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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Astounding Stories of Super-Science, March
+1930, by Various
+
+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: Astounding Stories of Super-Science, March 1930
+
+Author: Various
+
+Release Date: August 4, 2009 [EBook #29607]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ASTOUNDING STORIES, MARCH 1930 ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Greg Weeks, Katherine Ward, and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+ASTOUNDING STORIES OF SUPER-SCIENCE
+
+
+_On Sale the First Thursday of Each Month_
+
+  W. M. CLAYTON, Publisher
+  HARRY BATES, Editor
+  DOUGLAS M. DOLD, Consulting Editor
+
+The Clayton Standard on a Magazine Guarantees:
+
+_That_ the stories therein are clean, interesting, vivid; by leading
+writers of the day and purchased under conditions approved by the
+Authors' League of America;
+
+_That_ such magazines are manufactured in Union shops by American
+workmen;
+
+_That_ each newsdealer and agent is insured a fair profit;
+
+_That_ an intelligent censorship guards their advertising pages.
+
+
+_The other Clayton magazines are_:
+
+ACE-HIGH MAGAZINE, RANCH ROMANCES, COWBOY STORIES, CLUES, FIVE-NOVELS
+MONTHLY, WIDE WORLD ADVENTURES, ALL STAR DETECTIVE STORIES, FLYERS,
+RANGELAND LOVE STORY MAGAZINE, SKY-HIGH LIBRARY MAGAZINE, WESTERN
+ADVENTURES, MISS 1930, and FOREST AND STREAM
+
+_More Than Two Million Copies Required to Supply the Monthly Demand for
+Clayton Magazines._
+
+
+  VOL. I, No. 3                CONTENTS                     MARCH, 1930
+
+  COVER DESIGN                 H. W. WESSOLOWSKI
+  _Painted in Water-colors from a Scene in "Brigands of the Moon."_
+
+  COLD LIGHT                   CAPTAIN S. P. MEEK                   295
+  _How Could a Human Body Be Found Actually Splintered--Broken
+  into Sharp Fragments Like a Shattered Glass! Once Again Dr. Bird
+  Probes Deep into an Amazing Mystery._
+
+  BRIGANDS OF THE MOON         RAY CUMMINGS                         306
+  _Black Mutiny and Brigandage Stalk the Space-ship Planetara as
+  She Speeds to the Moon to Pick Up a Fabulously Rich Cache of
+  Radium-ore._
+
+  THE SOUL MASTER              WILL SMITH AND R. J. ROBBINS         350
+  _Desperately O'Hara Plunged into Prof. Kell's Mysterious Mansion.
+  For His Friend Skip Was the Victim of the Eccentric Scientist's
+  De-astralizing Experiment, and Faced a Fate More Hideous than
+  Death._
+
+  FROM THE OCEAN'S DEPTHS      SEWELL PEASLEE WRIGHT                376
+  _Man Came from the Sea. Mercer, by His Thought-telegraph, Learns
+  from the Weirdly Beautiful Ocean-maiden of a Branch that Returned
+  There._
+
+  VANDALS OF THE STARS         A. T. LOCKE                          390
+  _A Livid Flame Flares Across Space--and Over Manhattan Hovers
+  Teuxical, Vassal of Malfero, Lord of the Universe, Who Comes with
+  Ten Thousand Warriors to Ravage and Subjugate One More Planet for
+  His Master._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Single Copies, 20 Cents (In Canada, 25 Cents)
+  Yearly Subscription, $2.00
+
+Issued monthly by Publishers' Fiscal Corporation, 80 Lafayette St., New
+York, N. Y. W. M. Clayton, President; Nathan Goldmann, Secretary.
+Application for entry as second-class mail pending at the Post Office at
+New York under Act of March 3, 1879. Application for registration of
+title as Trade Mark pending in the U. S. Patent Office. Member Newsstand
+Group--Men's List. For advertising rates address E. R. Crowe & Co.,
+Inc., 25 Vanderbilt Ave., New York; or 225 North Michigan Ave.,
+Chicago.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+Cold Light
+
+_By Capt. S. P. Meek_
+
+    How could a human body be found actually splintered--broken into
+    sharp fragments like a shattered glass! Once again Dr. Bird
+    probes deep into an amazing mystery.
+
+[Illustration: "_The bodies had broken into pieces, as though they had
+been made of glass._"]
+
+
+"Confound it, Carnes, I am on my vacation!"
+
+"I know it, Doctor, and I hate to disturb you, but I felt that I simply
+had to. I have one of the weirdest cases on my hands that I have ever
+been mixed up in and I think that you'll forgive me for calling you when
+I tell you about it."
+
+Dr. Bird groaned into the telephone transmitter.
+
+"I took a vacation last summer, or tried to, and you hauled me away from
+the best fishing I have found in years to help you on a case. This year
+I traveled all the way from Washington to San Francisco to get away from
+you and the very day that I get here you are after me. I won't have
+anything to do with it. Where are you, anyway?"
+
+"I am at Fallon, Nevada, Doctor. I'm sorry that you won't help me out
+because the case promises to be unusually interesting. Let me at least
+tell you about it."
+
+Dr. Bird groaned louder than ever into the telephone transmitter.
+
+"All right, go ahead and tell me about it if it will relieve your mind,
+but I have given you my final answer. I am not a bit interested in it."
+
+"That is quite all right, Doctor, I don't expect you to touch it. I
+hope, however, that you will be able to give me an idea of where to
+start. Did you ever see a man's body broken in pieces?"
+
+"Do you mean badly smashed up?"
+
+"No indeed, I mean just what I said, broken in pieces. Legs snapped off
+as though the entire flesh had become brittle."
+
+"No, I didn't, and neither did anyone else."
+
+"I have seen it, Doctor."
+
+"Hooey! What had you been drinking?"
+
+Operative Carnes of the United States Secret Service chuckled softly to
+himself. The voice of the famous scientist of the Bureau of Standards
+plainly showed an interest which was quite at variance with his words.
+
+"I was quite sober, Doctor, and so was Hughes, and we both saw it."
+
+"Who is Hughes?"
+
+"He is an air mail pilot, one of the crack fliers of the Transcontinental
+Airmail Corporation. Let me tell you the whole thing in order."
+
+"All right. I have a few minutes to spare, but I'll warn you again that
+I don't intend to touch the case."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Suit yourself, Doctor. I have no authority to requisition your
+services. As you know, the T. A. C. has been handling a great deal of
+the transcontinental air mail with a pretty clean record on accidents.
+The day before yesterday, a special plane left Washington to carry two
+packages from there to San Francisco. One of them was a shipment of
+jewels valued at a quarter of a million, consigned to a San Francisco
+firm and the other was a sealed packet from the War Department. No one
+was supposed to know the contents of that packet except the Chief of
+Staff who delivered it to the plane personally, but rumors got out, as
+usual, and it was popularly supposed to contain certain essential
+features of the Army's war plans. This much is certain: The plane
+carried not only the regular T. A. C. pilot and courier, but also an
+army courier, and it was guarded during the trip by an army plane armed
+with small bombs and a machine-gun. I rode in it. My orders were simply
+to guard the ship until it landed at Mills Field and then to guard the
+courier from there to the Presidio of San Francisco until his packet was
+delivered personally into the hands of the Commanding General of the
+Ninth Corps Area.
+
+"The trip was quiet and monotonous until after we left Salt Lake City at
+dawn this morning. Nothing happened until we were about a hundred miles
+east of Reno. We had taken elevation to cross the Stillwater Mountains
+and were skimming low over them, my plane trailing the T. A. C. plane by
+about half a mile. I was not paying any particular attention to the
+other ship when I suddenly felt our plane leap ahead. It was a fast
+Douglas and the pilot gave it the gun and made it move, I can tell you.
+I yelled into the speaking tube and asked what was the reason. My pilot
+yelled back that the plane ahead was in trouble.
+
+"As soon as it was called to my attention I could see myself that it
+wasn't acting normally. It was losing elevation and was pursuing a very
+erratic course. Before we could reach it it lost flying speed and fell
+into a spinning nose dive and headed for the ground. I watched,
+expecting every minute to see the crew make parachute jumps, but they
+didn't and the plane hit the ground with a terrific crash."
+
+"It caught fire, of course?"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"No, Doctor, that is one of the funny things about the accident. It
+didn't. It hit the ground in an open place free from brush and literally
+burst into pieces, but it didn't flame up. We headed directly for the
+scene of the crash and we encountered another funny thing. We almost
+froze to death."
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"Exactly what I say. Of course, it's pretty cold at that altitude all
+the time, but this cold was like nothing I had ever encountered. It
+seemed to freeze the blood in our veins and it congealed frost on the
+windshields and made the motor miss for a moment. It was only momentary
+and it only existed directly over the wrecked plane. We went past it and
+swung around in a circle and came back over the wreck, but we didn't
+feel the cold again.
+
+"The next thing we tried to do was to find a landing place. That country
+is pretty rugged and rough and there wasn't a flat place for miles that
+was large enough to land a ship on. Hughes and I talked it over and
+there didn't seem to be much of anything that we could do except to go
+on until we found a landing place. I had had no experience in parachute
+jumping and I couldn't pilot the plane if Hughes jumped. We swooped down
+over the wreck as close as we dared and that was when we saw the
+condition of the bodies. The whole plane was cracked up pretty badly,
+but the weird part of it was the fact that the bodies of the crew had
+broken into pieces, as though they had been made of glass. Arms and legs
+were detached from the torsos and lying at a distance. There was no sign
+of blood on the ground. We saw all this with our naked eyes from close
+at hand and verified it by observations through binoculars from a
+greater height.
+
+"When we had made our observations and marked the location of the wreck
+as closely as we could, we headed east until we found a landing place
+near Fallon. Hughes dropped me here and went on to Reno, or to San
+Francisco if necessary, to report the accident and get more planes to
+aid in the search. I was wholly at sea, but it seemed to be in your line
+and as I knew that you were at the St. Francis, I called you up."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"What are your plans?"
+
+"I made none until I talked with you. The country where the wreck
+occurred is unbelievably wild and we can't get near it with any
+transportation other than burros. The only thing that I can see to do is
+to gather together what transportation I can and head for the wreck on
+foot to rescue the packets and to bring out the bodies. Can you suggest
+anything better?"
+
+"When do you expect to start?"
+
+"As soon as I can get my pack train together. Possibly in three or four
+hours."
+
+"Carnes, are you sure that those bodies were broken into bits? An arm or
+a leg might easily be torn off in a complete crash."
+
+"They were smashed into bits as nearly as I could tell, Doctor. Hughes
+is an old flier and he has seen plenty of crashes but he never saw
+anything like this. It beats anything that I ever saw."
+
+"If your observations were accurate, there could be only one cause and
+that one is a patent impossibility. I haven't a bit of equipment
+here, but I expect that I can get most of the stuff I want from the
+University of California across the bay at Berkeley. I can get a
+plane at Crissy Field. I'll tell you what to do, Carnes. Get your burro
+train together and start as soon as you can, but leave me half a
+dozen burros and a guide at Fallon. I'll get up there as soon as I can
+and I'll try to overtake you before you get to the wreck. If I don't,
+don't disturb anything any more than you can help until my arrival. Do
+you understand?"
+
+"I thought that you were on your vacation, Doctor."
+
+"Oh shut up! Like most of my vacations, this one will have to be
+postponed. I'll move as swiftly as I can and I ought to be at Fallon
+to-night if I'm lucky and don't run into any obstacles. Burros are
+fairly slow, but I'll make the best time possible."
+
+"I rather expected you would, Doctor. I can't get my pack train together
+until evening, so I'll wait for you right here. I'm mighty glad that you
+are going to get in on it."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Silently Carnes and Dr. Bird surveyed the wreck of the T. A. C. plane.
+The observations of the secret service operative had been correct. The
+bodies of the unfortunate crew had been broken into fragments. Their
+limbs had not been twisted off as a freak of the fall but had been
+cleanly broken off, as though the bodies had suddenly become brittle and
+had shattered on their impact with the ground. Not only the bodies, but
+the ship itself had been broken up. Even the clothing of the men was in
+pieces or had long splits in the fabric whose edges were as clean as
+though they had been cut with a knife.
+
+Dr. Bird picked up an arm which had belonged to the pilot and examined
+it. The brittleness, if it had ever existed, was gone and the arm was
+limp.
+
+"No _rigor mortis_," commented the Doctor. "How long ago was the
+wreck?"
+
+"About seventy-two hours ago."
+
+"Hm-m! What about those packets that were on the plane?"
+
+Carnes stepped forward and gingerly inspected first the body of the army
+courier and then that of the courier of the T. A. C.
+
+"Both gone, Doctor," he reported, straightening up.
+
+Dr. Bird's face fell into grim lines.
+
+"There is more to this case than appears on the surface, Carnes," he
+said. "This was no ordinary wreck. Bring up that third burro; I want to
+examine these fragments a little. Bill," he went on to one of the two
+guides who had accompanied them from Fallon, "you and Walter scout
+around the ground and see what you can find out. I especially wish to
+know whether anyone has visited the scene of the wreck."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The guides consulted a moment and started out. Carnes drove up the burro
+the Doctor had indicated and Dr. Bird unpacked it. He opened a mahogony
+case and took from it a high powered microscope. Setting the instrument
+up on a convenient rock, he subjected portions of the wreck, including
+several fragments of flesh, to a careful scrutiny. When he had completed
+his observations he fell into a brown study, from which he was aroused
+by Carnes.
+
+"What did you find out about the cause of the wreck, Doctor?"
+
+"I don't know what to think. The immediate cause was that everything was
+frozen. The plane ran into a belt of cold which froze up the motor and
+which probably killed the crew instantly. It was undoubtedly the
+aftermath of that cold which you felt when you swooped down over the
+wreck."
+
+"It seems impossible that it could have suddenly got cold enough to
+freeze everything up like that."
+
+"It does, and yet I am confident that that is what happened. It was no
+ordinary cold, Carnes; it was cold of the type that infests interstellar
+space; cold beyond any conception you have of cold, cold near the range
+of the absolute zero of temperature, nearly four hundred and fifty
+degrees below zero on the Fahrenheit scale. At such temperatures, things
+which are ordinarily quite flexible and elastic, such as rubber, or
+flesh, become as brittle as glass and would break in the manner which
+these bodies have broken. An examination of the tissues of the flesh
+shows that it has been submitted to some temperature that is very low in
+the scale, probably below that of liquid air. Such a temperature would
+produce instant death and the other phenomena which we can observe."
+
+"What could cause such a low temperature, Doctor?"
+
+"I don't know yet, although I hope to find out before we are finished.
+Cold is a funny thing, Carnes. Ordinarily it is considered as simply the
+absence of heat; and yet I have always held it to be a definite negative
+quantity. All through nature we observe that every force has its
+opposite or negative force to oppose it. We have positive and negative
+electrical charges, positive and negative, or north and south, magnetic
+poles. We have gravity and its opposite apergy, and I believe cold is
+really negative heat."
+
+"I never heard of anything like that, Doctor. I always thought that
+things were cold because heat was taken from them--not because cold was
+added. It sounds preposterous."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Such is the common idea, and yet I cannot accept it, for it does not
+explain all the recorded phenomena. You are familiar with a searchlight,
+are you not?"
+
+"In a general way, yes."
+
+"A searchlight is merely a source of light, and of course, of heat,
+which is placed at the focus of a parabolic reflector so that all of the
+rays emanating from the source travel in parallel lines. A searchlight,
+of course, gives off heat. If we place a lens of the same size as the
+searchlight aperture in the path of the beam and concentrate all the
+light, and heat, at one spot, the focal point of the lens, the
+temperature at that point is the same as the temperature of the source
+of the light, less what has been lost by radiation. You understand that,
+do you not?"
+
+"Certainly."
+
+"Suppose that we place at the center of the aperture of the searchlight
+a small opaque disc which is permeable neither to heat nor light, in
+such a manner as to interrupt the central portion of the beam. As a
+result, the beam will go out in the form of a hollow rod, or pipe, of
+heat and light with a dark, cold core. This core will have the
+temperature of the surrounding air plus the small amount which has
+radiated into it from the surrounding pipe. If we now pass this beam of
+light through a lens in order to concentrate the beam, both the pipe of
+heat and the cold core will focus. If we place a temperature measuring
+device near the focus of the dark core, we will find that the
+temperature is lower than the surrounding air. This means that we have
+focused or concentrated cold."
+
+"That sounds impossible. But I can offer no other criticism."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Nevertheless, it is experimentally true. It is one of the facts which
+lead me to consider cold as negative heat. However, this is true of
+cold, as it is of the other negative forces; they exist and manifest
+themselves only in the presence of the positive forces. No one has yet
+concentrated cold except in the presence of heat, as I have outlined.
+How this cold belt which the T. A. C. plane encountered came to be there
+is another question. The thing which we have to determine is whether it
+was caused by natural or artificial forces."
+
+"Both of the packets which the plane carried are gone, Doctor," observed
+Carnes.
+
+"Yes, and that seems to add weight to the possibility that the cause was
+artificial, but it is far from conclusive. The packets might not have
+been on the men when the plane fell, or someone may have passed later
+and taken them for safekeeping."
+
+The doctor's remarks were interrupted by the guides.
+
+"Someone has been here since the wreck, Doctor," said Bill. "Walter and
+I found tracks where two men came up here and prowled around for some
+time and then left by the way they came. They went off toward the
+northwest, and we followed their trail for about forty rods and then
+lost it. We weren't able to pick it up again."
+
+"Thanks, Bill," replied the doctor. "Well, Carnes, that seems to add
+more weight to the theory that the spot of cold was made and didn't just
+happen. If a prospecting party had just happened along they would either
+have left the wreck alone or would have made some attempt to inter the
+bodies. That cold belt must have been produced artificially by men who
+planned to rob this plane after bringing it down and who were near at
+hand to get their plunder. Is there any chance of following that
+trail?"
+
+"I doubt it, Doc. Walter and I scouted around quite a little, but we
+couldn't pick it up again."
+
+"Is there any power line passing within twenty miles of here?"
+
+"None that Walter and I know of, Doc."
+
+"Funny! Such a device as must have been used would need power and lots
+of it for operation. Well, I'll try my luck. Carnes, help me unpack and
+set up the rest of my apparatus."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+With the aid of the operative, Dr. Bird unpacked two of the burros and
+extracted from cases where they were carefully packed and padded some
+elaborate electrical and optical apparatus. The first was a short
+telescope of large diameter which he mounted on a base in such a manner
+that it could be elevated or depressed and rotated in any direction. At
+the focal point of the telescope was fastened a small knot of wire from
+which one lead ran to the main piece of apparatus, which he sat on a
+flat rock. The other lead from the wire knot ran into a sealed container
+surrounded by a water bath under which a spirit lamp burned. From the
+container another lead led to the main apparatus. This main piece
+consisted of a series of wire coils mounted on a frame and attached to
+the two leads. The doctor took from a padded case a tiny magnet
+suspended on a piece of wire of exceedingly small diameter which he
+fastened in place inside the coils. Cemented to the magnet was a tiny
+mirror.
+
+"What is that apparatus?" asked Carnes as the doctor finished his set-up
+and surveyed it with satisfaction.
+
+"Merely a thermocouple attached to a D'Arsonval galvanometer," replied
+the doctor. "This large, squat telescope catches and concentrates on the
+thermocouple and the galvanometer registers the temperature."
+
+"You're out of my depth. What is a thermocouple?"
+
+"A juncture of two wires made of dissimilar metals, in this case of
+platinum and of platinum-iridium alloy. There is another similar
+junction in this case, which is kept at a constant temperature by the
+water bath. When the temperatures of the two junctions are the same, the
+system is in equilibrium. When they are at different temperatures, an
+electrical potential is set up, which causes a current to flow from one
+to the other through the galvanometer. The galvanometer consists of a
+magnet set up inside coils through which the current I spoke of flows.
+This current causes the magnet to rotate and by watching the mirror, the
+rotation can be detected and measured.
+
+"This device is one of the most sensitive ever made, and is used to
+measure the radiation from distant stars. Currents as small as
+.000000000000000000000000001 ampere have been detected and measured.
+This particular instrument is not that sensitive to begin with, and has
+its sensitivity further reduced by having a high resistance in one of
+the leads."
+
+"What are you going to use it for?"
+
+"I am going to try to locate somewhere in these hills a patch of local
+cold. It may not work, but I have hopes. If you will manipulate the
+telescope so as to search the hills around here, I will watch the
+galvanometer."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+For several minutes Carnes swung the telescope around. Twice Dr. Bird
+stopped him and decreased the sensitiveness of his instrument by
+introducing more resistance in the lines in order to keep the magnet
+from twisting clear around, due to the fluctuations in the heats
+received on account of the varying conditions of reflection. As Carnes
+swung the telescope again the magnet swung around sharply, nearly to a
+right angle to its former position.
+
+"Stop!" cried the doctor. "Read your azimuth."
+
+Carnes read the compass bearing on the protractor attached to the frame
+which supported the telescope. Dr. Bird took a pair of binoculars and
+looked long and earnestly in the indicated direction. With a sigh he
+laid down the glasses.
+
+"I can't see a thing, Carnesy," he said. "We'll have to move over to the
+next crest and make a new set-up. Plant a rod on the hill so that we can
+get an azimuth bearing and get the airline distance with a range
+finder."
+
+On the hilltop which Dr. Bird had pointed out the apparatus was again
+set up. For several minutes Carnes swept the hills before an exclamation
+from the doctor told him to pause. He read the new azimuth, and the
+doctor laid off the two readings on a sheet of paper with a protractor
+and made a few calculations.
+
+"I don't know," he said reflectively when he had finished his
+computations. "This darned instrument is still so sensitive that you may
+have merely focused on a deep shadow or a cold spring or something of
+that sort, but the magnet kicked clear around and it may mean that we
+have located what we are looking for. It should be about two miles away
+and almost due west of here."
+
+"There is no spring that I know of, Doc, and I think I know of every
+water hole in this country," remarked Bill.
+
+"There could hardly be a spring at this elevation, anyway," replied the
+doctor. "Maybe it is what we are seeking. We'll start out in that
+direction, anyway. Bill, you had better take the lead, for you know the
+country. Spread out a little so that we won't be too bunched if anything
+happens."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+For three-quarters of an hour the little group of men made their way
+through the wilderness in the direction indicated by the doctor.
+Presently Bill, who was in the lead, held up his hand with a warning
+gesture. The other three closed up as rapidly as cautious progress would
+allow.
+
+"What is it, Bill?" asked the doctor in an undertone.
+
+"Slip up ahead and look over that crest."
+
+The doctor obeyed instructions. As he glanced over he gave vent to a low
+whistle of surprise and motioned for Carnes to join him. The operative
+crawled up and glanced over the crest. In a hollow before them was a
+crude one-storied house, and erected on an open space before it was a
+massive piece of apparatus. It consisted of a number of huge metallic
+cylinders, from which lines ran to a silvery concave mirror mounted on
+an elaborate frame which would allow it to be rotated so as to point in
+any direction.
+
+"What is it?" whispered Carnes.
+
+"Some kind of a projector," muttered the doctor. "I never saw one quite
+like it, but it is meant to project something. I can't make out the
+curve of that mirror. It isn't a parabola and it isn't an ellipse. It
+must be a high degree subcatenary or else built on a transcendental
+function."
+
+He raised himself to get a clearer view, and as he did so a puff of
+smoke came from the house, to be followed in a moment by a sharp crack
+as a bullet flattened itself a few inches from his head. The doctor
+tumbled back over the crest out of sight of the house. Bill and Walter
+hurried forward, their rifles held ready for action.
+
+"Get out on the flanks, men," directed the doctor. "The man we want is
+in a house in that hollow. He's armed, and he means business."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Bill and Walter crawled under the shelter of the rocks to a short
+distance away and then, rifles ready, advanced to the attack. A report
+came from the hollow and a bullet whined over Bill's head. Almost
+instantly a crack came from Walter's rifle and splinters flew from the
+building in the hollow a few inches from a loophole, through which
+projected the barrel of a rifle.
+
+The rifle barrel swung rapidly in a circle and barked in Walter's
+direction; but as it did so, Bill's gun spoke and again splinters flew
+from the building.
+
+"Good work!" ejaculated Dr. Bird as he watched the slow advance of the
+two guides. "If we just had rifles we could join in the party, but it's
+a little far for effective pistol work. Let's go ahead, and we may get
+close enough to do a little shooting."
+
+Pistols in hand, Carnes and the doctor crawled over the crest and joined
+the advance. Again and again the rifle spoke from the hollow and was
+answered by the vicious barks of the rifles in the hands of the guides,
+Carnes and the doctor resting their pistols on rocks and sending an
+occasional bullet toward the loophole. The conditions of light and the
+moving target were not conducive to good marksmanship on the part of the
+besieged man, and none of the attackers were hit. Presently Walter
+succeeded in sending a bullet through the loophole. The rifle barrel
+suddenly disappeared. With a shout the four men rose from their cover
+and advanced toward the building at a run.
+
+As they did so an ominous whirring sound came from the apparatus in
+front of the house and a sudden chill filled the air.
+
+"Back!" shouted Dr. Bird. "Back below the hill if you value your
+lives!"
+
+He turned and raced at full speed toward the sheltering crest of the
+hill, the others following him closely. The whirring sound continued,
+and the concave reflector turned with a grating sound on its gears. As
+the path of its rays struck the ground the rocks became white with frost
+and one rock split with a sharp report, one fragment rolling down the
+slope, carrying others in its trail.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+With panic-stricken faces the four men raced toward the sheltering
+crest, but remorselessly the reflector swung around in their direction.
+The intense cold numbed the racing men, cutting off their breath and
+impeding their efforts for speed.
+
+"Stop!" cried the doctor suddenly. "Fire at that reflector! It's our
+only chance!"
+
+He set the example by turning and emptying his pistol futilely at the
+turning mirror. Bill, Walter and Carnes followed his example. Nearer
+and nearer to them came the deadly ray. Bill was the nearest to its
+path, and he suddenly stiffened and fell forward, his useless gun still
+grasped in his hands. As his body struck the ground it rolled down hill
+for a few feet, the deadly ray following it. His head struck a rock, and
+Carnes gave a cry of horror as it broke into fragments.
+
+Walter threw his rifle to his shoulder and fired again and again at the
+rotating disc. The cold had became intense and he could not control the
+actions of his muscles and his rifle wavered about. He threw himself
+flat on the ground, and, with an almost superhuman effort, steadied
+himself for a moment and fired. His aim was true, and with a terrific
+crash the reflector split into a thousand fragments. Dr. Bird staggered
+to his feet.
+
+"It's out of order for a moment!" he cried. "To the house while we
+can!"
+
+As swiftly as his numbed feet would allow him, he stumbled toward the
+house. The muzzle of the rifle again projected from the loophole and
+with its crack the doctor staggered for a moment and then fell. Walter's
+rifle spoke again and the rifle disappeared through the loophole with a
+spasmodic jerk. Carnes stumbled over the doctor.
+
+"Are you hit badly?" he gasped through chattering teeth.
+
+"I'm not hit at all," muttered the doctor. "I stumbled and fell just as
+he fired. Look out! He's going to shoot again!"
+
+The rifle barrel came slowly into view through the loophole. Walter
+fired, but his bullet went wild. Carnes threw himself behind a rock for
+protection.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The rifle swung in Walter's direction and paused. As it did so, from the
+house came a strangled cry and a sound as of a blow. The rifle barrel
+disappeared, and the sounds of a struggle came from the building.
+
+"Come on!" cried Carnes as he rose to his feet, and made his stumbling
+way forward, the others following at the best speed which their numbed
+limbs would allow.
+
+As they reached the door they were aware of a struggle which was going
+on inside. With an oath the doctor threw his massive frame against the
+door. It creaked, but the solid oak of which it was composed was proof
+against the attack, and he drew back for another onslaught. From the
+house came a pistol shot, followed by a despairing cry and a guttural
+shout. Reinforced by Carnes, the doctor threw his weight against the
+door again. With a rending crash it gave, and they fell sprawling into
+the cabin. The doctor was the first one on his feet.
+
+"Who are you?" asked a voice from one corner. The doctor whirled like a
+flash and covered the speaker with his pistol.
+
+"Put them up!" he said tersely.
+
+"I am unarmed," the voice replied. "Who are you?"
+
+"We're from the United States Secret Service," replied Carnes who had
+gained his feet. "The game is up for you, and you'd better realize it."
+
+"Secret Service! Thank God!" cried the voice. "Get Koskoff--he has the
+plans. He has gone out through the tunnel!"
+
+"Where is it?" demanded Carnes.
+
+"The entrance is that iron plate on the floor."
+
+Carnes and the doctor jumped at the plate and tried to lift it, without
+result. There was no handle or projection on which they could take
+hold.
+
+"Not that way," cried the voice. "That cover is fastened on the inside.
+Go outside the building; he'll come out about two hundred yards north.
+Shoot him as he appears or he'll get away."
+
+The three men nearly tumbled over each other to get through the doorway
+into the bitter cold outside. As they emerged from the cabin the gaze of
+the guide swept the surrounding hills.
+
+"There he goes!" he cried.
+
+"Get him!" said Carnes sharply.
+
+Walter ran forward a few feet and dropped prone on the ground, cuddling
+the stock of his rifle to his cheek. Two hundred yards ahead a figure
+was scurrying over the rocks away from the cabin. Walter drew in his
+breath and his hand suddenly grew steady as his keen gray eyes peered
+through the sights. Carnes and the doctor held their breath in
+sympathy.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Suddenly the rifle spoke, and the fleeing man threw up his arms and fell
+forward on his face.
+
+"Got him," said Walter laconically.
+
+"Go bring the body in, Carnes," exclaimed the doctor. "I'll take care of
+the chap inside."
+
+"Did you get him?" asked the voice eagerly, as the doctor stepped
+inside.
+
+"He's dead all right," replied the doctor grimly. "Who the devil are
+you, and what are you doing here?"
+
+"There is a light switch on the left of the door as you come in," was
+the reply.
+
+Dr. Bird found the switch and snapped on a light. He turned toward the
+corner from whence the voice had come and recoiled in horror. Propped in
+the corner was the body of a middle-aged man, daubed and splashed with
+blood which ran from a wound in the side of his head.
+
+"Good Lord!" he ejaculated. "Let me help you."
+
+"There's not much use," replied the man rather faintly. "I am about done
+in. This face wound doesn't amount to much, but I am shot through the
+body and am bleeding internally. If you try to move me, it may easily
+kill me. Leave me alone until your partners come."
+
+The doctor drew a flask of brandy from his pocket and advanced toward
+the corner.
+
+"Take a few drops of this," he advised.
+
+With an effort the man lifted the flask to his lips and gulped down a
+little of the fiery spirit. A sound of tramping feet came from the
+outside and then a thud as though a body had been dropped. Carnes and
+Walter entered the cabin.
+
+"He's dead as a mackerel," said Carnes in answer to the doctor's look.
+"Walter got him through the neck and broke his spinal cord. He never
+knew what hit him."
+
+"The plans?" came in a gasping voice from the man in the corner.
+
+"We got them, too," replied Carnes. "He had both packets inside his
+coat. They have been opened, but I guess they are all here. Who the
+devil are you?"
+
+"Since Koskoff is dead, and I am dying, there is no reason why I
+shouldn't tell you," was the answer. "Leave that brandy handy to keep up
+my strength. I have only a short time and I can't repeat.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"As to who I am or what I was, it doesn't really matter. Koskoff knew me
+as John Smith, and it will pass as well as any other name. Let my past
+stay buried. I am, or was, a scientist of some ability; but fortune
+frowned on me, and I was driven out of the world. Money would
+rehabilitate me--money will do anything nowadays--so I set out to get
+it. In the course of my experimental work, I had discovered that cold
+was negative heat and reacted to the laws which governed heat."
+
+"I knew that," cried Dr. Bird; "but I never could prove it."
+
+"Who are you?" demanded John Smith.
+
+"Dr. Bird, of the Bureau of Standards."
+
+"Oh, Bird. I've heard of you. You can understand me when I say that as
+heat, positive heat is a concomitant of ordinary light. I have found
+that cold, negative heat, is a concomitant of cold light. Is my
+apparatus in good shape outside?"
+
+"The reflector is smashed."
+
+"I'm sorry. You would have enjoyed studying it. I presume that you saw
+that it was a catenary curve?"
+
+"I rather thought so."
+
+"It was, and it was also adjustable. I could vary the focal point from a
+few feet to several miles. With that apparatus I could throw a beam of
+negative heat with a focal point which I could adjust at will. Close to
+the apparatus, I could obtain a temperature almost down to absolute
+zero, but at the longer ranges it wasn't so cold, due to leakage into
+the atmosphere. Even at two miles I could produce a local temperature of
+three hundred degrees below zero."
+
+"What was the source of your cold?"
+
+"Liquid helium. Those cylinders contain, or rather did contain, for I
+expect that Koskoff has emptied them, helium in a liquid state."
+
+"Where is your compressor?"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"I didn't have to use one. I developed a cold light under whose rays
+helium would liquefy and remain in a state of equilibrium until exposed
+to light rays. Those cylinders had merely enough pressure to force the
+liquid out to where the sun could hit it, and then it turned to a gas,
+dropping the temperature at the first focal point of the reflector to
+absolute zero. When I had this much done, Koskoff and I packed the whole
+apparatus here and were ready for work.
+
+"We were on the path of the transcontinental air mail, and I bided my
+time until an especially valuable shipment was to be made. My plans,
+which worked perfectly, were to freeze the plane in midair and then rob
+the wreck. I heard of the jewel shipment the T. A. C. was to carry and I
+planned to get it. When the plane came over, Koskoff and I brought it
+down. The unsuspected presence of another plane upset us a little, and I
+started to bring it down. But we had been all over this country and knew
+there was no place that a plane could land. I let it go on in safety."
+
+"Thank you," replied Carnes with a grimace.
+
+"We robbed the wreck and we found two packets, one the jewels I was
+after, and the other a sealed packet, which proved to contain certain
+War Department plans. That was when I learned who Koskoff was. I had
+hired him in San Francisco as a good mechanic who had no principles. He
+was to get one-fourth of the loot. When we found these plans, he told me
+who he was. He was really a Russian secret agent and he wanted to
+deliver the plans to Russia. I may be a thief and a murderer, but I am
+not yet ready to betray my country, and I told him so. He offered me
+almost any price for the plans; but I wouldn't listen. We had a serious
+quarrel, and he overpowered me and bound me.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"We had a radio set here and he called San Francisco and sent some code
+message. I think he was waiting here for someone to come. Had we
+followed our original plans, we would have been miles from here before
+you arrived.
+
+"He had me bound and helpless, as he thought, but I worked my bonds a
+little loose. I didn't let him know it, for I knew that the plane I had
+let get away would guide a party here and I thought I might be able to
+help out. When you came and attacked the house, I worked at my bonds
+until they were loose enough to throw off. I saw Koskoff start my cold
+apparatus to working and then he quit, because he ran out of helium.
+When he started shooting again, I worked out of my bonds and tackled
+him.
+
+"He was a better man than I gave him credit for, or else he suspected
+me, for about the time I grabbed him he whirled and struck me over the
+head with his gun barrel and tore my face open. The blow stunned me, and
+when I came to, I was thrown into this corner. I meant to have another
+try at it, but I guess you rushed him too fast. He turned and ran for
+the tunnel, but as he did so, he shot me through the body. I guess I
+didn't look dead enough to suit him. You gentlemen broke open the door
+and came in. That's all."
+
+"Not by a long shot, it isn't," exclaimed Dr. Bird. "Where is that cold
+light apparatus of yours?"
+
+"In the tunnel."
+
+"How do you get into it?"
+
+"If you will open that cupboard on the wall, you'll find an open knife
+switch on the wall. Close it."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Dr. Bird found the switch and closed it. As he did so the cabin rocked
+on its foundations and both Carnes and Walter were thrown to the ground.
+The thud of a detonation deep in the earth came to their ears.
+
+"What was that?" cried the doctor.
+
+"That," replied Smith with a wan smile, "was the detonation of two
+hundred pounds of T.N.T. When you dig down into the underground cave
+where we used the cold light apparatus, you will find it in fragments.
+It was my only child, and I'll take it with me."
+
+As he finished his head slumped forward on his chest. With an
+exclamation of dismay Dr. Bird sprang forward and tried to lift the
+prostrate form.
+
+In an agony of desire the Doctor tightened his grip on the dying man's
+shoulder. But Smith collapsed into a heap. Dr. Bird bent forward and
+tore open his shirt and listened at his chest. Presently he straightened
+up.
+
+"He is gone," he said sadly, "and I guess the results of his genius have
+died with him. He doesn't strike me as a man who left overmuch to
+chance. Carnes, is your case completed?"
+
+"Very satisfactorily, Doctor. I have both of the lost packets."
+
+"All right, then, come back to the wreck and help me pack my burros. I
+can make my way back to Fallon without a guide."
+
+"Where are you going, Doctor?"
+
+"That, Carnes, old dear, is none of your blankety blanked business.
+Permit me to remind you that I am on my vacation. I haven't decided yet
+just where I am going, but I can tell you one thing. It's going to be
+some place where you can't call me on the telephone."
+
+
+
+
+Brigands of the Moon
+
+(The Book of Gregg Haljan)
+BEGINNING A FOUR-PART NOVEL
+
+_By Ray Cummings_
+
+    Black mutiny and brigandage stalk the Space-ship Planetara as
+    she speeds to the Moon to pick up a fabulously rich cache of
+    radium-ore.
+
+[Illustration: _I stood on the turret-balcony of the Planetara with Dr.
+Frank, watching the arriving passengers._]
+
+
+_Foreword by Ray Cummings_
+
+I have been thinking that if, during one of those long winter evenings
+at Valley Forge, someone had placed in George Washington's hands one of
+our present day best sellers, the illustrious Father of our Country
+would have read it with considerable emotion. I do not mean what we call
+a story of science, or fantasy--just a novel of action, adventure and
+romance. The sort of thing you and I like to read, but do not find
+amazing in any way at all.
+
+But I fancy that George Washington would have found it amazing. Don't
+you? It might picture, for instance, a factory girl at a sewing machine.
+George Washington would be amazed at a sewing machine. And the girl,
+journeying in the subway to and from her work! Stealing an opportunity
+to telephone her lover at the noon hour; going to the movies in the
+evening, or listening to a radio. And there might be a climax, perhaps,
+with the girl and the villain in a transcontinental railway Pullman, and
+the hero sending frantic telegrams, or telephoning the train, and then
+chasing it in his airplane.
+
+George Washington would have found it amazing!
+
+And I am wondering how you and I would feel if someone were to give us
+now a book of ordinary adventure of the sort which will be published a
+hundred and fifty years hence. I have been trying to imagine such a book
+and the nature of its contents.
+
+Let us imagine it together. Suppose we walk down Fifth Avenue, a
+pleasant spring morning of May, 2080. Fifth Avenue, no doubt, will be
+there. I don't know whether the New York Public Library will be there or
+not. We'll assume that it is, and that it has some sort of books,
+printed, or in whatever fashion you care to imagine.
+
+The young man library attendant is surprised at our curiously antiquated
+aspect. We look as though we were dressed for some historical costume
+ball. We talk old-fashioned English, like actors in an historical play
+of the 1930 period.
+
+But we get the book. The attendant assures us it is a good average story
+of action and adventure. Nothing remarkable, but he read it himself, and
+found it interesting.
+
+We thank him and take the book. But we find that the language in which
+it is written is too strange for comfortable reading. And it names so
+many extraordinary things so casually! As though we knew all about them,
+which we certainly do not!
