr. Brookings has been listening to some lunatic who
+claims to have solved the mystery of liberating intra-atomic energy."
+
+"That's old stuff," the assistant said, laughing. "That and perpetual
+motion are always with us. What did you tell him?"
+
+"I didn't get a chance to tell him anything--he told me. Yesterday, you
+know, he asked me what would happen if it could be liberated, and I
+answered truthfully that lots of things would happen, and volunteered
+the information that it was impossible. Just now he called me in, gave
+me this bottle of solution, saying that it contained the answer to the
+puzzle, and wanted me to work it out. I told him that it was out of my
+line and that I was afraid of it--which I would be if I thought there
+was anything in it--but that it was more or less in your line, and he
+said to put you on it right away. He also said that expense was no
+object; to set up an independent laboratory a hundred miles off in the
+woods, to be safe in case of an explosion; and to caution you not to use
+too much copper at once--that an _ounce or so_ would be plenty!"
+
+"An ounce! Ten thousand tons of nitroglycerin! I'll say an ounce would
+be plenty, if the stuff is any good at all, which of course it isn't.
+Queer, isn't it, how the old man would fall for anything like that? How
+did he explain the failure of the discoverer to develop it himself?"
+
+"He said the discoverer is not available," answered Chambers with a
+laugh. "I'll bet he isn't available--he's back in St. Elizabeth's again
+by this time, where he came from. I suggested that we get either Seaton
+or DuQuesne of Rare Metals to help us on it, and he said that they had
+both refused to touch it, or words to that effect. If those two turned
+down a chance to work on a thing as big as this would be, there probably
+is nothing in this particular solution that is worth a rap. But what
+Brookings says goes, around here, so it's you for the woods. And don't
+take any chances, either--it is conceivable that something might
+happen."
+
+"Sure it might, but it won't. We'll set up that lab near a good trout
+stream, and I'll have a large and juicy vacation. I'll work on the stuff
+a little, too--enough to make a good report, at least. I'll analyze it,
+find out what is in it, deposit it on some copper, shoot an electrolytic
+current through it, and make a lot of wise motions generally, and have a
+darn good time besides."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+Seaton Solves the Problem of Power
+
+
+"Well, Mart," said Seaton briskly, "now that the Seaton-Crane Company,
+Engineers, is organized to your satisfaction, let's hop to it. I suppose
+I'd better beat it downtown and hunt up a place to work?"
+
+"Why not work here?"
+
+"Your house? You don't want this kind of experimenting going on around
+here, do you? Suppose a chunk of the stuff gets away from me and tears
+the side out of the house?"
+
+"This house is the logical place to work. I already have a complete
+machine shop and testing laboratory out in the hangar, and we can easily
+fit up a chemical laboratory for you up in the tower room. You can have
+open windows on four sides there, and if you should accidentally take
+out the wall there will be little damage done. We will be alone here,
+with the few neighbors so thoroughly accustomed to my mechanical
+experiments that they are no longer curious."
+
+"Fine. There's another good thing, too. Your man Shiro. He's been with
+you in so many tight pinches in all the unknown corners of the world on
+your hunting trips and explorations that we can trust him, and he'll
+probably come in handy."
+
+"Yes, we can trust him implicitly. As you know, he is really my friend
+instead of my man."
+
+During the next few days, while workmen were installing a complete
+chemical laboratory in the tower room, Seaton busied himself in
+purchasing the equipment necessary for the peculiar problem before him.
+His list was long and varied, ranging from a mighty transformer, capable
+of delivering thousands of kilovolts down to a potentiometer, so
+sensitive that it would register the difference of potential set up by
+two men in shaking hands.
+
+From daylight until dark Seaton worked in the laboratory, either alone
+or superintending and assisting the men at work there. Every night when
+Crane went to bed he saw Seaton in his room in a haze of smoke, poring
+over blueprints or, surrounded by abstruse works upon the calculus and
+sub-atomic phenomena, making interminable calculations.
+
+Less than two miles away lived Dorothy Vaneman, who had promised to be
+his wife. He had seen her but once since "the impossible" had happened,
+since his prosaic copper steam-bath had taken flight under his hand and
+pointed the way to a great adventure. In a car his friend was to build,
+moved by this stupendous power which he must learn to control, they
+would traverse interstellar space--visit strange planets and survey
+strange solar systems.
+
+While he did not forget his sweetheart--the thought of her was often in
+his mind, and the fact that her future was so intimately connected with
+his own gave to every action a new meaning--he had such a multitude of
+things to do and was so eager to get them all done at once that day
+after day went by and he could not find time to call upon her.
+
+Crane remonstrated in vain. His protests against Seaton's incessant work
+had no effect. Seaton insisted that he _must_ fix firmly just a few more
+points before they eluded him, and stuck doggedly to his task.
+
+Finally, Crane laid his work aside and went to call upon the girl. He
+found her just leaving home, and fell into step beside her. For awhile
+she tried to rouse herself to be entertaining, or at least friendly, but
+the usual ease with which she chatted had deserted her, and her false
+gayety did not deceive the keen-minded Crane for an instant. Soon the
+two were silent as they walked along together. Crane's thoughts were on
+the beautiful girl beside him, and on the splendid young genius under
+his roof, so deeply immersed in his problem that he was insensible to
+everything else.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"I have just left Dick," Crane said suddenly, and paying no attention to
+her startled glance. "Did you ever in your life see anyone with his
+singleness of purpose? With all his brilliance, one idea at a time is
+all that he seems capable of--though that is probably why he is such a
+genius. He is working himself insane. Has he told you about leaving the
+Bureau?"
+
+"No. Has he? Has it anything to do with what happened that day at the
+laboratory? I haven't seen him since the accident, or discovery,
+whichever it was, happened. He came to see me at half-past ten, when he
+was invited for dinner--oh, Martin, I had been _so_ angry!--and he told
+such a preposterous story, I've been wondering since if I didn't dream
+it."
+
+"No, you didn't dream it, no matter how wild it sounded. He said it, and
+it is all true. I cannot explain it to you; Dick himself cannot explain
+it, even to me. But I can give you an idea of what we both think it may
+come to."
+
+"Yes, do."
+
+"Well, he has discovered something that makes copper act mighty
+queer--knocks it off its feet, so to speak. That day a piece went up and
+never did come down."
+
+"Yes, that is what is so preposterous!"
+
+"Just a moment, please," replied the imperturbable Crane. "You should
+know that nothing ordinary can account for Dick's behavior, and after
+what I have seen this last week I shall never again think anything
+preposterous. As I said, this piece of copper departed, _via_ the
+window, for scenes unknown. As far as a pair of good binoculars could
+follow it, it held to a perfectly straight course toward those scenes.
+We intend to follow it in some suitable vehicle."
+
+He paused, looking at his companion's face, but she did not speak.
+
+"Building the conveyance is where I come in," he continued in his
+matter-of-fact voice. "As you know, I happen to have almost as much
+money as Dick has brains, and some day, before the summer is over, we
+expect to go somewhere. We do not know where, but it will be a long way
+from this earth."
+
+There was a silence, then Dorothy said, helplessly:
+
+"Well, go on.... I can't understand...."
+
+"Neither can I. All I know is that Dick wants to build a heavy steel
+hull, and he is going to put something inside it that will take us out
+into space. Only occasionally do I see a little light as he tries to
+explain the mechanism of the thing to me."
+
+After enjoining upon her the strictest secrecy he repeated the story
+that Seaton had told him, and informed her as to the present condition
+of affairs.
+
+"It's no wonder the other chemists thought he was crazy, is it, Martin?"
+
+"No, especially after the failure of his demonstration the next morning.
+You see, he tried to prove to the others that he was right, and nothing
+happened. He has found out since that an electrical machine in another
+room, which was not running that morning, played a very important part.
+When the copper refused to act as it had the night before they all took
+the snap judgment that he had suffered an attack of temporary insanity,
+and that the solution was worthless. They called him 'Nobody Holme'."
+
+"It almost fits, at that!" exclaimed Dorothy, laughing.
+
+"But if he thought of that," she added, thoughtfully, "if he was
+brilliant enough to build up such a wonderful theory ... think out such
+a thing as actually traveling to the stars ... all on such a slight
+foundation of fact ... I wonder why he couldn't have told me?"
+
+She hadn't meant to utter the last thought. Nobody must know how being
+left out of it had hurt her, and she would have recalled the words if
+she could. Crane understood, and answered loyally.
+
+"He will tell you all about it very soon, never fear. His is the mind of
+a great scientist, working on a subject of which but very few men have
+even an inkling. I am certain that the only reason he thought of me is
+that he could not finance the investigation alone. Never think for an
+instant that his absorption implies a lack of fondness for you. You are
+his anchor, his only hold on known things. In fact, it was about this
+that I came to see you. Dick is working himself at a rate that not even
+a machine can stand. He eats hardly anything, and if he sleeps at all, I
+have never caught him at it. That idea is driving him day and night, and
+if he goes on the way he is going, it means a breakdown. I do not know
+whether you can make him listen to reason or not--certainly no one else
+can. If you think you can do it, that is to be your job, and it will be
+the biggest one of the three."
+
+"How well you understand him," Dorothy said, after a pause. "You make me
+feel ashamed, Martin. I should have known without being told. Then I
+wouldn't have had these nasty little doubts about him."
+
+"I should call them perfectly natural, considering the circumstances,"
+he answered. "Men with minds like Dick's are rare. They work on only one
+track. Your part will be hard. He will come to you, bursting with news
+and aching to tell you all about his theories and facts and
+calculations, and you must try to take his mind off the whole thing and
+make him think of something else. It looks impossible to me."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The smile had come back to Dorothy's face. Her head, graced by its
+wealth of gleaming auburn hair, was borne proudly, and glancing mischief
+lit her violet eyes.
+
+"Didn't you just tell me nothing is impossible? You know, Martin, that I
+can make Dicky forget everything, even interstellar--did I get that word
+right?--space itself, with my violin."
+
+"Trying to beguile a scientist from his hobby is comparable only to
+luring a drug addict away from his vice ... but I would not be surprised
+if you could do it," he slowly replied.
+
+For he had heard her play. She and Seaton had been caught near his home
+by a sudden shower while on horseback, and had dashed in for shelter.
+While the rain beat outside and while Shiro was preparing one of his
+famous suppers, Crane had suggested that she pass the time by playing
+his "fiddle." Dorothy realized, with the first sweep of the bow, that
+she was playing a Stradivarius, the like of which she had played before
+only in her dreams. She forgot her listeners, forgot the time and the
+place, and poured out in her music all the beauty and tenderness of her
+nature. Soft and full the tones filled the room, and in Crane's vision
+there rose a home filled with happy work, with laughter and
+companionship, with playing children who turned their faces to their
+mother as do flowers to the light. Sensing the girl's dreams as the
+music filled his ears, he realized as never before in his busy,
+purposeful life how beautiful a home with the right woman could be. No
+thought of love for Dorothy entered his mind, for he knew that the love
+existing between her and his friend was of the kind that nothing could
+alter, but he felt that she had unwittingly given him a great gift.
+Often thereafter in his lonely hours he had imagined that dream-home,
+and nothing less than its perfection would ever satisfy him.
+
+For a time they walked on in silence. On Dorothy's face was a tender
+look, the reflection of her happy thoughts, and in Crane's mind floated
+again the vision of his ideal home, the home whose central figure he was
+unable to visualize. At last she turned and placed her hand on his arm.
+
+"You have done a great deal for me--for us," she said simply. "I wish
+there were something I could do for you in return."
+
+"You have already done much more than that for me, Dorothy," he
+answered, more slowly even than usual. "It is hard for me to express
+just what it is, but I want you to know that you and Dick mean much to
+me.... You are the first real woman I have ever known, and some day, if
+life is good to me, I hope to have some girl as lovely care for me."
+
+Dorothy's sensitive face flushed warmly. So unexpected and sincere was
+his praise that it made her feel both proud and humble. She had never
+realized that this quiet, apparently unimaginative man had seen all the
+ideals she expressed in her music. A woman expects to appear lovely to
+her lover, and to the men who would be her lovers if they could, but
+here was a man who neither sought nor expected any favors, saying that
+he wanted some girl as lovely for his own. Truly it was a compliment to
+be cherished.
+
+After they had returned to the house and Crane had taken his departure,
+Dorothy heard the purr of a rapidly approaching motorcycle, and her
+heart leaped as she went to the door to welcome her lover.
+
+"It seems like a month since I saw you last, sweetheart!" he exclaimed,
+as he lifted her clear from the floor in a passionate embrace and kissed
+in turn her lips, her eyes, the tip of her nose, the elusive dimple in
+her cheek, and the adorable curve of her neck.
+
+"It seems longer than that to me, Dicky. I was perfectly miserable until
+Martin called this afternoon and explained what you have been doing."
+
+"Yes, I met him on the way over. But honestly, Dottie, I simply couldn't
+get away. I wanted to, the worst way, but everything went so slow...."
+
+"Slow? When you have a whole laboratory installed in a week? What would
+you call speed?"
+
+"About two days. And then, there were a lot of little ideas that had to
+be nailed down before they got away from me. This is a horribly big job,
+Dottie, and when a fellow gets into it he can't quit. But you know that
+I love you just the same, even though I do appear to neglect you," he
+continued with fierce intensity. I love you with everything there is in
+me. "I love you, mind, body and spirit; love you as a man should love
+the one and only woman. For you are the only woman, there never was and
+never will be another. I love you morally, physically, intellectually,
+and every other way there is, for the perfect little darling that you
+are."
+
+She moved in his embrace and her arms tightened about his neck.
+
+"You are the nearest thing to absolute perfection that ever came into
+this imperfect world," he continued. "Just to think of a girl of your
+sheer beauty, your ability, your charm, your all-round perfection, being
+engaged to a thing like me, makes me dizzy--but I sure do love you,
+little girl of mine. I will love you as long as we live, and afterward,
+my soul will love your soul throughout eternity. You know that,
+sweetheart girl."
+
+"Oh, Dick!" she whispered, her soul shaken with response to his love. "I
+never dreamed it possible for a woman to love as I love you. 'Whither
+thou goest....'"
+
+Her voice failed in the tempest of her emotion, and they clung together
+in silence.
+
+They were finally interrupted by Dorothy's stately and gracious mother,
+who came in to greet Seaton and invite him to have dinner with them.
+
+"I knew that Dot would forget such an unimportant matter," she said,
+with a glint of Dorothy's own mischief in her eyes.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+As they went into the dining-room Dorothy was amazed to see the changes
+that six days had wrought in Seaton. His face looked thin, almost
+haggard. Fine lines had made their appearance at the corners of his eyes
+and around his mouth, and faint but unmistakable blue rings encircled
+his eyes.
+
+"You have been working too hard, boy," she reproved him gravely.
+
+"Oh, no," he rejoined lightly. "I'm all right, I never felt better. Why,
+I could whip a rattlesnake right now, and give him the first bite!"
+
+She laughed at his reply, but the look of concern did not leave her
+face. As soon as they were seated at the table she turned to her father,
+a clean-cut, gray-haired man of fifty, known as one of the shrewdest
+attorneys in the city.
+
+"Daddy," she demanded, "what do you mean by being elected director in
+the Seaton-Crane Company and not telling me anything about it?"
+
+"Daughter," he replied in the same tone, "what do you mean by asking
+such a question as that? Don't you know that it is a lawyer's business
+to get information, and to give it out only to paying clients? However,
+I can tell you all I know about the Seaton-Crane Company without adding
+to your store of knowledge at all. I was present at one meeting, gravely
+voted 'aye' once, and that is all."
+
+"Didn't you draw up the articles of incorporation?"
+
+"I am doing it, yes; but they don't mean anything. They merely empower
+the Company to do anything it wants to, the same as other large
+companies do." Then, after a quick but searching glance at Seaton's worn
+face and a warning glance at his daughter, he remarked:
+
+"I read in the _Star_ this evening that Enright and Stanwix will
+probably make the Australian Davis Cup team, and that the Hawaiian with
+the unpronounceable name has broken three or four more world's records.
+What do you think of our tennis chances this year, Dick?"
+
+Dorothy flushed, and the conversation, steered by the lawyer into the
+safer channels, turned to tennis, swimming, and other sports. Seaton,
+whose plate was unobtrusively kept full by Mr. Vaneman, ate such a
+dinner as he had not eaten in weeks. After the meal was over they all
+went into the spacious living-room, where the men ensconced themselves
+in comfortable Morris chairs with long, black cigars between their
+teeth, and all four engaged in a spirited discussion of various topics
+of the day. After a time, the older couple left the room, the lawyer
+going into his study to work, as he always did in the evening.
+
+"Well, Dicky, how's everything?" Dorothy asked, unthinkingly.
+
+The result of this innocent question was astonishing. Seaton leaped to
+his feet. The problem, dormant for two hours, was again in complete
+possession of his mind.
+
+"Rotten!" he snapped, striding back and forth and brandishing his
+half-smoked cigar. "My head is so thick that it takes a thousand years
+for an idea to filter into it. I should have the whole thing clear by
+this time, but I haven't. There's something, some little factor, that I
+can't get. I've almost had it a dozen times, but it always gets away
+from me. I know that the force is there and I can liberate it, but I
+can't work out a system of control until I can understand exactly why it
+acts the way it does." Then, more slowly, thinking aloud rather than
+addressing the girl:
+
+"The force is attraction toward all matter, generated by the vibrations
+of all the constituent electrons in parallel planes. It is directed
+along a line perpendicular to the plane of vibration at its center, and
+approaches infinity as the angle theta approaches the limit of Pi
+divided by two. Therefore, by shifting the axis of rotation or the plane
+of vibration thus making theta vary between the limits of zero and Pi
+divided by two...."
+
+He was interrupted by Dorothy, who, mortified by her thoughtlessness in
+getting him started, had sprung up and seized him by the arm.
+
+"Sit down, Dicky!" she implored. "Sit down, you're rocking the boat!
+Save your mathematics for Martin. Don't you know that I could never find
+out why 'x' was equal to 'y' or to anything else in algebra?"
+
+She led him back to his chair, where he drew her down to a seat on the
+arm beside him.
+
+"Whom do you love?" she whispered gayly in his ear.
+
+After a time she freed herself.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"I haven't practised today. Don't you want me to play for you a little?"
+
+"Fine business, Dottie. When you play a violin, it talks."
+
+She took down her violin and played; first his favorites, crashing
+selections from operas and solos by the great masters, abounding in
+harmonies on two strings. Then she changed to reveries and soft,
+plaintive melodies. Seaton listened with profound enjoyment. Under the
+spell of the music he relaxed, pushed out the footrest of the chair, and
+lay back at ease, smoking dreamily. The cigar finished and his hands at
+rest, his eyes closed of themselves. The music, now a crooning lullaby,
+grew softer and slower, until his deep and regular breathing showed that
+he was sound asleep. She stopped playing and sat watching him intently,
+her violin in readiness to play again, if he should show the least sign
+of waking, but there was no such sign. Freed from the tyranny of the
+mighty brain which had been driving it so unmercifully, his body was
+making up for many hours of lost sleep.
+
+Assured that he was really asleep, Dorothy tip-toed to her father's
+study and quietly went in.
+
+"Daddy, Dick is asleep out there in the chair. What shall we do with
+him?"
+
+"Good work, Dottie Dimple. I heard you playing him to sleep--you almost
+put me to sleep as well. I'll get a blanket and we'll put him to bed
+right where he is."
+
+"Dear old Dad," she said softly, sitting on the arm of his chair and
+rubbing her cheek against his. "You always did understand, didn't you?"
+
+"I try to, Kitten," he answered, pulling her ear. "Seaton is too good a
+man to see go to pieces when it can be prevented. That is why I
+signalled you to keep the talk off the company and his work. One of the
+best lawyers I ever knew, a real genius, went to pieces that same way.
+He was on a big, almost an impossible, case. He couldn't think of
+anything else, didn't eat or sleep much for months. He won the case, but
+it broke him. But he wasn't in love with a big, red-headed beauty of a
+girl, and so didn't have her to fiddle him to sleep.
+
+"Well, I'll go get the blanket," he concluded, with a sudden change in
+his tone.
+
+In a few moments he returned and they went into the living-room
+together. Seaton lay in exactly the same position, only the regular
+lifting of his powerful chest showing that he was alive.
+
+"I think we had better...."
+
+"Sh ... sh," interrupted the girl in an intense whisper. "You'll wake
+him up, Daddy."
+
+"Bosh! You couldn't wake him up with a club. His own name might rouse
+him, particularly if you said it; no other ordinary sound would. I
+started to say that I think we had better put him to bed on the
+davenport. He would be more comfortable."
+
+"But that would surely wake him. And he's so big...."
+
+"Oh, no, it wouldn't, unless I drop him on the floor. And he doesn't
+weigh much over two hundred, does he?"
+
+"About ten or eleven pounds."
+
+"Even though I am a lawyer, and old and decrepit, I can still handle
+that much."
+
+With Dorothy anxiously watching the proceeding and trying to help,
+Vaneman picked Seaton up out of the chair, with some effort, and carried
+him across the room. The sleeping man muttered as if in protest at being
+disturbed, but made no other sign of consciousness. The lawyer then
+calmly removed Seaton's shoes and collar, while the girl arranged
+pillows under his head and tucked the blanket around him. Vaneman bent a
+quizzical glance upon his daughter, under which a flaming blush spread
+from her throat to her hair.
+
+"Well," she said, defiantly, "I'm going to, anyway."
+
+"My dear, of course you are. If you didn't, I would disown you."
+
+As her father turned away, Dorothy knelt beside her lover and pressed
+her lips tightly to his.
+
+"Good night, sweetheart," she murmured.
+
+"'Night," he muttered in his sleep, as his lips responded faintly to her
+caress.
+
+Vaneman waited for his daughter, and when she appeared, the blush again
+suffusing her face, he put his arm around her.
+
+"Dorothy," he said at the door of her room, using her full name, a very
+unusual thing for him, "the father of such a girl as you are hates to
+lose her, but I advise you to stick to that boy. Believe in him and
+trust him, no matter what happens. He is a real man."
+
+"I know it, Dad ... thank you. I had a touch of the blues today, but I
+never will again. I think more of his little finger than I do of all the
+other men I ever knew, put together. But how do you know him so well? I
+know him, of course, but that's different."
+
+"I have various ways of getting information. I know Dick Seaton better
+than you do--better than he knows himself. I have known all about every
+man who ever looked at you twice. I have been afraid once or twice that
+I would have to take a hand, but you saw them right, just as you see
+Seaton right. For some time I have been afraid of the thought of your
+marrying, the young men in your social set are such a hopeless lot, but
+I am not any more. When I hand my little girl over to her husband next
+October I can be really happy with you, instead of anxious for you.
+That's how well I know Richard Seaton.... Well, good night, daughter
+mine."
+
+"Good night, Daddy dear," she replied, throwing her arms around his
+neck. "I have the finest Dad a girl ever had, and the finest ... boy.
+Good night."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It was three o'clock the following afternoon when Seaton appeared in the
+laboratory. His long rest had removed all the signs of overwork and he
+was his alert, vigorous self, but when Crane saw him and called out a
+cheery greeting he returned it with a sheepish smile.
+
+"Don't say anything, Martin--I'm thinking it all, and then some. I made
+a regular fool of myself last night. Went to sleep in a chair and slept
+seventeen hours without a break. I never felt so cheap in my life."
+
+"You were worn out, Dick, and you know it. That sleep put you on your
+feet again, and I hope you will have sense enough to take care of
+yourself after this. I warn you now, Dick, that if you start any more of
+that midnight work I will simply call Dorothy over here and have her
+take charge of you."
+
+"That's it, Mart, rub it in. Don't you see that I am flat on my back,
+with all four paws in the air? But I'm going to sleep every night. I
+promised Dottie to go to bed not later than twelve, if I have to quit
+right in the middle of an idea, and I told her that I was coming out to
+see her every other evening and every Sunday. But here's the dope. I've
+got that missing factor in my theory--got it while I was eating
+breakfast this afternoon."
+
+"If you had eaten and slept regularly here and kept yourself fit you
+would have seen it before."
+
+"Yes, I guess that's right, too. If I miss a meal or a sleep from now on
+I want you to sand-bag me. But never mind that. Here's the explanation.
+We doped out before, you know, that the force is something like
+magnetism, and is generated when the coil causes the electrons of this
+specially-treated copper to vibrate in parallel planes. The knotty point
+was what could be the effect of a weak electric current in liberating
+the power. I've got it! It shifts the plane of vibration of the
+electrons!"
+
+"It is impossible to shift that plane, Dick. It is fixed by physical
+state, just as speed is fixed by temperature."
+
+"No, it isn't. That is, it usually is, but in this case it may be
+shifted. Here's the mathematical proof."
+
+So saying, Seaton went over to the drafting table, tacked down a huge
+sheet of paper, and sketched rapidly, explaining as he drew. Soon the
+two men were engaged in a profound mathematical argument. Sheet after
+sheet of paper was filled with equations and calculations, and the table
+was covered with reference books. After two hours of intense study and
+hot discussion Crane's face took on a look of dawning comprehension,
+which changed to amazement and then to joy. For the first time in
+Seaton's long acquaintance with him, his habitual calm was broken.
+
+"By George!" he cried, shaking Seaton's hand in both of his. "I think
+you have it! But how under the sun did you get the idea? That calculus
+isn't in any of the books. Where did you get it? Dick, you're a wonder!"
+
+"I don't know how I got the idea, it merely came to me. But that Math is
+right--it's _got_ to be right, no other conclusion is possible. Now, if
+that calc. is right, and I know it is, do you see how narrow the
+permissible limits of shifting are? Look at equation 236. Believe me, I
+sure was lucky, that day in the Bureau. It's a wonder I didn't blow up
+the whole works. Suppose I hadn't been working with a storage cell that
+gave only four amperes at two volts? That's unusually low, you know, for
+that kind of work."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Crane carefully studied the equation referred to and figured for a
+moment.
+
+"In that case the limit would be exactly eight watts. Anything above
+that means instant decomposition?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+Crane whistled, a long, low whistle.
+
+"And that bath weighed forty pounds--enough to vaporize the whole
+planet. Dick, it cannot be possible."
+
+"It doesn't seem that way, but it is. It certainly makes me turn cold
+all over, though, to think of what might have happened. You know now why
+I wouldn't touch the solution again until I had this stuff worked out?"
+
+"I certainly do. You should be even more afraid of it now. I don't mind
+nitroglycerin or T.N.T., but anything like that is merely a child's
+plaything compared to this. Perhaps we had better drop it?"
+
+"Not in seven thousand years. The mere fact that I was so lucky at first
+proves that Fate intended this thing to be my oyster. However, I'll not
+tempt the old lady any farther. I'm going to start with one millionth of
+a volt, and will use a piece of copper visible only under a microscope.
+But there's absolutely no danger, now that we know what it is. I can
+make it eat out of my hand. Look at this equation here, though. That
+being true, it looks as though you could get the same explosive effect
+by taking a piece of copper which had once been partially decomposed and
+subjecting it to some force, say an extremely heavy current. Again under
+the influence of the coil, a small current would explode it, wouldn't
+it?"
+
+"It looks that way, from those figures."
+
+"Say, wouldn't that make some bullet? Unstabilize a piece of copper in
+that way and put it inside a rifle bullet, arranged to make a short
+circuit on impact. By making the piece of copper barely visible you
+could have the explosive effect of only a few sticks of dynamite--a
+piece the size of a pea would obliterate New York City. But that's a
+long way from our flying-machine."
+
+"Perhaps not so far as you think. When we explore new worlds it might be
+a good idea to have a liberal supply of such ammunition, of various
+weights, for emergencies."
+
+"It might, at that. Here's another point in equation 249. Suppose the
+unstabilized copper were treated with a very weak current, not strong
+enough to explode it? A sort of borderline condition? The energy would
+be liberated, apparently, but in an entirely new way. Wonder what would
+happen? I can't see from the theory--have to work it out. And here's
+another somewhat similar condition, right here, that will need
+investigating. I've sure got a lot of experimental work ahead of me
+before I'll know anything. How're things going with you?"
+
+"I have the drawings and blue-prints of the ship itself done, and
+working sketches of the commercial power-plant. I am working now on the
+details, such as navigating instruments, food, water, and air supplies,
+special motors, and all of the hundred and one little things that must
+be taken into consideration. Then, as soon as you get the power under
+control, we will have only to sketch in the details of the power-plant
+and its supports before we can begin construction."
+
+"Fine, Mart, that's great. Well, let's get busy!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+Steel Liberates Energy--Unexpectedly
+
+
+DuQuesne was in his laboratory, poring over an abstruse article in a
+foreign journal of science, when Scott came breezily in with a newspaper
+in his hand, across the front page of which stretched great headlines.
+
+"Hello, Blackie!" he called. "Come down to earth and listen to this tale
+of mystery from that world-renowned fount of exactitude and authority,
+the _Washington Clarion_. Some miscreant has piled up and touched off a
+few thousand tons of T.N.T. and picric acid up in the hills. Read about
+it, it's good."
+
+DuQuesne read:
+
+
+     MYSTERIOUS EXPLOSION!
+
+     MOUNTAIN VILLAGE WIPED OUT OF EXISTENCE!
+     TWO HUNDRED DEAD, NONE INJURED!
+
+     FORCE FELT ALL OVER WORLD. CAUSE UNKNOWN.
+     SCIENTISTS BAFFLED.
+
+     HARPER'S FERRY. March 26.--At 10: 23 A.M. today, the village of
+     Bankerville, about thirty miles north of this place, was totally
+     destroyed by an explosion of such terrific violence that
+     seismographs all over the world recorded the shock, and that
+     windows were shattered even in this city. A thick pall of dust and
+     smoke was observed in the sky and parties set out immediately. They
+     found, instead of the little mountain village, nothing except an
+     immense, crater-like hole in the ground, some two miles in diameter
+     and variously estimated at from two to three thousand feet deep. No
+     survivors have been found, no bodies have been recovered. The
+     entire village, with its two hundred inhabitants, has been wiped
+     out of existence. Not so much as a splinter of wood or a fragment
+     of brick from any of the houses can be found. Scientists are unable
+     to account for the terrific force of the explosion, which far
+     exceeded that of the most violent explosive known.
+
+"Hm ... m. That sounds reasonable, doesn't it?" asked DuQuesne,
+sarcastically, as he finished reading.
+
+"It sure does," replied Scott, grinning. "What'd'you suppose it was?
+Think the reporter heard a tire blow out on Pennsylvania Avenue?"
+
+"Perhaps. Nothing to it, anyway," as he turned back to his work.
+
+As soon as the visitor had gone a sneering smile spread over DuQuesne's
+face and he picked up his telephone.
+
+"The fool did it. That will cure him of sucking eggs!" he muttered.
+"Operator? DuQuesne speaking. I am expecting a call this afternoon.
+Please ask him to call me at my house.... Thank you."
+
+"Fred," he called to his helper, "if anyone wants me, tell them that I
+have gone home."
+
+He left the building and stepped into his car. In less than half an hour
+he arrived at his house on Park Road, overlooking beautiful Rock Creek
+Park. Here he lived alone save for an old colored couple who were his
+servants.
+
+In the busiest part of the afternoon Chambers rushed unannounced into
+Brookings' private office. His face was white as chalk.
+
+"Read that, Mr. Brookings!" he gasped, thrusting the _Clarion_ extra
+into his hand.
+
+Brookings read the news of the explosion, then looked at his chief
+chemist, his face turning gray.
+
+"Yes, sir, that was our laboratory," said Chambers, dully.
+
+"The fool! Didn't you tell him to work with small quantities?"
+
+"I did. He said not to worry, that he was taking no chances, that he
+would never have more than a gram of copper on hand at once in the whole
+laboratory."
+
+"Well ... I'll ... be ... damned!" Slowly turning to the telephone,
+Brookings called a number and asked for Doctor DuQuesne, then called
+another.
+
+"Brookings speaking. I would like to see you this afternoon. Will you be
+at home?... I'll be there in about an hour. Good bye."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+When Brookings arrived he was shown into DuQuesne's study. The two men
+shook hands perfunctorily and sat down, the scientist waiting for the
+other to speak.
+
+"Well, DuQuesne, you were right. Our man couldn't handle it. But of
+course you didn't mean the terms you mentioned before?"
+
+DuQuesne's lips smiled; a hard, cold smile.
+
+"You know what I said, Brookings. Those terms are now doubled, twenty
+thousand and ten million. Nothing else goes."
+
+"I expected it, since you never back down. The Corporation expects to
+pay for its mistakes. We accept your terms and I have contracts here for
+your services as research director, at a salary of two hundred and forty
+thousand dollars per annum, with the bonus and royalties you demand."
+
+DuQuesne glanced over the documents and thrust them into his pocket.
+
+"I'll go over these with my attorney to-night, and mail one back to you
+if he approves the contract. In the meantime, we may as well get down to
+business."
+
+"What would you suggest?" asked Brookings.
+
+"You people stole the solution, I see...."
+
+"Don't use such harsh language, Doctor, it's...."
+
+"Why not? I'm for direct action, first, last and all the time. This
+thing is too important to permit of mincing words or actions, it's a
+waste of time. Have you the solution here?"
+
+"Yes, here it is," drawing the bottle from his pocket.
+
+"Where's the rest of it?" asked DuQuesne as he noted the size of the
+bottle.
+
+"All that we found is here, except about a teaspoonful which the expert
+had to work on," replied Brookings. "We didn't get it all, only half of
+it. The rest of it was diluted with water, so that it wouldn't be
+missed. After we get started, if you find it works out satisfactorily,
+we can procure the rest of it. That will certainly cause a disturbance,
+but it may be necessary...."
+
+"Half of it!" interrupted DuQuesne. "You haven't one-twentieth of it
+here. When I saw it in the Bureau, Seaton had about five hundred
+milliliters--over a pint--of it. I wonder if you're double-crossing me
+again?"
+
+"No, you're not," he continued, paying no attention to the other's
+protestations of innocence. "You're paying me too much to want to block
+me now. The crook you sent out to get the stuff turned in only this
+much. Do you suppose he is holding out on us?"
+
+"No. You know Perkins and his methods."
+
+"He missed the main bottle, then. That's where your methods make me
+tired. When I want anything done, I believe in doing it myself, then I
+know it's done right. As to what I suggest, that's easy. I will take
+three or four of Perkins' gunmen tonight. We'll go out there and raid
+the place. We'll shoot Seaton and anybody else who gets in the way.
+We'll dynamite the safe and take their solution, plans, notes, money,
+and anything else we want."
+
+"No, no, Doctor, that's too crude altogether. If we have to do that, let
+it be only as a last resort."
+
+"I say do it first, then we know we will get results. I tell you I'm
+afraid of pussyfooting and gumshoeing around Seaton and Crane. I used to
+think that Seaton was easy, but he seems to have developed greatly in
+the last few weeks, and Crane never was anybody's fool. Together they
+make a combination hard to beat. Brute force, applied without warning,
+is our best bet, and there's no danger, you know that. We've got away
+clean with lots worse stuff."
+
+"It's always dangerous, and we could wink at such tactics only after
+everything else has failed. Why not work it out from this solution we
+have, and then quietly get the rest of it? After we have it worked out,
+Seaton might get into an accident on his motorcycle, and we could prove
+by the state of development of our plans that we discovered it long
+ago."
+
+"Because developing the stuff is highly dangerous, as you have found
+out. Even Seaton wouldn't have been alive now if he hadn't had a lot of
+luck at the start. Then, too, it would take too much time. Seaton has
+already developed it--you see, I haven't been asleep and I know what he
+has done, just as well as you do--and why should we go through all that
+slow and dangerous experimental work when we can get their notes and
+plans as well as not? There is bound to be trouble anyway when we steal
+all their solution, even though they haven't missed this little bit of
+it yet, and it might as well come now as any other time. The Corporation
+is amply protected, and I am still a Government chemist. Nobody even
+suspects that I am in on this deal. I will never see you except after
+hours and in private, and will never come near your offices. We will be
+so cautious that, even if anyone should get suspicious, they can't
+possibly link us together, and until they do link us together, we are
+all safe. No, Brookings, a raid in force is the only sure and safe way.
+What is more natural than a burglary of a rich man's house? It will be a
+simple affair. The police will stir around for a few days, then it will
+all be forgotten and we can go ahead. Nobody will suspect anything
+except Crane, if he is alive, and he won't be able to do anything."
+
+So the argument raged. Brookings was convinced that DuQuesne was right
+in wanting to get possession of all the solution, and also of the
+working notes and plans, but would not agree to the means suggested,
+holding out for quieter and more devious, but less actionable methods.
+Finally he ended the argument with a flat refusal to countenance the
+raid, and the scientist was forced to yield, although he declared that
+they would have to use his methods in the end, and that it would save
+time, money, and perhaps lives, if they were used first. Brookings then
+took from his pocket his wireless and called Perkins. He told him of the
+larger bottle of solution, instructing him to secure it and to bring
+back all plans, notes, and other material he could find which in any way
+pertained to the matter in hand. Then, after promising DuQuesne to keep
+him informed of developments, and giving him an instrument similar to
+the one he himself carried, Brookings took his leave.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Seaton had worked from early morning until late at night, but had
+rigorously kept his promise to Dorothy. He had slept seven or eight
+hours every night and had called upon her regularly, returning from the
+visits with ever-keener zest for his work.
+
+Late in the afternoon, upon the day of the explosion, Seaton stepped
+into Crane's shop with a mass of notes in his hand.
+
+"Well, Mart, I've got it--some of it, at least. The power is just what
+we figured it, so immensely large as to be beyond belief. I have found:
+
+"First: That it is a practically irresistible _pull_ along the axis of
+the treated wire or bar. It is apparently focused at infinity, as
+near-by objects are not affected.
+
+"Second: I have studied two of the border-line regions of current we
+discussed. I have found that in one the power is liberated as a similar
+attractive force but is focused upon the first object in line with the
+axis of the bar. As long as the current is applied it remains focused
+upon that object, no matter what comes between. In the second
+border-line condition the power is liberated as a terrific repulsion.
+
+"Third: That the copper is completely transformed into available energy,
+there being no heat whatever liberated.
+
+"Fourth: Most important of all, that the X acts only as a catalyst for
+the copper and is not itself consumed, so that an infinitesimally thin
+coating is all that is required."
+
+"You certainly have found out a great deal about it," replied Crane, who
+had been listening with the closest attention, a look of admiration upon
+his face. "You have all the essential facts right there. Now we can go
+ahead and put in the details which will finish up the plans completely.
+Also, one of those points solves my hardest problem, that of getting
+back to the earth after we lose sight of it. We can make a small bar in
+that border-line condition and focus it upon the earth, and we can use
+that repulsive property to ward off any meteorites which may come too
+close to us."
+
+"That's right. I never thought of using those points for anything. I
+found them out incidentally, and merely mentioned them as interesting
+facts. I have a model of the main bar built, though, that will lift me
+into the air and pull me all around. Want to see it work?"
+
+"I certainly do."
+
+As they were going out to the landing field Shiro called to them and
+they turned back to the house, learning that Dorothy and her father had
+just arrived.
+
+"Hello, boys!" Dorothy said, bestowing her radiant smile upon them both
+as Seaton seized her hand. "Dad and I came out to see that you were
+taking care of yourselves, and to see what you are doing. Are visitors
+allowed?"
+
+"No," replied Seaton promptly. "All visitors are barred. Members of the
+firm and members of the family, however, are not classed as visitors."
+
+"You came at the right time," said Crane, smiling. "Dick has just
+finished a model, and was about to demonstrate it to me when you
+arrived. Come with us and watch the...."
+
+"I object," interrupted Seaton. "It is a highly undignified performance
+as yet, and...."
+
+"Objection overruled," interposed the lawyer, decisively. "You are too
+young and impetuous to have any dignity; therefore, any performance not
+undignified would be impossible, _a priori_. The demonstration will
+proceed."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Laughing merrily, the four made their way to the testing shed, in front
+of which Seaton donned a heavy leather harness, buckled about his
+shoulders, body and legs; to which were attached numerous handles,
+switches, boxes and other pieces of apparatus. He snapped the switch
+which started the Tesla coil in the shed and pressed a button on an
+instrument in his hand, attached to his harness by a small steel cable.
+Instantly there was a creak of straining leather and he shot vertically
+into the air for perhaps a hundred feet, where he stopped and remained
+motionless for a few moments. Then the watchers saw him point his arm
+and dart in the direction in which he pointed. By merely pointing,
+apparently, he changed his direction at will; going up and down, forward
+and backward, describing circles and loops and figures of eight. After a
+few minutes of this display he descended, slowing up abruptly as he
+neared the ground and making an easy landing.
+
+"There, oh beauteous lady and esteemed sirs," he began, with a low bow
+and a sweeping flourish--when there was a snap, and he was jerked
+sidewise off his feet. In bowing, his cumbersome harness had pressed the
+controlling switch and the instrument he held in his hand, which
+contained the power-plant, or bar, had torn itself loose from its
+buckle. Instead of being within easy reach of his hand it was over six
+feet away, and was dragging him helplessly after it, straight toward the
+high stone wall! But only momentarily was he helpless, his keen mind
+discovering a way out of the predicament even as he managed to scramble
+to his feet in spite of the rapid pace. Throwing his body sidewise and
+reaching out his long arm as far as possible toward the bar, he
+succeeded in swinging it around so that he was running back toward the
+party and the spacious landing field. Dorothy and her father were
+standing motionless, staring at Seaton; the former with terror in her
+eyes, the latter in blank amazement. Crane had darted to the switch
+controlling the coil, and was reaching for it when Seaton passed them.
+
+"Don't touch that switch!" he yelled. "I'll catch that thing yet!"
+
+At this evidence that Seaton still thought himself master of the
+situation, Crane began to laugh, though he still kept his hand near the
+controlling switch. Dorothy, relieved of her fear for her lover's
+safety, could not help but join him, so ludicrous were Seaton's antics.
+The bar was straight out in front of him, about five feet above the
+ground, going somewhat faster than a man could run. It turned now to the
+right, now to the left, as his weight was thrown to one side or the
+other. Seaton, dragged along like a small boy trying to hold a runaway
+calf by the tail, was covering the ground in prodigious leaps and
+bounds; at the same time pulling himself up, hand over hand, to the bar
+in front of him. He soon reached it, seized it in both hands, again
+darted into the air, and descended lightly near the others, who were
+rocking with laughter.
+
+"I said it would be undignified," chuckled Seaton, rather short of
+breath, "but I didn't know just how much so it was going to be."
+
+Dorothy tucked her fingers into his hand.
+
+"Are you hurt anywhere, Dick?"
+
+"Not a bit. He led me a great chase, though."
+
+"I was scared to death until you told Martin to let the switch alone.
+But it was funny then! I hadn't noticed your resemblance to a
+jumping-jack before. Won't you do it again sometime and let us take a
+movie of it?"
+
+"That was as good as any show in town, Dick," said the lawyer, wiping
+his eyes, "but you must be more careful. Next time, it might not be
+funny at all."
+
+"There will be no next time for this rig," replied Seaton. "This is
+merely to show us that our ideas are all right. The next trip will be in
+a full-scale, completely-equipped boat."
+
+"It was perfectly wonderful," declared Dorothy. "I know this first
+flight of yours will be a turning-point or something in history. I don't
+pretend to understand how you did it--the sight of you standing still up
+there in the air made me wonder if I really were awake, even though I
+knew what to expect--but we wouldn't have missed it for worlds, would
+we, Dad?"
+
+"No. I am very glad that we saw the first demonstration. The world has
+never before seen anything like it, and you two men will rank as two of
+the greatest discoverers."
+
+"Seaton will, you mean," replied Crane, uncomfortably. "You know I
+didn't have anything to do with it."
+
+"It's nearly all yours," denied Seaton. "Without your ideas I would have
+lost myself in space in my first attempt."
+
+"You are both wrong," said Vaneman. "You, Martin, haven't enough
+imagination; and you, Dick, have altogether too much, for either of you
+to have done this alone. The honor will be divided equally between you."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+He turned to Crane as Dorothy and Seaton set out toward the house.
+
+"What are you going to do with it, commercially? Dick, of course, hasn't
+thought of anything except this space-car--equally of course, you have?"
+
+"Yes. Knowing the general nature of the power and confident that Dick
+would control it, I have already drawn up sketches for a power-plant
+installation of five hundred thousand electrical horsepower, which will
+enable us to sell power for less than one-tenth of a cent per
+kilowatt-hour and still return twenty percent annual dividends. However,
+the power-plant comes after the flyer."
+
+"Why? Why not build the power-plant first, and take the pleasure trip
+afterward?"
+
+"There are several reasons. The principal one is that Dick and I would
+rather be off exploring new worlds, while the other members of the
+Seaton-Crane Company, Engineers, build the power-plant."
+
+During the talk the men had reached the house, into which the others had
+disappeared some time before. Upon Crane's invitation, Vaneman and his
+daughter stayed to dinner, and Dorothy played for awhile upon Crane's
+wonderful violin. The rest of the evening was spent in animated
+discussion of the realization of Seaton's dreams of flying without wings
+and beyond the supporting atmosphere. Seaton and Crane did their best to
+explain to the non-technical visitors how such flight was possible.
+
+"Well, I am beginning to understand it a little," said Dorothy finally.
+"In plain language, it is like a big magnet or something, but different.
+Is that it?"
+
+"That's it exactly," Seaton assured her.
+
+"What are you going to call it? It isn't like anything else that ever
+was. Already this evening you have called it a bus, a boat, a kite, a
+star-hound, a wagon, an aerial flivver, a sky-chariot, a space-eating
+wampus, and I don't know what else. Even Martin has called it a vehicle,
+a ship, a bird, and a shell. What is its real name?"
+
+"I don't know. It hasn't got any that I know of. What would you suggest,
+Dottie?"
+
+"I don't know what general name should be applied to them, but for this
+one there is only one possible name, 'The Skylark.'"
+
+"Exactly right, Dorothy," said Crane.
+
+"Fine!" cried Seaton. "And you shall christen it, Dottie, with a big
+Florence flask full of absolute vacuum. 'I christen you "The Skylark."
+BANG!'"
+
+As the guests were leaving, at a late hour, Vaneman said:
+
+"Oh, yes. I bought an extra _Clarion_ as we came out. It tells a wild
+tale of an explosion so violent that science cannot explain it. I don't
+suppose it is true, but it may make interesting reading for you two
+scientific sharps. Good night."
+
+Seaton accompanied Dorothy to the car, bidding her a more intimate
+farewell on the way. When he returned, Crane, with an unusual expression
+of concern on his face, handed him the paper without a word.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"What's up, old man? Something in it?" he asked, as he took the paper.
+He fell silent as he read the first words, and after he had read the
+entire article he said slowly:
+
+"True, beyond a doubt. Even a _Clarion_ reporter couldn't imagine that.
+It's all intra-atomic energy, all right--some poor devil trying our
+stunt without my horseshoe in his pocket."
+
+"Think, Dick! Something is wrong somewhere. You know that two people did
+not discover X at the same time. The answer is that somebody stole your
+idea, but the idea is worthless without the X. You say that the stuff is
+extremely rare--where did they get it?"
+
+"That's right, Mart. I never thought of that. The stuff _is_ extremely
+rare. I am supposed to know something about rare metals, and I never
+heard of it before--there isn't even a gap in the Periodic System in
+which it belongs. I would bet a hat that we have every milligram known
+to the world at present."
+
+"Well, then," said the practical Crane. "We had better see whether or
+not we have all we started with."
+
+Asking Shiro to bring the large bottle from the vault, he opened the
+living-room safe and brought forth the small vial. The large bottle was
+still nearly full, the seal upon it unbroken. The vial was apparently
+exactly as Seaton had left it after he had made his bars.
+
+"Our stuff seems to be all there," said Crane. "It looks as though
+someone else has discovered it also."
+
+"I don't believe it," said Seaton, their positions now reversed. "It's
+altogether too rare."
+
+He scanned both bottles narrowly.
+
+"I can tell by taking the densities," he added, and ran up to the
+laboratory, returning with a Westphal balance in his hand. After testing
+both solutions he said slowly:
+
+"Well, the mystery is solved. The large bottle has a specific gravity of
+1.80, as it had when I prepared it; that in the vial reads only 1.41.
+Somebody has burglarized this safe and taken almost half of the
+solution, filling the vial up with colored water. The stuff is so strong
+that I probably never would have noticed the difference."
+
+"But who could it have been?"
+
+"Search me! But it's nothing to worry about now, anyway, because whoever
+it was is gone where he'll never do it again. He's taken the solution
+with him, too, so that nobody else can get it."
+
+"I wish I were sure of that, Dick. The man who tried to do the research
+work is undoubtedly gone--but who is back of him?"
+
+"Nobody, probably. Who would want to be?"
+
+"To borrow your own phrase, Dick, Scott 'chirped it' when he called you
+'Nobody Holme.' For a man with your brains you have the least sense of
+anybody I know. You know that this thing is worth, as a power project
+alone, thousands of millions of dollars, and that there are dozens of
+big concerns who would cheerfully put us both out of the way for a
+thousandth of that amount. The question is not to find one concern who
+might be backing a thing like that, but to pick out the one who is
+backing it."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+After thinking deeply for a few moments he went on:
+
+"The idea was taken from your demonstration in the Bureau, either by an
+eye-witness or by someone who heard about it afterward, probably the
+former. Even though it failed, one man saw the possibilities. Who was
+that man? Who was there?"
+
+"Oh, a lot of the fellows were there. Scott, Smith, Penfield, DuQuesne,
+Roberts--quite a bunch of them. Let's see--Scott hasn't brains enough to
+do anything. Smith doesn't know anything about anything except amines.
+Penfield is a pure scientist, who wouldn't even quote an authority
+without asking permission. DuQuesne is ... hm-m ... DuQuesne ... he ...
+I...."
+
+"Yes. DuQuesne. I have heard of him. He's the big black fellow, about
+your own size? He has the brains, the ability, and the inclination, has
+he not?"
+
+"Well, I wouldn't want to say that. I don't know him very well, and
+personal dislike is no ground at all for suspicion, you know."
+
+"Enough to warrant investigation. Is there anyone else who might have
+reasoned it out as you did, and as DuQuesne possibly could?"
+
+"Not that I remember. But we can count DuQuesne out, anyway, because he
+called me up this afternoon about some notes on gallium; so he is still
+in the Bureau. Besides, he wouldn't let anybody else investigate it if
+he got it. He would do it himself, and I don't think he would have blown
+himself up. I never did like him very well personally--he's such a cold,
+inhuman son of a fish--but you've got to hand it to him for ability.
+He's probably the best man in the world today on that kind of thing."
+
+"No, I do not think that we will count him out yet. He may have had
+nothing to do with it, but we will have him investigated nevertheless,
+and will guard against future visitors here."
+
+Turning to the telephone, he called the private number of a well-known
+detective.
+
+"Prescott? Crane speaking. Sorry to get you out of bed, but I should
+like to have a complete report upon Dr. Marc C. DuQuesne, of the Rare
+Metals Laboratory, as soon as possible. Every detail for the last two
+weeks, every move and every thought if possible. Please keep a good man
+on him until further notice.... I wish you would send two or three
+guards out here right away, to-night; men you can trust and who will
+stay awake.... Thanks. Good night."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+Direct Action
+
+
+Seaton and Crane spent some time developing the object-compass. Crane
+made a number of these instruments, mounted in gymbals, so that the
+delicate needles were free to turn in any direction whatever. They were
+mounted upon jeweled bearings, but bearings made of such great strength,
+that Seaton protested.
+
+"What's the use, Mart? You don't expect a watch to be treated like a
+stone-crusher. That needle weighs less than half a gram. Why mount it as
+though it weighed twenty pounds?"
+
+"To be safe. Remember the acceleration the Lark will be capable of, and
+also that on some other worlds, which we hope to visit, this needle will
+weigh more than it does here."
+
+"That's right, Mart, I never thought of that. Anyway, we can't be too
+safe to suit me."
+
+When the compasses were done and the power through them had been
+adjusted to one-thousandth of a watt, the lowest they could maintain
+with accuracy, they focused each instrument upon one of a set of most
+carefully weighed glass beads, ranging in size from a pin-head up to a
+large marble, and had the beads taken across the country by Shiro, in
+order to test the sensitiveness and accuracy of the new instruments. The
+first test was made at a distance of one hundred miles, the last at
+nearly three thousand. They found, as they had expected, that from the
+weight of the object and the time it took the needle to come to rest
+after being displaced from its line by a gentle tap of the finger, they
+could easily calculate the distance from the compass to the object. This
+fact pleased Crane immensely, as it gave him a sure means of navigation
+in space. The only objection to its use in measuring earthly distances
+was its extreme delicacy, the needle focused upon the smallest bead in
+the lot at a distance of three thousand miles coming to rest in little
+more than one second.
+
+The question of navigation solved, the two next devoted themselves to
+perfecting the "X-plosive bullet," as Seaton called it. From his notes
+and equations Seaton calculated the weight of copper necessary to exert
+the explosive force of one pound of nitro-glycerin, and weighed out, on
+the most delicate assay-balance made, various fractions and multiples of
+this amount of the treated copper, while Crane fitted up the bullets of
+automatic-pistol cartridges to receive the charges and to explode them
+on impact.
+
+They placed their blueprints and working notes in the safe, as usual,
+taking with them only those notes dealing with the object-compass and
+the X-plosive bullet, upon which they were still working. No one except
+Shiro knew that the original tracings, from which the blue-prints had
+been made, and their final, classified notes were always kept in the
+vault. They cautioned him and the three guards to keep a close watch
+until they returned. Then they set out in the biplane, to try out the
+new weapon in a lonely place where the exploding shells could do no
+damage.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+They found that the X-plosive came fully up to expectations. The
+smallest charge they had prepared, fired by Crane at a great stump a
+full hundred yards away from the bare, flat-topped knoll that had
+afforded them a landing-place, tore it bodily from the ground and
+reduced it to splinters, while the force of the explosion made the two
+men stagger.
+
+"She sure is big medicine!" laughed Seaton. "Wonder what a real one will
+do?" and drawing his pistol, he inserted a cartridge carrying a much
+heavier charge.
+
+"Better be careful with the big ones," cautioned Crane. "What are you
+going to shoot at?"
+
+"That rock over there," pointing to a huge boulder half a mile away
+across the small valley. "Want to bet me a dinner I can't hit it?"
+
+"No. You forget that I saw you win the pistol trophy of the District."
+
+The pistol cracked, and when the bullet reached its destination the
+great stone was obliterated in a vast ball of flame. After a moment
+there was a deafening report--a crash as though the world were falling
+to pieces. Both men were hurled violently backward, stumbling and
+falling flat. Picking themselves up, they looked across the valley at
+the place where the boulder had stood, to see only an immense cloud of
+dust, which slowly blew away, revealing a huge hole in the ground. They
+were silent a moment, awed by the frightful power they had loosed.
+
+"Well, Mart," Seaton broke the silence, "I'll say those one-milligram
+loads are plenty big enough. If that'd been something coming after
+us--whether any possible other-world animal, a foreign battleship, or
+the mythical great sea-serpent himself, it'd be a good Indian now. Yes?
+No?"
+
+"Yes. When we use the heavier charges we must use long-range rifles.
+Have you had enough demonstration or do you want to shoot some more?"
+
+"I've had enough, thanks. That last rock I bounced off of was no pillow,
+I'll tell the world. Besides, it looks as though I'd busted a leg or two
+off of our noble steed with my shot, and we may have to walk back home."
+
+An examination of the plane, which had been moved many feet and almost
+overturned by the force of the explosion, revealed no damage that they
+could not repair on the spot, and dusk saw them speeding through the air
+toward the distant city.
+
+In response to a summons from his chief, Perkins silently appeared in
+Brookings' office, without his usual complacent smile.
+
+"Haven't you done anything yet, after all this time?" demanded the
+magnate. "We're getting tired of this delay."
+
+"I can't help it, Mr. Brookings," replied the subordinate. "They've got
+detectives from Prescott's all over the place. Our best men have been
+trying ever since the day of the explosion, but can't do a thing without
+resorting to violence. I went out there myself and looked them over,
+without being seen. There isn't a man there with a record, and I haven't
+been able so far to get anything on any one of them that we can use as a
+handle."
+
+"No, Prescott's men are hard to do anything with. But can't you...?"
+Brookings paused significantly.
+
+"I was coming to that. I thought one of them might be seen, and I talked
+to him a little, over the phone, but I couldn't talk loud enough without
+consulting you. I mentioned ten, but he held out for twenty-five. Said
+he wouldn't consider it at all, but he wants to quit Prescott and go
+into business for himself."
+
+"Go ahead on twenty-five. We want to get action," said Brookings, as he
+wrote an order on the cashier for twenty-five thousand dollars in
+small-to-medium bills. "That is cheap enough, considering what
+DuQuesne's rough stuff would probably cost. Report tomorrow about four,
+over our private phone--no, I'll come down to the cafe, it's safer."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The place referred to was the Perkins Cafe, a high-class restaurant on
+Pennsylvania Avenue, heavily patronized by the diplomatic, political,
+financial, and sporting circles of upper-class Washington. It was famous
+for its discreet waiters, and for the absolutely private rooms. Many of
+its patrons knew of its unique telephone service, in which each call
+went through such a devious system of relays that any attempt to trace
+it was hopeless; they knew that while "The Perkins" would not knowingly
+lend itself to any violation of law, it was an entirely safe and
+thoroughly satisfactory place in which to conduct business of the most
+secret and confidential character; a place from which one could enjoy
+personal conversation with persons to whom he wished to remain invisible
+and untraceable: a place which had never been known to "leak." For these
+reasons it was really the diplomatic and political center of the
+country, and over its secret wires had gone, in guarded language,
+messages that would have rocked the world had they gone astray. It was
+recognized that the place was occasionally, by its very nature, used for
+illegal purposes, but it was such a political, financial, and diplomatic
+necessity that it carried a "Hands Off" sign. It was never investigated
+by Congress and never raided by the police. Hundreds of telephone calls
+were handled daily. A man would come in, order something served in a
+private room, leave a name at the desk, and say that he was expecting a
+call. There the affair ended. The telephone operators were hand-picked,
+men of very short memories, carefully trained never to look at a face
+and never to remember a name or a number. Although the precaution was
+unnecessary, this shortness of memory was often encouraged by bills of
+various denominations.
+
+No one except Perkins and the heads of the great World Steel Corporation
+knew that the urbane and polished proprietor of the cafe was a criminal
+of the blackest kind, whose liberty and life itself were dependent upon
+the will of the Corporation; or that the restaurant was especially
+planned and maintained as a blind for its underground activities; or
+that Perkins was holding a position which suited him exactly and which
+he would not have given up for wealth or glory--that of being the
+guiding genius who planned nefarious things for the men higher up, and
+saw to it that they were carried out by the men lower down. He was in
+constant personal touch with his superiors, but in order to avoid any
+chance of betrayal he never saw his subordinates personally. Not only
+were they entirely ignorant of his identity, but all possible means of
+their tracing him had been foreseen and guarded against. He called them
+on the telephone, but they never called him. The only possible way in
+which any of his subordinates could get in touch with him was by means
+of the wonderful wireless telephone already referred to, developed by a
+drug-crazed genius who had died shortly after it was perfected. It was a
+tiny instrument, no larger than a watch, but of practically unlimited
+range. The controlling central station of the few instruments in
+existence, from which any instrument could be cut out, changed in tune,
+or totally destroyed at will, was in Perkins' office safe. A man
+intrusted with an unusually important job would receive from an unknown
+source an instrument, with directions sufficient for its use. As soon as
+the job was done he would find, upon again attempting to use the
+telephone, that its interior was so hopelessly wrecked that not even the
+most skilled artisan could reproduce what it had once been.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+At four o'clock Brookings was ushered into the private office of the
+master criminal, who was plainly ill at ease.
+
+"I've got to report another failure, Mr. Brookings. It's nobody's fault,
+just one of those things that couldn't be helped. I handled this myself.
+Our man left the door unlocked and kept the others busy in another room.
+I had just started to work when Crane's Japanese servant, who was
+supposed to be asleep, appeared upon the scene. If I hadn't known
+something about jiu-jutsu myself, he'd have broken my neck. As it was, I
+barely got away, with the Jap and all three guards close behind me...."
+
+"I'm not interested in excuses," broke in the magnate, angrily. "We'll
+have to turn it over to DuQuesne after all unless you get something
+done, and get it done quick. Can't you get to that Jap some way?"
+
+"Certainly I can. I never yet saw the man who couldn't be reached, one
+way or another. I've had 'Silk' Humphreys, the best fixer in the
+business, working on him all day, and he'll be neutral before night. If
+the long green won't quiet him--and I never saw a Jap refuse it yet--a
+lead pipe will. Silk hasn't reported yet, but I expect to hear from him
+any minute now, through our man out there."
+
+As he spoke, the almost inaudible buzzer in his pocket gave a signal.
+
+"There he is now," said Perkins, as he took out his wireless
+instrument. "You might listen in and hear what he has to say."
+
+Brookings took out his own telephone and held it to his ear.
+
+"Hello," Perkins spoke gruffly into the tiny transmitter. "What've you
+got on your chest?"
+
+"Your foot slipped on the Jap," the stranger replied. "He crabbed the
+game right. Slats and the big fellow put all the stuff into the box,
+told us to watch it until they get back tonight--they may be late--then
+went off in Slats' ship to test something--couldn't find out what. Silk
+tackled the yellow boy, and went up to fifty grand, but the Jap couldn't
+see him at all. Silk started to argue, and the Jap didn't do a thing but
+lay him out, cold. This afternoon, while the Jap was out in the grounds,
+three stick-up men jumped him. He bumped one of them off with his hands
+and the others with his gat--one of those big automatics that throw a
+slug like a cannon. None of us knew he had it. That's all, except that I
+am quitting Prescott right now. Anything else I can do for you, whoever
+you are?"
+
+"No. Your job's done."
+
+The conversation closed. Perkins pressed the switch which reduced the
+interior of the spy's wireless instrument to a fused mass of metal, and
+Brookings called DuQuesne on the telephone.
+
+"I would like to talk to you," he said. "Shall I come there or would you
+rather come to my office?"
+
+"I'll come there. They're watching this house. They have one man in
+front and one in back, a couple of detectaphones in my rooms here, and
+have coupled onto this telephone.
+
+"Don't worry," he continued calmly as the other made an exclamation of
+dismay. "Talk ahead as loud as you please--they can't hear you. Do you
+think that those poor, ignorant flat feet can show me anything about
+electricity? I'd shoot a jolt along their wires that would burn their
+ears off if it weren't my cue to act the innocent and absorbed
+scientist. As it is, their instruments are all registering dense
+silence. I am deep in study right now, and can't be disturbed!"
+
+"Can you get out?"
+
+"Certainly. I have that same private entrance down beside the house wall
+and the same tunnel I used before. I'll see you in about fifteen
+minutes."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+In Brookings' office, DuQuesne told of the constant surveillance over
+him.
+
+"They suspect me on general principles, I think," he continued. "They
+are apparently trying to connect me with somebody. I don't think they
+suspect you at all, and they won't unless they get some better methods.
+I have devices fitted up to turn the lights off and on, raise and lower
+the windows, and even cast shadows at certain times. The housekeeper
+knows that when I go to my library after dinner, I have retired to
+study, and that it is as much as anyone's life is worth to disturb me.
+Also, I am well known to be firmly fixed in my habits, so it's easy to
+fool those detectives. Last night I went out and watched them. They hung
+around a couple of hours after my lights went out, then walked off
+together. I can dodge them any time and have all my nights free without
+their ever suspecting anything."
+
+"Are you free tonight?"
+
+"Yes. The time-switches are all set, and as long as I get back before
+daylight, so they can see me get up and go to work, it will be all
+right."
+
+Brookings told him briefly of the failures to secure the solution and
+the plans, of the death of the three men sent to silence Shiro, and of
+all the other developments. DuQuesne listened, his face impassive.
+
+"Well," he said as Brookings ceased. "I thought you would bull it, but
+not quite so badly. But there's no use whining now. I can't use my
+original plan of attack in force, as they are prepared and might be able
+to stand us off until the police could arrive."
+
+He thought deeply for a time, then said, intensely:
+
+"If I go into this thing, Brookings, I am in absolute command.
+Everything goes as I say. Understand?"
+
+"Yes. It's up to you, now."
+
+"All right, I think I've got it. Can you get me a Curtiss biplane in an
+hour, and a man about six feet tall who weighs about a hundred and sixty
+pounds? I want to drive the plane myself, and have the man, dressed in
+full leathers and hood, in the passenger's seat, shot so full of
+chloroform or dope that he will be completely unconscious for at least
+two hours."
+
+"Easy. We can get you any kind of plane you want in an hour, and Perkins
+can find a man of that description who would be glad to have a dream at
+that price. But what's the idea?... Pardon me, I shouldn't have asked
+that," he added, as the saturnine chemist shot him a black look from
+beneath his heavy brows.
+
+Well, within the hour, DuQuesne drove up to a private aviation field and
+found awaiting him a Curtiss biplane, whose attendant jumped into an
+automobile and sped away as he approached. He quickly donned a heavy
+leather suit, similar to the one Seaton always wore in the air, and drew
+the hood over his face. Then, after a searching look at the lean form of
+the unconscious man in the other seat, he was off, the plane climbing
+swiftly under his expert hand. He took a wide circle to the west and
+north.
+
+Soon Shiro and the two guards, hearing the roar of an approaching
+airplane, looked out and saw what they supposed to be Crane's biplane
+coming down with terrific speed in an almost vertical nose-dive, as
+though the driver were in an extremity of haste. Flattening out just in
+time to avert destruction it taxied up the field almost to the house.
+The watchers saw a man recognizable as Seaton by his suit and his
+unmistakable physique stand up and wave both arms frantically, heard him
+shout hoarsely "... all of you ... out here," saw him point to Crane's
+apparently lifeless form and slump down in his seat. All three ran out
+to help the unconscious aviators, but just as they reached the machine
+there were three silenced reports and the three men fell to the ground.
+DuQuesne leaped lightly out of the machine and looked narrowly at the
+bodies at his feet. He saw that the two detectives were dead, but found
+with some chagrin that the Japanese still showed faint signs of life. He
+half drew his pistol to finish the job, but observing that the victim
+was probably fatally wounded he thrust it back into its holster and
+went on into the house. Drawing on rubber gloves he rapidly blew the
+door off the safe with nitro-glycerin and took out everything it
+contained. He set aside a roll of blueprints, numerous notebooks, some
+money and other valuables, and a small vial of solution--but of the
+larger bottle there was no trace. He then ransacked the entire house,
+from cellar to attic, with no better success. So cleverly was the
+entrance to the vault concealed in the basement wall that he failed to
+discover it.
+
+"I might have expected this of Crane," he thought, half aloud, "after
+all the warning that fool Brookings persisted in giving him. This is the
+natural result of his nonsense. The rest of the solution is probably in
+the safest safe-deposit vault in the United States. But I've got their
+plans and notes, and enough solution for the present. I'll get the rest
+of it when I want it--there's more than one way to kill any cat that
+ever lived!"
+
+Returning to the machine, DuQuesne calmly stepped over the bodies of the
+detectives and the unconscious form of the dying Japanese, who was
+uttering an occasional groan. He started the engine and took his seat.
+There was an increasing roar as he opened the throttle, and soon he
+descended upon the field from which he had set out. He noted that there
+was a man in an automobile at some distance from the hangar, evidently
+waiting to take care of the plane and his still unconscious passenger.
+Rapidly resuming his ordinary clothing, he stepped into his automobile
+and was soon back in his own rooms, poring over the blueprints and
+notebooks.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Seaton and Crane both felt that something was wrong when they approached
+the landing field and saw that the landing-lights were not burning, as
+they always were kept lighted whenever the plane was abroad after dark.
+By the dim light of the old moon Crane made a bumpy landing and they
+sprang from their seats and hastened toward the house. As they neared it
+they heard a faint moan and turned toward the sound, Seaton whipping out
+his electric torch with one hand and his automatic pistol with the
+other. At the sight that met their eyes, however, he hastily replaced
+the weapon and bent over Shiro, a touch assuring him that the other two
+were beyond the reach of help. Silently they picked up the injured man
+and carried him gently into his own room, barely glancing at the wrecked
+safe on the way. Seaton applied first-aid treatment to the ghastly wound
+in Shiro's head, which both men supposed to be certainly fatal, while
+Crane called a noted surgeon, asking him to come at once. He then
+telephoned the coroner, the police, and finally Prescott, with whom he
+held a long conversation.
+
+Having done all in their power for the unfortunate man, they stood at
+his bedside, their anger all the more terrible for the fact that it was
+silent. Seaton stood with every muscle tense. He was seething with rage,
+his face purple and his eyes almost emitting sparks, his teeth clenched
+until the muscles of his jaws stood out in bands and lumps. His right
+hand, white-knuckled, gripped the butt of his pistol, while under his
+left the brass rail of the bed slowly bent under the intensity of his
+unconscious muscular effort. Crane stood still, apparently impassive,
+but with his face perfectly white and with every feature stern and cold
+as though cut from marble. Seaton was the first to speak.
+
+"Mart," he gritted, his voice husky with fury, "a man who would leave
+another man alone to die after giving him that, ain't a man--he's a
+thing. If Shiro dies and we can ever find out who did it I'll shoot him
+with the biggest explosive charge I've got. No, I won't either, that'd
+be too sudden. I'll take him apart with my bare hands."
+
+"We will find him, Dick," Crane replied in a level, deadly voice
+entirely unlike his usual tone. "That is one thing money can do. We will
+get him if money, influence, and detectives can do it."
+
+The tension was relieved by the arrival of the surgeon and his two
+nurses, who set to work with the machine-like rapidity and precision of
+their highly-specialized craft. After a few minutes, the work completed,
+the surgeon turned to the two men who had been watching him so intently,
+with a smile upon his clean-shaven face.
+
+"Merely a scalp wound, Mr. Crane," he stated. "He should recover
+consciousness in an hour or so." Then, breaking in upon Seaton's
+exclamation, "It looks much worse than it really is. The bullet glanced
+off the skull instead of penetrating it, stunning him by the force of the
+blow. There are no indications that the brain is affected in any way,
+and while the affected area of the scalp is large, it is a clean wound
+and should heal rapidly. He will probably be up and around in a couple
+of days, and by the time his hair grows again, he will not be able to
+find a scar."
+
+As he took his leave, the police and coroner arrived. After making a
+thorough investigation, in which they learned what had been stolen and
+shrewdly deduced the manner in which the robbery had been accomplished,
+they departed, taking with them the bodies. They were authorized by
+Crane to offer a reward of one million dollars for information leading
+to the arrest and conviction of the murderer. After everyone except the
+nurses had gone, Crane showed them the rooms they were to occupy while
+caring for the wounded man. As the surgeon had foretold, Shiro soon
+recovered consciousness. After telling his story he dropped into a deep
+sleep, and Seaton and Crane, after another telephonic conference with
+Prescott, retired for the rest of the night.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+The Object-Compass at Work
+
+
+Prescott, after a sleepless night, joined Seaton and Crane at breakfast.
+
+"What do you make of it, Mr. Prescott?" asked Crane. "Seaton here thinks
+it was DuQuesne, possibly acting for some foreign power, after our
+flying-machine to use in war. I think it was some big industrial concern
+after our power-plant. What is your opinion?"
+
+"I haven't any," replied the great detective after a moment. "Either
+guess may be true, although I am almost positive that Dr. DuQuesne had
+nothing to do with it, either way. It was no ordinary burglary, that is
+certain from Shiro's story. It was done by someone who had exact
+information of your movements and habits. He chose a time when you were
+away, probably not so much from fear of you as because it was only in
+your absence that he could succeed as he did in getting all the guards
+out at once where he could handle them. He was a man with one accomplice
+or who worked alone, and who was almost exactly Seaton's size and build.
+He was undoubtedly an expert, as he blew the safe and searched the whole
+house without leaving a finger-print or any other clue, however slight,
+that I can find--a thing I have never before seen done in all my
+experience."
+
+"His size should help in locating him," declared Crane. "While there are
+undoubtedly thousands of men of Dick's six-feet-one and two-fifths, they
+are fairly well scattered, are they not?"
+
+"Yes, they are, but his very size only makes it worse. I have gone over
+all the records I could, in the short time I have had, and can't find an
+expert of that class with anywhere near that description."
+
+"How about the third guard, the one who escaped?" asked Seaton.
+
+"He wasn't here. It was his afternoon off, you know, and he said that he
+wouldn't come back into this job on a bet--that he wasn't afraid of
+anything ordinary, but he didn't like the looks of things out here. That
+sounded fishy to me, and I fired him. He may have been the leak, of
+course, though I have always found him reliable before. If he did leak,
+he must have got a whale of a slice for it. He is under constant watch,
+and if we can ever get anything on him, I will nail him to the cross.
+But that doesn't help get this affair straightened out. I haven't given
+up, of course, there are lots of things not tried yet, but I must admit
+that temporarily, at least, I am up a stump."
+
+"Well," remarked Seaton, "that million-dollar reward will bring him in,
+sure. No honor that ever existed among thieves, or even among
+free-lances of diplomacy, could stand that strain."
+
+"I'm not so sure of that, Dick," said Crane. "If either one of our ideas
+is the right one, very few men would know enough about the affair to
+give pertinent information, and they probably would not live long enough
+to enjoy the reward very thoroughly. Even a million dollars fails in
+that case."
+
+"I rather agree with Mr. Crane, Seaton. If it were an ordinary
+affair--and I am as sure it is not as the police are that it is--a
+reward of that size would get us our man within two days. As it is, I
+doubt very much that the reward will do us any good. I'm afraid that it
+will never be claimed."
+
+"Wonder if the Secret Service could help us out? They'd be interested if
+it should turn out to be some foreign power."
+
+"I took it up with the Chief himself, just after it happened last night.
+He doesn't think that it can be a foreign country. He has their agents
+pretty well spotted, and the only one that could fill the bill--you know
+a man with that description and with the cold nerve to do the job would
+be apt to be known--was in San Francisco, the time this job was pulled
+off."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"The more you talk, the more I am convinced that it was DuQuesne
+himself," declared Seaton, positively. "He is almost exactly my size and
+build, is the only man I know of who could do anything with the solution
+after he got it, and he has nerve enough to do anything."
+
+"I would like to think it was DuQuesne," replied the detective,
+thoughtfully, "but I'm afraid we'll have to count him out of it
+entirely. He has been under the constant surveillance of my best men
+ever since you mentioned him. We have detectaphones in his rooms, wires
+on his telephone, and are watching him night and day. He never goes out
+except to work, never has any except unimportant telephone calls, and
+the instruments register only the occasional scratching of a match, the
+rustle of papers, and other noises of a man studying. He's innocent."
+
+"That may be true," assented Seaton doubtfully, "but you want to
+remember that he knows more about electricity than the guy that invented
+it, and I'm not sure that he can't talk to a detectaphone and make it
+say anything he wants it to. Anyway, we can soon settle it. Yesterday I
+made a special trip down to the Bureau, with some notes as an excuse, to
+set this object-compass on him," taking one of the small instruments
+from his pocket as he spoke. "I watched him a while last night, then
+fixed an alarm to wake me if the needle moved much, but it pointed
+steady all night. See! It's moving now. That means that he is going to
+work early, as usual. Now I'm morally certain that he's mixed up in this
+thing somewhere, and I'm not convinced that he isn't slipping one over
+on your men some way--he's a clever devil. I wonder if you wouldn't take
+this compass and watch him yourself tonight, just on general principles?
+Or let me do it. I'd be glad to. I say 'tonight' because if he did get
+the stuff here he didn't deliver it anywhere last night. It's just a
+chance, of course, but he may do it tonight."
+
+After the compass had been explained to the detective he gladly
+consented to the plan, declaring that he would willingly spend the time
+just to watch such an unheard-of instrument work. After another hour of
+fruitless discussion Prescott took his leave, saying that he would mount
+an impregnable guard from that time on.
+
+Late that evening Prescott joined the two men who were watching
+DuQuesne's house. They reported that all was perfectly quiet, as usual.
+The scientist was in his library, the instruments registering only the
+usual occasional faint sounds of a man absorbed in study. But after an
+hour of waiting, and while the microphones made a noise as of rustling
+papers, the needle of the compass moved. It dipped slowly toward the
+earth as though DuQuesne were descending into the cellar, but at the
+same time the shadow of his unmistakable profile was thrown upon the
+window shade as he apparently crossed the room.
+
+"Can't you hear him walk?" demanded Prescott.
+
+"No. He has heavy Turkish rugs all over the library, and he always walks
+very lightly, besides."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Prescott watched the needle in amazement as it dipped deeper and deeper,
+pointing down into the earth almost under his feet and then behind him,
+as though DuQuesne had walked beneath him. He did not, could not,
+believe it. He was certain that something had gone wrong with the
+strange instrument in his hand, nevertheless he followed the pointing
+needle. It led him beside Park Road, down the hill, straight toward the
+long bridge which forms one entrance to Rock Creek Park. Though
+skeptical, Prescott took no chances, and as he approached the bridge he
+left the road and concealed himself behind a clump of trees, from which
+point of vantage he could see the ground beneath the bridge as well as
+the roadway. Soon the bridge trembled under the weight of a heavy
+automobile going toward the city at a high rate of speed. He saw
+DuQuesne, with a roll of papers under his arm, emerge from under the
+bridge just in time to leap aboard the automobile, which slowed down
+only enough to enable him to board it in safety. The detective noticed
+that the car was a Pierce-Arrow limousine--a car not common, even in
+Washington--and rushed out to get its number, but the license plates
+were so smeared with oil and dust that the numbers could not be read by
+the light of the tail lamp. Glancing at the compass in his hand he saw
+that the delicate needle was now pointing steadily at the fleeing car,
+and all doubts as to the power of the instrument were dispelled. He
+rejoined his men, informed them that DuQuesne had eluded them, and took
+one of them up the hill to a nearby garage. There he engaged a fast car
+and set out in pursuit, choosing the path for the chauffeur by means of
+the compass. His search ended at the residence of Brookings, the General
+Manager of the great World Steel Corporation. Here he dismissed the car
+and watched the house while his assistant went to bring out the fast
+motorcycle used by Prescott when high speed was desirable.
+
+After four hours a small car bearing the license number of a distant
+state--which was found, by subsequent telegraphing, to be unknown to the
+authorities of that state--drove under the porte-cochere, and the hidden
+watcher saw DuQuesne, without the papers, step into it. Knowing now what
+to expect, Prescott drove his racing motorcycle at full speed out to the
+Park Road Bridge and concealed himself beneath the structure, in a
+position commanding a view of the concrete abutment through which the
+scientist must have come. Soon he heard a car slow down overhead, heard
+a few rapid footfalls, and saw the dark form of a large man outlined
+against the gray face of the abutment. He saw the man lift his hand high
+above his head, and saw a black rectangle appear in the gray, engulf the
+man, and disappear. After a few minutes he approached the abutment and
+searched its face with the help of his flash-light. He finally succeeded
+in tracing the almost imperceptible crack which outlined the door, and
+the concealed button which DuQuesne had pressed to open it. He did not
+press the button, as it might be connected to an alarm. Deep in thought,
+he mounted his motorcycle and made his way to his home to get a few
+hours of sleep before reporting to Crane whom he was scheduled to see at
+breakfast next morning.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Both men were waiting for him when he appeared, and he noticed with
+pleasure that Shiro, with a heavily-bandaged head, was insisting that he
+was perfectly able to wait on the table instead of breakfasting in bed.
+He calmly proceeded to serve breakfast in spite of Crane's
+remonstrances, having ceremoniously ordered out of the kitchen the
+colored man who had been secured to take his place.
+
+"Well, gentlemen," the detective began, "part of the mystery is
+straightened out. I was entirely wrong, and each of you were partly
+right. It was DuQuesne, in all probability. It is equally probable that
+a great company--in this case the World Steel Corporation--is backing
+him, though I don't believe there is a ghost of a show of ever being
+able to prove it in law. Your 'object-compass' did the trick."
+
+He narrated all the events of the previous night.
+
+"I'd like to send him to the chair for this job," said Seaton with
+rising anger. "We ought to shoot him anyway, damn him--I'm sorry duels
+have gone out of fashion, for I can't shoot him off-hand, the way things
+are now--I sure wish I could."
+
+"No, you cannot shoot him," said Crane, thoughtfully, "and neither can
+I, worse luck. We are not in his class there. And you must not fight
+with him, either"--noting that Seaton's powerful hands had doubled into
+fists, the knuckles showing white through the tanned skin--"though that
+would be a fight worth watching and I would like to see you give him the
+beating of his life. A little thing like a beating is not a fraction of
+what he deserves and it would show him that we have found him out. No,
+we must do it legally or let him entirely alone. You think there is no
+hope of proving it, Prescott?"
+
+"Frankly, I see very little chance of it. There is always hope, of
+course, and if that bunch of pirates ever makes a slip, we'll be right
+there waiting to catch 'em. While I don't believe in holding out false
+encouragement, they've never slipped yet. I'll take my men off DuQuesne,
+now that we've linked him up with Steel. It doesn't make any difference,
+does it, whether he goes to them every night or only once a week?
+
+"No."
+
+"Then about all I can do is to get everything I can on that Steel crowd,
+and that is very much like trying to get blood out of a turnip. I intend
+to keep after them, of course, for I owe them something for killing two
+of my men here, as well as for other favors they have done me in the
+past, but don't expect too much. I have tackled them before, and so have
+police headquarters and even the Secret Service itself, under cover, and
+all that any of us has been able to get is an occasional small fish. We
+could never land the big fellows. In fact, we have never found the
+slightest material proof of what we are morally certain is the truth,
+that World Steel is back of a lot of deviltry all over the country. The
+little fellows who do the work either don't know anything or are afraid
+to tell. I'll see if I can find out what they are doing with the stuff
+they stole, but I'm not even sure of doing that. You can't plant
+instruments on that bunch--it would be like trying to stick a pin into a
+sleeping cat without waking him up. They undoubtedly have one of the
+best corps of detectives in the world. You haven't perfected an
+instrument which enables you to see into a closed room and hear what is
+going on there, have you?" And upon being assured that they had not, he
+took his leave.
+
+"Optimistic cuss, ain't he?" remarked Seaton.
+
+"He has cause to be, Dick. World Steel is a soulless corporation if
+there ever was one. They have the shrewdest lawyers in the country, and
+they get away legally with things that are flagrantly illegal, such as
+freezing out competitors, stealing patents, and the like. Report has it
+that they do not stop at arson, treason, or murder to attain their ends,
+but as Prescott said, they never leave any legal proof behind them."
+
+"Well, _we_ should fret, anyway. Of course, a monopoly is what they're
+after, but they can't form one because they can't possibly get the rest
+of our solution. Even if they should get it, we can get more. It won't
+be as easy as this last batch was, since the X was undoubtedly present
+in some particular lot of platinum in extraordinary quantities, but now
+that I know exactly what to look for, I can find more. So they can't get
+their monopoly unless they kill us off...."
+
+"Exactly. Go on, I see you are getting the idea. If we should both
+conveniently die, they could get the solution from the company, and have
+the monopoly, since no one else can handle it."
+
+"But they couldn't get away with it, Mart--never in a thousand years,
+even if they wanted to. Of course I am small fry, but you are too big a
+man for even Steel to do away with. It can't be done."
+
+"I am not so sure of that. Airplane accidents are numerous, and I am an
+aviator. Also, has it ever occurred to you that the heavy forging for
+the Skylark, ordered a while ago, are of steel?"
+
+Seaton paused, dumbfounded, in the act of lighting his pipe.
+
+"But thanks to your object-compass, we are warned." Crane continued,
+evenly. "Those forgings are going through the most complete set of tests
+known to the industry, and if they go into the Skylark at all it will be
+after I am thoroughly convinced that they will not give way on our first
+trip into space. But we can do nothing until the steel arrives, and with
+the guard Prescott has here now we are safe enough. Luckily, the enemy
+knows nothing of the object-compass or the X-plosive, and we must keep
+them in ignorance. Hereinafter, not even the guards get a look at
+anything we do."
+
+"They sure don't. Let's get busy!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+DuQuesne and Brookings met in conference in a private room of the
+Perkins Cafe.
+
+"What's the good word, Doctor?"
+
+"So-so," replied the scientist. "The stuff is all they said it was, but
+we haven't enough of it to build much of a power-plant. We can't go
+ahead with it, anyway, as long as Seaton and Crane have nearly all their
+original solution."
+
+"No, we can't. We must find a way of getting it. I see now that we
+should have done as you suggested, and taken it before they had warning
+and put it out of our reach."
+
+"There's no use holding post-mortems. We've got to get it, some way, and
+everybody that knows anything about that new metal, how to get it or how
+to handle it, must die. At first, it would have been enough to kill
+Seaton. Now, however, there is no doubt that Crane knows all about it,
+and he probably has left complete instructions in case he gets killed in
+an accident--he's the kind that would. We will have to keep our eyes
+open and wipe out those instructions and anyone who has seen them. You
+see that, don't you?"
+
+"Yes, I am afraid that is the only way out. We must have the monopoly,
+and anyone who might be able to interfere with it must be removed. How
+has your search for more X prospered?"
+
+"About as well as I expected. We bought up all the platinum wastes we
+could get, and reworked all the metallic platinum and allied metals we
+could buy in the open market, and got less than a gram of X out of the
+whole lot. It's scarcer than radium. Seaton's finding so much of it at
+once was an accident, pure and simple--it couldn't happen once in a
+million years."
+
+"Well, have you any suggestions as to how we can get that solution?"
+
+"No. I haven't thought of anything but that very thing ever since I
+found that they had hidden it, and I can't yet see any good way of
+getting it. My forte is direct action and that fails in this case, since
+no amount of force or torture could make Crane reveal the hiding-place
+of the solution. It's probably in the safest safe-deposit vault in the
+country. He wouldn't carry the key on him, probably wouldn't have it in
+the house. Killing Seaton or Crane, or both of them, is easy enough, but
+it probably wouldn't get us the solution, as I have no doubt that Crane
+has provided for everything."
+
+"Probably he has. But if he should disappear the stuff would have to
+come to light, or the Seaton-Crane Company might start their
+power-plant. In that case, we probably could get it?"
+
+"_Possibly_, you mean. That method is too slow to suit me, though. It
+would take months, perhaps years, and would be devilishly uncertain, to
+boot. They'll know something is in the wind, and the stuff will be
+surrounded by every safeguard they can think of. There must be some
+better way than that, but I haven't been able to think of it."
+
+"Neither have I, but your phrase 'direct action' gives me an idea. You
+say that that method has failed. What do you think of trying indirect
+action in the shape of Perkins, who is indirection personified?"
+
+"Bring him in. He may be able to figure out something."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Perkins was called in, and the main phases of the situation laid before
+him. The three men sat in silence for many minutes while the crafty
+strategist studied the problem. Finally he spoke.
+
+"There's only one way, gentlemen. We must get a handle on either Seaton
+or Crane strong enough to make them give up their bottle of dope, their
+plans, and everything...."
+
+"Handle!" interrupted DuQuesne. "You talk like a fool! You can't get
+anything on either of them."
+
+"You misunderstand me, Doctor. You can get a handle of some kind on any
+living man. Not necessarily in his past, you understand--I know that
+anything like that is out of the question in this case--but in his
+future. With some men it is money, with others power, with others fame,
+with others women or some woman, and so on down the list. What can we
+use here? Money is out of the question, so are power and fame, as they
+already have both in plain sight. It seems to me that women would be our
+best chance."
+
+"Hah!" snorted the chemist. "Crane has been chased by all the women of
+three continents so long that he's womanproof. Seaton is worse--he's
+engaged, and wouldn't realize that a woman was on his trail, even if you
+could find a better looking one to work on him than the girl he's
+engaged to--which would be a hard job. Cleopatra herself couldn't swing
+that order."
+
+"Engaged? That makes it simple as A B C."
+
+"Simple? In the devil's name, how?"
+
+"Easy as falling off a log. You have enough of the dope to build a
+space-car from those plans, haven't you?"
+
+"Yes. What has that to do with the case?"
+
+"It has everything to do with it. I would suggest that we build such a
+car and use it to carry off the girl. After we have her safe we could
+tell Seaton that she is marooned on some distant planet, and that she
+will be returned to earth only after all the solution, all notes, plans,
+and everything pertaining to the new metal are surrendered. That will
+bring him, and Crane will consent. Then, afterward, Dr. Seaton may go
+away indefinitely, and if desirable, Mr. Crane may accompany him."
+
+"But suppose they try to fight?" asked Brookings.
+
+Perkins slid down into his chair in deep thought, his pale eyes under
+half-closed lids darting here and there, his stubby fingers worrying his
+watch-chain restlessly.
+
+"Who is the girl?" he asked at last.
+
+"Dorothy Vaneman, the daughter of the lawyer. She's that auburn-haired
+beauty that the papers were so full of when she came out last year."
+
+"Vaneman is a director in the Seaton-Crane Company. That makes it still
+better. If they show fight and follow us, that beautiful car we are
+making for them will collapse and they will be out of the way. Vaneman,
+as Seaton's prospective father-in-law and a member of his company,
+probably knows something about the secret. Maybe all of it. With his
+daughter in a space-car, supposedly out in space, and Seaton and Crane
+out of the way, Vaneman would listen to reason and let go of the
+solution, particularly as nobody knows much about it except Seaton and
+Crane."
+
+"That strikes me as a perfectly feasible plan," said Brookings. "But you
+wouldn't really take her to another planet, would you? Why not use an
+automobile or an airplane, and tell Seaton that it was a space-car?"
+
+"I wouldn't advise that. He might not believe it, and they might make a
+lot of trouble. It must be a real space-car even if we don't take her
+out of the city. To make it more impressive, you should take her in
+plain sight of Seaton--no, that would be too dangerous, as I have found
+out from the police that Seaton has a permit to carry arms, and I know
+that he is one of the fastest men with a pistol in the whole country. Do
+it in plain sight of her folks, say, or a crowd of people; being masked,
+of course, or dressed in an aviator's suit, with the hood and goggles
+on. Take her straight up out of sight, then hide her somewhere until
+Seaton listens to reason. I know that he _will_ listen, but if he
+doesn't, you might let him see you start out to visit her. He'll be sure
+to follow you in their rotten car. As soon as he does that, he's our
+meat. But that raises the question of who is going to drive the car?"
+
+"I am," replied DuQuesne. "I will need some help, though, as at least
+one man must stay with the girl while I bring the car back."
+
+"We don't want to let anybody else in on this if we can help it,"
+cautioned Brookings. "You could go along, couldn't you, Perkins?"
+
+"Is it safe?"
+
+"Absolutely," answered DuQuesne. "They have everything worked out to the
+queen's taste."
+
+"That's all right, then. I'll take the trip. Also," turning to
+Brookings, "it will help in another little thing we are doing--the
+Spencer affair."
+
+"Haven't you got that stuff away from her yet, after having had her
+locked up in that hell-hole for two months?" asked Brookings.
+
+"No. She's stubborn as a mule. We've given her the third degree time
+after time, but it's no use."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"What's this?" asked DuQuesne. "Deviltry in the main office?"
+
+"Yes. This Margaret Spencer claims that we swindled her father out of an
+invention and indirectly caused his death. She secured a position with
+us in search of evidence. She is an expert stenographer, and showed such
+ability that she was promoted until she became my secretary. Our
+detectives must have been asleep, as she made away with some photographs
+and drawings before they caught her. She has no real evidence, of
+course, but she might cause trouble with a jury, especially as she is
+one of the best-looking women in Washington. Perkins is holding her
+until she returns the stolen articles."
+
+"Why can't you kill her off?"
+
+"She cannot be disposed of until after we know where the stuff is,
+because she says, and Perkins believes, that the evidence will show up
+in her effects. We must do something about her soon, as the search for
+her is dying down and she will be given up for dead."
+
+"What's the idea about her and the space-car?"
+
+"If the car proves reliable we might actually take her out into space
+and give her the choice between telling and walking back. She has nerve
+enough here on earth to die before giving up, but I don't believe any
+human being would be game to go it alone on a strange world. She'd
+wilt."
+
+"I believe you're right, Perkins. Your suggestions are the best way out.
+Don't you think so, Doctor?"
+
+"Yes, I don't see how we can fail--we're sure to win, either way. You
+are prepared for trouble afterward, of course?"
+
+"Certainly, but I don't think there will be much trouble. They can't
+possibly link the three of us together. They aren't wise to you, are
+they, Doctor?"
+
+"Not a chance!" sneered DuQuesne. "They ran themselves ragged trying to
+get something on me, but they couldn't do it. They have given me up as a
+bad job. I am still as careful as ever, though--I am merely a pure
+scientist in the Bureau of Chemistry!"
+
+All three laughed, and Perkins left the room. The talk then turned to
+the construction of the space-car. It was decided to rush the work on
+it, so that DuQuesne could familiarize himself with its operation, but
+not to take any steps in the actual abduction until such time as Seaton
+and Crane were nearly ready to take their first flight, so that they
+could pursue the abductors in case Seaton was still obdurate after a few
+days of his fiancee's absence. DuQuesne insisted that the car should
+mount a couple of heavy guns, to destroy the pursuing car if the faulty
+members should happen to hold together long enough to carry it out into
+space.
+
+After a long discussion, in which every detail of the plan was carefully
+considered, the two men left the restaurant, by different exits.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+The Trial Voyage
+
+
+The great steel forgings which were to form the framework of the Skylark
+finally arrived and were hauled into the testing shed. There, behind
+closed doors, Crane inspected every square inch of the massive members
+with a lens, but could find nothing wrong. Still unsatisfied, he fitted
+up an electrical testing apparatus in order to search out flaws which
+might be hidden beneath the surface. This device revealed flaws in every
+piece, and after thoroughly testing each one and mapping out the
+imperfections he turned to Seaton with a grave face.
+
+"Worse than useless, every one of them. They are barely strong enough to
+stand shipment. They figured that we would go slowly until we were well
+out of the atmosphere, then put on power--then something would give way
+and we would never come back."
+
+"That's about the right dope, I guess. But now what'll we do? We can't
+cancel without letting them know we're onto them, and we certainly can't
+use this stuff."
+
+"No, but we will go ahead and build this ship, anyway, so that they will
+think that we are going ahead with it. At the same time we will build
+another one, about four times this size, in absolute secrecy, and...."
+
+"What d'you mean, absolute secrecy? How can you keep steel castings and
+forgings of that size secret from Steel?"
+
+"I know a chap who owns and operates a small steel plant, so
+insignificant, relatively, that he has not yet been bought out or frozen
+out by Steel. I was able to do him a small favor once, and I am sure
+that he will be glad to return it. We will not be able to oversee the
+work, that is a drawback. We can get MacDougall to do it for us,
+however, and with him doing the work we can rest assured that there will
+be nothing off color. Even Steel couldn't buy _him_."
+
+"MacDougall! The man who installed the Intercontinental plant? He
+wouldn't touch a little job like this with a pole!"
+
+"I think he would. He and I are rather friendly, and after I tell him
+all about it he will be glad to take it. It means building the first
+interplanetary vessel, you know."
+
+"Wouldn't Steel follow him up if he should go to work on a mysterious
+project? He's too big to hide."
+
+"No. He will go camping--he often does. I have gone with him several
+times when we were completely out of touch with civilization for two
+months at a time. Now, about the ship we want. Have you any ideas?"
+
+"It will cost more than our entire capital."
+
+"That is easily arranged. We do not care how much it costs."
+
+Seaton began to object to drawing so heavily upon the resources of his
+friend, but was promptly silenced.
+
+"I told you when we started," Crane said flatly, "that your solution and
+your idea are worth far more than half a million. In fact, they are
+worth more than everything I have. No more talk of the money end of it,
+Dick."
+
+"All right. We'll build a regular go-getter. Four times the size--she'll
+be a bear-cat, Mart. I'm glad this one is on the fritz. She'll carry a
+two-hundred-pound bar--Zowie! Watch our smoke! And say, why wouldn't it
+be a good idea to build an attractor--a thing like an object-compass,
+but mounting a ten-pound bar instead of a needle, so that if they chase
+us in space we can reach out and grab 'em? We might mount a machine-gun
+in each quadrant, shooting X-plosive bullets, through pressure gaskets
+in the walls. We should have something for defense--I don't like the
+possibility of having that gang of pirates after us, and nothing to
+fight back with except thought-waves."
+
+"Right. We will do both those things. But we should make the power-plant
+big enough to avert any possible contingency--say four hundred
+pounds--and we should have everything in duplicate, from power-plant to
+push-buttons."
+
+"I don't think that's necessary, Mart. Don't you think that's carrying
+caution to extremes?"
+
+"Possibly--but I would rather be a live coward than a dead hero,
+wouldn't you?"
+
+"You chirped it, old scout, I sure would. I never did like the looks of
+that old guy with the scythe, and I would hate to let DuQuesne feel that
+he had slipped something over on me at my own game. Besides, I've
+developed a lot of caution myself, lately. Double she is, with a skin of
+four-foot Norwegian armor. Let's get busy!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+They made the necessary alteration in the plans, and in a few days work
+was begun upon the huge steel shell in the little mountain steel-plant.
+The work was done under the constant supervision of the great
+MacDougall, by men who had been in his employ for years and who were
+all above suspicion. While it was being built Seaton and Crane employed
+a force of men and went ahead with the construction of the space-car in
+the testing shed. While they did not openly slight the work nearly all
+their time was spent in the house, perfecting the many essential things
+which were to go into the real Skylark. There was the attractor, for
+which they had to perfect a special sighting apparatus so that it could
+act in any direction, and yet would not focus upon the ship itself nor
+anything it contained. There were many other things.
+
+It was in this work that the strikingly different temperaments and
+abilities of the two men were most clearly revealed. Seaton strode up
+and down the room, puffing great volumes of smoke from his hot and
+reeking briar, suggesting methods and ideas, his keen mind finding the
+way over, around, or through the apparently insuperable obstacles which
+beset their path. Crane, seated calmly at the drafting-table,
+occasionally inhaling a mouthful of smoke from one of his specially-made
+cigarettes, mercilessly tore Seaton's suggestions to shreds--pointing
+out their weaknesses, proving his points with his cold, incisive
+reasoning and his slide-rule calculations of factors, stresses, and
+strains. Seaton in turn would find a remedy for every defect, and
+finally, the idea complete and perfect, Crane would impale it upon the
+point of his drafting pencil and spread it in every detail upon the
+paper before him, while Seaton's active mind leaped to the next problem.
+
+Not being vitally interested in the thing being built in the shed, they
+did not know that to the flawed members were being attached faulty
+plates, by imperfect welding. Even if they had been interested they
+could not have found the poor workmanship by any ordinary inspection,
+for it was being done by a picked crew of experts picked by Perkins. But
+to make things even, Perkins' crew did not know that the peculiar
+instruments installed by Seaton and Crane, of which their foreman took
+many photographs, were not real instruments, and were made only nearly
+enough like them to pass inspection. They were utterly useless, in
+design and function far different from the real instruments intended for
+the Skylark.
+
+Finally, the last dummy instrument was installed in the worthless
+space-car, which the friends referred to between themselves as "The
+Cripple," a name which Seaton soon changed to "Old Crip." The
+construction crew was dismissed after Crane had let the foreman overhear
+a talk between Seaton and himself in which they decided not to start for
+a few days as they had some final experiments to make. Prescott reported
+that Steel had relaxed its vigilance and was apparently waiting for the
+first flight. About the same time word was received from MacDougall that
+the real Skylark was ready for the finishing touches. A huge triplane
+descended upon Crane Field and was loaded to its capacity with strange
+looking equipment. When it left Seaton and Crane went with it, "to make
+the final tests before the first flight," leaving a heavy guard over the
+house and the testing shed.
+
+A few nights later, in inky blackness, a huge shape descended rapidly in
+front of the shed, whose ponderous doors opened to receive it and closed
+quickly after it. The Skylark moved lightly and easily as a wafted
+feather, betraying its thousands of tons of weight only by the hole it
+made in the hard-beaten earth of the floor as it settled to rest.
+Opening one of the heavy doors, Seaton and Crane sprang out into the
+darkness.
+
+Dorothy and her father, who had been informed that the Skylark was to be
+brought home that night, were waiting. Seaton caught up his sweetheart
+in one mighty arm and extended his hand past her to Vaneman, who seized
+it in both his own. Upon the young man's face was the look of a
+victorious king returning from conquest. For a few minutes disconnected
+exclamations were all that any of the party could utter. Then Seaton,
+loosening slightly his bear's hold upon Dorothy, spoke.