+
+So we take it to the kind-hearted librarian in the language division. He
+modifies it to old-fashioned English of 1930, and he puts occasional
+footnotes to help explain some of the things we might not understand.
+Why he should bother to do this for us I don't know; but let us assume
+that he does.
+
+And now we take the book home--in the pneumatic tube, or aerial moving
+sidewalk, or airship, or whatever it is we take to get home.
+
+And now that we are home, let's read the book. It ought to be
+interesting.
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+    _Tells of the Grantline Moon Expedition and of the Mysterious
+    Martian Who Followed Us in the City Corridor_
+
+One may write about oneself and still not be an egoist. Or so, at least,
+they tell me. My narrative went broadcast with a fair success. It was
+pantomimed and the public flashed me a reasonable approval. And so my
+disc publishers have suggested that I record it in more permanent form.
+
+I introduce myself, begging grace that I intrude upon your busy minutes,
+with my only excuse that perhaps I may amuse you. For what the
+commercial sellers of my pictured version were pleased to blare as my
+handsome face, I ask your indulgence. My feminine audience of the
+pantomimes was undoubtedly graciously pleased at my personality and
+physical aspect. That I am "tall as a Viking of old"--and "handsome as a
+young Norse God"--is very pretty talk in the selling of my product. But
+I deplore its intrusion into the personality of this, my recorded
+narrative. And so now, for preface, to all my audience I do give earnest
+assurance that Gregg Haljan is no conceited zebra, handsomely striped by
+nature, and proud of it. Not so. I am, I do beg you to believe, a very
+humble fellow, striving for your approval, hoping only to entertain
+you.
+
+My introduction: My name, Gregg Haljan. My age, twenty-five years. I
+was, at the time my narrative begins, Third Officer on the Space-Ship
+Planetara. Our line was newly established; in 2070, to be exact,
+following the modern improvements of the Martel Magnetic Levitation.[1]
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Our ship, whose home port was Great-New York, carried mail and passenger
+traffic to and from both Venus and Mars. Of astronomical necessity, our
+flights were irregular. This spring, with the two other planets both
+close to the earth, we were making two complete round trips. We had just
+arrived in Great-New York, this May evening, from Grebhar, Venus Free
+State. With only five hours in port here, we were departing the same
+night at the zero hour for Ferrok-Shahn, capital of the Martian Union.
+
+We were no sooner at the landing stage than I found a code-flash
+summoning Dan Dean and me to Divisional Detective Headquarters. Dan
+"Snap" Dean was one of my closest friends. He was radio-helio operator
+of the Planetara. A small, wiry, red-headed chap, with a quick, ready
+laugh and a wit that made everyone like him.
+
+The summons to Detective-Colonel Halsey's office surprised us. Snap eyed
+me.
+
+"You haven't been opening any treasury vaults, have you, Gregg?"
+
+"He wants you, also," I retorted.
+
+He laughed. "Well, he can roar at me like a traffic switchman and my
+private life will remain my own."
+
+We could not think why we should be wanted. It was the darkness of
+mid-evening when we left the Planetara for Halsey's office. It was not a
+long trip. We went direct in the upper monorail, descending into the
+subterranean city at Park-Circle 30.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We had never been to Halsey's office before. We found it to be a gloomy,
+vaultlike place in one of the deepest corridors. The door lifted.
+
+"Gregg Haljan and Daniel Dean."
+
+The guard stood aside. "Come in."
+
+I own that my heart was unduly thumping as we entered. The door dropped
+behind us. It was a small blue-lit apartment--a steel-lined room like a
+vault.
+
+Colonel Halsey sat at his desk. And the big, heavy-set, florid Captain
+Carter--our commander of the Planetara--was here. That surprised us: we
+had not seen him leave the ship.
+
+Halsey smiled at us gravely. Captain Carter said, "Sit down, lads."
+
+We took the seats. There was an alarming solemnity about this. If I had
+been guilty of anything that I could think of, it would have been
+frightening. But Halsey's first words reassured me.
+
+"It's about the Grantline Moon Expedition. In spite of our secrecy, the
+news has gotten out. We want to know how. Can you tell us?"
+
+Captain Carter's huge bulk--he was about as tall as I am--towered over
+us as we sat before Halsey's desk. "If you lads have told anyone--said
+anything--let slip the slightest hint about it--"
+
+Snap smiled with relief; but he turned solemn at once. "I haven't. Not a
+word!"
+
+"Nor have I," I declared.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Grantline Moon Expedition! We had not thought of that as a reason
+for this summons. Johnny Grantline was a close friend to us both. He had
+organized an exploring expedition to the Moon. Uninhabited, with its
+bleak, forbidding, airless, waterless surface, the Moon--even though so
+close to the Earth--was seldom visited. No regular ship ever stopped
+there. A few exploring parties of recent years had come to grief.
+
+But there was a persistent rumor that upon the Moon, mineral riches of
+fabulous wealth were awaiting discovery. The thing had already caused
+some interplanetary complications. The aggressive Martians would be only
+too glad to explore the Moon. But the U.S.W.[2] definitely warned them
+away. The Moon was World Territory, we announced, and we would protect
+it as such.
+
+The threatened conflict between the Earth and Mars had come to nothing.
+There was, this year of 2079, a thorough amity between all three of the
+inhabited planets. It still holds, and I pray that it may always hold.
+
+There was, nevertheless, a realization by our government, that whatever
+riches might be upon the Moon should be seized at once and held by some
+reputable Earth Company. And when Johnny Grantline applied, with his
+father's wealth and his own scientific record of attainment, the
+government was only too glad to grant him its writ.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Grantline Expedition had started six months ago. The Martian
+government had acquiesced in our ultimatum, yet brigands have been known
+to be financed under cover of a governmental disavowal. And so the
+expedition was kept secret.
+
+My words need give no offense to any Martian who comes upon them. I
+refer to the history of our earth only. The Grantline Expedition was on
+the Moon now. No word had come from it. One could not flash helios even
+in code without letting all the universe know that explorers were on the
+Moon. And why they were there, anyone could easily guess.
+
+And now Colonel Halsey was telling us that the news was abroad! Captain
+Carter eyed us closely; his flashing eyes under the white bushy brows
+would pry a secret from anyone.
+
+"You're sure? A girl of Venus, perhaps, with her cursed, seductive lure!
+A chance word, with you lads befuddled by alcolite?"
+
+We assured him we had been careful. By the heavens, I know that I had
+been. Not a whisper, even to Snap, of the name Grantline in six months
+or more.
+
+Captain Carter added abruptly, "We're insulated here, Halsey?"
+
+"Yes, talk as freely as you like. An eavesdropping ray will never get
+into these walls."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+They questioned us. They were satisfied at last that, though the secret
+had escaped, we had not done it. Hearing it discussed, it occurred to me
+to wonder why Carter was concerned. I was not aware that he knew of
+Grantline's venture. I learned now the reason why the Planetara, upon
+each of her voyages, had managed to pass fairly close to the Moon. It
+had been arranged with Grantline that if he wanted help or had any
+important message, he was to flash it locally to our passing ship. And
+this Snap knew, and had never mentioned it, even to me.
+
+Halsey was saying, "Well, we can't blame you, but the secret is out."
+
+Snap and I regarded each other. What could anyone do? What would anyone
+dare do?
+
+Captain Carter said abruptly, "Look here, lads, this is my chance now to
+talk plainly to you. Outside, anywhere outside these walls, an
+eavesdropping ray may be upon us. You know that? One may never even dare
+whisper since that accursed ray was developed."
+
+Snap opened his mouth to speak but decided against it. My heart was
+pounding.
+
+Captain Carter went on, "I know I can trust you two more than anyone
+else under me on the Planetara--"
+
+"What do you mean by that?" I demanded. "What--"
+
+He interrupted me. "Nothing at all but what I say."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Halsey smiled grimly. "What he means, Haljan, is that things are not
+always what they seem these days. One cannot always tell a friend from
+an enemy. The Planetara is a public vessel. You have--how many is it,
+Carter?--thirty or forty passengers this trip to-night?"
+
+"Thirty-eight," said Carter.
+
+"There are thirty-eight people listed for the flight to Ferrok-Shahn
+to-night," Halsey said slowly. "And some may not be what they seem." He
+raised his thin dark hand. "We have information--" He paused. "I
+confess, we know almost nothing--hardly more than enough to alarm us."
+
+Captain Carter interjected, "I want you and Dean to be on your guard.
+Once on the Planetara it is difficult for us to talk openly, but be
+watchful. I will arrange for us to be doubly armed."
+
+Vague, perturbing words! Halsey said, "They tell me George Prince is
+listed for the voyage. I am suggesting, Haljan, that you keep your
+eye especially upon him. Your duties on the Planetara leave you
+comparatively free, don't they?"
+
+"Yes," I agreed. With the first and second officers on duty, and the
+captain aboard, my routine was more or less that of an understudy.
+
+I said, "George Prince! Who is he?"
+
+"A mechanical engineer," said Halsey. "An under-official of the
+Earth Federated Radium Corporation. But he associates with bad
+companions--particularly Martians."
+
+I had never heard of this George Prince, though I was familiar with the
+Federated Radium Corporation, of course. A semi-government trust, which
+controlled virtually the entire Earth supply of radium.
+
+"He was in the Automotive Department," Carter put in. "You've heard of
+the Federated Radium Motor?"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We had, of course. A recent Earth invention which promised to
+revolutionize the automotive industry. An engine of a new type, using
+radium as its fuel.
+
+Snap demanded, "What in the stars has this got to do with Johnny
+Grantline?"
+
+"Much," said Halsey quietly, "or perhaps nothing. But George Prince some
+years ago mixed in rather unethical transactions. We had him in custody
+once. He is known now as unusually friendly with several Martians in New
+York of bad reputation."
+
+"Well--" began Snap.
+
+"What you don't know," Halsey went on quietly, "is that Grantline
+expects to find radium on the Moon."
+
+We gasped.
+
+"Exactly," said Halsey. "The ill-fated Ballon Expedition thought they
+had found it on the Moon some years ago. A new type of ore, as rich in
+radium as our gold-bearing sands are rich in gold. Ballon's first
+samples gave uranium atoms with a fair representation of ionium and
+thorium. A richly radio-active ore. A lode of the pure radium is there
+somewhere, without doubt."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+He added vehemently, "Do you understand now why we should be suspicious
+of this George Prince? He has a criminal record. He has a thorough
+technical knowledge of radium ores. He associates with Martians of bad
+reputation. A large Martian Company has recently developed a radium
+engine to compete with our Earth motor. You know that? You know that
+there is very little radium available on Mars, and our government will
+not allow our own radium supply to be exported. That Martian Company
+needs radium. It will do anything to get radium. What do you suppose it
+would pay for a few tons of really rich radio-active ore--such as
+Grantline may have found on the Moon?"
+
+"But," I objected, "that is a reputable Martian company. It's backed by
+the government of the Martian Union. The government of Mars would not
+dare--"
+
+"Of course not!" Captain Carter exclaimed sardonically. "Not openly! But
+if Martian brigands had a supply of radium--I don't imagine where it
+came from would make much difference. That Martian Company would buy
+it."
+
+Halsey added, "And George Prince, my agents inform me, seems to know
+that Grantline is on the Moon. Put it all together, lads. Little sparks
+show the hidden current.
+
+"More than that: George Prince knows that we have arranged to have the
+Planetara stop at the Moon and bring back Grantline's radium-ore. This
+is your last voyage this year. You'll hear from Grantline this time,
+we're convinced. He'll probably give you the signal as you pass the Moon
+on your way out. Coming back, you'll stop at the Moon and transport
+whatever radium-ore Grantline has ready. The Grantline Flyer is too
+small for ore transportation."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Halsey's voice turned grimly sarcastic. "Doesn't it seem queer that
+George Prince and a few of his Martian friends happen to be listed as
+passengers for this voyage?"
+
+In the silence that followed, Snap and I regarded each other. Halsey
+added abruptly,
+
+"We had George Prince typed that time we arrested him four years ago.
+I'll show him to you."
+
+He snapped open an alcove, and said to his waiting attendant, "Get me
+the type of George Prince."
+
+The disc in a moment came through the pneumatic. Halsey, smiling wryly,
+adjusted it.
+
+"A nice looking fellow. Nicely spoken. Though at the time we made this
+he was somewhat annoyed, naturally. He is older now. Twenty-nine, to be
+exact. Here he is."
+
+The image glowed on the grids before us. His name, George Prince, in
+letters illumined upon his forehead, showed for a moment and then faded.
+He stood smiling sourly before us as he repeated the official formula:
+
+"My name is George Prince. I was born in Great-New York City twenty-five
+years ago."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I gazed at this life-size, moving image of George Prince. He stood
+somber in the black detention uniform. A dark, almost a girlishly
+handsome fellow, well below medium height--the rod beside him showed
+five feet four inches. Slim and slight. Long, wavy black hair, falling
+about his ears. A pale, clean-cut, really handsome face, almost
+beardless. I regarded it closely. A face that would have been femininely
+beautiful without its masculine touch of heavy black brows and firmly
+set jaw. His voice as he spoke was low and soft; but at the end, with
+the concluding words, "I am innocent!" it flashed into strong
+masculinity. His eyes, shaded with long, girlish black lashes, by chance
+met mine. "I am innocent." His curving sensuous lips drew down into a
+grim sneer....
+
+The type faded at its end. Halsey replaced the disc in its box and waved
+the attendant away. "Thank you."
+
+He turned back to Snap and me. "Well, there he is. We have nothing
+tangible against him now. But I'll say this: he's a clever fellow, one
+to be afraid of. I would not blare it from the newscasters' microphone,
+but if he is hatching any plot, he has been too clever for my agents."
+
+We talked for another half-hour, and then Captain Carter dismissed us.
+We left Halsey's office with Carter's final words ringing in our ears.
+"Whatever comes, lads, remember I trust you...."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Snap and I decided to walk a portion of the way back to the ship. It was
+barely more than a mile through this subterranean corridor to where we
+could get the vertical lift direct to the landing stage.
+
+We started off on the lower level. Once outside the insulation of
+Halsey's office we did not dare talk of this thing. Not only electrical
+ears, but every possible eavesdropping device might be upon us. The
+corridor was two hundred feet or more below the ground level. At this
+hour of the night this business section was comparatively deserted. The
+through tube sounded over our heads with the passing of its occasional
+trains. The ventilators buzzed and whirred. At the cross intersections,
+the traffic directors dozed at their posts. It was hot and sticky down
+here, and gloomy with the daylight globes extinguished, and only the
+night lights to give a dim illumination. The stores and office arcades
+were all closed and deserted; only an occasional night-light burning
+behind their windows.
+
+Our footfalls echoed on the metal grids as we hurried along.
+
+"Nice evening," said Snap awkwardly.
+
+"Yes," I said, "isn't it?"
+
+I felt oppressed. As though prying eyes and ears were here. We walked
+for a time in silence, each of us busy with memory of what had
+transpired in Halsey's office.
+
+Suddenly Snap gripped me. "What's that?"
+
+"Where?" I whispered.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We stopped at a corner. An entryway was here. Snap pulled me into it. I
+could feel him quivering with excitement.
+
+"What is it?" I demanded in a whisper.
+
+"We're being followed. Did you hear anything?"
+
+"No!" Yet I thought now I could hear something. Vague footfalls. A
+rustling. And a microscopic electrical whine, as though some device were
+near us.
+
+Snap was fumbling in his pocket. "Wait, I've got a pair of low-scale
+phones."
+
+He put the little grids against his ears. I could hear the sharp intake
+of his breath. Then he seized me, pulled me down to the metal floor of
+the entryway.
+
+"Back, Gregg! Get back!" I could barely hear his whisper. We crouched as
+far back into the doorway as we could get. I was armed. My official
+permit for the carrying of the pencil heat-ray allowed me to have it
+always with me. I drew it now. But there was nothing to shoot at. I felt
+Snap clamping the grids on my ears. And now I heard something! An
+intensification of the vague footsteps I had thought I heard before.
+
+There was something following us! Something out in the corridor there
+now! A street light was nearby. The corridor was dim, but plainly
+visible; and to my sight it was empty. But there was something there.
+Something invisible! I could hear it moving. Creeping towards us. I
+pulled the grids off my ears.
+
+Snap murmured, "You've got a local phone."
+
+"Yes! I'll get them to give us the street glare!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I pressed the danger signal, giving our location to the nearest
+operator. In a second or two we got the light. The street in all this
+neighborhood burst into a brilliant actinic glare. The thing menacing
+us was revealed! A figure in a black cloak, crouching thirty feet away
+across the corridor.
+
+Snap was on his feet. His voice rang shrilly, "There it is! Give it a
+shot, Gregg!"
+
+Snap was unarmed, but he flung his hands out menacingly. The figure,
+which may perhaps not have been aware of our city safeguard, was taken
+wholly by surprise. A human figure. Seven feet tall, at the least, and
+therefore, I judged, doubtless a Martian man. The black cloak covered
+his head. He took a step toward us, hesitated, and then turned in
+confusion.
+
+Snap's shrill voice was bringing help. The whine of a street guard's
+alarm whistle nearby sounded. The figure was making off! My pencil-ray
+was in my hand and I pressed its switch. The tiny heat-ray stabbed
+through the glare, but I missed. The figure stumbled, but did not fall.
+I saw a bare gray arm come from the cloak, flung up to maintain its
+balance. Or perhaps my pencil-ray of heat had seared the arm. The
+gray-skinned arm of a Martian.
+
+Snap was shouting, "Give him another!" But the figure passed beyond the
+actinic glare and vanished.
+
+We were detained in the turmoil of the corridor for ten minutes or more
+with official explanations. Then a message from Halsey released us. The
+Martian who had been following us in his invisible cloak was never
+caught.
+
+We escaped from the crowd at last and made our way back to the
+Planetara, where the passengers were already assembling for the outward
+Martian voyage.
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+"_A Fleeting Glance_--"
+
+I stood on the turret-balcony of the Planetara with Captain Carter and
+Dr. Frank, the ship surgeon, watching the arriving passengers. It was
+close to the zero hour: the level of the stage was a turmoil of
+confusion. The escalators, with the last of the freight aboard, were
+folded back. But the stage was jammed with the incoming passenger
+baggage: the interplanetary customs and tax officials with their X-ray
+and Zed-ray paraphernalia and the passengers themselves, lined up for
+the export inspection.
+
+At this height, the city lights lay spread in a glare of blue and yellow
+beneath us. The individual local planes came dropping like birds to our
+stage. Thirty-eight passengers for this flight to Mars, but that
+accursed desire of every friend and relative to speed the departing
+voyager brought a hundred or more extra people to crowd our girders and
+bring added difficulty to everybody.
+
+Carter was too absorbed in his duties to stay with us long. But here in
+the turret Dr. Frank and I found ourselves at the moment with nothing
+much to do but watch.
+
+"Think we'll get away on time, Gregg?"
+
+"No," I said. "And this of all voyages--"
+
+I checked myself, with thumping heart. My thoughts were so full of what
+Halsey and Carter had told us that it was difficult to rein my tongue.
+Yet here in the turret, unguarded by insulation, I could say nothing.
+Nor would I have dared mention the Grantline Moon Expedition to Dr.
+Frank. I wondered what he knew of this affair. Perhaps as much as
+I--perhaps nothing.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+He was a thin, dark, rather smallish man of fifty, this ship's surgeon,
+trim in his blue and white uniform. I knew him well: we had made several
+flights together. An American--I fancy of Jewish ancestry. A likable
+man, and a skillful doctor and surgeon. He and I had always been good
+friends.
+
+"Crowded," he said. "Johnson says thirty-eight. I hope they're
+experienced travelers. This pressure sickness is a rotten nuisance--keeps
+me dashing around all night assuring frightened women they're not
+going to die. Last voyage, coming out of the Venus atmosphere--"
+
+He plunged into a lugubrious account of his troubles with space-sick
+voyagers. But I was in no mood to listen. My gaze was down on the spider
+incline, up which, over the bend of the ship's sleek, silvery body, the
+passengers and their friends were coming in little groups. The upper
+deck was already jammed with them.
+
+The Planetara, as flyers go, was not a large vessel. Cylindrical of
+body, forty feet maximum beam, and two hundred and seventy-five feet in
+overall length. The passenger superstructure--no more than a hundred
+feet long--was set amidships. A narrow deck, metallic-enclosed, and with
+large bulls-eye windows, encircled the superstructure. Some of the
+cabins opened directly onto the deck. Others had doors to the interior
+corridors. There were half a dozen small but luxurious public rooms.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The rest of the vessel was given to freight storage and the mechanism
+and control compartments. Forward of the passenger structure the
+deck level continued under the cylindrical dome-roof to the bow. The
+forward watch-tower observatory was here; officers' cabins; Captain
+Carter's navigating rooms and Dr. Frank's office. Similarly, under
+the stern-dome, was the stern watch-tower and a series of power
+compartments.
+
+Above the superstructure a confusion of spider bridges, ladders and
+balconies were laced like a metal network. The turret in which Dr. Frank
+and I now stood was perched here. Fifty feet away, like a bird's nest,
+Snap's instrument room stood clinging to the metal bridge. The
+dome-roof, with the glassite windows rolled back now, rose in a
+mound-peak to cover this highest middle portion of the vessel.
+
+Below, in the main hull, blue-lit metal corridors ran the entire length
+of the ship. Freight storage compartments; gravity control rooms; the
+air renewal systems; heater and ventilators and pressure mechanisms--all
+were located there. And the kitchens, stewards' compartments, and the
+living quarters of the crew. We carried a crew of sixteen, this voyage,
+exclusive of the navigating officers, and the purser, Snap Dean, and Dr.
+Frank.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The passengers coming aboard seemed a fair representation of what we
+usually had for the outward voyage to Ferrok-Shahn. Most were Earth
+people--and returning Martians. Dr. Frank pointed out one. A huge
+Martian in a gray cloak. A seven-foot fellow.
+
+"His name is Set Miko," Dr. Frank remarked. "Ever heard of him?"
+
+"No," I said. "Should I?"
+
+"Well--" The doctor suddenly checked himself, as though he were sorry he
+had spoken.
+
+"I never heard of him," I repeated slowly.
+
+An awkward silence fell suddenly between us.
+
+There were a few Venus passengers. I saw one of them presently coming up
+the incline, and recognized her. A girl traveling alone. We had brought
+her from Grebhar, last voyage but one. I remembered her. An alluring
+sort of girl, as most of them are. Her name was Venza. She spoke English
+well. A singer and dancer who had been imported to Great-New York to
+fill some theatrical engagement. She'd made quite a hit on the Great
+White Way.
+
+She came up the incline, with the carrier ahead of her. Gazing up, she
+saw Dr. Frank and me at the turret window and waved her white arm in
+greeting. And flashed us a smile.
+
+Dr. Frank laughed. "By the gods of the airways, there's Alta Venza! You
+saw that look, Gregg? That was for me, not you."
+
+"Reasonable enough," I retorted. "But I doubt it--the Venza was nothing
+if not impartial."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I wondered what could be taking Venza now to Mars. I was glad to see
+her. She was diverting. Educated. Well-traveled. Spoke English with a
+colloquial, theatrical manner more characteristic of Great-New York than
+of Venus. And for all her light banter, I would rather put my trust in
+her than any Venus girl I had ever met.
+
+The hum of the departing siren was sounding. Friends and relatives of
+the passengers were crowding the exit incline. The deck was clearing. I
+had not seen George Prince come aboard. And then I thought I saw him
+down on the landing stage, just arrived from a private tube-car. A
+small, slight figure. The customs men were around him: I could only see
+his head and shoulders. Pale, girlishly handsome face; long, black hair
+to the base of his neck. He was bareheaded, with the hood of his
+traveling-cloak pushed back.
+
+I stared, and I saw that Dr. Frank was also gazing down. But neither of
+us spoke.
+
+Then I said upon impulse, "Suppose we go down to the deck, Doctor?"
+
+He acquiesced. We descended to the lower room of the turret and
+clambered down the spider ladder to the upper deck-level. The head of
+the arriving incline was near us. Preceded by two carriers who were
+littered with hand-baggage, George Prince was coming up the incline. He
+was closer now. I recognized him from the type we had seen in Halsey's
+office.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+And then, with a shock, I saw it was not so. This was a girl coming
+aboard. An arch-light over the incline showed her clearly when she was
+half way up. A girl with her hood pushed back; her face framed in thick
+black hair. I saw now it was not a man's cut of hair; but long braids
+coiled up under the dangling hood.
+
+Dr. Frank must have remarked my amazed expression.
+
+"Little beauty, isn't she?"
+
+"Who is she?"
+
+We were standing back against the wall of the superstructure. A
+passenger was near us--the Martian whom Dr. Frank had called Miko. He
+was loitering here, quite evidently watching this girl come aboard. But
+as I glanced at him he looked away and casually sauntered off.
+
+The girl came up and reached the deck. "I am in A 22," she told the
+carrier. "My brother came aboard two hours ago."
+
+Dr. Frank answered my whisper. "That's Anita Prince."
+
+She was passing quite close to us on the deck, following the carrier,
+when she stumbled and very nearly fell. I was nearest to her. I leaped
+forward and caught her as she went down.
+
+"Oh!" she cried.
+
+With my arm about her, I raised her up and set her upon her feet again.
+She had twisted her ankle. She balanced herself upon it. The pain of it
+eased up in a moment.
+
+"I'm--all right--thank you!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+In the dimness of the blue-lit deck, I met her eyes. I was holding her
+with my encircling arm. She was small and soft against me. Her face,
+framed in the thick, black hair, smiled up at me. Small, oval
+face--beautiful--yet firm of chin, and stamped with the mark of its own
+individuality. No empty-headed beauty, this.
+
+"I'm all right, thank you very much--"
+
+I became conscious that I had not released her. I felt her hands pushing
+at me. And then it seemed that for an instant she yielded and was
+clinging. And I met her startled, upflung gaze. Eyes like a purple night
+with the sheen of misty starlight in them.
+
+I heard myself murmuring, "I beg your pardon. Yes, of course!" I
+released her.
+
+She thanked me again and followed the carrier along the deck. She was
+limping slightly from the twisted ankle.
+
+An instant, while she had clung to me--and I had held her. A brief flash
+of something, from her eyes to mine--from mine back to hers. The poets
+write that love can be born of such a glance. The first meeting, across
+all the barriers of which love springs unsought, unbidden--defiant,
+sometimes. And the troubadours of old would sing: "A fleeting glance; a
+touch; two wildly beating hearts--and love was born."
+
+I think, with Anita and me, it must have been like that....
+
+I stood gazing after her, unconscious of Dr. Frank, who was watching me
+with his humorous smile. And presently, no more than a quarter beyond
+the zero hour, the Planetara got away. With the dome-windows battened
+tightly, we lifted from the landing stage and soared over the glowing
+city. The phosphorescence of the electronic tubes was like a comet's
+tail behind us as we slid upward.
+
+At the trinight hour the heat of our atmospheric passage was over. The
+passengers had all retired. The ship was quiet, with empty decks and
+dim, silent corridors. Vibrationless, with the electronic engines cut
+off and only the hum of the Martel magnetizers to break the unnatural
+stillness. We were well beyond the earth's atmosphere, heading out in
+the cone-path of the earth's shadow, in the direction of the moon.
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+_In the Helio-room_
+
+At six A. M., earth Eastern time, which we were still carrying, Snap
+Dean and I were alone in his instrument room, perched in the network
+over the Planetara's deck. The bulge of the dome enclosed us; it rounded
+like a great observatory window some twenty feet above the ceiling of
+this little metal cubby-hole.
+
+The Planetara was still in the earth's shadow. The firmament--black
+interstellar space with its blazing white, red and yellow stars--lay
+spread around us. The moon, with nearly all its disc illumined, hung, a
+great silver ball, over our bow quarter. Behind it, to one side, Mars
+floated like the red tip of a smoldering cigarillo in the blackness. The
+earth, behind our stern, was dimly, redly visible--a giant sphere,
+etched with the configurations of its oceans and continents. Upon one
+limb a touch of the sunlight hung on the mountain-tops with a crescent
+red-yellow sheen.
+
+And then we plunged from the cone-shadow. The sun, with the leaping
+Corona, burst through the blackness behind us. The earth lighted into a
+huge, thin crescent with hooked cusps.
+
+To Snap and me, the glories of the heavens were too familiar to be
+remarked. And upon this voyage particularly we were in no mood to
+consider them. I had been in the helio-room several hours. When the
+Planetara started, and my few routine duties were over, I could think of
+nothing save Halsey's and Carter's admonition: "Be on your guard. And
+particularly--watch George Prince."
+
+I had not seen George Prince. But I had seen his sister, whom Carter and
+Halsey had not bothered to mention. My heart was still pounding with the
+memory....
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+When the passengers had retired and the ship quieted, I prowled through
+the passenger corridors. This was about the trinight hour.[3] Hot as the
+corridors of hell, with our hull and the glassite dome seething with the
+friction of our atmospheric flight. But the refrigerators mitigated
+that; the ventilators blasted cold air from the renewers into every
+corner of the vessel. Within an hour or two, with the cold of space
+striking us, it was hot air that was needed.
+
+Dr. Frank evidently was having little trouble with pressure-sick
+passengers[4]--the Planetara's equalizers were fairly efficient. I did
+not encounter Dr. Frank. I prowled through the silent metal lounges and
+passages. I went to the door of A 22. It was on the deck-level, in a
+tiny transverse passage just off the main lounging room. Its name-grid
+glowed with the letters: "_Anita Prince._" I stood in my short white
+trousers and white silk shirt, like a cabin steward gawping. Anita
+Prince! I had never heard the name until this night. But there was magic
+music in it now, as I murmured it to myself. Anita Prince....
+
+She was here, doubtless asleep, behind this small metal door. It seemed
+as though that little oval grid were the gateway to a fairyland of my
+dreams.
+
+I turned away. And thought of the Grantline Moon Expedition stabbed at
+me. George Prince--Anita's brother--he whom I had been told to watch.
+This renegade--associate of dubious Martians, plotting God knows what.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I saw, upon the adjoining door, "A 20, _George Prince_." I listened. In
+the humming stillness of the ship's interior there was no sound from
+these cabins. A 20 was without windows, I knew. But Anita's room had a
+window and a door which gave upon the deck. I went through the lounge,
+out its arch, and walked the deck length. The deck door and window of
+A 22 were closed and dark.
+
+The ten-foot-wide deck was dim with white starlight from the side ports.
+Chairs were here, but they were all empty. From the bow windows of the
+arching dome a flood of moonlight threw long, slanting shadows down the
+deck. At the corner where the superstructure ended, I thought I saw a
+figure lurking as though watching me. I went that way, but it vanished.
+
+I turned the corner, went the width of the ship to the other side. There
+was no one in sight save the observer on his spider bridge, high in the
+bow network, and the second officer, on duty on the turret balcony
+almost directly over me.
+
+As I stood and listened, I suddenly heard footsteps. From the direction
+of the bow a figure came. Purser Johnson.
+
+He greeted me. "Cooling off, Gregg?"
+
+"Yes," I said.
+
+He went past me and turned into the smoking room door nearby.
+
+I stood a moment at one of the deck windows, gazing at the stars; and
+for no reason at all I realized I was tense. Johnson was a great one for
+his regular sleep--it was wholly unlike him to be roaming about the ship
+at such an hour. Had he been watching me? I told myself it was nonsense.
+I was suspicious of everyone, everything, this voyage.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I heard another step. Captain Carter appeared from his chart-room which
+stood in the center of the narrowing open deck space near the bow. I
+joined him at once.
+
+"Who was that?" he half-whispered.
+
+"Johnson."
+
+"Oh, yes." He fumbled in his uniform; his gaze swept the moonlit deck.
+"Gregg--take this." He handed me a small metal box. I stuffed it at once
+into my shirt.
+
+"An insulator," he added, swiftly. "Snap is in his office. Take it to
+him, Gregg. Stay with him--you'll have a measure of security--and you
+can help him to make the photographs." He was barely whispering. "I
+won't be with you--no use making it look as though we were doing
+anything unusual. If your graphs show anything--or if Snap picks up any
+message--bring it to me." He added aloud, "Well, it will be cool enough
+presently, Gregg."
+
+He sauntered away toward his chart-room.
+
+"By heavens, what a relief!" Snap murmured as the current went on. We
+had wired his cubby with the insulator; within its barrage we could at
+last talk with a degree of freedom.
+
+"You've seen George Prince, Gregg?"
+
+"No. He's assigned A 20. But I saw his sister. Snap, no one ever
+mentioned--"
+
+Snap had heard of her, but he hadn't known that she was listed for this
+voyage. "A real beauty, so I've heard. Accursed shame for a decent girl
+to have a brother like that."
+
+I could agree with him there, but I made no comment.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It was now 6 A. M. Snap had been busy all night with routine cosmo-radios
+from the earth, following our departure. He had a pile of them beside
+him. Many were for the passengers; but anything that savored of a code
+was barred.
+
+"Nothing queer looking?" I suggested.
+
+"No. Not a thing."
+
+We were at this time no more than some sixty-five thousand miles from
+the moon's surface. The Planetara presently would swing upon her direct
+course for Mars. There was nothing which could cause passenger comment
+in this close passing of the moon; normally we used the satellite's
+attraction to give us additional starting speed.
+
+It was now or never that a message would come from Grantline. He was
+supposed to be upon this earthward side of the moon. While Snap had
+rushed through with his routine, I had searched the moon surface with
+our glass, as I knew Carter was searching it--and also the observer in
+his tower, very possibly.
+
+But there was nothing. Copernicus and Kepler lay in full sunlight. The
+heights of the lunar mountains, the depths of the barren, empty seas
+were etched black and white, clear and clean. Grim, forbidding
+desolation, this unchanging moon! In romance, moonlight may shimmer and
+sparkle to light a lover's smile; but the reality of the moon is cold
+and bleak. There was nothing to show my prying eyes where the intrepid
+Grantline might be.
+
+"Nothing at all, Snap."
+
+And Snap's helio mirrors, attuned for an hour now to pick up the
+faintest signal, were motionless.
+
+"If he has concentrated any appreciable amount of radio-active ore,"
+said Snap, "we should get an impulse from its Gamma rays."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+But our receiving shield was dark, untouched. We tried taking hydrogen
+photographic impressions of the visible moon surface. A sequence of
+them, with stereoscopic lenses, forty-eight to the second. Our
+mirror-grid gave the magnified images; the spectro-heliograph, with its
+wave-length selection, pictured the mountain-levels, and slowly
+descended into the deepest seas.
+
+There was nothing.
+
+Yet in those moon caverns--a million million recesses amid the crags of
+that tumbled, barren surface--the pin-point of movement which might have
+been Grantline's expedition could so easily be hiding! Could he have the
+ore insulated, fearing its Gamma rays would betray its presence to
+hostile watchers?
+
+Or might disaster have come to him? Or he might not be upon this
+hemisphere of the moon at all....
+
+My imagination, sharpened by fancy of a lurking menace which seemed
+everywhere about the Planetara this voyage, ran rife with fears for
+Johnny Grantline. He had promised to communicate this voyage. It was
+now, or perhaps never.
+
+Six-thirty came and passed. We were well beyond the earth's shadow now.
+The firmament blazed with its vivid glories; the sun behind us was a
+ball of yellow-red leaping flames. The earth hung, opened to a huge,
+dull-red half-sphere.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We were within some forty thousand miles of the moon. Giant white
+ball--all of its disc visible to the naked eye. It poised over the bow,
+and presently, as the Planetara swung upon her course for Mars, it
+shifted sidewise. The light of it glared white and dazzling in our tiny
+side windows.
+
+Snap, with his habitual red celluloid eyeshade shoved high on his
+forehead, worked over our instruments.
+
+"Gregg!"
+
+The receiving shield was glowing a trifle! Gamma rays were bombarding
+it! It glowed, gleamed phosphorescent, and the audible recorder began
+sounding its tiny tinkling murmurs.
+
+Gamma rays! Snap sprang to the dials. The direction and strength were
+soon obvious. A richly radio-active ore body, of considerable size, was
+concentrated upon this hemisphere of the moon! It was unmistakable.
+
+"He's got it, Gregg! He's--"
+
+The tiny helio mirrors began quivering. Snap exclaimed triumphantly,
+"Here he comes! By God, the message at last! Bar off that light!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I flung on the absorbers. The moonlight bathing the little room went
+into them and darkness sprang around us. Snap fumbled at his instrument
+board. Actinic light showed dimly in the quivering, thumbnail mirrors.
+Two of them. They hung poised on their cobweb wires, infinitely
+sensitive to the infra-red light-rays Grantline was sending from the
+moon. The mirrors in a moment began swinging. On the scale across the
+room the actinic beams from them were magnified into sweeps of light.
+
+The message!
+
+Snap spelled it out, decoded it.
+
+"_Success! Stop for ore on your return voyage. Will give you our
+location later. Success beyond wildest hopes--_"
+
+The mirrors hung motionless. The shield, where the Gamma rays were
+bombarding, went suddenly dark.
+
+Snap murmured, "That's all. He's got the ore! 'Success beyond wildest
+hopes.' That must mean an enormous quantity of it available!"
+
+We were sitting in darkness, and abruptly I became aware that across our
+open window, where the insulation barrage was flung, the air was faintly
+hissing. An interference there! I saw a tiny swirl of purple sparks.
+Someone--some hostile ray from the deck beneath us, or from the spider
+bridge that led to our little room--someone out there trying to pry
+in!
+
+Snap impulsively reached for the absorbers to let in the outside
+light--it was all darkness to us outside. But I checked him.
+
+"Wait!" I cut off our barrage, opened our door and stepped to the narrow
+metal bridge.
+
+"Wait, Snap! You stay there." I added aloud, "Well, Snap, I'm going to
+bed. Glad you've cleaned up that batch of work."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I banged the door upon him. The lacework of metal bridges and ladders
+seemed empty. I gazed up to the dome, and forward and aft. Twenty feet
+beneath me was the metal roof of the cabin superstructure. Below it,
+both sides of the deck showed. All patched with moonlight.
+
+No one visible down there. I descended a ladder. The deck was empty. But
+in the silence something was moving! Footsteps moving away from me down
+the deck! I followed; and suddenly I was running. Chasing something I
+could hear, but could not see. It turned into the smoking room.
+
+I burst in. And a real sound smothered the phantom. Johnson the purser
+was sitting here alone in the dimness. He was smoking. I noticed that
+his cigar held a long, frail ash. It could not have been him I was
+chasing. He was sitting there quite calmly. A thick-necked, heavy
+fellow, easily out of breath. But he was breathing calmly now.
+
+He sat up with amazement at my wild-eyed appearance, and the ash jarred
+from his cigar.
+
+"Gregg! What in the devil--"
+
+I tried to grin. "I'm on my way to bed--worked all night helping Snap
+with those damn Earth messages."
+
+I went past him, out the door into the main interior corridor. It was
+the only way the invisible prowler could have gone. But I was too late
+now--I could hear nothing. I dashed forward into the main lounge. It
+was empty, dim and silent, a silence broken presently by a faint
+click--a stateroom door hastily closing. I swung and found myself in a
+tiny transverse passage. The twin doors of A 22 and A 20 were before
+me.
+
+The invisible eavesdropper had gone into one of these rooms! I listened
+at each of the panels, but there was only silence within.
+
+The interior of the ship was suddenly singing with the steward's
+siren--the call to awaken the passengers. It startled me. I moved
+swiftly away. But as the siren shut off, in the silence I heard a soft,
+musical voice:
+
+"Wake up, Anita--I think that's the breakfast call."