+
+"She flies!" he cried exultantly. "She flies, dearest, like a ray of
+light for speed and like a bit of thistledown for lightness. We've been
+around the moon!"
+
+"Around the moon!" cried the two amazed visitors. "So soon?" asked
+Vaneman. "When did you start?"
+
+"Almost an hour ago," replied Crane readily; he had already taken out
+his watch. His voice was calm, his face quiet, but to those who knew him
+best a deeper resonance in his voice and a deeper blue sparkle in his
+eyes betrayed his emotion. Both inventors were moved more than they
+could have told by their achievement, by the complete success of the
+great space-cruiser upon which they had labored for months with all the
+power of their marvelous intellects. Seaton stood now at the summit of
+his pride. No recognition by the masses, no applause by the multitudes,
+no praise even from the upper ten of his own profession could equal for
+him the silent adulation of the two before him. Dorothy's exquisite face
+was glorified as she looked at her lover. Her eyes wonderful as they
+told him how high he stood above all others in her world, how much she
+loved him. Seeing that look; that sweet face, more beautiful than ever
+in this, his hour of triumph; that perfect, adorable body, Seaton forgot
+the others and a more profound exaltation than that brought by his
+flight filled his being--humble thankfulness that he was the man to
+receive the untold treasure of her great giving.
+
+"Every bit of mechanism we had occasion to use worked perfectly," Crane
+stated proudly. "We did not find it necessary to change any of our
+apparatus and we hope to make a longer flight soon. The hour we took on
+this trip might easily have been only a few minutes, for the Lark did
+not even begin to pick up speed."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Shiro looked at Crane with an air of utter devotion and bowed until his
+head approached the floor.
+
+"Sir," he said in his stilted English. "Honorable Skylark shall be
+marvelous wonder. If permitting, I shall luxuriate in preparing suitable
+refreshment."
+
+The permission granted, he trotted away into the house, and the
+travelers invited their visitors to inspect the new craft. Crane and the
+older man climbed through the circular doorway, which was at an
+elevation of several feet above the ground. Seaton and Dorothy
+exchanged a brief but enthusiastic caress before he lifted her lightly
+up to the opening and followed her up a short flight of stairs. Although
+she knew what to expect, from her lover's descriptions and from her own
+knowledge of "Old Crip," which she had seen many times, she caught her
+breath in amazement as she stood up and looked about the
+brilliantly-lighted interior of the great sky-rover. It was a sight such
+as had never before been seen upon earth.
+
+[Illustration: In the exact center of the huge shell was a spherical
+network of enormous steel beams. Inside this structure could be seen a
+similar network which, mounted upon universal bearings, was free to
+revolve in any direction.]
+
+She saw a spherical shell of hardened steel armor-plate, fully forty
+feet in diameter; though its true shape was not readily apparent from
+the inside, as it was divided into several compartments by horizontal
+floors or decks. In the exact center of the huge shell was a spherical
+network of enormous steel beams. Inside this structure could be seen a
+similar network which, mounted upon universal bearings, was free to
+revolve in any direction. This inner network was filled with machinery,
+surrounding a shining copper cylinder. From the outer network radiated
+six mighty supporting columns. These, branching as they neared the hull
+of the vessel, supported the power-plant and steering apparatus in the
+center and so strengthened the shell that the whole structure was nearly
+as strong as a solid steel ball. She noticed that the floor, perhaps
+eight feet below the center, was heavily upholstered in leather and did
+not seem solid; and that the same was true of the dozen or more
+seats--she could not call them chairs--which were built in various
+places. She gazed with interest at the two instrument boards, upon which
+flashed tiny lights and the highly-polished plate glass, condensite, and
+metal of many instruments, the use of which she could not guess.
+
+After a few minutes of silence both visitors began to ask questions, and
+Seaton showed them the principal features of the novel craft. Crane
+accompanied them in silence, enjoying their pleasure, glorying in the
+mighty vessel. Seaton called attention to the great size and strength of
+the lateral supporting columns, one of which was immediately above their
+heads, and then led them over to the vertical column which pierced the
+middle of the floor. Enormous as the lateral had seemed, it appeared
+puny in comparison with this monster of fabricated steel. Seaton
+explained that the two verticals were many times stronger than the four
+laterals, as the center of gravity of the ship had been made lower than
+its geometrical center, so that the apparent motion of the vessel and
+therefore the power of the bar, would usually be merely vertical.
+Resting one hand caressingly upon the huge column, he exultantly
+explained that these members were "the last word in strength, made up of
+many separate I-beams and angles of the strongest known special steel,
+latticed and braced until no conceivable force could make them yield a
+millimeter."
+
+"But why such strength?" asked the lawyer doubtfully. "This column alone
+would hold up Brooklyn Bridge."
+
+"To hold down the power-plant, so that the bar won't tear through the
+ship when we cut her loose," replied Seaton. "Have you any idea how fast
+this bird can fly?"
+
+"Well, I have heard you speak of traveling with the velocity of light,
+but that is overdrawn, isn't it?"
+
+"Not very much. Our figures show that with this four-hundred-pound
+bar"--pointing to the copper cylinder in the exact center of the inner
+sphere--"we could develop not only the velocity of light, but an
+acceleration equal to that velocity, were it not for the increase in
+mass at high velocities, as shown by Einstein and others. We can't go
+very fast near the earth, of course, as the friction of the air would
+melt the whole works in a few minutes. Until we get out of the
+atmosphere our speed will be limited by the ability of steel to
+withstand melting by the friction of the air to somewhere in the
+neighborhood of four or five thousand miles per hour, but out in space
+we can develop any speed we wish, up to that of light as a limit."
+
+"I studied physics a little in my youth. Wouldn't the mere force of such
+an acceleration as you mention flatten you on the floor and hold you
+there? And any sudden jar would certainly kill you."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"There can't be any sudden jar. This is a special floor, you notice. It
+is mounted on long, extremely heavy springs, to take up any possible
+jar. Also, whenever we are putting on power we won't try to stand up,
+our legs would crimple up like strings. We will ride securely strapped
+into those special seats, which are mounted the same as the floor, only
+a whole lot more so. As to the acceleration...."
+
+"That word means picking up speed, doesn't it?" interrupted Dorothy.
+
+"The rate of picking up speed," corrected Seaton. "That is, if you were
+going forty miles per hour one minute, and fifty the next minute, your
+acceleration would be ten miles per hour per minute. See? It's
+acceleration that makes you feel funny when you start up or down in an
+elevator."
+
+"Then riding in this thing will be like starting up in an elevator so
+that your heart sinks into your boots and you can't breathe?"
+
+"Yes, only worse. We will pick up speed faster and keep on doing it...."
+
+"Seriously," interrupted the lawyer, "do you think that the human body
+can stand any such acceleration as that?"
+
+"I don't know. We are going to find out, by starting out slowly and
+increasing our acceleration to as much as we can stand."
+
+"I see," Vaneman replied. "But how are you going to steer her? How do
+you keep permanent reference points, since there are no directions in
+space?"
+
+"That was our hardest problem," explained Seaton, "but Martin solved it
+perfectly. See the power-plant up there? Notice those big supporting
+rings and bearings? Well, the power-plant is entirely separate from the
+ship, as it is inside that inner sphere, about which the outer sphere
+and the ship itself are free to revolve in any direction. No matter how
+much the ship rolls and pitches, as she is bound to do every time we
+come near enough to any star or planet to be influenced by its
+gravitation, the bar stays where it is pointed. Those six big jackets in
+the outer sphere, on the six sides of the bar, cover six pairs of
+gyroscope wheels, weighing several tons each, turning at a terrific
+speed in a vacuum. The gyroscopes keep the whole outer sphere in exactly
+the same position as long as they are kept turning, and afford us not
+only permanent planes of reference, but also a solid foundation in those
+planes which can be used in pointing the bar. The bar can be turned
+instantly to any direction whatever by special electrical instruments on
+the boards. You see, the outer sphere stays immovably fixed in that
+position, with the bar at liberty to turn in any direction inside it,
+and the ship at liberty to do the same thing outside it.
+
+"Now we will show you where we sleep," Seaton continued. "We have eight
+rooms, four below and four above," leading the way to a narrow, steep
+steel stairway and down into a very narrow hall, from either side of
+which two doors opened. "This is my room, the adjoining one is Mart's.
+Shiro sleeps across the hall. The rest of the rooms are for our guests
+on future trips."
+
+Sliding back the door, he switched on the light and revealed a small but
+fully-appointed bedroom, completely furnished with everything necessary,
+yet everything condensed into the least possible space. The floor, like
+the one above, was of cushioned leather supported by springs. The bed
+was a modification of the special seats already referred to. Opening
+another sliding door, he showed them an equally complete and equally
+compact bathroom.
+
+"You see, we have all the comforts of home. This bathroom, however, is
+practical only when we have some force downward, either gravitation or
+our own acceleration. The same reasoning accounts for the hand-rails you
+see everywhere on board. Drifting in space, you know, there is no
+weight, and you can't walk; you must pull yourself around. If you tried
+to take a step you would bounce up and hit the ceiling, and stay there.
+That is why the ceilings are so well padded. And if you tried to wash
+your face you would throw water all over the place, and it would float
+around in the air instead of falling to the floor. As long as we can
+walk we can use the bathroom--if I should want to wash my face while we
+are drifting, I just press this button here, and the pilot will put on
+enough acceleration to make the correct use of water possible. There are
+a lot of surprising things about a trip into space."
+
+"I don't doubt it a bit, and I'm simply wild to go for a ride with you.
+When will you take me, Dicky?" asked Dorothy eagerly.
+
+"Very soon, Dottie. As soon as we get her in perfect running condition.
+You shall be the first to ride with us, I promise you."
+
+"Where do you cook and eat? How do you see out? How about the air and
+water supply? How do you keep warm, or cool, as the case may be?" asked
+the girl's father, as though he were cross-examining a witness.
+
+"Shiro has a galley on the main floor, and tables fold up into the wall
+of the main compartment. The passengers see out by sliding back steel
+panels, which normally cover the windows. The pilot can see in any
+direction from his seat at the instrument-board, by means of special
+instruments, something like periscopes. The windows are made of optical
+glass similar to that used in the largest telescopes. They are nearly as
+thick as the hull and have a compressive resistance almost equal to that
+of armor steel. Although so thick, they are crystal clear, and a speck
+of dust on the outer surface is easily seen. We have water enough in
+tanks to last us three months, or indefinitely if we should have to be
+careful, as we can automatically distill and purify all our waste water,
+recovering absolutely pure H2O. We have compressed air, also in tanks,
+but we need very little, as the air is constantly being purified. Also,
+we have oxygen-generating apparatus aboard, in case we should run short.
+As to keeping warm, we have electric heating coils, run by the
+practically inexhaustible power of a small metal bar. If we get too near
+the sun and get too warm, we have a refrigerating machine to cool us
+off. Anything else?"
+
+"You'd better give up, Dad," laughingly advised his daughter. "You've
+thought of everything, haven't you, Dick?"
+
+"Mart has, I think. This is all his doing, you know. I wouldn't have
+thought of a tenth of it, myself."
+
+"I must remind you young folks," said the older man, glancing at his
+watch, "that it is very late and high time for Dottie and me to be going
+home. We would like to stay and see the rest of it, but you know we must
+be away from here before daylight."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+As they went into the house Vaneman asked:
+
+"What does the other side of the moon look like? I have always been
+curious about it."
+
+"We were not able to see much," replied Crane "It was too dark and we
+did not take the time to explore it, but from what we could see by means
+of our searchlights it is very much like this side--the most barren and
+desolate place imaginable. After we go to Mars, we intend to explore the
+moon thoroughly."
+
+"Mars, then, is your first goal? When do you intend to start?"
+
+"We haven't decided definitely. Probably in a day or two. Everything is
+ready now."
+
+As the Vanemans had come out in the street car, in order to attract as
+little attention as possible, Seaton volunteered to take them home in
+one of Crane's cars. As they bade Crane goodnight after enjoying Shiro's
+"suitable refreshment" the lawyer took the chauffeur's seat, motioning
+his daughter and Seaton into the closed body of the car. As soon as they
+had started Dorothy turned in the embrace of her lover's arm.
+
+"Dick," she said fiercely. "I would have been worried sick if I had
+known that you were way off there."
+
+"I knew it, sweetheart. That's why I didn't tell you we were going. We
+both knew the Skylark was perfectly safe, but I knew that you would
+worry about our first trip. Now that we have been to the moon you won't
+be uneasy when we go to Mars, will you, dear?"
+
+"I can't help it, boy. I will be afraid that something terrible has
+happened, every minute. Won't you take me with you? Then, if anything
+happens, it will happen to both of us, and that is as it should be. You
+know that I wouldn't want to keep on living if anything _should_ happen
+to you."
+
+He put both arms around her as his reply, and pressed his cheek to hers.
+
+"Dorothy sweetheart, I know exactly how you feel. I feel the same way
+myself. I'm awfully sorry, dear, but I can't do it. I know the machine
+is safe, but I've got to prove it to everybody else before I take you on
+a long trip with me. Your father will agree with me that you ought not
+to go, on the first trip or two, anyway. And besides, what would Madam
+Grundy say?"
+
+"Well, there _is_ a way...." she began, and he felt her face turn hot.
+
+His arms tightened around her and his breath came fast.
+
+"I know it, sweetheart, and I would like nothing better in the world
+than to be married today and take our honeymoon in the Skylark, but I
+can't do it. After we come back from the first long trip we will be
+married just as soon as you say ready, and after that we will always be
+together wherever I go. But I can't take even the millionth part of a
+chance with anything as valuable as you are--you see that, don't you,
+Dottie?"
+
+"I suppose so," she returned disconsolately, "but you'll make it a short
+trip, for my sake? I know I won't rest a minute until you get back."
+
+"I promise you that we won't be gone more than four days. Then for the
+greatest honeymoon that ever was," and they clung together in the dark
+body of the car, each busy with solemn and beautiful thoughts of the
+happiness to come.
+
+They soon reached their destination. As they entered the house Dorothy
+made one more attempt.
+
+"Dad, Dick is just too perfectly mean. He says he won't take me on the
+first trip. If you were going out there wouldn't mother want to go along
+too?"
+
+After listening to Seaton he gave his decision.
+
+"Dick is right, Kitten. He must make the long trip first. Then, after
+the machine is proved reliable, you may go with him. I can think of no
+better way of spending a honeymoon--it will be a new one, at least. And
+you needn't worry about the boys getting back safely. I might not trust
+either of them alone, but together they are invincible. Good-night,
+children. I wish you success, Dick," as he turned away.
+
+Seaton took a lover's leave of Dorothy, and went into the lawyer's
+study, taking an envelope from his pocket.
+
+"Mr. Vaneman," he said in a low voice, "we think the Steel crowd is
+still camping on our trail. We are ready for them, with a lot of stuff
+that they never heard of, but in case anything goes wrong, Martin has
+written between the lines of this legal form, in invisible ink A-36,
+exactly how to get possession of all our notes and plans, so that the
+company can go ahead with everything. With those directions any chemist
+can find and use the stuff safely. Please put this envelope in the
+safest place you can think of, and then forget it unless they get both
+Crane and me. There's about one chance in a million of their doing that,
+but Mart doesn't gamble on even that chance."
+
+"He is right, Dick. I believe that you can outwit them in any situation,
+but I will keep this paper where no one except myself can ever see it,
+nevertheless. Good-night, son, and good luck."
+
+"The same to you, sir, and thank you. Good-night."
+
+
+
+
+    +--------------------------------------+
+    |                                      |
+    | _The author of this story, being a   |
+    | chemist of high standing and an      |
+    | excellent mathematician, gives us a  |
+    | rare gem in this interplanetary      |
+    | tale. For one thing, he suggests an  |
+    | interesting use of the action of     |
+    | acceleration. In this instalment it  |
+    | is made to take the place of gravity |
+    | when the interplanetary vehicle is   |
+    | out in open space. In order to get   |
+    | the gravity effect, a positive or    |
+    | negative acceleration could be given |
+    | out.                                 |
+    |                                      |
+    | This instalment retains its easy     |
+    | flow of language and continues to    |
+    | develop surprise episodes with a     |
+    | remarkable degree of realism._       |
+    |                                      |
+    +--------------------------------------+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+Indirect Action
+
+
+The afternoon following the homecoming of the Skylark, Seaton and
+Dorothy returned from a long horseback ride in the park. After Seaton
+had mounted his motorcycle Dorothy turned toward a bench in the shade of
+an old elm to watch a game of tennis on the court next door. Scarcely
+had she seated herself when a great copper-plated ball alighted upon the
+lawn in front of her. A heavy steel door snapped open and a powerful
+figure clad in aviator's leather, the face completely covered by the
+hood, leaped out. She jumped to her feet with a cry of joyful surprise,
+thinking it was Seaton--a cry which died suddenly as she realized that
+Seaton had just left her and that this vessel was far too small to be
+the Skylark. She turned in flight, but the stranger caught her in three
+strides. She found herself helpless in a pair of arms equal in strength
+to Seaton's own. Picking her up lightly as a baby, DuQuesne carried her
+over to the space-car. Shriek after shriek rang out as she found that
+her utmost struggles were of no avail against the giant strength of her
+captor, that her fiercely-driven nails glanced harmlessly off the heavy
+glass and leather of his hood, and that her teeth were equally
+ineffective against his suit.
+
+With the girl in his arms DuQuesne stepped into the vessel, and as the
+door clanged shut behind them Dorothy caught a glimpse of another woman,
+tied hand and foot in one of the side seats of the car.
+
+"Tie her feet, Perkins," DuQuesne ordered brusquely, holding her around
+the body so that her feet extended straight out in front of him. "She's
+a wildcat."
+
+As Perkins threw one end of a small rope around her ankles Dorothy
+doubled up her knees, drawing her feet as far away from him as possible.
+As he incautiously approached, she kicked out viciously, with all the
+force of her muscular young body behind her heavy riding-boots.
+
+The sharp heel of one small boot struck Perkins squarely in the pit of
+the stomach--a true "solar-plexus" blow--and completely knocked out, he
+staggered back against the instrument-board. His out-flung arm pushed
+the speed lever clear out to its last notch, throwing the entire current
+of the batteries through the bar, which was pointed straight up, as it
+had been when they made their landing, and closing the switch which
+threw on the power of the repelling outer coating. There was a creak of
+the mighty steel fabric, stressed almost to its limit as the vessel
+darted upward with its stupendous velocity, and only the
+carefully-planned spring-and-cushion floor saved their lives as they
+were thrown flat and held there by the awful force of their acceleration
+as the space-car tore through the thin layer of the earth's atmosphere.
+So terrific was their speed, that the friction of the air did not have
+time to set them afire--they were through it and into the perfect vacuum
+of interstellar space before the thick steel hull was even warmed
+through. Dorothy lay flat upon her back, just as she had fallen, unable
+even to move her arms, gaining each breath only by a terrible effort.
+Perkins was a huddled heap under the instrument-board. The other
+captive, Brookings' ex-secretary, was in somewhat better case, as her
+bonds had snapped like string and she was lying at full length in one of
+the side-seats--forced into that position and held there, as the design
+of the seats was adapted for the most comfortable position possible
+under such conditions. She, like Dorothy, was gasping for breath, her
+straining muscles barely able to force air into her lungs because of the
+paralyzing weight of her chest.
+
+DuQuesne alone was able to move, and it required all of his Herculean
+strength to creep and crawl, snake-like, toward the instrument-board.
+Finally attaining his goal, he summoned all his strength to grasp, not
+the controlling lever, which he knew was beyond his reach, but a cut-out
+switch only a couple of feet above his head. With a series of convulsive
+movements he fought his way up, first until he was crouching on his
+elbows and knees, and then into a squatting position. Placing his left
+hand under his right, he made a last supreme effort. Perspiration
+streamed from him, his mighty muscles stood out in ridges visible even
+under the heavy leather of his coat, his lips parted in a snarl over his
+locked teeth as he threw every ounce of his wonderful body into an
+effort to force his right hand up to the switch. His hand approached it
+slowly--closed over it and pulled it out.
+
+The result was startling. With the mighty power instantly cut off, and
+with not even the ordinary force of gravitation to counteract the force
+DuQuesne was exerting, his own muscular effort hurled him up toward the
+center of the car and against the instrument-board. The switch, still in
+his grasp, was again closed. His shoulder crashed against the levers
+which controlled the direction of the bar, swinging it through a wide
+arc. As the ship darted off in the new direction with all its old
+acceleration, he was hurled against the instrument board, tearing one
+end loose from its supports and falling unconscious to the floor on the
+other side. After a time, which seemed like an eternity, Dorothy and the
+other girl felt their senses slowly leave them.
+
+With four unconscious passengers, the space-car hurtled through empty
+space, its already inconceivable velocity being augmented every second
+by a quantity bringing its velocity near to that of light, driven onward
+by the incredible power of the disintegrating copper bar.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Seaton had gone only a short distance from his sweetheart's home when
+over the purring of his engine he thought he heard Dorothy's voice
+raised in a scream. He did not wait to make sure, but whirled his
+machine about and the purring changed instantly to a staccato roar as he
+threw open the throttle and advanced the spark. Gravel flew from beneath
+his skidding wheels as he negotiated the turn into the Vaneman grounds
+at suicidal speed. But with all his haste he arrived upon the scene just
+in time to see the door of the space-car close. Before he could reach it
+the vessel disappeared, with nothing to mark its departure save a
+violent whirl of grass and sod, uprooted and carried far into the air by
+the vacuum of its wake. To the excited tennis-players and the screaming
+mother of the abducted girl it seemed as though the great metal ball had
+vanished utterly--only Seaton, knowing what to expect, saw the line it
+made in the air and saw for an instant a minute dot in the sky before it
+disappeared.
+
+Interrupting the clamor of the young people, each of whom was trying to
+tell him what had happened, he spoke to Mrs. Vaneman.
+
+"Mother, Dottie's all right," he said rapidly but gently. "Steel's got
+her, but they won't keep her long. Don't worry, we'll get her. It may
+take a week or it may take a year, but we'll bring her back," and
+leaping upon his motorcycle, he shattered all the speed laws on his way
+to Crane's house.
+
+"Mart!" he yelled, rushing into the shop, "they've got Dottie, in a bus
+made from our plans. Let's go!" as he started on a run for the testing
+shed.
+
+"Wait a minute!" crisply shouted Crane. "Don't go off half-cocked. What
+is your plan?"
+
+"Plan, hell!" barked the enraged chemist. "Chase 'em!"
+
+"Which way did they go, and when?"
+
+"Straight up, full power, twenty minutes ago."
+
+"Too long ago. Straight up has changed its direction several degrees
+since then. They may have covered a million miles, or they may have come
+back and landed next door. Sit down and think--we need all your brains
+now."
+
+Regaining his self-possession as the wisdom of his friend's advice came
+home to him, Seaton sat down and pulled out his pipe. There was a tense
+silence for an instant. Then he leaped to his feet and darted into his
+room, returning with an object-compass whose needle pointed upward.
+
+"DuQuesne did it," he cried exultantly. "This baby is still looking
+right at him. Now let's go--make it snappy!"
+
+"Not yet. We should find out how far away they are; that may give us an
+idea."
+
+Suiting action to word, he took up his stopwatch and set the needle
+swinging. They watched it with strained faces as second after second
+went by and it still continued to swing. When it had come to rest Crane
+read his watch and made a rapid calculation.
+
+"About three hundred and fifty million miles," he stated. "Clear out of
+our solar system already, and from the distance covered he must have had
+a constant acceleration so as to approximate the velocity of light, and
+he is still going with full...."
+
+"But nothing can possibly go that fast, Mart, it's impossible. How about
+Einstein's theory?"
+
+"That is a theory, this measurement of distance is a fact, as you know
+from our tests."
+
+"That's right. Another good theory gone to pot. But how do you account
+for his distance? D'you suppose he's lost control?"
+
+"He must have. I do not believe that he would willingly stand that
+acceleration, nor that he would have gone that far of his own accord. Do
+you?"
+
+"I sure don't. We don't know how big a bar they are carrying, so we
+can't estimate how long it is going to take us to catch them. But let's
+not waste any more time, Mart. For Cat's sake, let's get busy!"
+
+"We have only those four bars, Dick--two for each unit. Do you think
+that will be enough? Think of how far we may have to go, what we may
+possibly get into, and what it will mean to Dottie if we fail for lack
+of power."
+
+Seaton, though furiously eager to be off, paused at this new idea, and
+half-regretfully he replied:
+
+"We are so far behind them already that I guess a few hours more won't
+make much difference. It sure would be disastrous to get out near one of
+the fixed stars and have our power quit. I guess you're right, we'd
+better get a couple more--make it four, then we'll have enough to chase
+them half our lives. We'd better load up on grub and X-plosive
+ammunition, too."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+While Crane and Shiro carried additional provisions and boxes of
+cartridges into the "Skylark," Seaton once more mounted his motorcycle
+and sped across the city to the brass foundry. The manager of the plant
+took his order, but blandly informed him that there was not that much
+copper in the city, that it would be a week or ten days before the order
+could be filled. Seaton suggested that they melt up some copper cable
+and other goods already manufactured, offering ten times their value,
+but the manager was obdurate, saying that he could not violate the rule
+of priority of orders. Seaton then went to other places, endeavoring to
+buy scrap copper, trolley wire, electric cable, anything made of the
+ruddy metal, but found none for sale in quantities large enough to be of
+any use. After several hours of fruitless search, he returned home in a
+towering rage and explained to Crane, in lurid language, his failure to
+secure the copper. The latter was unmoved.
+
+"After you left, it occurred to me that you might not get any. You see,
+Steel is still watching us."
+
+Fire shot from Seaton's eyes.
+
+"I'm going to clean up that bunch," he gritted through his teeth as he
+started straight for the door.
+
+"Not yet, Dick," Crane remonstrated. "We can go down to Wilson's in a
+few minutes, and I know we can get it there if he has it. The "Skylark"
+is all ready to travel."
+
+No more words were needed. They hurried into the space-car and soon were
+standing in the office of the plant in which the vessel had been built.
+When they had made their wants known, the iron-master shook his head.
+
+"I'm sorry, Crane, but I have only a few pounds of copper in the shop,
+and we have no suitable furnace."
+
+Seaton broke out violently at this, but Crane interrupted him,
+explaining their inability to get the metal anywhere else and the
+urgency of their need. When he had finished, Wilson brought his fist
+down upon his desk.
+
+"I'll get it if I have to melt up our dynamos," he roared. "We'll have
+to rig a crucible, but we'll have your bars out just as soon as the
+whole force of this damned scrap-heap can make 'em!"
+
+Calling in his foreman, he bellowed orders, and while automobiles
+scoured the nearby towns for scrap copper, the crucible and molds were
+made ready.
+
+Nearly two days passed before the gleaming copper cylinders were
+finished. During this time Crane added to their already complete
+equipment every article he could conceive of their having any use for,
+while Seaton raged up and down the plant in a black fury of impatience.
+Just before the bars were ready, they made another reading on the
+object-compass. Their faces grew tense and drawn and their hearts turned
+sick as second followed second and minute followed minute and the needle
+still oscillated. Finally, however, it came to rest, and Seaton's voice
+almost failed him as he read his figures.
+
+"Two hundred and thirty-five light-years, Mart. They're lost, and still
+going. Good-bye, old scout," holding out his hand, "Tell Vaneman that
+I'll bring her back or else stay out there myself."
+
+"You must be crazy, Dick. You know I am going."
+
+"Why? No use in both of us taking such a chance. If Dottie's gone, of
+course I want to go too, but you don't."
+
+"Nonsense, Dick. Of course this is somewhat farther than we had planned
+on going for our maiden voyage, but where is the difference? It is just
+as safe to go a thousand light-years as only one, and we have power and
+food for any contingency. There is no more danger in this trip than
+there is in one to Mars. At all events, I am going whether you want me
+to or not, so save your breath."
+
+"You lie like a thief, Mart--you know what we are up against as well as
+I do. But if you insist on coming along, I'm sure glad to have you."
+
+As their hands met in a crushing grip, the bars were brought up and
+loaded into the carriers. Waving good-bye to Wilson, they closed the
+massive door and took their positions. Seaton adjusted the bar parallel
+with the needle of the object-compass, turned on the coil, and advanced
+the speed-lever until Crane, reading the pyro-meters, warned him to slow
+down, as the shell was heating. Free of the earth's atmosphere, he
+slowly advanced the lever, one notch at a time, until he could no
+longer support the increasing weight of his hand, but had to draw out
+the rolling support designed for that emergency. He pushed the lever a
+few notches farther, and felt himself forced down violently into the
+seat. He was now lying at full length, the seat having automatically
+moved upward so that his hand still controlled the lever. Still he kept
+putting on more power, until the indicator showed that more than
+three-quarters of the power was in operation and he felt that he could
+stand but little more.
+
+"How are you making it, Mart?" he asked, talking with difficulty because
+of the great weight of his tongue and jaws.
+
+"All right so far," came the response, in a hesitating, almost
+stammering voice, "but I do not know how much more I can take. If you
+can stand it, go ahead."
+
+"This is enough for awhile, until we get used to it. Any time you want
+to rest, tell me and I'll cut her down."
+
+"Keep her at this for four or five hours. Then cut down until we can
+walk, so that we can eat and take another reading on distance. Remember
+that it will take as long to stop as it does to get up speed, and that
+we must be careful not to ram them. There would be nothing left of
+either car."
+
+"All right. Talking's too darn much work, I'll talk to you again when we
+ease down. I sure am glad we're on our way at last."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+Lost In Space
+
+
+For forty-eight hours the uncontrolled atomic motor dragged the
+masterless vessel with its four unconscious passengers through the
+illimitable reaches of empty space, with an awful and constantly
+increasing velocity. When only a few traces of copper remained in the
+power-plant, the acceleration began to decrease and the powerful springs
+began to restore the floor and the seats to their normal positions. The
+last particle of copper having been transformed into energy, the speed
+of the vessel became constant. Apparently motionless to those inside it,
+it was in reality traversing space with a velocity thousands of times
+greater than that of light. As the force which had been holding them
+down was relaxed, the lungs, which had been able to secure only air
+enough to maintain faint sparks of life, began to function more normally
+and soon all four recovered consciousness, drinking in the life-giving
+oxygen in a rapid succession of breaths so deep that it seemed as though
+their lungs must burst with each inhalation.
+
+DuQuesne was the first to gain control of himself. His first effort to
+rise to his feet lifted him from the floor, and he floated lightly to
+the ceiling, striking it with a gentle bump and remaining suspended in
+the air. The others, who had not yet attempted to move, stared at him in
+wide-eyed amazement. Reaching out and clutching one of the supporting
+columns, he drew himself back to the floor and cautiously removed his
+leather suit, transferring two heavy automatic pistols as he did so. By
+gingerly feeling of his injured body, he discovered that no bones were
+broken, although he was terribly bruised. He then glanced around to
+learn how his companions were faring. He saw that they were all sitting
+up, the girls resting, Perkins removing his aviator's costume.
+
+"Good morning, Doctor DuQuesne. What happened when I kicked your
+friend?"
+
+DuQuesne smiled.
+
+"Good morning, Miss Vaneman. Several things happened. He fell into the
+controls, turning on all the juice. We left shortly afterward. I tried
+to shut the power off, and in doing so I balled things up worse than
+ever. Then I went to sleep, and just woke up."
+
+"Have you any idea where we are?"
+
+"No, but I can make a fair estimate, I think," and glancing at the empty
+chamber in which the bar had been, he took out his notebook and pen and
+figured for a few minutes. As he finished, he drew himself along by a
+handrail to one of the windows, then to another. He returned with a
+puzzled expression on his face and made a long calculation.
+
+"I don't know exactly what to make of this," he said thoughtfully. "We
+are so far away from the earth that even the fixed stars are
+unrecognizable. The power was on exactly forty-eight hours, since that
+is the life of that particular bar under full current. We should still
+be close to our own solar system, since it is theoretically impossible
+to develop any velocity greater than that of light. But in fact, we
+have. I know enough about astronomy to recognize the fixed stars from
+any point within a light-year or so of the sun, and I can't see a single
+familiar star. I never could see how mass could be a function of
+velocity, and now I am convinced that it is not. We have been
+accelerating for forty-eight hours!"
+
+He turned to Dorothy.
+
+"While we were unconscious, Miss Vaneman, we had probably attained a
+velocity of something like seven billion four hundred thirteen million
+miles per second, and that is the approximate speed at which we are now
+traveling. We must be nearly six quadrillion miles, and that is a space
+of several hundred light-years--away from our solar system, or, more
+plainly, about six times as far away from our earth as the North Star
+is. We couldn't see our sun with a telescope, even if we knew which way
+to look for it."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+At this paralyzing news, Dorothy's face turned white and Margaret
+Spencer quietly fainted in her seat.
+
+"Then we can never get back?" asked Dorothy slowly.
+
+At this question, Perkins' self-control gave way and his thin veneer of
+decency disappeared completely.
+
+"You got us into this whole thing!" he screamed as he leaped at Dorothy
+with murderous fury gleaming in his pale eyes and his fingers curved
+into talons. Instead of reaching her, however, he merely sprawled
+grotesquely in midair, and DuQuesne knocked him clear across the vessel
+with one powerful blow of his fist.
+
+"Get back there, you cowardly cur," he said evenly. "Even though we are
+a long way from home, try to remember you're a man, at least. One more
+break like that and I'll throw you out of the boat. It isn't her fault
+that we are out here, but our own. The blame for it is a very small
+matter, anyway; the thing of importance is to get back as soon as
+possible."
+
+"But how can we get back?" asked Perkins sullenly from the corner where
+he was crouching, fear in every feature. "The power is gone, the
+controls are wrecked, and we are hopelessly lost in space."
+
+"Oh, I wouldn't say 'hopelessly,'" returned the other, "I have never
+been in any situation yet that I couldn't get out of, and I won't be
+convinced until I am dead that I can't get out of this one. We have two
+extra power bars, we can fix the board, and if I can't navigate us back
+close enough to our solar system to find it, I am more of a dub than I
+think I am. How about a little bite to eat?"
+
+"Show us where it is!" exclaimed Dorothy. "Now that you mention it, I
+find that I am starved to death."
+
+DuQuesne looked at her keenly.
+
+"I admire your nerve, Miss Vaneman. I didn't suppose that that animal
+over there would show such a wide streak of yellow, but I was rather
+afraid that you girls might go to pieces."
+
+"I'm scared blue, of course," Dorothy admitted frankly, "but hysterics
+won't do any good, and we simply _must_ get back."
+
+"Certainly, we must and we will," stated DuQuesne calmly. "If you like,
+you might find something for us to eat in the galley there, while I see
+what I can do with this board that I wrecked with my head. By the way,
+that cubby-hole there is the apartment reserved for you two ladies. We
+are in rather cramped quarters, but I think you will find everything you
+need."
+
+As Dorothy drew herself along the handrail toward the room designated,
+accompanied by the other girl who, though conscious, had paid little
+attention to anything around her, she could not help feeling a thrill of
+admiration for the splendid villain who had abducted her. Calm and cool,
+always master of himself, apparently paying no attention to the terrible
+bruises which disfigured half his face and doubtless half his body as
+well, she admitted to herself that it was only his example, which had
+enabled her to maintain her self-control in their present plight. As she
+crawled over Perkins' discarded suit, she remembered that he had not
+taken any weapons from it. After a rapid glance around to assure herself
+that she was not being watched, she quickly searched the coat, bringing
+to light not one, but two pistols, which she thrust into her pocket. She
+saw with relief that they were regulation army automatics, with whose
+use she was familiar from much target practise with Seaton.
+
+In the room, which was a miniature of the one she had seen on the
+Skylark, the girls found clothing, toilet articles, and everything
+necessary for a long trip. As they were setting themselves to rights,
+Dorothy electing to stay in her riding suit, they surveyed each other
+frankly and each was reassured by what she saw. Dorothy saw a girl of
+twenty-two, of her own stature, with a mass of heavy, wavy black hair.
+Her eyes, a singularly rich and deep brown, contrasted strangely with
+the beautiful ivory of her skin. She was normally a beautiful girl,
+thought Dorothy, but her beauty was marred by suffering and privation.
+Her naturally slender form was thin, her face was haggard and worn. The
+stranger broke the silence.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"I'm Margaret Spencer," she began abruptly, "former secretary to His
+Royal Highness, Brookings of Steel. They swindled my father out of an
+invention worth millions and he died, broken-hearted. I got the job to
+see if I couldn't get enough evidence to convict them, and I had quite a
+lot when they caught me. I had some things that they were afraid to
+lose, and I had them so well hidden that they couldn't find them, so
+they kidnapped me to make me give them back. They haven't dared kill me
+so far for fear the evidence will show up after my death--which it will.
+However, I will be legally dead before long, and then they know the
+whole thing will come out, so they have brought me out here to make me
+talk or kill me. Talking won't do me any good now, though, and I don't
+believe it ever would have. They would have killed me after they got the
+stuff back, anyway. So you see I, at least, will never get back to the
+earth alive."
+
+"Cheer up--we'll all get back safely."
+
+"No, we won't. You don't know that man Perkins--if that is his name. I
+never heard him called any real name before. He is simply
+unspeakable--vile--hideous--everything that is base. He was my jailer,
+and I utterly loathe and despise him. He is mean and underhanded and
+tricky--he reminds me of a slimy, poisonous snake. He will kill me: I
+know it."
+
+"But how about Doctor DuQuesne? Surely he isn't that kind of man? He
+wouldn't let him."
+
+"I've never met him before, but from what I heard of him in the office,
+he's even worse than Perkins, but in an entirely different way. There's
+nothing small or mean about him, and I don't believe he would go out of
+his way to hurt anyone, as Perkins would. But he is absolutely cold and
+hard, a perfect fiend. Where his interests are concerned, there's
+nothing under the sun, good or bad, that he won't do. But I'm glad that
+Perkins had me instead of 'The Doctor,' as they call him. Perkins raises
+such a bitter personal feeling, that anybody would rather die than give
+up to him in anything. DuQuesne, however, would have tortured me
+impersonally and scientifically--cold and self-contained all the while
+and using the most efficient methods, and I am sure he would have got it
+out of me some way. He always gets what he goes after."
+
+"Oh, come, Miss Spencer!" Dorothy interrupted the half-hysterical girl.
+"You're too hard on him. Didn't you see him knock Perkins down when he
+came after me?"
+
+"Well, maybe he has a few gentlemanly instincts, which he uses when he
+doesn't lose anything by it. More likely he merely intended to rebuke
+him for a useless action. He is a firm Pragmatist--anything that is
+useful is all right, anything that is useless is a crime. More probably
+yet, he wants you left alive. Of course that is his real reason. He went
+to the trouble of kidnapping you, so naturally he won't let Perkins or
+anybody else kill you until he is through with you. Otherwise he would
+have let Perkins do anything he wanted to with you, without lifting a
+finger."
+
+"I can't quite believe that," Dorothy replied, though a cold chill
+struck at her heart as she remembered the inhuman crime attributed to
+this man, and she quailed at the thought of being in his charge,
+countless millions of miles from earth, a thought only partly
+counteracted by the fact that she was now armed. "He has treated us with
+every consideration so far, let's hope for the best. Anyway, I'm sure
+that we'll get back safely."
+
+"Why so sure? Have you something up your sleeve?"
+
+"No--or yes, in a way I have, though nothing very definite. I'm Dorothy
+Vaneman, and I am engaged to the man who discovered the thing that makes
+this space-car go...."
+
+"That's why they kidnapped you, then--to make him give up all his rights
+to it. It's like them."
+
+"Yes, I think that's why they did it. But they won't keep me long. Dick
+Seaton will find me, I know. I feel it."
+
+"But that's exactly what they want!" cried Margaret excitedly. "In my
+spying around I heard a little about this very thing--the name Seaton
+brings it to my mind. His car is broken in some way, so that it will
+kill him the first time he tries to run it."
+
+"That's where they underestimated Dick and his partner. You have heard
+of Martin Crane, of course?"
+
+"I think I heard his name mentioned in the office, together with
+Seaton's, but that's all."
+
+"Well, besides other things, Martin is quite a wonderful mechanic, and
+he found out that our Skylark was spoiled. So they built another one, a
+lot bigger, and I am sure that they are following us, right now."
+
+"But how can they possibly follow us, when we are going so fast and are
+so far away?" queried the other girl, once more despondent.
+
+"I don't quite know, but I do know that Dick will find a way. He's
+simply wonderful. He knows more now than that Doctor DuQuesne will ever
+learn in all his life, and he will find us in a few days. I feel it in
+my bones. Besides, I picked Perkins' pockets of these two pistols. Can
+you shoot an automatic?"
+
+"Yes," replied the other girl, as she seized one of the guns, assured
+herself that its magazine was full, and slipped it into her pocket. "I
+used to practise a lot with my father's. This makes me feel a whole lot
+better. And call me Peggy, won't you? It will seem good to hear my name
+again. After what I've been through lately, even this trip will be a
+vacation for me."
+
+"Well, then, cheer up, Peggy dear, we're going to be great friends.
+Let's go get us all something to eat. I'm simply starved, and I know you
+are, too."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The presence of the pistol in her pocket and Dorothy's unwavering faith
+in her lover, lifted the stranger out of the mood of despair into which
+the long imprisonment, the brutal treatment, and the present situation
+had plunged her, and she was almost cheerful as they drew themselves
+along the hand-rail leading to the tiny galley.
+
+"I simply can't get used to the idea of nothing having any weight--look
+here!" laughed Dorothy, as she took a boiled ham out of the refrigerator
+and hung it upon an imaginary hook in the air, where it remained
+motionless. "Doesn't it make you feel funny?"
+
+"It is a queer sensation. I feel light, like a toy balloon, and I feel
+awfully weird inside. If we have no weight, why does it hurt so when we
+bump into anything? And when you throw anything, like the Doctor did
+Perkins, why does it hit as hard as ever?"
+
+"It's mass or inertia or something like that. A thing has it everywhere,
+whether it weighs anything or not. Dick explained it all to me. I
+understood it when he told me about it, but I'm afraid it didn't sink in
+very deep. Did you ever study physics?"
+
+"I had a year of it in college, but it was more or less of a joke. I
+went to a girls' school, and all we had to do in physics was to get the
+credit; we didn't have to learn it."
+
+"Me too. Next time I go to school I'm going to Yale or Harvard or some
+such place, and I'll learn so much mathematics and science that I'll
+have to wear a bandeau to keep my massive intellect in place."
+
+During this conversation they had prepared a substantial luncheon and
+had arranged it daintily upon two large trays, in spite of the
+difficulty caused by the fact that nothing would remain in place by its
+own weight. The feast prepared, Dorothy took her tray from the table as
+carefully as she could, and saw the sandwiches and bottles start to
+float toward the ceiling. Hastily inverting the tray above the escaping
+viands, she pushed them back down upon the table. In doing so she lifted
+herself clear from the floor, as she had forgotten to hold herself down.
+
+"What'll we do, anyway?" she wailed when she had recovered her position.
+"Everything wants to fly all over the place!"
+
+"Put another tray on top of it and hold them together," suggested
+Margaret. "I wish we had a birdcage. Then we could open the door and
+grab a sandwich as it flies out."
+
+By covering the trays the girls finally carried the luncheon out into
+the main compartment, where they gave DuQuesne and Perkins one of the
+trays and all fell to eating hungrily. DuQuesne paused with a glint of
+amusement in his one sound eye as he saw Dorothy trying to pour ginger
+ale out of a bottle.
+
+"It can't be done, Miss Vaneman. You'll have to drink it through a
+straw. That will work, since our air pressure is normal. Be careful not
+to choke on it, though; your swallowing will have to be all muscular out
+here. Gravity won't help you. Or wait a bit--I have the control board
+fixed and it will be a matter of only a few minutes to put in another
+bar and get enough acceleration to take the place of gravity."
+
+He placed one of the extra power bars in the chamber and pushed the
+speed lever into the first notch, and there was a lurch of the whole
+vessel as it swung around the bar so that the floor was once more
+perpendicular to it. He took a couple of steps, returned, and advanced
+the lever another notch.
+
+"There that's about the same as gravity. Now we can act like human
+beings and eat in comfort."
+
+"That's a wonderful relief, Doctor!" cried Dorothy. "Are we going back
+toward the earth?"
+
+"Not yet. I reversed the bar, but we will have to use up all of this one
+before we can even start back. Until this bar is gone we will merely be
+slowing down."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+As the meal progressed, Dorothy noticed that DuQuesne's left arm seemed
+almost helpless, and that he ate with great difficulty because of his
+terribly bruised face. As soon as they had removed the trays she went
+into her room, where she had seen a small medicine chest, and brought
+out a couple of bottles.
+
+"Lie down here, Doctor DuQuesne," she commanded. "I'm going to apply a
+little first-aid to the injured. Arnica and iodine are all I can find,
+but they'll help a little."
+
+"I'm all right," began the scientist, but at her imperious gesture he
+submitted, and she bathed his battered features with the healing lotion
+and painted the worst bruises with iodine.
+
+"I see your arm is lame. Where does it hurt?"
+
+"Shoulder's the worst. I rammed it through the board when we started
+out."
+
+He opened his shirt at the throat and bared his shoulder, and Dorothy
+gasped--as much at the size and power of the muscles displayed, as at
+the extent and severity of the man's injuries. Stepping into the
+gallery, she brought out hot water and towels and gently bathed away the
+clotted blood that had been forced through the skin.
+
+"Massage it a little with the arnica as I move the arm," he directed
+coolly, and she did so, pityingly. He did not wince and made no sign of
+pain, but she saw beads of perspiration appear upon his face, and
+wondered at his fortitude.
+
+"That's fine," he said gratefully as she finished, and a peculiar
+expression came over his face. "It feels one hundred per cent better
+already. But why do you do it? I should think you would feel like
+crowning me with that basin instead of playing nurse."
+
+"Efficiency," she replied with a smile. "I'm taking a leaf out of your
+own book. You are our chief engineer, you know, and it won't do to have
+you laid up."
+
+"That's a logical explanation, but it doesn't go far enough," he
+rejoined, still studying her intently. She did not reply, but turned to
+Perkins.
+
+"How are you, Mr. Perkins? Do you require medical attention?"
+
+"No," growled Perkins from the seat in which he had crouched immediately
+after eating. "Keep away from me, or I'll cut your heart out!"
+
+"Shut up!" snapped DuQuesne. "Remember what I said?"
+
+"I haven't done anything," snarled the other.
+
+"I said I would throw you out if you made another break," DuQuesne
+informed him evenly, "and I meant it. If you can't talk decently, keep
+still. Understand that you are to keep off Miss Vaneman, words and
+actions. I am in charge of her, and I will put up with no interference
+whatever. This is your last warning."
+
+"How about Spencer, then?"
+
+"I have nothing to say about her, she's not mine," responded DuQuesne
+with a shrug.
+
+An evil light appeared in Perkins' eyes and he took out a wicked-looking
+knife and began to strop it carefully upon the leather of the seat,
+glaring at his victim the while.
+
+"Well, _I_ have something to say...." blazed Dorothy, but she was
+silenced by a gesture from Margaret, who calmly took the pistol from her
+pocket, jerked the slide back, throwing a cartridge into the chamber,
+and held the weapon up on one finger, admiring it from all sides.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Don't worry about his knife. He has been sharpening it for my benefit
+for the last month. He doesn't mean anything by it."
+
+At this unexpected show of resistance, Perkins stared at her for an
+instant, then glanced at his coat.
+
+"Yes, this was yours, once. You needn't bother about picking up your
+coat, they're both gone. You might be tempted to throw that knife, so
+drop it on the floor and kick it over to me before I count three.
+
+"One." The heavy pistol steadied into line with his chest and her finger
+tightened on the trigger.
+
+"Two." He obeyed and she picked up the knife. He turned to DuQuesne, who
+had watched the scene unmoved, a faint smile upon his saturnine face.
+
+"Doctor!" he cried, shaking with fear. "Why don't you shoot her or take
+that gun away from her? Surely you don't want to see me murdered?"
+
+"Why not?" replied DuQuesne calmly. "It is nothing to me whether she
+kills you or you kill her. You brought it on yourself by your own
+carelessness. Any man with brains doesn't leave guns lying around within
+reach of prisoners, and a blind man could have seen Miss Vaneman getting
+your hardware."
+
+"You saw her take them and didn't warn me?" croaked Perkins.
+
+"Why should I warn you? If you can't take care of your own prisoner she
+earns her liberty, as far as I am concerned. I never did like your
+style, Perkins, especially your methods of handling--or rather
+mishandling--women. You could have made her give up the stuff she
+recovered from that ass Brookings inside of an hour, and wouldn't have
+had to kill her afterward, either."
+
+"How?" sneered the other. "If you are so good at that kind of thing, why
+didn't you try it on Seaton and Crane?"
+
+"There are seven different methods to use on a woman like Miss Spencer,
+each of which will produce the desired result. The reason I did not try
+them on either Seaton or Crane is that they would have failed. Your
+method of indirect action is probably the only one that will succeed.
+That is why I adopted it."
+
+"Well, what are you going to do about it?" shrieked Perkins. "Are you
+going to sit there and lecture all day?"
+
+"I am going to do nothing whatever," answered the scientist coldly. "If
+you had any brains you would see that you are in no danger. Miss Spencer
+will undoubtedly kill you if you attack her--not otherwise. That is an
+Anglo-Saxon weakness."
+
+"Did you see me take the pistols?" queried Dorothy.
+
+"Certainly. I'm not blind. You have one of them in your right coat
+pocket now."
+
+"Then why didn't you, or don't you, try to take it away from me?" she
+asked in wonder.
+
+"If I had objected to your having them, you would never have got them.
+If I didn't want you to have a gun now, I would take it away from you.
+You know that, don't you?" and his black eyes stared into her violet
+ones with such calm certainty of his ability that she felt her heart
+sink.
+
+"Yes," she admitted finally, "I believe you could--that is, unless I
+were angry enough to shoot you."
+
+"That wouldn't help you. I can shoot faster and straighter than you can,
+and would shoot it out of your hand. However, I have no objection to
+your having the gun, since it is no part of my plan to offer you any
+further indignity of any kind. Even if you had the necessary coldness of
+nerve or cruelty of disposition--of which I have one, Perkins the other,
+and you neither--you wouldn't shoot me now, because you can't get back
+to the earth without me. After we get back I will take the guns away
+from both of you if I think it desirable. In the meantime, play with
+them all you please."
+
+"Has Perkins any more knives or guns or things in his room?" demanded
+Dorothy.
+
+"How should I know?" indifferently; then, as both girls started for
+Perkins' room he ordered brusquely:
+
+"Sit down, Miss Vaneman. Let them fight it out. Perkins has his orders
+to lay off you--you lay off him. I'm not taking any chances of getting
+you hurt, that's one reason I wanted you armed. If he gets gay, shoot
+him; otherwise, hands off completely."
+
+Dorothy threw up her head in defiance, but meeting his cold stare she
+paused irresolutely and finally sat down, biting her lips in anger,
+while the other girl went on.
+
+"That's better. She doesn't need any help to whip that yellow dog. He's
+whipped already. He never would think of fighting unless the odds were
+three to one in his favor."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+When Margaret had returned from a fruitless search of Perkins' room and
+had assured herself that he had no more weapons concealed about his
+person, she thrust the pistol back into her pocket and sat down.
+
+"That ends that," she declared. "I guess you will be good now, won't
+you, Mr. Perkins?"
+
+"Yes," that worthy muttered. "I have to be, now that you've got the drop
+on me and DuQuesne's gone back on me. But wait until we get back! I'll
+get you then, you...."
+
+"Stop right there!" sharply. "There's nothing I would rather do than
+shoot you right now, if you give me the slightest excuse, such as that
+name you were about to call me. Now go ahead!"
+
+DuQuesne broke the silence that followed.
+
+"Well, now that the battle is over, and since we are fed and rested, I
+suggest that we slow down a bit and get ready to start back. Pick out
+comfortable seats, everybody, and I'll shoot a little more juice through
+that bar."
+
+Seating himself before the instrument board, he advanced the speed lever
+slowly until nearly three-quarters of the full power was on, as much as
+he thought the others could stand.
+
+For sixty hours he drove the car, reducing the acceleration only at
+intervals during which they ate and walked about their narrow quarters
+in order to restore the blood to circulation in their suffering bodies.
+The power was not reduced for sleep; everyone slept as best he could.
+
+Dorothy and Margaret talked together at every opportunity, and a real
+intimacy grew up between them. Perkins was for the most part sullenly
+quiet, knowing himself despised by all the others and having no outlet
+here for his particular brand of cleverness. DuQuesne was always
+occupied with his work and only occasionally addressed a remark to one
+or another of the party, except during meals. At those periods of
+general recuperation, he talked easily and well upon many topics. There
+was no animosity in his bearing nor did he seem to perceive any directed
+toward himself, but when any of the others ventured to infringe upon his
+ideas of how discipline should be maintained, DuQuesne's reproof was
+merciless. Dorothy almost liked him, but Margaret insisted that she
+considered him worse than ever.
+
+When the bar was exhausted, DuQuesne lifted the sole remaining cylinder
+into place.
+
+"We should be nearly stationary with respect to the earth," he remarked.
+"Now we will start back."
+
+"Why, it felt as though we were picking up speed for the last three
+days!" exclaimed Margaret.
+
+"Yes, it feels that way because we have nothing to judge by. Slowing
+down in one direction feels exactly like starting up in the opposite
+one. There is no means of knowing whether we are standing still, going
+away from the earth, or going toward it, since we have nothing
+stationary upon which to make observations. However, since the two bars
+were of exactly the same size and were exerted in opposite directions
+except for a few minutes after we left the earth, we are nearly
+stationary now. I will put on power until this bar is something less
+than half gone, then coast for three or four days. By the end of that
+time we should be able to recognize our solar system from the appearance
+of the fixed stars."
+
+He again advanced the lever, and for many hours silence filled the car
+as it hurtled through space. DuQuesne, waking up from a long nap, saw
+that the bar no longer pointed directly toward the top of the ship,
+perpendicular to the floor, but was inclined at a sharp angle. He
+reduced the current, and felt the lurch of the car as it swung around
+the bar, increasing the angle many degrees. He measured the angle
+carefully and peered out of all the windows on one side of the car.
+Returning to the bar after a time, he again measured the angle, and
+found that it had increased greatly.
+
+"What's the matter, Doctor DuQuesne?" asked Dorothy, who had also been
+asleep.
+
+"We are being deflected from our course. You see the bar doesn't point
+straight up any more? Of course the direction of the bar hasn't changed,
+the car has swung around it."
+
+"What does that mean?"
+
+"We have come close enough to some star so that its attraction swings
+the bottom of the car around. Normally, you know, the bottom of the car
+follows directly behind the bar. It doesn't mean much yet except that we
+are being drawn away from our straight line, but if the attraction gets
+much stronger it may make us miss our solar system completely. I have
+been looking for the star in question, but can't see it yet. We'll
+probably pull away from it very shortly."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+He threw on the power, and for some time watched the bar anxiously,
+expecting to see it swing back into the vertical, but the angle
+continually increased. He again reduced the current and searched the
+heavens for the troublesome body.
+
+"Do you see it yet?" asked Dorothy with concern.
+
+"No, there's apparently nothing near enough to account for all this
+deflection."
+
+He took out a pair of large night-glasses and peered through them for
+several minutes.
+
+"Good God! It's a dead sun, and we're nearly onto it! It looks as large
+as our moon!"
+
+Springing to the board, he whirled the bar into the vertical. He took
+down a strange instrument, went to the bottom window, and measured the
+apparent size of the dark star. Then, after cautioning the rest of the
+party to sit tight, he advanced the lever farther than it had been
+before. After half an hour he again slackened the pace and made another
+observation, finding to his astonishment that the dark mass had almost
+doubled its apparent size! Dorothy, noting his expression, was about to
+speak, but he forestalled her.
+
+"We lost ground, instead of gaining, that spurt," he remarked, as he
+hastened to his post. "It must be inconceivably large, to exert such an
+enormous attractive force at this distance. We'll have to put on full
+power. Hang onto yourselves as best you can."
+
+He then pushed the lever out to its last notch and left it there until
+the bar was nearly gone, only to find that the faint disk of the monster
+globe was even larger than before, being now visible to the unaided eye.
+Revived, the three others saw it plainly--a great dim circle, visible as
+is the dark portion of the new moon--and, the power shut off, they felt
+themselves falling toward it with sickening speed. Perkins screamed with
+mad fear and flung himself grovelling upon the floor. Margaret, her
+nerves still unstrung, clutched at her heart with both hands. Dorothy,
+though her eyes looked like great black holes in her white face, looked
+DuQuesne in the eye steadily.
+
+"This is the end, then?"
+
+"Not yet," he replied in a calm and level voice. "The end will not come
+for a good many hours, as I have calculated that it will take at least
+two days, probably more, to fall the distance we have to go. We have all
+that time in which to think out a way of escape."
+
+"Won't the outer repulsive shell keep us from striking it, or at least
+break the force of our fall?"
+
+"No. It was designed only as protection from meteorites and other small
+bodies. It is heavy enough to swing us away from a small planet, but it
+will be used up long before we strike."
+
+He lighted a cigarette and sat at case, as though in his own study, his
+brow wrinkled in thought as he made calculations in his notebook.
+Finally he rose to his feet.
+
+"There's only one chance that I can see. That is to gather up every
+scrap of copper we have and try to pull ourselves far enough out of line
+so that we will take an hyperbolic orbit around that body instead of
+falling into it."
+
+"What good will that do us?" asked Margaret, striving for self-control.
+"We will starve to death finally, won't we?"
+
+"Not necessarily. That will give us time to figure out something else."
+
+"You won't have to figure out anything else, Doctor," stated Dorothy
+positively. "If we miss that moon, Dick and Martin will find us before
+very long."
+
+"Not in this life. If they tried to follow us, they're both dead before
+now."
+
+"That's where even you are wrong!" she flashed at him. "They knew you
+were wrecking our machine, so they built another one, a good one. And
+they know a lot of things about this new metal that you have never
+dreamed of, since they were not in the plans you stole."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+DuQuesne went directly to the heart of the matter, paying no attention
+to her barbed shafts.
+
+"Can they follow us through space without seeing us?" he demanded.
+
+"Yes--or at least, I think they can."
+
+"How do they do it?"
+
+"I don't know--I wouldn't tell you if I did."
+
+"You'll tell if you know," he declared, his voice cutting like a knife.
+"But that can wait until after we get out of this. The thing to do now
+is to dodge that world."
+
+He searched the vessel for copper, ruthlessly tearing out almost
+everything that contained the metal, hammering it flat and throwing it
+into the power-plant. He set the bar at right angles to the line of
+their fall and turned on the current. When the metal was exhausted, he
+made another series of observations upon the body toward which they were
+falling, and reported quietly:
+
+"We made a lot of distance, but not enough. Everything goes in, this
+time."
+
+He tore out the single remaining light-wire, leaving the car in darkness
+save for the diffused light of his electric torch, and broke up the only
+remaining motor. He then took his almost priceless Swiss watch, his
+heavy signet ring, his scarf pin, and the cartridges from his pistol,
+and added them to the collection. Flashing his lamp upon Perkins, he
+relieved him of everything he had which contained copper.
+
+"I think I have a few pennies in my pocketbook," suggested Dorothy.
+
+"Get 'em," he directed briefly, and while she was gone he searched
+Margaret, without result save for the cartridges in her pistol, as she
+had no jewelry remaining after her imprisonment. Dorothy returned and
+handed him everything she had found.
+
+"I would like to keep this ring," she said slowly, pointing to a slender
+circlet of gold set with a solitaire diamond, "if you think there is any
+chance of us getting clear."
+
+"Everything goes that has any copper in it," he said coldly, "and I am
+glad to see that Seaton is too good a chemist to buy any platinum
+jewelry. You may keep the diamond, though," as he wrenched the jewel out
+of its setting and returned it to her.
+
+He threw all the metal into the central chamber and the vessel gave a
+tremendous lurch as the power was again applied. It was soon spent,
+however, and after the final observation, the others waiting in
+breathless suspense for him to finish his calculations, he made his curt
+announcement.
+
+"Not enough."
+
+Perkins, his mind weakened by the strain of the last few days, went
+completely insane at the words. With a wild howl he threw himself at the
+unmoved scientist, who struck him with the butt of his pistol as he
+leaped, the mighty force of DuQuesne's blow crushing his skull like an
+eggshell and throwing him backward to the opposite side of the vessel.
+Margaret lay in her seat in a dead faint. Dorothy and DuQuesne looked at
+each other in the feeble light of the torch. To the girl's amazement,
+the man was as calm as though he were safe in his own house, and she
+made a determined effort to hold herself together.
+
+"What next, Doctor DuQuesne?"
+
+"I don't know. We have a couple of days yet, at least. I'll have to
+study awhile."
+
+"In that time Dick will find us, I know."
+
+"Even if they do find us in time, which I doubt, what good will it do?
+It simply means that they will go with us instead of saving us, for of
+course they can't pull away, since we couldn't. I hope they don't find
+us, but locate this star in time to keep away from it."
+
+"Why?" she gasped. "You have been planning to kill both of them! I
+should think you would be delighted to take them with us?"
+
+"Far from it. Please try to be logical. I intended to remove them
+because they stood in the way of my developing this new metal. If I am
+to be out of the way--and frankly, I see very little chance of getting
+out of this--I hope that Seaton goes ahead with it. It is the greatest
+discovery the world has ever known, and if both Seaton and I, the only
+two men in the world who know how to handle it, drop out, it will be
+lost for perhaps hundreds of years."
+
+"If Dick's finding us means that he must go, too, of course I hope that
+he won't find us, but I don't believe that. I simply know that he could
+get us away from here."
+
+She continued more slowly, almost speaking to herself, her heart sinking
+with her voice:
+
+"He is following us, and he won't stop even if he does see this dead
+star and knows that he can't get away. We will die together."
+
+"There's no denying the fact that our situation is critical, but you
+know a man isn't dead until after his heart stops beating. We have two
+whole days yet, and in that time, I can probably dope out some way of
+getting away from here."
+
+"I hope so," she replied, keeping her voice from breaking only by a
+great effort. "But go ahead with your doping. I'm worn out." She drew
+herself down upon one of the seats and stared at the ceiling, fighting
+to restrain an almost overpowering impulse to scream.
+
+Thus the hours wore by--Perkins dead; Margaret still unconscious;
+Dorothy lying in her seat, her thoughts a formless prayer, buoyed up
+only by her faith in God and in her lover; DuQuesne self-possessed,
+smoking innumerable cigarettes, his keen mind grappling with its most
+desperate problem, grimly fighting until the very last instant of
+life--while the powerless space-car fell with an appalling velocity,
+faster and faster; falling toward that cold and desolate monster of the
+heaven.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+The Rescue
+
+
+Seaton and Crane drove the Skylark in the direction indicated by the
+unwavering object-compass with the greatest acceleration they could
+stand, each man taking a twelve-hour watch at the instrument board.
+
+Now, indeed, did the Skylark justify the faith of her builders, and the
+two inventors, with an exultant certainty of their success, flew out
+beyond man's wildest imaginings. Had it not been for the haunting fear
+for Dorothy's safety, the journey would have been one of pure triumph,
+and even that anxiety did not prevent a profound joy in the enterprise.
+
+"If that misguided mutt thinks he can pull off a stunt like that and get
+away with it, he's got another think coming," asserted Seaton, after
+making a reading on the other car after several days of the flight. "He
+went off half-cocked this time, for sure, and we've got him foul. We'd
+better put on some negative pretty soon hadn't we, Mart? Only a little
+over a hundred light-years now."
+
+Crane nodded agreement and Seaton continued:
+
+"It'll take as long to stop, of course, as it has taken to get out here,
+and if we ram them--GOOD NIGHT! Let's figure it out as nearly as we
+can."
+
+They calculated their own speed, and that of the other vessel, as shown
+by the various readings taken, and applied just enough negative
+acceleration to slow the Skylark down to the speed of the other
+space-car when they should come up with it. They smiled at each other in
+recognition of the perfect working of the mechanism when the huge vessel
+had spun, with a sickening lurch, through a complete half-circle, the
+instant the power was reversed. Each knew that they were actually
+traveling in a direction that to them seemed "down," but with a
+constantly diminishing velocity, even though they seemed to be still
+going "up" with an increasing speed.
+
+Until nearly the end of the calculated time the two took turns as
+before, but as the time of meeting drew near both men were on the alert,
+taking readings on the object-compass every few minutes. Finally Crane
+announced:
+
+"We are almost on them, Dick. They are so close that it is almost
+impossible to time the needle--less than ten thousand miles."
+
+Seaton gradually increased the retarding force until the needle showed
+that they were very close to the other vessel and maintaining a constant
+distance from it. He then shut off the power, and both men hurried to
+the bottom window to search for the fleeing ship with their powerful
+night-glasses. They looked at each other in amazement as they felt
+themselves falling almost directly downward, with an astounding
+acceleration.
+
+"What do you make of it, Dick?" asked Crane calmly, as he brought his
+glasses to his eyes and stared out into the black heavens, studded with
+multitudes of brilliant and unfamiliar stars.
+
+"I don't make it at all, Mart. By the feel, I should say we were falling
+toward something that would make our earth look like a pin-head. I
+remember now that I noticed that the bus was getting a little out of
+plumb with the bar all this last watch. I didn't pay much attention to
+it, as I couldn't see anything out of the way. Nothing but a sun could
+be big enough to raise all this disturbance, and I can't see any close
+enough to be afraid of, can you?"
+
+"No, and I cannot see the Steel space-car, either. Look sharp."
+
+"Of course," Seaton continued to argue as he peered out into the night,
+"it is theoretically possible that a heavenly body can exist large
+enough so that it could exert even this much force and still appear no
+larger than an ordinary star, but I don't believe it is probable. Give
+me three or four minutes of visual angle and I'll believe anything, but
+none of these stars are big enough to have any visual angle at all.
+Furthermore...."
+
+"There is at least half a degree of visual angle!" broke in his friend
+intensely. "Just to the left of that constellation that looks so much
+like a question mark. It is not bright, but dark, like a very dark
+moon--barely perceptible."
+
+Seaton pointed his glass eagerly in the direction indicated.
+
+"Great Cat!" he ejaculated. "I'll say that's some moon! Wouldn't that
+rattle your slats? And there's DuQuesne's bus, too, on the right edge.
+Get it?"
+
+As they stood up, Seaton's mood turned to one of deadly earnestness, and
+a grave look came over Crane's face as the seriousness of their
+situation dawned upon them. Trained mathematicians both, they knew
+instantly that that unknown world was of inconceivable mass, and that
+their chance of escape was none too good, even should they abandon the
+other craft to its fate. Seaton stared at Crane, his fists clenched and
+drops of perspiration standing on his forehead. Suddenly, with agony in
+his eyes and in his voice, he spoke.
+
+"Mighty slim chance of getting away if we go through with it, old
+man.... Hate like the devil.... Have no right to ask you to throw
+yourself away, too."
+
+"Enough of that, Dick. You had nothing to do with my coming: you could
+not have kept me away. We will see it through."
+
+Their hands met in a fierce clasp, broken by Seaton, as he jumped to the
+levers with an intense:
+
+"Well, let's get busy!"
+
+In a few minutes they had reduced the distance until they could plainly
+see the other vessel, a small black circle against the faintly luminous
+disk. As it leaped into clear relief in the beam of his powerful
+searchlight, Seaton focused the great attractor upon the fugitive car
+and threw in the lever which released the full force of that mighty
+magnet, while Crane attracted the attention of the vessel's occupants by
+means of a momentary burst of solid machine-gun bullets, which he knew
+would glance harmlessly off the steel hull.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+After an interminable silence, DuQuesne drew himself out of his seat. He
+took a long inhalation, deposited the butt of his cigarette carefully in
+his ash tray, and made his way to his room. He returned with three heavy
+fur suits provided with air helmets, two of which he handed to the
+girls, who were huddled in a seat with their arms around each other.
+These suits were the armor designed by Crane for use in exploring the
+vacuum and the intense cold of dead worlds. Air-tight, braced with fine
+steel netting, and supplied with air at normal pressure from small tanks
+by automatic valves, they made their wearers independent of surrounding
+conditions of pressure and temperature.
+
+"The next thing to do," DuQuesne stated calmly, "is to get the copper
+off the outside of the ship. That is the last resort, as it robs us of
+our only safeguard against meteorites, but this is the time for
+last-resort measures. I'm going after that copper. Put these suits on,
+as our air will leave as soon as I open the door, and practically an
+absolute vacuum and equally absolute zero will come in."
+
+As he spoke, the ship was enveloped in a blinding glare and they were
+thrown flat as the vessel slowed down in its terrific fall. The thought
+flashed across DuQuesne's mind that they had already entered the
+atmosphere of that monster globe and were being slowed down and set
+afire by its friction, but he dismissed it as quickly as it had
+come--the light in that case would be the green of copper, not this
+bluish-white. His next thought was that there had been a collision of
+meteors in the neighborhood, and that their retardation was due to the
+outer coating. While these thoughts were flickering through his mind,
+they heard an insistent metallic tapping, which DuQuesne recognized
+instantly.
+
+"A machine-gun!" he blurted in amazement. "How in...."
+
+"It's Dick!" screamed Dorothy, with flashing eyes. "He's found us, just
+as I knew he would. You couldn't beat Dick and Martin in a thousand
+years!"
+
+The tension under which they had been laboring so long suddenly
+released, the two girls locked their arms around each other in a
+half-hysterical outburst of relief. Margaret's meaningless words and
+Dorothy's incoherent praises of her lover and Crane mingled with their
+racking sobs as each fought to recover self-possession.
+
+DuQuesne had instantly mounted to the upper window. Throwing back the
+cover, he flashed his torch rapidly. The glare of the searchlight was
+snuffed out and he saw a flashing light spell out in dots and dashes:
+
+"Can you read Morse?"
+
+"Yes," he signalled back. "Power gone, drifting into...."
+
+"We know it. Will you resist?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Have you fur pressure-suits?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Put them on. Shut off your outer coating. Will touch so your upper door
+against our lower. Open, transfer quick."
+
+"O. K."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Hastily returning to the main compartment, he briefly informed the girls
+as to what had happened. All three donned the suits and stationed
+themselves at the upper opening. Rapidly, but with unerring precision,
+the two ships were brought into place and held together by the
+attractor. As the doors were opened, there was a screaming hiss as the
+air of the vessels escaped through the narrow crack between them. The
+passengers saw the moisture in the air turn into snow, and saw the air
+itself first liquefy and then freeze into a solid coating upon the metal
+around the orifices at the touch of the frightful cold outside--the
+absolute zero of interstellar space, about four hundred sixty degrees
+below zero in the every-day scale of temperature. The moisture of their
+breath condensed upon the inside of the double glasses of their helmets,
+rendering sight useless.
+
+[Illustration: DuQuesne seized her and tossed her lightly through the
+doorway in such a manner that she would not touch the metal, which would
+have frozen instantly anything coming into contact with it.]
+
+Dorothy pushed the other girl ahead of her. DuQuesne seized her and
+tossed her lightly through the doorway in such a manner that she would
+not touch the metal, which would have frozen instantly anything coming
+into contact with it. Seaton was waiting. Feeling a woman's slender form
+in his arms, he crushed her to him in a mighty embrace, and was
+astonished to feel movements of resistance, and to hear a strange,
+girlish voice cry out:
+
+"Don't! It's me! Dorothy's next!"
+
+Releasing her abruptly, he passed her on to Martin and turned just in
+time to catch his sweetheart, who, knowing that he would be there and
+recognizing his powerful arms at the first touch, returned his embrace
+with a fierce intensity which even he had never suspected that she could
+exert. They stood motionless, locked in each other's arms, while
+DuQuesne dove through the opening and snapped the door shut behind him.
+
+The air-pressure and temperature back to normal, the cumbersome suits
+were hastily removed, and Seaton's lips met Dorothy's in a long,
+clinging caress. DuQuesne's cold, incisive voice broke the silence.
+
+"Every second counts. I would suggest that we go somewhere."
+
+"Just a minute!" snapped Crane. "Dick, what shall we do with this
+murderer?"
+
+Seaton had forgotten DuQuesne utterly in the joy of holding his
+sweetheart in his arms, but at his friend's words, he faced about and
+his face grew stern.
+
+"By rights, we ought to chuck him back into his own tub and let him go
+to the devil," he said savagely, doubling his fists and turning swiftly.
+
+"No, no, Dick," remonstrated Dorothy, seizing his arm. "He treated us
+very well, and saved my life once. Anyway, you mustn't kill him."
+
+"No, I suppose not," grudgingly assented her lover, "and I won't,
+either, unless he gives me at least half an excuse."
+
+"We might iron him to a post?" suggested Crane, doubtfully.
+
+"I think there's a better way," replied Seaton. "He may be able to work
+his way. His brain hits on all twelve, and he's strong as a bull. Our
+chance of getting back isn't a certainty, as you know." He turned to
+DuQuesne.
+
+"I've heard that your word is good."
+
+"It has never been broken."
+
+"Will you give your word to act as one of the party, for the good of us
+all, if we don't iron you?"
+
+"Yes--until we get back to the earth. Provided, of course, that I
+reserve the right to escape at any time between now and then if I wish
+to and can do so without injuring the vessel or any member of the party
+in any way."
+
+"Agreed. Let's get busy--we're altogether too close to that dud there to
+suit me. Sit tight, everybody, we're on our way!" he cried, as he turned
+to the board, applied one notch of power, and shut off the attractor.
+The Skylark slowed down a trifle in its mad fall, the other vessel
+continued on its way--a helpless hulk, manned by a corpse, falling to
+destruction upon the bleak wastes of a desert world.
+
+"Hold on!" said DuQuesne sharply. "Your power is the same as mine was,
+in proportion to your mass, isn't it?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Then our goose is cooked. I couldn't pull away from it with everything
+I had, couldn't even swing out enough to make an orbit, either
+hyperbolic or elliptical around it. With a reserve bar you will be able
+to make an orbit, but you can't get away from it."
+
+"Thanks for the dope. That saves our wasting some effort. Our
+power-plant can be doubled up in emergencies, thanks to Martin's
+cautious old bean. We'll simply double her up and go away from here."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"There is one thing we didn't consider quite enough," said Crane,
+thoughtfully. "I started to faint back there before the full power of
+even one motor was in use. With the motor doubled, each of us will be
+held down by a force of many tons--we would all be helpless."
+
+"Yes," added Dorothy, with foreboding in her eyes, "we were all
+unconscious on the way out, except Dr. DuQuesne."
+
+"Well, then, Blackie and I, as the huskiest members of the party, will
+give her the juice until only one of us is left with his eyes open. If
+that isn't enough to pull us clear, we'll have to give her the whole
+works and let her ramble by herself after we all go out. How about it,
+Blackie?" unconsciously falling into the old Bureau nickname. "Do you
+think we can make it stop at unconsciousness with double power on?"
+
+DuQuesne studied the two girls carefully.
+
+"With oxygen in the helmets instead of air, we all may be able to stand
+it. These special cushions keep the body from flattening out, as it
+normally would under such a pressure. The unconsciousness is simply a
+suffocation caused by the lateral muscles being unable to lift the
+ribs--in other words, the air-pumps aren't strong enough for the added
+work put upon them. At least we stand a chance this way. We may live
+through the pressure while we are pulling away, and we certainly shall
+die if we don't pull away."
+
+After a brief consultation, the men set to work with furious haste.
+While Crane placed extra bars in each of the motors and DuQuesne made
+careful observations upon the apparent size of the now plainly visible
+world toward which they were being drawn so irresistibly, Seaton
+connected the helmets with the air-and oxygen-tanks through a valve upon
+the board, by means of which he could change at will the oxygen content
+of the air they breathed. He then placed the strange girl, who seemed
+dazed by the frightful sensation of their never-ending fall, upon one of
+the seats, fitted the cumbersome helmet upon her head, strapped her
+carefully into place, and turned to Dorothy. In an instant they were in
+each other's arms. He felt her labored breathing and the wild beating of
+her heart, pressed so closely to his, and saw the fear of the unknown in
+the violet depths of her eyes, but she looked at him unflinchingly.
+
+"Dick, sweetheart, if this is good-bye...."
+
+He interrupted her with a kiss.
+
+"It isn't good-bye yet, Dottie mine. This is merely a trial effort, to
+see what we will have to do to get away. Next time will be the time to
+worry."
+
+"I'm not worried, really ... but in case ... you see ... I ... we ..."
+
+The gray eyes softened and misted over as he pressed his cheek to hers.
+
+"I understand, sweetheart," he whispered. "This is not good-bye, but if
+we don't pull through we'll go together, and that is what we both want."
+
+As Crane and DuQuesne finished their tasks, Seaton fitted his
+sweetheart's helmet, placed her tenderly upon the seat, buckled the
+heavy restraining straps about her slender body, and donned his own
+helmet. He took his place at the main instrument board, DuQuesne
+stationing himself at the other.
+
+"What did you read on it, Blackie?" asked Seaton.
+
+"Two degrees, one minute, twelve seconds diameter," replied DuQuesne.
+"Altogether too close for comfort. How shall we apply the power? One of
+us must stay awake, or we'll go on as long as the bars last."
+
+"You put on one notch, then I'll put on one. We can feel the bus jump
+with each notch. We'll keep it up until one of us is so far gone that he
+can't raise the bar--the one that raises last will have to let the ship
+run for thirty minutes or an hour, then cut down his power. Then the
+other fellow will revive and cut his off, for an observation. How's
+that?"
+
+"All right."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+They took their places, and Seaton felt the vessel slow down in its
+horrible fall as DuQuesne threw his lever into the first notch. He
+responded instantly by advancing his own, and notch after notch the
+power applied to the ship by the now doubled motor was rapidly
+increased. The passengers felt their suits envelope them and began to
+labor for breath. Seaton slowly turned the mixing valve, a little with
+each advance of his lever, until pure oxygen flowed through the pipes.
+The power levers had moved scarcely half of their range, yet minutes now
+intervened between each advance instead of seconds, as at the start.
+
+As each of the two men was determined that he would make the last
+advance, the duel continued longer than either would have thought
+possible. Seaton made what he thought his final effort and waited--only
+to feel, after a few minutes, the upward surge telling him that DuQuesne
+was still able to move his lever. His brain reeled. His arm seemed
+paralyzed by its own enormous weight, and felt as though it, the rolling
+table upon which it rested, and the supporting framework were so
+immovably welded together that it was impossible to move it even the
+quarter-inch necessary to operate the ratchet-lever. He could not move
+his body, which was oppressed by a sickening weight. His utmost efforts
+to breathe forced only a little of the life-giving oxygen into his
+lungs, which smarted painfully at the touch of the undiluted gas, and he
+felt that he could not long retain consciousness under such conditions.
+Nevertheless, he summoned all his strength and advanced the lever one
+more notch. He stared at the clock-face above his head, knowing that if
+DuQuesne could advance his lever again he would lose consciousness and
+be beaten. Minute after minute went by, however, and the acceleration of
+the ship remained constant. Seaton, knowing that he was in sole control
+of the power-plant, fought to retain possession of his faculties, while
+the hands of the clock told off the interminable minutes.
+
+After an eternity of time an hour had passed, and Seaton attempted to
+cut down his power, only to find with horror that the long strain had so
+weakened him that he could not reverse the ratchet. He was still able,
+however, to give the lever the backward jerk which disconnected the
+wires completely--and the safety straps creaked with the sudden stress
+as, half the power instantly shut off, the suddenly released springs
+tried to hurl five bodies against the ceiling. After a few minutes
+DuQuesne revived and slowly cut off his power. To the dismay of both men
+they were again falling!
+
+DuQuesne hurried to the lower window to make the observation, remarking:
+
+"You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din."
+
+"Only because you're so badly bunged up. One more notch would've got my
+goat," replied Seaton frankly as he made his way to Dorothy's side. He
+noticed as he reached her, that Crane had removed his helmet and was
+approaching the other girl. By the time DuQuesne had finished the
+observation, the other passengers had completely recovered, apparently
+none the worse for their experience.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Did we gain anything?" asked Seaton eagerly.
+
+"I make it two, four, thirteen. We've lost about two minutes of arc. How
+much power did we have on?"
+
+"A little over half--thirty-two points out of sixty possible."
+
+"We were still falling pretty fast. We'll have to put on everything
+we've got. Since neither of us can put it on we'll have to rig up an
+automatic feed. It'll take time, but it's the only way."
+
+"The automatic control is already there," put in Crane, forestalling
+Seaton's explanation. "The only question is whether we will live through
+it--and that is not really a question, since certain death is the only
+alternative. We must do it."
+
+"We sure must," answered Seaton soberly.
+
+Dorothy gravely nodded assent.
+
+"What do you fellows think of a little plus pressure on the oxygen?"
+asked Seaton. "I think it would help a lot."
+
+"I think it's a good idea," said DuQuesne, and Crane added:
+
+"Four or five inches of water will be about all the pressure we can
+stand. Any more might burn our lungs too badly."
+
+The pressure apparatus was quickly arranged and the motors filled to
+capacity with reserve bars--enough to last seventy-two hours--the
+scientists having decided that they must risk everything on one trial
+and put in enough, if possible, to pull them clear out of the influence
+of this center of attraction, as the time lost in slowing up to change
+bars might well mean the difference between success and failure. Where
+they might lie at the end of the wild dash for safety, how they were to
+retrace their way with their depleted supply of copper, what other
+dangers of dead star, planet, or sun lay in their path--all these were
+terrifying questions that had to be ignored.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+DuQuesne was the only member of the party who actually felt any
+calmness, the quiet of the others expressing their courage in facing
+fear. Life seemed very sweet and desirable to them, the distant earth a
+very Paradise! Through Dorothy's mind flashed the visions she had built
+up during long sweet hours, visions of a long life with Seaton. As she
+breathed an inaudible prayer, she glanced up and saw Seaton standing
+beside her, gazing down upon her with his very soul in his eyes. Never
+would she forget the expression upon his face. Even in that crucial
+hour, his great love for her overshadowed every other feeling, and no
+thought of self was in his mind--his care was all for her. There was a
+long farewell caress. Both knew that it might be goodbye, but both were
+silent as the violet eyes and the gray looked into each other's depths
+and conveyed messages far beyond the power of words. Once more he
+adjusted her helmet and strapped her into place.
+
+As Crane had in the meantime cared for the other girl, the men again
+took their places and Seaton started the motor which would automatically
+advance the speed levers, one notch every five seconds, until the full
+power of both motors was exerted. As the power was increased, he turned
+the valve as before, until the helmets were filled with pure oxygen
+under a pressure of five inches of water.
+
+Margaret Spencer, weakened by her imprisonment, was the first to lose
+consciousness, and soon afterward Dorothy felt her senses leave her. A
+half-minute, in the course of which six mighty surges were felt, as more
+of the power of the doubled motor was released, and Crane had gone,
+calmly analyzing his sensations to the last. After a time DuQuesne also
+lapsed into unconsciousness, making no particular effort to avoid it, as
+he knew that the involuntary muscles would function quite as well
+without the direction of the will. Seaton, although he knew it was
+useless, fought to keep his senses as long as possible, counting the
+impulses he felt as the levers were advanced.
+
+"Thirty-two." He felt exactly as he had before, when he had advanced the
+lever for the last time.
+
+"Thirty-three." A giant hand shut off his breath completely, though he
+was fighting to his utmost for air. An intolerable weight rested upon
+his eyeballs, forcing them backward into his head. The universe whirled
+about him in dizzy circles--orange and black and green stars flashed
+before his bursting eyes.
+
+"Thirty-four." The stars became more brilliant and of more variegated
+colors, and a giant pen dipped in fire was writing equations and
+mathematico-chemical symbols upon his quivering brain. He joined the
+circling universe, which he had hitherto kept away from him by main
+strength, and whirled about his own body, tracing a logarithmic spiral
+with infinite velocity--leaving his body an infinite distance behind.
+
+"Thirty-five." The stars and the fiery pen exploded in a wild
+coruscation of searing, blinding light and he plunged from his spiral
+into a black abyss.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+In spite of the terrific stress put upon the machine, every part
+functioned perfectly, and soon after Seaton had lost consciousness the
+vessel began to draw away from the sinister globe; slowly at first,
+faster and faster as more and more of the almost unlimited power of the
+mighty motor was released. Soon the levers were out to the last notch
+and the machine was exerting its maximum effort. One hour and an
+observer upon the Skylark would have seen that the apparent size of the
+massive unknown world was rapidly decreasing; twenty hours and it was so
+far away as to be invisible, though its effect was still great; forty
+hours and the effect was slight; sixty hours and the Skylark was out of
+range of the slightest measurable force of the monster it had left.
+
+Hurtled onward by the inconceivable power of the unleashed copper demon
+in its center, the Skylark flew through the infinite reaches of
+interstellar space with an unthinkable, almost incalculable
+velocity--beside which the velocity of light was as that of a snail to
+that of a rifle bullet; a velocity augmented every second by a quantity
+almost double that of light itself.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+Through Space Into the Carboniferous
+
+
+Seaton opened his eyes and gazed about him wonderingly. Only half
+conscious, bruised and sore in every part of his body, he could not at
+first realize what had happened. Instinctively drawing a deep breath, he
+coughed and choked as the undiluted oxygen filled his lungs, bringing
+with it a complete understanding of the situation. Knowing from the lack
+of any apparent motion that the power had been sufficient to pull the
+car away from that fatal globe, his first thought was for Dorothy, and
+he tore off his helmet and turned toward her. The force of even that
+slight movement, wafted him gently into the air where he hung suspended
+several minutes before his struggles enabled him to clutch a post and
+draw himself down to the floor. A quick glance around informed him that
+Dorothy, as well as the others, was still unconscious. Making his way
+rapidly to her, he placed her face downward upon the floor and began
+artificial respiration. Very soon he was rewarded by the coughing he had
+longed to hear. He tore off her helmet and clasped her to his breast in
+an agony of relief, while she sobbed convulsively upon his shoulder. The
+first ecstasy of their greeting over, Dorothy started guiltily.
+
+"Oh, Dick!" she exclaimed. "How about Peggy? You must see how she is!"
+
+"Never mind," answered Crane's voice cheerily. "She is coming to
+nicely."
+
+Glancing around quickly, they saw that Crane had already revived the
+stranger, and that DuQuesne was not in sight. Dorothy blushed, the vivid
+wave of color rising to her glorious hair, and hastily disengaged her
+arms from around her lover's neck, drawing away from him. Seaton, also
+blushing, dropped his arms, and Dorothy floated away from him,
+frantically clutching at a brace just beyond reach.
+
+"Pull me down, Dick!" she called, laughing gaily.
+
+Seaton, seizing her instinctively, neglected his own anchorage and they
+hung in the air together, while Crane and Margaret, each holding a
+strap, laughed with unrestrained merriment.
+
+"Tweet, tweet--I'm a canary!" chuckled Seaton. "Throw us a rope!"
+
+"A Dicky-bird, you mean," interposed Dorothy.
+
+"I knew that you were a sleight-of-hand expert, Dick, but I did not know
+that levitation was one of your specialties," remarked Crane with mock
+gravity. "That is a peculiar pose you are holding now. What are you
+doing--sitting on an imaginary pedestal?"
+
+"I'll be sitting on your neck if you don't get a wiggle on with that
+rope!" retorted Seaton, but before Crane had time to obey the command
+the floating couple had approached close enough to the ceiling so that
+Seaton, with a slight pressure of his hand against the leather, sent
+them floating back to the floor, within reach of one of the handrails.
+
+Seaton made his way to the power-plant, lifted in one of the remaining
+bars, and applied a little power. The Skylark seemed to jump under them,
+then it seemed as though they were back on Earth--everything had its
+normal weight once more, as the amount of power applied was just enough
+to equal the acceleration of gravity. After this fact had been
+explained, Dorothy turned to Margaret.
+
+"Now that we are able to act intelligently, the party should be
+introduced to each other. Peggy, this is Dr. Dick Seaton, and this is
+Mr. Martin Crane. Boys, this is Miss Margaret Spencer, a dear friend of
+mine. These are the boys I have told you so much about, Peggy. Dick
+knows all about atoms and things; he found out how to make the Skylark
+go. Martin, who is quite a wonderful inventor, made the engines and
+things for it."
+
+"I may have heard of Mr. Crane," replied Margaret eagerly. "My father
+was an inventor, and I have heard him speak of a man named Crane who
+invented a lot of instruments for airplanes. He used to say that the
+Crane instruments revolutionized flying. I wonder if you are that Mr.
+Crane?"
+
+"That is rather unjustifiably high praise, Miss Spencer," replied Crane,
+"but as I have been guilty of one or two things along that line, I may
+be the man he meant."
+
+"Pardon me if I seem to change the subject," put in Seaton, "but where's
+DuQuesne?"
+
+"We came to at the same time, and he went into the galley to fix up
+something to eat."
+
+"Good for him!" exclaimed Dorothy. "I'm simply starved to death. I would
+have been demanding food long ago, but I have so many aches and pains
+that I didn't realize how hungry I was until you mentioned it. Come on,
+Peggy, I know where our room is. Let's go powder our noses while these
+bewhiskered gentlemen reap their beards. Did you bring along any of my
+clothes, Dick, or did you forget them in the excitement?"
+
+"I didn't think anything about clothes, but Martin did. You'll find your
+whole wardrobe in your room. I'm with you, Dot, on that eating
+proposition--I'm hungry enough to eat the jamb off the door!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+After the girls had gone, Seaton and Crane went to their rooms, where
+they exercised vigorously to restore the circulation to their numbed
+bodies, shaved, bathed, and returned to the saloon feeling like new men.
+They found the girls already there, seated at one of the windows.
+
+"Hail and greeting!" cried Dorothy at sight of them. "I hardly
+recognized you without your whiskers. Do hurry over here and look out
+this perfectly wonderful window. Did you ever in your born days see
+anything like this sight? Now that I'm not scared pea-green, I can enjoy
+it thoroughly!"
+
+The two men joined the girls and peered out into space through the
+window, which was completely invisible, so clear was the glass. As the
+four heads bent, so close together, an awed silence fell upon the little
+group. For the blackness of the interstellar void was not the dark of an
+earthly night, but the absolute black of the absence of all light,
+beside which the black of platinum dust is pale and gray; and laid upon
+this velvet were the jewel stars. They were not the twinkling,
+scintillating beauties of the earthly sky, but minute points, so small
+as to seem dimensionless, yet of dazzling brilliance. Without the
+interference of the air, their rays met the eye steadily and much of the
+effect of comparative distance was lost. All seemed nearer and there was
+no hint of familiarity in their arrangement. Like gems thrown upon
+darkness they shone in multi-colored beauty upon the daring wanderers,
+who stood in their car as easily as though they were upon their parent
+Earth, and gazed upon a sight never before seen by eye of man nor
+pictured in his imaginings.
+
+Through the daze of their wonder, a thought smote Seaton like a blow
+from a fist. His eyes leaped to the instrument board and he exclaimed:
+
+"Look there, Mart! We're heading almost directly away from the Earth,
+and we must be making billions of miles per second. After we lost
+consciousness, the attraction of that big dud back there would swing us
+around, of course, but the bar should have stayed pointed somewhere near
+the Earth, as I left it. Do you suppose it could have shifted the
+gyroscopes?"
+
+"It not only could have, it did," replied Crane, turning the bar until
+it again pointed parallel with the object-compass which bore upon the
+Earth. "Look at the board. The angle has been changed through nearly
+half a circumference. We couldn't carry gyroscopes heavy enough to
+counteract that force."
+
+"But they were heavier there--Oh, sure, you're right. It's mass, not
+weight, that counts. But we sure are in one fine, large jam now. Instead
+of being half-way back to the Earth we're--where are we, anyway?"
+
+They made a reading on an object-compass focused upon the Earth.
+Seaton's face lengthened as seconds passed. When it had come to rest,
+both men calculated the distance.
+
+"What d'you make it, Mart? I'm afraid to tell you my result."
+
+"Forty-six point twenty-seven light-centuries," replied Crane, calmly.
+"Right?"
+
+"Right, and the time was 11:32 P. M. of Thursday, by the chronometer
+there. We'll time it again after a while and see how fast we're
+traveling. It's a good thing you built the ship's chronometers to stand
+any kind of stress. My watch is a total loss. Yours is, too?"
+
+"All of our watches must be broken. We will have to repair them as soon
+as we get time."
+
+"Well, let's eat next! No human being can stand my aching void much
+longer. How about you, Dot?"
+
+"Yes, for Cat's sake, let's get busy!" she mimicked him gaily. "Doctor
+DuQuesne's had dinner ready for ages, and we're all dying by inches of
+hunger."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The wanderers, battered, bruised, and sore, seated themselves at a
+folding table, Seaton keeping a watchful eye upon the bar and upon the
+course, while enjoying Dorothy's presence to the full. Crane and
+Margaret talked easily, but at intervals. Save when directly addressed.
+DuQuesne maintained silence--not the silence of one who knows himself to
+be an intruder, but the silence of perfect self-sufficiency. The meal
+over, the girls washed the dishes and busied themselves in the galley.
+Seaton and Crane made another observation upon the Earth, requesting
+DuQuesne to stay out of the "engine room" as they called the
+partially-enclosed space surrounding the main instrument board, where
+were located the object-compasses and the mechanism controlling the
+attractor, about which DuQuesne knew nothing. As they rejoined DuQuesne
+in the main compartment, Seaton said:
+
+"DuQuesne, we're nearly five thousand light-years away from the Earth,
+and are getting farther at the rate of about one light-year per minute."
+
+"I suppose that it would be poor technique to ask how you know?"
+
+"It would--very poor. Our figures are right. The difficulty is that we
+have only four bars left--enough to stop us and a little to spare, but
+not nearly enough to get back with, even if we could take a chance on
+drifting straight that far without being swung off--which, of course, is
+impossible."
+
+"That means that we must land somewhere and dig some copper, then."
+
+"Exactly.
+
+"The first thing to do is to find a place to land."
+
+Seaton picked out a distant star in their course and observed it through
+the spectroscope. Since it was found to contain copper in notable
+amounts, all agreed that its planets probably also contained copper.
+
+"Don't know whether we can stop that soon or not," remarked Seaton as he
+set the levers, "but we may as well have something to shoot at. We'd
+better take our regular twelve-hour tricks, hadn't we, Mart? It's a
+wonder we got as far as this without striking another snag. I'll take
+the first trick at the board--beat it to bed."
+
+"Not so fast, Dick," argued Crane, as Seaton turned toward the
+engine-room: "It's my turn."
+
+"Flip a nickel," suggested Seaton. "Heads I get it."
+
+Crane flipped a coin. Heads it was, and the worn-out party went to their
+rooms, all save Dorothy, who lingered after the others to bid her lover
+a more intimate good-night.
+
+Seated beside him, his arm around her and her head upon his shoulder,
+Dorothy exclaimed:
+
+"Oh, Dicky, Dicky, it is wonderful to be with you again! I've lived as
+many years in the last week as we have covered miles!"
+
+Seaton kissed her with ardor, then turned her fair face up to his and
+gazed hungrily at every feature.
+
+"It sure was awful until we found you, sweetheart girl. Those two days
+at Wilson's were the worst and longest I ever put in. I could have wrung
+Martin's cautious old neck!
+
+"But isn't he a wiz at preparing for trouble? We sure owe him a lot,
+little dimpled lady."
+
+Dorothy was silent for a moment, then a smile quirked at one corner of
+her mouth and a dimple appeared. Seaton promptly kissed it, whereupon it
+deepened audaciously.
+
+"What are you thinking about--mischief?" he asked.
+
+"Only of how Martin is going to be paid what we owe him," she answered
+teasingly. "Don't let the debt worry you any."
+
+"Spill the news, Reddy," he commanded, as his arm tightened about her.
+
+She stuck out a tiny tip of red tongue at him.
+
+"Don't let Peggy find out he's a millionaire."
+
+"Why not?" he asked wonderingly, then he saw her point and laughed:
+
+"You little matchmaker!"
+
+"I don't care, laugh if you want to. Martin's as nice a man as I know,
+and Peggy's a real darling. Don't you let slip a word about Martin's
+money, that's all!"
+
+"She wouldn't think any less of him, would she?"
+
+"Dick, sometimes you are absolutely dumb. It would spoil everything. If
+she knew he was a millionaire she would be scared to death--not of him,
+of course, but because she would think that he would think that she was
+chasing him, and then of course he would think that she was, see? As it
+is, she acts perfectly natural, and so does he. Didn't you notice that
+while we were eating they talked together for at least fifteen minutes
+about her father's invention and the way they stole the plans and one
+thing and another? I don't believe he has talked that much to any girl
+except me the last five years--and he wouldn't talk to me until he knew
+that I couldn't see any man except you. Much as we like Martin, we've
+got to admit that about him. He's been chased so much that he's wild. If
+any other girl he knows had talked to him that long, he would have been
+off to the North Pole or somewhere the next morning, and the best part
+of it is that he didn't think anything of it."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"You think she is domesticating the wild man?"
+
+"Now, Dick, don't be foolish. You know what I mean. Martin is a perfect
+dear, but if she knew that he is _the_ M. Reynolds Crane, everything
+would be ruined. You know yourself how horribly hard it is to get
+through his shell to the real Martin underneath. He is lonely and
+miserable inside, I know, and the right kind of girl, one that would
+treat him right, would make life Heaven for him, and herself too."
+
+"Yes, and the wrong kind would make it...."
+
+"She would," interrupted Dorothy hastily, "but Peggy's the right kind.
+Wouldn't it be fine to have Martin and Peggy as happy, almost, as you
+and I are?"
+
+"All right, girlie, I'm with you," he answered, embracing her as though
+he intended never to let her go, "but you'd better go get some
+sleep--you're all in."
+
+Considerably later, when Dorothy had finally gone, Seaton settled
+himself for the long vigil. Promptly at the end of the twelve hours
+Crane appeared, alert of eye and of bearing.
+
+"You look fresh as a daisy, Mart. Feeling fit?"
+
+"Fit as the proverbial fiddle. I could not have slept any better or
+longer if I had had a week off. Seven hours and a half is a luxury, you
+know."
+
+"All wrong, old top. I need eight every night, and I'm going to take
+about ten this time."
+
+"Go to it, twelve if you like. You have earned it."
+
+Seaton stumbled to his room and slept as though in a trance for ten
+hours. Rising, he took his regular morning exercises and went into the
+saloon. All save Martin were there, but he had eyes only for his
+sweetheart, who was radiantly beautiful in a dress of deep bronze-brown.
+
+"Good morning, Dick," she hailed him joyously. "You woke up just in
+time--we are all starving again, and were just going to eat without
+you!"
+
+"Good morning, everybody. I would like to eat with you, Dottie, but I've
+got to relieve Martin. How'd it be for you to bring breakfast into the
+engine room and cheer my solitude, and let Crane eat with the others?"
+
+"Fine--that's once you had a good idea, if you never have another!"
+
+After the meal DuQuesne, who abhorred idleness with all his vigorous
+nature, took the watches of the party and went upstairs to the "shop,"
+which was a completely-equipped mechanical laboratory, to repair them.
+Seaton stayed at the board, where Dorothy joined him as a matter of
+course. Crane and Margaret sat down at one of the windows.
+
+She told him her story, frankly and fully, shuddering with horror as she
+recalled the awful, helpless fall, during which Perkins had met his end.
+
+"Dick and I have a heavy score to settle with that Steel crowd and with
+DuQuesne," Crane said slowly. "We have no evidence that will hold in
+law, but some day DuQuesne will over-reach himself. We could convict him
+of abduction now, but the penalty for that is too mild for what he has
+done. Perkins' death was not murder, then?"
+
+"Oh, no, it was purely self-defense. Perkins would have killed him if he
+could. And he really deserved it--Perkins was a perfect fiend. The
+Doctor, as they call him, is no better, although entirely different. He
+is so utterly heartless and ruthless, so cold and scientific. Do you
+know him very well?"
+
+"We know all that about him, and more. And yet Dorothy said he saved her
+life?"
+
+"He did, from Perkins, but I still think it was because he didn't want
+Perkins meddling in his affairs. He seems to me to be the very
+incarnation of a fixed purpose--to advance himself in the world."
+
+"That expresses my thoughts exactly. But he slips occasionally, as in
+this instance, and he will again. He will have to walk very carefully
+while he is with us. Nothing would please Dick better than an excuse for
+killing him, and I must admit that I feel very much the same way."