+
+And her answer: "All right, George. I hear it."
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+_A Burn on a Martian Arm_
+
+I did not appear at that morning meal. I was exhausted and drugged with
+lack of sleep. I had a moment with Snap, to tell him what had occurred.
+Then I sought out Carter. He had his little chart-room insulated. And we
+were cautious. I told him what Snap and I had learned: the Gamma rays
+from the moon, proving that Grantline had concentrated a considerable
+ore-body. I also told him the message from Grantline.
+
+"We'll stop on the way back, as he directs, Gregg." He bent closer to
+me. "At Ferrok-Shahn I'm going to bring back a cordon of Interplanetary
+Police. The secret will be out, of course, when once we stop at the
+moon. We have no right, even now, to be flying this vessel as unguarded
+as it is."
+
+He was very solemn. And he was grim when I told him of the invisible
+eavesdropper.
+
+"You think he overheard Grantline's message?"
+
+"I don't know," I said.
+
+"Who was it? You seem to feel it was George Prince?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+I was convinced that the prowler had gone into A 20. When I mentioned
+the purser, who seemed to have been watching me earlier in the night,
+and again was sitting in the smoking room when the eavesdropper fled
+past, Carter looked startled.
+
+"Johnson is all right, Gregg."
+
+"Is he? Does he know anything about this Grantline affair?"
+
+"No--no," said the captain hastily. "You haven't mentioned it, have
+you?"
+
+"Of course I haven't. I've been wondering why Johnson didn't hear that
+eavesdropper. I could hear him when I was chasing him. But Johnson sat
+perfectly unmoved and let him go by. What was he sitting there for,
+anyway, at that hour of the morning?"
+
+"You're too suspicious, Gregg. Overwrought. But you're right--we can't
+be too careful. I'm going to have that Prince suite searched when I
+catch it unoccupied. Passengers don't ordinarily travel with invisible
+cloaks. Go to bed, Gregg--you need a rest."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I went to my cabin. It was located aft, on the stern deck-space, near
+the stern watch-tower. A small metal room, with a desk, a chair and
+bunk. I made sure no one was in it. I sealed the lattice grill and the
+door, set the alarm trigger against any opening of them, and went to
+bed.
+
+The siren for the mid-day meal awakened me. I had slept heavily. I felt
+refreshed. And hungry.
+
+I found the passengers already assembled at my table when I arrived in
+the dining salon. It was a low-vaulted metal room of blue and yellow
+tube-lights. At the sides its oval windows showed the deck, with its
+ports of the dome-side, through which a vista of the starry firmament
+was visible. We were well on our course to Mars. The moon had dwindled
+to a pin-point of light beside the crescent earth. And behind them our
+sun blazed, visually the largest orb in the heavens. It was some
+sixty-eight million miles from the earth to Mars, this voyage. A flight,
+under ordinary circumstances, of some ten days.
+
+There were five tables in the dining salon, each with eight seats. Snap
+and I had one of the tables. We sat at the ends, with three passengers
+on each of the sides.
+
+Snap was in his seat when I arrived. He eyed me down the length of the
+table.
+
+"Good morning, Gregg. We missed you at breakfast. Not pressure-sick, I
+hope?"
+
+There were three passengers already seated at our table--all men. Snap,
+in a gay mood, introduced me.
+
+"This is our third officer, Gregg Haljan. Big, handsome fellow, isn't
+he? And as pleasant as he is good-looking. Gregg, this is Sero Ob
+Hahn."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I met the keen, dark-eyed somber gaze of a Venus man of middle age. A
+small, slim, graceful man, with sleek black hair. His pointed face,
+accentuated by the pointed beard, was pallid. He wore a white and purple
+robe; upon his breast was a huge platinum ornament, a device like a star
+and cross entwined.
+
+"I am happy to meet you, sir." His voice was soft and sleek.
+
+"Ob Hahn," I repeated. "I should have heard of you, no doubt. But--"
+
+A smile plucked at his thin, gray lips. "That is the error of mine, not
+yours. My mission is that all the universe shall hear of me."
+
+"He's preaching the religion of the Venus Mystics," Snap explained.
+
+"And this enlightened gentleman," said Ob Hahn ironically, "has just
+termed it fetishism. The ignorance--"
+
+"Oh, I say!" protested the man at Ob Hahn's side. "I mean, you seem to
+think I intended something opprobrious. As a matter of fact--"
+
+"We've an argument, Gregg," laughed Snap. "This is Sir Arthur Coniston,
+an English gentleman, lecturer and sky-trotter--that is, he will be a
+sky-trotter; he tells us he plans a number of voyages."
+
+The tall Englishman in his white linen suit bowed acknowledgment.
+"My compliments, Mr. Haljan. I hope you have no strong religious
+convictions, else we will make your table here very miserable!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The third passenger had evidently kept out of the argument. Snap
+introduced him as Rance Rankin. An American--a quiet, blond fellow of
+thirty-five or forty.
+
+I ordered my breakfast and let the argument go on.
+
+"Won't make me miserable," said Snap. "I love an argument. You said, Sir
+Arthur?...
+
+"I mean to say, I think I said too much. Mr. Rankin, you are more
+diplomatic."
+
+Rankin laughed. "I am a magician," he said to me. "A theatrical
+entertainer. I deal in tricks--how to fool an audience--" His keen,
+amused gaze was on Ob Hahn. "This gentleman from Venus and I have too
+much in common to argue."
+
+"A nasty one!" the Englishman exclaimed. "By Jove! Really, Mr. Rankin,
+you're a bit too cruel!"
+
+I could see we were doomed to have turbulent meals this voyage. I like
+to eat in quiet; arguing passengers always annoy me. There were still
+three seats vacant at our table; I wondered who would occupy them. I
+soon learned the answer--for one seat at least. Rankin said calmly:
+
+"Where is the little Venus girl this meal?" His glance went to the empty
+seat at my right hand. "The Venza--wasn't that her name? She and I are
+destined for the same theater in Ferrok-Shahn."
+
+So Venza was to sit beside me. It was good news. Ten days of a religious
+argument three times a day would be intolerable. But the cheerful Venza
+would help.
+
+"She never eats the mid-day meal," said Snap. "She's on the deck, having
+orange juice. I guess it's the old gag about diet, eh?"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+My attention wandered about the salon. Most of the seats were occupied.
+At the captain's table I saw the objects of my search. George Prince and
+his sister sat one on each side of the captain. I saw George Prince in
+the life now as a man who looked hardly twenty-five. He was at this
+moment evidently in a gay mood. His clean-cut, handsome profile, with
+its poetic dark curls, was turned toward me. There seemed little of the
+villain about him.
+
+And I saw Anita Prince now as a dark-haired, black eyed little beauty,
+in feature resembling her brother very strongly. She presently finished
+her meal. She rose, with him after her. She was dressed in Earth
+fashion--white blouse and dark jacket, wide, knee-length trousers of
+gray, with a red sash her only touch of color. She went past me, flashed
+me her smile and nod.
+
+My heart was pounding. I answered her greeting, and met George Prince's
+casual gaze. He, too, smiled, as though to signify that his sister had
+told him of the service I had done her. Or was his smile an ironical
+memory of how he had eluded me this morning when I chased him?
+
+I gazed after his small, white-suited figure as he followed Anita from
+the salon. And thinking of her, I prayed that Carter and Halsey might be
+wrong. Whatever plotting against the Grantline Expedition might be going
+on, I hoped that George Prince was innocent of it. Yet I knew in my
+heart it was a futile hope. Prince had been that eavesdropper outside
+the helio-room. I could not really doubt it. But that his sister must be
+ignorant of what he was doing, I was sure.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+My attention was brought suddenly back to the reality of our table. I
+heard Ob Hahn's silky voice:
+
+"We passed quite close to the moon last night, Mr. Dean."
+
+"Yes," said Snap. "We did, didn't we? Always do--it's a technical
+problem of the exigencies of interstellar navigation. Explain it to
+them, Gregg--you're an expert."
+
+I waved it away with a laugh. There was a brief silence. I could not
+help noticing Sir Arthur Coniston's queer look, and I think I have never
+seen so keen a glance as Rance Rankin shot at me. Were all these people
+aware of Grantline's treasure on the moon? It suddenly seemed so. I
+wished fervently at that instant that the ten days of this voyage were
+over and we were safely at Ferrok-Shahn. Captain Carter was absolutely
+right. Coming back we would have a cordon of interplanetary police
+aboard.
+
+Sir Arthur broke the awkward silence. "Magnificent sight, the moon, from
+so close a viewpoint--though I was too much afraid of pressure-sickness
+to be up to see it."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I had nearly finished my hasty meal when another incident shocked me.
+The two other passengers at our table came in and took their seats. A
+Martian girl and man. The girl had the seat at my left, with the man
+beside her. All Martians are tall. This girl was about my own
+height--that is, six feet, two inches. The man was seven feet or more.
+Both wore the Martian outer robe. The girl flung hers back. Her limbs
+were encased in pseudo-mail. She looked, as all Martians like to look, a
+very warlike Amazon. But she was a pretty girl. She smiled at me with a
+keen-eyed, direct gaze.
+
+"Mr. Dean said at breakfast that you were big and handsome. You are."
+
+They were brother and sister, these Martians. Snap introduced them as
+Set Miko and Setta Moa.[5]
+
+This Miko was, from our Earth standards, a tremendous, brawny giant. Not
+spindly, like most Martians, this fellow, for all his seven feet of
+height, was almost heavy-set. He wore a plaited leather jerkin beneath
+his robe, and knee pants of leather out of which his lower legs showed
+as gray, hairy pillars of strength. He had come into the salon with a
+swagger, his sword-ornament clanking.
+
+"A pleasant voyage so far," he said to me as he started his meal. His
+voice had the heavy, throaty rasp characteristic of the Martian. He
+spoke perfect English--both Martians and Venus people are by heritage
+extraordinary linguists. Miko and his sister Moa had a touch of Martian
+accent, worn almost away by living for some years in Great-New York.
+
+The shock to me came within a few minutes. Miko, absorbed in attacking
+his meal, inadvertently pushed back his robe to bare his forearm. An
+instant only, then it dropped again to his wrist. But in that instant I
+had seen, upon the gray flesh, a thin sear turned red. A very recent
+burn--as though a pencil-ray of heat had caught his arm.
+
+My mind flung back. Only last night in the City Corridor, Snap and I had
+been followed by a Martian. I had shot at him with the heat-ray; I
+thought I had hit him on the arm. Was this the mysterious Martian who
+had followed us from Halsey's office?
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+_Venza the Venus Girl_
+
+It was shortly after that mid-day meal when I encountered Venza sitting
+on the starlit deck. I had been in the bow observatory; taken my routine
+castings of our position and worked them out. I was, I think, of the
+Planetara's officers the most expert handler of the mathematical
+mechanical calculators. The locating of our position and charting the
+trajectory of our course was, under ordinary circumstances, about all I
+had to do. And it took only a few minutes each twelve hours.
+
+I had a moment with Carter in the isolation of his chart-room.
+
+"This voyage! Gregg, I'm getting like you--too fanciful. We've a normal
+group of passengers, apparently; but I don't like the look of any of
+them. That Ob Hahn, at your table--"
+
+"Snaky-looking fellow," I commented. "He and the Englishman are great on
+arguments. Did you have Prince's cabin searched?"
+
+My breath hung on his answer.
+
+"Yes. Nothing unusual among his things. We searched both his room and
+his sister's."
+
+I did not follow that up. Instead I told him about the burn on Miko's
+thick gray arm.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+He stared. "I wish to the Almighty we were at Ferrok-Shahn. Gregg,
+to-night when the passengers are asleep, come here to me. Snap will be
+here, and Dr. Frank. We can trust him."
+
+"He knows about--about the Grantline treasure?"
+
+"Yes. And so do Balch and Blackstone."
+
+Balch and Blackstone were our first and second officers.
+
+"We'll all meet here, Gregg--say about the zero hour. We must take some
+precautions."
+
+He suddenly felt he should say no more now. He dismissed me.
+
+I found Venza seated alone in a secluded corner of the starlit deck. A
+porthole, with the black heavens and the blazing stars, was before her.
+There was an empty seat nearby.
+
+"Hola-lo,[6] Gregg! Sit here with me. I have been wondering when you
+would come after me."
+
+I sat down beside her. "What are you doing--going to Mars, Venza? I'm
+glad to see you."
+
+"Many thanks. But I am glad to see you, Gregg. So handsome a man.... Do
+you know, from Venus to the earth and I have no doubt on all of Mars, no
+man will please me more."
+
+"Glib tongue," I laughed. "Born to flatter the male--every girl of your
+world." And I added seriously, "You don't answer my question? What
+takes you to Mars?"
+
+"Contract. By the stars, what else? Of course, a chance to make a voyage
+with you--"
+
+"Don't be silly, Venza."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I enjoyed her. I gazed at her small, slim figure gracefully reclining in
+the deck chair. Her long, gray robe parted--by design, I have no
+doubt--to display her shapely, satin-sheathed legs. Her black hair was
+coiled in a heavy knot at the back of her neck; her carmined lips were
+parted with a mocking, alluring smile. The exotic perfume of her
+enveloped me.
+
+She glanced at me sidewise from beneath her sweeping black lashes.
+
+"Be serious," I added.
+
+"I am serious. Sober. Intoxicated by you, but sober."
+
+I said, "What sort of a contract?"
+
+"A theater in Ferrok-Shahn. Good money, Gregg. I'm to be there a year."
+She sat up to face me. "There's a fellow here on the Planetara, Rance
+Rankin, he calls himself. At our table--a big, good-looking blond
+American. He says he is a magician. Ever hear of him?"
+
+"That's what he told me. No, I never heard of him."
+
+"Nor did I. And I thought I had heard of everyone of any importance. He
+is listed for the same theater where I'm going. Nice sort of fellow."
+She paused, and added suddenly, "If he's a professional entertainer, I'm
+a motor-oiler."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It startled me. "Why do you say that?"
+
+Instinctively my gaze swept the deck. An Earth woman and child and a
+small Venus man were in sight, but not within earshot.
+
+"Why do you look so furtive?" she retorted. "Gregg, there's something
+strange about this voyage. I'm no fool, nor you, and you know it as well
+as I do."
+
+"Rance Rankin--" I prompted.
+
+She leaned closer toward me. "He could fool you. But not me--I've known
+too many real magicians." She grinned. "I challenged him to trick me.
+You should have seen him trying to evade!"
+
+"Do you know Ob Hahn?" I interrupted.
+
+She shook her head. "Never heard of him. But he told me plenty at
+breakfast. By Satan, what a flow of words that devil-driver can muster!
+He and the Englishman don't mesh very well, do they?"
+
+She stared at me. I had not answered her grin; my mind was too busy with
+queer fancies. Halsey's words: "Things are not always what they seem--"
+Were these passengers masqueraders? Put here by George Prince? And then
+I thought of Miko the Martian, and the burn upon his arm.
+
+"Come back, Gregg! Don't go wandering off like that!" She dropped her
+voice to a whisper. "I'll be serious. I want to know what in the hell is
+going on aboard this ship. I'm a woman, and I'm curious. You tell me."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"What do you mean?" I parried.
+
+"I mean a lot of things. What we've just been talking about. And what
+was the excitement you were in just before breakfast this morning?"
+
+"Excitement?"
+
+"Gregg, you may trust me." For the first time she was wholly serious.
+Her gaze made sure no one was within hearing. She put her hand on my
+arm. I could barely hear her whisper: "I know they might have a ray upon
+us--I'll be careful."
+
+"They?"
+
+"Anyone. Something's going on. You know it--you are in it. I saw you
+this morning, Gregg. Wild-eyed, chasing a phantom--"
+
+"You?"
+
+"And I heard the phantom! A man's footsteps. A magnetic reflecting
+invisible cloak. You couldn't fool an audience with that--it's too
+commonplace. If Rance Rankin tried--"
+
+I gripped her. "Don't ramble, Venza! You saw me?"
+
+"Yes. My stateroom door was open. I was sitting with a cigarillo. I saw
+the purser in the smoking room. He was visible from--"
+
+"Wait! Venza, that prowler went through the smoking room!"
+
+"I know he did. I could hear him."
+
+"Did the purser hear him?"
+
+"Of course. The purser looked up, followed the sound with his gaze. I
+thought that was queer. He never made a move. And then you came along
+and he acted innocent. Why? What's going on, that's what I want to
+know!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I held my breath. "Venza, where did the prowler run to? Can you--"
+
+She whispered calmly, "Into A 20. I saw the door open and close--I even
+think I could see the blurred outline of him. Those magnetic cloaks!"
+She added, "Why should George Prince be sneaking around with you after
+him? And the purser acting innocent? And who is this George Prince,
+anyway?"
+
+The huge Martian, Miko, with his sister Moa came strolling along the
+deck. They nodded as they passed us.
+
+I whispered, "I can't explain anything now. But you're right, Venza:
+there is something going on. Listen! Whatever you learn--anything you
+encounter which looks unusual--will you tell me? I--well, I do trust
+you--really I do!--but the thing isn't mine to tell."
+
+The somber pools of her eyes were shining. "You are very lovable, Gregg.
+I won't question you." She was trembling with excitement. "Whatever it
+is, I want to be in it. Here's something I can tell you now. We've two
+high-class gold-leaf gamblers aboard. Did you know that?"
+
+"No. Who are--"
+
+"Shac and Dud Ardley. Let me state every detective in Great-New York
+knows them. They had a wonderful game with that Englishman, Sir Arthur
+Coniston, this morning. Stripped him of half a pound of eight-inch
+leaves--a neat little stack. A crooked game, of course. Those fellows
+are more nimble-fingered than Rance Rankin ever dared to be!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I sat staring at her. She was a mine of information, this girl.
+
+"And Gregg, I tried my charms on Shac and Dud. Nice men, but dumb.
+Whatever's going on, they're not in it. They wanted to know what kind of
+a ship this was. Why? Because Shac has a cute little eavesdropping
+microphone of his own. He had it working in the night last night. He
+overheard George Prince and that big giant Miko arguing about the
+moon!"
+
+I gasped. "Venza, softer!"
+
+Against all propriety of this public deck she pretended to drape herself
+upon me. Her hair smothered my face as her lips almost touched my ear.
+
+"Something about treasure on the moon--Shac couldn't understand what.
+And they mentioned you. He didn't hear what they said because the purser
+joined them." Her whispered words tumbled over one another. "A hundred
+pounds of gold leaf--that's the purser's price. He's with them, whatever
+it is. He promised to do something for them."
+
+She stopped. "Well?" I prompted.
+
+"That's all. Shac's current was interrupted."
+
+"Tell him to try it again, Venza! I'll talk with him. No! I'd better let
+him alone. Can you get him to keep his mouth shut?"
+
+"I think he might do anything I told him. He's a man."
+
+"Find out what you can."
+
+She sat away from me suddenly. "There's Anita and George Prince."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+They came to the corner of the deck, but turned back. Venza caught my
+look. And understood it.
+
+"So you love Anita Prince so much as that, Gregg?" Venza was smiling. "I
+wish you--I wish some man handsome as you would gaze after me like
+that."
+
+She turned solemn. "You may be interested to know that she loves you. I
+could see it. I knew it when I mentioned you to her this morning."
+
+"Me? Why, we've hardly spoken!"
+
+"Is it necessary? I never heard that it was."
+
+I could not see Venza's face; she stood up suddenly. And when I rose
+beside her, she whispered,
+
+"We should not be seen talking so long. I'll find out what I can."
+
+I stared after her slight robed figure as she turned into the lounge
+archway and vanished.
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+_A Traitor, and a Passing Asteroid_
+
+Captain Carter was grim. "So they've bought him off, have they? Go bring
+him in here, Gregg. We'll have it out with him now."
+
+Snap, Dr. Frank, Balch, our first officer, and I were in the captain's
+chart-room. It was 4 P. M.--our Earth starting time. We were sixteen
+hours upon our voyage.
+
+I found Johnson in his office in the lounge. "Captain wants to see you.
+Close up."
+
+He closed his window upon an American woman passenger who was demanding
+details of Martian currency, and followed me forward. "What is it,
+Gregg?"
+
+"I don't know."
+
+Captain Carter banged the slide upon us. The chart-room was insulated.
+The hum of the current was obvious. Johnson noticed it. He started at
+the hostile faces of the surgeon and Balch. And he tried to bluster.
+
+"What is this? Something wrong?"
+
+Carter wasted no words. "We have information, Johnson--there's some
+under cover plot here aboard. I want to know what it is. Suppose you
+tell us frankly."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The purser looked blank. "What do you mean? We've gamblers aboard, if
+that's--"
+
+"To hell with that," growled Balch. "You had a secret interview with
+that Martian, Set Miko, and with George Prince!"
+
+Johnson scowled from under his heavy brows, and then raised them in
+surprise.
+
+"Did I? You mean changing their money? I don't like your tone, Balch.
+I'm not your under-officer!"
+
+"But you're under me," roared the captain. "By God, I'm master here!"
+
+"Well, I'm not disputing that," said the purser mildly. "This fellow
+Balch--"
+
+"We're in no mood for argument," Dr. Frank cut in. "Clouding the
+issue."
+
+"I won't let it be clouded," the captain exclaimed. I had never seen
+Carter so choleric. He was evidently under a tremendous strain. He
+added,
+
+"Johnson, you've been acting suspiciously. I don't give a damn whether
+I've proof of it or not--I say it. Did you, or did you not meet George
+Prince and that Martian last night?"
+
+"No, I did not. And I don't mind telling you, Captain Carter, that your
+tone also is offensive!"
+
+"Is it?" Carter suddenly seized him. They were both big men. Johnson's
+heavy face went purplish red.
+
+"Take your hands!--" They were struggling. Carter's hands were fumbling
+at the purser's pockets. I leaped, flung an arm around Johnson's neck,
+pinning him.
+
+"Easy there! We've got you, Johnson!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Snap tried to help me. "Go on, bang him on the head, Gregg. Now's your
+chance!"
+
+We searched him. A heat-ray cylinder--that was legitimate. But we found
+a small battery and eavesdropping microphone similar to the one Venza
+had mentioned that Shac the gambler was carrying.
+
+"What are you doing with that?" the captain demanded.
+
+"None of your business! Is it criminal? Carter, I'll have the Line
+officials dismiss you for this! Take your hands off me, all of you!"
+
+"Look at this!" exclaimed Dr. Frank.
+
+From Johnson's breast pocket the surgeon drew a folded document. It was
+the scale drawing of the Planetara's interior corridors, the lower
+control rooms and mechanisms. It was always kept in Johnson's safe. And
+with it, another document: the ship's clearance papers--the secret code
+pass-words for this voyage, to be used if we should be challenged by any
+interplanetary police ship.
+
+Snap gasped. "My God, that was in my helio-room strong box! I'm the only
+one on this vessel except the captain who's entitled to know those
+pass-words!"
+
+Out of the silence, Balch demanded, "Well, what about it, Johnson?"
+
+The purser was still defiant. "I won't answer your questions, Balch. At
+the proper time, I'll explain--Gregg Haljan, you're choking me!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I eased up. But I shook him. "You'd better talk."
+
+He was exasperatingly silent.
+
+"Enough!" exploded Carter. "He can explain when we get to port.
+Meanwhile I'll put him where he'll do no more damage. Gregg, lock him in
+the cage."
+
+We ignored his violent protestations. The cage--in the old days of
+sea-vessels on Earth, they called it the brig--was the ship's jail. A
+steel-lined, windowless room located under the deck in the peak of the
+bow. I dragged the struggling Johnson there, with the amazed watcher
+looking down from the observatory window at our lunging, starlit forms.
+
+"Shut up, Johnson! If you know what's good for you--"
+
+He was making a fearful commotion. Behind us, where the deck narrowed at
+the superstructure, half a dozen passengers were gazing in surprise.
+
+"I'll have you thrown out of the Service, Gregg Haljan!"
+
+I shut him up finally. And flung him down the ladder into the cage and
+sealed the deck trap-door upon him. I was headed back for the chart-room
+when from the observatory came the lookout's voice.
+
+"An asteroid, Haljan! Officer Blackstone wants you."
+
+I hurried to the turret bridge. An asteroid was in sight. We had
+attained nearly our maximum speed now. An asteroid was approaching, so
+dangerously close that our trajectory would have to be altered. I heard
+Blackstone's signals ringing in the control rooms; and met Carter as he
+ran to the bridge with me.
+
+"That scoundrel! We'll get more out of him, Gregg. By God, I'll put the
+chemicals on him--torture him, illegal or not!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We had no time for further discussion. The asteroid was rapidly
+approaching. Already, under the glass, it was a magnificent sight. I had
+never seen this tiny world before--asteroids are not numerous between
+the Earth and Mars, or in toward Venus. I never expected to see this one
+again. How little of the future can we humans fathom, for all our
+science! If I could only have looked into the future, even for a few
+short hours! How different then would have been the outcome of this
+tragic voyage!
+
+The asteroid came rushing at us. Its orbital velocity, I later computed,
+was some twenty-two miles a second. Our own, at the present maximum, was
+a fraction over seventy-seven. The asteroid had for some time been under
+observation by the lookout. He gave his warning only when it seemed that
+our trajectory should be altered to avoid a dangerously close passing.
+
+At the combined speeds of nearly a hundred miles a second the asteroid
+swept into view. With the naked eye, at first it was a tiny speck of
+star-dust, unnoticed in the gem-strewn black velvet of Space. A speck.
+Then a gleaming dot, silver white, with the light of our Sun upon it.
+
+Five minutes. The dot grew to a disc. Expanding. A full moon,
+silver-white. Brightest world in the firmament--the light from it bathed
+the Planetara, illumined the deck, painting everything with silver.
+
+I stood with Carter and Blackstone on the turret bridge. It was obvious
+that unless we altered our course, the asteroid would pass too close for
+safety. Already we were feeling its attraction; from the control rooms
+came the report that our trajectory was disturbed by this new mass so
+near.
+
+"Better make your calculations now, Gregg," Blackstone suggested.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I cast up the rough elements from the observational instruments in the
+turret. It took me some ten or fifteen minutes. When I had us upon our
+new course, with the attractive and repulsive plates in the Planetara's
+hull set in their altered combinations, I went out to the bridge again.
+
+The asteroid hung over our bow quarter. No more than twenty or thirty
+thousand miles away. A giant ball now, filling all that quadrant of the
+heavens. The configurations of its mountains--its land and water
+areas--were plainly visible. Its axial rotation was apparent.
+
+"Perfectly habitable," Blackstone said. "But I've searched all over this
+hemisphere with the glass. No sign of human life--certainly nothing
+civilized--nothing in the fashion of cities."
+
+A fair little world, by the look of it. A tiny globe: Blackstone had
+figured it at some eight hundred miles in diameter. There seemed a
+normal atmosphere. We could see areas where the surface was obscured by
+clouds. And oceans, and land masses. Polar icecaps. Lush vegetation at
+its equator.
+
+Blackstone had roughly cast its orbital elements. A narrow ellipse. No
+wonder we had never encountered this fair little world before. It had
+come from the outer region beyond Neptune. At perihelion it would reach
+inside Mercury, round the Sun, and head outward again.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We swept past the asteroid at a distance of some six thousand miles.
+Close enough, in very truth--a minute of flight at our combined speeds
+totaling a hundred miles a second. I had descended to the passenger
+deck, where I stood alone at a window, gazing.
+
+The passengers were all gathered to view the passing little world. I
+saw, not far from me, Anita, standing with her brother; and the giant
+figure of Miko with them.
+
+Half an hour since, first with the naked eye, this wandering little
+world had shown itself; it swam slowly past, began to dwindle behind us.
+A huge half moon. A thinner, smaller quadrant. A tiny crescent, like a
+silver bar-pin to adorn some lady's breast. And then it was a dot, a
+point of light indistinguishable among the myriad others hovering in
+this great black void.
+
+The incident of the passing of the asteroid was over. I turned from the
+deck window. My heart leaped. The moment for which all day I had been
+subconsciously longing was at hand. Anita was sitting in a deck chair,
+momentarily alone. Her gaze was on me as I looked her way, and she
+smiled an invitation for me to join her.
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+_Unspoken Love_
+
+Unspoken love! I think if I had yielded to the impulse of my heart, I
+would have poured out all those protestations of a lover's ecstasy,
+incongruous here upon this starlit public deck, to a girl I hardly knew.
+I think, too, she might have received them with a tender acquiescence.
+The starlight was mirrored in her dark eyes. Misty eyes, with great
+reaches of unfathomable space in their depths. Yet I felt their
+tenderness.
+
+Unfathomable strangeness of love! Who am I to write of it, with all the
+poets of all the ages striving to express the unexpressible? A bond,
+strangely fashioned by nature, between me and this little dark-haired
+Earth beauty. As though marked by the stars we were destined to be
+lovers....
+
+Thus ran the romance of my unspoken thoughts. But I was sitting quietly
+in the deck chair, striving to regard her gentle beauty impersonally.
+And saying:
+
+"But Miss Prince, why are you and your brother going to Ferrok-Shahn?
+His business--"
+
+Even as I voiced it, I hated myself for such a question. So nimble is
+the human mind that mingled with my rhapsodies of love was my need for
+information of George Prince....
+
+"Oh," she said, "this is pleasure, not business, for George." It seemed
+to me that a shadow crossed her expressive face. But it was gone in an
+instant, and she smiled. "We have always wanted to travel. We are alone
+in the world, you know--our parents died when we were children."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I filled in her pause. "You will like Mars--so many interesting things
+to see."
+
+She nodded. "Yes, I understand so. Our Earth is so much the same all
+over, cast all in one mould."
+
+"But a hundred or two hundred years ago it was not, Miss Prince. I have
+read how the picturesque Orient, differing from--well, Great-New York,
+or London, for instance--"
+
+"Transportation did that," she interrupted eagerly. "Made everything the
+same--the people all look alike--dress alike."
+
+We discussed it. She had an alert, eager mind, childlike with its
+curiosity, yet strangely matured. And her manner was naïvely earnest.
+Yet this was no clinging vine, this little Anita Prince. There was a
+firmness, a hint of masculine strength in her chin, and in her manner.
+
+"If I were a man, what wonders I could achieve in this marvelous age!"
+Her sense of humor made her laugh at herself. "Easy for a girl to say
+that," she added.
+
+"You have greater wonders to achieve, Miss Prince," I said impulsively.
+
+"Yes? What are they?" She had a very frank and level gaze, devoid of
+coquetry.
+
+My heart was pounding. "The wonders of the next generation. A little
+son, cast in your own gentle image--"
+
+What madness, this clumsy brash talk! I choked it off.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+But she took no offense. The dark rose-petals of her cheeks were mantled
+deeper red, but she laughed.
+
+"That is true." She turned abruptly serious. "I should not laugh. The
+wonders of the next generation--conquering humans marching on...." Her
+voice trailed away. My hand went to her arm. Strange tingling something
+which poets call love! It burned and surged from my trembling fingers
+into the flesh of her forearm.
+
+The starlight glowed in her eyes. She seemed to be gazing, not at the
+silver-lit deck, but away into distant reaches of the future. And she
+murmured:
+
+"A little son, cast in my own gentle image. But with the strength of his
+father...."
+
+Our moment. Just a breathless moment given us as we sat there with my
+hand burning her arm, as though we both might be seeing ourselves joined
+in a new individual--a little son, cast in his mother's gentle image and
+with the strength of his father. Our moment, and then it was over. A
+step sounded. I sat back. The giant gray figure of Miko came past, his
+great cloak swaying, with his clanking sword-ornament beneath it. His
+bullet head, with its close-clipped hair, was hatless. He gazed at us,
+swaggered past, and turned the deck corner.
+
+Our moment was gone. Anita said conventionally, "It has been pleasant to
+talk with you, Mr. Haljan."
+
+"But we'll have many more," I said. "Ten days--"
+
+"You think we'll reach Ferrok-Shahn on schedule?"
+
+"Yes. I think so.... As I was saying, Miss Prince, you'll enjoy Mars. A
+strange, aggressively forward-looking people."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+An oppression seemed on her. She stirred in her chair.
+
+"Yes, they are," she said vaguely. "My brother and I know many Martians
+in Great-New York." She checked herself abruptly. Was she sorry she had
+said that? It seemed so.
+
+Miko was coming back. He stopped this time before us.
+
+"Your brother would see you, Anita. He sent me to bring you to his
+room."
+
+The glance he shot me had a touch of insolence. I stood up, and he
+towered a head over me.
+
+Anita said, "Oh yes. I'll come."
+
+I bowed. "I will see you again, Miss Prince. I thank you for a pleasant
+half-hour."
+
+The Martian led her away. Her little figure was like a child with a
+giant. It seemed, as they passed the length of the deck with me staring
+after them, that he took her arm roughly. And that she shrank from him
+in fear.
+
+And they did not go inside. As though to show me that he had merely
+taken her from me, he stopped at a distant deck window and stood talking
+to her. Once he picked her up as one would pick up a child to show it
+some distant object through the window.
+
+"A little son with the strength of his father...." Her words echoed in
+my mind. Was Anita afraid of this Martian's wooing? Yet held to him by
+some power he might have over her brother? The vagrant thought struck
+me.
+
+Was it that?
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+_A Scream in the Night_
+
+We kept, on the Planetara, always the time and routine of our port of
+departure. The rest of that afternoon and evening were a blank of
+confusion to me. Anita's words; the touch of my hand upon her arm; that
+vast realm of what might be for us, like a glimpse of a magic land of
+happiness which I had seen in her eyes, and perhaps she had seen in
+mine--all this surged within me.
+
+I wandered about the vessel. I was not hungry. I did not go to the
+dining salon for dinner. I carried Johnson food and water to his cage;
+and sat, with my heat-cylinder upon him, listening to his threats of
+what would happen when he could complain to the Line's higher
+officials.
+
+But what was Johnson doing carrying a plan of the ship's control rooms
+in his pockets? And worse: How had he dared open Snap's box in the
+helio-room and abstract the code pass-words for this voyage? Without
+them we would be an outlawed vessel, subject to arrest if any patrol
+hailed us. Had Johnson been planning to sell those pass-words to Miko? I
+thought so. I tried to get the confession out of him, but could not.
+
+I had a brief consultation with Captain Carter. He was genuinely
+apprehensive now. The Planetara carried no long-range guns, and very few
+side-arms. A half-dozen of the heat-ray hand projectors; a few
+old-fashioned weapons of explosion-rifles and automatic revolvers. And
+hand projectors with the new Benson curve-light. We had models of this
+for curved vision, so that one might see around a corner, so to speak.
+And with them, we could project the heat-ray in a curve as well.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The weapons were all in Carter's chart-room, save the few we officers
+always carried. Carter was apprehensive, but of what he could not say.
+He had not thought that our plan to stop at the Moon for treasure could
+affect this outward voyage. Any danger would be upon the way back, when
+the Planetara would be adequately guarded with long-range electronic
+guns, and manned with police-soldiers.
+
+But now we were practically defenseless....
+
+I had a moment with Venza, but she had nothing new to communicate to
+me.
+
+And for half an hour I chatted with George Prince. He seemed a gay,
+pleasant young man. I could almost have fancied I liked him. Or was it
+because he was Anita's brother? He told me how he looked forward to
+traveling with her on Mars. No, he had never been there before, he
+said.
+
+He had a measure of Anita's earnest naïve personality. Or was he a very
+clever scoundrel, with irony lurking in his soft voice, and a chuckle
+that he could so befool me?
+
+"We'll talk again, Haljan. You interest me--I've enjoyed it."
+
+He sauntered away from me, joining the saturnine Ob Hahn, with whom
+presently I heard him discussing religion.
+
+The arrest of Johnson had caused considerable comment among the
+passengers. A few had seen me drag him forward to the cage. The incident
+had been the subject of passenger discussion all afternoon. Captain
+Carter had posted a notice to the effect that Johnson's accounts had
+been found in serious error, and that Dr. Frank for this voyage would
+act in his stead.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It was near midnight when Snap and I closed and sealed the helio-room
+and started for the chart-room, where we were to meet with Captain
+Carter and the other officers. The passengers had nearly all retired. A
+game was in progress in the smoking room, but the deck was almost
+deserted.
+
+Snap and I were passing along one of the interior corridors. The
+stateroom doors, with the illumined names of the passengers, were all
+closed. The metal grid of the floor echoed our footsteps. Snap was in
+advance of me. His body suddenly rose in the air. He went like a balloon
+to the ceiling, struck it gently, and all in a heap came floating down
+and landed on the floor!
+
+"What in the infernal!--"
+
+He was laughing as he picked himself up. But it was a brief laugh. We
+knew what had happened: the artificial gravity-controls in the base of
+the ship, which by magnetic force gave us normality aboard, were being
+tampered with! For just this instant, this particular small section of
+this corridor had been cut off. The slight bulk of the Planetara,
+floating in space, had no appreciable gravity pull on Snap's body, and
+the impulse of his step as he came to the unmagnetized area of the
+corridor had thrown him to the ceiling. The area was normal now. Snap
+and I tested it gingerly.
+
+He gripped me. "That never went wrong by accident, Gregg! Someone down
+there--"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We rushed to the nearest descending ladder. In the deserted lower room
+the bank of dials stood neglected. A score of dials and switches were
+here, governing the magnetism of different areas of the ship. There
+should have been a night operator, but he was gone.
+
+Then we saw him lying nearby, sprawled face down on the floor! In the
+silence and dim lurid glow of the fluorescent tubes, we stood holding
+our breaths, peering and listening. No one here.
+
+The guard was not dead. He lay unconscious from a blow on the head. A
+brawny fellow. We had him revived in a few moments. A broadcast flash of
+the call-buzz brought Dr. Frank in haste from the chart-room.
+
+"What's the matter?"
+
+We pointed at the unconscious man. "Someone was here," I said hastily.
+"Experimenting with the magnetic switches. Evidently unfamiliar with
+them--pulling one or another to test their workings and so see the
+reactions on the dials."
+
+We told him what had happened to Snap in the upper corridor.
+
+Dr. Frank revived the guard in a moment. He was no worse off for the
+episode, save a lump on his head, and a nasty headache.
+
+But he had little to tell us. He had heard a step. Saw nothing--and
+then had been struck on the head, by some invisible assailant.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We left him nursing his head, sitting belligerent at his post. Armed now
+with my heat-ray cylinder which I loaned him.
+
+"Strange doings this voyage," he told us. "All the crew knows it--all
+been talkin' about it. I stick it out now, but when we get back home I'm
+done with this star travelin'. I belong on the sea anyway. A good old
+freighter is all right for me."
+
+We hurried back to the upper level. We would indeed have to plan
+something at this chart-room conference. This was the first tangible
+attack our adversaries had made.
+
+We were on the passenger deck headed for the chart-room when all three
+of us stopped short, frozen with horror. Through the silent passenger
+quarters a scream rang out! A girl's shuddering, gasping scream. Terror
+in it. Horror. Or a scream of agony. In the silence of the dully
+vibrating ship it was utterly horrible. It lasted an instant--a single
+long scream; then was abruptly stilled.
+
+And with blood pounding my temples and rushing like ice through my
+veins, I recognized it.
+
+Anita!
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+_The Murder in A 22_
+
+"Good God, what was that?" Dr. Frank's face had gone white in the
+starlight. Snap stood like a statue of horror.
+
+The deck here was patched as always, silver radiance from the deck
+ports. The empty deck chairs stood about. The scream was stilled, but
+now we heard a commotion inside--the rasp of opening cabin doors;
+questions from frightened passengers; the scurry of feet.