+
+"Yes, all of us do, and the way he acts proves what a machine he is. He
+knows just exactly how far to go, and never goes beyond it."
+
+They felt the Skylark lurch slightly.
+
+"Oh, Mart!" called Seaton. "Going to pass that star we were headed
+for--too fast to stop. I'm giving it a wide berth and picking out
+another one. There's a big planet a few million miles off in line with
+the main door, and another one almost dead ahead--that is, straight
+down. We sure are traveling. Look at that sun flit by!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+They saw the two planets, one like a small moon, the other like a large
+star, and saw the strange sun increase rapidly in size as the Skylark
+flew on at such a pace that any earthly distance would have been covered
+as soon as it was begun. So appalling was their velocity that their ship
+was bathed in the light of that sun for only a short time, then was
+again surrounded by the indescribable darkness. Their seventy-two-hour
+flight without a pilot had seemed a miracle, now it seemed entirely
+possible that they might fly in a straight line for weeks without
+encountering any obstacle, so vast was the emptiness in comparison with
+the points of light that punctuated it. Now and then they passed so
+close to a star that it apparently moved rapidly, but for the most part
+the silent sentinels stood, like distant mountain peaks to the travelers
+in an express train, in the same position for many minutes.
+
+Awed by the immensity of the universe, the two at the window were
+silent, not with the silence of embarrassment, but with that of two
+friends in the presence of something beyond the reach of words. As they
+stared out into the infinity each felt as never before the pitiful
+smallness of even our whole solar system and the utter insignificance of
+human beings and their works. Silently their minds reached out to each
+other in mutual understanding.
+
+Unconsciously Margaret half shuddered and moved closer to her
+companion, the movement attracting his attention but not her own. A
+tender expression came into Crane's steady blue eyes as he looked down
+at the beautiful young woman by his side. For beautiful she undoubtedly
+was. Untroubled rest and plentiful food had erased the marks of her
+imprisonment; Dorothy's deep, manifestly unassumed faith in the ability
+of Seaton and Crane to bring them safely back to Earth had quieted her
+fears; and a complete costume of Dorothy's simple but well-cut clothes,
+which fitted her perfectly, and in which she looked her best and knew
+it, had completely restored her self-possession. He quickly glanced away
+and again gazed at the stars, but now, in addition to the wonders of
+space, he saw masses of wavy black hair, high-piled upon a queenly head;
+deep down brown eyes half veiled by long, black lashes; sweet, sensitive
+lips; a firmly rounded but dimpled chin; and a perfectly-formed young
+body.
+
+After a time she drew a deep, tremulous breath. As he turned, her eyes
+met his. In their shadowy depths, still troubled by the mystery of the
+unknowable, he read her very soul--the soul of a real woman.
+
+"I had hoped," said Margaret slowly, "to take a long flight above the
+clouds, but anything like this never entered my mind. How unbelievably
+great it is! So much vaster than any perception we could get upon earth!
+It seems strange that we were ever awed by the sea or the mountains ...
+and yet...."
+
+She paused, with her lip caught under two white teeth, then went on
+hesitatingly:
+
+"Doesn't it seem to you, Mr. Crane, that there is something in man as
+great as all this? Otherwise, Dorothy and I could not be sailing here in
+a wonder like the Lark, which you and Dick Seaton have made."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Since from the first, Dorothy had timed her waking hours with those of
+Seaton--waiting upon him, preparing his meals, and lightening the long
+hours of his vigils at the board--Margaret took it upon herself to do
+the same thing for Crane. But often they assembled in the engine-room,
+and there was much fun and laughter, as well as serious talk, among the
+four. Margaret was quickly accepted as a friend, and proved a delightful
+companion. Her wavy, jet-black hair, the only color in the world that
+could hold its own with Dorothy's auburn glory, framed features
+self-reliant and strong, yet of womanly softness; and in this genial
+atmosphere her quick tongue had a delicate wit and a facility of
+expression that delighted all three. Dorothy, after the manner of
+Southern women, became the hostess of this odd "party," as she styled
+it, and unconsciously adopted the attitude of a lady in her own home.
+
+Early in their flight, Crane suggested that they should take notes upon
+the systems of stars through which were passing.
+
+"I know very little of astronomy," he said to Seaton, "but with our
+telescope, spectroscope, and other instruments, we should be able to
+take some data that will be of interest to astronomers. Possibly Miss
+Spencer would be willing to help us?"
+
+"Sure," Seaton returned readily. "We'd be idiots to let a chance like
+this slide. Go to it!"
+
+Margaret was delighted at the opportunity to help.
+
+"Taking notes is the best thing I do!" she cried, and called for a pad
+and pencil.
+
+Stationed at the window, they fell to work in earnest. For several hours
+Crane took observations, calculated distances, and dictated notes to
+Margaret.
+
+"The stars are wonderfully different!" she exclaimed to him once. "That
+planet, I'm sure, has strange and lovely life upon it. See how its color
+differs from most of the others we have seen so near? It is rosy and
+soft like a home fire. I'm sure its people are happy."
+
+They fell into a long discussion, laughing a little at their fancies.
+Were these multitudes of worlds peopled as the Earth? Could it be that
+only upon Earth had occurred the right combination for the generation of
+life, so that the rest of the Universe was unpeopled?
+
+"It is unthinkable that they are all uninhabited," mused Crane. "There
+must be life. The beings may not exist in any form with which we are
+familiar--they may well be fulfilling some purpose in ways so different
+from ours that we should be unable to understand them at all."
+
+Margaret's eyes widened in startled apprehension, but in a moment she
+shook herself and laughed.
+
+"But there's no reason to suppose they would be awful," she remarked,
+and turned with renewed interest to the window.
+
+Thus days went by and the Skylark passed one solar system after another,
+with a velocity so great that it was impossible to land upon any planet.
+Margaret's association with Crane, begun as a duty, soon became an
+intense pleasure for them both. Taking notes or seated at the board in
+companionable conversation or sympathetic silence, they compressed into
+a few days more real companionship than is ordinarily enjoyed in months.
+Oftener and oftener, as time went on, Crane found the vision of his
+dream home floating in his mind as he steered the Skylark in her
+meteoric flight or as he strapped himself into his narrow bed. Now,
+however, the central figure of the vision, instead of being an
+indistinct blur, was clear and sharply defined. And for her part, more
+and more was Margaret drawn to the quiet and unassuming, but utterly
+dependable and steadfast young inventor, with his wide knowledge and his
+keen, incisive mind.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Sometimes, when far from any star, the pilot would desert his post and
+join the others at meals. Upon one such occasion Seaton asked:
+
+"How's the book on astronomy, oh, learned ones?"
+
+"It will be as interesting as Egyptian hieroglyphics," Margaret replied,
+as she opened her notebook and showed him pages of figures and symbols.
+
+"May I see it, Miss Spencer?" asked DuQuesne from across the small
+table, extending his hand.
+
+She looked at him, hot hostility in her brown eyes, and he dropped his
+hand.
+
+"I beg your pardon," he said, with amused irony.
+
+After the meal Seaton and Crane held a short consultation, and the
+former called to the girls, asking them to join in the "council of war."
+There was a moment's silence before Crane said diffidently:
+
+"We have been talking about DuQuesne, Miss Spencer, trying to decide a
+very important problem."
+
+Seaton smiled in spite of himself as the color again deepened in
+Margaret's face, and Dorothy laughed outright.
+
+"Talk about a red-headed temper! Your hair must be dyed, Peggy!"
+
+"I know I acted like a naughty child," Margaret said ruefully, "but he
+makes me perfectly furious and scares me at the same time. A few more
+remarks like that 'I beg your pardon' of his and I wouldn't have a
+thought left in my head!"
+
+Seaton, who had opened his mouth, shut it again ludicrously, without
+saying a word, and Margaret gave him a startled glance.
+
+"Now I _have_ said it!" she exclaimed. "I'm not afraid of him, boys,
+really. What do you want me to do?"
+
+Seaton plunged in.
+
+"What we were trying to get up nerve enough to say is that he'd be a
+good man on the astronomy job," and Crane added quickly:
+
+"He undoubtedly knows more about it than I do, and it would be a pity to
+lose the chance of using him. Besides, Dick and I think it rather
+dangerous to leave him so much time to himself, in which to work up a
+plan against us."
+
+"He's cooking one right now, I'll bet a hat," Seaton put in, and Crane
+added:
+
+"If you are sure that you have no objections, Miss Spencer, we might go
+below, where we can have it dark, and all three of us see what we can
+make of the stargazing. We are really losing an unusual opportunity."
+
+Margaret hid gallantly any reluctance she might have felt.
+
+"I wouldn't deserve to be here if I can't work with the Doctor and hate
+him at the same time."
+
+"Good for you, Peg, you're a regular fellow!" Seaton exclaimed. "You're
+a trump!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Finally, the enormous velocity of the cruiser was sufficiently reduced
+to effect a landing, a copper-bearing sun was located, and a course was
+laid toward its nearest planet.
+
+As the vessel approached its goal a deep undercurrent of excitement kept
+all the passengers feverishly occupied. They watched the distant globe
+grow larger, glowing through its atmosphere more and more clearly as a
+great disk of white light, its outline softened by the air about it. Two
+satellites were close beside it. Its sun, a great, blazing orb, a little
+nearer than the planet, looked so great and so hot that Margaret became
+uneasy.
+
+"Isn't it dangerous to get so close, Dick? We might burn up, mightn't
+we?"
+
+"Not without an atmosphere," he laughed.
+
+"Oh," murmured the girl apologetically, "I might have known that."
+
+Dropping rapidly into the atmosphere of the planet, they measured its
+density and analyzed it in apparatus installed for that purpose, finding
+that its composition was very similar to the Earth's air and that its
+pressure was not enough greater to be uncomfortable. When within one
+thousand feet of the surface, Seaton weighed a five-pound weight upon a
+spring-balance, finding that it weighed five and a half pounds, thus
+ascertaining that the planet was either somewhat larger than the Earth
+or more dense. The ground was almost hidden by a rank growth of
+vegetation, but here and there appeared glade-like openings.
+
+Seaton glanced at the faces about him. Tense interest marked them all.
+Dorothy's cheeks were flushed, her eyes shone. She looked at him with
+awe and pride.
+
+"A strange world, Dorothy," he said gravely. "You are not afraid?"
+
+"Not with you," she answered. "I am only thrilled with wonder."
+
+"Columbus at San Salvador," said Margaret, her dark eyes paying their
+tribute of admiration.
+
+A dark flush mounted swiftly into Seaton's brown face and he sought to
+throw most of the burden upon Crane, but catching upon his face also a
+look of praise, almost of tenderness, he quickly turned to the controls.
+
+"Man the boats!" he ordered an imaginary crew, and the Skylark descended
+rapidly.
+
+Landing upon one of the open spaces, they found the ground solid and
+stepped out. What had appeared to be a glade was in reality a rock, or
+rather, a ledge of apparently solid metal, with scarcely a loose
+fragment to be seen. At one end of the ledge rose a giant tree
+wonderfully symmetrical, but of a peculiar form. Its branches were
+longer at the top than at the bottom, and it possessed broad, dark-green
+leaves, long thorns, and odd, flexible, shoot-like tendrils. It stood as
+an outpost of the dense vegetation beyond. Totally unlike the forests of
+Earth were those fern-like trees, towering two hundred feet into the
+air. They were of an intensely vivid green and stood motionless in the
+still, hot air of noonday. Not a sign of animal life was to be seen; the
+whole landscape seemed asleep.
+
+The five strangers stood near their vessel, conversing in low tones and
+enjoying the sensation of solid ground beneath their feet. After a few
+minutes DuQuesne remarked:
+
+"This is undoubtedly a newer planet than ours. I should say that it was
+in the Carboniferous age. Aren't those trees like those in the
+coal-measures, Seaton?"
+
+"True as time, Blackie--there probably won't be a human race here for
+ages, unless we bring out some colonists."
+
+Seaton kicked at one of the loose lumps of metal questioningly with his
+heavy shoe, finding that it was as immovable as though it were part of
+the ledge. Bending over, he found that it required all his great
+strength to lift it and he stared at it with an expression of surprise,
+which turned to amazement as he peered closer.
+
+"DuQuesne! Look at this!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+DuQuesne studied the metal, and was shaken out of his habitual
+taciturnity.
+
+"Platinum, by all the little gods!"
+
+"We'll grab some of this while the grabbing's good," announced Seaton,
+and the few visible lumps were rolled into the car. "If we had a pickaxe
+we could chop some more off one of those sharp ledges down there."
+
+"There's an axe in the shop," replied DuQuesne. "I'll go get it. Go
+ahead, I'll soon be with you."
+
+"Keep close together," warned Crane as the four moved slowly down the
+slope. "This is none too safe, Dick."
+
+"No, it isn't, Mart. But we've got to see whether we can't find some
+copper, and I would like to get some more of this stuff, too. I don't
+think it's platinum, I believe that it's X."
+
+As they reached the broken projections, Margaret glanced back over her
+shoulder and screamed. The others saw that her face was white and her
+eyes wide with horror, and Seaton instinctively drew his pistol as he
+whirled about, only to check his finger on the trigger and lower his
+hand.
+
+"Nothing but X-plosive bullets," he growled in disgust, and in helpless
+silence the four watched an unspeakably hideous monster slowly appear
+from behind the Skylark. Its four huge, squat legs supported a body at
+least a hundred feet long, pursy and ungainly; at the extremity of a
+long and sinuous neck a comparatively small head seemed composed
+entirely of a cavernous mouth armed with row upon row of carnivorous
+teeth. Dorothy gasped with terror and both girls shrank closer to the
+two men, who maintained a baffled silence as the huge beast passed his
+revolting head along the hull of the vessel.
+
+"I dare not shoot, Martin," Seaton whispered, "it would wreck the bus.
+Have you got any solid bullets?"
+
+"No. We must hide behind these small ledges until it goes away,"
+answered Crane, his eyes upon Margaret's colorless face. "You two hide
+behind that one, we will take this one."
+
+"Oh, well, it's nothing to worry about, anyway. We can kill him as soon
+as he gets far enough away from the boat," said Seaton as, with Dorothy
+clinging to him, he dropped behind one of the ledges. Margaret, her
+staring eyes fixed upon the monster, remained standing until Crane
+touched her gently and drew her down beside him.
+
+"He will go away soon," his even voice assured her. "We are in no
+danger."
+
+In spite of their predicament, a feeling of happiness flowed through
+Crane's whole being as he crouched beside the wall of metal with one arm
+protectingly around Margaret, and he longed to protect her through life
+as he was protecting her then. Accustomed as he was to dangerous
+situations, he felt no fear. He felt only a great tenderness for the
+girl by his side, who had ceased trembling but was still staring
+wide-eyed at the monster through a crevice.
+
+"Scared, Peggy?" he whispered.
+
+"Not now, Martin, but if you weren't here I would die of fright."
+
+At this reply his arm tightened involuntarily, but he forced it to
+relax.
+
+"It will not be long," he promised himself silently, "until she is back
+at home among her friends, and then...."
+
+There came the crack of a rifle from the Skylark. There was an awful
+roar from the dinosaur, which was quickly silenced by a stream of
+machine-gun bullets.
+
+"Blackie's on the job--let's go!" cried Seaton, and they raced up the
+slope. Making a detour to avoid the writhing and mutilated mass they
+plunged through the opening door. DuQuesne shut it behind them and in
+overwhelming relief, the adventurers huddled together as from the
+wilderness without there arose an appalling tumult.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The scene, so quiet a few moments before, was instantly changed. The
+trees, the swamp, and the air seemed filled with monsters so hideous as
+to stagger the imagination. Winged lizards of prodigious size hurtled
+through the air, plunging to death against the armored hull.
+Indescribable flying monsters, with feathers like birds, but with the
+fangs of tigers, attacked viciously. Dorothy screamed and started back
+as a scorpion-like thing with a body ten feet in length leaped at the
+window in front of her, its terrible sting spraying the glass with
+venom. As it fell to the ground, a huge spider--if an eight-legged
+creature with spines instead of hair, many-faceted eyes, and a bloated,
+globular body weighing hundreds of pounds, may be called a
+spider--leaped upon it and, mighty mandibles against poisonous sting,
+the furious battle raged. Several twelve-foot cockroaches climbed nimbly
+across the fallen timber of the morass and began feeding voraciously
+upon the body of the dead dinosaur, only to be driven away by another
+animal, which all three men recognized instantly as that king of all
+prehistoric creatures, the saber-toothed tiger. This newcomer, a tawny
+beast towering fifteen feet high at the shoulder, had a mouth
+disproportionate even to his great size--a mouth armed with four great
+tiger-teeth more than three feet in length. He had barely begun his
+meal, however, when he was challenged by another nightmare, a something
+apparently half-way between a dinosaur and a crocodile. At the first
+note the tiger charged. Clawing, striking, rending each other with their
+terrible teeth, a veritable avalanche of bloodthirsty rage, the
+combatants stormed up and down the little island. But the fighters were
+rudely interrupted, and the earthly visitors discovered that in this
+primitive world it was not only animal life that was dangerous.
+
+[Illustration: The great tree standing on the farther edge of the island
+suddenly bent over, lashing out like a snake and grasping both. It
+transfixed them with the terrible thorns, which were now seen to be
+armed with needlepoints and to possess barbs like fish-hooks.]
+
+The great tree standing on the farther edge of the island suddenly bent
+over, lashing out like a snake and grasping both. It transfixed them
+with the terrible thorns, which were now seen to be armed with
+needlepoints and to possess barbs like fish-hooks. It ripped at them
+with the long branches, which were veritable spears. The broad leaves,
+armed with revolting sucking disks, closed about the two animals, while
+the long, slender twigs, each of which was now seen to have an eye at
+its extremity, waved about, watching each movement of the captives from
+a safe distance.
+
+If the struggle between the two animals had been awful, this was
+Titanic. The air was torn by the roars of the reptile, the screams of
+the great cat, and the shrieks of the tree. The very ground rocked with
+the ferocity of the conflict. There could be but one result--soon the
+tree, having absorbed the two gladiators, resumed its upright position
+in all its beauty.
+
+The members of the little group stared at each other, sick at heart.
+
+"This is NO place to start a copper-mine. I think we'd better beat it,"
+remarked Seaton presently, wiping drops of perspiration from his
+forehead.
+
+"I think so," acquiesced Crane. "We found air and Earth-like conditions
+here; we probably will elsewhere."
+
+"Are you all right, Dottie?" asked Seaton.
+
+"All right, Dicky," she replied, the color flowing back into her cheeks.
+"It scared me stiff, and I think I have a lot of white hairs right now,
+but I wouldn't have missed it for anything."
+
+She paused an instant, and continued:
+
+"Dick, there must be a queer streak of brutality in me, but would you
+mind blowing up that frightful tree? I wouldn't mind its nature if it
+were ugly--but look at it! It's so deceptively beautiful! You wouldn't
+think it had the disposition of a fiend, would you?"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A general laugh relieved the nervous tension, and Seaton stepped
+impulsively toward DuQuesne with his hand outstretched.
+
+"You've squared your account, Blackie. Say the word and the war's all
+off."
+
+DuQuesne ignored the hand and glanced coldly at the group of eager,
+friendly faces.
+
+"Don't be sentimental," he remarked evenly as he turned away to his
+room. "Emotional scenes pain me. I gave my word to act as one of the
+party."
+
+"Well, may I be kicked to death by little red spiders!" exclaimed
+Seaton, dumbfounded, as the other disappeared. "He ain't a man, he's a
+fish!"
+
+"He's a machine. I always thought so, and now I know it," stated
+Margaret, and the others nodded agreement.
+
+"Well, we'll sure pull his cork as soon as we get back!" snapped Seaton.
+"He asked for it, and we'll give him both barrels!"
+
+"I know I acted the fool out there," Margaret apologized, flushing hotly
+and looking at Crane. "I don't know what made me act so stupid. I used
+to have a little nerve."
+
+"You were a regular little brick, Peg," Seaton returned instantly. "Both
+you girls are all to the good--the right kind to have along in ticklish
+places."
+
+Crane held out his steady hand and took Margaret's in a warm clasp.
+
+"For a girl in your weakened condition you were wonderful. You have no
+reason to reproach yourself."
+
+Tears filled the dark eyes, but were held back bravely as she held her
+head erect and returned the pressure of his hand.
+
+"Just so you don't leave me behind next time," she returned lightly, and
+the last word concerning the incident had been said.
+
+Seaton applied the power and soon they were approaching another planet,
+which was surrounded by a dense fog. Descending slowly, they found it to
+be a mass of boiling-hot steam and rank vapors, under enormous pressure.
+
+The next planet they found to have a clear atmosphere, but the ground
+had a peculiar, barren look; and analysis of the gaseous envelope proved
+it to be composed almost entirely of chlorin. No life of an earthly type
+could be possible upon such a world, and a search for copper, even with
+the suits and helmets, would probably be fruitless if not impossible.
+
+"Well," remarked Seaton as they were again in space, "we've got enough
+copper to visit several more worlds--several more solar systems, if
+necessary. But there's a nice, hopeful-looking planet right in front of
+us. It may be the one we're looking for."
+
+Arrived in the belt of atmosphere, they tested it as before, and found
+it satisfactory.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+The Mastery of Mind Over Matter
+
+
+They descended rapidly, directly over a large and imposing city in the
+middle of a vast, level, beautifully-planted plain. While they were
+watching it, the city vanished and the plain was transformed into a
+heavily-timbered mountain summit, the valleys falling away upon all
+sides as far as the eye could reach.
+
+"Well, I'll say that's SOME mirage!" exclaimed Seaton, rubbing his eyes
+in astonishment. "I've seen mirages before, but never anything like
+that. Wonder what this air's made of? But we'll land, anyway, if we
+finally have to swim!"
+
+The ship landed gently upon the summit, the occupants half expecting to
+see the ground disappear before their eyes. Nothing happened, however,
+and they disembarked, finding walking somewhat difficult because of the
+great mass of the planet. Looking around, they could see no sign of
+life, but they _felt_ a presence near them--a vast, invisible something.
+
+Suddenly, out of the air in front of Seaton, a man materialized: a man
+identical with him in every feature and detail, even to the smudge of
+grease under one eye, the small wrinkles in his heavy blue serge suit,
+and the emblem of the American Chemical Society upon his watch-fob.
+
+"Hello, folks," the stranger began in Seaton's characteristic careless
+speech. "I see you're surprised at my knowing your language. You're a
+very inferior race of animals--don't even understand telepathy, don't
+understand the luminiferous ether, or the relation between time and
+space. Your greatest things, such as the Skylark and your
+object-compass, are merely toys."
+
+Changing instantly from Seaton's form to that of Dorothy, likewise a
+perfect imitation, the stranger continued without a break:
+
+"Atoms and electrons and things, spinning and whirling in their dizzy
+little orbits...." It broke off abruptly, continuing in the form of
+DuQuesne:
+
+"Couldn't make myself clear as Miss Vaneman--not a scientific
+convolution in her foolish little brain. You are a freer type, DuQuesne,
+unhampered by foolish, soft fancies. But you are very clumsy, although
+working fairly well with your poor tools--Brookings and his
+organization, the Perkins Cafe and its clumsy wireless telephones. All
+of you are extremely low in the scale. Such animals have not been known
+in our universe for ten million years, which is as far back as I can
+remember. You have millions of years to go before you will amount to
+anything; before you will even rise above death and its attendant
+necessity, sex."
+
+The strange being then assumed form after form with bewildering
+rapidity, while the spectators stared in dumb astonishment. In rapid
+succession it took on the likeness of each member of the party, of the
+vessel itself, of the watch in Seaton's pocket--reappearing as Seaton.
+
+"Well, bunch," it said in a matter-of-fact voice, "there's no mental
+exercise in you and you're such a low form of life that you're of no use
+on this planet; so I'll dematerialize you."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A peculiar light came into its eyes as they stared intently into
+Seaton's, and he felt his senses reel under the impact of an awful
+mental force, but he fought back with all his power and remained
+standing.
+
+"What's this?" the stranger demanded in surprise, "This is the first
+time in history that mere matter--which is only a manifestation of
+mind--has ever refused to obey mind. There's a screw loose somewhere."
+
+"I must reason this out," it continued analytically, changing
+instantaneously into Crane's likeness. "Ah! I am not a perfect
+reproduction. This is the first matter I have ever encountered that I
+could not reproduce perfectly. There is some subtle difference. The
+external form is the same, the organic structure likewise. The molecules
+of substance are arranged as they should be, as are also the atoms in
+the molecule. The electrons in the atom--ah! There is the difficulty.
+The arrangement and number of electrons, as well as positive charges,
+are entirely different from what I had supposed. I must derive the
+formula."
+
+"Let's go, folks!" said Seaton hastily, drawing Dorothy back toward the
+Skylark. "This dematerialization stunt may be play for him, but I don't
+want any of it in my family."
+
+"No, you really _must_ stay," remonstrated the stranger. "Much as it is
+against my principles to employ brute force, you must stay and be
+properly dematerialized, alive or dead. Science demands it."
+
+As he spoke, he started to draw his automatic pistol. Being in Crane's
+form, he drew slowly, as Crane did; and Seaton, with the dexterity of
+much sleight-of-hand work and of years of familiarity with his weapon,
+drew and fired in one incredibly rapid movement, before the other had
+withdrawn the pistol from his pocket. The X-plosive shell completely
+volatilized the stranger and hurled the party backward toward the
+Skylark, into which they fled hastily. As Crane, the last one to enter
+the vessel, fired his pistol and closed the massive door, Seaton leaped
+to the levers. As he did so, he saw a creature materialize in the air of
+the vessel and fall to the floor with a crash as he threw on the power.
+It was a frightful thing, like nothing ever before seen upon any world;
+with great teeth, long, sharp claws, and an automatic pistol clutched
+firmly in a human hand. Forced flat by the terrific acceleration of the
+vessel, it was unable to lift either itself or the weapon, and lay
+helpless.
+
+"We take one trick, anyway!" blazed Seaton, as he threw on the power of
+the attractor and diffused its force into a screen over the party, so
+that the enemy could not materialize in the air above them and crush
+them by mere weight. "As pure mental force, you're entirely out of my
+class, but when you come down to matter, which I can understand, I'll
+give you a run for your money until my angles catch fire."
+
+"That is a childish defiance. It speaks well for your courage, but ill
+for your intelligence," the animal said, and vanished.
+
+A moment later Seaton's hair almost stood on end as he saw an automatic
+pistol appear upon the board directly in front of him, clamped to it by
+bands of steel. Paralyzed by this unlooked-for demonstration of the
+mastery of mind over matter, unable to move a muscle, he lay helpless,
+staring at the engine of death in front of him. Although the whole
+proceeding occupied only a fraction of a second, it seemed to Seaton as
+though he watched the weapon for hours. As the sleeve drew back, cocking
+the pistol and throwing a cartridge into the chamber, the trigger moved,
+and the hammer descended to speed on its way the bullet which was to
+blot out his life. There was a sharp click as the hammer fell--Seaton
+was surprised to find himself still alive until a voice spoke,
+apparently from the muzzle of the pistol, with the harsh sound of a
+metallic diaphragm.
+
+"I was almost certain that it wouldn't explode," the stranger said,
+chattily. "You see, I haven't derived that formula yet, so I couldn't
+make a real explosive. I could of course, materialize beside you, under
+your protective screen, and crush you in a vise. I could materialize as
+a man of metal, able to stand up under this acceleration, and do you to
+death. I could even, by a sufficient expenditure of mental energy,
+materialize a planet around your ship and crush it. However, these crude
+methods are distasteful in the extreme, especially since you have
+already given me some slight and unexpected mental exercise. In return,
+I shall give you one chance for your lives. I cannot dematerialize
+either you or your vessel until I work out the formula for your peculiar
+atomic structure. If I can derive the formula before you reach the
+boundaries of my home-space, beyond which I cannot go, I shall let you
+go free. Deriving the formula will be a neat little problem. It should
+be fairly easy, as it involves only a simple integration in ninety-seven
+dimensions."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Silence ensued, and Seaton advanced his lever to the limit of his
+ability to retain consciousness. Almost overcome by the horror of their
+position, in an agony of suspense, expecting every instant to be hurled
+into nothingness, he battled on, with no thought of yielding, even in
+the face of those overwhelming mental odds.
+
+"You can't do it, old top," he thought savagely, concentrating all the
+power of his highly-trained mind against the intellectual monster. "You
+can't dematerialize us, and you can't integrate above ninety-five
+dimensions to save your neck. You can't do it--you're slipping--you're
+all balled up right now!"
+
+For more than an hour the silent battle raged, during which time the
+Skylark flew millions upon millions of miles toward Earth. Finally the
+stranger spoke again.
+
+"You three win," it said abruptly. In answer to the unspoken surprise of
+all three men it went on: "Yes, all three of you got the same idea and
+Crane even forced his body to retain consciousness to fight me. Your
+efforts were very feeble, of course, but were enough to interrupt my
+calculations at a delicate stage, every time. You are a low form of
+life, undoubtedly, but with more mentality than I supposed at first. I
+could get that formula, of course, in spite of you, if I had time, but
+we are rapidly approaching the limits of my territory, outside of which
+even I could not think my way back. That is one thing in which your
+mechanical devices are superior to anything my own race developed before
+we became pure intellectuals. They point the way back to your Earth,
+which is so far away that even my mentality cannot grasp the meaning of
+the distance. I can understand the Earth, can visualize it from your
+minds, but I cannot project myself any nearer to it than we are at
+present. Before I leave you, I will say that you have conferred a real
+favor upon me--you have given me something to think about for thousands
+of cycles to come. Good-bye."
+
+Assured that their visitor had really gone, Seaton reduced the power to
+that of gravity and Dorothy soon sat up, Margaret reviving more slowly.
+
+"Dick," said Dorothy solemnly, "did that happen or have I been
+unconscious and just had a nightmare?"
+
+"It happened, all right," returned her lover, wiping his brow in relief.
+"See that pistol clamped upon the top of the board? That's a token in
+remembrance of him."
+
+Dorothy, though she had been only half conscious, had heard the words of
+the stranger. As she looked at the faces of the men, white and drawn
+with the mental struggle, she realized what they had gone through, and
+she drew Seaton down into one of the seats, stroking his hair tenderly.
+
+Margaret went to her room immediately, and as she did not return,
+Dorothy followed. She came back presently with a look of concern upon
+her face.
+
+"This life is a little hard on Peggy. I didn't realize how much harder
+for her it would be than it is for me until I went in there and found
+her crying. It is much harder for her, of course, since I am with you,
+Dick, and with you, Martin, whom I know so well. She must feel terribly
+alone."
+
+"Why should she?" demanded Seaton. "We think she's some game little guy.
+Why, she's one of the bunch! She must know that!"
+
+"Well, it isn't the same," insisted Dorothy. "You be extra nice to her,
+Dick. But don't you dare let her know I told you about the tears, or
+she'd eat me alive!"
+
+Crane said nothing--a not unusual occurrence--but his face grew
+thoughtful and his manner, when Margaret appeared at mealtime, was more
+solicitous than usual and more than brotherly in its tenderness.
+
+"I shall be an interstellar diplomat," Dorothy whispered to Seaton as
+soon as they were alone. "Wasn't that a beautiful bee I put upon
+Martin?"
+
+Seaton stared at her a moment, then shook her gently before he took her
+into his arms.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The information, however, did not prevent him from calling to Crane a
+few minutes later, even though he was still deep in conversation with
+Margaret. Dorothy gave him an exasperated glance and walked away.
+
+"I sure pulled a boner that time," Seaton muttered as he plucked at his
+hair ruefully. "It nearly did us.
+
+"Let's test this stuff out and see if it's X, Mart, while DuQuesne's out
+of the way. If it is X, it's SOME find!"
+
+Seaton cut off a bit of metal with his knife, hammered it into a small
+piece of copper, and threw the copper into the power-chamber, out of
+contact with the plating. As the metal received the current the vessel
+started slightly.
+
+"It _is_ X! Mart, we've got enough of this stuff to supply three
+worlds!"
+
+"Better put it away somewhere," suggested Crane, and after the metal had
+been removed to Seaton's cabin, the two men again sought a
+landing-place. Almost in their line of flight they saw a close cluster
+of stars, each emitting a peculiar greenish light which, in the
+spectroscope, revealed a blaze of copper lines.
+
+"That's our meat, Martin. We ought to be able to grab some copper in
+that system, where there's so much of it that it colors their sunlight."
+
+"The copper is undoubtedly there, but it might be too dangerous to get
+so close to so many suns. We may have trouble getting away."
+
+"Well, our copper's getting horribly low. We've got to find some pretty
+quick, somewhere, or else walk back home, and there's our best chance.
+We'll feel our way along. If it gets too strong, we'll beat it."
+
+When they had approached so close that the suns were great stars widely
+spaced in the heavens, Crane relinquished the controls to Seaton.
+
+"If you will take the lever awhile, Dick, Margaret and I will go
+downstairs and see if we can locate a planet."
+
+After a glance through the telescope, Crane knew that they were still
+too far from the group of suns to place any planet with certainty, and
+began taking notes. His mind was not upon his work, however, but was
+completely filled with thoughts of the girl at his side. The intervals
+between his comments became longer and longer until they were standing
+in silence, both staring with unseeing eyes out into the trackless void.
+But it was in no sense their usual companionable silence. Crane was
+fighting back the words he longed to say. This lovely girl was not here
+of her own accord--she had been torn forcibly from her home and from her
+friends, and he would not, could not, make her already difficult
+position even more unpleasant by forcing his attentions upon her.
+Margaret sensed something unusual and significant in his attitude and
+held herself tense, her heart beating wildly.
+
+At that moment an asteroid came within range of the Skylark's watchful
+repeller, and at the lurch of the vessel, as it swung around the
+obstruction, Margaret would have fallen had not Crane instinctively
+caught her with one arm. Ordinarily this bit of courtesy would have gone
+unnoticed by both, as it had happened many times before, but in that
+heavily-charged atmosphere it took on a new significance. Both blushed
+hotly, and as their eyes met each saw that which held them spellbound.
+Slowly, almost as if without volition, Crane put his other arm around
+her. A wave of deeper crimson swept over her face and she bent her
+handsome head as her slender body yielded to his arms with no effort to
+free itself. Finally Crane spoke, his usually even voice faltering.
+
+"Margaret, I hope you will not think this unfair of me ... but we have
+been through so much together that I feel as though we had known each
+other forever. Until we went through this last experience I had intended
+to wait--but why should we wait? Life is not lived in years alone, and
+you know how much I love you, my dearest!" he finished, passionately.
+
+Her arms crept up around his neck, her bowed head lifted, and her eyes
+looked deep into his as she whispered her answer:
+
+"I think I do ... Oh, Martin!"
+
+Presently they made their way back to the engine-room, keeping the
+singing joy in their hearts inaudible and the kisses fresh upon their
+lips invisible. They might have kept their secret for a time, had not
+Seaton promptly asked:
+
+"Well, what did you find, Mart?"
+
+A panicky look appeared upon Crane's self-possessed countenance and
+Margaret's fair face glowed like a peony.
+
+"_Yes_, what _did_ you find?" demanded Dorothy, as she noticed their
+confusion.
+
+"My future wife," Crane answered steadily.
+
+The two girls rushed into each other's arms and the two men silently
+gripped hands in a clasp of steel; for each of the four knew that these
+two unions were not passing fancies, lightly entered into and as lightly
+cast aside, but were true partnerships which would endure throughout the
+entire span of life.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A planet was located and the Skylark flew toward it. Discovering that it
+was apparently situated in the center of the cluster of suns, they
+hesitated; but finding that there was no dangerous force present, they
+kept on. As they drew nearer, so that the planet appeared as a very
+small moon, they saw that the Skylark was in a blaze of green light, and
+looking out of the windows, Crane counted seventeen great suns,
+scattered in all directions in the sky! Slowing down abruptly as the
+planet was approached, Seaton dropped the vessel slowly through the
+atmosphere, while Crane and DuQuesne tested and analyzed it.
+
+"Pressure, thirty pounds per square inch. Surface gravity as compared to
+that of the Earth, two-fifths. Air-pressure about double that of the
+Earth, while a five-pound weight weighs only two pounds. A peculiar
+combination," reported Crane, and DuQuesne added:
+
+"Analysis about the same as our air except for two and three-tenths per
+cent of a gas that isn't poisonous and which has a peculiar, fragrant
+odor. I can't analyze it and think it probably an element unknown upon
+Earth, or at least very rare."
+
+"It would have to be rare if you don't know what it is," acknowledged
+Seaton, locking the Skylark in place and going over to smell the strange
+gas.
+
+Deciding that the air was satisfactory, the pressure inside the vessel
+was slowly raised to the value of that outside and two doors were
+opened, to allow the new atmosphere free circulation.
+
+Seaton shut off the power actuating the repeller and let the vessel
+settle slowly toward the ocean which was directly beneath them--an ocean
+of a deep, intense, wondrously beautiful blue, which the scientists
+studied with interest. Arrived at the surface, Seaton moistened a rod in
+a wave, and tasted it cautiously, then uttered a yell of joy--a yell
+broken off abruptly as he heard the sound of his own voice. Both girls
+started as the vibrations set up in the dense air smote upon their
+eardrums. Seaton moderated his voice and continued:
+
+"I forgot about the air-pressure. But hurrah for this ocean--it's
+ammoniacal copper sulphate solution! We can sure get all the copper we
+want, right here, but it would take weeks to evaporate the water and
+recover the metal. We can probably get it easier ashore. Let's go!"
+
+They started off just above the surface of the ocean toward the nearest
+continent, which they had observed from the air.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+Nalboon of Mardonale
+
+
+As the Skylark approached the shore, its occupants heard a rapid
+succession of heavy detonations, apparently coming from the direction in
+which they were traveling.
+
+"Wonder what that racket is?" asked Seaton.
+
+"It sounds like big guns," said Crane, and DuQuesne nodded agreement.
+
+"Big guns is right. They're shooting high explosive shells, too, or I
+never heard any. Even allowing for the density of the air, that kind of
+noise isn't made by pop-guns."
+
+"Let's go see what's doing," and Seaton started to walk toward one of
+the windows with his free, swinging stride. Instantly he was a-sprawl,
+the effort necessary to carry his weight upon the Earth's surface
+lifting him into the air in a succession of ludicrous hops, but he soon
+recovered himself and walked normally.
+
+"I forgot this two-fifths gravity stuff," he laughed. "Walk as though we
+had only a notch of power on and it goes all right. It sure is funny to
+feel so light when we're so close to the ground."
+
+He closed the doors to keep out a part of the noise and advanced the
+speed lever a little, so that the vessel tilted sharply under the pull
+of the almost horizontal bar.
+
+"Go easy," cautioned Crane. "We do not want to get in the way of one of
+their shells. They may be of a different kind than those we are familiar
+with."
+
+"Right--easy it is. We'll stay forty miles above them, if necessary."
+
+As the great speed of the ship rapidly lessened the distance, the sound
+grew heavier and clearer--like one continuous explosion. So closely did
+one deafening concussion follow another that the ear could not
+distinguish the separate reports.
+
+"I see them," simultaneously announced Crane, who was seated at one of
+the forward windows searching the country with his binoculars, and
+Seaton, who, from the pilot's seat, could see in any direction.
+
+The others hurried to the windows with their glasses and saw an
+astonishing sight.
+
+"Aerial battleships, eight of 'em!" exclaimed Seaton, "as big as the
+Idaho. Four of 'em are about the same shape as our battleships. No
+wings--they act like helicopters."
+
+"Four of them are battleships, right enough, but what about the other
+four?" asked DuQuesne. "They are not ships or planes or anything else
+that I ever heard of."
+
+"They are animals," asserted Crane. "Machines never were and never will
+be built like that."
+
+As the Skylark cautiously approached, it was evident to the watchers
+that four of the contestants were undoubtedly animals. Here indeed was a
+new kind of animal, an animal able to fight on even terms with a
+first-class battleship! Frightful aerial monsters they were. Each had an
+enormous, torpedo-shaped body, with scores of prodigiously long
+tentacles like those of a devil-fish and a dozen or more great, soaring
+wings. Even at that distance they could see the row of protruding eyes
+along the side of each monstrous body and the terrible, prow-like beaks
+tearing through the metal of the warships opposing them. They could see,
+by the reflection of the light from the many suns, that each monster was
+apparently covered by scales and joints of some transparent armor. That
+it was real and highly effective armor there could be no doubt, for each
+battleship bristled with guns of heavy caliber and each gun was vomiting
+forth a continuous stream of fire. Shells bursting against each of the
+creatures made one continuous blaze, and the uproar was
+indescribable--an uninterrupted cataclysm of sound appalling in its
+intensity.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The battle was brief. Soon all four of the battleships had crumpled to
+the ground, their crews absorbed by the terrible sucking arms or
+devoured by the frightful beaks. They did not die in vain--three of the
+monsters had been blown to atoms by shells which had apparently
+penetrated their armor. The fourth was pursuing something, which Seaton
+now saw was a fleet of small airships, which had flown away from the
+scene of conflict. Swift as they were, the monster covered three feet to
+their one.
+
+"We can't stand for anything like that," cried Seaton, as he threw on
+the power and the Skylark leaped ahead. "Get ready to bump him off,
+Mart, when I jerk him away. He acts hard-boiled, so give him a real
+one--fifty milligrams!"
+
+Sweeping on with awful speed the monster seized the largest and most
+gaily decorated plane in his hundred-foot tentacles just as the Skylark
+came within sighting distance. In four practically simultaneous
+movements Seaton sighted the attractor at the ugly beak, released all
+its power, pointed the main bar of the Skylark directly upward, and
+advanced his speed lever. There was a crash of rending metal as the
+thing was torn loose from the plane and jerked a hundred miles into the
+air, struggling so savagely in that invisible and incomprehensible grip
+that the three-thousand-ton mass of the Skylark tossed and pitched like
+a child's plaything. Those inside her heard the sharp, spiteful crack of
+the machine-gun, and an instant later they heard a report that paralyzed
+their senses, even inside the vessel and in the thin air of their
+enormous elevation, as the largest X-plosive bullet prepared by the
+inventors struck full upon the side of the hideous body. There was no
+smoke, no gas or vapor of any kind--only a huge volume of intolerable
+flame as the energy stored within the atoms of copper, instantaneously
+liberated, heated to incandescence and beyond all the atmosphere within
+a radius of hundreds of feet. The monster disappeared utterly, and
+Seaton, with unerring hand, reversed the bar and darted back down toward
+the fleet of airships. He reached them in time to focus the attractor
+upon the wrecked and helpless plane in the middle of its
+five-thousand-foot fall and lowered it gently to the ground, surrounded
+by the fleet.
+
+The Skylark landed easily beside the wrecked machine, and the wanderers
+saw that their vessel was completely surrounded by a crowd of
+people--men and women identical in form and feature with themselves.
+They were a superbly molded race, the men fully as large as Seaton and
+DuQuesne; the women, while smaller than the men, were noticeably taller
+than the two women in the car. The men wore broad collars of metal,
+numerous metallic ornaments, and heavily-jeweled leather belts and
+shoulder-straps which were hung with weapons of peculiar patterns. The
+women carried no weapons, but were even more highly decorated than were
+the men--each slender, perfectly-formed body scintillated with the
+brilliance of hundreds of strange gems, flashing points of fire. Jeweled
+bands of metal and leather restrained their carefully-groomed hair;
+jeweled collars encircled their throats; jeweled belts, jeweled
+bracelets, jeweled anklets, each added its quota of brilliance to the
+glittering whole. The strangers wore no clothing, and their smooth skins
+shone a dark, livid, utterly indescribable color in the peculiar,
+unearthly, yellowish-bluish-green glare of the light. Green their skins
+undoubtedly were, but not any shade of green visible in the Earthly
+spectrum. The "whites" of their eyes were a light yellowish-green. The
+heavy hair of the women and the close-cropped locks of the men were
+green as well--a green so dark as to be almost black, as were also their
+eyes.
+
+"Well, what d'you know about that?" pondered Seaton, dazedly. "They're
+human, right enough, but ye gods, what a color!"
+
+"It is hard to tell how much of that color is real, and how much of it
+is due to this light," answered Crane. "Wait until you get outside, away
+from our daylight lamps, and you will probably look like a Chinese
+puzzle. As to the form, it is logical to suppose that wherever
+conditions are similar to those upon the Earth, and the age is anywhere
+nearly the same, development would be along the same lines as with us."
+
+"That's right, too. Dottie, your hair will sure look gorgeous in this
+light. Let's go out and give the natives a treat!"
+
+"I wouldn't look like that for a million dollars!" retorted Dorothy,
+"and if I'm going to look like that I won't get out of the ship, so
+there!"
+
+"Cheer up, Dottie, you won't look like that. Your hair will be black in
+this light."
+
+"Then what color will mine be?" asked Margaret.
+
+Seaton glanced at her black hair.
+
+"Probably a very dark and beautiful green," he grinned, his gray eyes
+sparkling, "but we'll have to wait and see. Friends and
+fellow-countrymen, I've got a hunch that this is going to be SOME visit.
+How about it, shall we go ahead with it?"
+
+Dorothy went up to him, her face bright with eagerness.
+
+"Oh, what a lark! Let's go!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Even in DuQuesne's cold presence, Margaret's eyes sought those of her
+lover, and his sleeve, barely touching her arm, was enough to send a
+dancing thrill along it.
+
+"Onward, men of Earth!" she cried, and Seaton, stepping up to the
+window, rapped sharply upon the glass with the butt of his pistol and
+raised both hands high above his head in the universal sign of peace. In
+response, a man of Herculean mold, so splendidly decorated that his
+harness was one blazing mass of jewels, waved his arm and shouted a
+command. The crowd promptly fell back, leaving a clear space of several
+hundred yards. The man, evidently one in high command, unbuckled his
+harness, dropping every weapon, and advanced toward the Skylark, both
+arms upraised in Seaton's gesture.
+
+Seaton went to the door and started to open it.
+
+"Better talk to him from inside," cautioned Crane.
+
+"I don't think so, Mart. He's peaceable, and I've got my gun in my
+pocket. Since he doesn't know what clothes are he'll think I'm unarmed,
+which is as it should be; and if he shows fight, it won't take more than
+a week for me to get into action."
+
+"All right, go on. DuQuesne and I will come along."
+
+"Absolutely not. He's alone, so I've got to be. I notice that some of
+his men are covering us, though. You might do the same for them, with a
+couple of the machine guns."
+
+Seaton stepped out of the car and went to meet the stranger. When they
+had approached to within a few feet of each other the stranger stopped.
+He flexed his left arm smartly, so that the finger-tips touched his left
+ear, and smiled broadly, exposing a row of splendid, shining, green
+teeth. Then he spoke, a meaningless jumble of sounds. His voice, though
+light and thin, nevertheless seemed to be of powerful timbre.
+
+Seaton smiled in return and saluted.
+
+"Hello, Chief. I get your idea all right, and we're glad you're
+peaceable, but your language doesn't mean a thing in my young life."
+
+The Chief tapped himself upon the chest, saying distinctly and
+impressively:
+
+"Nalboon."
+
+"Nalboon," repeated Seaton, and added, pointing to himself:
+
+"Seaton."
+
+"See Tin," answered the stranger, and again indicating himself, "Domak
+gok Mardonale."
+
+"That must be his title," thought Seaton rapidly. "Have to give myself
+one, I guess."
+
+"Boss of the Road," he replied, drawing himself up with pride.
+
+The introduction made, Nalboon pointed to the wrecked plane, inclined
+his head in thanks, and turned to his people with one arm upraised,
+shouting an order in which Seaton could distinguish something that
+sounded like "See Tin, Bass uvvy Rood." Instantly every right arm in the
+assemblage was aloft, that of each man bearing a weapon, while the left
+arms snapped into the peculiar salute and a mighty cry arose as all
+repeated the name and title of the distinguished visitor.
+
+Seaton turned to the Skylark, motioning to Crane to open the door.
+
+"Bring out one of those big four-color signal rockets, Mart!" he called.
+"They're giving us a royal reception--let's acknowledge it right."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The party appeared, Crane carrying the huge rocket with an air of
+deference. As they approached, Seaton shrugged one shoulder and his
+cigarette-case appeared in his hand. Nalboon started, and in spite of
+his utmost efforts at self-control, he glanced at it in surprise. The
+case flew open and Seaton, taking a cigarette, extended the case.
+
+"Smoke?" he asked affably. The other took one, but showed plainly that
+he had no idea of the use to which it was to be put. This astonishment
+of the stranger at a simple sleight-of-hand feat and his apparent
+ignorance of tobacco emboldened Seaton. Reaching into his mouth, he
+pulled out a flaming match, at which Nalboon started violently. While
+all the natives watched in amazement, Seaton lighted the cigarette, and
+after half consuming it in two long inhalations, he apparently swallowed
+the remainder, only to bring it to light again. Having smoked it, he
+apparently swallowed the butt, with evident relish.
+
+"They don't know anything about matches or smoking," he said, turning to
+Crane. "This rocket will tie them up in a knot. Step back, everybody."
+
+He bowed deeply to Nalboon, pulling a lighted match from his ear as he
+did so, and lighted the fuse. There was a roar, a shower of sparks, a
+blaze of colored fire as the great rocket flew upward; but to Seaton's
+surprise, Nalboon took it quite as a matter of course, saluting as an
+acknowledgment of the courtesy.
+
+Seaton motioned to his party to approach, and turned to Crane.
+
+"Better not, Dick. Let him think that you are the king of everything in
+sight."
+
+"Not on your life. If he is one king, we are two," and he introduced
+Crane, with great ceremony, to the Domak as the "Boss of the Skylark,"
+at which the salute by his people was repeated.
+
+Nalboon then shouted an order and a company of soldiers led by an
+officer came toward them, surrounding a small group of people,
+apparently prisoners. These captives, seven men and seven women, were
+much lighter in color than the rest of the gathering, having skins of a
+ghastly, pale shade, practically the same color as the whites of their
+eyes. In other bodily aspects they were the same as their captors in
+appearance, save that they were entirely naked except for the jeweled
+metal collars worn by all and a massive metal belt worn by one man. They
+walked with a proud and lofty carriage, scorn for their captors in every
+step.
+
+Nalboon barked an order to the prisoners. They stared in defiance,
+motionless, until the man wearing the belt who had studied Seaton
+closely, spoke a few words in a low tone, when they all prostrated
+themselves. Nalboon then waved his hand, giving the whole group to
+Seaton as slaves. Seaton, with no sign of his surprise, thanked the
+giver and motioned his slaves to rise. They obeyed and placed themselves
+behind the party--two men and two women behind Seaton and the same
+number behind Crane; one man and one woman behind each of the others.