+
+I found my voice. "Anita! Anita Prince!"
+
+"Come on!" shouted Snap. "Was it the Prince girl? I thought so too! In
+her stateroom, A 22!" He was dashing for the lounge archway.
+
+Dr. Frank and I followed. I realized that we passed the deck door and
+window of A 22. But they were dark, and evidently sealed on the inside.
+The dim lounge was in a turmoil; passengers standing at their cabin
+doors. I heard Sir Arthur Coniston:
+
+"I say, what was that?"
+
+"Over there," said another man. "Come back inside, Martha." He shoved
+his wife back. "Mr. Haljan!" He plucked at me as I went past.
+
+I shouted, "Go back to your rooms! We want order here--keep back!"
+
+We came to the twin doors of A 22 and A 20. Both were closed. Dr. Frank
+was in advance of Snap and me. He paused at the sound of Captain
+Carter's voice behind us.
+
+"Was it from in there? Wait a moment!"
+
+Carter dashed up; he had a large heat-ray projector in his hand. He
+shoved us aside. "Let me in first. Is the door sealed? Gregg, keep those
+passengers back!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The door was not sealed. Carter burst into the room. I heard him gasp,
+"Good God!"
+
+Snap and I shoved back three or four crowding passengers, and in that
+instant Dr. Frank had been in the room and out again.
+
+"There's been an accident! Get back, Gregg! Snap, help him keep the
+crowd away." He shoved me forcibly.
+
+From within, Carter was shouting, "Keep them out! Where are you, Frank?
+Come back here! Send a flash for Balch--I want Balch!"
+
+Dr. Frank went back into the room and banged the cabin door upon Snap
+and me. I was unarmed--I had loaned my cylinder to the guard in the
+lower corridor. Weapon in hand, Snap forced the panic-stricken
+passengers back to their rooms.
+
+"It's all right! An accident! Miss Prince is hurt."
+
+Snap reassured them glibly; but he knew no more about it than I. Moa,
+with a night-robe drawn tight around her thin, tall figure, edged up to
+me.
+
+"What has happened, Set Haljan?"
+
+I gazed around for her brother Miko, but did not see him.
+
+"An accident," I said shortly. "Go back to your room. Captain's
+orders."
+
+She eyed me and then retreated. Snap was threatening everybody with his
+cylinder. Balch dashed up. "What in the hell? Where's Carter?"
+
+"In there." I pounded on A 22. It opened cautiously. I could see only
+Carter, but I heard the murmuring voice of Dr. Frank through the
+interior connecting door to A 20.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The captain rasped, "Get out, Haljan! Oh, is that you, Balch? Come in."
+He admitted the older officer and slammed the door again upon me. And
+immediately reopened it.
+
+"Gregg, keep the passengers quiet. Tell them everything's all right.
+Miss Prince got frightened, that's all. Then go up to the turret. Tell
+Blackstone what's happened."
+
+"But I don't know what's happened," I protested miserably.
+
+Carter was grim and white. He whispered, "I think it may turn out to be
+murder, Gregg! No, not dead yet--Dr. Frank is trying--Don't stand there
+like an ass, man! Get to the turret! Verify our trajectory--no--wait--"
+
+The captain was almost incoherent. "Wait a minute, I don't mean that!
+Tell Snap to watch his helio-room. Gregg, you and Blackstone stay in the
+chart-room. Arm yourselves and guard our weapons. By God, this murderer,
+whoever he is--"
+
+I stammered, "If--if she dies--will you flash us word?"
+
+He stared at me strangely. "I'll be there presently, Gregg."
+
+He slammed the door upon me.
+
+I followed his orders, but it was like a dream of horror. The turmoil of
+the ship gradually quieted. Snap went to the helio-room; Blackstone and
+I sat in the tiny steel chart-room. How much time passed, I do not
+know. I was confused. Anita hurt! She might die.... Murdered.... But
+why? By whom? Had George Prince been in his own room when the attack
+came? I thought now I recalled hearing the low murmur of his voice in
+there with Dr. Frank and Carter.
+
+Where was Miko? It stabbed at me. I had not seen him among the
+passengers in the lounge.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Carter came into the chart-room. "Gregg, you get to bed--you look like a
+ghost!"
+
+"But--"
+
+"She's not dead--she may live. Dr. Frank and her brother are with her.
+They're doing all they can." He told us what had happened. Anita and
+George Prince had both been asleep, each in their respective rooms.
+Someone unknown had opened Anita's corridor door.
+
+"Wasn't it sealed?" I demanded.
+
+"Yes. But the intruder opened it."
+
+"Burst it? I didn't think it was broken."
+
+"It wasn't broken. The assailant opened it somehow, and assaulted Miss
+Prince--shot her in the chest with a heat-ray. Her left lung."
+
+"She is conscious?" Balch demanded.
+
+"Yes. But she did not see who did it. Nor did Prince. Her scream
+awakened him, but the intruder evidently fled out the corridor door of
+A 22, the way he entered."
+
+I stood weak and shaken at the chart-room entrance. "A little son, cast
+in the gentle image of his mother. But with the strength of his
+father...." But Anita--dying, perhaps; and all my dreams were fading
+into a memory of what might have been.
+
+"You go to bed, Gregg--we don't need you."
+
+I was glad enough to get away. I would lie down for an hour, and then go
+to Anita's stateroom. I'd demand that Dr. Frank let me see her, if only
+for a moment.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I went to the stern deck-space where my cubby was located. My mind was
+confused, but some instinct within me made me verify the seals of my
+door and window. They were intact. I entered cautiously, switched on the
+dimmer of the tube-lights, and searched the room. It had only a bunk, my
+tiny desk, a chair and clothes robe.
+
+There was no evidence of any intruder here. I set my door and window
+alarm. Then I audiphoned to the helio-room.
+
+"Snap?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+I told him about Anita. Carter cut in on us from the chart-room. "Stop
+that, you fools!"
+
+We cut off. Fully dressed, I flung myself on my bed. Anita might
+die....
+
+I must have fallen into a tortured sleep. I was awakened by the sound of
+my alarm buzzer. Someone was tampering with my door! Then the buzzer
+ceased; the marauder outside must have found a way of silencing it. But
+it had done its work--awakened me.
+
+I had switched off the light; my cubby was Stygian dark. A heat-cylinder
+was in the bunk-bracket over my head; I searched for it, pried it loose
+softly.
+
+I was fully awake. Alert. I could hear a faint sizzling--someone outside
+trying to unseal the door. In the darkness, cylinder in hand, I crept
+from the bunk. Crouched at the door. This time I would capture or kill
+this night prowler.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The sizzling was faintly audible. My door-seal was breaking. Upon
+impulse I reached for the door, jerked it open.
+
+No one there! The starlit segment of deck was empty. But I had leaped,
+and I struck a solid body, crouching in the doorway. A giant man. Miko!
+
+His electronized metallic robe burned my hands. I lunged against him--I
+was almost as surprised as he. I shot, but the stab of heat evidently
+missed him.
+
+The shock of my encounter close-circuited his robe; he materialized in
+the starlight. A brief, savage encounter. He struck the weapon from my
+hand. He had dropped his hydrogen torch, and tried to grip me. But I
+twisted away from his hold.
+
+"So it's you!"
+
+"Be quiet, Gregg Haljan! I only want to talk."
+
+Without warning, a stab of radiance shot from a weapon in his hand. It
+caught me. Ran like ice through my veins. Seized and numbed my limbs.
+
+I fell helpless to the deck. Nerves and muscles paralyzed. My tongue was
+thick and inert. I could not speak, nor move. But I could see Miko
+bending over me. And hear him:
+
+"I don't want to kill you, Haljan. We need you."
+
+He gathered me up like a bundle in his huge arms; carried me swiftly
+across the deserted deck.
+
+Snap's helio-room in the network under the dome was diagonally overhead.
+A white actinic light shot from it--caught us, bathed us. Snap had been
+awake; had heard the slight commotion of our encounter.
+
+His voice rang shrilly: "Stop! I'll shoot!" His warning siren rang out
+to arouse the ship. His spotlight clung to us.
+
+Miko ran with me a few steps. Then he cursed and dropped me, fled away.
+I fell like a sack of carbide to the deck. My senses faded into
+blackness....
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"He's all right now."
+
+I was in the chart-room, with Captain Carter, Snap and Dr. Frank bending
+over me. The surgeon said,
+
+"Can you speak now, Gregg?"
+
+I tried it. My tongue was thick, but it would move. "Yes."
+
+I was soon revived. I sat up, with Dr. Frank vigorously rubbing me.
+
+"I'm all right." I told them what had happened.
+
+Captain Carter said abruptly, "Yes, we know that. And it was Miko also
+who killed Anita Prince. She told us before she died."
+
+"Died!..." I leaped to my feet. "She ... died...."
+
+"Yes, Gregg. An hour ago, Miko got into her stateroom and tried to force
+his love on her. She repulsed him--he killed her."
+
+It struck me blank. And then with a rush came the thought, "He says Miko
+killed her...."
+
+I heard myself stammering, "Why--why we must get him!" I gathered my
+wits; a surge of hate swept me; a wild desire for vengeance.
+
+"Why, by God, where is he? Why don't you go get him? I'll get him--I'll
+kill him, I tell you!"
+
+"Easy, Gregg!" Dr. Frank gripped me.
+
+The captain said gently, "We know how you feel, Gregg. She told us
+before she died."
+
+"I'll bring him in here to you! But I'll kill him, I tell you!"
+
+"No you won't, lad. You're hysterical now. We don't want him killed, not
+attacked even. Not yet. We'll explain later."
+
+They sat me down, calming me.
+
+Anita dead. The door of the shining garden was closed. A brief glimpse,
+given to me and to her of what might have been. And now she was
+dead....
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+_A Speck of Human Earth-dust, Falling Free...._
+
+I had not been able at first to understand why Captain Carter wanted
+Miko left at liberty. Within me there was that cry of vengeance, as
+though to strike Miko down would somehow lessen my own grief at
+Anita's loss. Whatever Carter's purpose, Snap had not known it. But
+Balch and Dr. Frank were in the captain's confidence--all three of
+them working on some plan of action. Snap and I argued it, and thought
+we could fathom it; and in spite of my desire to kill Miko, the thing
+looked reasonable.
+
+It was obvious that at least two of our passengers were plotting with
+Miko and George Prince; trying during this voyage to learn what they
+could about Grantline's activities on the Moon; scheming doubtless to
+seize the treasure when the Planetara stopped at the Moon on the return
+voyage. I thought I could name those masquerading passengers. Ob Hahn,
+supposedly a Venus Mystic. And Rance Rankin, who called himself an
+American magician. Those two, Snap and I agreed, seemed most suspicious.
+And there was the purser.
+
+With my hysteria still on me, I sat for a time on the deck outside the
+chart-room with Snap. Then Carter summoned us back, and we sat listening
+while he, Balch and Dr. Frank went on with their conference. Listening
+to them I could not but agree that our best plan was to secure evidence
+which would incriminate all who were concerned in the plot. Miko, we
+were convinced, had been the Martian who followed Snap and me from
+Halsey's office in Great-New York. George Prince had doubtless been the
+invisible eavesdropper outside the helio-room. He knew, and had told the
+others, that Grantline had found radium-ore on the Moon--that the
+Planetara would stop there on the way home.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+But we could not incarcerate George Prince for being an eavesdropper.
+Nor had we the faintest tangible evidence against Ob Hahn or Rance
+Rankin. And even the purser would probably be released by the
+Interplanetary Court of Ferrok-Shahn when it heard our evidence.
+
+There was only Miko. We could arrest him for the murder of Anita. But
+the others would be put on their guard. It was Carter's idea to let Miko
+remain at liberty for a time and see if we could not identify and
+incriminate his fellows. The murder of Anita obviously had nothing to do
+with any plot against the Grantline Moon treasure.
+
+"Why," exclaimed Balch, "there might be--probably are--huge Martian
+interests concerned in this thing. These men here aboard are only
+emissaries, making this voyage to learn what they can. When they get to
+Ferrok-Shahn they'll make their report, and then we'll have a real
+danger on our hands. Why, an outlaw ship could be launched from
+Ferrok-Shahn that would beat us back to the Moon--and Grantline is
+entirely without warning of any danger!"
+
+It seemed obvious. Unscrupulous, moneyed criminals in Ferrok-Shahn would
+be dangerous indeed, once these details of Grantline were given them.
+And so now it was decided that in the remaining nine days of our outward
+voyage, we would attempt to secure enough evidence to arrest all these
+plotters.
+
+"I'll have them all in the cage when we land," Carter declared grimly.
+"They'll make no report to their principals. The thing will end, be
+stamped out!"
+
+Ah, the futile plans of men!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Yet we thought it practical. We were all doubly armed now. Explosive
+bullet-projectors and the heat-ray cylinders. And we had several
+eavesdropping microphones which we planned to use whenever occasion
+offered.
+
+It was now, Earth Eastern Time, A. M. Twenty-eight hours only of this
+eventful voyage were passed. The Planetara was some six million miles
+from the Earth; it blazed behind us, a tremendous giant.
+
+The body of Anita was being made ready for burial. George Prince was
+still in his stateroom. Glutz, effeminate little hairdresser, who waxed
+rich acting as beauty doctor for the women passengers, and who in his
+youth had been an undertaker, had gone with Dr. Frank to prepare the
+body.
+
+Gruesome details. I tried not to think of them. I sat, numbed, in the
+chart-room.
+
+An astronomical burial--there was little precedent for it. I dragged
+myself to the stern deck-space where, at five A. M., the ceremony took
+place. Most of the passengers were asleep, unaware of all this--which
+was why Carter hastened it.
+
+We were a solemn little group, gathered there in the checkered starlight
+with the great vault of the heavens around us. A dismantled electronic
+projector--necessary when a long-range gun was mounted--had been rigged
+up in one of the deck ports.
+
+They brought out the body. I stood apart, gazing reluctantly at the
+small bundle, wrapped like a mummy in a dark metallic screen-cloth. A
+patch of black silk rested over her face.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Four cabin stewards carried her. And beside her walked George Prince. A
+long black robe covered him, but his head was bare. And suddenly he
+reminded me of the ancient play-character of Hamlet. His black, wavy
+hair; his finely chiseled, pallid face, set now in a stern, patrician
+cast. And staring, I realized that however much of a villain this man
+not yet thirty might be, at this instant, walking beside the body of his
+dead sister, he was stricken with grief. He loved that sister with whom
+he had lived since childhood; and to see him now, with his set white
+face, no one could doubt it.
+
+The little procession stopped in a patch of starlight by the port. They
+rested the body on a bank of chairs. The black-robed Chaplain, roused
+from his bed and still trembling from excitement of this sudden,
+inexplicable death on board, said a brief, solemn little prayer. An
+appeal: That the Almighty Ruler of all these blazing worlds might guard
+the soul of this gentle girl whose mortal remains were now to be
+returned to Him.
+
+Ah, if ever God seemed hovering close, it was now at this instant, on
+this starlit deck floating in the black void of space.
+
+Then Carter for just a moment removed the black shroud from her face. I
+saw her brother gaze silently; saw him stoop and implant a kiss--and
+turn away. I did not want to look, but I found myself moving slowly
+forward.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+She lay, so beautiful. Her face, white and calm and peaceful in death.
+My sight blurred. Words seemed to echo: "A little son, cast in the
+gentle image of his mother...."
+
+"Easy, Gregg!" Snap was whispering to me. He had his arm around me.
+"Come on away!"
+
+They tied the shroud over her face. I did not see them as they put her
+body in the tube, sent it through the exhaust-chamber, and dropped it.
+
+But a moment later I saw it--a small black oblong bundle--hovering
+beside us. It was perhaps a hundred feet away, circling us. Held by the
+Planetara's bulk, it had momentarily become our satellite. It swung
+around us like a moon. Gruesome satellite, by nature's laws forever to
+follow us.
+
+Then from another tube at the bow, Blackstone operated a small
+Zed-co-ray projector. Its dull light caught the floating bundle,
+neutralizing its metallic wrappings.
+
+It swung off at a tangent. Speeding. Falling free in the dome of the
+heavens. A rotating black oblong. But in a moment distance dwindled it
+to a speck. A dull silver dot with the sunlight on it. A speck of human
+Earth-dust, falling free....
+
+It vanished. Anita--gone. In my heart was an echo of the prayer that the
+Almighty might watch over her and guard her always....
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+_The Electrical Eavesdropper_
+
+I turned from the deck. Miko was near me! So he had dared to show
+himself here among us! But I realized that he could not be aware we knew
+he was the murderer. George Prince had been asleep, had not seen Miko
+with Anita. Miko, with impulsive rage, had shot the girl and escaped. No
+doubt now he was cursing himself for having done it. And he could very
+well assume that Anita had died without regaining consciousness to tell
+who had killed her.
+
+He gazed at me now, here on the deck. I thought for an instant he was
+coming over to talk to me. Though he probably considered he was not
+suspected of the murder of Anita, he realized, of course, that his
+attack on me was known; he must have wondered what action Captain Carter
+would take.
+
+But he did not approach me; he moved away, and went inside. Moa had been
+near him; and as though by pre-arrangement with him she now accosted
+me.
+
+"I want to speak to you, Set Haljan."
+
+"Go ahead."
+
+I felt an instinctive aversion for this Martian girl. Yet she was not
+unattractive. Over six feet tall, straight and slim. Sleek blond hair.
+Rather a handsome face. Not gray, like the burly Miko, but pink and
+white. Stern-lipped, yet feminine, too. She was smiling gravely now. Her
+blue eyes regarded me keenly. She said gently:
+
+"A sad occurrence, Gregg Haljan. And mysterious. I would not question
+you--"
+
+"Is that all you have to say?" I demanded, when she paused.
+
+"No. You are a handsome man, Gregg--attractive to women--to any Martian
+woman."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+She said it impulsively. Admiration for me was on her face, in her
+eyes--a man cannot miss it.
+
+"Thank you."
+
+"I mean, I would be your friend. My brother Miko is so sorry about what
+happened between you and him this morning. He only wanted to talk to
+you, and he came to your cubby door--"
+
+"With a torch to break its seal," I interjected.
+
+She waved that away. "He was afraid you would not admit him. He told you
+he would not hurt you."
+
+"And so he struck me with one of your cursed Martian paralyzing rays!"
+
+"He is sorry...."
+
+She seemed gauging me, trying, no doubt, to find out what reprisal would
+be taken against her brother. I felt sure that Moa was as active as a
+man in any plan that was under way to capture the Grantline treasure.
+Miko, with his ungovernable temper, was doing things that put their
+plans in jeopardy.
+
+I demanded abruptly, "What did your brother want to talk to me about?"
+
+"Me," she said surprisingly. "I sent him. A Martian girl goes after what
+she wants. Did you know that?"
+
+She swung on her heel and left me. I puzzled over it. Was that why Miko
+had struck me down, and was carrying me off? Was my accursed masculine
+beauty so attractive to this Martian girl? I did not think so. I could
+not believe that all these incidents were so unrelated to what I knew
+was the main undercurrent. They wanted me, had tried to capture me. For
+something else than because Moa liked my looks....
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Dr. Frank found me mooning alone.
+
+"Go to bed, Gregg! You look awful."
+
+"I don't want to go to bed."
+
+"Where's Snap?"
+
+"I don't know. He was here a while ago." I had not seen him since the
+burial of Anita.
+
+"The captain wants him." The surgeon left me.
+
+Within an hour the morning siren would arouse the passengers. I was
+seated in a secluded corner of the deck, when George Prince came along.
+He went past me, a slight, somber, dark-robed figure. He had on high,
+thick boots. A hood was over his head, but as he saw me he pushed it
+back and dropped down beside me.
+
+But for a moment he did not speak. His face showed pallid in the pallid
+star-gleams.
+
+"She said you loved her." His soft voice was throaty with emotion.
+
+"Yes." I said it almost against my will. There seemed a bond springing
+between this bereaved brother and me. He added, so softly I could
+barely hear him, "That makes you, I think, almost my friend. And you
+thought you were my enemy."
+
+I held my answer. An incautious tongue running under emotion is a
+dangerous thing. And I was sure of nothing.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+He went on, "Almost my friend. Because--we both loved her, and she loved
+us both." He was hardly more than whispering. "And there is aboard--one
+whom we both hate."
+
+"Miko!" It burst from me.
+
+"Yes. But do not say it."
+
+Another silence fell between us. He brushed back the black curls from
+his forehead. And his dark eyes searched mine.
+
+"Have you an eavesdropping microphone, Haljan?"
+
+I hesitated. "Yes."
+
+"I was thinking...." He leaned closer toward me. "If, in half an hour,
+you could use it upon Miko's cabin--I would rather tell you than the
+captain or anyone else. The cabin will be insulated, but I shall find a
+way of cutting off that insulation so that you may hear."
+
+So George Prince had turned with us! The shock of his sister's
+death--himself allied to her murderer!--had been too much for him. He
+was with us!
+
+Yet his help must be given secretly. Miko would kill him in an instant
+if it became known.
+
+He had been watchful of the deck. He stood up now.
+
+"I think that is all."
+
+As he turned away, I murmured, "But I do thank you...."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The name Set Miko glowed upon the small metal door. It was in a
+transverse corridor similar to A 22. The corridor was forward of the
+lounge: it opened off the small circular library.
+
+The library was unoccupied and unlighted, dim with only the reflected
+lights from the nearby passages. I crouched behind a cylinder-case. The
+door of Miko's room was in sight, being some thirty feet away from me.
+
+I waited perhaps five minutes. No one entered. Then I realized
+that doubtless the conspirators were already there. I set my tiny
+eavesdropper on the library floor beside me; connected its little
+battery; focused its projector. Was Miko's room insulated? I could not
+tell. There was a small ventilating grid above the door. Across its
+opening, if the room were insulated, a blue sheen of radiance
+would be showing. And there would be a faint hum. But from this
+distance I could not see or hear such details, and I was afraid to
+approach closer. Once in the transverse corridor, I would have no
+place to hide, no way of escape; if anyone approached Miko's door, I
+would be discovered.
+
+I threw the current into my little apparatus. I prayed, if it met
+interference, that the slight sound would pass unnoticed. George Prince
+had said he would make opportunity to disconnect the room's insulation.
+He had evidently done so. I picked up the interior sounds at once; my
+headphone vibrated with them. And with trembling fingers on the little
+dial between my knees as I crouched in the darkness behind the
+cylinder-case, I synchronized.
+
+"Johnson is a fool." It was Miko's voice. "We must have the pass-words."
+
+"He got them from the helio-room." A man's voice; I puzzled over it at
+first, then recognized it. Rance Rankin.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Miko said, "He is a fool. Walking around this ship as though with
+letters blazoned on his forehead--'Watch me--I need watching--' Hah! No
+wonder they apprehended him!"
+
+Was George Prince in there? Rankin's voice said: "He would have turned
+the papers over to us. I would not blame him too much. What harm--"
+
+"Oh, I'll release him," Miko declared. "What harm? That braying ass did
+us plenty of harm. He has lost the pass-words. Better he had left them
+in the helio-room."
+
+Moa was in the room. Her voice said: "We've got to have them. The
+Planetara, upon such an important voyage as this, may be watched. How do
+we know--"
+
+"It is, no doubt," Rankin said quietly. "We ought to have the
+pass-words. When we are in control of this ship...."
+
+It sent a shiver through me. Were they planning to try and seize the
+Planetara? Now? It seemed so.
+
+"Johnson undoubtedly memorized them," Moa was saying. "When we get him
+out--"
+
+"Hahn is to do that, at the signal." Miko added, "George could do it
+better, perhaps."
+
+And then I heard George Prince for the first time. He murmured, "I will
+try."
+
+"No need," said Miko. "I praise where praise is deserved. And I have
+little praise for you now, George!"
+
+I could not see what happened. A look, perhaps, which Prince could not
+avoid giving this man he had come to hate. Miko doubtless saw it, and
+the Martian's hot anger leaped.
+
+Rankin said hurriedly, "Stop that!"
+
+And Moa: "Let him alone! Sit down, you fool!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I could hear the sound of a scuffle. A blow--a cry, half suppressed,
+from George Prince.
+
+Then Miko: "I will not hurt him. Craven coward! Look at him! Hating
+me--frightened!"
+
+I could fancy George Prince sitting there with murder in his heart, and
+Miko taunting him:
+
+"Hates me now, because I shot his sister!"
+
+Moa: "Hush!"
+
+"I will not! Why should I not say it? I will tell you something else,
+George Prince. It was not Anita I shot at, but you! I meant nothing for
+her, but love. If you had not interfered--"
+
+This was different from what we had figured. George Prince had come in
+from his own room, had tried to rescue his sister, and in the scuffle,
+Anita had taken the shot intended for George.
+
+"I did not even know I had hit her," Miko was saying. "Not until I heard
+she was dead." He added sardonically, "I hoped it was you I had hit,
+George. And I will tell you this: You hate me no more than I hate you.
+If it were not for your knowledge of radium ores--"
+
+"Is this to be a personal wrangle?" Rankin interrupted. "I thought we
+were here to plan--"
+
+"It is planned," Miko said shortly. "I give orders, I do not plan. I am
+waiting now for the moment--"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+He checked himself. Moa said, "Does Rankin understand that no harm is to
+come to Gregg Haljan?"
+
+"Yes," said Rankin. "And Dean. We need them, of course. But you cannot
+make Dean send messages if he refuses, nor make Haljan navigate."
+
+"I know enough to check on them," Miko said grimly. "They will not fool
+me. And they will obey me, have no fear. A little touch of sulphuric--"
+His laugh was gruesome. "It makes the most stubborn very willing."
+
+"I wish," said Moa, "we had Haljan safely hidden. If he is hurt--killed--"
+
+So that was why Miko had tried to capture me? To keep me safe so that I
+might navigate the ship.
+
+It occurred to me that I should get Carter at once. A plot to seize the
+Planetara? But when?
+
+I froze with startled horror.
+
+The diaphragms at my ears rang with Miko's words: "I have set the time
+for now! In two minutes--"
+
+It seemed to startle both Rankin and George Prince almost as much as I.
+Both exclaimed:
+
+"No!"
+
+"No? Why not? Everyone is at his post!"
+
+Prince repeated: "No!"
+
+And Rankin: "But can we trust them? The stewards--the crew?"
+
+"Eight of them are our own men! You didn't know that, Rankin? They've
+been aboard the Planetara for several voyages. Oh, this is no
+quickly-planned affair, even though we let you in on it so recently. You
+and Johnson. By God!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I crouched tense. There was a commotion in the stateroom. Miko had
+discovered that his insulation was cut off! He had evidently leaped to
+his feet; I heard a chair overturn. And the Martian's roar: "It's off!
+Did you do that, Prince? By God, if I thought--"
+
+My apparatus went suddenly dead as Miko flung on his insulation. I lost
+my wits in the confusion; I should have instantly taken off my
+vibrations. There was interference; it showed in the dark space of the
+ventilator grid over Miko's doorway; a snapping in the air there, a
+swirl of sparks.
+
+I heard with my unaided ears Miko's roar over his insulation: "By God,
+they're listening!"
+
+The scream of a hand-siren sounded from his stateroom. It rang over the
+ship. His signal! I heard it answered from some distant point. And then
+a shot; a commotion in the lower corridors....
+
+The attack upon the Planetara had started!
+
+I was on my feet. The shouts of startled passengers sounded, a turmoil
+beginning everywhere.
+
+I stood momentarily transfixed. The door of Miko's stateroom burst open.
+He stood there, with Moa, Rankin and George Prince crowding behind him.
+
+He saw me. "You, Gregg Haljan!"
+
+He came leaping at me.
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+_The Weightless Combat_
+
+I was taken wholly by surprise. There was an instant when I stood
+numbed, fumbling for a weapon at my belt, undecided whether to run or
+stand my ground. Miko was no more than twenty feet from me. He checked
+his forward rush. The light from an overhead tube was on him; I saw in
+his hand the cylinder projector of his paralyzing ray.
+
+I plucked my heat-cylinder from my belt, and fired without taking aim.
+My tiny heat-beam flashed. I must have grazed Miko's hand. His roar of
+anger and pain rang out over the turmoil. He dropped his weapon; then
+stooped to pick it up. But Moa forestalled him. She leaped and seized
+it.
+
+"Careful! Fool--you promised not to hurt him!"
+
+A confusion of swift action. Rankin had turned and darted away. I saw
+George Prince stumbling half in front of the struggling Miko and Moa.
+And I heard footsteps beside me; a hand gripped me, jerked at me.
+
+Over the turmoil Prince's voice sounded: "Gregg--Haljan!"
+
+I recall I had the impression that Prince was frightened; he had half
+fallen in front of Miko. And there was Miko's voice:
+
+"Let go of me!"
+
+And Moa: "Come!"
+
+It was Balch gripping me. "Gregg! This way--run! Get out of here! He'll
+kill you with that ray--"
+
+Miko's ray flashed, but George Prince had knocked at his arm. I did not
+dare fire again. Prince was in the way. Balch, who was unarmed, shoved
+me violently back.
+
+"Gregg--the chart-room!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I turned and ran, with Balch after me. Prince had fallen, or been felled
+by Miko. A flash followed me. Miko's weapon, but again it missed. He did
+not pursue me; he ran the other way, through the port-side door of the
+library.
+
+Balch and I found ourselves in the lounge. Shouting, frightened
+passengers were everywhere. The place was in wild confusion, the whole
+ship ringing now with shouts.
+
+"To the chart-room, Gregg!"
+
+I called to the passengers: "Get back to your rooms!"
+
+I followed Balch. We ran through the archway to the deck. In the
+starlight I saw figures scurrying aft, but none were near us. The deck
+forward was dim with heavy shadows. The oval window and door of the
+chart-room were blue-yellow from the tube-lights inside. No one seemed
+on the deck there; and then, as we approached, I saw, further forward in
+the bow, the trap-door to the cage standing open. Johnson had been
+released.
+
+From one of the chart-room windows a heat-ray sizzled. It barely missed
+us. Balch shouted, "Carter--don't!"
+
+The captain called, "Oh--you, Balch--and Haljan--"
+
+He came out on the deck as we rushed up. His left arm was dangling
+limp.
+
+"God--this--" He got no further. From the turret overhead a tiny
+search-beam came down and disclosed us. Blackstone was supposed to be on
+duty up there, with a course-master at the controls. But, glancing up, I
+saw, illumined by the turret lights, the figures of Ob Hahn in his
+purple-white robe, and Johnson the purser. And on the turret balcony,
+two fallen men--Blackstone and the course-master.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Johnson was training the spotlight on us. And Hahn fired a Martian ray.
+It struck Balch beside me. He dropped.
+
+Carter was shouting, "Inside! Gregg, get inside!"
+
+I stopped to raise up Balch. Another beam came down. A heat-ray this
+time. It caught the fallen Balch full in the chest, piercing him
+through. The smell of his burning flesh rose to sicken me. He was dead.
+I dropped his body. Carter shoved me into the chart-room.
+
+In the small, steel-lined room, Carter and I slid the door closed. We
+were alone here. The thing had come so quickly it had taken Captain
+Carter, like us all, wholly unawares. We had anticipated spying
+eavesdroppers, but not this open brigandage. No more than a minute or
+two had passed since Miko's siren in his stateroom had given the signal
+for the attack. Carter had been in the chart-room. Blackstone was in the
+turret. At the outbreak of confusion, Carter dashed out to see Hahn
+releasing Johnson from the cage. From the forward chart-room window now
+I could see where Hahn with a torch had broken the cage-seal. The torch
+lay on the deck. There had been an exchange of shots; Carter's arm was
+paralyzed; Johnson and Hahn had escaped.
+
+Carter was as confused as I. There had simultaneously been an encounter
+up in the turret. Blackstone and the course-master were killed. The
+lookout had been shot from his post in the forward observatory. His body
+dangled now, twisted half in and half out of his window.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We could see several of Miko's men--erstwhile members of our crew and
+steward-corps--scurrying from the turret along the upper bridges toward
+the dark and silent helio-room. Snap was up there. But was he? The
+helio-room glowed suddenly with dim light, but there was no evidence of
+a fight there. The fighting seemed mostly below the deck, down in the
+hull-corridors. A blended horror of sounds came up to us. Screams,
+shouts, and the hissing and snapping of ray weapons. Our crew--such of
+them as were loyal--were making a stand down below. But it was brief.
+Within a minute it died away. The passengers, amidships in the
+superstructure, were still shouting. Then above them Miko's roar
+sounded.
+
+"Be quiet! Go in your rooms--you will not be harmed."
+
+The brigands in these few minutes were in control of the ship. All but
+this little chart-room, where, with most of the ship's weapons, Carter
+and I were intrenched.
+
+"God, Gregg, that this should come upon us!"
+
+Carter was fumbling with the chart-room weapons. "Here, Gregg, help me.
+What have you got? Heat-ray? That's all I had ready."
+
+It struck me then as I helped him make the connections that Carter in
+this crisis was at best an inefficient commander. His red face had gone
+splotchy purple; his hands were trembling. Skilled as captain of a
+peaceful liner, he was at a loss now. Nor could I blame him. It is easy
+to say we might have taken warning, done this or that, and come
+triumphant through this attack. But only the fool looks backward and
+says, "I would have done better."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I tried to summon my wits. The ship was lost to us, unless Carter and I
+could do something. Our futile weapons! They were all here--four or
+five heat-ray hand projectors that could send a pencil-ray a hundred
+feet or so. I shot one diagonally up at the turret where Johnson was
+leering down at our rear window, but he saw my gesture and dropped back
+out of sight. The heat-beam flashed harmlessly up and struck the turret
+roof. Then across the turret window came a sheen of radiance--an
+electro-barrage. And behind it, Hahn's suave, evil face appeared. He
+shouted down:
+
+"We have orders to spare you, Gregg Haljan--or you would have been
+killed long ago!"
+
+My answering shot hit his barrage with a shower of sparks, behind which
+he stood unmoved.
+
+Carter handed me another weapon. "Gregg, try this."
+
+I levelled the old explosive bullet projector; Carter crouched beside
+me. But before I could press the trigger, from somewhere down the
+starlit deck an electro-beam hit me. The little rifle exploded, burst
+its breech. I sank back to the floor, tingling from the shock of the
+hostile current. My hands were blackened from the exploding powder.
+
+Carter seized me. "No use! Hurt?"
+
+"No."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The stars through the dome-windows were swinging. A long swing--the
+shadows and starlit patches on the deck were all shifting. The Planetara
+was turning. The heavens revolved in a great round sweep of movement,
+then settled as we took our new course. Hahn at the turret controls had
+swung us. The earth and the sun showed over our bow quarter. The
+sunlight mingled red-yellow with the brilliant starlight. Hahn's signals
+were sounding; I heard them answered from the mechanism rooms down
+below. Brigands there--in full control. The gravity plates were being
+set to the new positions; we were on our new course. Headed a point or
+two off the Earth-line. Not headed for the moon? I wondered.
+
+Carter and I were planning nothing. What was there to plan? We were
+under observation. A Martian paralyzing ray--or electronic beam, far
+more deadly than our own puny police weapons--would have struck us the
+instant we tried to leave the chart-room.
+
+My swift-running thoughts were interrupted by a shout from down the
+deck. At a corner of the cabin superstructure some fifty feet from our
+windows the figure of Miko appeared. A barrage-radiance hung around him
+like a shimmering mantle. His voice sounded:
+
+"Gregg Haljan, do you yield?"
+
+Carter leaped up from where he and I were crouching. Against all reason
+of safety he leaned from the low window, waving his hamlike fist.
+
+"Yield? No! I am in command here, you pirate! Brigand--murderer!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I pushed him back. "Careful!"
+
+He was spluttering, and over it Miko's sardonic laugh sounded. "Very
+well--but you will talk? Shall we argue about it?"
+
+I stood up. "What do you want to say, Miko?"
+
+Behind him the tall, thin figure of his sister showed. She was plucking
+at him. He turned violently.
+
+"I won't hurt him! Gregg Haljan--is this a truce? You will not shoot?"
+He was shielding Moa.
+
+"No," I called. "For a moment, no. A truce. What is it you want to
+say?"
+
+I could hear the babble of passengers who were herded in the cabin with
+brigands guarding them. George Prince, bareheaded, but shrouded in his
+cloak, showed in a patch of light behind Moa. He looked my way and then
+retreated into the lounge archway.
+
+Miko called, "You must yield. We want you, Haljan."
+
+"No doubt," I jeered.
+
+"Alive. It is easy to kill you."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I could not doubt that. Carter and I were little more than rats in a
+trap, here in the chart-room. But Miko wanted to take me alive: that was
+not so simple. He added persuasively:
+
+"We want you to help us navigate. Will you?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Will you help us, Captain Carter? Tell your cub, this Haljan, to yield.
+You are fools. We understand that Haljan has been handling the ship's
+mathematics. Him we need most."
+
+Carter roared: "Get back from there! This is no truce!"
+
+I shoved aside his levelled bullet-projector. "Wait a minute!" I called
+to Miko. "Navigate--where?"
+
+"Oh," he retorted, "that is our business, not yours. When you lay down
+your weapons and come out of there, I will give you the course."
+
+"Back to the earth?" I suggested.
+
+I could fancy him grinning behind the sheen of his barrage at my
+question.
+
+"The earth? Yes--shall we go there? Give me your orders, Gregg Haljan.
+Of course I will obey them."
+
+His sardonic words were interrupted. And I realized that all this parley
+was a ruse of Miko's to take me alive. He had made a gesture. Hahn,
+watching from the turret window, doubtless flashed a signal down to the
+hull-corridors. The magnetizer control under the chart-room was
+altered, our artificial gravity cut off. I felt the sudden lightness; I
+gripped the window casement and clung. Carter was startled into
+incautious movement. It flung him out into the center of the chart-room,
+his arms and legs grotesquely flailing.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+And across the chart-room, in the opposite window, I felt rather than
+saw the shape of something. A figure--almost invisible, but not
+quite--was trying to climb in! I flung the empty rifle I was holding. It
+hit something solid in the window; in a flare of sparks a black-hooded
+figure materialized. A man climbing in! His weapon spat. There was a
+tiny electronic flash, deadly silent. The intruder had shot at Carter;
+struck him. Carter gave one queer scream. He had floated to the floor;
+his convulsive movement when he was hit hurled him to the ceiling. His
+body struck, twitched; bounced back and sank inert on the floor-grid
+almost at my feet.
+
+I clung to the casement. Across the space of the weightless room the
+hooded intruder was also clinging. His hood fell back. It was Johnson.
+He leered at me.
+
+"Killed him, the bully! Well, he deserved it. Now for you, Mr. Third
+Officer Haljan!"
+
+But he did not dare fire at me--Miko had forbidden it. I saw him reach
+under his robe, doubtless for a low-powered paralyzing ray such as Miko
+already had used on me. But he never got it out. I had no weapon within
+reach. I leaned into the room, still holding the casement, and doubled
+my legs under me. I kicked out from the window.
+
+The force catapulted me across the space of the room like a volplane. I
+struck the purser. We gripped. Our locked, struggling bodies bounced out
+into the room. We struck the floor, surged up like balloons to the
+ceiling, struck it with a flailing arm or a leg and floated back.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Grotesque, abnormal combat! Like fighting in weightless water. Johnson
+clutched his weapon, but I twisted his wrist, held his arm outstretched
+so that he could not aim it. I was aware of Miko's voice shouting on the
+deck outside.
+
+Johnson's left hand was gouging at my face, his fingers plucking at my
+eyes. We lunged down to the floor, then up again, close to the ceiling.
+
+I twisted his wrists. He dropped the weapon and it sank away. I tried to
+reach it, but could not. Then I had him by the throat. I was stronger
+than he, and more agile. I tried choking him, his thick bull-neck within
+my fingers. He kicked, scrambled, tore and gouged at me. Tried to shout,
+but it ended in a gurgle. And then, as he felt his breath stopped, his
+hands came up in an effort to tear mine loose.
+
+We sank again to the floor. We were momentarily upright. I felt my feet
+touch. I bent my knees. We sank further.
+
+And then I kicked violently upward. Our locked bodies shot to the
+ceiling. Johnson's head was above me. It struck the steel roof of the
+chart-room. A violent blow. I felt him go suddenly limp. I cast him off,
+and, doubling my body, I kicked at the ceiling. It sent me diagonally
+downward to the window, where I clung and regained stability.
+
+And I saw Miko standing on the deck with a weapon levelled at me!
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+_The Torture_
+
+"Haljan! Yield or I'll fire! Moa, give me the smaller one. This
+cursed--"
+
+He had in his hand too large a projector. Its ray would kill me. If he
+wanted to take me alive, he would not fire. I chanced it.
+
+"No!"
+
+I tried to draw myself beneath the window. An automatic bullet projector
+was on the floor where Carter had dropped it. I pulled myself down.
+Miko did not fire. I reached the revolver. The dead bodies of the
+captain and purser had drifted together on the floor in the center of
+the room.
+
+I hitched myself back to the window. With upraised weapon I gazed
+cautiously out. Miko had disappeared. The deck within my line of vision
+was empty.
+
+But was it? Something told me to beware. I clung to the casement, ready
+upon the instant to shove myself down. There was a movement in a shadow
+along the deck. Then a figure rose up.
+
+"Don't fire, Haljan!"
+
+The sharp command, half appeal, stopped the pressure of my finger on the
+trigger of the automatic. It was the tall lanky Englishman, Sir Arthur
+Coniston, as he called himself. So he too was one of Miko's band! The
+light through a dome-window fell full on him.
+
+"If you fire, Haljan, and kill me--Miko will kill you then, surely."
+
+From where he had been crouching he could not command my window. But
+now, upon the heels of his placating words, he abruptly shot. The
+low-powered ray, had it struck, would have felled me without killing.
+But it went over my head as I dropped. Its aura made my senses reel.
+
+Coniston shouted, "Haljan!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I did not answer. I wondered if he would dare approach to see if I had
+been hit. A minute passed. Then another. I thought I heard Miko's voice
+on the deck outside. But it was an aerial, microscopic whisper close
+beside me.
+
+"We see you, Haljan! You must yield!"
+
+Their eavesdropping vibrations, with audible projection, were upon me. I
+retorted aloud.
+
+"Come and get me! You cannot take me alive."
+
+I do protest if this action of mine in the chart-room may seem bravado.
+I had no wish to die. There was within me a very healthy desire for
+life. But I felt, by holding out, that some chance might come wherewith
+I might turn events against these brigands. Yet reason told me it was
+hopeless. Our loyal members of the crew were killed, no doubt. Captain
+Carter and Balch were killed. The lookouts and Course-masters also. And
+Blackstone.
+
+There remained only Dr. Frank and Snap. Their fate I did not yet know.
+And there was George Prince. He, perhaps, would help me if he could.
+But, at best, he was a dubious ally.
+
+"You are very foolish, Haljan," murmured the projection of Miko's voice.
+And then I heard Coniston:
+
+"See here, why would not a hundred pounds of gold-leaf tempt you? The
+code-words which were taken from Johnson--I mean to say, why not tell us
+where they are?"
+
+So that was one of the brigands new difficulties! Snap had taken the
+code-word sheet, that time we sealed the purser in the cage.
+
+I said, "You'll never find them. And when a police ship sights us, what
+will you do then?"
+
+The chances of a police ship were slim indeed, but the brigands
+evidently did not know that. I wondered again what had become of Snap.
+Was he captured--or still holding them off?
+
+I was watching my windows; for at any moment, under cover of this talk,
+I might be assailed.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Gravity came suddenly to the room. Miko's voice said. "We mean well by
+you, Haljan. There is your normality. Join us. We need you to chart our
+course."
+
+"And a hundred pounds of gold-leaf," urged Coniston. "Or more. Why, this
+treasure--"
+
+I could hear an oath from Miko. And then his ironic voice: "We will not
+bother you, Haljan. There is no hurry. You will be hungry in good time.
+And sleepy. Then we will come and get you. And a little acid will make
+you think differently about helping us...."
+
+His vibrations died away. The pull of gravity in the room was normal. I
+was alone in the dim silence, with the bodies of Carter and Johnson
+lying huddled on the grid. I bent to examine them. Both were dead.
+
+My isolation was no ruse this time. The outlaws made no further attack.
+Half an hour passed. The deck outside, what I could see of it, was
+vacant. Balch lay dead close outside the chart-room door. The bodies of
+Blackstone and the Course-master had been removed from the turret
+window. A forward lookout--one of Miko's men--was on duty in the nearby
+tower. Hahn was at the turret controls. The ship was under orderly
+handling, heading back upon a new course. For the Earth? Or the Moon? It
+did not seem so.
+
+I found, in the chart-room, a Benson curve-light projector which poor
+Captain Carter had very nearly assembled. I worked on it, trained it
+through my rear window, along the empty deck; bent it into the lounge
+archway. Upon my grid the image of the lounge interior presently
+focused. The passengers in the lounge were huddled in a group.
+Disheveled, frightened, with Moa standing watching them. Stewards were
+serving them with a meal.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Upon a bench, bodies were lying. Some were dead. I saw Rance Rankin.
+Others were evidently only injured. Dr. Frank was moving among them,
+attending them. Venza was there, unharmed. And I saw the gamblers, Shac
+and Dud, sitting white-faced, whispering together. And Glutz's little
+be-ribboned, be-curled figure on a stool.
+
+George Prince was there, standing against the walls shrouded in his
+mourning cloak, watching the scene with alert, roving eyes. And by the
+opposite doorway, the huge towering figure of Miko stood on guard. But
+Snap was missing.
+
+A brief glimpse. Miko saw my Benson-light. I could have equipped a
+heat-ray, and fired along the curved Benson-light into that lounge. But
+Miko gave me no time.
+
+He slid the lounge door closed, and Moa leaped to close the one on my
+side. My light was cut off; my grid showed only the blank deck and
+door.
+
+Another interval. I had made plans. Futile plans! I could get into the
+turret perhaps, and kill Hahn. I had the invisible cloak which Johnson
+was wearing. I took it from his body. Its mechanism could be repaired.
+Why, with it I could creep about the ship, kill these brigands one by
+one perhaps. George Prince would be with me. The brigands who had been
+posing as the stewards and crew-members were unable to navigate; they
+would obey my orders. There were only Miko, Coniston and Hahn to kill.
+
+Futile plans! From my window I could gaze up to the helio-room. And now
+abruptly I heard Snap's voice:
+
+"No! I tell you--no!"
+
+And Miko: "Very well. We will try this."
+
+So Snap was captured, but not killed. Relief swept me. He was in the
+helio-room, and Miko was with him. But my relief was short-lived.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+After a brief interval there came a moan from Snap. It floated down from
+the silence overhead. It made me shudder.
+
+My Benson-beam shot into the helio window. It showed me Snap lying there
+on the floor. He was bound with wire. His torso had been stripped. His
+livid face was ghastly plain in my light.
+
+Miko was bending over him. Miko with a heat-cylinder no longer than a
+finger. Its needle-beam played upon Snap's naked chest. I could see the
+gruesome little trail of smoke rising; and as Snap twisted and jerked,
+there on his flesh was the red and blistered trail of the violet-hot
+ray.
+
+"Now will you tell?"
+
+"No!"
+
+Miko laughed. "No? Then I shall write my name a little deeper...."
+
+A black scar now--a trail etched in the quivering flesh.
+
+"Oh!--" Snap's face went white as chalk as he pressed his lips
+together.
+
+"Or a little acid? This fire-writing does not really hurt? Tell me what
+you did with those code-words!"
+
+"No!"
+
+In his absorption Miko did not notice my light. Nor did I have the wit
+to try and fire along it. I was trembling. Snap under torture!
+
+As the beam went deeper, Snap suddenly screamed. But he ended, "No! I
+will send--no message for you--"
+
+It had been only a moment. In the chart-room window beside me again a
+figure appeared! No image. A solid, living person, undisguised by any
+cloak of invisibility. George Prince had chanced my fire and had crept
+up upon me.
+
+"Haljan! Don't attack me."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I dropped my light connections. As impulsively I stood up, I saw through
+the window the figure of Coniston on the deck watching the result of
+Prince's venture.
+
+"Haljan--yield."
+
+Prince no more than whispered it. He stood outside on the deck; the low
+window casement touched his waist. He leaned over it.
+
+"He's torturing Snap! Call out that you will yield."
+
+The thought had already been in my mind. Another scream from Snap
+chilled me with horror. I shouted,
+
+"Miko! Stop!"
+
+I rushed to the window and Prince gripped me.
+
+"Louder!"
+
+I called louder. "_Miko!_ Stop!" My upflung voice mingled with Snap's
+agony of protest. Then Miko heard me. His head and shoulders showed up
+there at the helio-room oval.
+
+"You, Haljan?"
+
+Prince shouted, "I have made him yield. He will obey you if you stop
+that torture."
+
+I think that poor Snap must have fainted. He was silent. I called,
+"Stop! I will do what you command."
+
+Miko jeered, "That is good. A bargain, if you and Dean obey me. Disarm
+him, Prince, and bring him out."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Miko moved back into the helio-room. On the deck Coniston was advancing,
+but cautiously, mistrustful of me.
+
+"Gregg."
+
+George Prince flung a leg over the casement and leaped lightly into the
+dim chart-room. His small slender figure stood beside me, clung to me.
+
+"Gregg."
+
+A moment, while we stood there together. No ray was upon us. Coniston
+could not see us, nor could he hear our whispers.
+
+"Gregg."
+
+A different voice; its throaty, husky quality gone. A soft pleading.
+"Gregg--
+
+"Gregg, don't you know me? Gregg, dear...."
+
+Why, what was this? Not George Prince? A masquerader, yet so like George
+Prince.
+
+"Gregg, don't you know me?"
+
+Clinging to me. A soft touch upon my arm. Fingers, clinging. A surge of
+warm, tingling current was flowing between us.
+
+My sweep of instant thoughts. A speck of human Earth-dust, falling free.
+That was George Prince, who had been killed. George Prince's body,
+disguised by the scheming Carter and Dr. Frank, buried in the guise of
+his sister. And this black-robed figure who was trying to help us--
+
+"Anita! Dear God! Anita, darling! Anita!"
+
+"Gregg, dear one!"
+
+"Anita! Dear God!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+My arms went around her, my lips pressed hers, and felt her tremulous,
+eager answer.
+
+"Gregg, dear."
+
+"Anita, you!"
+
+The form of Coniston showed at our window. She cast me off. She said,
+with her throaty swagger of assumed masculinity:
+
+"I have him, Sir Arthur. He will obey us."
+
+I sensed her warning glance. She shoved me toward the window. She said
+ironically, "Have no fear, Haljan. You will not be tortured, you and
+Dean, if you obey our commands."
+
+Coniston gripped me. "You fool! You caused us a lot of trouble, didn't
+you? Move along there!"
+
+He jerked me roughly through the window. Marched me the length of the
+deck. Out to the stern-space; opened the door of my cubby; flung me in
+and sealed the door upon me.
+
+"Miko will come presently."
+
+I stood in the darkness of my tiny room, listening to his retreating
+footsteps. But my mind was not on him....
+
+All the Universe in that instant had changed for me. Anita was alive!
+
+(_To be continued_)
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+  [1] As early as 1910 it was discovered that an object magnetized under
+      certain conditions was subject to a loss of weight, its gravity
+      partially nullified. The Martel discovery undoubtedly followed
+      that method.
+
+  [2] "United States of the World," which came into being in 2057 upon the
+      centenary of the Yellow War.
+
+  [3] Trinight Hour, i.e., 3 A. M.
+
+  [4] Pressure sickness. Caused by the difficulty of maintaining a
+      constantly normal air pressure within the vessel owing to the
+      sudden, extreme changes from heat to cold.
+
+  [5] "Set and Setta," the Martian equivalent of Mr. and Miss.
+
+  [6] A Venus form of jocular, intimate greeting.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  _REMEMBER_
+  ASTOUNDING STORIES
+  _Appears on Newsstands_
+  THE FIRST THURSDAY IN EACH MONTH
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+_In the Next Issue_
+
+  MONSTERS of MOYEN
+
+  _A Complete Novelet of a Half-God Half-Beast's Extraordinary Attempt
+  to Dominate the Earth_
+  _By_ Arthur J. Burks
+
+
+  _A Large Instalment of_
+
+  BRIGANDS of the MOON
+
+  _The Splendid Interplanetary Novel_
+  _By_ Ray Cummings
+
+
+  The RAY of MADNESS
+
+  _The Account of Another of Dr. Bird's Amazing Exploits_
+  _By_ Captain S. P. Meek
+
+  --_And Many Other Stories by Your Favorite Authors!_
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+The Soul Master
+
+_By Will Smith and R. J. Robbins_
+
+    Desperately O'Hara plunged into Prof. Kell's mysterious mansion.
+    For his friend Skip was the victim of the eccentric scientist's
+    de-astralizing experiment, and faced a fate more hideous than
+    death.
+
+[Illustration: _A terrific force was emanating from that devilish globe
+above._]
+
+
+The train was slowing down for Keegan. A whistle from the locomotive
+ahead had warned the two alert young men in the smoker to that effect,
+and they arose to leave the train. Both were neatly and quietly dressed.
+One carried a medium-sized camera with the necessary tripod and
+accessory satchel. The other carried no impediments of any sort. Both
+were smoking cigars, evidently not of expensive variety, judging by the
+unaromatic atmosphere thereabouts.
+
+"Can't see what Bland shipped us up to this one-horse dump for,"
+grumbled Skip Handlon, the one who carried the camera. He was the
+slighter of the two and perhaps half a head shorter than the other. "Do
+you know anything about it?"
+
+"Not much," confessed the other as they alighted from the smoker. "All I
+can tell you is that Bland sent for me early this morning, told me to
+get a story out of this Professor Kell and to drag you along. After we
+get there you are to do as judgment dictates. But I remember that the
+Chief was specific as regards one thing. You are to get the proff's mug.
+Don't forget. The old fellow may growl and show fight, but it's up to
+you to deliver the goods--or, in this case, get them. Don't depend on me
+for help. I expect to have troubles of my own." Thus gloomed Horace
+Perry, star reporter for the Journal.
+
+"This Keegan place"--Handlon was using his eyes swiftly and
+comprehensively--"isn't worth much. Can't see how it manages to even
+rate a name. Some dump, all right!"
+
+"You said a couple mouthfuls."
+
+"How's the train service, if any?"
+
+"Rotten. Two trains a day." The other was anything but enthusiastic.
+"We've a nice long wait for the next one, you can bet. Now, just add to
+that a rough reception after we reach the old lion's lair and you get a
+nice idea of what Bland expects from his men."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Handlon made a wry face at this. "The bird who first applied the words
+'Hard Boiled' to the Chief's monniker knew something."
+
+"You don't know the half of it," retorted Perry encouragingly. "Just
+wait and see what a beaut of a fit he can throw for _your_ benefit if
+you fail to do your stuff--and I don't mean maybe."
+
+Old Man Bland owned the Journal, hired and fired his crew and did his
+own editing, with the help of as capable an office gang as could be
+gotten together. It is quite possible that "Hard Boiled" Bland demanded
+more from his men than any other editor ever has before or since.
+Nevertheless he got results, and none of his experienced underlings ever
+kicked, for the pay was right. If a hapless scribe had the temerity to
+enter the editorial sanctum with a negative report, the almost
+invariable reply had been a glare and a peremptory order, "Get the
+copy."
+
+And get it they did. If a person refused an interview these clever
+fellows generally succeeded in getting their information from the next
+most reliable source, and it arrived in print just the same.
+
+Of such a breed was Perry. Handlon, being a more recent acquisition to
+the staff, was not yet especially aggressive in his work. On this
+account the former took keen zest in scaring him into displaying a bit
+more sand.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The train had disappeared around a bend and the two reporters felt
+themselves marooned. Keegan, without question, was a most forlorn
+looking spot. A dismal shanty, much the worse for weather, stood beside
+the track. In front, a few rotting planks proclaimed that once upon a
+time the place had boasted a real freight platform. Probably, back in
+some long-forgotten age, a station agent had also held forth in the
+rickety shanty. A sign hung on each end of the crumbling structure on
+which could still be deciphered the legend "KEEGAN." On the opposite
+side of the track was an old, disused siding. The only other feature of
+interest thereabouts was a well traveled country road which crossed the
+tracks near the shanty, wound sinuously over a rock-strewn hill and
+became lost in the mazes of an upland forest.
+
+There being no signboard of any kind to indicate their destination, the
+two, after a moment's hesitation, started off briskly in a chance
+direction. The air was hot and sultry, and in the open spaces the sun
+beat down mercilessly upon the two hapless ones. As they proceeded into
+the depths of the forest they were shielded somewhat from the worst of
+the heat. Gradually upon their city-bred nostrils there stole the odor
+of conifers, accompanied by a myriad of other forest odors. Both sniffed
+the air appreciatively.
+
+"This is sure the life," remarked Perry. "If I weren't so darn thirsty
+now...." He became lost in mournful thought.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A considerable time passed. The newspaper men trudged wearily along
+until finally another bend brought them to the beginning of a steep
+descent. The forest had thinned out to nothing.
+
+"Seems to me I smell smoke," blurted out Handlon suddenly. "Must be that
+we are approaching the old party's lair. Remember? Bland said that
+he--"
+
+"Uh huh!" the other grunted, almost inaudibly. Now that they seemed to
+be arriving at their destination something had occurred to him. He had
+fished from his pocket a sheaf of clippings and was perusing them
+intently. "Bland said, 'Get the copy'," he muttered irrelevantly and
+half to himself.
+
+The clippings all related directly to Professor Kell or to happenings
+local to Keegan. Some were of peculiar interest. The first one was
+headlined thus:
+
+    MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE OF ROBERT MANION AND DAUGHTER STILL
+    UNSOLVED
+
+The piece contained a description of the missing man, a fairly
+prosperous banker who had been seen four days previously driving through
+Keegan in a small roadster, and one of the girl, who was in the car with
+him. It told that the banker and his daughter were last seen by a farmer
+named Willetts who lived in a shack on the East Keegan road, fleeing
+before a bad thunder storm. He believed the pair were trying to make the
+Kell mansion ahead of the rain. Nothing more of the Manions or their car
+had been seen, and their personal effects remained at their hotel in a
+nearby village unclaimed. The heavy rain had of course effectually
+obliterated all wheel tracks.
+
+Another clipping was fairly lengthy, but Perry glanced only at the
+headlines:
+
+    KELL STILL CARRYING ON HIS STRANGE EXPERIMENTS
+
+    Has Long Been Known to Have Fantastic Theories. Refuses to
+    Divulge Exact Methods Employed, or Nature of Results
+
+Still another appeared to be an excerpt from an article in an
+agricultural paper. It read:
+
+    A prize bull belonging to Alton Shepard, a Keegan cattle
+    breeder, has created considerable sensation by running amuck in
+    a most peculiar manner. While seemingly more intelligent than
+    heretofore, it has developed characteristics known to be utterly
+    alien to this type of animal.
+
+    Perhaps the most noteworthy feature of the case is the refusal
+    of the animal to eat its accustomed food. Instead it now
+    consumes enormous quantities of meat. The terrific bellow of
+    the animal's voice has also undergone a marked change, now
+    resembling nothing earthly, although some have remarked that it
+    could be likened to the bay of an enormous hound. Some of its
+    later actions have seemingly added further canine attributes,
+    which make the matter all the more mystifying. Veterinaries are
+    asking why this animal should chase automobiles, and why it
+    should carry bones in its mouth and try to bury them!
+
+The last one read in part:
+
+    Professor Kell has been questioned by authorities at Keegan
+    relative to the disappearance there last Tuesday of Robert
+    Manion and his daughter. Kell seemed unable to furnish clues of
+    any value, but officials are not entirely satisfied with the
+    man's attitude toward the questions.
+
+Somewhat bewildered by these apparently unrelated items, the reporter
+remained lost in thought for quite a space, the while he endeavored to
+map out his course of action when he should meet the redoubtable
+Professor. That many of the weird occurrences could be traced in some
+way to the latter's door had evidently occurred to Bland. Furthermore,
+the Old Man relied implicitly upon Perry to get results.
+
+It must be said that for once the star reporter was not overly
+enthusiastic with the assignment. Certain rumors aside from the
+clippings in his hand had produced in his mind a feeling of uneasiness.
+So far as his personal preference was concerned he would have been well
+satisfied if some cub reporter had been given the job. Try as he would,
+however, he could offer no tangible reason for the sudden wariness.
+
+He was aroused from his absorption by his companion.
+
+"Thought I smelled smoke a while back, and I was right. That's the
+house up in the edge of the pines. Deep grounds in front and all gone to
+seed; fits the description exactly. Thank Heaven we struck off from the
+station in the right direction. This stroll has been long enough. Come
+out of it and let's get this job finished."
+
+Suiting the action to the words Handlon started off at a brisk pace down
+the hill, followed at a more moderate rate by Perry. At length they came
+within full sight of the grounds. Extending for a considerable distance
+before them and enclosing a large tract of land now well covered with
+lush grass, was a formidable looking wall. In former days a glorious
+mantle of ivy had covered the rough stones; but now there was little
+left, and what there was looked pitifully decrepit. They continued their
+progress along this barrier, finally coming upon a huge iron gate now
+much the worse for rust. It stood wide open.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The road up to the house had long since become overgrown with rank grass
+and weeds. Faintly traceable through the mass of green could be seen a
+rough footpath which the two followed carefully. They met no one. As
+they approached the night of black pines the mass of the old mansion
+began to loom up before them, grim and forbidding.
+
+Instinctively both shivered. The silence of the place was complete and
+of an uncannily tangible quality. Nervously they looked about them.
+
+"How do you like it, Skip?" The words from Perry's previously silent
+lips broke upon the stillness like a thunderclap. The other started.
+
+"I should hate to die in it," Handlon answered solemnly. "I'll bet the
+old joint is haunted. Nobody but a lunatic would ever live in it."
+
+"I get a good deal the same impression myself," said Perry. "I don't
+wonder that Bland sent two of us to cover the job."
+
+As he spoke he mounted a flight of steps to a tumbledown veranda. There
+was no sign of a door bell on the weather-beaten portal, but an ancient
+knocker of bronze hanging forlornly before him seemed to suggest a means
+of attracting attention. He raised it and rapped smartly.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+No answer.
+
+Possessing all the attributes of the conventional reporter and a few
+additional ones, Perry did not allow himself to become disheartened, but
+merely repeated his summons, this time with more vim.
+
+"Well, Horace," grinned Handlon, "it does look as if we were not so very
+welcome here. However, seems to me if you were to pick up that piece of
+dead limb and do some real knocking with it.... The dear Professor may
+be deaf, you know, or maybe he's--"
+
+"Skip, my boy, I don't know as we ought to go in right now after all. Do
+you realize it will soon be dark?"
+
+"To tell you the truth, Horace, I'm not stuck on this assignment either.
+And I feel that after dark I should like it even less, somehow. But,
+gee, the Old Man...."
+
+"Oh, I'm not thinking of quitting on the job. We don't do that on the
+Journal." Perry smiled paternally at the photographer. Could it be he
+had purposely raised the other's hopes in order to chaff him some more?
+"But I was thinking that it might be a good idea to look about the
+outbuildings a bit while we have a little daylight. Eh?"
+
+Handlon looked disappointed, but nodded gamely. He delayed only long
+enough to deposit his camera and traps behind a grossly overgrown
+hydrangea by the steps, then, with a resigned air, declared himself
+ready to follow wherever the other might lead.
+
+Perry elected to explore the barn first. This was a depressing old pile,
+unpainted in years, with what had once been stout doors now swinging and
+bumping in the light breeze. As the two men drew nearer, this
+breeze--which seemed to sigh through the place at will--brought foul
+odors that told them the place was at least not tenantless. In some
+trepidation they stepped inside and stood blinking in the half
+darkness.
+
+"Pretty Polly!"
+
+"Good God! What was that?" Handlon whispered. He knew it was no parrot's
+voice. This was a far deeper sound than that, a sound louder than
+anything a parrot's throat could produce. It came from the direction of
+a ruinous stall over near a cobwebbed window. As Perry started fearfully
+toward this, there issued from it a curious scraping sound, followed by
+a fall that shook the floor, and a threshing as of hoofs. Now the great
+voice could be heard again, this time uttering what sounded strangely
+like oaths roared out in a foreign tongue. Yet when the newspaper men
+reached the stall they found it occupied only by a large mule.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The animal was lying on its side, its feet scraping feebly against the
+side of the stall. The heaving, foam-flecked body was a mass of hideous
+bruises, some of which were bleeding profusely. The creature seemed to
+be in the last stage of exhaustion, lying with lips drawn back and eyes
+closed. Beneath it and scattered all over the stall floor was a thick
+layer of some whitish seeds.
+
+"That's--why that's sunflower seed, Horace!" Handlon almost whimpered.
+"And look! Look in that crib! It's full of the same stuff! Where's the
+hay, Horace? Does this thing--"
+
+He was interrupted by a mighty movement of the beast--a threshing that
+nearly blinded the men in the cloud of bloodstained seeds it raised.
+With something between a curse and a sob, the mule lunged at its crib as
+if attempting to get bodily into it. But no: it was only trying to perch
+on its edge! Now it had succeeded. The ungainly beast hung there a
+second, two, three. From its uplifted throat issued that usually
+innocuous phrase, a phrase now a thing of delirious horror:
+
+"Pretty Polly!"
+
+With a crash the tortured creature fell to the floor, to lie there
+gasping and moaning.
+
+Skip Handlon left that barn. Perry retained just enough wit to do what
+he should have done the instant he first saw the animal. He whipped out
+his automatic and fired one merciful shot. Then he too started for the
+outside. He arrived in the yard perhaps ten seconds behind Handlon.
+
+"Good Heavens, Perry," gibbered Handlon. "I'm not going to stay around
+this place another minute. Just let me find where I left that suffering
+camera, that's all I ask."
+
+"Easy now." Perry laid a hand on his companion's shoulder. "I guess
+we're up against something pretty fierce here, but we're going to see it
+through, and you know it. So let's cut out the flight talk and go raise
+the Professor."
+
+Handlon tried earnestly to don a look of determination. If Perry was set
+on staying here the least he could do was stay with him. However, could
+Perry have foreseen the events which were to entangle them, he probably
+would have led the race to the gate. As it was, he grasped a stick and
+marched bravely up toward the front door.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A sudden commotion behind him caused him to wheel sharply around.
+Simultaneously a yell burst from Handlon.
+
+"Look out, Horace!"
+
+What he saw almost froze the blood in his veins. From a tumbledown coach
+house had issued an enormous wolf-hound which was now almost upon then,
+eyes flaming, fangs gleaming horribly.
+
+So unexpected was the attack that both men stood rooted in their tracks.
+The next moment the charging brute was upon them, and had bowled
+Handlon off his equilibrium as if he were a child. The unfortunate
+photographer made a desperate attempt to prevent injury to his precious
+camera, which he had but a moment earlier succeeded in retrieving, and
+in doing so fell rather violently to the ground. Every moment he
+expected to feel the powerful jaws crunch his throat, and he made no
+effort to rise. For several seconds he remained thus, until he could
+endure the suspense no longer. He glanced around only to see Perry,
+staring open-mouthed at the animal which had so frightened them.
+Apparently it had forgotten the presence of the two men.
+
+Handlon regained his feet rather awkwardly, the while keeping a watchful
+eye on the beast, of whose uncertain temper he was by now fully aware.
+In an undertone he addressed his companion.
+
+"What do you make of it?" he wanted to know. "Did the critter bite
+you?"
+
+"No. That's the queer part of it. Neither did he bite you, if you were
+to think it over a minute. Just put his nose down and _rammed_ you, head
+on."
+
+The photographer was flabbergasted. Involuntarily his gaze stole again
+in the direction of the offending brute.
+
+"What on earth--" he began. "Is he sharpening his teeth on a rock
+preparatory to another attack upon us? Or--What the deuce _is_ he
+doing?"
+
+"If you ask me," came astonishingly from the watchful Perry, "he's
+eating grass, which is my idea of something damn foolish for a perfectly
+normal hound, genus lupo, to be--Look out!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The animal, as if suddenly remembering the presence of the men, suddenly
+charged at them again, head down, eyes blazing. As before, it made no
+effort to bite. Though both men were somewhat disconcerted by the great
+brute they held their ground, and when it presented the opportunity the
+older reporter planted a terrific kick to the flank which sent the
+animal whimpering back to its shed behind.
+
+"Score one," breathed Handlon. "If we--" At a sudden grating sound
+overhead, he stopped.
+
+Both turned to face the threatening muzzle of an ancient blunderbuss.
+Behind it was an irate countenance, nearly covered by an unclipped beard
+of a dirty gray color. In the eyes now glaring at them malevolently
+through heavily concaved spectacles they read hate unutterable. The
+barrel of the blunderbuss swung slightly as it covered alternately one
+and the other. Both sensed that the finger even now tightening on the
+trigger would not hesitate unduly. Being more or less hardened to
+rebuffs of all kinds in the pursuance of their calling, the reporters
+did not hesitate in stating their purpose.
+
+"What?" yelled the old man. "You dare to invade my grounds and disturb
+me at my labors for such a reason? Reporters! My scientific research
+work is not for publicity, sirs; and futhermore I want it understood
+that I am not to be dragged from my laboratory again for the purpose of
+entertaining you or any others of your ilk. Get away!"
+
+Without further ado the window was slammed down, a shutter closed on the
+inside, and once more the silence of the dead descended upon the spot.
+The two men grinned ruefully at each other, Handlon finally breaking the
+stillness.
+
+"My idea of the world's original one-sided conversation. We simply
+didn't talk--and yet we're supposed to be reporters. You've got to hand
+it to the Proff, Horace, for the beautiful rock-crusher he just handed
+us."
+
+"You didn't think we had anything easy, did you?" said Perry irritably.
+"He'll change his tune presently, when--"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Handlon's jaw dropped. "You don't mean you're going to take any more
+chances! Would you rouse him again after the way he treated us with
+that gun? Besides, the train...."
+
+Perry bent a scathing glance at his companion. "What on earth has the
+train to do with our getting the Professor's confession of crime or
+whatever he has to offer? You evidently don't know Bland--much. I deduce
+that a lot of my sweetness has been wasted on the desert air. Once more,
+let me assure you that if you propose to go back without the Proff's mug
+on one of those plates you might as well mail your resignation from
+_here_. Get me?"
+
+The other wilted.
+
+"I wonder," Perry ruminated as he stared in the direction of the shed
+wherein the canine monstrosity had disappeared. "Do you suppose that you
+can get a snap of the old boy's mug if I can get him to the window
+again? If you can do that, just leave the rest to me. I've handled these
+crusty birds before. What say?"
+
+"Go as far as you like." The photographer was once more grinning as he
+unslung his camera and carefully adjusted a plate in place. Everything
+at last to his satisfaction he gripped flash pan and bulb.
+
+"I'm going to make some racket now," announced Perry grimly. "If Kell
+shows up, work fast. He may shoot at you, but don't get excited. It's
+almost dark, so his aim _might_ be poor."
+
+At this suggestion his companion showed signs of panic, but the other
+affected not to notice this. There came a deafening hullaballoo as Perry
+beat a terrific tattoo on the ancient door. Followed a deep silence,
+while Perry leaped back to stand in front of Skip and his camera. After
+perhaps a full minute's wait he once more opened up his bombardment, to
+jump quickly back to the camera as before. This time he had better
+success. The window was again opened and the muzzle of the blunderbuss
+put in its appearance. Handlon stood close behind Perry as he silently
+swung the camera into a more favorable position for action. The face at
+the window was purple with wrath.
+
+"You damned pests! Leave my grounds at once or I shall call my hound and
+set him upon you. And when--"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Crack! Flash! Click! Perry had made a sudden sidewise movement as
+Handlon went into action.
+
+"Much obliged, Professor," said Perry politely. "Your pose with that old
+cannon is going to be very effective from the front page. The write-up
+will doubtless be interesting too. Probably the story won't be quite so
+accurate as it would be had you told it to us yourself; but we shall get
+as many of the details from the natives hereabouts as we can. Good-day
+to you, sir!"
+
+Motioning to the other he turned on his heel and started down the
+driveway. It was an old trick, and for a long moment of suspense he
+almost feared that it would fail. Another moment--
+
+"Wait!" The quavering voice of the irascible old villain had lost some
+of its malice. "Come back here a minute."
+
+With simulated reluctance the two slowly retraced their steps. "Is there
+something else, sir?"
+
+"Perhaps...." The old man hesitated, as if pondering upon his words.
+"Perhaps if you care to step in I can be of assistance to you after all.
+It occurs to me that possibly I have been too abrupt with you."
+
+"I am very glad that you have decided to cooperate with us, Professor
+Kell," answered the reporter heartily, as they ascended the steps. The
+old man's head disappeared from the window and shortly the sound of
+footsteps inside told of his approach. Finally the oaken door swung
+open, and they were silently ushered into the musty smelling hallway.
+Though outwardly accepting the Professor's suddenly pacific attitude,
+Perry made up his mind to be on his guard.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+As they entered what had evidently been the parlor in bygone days, an
+oppressive, heavy odor smote their nostrils, telling of age-old carpets
+and of draperies allowed to decay unnoticed. On the walls hung several
+antique prints, a poorly executed crayon portrait of a person doubtless
+an ancestor of the present Kell, and one or two paintings done in oil,
+now badly cracked and stained. Everything gave the impression of an era
+long since departed, and the two men felt vaguely out of place. Their
+host led them to a pair of dilapidated chairs, which they accepted
+gratefully. The ride to Keegan after a hard day's work had not tended to
+improve their spirits.
+
+"Now to business." Perry went straight to the point, desiring to get the
+interview over as soon as possible. "We have heard indirectly of various
+happenings in this vicinity which many think have some connection with
+your scientific experiments. Any statement you may care to make to us in
+regard to these happenings will be greatly appreciated by my paper.
+Inasmuch as what little has already been printed is probably of an
+erroneous nature, we believe it will be in your own best interest to
+give us as complete data as possible." Here he became slightly
+histrionic. "Of course we do not allow ourselves to take the stories
+told by the local inhabitants too literally, as such persons are too
+liable to exaggerate, but we must assume that some of these stories have
+partial basis in fact. Any information relative to your scientific work,
+incidentally, will make good copy for us also."
+
+Perry gazed steadily at the patriarch as he spoke. For a moment, a
+crafty expression passed over the old man's face, but as suddenly it
+disappeared. Evidently he had arrived at a decision.
+
+"Come with me," he wheezed.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The two newspaper men exchanged swift glances, the same thought in the
+mind of each. Were they about to be led into a trap? If the old man's
+shady reputation was at all deserved they would do well to be wary.
+Perry thought swiftly of the clippings he had read and of what gossip he
+had heard, then glanced once more in the direction of Handlon. That
+worthy was smiling meaningly and had already arisen to follow the
+Professor. Reluctantly Perry got to his feet and the three proceeded to
+climb a rickety stairway to the third floor. The guide turned at the
+head of the stairs and entered a long dark corridor. Here the floor was
+covered with a thick carpet which, as they trod upon it, gave forth not
+the slightest sound.
+
+The hall gave upon several rooms, all dark and gloomy and giving the
+same dismal impression of long disuse. How could the savant endure such
+a depressing abode! The accumulation of dust and cobwebs in these long
+forgotten chambers, the general evidence of decay--all told of possible
+horrors ahead. They became wary.
+
+But they were not wary enough!
+
+The uncouth figure ahead of them had stopped and was fumbling with the
+lock of an ancient door. Instinctively Perry noted that it was of great
+thickness and of heavy oak. Now the Professor had it open and was
+motioning for them to enter. Handlon started forward eagerly, but
+hurriedly drew back as he felt the grip of the other reporter's hand on
+his arm.
+
+"Get back, you fool!" The words were hissed into the ear of the
+incautious one. Then, to the Professor, Perry observed: "If you have no
+objection we would prefer that you precede us."
+
+A look of insane fury leaped to the face of the old man, lingered but an
+instant and was gone. Though the expression was but momentary, both men
+had seen, and seeing had realized their danger.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+They followed him into the chamber, which was soon illumined fitfully by
+a smoky kerosene lamp. Both took a rapid survey of the place.
+Conceivably it might have been the scene of scientific experiments, but
+its aspect surely belied such a supposition. The average imagination
+would instantly pronounce it the abode of a maniac, or the lair of an
+alchemist. Again, that it might be the laboratory of an extremely
+slovenly veterinary was suggested by the several filthy cages to be seen
+resting against the wall. All of these were unoccupied except one in a
+dark corner, from which issued a sound of contented purring, evidently
+telling of some well-satisfied cat.
+
+The air was close and foul, being heavy with the odor of musty, decaying
+drugs. In every possible niche and cranny the omnipresent dust had
+settled in a uniform sheen of gray which showed but few signs of recent
+disturbance.
+
+"Here, gentlemen," their host was saying, "is where I carry on my work.
+It is rather gloomy here after dark, but then I do not spend much time
+here during the night. I have decided to acquaint you with some of the
+details of one or two of my experiments. Doubtless you will find them
+interesting."
+
+While speaking he had, mechanically it seemed, reached for a glass
+humidor in which were perhaps a dozen cigars. Silently he selected one
+and extended the rest to the two visitors.
+
+After all three had puffed for a moment at the weeds, the old man began
+to talk, rapidly it seemed to them. Perry from time to time took notes,
+as the old man proceeded, an expression of utter amazement gradually
+overspreading his face. Handlon pulled away contentedly at his cigar,
+and on his features there grew an almost ludicrous expression of
+well-being. Was the simple photographer so completely at ease that he
+had at length forsaken all thought of possible danger?
+
+As Professor Kell talked on he seemed to warm to his subject. At the end
+of five minutes he began uncovering a peculiar apparatus which had
+rested beneath the massive old table before which they were sitting. The
+two men caught the flash of light on glass, and a jumble of coiled wires
+became visible.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Was the air in the laboratory getting unbearably close? Or was the queer
+leaden feeling that had taken possession of Perry's lungs but an
+indication of his overpowering weariness? He felt a steadily increasing
+irritation, as if for some strange reason he suddenly resented the words
+of their host, which seemed to be pouring out in an endless stream. The
+cigar had, paradoxically, an oddly soothing quality, and he puffed away
+in silence.
+
+Why had the room suddenly taken on so hazy an aspect? Why did Handlon
+grin in that idiotic manner? And the Professor ... he was getting
+farther and farther away ... that perfecto ... or was it an El Cabbajo?
+What was the old archfiend doing to him anyhow?... Why was he laughing
+and leering at them so horribly?... Confound it all ... that cigar ...
+where was it?... Just one more puff....
+
+Blindly he groped for the missing weed, becoming aware of a cackle of
+amusement nearby. Professor Kell was standing near the spot where he had
+fallen and now began prodding him contemptuously with his toe.