+
+Seaton then tried to make Nalboon understand that they wanted copper,
+pointing to his anklet, the only copper in sight. The chief instantly
+removed the trinket and handed it to Seaton; who, knowing by the gasp of
+surprise of the guard that it was some powerful symbol, returned it with
+profuse apologies. After trying in vain to make the other understand
+what he wanted, he led him into the Skylark and showed him the remnant
+of the power-bar. He showed him its original size and indicated the
+desired number by counting to sixteen upon his fingers. Nalboon nodded
+his comprehension and going outside, pointed upward toward the largest
+of the eleven suns visible, motioning its rising and setting, four
+times.
+
+He then invited the visitors, in unmistakable sign language, to
+accompany him as guests of honor, but Seaton refused.
+
+"Lead on, MacDuff, we follow," he replied, explaining his meaning by
+signs as they turned to enter the vessel. The slaves followed closely
+until Crane remonstrated.
+
+"We don't want them aboard, do we, Dick? There are too many of them."
+
+"All right," Seaton replied, and waved them away. As they stepped back
+the guard seized the nearest, a woman, and forced her to her knees;
+while a man, adorned with a necklace of green human teeth and carrying a
+shining broadsword, prepared to decapitate her.
+
+"We must take them with us, I see," said Crane, as he brushed the guards
+aside. Followed by the slaves, the party entered the Skylark, and the
+dark green people embarked in their airplanes and helicopters.
+
+Nalboon rode in a large and gaily-decorated plane, which led the fleet
+at its full speed of six hundred miles an hour, the Skylark taking a
+placing a few hundred yards above the flagship.
+
+"I don't get these folks at all, Mart," said Seaton, after a moment's
+silence. "They have machines far ahead of anything we have on Earth and
+big guns that shoot as fast as machine-guns, and yet are scared to death
+at a little simple sleight-of-hand. They don't seem to understand
+matches at all, and yet treat fire-works as an every-day occurrence."
+
+"We will have to wait until we know them better," replied Crane, and
+DuQuesne added:
+
+"From what I have seen, their power seems to be all electrical. Perhaps
+they aren't up with us in chemistry, even though they are ahead of us in
+mechanics?"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Flying above a broad, but rapid and turbulent stream, the fleet soon
+neared a large city, and the visitors from Earth gazed with interest at
+this metropolis of the unknown world. The buildings were all the same
+height, flat-roofed, and arranged in squares very much as our cities are
+arranged. There were no streets, the spaces between the buildings being
+park-like areas, evidently laid out for recreation, amusement, and
+sport. There was no need for streets; all traffic was in the air. The
+air seemed full of flying vehicles, darting in all directions, but it
+was soon evident that there was exact order in the apparent confusion,
+each class of vessel and each direction of traffic having its own level.
+Eagerly the three men studied the craft, which ranged in size from
+one-man helicopters, little more than single chairs flying about in the
+air, up to tremendous multiplane freighters, capable of carrying
+thousands of tons.
+
+Flying high over the city to avoid its congested air-lanes, the fleet
+descended toward an immense building just outside the city proper, and
+all landed upon its roof save the flagship, which led the Skylark to a
+landing-dock nearby--a massive pile of metal and stone, upon which
+Nalboon and his retinue stood to welcome the guests. After Seaton had
+anchored the vessel immovably by means of the attractor, the party
+disembarked, Seaton remarking with a grin:
+
+"Don't be surprised at anything I do, folks. I'm a walking storehouse of
+junk of all kinds, so that if occasion arises I can put on a real
+exhibition."
+
+As they turned toward their host, a soldier, in his eagerness to see the
+strangers, jostled another. Without a word two keen swords flew from
+their scabbards and a duel to the death ensued. The visitors stared in
+amazement, but no one else paid any attention to the combat, which was
+soon over; the victor turning away from the body of his opponent and
+resuming his place without creating a ripple of interest.
+
+Nalboon led the way into an elevator, which dropped rapidly to the
+ground-floor level. Massive gates were thrown open, and through ranks of
+people prostrate upon their faces the party went out into the palace
+grounds of the Domak, or Emperor, of the great nation of Mardonale.
+
+Never before had Earthly eyes rested upon such scenes of splendor. Every
+color and gradation of their peculiar spectrum was present, in solid,
+liquid, and gas. The carefully-tended trees were all colors of the
+rainbow, as were the grasses and flowers along the walks. The fountains
+played streams of many and constantly-changing hues, and even the air
+was tinted and perfumed, swirling through metal arches in billows of
+ever-varying colors and scents. Colors and combinations of colors
+impossible to describe were upon every hand, fantastically beautiful in
+that peculiar, livid light. Diamonds and rubies, their colors so
+distorted by the green radiance as to be almost unrecognizable; emeralds
+glowing with an intense green impossible in earthly light, together with
+strange gems peculiar to this strange world, sparkled and flashed from
+railings, statues, and pedestals throughout the ground.
+
+"Isn't this gorgeous, Dick?" whispered Dorothy. "But what do I look
+like? I wish I had a mirror--you look simply awful. Do I look like you
+do?"
+
+"Not being able to see myself, I can't say, but I imagine you do. You
+look as you would under a county-fair photographer's mercury-vapor arc
+lamps, only worse. The colors can't be described. You might as well try
+to describe cerise to a man born blind as to try to express these
+colors in English, but as near as I can come to it, your eyes are a dark
+sort of purplish green, with the whites of your eyes and your teeth a
+kind of plush green. Your skin is a pale yellowish green, except for the
+pink of your cheeks, which is a kind of black, with orange and green
+mixed up in it. Your lips are black, and your hair is a funny kind of
+color, halfway between black and old rose, with a little green and...."
+
+"Heavens, Dick, stop! That's enough!" choked Dorothy. "We all look like
+hobgoblins. We're even worse than the natives."
+
+"Sure we are. They were born here and are acclimated to it--we are
+strangers and aren't. I would like to see what one of these people would
+look like in Washington."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Nalboon led them into the palace proper and into a great dining hall,
+where a table was already prepared for the entire party. This room was
+splendidly decorated with jewels, its many windows being simply masses
+of gems. The walls were hung with a cloth resembling silk, which fell to
+the floor in shimmering waves of color.
+
+Woodwork there was none. Doors, panels, tables, and chairs were
+cunningly wrought of various metals. Seaton and DuQuesne could recognize
+a few of them, but for the most part they were unknown upon the Earth;
+and were, like the jewels and vegetation of this strange world, of many
+and various peculiar colors. A closer inspection of one of the marvelous
+tapestries showed that it also was of metal, its threads numbering
+thousands to the inch. Woven of many different metals, of vivid but
+harmonious colors in a strange and intricate design, it seemed to writhe
+as its colors changed with every variation in the color of the light;
+which, pouring from concealed sources, was reflected by the
+highly-polished metal and innumerable jewels of the lofty, domed
+ceiling.
+
+"Oh ... isn't this too perfectly gorgeous?" breathed Dorothy. "I'd give
+anything for a dress made out of that stuff, Dick. Cloth-of-gold is
+common by comparison!"
+
+"Would you dare wear it, Dottie?" asked Margaret.
+
+"_Would_ I? I'd wear it in a minute if I could only get it. It would
+take Washington by storm!"
+
+"I'll try to get a piece of it, then," smiled Seaton. "I'll see about it
+while we are getting the copper."
+
+"We'd better be careful in choosing what we eat here, Seaton," suggested
+DuQuesne, as the Domak himself led them to the table.
+
+"We sure had. With a copper ocean and green teeth, I shouldn't be
+surprised if copper, arsenic, and other such trifles formed a regular
+part of their diet."
+
+"The girls and I will wait for you two chemists to approve every dish
+before we try it, then," said Crane.
+
+Nalboon placed his guests, the light-skinned slaves standing at
+attention behind them, and numerous servants, carrying great trays,
+appeared. The servants were intermediate in color between the light and
+the dark races, with dull, unintelligent faces, but quick and deft in
+their movements.
+
+The first course--a thin, light wine, served in metal goblets--was
+approved by the chemists, and the dinner was brought on. There were
+mighty joints of various kinds of meat; birds and fish, both raw and
+cooked in many ways; green, pink, purple, and white vegetables and
+fruits. The majordomo held each dish up to Seaton for inspection, the
+latter waving away the fish and the darkest green foods, but approving
+the others. Heaping plates, or rather metal trays, of food were placed
+before the diners, and the attendants behind their chairs handed them
+peculiar implements--knives with razor edges, needle-pointed stilettoes
+instead of forks, and wide, flexible spatulas, which evidently were to
+serve the purposes of both forks and spoons.
+
+"I simply can't eat with these things!" exclaimed Dorothy in dismay,
+"and I don't like to drink soup out of a can, so there!"
+
+"That's where my lumberjack training comes in handy," grinned Seaton.
+"With this spatula I can eat faster than I could with two forks. What do
+you want, girls, forks or spoons, or both?"
+
+"Both, please."
+
+Seaton reached out over the table, seizing forks and spoons from the air
+and passing them to the others, while the natives stared in surprise.
+The Domak took a bowl filled with brilliant blue crystals from the
+major-domo, sprinkled his food liberally with the substance, and passed
+it to Seaton, who looked at the crystals attentively.
+
+"Copper sulphate," he said to Crane. "It's a good thing they add it at
+the table instead of cooking with it, or we'd be out of luck."
+
+Waving the copper sulphate away, he again reached out, this time
+producing a pair of small salt-and pepper-shakers, which he passed to
+the Domak after he had seasoned the dishes before him. Nalboon tasted
+the pepper cautiously and smiled in delight, half-emptying the shaker
+upon his plate. He then sprinkled a few grains of salt into his palm,
+stared at them with an expression of doubting amazement, and after a few
+rapid sentences poured them into a dish held by an officer who had
+sprung to his side. The officer studied them closely, then carefully
+washed his chief's hand. Nalboon turned to Seaton, plainly asking for
+the salt-cellar.
+
+"Sure, old top. Keep 'em both, there's lots more where those came from,"
+as he produced several more sets in the same mysterious way and handed
+them to Crane, who in turn passed them to the others.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The meal progressed merrily, with much conversation in the sign-language
+between the two parties. It was evident that Nalboon, usually stern and
+reticent, was in an unusually pleasant mood. The viands, though of
+peculiar flavor, were in the main pleasing to the palates of the Earthly
+visitors.
+
+"This fruit salad, or whatever it is, is divine," remarked Dorothy,
+after an experimental bite. "May we eat as much as we like, or had we
+better just eat a little?"
+
+"Go as far as you like," returned her lover. "I wouldn't recommend it,
+as a steady diet, as I imagine everything contains copper and other
+heavy metals in noticeable amounts, and probably considerable arsenic,
+but for a few days it can't very well hurt us much."
+
+After the meal, Nalboon bade them a ceremonious farewell, and they were
+escorted to a series of five connecting rooms by the royal usher,
+escorted by an entire company of soldiers, who mounted guard outside the
+doors. Gathered in one room, they discussed sleeping arrangements. The
+girls insisted that they would sleep together, and that the men should
+occupy the rooms at either side. As the girls turned away, the four
+slaves followed.
+
+"We don't want these people, and I can't make them go away!" cried
+Dorothy.
+
+"I don't want them, either," replied Seaton, "but if we chase them out
+they'll get their heads chopped off. You girls take the women and we'll
+take the men."
+
+Seaton waved all the women into the girls' room, but they paused
+irresolutely. One of them went up to the man wearing the metal belt,
+evidently their leader, and spoke to him rapidly as she threw her arms
+around his neck. He shook his head, motioning toward Seaton several
+times as he spoke to her reassuringly. With his arm about her tenderly,
+he led her to the door, the other women following. Crane and DuQuesne
+having gone to their rooms with their attendants, the man wearing the
+belt drew the blinds and turned to assist Seaton in taking off his
+clothes.
+
+"I never had a valet before, but go as far as you like if it pleases
+you," remarked Seaton, as he began to throw off his clothes. A multitude
+of small articles fell from their hiding-places in his garments as he
+removed them. Almost stripped, Seaton stretched vigorously, the muscles
+writhing and rippling in great ridges under the satin skin of his broad
+back and mighty arms and shoulders as he filled his capacious lungs and
+twisted about, working off the stiffness caused by the days of
+comparative confinement.
+
+The four slaves stared in open-mouthed astonishment at this display of
+muscular development and conversed among themselves as they gathered up
+Seaton's discarded clothing. Their leader picked up a salt-shaker, a
+couple of silver knives and forks, and some other articles, and turned
+to Seaton, apparently asking permission to do something with them.
+Seaton nodded assent carelessly and turned to his bed. As he did so, he
+heard a slight clank of arms in the hall as the guard was changed, and
+lifting the blind a trifle he saw that guards were stationed outside as
+well. As he went to bed, he wondered whether the guards were guards of
+honor or jailers; whether he and his party were honored guests or
+prisoners.
+
+Three of the slaves, at a word from their chief, threw themselves upon
+the floor and slept, but he himself did not rest. Opening the apparently
+solid metal belt, he took out a great number of small tools, many tiny
+instruments, and several spools of insulated wire. He then took the
+articles Seaton had given him, taking great pains not to spill a single
+grain of salt, and set to work. Hour after hour he labored, a strange,
+exceedingly complex instrument taking form under his clever fingers.
+
+
+
+
+    +--------------------------------------+
+    |                                      |
+    | _By the time you finish reading the  |
+    | final instalment of "The Skylark of  |
+    | Space," we are certain that you will |
+    | agree with us that it is one of the  |
+    | outstanding scienti-fiction stories  |
+    | of the decade; an interplanetarian   |
+    | story that will not be eclipsed      |
+    | soon. It will be referred to by all  |
+    | scienti-fiction fans for years to    |
+    | come. It will be read and reread.    |
+    | This is not a mere prophecy of ours, |
+    | because we have been deluged with    |
+    | letters since we began publishing    |
+    | this story. In the closing chapters, |
+    | you will follow the adventures with  |
+    | bated breath, and you will find that |
+    | though the two preceding instalments |
+    | were hair-raising and thought        |
+    | absorbing, the final instalment      |
+    | eclipses the others a good deal.     |
+    | Plots, counterplots, hair-raising    |
+    | and hair-breadth escapes, mixed with |
+    | love, adventure and good science     |
+    | seem to fairly tumble all over the   |
+    | pages. By the time you finish this   |
+    | instalment, you will wish to go back |
+    | to the beginning of the story and    |
+    | read it more carefully and thrill    |
+    | all over again._                     |
+    |                                      |
+    +--------------------------------------+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+Nalboon Unmasked
+
+
+After a long, sound sleep, Seaton awoke and sprang out of bed. No sooner
+had he started to shave, however, than one of the slaves touched his
+arm, motioning him into a reclining chair and showing him a keen blade,
+long and slightly curved. Seaton lay down and the slave shaved him with
+a rapidity and smoothness he had never before experienced, so
+wonderfully sharp was the peculiar razor. After Seaton had dressed, the
+barber started to shave the chief slave, without any preliminary
+treatment save rubbing his face with a perfumed oil.
+
+"Hold on a minute," interjected Seaton, who was watching the process
+with interest, "here's something that helps a lot." He lathered the face
+with his brush and the man looked up in surprised pleasure as his stiff
+beard was swept away without a sound.
+
+Seaton called to the others and soon the party was assembled in his
+room, all dressed very lightly, because of the unrelieved and unvarying
+heat, which was constant at one hundred degrees. A gong sounded, and one
+of the slaves opened the door, ushering in a party of servants bearing a
+table, ready set. During the meal, Seaton was greatly surprised at
+hearing Dorothy carrying on a halting conversation, with one of the
+women standing behind her.
+
+"I knew that you were a language shark, Dottie, with five or six
+different ones to your credit, but I didn't suppose you could learn to
+talk this stuff in one day."
+
+"I can't," she replied, "but I've picked up a few words of it. I can
+understand very little of what they are trying to tell me."
+
+The woman spoke rapidly to the man standing behind Seaton, and as soon
+as the table had been carried away, he asked permission to speak to
+Dorothy. Fairly running across to her, he made a slight obeisance and in
+eager tones poured forth such a stream of language that she held up her
+hand to silence him.
+
+"Go slower, please," she said, and added a couple of words in his own
+tongue.
+
+There ensued a strange dialogue, with many repetitions and much use of
+signs. She turned to Seaton, with a puzzled look.
+
+"I can't make out all he says, Dick, but he wants you to take him into
+another room of the palace here, to get back something or other that
+they took from him when they captured him. He can't go alone--I think he
+says he will be killed if he goes anywhere without you. And he says that
+when you get there, you must be sure not to let the guards come inside."
+
+"All right, let's go!" and Seaton motioned the man to precede him. As
+Seaton started for the door, Dorothy fell into step beside him.
+
+"Better stay back, Dottie, I'll be back in a minute," he said at the
+door.
+
+"I will not stay back. Wherever you go, I go," she replied in a voice
+inaudible to the others. "I simply will not stay away from you a single
+minute that I don't have to."
+
+"All right, little girl," he replied in the same tone. "I don't want to
+be away from you, either, and I don't think that we're in any danger
+here."
+
+Preceded by the chief slave and followed by half a dozen others, they
+went out into the hall. No opposition was made to their progress, but a
+full half-company of armed guards fell in around them as an escort,
+regarding Seaton with looks composed of equal parts of reverence and
+fear. The slave led the way rapidly to a room in a distant wing of the
+palace and opened the door. As Seaton stepped in, he saw that it was
+evidently an audience-chamber or court-room, and that it was now
+entirely empty. As the guard approached the door, Seaton waved them
+back. All retreated across the hall except the officer in charge, who
+refused to move. Seaton, the personification of offended dignity, first
+stared at the offender, who returned the stare, and stepped up to him
+insolently, then pushed him back roughly, forgetting that his strength,
+great upon Earth, would be gigantic upon this smaller world. The officer
+spun across the corridor, knocking down three of his men in his flight.
+Picking himself up, he drew his sword and rushed, while his men fled in
+panic to the extreme end of the corridor. Seaton did not wait for him,
+but in one bound leaped half-way across the intervening space to meet
+him. With the vastly superior agility of his earthly muscles he dodged
+the falling broadsword and drove his left fist full against the fellow's
+chin, with all the force of his mighty arm and all the momentum of his
+rapidly moving body behind the blow. The crack of breaking bones was
+distinctly audible as the officer's head snapped back. The force of the
+blow lifted him high into the air, and after turning a complete
+somersault, he brought up with a crash against the opposite wall,
+dropping to the floor stone dead. As several of his men, braver than the
+others, lifted their peculiar rifles, Seaton drew and fired in one
+incredibly swift motion, the X-plosive bullet obliterating the entire
+group of men and demolishing that end of the palace.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+In the meantime the slave had taken several pieces of apparatus from a
+cabinet in the room and had placed them in his belt. Stopping only to
+observe for a few moments a small instrument which he clamped upon the
+head of the dead man, he rapidly led the way back to the room they had
+left and set to work upon the instrument he had constructed while the
+others had been asleep. He connected it, in an intricate system of
+wiring, with the pieces of apparatus he had just recovered.
+
+"That's a complex job of wiring," said DuQuesne admiringly. "I've seen
+several intricate pieces of apparatus myself, but he has so many
+circuits there that I'm lost. It would take an hour to figure out the
+lines and connections alone."
+
+Straightening abruptly, the slave clamped several electrodes upon his
+temples and motioned to Seaton and the others, speaking to Dorothy as he
+did so.
+
+"He wants us to let him put those things on our heads," she translated.
+"Shall we let him, Dick?"
+
+"Yes," he replied without hesitation. "I've got a real hunch that he's
+our friend, and I'm not sure of Nalboon. He doesn't act right."
+
+"I think so, too," agreed the girl, and Crane added:
+
+"I can't say that I relish the idea, but since I know that you are a
+good poker player, Dick, I am willing to follow your hunch. How about
+you, DuQuesne?"
+
+"Not I," declared that worthy, emphatically. "Nobody wires me up to
+anything I can't understand, and that machine is too deep for me."
+
+Margaret elected to follow Crane's example, and, impressed by the need
+for haste evident in the slave's bearing, the four walked up to the
+machine without further talk. The electrodes were clamped into place
+quickly and the slave pressed a lever. Instantly the four visitors felt
+that they had a complete understanding of the languages and customs of
+both Mardonale, the nation in which they now were, and of Kondal, to
+which nation the slaves belonged, the only two civilized nations upon
+Osnome. While the look of amazement at this method of receiving
+instruction was still upon their faces, the slave--or rather, as they
+now knew him, Dunark, the Kofedix or Crown Prince of the great nation of
+Kondal--began to disconnect the wires. He cut out the wires leading to
+the two girls and to Crane, and was reaching for Seaton's, when there
+was a blinding flash, a crackling sound, the heavy smoke of burning
+metal and insulation, and both Dunark and Seaton fell to the floor.
+
+Before Crane could reach them, however, they were upon their feet and
+the stranger said in his own tongue, now understood by every one but
+DuQuesne:
+
+"This machine is a mechanical educator, a thing entirely new, in our
+world at least. Although I have been working on it for a long time, it
+is still in a very crude form. I did not like to use it in its present
+state of development, but it was necessary in order to warn you of what
+Nalboon is going to do to you, and to convince you that the best way of
+saving your lives would save our lives as well. The machine worked
+perfectly until something, I don't know what, went wrong. Instead of
+stopping, as it should have done, at teaching your party to speak our
+languages, it short-circuited us two completely, so that every
+convolution in each of our brains has been imprinted upon the brain of
+the other. It was the sudden formation of all the new convolutions that
+rendered us unconscious. I can only apologize for the break-down, and
+assure you that my intentions were of the best."
+
+"You needn't apologize," returned Seaton. "That was a wonderful
+performance, and we're both gainers, anyway, aren't we? It has taken us
+all our lives to learn what little we know, and now we each have the
+benefit of two lifetimes, spent upon different worlds! I must admit,
+though, that I have a whole lot of knowledge that I don't know how to
+use."
+
+"I am glad you take it that way," returned the other warmly, "for I am
+infinitely the better off for the exchange. The knowledge I imparted was
+nothing, compared to that which I received. But time presses--I must
+tell you our situation. I am, as you now know, the Kofedix of Kondal.
+The other thirteen are fedo and fediro, or, as you would say, princes
+and princesses of the same nation. We were captured by one of Nalboon's
+raiding parties while upon a hunting trip, being overcome by some new,
+stupefying gas, so that we could not kill ourselves. As you know, Kondal
+and Mardonale have been at war for over ten thousand karkamo--something
+more than six thousand years of your time. The war between us is one of
+utter extermination. Captives are never exchanged and only once during
+an ordinary lifetime does one ever escape. Our attendants were killed
+immediately. We were being taken to furnish sport for Nalboon's party by
+being fed to one of his captive kolono--animals something like your
+earthly devilfish--when the escort of battleships was overcome by those
+four karlono, the animals you saw, and one of them seized Nalboon's
+plane, in which we were prisoners. You killed the karlon, saving our
+lives as well as those of Nalboon and his party.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Having saved his life, you and your party should be honored guests of
+the most honored kind, and I venture to say that you would be so
+regarded in any other nation of the universe. But Nalboon, the Domak--a
+title equivalent to your word 'Emperor' and our word 'Karfedix'--of
+Mardonale, is utterly without either honor or conscience, as are all
+Mardonalians. At first he was afraid of you, as were we all. We thought
+you visitors from a planet of our fifteenth sun, which is now at its
+nearest possible approach to us. After your display of superhuman power
+and ability, we expected instant annihilation. However, after seeing the
+Skylark as a machine, discovering that you are short of power, and
+finding that you are gentle instead of bloodthirsty by nature, Nalboon
+lost his fear of you and resolved to rob you of your vessel, with its
+wonderful secrets of power. Though we are so ignorant of chemistry that
+I cannot understand the thousandth part of what I just learned from you,
+we are a race of mechanics and have developed machines of many kinds to
+a high state of efficiency, including electrical machines of all kinds.
+In fact, electricity, generated by our great waterfalls, is our only
+power. No scientist upon Osnome has ever had an inkling that
+intra-atomic energy exists. Nalboon cannot understand the power, but he
+solved the means of liberating it at a glance--and that glance sealed
+your death-warrants. With the Skylark, he could conquer Kondal, and to
+assure the downfall of my nation he would do anything.
+
+"Also, he or any other Osnomian scientist would go to any lengths
+whatever--would challenge the great First Cause itself--to secure even
+one of those little bottles of the chemical you call 'salt.' It is far
+and away the scarcest and most precious substance in the world. It is so
+rare that those bottles you produced at the table held more than the
+total amount previously known to exist upon Osnome. We have great
+abundance of all the heavy metals, but the lighter metals are rare.
+Sodium and chlorin are the rarest of all known elements. Its immense
+value is due, not to its rarity, but to the fact that it is an
+indispensable component of the controlling instruments of our wireless
+power stations and that it is used as a catalyst in the manufacture of
+our hardest metals.
+
+"For these reasons, you understand why Nalboon does not intend to let
+you escape and why he intends that this kokam (our equivalent of a day)
+shall be your last. About the second or third kam (hour) of the sleeping
+period he intends to break into the Skylark, learn its control, and
+secure the salt you undoubtedly have in the vessel. Then my party and
+myself will be thrown to the kolon. You and your party will be killed
+and your bodies smelted to recover the salt that is in them. This is the
+warning I had to give you. Its urgency explains the use of my untried
+mechanical educator; the hope that my party could escape with yours, in
+your vessel, explains why you saw me, the Kofedix of Kondal, prostrate
+myself before that arch-fiend Nalboon."
+
+"How do you, a captive prince of another nation, know these things?"
+asked Crane, doubtfully.
+
+"I read Nalboon's ideas from the brain of that officer whom the Karfedix
+Seaton killed. He was a ladex of the guards--an officer of about the
+same rank as one of your colonels. He was high in Nalboon's favor, and
+he was to have been in charge of the work of breaking into the Skylark
+and killing us all. Let me caution you now; do not let any Mardonalian
+touch our hands with a wire, for if you do, your thoughts will be
+recorded and the secrets of the Skylark and your many other mysterious
+things, such as smoking, matches, and magic feats, will be secrets no
+longer."
+
+"Thanks for the information," responded Seaton, "but I want to correct
+your title for me. I'm no Karfedix--merely a plain citizen."
+
+"In one way I see that that is true," replied the Kofedix with a puzzled
+look. "I cannot understand your government at all--but the inventor of
+the Skylark must certainly rank as a Karfedix."
+
+As he spoke, a smile of understanding passed over his face and he
+continued:
+
+"I see. Your title is Doctor of Philosophy, which must mean that you are
+the Karfedix of Knowledge of the Earth."
+
+"No, no. You're way off. I'm...."
+
+"Certainly Seaton is the Karfedix of Knowledge," broke in DuQuesne. "Let
+it go at that, anyway, whatever it means. The thing to do now is to
+figure a way out of this."
+
+"You chirped it then, Blackie. Dunark, you know this country better than
+we do; what do you suggest?"
+
+"I suggest that you take my party into the Skylark and escape from
+Mardonale as soon as possible. I can pilot you to Kondalek, the capital
+city of our nation. There, I can assure you, you will be welcomed as you
+deserve. My father, the Karfedix, will treat you as a Karfedix should be
+treated. As far as I am concerned, nothing I can ever do will lighten
+the burden of my indebtedness to you, but I promise you all the copper
+you want, and anything else you may desire that is within the power of
+man to give you."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Seaton thought deeply a moment, then shook Dunark's hand vigorously.
+
+"That suits me, Kofedix," he said warmly. "I thought from the first that
+you were our friend. Shall we make for the Skylark right now, or wait a
+while?"
+
+"We had better wait until after the second meal," the prince replied.
+"We have no armor, and no way of making any. We would be helpless
+against the bullets of any except a group small enough so that you could
+kill them all before they could fire. The kam after the second meal is
+devoted to strolling about the grounds, so that our visiting the Skylark
+would look perfectly natural. As the guard is very lax at that time, it
+is the best time for the attempt."
+
+"But how about my killing his company of guards and blowing up one wing
+of his palace? Won't he have something to say about that?"
+
+"I don't know," replied the Kofedix doubtfully. "It depends upon whether
+his fear of you or his anger is the greater. He should pay his call of
+state here in your apartment in a short time, as it is the inviolable
+rule of Osnome, that any visitor shall receive a call of state from one
+of his own rank before leaving his apartment for the first time. His
+actions may give you some idea as to his feelings, though he is an
+accomplished diplomat and may conceal his real feelings entirely. But
+let me caution you not to be modest or soft-spoken. He will mistake
+softness for fear."
+
+"All right," grinned Seaton. "In that case I won't wait to try to find
+out what he thinks. If he shows any signs of hostility at all, I'll open
+up on him."
+
+"Well," remarked Crane, calmly, "if we have some time to spare, we may
+as well wait comfortably instead of standing in the middle of the room.
+I, for one, have a lot of questions to ask about this new world."
+
+Acting upon this suggestion, the party seated themselves upon
+comfortable divans, and Dunark rapidly dismantled the machine he had
+constructed. The captives remained standing, always behind the visitors
+until Seaton remonstrated.
+
+"Please sit down, everybody. There's no need of keeping up this farce of
+your being slaves as long as we're alone, is there, Dunark?"
+
+"No, but at the first sound of the gong announcing a visitor we must be
+in our places. Now that we are all comfortable and waiting, I will
+introduce my party to yours.
+
+"Fellow Kondalians, greet the Karfedo Seaton and Crane," he began, his
+tongue fumbling over the strange names, "of a distant world, the Earth,
+and the two noble ladies, Miss Vaneman and Miss Spencer, soon to be
+their Karfediro.
+
+"Guests from Earth, allow me to present to you the Kofedir Sitar, the
+only one of my wives who accompanied me upon our ill-fated hunting
+expedition."
+
+Then, still ignoring DuQuesne as a captive, he introduced the other
+Kondolians in turn as his brothers, sisters, cousins, nieces, and
+nephews--all members of the great ruling house of Kondal.
+
+"Now," he concluded, "after I have a word with you in private, Doctor
+Seaton, I will be glad to give the others all the information in my
+power."
+
+He led Seaton out of earshot of the others and said in a low voice:
+
+"It is no part of Nalboon's plan to kill the two women. They are so
+beautiful, so different from our Osnomian women, that he intends to keep
+them--alive. Understand?"
+
+"Yes," returned Seaton grimly, his eyes turning hard, "I get you all
+right--but what he'll do and what he thinks he'll do are two entirely
+different breeds of cats."
+
+Returning to the others, they found Dorothy and Sitar deep in
+conversation.
+
+"So a man has half a dozen or so wives?" Dorothy was asking in surprise.
+"How do you get along together? I'd fight like a wildcat if my husband
+tried to have other wives!"
+
+"We get along splendidly, of course," returned the Osnomian princess in
+equal surprise. "I would not think of being a man's only wife. I
+wouldn't consider marrying a man who could win only one wife--think what
+a disgrace it would be! And think how lonely one would be while her
+husband is away at war--we would go insane if we did not have the
+company of the other wives. There are six of us, and we could not get
+along at all without each other."
+
+"I've got a compliment for you and Peggy, Dottie," said Seaton. "Dunark
+here thinks that you two girls look good enough to eat--or words to that
+effect." Both girls flushed slightly, the purplish-black color suffusing
+their faces. They glanced at each other and Dorothy voiced the thought
+of both as she said:
+
+"How can you, Kofedix Dunark? In this horrible light we both look
+perfectly dreadful. These other girls would be beautiful, if we were
+used to the colors, but we two look simply hideous."
+
+"Oh, no," interrupted Sitar. "You have a wonderfully rich coloring. It
+is a shame to hide so much of yourselves with robes."
+
+"Their eyes interpret colors differently than ours do," explained
+Seaton. "What to us are harsh and discordant colors are light and
+pleasing to their eyes. What looks like a kind of sloppy greenish black
+to us may--in fact, does--look a pale pink to them."
+
+"Are Kondal and Mardonale the only two nations upon Osnome?" asked
+Crane.
+
+"The only civilized nations, yes. Osnome is divided into two great and
+almost equal continents, separated by a wide ocean which encircles the
+globe. One is Kondal, the other Mardonale. Each nation has several
+nations or tribes of savages, which inhabit various waste places."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"You are the light race, Mardonale the dark," continued Crane. "What are
+the servants, who seem half-way between?"
+
+"They are slaves...."
+
+"Captured savages?" interrupted Dorothy.
+
+"No. They are a separate race. They are a race so low in intelligence
+that they cannot exist except as slaves, but they can be trained to
+understand language and to do certain kinds of work. They are harmless
+and mild, making excellent servants, otherwise they would have perished
+ages ago. All menial work and most of the manual labor is done by the
+slave race. Formerly criminals were sterilized and reduced to unwilling
+slavery, but there have been no unwilling slaves in Kondal for hundreds
+of karkamo."
+
+"Why? Are there no criminals any more?"
+
+"No. With the invention of the thought recorder an absolutely fair trial
+was assured and the guilty were all convicted. They could not reproduce
+themselves, and as a natural result crime died out."
+
+"That is," he added hastily, "what we regard as crime. Duelling, for
+instance, is a crime upon Earth; here it is a regular custom. In Kondal
+duels are rather rare and are held only when honor is involved, but here
+in Mardonale they are an every-day affair, as you saw when you landed."
+
+"What makes the difference?" asked Dorothy curiously.
+
+"As you know, with us every man is a soldier. In Kondal we train our
+youth in courage, valor, and high honor--in Mardonale they train them in
+savage blood-thirstiness alone. Each nation fixed its policy in bygone
+ages to produce the type of soldier it thought most efficient."
+
+"I notice that everyone here wears those heavy collars," said Margaret.
+"What are they for?"
+
+"They are identification marks. When a child is nearly grown, a collar
+bearing his name and the device of his house is cast about his neck.
+This collar is made of 'arenak,' a synthetic metal which, once formed,
+cannot be altered by any usual means. It cannot be scratched, cut, bent,
+broken, or worked in any way except at such a high temperature that
+death would result, if such heat were applied to the collar. Once the
+arenak collar is cast about a person's neck he is identified for life,
+and any adult Osnomian not wearing a collar is put to death."
+
+"That must be an interesting metal," remarked Crane. "Is your belt a
+similar mark?"
+
+"This belt is an idea of my own," and Dunark smiled broadly. "It looks
+like opaque arenak, but isn't. It is merely a pouch in which I carry
+anything I am particularly interested in. Even Nalboon thought it was
+arenak, so he didn't trouble to try to open it. If he had opened it and
+taken my tools and instruments, I couldn't have built the educator."
+
+"Is that transparent armor arenak?"
+
+"Yes, the only difference being that nothing is added to the matrix to
+color or make opaque the finished metal. It is in the preparation of
+this metal that salt is indispensable. It acts only as a catalyst, being
+recovered afterward, but neither nation has ever had enough salt to make
+all the armor they want."
+
+"Aren't those monsters--karlono, I think you called them--covered by the
+same thing? And what are those animals, anyway?" Dorothy asked.
+
+"Yes, they are armored with arenak, and it is thought that the beasts
+grow it, the same as fishes grow scales. The karlono are the most
+frightful scourge of Osnome. Very little is known of them, though every
+scientist has theorized upon them since time immemorial. It is very
+seldom that one is ever killed, as they easily outfly our swiftest
+battleships, and only fight when they can be victorious. To kill one
+requires a succession of the heaviest high-explosive shells in the same
+spot, a joint in the armor; and after the armor is once penetrated, the
+animal is blown into such small fragments that reconstruction is
+impossible. From such remains it has been variously described as a bird,
+a beast, a fish, and a vegetable; sexual, asexual, and hermaphroditic.
+Its habitat is unknown, it being variously supposed to live high in the
+air, deep in the ocean, and buried in the swamps. Another theory is that
+they live upon one of our satellites, which encounters our belt of
+atmosphere every karkam. Nothing is certainly known about the monsters
+except their terrible destructiveness and their insatiable appetites.
+One of them will devour five or six airships at one time, absorbing the
+crews and devouring the cargo and all of the vessels except the very
+hardest of the metal parts."
+
+"Do they usually go in groups?" asked Crane. "If they do, I should think
+that a fleet of warships would be necessary for every party."
+
+"No, they are almost always found alone. Only very rarely are two found
+together. This is the first time in history that more than two have ever
+been seen together. Two battleships can always defeat one karlon, so
+they are never attacked. With four battleships Nalboon considered his
+expedition perfectly safe, especially as they are now rare. The navies
+hunted down and killed what was supposed to be the last one upon Osnome
+more than a karkam ago, and none have been seen since, until we were
+attacked...."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The gong over the door sounded and the Kondalians leaped to their
+positions back of the Earthly visitors. The Kofedix went to the door.
+Nalboon brushed him aside and entered, escorted by a full company of
+heavily-armed soldiery. A scowl of anger was upon his face and he was
+plainly in an ugly mood.
+
+"Stop, Nalboon of Mardonale!" thundered Seaton in the Mardonalian tongue
+and with the full power of his mighty voice. "Dare you invade my privacy
+unannounced and without invitation?"
+
+The escort shrank back, but the Domak stood his ground, although he was
+plainly taken aback. With an apparent effort he smoothed his face into
+lines of cordiality.
+
+"I merely came to inquire why my guards are slain and my palace
+destroyed by my honored guest?"
+
+"As for slaying your guards, they sought to invade my privacy. I warned
+them away, but one of them was foolish enough to try to kill me. Then
+the others attempted to raise their childish rifles against me, and I
+was obliged to destroy them. As for the wall, it happened to be in the
+way of the thought-waves I hurled against your guards--consequently it
+was demolished. An honored guest! Bah! Are honored guests put to the
+indignity of being touched by the filthy hands of a mere ladex?"
+
+"You do not object to the touch of slaves!" with a wave of his hand
+toward the Kondalians.
+
+"That is what slaves are for," coldly. "Is a Domak to wait upon himself
+in the court of Mardonale? But to return to the issue. Were I an honored
+guest this would never have happened. Know, Nalboon, that when you
+attempt to treat a visiting Domak of MY race as a low-born captive, you
+must be prepared to suffer the consequences of your rashness!"
+
+"May I ask how you, so recently ignorant, know our language?"
+
+"You question me? That is bold! Know that I, the Boss of the Road, show
+ignorance or knowledge, when and where I please. You may go."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+The Escape from Mardonale
+
+
+"That was a wonderful bluff, Dick!" exclaimed the Kofedix in English as
+soon as Nalboon and his guards had disappeared. "That was exactly the
+tone to take with him, too--you've sure got him guessing!"
+
+"It seemed to get him, all right, but I'm wondering how long it'll hold
+him. I think we'd better make a dash for the Skylark right now, before
+he has time to think it over, don't you?"
+
+"That is undoubtedly the best way," Dunark replied, lapsing into his own
+tongue. "Nalboon is plainly in awe of you now, but if I understand him
+at all, he is more than ever determined to seize your vessel, and every
+darkam's delay is dangerous."
+
+The Earth-people quickly secured the few personal belongings they had
+brought with them. Stepping out into the hall and waving away the
+guards, Seaton motioned Dunark to lead the way. The other captives fell
+in behind, as they had done before, and the party walked boldly toward
+the door of the palace. The guards offered no opposition, but stood at
+attention and saluted as they passed. As they approached the entrance,
+however, Seaton saw the major-domo hurrying away and surmised that he
+was carrying the news to Nalboon. Outside the door, walking directly
+toward the landing dock, Dunark spoke in a low voice to Seaton, without
+turning.
+
+"Nalboon knows by this time that we are making our escape, and it will
+be war to the death from here to the Skylark. I do not think there will
+be any pursuit from the palace, but he has warned the officers in charge
+of the dock and they will try to kill us as soon as we step out of the
+elevator, perhaps sooner. Nalboon intended to wait, but we have forced
+his hand and the dock is undoubtedly swarming with soldiers now. Shoot
+first and oftenest. Shoot first and think afterward. Show no mercy, as
+you will receive none--remember that the quality you call 'mercy' does
+not exist upon Osnome."
+
+Rounding a great metal statue about fifty feet from the base of the
+towering dock, they saw that the door leading into one of the elevators
+was wide open and that two guards stood just inside it. As they caught
+sight of the approaching party, the guards raised their rifles; but,
+quick as they were, Seaton was quicker. At the first sight of the open
+door he had made two quick steps and had hurled himself across the
+intervening forty feet in a long football plunge. Before the two guards
+could straighten, he crashed into them, his great momentum hurling them
+across the elevator cage and crushing them into unconsciousness against
+its metal wall.
+
+"Good work!" said Dunark, as he preceded the others into the elevator,
+and, after receiving Seaton's permission, distributed the weapons of the
+two guards among the men of his party. "Now we can surprise those upon
+the roof. That was why you didn't shoot?"
+
+"Yes, I was afraid to risk a shot--it would give the whole thing away,"
+Seaton replied, as he threw the unconscious guards out into the grounds
+and closed the massive door.
+
+"Aren't you going to kill them?" asked Sitar, amazement in every feature
+and a puzzled expression in her splendid eyes. A murmur arose from the
+other Kondalians, which was quickly silenced by the Kofedix.
+
+"It is dishonorable for a soldier of Earth to kill a helpless prisoner,"
+he said briefly. "We cannot understand it, but we must not attempt to
+sway him in any point of honor."
+
+Dunark stepped to the controls and the elevator shot upward, stopping at
+a landing several stories below the top of the dock. He took a peculiar
+device from his belt and fitted it over the muzzle of his strange
+pistol.
+
+"We will get out here," he instructed the others, "and go up the rest of
+the way by a little-used flight of stairs. We will probably encounter
+some few guards, but I can dispose of them without raising an alarm. You
+will all stay behind me, please."
+
+Seaton remonstrated, and Dunark went on:
+
+"No, Seaton, you have done your share, and more. I am upon familiar
+ground now, and can do the work alone better than if you were to help
+me. I will call upon you, however, before we reach the dock."
+
+The Kofedix led the way, his pistol resting lightly against his hip, and
+at the first turn of the corridor they came full upon four guards. The
+pistol did not move from its place at the side of the leader, but there
+were four subdued clicks and the four guards dropped dead, with bullets
+through their brains.
+
+"Seaton, that is _some_ silencer," whispered DuQuesne. "I didn't suppose
+a silencer could work that fast."
+
+"They don't use powder," Seaton replied absently, all his faculties
+directed toward the next corner. "The bullets are propelled by an
+electrical charge."
+
+In the same manner Dunark disposed of several more guards before the
+last stairway was reached.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Seaton," he whispered in English, "now is the time we need your rapid
+pistol-work and your high-explosive shells. There must be hundreds of
+soldiers on the other side of that door, armed with machine-cannon
+shooting high-explosive shells at the rate of a thousand per minute. Our
+chance is this--their guns are probably trained upon the elevators and
+main stairways, since this passage is unused and none of us would be
+expected to know of it. Most of them don't know of it themselves. It
+will take them a second or two to bring their guns to bear upon us. We
+must do all the damage we can--kill them all, if possible--in that
+second or two. If Crane will lend me a pistol, we'll make the rush
+together."
+
+"I've a better scheme than that," interrupted DuQuesne. "Next to you,
+Seaton, I'm the fastest man with a gun here. Also, like you, I can use
+both hands at once. Give me a couple of clips of those special
+cartridges and you and I will blow that bunch into the air before they
+know we're here."
+
+It was decided that the two pistol experts should take the lead, closely
+followed by Crane and Dunark. The weapons were loaded to capacity and
+put in readiness for instant use.
+
+"Let's go, bunch!" said Seaton. "The quicker we start the quicker we'll
+get back. Get ready to run out there, all the rest of you, as soon as
+the battle's over. Ready? On your marks--get set--go!"
+
+He kicked the door open and there was a stuttering crash as the four
+automatic pistols simultaneously burst into practically continuous
+flame--a crash obliterated by an overwhelming concussion of sound as the
+X-plosive shells, sweeping the entire roof with a rapidly-opening fan of
+death, struck their marks and exploded. Well it was for the little group
+of wanderers that the two men in the door were past masters in the art
+of handling their weapons; well it was that they had in their tiny
+pistol-bullets the explosive force of hundreds of giant shells! For rank
+upon rank of soldiery were massed upon the roof; rapid-fire cannon,
+terrible engines of destruction, were pointing toward the elevators and
+toward the main stairways and approaches. But so rapid and fierce was
+the attack, that even those trained gunners had no time to point their
+guns. The battle lasted little more than a second, being over before
+either Crane or Dunark could fire a shot, and silence again reigned even
+while broken and shattered remnants of the guns and fragments of the
+metal and stone of the dock were still falling to the ground through a
+fine mist of what had once been men.
+
+Assured by a rapid glance that not a single Mardonalian remained upon
+the dock, Seaton turned back to the others.
+
+"Make it snappy, bunch! This is going to be a mighty unhealthy spot for
+us in a few minutes."
+
+Dorothy threw her arms around his neck in relief. With one arm about
+her, he hastily led the way across the dock toward the Skylark, choosing
+the path with care because of the yawning holes blown into the structure
+by the terrific force of the explosions. The Skylark was still in place,
+held immovable by the attractor, but what a sight she was! Her crystal
+windows were shattered; her mighty plates of four-foot Norwegian armor
+were bent and cracked and twisted; two of her doors, warped and
+battered, hung awry from their broken hinges. Not a shell had struck
+her: all this damage had been done by flying fragments of the guns and
+of the dock itself; and Seaton and Crane, who had developed the new
+explosive, stood aghast at its awful power.
+
+They hastily climbed into the vessel, and Seaton assured himself that
+the controls were uninjured.
+
+"I hear battleships," Dunark said. "Is it permitted that I operate one
+of your machine guns?"
+
+"Go as far as you like," responded Seaton, as he placed the women
+beneath the copper bar--the safest place in the vessel--and leaped to
+the instrument board. Before he reached it, and while DuQuesne, Crane,
+and Dunark were hastening to the guns, the whine of giant
+helicopter-screws was plainly heard. A ranging shell from the first
+warship, sighted a little low, exploded against the side of the dock
+beneath them. He reached the levers just as the second shell screamed
+through the air a bare four feet above them. As he shot the Skylark into
+the air under five notches of power, a steady stream of the huge bombs
+poured through the spot where, an instant before, the vessel had been.
+Crane and DuQuesne aimed several shots at the battleships, which were
+approaching from all sides, but the range was so extreme that no damage
+was done.
+
+They heard the continuous chattering of the machine gun operated by the
+Kofedix, however, and turned toward him. He was shooting, not at the
+warships, but at the city rapidly growing smaller beneath them; moving
+the barrel of the rifle in a tiny spiral; spraying the entire city with
+death and destruction! As they looked, the first of the shells reached
+the ground, just as Dunark ceased firing for lack of ammunition. They
+saw the palace disappear as if by magic, being instantly blotted out in
+a cloud of dust--a cloud which, with a spiral motion of dizzying
+rapidity, increased in size until it obscured the entire city.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Having attained sufficient altitude to be safe from any possible pursuit
+and out of range of even the heaviest guns, Seaton stopped the vessel
+and went out into the main compartment to consult with the other
+members of the group, about their next move.
+
+"It sure does feel good to get a breath of cool air, folks," he said, as
+he drew with relief a deep breath of the air, which, at that great
+elevation, was of an icy temperature and very thin. He glanced at the
+little group of Kondalians as he spoke, then leaped back to the
+instrument board with an apology on his lips--they were gasping for
+breath and shivering with the cold. He switched on the heating coils and
+dropped the Skylark rapidly in a long descent toward the ocean.
+
+"If that is the temperature you enjoy, I understand at last why you wear
+clothes," said the Kofedix, as soon as he could talk.
+
+"Do not your planes fly up into the regions of low temperature?" asked
+Crane.
+
+"Only occasionally, and all high-flying vessels are enclosed and heated
+to our normal temperature. We have heavy wraps, but we dislike to wear
+them so intensely that we never subject ourselves to any cold."
+
+"Well, there's no accounting for tastes," returned Seaton, "but I can't
+hand your climate a thing. It's hotter even than Washington in August;
+'and that,' as the poet feelingly remarked, 'is going some!'
+
+"But there's no reason for sitting here in the dark," he continued, as
+he switched on the powerful daylight lamps which lighted the vessel with
+the nearest approach to sunlight possible to produce. As soon as the
+lights were on, Dorothy looked intently at the strange women.
+
+"Now we can see what color they really are," she explained to her lover
+in a low voice. "Why, they aren't so very different from what they were
+before, except that the colors are much softer and more pleasing. They
+really are beautiful, in spite of being green. Don't you think so,
+Dick?"
+
+"They're a handsome bunch, all right," he agreed, and they were. Their
+skins were a light, soft green, tanned to an olive shade by their many
+fervent suns. Their teeth were a brilliant and shining grass-green.
+Their eyes and their long, thick hair were a glossy black.
+
+The Kondalians looked at the Earthly visitors and at each other, and the
+women uttered exclamations of horror.
+
+"What a frightful light?" exclaimed Sitar. "Please shut it off. I would
+rather be in total darkness than look like this!"
+
+"What's the matter, Sitar?" asked the puzzled Dorothy as Seaton turned
+off the lights. "You look perfectly stunning in this light."
+
+"They see things differently than we do," explained Seaton. "Their optic
+nerves react differently than ours do. While we look all right to them,
+and they look all right to us, in both kinds of light, they look just as
+different to themselves under our daylight lamps as we do to ourselves
+in their green light. Is that explanation clear?"
+
+"It's clear enough as far as it goes, but what do they look like to
+themselves?"
+
+"That's too deep for me--I can't explain it, any better than you can.
+Take the Osnomian color 'mlap,' for instance. Can you describe it?"
+
+"It's a kind of greenish orange--but it seems as though it ought not to
+look like that color either."
+
+"That's it, exactly. From the knowledge you received from the educator,
+it should be a brilliant purple. That is due to the difference in the
+optic nerves, which explains why we see things so differently from the
+way the Osnomians do. Perhaps they can describe the way they look to
+each other in our white light."
+
+"Can you, Sitar?" asked Dorothy.
+
+"One word describes it--'horrible.'" replied the Kondalian princess, and
+her husband added:
+
+"The colors are distorted and unrecognizable, just as your colors are to
+your eyes in our light."