+
+"Fools!" he was saying. "You thought to interfere with my program. But
+you are in my power and you have no hope of escape. I am unexpectedly
+provided with more subjects for my experiments. You will...." His words
+became hazy and unintelligible, for the hapless reporter was drifting
+off into a numb oblivion. He had long since lost the power to move a
+muscle. Out of the corner of an eye, just before he lost consciousness
+altogether, he perceived Handlon lying upon the floor still puffing at
+the fateful drugged cigar.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Eons passed.
+
+To the reporter came a vision of a throbbing, glaring inferno, wherein
+he was shaken and tossed by terrific forces. His very vital essence
+seemed to respond to a mighty vibration. Now he was but a part of some
+terrific chaos. Dimly he became aware of another being with whom he must
+contend. Now he was in a death struggle, and to his horror he found
+himself being slowly but surely overpowered. A demoniac grin played upon
+the features of the other as he forced the reporter to his knees. It was
+Handlon.... Once more he was sinking into soft oblivion, the while a
+horrid miasma assailed his nostrils. He was nothing....
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Slowly, and with infinite effort, Perry felt himself returning to
+consciousness, though he had no clear conception of his surroundings.
+His brain was as yet but a whirling vortex of confused sounds, colors
+and--yes, odors. A temporary rift came in the mental cloud which
+fettered his faculties, and things began to take definite shape. He
+became aware that he was lying upon his back at some elevation from the
+floor. Again the cloudy incubus closed in and he knew no more.
+
+When he finally recovered the use of his faculties it was to discover
+himself the possessor of a violent headache. The pain came in such
+fearsome throbs that it was well nigh unendurable. The lamp still
+sputtered dimly where the professor had left it. At the moment it was on
+the point of going out altogether. The reporter noticed this, and over
+him stole a sense of panic. What if the light should fail altogether,
+leaving him lying in the dark in this frightful place! Still dizzy and
+sick, he managed to rise upon his elbows enough to complete a survey of
+the room. He was still in the laboratory of Professor Kell, but that
+worthy had disappeared. Of Handlon there was no sign. The mysterious
+apparatus, of which he now had but a vague remembrance, also had
+vanished.
+
+His thoughts became confused again, and wearily he passed a hand over
+his brow in the effort to collect all of his faculties. The lamp began
+to sputter, arousing him to action. Desperately he fought against the
+benumbing sensation that was even again stealing over him. Gradually he
+gained the ascendancy. He struggled dizzily to his feet and took a few
+tentative steps.
+
+Where was Handlon? He decided his friend had probably recovered from the
+drug first and was gone, possibly to get a doctor for him, Perry.
+However, he must make some search to determine if Skip had really left
+the premises.
+
+As he walked through the open door the lamp in his hand gave a last
+despairing flicker and went out. From there he was forced to grope his
+way down the dark hall to the stairs. Just how he reached the lower
+floor he was never able to remember, for as yet all the effect of the
+powerful drug had not worn off. He had a dim recollection of being
+thankful to the ancestor of Kell who had provided such thick carpets in
+these halls. Thanks to them his footsteps had been noiseless, at any
+rate.
+
+What was Kell's real object in giving them those drugged cigars? he
+wondered. How long had they been under the influence of the lethal
+stuff? Surely several hours. Upon glancing through a hall window he
+found that outside was the blackness of midnight.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Cautiously he explored the desolate chambers on the ground floor: the
+kitchen--where it could be plainly seen that cooking of a sort had been
+done--the barn, and woodshed. Not a living thing could he find, not even
+the huge wolf-hound which had attacked them in so strange a manner that
+afternoon.
+
+By now he was quite frankly worried on Handlon's account. At that
+moment, could he have known the actual fate that had overtaken his
+companion, it is quite probable he would have gone mad. He stumbled
+back and into the dark front hall, shouting his friend's name. The
+response was a hollow echo, and once or twice he thought he heard the
+ghost of a mocking chuckle.
+
+At length he gave up the search and started for the door, intent now
+only upon flight from the accursed place. He would report the whole
+thing to the office and let Bland do what he pleased about it. Doubtless
+Handlon had already left. Then he stumbled over Handlon's camera.
+Evidently the Professor had neglected to take possession of it. That
+must be rescued, at all costs. He picked it up and felt the exposed
+plate still inside. He started again for the door.
+
+What little light there was faded out and he felt stealing over him a
+horrid sensation of weakness. Again came a period of agony during which
+he felt the grip of unseen forces. Once more it seemed that he was
+engaged in mortal strife with Skip Handlon. Malevolently Handlon glared
+at him as he endeavored with all his strength to overcome Perry. This
+time, however, the latter seemed to have more strength and resisted the
+attack for what must have been hours. Finally the other drew away
+baffled.
+
+At this the mental incubus surrounding Perry's faculties broke. Dimly he
+became aware of a grinding noise nearby and a constant lurching of his
+body. At length his vision cleared sufficiently to enable him to
+discover the cause of the peculiar sensations.
+
+He was in a railroad coach!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+He took a rapid glance around and noted a drummer sitting in the seat
+across the aisle, staring curiously at him. With an effort Perry assumed
+an inscrutable expression and determined to stare the other out of
+countenance. Reluctantly the man glanced away, and after a moment, under
+Perry's stony gaze, he suddenly arose and chose a new seat in front of
+the car. Perry took to the solace of a cigarette and stared out at the
+flying telegraph poles. From time to time he noted familiar landmarks.
+The train had evidently left Keegan far behind and was already nearly
+into the home town.
+
+For the balance of the ride the reporter experienced pure nightmare. The
+peculiar sensations of dizziness, accompanied by frightful periods of
+insensibility, kept recurring, now, however, not lasting more than ten
+or fifteen minutes at a time. At such times as he was conscious he found
+opportunity to wonder in an abstracted sort of way how he had ever
+managed to get on the train and pay his fare, which must have been a
+cash one, without arousing the conductor's suspicions. Discovery of a
+rebate in his pocket proved that he must have done so, however. The
+business of leaving the train and getting to the office has always been
+an unknown chapter in Perry's life.
+
+He came out of one of his mental fogs to find himself seated in the
+private editorial sanctum of the Journal. Evidently he had just arrived.
+Bland, a thick-set man with the jaw of a bulldog, was eyeing him
+intently.
+
+"Well! Any report to make?" The question was crisp.
+
+The reporter passed a hand across his perspiring forehead. "Yes, I guess
+so. I--er--that is--you see--"
+
+"Where's Handlon? What happened to you? You act as if you were drunk."
+Bland was not in an amiable mood.
+
+"Search me," Perry managed to respond. "If Skip isn't here old man Kell
+must have done for him. I came back alone."
+
+"You wha-a-t?" the irate editor fairly roared, half rising from his
+chair. "Tell me exactly what happened and get ready to go back there on
+the next train. Or--no, on second thoughts you'd better go to bed. You
+look all used up. Handlon may be dead or dying at this minute. That Kell
+could do anything." He pressed the button on his desk.
+
+"Johnny," he said to the office boy, "get O'Hara in here on the double
+quick and tell him to bring along his hat and coat."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+He turned again to Perry, who was gazing nervously at the door. "Now
+tell me everything that happened and make it fast," he ordered.
+
+The reporter complied, omitting nothing except the little matter of his
+mental lapses at the house of Professor Kell and later on the train. The
+incident of the drugged cigars seemed to interest the Old Man hugely,
+and Perry did not forget to play up Handlon's exploits in getting the
+picture of the Professor. All through the recital he was in a sweat for
+fear that he might have a recurrence of one of his brain spells and that
+Bland would become cognizant of it. When would the Chief finish and let
+him escape from the office? Desperately he fought to prevent the numbing
+sensation from overcoming him. All that kept him from finally fleeing
+the place in panic was the entrance of Jimmie O'Hara.
+
+Slight, wiry and efficient looking, this individual was a specimen of
+the perfect Journal reporter. This is saying a good deal, for the news
+crew and editorial force of the paper were a carefully selected body of
+men indeed. Bland never hired a man unless experience had endowed him
+with some unusual qualification. Most of them could write up a story
+with realistic exactitude, being able in most cases to supply details
+gleaned from actual experience in one walk of life or another.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Of this redoubtable crew probably the queerest was Jimmie O'Hara. Jimmie
+had just finished a sentence in the "pen" for safe-cracking at the time
+he landed the job with the Journal. Theoretically all men should have
+shunned him on account of his jailbird taint. Not so Bland. The Chief
+was independent in his ideas on the eternal fitness of things and
+allowed none of the ordinary conventions of humanity to influence his
+decisions. So Jimmie became one of the staff and worked hard to justify
+Bland in hiring him. His former profession gave him valuable sidelights
+upon crime stories of all kinds, and he was almost invariably picked as
+the man to write these up for the columns.
+
+"Jimmie," said the Chief, "we have need of an experienced strong-arm man
+and all around second story worker. You are the only man on the force
+who fills the bill for this job. Perry here has just returned from
+Keegan, where I sent him to interview Professor Kell. Skip Handlon went
+with him, but failed to return. We want to know what happened to Skip.
+That is your job. _Get Handlon!_ If he is dead let me know by long
+distance phone and I'll have a couple of headquarters men down there in
+a hurry. Get a good fast car and don't waste any time. That's all."
+
+O'Hara stopped long enough to get the location of Professor Kell's place
+fixed in his mind, then abruptly departed. Bland gazed after him
+musingly.
+
+"The Professor will have some job to put anything over on that bird," he
+said grimly. "Personally, I'm sorry for the old soul."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+After leaving the Journal office Jimmie proceeded directly to a certain
+stable where he kept his private car. It was a long, low speedster with
+a powerful engine, and capable of eating up distance. It was the work of
+a minute to touch the starter and back out of the yard.
+
+For the next hour he held the wheel grimly while the car roared over the
+seventy-odd miles to Keegan. Would he be in time? At last a sign post
+told him that he was within five miles of the railroad crossing at
+Keegan. Now the headlights were picking out the black outlines of the
+freight shed, and the next moment he had swept over the tracks. The
+luminous dial on his wrist watch notified him that he had been on the
+road but little over an hour, but his spirits somehow refused to revive
+with the knowledge.
+
+About a mile beyond the station he drove the car into a dark wood road
+and parked it, turning off all lights. The rest of the way to the
+Professor's mansion he did on foot. Rather than approach from the front
+of the grounds he nimbly climbed a stone wall and, crossing a field or
+two, entered the stretch of woods which extended just behind the
+mansion. His pocket flashlight here came into use, and once or twice he
+gave a reassuring pat to a rear pocket where bulged a heavy Colt
+automatic.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+What was that? He had approached very close to the rear of the house
+now. No lights were visible as yet, but unless he was greatly mistaken
+he had heard a muffled scream. He stopped in his tracks and listened
+intently. Again it came, this time with a blood-curdling cadence ending
+in what he would have sworn was a choking sob.
+
+The little job of getting the old-fashioned rear window open was a mere
+nothing to the experienced O'Hara, and in a moment he was inside the
+house. His feet struck soft carpet. Catlike, he stepped to one side in
+order to prevent any hidden eyes from perceiving his form silhouetted in
+the dim light of the open window. He dared not use his flashlight for
+fear that the circle of light would betray his position, thus making him
+an excellent target for possible bullets. Following the wall closely he
+managed to circle the room without mishap. His searching fingers finally
+came in contact with a door frame, and he breathed a sigh of relief.
+Here there was nothing to bar his progress except some moth-eaten
+portieres. These he brushed aside.
+
+The room which he now entered was probably the same into which the
+Professor had ushered Handlon and Perry the day before. There being
+still no sign of life about, the reporter decided to throw caution to
+the winds. He brought his flash into play. Quickly casting the powerful
+beam around the chamber he examined the place with an all-searching
+glance.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Nothing.
+
+With a stifled oath he turned his attention to the other rooms in the
+immediate vicinity. The brilliant light revealed not the slightest trace
+of a person, living or dead. The sound must have come from the second
+story or from the cellar. He decided on the upper floor.
+
+Feverish with impatience because of the valuable time he had already
+lost, he bounded up the heavily carpeted stairs two at a time. Now to
+his keen ears came certain faint sounds which told him that he was on
+the right track. Before him extended a long, dusty hall, terminating in
+a single heavy door. Several other doors opened at intervals along the
+corridor. One or two of these were open, and he threw the beam from his
+flash hastily into one after another of them. He saw only dusty and
+mildewed chamber furnishings of an ancient massive style.
+
+Suddenly he pricked up his ears.
+
+The door ahead of him was creaking slowly open. Instantly he extinguished
+his torch and leaped into the nearest room. Whoever was opening that end
+door was carrying a lamp. What if the Professor had accomplices who
+might discover him and overpower him by force of numbers! O'Hara drew the
+automatic from his pocket, deriving a comforting assurance from the
+feel of the cold steel. Here was something no man could resist could he
+but get it into action. The light was now nearly abreast of his door, and
+for a sickening instant he thought the prowler was coming into the room.
+He held his breath. Now the lamp was at the open door, and now it was
+quickly withdrawn. After a breathless second he tip-toed forward and
+peered cautiously down the hallway.
+
+About here it was that James O'Hara began to realize that this was
+going to be a horrible night indeed. He had wondered why the progress of
+the light had been so deathly slow. Now he knew why, by reason of what
+he saw--and what he saw made him feel rather sick. The man with the
+lantern was quite plainly Professor Kell, bent nearly double with the
+weight of a grotesquely big thing on his back, a thing that flung a dim,
+contorted shadow on the ceiling. And that thing was a dead man.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A corpse it was--the attitude proved that. With a numb relief O'Hara
+realized it was not the body of Skip Handlon. This had been a much
+larger man than Skip, and the clothing was different from anything
+Handlon had worn.
+
+The light was now disappearing down the stairway. For a moment O'Hara
+felt undecided as to his next move. Should he follow Kell and his
+burden, or should he not take advantage of this fine opportunity to
+continue his search of the upper story? That scream still rang in his
+ears; there had been a very evident feminine quality in it, and the
+remembrance of that fact reproached him. Had he been guilty of mincing
+daintily about in this old house while a woman was being done to death
+under his nose, when a little bolder action on his part might have saved
+her?
+
+Stepping once more into the hall he advanced to the door just closed
+behind the Professor and tried it, only to find it locked. Out of a
+pocket came several articles best known to the "profession"--a piece of
+stiff wire, a skeleton key and other paraphernalia calculated to reduce
+the obstinate mechanism to submission. For a minute, two, three, he
+worked at the ancient lock; then, without a creak, the door swung open.
+A touch of oil to the hinges had insured their silence. Jimmie O'Hara
+believed in being artistic in his work, especially when it came to fine
+points, and he was.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+He found himself in the same room where the drugged cigars had been
+proved the undoing of Handlon and Perry. In order not to alarm the
+Professor unduly by chance noises and perhaps invite a surprise attack
+upon himself, O'Hara closed the laboratory door behind him and let the
+lock spring again. Hastily he made search of the place. No trace of the
+missing reporter could he find, except two half-consumed cigars in a
+corner whence the Professor had impatiently kicked them.
+
+On the big table in the center of the room, however, was an object which
+excited his interest. It was apparently nothing more or less than a
+giant Crookes tube, connected in some way with a complicated mechanism
+contained in a wooden cabinet under the table. Probably this apparatus
+was concerned in the Professor's weird experiments which had so aroused
+the countryside. He studied it curiously, his eyes for the moment closed
+in thought, until a slight sound somewhere near at hand caused him to
+open them wide. Was the Kell returning?
+
+Quickly he extinguished the lamp and glided to a nearby door, thinking
+to secrete himself here, and take Kell by surprise. To his consternation
+the door swung inward at a touch. He prepared instinctively for battle
+against any foe who might present himself. For a moment he held himself
+taut; then, nothing of an alarming nature having happened, he drew a
+swift breath of relief and flashed on his light. He gave vent to a low
+exclamation. The swiftly darting shaft from the torch had revealed the
+figure of a girl, bound and gagged.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The girl lay trembling on a wretched bed in a corner of the dilapidated
+old chamber. O'Hara crossed the room and bent over her. Still wary of a
+trap he glanced back in the direction of the laboratory door: all safe
+there. Jimmie made haste to remove the cruel gag from her mouth.
+
+"Courage," he whispered. "Half a minute and you will be free."
+
+He produced a knife with a suspiciously long blade and cut her bonds. He
+then assisted her to her feet, where she reeled dizzily. Realizing the
+need for fast action he made her sit down while he massaged the bruised
+arms and ankles, which were badly swollen from the tight ropes. The girl
+had apparently been in the grip of such terrible fright that she had
+temporarily lost her power of speech. Mentally he chalked up another
+score against the Professor as the girl made several ineffectual
+attempts to speak.
+
+"Easy, kid," Jimmie whispered. "Just sit tight, and when you feel able
+you can tell me all about it. I'm going to get him good for this, you
+can bank on that."
+
+She thanked him with a faint smile, and of a sudden she found her
+voice.
+
+"Who are you? Where is father? Oh, tell me, please! I am afraid that
+horrible man has murdered him. Are you a servant here? Oh, I don't know
+whom to trust."
+
+"My name is Jimmie O'Hara," replied the reporter briefly; "and I hope
+you won't worry about me. I am gunning for the Proff myself. Tell me as
+quickly as you can what you know about him." He still kept an eye on the
+door of the adjoining laboratory. Any moment he expected to hear the
+sound of the old man's approach. The room would make an ideal place to
+ambush the maniac, he had swiftly decided.
+
+"I am Norma Manion. Please don't delay, but see if you can locate
+father." The girl's voice was agonized. "I heard him groan a half-hour
+ago, and a little later came a terrific crash. Oh, I'm afraid he's
+dead!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Reluctantly Jimmie gave up the idea of ambushing the Professor.
+
+"Wait here," he commanded curtly. "If you hear a shot join me as soon as
+you can. I want to take him alive if I can, but...." With this parting
+hint he disappeared through the door into the laboratory. Down the
+carpeted hall he crept to the stairway. Here he stopped and listened,
+but to his sensitive ears came no sound from below.
+
+"Must have gone down the cellar with the body," he muttered. "Here goes
+for a general exploration."
+
+With more boldness than the occasion perhaps really justified he
+descended the stairs and proceeded to examine the ground floor rooms
+minutely. The first was the room through which he had made entrance to
+the house. It proved to be but a storeroom containing nothing of
+interest, and he soon decided to waste no more time on it.
+
+The adjoining chamber, however, yielded some surprising finds. He had
+pushed back a dusty portiere to find himself in what could be
+nothing less than the Professor's sleeping chamber. At present the
+bed was unoccupied, though it showed signs of recent use. The
+electric torch played swiftly over every possible corner which could
+constitute a hiding place for an assassin, revealing nothing. Now
+the ever-searching ray fell upon an old-fashioned dresser, on which
+was piled a miscellaneous array of articles. Here were combs, brushes,
+a wig, a huge magnifying glass, and a gold watch. With a barely
+suppressed exclamation, Jimmie pounced upon the gold timepiece.
+
+Handlon's! So well did he know the particular design of his watch that
+he could have recognized it in the dark by sense of touch alone. So the
+old man was not averse to robbery among his other activities! The former
+two-story man thought fast. Handlon had probably been done in, and the
+body had been disposed of in some weird manner. The only thing that
+remained to be done, since the unlucky photographer was evidently past
+human help, was to cut short the Professor's list of murders.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+With the intention of missing no essential detail O'Hara swept the ray
+of the searchlight around the chamber once more, but discovered no more
+of importance. Deciding that the sleeping chamber could yield no further
+clue he shut off the tell-tale ray and stepped noiselessly back into the
+next room. Here he groped his way around until he encountered a door,
+which stood open. A moment's cautious exploration with an outstretched
+foot revealed the top step of a descending staircase. No faintest
+glimmer of light was visible, but muffled sounds proceeding from the
+depths told him that someone was below.
+
+With infinite care, feeling his way gingerly over the rickety old steps
+and fearful that an unexpected creak from one of the ancient boards
+would at any moment prove his undoing, he commenced the descent. Once a
+board did groan softly, causing him to stop in his tracks and stand with
+bated breath. He listened for sign of a movement below, while his heart
+loudly told off a dozen strokes. Stealthily he continued his progress,
+until finally soft earth under his feet told him he had reached the
+cellar bottom.
+
+Now his straining eyes perceived a tiny bit of light, and simultaneously
+he became conscious of a deathly stench. The damp earth padding his
+footsteps, he advanced swiftly toward the source of light, which now
+seemed to lie in stripes across his line of vision. He soon saw that the
+stairs gave upon a small boarded-off section of the cellar proper, and
+light was seeping between the boards. Ah, and here was a rickety door,
+fortuitously equipped with a large knot-hole. O'Hara applied an eye to
+this--and what he saw nearly ruined even his cast iron nerve.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Professor was working beside a heavy wooden cask, from which issued
+the horrible stench. From time to time a sodden thud told that he was
+hacking something to pieces with an ax. Now and then he would strain
+mightily at a dark and bulky thing which lay on the floor, a thing that
+required considerable strength to lift. It seemed to be getting lighter
+after each spasm of frenzied chopping. For a second Kell's shadow
+wavered away from the thing, and the enervated newspaper man saw it
+plainly. His senses almost left him as he realized that he was
+witnessing the dismemberment of a human body.
+
+As he hacked the fragments of tissue from the torso the fiend carefully
+deposited each in the huge cask. At such times a faint boiling sound was
+heard, and there arose an effluvium that bade fair to overcome even the
+monster engaged in the foul work. At last the limbs and head had been
+entirely removed. The Professor evidently decided that the trunk should
+be left whole, and he put his entire strength into the job of getting it
+into the cask. It was almost more than he could negotiate, but finally a
+dull splash told that he had succeeded.
+
+At this moment Jimmie O'Hara came out of his trance. The horrible
+proceeding had left him faint and shaken, and he wished heartily that he
+could leave the disgusting place as fast as his legs could carry him.
+But there was still work to be done and he resolved to get it over.
+
+The lantern! First he must put that out of commission. The maniac would
+then be at his mercy. Slowly, steadily he stole through the doorway, his
+eyes glued to the Professor's back. Now he was within a yard of the
+lantern, and he drew back his foot for the kick.
+
+Next moment Jimmie found himself gazing into the glaring eyes of his
+intended victim. Instinctively he struck out with the clubbed automatic,
+but the blow must have fallen short, or else the Professor had developed
+an uncanny agility. Now to his horror he saw the flashing blade of the
+bloodstained ax raised on high. He had no time to dodge the blow. He
+pressed the trigger of the Colt from the position in which he held it.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The bullet grazed the upraised arm. The ax fell toward O'Hara from
+fingers lacking strength to retain it, and he grasped it by the handle
+in midair. The next moment the assassin collected his wits and sprang at
+him. Silently, the breath of both coming in gasps, the two men strove,
+each clawing desperately at the other's throat. The reporter fought with
+the knowledge that should he lose he would never again see the light of
+day, the other with the fear of the justice that would deal with him.
+
+The maniac hugged his arms tightly about Jimmie, pinioning him so
+tightly that the reporter could not use his gun. At length their
+convulsive movements brought the men close to the lantern, and the next
+instant the cellar was plunged in darkness. A second later the Professor
+tripped over some hidden obstruction and fell, dragging his opponent
+with him to the earthen floor. To Jimmie's surprise there was no further
+movement from the body beneath him. Could the old villain be playing
+possum? He cautiously shifted his hold and grasped the hidden throat. He
+pressed the Professor's windpipe for a moment, but there was no
+answering struggle. Slowly the truth dawned upon him. The heavy fall to
+the floor had rendered the older man insensible.
+
+He must work fast. Reaching into his pocket he brought out the ever
+handy electric torch and flashed it over the features of his prisoner.
+Kell was breathing heavily. With dexterous hands O'Hara swiftly went
+through the old man's pockets, removing all which might tend to make
+that worthy dangerous--an ugly looking pistol of large caliber, a
+blackjack similar to his own and a small bottle.
+
+The latter item Jimmie examined curiously, finally uncorking it and
+inhaling the contents. He inhaled, not wisely but too well. The fumes
+from the vial were nigh overpowering, and he reeled back nauseated. The
+cork he hastily replaced. Just what the nature of the powerful stuff
+was he never attempted to discover. One acquaintance was enough.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+He staggered to his feet and got the lantern lighted, then sat, gun in
+hand, waiting for his prisoner's return to his senses. This was becoming
+increasingly imminent, judging by certain changes in the Professor's
+respiration. Finally there came a series of shuddering movements as the
+man attempted to raise his battered body.
+
+"Get up, you damned butcher," ordered Jimmie, "and march upstairs. And
+just remember that I've got you covered; don't make any false moves." He
+prodded the prostrate form of the by now glaring fiend before him. The
+stench of the place was nearly overcoming him, and again he felt an
+overwhelming desire to dash madly from that den of evil, and once more
+breathe God's fresh air. Under the stimulus of several shoves the
+Professor finally won to his feet and stumbled up the stairs. Jimmie was
+taking no chances and kept the automatic sharply digging into the ribs
+of his prisoner. The fight, however, seemed temporarily to have been all
+taken out of the old man, and he made no resistance as the reporter
+drove him on up to the laboratory.
+
+The room he found exactly as he left it. At a word from him Norma Manion
+came from her hiding place in the horrible room where she had been kept
+prisoner.
+
+With an hysterical scream she fell limply to the floor. The sight of her
+father's murderer had proved too much for her. Forgetting his prisoner
+for the moment Jimmie sprang to the girl's side.
+
+Kell chose this moment to make a dash for freedom. His footsteps,
+however, were not as noiseless as he had intended, and O'Hara whirled
+just in time to see his quarry about to throw open the hall door. Jimmie
+dove for his gun, only to encounter the Professor's mysterious vial,
+which, though forgotten, still lay in his pocket. With no time to
+think, he acted purely upon instinct. His arm drew back and the bottle
+flew straight for the Professor's head.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+By a miracle the missile missed its mark. Came a shivering crash, as the
+bottle struck a stud in the massive door. Of a sudden recalling the
+terrific potency of the contents of that particular bottle, Jimmie
+gasped in dismay. Norma Manion's safety drove every other thought from
+his mind. At any cost he must remove her from the proximity of those
+lethal fumes.
+
+Hastily and without a backward glance, he gathered the girl into his
+arms and dashed into the room where he had first found her. Ascertaining
+that she had but swooned he placed her gently on the bed. In some
+perplexity as to his next move he stared at the beautiful face now so
+wan and white. Queer that he hadn't noticed the fact before--she was
+beautiful. He even took a second look, then noting a continued absence
+of all sound from the laboratory decided to investigate.
+
+Gingerly he pushed open the door, sniffing the air cautiously as he
+advanced. To his nostrils gradually came a slight scent, which though
+almost imperceptible made his senses reel. As he approached the hall
+door he found the atmosphere heavy with the soporific vapors from the
+broken vial, and he staggered drunkenly.
+
+He gave a start of surprise. On the floor, lying in a grotesque huddle
+which suggested a most unpleasant possibility, was the inert body of
+Professor Kell.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Jimmie bent over the body and put an experienced ear to the heart. Yes,
+there as a faint beat--very faint. Even as he listened he perceived a
+slight increase in the respiration. Now the breath began coming in
+great, choking gasps, only to die suddenly to next to nothing. At last
+with a rueful sigh Jimmie reached to his hip and produced the private
+O'Hara flagon. He stooped over the Professor's form once more and by
+dint of much prying at clenched jaws managed to force a sizeable charge
+of fiery liquid down the old man's throat. Jimmie had just begun to
+entertain a strong hope that this latter effort would bring the
+Professor to life, when his keen ear detected signs of a commotion
+below.
+
+He sprang from his position over the slowly reviving Kell and leaped to
+a vantage point beside the door. A blackjack miraculously appeared from
+some hidden part of his anatomy and the ever-dependable Colt also became
+in evidence. Now came the banging of a door, muffled voices, a crash as
+of a chair overturned in the dark. Up rolled a horrible oath, and the
+same was rendered in a voice to Jimmie sweetly familiar. Came the sound
+of footsteps on the stairway and several persons coming along the hall.
+
+"Where in hell is Jimmie?" roared a wicked voice. "If he's met with any
+monkey business in this hell-hole I'll see that the damned place burns
+to the ground before I leave it!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Delightedly Jimmie jerked open the door.
+
+"Still alive, Chief," he chirped as the Old Man strode into the
+laboratory. Bland was followed by Perry, who seemed to be in a sort of
+daze. Bringing up the rear were a pair of plainclothesmen whom Jimmie
+knew very well--almost too well. One of these gentlemen bore a lantern
+which reminded Jimmie strongly of some he had seen that night guarding
+an open ditch in the public highway.
+
+The Professor had fully regained consciousness and was struggling to his
+feet. As for Norma Manion, she had suddenly appeared, leaning weakly
+against the door casing, and was surveying the group in great alarm.
+
+After being assured by O'Hara that they were her friends she smiled
+wanly. To Bland and the others she was, of course, an unexpected factor
+in the weird night's doings, and for several moments they regarded her
+curiously.
+
+At length Jimmie, sensing the question in the Old Man's eyes, elected to
+offer a few words of explanation.
+
+"Miss Manion has just been through a terrible experience," he said.
+"She and her father have been for some time at the mercy of this
+monster"--indicating Kell--"and her nerves are completely shattered.
+We'd better get her out of this as quickly as we can."
+
+"Mike!" Hard Boiled Bland glared at one of the officers. "Don't stand
+there with your teeth in your gums like that. Take this girl out to my
+car and let her lie down. She needs a stimulant, too. If you search my
+car and find any red liquor in the left back door pocket, I don't know a
+thing about it. And stay with her so she won't be afraid to go to
+sleep."
+
+She smiled in silent gratitude and allowed the plainclothesman to lead
+her away from that chamber of horror.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The reporter lost no time in telling Bland of his failure to find Skip
+Handlon. He went on to acquaint his Chief with the facts of all that had
+occured while he had been at the Professor's house.
+
+The fiery old fellow listened grimly. When Jimmie came to the story of
+the corpse and the cask the editor breathed one word, "Manion!"
+
+Jimmie nodded sadly. All eyes turned to the dejected huddle on the floor
+that was Professor Kell. Finally Bland could wait no longer, but fixed a
+terrible eye on the murderer and demanded harshly, "Where's Handlon?"
+
+Now the Professor burst into a fit of insane laughter, laughter that
+curdled the blood of the listeners.
+
+"You ask me that! It's almost too good. Hee-hee! You sent your two
+precious reporters out to my house to pry into my secrets, and thought
+to display my name all over your yellow sheet; but you forgot that you
+were dealing with Professor Anton Kell, didn't you?" The last he fairly
+shrieked. "A lot of people have tried to intrude upon me before, but
+none ever escaped me!"
+
+"We know that," cut in Jimmie, for he was getting impatient and the old
+man's boastings seemed out of place. "You are slated for the rope
+anyway, after what I discovered down cellar." He jerked his eyes in the
+direction of the door significantly. "Now we propose to find Handlon,
+and the better it will be for you if you tell us what you have done with
+him. Otherwise...."
+
+"You can go to hell!" screamed the maniac. "If you are so clever, find
+out for yourselves. He isn't so far away that you couldn't touch him by
+reaching out your hand. In fact, he's been with you quite a while.
+Hee-hee-hee! Well, if you must know--there he is!" With an insane
+chuckle he pointed at Horace Perry. And Perry did a strange thing.
+
+"Yes, you fiend, here I am!" Whose voice was that? Was it Perry
+speaking, or was it Skip Handlon? Most assuredly Perry stood before
+them, but the voice, in a subtle manner, reminded the group strongly of
+poor old Skip.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+As he spoke Perry had launched himself at the Professor's throat and had
+to be restrained by the others. Savagely he fought them but slowly and
+surely they overcame his struggles and placed him, writhing, in a
+chair.
+
+Of a sudden Bland leaned forward and scrutinized Perry's face sharply.
+Had the reporter gone insane too? The pupils of the eyes had taken on a
+sort of queer contraction, a fixed quality that was almost ludicrous. He
+looked like a man under hypnosis. He had gone limp in their grasp, but
+now suddenly he stiffened. The eyes underwent another startling change,
+this time glowing undoubtedly with the look of reason. Bland was
+mystified and waited for Perry to explain his queer conduct. The latter
+seemed finally to come to. Simultaneously he realized that his peculiar
+lapse from consciousness had been observed by the others.
+
+"Guess I may as well admit it," he said with a wry smile. "Ever since I
+came back from my assignment with Kell I have had a hell of a time. Half
+the time I have been in a daze and have not had the least idea what I
+was doing. Funny part of it is that I have seemed to keep right on doing
+things even while I was out of my head." He told briefly of the visions
+he had had in which he had seemed to contend with his brother reporter,
+the horrid sensations as he felt himself overcome, the black oblivion in
+which he then found himself, and the mysterious manner in which he had
+left Keegan on that ill-fated assignment.
+
+"What have you done to Handlon?" Jimmie's voice cut in. He was standing
+over the form of the maniac, rigid and menacing. "You have exactly two
+minutes to go."
+
+"Find out for yourself!" snarled the bruised and battered fiend.
+
+"I will," was the answer, and on the instant a horrible shriek rent the
+air. Jimmie had quickly grasped both of the Professor's arms at the
+wrists and was slowly twisting them in a grip of iron. Kell's face went
+white, the lips writhed back over toothless gums, the eyes closed in the
+supreme effort to withstand the excruciating pain. Then--
+
+"Enough, enough!" he screamed.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+O'Hara eased the pressure slightly but retained his hold upon the
+clawlike hands. "Talk fast," he ordered.
+
+The old man struggled futilely in the grasp of the powerful reporter,
+finally glancing in the direction of the others. Would they show signs
+of pity? Surely not Hard Boiled Bland. The Chief was watching the
+struggles of the victim through a cloud of tobacco smoke which he was
+slowly exhaling through his nose. The plainclothesman displayed no sign
+of interest at all. The game was up!
+
+"Very well," he said sullenly. "Handlon and Perry are both occupying the
+same body."
+
+"Wh-a-a-t?" roared Bland. "Jimmie, I guess you'll have to put the screws
+to him some more. He's trying to make fools of us at the last minute!"
+
+"No, no!" screamed the Professor. "What I say is true. I have been
+working for years on my system of de-astralization. This last year I at
+length perfected my electric de-astralizer, which amplifies and exerts
+the fifth influence of de-cohesion."
+
+The whole party began to look uneasy and gazed apprehensively at the
+huge Crookes tube which still stood in its supporting frame on the
+table.
+
+"I have been forced to experiment on animals for the most part," the
+Professor continued. "I succeeded in de-astralizing a dog and a bull and
+caused them to exchange bodies. The bodies continued to function. I was
+enthusiastic. Other experiments took place of which I will not tell you.
+Finally I began to long for a human subject on which to try my fifth
+influence."
+
+"Just get down to cases, if you don't mind, Kell." The Chief wanted
+action. "Suppose you tell us just what you did to Handlon and where we
+can find him. I may as well mention that your life depends upon it. If
+we find that you have done for him, something worse than death may
+happen to you." The tone was menacing. Although Handlon was a
+comparatively late acquisition to the old Chief's staff, still he had
+been loyal to the paper.
+
+"When your two damned reporters entered my driveway," Kell resumed. "I
+saw them coming through a powerful glass which I always have on hand. I
+had no desire to see them, but they forced themselves upon me. At last I
+determined that they should furnish material for my experiments.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"If your men had looked into the grove behind the barn they would have
+found the automobile which furnished two more subjects I was keeping on
+hand in a room upstairs. Old Manion and his daughter gave me quite a bit
+of trouble, but I kept them drugged most of the time. He broke out of
+the room to-night though, and I had to kill him. It was self defense,"
+he added slyly.
+
+"Anyway, I found it was possible to make two astrals exchange bodies.
+But I also wanted to see if it were possible to cause two astrals to
+occupy the same body at the same time, and if so what the result would
+be. I found out. It was rare sport to watch your star reporter leave my
+house. He was damned glad to leave, I believe...." Again came the insane
+cackle.
+
+"Guess we have to believe him whether we want to or not." The detective
+came to life. "How about making him release Handlon's--what d'ye call
+it?--astral--from Perry's body?"
+
+"Just a moment." The voice now was unmistakably Handlon's, though it was
+issuing from the throat of Perry. "In the minute I have in consciousness
+let me suggest that before you do any more de-astralizing you _locate my
+body_. Until then, if I am released from this one I am a dead man."
+
+The words struck the group dumb. Where _was_ Handlon's body? Could the
+Professor produce it?
+
+That worthy looked rather haunted at that moment, and they began to see
+the fear of death coming upon him.
+
+"Mercy, mercy!" he begged as the four men started to advance upon him.
+"As soon as I had de-astralized Handlon I destroyed his body in my
+pickling barrel down cellar. But there is another way...." He paused,
+uncertain as to how his next words would be received. "Go out and get
+the Manion girl. She can be de-astralized and friend Handlon can have
+her body."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+At this suggestion, advanced so naïvely, the four men recoiled in
+horror. It was entirely too much even for Hard Boiled Bland, and he
+could hardly restrain himself from applying the editorial fist to the
+leering face before him. Undoubtedly Professor Kell was hopelessly
+insane, and for that reason he held himself in leash.
+
+"Kell, you are slated to pull off one more stunt," Jimmie addressed the
+cringing heap. "You know what it is. Get busy. And just remember that I
+am standing over here"--he indicated a corner well separated from the
+rest--"with this cannon aimed in your direction. If things aren't just
+according to Hoyle, you get plugged. Get me?"
+
+"What about it, men?" Bland spoke up. "Is it going to be treating
+Handlon right to de-astralize him now? It will be his last chance to
+have a body on this earth."
+
+"Unfortunately that body never belonged to Handlon," said O'Hara. "Hence
+I fail to see why Perry should be discommoded for the balance of his
+life with a companion astral. Perry is clearly entitled to his own body,
+free and unhampered. Friend Skip is out of luck, unless--Well, I don't
+mind telling you, Kell, that you just gave me an idea. Snap into it
+now!"
+
+The Professor dragged himself to his feet and under the menace of the
+automatic fumbled under the table until he had located the intricate
+apparatus before mentioned.
+
+"Now if Mr. Perry--or Handlon--will kindly recline at full length on
+this table," he said with an obscene leer, "the experiment will begin."
+
+"Just remember, Kell, this is no experiment," advised Bland, fixing the
+Professor with an ugly eye. "You do as you're told."
+
+The other made no reply, but threw a hidden switch. Perry, lying flat on
+his back on the ancient table, suddenly found himself being bathed by
+what seemed to be a ray of light, and yet was not a ray of light. What
+was it? It was surely not visible, yet it was tangible. A terrific force
+was emanating from that devilish globe above him, drawing him out of
+himself--or--no--was he expanding? Again his ears became filled with
+confused, horrible sounds, the outlines of the room faded from sight,
+he felt a strange sense of inflation ... of lightness.... Oblivion!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+From where the others sat a gasp of wonder went up. At the first contact
+of the switch there had been a momentary flash of greenish light within
+the bulb, and then a swift transition to a beautiful orange. It had then
+faded altogether, leaving the glass apparently inert and inactive.
+
+But it was not so! The form lying beneath the bulb was evidently being
+racked with untold tortures. The face became a thing of horror. Now it
+had twisted into a grotesque semblance of Handlon's--now it again
+resembled Perry's. The Professor quietly increased the pressure of the
+current. From the bulb emanated a steel gray exhalation of what must be
+termed light, and yet so real it was seemingly material. Assuredly it
+was not a ray of light as we understand light. It came in great beating
+throbs, in which the actual vibrations were entirely visible. Under each
+impact the body of Perry seemed to change, slowly at first, then with
+increasing speed. The body was now swelled to enormous size. Bland
+reached forward to touch it.