+
+"Well, now that the color question is answered, let's get going. I
+pretty nearly asked you the way, Dunark--forgot that I know it as well
+as you do."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Skylark set off at as high an altitude as the Osnomians could stand.
+As they neared the ocean several great Mardonalian battleships, warned
+of the escape, sought to intercept them; but the Skylark hopped over
+them easily, out of range of their heaviest guns, and flew onward at
+such speed that pursuit was not even attempted. The ocean was quickly
+crossed. Soon the space-car came to rest over a great city, and Seaton
+pointed out the palace; which, with its landing dock nearby, was very
+similar to that of Nalboon, in the capital city of Mardonale.
+
+Crane drew Seaton to one side.
+
+"Do you think it is safe to trust these Kondalians, any more than it was
+the others? How would it be to stay in the Lark instead of going into
+the palace?"
+
+"Yes, Mart, this bunch can be trusted. Dunark has a lot of darn queer
+ideas, but he's square as a die. He's our friend, and will get us the
+copper. We have no choice now, anyway, look at the bar. We haven't an
+ounce of copper left--we're down to the plating in spots. Besides, we
+couldn't go anywhere if we had a ton of copper, because the old bus is a
+wreck. She won't hold air--you could throw a cat out through the shell
+in any direction. She'll have to have a lot of work done on her before
+we can think of leaving. As to staying in her, that wouldn't help us a
+bit. Steel is as soft as wood to these folks--their shells would go
+through her as though she were made of mush. They are made of metal that
+is harder than diamond and tougher than rubber, and when they strike
+they bore in like drill-bits. If they are out to get us they'll do it
+anyway, whether we're here or there, so we may as well be guests. But
+there's no danger, Mart. You know I swapped brains with him, and I know
+him as well as I know myself. He's a good, square man--one of our kind
+of folks."
+
+Convinced, Crane nodded his head and the Skylark dropped toward the
+dock. While they were still high in air, Dunark took an instrument from
+his belt and rapidly manipulated a small lever. The others felt the air
+vibrate--a peculiar, pulsating wave, which, to the surprise of the
+Earthly visitors, they could read without difficulty. It was a message
+from the Kofedix to the entire city, telling of the escape of his party
+and giving the news that he was accompanied by two great Karfedo from
+another world. Then the pulsations became unintelligible, and all knew
+that he had tuned his instrument away from the "general" key into the
+individual key of some one person.
+
+"I just let my father, the Karfedix, know that we are coming," he
+explained, as the vibrations ceased.
+
+From the city beneath them hundreds of great guns roared forth a
+welcome, banners and streamers hung from every possible point, and the
+air became tinted and perfumed with a bewildering variety of colors and
+scents and quivered with the rush of messages of welcome. The Skylark
+was soon surrounded by a majestic fleet of giant warships, who escorted
+her with impressive ceremony to the landing dock, while around them
+flitted great numbers of other aircraft. The tiny one-man helicopters
+darted hither and thither, apparently always in imminent danger of
+colliding with some of their larger neighbors, but always escaping as
+though by a miracle. Beautiful pleasure-planes soared and dipped and
+wheeled like giant gulls; and, cleaving their stately way through the
+numberless lesser craft; immense multiplane passenger liners partially
+supported by helicopter screws turned aside from their scheduled courses
+to pay homage to the Kofedix of Kondal.
+
+As the Skylark approached the top of the dock, all the escorting vessels
+dropped away and Crane saw that instead of the brilliant assemblage he
+had expected to see upon the landing-place there was only a small group
+of persons, as completely unadorned as were those in the car. In answer
+to his look of surprise, the Kofedix said, with deep feeling:
+
+"My father, mother, and the rest of the family. They know that we, as
+escaped captives, would be without harness or trappings, and are meeting
+us in the same state."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Seaton brought the vessel to the dock near the little group, and the
+Earthly visitors remained inside their vessel while the rulers of Kondal
+welcomed the sons and daughters they had given up for dead.
+
+After the affecting reunion, which was very similar to an earthly one
+under similar circumstances, the Kofedix led his father up to the
+Skylark and his guests stepped down upon the dock.
+
+"Friends," Dunark began, "I have told you of my father, Roban, the
+Karfedix of Kondal. Father, it is a great honor to present to you those
+who rescued us from Mardonale--Seaton, Karfedix of Knowledge; Crane,
+Karfedix of Wealth; Miss Vaneman; and Miss Spencer. Karfedix DuQuesne,"
+waving his hand toward him, "is a lesser Karfedix of Knowledge, captive
+to the others."
+
+"The Kofedix Dunark exaggerates our services," deprecated Seaton, "and
+doesn't mention the fact that he saved all our lives. But for him we all
+should have been killed."
+
+The Karfedix, disregarding Seaton's remark, acknowledged the
+indebtedness of Kondal in heartfelt accents before he led them back to
+the other party and made the introductions. As all walked toward the
+elevators, the emperor turned to his son with a puzzled expression.
+
+"I know from your message, Dunark, that our guests are from a distant
+solar system, and I can understand your accident with the educator, but
+I cannot understand the titles of these men. Knowledge and wealth are
+not ruled over. Are you sure that you have translated their titles
+correctly?"
+
+"As correctly as I can--we have no words in our language to express the
+meaning. Their government is a most peculiar one, the rulers all being
+chosen by the people of the whole nation...."
+
+"Extraordinary!" interjected the older man. "How, then, can anything be
+accomplished?"
+
+"I do not understand the thing myself, it is so utterly unheard-of. But
+they have no royalty, as we understand the term. In America, their
+country, every man is equal.
+
+"That is," he hastened to correct himself, "they are not all equal,
+either, as they have two classes which would rank with royalty--those
+who have attained to great heights of knowledge and those who have
+amassed great wealth. This explanation is entirely inadequate and does
+not give the right idea of their positions, but it is as close as I can
+come to the truth in our language."
+
+"I am surprised that you should be carrying a prisoner with you,
+Karfedo," said Roban, addressing Seaton and Crane. "You will, of course,
+be at perfect liberty to put him to death in any way that pleases you,
+just as though you were in your own kingdoms. But perchance you are
+saving him so that his death will crown your home-coming?"
+
+The Kofedix spoke in answer while Seaton, usually so quick to speak, was
+groping for words.
+
+"No, father, he is not to be put to death. That is another peculiar
+custom of the Earth-men; they consider it dishonorable to harm a
+captive, or even an unarmed enemy. For that reason we must treat the
+Karfedix DuQuesne with every courtesy due his rank, but at the same time
+he is to be allowed to do only such things as may be permitted by Seaton
+and Crane."
+
+"Yet they do not seem to be a weak race," mused the older man.
+
+"They are a mighty race, far advanced in evolution," replied his son.
+"It is not weakness, but a peculiar moral code. We have many things to
+learn from them, and but few to give them in return. Their visit will
+mean much to Kondal."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+During this conversation they had descended to the ground and had
+reached the palace, after traversing grounds even more sumptuous and
+splendid than those surrounding the palace of Nalboon. Inside the palace
+walls the Kofedix himself led the guests to their rooms, accompanied by
+the major-domo and an escort of guards. He explained to them that the
+rooms were all inter-communicating, each having a completely equipped
+bathroom.
+
+"Complete except for cold water, you mean," said Seaton with a smile.
+
+"There is cold water," rejoined the other, leading him into the bathroom
+and releasing a ten-inch stream of lukewarm water into the small
+swimming pool, built of polished metal, which forms part of every
+Kondalian bathroom. "But I am forgetting that you like extreme cold. We
+will install refrigerating machines at once."
+
+"Don't do it--thanks just the same. We won't be here long enough to make
+it worth while."
+
+Dunark smilingly replied that he would make his guests as comfortable as
+he could, and after informing them that in one kam he would return and
+escort them in to koprat, took his leave. Scarcely had the guests
+freshened themselves when he was back, but he was no longer the Dunark
+they had known. He now wore a metal-and-leather harness which was one
+blaze of precious gems, and a leather belt hung with jeweled weapons
+replaced the familiar hollow girdle of metal. His right arm, between the
+wrist and the elbow, was almost covered by six bracelets of a
+transparent metal, deep cobalt-blue in color, each set with an
+incredibly brilliant stone of the same shade. On his left wrist he wore
+an Osnomian chronometer. This was an instrument resembling the odometer
+of an automobile, whose numerous revolving segments revealed a large and
+constantly increasing number--the date and time of the Osnomian day,
+expressed in a decimal number of the karkamo of Kondalian history.
+
+"Greetings, oh guests from Earth! I feel more like myself, now that I am
+again in my trappings and have my weapons at my side. Will you accompany
+me to koprat, or are you not hungry?" as he attached the peculiar
+timepieces to the wrists of the guests, with bracelets of the deep-blue
+metal.
+
+"We accept with thanks," replied Dorothy promptly. "We're starving to
+death, as usual."
+
+As they walked toward the dining hall, Dunark noticed that Dorothy's
+eyes strayed toward his bracelets, and he answered her unasked question:
+
+"These are our wedding rings. Man and wife exchange bracelets as part of
+the ceremony."
+
+"Then you can tell whether a man is married or not, and how many wives
+he has, simply by looking at his arm? We should have something like that
+on Earth, Dick--then married men wouldn't find it so easy to pose as
+bachelors!"
+
+Roban met them at the door of the great dining hall. He also was in full
+panoply, and Dorothy counted ten of the heavy bracelets upon his right
+arm as he led them to places near his own. The room was a replica of the
+other Osnomian dining hall they had seen and the women were decorated
+with the same barbaric splendor of scintillating gems.
+
+After the meal, which was a happy one, taking the nature of a
+celebration in honor of the return of the captives, DuQuesne went
+directly to his room while the others spent the time until the zero hour
+in strolling about the splendid grounds, always escorted by many guards.
+Returning to the room occupied by the two girls, the couples separated,
+each girl accompanying her lover to the door of his room.
+
+Margaret was ill at ease, though trying hard to appear completely
+self-possessed.
+
+"What is the matter, sweetheart Peggy?" asked Crane, solicitously.
+
+"I didn't know that you...." she broke off and continued with a rush:
+"What did the Kofedix mean just now, when he called you the Karfedix of
+Wealth?"
+
+"Well, you see, I happen to have some money...." he began.
+
+"Then you are the great M. Reynolds Crane?" she interrupted, in
+consternation.
+
+"Leave off 'the great,'" he said, then, noting her expression, he took
+her in his arms and laughed slightly.
+
+"Is that all that was bothering you? What does a little money amount to
+between you and me?"
+
+"Nothing--but I'm awfully glad that I didn't know it before," she
+replied, as she returned his caress with fervor. "That is, it means
+nothing if you are perfectly sure I'm not...."
+
+Crane, the imperturbable, broke a life-long rule and interrupted her.
+
+"Do not say that, dear. You know as well as I do that between you and me
+there never have been, are not now, and never shall be, any doubts or
+any questions."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"If I could have a real cold bath now, I'd feel fine," remarked Seaton,
+standing in his own door with Dorothy by his side. "I'm no blooming
+Englishman but in weather as hot as this I sure would like to dive into
+a good cold tank. How do you feel after all this excitement, Dottie? Up
+to standard?"
+
+"I'm scared purple," she replied, nestling against him, "or, at least,
+if not exactly scared, I'm apprehensive and nervous. I always thought I
+had good nerves, but everything here is so horrible and unreal, that I
+can't help but feel it. When I'm with you I really enjoy the experience,
+but when I'm alone or with Peggy, especially in the sleeping-period,
+which is so awfully long and when it seems that something terrible is
+going to happen every minute, my mind goes off in spite of me into
+thoughts of what may happen. Why, last night, Peggy and I just huddled
+up to each other in a ghastly yellow funk--dreading we knew not
+what--the two of us slept hardly at all."
+
+"I'm sorry, little girl," replied Seaton, embracing her tenderly,
+"sorrier than I can say. I know that your nerves are all right, but you
+haven't roughed it enough, or lived in strange environments enough, to
+be able to feel at home. The reason you feel safer with me is that I
+feel perfectly at home here myself, not that your nerves are going to
+pieces or anything like that. It won't be for long, though,
+sweetheart--as soon as we get the chariot fixed up we'll beat it back to
+the Earth so fast it'll make your head spin."
+
+"Yes, I think that's the reason, lover. I hope you won't think I'm a
+clinging vine, but I can't help being afraid of something here every
+time I'm away from you. You're so self-reliant, so perfectly at ease
+here, that it makes me feel the same way."
+
+"I am perfectly at ease. There's nothing to be afraid of. I've been in
+hundreds of worse places, right on Earth. I sure wish I could be with
+you all the time, sweetheart girl--only you can understand just how much
+I wish it--but, as I said before, it won't be long until we can be
+together all the time."
+
+Dorothy pushed him into his room, followed him within it, closed the
+door, and put both hands on his arm.
+
+"Dick, sweetheart," she whispered, while a hot blush suffused her face,
+"you're not as dumb as I thought you were--you're dumber! But if you
+simply won't say it, I will. Don't you know that a marriage that is
+legal where it is performed is legal anywhere, and that no law says that
+the marriage must be performed upon the Earth?"
+
+He pressed her to his heart in a mighty embrace, and his low voice
+showed in every vibration the depth of the feeling he held for the
+beautiful woman in his arms as he replied:
+
+"I never thought of that, sweetheart, and I wouldn't have dared mention
+it if I had. You're so far away from your family and your friends that
+it would seem...."
+
+"It wouldn't seem anything of the kind," she broke in earnestly. "Don't
+you see, you big, dense, wonderful man, that it is the only thing to do?
+We need each other, or at least, I need you, so much now...."
+
+"Say 'each other'; it's right," declared her lover with fervor.
+
+"It's foolish to wait. Mother would like to have seen me married, of
+course; but there will be great advantages, even on that side. A grand
+wedding, of the kind we would simply have to have in Washington, doesn't
+appeal to me any more than it does to you--and it would bore you to
+extinction. Dad would hate it, too--it's better all around to be married
+here."
+
+Seaton, who had been trying to speak, silenced her.
+
+"I'm convinced, Dottie, have been ever since the first word. If you can
+see it that way I'm so glad that I can't express it. I've been scared
+stiff every time I thought of our wedding. I'll speak to the Karfedix
+the first thing in the morning, and we'll be married tomorrow--or rather
+today, since it is past the zero kam," as he glanced at the chronometer
+upon his wrist, which, driven by wireless impulses from the master-clock
+in the national observatory, was clicking off the darkamo with an almost
+inaudible purr of its smoothly-revolving segments.
+
+"How would it be to wake him up and have it done now?"
+
+"Oh, Dick, be reasonable! That would never do. Tomorrow will be most
+awfully sudden, as it is! And Dick, please speak to Martin, will you?
+Peggy's even more scared than I am, and Martin, the dear old stupid, is
+even less likely to suggest such a thing as this kind of a wedding than
+you are. Peggy's afraid to suggest it to him."
+
+"Woman!" he said in mock sternness, "Is this a put-up job?"
+
+"It certainly is. Did you think I had nerve enough to do it without
+help?"
+
+Seaton turned and opened the door.
+
+"Mart! Bring Peggy over here!" he called, as he led Dorothy back into
+the girls' room.
+
+"Heavens, Dick, be careful! You'll spoil the whole thing!"
+
+"No, I won't. Leave it to me--I bashfully admit that I'm a regular
+bear-cat at this diplomatic stuff. Watch my smoke!"
+
+"Folks," he said, when the four were together, "Dottie and I have been
+talking things over, and we've decided that today's the best possible
+date for a wedding. Dottie's afraid of these long, daylight nights, and
+I admit that I'd sleep a lot sounder if I knew where she was all the
+time instead of only part of it. She says she's willing, provided you
+folks see it the same way and make it double. How about it?"
+
+Margaret blushed furiously and Crane's lean, handsome face assumed a
+darker color as he replied:
+
+"A marriage here would, of course, be legal anywhere, provided we have a
+certificate, and we could be married again upon our return if we think
+it desirable. It might look as though we were taking an unfair advantage
+of the girls, Dick, but considering all the circumstances, I think it
+would be the best thing for everyone concerned."
+
+He saw the supreme joy in Margaret's eyes, and his own assumed a new
+light as he drew her into the hollow of his arm.
+
+"Peggy has known me only a short time, but nothing else in the world is
+as certain as our love. It is the bride's privilege to set the date, so
+I will only say that it cannot be too soon for me."
+
+"The sooner the better," said Margaret, with a blush that would have
+been divine in any earthly light, "did you say 'today,' Dick?"
+
+"I'll see the Karfedix as soon as he gets up," he answered, and walked
+with Dorothy to his door.
+
+"I'm just too supremely happy for words," Dorothy whispered in Seaton's
+ear as he bade her good-night. "I won't be able to sleep or anything!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+An Osnomian Marriage
+
+
+Seaton awoke, hot and uncomfortable, but with a great surge of joy in
+his heart--this was his wedding day! Springing from the bed, he released
+the full stream of the "cold" water, filling the tank in a few moments.
+Poising lightly upon the edge, he made a clean, sharp dive, and yelled
+in surprise as he came snorting to the surface. For Dunark had made good
+his promise--the water was only a few degrees above the freezing point!
+After a few minutes of vigorous splashing in the icy water, he rubbed
+himself down with a coarse towel, shaved, threw on his clothes, and
+lifted his powerful, but musical, bass voice in the wedding chorus from
+"The Rose Maiden."
+
+    _"Rise, sweet maid, arise, arise,
+    Rise, sweet maid, arise, arise,
+    'Tis the last fair morning for thy maiden eyes,"_
+
+he sang lustily, out of his sheer joy in being alive, and was surprised
+to hear Dorothy's clear soprano, Margaret's pleasing contralto, and
+Crane's mellow tenor chime in from the adjoining room. Crane threw open
+the door and Seaton joined the others.
+
+"Good morning. Dick, you sound happy," said Crane.
+
+"Who wouldn't be? Look what's doing today," as he ardently embraced his
+bride-to-be. "Besides, I found some cold water this morning."
+
+"Everyone in the palace heard you discovering it," dryly returned Crane,
+and the girls laughed merrily.
+
+"It surprised me at first," admitted Seaton, "but it's great after a
+fellow once gets wet."
+
+"We warmed ours a trifle," said Dorothy. "I like a cold bath myself, but
+not in ice-water."
+
+All four became silent, thinking of the coming event of the day, until
+Crane said:
+
+"They have ministers here, I know, and I know something of their
+religion, but my knowledge is rather vague. You know more about it than
+we do, Dick, suppose you tell us about it while we wait."
+
+Seaton paused a moment, with an odd look on his face. As one turning the
+pages of an unfamiliar book of reference, he was seeking the answer to
+Crane's question in the vast store of Osnomian information received from
+Dunark. His usually ready speech came a little slowly.
+
+"Well, as nearly as I can explain it, it's a funny kind of a
+mixture--partly theology, partly Darwinism, or at least, making a fetish
+of evolution, and partly pure economic determinism. They believe in a
+Supreme Being, whom they call the First Cause--that is the nearest
+English equivalent--and they recognize the existence of an immortal and
+unknowable life-principle, or soul. They believe that the First Cause
+has decreed the survival of the fittest as the fundamental law, which
+belief accounts for their perfect physiques...."
+
+"Perfect physiques? Why, they're as weak as children," interrupted
+Dorothy.
+
+"Yes, but that is because of the smallness of the planet," returned
+Seaton. "You see, a man of my size weighs only eighty-six pounds here,
+on a spring balance, so he would need only the muscular development of a
+boy of twelve or so. In a contest of strength, either of you girls could
+easily handle two of the strongest men upon Osnome. In fact, the average
+Osnomian could stand up on our Earth only with the greatest difficulty.
+But that isn't the fault of the people; they are magnificently developed
+for their surroundings. They have attained this condition by centuries
+of weeding out the unfit. They have no hospitals for the feeble-minded
+or feeble-bodied--abnormal persons are not allowed to live. The same
+reasoning accounts for their perfect cleanliness, moral and physical.
+Vice is practically unknown. They believe that clean living and clean
+thinking are rewarded by the production of a better physical and mental
+type...."
+
+"Yes, especially as they correct wrong living by those terrible
+punishments the Kofedix told us about," interrupted Margaret.
+
+"That probably helps some. They also believe that the higher the type
+is, the faster will evolution proceed, and the sooner will mankind reach
+what they call the Ultimate Goal, and know all things. Believing as they
+do that the fittest must survive, and thinking themselves, of course,
+the superior type, it is ordained that Mardonale must be destroyed
+utterly, root and branch. They believe that the slaves are so low in the
+scale, millions of years behind in evolution, that they do not count.
+Slaves are simply intelligent and docile animals, little more than
+horses or oxen. Mardonalians and savages are unfit to survive and must
+be exterminated.
+
+"Their ministers are chosen from the very fittest. They are the
+strongest, cleanest-living, and most vigorous men of this clean and
+vigorous nation, and are usually high army officers as well as
+ministers."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+An attendant announced the coming of the Karfedix and his son, to pay
+the call of state. After the ceremonious greetings had been exchanged,
+all went into the dining hall for darprat. As soon as the meal was over,
+Seaton brought up the question of the double wedding that kokam, and the
+Karfedix was overjoyed.
+
+"Karfedix Seaton," he said earnestly, "nothing could please us more than
+to have such a ceremony performed in our palace. Marriage between such
+highly-evolved persons as are you four is wished by the First Cause,
+whose servants we are. Aside from that, it is an unheard-of honor for
+any ruler to have even one karfedix married beneath his roof, and you
+are granting me the privilege of two! I thank you, and assure you that
+we will do our poor best to make the occasion memorable."
+
+"Don't do anything fancy," said Seaton hastily. "A simple, plain wedding
+will do."
+
+Unheeding Seaton's remark, the Karfedix took his wireless from its hook
+at his belt and sent a brief message.
+
+"I have summoned Karbix Tarnan to perform the ceremony. Our usual time
+for ceremonies is just before koprat--is that time satisfactory to you?"
+
+Assured that it was, he turned to his son.
+
+"Dunark, you are more familiar than I with the customs of our
+illustrious visitors. May I ask you to take charge of the details?"
+
+While Dunark sent a rapid succession of messages, Dorothy whispered to
+Seaton:
+
+"They must be going to make a real function of our double wedding, Dick.
+The Karbix is the highest dignitary of the church, isn't he?"
+
+"Yes, in addition to being the Commander-in-Chief of all the Kondalian
+armies. Next to the Karfedix he is the most powerful man in the empire.
+Something tells me, Dottie, that this is going to be SOME ceremony!"
+
+As Dunark finished telegraphing, Seaton turned to him.
+
+"Dorothy said, a while ago, that she would like to have enough of that
+tapestry-fabric for a dress. Do you suppose it could be managed?"
+
+"Certainly. In all state ceremonials we always wear robes made out of
+the same fabric as the tapestries, but much finer and more delicate. I
+would have suggested it, but thought perhaps the ladies would prefer
+their usual clothing. I know that you two men do not care to wear our
+robes?"
+
+"We will wear white ducks, the dressiest and coolest things we have
+along," replied Seaton. "Thank you for your offer, but you know how it
+is. We should feel out of place in such gorgeous dress."
+
+"I understand. I will call in a few of our most expert robe-makers, who
+will weave the gowns. Before they come, let us decide upon the ceremony.
+I think you are familiar with our marriage customs, but I will explain
+them to make sure. Each couple is married twice. The first marriage is
+symbolized by the exchange of plain bracelets and lasts four karkamo,
+during which period divorce may be obtained at will. The children of
+such divorced couples formerly became wards of the state, but in my
+lifetime I have not heard of there being any such children--all divorces
+are now between couples who discover their incompatibility before
+children are conceived."
+
+"That surprises me greatly," said Crane. "Some system of trial-marriage
+is advocated among us on Earth every few years, but they all so surely
+degenerate into free love that no such system has found a foothold."
+
+"We are not troubled in that way at all. You see, before the first
+marriage, each couple, from the humblest peasantry to the highest
+royalty, must submit to a mental examination. If they are marrying for
+any reason at all other than love, such as any thought of trifling in
+the mind of the man, or if the woman is marrying him for his wealth or
+position, he or she is summarily executed, regardless of station."
+
+No other questions being asked, Dunark continued:
+
+"At the end of four karkamo the second marriage is performed, which is
+indissoluble. In this ceremony jeweled bracelets are substituted for the
+plain ones. In the case of highly-evolved persons it is permitted that
+the two ceremonies be combined into one. Then there is a third ceremony,
+used only in the marriage of persons of the very highest evolution, in
+which the 'eternal' vows are taken and the faidon, the eternal jewel, is
+exchanged. As you are all in the permitted class, you may use the
+eternal ceremony if you wish."
+
+"I think we all know our minds well enough to know that we want to be
+married for good--the longer the better," said Seaton, positively.
+"We'll make it the eternal, won't we, folks?"
+
+"I should like to ask one question," said Crane, thoughtfully. "Does
+that ceremony imply that my wife would be breaking her vows if she
+married again upon my death?"
+
+"Far from it. Numbers of our men are killed every karkam. Their wives,
+if of marriageable age, are expected to marry again. Then, too, you know
+that most Kondalian men have several wives. No matter how many wives or
+husbands may be linked together in that way, it merely means that after
+death their spirits will be grouped into one. Just as in your
+chemistry," smiling in comradely fashion at Seaton, "a varying number of
+elements may unite to form a stable compound."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+After a short pause, the speaker went on:
+
+"Since you are from the Earth and unaccustomed to bracelets, rings will
+be substituted for them. The plain rings will take the place of your
+Earthly wedding rings, the jeweled ones that of your engagement rings.
+The only difference is that while we discard the plain bracelets, you
+will continue to wear them. Have you men any objections to wearing the
+rings during the ceremony? You may discard them later if you wish and
+still keep the marriage valid."
+
+"Not I! I'll wear mine all my life," responded Seaton earnestly, and
+Crane expressed the same thought.
+
+"There is only one more thing," added the Kofedix. "That is, about the
+mental examination. Since it is not your custom, it is probable that the
+justices would waive the ruling, especially since everyone must be
+examined by a jury of his own or a superior rank, so that only one man,
+my father alone, could examine you."
+
+"Not in a thousand years!" replied Seaton emphatically. "I want to be
+examined, and have Dorothy see the record. I don't care about having her
+put through it, but I want her to know exactly the kind of a guy she is
+getting."
+
+Dorothy protested at this, but as all four were eager that they
+themselves should be tested, the Karfedix was notified and Dunark
+clamped sets of multiple electrodes, connected to a set of instruments,
+upon the temples of his father, Dorothy, and Seaton. He pressed a lever,
+and instantly Dorothy and Seaton read each other's minds to the minutest
+detail, and each knew that the Karfedix was reading the minds of both.
+
+After Margaret and Crane had been examined, the Karfedix expressed
+himself as more than satisfied.
+
+"You are all of the highest evolution and your minds are all untainted
+by any base thoughts in your marriage. The First Cause will smile upon
+your unions," he said solemnly.
+
+"Let the robe-makers appear," the Karfedix ordered, and four women, hung
+with spools of brilliantly-colored wire of incredible fineness and with
+peculiar looms under their arms, entered the room and accompanied the
+two girls to their apartment.
+
+As soon as the room was empty save for the four men, Dunark said:
+
+"While I was in Mardonale, I heard bits of conversation regarding an
+immense military discovery possessed by Nalboon, besides the gas whose
+deadly effects we felt. I could get no inkling of its nature, but feel
+sure that it is something to be dreaded. I also heard that both of these
+secrets had been stolen from Kondal, and that we were to be destroyed by
+our own superior inventions."
+
+The Karfedix nodded his head gloomily.
+
+"That is true, my son--partly true, at least. We shall not be destroyed,
+however. Kondal shall triumph. The discoveries were made by a Kondalian,
+but I am as ignorant as are you concerning their nature. An obscure
+inventor, living close to the bordering ocean, was the discoverer. He
+was rash enough to wireless me concerning them. He would not reveal
+their nature, but requested a guard. The Mardonalian patrol intercepted
+the message and captured both him and his discoveries before our guard
+could arrive."
+
+"That's easily fixed," suggested Seaton. "Let's get the Skylark fixed
+up, and we'll go jerk Nalboon out of his palace--if he's still
+alive--bring him over here, and read his mind."
+
+"That might prove feasible," answered the Kofedix, "and in any event we
+must repair the Skylark and replenish her supply of copper immediately.
+That must be our first consideration, so that you, our guests, will
+have a protection in any emergency."
+
+The Karfedix went to his duties and the other three made their way to
+the wrecked space-car. They found that besides the damage done to the
+hull, many of the instruments were broken, including one of the
+object-compasses focused upon the Earth.
+
+"It's a good thing you had three of them, Mart. I sure hand it to you
+for preparedness," said Seaton, as he tossed the broken instruments out
+upon the dock. Dunark protested at this treatment, and placed the
+discarded instruments in a strong metal safe, remarking:
+
+"These things may prove useful at some future time."
+
+"Well, I suppose the first thing to do is to get some powerful jacks and
+straighten these plates," said Seaton.
+
+"Why not throw away this soft metal, steel, and build it of arenak, as
+it should be built? You have plenty of salt," suggested Dunark.
+
+"Fine! We have lots of salt in the galley, haven't we, Mart?"
+
+"Yes, nearly a hundred pounds. We are stocked for emergencies, with two
+years' supply of food, you know."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Dunark's eyes opened in astonishment at the amount mentioned, in spite
+of his knowledge of earthly conditions. He started to say something,
+then stopped in confusion, but Seaton divined his thought.
+
+"We can spare him fifty pounds as well as not, can't we, Mart?"
+
+"Certainly. Fifty pounds of salt is a ridiculously cheap price for what
+he is doing for us, even though it is very rare here."
+
+Dunark acknowledged the gift with shining eyes and heartfelt, but not
+profuse, thanks, and bore the precious bag to the palace under a heavy
+escort. He returned with a small army of workmen, and after making tests
+to assure himself that the power-bar would work as well through arenak
+as through steel, he instructed the officers concerning the work to be
+done. As the wonderfully skilled mechanics set to work without a single
+useless motion, the prince stood silent, with a look of care upon his
+handsome face.
+
+"Worrying about Mardonale, Dunark?"
+
+"Yes. I cannot help wondering what that terrible new engine of
+destruction is, which Nalboon now has at his command."
+
+"Say, why don't you build a bus like the Skylark, and blow Mardonale off
+the map?"
+
+"Building the vessel would be easy enough, but X is as yet unknown upon
+Osnome."
+
+"We've got a lot of it...."
+
+"I could not accept it. The salt was different, since you have plenty.
+X, however, is as scarce upon Earth as salt is upon Osnome."
+
+"Sure you can accept it. We stopped at a planet that has lots of it, and
+we've got an object-compass pointing at it so that we can go back and
+get more of it any time we want it. We've got more of it on hand now
+than we're apt to need for a long time, so have a hunk and get busy,"
+and he easily carried one of the lumps out of his cabin and tossed it
+upon the dock, from whence it required two of Kondal's strongest men to
+lift it.
+
+The look of care vanished from the face of the prince and he summoned
+another corps of mechanics.
+
+"How thick shall the walls be? Our battleships are armed with arenak the
+thickness of a hand, but with your vast supply of salt you may have it
+any thickness you wish, since the materials of the matrix are cheap and
+abundant."
+
+"One inch would be enough, but everything in the bus is designed for a
+four-foot shell, and if we change it from four feet we'll have to
+redesign our guns and all our instruments. Let's make it four feet."
+
+Seaton turned to the crippled Skylark, upon which the first crew of
+Kondalian mechanics were working with skill and with tools undreamed-of
+upon Earth. The whole interior of the vessel was supported by a complex
+falsework of latticed metal, then the four-foot steel plates and the
+mighty embers, the pride of the great MacDougall, were cut away as
+though they were made of paper by revolving saws and enormous power
+shears. The sphere, grooved for the repellers and with the members,
+braces, and central machinery complete, of the exact dimensions of the
+originals, was rapidly moulded of a stiff, plastic substance resembling
+clay. This matrix soon hardened into a rock-like mass into which the
+doors, machine-gun emplacements, and other openings were carefully cut.
+All surfaces were then washed with a dilute solution of salt, which the
+workmen handled as though it were radium. Two great plates of platinum
+were clamped into place upon either side of the vessel, each plate
+connected by means of silver cables as large as a man's leg to the
+receiving terminal of an enormous wireless power station. The current
+was applied and the great spherical mass apparently disappeared, being
+transformed instantly into the transparent metal arenak. Then indeed had
+the Earth-men a vehicle such as had never been seen before! A four-foot
+shell of metal five hundred times as strong and hard as the strongest
+and hardest steel, cast in one piece with the sustaining framework
+designed by the world's foremost engineer--a structure that no
+conceivable force could deform or injure, housing an inconceivable
+propulsive force!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The falsework was rapidly removed and the sustaining framework was
+painted with opaque varnish to render it plainly visible. At Seaton's
+suggestion the walls of the cabins were also painted, leaving
+transparent several small areas to serve as windows.
+
+The second work-period was drawing to a close, and as Seaton and Crane
+were to be married before koprat, they stopped work. They marveled at
+the amount that had been accomplished, and the Kofedix told them:
+
+"Both vessels will be finished tomorrow, except for the controlling
+instruments, which we will have to make ourselves. Another crew will
+work during the sleeping-period, installing the guns and other fittings.
+Do you wish to have your own guns installed, or guns of our pattern?
+You are familiar with them now."
+
+"Our own, please. They are slower and less efficient than yours, but we
+are used to them and have a lot of X-plosive ammunition for them,"
+replied Seaton, after a short conference with Crane.
+
+After instructing the officers in charge of the work, the three returned
+to the palace, the hearts of two of them beating high in anticipation.
+Seaton went into Crane's room, accompanied by two attendants bearing his
+suitcase and other luggage.
+
+"We should have brought along dress clothes, Mart. Why didn't you think
+of that, too?"
+
+"Nothing like this ever entered my mind. It is a good thing we brought
+along ducks and white soft shirts. I must say that this is extremely
+informal garb for a state wedding, but since the natives are ignorant of
+our customs, it will not make any difference."
+
+"That's right, too--we'll make 'em think it's the most formal kind of
+dress. Dunark knows what's what, but he knows that full dress would be
+unbearable here. We'd melt down in a minute. It's plenty hot enough as
+it is, with only duck trousers and sport-shirts on. They'll look green
+instead of white, but that's a small matter."
+
+Dunark, as best man, entered the room some time later.
+
+"Give us a look, Dunark," begged Seaton, "and see if we'll pass
+inspection. I was never so rattled in my life."
+
+They were clad in spotless white, from their duck oxfords to the white
+ties encircling the open collars of their tennis shirts. The two tall
+figures--Crane's slender, wiry, at perfect ease; Seaton's
+broad-shouldered, powerful, prowling about with unconscious, feline
+suppleness and grace--and the two handsome, high-bred, intellectual
+faces, each wearing a look of eager happiness, fully justified Dunark's
+answer.
+
+"You sure will do!" he pronounced enthusiastically, and with Seaton's
+own impulsive good will he shook hands and wished them an eternity of
+happiness.
+
+"When you have spoken with your brides," he continued, "I shall be
+waiting to escort you into the chapel. Sitar told me to say that the
+ladies are ready."
+
+Dorothy and Margaret had been dressed in their bridal gowns by Sitar and
+several other princesses, under the watchful eyes of the Karfedir
+herself. Sitar placed the two girls side by side and drew off to survey
+her work.
+
+"You are the loveliest creatures in the whole world!" she cried.
+
+They looked at each other's glittering gowns, then Margaret glanced at
+Dorothy's face and a look of dismay overspread her own.
+
+"Oh, Dottie!" she gasped. "Your lovely complexion! Isn't it terrible for
+the boys to see us in this light?"
+
+There was a peal of delighted laughter from Sitar and she spoke to one
+of the servants, who drew dark curtains across the windows and pressed a
+switch, flooding the room with brilliant white light.
+
+"Dunark installed lamps like those of your ship for you," she explained
+with intense satisfaction. "I knew in advance just how you would feel
+about your color."
+
+Before the girls had time to thank their thoughtful hostess she
+disappeared and their bridegrooms stood before them. For a moment no
+word was spoken. Seaton stared at Dorothy hungrily, almost doubting the
+evidence of his senses. For white was white, pink was pink, and her hair
+shone in all its natural splendor of burnished bronze.
+
+In their wondrous Osnomian bridal robes the beautiful Earth-maidens
+stood before their lovers. Upon their feet were jeweled slippers. Their
+lovely bodies were clothed in softly shimmering garments that left their
+rounded arms and throats bare--garments infinitely more supple than the
+finest silk, thick-woven of metallic threads of such fineness that the
+individual wires were visible only under a lens; garments that floated
+and clung about their perfect forms in lines of exquisite grace. For
+black-haired Margaret, with her ivory skin, the Kondalian princess had
+chosen a background of a rare white metal, upon which, in complicated
+figures, glistened numberless jewels of pale colors, more brilliant than
+diamonds. Dorothy's dress was of a peculiar, dark-green shade,
+half-hidden by an intricate design of blazing green gems--the strange,
+luminous jewels of this strange world. Both girls wore their long, heavy
+hair unbound, after the Kondalian bridal fashion, brushed until it fell
+like mist about them and confined at the temples by metallic bands
+entirely covered with jewels.
+
+Seaton looked from Dorothy to Margaret and back again; looked down into
+her violet eyes, deep with wonder and with love, more beautiful than any
+jewel in all her gorgeous costume. Unheeding the presence of the others,
+she put her dainty hands upon his mighty shoulders and stood on tiptoe.
+
+"I love you, Dick. Now and always, here or at home or anywhere in the
+Universe. We'll never be parted again," she whispered, and her own
+beloved violin had no sweeter tones than had her voice.
+
+A few minutes later, her eyes wet and shining, she drew herself away
+from him and glanced at Margaret.
+
+"Isn't she the most beautiful thing you ever laid eyes on?"
+
+"No," Seaton answered promptly, "she is not--but poor old Mart thinks
+she is!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Accompanied by the Karfedix and his son, Seaton and Crane went into the
+chapel, which, already brilliant, had been decorated anew with even
+greater splendor. Glancing through the wide arches they saw, for the
+first time, Osnomians clothed. The great room was filled with the
+highest nobility of Kondal, wearing their heavily-jeweled, resplendent
+robes of state. Every color of the rainbow and numberless fantastic
+patterns were there, embodied in the soft, lustrous, metallic fabric.
+
+As the men entered one door Dorothy and Margaret, with the Karfedir and
+Sitar, entered the other, and the entire assemblage rose to its feet and
+snapped into the grand salute. Moving to the accompaniment of strange
+martial music from concealed instruments, the two parties approached
+each other, meeting at the raised platform or pulpit where Karbix
+Tarnan, a handsome, stately, middle-aged man who carried easily his
+hundred and fifty karkamo of age, awaited them. As he raised his arms,
+the music ceased.
+
+It was a solemn and wonderfully impressive spectacle. The room, of
+burnished metal, with its bizarre decorations wrought in scintillating
+gems; the constantly changing harmony of colors as the invisible lamps
+were shifted from one shade to another; the group of mighty nobles
+standing rigidly at attention in a silence so profound that it was an
+utter absence of everything audible as the Karbix lifted both arms in a
+silent invocation of the great First Cause--all these things deepened
+the solemnity of that solemn moment.
+
+When Tarnan spoke, his voice, deep with some great feeling, inexplicable
+even to those who knew him best, carried clearly to every part of the
+great chamber.
+
+"Friends, it is our privilege to assist today in a most notable event,
+the marriage of four personages from another world. For the first time
+in the history of Osnome, one karfedix has the privilege of entertaining
+the bridal party of another. It is not for this fact alone, however,
+that this occasion is to be memorable. A far deeper reason is that we
+are witnessing, possibly for the first time in the history of the
+Universe, the meeting upon terms of mutual fellowship and understanding
+of the inhabitants of two worlds separated by unthinkable distances of
+trackless space and by equally great differences in evolution,
+conditions of life, and environment. Yet these strangers are actuated by
+the spirit of good faith and honor which is instilled into every worthy
+being by the great First Cause, in the working out of whose vast
+projects all things are humble instruments.
+
+"In honor of the friendship of the two worlds, we will proceed with the
+ceremony.
+
+"Richard Seaton and Martin Crane, exchange the plain rings with Dorothy
+Vaneman and Margaret Spencer."
+
+They did so, and repeated, after the Karbix, simple vows of love and
+loyalty.
+
+"May the First Cause smile upon this temporary marriage and render it
+worthy of being made permanent. As a lowly servant of the all-powerful
+First Cause I pronounce you two, and you two, husband and wife. But we
+must remember that the dull vision of mortal man cannot pierce the veil
+of futurity, which is as crystal to the all-beholding eye of the First
+Cause. Though you love each other truly, unforeseen things may come
+between you to mar the perfection of your happiness. Therefore a time is
+granted you during which you may discover whether or not your unions are
+perfect."
+
+A pause ensued, then Tarnan went on:
+
+"Martin Crane, Margaret Spencer, Richard Seaton, and Dorothy Vaneman,
+you are before us to take the final vows which shall bind your bodies
+together for life and your spirits together for eternity. Have you
+considered the gravity of this step sufficiently to enter into this
+marriage without reservation?"
+
+"I have," solemnly replied the four, in unison.
+
+"Exchange the jeweled rings. Do you, Richard Seaton and Dorothy Vaneman;
+and you, Martin Crane and Margaret Spencer; individually swear, here in
+the presence of the First Cause and that of the Supreme Justices of
+Kondal, that you will be true and loyal, each helping his chosen one in
+all things, great and small; that never throughout eternity, in thought
+or in action, will either your body or your mind or your conscious
+spirit stray from the path of fairness and truth and honor?"
+
+"I do."
+
+"I pronounce you married with the eternal marriage. Just as the faidon
+which you each now wear--the eternal jewel which no force of man,
+however applied, has yet been able to change or deform in any
+particular; and which continues to give off its inward light without
+change throughout eternity--shall endure through endless cycles of time
+after the metal of the ring which holds it shall have crumbled in decay:
+even so shall your spirits, formerly two, now one and indissoluble,
+progress in ever-ascending evolution throughout eternity after the base
+material which is your bodies shall have returned to the senseless dust
+from whence it arose."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Karbix lowered his arms and the bridal party walked to the door
+through a double rank of uplifted weapons. From the chapel they were led
+to another room, where the contracting parties signed their names in a
+register. The Kofedix then brought forward two marriage
+certificates--heavy square plates of a brilliant purple metal,
+beautifully engraved in parallel columns of English and Kondalian
+script, and heavily bordered with precious stones. The principals and
+witnesses signed below each column, the signatures being deeply engraved
+by the royal engraver. Leaving the registry, they were escorted to the
+dining hall, where a truly royal repast was served. Between courses the
+highest nobles of the nation welcomed the visitors and wished them
+happiness in short but earnest addresses. After the last course had been
+disposed of, the Karbix rose at a sign from the Karfedix and spoke, his
+voice again agitated by the emotion which had puzzled his hearers during
+the marriage service.
+
+"All Kondal is with us here in spirit, trying to aid us in our poor
+attempts to convey our welcome to these our guests, of whose friendship
+no greater warrant could be given than their willingness to grant us the
+privilege of their marriage. Not only have they given us a boon that
+will make their names revered throughout the nation as long as Kondal
+shall exist, but they have also been the means of showing us plainly
+that the First Cause is upon our side, that our age-old institution of
+honor is in truth the only foundation upon which can be built a race
+fitted to survive. At the same time they have been the means of showing
+us that our hated foe, entirely without honor, building his race upon a
+foundation of bloodthirsty savagery alone, is building wrongly and must
+perish utterly from the face of Osnome."
+
+His hearers listened, impressed by his earnestness, but plainly not
+understanding his meaning.
+
+"You do not understand?" he went on, with a deep light shining in his
+eyes. "It is inevitable that two peoples inhabiting worlds so widely
+separated as are our two should be possessed of widely-varying knowledge
+and abilities, and these strangers have already made it possible for us
+to construct engines of destruction which shall obliterate Mardonale
+completely...." A fierce shout of joy interrupted the speaker and the
+nobles sprang to their feet, saluting the visitors with upraised
+weapons. As soon as they had reseated themselves, the Karbix continued:
+
+"That is the boon. The vindication of our system of evolution is easily
+explained. The strangers landed first upon Mardonale. Had Nalboon met
+them in honor, he would have gained the boon. But he, with the savagery
+characteristic of his evolution, attempted to kill his guests and steal
+their treasures, with what results you already know. We, on our part, in
+exchange for the few and trifling services we have been able to render
+them, have received even more than Nalboon would have obtained, had his
+plans not been nullified by their vastly superior state of evolution."
+
+The orator seated himself and there was a deafening clamor of cheering
+as the nobles formed themselves into an escort of honor and conducted
+the two couples to their apartments.
+
+Alone in their room, Dorothy turned to her husband with tears shining in
+her beautiful eyes.
+
+"Dick, sweetheart, wasn't that the most wonderful thing that anybody
+ever heard of? Using the word in all its real meaning, it was
+indescribably grand, and that old man is simply superb. It makes me
+ashamed of myself to think that I was ever afraid or nervous here."
+
+"It sure was all of that, Dottie mine, little bride of an hour. The
+whole thing gets right down to where a fellow lives--I've got a lump in
+my throat right now so big that it hurts me to think. Earthly marriages
+are piffling in comparison with that ceremony. It's no wonder they're
+happy, after taking those vows--especially as they don't have to take
+them until after they are sure of themselves.
+
+"But we're sure already, sweetheart," as he embraced her with all the
+feeling of his nature. "Those vows are not a bit stronger than the ones
+we have already exchanged--bodily and mentally and spiritually we are
+one, now and forever."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+Bird, Beast, or Fish?
+
+
+"These jewels rather puzzle me, Dick. What are they?" asked Martin, as
+the four assembled, waiting for the first meal. As he spoke he held up
+his third finger, upon which gleamed the royal jewel of Osnome in its
+splendid Belcher mounting of arenak as transparent as the jewel itself
+and having the same intense blue color. "I know the name, 'faidon,' but
+that's all I seem to know."
+
+"That's about all that anybody knows about them. It is a
+naturally-occurring, hundred-faceted crystal, just as you see it
+there--deep blue, perfectly transparent, intensely refractive, and
+constantly emitting that strong, blue light. It is so hard that it
+cannot be worked, cut, or ground. No amount of the hardest known
+abrasive will even roughen its surface. No blow, however great, will
+break it--it merely forces its way into the material of the hammer,
+however hard the hammer may be. No extremity of either heat or cold
+affects it in any degree, it is the same when in the most powerful
+electric arc as it is when immersed in liquid helium."
+
+"How about acids?"
+
+"That is what I am asking myself. Osnomians aren't much force at
+chemistry. I'm going to try to get hold of another one, and see if I
+can't analyze it, just for fun. I can't seem to convince myself that a
+real atomic structure could be that large."
+
+"No, it is rather large for an atom," and turning to the two girls, "How
+do you like your solitaires?"
+
+"They're perfectly beautiful, and the Tiffany mounting is exquisite,"
+replied Dorothy, enthusiastically, "but they're so awfully big! They're
+as big as ten-carat diamonds, I do believe."
+
+"Just about," replied Seaton, "but at that, they're the smallest Dunark
+could find. They have been kicking around for years, he says--so small
+that nobody wanted them. They wear big ones on their bracelets, you
+know. You sure will make a hit in Washington, Dottie. People will think
+you're wearing a bottle-stopper until they see it shining in the dark,
+then they'll think it's an automobile headlight. But after a few
+jewelers have seen these stones, one of them will be offering us five
+million dollars apiece for them, trying to buy them for some dizzy old
+dame who wants to put out the eyes of some of her social rivals. Yes?
+No?"
+
+"That's about right, Dick," replied Crane, and his face wore a
+thoughtful look. "We can't keep it secret that we have a new jewel,
+since all four of us will be wearing them continuously, and anyone who
+knows jewels at all will recognize these as infinitely superior to any
+known Earthly jewel. In fact, they may get some of us into trouble, as
+fabulously valuable jewels usually do."
+
+"That's true, too. So we'll let it out casually that they're as common
+as mud up here--that we're just wearing them for sentiment, which is
+true, and that we're thinking of bringing back a shipload to sell for
+parking lights."
+
+"That would probably keep anyone from trying to murder our wives for
+their rings, at least."
+
+"Have you read your marriage certificate, Dick?" asked Margaret.
+
+"Not yet. Let's look at it, Dottie."
+
+She produced the massive, heavily-jeweled document, and the auburn head
+and the brown one were very close to each other as they read together
+the English side of the certificate. Their vows were there, word for
+word, with their own signatures beneath them, all deeply engraved into
+the metal. Seaton smiled as he saw the legal form engraved below their
+signatures, and read aloud:
+
+     "I, the Head of the Church and the Commander-in-Chief of the armed
+     forces of Kondal, upon the planet Osnome, certify that I have this
+     day, in the city of Kondalek, of said nation and planet, joined in
+     indissoluble bonds of matrimony, Richard Ballinger Seaton, Doctor
+     of Philosophy, and Dorothy Lee Vaneman; Doctor of Music; both of
+     the city of Washington, District of Columbia, United States of
+     America, upon the planet Earth, in strict compliance with the
+     marriage laws, both of Kondal and of the United States of America.
+
+     TARNAN."
+
+     Witnesses:
+       ROBAN, Emperor of Kondal.
+       TURAL, Empress of Kondal.
+       DUNARK, Crown Prince of Kondal.
+       SITAR, Crown Princess of Kondal.
+       MARC C. DUQUESNE, Ph. D., Washington, D. C.
+
+"That is SOME document," remarked Seaton. "Probably a lawyer could find
+fault with his phraseology, but I'll bet that this thing would hold in
+any court in the world. Think you'll get married again when we get back,
+Mart?"
+
+Both girls protested, and Crane answered:
+
+"No, I think not. Our ceremony would be rather an anticlimax after this
+one, and this one will undoubtedly prove legal. I intend to register
+this just as it is, and get a ruling from the courts. But it is time for
+breakfast. Pardon me--I should have said 'darprat,' for it certainly is
+not breakfast-time by Washington clocks. My watch says that it is
+eleven-thirty P. M."
+
+"This system of time is funny," remarked Dorothy. "I just can't get used
+to having no night, and...."
+
+"And it's such a long time between eats, as the famous governor said
+about the drinks," broke in Seaton.
+
+"How did you know what I was going to say, Dick?"
+
+"Husbandly intuition," he grinned, "aided and abetted by a normal
+appetite that rebels at seventeen hours between supper and breakfast,
+and nine hours between the other meals. Well, it's time to eat--let's
+go!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+After eating, the men hurried to the Skylark. During the sleeping-period
+the vessel had been banded with the copper repellers: the machine guns
+and instruments, including the wonderful Osnomian wireless system, had
+been installed; and, except for the power-bars, she was ready for a
+voyage. The Kondalian vessel was complete, even to the cushions, but was
+without instruments.
+
+After a brief conversation with the officer in charge, Dunark turned to
+Seaton.
+
+"Didn't you find that your springs couldn't stand up under the
+acceleration?"
+
+"Yes, they flattened out dead."
+
+"The Kolanix Felan, in charge of the work, thought so, and substituted
+our compound-compensated type, made of real spring metal, for them.
+They'll hold you through any acceleration you can live through."
+
+"Thanks, that's fine. What's next, instruments?"
+
+"Yes. I have sent a crew of men to gather up what copper they can
+find--you know that we use practically no metallic copper, as platinum,
+gold, and silver are so much better for ordinary purposes--and another
+to erect a copper-smelter near one of the mines which supply the city
+with the copper sulphate used upon our tables. While they are at work I
+think I will work on the instruments, if you two will be kind enough to
+help me."
+
+Seaton and Crane offered to supply him with instruments from their
+reserve stock, but the Kofedix refused to accept them, saying that he
+would rather have their help in making them, so that he would thoroughly
+understand their functions. The electric furnaces were rapidly made
+ready and they set to work; Crane taking great delight in working that
+hitherto rare and very refractory metal, iridium, of which all the
+Kondalian instruments were to be made.
+
+"They have a lot of our rare metals here, Dick."
+
+"They sure have. I'd like to set up a laboratory and live here a few
+years--I'd learn something about my specialty or burst. They use gold
+and silver where we use copper, and platinum and its alloys where we use
+iron and soft steel. All their weapons are made of iridium, and all
+their most highly-tempered tools, such as their knives, razors, and so
+on, are made of opaque arenak. I suppose you've noticed the edge on your
+razor?"
+
+"How could I help it? It is hard to realize that a metal can be so hard
+that it requires forty years on a diamond-dust abrasive machine to hone
+a razor--or that once honed, it shaves generation after generation of
+men without losing in any degree its keenness."
+
+"I can't understand it, either--I only know that it's so. They have all
+our heavy metals in great abundance, and a lot more that we don't know
+anything about on Earth, but they apparently haven't any light metals at
+all. It must be that Osnome was thrown off the parent sun late, so that
+the light metals were all gone?"
+
+"Something like that, possibly."
+
+The extraordinary skill of the Kofedix made the manufacture of the
+instruments a short task, and after Crane had replaced the few broken
+instruments of the Skylark from their reserve stock, they turned their
+attention to the supply of copper that had been gathered. They found it
+enough for only two bars.
+
+"Is this all we have?" asked Dunark, sharply.
+
+"It is, your Highness," replied the Kolanix. "That is every scrap of
+metallic copper in the city."
+
+"Oh, well, that'll be enough to last until we can smelt the rest," said
+Seaton. "With one bar apiece we're ready for anything Mardonale can
+start. Let 'em come!"
+
+The bars were placed in the containers and both vessels were tried out,
+each making a perfect performance. Upon the following kokam, immediately
+after the first meal, the full party from the Earth boarded the Skylark
+and accompanied the Kofedix to the copper smelter. Dunark himself
+directed the work of preparing the charges and the molds, though he was
+continually being interrupted by wireless messages in code and by
+messengers bearing tidings too important to trust into the air.
+
+"I hope you will excuse all of these delays," said Dunark, after the
+twentieth interruption, "but...."
+
+"That's all right, Dunark. We know that you're a busy man."
+
+"I can tell you about it, but I wouldn't want to tell many people. With
+the salt you gave us, I am preparing a power-plant that will enable us
+to blow Mardonale into...."
+
+He broke off as a wireless call for help sounded. All listened intently,
+learning that a freight-plane was being pursued by a karlon a few
+hundred miles away.
+
+"Now's the time for you to study one, Dunark!" Seaton exclaimed. "Get
+your gang of scientists out here while we go get him and drag him in!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+As Dunark sent the message, the Skylark's people hurried aboard, and
+Seaton drove the vessel toward the calls for help. With its great speed
+it reached the monster before the plane was overtaken. Focusing the
+attractor upon the enormous metallic beak of the karlon, Seaton threw on
+the power and the beast halted in midair as it was jerked backward and
+upward. As it saw the puny size of the attacking Skylark, it opened its
+cavernous mouth in a horrible roar and rushed at full speed. Seaton,
+unwilling to have the repellers stripped from the vessel, turned on the
+current actuating them. The karlon was hurled backward to the point of
+equilibrium of the two forces, where it struggled demoniacally.
+
+Seaton carried his captive back to the smelter, where finally, by
+judicious pushing and pulling, he succeeded in turning the monster flat
+upon its back and pinning it to the ground in spite of its struggles to
+escape.
+
+Soon the scientists arrived and studied the animal thoroughly, at as
+close a range as its flailing arms permitted.
+
+"I wish we could kill him without blowing him to bits," wirelessed
+Dunark. "Do you know any way of doing it?"
+
+"We could if we had a few barrels of ether, or some of our own poison
+gases, but they are all unknown here and it would take a long time to
+build the apparatus to make them. I'll see if I can't tire him out and
+get him that way as soon as you've studied him enough. We may be able to
+find out where he lives, too."
+
+The scientists having finished their observations, Seaton jerked the
+animal a few miles into the air and shut off the forces acting upon it.
+There was a sudden crash, and the karlon, knowing that this apparently
+insignificant vessel was its master, turned in headlong flight.
+
+"Have you any idea what caused the noise just then, Dick?" asked Crane;
+who, with characteristic imperturbability, had taken out his notebook
+and was making exact notes of all that transpired.
+
+"I imagine we cracked a few of his plates," replied Seaton with a laugh,
+as he held the Skylark in place a few hundred feet above the fleeing
+animal.
+
+Pitted for the first time in its life against an antagonist, who could
+both outfly and outfight it, the karlon redoubled its efforts and fled
+in a panic of fear. It flew back over the city of Kondalek, over the
+outlying country, and out over the ocean, still followed easily by the
+Skylark. As they neared the Mardonalian border, a fleet of warships rose
+to contest the entry of the monster. Seaton, not wishing to let the foe
+see the rejuvenated Skylark, jerked his captive high into the thin air.
+As soon as it was released, it headed for the ocean in an almost
+perpendicular dive, while Seaton focused an object-compass upon it.
+
+"Go to it, old top," he addressed the plunging monster. "We'll follow
+you clear to the bottom of the ocean if you go that far!"
+
+There was a mighty double splash as the karlon struck the water, closely
+followed by the Skylark. The girls gasped as the vessel plunged below
+the surface at such terrific speed, and seemed surprised that it had
+suffered no injury and that they had felt no jar. Seaton turned on the
+powerful searchlights and kept close enough so that he could see the
+monster through the transparent walls. Deeper and deeper the quarry
+dove, until it was plainly evident to the pursuers that it was just as
+much at home in the water as it was in the air. The beams of the lights
+revealed strange forms of life, among which were huge, staring-eyed
+fishes, which floundered about blindly in the unaccustomed glare. As the
+karlon bored still deeper, the living things became scarcer, but still
+occasional fleeting glimpses were obtained of the living nightmares
+which inhabited the oppressive depths of these strange seas. Continuing
+downward, the karlon plumbed the nethermost pit of the ocean and came to
+rest upon the bottom, stirring up a murk of ooze.
+
+"How deep are we, Mart?"
+
+"About four miles. I have read the pressure, but will have to calculate
+later exactly what depth it represents, from the gravity and density
+readings."
+
+As the animal showed no sign of leaving its retreat, Seaton pulled it
+out with the attractor and it broke for the surface. Rising through the
+water at full speed, it burst into the air and soared upward to such an
+incredible height that Seaton was amazed.
+
+"I wouldn't have believed that anything could fly in air this thin!" he
+exclaimed.
+
+"It is thin up here," assented Crane. "Less than three pounds to the
+square inch. I wonder how he does it?"
+
+"It doesn't look as though we are ever going to find out--he's sure a
+bear-cat!" replied Seaton, as the karlon, unable to ascend further,
+dropped in a slanting dive toward the lowlands of Kondal--the terrible,
+swampy region covered with poisonous vegetation and inhabited by
+frightful animals and even more frightful savages. The monster neared
+the ground with ever-increasing speed. Seaton, keeping close behind it,
+remarked to Crane:
+
+"He'll have to flatten out pretty quick, or he'll burst something,
+sure."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+But it did not flatten out. It struck the soft ground head foremost and
+disappeared, its tentacles apparently boring a way ahead of it.
+
+Astonished at such an unlooked-for development, Seaton brought the
+Skylark to a stop and stabbed into the ground with the attractor. The
+first attempt brought up nothing but a pillar of muck, the second
+brought to light a couple of wings and one writhing arm, the third
+brought the whole animal, still struggling as strongly as it had in the
+first contest. Seaton again lifted the animal high into the air.
+
+"If he does that again, we'll follow him."
+
+"Will the ship stand it?" asked DuQuesne, with interest.
+
+"Yes. The old bus wouldn't have, but this one can stand anything. We can
+go anywhere that thing can, that's a cinch. If we have enough power on,
+we probably won't even feel a jolt when we strike ground."
+
+Seaton reduced the force acting upon the animal until just enough was
+left to keep the attractor upon it, and it again dived into the swamp.
+The Skylark followed, feeling its way in the total darkness, until the
+animal stopped, refusing to move in any direction, at a depth estimated
+by Crane to be about three-quarters of a mile. After waiting some time
+Seaton increased the power of the attractor and tore the karlon back to
+the surface and into the air, where it turned on the Skylark with
+redoubled fury.
+
+"We've dug him out of his last refuge and he's fighting like a cornered
+rat," said Seaton as he repelled the monster to a safe distance. "He's
+apparently as fresh as when he started, in spite of all this playing.
+Talk about a game fish! He doesn't intend to run any more, though, so I
+guess we'll have to put him away. It's a shame to bump him off, but it's
+got to be done."
+
+Crane aimed one of the heavy X-plosive bullets at the
+savagely-struggling monster, and the earth rocked with the concussion as
+the shell struck its mark. They hurried back to the smelter, where
+Dunark asked eagerly:
+
+"What did you find out about it?"
+
+"Nothing much," replied Seaton, and in a few words described the actions
+of the karlon. "What did your savants think of it?"
+
+"Very little that any of us can understand in terms of any other known
+organism. It seems to combine all the characteristics of bird, beast,
+and fish, and to have within itself the possibilities of both bisexual
+and asexual reproduction."
+
+"I wouldn't doubt it--it's a queer one, all right."
+
+The copper bars were cool enough to handle, and the Skylark was loaded
+with five times its original supply of copper, the other vessel taking
+on a much smaller amount. After the Kofedix had directed the officer in
+charge to place the remaining bars in easily-accessible places
+throughout the nation, the two vessels were piloted back to the palace,
+arriving just in time for the last meal of the kokam.
+
+"Well, Dunark," said Seaton after the meal was over, "I'm afraid that we
+must go back as soon as we can. Dorothy's parents and Martin's bankers
+will think they are dead by this time. We should start right now,
+but...."
+
+"Oh, no, you must not do that. That would rob our people of the chance
+of bidding you goodbye."
+
+"There's another reason, too. I have a mighty big favor to ask of you."
+
+"It is granted. If man can do it, consider it done."
+
+"Well, you know platinum is a very scarce and highly useful metal with
+us. I wonder if you could let us have a few tons of it? And I would like
+to have another faidon, too--I want to see if I can't analyze it."
+
+"You have given us a thousand times the value of all the platinum and
+all the jewels your vessel can carry. As soon as the foundries are open
+tomorrow we will go and load up your store-rooms--or, if you wish, we
+will do it now."
+
+"That isn't necessary. We may as well enjoy your hospitality for one
+more sleeping-period, get the platinum during the first work-period, and
+bid you goodbye just before the second meal. How would that be?"
+
+"Perfectly satisfactory."
+
+The following kokam, Dunark piloted the Skylark, with Seaton, Crane, and
+DuQuesne as crew, to one of the great platinum foundries. The girls
+remained behind to get ready for their departure, and for the great
+ceremony which was to precede it. The trip to the foundry was a short
+one, and the three scientists of Earth stared at what they
+saw--thousands of tons of platinum, cast into bars and piled up like
+pig-iron, waiting to be made into numerous articles of every-day use
+throughout the nation. Dunark wrote out an order, which his chief
+attendant handed to the officer in charge of the foundry, saying:
+
+"Please have it loaded at once."
+
+Seaton indicated the storage compartment into which the metal was to be
+carried, and a procession of slaves, two men staggering under one ingot,
+was soon formed between the pile and the storage room.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"How much are you loading on, Dunark?" asked Seaton, when the large
+compartment was more than half full.
+
+"My order called for about twenty tons, in your weight, but I changed it
+later--we may as well fill that room full, so that the metal will not
+rattle around in flight. It doesn't make any difference to us, we have
+so much of it. It is like your gift of the salt, only vastly smaller."
+
+"What are you going to do with it all, Dick?" asked Crane. "That is
+enough to break the platinum market completely."
+
+"That's exactly what I'm going to do," returned Seaton, with a gleam in
+his gray eyes. "I'm going to burst this unjustifiable fad for platinum
+jewelry so wide open that it'll never recover, and make platinum again
+available for its proper uses, in laboratories and in the industries.
+
+"You know yourself," he rushed on hotly, "that the only reason platinum
+is used at all for jewelry is that it is expensive. It isn't nearly so
+handsome as either gold or silver, and if it wasn't the most costly
+common metal we have, the jewelry-wearing crowd wouldn't touch it with a
+ten-foot pole. Useless as an ornament, it is the one absolutely
+indispensable laboratory metal, and literally hundreds of laboratories
+that need it can't have it because over half the world's supply is tied
+up in jeweler's windows and in useless baubles. Then, too, it is the
+best thing known for contact points in electrical machinery. When the
+Government and all the scientific societies were abjectly begging the
+jewelers to let loose a little of it they refused--they were selling it
+to profiteering spendthrifts at a hundred and fifty dollars an ounce.
+The condition isn't much better right now; it's a vicious circle. As
+long as the price stays high it will be used for jewelry, and as long as
+it is used for jewelry the price will stay high, and scientists will
+have to fight the jewelers for what little they get."
+
+"While somewhat exaggerated, that is about the way matters stand. I will
+admit that I, too, am rather bitter on the subject," said Crane.
+
+"Bitter? Of course you're bitter. Everybody is who knows anything about
+science and who has a brain in his head. Anybody who claims to be a
+scientist and yet stands for any of his folks buying platinum jewelry
+ought to be shot. But they'll get theirs as soon as we get back. They
+wouldn't let go of it before, they had too good a thing, but they'll let
+go now, and get their fingers burned besides. I'm going to dump this
+whole shipment at fifty cents a pound, and we'll take mighty good care
+that jewelers don't corner the supply."
+
+"I'm with you, Dick, as usual."
+
+Soon the storage room was filled to the ceiling with closely-stacked
+ingots of the precious metal, and the Skylark was driven back to the
+landing dock. She alighted beside Dunark's vessel, the _Kondal_, whose
+gorgeously-decorated crew of high officers sprang to attention as the
+four men stepped out. All were dressed for the ceremonial leave-taking,
+the three Americans wearing their spotless white, the Kondalians wearing
+their most resplendent trappings.
+
+"This formal stuff sure does pull my cork!" exclaimed Seaton to Dunark.
+"I want to get this straight. The arrangement was that we were to be
+here at this time, all dressed up, and wait for the ladies, who are
+coming under the escort of your people?"
+
+"Yes. Our family is to escort the ladies from the palace here. As they
+leave the elevator the surrounding war-vessels will salute, and after a
+brief ceremony you two will escort your wives into the Skylark, Doctor
+DuQuesne standing a little apart and following you in. The war-vessels
+will escort you as high as they can go, and the Kondal will accompany
+you as far as our most distant sun before turning back."
+
+For a few moments Seaton nervously paced a short beat in front of the
+door of the space-car.
+
+"I'm getting more fussed every second," he said abruptly, taking out his
+wireless instrument. "I'm going to see if they aren't about ready."
+
+"What seems to be the trouble, Dick? Have you another hunch, or are you
+just rattled?" asked Crane.
+
+"Rattled, I guess, but I sure do want to get going," he replied, as he
+worked the lever rapidly.
+
+"Dottie," he sent out, and, the call being answered, "How long will you
+be? We're all ready and waiting, chewing our finger-nails with
+impatience."
+
+"We'll soon be ready. The Karfedix is coming for us now."
+
+Scarcely had the tiny sounder become silent when the air was shaken by
+an urgently-vibrated message, and every wireless sounder gave warning.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+The Invasion
+
+
+The pulsating air and the chattering sounders were giving the same dire
+warning, the alarm extraordinary of invasion, of imminent and
+catastrophic danger from the air.
+
+"Don't try to reach the palace. Everyone on the ground will have time
+enough to hide in the deep, arenak-protected pits beneath the buildings,
+and you would be killed by the invaders long before you could reach the
+palace. If we can repel the enemy and keep them from landing, the women
+will be perfectly safe, even though the whole city is destroyed. If they
+effect a landing we are lost."
+
+"They'll not land, then," Seaton answered grimly, as he sprang into the
+Skylark and took his place at the board. As Crane took out his wireless,
+Seaton cautioned him.
+
+"Send in English, and tell the girls not to answer, as these devils can
+locate the calls within a foot and will be able to attack the right
+spot. Just tell them we're safe in the Skylark. Tell them to sit tight
+while we wipe out this gang that is coming, and that we'll call them,
+once in a while, when we have time, during the battle."
+
+Before Crane had finished sending the message the crescendo whine of
+enormous propellers was heard. Simultaneously there was a deafening
+concussion and one entire wing of the palace disappeared in a cloud of
+dust, in the midst of which could be discerned a few flying fragments.
+The air was filled with Mardonalian warships. They were huge vessels,
+each mounting hundreds of guns, and the rain of high-explosive shells
+was rapidly reducing the great city to a wide-spread heap of debris.
+
+Seaton's hand was upon the lever which would hurl the Skylark upward
+into the fray. Crane and DuQuesne, each hard of eye and grim of jaw,
+were stationed at their machine-guns.
+
+"Something's up!" exclaimed Seaton. "Look at the Kondal!"
+
+Something had happened indeed. Dunark sat at the board, his hand upon
+the power lever, and each of his crew was in place, grasping his weapon,
+but every man was writhing in agony, unable to control his movements. As
+they stared, momentarily spellbound, the entire crew ceased their
+agonized struggles and hung, apparently lifeless, from their supports.
+
+"They've got to 'em some way--let's go!" yelled Seaton.
+
+As his hand tightened upon the lever, a succession of shells burst upon
+the dock, wrecking it completely, all three men fancied that the world
+had come to an end as the stream of high explosive was directed against
+their vessel. But the four-foot shell of arenak was impregnable, and
+Seaton shot the Skylark upward into the midst of the enemy fleet. The
+two gunners fired as fast as they could sight their weapons, and with
+each shot one of the great warships was blown into fragments. The
+Mardonalians then concentrated the fire of their entire fleet upon their
+tiny opponent.
+
+From every point of the compass, from above and below, the enemy gunners
+directed streams of shells against the dodging vessel. The noise was
+more than deafening, it was one continuous, shattering explosion, and
+the Earth-men were surrounded by such a blaze of fire from the exploding
+shells that they could not see the enemy vessels. Seaton sought to dodge
+the shells by a long dive toward one side, only to find that dozens of
+new opponents had been launched against them--the deadly
+airplane-torpedoes of Osnome. Steered by wireless and carrying no crews,
+they were simply winged bombs carrying thousands of pounds of terrific
+electrical explosive--enough to kill the men inside the vessel by the
+concussion of the explosion, even should the arenak armor be strong
+enough to withstand the blow. Though much faster than the Osnomian
+vessels, they were slow beside the Skylark, and Seaton could have dodged
+a few of them with ease. As he dodged, however, they followed
+relentlessly, and in spite of those which were blown up by the gunners,
+their number constantly increased until Seaton thought of the repellers.
+
+"'Nobody Holme' is right!" he exclaimed, as he threw on the power
+actuating the copper bands which encircled the hull in all directions.
+Instantly the torpedoes were hurled backward, exploding as the force
+struck them, and even the shells were ineffective, exploding harmlessly,
+as they encountered the zone of force. The noise of the awful
+detonations lessened markedly.
+
+"Why the silence, I wonder?" asked Seaton, while the futile shells of
+the enemy continued to waste their force some hundreds of feet distant
+from their goal, and while Crane and DuQuesne were methodically
+destroying the huge vessels as fast as they could aim and fire. At every
+report one of the monster warships disappeared--its shattered fragments
+and the bodies of its crew hurtling to the ground. His voice could not
+be heard in even the lessened tumult, but he continued:
+
+"It must be that our repellers have set up a partial vacuum by repelling
+even the air!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Suddenly the shelling ceased and the Skylark was enveloped by a blinding
+glare from hundreds of great reflectors; an intense, searching,
+bluish-violet light that burned the flesh and seared through eyelids and
+eyeballs into the very brain.
+
+"Ultra-violet!" yelled Seaton at the first glimpse of the light, as he
+threw on the power. "Shut your eyes! Turn your heads down!"
+
+Out in space, far beyond reach of the deadly rays, the men held a short
+conference, then donned heavy leather-and-canvas suits, which they
+smeared liberally with thick red paint, and replaced the plain glasses
+of their helmets with heavy lenses of deep ruby glass.
+
+"This'll stop any ultra-violet ray ever produced," exulted Seaton, as he
+again threw the vessel into the Mardonalian fleet. A score of the great
+vessels met their fate before the Skylark was located, and, although the
+terrible rays were again focused upon the intruder in all their
+intensity, the carnage continued.
+
+In a few minutes, however, the men heard, or rather felt, a low, intense
+vibration, like a silent wave of sound--a vibration which smote upon the
+eardrums as no possible sound could smite, a vibration which racked the
+joints and tortured the nerves as though the whole body were
+disintegrating. So sudden and terrible was the effect that Seaton
+uttered an involuntary yelp of surprise and pain as he once more fled
+into the safety of space.
+
+"What the devil was that?" demanded DuQuesne. "Was it infra-sound? I
+didn't suppose such waves could be produced."
+
+"Infra-sound is right. They produce most anything here," replied Seaton,
+and Crane added:
+
+"Well, about three fur suits apiece, with cotton in our ears, ought to
+kill any wave propagated through air."
+
+The fur suits were donned forthwith, Seaton whispering in Crane's ear:
+
+"I've found out something else, too. The repellers repel even the air.
+I'm going to shoot enough juice through them to set up a perfect vacuum
+outside. That'll kill those air-waves."
+
+Scarcely were they back within range of the fleet when DuQuesne,
+reaching for his gun to fire the first shot, leaped backward with a
+yell.
+
+"Beat it!"
+
+Once more at a safe distance, DuQuesne explained.
+
+"It's lucky I'm so used to handling hot stuff that from force of habit I
+never make close contact with anything at the first touch. That gun
+carried thousands of volts, with lots of amperage behind them, and if I
+had had a good hold on it I couldn't have let go. We'll block that game
+quick enough, though. Thick, dry gloves covered with rubber are all that
+is necessary. It's a good thing for all of us that you have those fancy
+condensite handles on your levers, Seaton."
+
+"That was how they got Dunark, undoubtedly," said Crane, as he sent a
+brief message to the girls, assuring them that all was well, as he had
+been doing at every respite. "But why were we not overcome at the same
+time?"
+
+"They must have had the current tuned to iridium, and had to experiment
+until they found the right wave for steel," Seaton explained.
+
+"I should think our bar would have exploded, with all that current. They
+must have hit the copper range, too?"
+
+Seaton frowned in thought before he answered.
+
+"Maybe because it's induced current, and not a steady battery impulse.
+Anyway, it didn't. Let's go!"
+
+"Just a minute," put in Crane. "What are they going to do next, Dick?"
+
+"Search me. I'm not used to my new Osnomian mind yet. I recognize things
+all right after they happen, but I can't seem to figure ahead--it's like
+a dimly-remembered something that flashes up as soon as mentioned. I get
+too many and too new ideas at once. I know, though, that the Osnomians
+have defenses against all these things except this last stunt of the
+charged guns. That must be the new one that Mardonale stole from Kondal.
+The defenses are, however, purely Osnomian in character and material. As
+we haven't got the stuff to set them up as the Osnomians do, we'll have
+to do it our own way. We may be able to dope out the next one, though.
+Let's see, what have they given us so far?"
+
+"We've got to hand it to them," responded DuQuesne, admiringly. "They're
+giving us the whole range of wave-lengths, one at a time. They've given
+us light, both ultra-violet and visible, sound, infra-sound, and
+electricity--I don't know what's left unless they give us a new kind of
+X-rays, or Hertzian, or infra-red heat waves, or...."
+
+"That's it, heat!" exclaimed Seaton. "They produce heat by means of
+powerful wave-generators and by setting up heavy induced currents in the
+armor. They can melt arenak that way."
+
+"Do you suppose we can handle the heat with our refrigerators?" asked
+Crane.
+
+"Probably. We have a lot of power, and the new arenak cylinders of our
+compressors will stand anything. The only trouble will be in cooling the
+condensers. We'll run as long as we have any water in our tanks, then go
+dive into the ocean to cool off. We'll try it a whirl, anyway."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Soon the Skylark was again dealing out death and destruction in the
+thick of the enemy vessels, who again turned from the devastation of the
+helpless city to destroy this troublesome antagonist. But in spite of
+the utmost efforts of light-waves, sound-waves, and high-tension
+electricity, the space-car continued to take its terrible toll. As
+Seaton had foretold, the armor of the Skylark began to grow hot, and he
+turned on the full power of the refrigerating system. In spite of the
+cooling apparatus, however, the outer walls finally began to glow redly,
+and, although the interior was comfortably cool, the ends of the
+rifle-barrels, which were set flush with the surface of the revolving
+arenak globes which held them, softened, rendering the guns useless. The
+copper repellers melted and dripped off in flaming balls of molten
+metal, so that shells once more began to crash against the armor.
+DuQuesne, with no thought of quitting apparent in voice or manner, said
+calmly:
+
+"Well, it looks as though they had us stopped for a few minutes. Let's
+go back into space and dope out something else."
+
+Seaton, thinking intensely, saw a vast fleet of enemy reinforcements
+approaching, and at the same time received a wireless call directed to
+Dunark. It was from the grand fleet of Kondal, hastening from the
+bordering ocean to the defense of the city. Using Dunark's private code,
+Seaton told the Karbix, who was in charge of the fleet, that the enemy
+had a new invention which would wipe them out utterly without a chance
+to fight, and that he and his vessel were in control of the situation;
+and ordered him to see that no Kondalian ship came within battle range
+of a Mardonalian. He then turned to Crane and DuQuesne, his face grim
+and his fighting jaw set.
+
+"I've got it doped right now. Give the Lark speed enough and she's some
+bullet herself. We've got four feet of arenak, they've got only an inch,
+and arenak doesn't even begin to soften until far above a blinding white
+temperature. Strap yourselves in solid, for it's going to be a rough
+party from now on."
+
+They buckled their belts firmly, and Seaton, holding the bar toward
+their nearest antagonist, applied twenty notches of power. The Skylark
+darted forward and crashed completely through the great airship. Torn
+wide open by the forty-foot projectile, its engines wrecked and its
+helicopter-screws and propellers completely disabled, the helpless hulk
+plunged through two miles of empty air, a mass of wreckage.
+
+[Illustration: The Skylark darted forward and crashed completely through
+the great airship.... She was an embodied thunderbolt; a huge,
+irresistible, indestructible projectile, directed by a keen brain
+inside....]
+
+Darting hither and thither, the space-car tore through vessel after
+vessel of the Mardonalian fleet. She was an embodied thunderbolt; a
+huge, irresistible, indestructible projectile, directed by a keen brain
+inside it--the brain of Richard Seaton, roused to his highest fighting
+pitch and fighting for everything that man holds dear. Tortured by the
+terrible silent waves, which, now that the protecting vacuum had been
+destroyed, were only partially stopped by the fur suits; shaken and
+battered by the terrific impacts and the even greater shocks occurring
+every second as the direction of the vessel was changed; made sick and
+dizzy by the nauseating swings and lurches as the Skylark spun about the
+central chamber; Seaton's wonderful physique and his nerves of steel
+stood him in good stead in this, the supreme battle of his life, as with
+teeth tight-locked and eyes gray and hard as the fracture of high-carbon
+steel, he urged the Skylark on to greater and greater efforts.
+
+Though it was impossible for the eye to follow the flight of the
+space-car, the mechanical sighting devices of the Mardonalian vessels
+kept her in as perfect focus as though she were stationary, and the
+great generators continued to hurl into her the full power of their
+death-dealing waves. The enemy guns were still spitting forth their
+streams of high-explosive shells, but unlike the waves, the shells moved
+so slowly compared to their target that only a few found their mark, and
+many of the vessels fell to the ground, riddled by the shells of their
+sister-ships.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+With anxious eyes Seaton watched the hull of his animated cannon-ball
+change in color. From dull red it became cherry, and as the cherry red
+gave place to bright red heat, Seaton threw even more power into the bar
+as he muttered through his set teeth:
+
+"Well, Seaton, old top, you've got to cut out this loafing on the job
+and get busy!"
+
+In spite of his utmost exertions and in spite of the powerful ammonia
+plant, now exerting its full capacity, but sadly handicapped by the fact
+that its cooling-water was now boiling, Seaton saw the arenak shell
+continue to heat. The bright red was succeeded by orange, which slowly
+changed, first to yellow, then to light yellow, and finally to a
+dazzling white; through which, with the aid of his heavy red lenses, he
+could still see the enemy ships. After a time he noted that the color
+had gone down to yellow and he thrilled with exultation, knowing that he
+had so reduced the numbers of the enemy fleet that their wave-generators
+could no longer overcome his refrigerators. After a few minutes more of
+the awful carnage there remained only a small fraction of the proud
+fleet which, thousands strong, had invaded Kondal--a remnant that sought
+safety in flight. But even in flight, they still fought with all their
+weapons, and the streams of bombs dropped from their keel-batteries upon
+the country beneath marked the path of their retreat with a wide swath
+of destruction. Half inclined to let the few remaining vessels escape,
+Seaton's mind changed instantly as he saw the bombs spreading
+devastation upon the countryside, and not until the last of the
+Mardonalian vessels had been destroyed did he drop the Skylark into the
+area of ruins which had once been the palace grounds, beside the Kondal,
+which was still lying as it had fallen.
+
+After several attempts to steady their whirling senses, the three men
+finally were able to walk, and, opening a door, they leaped out through
+the opening in the still glowing wall. Seaton's first act was to
+wireless the news to Dorothy, who replied that they were coming as fast
+as they could. The men then removed their helmets, revealing faces pale
+and drawn, and turned to the helpless space-car.
+
+"There's no way of getting into this thing from the outside...." Seaton
+began, when he saw that the Kofedix and his party were beginning to
+revive. Soon Dunark opened the door and stumbled out.
+
+"I have to thank you for more than my life this time," he said, his
+voice shaken by uncontrollable emotion as he grasped the hands of all
+three men. "Though unable to move, I was conscious and saw all that
+happened--you kept them so busy that they didn't have a chance to give
+us enough to kill us outright. You have saved the lives of millions of
+our nation and have saved Kondal itself from annihilation."
+
+"Oh, it's not that bad," answered Seaton, uncomfortably. "Both nations
+have been invaded before."
+
+"Yes--once when we developed the ultra-violet ray, once when Mardonale
+perfected the machine for producing the silent sound-wave, and again
+when we harnessed the heat-wave. But this would have been the most
+complete disaster in history. The other inventions were not so deadly as
+was this one, and there were terrible battles, from which the victors
+emerged so crippled that they could not completely exterminate the
+vanquished, who were able to re-establish themselves in the course of
+time. If it had not been for you, this would have been the end, as not a
+Kondalian soldier could move--any person touching iridium was helpless
+and would have been killed."
+
+He ceased speaking and saluted as the Karfedix and his party rounded a
+heap of boulders. Dorothy and Margaret screamed in unison as they saw
+the haggard faces of their husbands, and saw their suits, dripping with
+a thick substance which they knew to be red, in spite of its
+purplish-black color. Seaton dodged nimbly as Dorothy sought to take him
+in her arms, and tore off his suit.
+
+"Nothing but red paint to stop their light-rays," he reassured her as he
+lifted her clear from the ground in a soul-satisfying embrace. Out of
+the corner of his eye he saw the Kondalians staring in open-mouthed
+amazement at the Skylark. Wheeling swiftly, he laughed as he saw a
+gigantic ball of frost and snow! Again donning his fur suit, he shut off
+the refrigerators and returned to his party, where the Karfedix gave him
+thanks in measured terms. As he fell silent, Dunark added:
+
+"Thanks to you, the Mardonalian forces, instead of wiping us out, are
+themselves destroyed, while only a handful of our vessels have been
+lost, since the grand fleet could not arrive until the battle was over,
+and since the vessels that would have thrown themselves away were saved
+by your orders, which I heard. Thanks to you, we are not even crippled,
+though our capital is destroyed and the lives of some unfortunates, who
+could not reach the pits in time, have probably been lost.
+
+"Thanks to you," he continued in a ringing voice, "and to the salt and
+the new source of power you have given us, Mardonale shall now be
+destroyed utterly!"
+
+After sending out ships to relieve the suffering of the few wounded and
+the many homeless, Dunark summoned a corps of mechanics, who banded on
+new repellers and repaired the fused barrels of the machine-guns, all
+that was necessary to restore the Skylark to perfect condition.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Facing the party from Earth, the Karfedix stood in the ruins of his
+magnificent palace. Back of him were the nobles of Kondal, and still
+further back, in order of rank, stood a multitude of people.
+
+"Is it permitted, oh noble Karfedo, that I reward your captive for his
+share in the victory?" he asked.
+
+"It is," acquiesced Seaton and Crane, and Roban stepped up to DuQuesne
+and placed in his hand a weighty leather bag. He then fastened about his
+left wrist the Order of Kondal, the highest order of the nation.
+
+He then clasped about Crane's wrist a heavily-jeweled,
+peculiarly-ornamented disk wrought of a deep ruby-red metal, supported
+by a heavy bracelet of the same material, the most precious metal of
+Osnome. At sight of the disk the nobles saluted and Seaton barely
+concealed a start of surprise, for it bore the royal emblem and
+delegated to its bearer power second only to that of the Karfedix
+himself.
+
+"I bestow upon you this symbol, Karfedix Crane, in recognition of what
+you have this day done for Kondal. Wherever you may be upon Kondalian
+Osnome, which from this day henceforth shall be all Osnome, you have
+power as my personal representative, as my eldest son."
+
+He drew forth a second bracelet, similar to the first except that it
+bore seven disks, each differently designed, which he snapped upon
+Seaton's wrist as the nobles knelt and the people back of them threw
+themselves upon their faces.
+
+"No language spoken by man possesses words sufficiently weighty to
+express our indebtedness to you, Karfedix Seaton, our guest and our
+savior. The First Cause has willed that you should be the instrument
+through which Kondal is this day made supreme upon Osnome.
+
+In small and partial recognition of that instrumentality, I bestow upon
+you these symbols, which proclaim you our overlord, the ultimate
+authority of Osnome.
+
+While this is not the way in which I had thought to bid you farewell,
+the obligations which you have heaped upon us render all smaller things
+insignificant. When you return, as I hope and trust you soon will, the
+city shall be built anew and we can welcome you as befits your station."
+
+Lifting both arms above his head he continued:
+
+"May the great First Cause smile upon you in all your endeavors until
+you solve the Mystery: may your descendants soon reach the Ultimate
+Goal. Goodbye."
+
+Seaton uttered a few heartfelt words in response and the party stepped
+backward toward the Skylark. As they reached the vessel the standing
+Karfedix and the ranks of kneeling nobles snapped into the double
+salute--truly a rare demonstration in Kondal.
+
+"What'll we do now?" whispered Seaton.
+
+"Bow, of course," answered Dorothy.
+
+They bowed, deeply and slowly, and entered their vessel. As the Skylark
+shot into the air with the greatest acceleration that would permit its
+passengers to move about, the grand fleet of Kondalian warship fired a
+deafening salute.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It had been planned before the start that each person was to work
+sixteen hours out of the twenty-four. Seaton was to drive the vessel
+during the first two eight-hour periods of each day. Crane was to
+observe the stars during the second and to drive during the third.
+DuQuesne was to act as observer during the first and third periods.
+Margaret had volunteered to assist the observer in taking his notes
+during her waking hours, and Dorothy appointed herself cook and
+household manager.
+
+As soon as the Skylark had left Osnome, Crane told DuQuesne that he and
+his wife would work in the observation room until four o'clock in the
+afternoon, at which time the prearranged system of relief would begin,
+and DuQuesne retired to his room.
+
+Crane and Margaret made their way to the darkened room which housed the
+instruments and seated themselves, watching intently and making no
+effort to conceal their emotion as first the persons beneath them, then
+the giant war-vessels, and finally the ruined city itself, were lost to
+view. Osnome slowly assumed the proportions of a large moon, grew
+smaller, and as it disappeared Crane began to take notes. For a few
+hours the seventeen suns of this strange solar system shone upon the
+flying space-car, after which they assumed the aspect of a
+widely-separated cluster of enormous stars, slowly growing smaller and
+smaller and shrinking closer and closer together.
+
+At four o'clock in the afternoon, Washington time, DuQuesne relieved
+Crane, who made his way to the engine room.
+
+"It is time to change shifts, Dick. You have not had your sixteen hours,
+but everything will be regular from now on. You two had better get some
+rest."
+
+"All right," replied Seaton, as he relinquished the controls to Crane,
+and after bidding the new helmsman goodnight he and Dorothy went below
+to their cabin.
+
+Standing at a window with their arms around each other they stared down
+with misty eyes at the very faint green star, which was rapidly
+decreasing in brilliance as the Skylark increased its already
+inconceivable velocity. Finally, as it disappeared altogether, Seaton
+turned to his wife and tenderly, lovingly, took her in his arms.
+
+"Littlest Girl.... Sweetheart...." he whispered, and paused, overcome by
+the intensity of his feelings.
+
+"I know, husband mine," she answered, while tears dimmed her glorious
+eyes. "It is too deep. With nothing but words, we can't say a single
+thing."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+The Return to Earth
+
+
+DuQuesne's first act upon gaining the privacy of his own cabin was to
+open the leather bag presented to him by the Karfedix. He expected to
+find it filled with rare metals, with perhaps some jewels, instead of
+which the only metal present was a heavily-insulated tube containing a
+full pound of metallic radium. The least valuable items in the bag were
+scores of diamonds, rubies, and emeralds of enormous size and of
+flawless perfection. Merely ornamental glass upon Osnome, Dunark knew
+that they were priceless upon Earth, and had acted accordingly. To this
+great wealth of known gems, he had added a rich and varied assortment of
+the rare and strange jewels peculiar to his own world, the faidon alone
+being omitted from the collection. DuQuesne's habitual calmness of mind
+almost deserted him as he classified the contents of the bag.
+
+The radium alone was worth millions of dollars, and the scientist in him
+exulted that at last his brother scientists should have ample supplies
+of that priceless metal with which to work, even while he was rejoicing
+in the price he would exact for it. He took out the familiar jewels,
+estimating their value as he counted them--a staggering total. The bag
+was still half full of the strange gems, some of them glowing like
+miniature lamps in the dark depths, and he made no effort to appraise
+them. He knew that once any competent jeweler had compared their cold,
+hard, scintillating beauty with that of any Earthly gems, he could
+demand his own price.
+
+"At last," he breathed to himself, "I will be what I have always longed
+to be--a money power. Now I can cut loose from that gang of crooks and
+go my own way."
+
+He replaced the gems and the tube of radium in the bag, which he stowed
+away in one of his capacious pockets, and made his way to the galley.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The return voyage through space was uneventful, the Skylark constantly
+maintaining the same velocity with which she had started out. Several
+times, as the days wore on, she came within the zone of attraction of
+various gigantic suns, but the pilot had learned his lesson. He kept a
+vigilant eye upon the bar, and at the first sign of a deviation from the
+perpendicular he steered away, far from the source of the attraction.
+Not content with these precautions, the man at the board would, from
+time to time, shut off the power, to make sure that the space-car was
+not falling toward a body directly in its line of flight.
+
+When half the distance had been covered, the bar was reversed, the
+travelers holding an impromptu ceremony as the great vessel spun around
+its center through an angle of one hundred and eighty degrees. A few
+days later the observers began to recognize some of the fixed stars in
+familiar constellations and knew that the yellowish-white star directly
+in their line of flight was the sun of their own solar system. After a
+time they saw that their course, instead of being directly toward that
+rapidly-brightening star, was bearing upon a barely visible star a
+little to one side of it. Pointing their most powerful telescope toward
+that point of light, Crane made out a planet, half of its disk shining
+brightly. The girls hastened to peer through the telescope, and they
+grew excited as they made out the familiar outlines of the continents
+and oceans upon the lighted portion of the disk.
+
+It was not long until these outlines were plainly visible to the unaided
+vision. The Earth appeared as a great, softly shining, greenish
+half-moon, with parts of its surface obscured by fleecy wisps of cloud,
+and with its two gleaming ice-caps making of its poles two brilliant
+areas of white. The returning wanderers stared at their own world with
+their hearts in their throats as Crane, who was at the board, increased
+the retarding force sufficiently to assure himself that they would not
+be traveling too fast to land upon the Earth.
+
+After Dorothy and Margaret had gone to prepare a meal, DuQuesne turned
+to Seaton.
+
+"Have you gentlemen decided what you intend to do with me?"
+
+"No. We haven't discussed it yet. I can't make up my own mind what I
+want to do to you, except that I sure would like to get you inside a
+square ring with four-ounce gloves on. You have been of too much real
+assistance on this trip for us to see you hanged, as you deserve. On the
+other hand, you are altogether too much of a thorough-going scoundrel
+for us to let you go free. You see the fix we are in. What would you
+suggest?"
+
+"Nothing," replied DuQuesne calmly. "As I am in no danger whatever of
+hanging, nothing you can say on that score affects me in the least. As
+for freeing me, you may do as you please--it makes no difference to me,
+one way or the other, as no jail can hold me for a day. I can say,
+however, that while I have made a fortune on this trip, so that I do not
+have to associate further with Steel unless it is to my interest to do
+so, I may nevertheless find it desirable at some future time to
+establish a monopoly of X. That would, of course, necessitate the death
+of yourself and Crane. In that event, or in case any other difference
+should arise between us, this whole affair will be as though it had
+never existed. It will have no weight either way, whether or not you try
+to hang me."
+
+"Go as far as you like," Seaton answered cheerfully. "If we're not a
+match for you and your gang, on foot or in the air, in body or in mind,
+we'll deserve whatever we get. We can outrun you, outjump you, throw you
+down, or lick you; we can run faster, hit harder, dive deeper, and come
+up dryer, than you can. We'll play any game you want to deal, whenever
+you want to deal it; for fun, money, chalk, or marbles."
+
+His brow darkened in anger as a thought struck him, and the steady gray
+eyes bored into the unflinching black ones as he continued, with no
+trace of his former levity in his voice:
+
+"But listen to this. Anything goes as far as Martin and I personally are
+concerned. But I want you to know that I could be arrested for what I
+think of you as a man; and if any of your little schemes touch Dottie or
+Peggy in any way, shape or form, I'll kill you as I would a snake--or
+rather, I'll take you apart as I would any other piece of scientific
+apparatus. This isn't a threat, it's a promise. Get me?"
+
+"Perfectly. Good-night."
+
+For many hours the Earth had been obscured by clouds, so that the pilot
+had only a general idea of what part of the world was beneath them, but
+as they dropped rapidly downward into the twilight zone, the clouds
+parted and they saw that they were directly over the Panama Canal.
+Seaton allowed the Skylark to fall to within ten miles of the ground,
+when he stopped so that Martin could get his bearings and calculate the
+course to Washington, which would be in total darkness before their
+arrival.
+
+DuQuesne had retired, cold and reticent as usual. Glancing quickly about
+his cabin to make sure that he had overlooked nothing he could take with
+him, he opened a locker, exposing to view four suits which he had made
+in his spare time, each adapted to a particular method of escape from
+the Skylark. The one he selected was of heavy canvas, braced with steel
+netting, equipped with helmet and air-tanks, and attached to a strong,
+heavy parachute. He put it on, tested all its parts, and made his way
+unobserved to one of the doors in the lower part of the vessel. Thus,
+when the chance for escape came, he was ready for it. As the Skylark
+paused over the Isthmus, his lips parted in a sardonic smile. He opened
+the door and stepped out into the air, closing the door behind him as he
+fell. The neutral color of the parachute was lost in the gathering
+twilight a few seconds after he left the vessel.
+
+The course laid, Seaton turned almost due north and the Skylark tore
+through the air. After a short time, when half the ground had been
+covered, Seaton spoke suddenly.
+
+"Forgot about DuQuesne, Mart. We'd better iron him, hadn't we? Then
+we'll decide whether we want to keep him or turn him loose."
+
+"I will go fetch him," replied Crane, and turned to the stairs.
+
+He returned shortly, with the news of the flight of the captive.
+
+"Hm ... he must have made himself a parachute. I didn't think even he
+would tackle a sixty-thousand-foot drop. I'll tell the world that he
+sure has established a record. I can't say I'm sorry that he got away,
+though. We can get him again any time we want him, anyway, as that
+little object-compass in my drawer is still looking right at him," said
+Seaton.
+
+"I think he earned his liberty," declared Dorothy, stoutly, and Margaret
+added:
+
+"He deserves to be shot, but I'm glad he's gone. He gives me the
+shivers."
+
+At the end of the calculated time they saw the lights of a large city
+beneath them, and Crane's fingers clenched upon Seaton's arm as he
+pointed downward. There were the landing-lights of Crane Field, seven
+peculiarly-arranged searchlights throwing their mighty beams upward into
+the night.
+
+"Nine weeks, Dick," he said, unsteadily, "and Shiro would have kept them
+burning nine years if necessary."
+
+The Skylark dropped easily to the ground in front of the testing shed
+and the wanderers leaped out, to be greeted by the half-hysterical Jap.
+Shiro's ready vocabulary of peculiar but sonorous words failed him
+completely, and he bent himself double in a bow, his yellow face
+wreathed in the widest possible smile. Crane, one arm around his wife,
+seized Shiro's hand and wrung it in silence. Seaton swept Dorothy off
+her feet, pressing her slender form against his powerful body. Her arms
+tightened about his neck as they kissed each other fervently and he
+whispered in her ear:
+
+"Sweetheart wife, isn't it great to be back on our good old Earth
+again?"
+
+
+THE END
+
+  +--------------------------------------------------------------+
+  |                                                              |
+  | Transcriber's Notes & Errata                                 |
+  |                                                              |
+  | The editorial notes associated with the three installments   |
+  | of the story have been placed in ASCII text boxes and        |
+  | incorporated at the appropriate places in the text.          |
+  |                                                              |
+  | Illustrations have been moved to the appropriate place in    |
+  | the text.                                                    |
+  |                                                              |
+  | The chemical symbol for water is represented as H2O.         |
+  |                                                              |
+  | The following typographical errors have been corrected.      |
+  |                                                              |
+  |               |Error         |Correction    |                |
+  |               |              |              |                |
+  |               |plantinum     |platinum      |                |
+  |               |refused.      |refused."     |                |
+  |               |We            |"We           |                |
+  |               |abstruce      |abstruse      |                |
+  |               |I love        |"I love       |                |
+  |               |CHAPTE        |CHAPTER       |                |
+  |               |food          |fool          |                |
+  |               |unmistakeable |unmistakable  |                |
+  |               |ever          |even          |                |
+  |               |Mat           |Mart          |                |
+  |               |gravity.      |gravity."     |                |
+  |               |completely.   |completely."  |                |
+  |               |ecstacy       |ecstasy       |                |
+  |               |embarassment  |embarrassment |                |
+  |               |Naloon        |Nalboon       |                |
+  |               |inumerable    |innumerable   |                |
+  |               |but           |"but          |                |
+  |               |efficient     |efficient."   |                |
+  |               |Dare          |"Dare         |                |
+  |               |wit           |wait          |                |
+  |               |They produce  |"They produce |                |
+  |                                                              |
+  |                                                              |
+  | Variable hyphenation                                         |
+  |                                                              |
+  | The number of times each form appears in the text is given   |
+  | in parentheses.                                              |
+  |                                                              |
+  |           |blue-prints (2)    |blueprints (4)    |           |
+  |           |border-line (3)    |borderline (1)    |           |
+  |           |break-down (1)     |breakdown (1)     |           |
+  |           |devil-fish (1)     |devilfish (1)     |           |
+  |           |Good-bye (4)       |Goodbye (1)       |           |
+  |           |good-bye (4)       |goodbye (3)       |           |
+  |           |good-night (2)     |goodnight (2)     |           |
+  |           |half-way (4)       |halfway (1)       |           |
+  |           |hand-rail (1)      |handrail (2)      |           |
+  |           |hand-rails (1)     |handrails (1)     |           |
+  |           |home-coming (1)    |homecoming (1)    |           |
+  |           |major-domo (3)     |majordomo (1)     |           |
+  |           |near-by (1)        |nearby (4)        |           |
+  |           |nitro-glycerin (2) |nitroglycerin (2) |           |
+  |           |to-night (2)       |tonight (7)       |           |
+  |                                                              |
+  +--------------------------------------------------------------+
+
+
+
+***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SKYLARK OF SPACE***
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author	Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org>	2025-10-15 01:29:55 -0700
committer	Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org>	2025-10-15 01:29:55 -0700
commit	10c78616435a3fca107007cd7f960f4096ecfb5e (patch)
tree	724eae3260352d0608572087744c42dbbf12f688