+
+"This de-cohering influence," the Professor was murmuring, almost
+raptly, "causes the atoms that go to make a living body repel one
+another. When the body is sufficiently nebulized, the soul--Back! Back,
+you fool!" he suddenly shrieked, grasping Bland by the arm. "Do you want
+to kill him?"
+
+Bland hurriedly retreated, convinced perforce that Kell's alarm was
+genuine. The editorial fingers had penetrated the subject's garments
+without resistance and sank into the body as easily as if it were so
+much soft soap!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The body continued to expand until at length even the hard-headed
+plainclothesman realized that it had been reduced to a mere vapor.
+Within this horrid vaporized body, which nearly filled the room and
+which had now lost all semblance to a man, could be discerned two faint
+shapes. Swiftly the Professor extinguished the lantern. The shapes,
+vague though they were, could be recognized as those of Horace Perry and
+Skip Handlon. And they were at strife!
+
+All eyes were now focused on Professor Kell, who was evidently waiting
+for something to happen. The two apparitions within the body-cloud were
+at death grips. One had been overcome and was temporarily helpless. It
+was that of Handlon. And then again the astral of Perry forcibly ousted
+that of Handlon from the cloud-cyst. And at that instant Professor Kell
+shut off the influence-tube.
+
+At once a terrific metamorphosis took place. There came a sharp sound
+almost like a clap of thunder, with the slight exception that this was
+occasioned by exactly the reverse effect. Instead of being an
+_ex_plosion it might more properly be termed an _in_plosion, for the
+mist-cloud suddenly vanished. The de-cohering influence having been
+removed, the cloud had condensed into the form of Perry. Apparently none
+the worse, he was even now beginning to recover consciousness. The
+astral of Handlon was no longer visible, though hovering in the
+vicinity.
+
+Perry's body was again his own.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+At this time Jimmie O'Hara elected to start something new by hitting the
+Professor a workmanlike blow on the back of the head with the butt of
+his automatic. The next thing Bland or anyone else present knew the
+unconscious body of the Professor was on the table and Jimmie was
+groping for the concealed switch. At length he found it, and the green
+flash of light appeared in the bulb, followed by the brilliant orange
+manifestation.
+
+"What in hell are you doing?" gasped Bland.
+
+"De-astralizing the Professor," replied O'Hara cheerfully. "Don't you
+get the idea yet? Watch!"
+
+Fascinated, the four men saw the terrific emanation take its baleful
+effect. As before, the body commenced to expand and gradually took on a
+misty outline. Larger and larger it grew, until finally it had become a
+vast cloud of intangible nothingness which filled the room like some
+evil nebula.
+
+A cry of consternation from the detective aroused Jimmie. Skip Handlon's
+astral had appeared within the field of the nebula to fight for
+possession. There ensued what was perhaps the weirdest encounter ever
+witnessed. Though he was in poor physical shape, the Professor seemed to
+have an extremely powerful astral; and for some time the spectators
+despaired of Handlon's victory. Once the latter, evidently realizing
+that the powerful influence tube had rendered him visible, glanced
+sharply in Jimmie's direction. O'Hara was considerably puzzled at this,
+but watched the progress of the struggle tensely. At length the moment
+seemed to arrive which the reporter's astral had been awaiting. It
+turned tail and fled away from the astral of the Professor, disappearing
+beyond the outer confines of the nebula.
+
+Jimmie suddenly divined the other's purpose and dived for the hidden
+switch. As he had anticipated, Handlon had finally given up the attempt
+to overcome the astral of Kell by force and had made up his mind to
+accomplish his end by strategy. Almost on the instant that Jimmie's hand
+closed on the switch the reporter's astral again leaped into the field
+of the nebula. Fiercely it signalled to the former second story man to
+shut off the current, but the admonition was unnecessary, for Jimmie had
+already done so.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Swiftly the cloud-cyst faded. Even as the group caught a fleeting sight
+of Skip Handlon, the last that mortal eyes would ever see of him as he
+actually was, there came a violent disturbance at the edge of the
+shrinking nebula. Would the speed of condensation of the atoms which
+comprised the body of Professor Kell serve to shut out the pursuing
+astral of Kell?
+
+Even Bland held his breath!
+
+The cloud lost its luminous quality, the action of condensation
+increasing in speed. It was barely visible in the enshrouding gloom. An
+astral had long since been enveloped within the rapidly accumulating
+substance. Came a sudden clap of sound as before, and the final act of
+resolution had been accomplished. Whether the Professor had succeeded in
+regaining a position within the cloud-cyst before the crucial second
+none could say.
+
+Jimmie relighted the lantern. Apparently the effect of the love tap
+administered by his automatic was more or less of a lasting character,
+and the men were put to some ado to restore the body of Kell to
+consciousness. At length their efforts began to bear fruit, however, and
+it became expedient to remove the patient to the softer couch in the
+sitting room below. As they moved forward to lay hold of the limp body a
+figure appeared in the doorway to the hall. It was the plainclothesman,
+Riley.
+
+"How about getting under way for town," he wanted to know. "Is the old
+party croaked yet? Miss Manion has had a fierce time and says she won't
+stay near this house another minute. I don't like this place myself
+either. Do you know I just got kicked by a poll parrot? Let's get away
+from here."
+
+"Hold on, Riley, what are you talking about?" growled Bland. "Kicked by
+a poll parrot! You're--"
+
+"That's all right, Chief," broke in the now thoroughly cheerful Perry.
+"That jackass I shot could probably have told us all about it. I
+positively know the beast could talk."
+
+"Humph!" snorted Bland, "Well, if a donkey can talk, and a bull can
+bite, and a hound can hook, why shouldn't a parrot--Judas Priest, I'm
+getting as crazy as the rest of you! Hurry up and get Kell downstairs so
+we can see who he is. There I go again! Oh, go lie down, Riley."
+
+"But look, Bland, look!" Riley was pointing a demoralized finger at a
+cage in the corner. He tugged frantically at Bland's coat sleeve. "See
+what's in there, won't you? I--well, I did find some liquor in your car,
+and Miss Manion made me take some. I--I didn't know it would do this to
+me. Look in there; please, Mr. Bland!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Bland gave Riley a dark look, but nevertheless he reached for O'Hara's
+flashlight. In the cage two yellow eyes blinked sleepily out at him.
+Perry began to laugh.
+
+"Why, there's nothing in there but a cat. Skip and I heard it purring
+when we first came in here this afternoon. Guess Riley--"
+
+"Great God, Jimmie, give me your gun!" Hard Boiled Bland for the moment
+failed to merit his sobriquet. The torch in his hand threw a trembling
+beam full into the cage. "It's a snake! And--there! It's doing it
+again!"
+
+A snake it was, indubitably, a huge black specimen with bright yellow
+stripes. Bland's frenzied yell seemed not to have excited it at all, for
+now the sleek fellow had arched its body neatly and was calmly licking
+its sides with a long forked tongue. After a moment it halted the
+operation long enough to rub its jaw against a bar of its cage, and gave
+vent to a sociable mew!
+
+Even this could not dash the spirits of Horace Perry. He laughed
+delightedly again as he laid Bland by the arm.
+
+"That creature is perfectly harmless, Chief," he told the editor.
+"Somewhere I suppose there's a mighty dangerous kitty cat at large, but
+there's no sense in taking it out on this poor reptile. Let's live and
+let live."
+
+With a show of reluctance Bland returned Jimmie's automatic, then strode
+over to where lay the form of Kell. Perry and O'Hara lingered by the
+cage long enough to arrange a plan to let the snake out doors as soon as
+opportunity offered, after which they joined their Chief. Riley went
+out to resume his vigil in Bland's car, while his fellow sleuth prepared
+to light the way downstairs. Under his guidance the sick man was carried
+below without mishap.
+
+Downstairs the now conscious form of the venerable Professor was laid
+out on the ancient sofa until his senses could clear a bit. Presently
+the eyelids fluttered open and a feeble voice asked, "Where the deuce am
+I, and how did all you guys get here?"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A joyous gasp went up. That voice! Although uttered in somewhat the same
+vocal quality as Kell's the intonation and accents had strangely
+altered. O'Hara leaned eagerly over the figure on the couch. The
+question he asked was startling in its incongruity:
+
+"How are you feeling, _Skip_!"
+
+"Rotten," was the reply from the lips of Kell. "What hit me such a crack
+on the dome? I feel as if I had been dragged through a knot-hole. Lemme
+up."
+
+"Stay still," commanded O'Hara, kindly but firmly. "You aren't fit to
+move yet. You are going on a long ride and will need your strength.
+Don't talk, either."
+
+A half-hour later they left the house. In the front yard the editor
+called a hasty conclave which included the entire party. Hard Boiled
+Bland has never been known to talk so much at a stretch, before or
+since.
+
+"Before we start back," he began, "we had better come to an understanding.
+In the first place--Skip, come over here a minute."
+
+Norma Manion uttered an involuntary cry of fear as the aged form of Kell
+passed by her. Skip's instant response to his name had, of course, been
+perfectly natural to him. But it had an odd effect on the others.
+
+"Miss Manion, and gentlemen," Bland went on, with a bow of mock
+ceremony, "I want you to meet Mister--er, Mister--oh hell, call him
+Saunders. This is Mr. Kenneth Saunders, ladies and gentlemen. When he
+gets a shave and has his new face patched up I believe you will like his
+appearance much more than you do now.
+
+"Seriously though, folks, I hope that with a little fixing up the
+gentleman will hardly resemble Professor Anton Kell. Kell is dead.
+Obviously, however, this gentleman can hardly continue his existence as
+Skip Handlon. Hence--well, hence Mr. Saunders. And don't forget the
+name.
+
+"Now another little matter. This house has proven a curse to humanity.
+What has transpired here need never be known. Would it not be the wiser
+to eliminate all traces of to-night's happenings? There is a way." He
+looked significantly at the others.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"You mean--" began Perry.
+
+"That we destroy all traces of Professor Kell's villainy. Although he is
+no more, still someone might notice that _his body actively remains_.
+And no one wants to do any explaining."
+
+"It's the only way we can protect Handlon," one of the sleuths
+ruminated, half to himself. "No judge would ever believe a word about
+this de-astralization business. The chances are we would all go to the
+booby hatch and Handlon would go to prison for Kell's crimes."
+
+"There were four of us that witnessed the fact of the--the soul
+transfusion, though," Perry objected. "Wouldn't that be enough to clear
+Skip? Besides, wouldn't it be possible for us to lead a jury out here
+and duplicate the experiment?"
+
+"Too much undesirable publicity," growled Bland, who for once in his
+life had found reason to keep something good out of the headlines. "What
+do you say, people?"
+
+"I move we move," from the detective who had had the uncomfortable job
+of attending to Norma Manion.
+
+"Gentleman, I believe we understand each other," said Jimmie quietly.
+"Now I am going into the barn"--significantly--"to see if everything's
+all right. While I am there something _might_ happen. You understand?"
+
+The others nodded silent assent.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+In the snug seat of Jimmie's speedster Norma Manion shivered as she
+followed the direction indicated by her companion's finger. It was that
+darkest hour which comes just before the dawn.
+
+To the westward could be perceived a dull, red glow, which, even as they
+watched with fascinated eyes, developed into an intense glare. Gradually
+the fading stars became eclipsed in the greater glory.
+
+Three cars, motors throbbing as if eager to be gone, stood a space apart
+on the main road. The car behind O'Hara's was the Manion machine, now
+occupied by Bland and Riley. The remaining one was a touring car and
+contained the balance of the party. Perry was at the wheel, and beside
+him sat the Handlon-Kell-Saunders combination.
+
+"Thus passes a den of horror," whispered Jimmie to his companion.
+
+"It is the funeral pyre of my father," the girl answered simply. She had
+long since recovered from her initial outburst of grief at her loss, and
+now watched the progress of the conflagration dry-eyed. At length Jimmie
+slipped an arm protectingly about the trembling shoulders.
+
+"You have seen enough," he said. As the three cars raced from the scene
+of the holocaust, faint streamers in the east told of the rising orb of
+day.
+
+"Good-by, Keegan, forever," murmured Norma.
+
+"Amen," O'Hara devoutedly agreed.
+
+
+
+
+From the Ocean's Depths
+
+_By Sewell Peaslee Wright_
+
+    Man came from the sea. Mercer, by his thought-telegraph, learns
+    from the weirdly beautiful ocean-maiden of a branch that
+    returned there.
+
+[Illustration: _Her head was a little to one side, in the attitude of one
+who listens intently._]
+
+
+From somewhere out on the black, heaving Atlantic, the rapid, muffled
+popping of a speed-boat's exhaust drifted clearly through the night.
+
+I dropped my book and stretched, leaning back more comfortably in my
+chair. There was real romance and adventure! Rum-runners, seeking out
+their hidden port with their cargo of contraband from Cuba. Heading
+fearlessly through the darkness, fighting the high seas, still running
+after the storm of a day or so before, daring a thousand dangers for the
+sake of the straw-packed bottles they carried. Sea-bronzed men, with
+hard, flat muscles and fearless eyes; ready guns slapping their thighs
+as they--
+
+Absorbed in my mental picture of these modern free-booters, the sudden
+alarm of the telephone startled me like an unexpected shot fired beside
+my ear. Brushing the cigarette ashes from my smoking-jacket, I crossed
+the room and snatched up the receiver.
+
+"Hello!" I snapped ungraciously into the mouthpiece. It was after eleven
+by the ship's clock on the mantel, and if--
+
+"Taylor?" The voice--Warren Mercer's familiar voice--rattled on without
+waiting for a reply. "Get in your car and come down here as fast as
+possible. Come just as you are, and--"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"What's the matter?" I managed to interrupt him. "Burglars?" I had never
+heard Mercer speak in that high-pitched, excited voice before; his usual
+speech was slow and thoughtful, almost didactic.
+
+"Please, Taylor, don't waste time questioning me. If it weren't urgent,
+I wouldn't be calling you, you know. Will you come?"
+
+"You bet!" I said quickly, feeling rather a fool for ragging him when he
+was in such deadly earnest. "Have--"
+
+The receiver snapped and crackled; Mercer had hung up the instant he had
+my assurance that I would come. Usually the very soul of courtesy and
+consideration, that act alone would have convinced me that there was an
+urgent need for my presence at The Monstrosity. That was Mercer's own
+name for the impressive pile that was at once his residence and his
+laboratory.
+
+I threw off the smoking-jacket and pulled on a woolen golfing sweater,
+for the wind was brisk and sharpish. In two minutes I was backing the
+car out of the garage; a moment later I was off the gravelled drive and
+tearing down the concrete with the accelerator all the way down, and the
+black wind shrieking around the windshield of my little roadster.
+
+My own shack was out of the city limits--a little place I keep to live
+in when the urge to go fishing seizes me, which is generally about twice
+a year. Mercer picked the place up for me at a song.
+
+The Monstrosity was some four miles further out from town, and off the
+highway perhaps a half-mile more.
+
+I made the four miles in just a shade over that many minutes, and
+clamped on the brakes as I saw the entrance to the little drive that led
+toward the sea, and Mercer's estate.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+With gravel rattling on my fenders, I turned off the concrete and swept
+between the two massive, stuccoed pillars that guarded the drive. Both
+of them bore corroded bronze plates, "The Billows," the name given The
+Monstrosity by the original owner, a newly-rich munitions manufacturer.
+
+The structure itself loomed up before me in a few seconds, a rambling
+affair with square-shouldered balconies and a great deal of wrought-iron
+work, after the most flamboyant Spanish pattern. It was ablaze with
+light. Apparently every bulb in the place was burning.
+
+Just a few yards beyond the surf boomed hollowly on the smooth, shady
+shore, littered now, I knew, by the pitiful spoils of the storm.
+
+As I clamped on my brakes, a swift shadow passed two of the lower
+windows. Before I could leap from the car, the broad front door, with
+its rounded top and circular, grilled window, was flung wide, and Mercer
+came running to meet me.
+
+He was wearing a bathrobe, hastily flung on over a damp bathing suit,
+his bare legs terminating in a pair of disreputable slippers.
+
+"Fine, Taylor!" he greeted me. "I suppose you're wondering what it's all
+about. I don't blame you. But come in, come in! Just wait till you see
+her!"
+
+"Her?" I asked, startled. "You're not in love, by any chance, and
+bringing me down here like this merely to back up your own opinion of
+them eyes and them lips, Mercer?"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+He laughed excitedly.
+
+"You'll see, you'll see! No, I'm not in love. And I want you to help,
+and not admire. There are only Carson and myself here, you know, and the
+job's too big for the two of us." He hurried me across the broad
+concrete porch and into the house. "Throw the cap anywhere and come
+on!"
+
+Too much amazed to comment further, I followed my friend. This was a
+Warren Mercer I did not know. Usually his clean-cut, olive-tinted face
+was a polite mask that seldom showed even the slightest trace of
+emotion. His eyes, dark and large, smiled easily, and shone with
+interest, but his almost beautiful mouth, beneath the long slim
+mustache, always closely cropped, seldom smiled with his eyes.
+
+But it was his present excited speech that amazed me most. Mercer,
+during all the years I had known him, had never been moved before to
+such tempestuous outbursts of enthusiasm. It was his habit to speak
+slowly and thoughtfully, in his low, musical voice; even in the midst of
+our hottest arguments, and we had had many of them, his voice had never
+lost its calm, unhurried gentleness.
+
+To my surprise, instead of leading the way to the really comfortable,
+although rather gaudy living room, Mercer turned to the left, towards
+what had been the billiard room, and was now his laboratory.
+
+The laboratory, brilliantly illuminated, was littered, as usual, with
+apparatus of every description. Along one wall were the retorts, scales,
+racks, hoods and elaborate set-ups, like the articulated glass and
+rubber bones of some weird prehistoric monster, that demonstrated
+Mercer's taste for this branch of science. On the other side of the room
+a corresponding workbench was littered with a tangle of coils,
+transformers, meters, tools and instruments, and at the end of the
+room, behind high black control panels, with gleaming bus-bars and
+staring, gaping meters, a pair of generators hummed softly. The other
+end of the room was nearly all glass, and opened onto the patio and the
+swimming pool.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Mercer paused a moment, with his hand on the knob of the door, a strange
+light in his dark eyes.
+
+"Now you'll see why I called you here," he said tensely. "You can judge
+for yourself whether the trip was worth while. Here she is!"
+
+With a gesture he flung open the door, and I stared, following his
+glance, down at the great tiled swimming pool.
+
+It is difficult for me to describe the scene. The patio was not large,
+but it was beautifully done. Flowers and shrubs, even a few small palms,
+grew in profusion in the enclosure, while above, through the movable
+glass roof--made in sections to disappear in fine weather--was the empty
+blackness of the sky.
+
+None of the lights provided for the illumination of the covered patio
+was turned on, but all the windows surrounding the patio were aglow, and
+I could see the pool quite clearly.
+
+The pool--and its occupant.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We were standing at one side of the pool, near the center. Directly
+opposite us, seated on the bottom of the pool, was a human figure, nude
+save for a great mass of tawny hair that fell about her like a silken
+mantle. The strangely graceful figure of a girl, one leg stretched out
+straight before her, the other drawn up and clasped by the interlocked
+fingers of her hands. Even in the soft light I could see her perfectly,
+through the clear water, her pale body outlined sharply against the jade
+green tiles.
+
+I tore myself away from the staring, curious eyes of the figure.
+
+"In God's name, Mercer, what is it? Porcelain?" I asked hoarsely. The
+thing had an indescribably eery effect.
+
+He laughed wildly.
+
+"Porcelain? Watch ... _look_!"
+
+My eyes followed his pointing finger. The figure was moving. Gracefully
+it arose to its full height. The great cloud of corn-colored hair
+floated down about it, falling below the knees. Slowly, with a grace of
+movement comparable only with the slow soaring of a gull, she came
+toward me, walking on the bottom of the pool through the clear water as
+though she floated in air.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Fascinated, I watched her. Her eyes, startlingly large and dark in the
+strangely white face, were fixed on mine. There was nothing sinister in
+the gaze, yet I felt my body shaking as though in the grip of a terrible
+fear. I tried to look away, and found myself unable to move. I felt
+Mercer's tense, sudden grip upon my arm, but I did not, could not, look
+at him.
+
+"She--she's smiling!" I heard him exclaim. He laughed, an excited,
+high-pitched laugh that irritated me in some subtle way.
+
+She was smiling, and looking up into my eyes. She was very close now,
+within a few feet of us. She came still closer, until she was at my very
+feet as I stood on the raised ledge that ran around the edge of the
+pool, her head thrown back, staring straight up at me through the
+water.
+
+I could see her teeth, very white between her coral-pink lips, and her
+bosom rising and falling beneath the veil of pale gold hair. She was
+breathing _water_!
+
+Mercer literally jerked me away from the edge of the pool.
+
+"What do you think of her, Taylor?" he asked, his dark eyes dancing with
+excitement.
+
+"Tell me about it," I said, shaking my head dazedly. "She is not
+human?"
+
+"I don't know. I think so. As human as you or I. I'll tell you all I
+know, and then you can judge for yourself. I think we'll know in a few
+minutes, if my plans work out. But first slip on a bathing suit."
+
+I didn't argue the matter. I let Mercer lead me away without a word. And
+while I was changing, he told me all he knew of the strange creature in
+the pool.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Late this afternoon I decided to go for a little walk along the beach,"
+Mercer began. "I had been working like the devil since early in the
+morning, running some tests on what you call my thought-telegraph. I
+felt the need of some fresh sea air.
+
+"I walked along briskly for perhaps five minutes, keeping just out of
+reach of the rollers and the spray. The shore was littered with all
+sorts of flotsam and jetsam washed up by the big storm, and I was just
+thinking that I would have to have a man with a truck come and clean up
+the shore in front of the place, when, in a little sandy pool, I
+saw--_her_.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"She was laying face down in the water, motionless, her head towards the
+sea, one arm stretched out before her, and her long hair wrapped around
+her like a half-transparent cloak.
+
+"I ran up and lifted her from the water. Her body was cold, and deathly
+white, although her lips were faintly pink, and her heart was beating,
+faintly but steadily.
+
+"Like most people in an emergency. I forgot all I ever knew about first
+aid. All I could think of was to give her a drink, and of course I
+didn't have a flask on my person. So I picked her up in my arms and
+brought her to the house as quickly as I could. She seemed to be
+reviving, for she was struggling and gasping when I got here with her.
+
+"I placed her on the bed in the guest room and poured her a stiff drink
+of Scotch--half a tumblerful, I believe. Lifting up her head, I placed
+the glass to her lips. She looked up me, blinking, and took the liquor
+in a single draught. She did not seem to drink it, but sucked it out of
+the glass in a single amazing gulp--that's the only word for it. The
+next instant she was off the bed, her face a perfect mask of hate and
+agony.
+
+"She came at me, hands clutching and clawing, making odd murmuring or
+mewing sounds in her throat. It was then that I noticed for the first
+time that her hands were webbed!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Webbed?" I asked, startled.
+
+"Webbed," nodded Mercer solemnly. "As are her feet. But listen, Taylor.
+I was amazed, and not a little rattled when she came for me. I ran
+through the French windows out into the patio. For a moment she ran
+after me, rather awkwardly and heavily, but swiftly, nevertheless. Then
+she saw the pool.
+
+"Apparently forgetting that I existed, she leaped into the water, and as
+I approached a moment later I could see her breathing deeply and
+gratefully, a smile of relief upon her features, as she lay upon the
+bottom of the pool. Breathing, Taylor, on the bottom of the pool! Under
+eight feet of water!"
+
+"And then what, Mercer?" I reminded him, as he paused, apparently lost
+in thought.
+
+"I tried to find out more about her. I put on my bathing suit and dived
+into the pool. Well, she came at me like a shark, quick as a flash, her
+teeth showing, her hands tearing like claws through the water. I turned,
+but not quickly enough to entirely escape. See?" Mercer threw back the
+dressing robe, and I saw a ragged tear in his bathing suit on his left
+side, near the waist. Through the rent three deep, jagged scratches were
+clearly visible.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"She managed to claw me, just once," Mercer resumed, wrapping the robe
+about him again. "Then I got out and called on Carson for help. I put
+him into a bathing suit, and we both endeavored to corner her. Carson
+got two bad scratches, and one rather serious bite that I have bandaged.
+I have a number of lacerations, but I didn't fare so badly as Carson
+because I am faster in the water than he is.
+
+"The harder we tried, the more determined I became. She would sit there,
+calm and placid, until one of us entered the water. Then she became a
+veritable fury. It was maddening.
+
+"At last I thought of you. I phoned, and here we are!"
+
+"But, Mercer, it's a nightmare!" I protested. We moved out of the room.
+"Nothing human can live under water and breathe water, as she does!"
+
+Mercer paused a moment, staring at me oddly.
+
+"The human race," he said gravely, "came up out of sea. The human race
+as we know it. Some may have gone back." He turned and walked away
+again, and I hurried after him.
+
+"What do you mean. Mercer? 'Some may have gone back?' I don't get it."
+
+Mercer shook his head, but made no other reply until we stood again on
+the edge of the pool.
+
+The girl was standing where we had left her, and as she looked up into
+my face, she smiled again, and made a quick gesture with one hand. It
+seemed to me that she invited me to join her.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"I believe she likes you, Taylor," said Mercer thoughtfully. "You're
+light, light skin, light hair. Carson and I are both very dark, almost
+swarthy. And in that white bathing suit--yes, I believe she's taken a
+fancy to you!"
+
+Mercer's eyes were dancing.
+
+"If she has," he went on, "it'll make our work very easy."
+
+"What work?" I asked suspiciously. Mercer, always an indefatigable
+experimenter, was never above using his friends in the benefit of
+science. And some of his experiments in the past had been rather trying,
+not to say exciting.
+
+"I think I have what you call my thought-telegraph perfected,
+experimentally," he explained rapidly. "I fell asleep working on it at
+three o'clock, or thereabouts, this morning, and some tests with Carson
+seem to indicate that it is a success. I should have called you
+to-morrow, for further test. Nearly five years of damned hard work to a
+successful conclusion, Taylor, and then this mermaid comes along and
+makes my experiment appear about as important as one of those breakers
+rolling in out there!"
+
+"And what do you plan to do now?" I asked eagerly, glancing down at the
+beautiful pale face that glimmered up at me through the clear water of
+the pool.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Why, try it on her!" exclaimed Mercer with mounting enthusiasm. "Don't
+you see, Taylor? If it will work on her, and we can direct her thoughts,
+we can find out her history, the history of her people! We'll add a page
+to scientific history--a whole big chapter!--that will make us famous.
+Man this is so big it's swept me off my feet! Look!" And he held out a
+thin, aristocratic brown hand before my eyes, a hand that shook with
+nervous excitement.
+
+"I don't blame you," I said quickly. "I'm no savant, and still I see
+what an amazing thing this is. Let's get busy. What can I do?"
+
+Mercer reached around the door into the laboratory and pressed a
+button.
+
+"For Carson," he explained. "We'll need his help. In the meantime, we'll
+look over the set-up. The apparatus is strewn all over the place."
+
+He had not exaggerated. The set-up consisted of a whole bank of tubes,
+each one in its own shielding copper box. On a much-drilled horizontal
+panel, propped up on insulators, were half a score of delicate meters of
+one kind and another, with thin black fingers that pulsed and trembled.
+Behind the panel was a tall cylinder wound with shining copper wire, and
+beside it another panel, upright, fairly bristling with knobs, contact
+points, potentiometers, rheostats and switches. On the end of the table
+nearest the door was still another panel, the smallest of the lot,
+bearing only a series of jacks along one side, and in the center a
+switch with four contact points. A heavy, snaky cable led from this
+panel to the maze of apparatus further on.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"This is the control panel," explained Mercer. "The whole affair, you
+understand, is in laboratory form. Nothing assembled. Put the different
+antennae plug into these jacks. Like this."
+
+He picked up a weird, hastily built contrivance composed of two
+semi-circular pieces of spring brass, crossed at right angles. On all
+four ends were bright silvery electrodes, three of them circular in
+shape, one of them elongated and slightly curved. With a quick, nervous
+gesture, Mercer fitted the thing to his head, so that the elongated
+electrode pressed against the back of his neck, extending a few inches
+down his spine. The other three circular electrodes rested on his
+forehead and either side of his head. From the center of the contrivance
+ran a heavy insulated cord, some ten feet in length, ending in a simple
+switchboard plug, which Mercer fitted into the uppermost of the three
+jacks.
+
+"Now," he directed, "you put on this one"--he adjusted a second
+contrivance upon my head, smiling as I shrank from the contact of the
+cold metal on my skin--"and think!"
+
+He moved the switch from the position marked "Off" to the second contact
+point, watching me intently, his dark eyes gleaming.
+
+Carson entered, and Mercer gestured to him to wait. Very nice old chap,
+Carson, impressive even in his bathing suit. Mercer was mighty lucky to
+have a man like Carson....
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Something seemed to tick suddenly, somewhere deep in my consciousness.
+
+"Yes, that's very true: Carson is a most decent sort of chap." The words
+were not spoken. I did not _hear_ them, I _knew_ them. What--I glanced
+at Mercer, and he laughed aloud with pleasure and excitement.
+
+"It worked!" he cried. "I received your thought regarding Carson, and
+then turned the switch so that you received my thought. And you did!"
+
+Rather gingerly I removed the thing from my head and laid it on the
+table.
+
+"It's wizardry, Mercer! If it will work as well on _her_...."
+
+"It will, I know it will!--if we can get her to wear one of these,"
+replied Mercer confidently. "I have only three of them; I had planned
+some three-cornered experiments with you, Carson, and myself. We'll
+leave Carson out of to-night's experiment, however, for we'll need him
+to operate this switch. You see, as it is now wired only one person
+transmits thoughts at a time. The other two receive. When the switch is
+on the first contact, Number One sends, and Numbers Two and Three
+receive. When the switch is on Number Two, then he sends thoughts, and
+Numbers One and Three receive them. And so on. I'll lengthen these leads
+so that we can run them out into the pool, and then we'll be ready.
+Somehow we must induce her to wear one of these things, even if we have
+to use force. I'm sure the three of us can handle her."
+
+"We should be able to," I smiled. She was such a slim, graceful, almost
+delicate little thing; the thought that three strong men might not be
+able to control her seemed almost amusing.
+
+"You haven't seen her in action yet," said Mercer grimly, glancing up
+from his work of lengthening the cords that led from the antennae to the
+control panel. "And what's more, I hope you don't."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I watched him in silence as he spliced and securely taped the last
+connection.
+
+"All set," he nodded. "Carson, will you operate the switch for us? I
+believe everything is functioning properly." He surveyed the panel of
+instruments hastily, assuring himself that every reading was correct.
+Then, with all three of the devices he called antennae in his hand,
+their leads plugged into the control panel, he led the way to the side
+of the pool.
+
+The girl was strolling around the edge of the pool, feeling the smooth
+tile sides with her hands as we came into view, but as soon as she saw
+us she shot through the water to where we were standing.
+
+It was the first time I had seen her move in this fashion. She seemed to
+propel herself with a sudden mighty thrust of her feet against the
+bottom; she darted through the water with the speed of an arrow, yet
+stopped as gently as though she had merely floated there.
+
+As she looked up, her eyes unmistakably sought mine, and her smile
+seemed warm and inviting. She made again that strange little gesture of
+invitation.
+
+With an effort I glanced at Mercer. There was something devilishly
+fascinating about the girl's great, dark, searching eyes.
+
+"I'm going in," I said hoarsely. "Hand me one of your head-set things
+when I reach for it." Before he could protest, I dived into the pool.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I headed directly towards the heavy bronze ladder that led to the bottom
+of the pool. I had two reasons in mind. I would need something to keep
+me under water, with my lungs full of air, and I could get out quickly
+if it were necessary. I had not forgotten the livid, jagged furrows in
+Mercer's side.
+
+Quickly as I shot to the ladder she was there before me, a dim, wavering
+white shape, waiting.
+
+I paused, holding to a rung of the ladder with one hand. She came
+closer, walking with the airy grace I had noted before, and my heart
+pounded against my ribs as she raised one long, slim arm towards me.
+
+The hand dropped gently on my shoulder, pressed it as though in token
+of friendship. Perhaps, I thought quickly, this was, with her, a sign of
+greeting. I lifted my own arm and returned the salutation, if salutation
+it were, aware of a strange rising and falling sound, as of a distant
+humming, in my ears.
+
+The sound ceased suddenly, on a rising note, as though of inquiry, and
+it dawned on me that I had heard the speech of this strange creature.
+Before I could think of a course of action, my aching lungs reminded me
+of the need of air, and I released my hold on the ladder and let my body
+rise to the surface.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+As my head broke the water, a hand, cold and strong as steel, closed
+around my ankle. I looked down. The girl was watching me, and there was
+no smile on her face now.
+
+"All right!" I shouted across the pool to Mercer, who was watching
+anxiously. Then, filling my lungs with air again, I pulled myself, by
+means of the ladder, to the bottom of the pool. The restraining hand was
+removed instantly.
+
+The strange creature thrust her face close to mine as my feet touched
+bottom, and for the first time I saw her features distinctly.
+
+She was beautiful, but in a weird, unearthly sort of way. As I had
+already noticed, her eyes were of unusual size, and I saw now that they
+were an intense shade of blue, with a pupil of extraordinary proportion.
+Her nose was well shaped, but the nostrils were slightly flattened, and
+the orifices were rather more elongated than I had ever seen before. The
+mouth was utterly fascinating, and her teeth, revealed by her engaging
+smile, were as perfect as it would be possible to imagine.
+
+The great mane of hair which enveloped her was, as I have said, tawny in
+hue, and almost translucent, like the stems of some seaweeds I have
+seen. And as she raised one slim white hand to brush back some wisps
+that floated by her face, I saw distinctly the webs between her
+fingers. They were barely noticeable, for they were as transparent as
+the fins of a fish, but they were there, extending nearly to the last
+joint of each finger.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+As her face came close to my own, I became aware of the humming,
+crooning sound I had heard before, louder this time. I could see, from
+the movement of her throat, that I had been correct in assuming that she
+was attempting to speak with me. I smiled back at her and shook my head.
+She seemed to understand, for the sound ceased, and she studied me with
+a little thoughtful frown, as though trying to figure out some other
+method of communication.
+
+I pointed upward, for I was feeling the need for fresh air again, and
+slowly mounted the ladder. This time she did not grasp me, but watched
+me intently, as though understanding what I did, and the reasons for
+it.
+
+"Bring one of your gadgets over here, Mercer," I called across the pool.
+"I think I'm making progress."
+
+"Good boy!" he cried, and came running with two of the antennae, the
+long insulated cords trailing behind him. Through the water the girl
+watched him, evident dislike in her eyes. She glanced at me with sudden
+suspicion as Mercer handed me the two instruments, but made no hostile
+move.
+
+"You won't be able to stay in the water with her," explained Mercer
+rapidly. "The salt water would short the antennae, you see. Try to get
+her to wear one, and then you get your head out of water, and don yours.
+And remember, she won't be able to communicate with us by words--we'll
+have to get her to convey her thoughts by means of mental pictures. I'll
+try to impress that on her. Understand?"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I nodded, and picked up one of the instruments. "Fire when ready,
+Gridley," I commented, and sank again to the bottom of the pool.
+
+I touched the girl's head with one finger, and then pointed to my own
+head, trying to convey to her that she could get her thoughts to me.
+Then I held up the antennae and placed it on my own head to show that it
+could not harm her.
+
+My next move was to offer her the instrument, moving slowly, and smiling
+reassuringly--no mean feat under water.
+
+She hesitated a moment, and then, her eyes fixed on mine, she slowly
+fixed the instrument over her own head as she had seen me adjust it upon
+my own.
+
+I smiled and nodded, and pressed her shoulder in token of friendly
+greeting. Then, gesturing toward my own head again, and pointing upward.
+I climbed the ladder.
+
+"All right, Mercer," I shouted. "Start at once, before she grows
+restless!"
+
+"I've already started!" he called back, and I hurriedly donned my own
+instrument.
+
+Bearing in mind what Mercer had said, I descended the ladder but a few
+rungs, so that my head remained out of water, and smiled down at the
+girl, touching the instrument on my head, and then pointing to hers.
+
+I could sense Mercer's thoughts now. He was picturing himself walking
+long the shore, with the stormy ocean in the background. Ahead of him I
+saw the white body lying face downward in the pool. I saw him run up to
+the pool and lift the slim, pale figure in his arms.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Let me make it clear, at this point, that when I say that I saw
+these things, I mean only that mental images of them penetrated my
+consciousness. I visualized them just as I could close my eyes and
+visualize, for example, the fireplace in the living room of my own
+home.
+
+I looked down at the girl. She was frowning, and her eyes were very
+wide. Her head was a little on one side, in the attitude of one who
+listens intently.
+
+Slowly and carefully Mercer thought out the whole story of his
+experiences with the girl until she had plunged into the pool. Then I
+saw again the beach, with the girl's figure in the pool. The picture
+grew hazy; I realized Mercer was trying to picture the bottom of the
+sea. Then he pictured again the girl lying in the pool, and once again
+the sea. I was aware of the soft little tick in the center of my brain
+that announced that the switch had been moved to another contact point.
+
+I glanced down at her. She was staring up at me with her great, curious
+eyes, and I sensed, through the medium of the instrument I wore, that
+she was thinking of me. I saw my own features, idealized, glowing with a
+strange beauty that was certainly none of my own. I realized that I saw
+myself, in short, as she saw me. I smiled back at her, and shook my
+head.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A strange, dim whirl of pictures swept through my consciousness. I was
+on the bottom of the ocean. Shadowy shapes swept by silently, and from
+above, a dim bluish light filtered down on a scene such as mortal eyes
+have never seen.
+
+All around were strange structures of jagged coral, roughly circular as
+to base, and rounded on top, resembling very much the igloos of the
+Eskimos. The structures varied greatly in size, and seemed to be
+arranged in some sort of regular order, like houses along a narrow
+street. Around many of them grew clusters of strange and colorful
+seaweeds that waved their banners gently, as though some imperceptible
+current dallied with them in passing.
+
+Here and there figures moved, slim white figures that strolled along the
+narrow street, or at times shot overhead like veritable torpedoes.
+
+There were both men and women moving there. The men were broader of
+shoulder, and their hair, which they wore to their knees, was somewhat
+darker in color than that of the women. Both sexes were slim, and there
+was a remarkable uniformity of size and appearance.
+
+None of the strange beings wore garments of any kind, nor were they
+necessary. The clinging tresses were cinctured at the waist with a sort
+of cord of twisted orange-colored material, and some of the younger
+women wore bands of the same material around their brows.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Nearest of all the figures was the girl who was visualizing all this for
+us. She was walking slowly away from the cluster of coral structures.
+Once or twice she paused, and seemed to hold conversation with others of
+the strange people, but each time she moved on.
+
+The coral structures grew smaller and poorer. Finally the girl trod
+alone on the floor of the ocean, between great growths of kelp and
+seaweeds, with dim, looming masses of faintly tinted coral everywhere.
+Once she passed close to a tilted, ragged hulk of some ancient vessel,
+its naked ribs packed with drifted sand.
+
+Sauntering dreamily, she moved away from the ancient derelict. Suddenly
+a dim shadow swept across the sand at her feet, and she arrowed from the
+spot like a white, slim meteor. But behind her darted a black and
+swifter shadow--a shark!
+
+Like a flash she turned and faced the monster. Something she had drawn
+from her girdle shone palely in her hand. It was a knife of whetted
+stone or bone.
+
+Darting swiftly downward her feet spurned the yellow sand, and she shot
+at her enemy with amazing speed. The long blade swept in an arc, ripped
+the pale belly of the monster just as he turned to dart away.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A great cloud of blood dyed the water. The white figure of the girl shot
+onward through the scarlet flood.
+
+Blinded, she did not see that the jutting ribs of the ancient ship were
+in her path. I seemed to see her crash, head on, into one of the
+massive timbers, and I cried out involuntarily, and glanced down at the
+girl in the water at my feet.
+
+Her eyes were glowing. She knew that I had understood.
+
+Hazily, then, I seemed to visualize her body floating limply in the
+water. It was all very vague and indistinct, and I understood that this
+was not what she had seen, but what she thought had happened. The
+impressions grew wilder, swirled, grew gray and indistinct. Then I had a
+view of Mercer's face, so terribly distorted it was barely recognizable.
+Then a kaleidoscopic maze of inchoate scenes, shot through with flashes
+of vivid, agonizing colors. The girl was thinking of her suffering,
+taken out of her native element. In trying to save her, Mercer had
+almost killed her. That, no doubt, was why she hated him.
+
+My own face appeared next, almost godlike in its kindliness and its
+imagined beauty, and I noticed now that she was thinking of me with my
+yellow hair grown long, my nostrils elongated like her own--adjusted to
+her own ideas of what a man should be.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I flung the instrument from my head and dropped to the bottom of the
+pool. I gripped both her shoulders, gently, to express my thanks and
+friendship.
+
+My heart was pounding. There was a strange fascination about this girl
+from the depths of the sea, a subtle appeal that was answered from some
+deep subterranean cavern of my being. I forgot, for the moment, who and
+what I was. I remembered only that a note had been sounded that awoke an
+echo of a long-forgotten instinct.
+
+I think I kissed her. I know her arms were about me, and that I pressed
+her close, so that our faces almost met. Her great, weirdly blue eyes
+seemed to bore into my brain. I could feel them throbbing there....
+
+I forgot time and space. I saw only that pale, smiling face and those
+great dark eyes. Then, strangling, I tore myself from her embrace and
+shot to the surface.
+
+Coughing, I cleared my lungs of the water I had inhaled. I was weak and
+shaking when I finished, but my head was clear. The grip of the strange
+fantasy that had gripped me was shaken off.
+
+Mercer was bending over me; speaking softly.
+
+"I was watching, old man," he said gently. "I can imagine what happened.
+A momentary, psychic fusing of an ancient, long since broken link. You,
+together with all mankind, came up out of the sea. But there is no
+retracing the way."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I nodded, my head bowed on my streaming chest.
+
+"Sorry, Mercer," I muttered. "Something got into me. Those big eyes of
+hers seemed to tug at threads of memory ... buried.... I can't describe
+it...."
+
+He slapped me on my naked shoulder, a blow that stung, as he had
+intended it to. It helped jerk me back to the normal.
+
+"You've got your feet on the ground again, Taylor," he commented
+soothingly. "I think there's no danger of you losing your grip on terra
+firma again. Shall we carry on?"
+
+"There's more you'd like to learn? That you think she can give us?" I
+asked hesitantly.
+
+"I believe," replied Mercer, "that she can give us the history of her
+people, if we can only make her understand what we wish. God! If we only
+could!" The name of the Deity was a prayer as Mercer uttered it.
+
+"We can try, old-timer," I said, a bit shakenly.
+
+Mercer hurried back to the other side of the pool, and I adjusted my
+head-set again, smiling down at the girl. If only Mercer could make her
+understand, and if only she knew what we wanted to learn!
+
+I was conscious of the little click that told me the switch had been
+moved. Mercer was ready to get his message to her.
+
+Fixing my eyes on the girl pleadingly, I settled myself by the edge of
+the pool to await the second and more momentous part of our experiment.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The vision was vague, for Mercer was picturing his thoughts with
+difficulty. But I seemed to see again the floor of the ocean, with the
+vague light filtering down from above, and soft, monstrous growths
+waving their branches lazily in the flood.
+
+From the left came a band of men and women, looking around as though in
+search of some particular spot. They stopped, and one of the older men
+pointed, the others gathering around him as though in council.
+
+Then the band set to work. Coral growth were dragged to the spot. The
+foundation for one of the semi-circular houses was laid. The scene
+swirled and cleared again. The house was completed. Several other houses
+were in process of building.
+
+Slowly and deliberately, the scene moved. The houses were left behind.
+Before my consciousness now was only a vague and shadowy expanse of
+ocean floor, and in the sand dim imprints that marked where the strange
+people had trod, the vague footprints disappearing in the gloom in the
+direction from which the little weary band had come. To me, at least, it
+was quite clear that Mercer was asking whence they came. Would it be as
+clear to the girl? The switch clicked, and for a moment I was sure
+Mercer had not been able to make his question clear to her.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The scene was the interior of one of the coral houses. There were
+persons there, seated on stone or coral chairs, padded with marine
+growths. One of the occupants of the room was a very old man; his face
+was wrinkled, and his hair was silvery. With him were a man and a woman,
+and a little girl. Somehow I seemed to recognize the child as the girl
+in the pool.
+
+The three of them were watching the old man. While his lips did not
+move, I could see his throat muscles twitching as the girl's had done
+when she made the murmuring sound I had guessed was her form of speech.
+
+The scene faded. For perhaps thirty seconds I was aware of nothing more
+than a dim gray mist that seemed to swirl in stately circles. Then,
+gradually, it cleared somewhat. I sensed the fact that what I saw now
+was what the old man was telling, and that the majestic, swirling mist
+was the turning back of time.
+
+Here was no ocean bottom, but land, rich tropical jungle. Strange exotic
+trees and dense growths of rank undergrowth choked the earth. The trees
+were oddly like undersea growths, which puzzled me for an instant. Then
+I recalled that the girl could interpret the old man's words only in
+terms of that which she had seen and understood. This was the way she
+visualized the scene.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+There was a gray haze of mist everywhere. The leaves were glistening
+with condensed moisture; swift drops fell incessantly to the soaking
+ground below.
+
+Into the scene roamed a pitiful band of people. Men with massive frames,
+sunken in with starvation, women tottering with weakness. The men
+carried great clubs, some tipped with rudely shaped stone heads, and
+both men and women clothed only in short kittles of skin.
+
+They searched ceaselessly for something, and I guessed that something
+was food. Now and then one or the other of the little band tore up a
+root and bit at it, and those that did so soon doubled into a twitching
+knot of suffering and dropped behind.
+
+At last they came to the edge of the sea. A few yards away the water was
+lost in the dense steaming miasma that hemmed them in on all sides.
+With glad expressions on their faces, the party ran down to the edge of
+the water and gathered up great masses of clams and crabs. At first they
+ate the food raw, tearing the flesh from the shells. Then they made what
+I understood was a fire, although the girl was able to visualize it only
+as a bright red spot that flickered.
+
+The scene faded, and there was only the slowly swirling mist that I
+understood indicated the passing of centuries. Then the scene cleared
+again.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I saw that same shore line, but the people had vanished. There was only
+the thick, steamy mist, the tropic jungle crowding down to the shore,
+and the waves rolling in monotonously from the waste of gray ocean
+beyond the curtain of fog.
+
+Suddenly, from out of the sea, appeared a series of human heads, and
+then a band of men and women that waded ashore and seated themselves
+upon the beach, gazing restlessly out across the sea.
+
+This was not the same band I had seen at first. These were a slimmer
+race, and whereas the first band had been exceedingly swarthy, these
+were very fair.
+
+They did not stay long on shore, for they were restless and ill at ease.
+It seemed to me they came there only from force of habit, as though they
+obeyed some inner urge they did not understand. In a few seconds they
+rose and ran into the water, plunged into it as though they welcomed its
+embrace, and disappeared. Then again the vision was swallowed up by the
+swirling mists of time.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+When the scene cleared again, it showed the bottom of the sea. A group
+of perhaps a hundred pale creatures moved along the dim floor of the
+ocean. Ahead I could see the dim outlines of one of their strange
+cities. The band approached, seemed to talk with those there, and moved
+on.
+
+I saw them capture and kill fish for food, saw them carve the thick,
+spongy hearts from certain giant growths and eat them. I saw a pair of
+killer sharks swoop down on the band, and the quick, deadly accuracy
+with which both men and woman met the attack. One man, older than the
+rest, was injured before the sharks were vanquished, and when their
+efforts to staunch his wounds proved unavailing, they left him there and
+moved on. And as they left I saw a dim, crawling shape move closer,
+throw out a long, whiplike tentacle, and wrap the body in a hungry
+embrace.
+
+They came to and passed other communities of beings like themselves, and
+a city of their own, in much the way that Mercer had visualized it.
+
+Fading, the scene changed to the interior of the coral house again. The
+old man finished his story, and moved off into a cubicle in the rear of
+the place. Dimly, I could see there a low couch, piled high with soft
+marine growths. Then the scene shifted once more.
+
+A man and a woman hurried up and down the narrow streets of the strange
+city the girl had pictured when she showed us how she had met with the
+shark, and struck her head, so that for a long period she lost
+consciousness and was washed ashore.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Others, after a time, joined them in their search, which spread out to
+the floor of the ocean, away from the dwellings. One party came to the
+gaunt skeleton of the ancient wreck, and found the scattered,
+fresh-picked bones of the shark the girl had killed. The man and the
+woman came up, and I looked closely into their faces. The woman's
+features were torn with grief; the man's lips were set tight with
+suffering. Here, it was easy to guess, were the mother and the father of
+the girl.
+
+A milling mass of white forms shot through the water in every direction,
+searching. It seemed that they were about to give up the search when
+suddenly, from out of the watery gloom, there shot a slim white
+figure--the girl!
+
+Straight to the mother and father she came, gripping the shoulder of
+each with frantic joy. They returned the caress, the crowd gathered
+around them, listening to her story as they moved slowly, happily,
+towards the distant city.
+
+Instead of a picture, I was conscious then of a sound, like a single
+pleading word repeated softly, as though someone said "Please! Please!
+Please!" over and over again. The sound was not at all like the English
+word. It was a soft, musical beat, like the distant stroke of a mellow
+gong, but it had all the pleading quality of the word it seemed to bring
+to mind.
+
+I looked down into the pool. The girl had mounted the ladder until her
+face was just below the surface of the water. Her eyes met mine and I
+knew that I had not misunderstood.
+
+I threw off the instrument on my head, and dropped down beside her. With
+both hands I grasped her shoulders, and, smiling, I nodded my head
+vigorously.
+
+She understood, I know she did. I read it in her face. When I climbed
+the ladder again, she looked after me, smiling confidently.
+
+Although I had not spoken to her, she had read and accepted the
+promise.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Mercer stared at me silently, grimly, as I told him what I wished.
+Whatever eloquence I may have, I used on him, and I saw his cold,
+scientific mind waver before the warmth of my appeal.
+
+"We have no right to keep her from her people," I concluded. "You saw
+her mother and father, saw their suffering, and the joy her return would
+bring. You will, Mercer--you will return her to the sea?"
+
+For a long time, Mercer did not reply. Then he lifted his dark eyes to
+mine, and smiled, rather wearily.
+
+"It is the only thing we can do, Taylor," he said quietly. "She is not a
+scientific specimen; she is, in her way, as human as you or I. She
+would probably die, away from her own kind, living under conditions
+foreign to her. And you promised her, Taylor, whether you spoke your
+promise or not." His smile deepened a bit. "We cannot let her receive
+too bad an opinion of her cousins who live above the surface of the
+sea!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+And so, just as the dawn was breaking, we took her to the shore. I
+carried her, unresisting, trustful, in my arms, while Mercer bore a huge
+basin of water, in which her head was submerged, so that she might not
+suffer.
+
+Still in our bathing suits we waded out into the ocean, until the waves
+splashed against our faces. Then I lowered her into the sea. Crouching
+there, so that the water was just above the tawny glory of her hair, she
+gazed up at us. Two slim white hands reached towards us, and with one
+accord, Mercer and I bent towards her. She gripped both our shoulders
+with a gentle pressure, smiling at us.
+
+Then she did a strange thing. She pointed, under the water, out towards
+the depths and with a broad, sweeping motion of her arm, indicated the
+shore, as though to say that she intended to return. With a last swift,
+smiling glance up into my face, she turned. There was a flash of white
+through the water. She was gone....
+
+Silently, through the silence and beauty of the dawn, we made our way
+back to the house.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+As we passed through the laboratory, Mercer glanced out at the empty
+pool.
+
+"Man came up from the sea," he said slowly, "and some men went back to
+it. They were forced back to the teeming source from whence they came,
+for lack of food. You saw that, Taylor--saw her forebears become
+amphibians, like the now extinct Dipneusta and Ganoideii, or the still
+existing Neoceratodus, Polypterus and Amia. Then their lungs became, in
+effect, gills, and they lost their power of breathing atmospheric air,
+and could use only air dissolved in water.
+
+"A whole people there beneath the waves that land-man never dreamed
+of--except, perhaps, the sailors of olden days, with their tales of
+mermaids, which we are accustomed to laugh at in our wisdom!"
+
+"But why were no bodies ever washed ashore?" I asked. "I would think--"
+
+"You saw why," interrupted Mercer grimly. "The ocean teems with hungry
+life. Death is the signal for a feast. It was little more than a miracle
+that her body came ashore, a miracle due perhaps to the storm which sent
+the hungry monsters to the greater depths. And even had a body come
+ashore it would have been buried as that of some unknown, unfortunate
+human. The differences between these people and ourselves would not be
+noticeable to a casual observer.
+
+"No, Taylor, we have been party to what was close to a miracle. And we
+are the only witnesses to it, you and Carson and myself. And"--he sighed
+deeply--"it is over."
+
+I did not reply. I was thinking of the girl's odd gesture, at parting,
+and I wondered if it were indeed a finished chapter.
+
+
+
+
+Vandals of the Stars
+
+_By A. T. Locke_
+
+    A livid flame flares across Space--and over Manhattan hovers
+    Teuxical, vassal of Malfero, Lord of the Universe, who comes
+    with ten thousand warriors to ravage and subjugate one more
+    planet for his master.
+
+[Illustration: _Many planes and Zeppelins were circling around the
+mysterious visitant._]
+
+
+It came suddenly, without warning, and it brought consternation to the
+people of the world.
+
+A filament of flame darted down the dark skies one moonless night and
+those who saw it believed, at first, that it was a meteor. Instead of
+streaking away into oblivion, however, it became larger and larger,
+until it seemed as though some vagrant, blazing star was about to plunge
+into the earth and annihilate the planet and every vestige of life upon
+it. But then it drew slowly to a stop high up in the atmosphere, where
+it remained motionless, glowing white and incandescent against the
+Stygian background of the overcast skies.
+
+In shape it resembled a Zeppelin, but its dimensions very apparently
+exceeded by far those of any flying craft that ever had been fabricated
+by the hand of man.
+
+As it hung poised high up in the air it gradually lost its dazzling glow
+and became scarlet instead of white. Then, as it continued to cool, the
+color swiftly drained from it and, in a few minutes, it shone only with
+the dull and ugly crimson of an expiring ember. In a half-hour after it
+first had appeared its effulgence had vanished completely and it was
+barely visible to the millions who were staring up toward it from the
+earth.
+
+It seemed to be suspended directly above Manhattan, and the inhabitants
+of New York were thrown into a feverish excitement by the strange and
+unprecedented phenomenon.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+For it scarcely had come to a stop, and certainly it had not been poised
+aloft for more than a few minutes, when most of those who had not
+actually witnessed its sensational appearance were apprised of the
+inexplicable occurrence by the radiovision, which were scattered
+throughout the vast metropolis. In theaters and restaurants and other
+gathering places, as well as in millions of homes, a voice from the
+Worldwide Broadcasting Tower announced the weird visitant. And its
+image, as it glowed in the night, was everywhere transmitted to the
+public.
+
+Only a short time after it first had been observed people were thronging
+roof-tops, terraces, and streets, and gazing with awe and wonder at the
+great luminous object that was floating high above them.
+
+There were those who thought that the world was coming to an end, and
+they either were dumb with fright or strident with hysteria. People with
+more judgment, and a smattering of scientific knowledge, dismissed the
+thing as some harmless meteorological manifestation that, while
+interesting, was not necessarily dangerous. And there were many,
+inclined to incredulity and skepticism, who believed that they were
+witnessing a hoax or an advertising scheme of some new sort.
+
+But as the moments went by the world commenced to become stirred and
+alarmed by the reports which came over the radiovisors.
+
+For powerful planes and metal-shelled Zeppelins had climbed swiftly
+aloft to investigate the incomprehensible Thing that was poised high
+above Manhattan, and almost unbelievable reports were being sent
+earthward.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Dirk Vanderpool had been sitting alone on the broad terrace of his
+apartment that occupied the upper stories of the great Gotham Gardens
+Building when he saw that streak of fire slip down against the darkness
+of the night.
+
+For a moment he, too, had believed that he was watching a meteor, but,
+when he saw it come to a slow stop and hang stationary in the heavens,
+he rose to his feet with an exclamation of surprise.
+
+For a while he gazed upward with an expression of astonishment on his
+face and then he turned as he heard someone walking softly in his
+direction. It was Barstowe, his valet, and the eyes of the man were
+alive with fear.
+
+"What is that thing, Mr. Vanderpool?" he asked in a voice that trembled
+with alarm. Barstowe was a man of middle age, diminutive in size, and he
+had the appearance of being nearly petrified with terror. "They are
+saying over the televisor that--"
+
+"What are they saying about it?" asked Dirk somewhat impatiently.
+
+"That no one can explain what it is," continued Barstowe. "It must be
+something terrible, Mr. Vanderpool."
+
+"Wheel out the luciscope," ordered Dirk.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Barstowe disappeared into the apartment and returned with a cabinet that
+was mounted on small, rubber-tired wheels. The top of it was formed of a
+metallic frame in which a heavy, circular, concave glass was fitted. The
+frame was hinged in front so that it could be raised from the rear and
+adjusted to any angle necessary to catch the light rays from any distant
+object. Within the cabinet the rays passed through an electrical device
+that amplified them millions of times, thus giving a clear, telescopic
+vision of the object on which the luciscope was focused.
+
+This instrument, years before, had supplanted entirely the old-fashioned
+telescopes which not only had been immense and unwieldly but which also
+had a very limited range of vision.
+
+Dirk adjusted the light-converger so that it caught the rays that were
+being emanated by the weird and shimmering mass that was suspended
+almost directly above the lofty terrace on which he was standing.
+
+Then he switched on the current and glanced into the eye-piece of the
+apparatus. For several moments he remained silent, studying the image
+that was etched so vividly on the ground-glass within the luciscope.
+
+"It is a queer thing, there is no doubt about that," he confessed when
+finally he raised his head. "It resembles a gigantic Zeppelin in shape
+but it does not seem to have any undercarriage or, as far as I can see,
+any indication of propellers or portholes. I would say, though,
+Barstowe, that it might be a ship from some other planet if it wasn't
+for the fact that it seems to be in an almost molten state."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Dirk again looked into the luciscope and then he made a few adjustments
+with a thumb-screw that projected from the side of the apparatus.
+
+"It is up about forty thousand feet," he told Barstowe, "and it must be
+more than a half-mile in length. Probably," he added, "it is a planetary
+fragment of some odd composition that is less responsive to gravitation
+than the materials with which we are familiar. You will find, Barstowe,
+that there is nothing about it that science will not be able to explain.
+That will be all now," he concluded.
+
+Barstowe walked over the terrace and disappeared into the apartment.
+Dirk, left alone, wheeled the luciscope over by the chair in which he
+had been sitting and near which a radiovisor was standing.
+
+He switched on the latter and listened to the low but very distinct
+voice of the news-dispatcher.
+
+"--and planes and Zeppelins now are starting up to investigate the
+strange phenomenon--"
+
+Again Dirk placed an eye to the lens of the luciscope and once more the
+Thing leaped into his vision. The powerful machine brought it so close
+to him that he could see the heat waves quiver up from it.
+
+The light that it radiated illuminated the night for thousands of feet
+and Dirk could see, by means of that crimson glare, that many planes and
+Zeppelins were circling around the mysterious visitant. None of them,
+however, approached the alien freak, the heat apparently being too
+intense to permit close inspection.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Dirk himself was tempted for a moment to jump into a plane and go up and
+take a look at the fiery mass.
+
+But, after a moment's consideration, he decided, that it would be far
+more interesting and comfortable to remain right where he was and listen
+to the reports which were being sent down from above.
+
+"--thus far there seems to be no cause for alarm, and people are advised
+to remain calm--careful observations of the luminous monster are being
+made and further reports concerning it will be broadcast--"
+
+Dirk Vanderpool rose to his feet, walked to the coping of the terrace
+and peered into the magnascope that was set into the wall.
+
+He saw that the street, far below him, was jammed with struggling people
+and the device through which he was looking brought their faces before
+him in strong relief. Dirk was deeply interested and, at the same time,
+gravely concerned as he studied the upturned countenances in the mob.
+
+Fear, despair, reckless abandon, mirth, doubt, religious ecstasy and all
+the other nuances in the gamut of human emotions and passions were
+reflected in those distorted visages which were gazing skyward.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The silvery humming of a bell diverted his attention from the scene of
+congestion below him and, turning away, he walked across the terrace and
+into the great living room of his luxurious abode.
+
+Stepping to the televisor, he turned a tiny switch, and the face of a
+girl appeared in the glass panel that was framed above the sound-box. He
+smiled as he lifted the receiver and placed it to his ear.
+
+"What is the matter, Inga?" he asked. "You look as if you were
+expecting--well, almost anything disastrous."
+
+"Oh, Dirk, what is that thing?" the girl asked. "I really am frightened!"
+
+He could see by the expression in her blue eyes that she, too, was
+becoming a victim of the hysteria that was taking possession of many
+people.
+
+"I wouldn't be alarmed, Inga," he replied reassuringly. "I don't know
+what it is, and no one else seems to be able to explain it."
+
+"But it is frightful and uncanny, Dirk," the girl insisted, "and I am
+sure that something terrible is going to happen. I wish," she pleaded,
+"that you would come over and stay with me for a little while. I am all
+alone and--"
+
+"All right, Inga," he told her. "I will be with you in a few minutes."
+
+He hung up the receiver of the televisor and clicked off the switch. The
+image of the golden-haired girl to whom he had been speaking slowly
+faded from the glass.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Attiring himself for a short sixty-mile hop down Long Island, Dirk
+passed out to the landing stage and, stepping into the cabin of his
+plane, he threw in the helicopter lever. The machine rose straight into
+the air for a couple of hundred feet and then Dirk headed it westward to
+where the nearest ascension beam sent its red light towering toward the
+stars. It marked a vertical air-lane that led upward to the horizontal
+lanes of flight.
+
+Northbound ships flew between two and four thousand feet; southbound
+planes between five and seven thousand feet; those eastbound confined
+themselves to the level between nine and eleven thousand feet, while the
+westbound flyers monopolized the air between twelve and fourteen
+thousand feet.
+
+All planes flying parallel to the earth were careful to avoid those red
+beacons which marked ascension routes, and the shafts of green light
+down which descending planes dropped to the earth or into lower levels
+of travel.
+
+When Dirk's altimeter indicated seventy-five hundred feet he turned the
+nose of his ship eastward and adjusted his rheostat until his motors,
+fed by wireless current, were revolving at top speed.
+
+The great canyons of Manhattan, linked by arches and highways which
+joined and passed through various levels of the stupendous structures of
+steelite and quartzite, passed swiftly beneath him; and, after passing
+for a few minutes over the deserted surface of Long Island, he completed
+his sixty-mile flight and brought his ship to a rest on a landing stage
+that was far up on the side of a vast pile that rose up close to the
+shore of the Sound.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+As soon as he stepped from the door of the cabin he was joined by a girl
+who, apparently, had been lingering there, awaiting his arrival.
+
+She was perhaps twenty years old, and she had the golden hair, the light
+complexion, and the blue eyes which still were characteristic of the
+women of northern Europe.
+
+The slender lines of her exquisite figure and the supple grace which she
+displayed when she moved toward Dirk were evidence, however, of the
+Latin blood which was in her veins.
+
+For Inga Fragoni, the daughter and heiress of Orlando Fragoni, seemed to
+be a culmination of all of the desirable qualities of the women of the
+south and those of the north.
+
+The terrace on which Dirk had landed was illuminated by lights which
+simulated sunshine, and their soft bright glow revealed the violet hue
+of her eyes and the shimmering gloss of her silken hair. She wore a
+sleeveless, light blue tunic which was gathered around her waist with a
+bejeweled girdle.
+
+On her tiny feet she wore sandals which were spun of webby filaments of
+gold and platinum.
+
+"Dirk, I am so glad that you are here!" she exclaimed. "I felt so much
+alone when I called you up. Dad is locked in the observatory with
+Professor Nachbaren and three or four other men and the servants--well,
+they all are so terrified that it simply alarms me to have them
+around."
+
+"But that is Stanton's plane there, isn't it?" asked Dirk, indicating a
+powerful looking machine that stood on the terrace.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Yes, Dirk," the girl replied. "He arrived here three or four minutes
+before you did. I thought, at first, that it was you coming. And Dirk,"
+she continued, with a note of excitement in her voice, "he flew up to
+look at that thing, and I know that he is as frightened about it as I
+am."
+
+Dirk grunted, but he gave no expression of the dislike and distrust that
+Stanton aroused in him. The latter, he knew, was very much inclined to
+look with favor on Inga, and his presumption annoyed Dirk because, while
+he and the girl had not declared their intention of living together,
+they were very much in love with each other.
+
+"You will want to hear him tell about it, I know, Dirk," the girl said.
+"I left Stanton up on the garden terrace when I saw you coming down.
+Come; we will go and join him."
+
+Dirk and Inga strolled slowly along paths which were lined with exotic
+shrubbery and plants. Here and there a fountain tossed its glittering
+spray high into the air while birds, invisible in the feathery foliage,
+warbled and thrilled entrancingly. Soft music, transmitted from the
+auditoriums below, blended so harmoniously with the atmosphere of the
+terraces that it seemed to mingle with and be a part of the drifting,
+subtle scents of the abundant flowers which bloomed on every side.
+
+For these upper terraces of Fragoni's palace were enclosed, during
+inclement weather, with great glass plates which, at the touch of a
+button, automatically appeared or disappeared.
+
+Winding their way easily upward, Dirk and Inga came finally to a
+secluded terrace which overlooked the Sound. Here they saw Stanton, who
+was unaware of their approach, looking skyward at the dim and sinister
+shape which was outlined against the sky. Stanton's brow was contracted
+and his expression was filled with apprehension. He started suddenly
+when he became conscious of the presence of Dirk and the lovely daughter
+of Fragoni.
+
+He rose to his feet, a short man in his forties, stocky in build and
+somewhat swarthy in complexion. He contrasted very unfavorably with
+Dirk, who was tall and well-built and who had abundant blond hair and
+steady steel-blue eyes.
+
+"What do you make of that thing, Vanderpool?" he asked, almost ignoring
+the presence of Inga.
+
+"I don't know enough about it yet to be able to express an opinion,"
+Dirk replied. "We will find out about it soon enough," he added, "so why
+worry about it in the meantime?"
+
+"It is well enough to affect such an attitude," said Stanton, with a
+touch of sarcasm in his voice, "but let me tell you, Vanderpool, that
+there is good reason to worry about it."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Dirk frowned at the statement as he saw a shadow pass over the fair face
+of Inga.
+
+"That thing up there," continued Stanton, with conviction in his voice,
+"is not a natural phenomenon. I flew fairly close to it in my plane and
+I know what I am speaking about. That thing is some sort of a monster,
+Vanderpool, that is made of metal or of some composition that is an
+unearthly equivalent of metal. It is a diabolical creation of some sort
+that has come from out of the fathomless depths of the universe." He
+shuddered at the fantasy that his feverish imagination was creating. "It
+is metal, I tell you," he continued, "but it is metal that is endowed
+with some sort of intelligence. I was up there," he breathed swiftly,
+"and I saw it hanging there in the sky, quivering with heat and life."
+
+"You are nervous, Stanton," said Vanderpool coolly. "Get a grip on
+yourself, man, and look at the thing reasonably. If that thing has
+intelligence," he added, "we will find some way to slay it."
+
+"Slay it!" exclaimed Stanton. "How can you expect to slay a mad creation
+that can leap through space, from world to world, like a wasp goes
+darting from flower to flower? How can you kill a thing which not only
+defies absolute zero but also the immeasurable heat which its friction
+with the atmosphere generated when it plunged toward the earth? How can
+you kill a thing that seems to have brains and nerves and bones and
+flesh of some strange substance that is harder and tougher than any
+earthly compound we have discovered?"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+He stopped speaking for a moment. They listened to the voice that was
+broadcasting from the Worldwide Tower.
+
+"--our planes have approached to within a few thousand feet of it
+and are playing their searchlights over the surface of the leviathan.
+It is not a meteorite of any kind that scientists have heretofore
+examined--its surface is smooth and unpitted and shows no apparent
+effect of the tremendous heat to which it was subjected during its drop
+through the atmosphere. It seems to be immune to gravity--its weight
+must be tremendous, and it is fully three-quarters of a mile long and
+between seven and eight hundred feet in diameter at its widest part, but
+it lies motionless--motionless--at about forty thousand feet."
+
+"It doesn't appear now as if it would prove very dangerous," remarked
+Dirk.
+
+"--and people are warned again to maintain their composure and to go to
+their homes and remain there for their own protection and the protection
+of others. Riots and serious disturbances are reported from cities in
+all parts of the world--mobs are swarming the streets of Manhattan and
+the other boroughs of New York, and the police are finding it difficult
+to restrain the frenzied populations in other centers...."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+There was a pause, then, of some moments, and then the voice of the
+broadcaster, vibrant with excitement, was heard again.
+
+"--a plane has made a landing on the surface of the monstrosity, which,
+it seems, has not only lost its heat but is becoming decidedly cold--"
+
+A servant appeared from among the shrubbery and paused before Dirk.
+
+"There is a call for you, Mr. Vanderpool," he said respectfully.
+
+Dirk excused himself and, entering the sumptuous apartment that opened
+from the terrace, went to the televisor. He saw the face of Sears, the
+chief secretary of Fragoni, in the glass panel.
+
+"There will be a meeting of the council at nine o'clock in the morning,
+Mr. Vanderpool," came the voice over the wire.
+
+"Thank you, Sears," replied Dirk. "It happens that Stanton is here at
+the present time. Shall I notify him of the conclave?"
+
+"If you will, please," Sears responded. "By the way, Mr. Vanderpool, is
+there anything wrong at your apartment? I tried to call you there before
+I located you here and I failed to get any response."
+
+"I guess that all of my servants have run out from under cover because
+of their fear of that thing in the sky," Dirk responded. "Do you know
+anything about it, Sears?" he asked.
+
+"It will be discussed at the meeting to-morrow morning," replied Sears
+shortly. "Good night, Mr. Vanderpool."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Dirk, upon returning to the terrace, saw that both Stanton and Inga were
+silently and fearfully looking up into the night.
+
+"A meeting of the council at nine o'clock in the morning, Stanton," Dirk
+said abruptly. "I told Sears I would notify you."
+
+"I thought that we would be called together very soon," said Stanton.
+"It's concerning that damn thing up there."
+
+"Perhaps," agreed Dirk carelessly. "Well," he added, "I believe that I
+will hop home and get some sleep."
+
+"Sleep!" exclaimed Stanton. "Sleep? On a night like this?"
+
+"Oh, Dirk," pleaded Inga, "stay here with me, won't you? I am not going
+to bed because I just know that I wouldn't be able to close my eyes."
+
+"Let him go, Inga, if he wants to sleep," urged Stanton. "I will stay
+here and keep watch with you."
+
+"--and if order is not restored in the streets of Manhattan within the
+course of a short time, the authorities will resort to morphite gas to
+quell the turbulence and rioting--"
+
+"The streets must be frightfully congested," said Inga. "It is the first
+occasion in a long time that the police have had to threaten the use of
+morphite."
+
+"--we do not want to alarm people unnecessarily but we have to report,"
+came the hurried voice of the broadcaster, "that the monstrous mass that
+has been hanging above the city just made a sudden drop of five thousand
+feet and again came to a stop. It is now a little more than six miles
+over Manhattan and--again it has dropped. This time it fell like a
+plummet for twelve thousand feet. It is now about twenty thousand feet,
+some four miles, above Manhattan and--"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A cry of alarm came from the lips of Inga as she gazed upward and saw
+that gigantic, ominous-appearing object loom dim and vast in the
+darkness above them.
+
+She went to Dirk and threw her arms around him, as if she were clinging
+to him for protection.
+
+"Don't leave me, Dirk," she whispered. "I can just feel that something
+terrible is going to happen, and I want you with me!"
+
+"I'll stay with you, of course," whispered Dirk. Something of that
+feeling of dread and apprehension which so fully possessed his two
+companions entered into his mind. "Don't tremble so, Inga," he pleaded.
+"It is a strange thing, but we will know more about it in the morning.
+Be calm until then, my dear, if you can."
+
+He looked over the shoulder of the girl, whose face was buried against
+his breast, and he saw a hundred great red and green shafts of light
+shooting up into the air. Fleeting shadows seemed to pass swiftly up and
+down them, and he knew that thousands of planes were abroad, some of
+them seeking the heights and others dropping down.
+
+The great towers of Long Island were all aglow, and it was apparent that
+few people were sleeping that night. The scarlet sky over Manhattan
+indicated that the center of the metropolis, too, was alive to the
+menace of the weird visitant that now was so plainly visible.
+
+All night long they remained on the terrace. Dirk and Inga seated close
+together and Stanton, at a distance, brooding alone over the disaster
+which he felt was impending.
+
+The illuminated dial of the great clock that was a part of the
+beacon-tower on the Metropole Landing Field told of the slow passing of
+the hours.
+
+All night long they listened to the reports that came through the
+radiovisor and watched that immobile, threatening monster of metal.
+
+But it remained static during the rest of the night. And, with the
+coming of a gray and sunless dawn, it still hung there, motionless,
+silent and sinister.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The next morning the President of the United States of the World, from
+the capitol at The Hague, issued a proclamation of martial law, to
+become effective at once in all parts of the world.
+
+The edict forbade people to leave their homes, and it was vigorously
+executed, wherever the police themselves were not in a state of
+demoralization.
+
+At about the same time a special meeting of the Supreme Congress was
+called, the body to remain in session until some solution of the mystery
+had been arrived at.
+
+At the same time that martial law was declared, however, and the special
+assemblage of lawmakers convened, a statement was issued in which an
+attempt was made to eliminate from the minds of the people the idea that
+the undefinable object above the metropolis was at all dangerous.
+
+It was, indeed, suggested that it very probably was some sort of new
+device which had been constructed on the earth and which was being
+introduced to the people of the world in a somewhat sensational manner
+by the person or persons who were responsible for it.
+
+The fears of the populace were, to some extent, allayed by this means,
+and some degree of order restored.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+At nine o'clock Dirk Vanderpool was shown into the council chamber in
+the palace of Orlando Fragoni, and he was closely followed by Stanton.
+Fragoni was already there, and he greeted the two men with a countenance
+that was serene but that, nevertheless, revealed indications of concern.
+He was a man past middle age, tall and strikingly handsome in
+appearance. His eyes were dark and penetrating and his forehead, high
+and wide, was crowned by an abundance of snow-white hair. His voice,
+while pleasing to the ear, was vibrant with life and energy, and he
+spoke with the incisive directness of one accustomed to command.
+
+For Orlando Fragoni, as nearly as any one man might be, was the ruler of
+the world.
+
+It was in the early part of the twentieth century that wealth had
+commenced to concentrate into a relatively few hands. This was followed
+by a period in which vast mergers and consolidations had been effected
+as a result of the financial power and genius for organization which a
+few men possessed. A confederation of the countries of the world was
+brought about by industrial kings who had learned, in one devastating
+war, that militarism, while it might bring riches to a few, was, in the
+final analysis, destructive and wasteful.
+
+Mankind the world over, relieved of the menace of war, made more
+progress in a decade than they had made in any previous century, but all
+the time the invisible concentration of power and money continued.
+
+And, in 1975, the affairs of the world were controlled by five men, of
+whom Orlando Fragoni was the most powerful and most important.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+His grandfather had been a small banker, and out of his obscure
+transactions the great House of Fragoni had arisen. The money power of
+the world was now controlled by Orlando Fragoni. Dirk Vanderpool, partly
+as a result of a vast inheritance and partly through his own ability and
+untiring industry, dominated the transportation facilities of the world.
+Planes and Zeppelins, railroad equipment and ships, were built in his
+plants and operated by the many organizations which he controlled.
+
+Stanton had inherited the agricultural activities of the world and, in
+addition to this, he was the sovereign of distribution. He owned immense
+acreages in all of the continents; he not only cultivated every known
+variety of produce, but also handled the sale of his products through
+his own great chains of stores. His father had been one of the great
+geniuses of the preceding generation, but Stanton, while inheriting the
+commercial empire which he had ruled, had not inherited much of the
+ability which had gone into the establishment of it.
+
+There were two other members of that invisible council of Five, the
+very existence of which was not even suspected by the general populace
+of the world.
+
+Sigmund Lazarre was the world's mightiest builder, and millions of great
+structures, which were built of material from his own mines, were under
+his control. It was Lazarre, too, who owned the theaters and other
+amusement centers in which millions upon millions of people sought
+relaxation every day. The creation and application of electrical power
+made up the domain of Wilhelm Steinholt, who also owned the factories
+that made the machinery of the world.
+
+Absolute control of all of the necessities and luxuries of life, in
+fact, were in the hands of the five men, who used their vast power
+wisely and beneficently.
+
+Ostensibly the peoples of the world ruled themselves by means of a
+democratic form of government.
+
+In reality their lives were directed by a few men whose power and wealth
+were entirely unsuspected by any but those who were close to them.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The council room in which Fragoni had received Dirk and Stanton was
+lofty and sumptuously appointed.
+
+The rugs which covered the floor were soft to the tread, and the walls
+and ceiling were adorned with a series of murals which represented the
+various heavenly constellations.
+
+At the far end of the chamber there was a staircase, and Dirk was among
+those who knew that it led up to the great observatory in which Fragoni
+and certain of his scientific associates spent so much of their time at
+night.
+
+For men had commenced to talk about the conquest of the stars, and it
+was generally believed that it would not be many years more before a way
+would be found to traverse the interplanetary spaces.
+
+"We are rather fortunate, my friends," Fragoni said to his two
+associates, "to have been the witnesses of the event that transpired
+last night."
+
+"Fortunate!" exclaimed Stanton. "Then you know that the thing is
+harmless?"
+
+A little smile lit the benign and scholarly countenance of Fragoni as he
+calmly regarded Stanton.
+
+"We know very little about it," he replied after a brief pause, "and, if
+our surmises are correct, it may be very far from harmless. It is
+intensely interesting, nevertheless," he continued, "because that thing,
+as you term it, unquestionably is directed by intelligence. Without the
+slightest doubt the people of the earth are about to behold a form of
+life from some far-away planet. What that form will be," he added, with
+an almost imperceptible shrug of his shoulders, "it is impossible to
+forecast."
+
+"But it was so hot," commenced Stanton, "that--"
+
+"True," agreed Fragoni, "but it also is large and it may be that only
+the outer shell of it was affected by friction with the atmosphere that
+surrounds the earth. Nachbaren," he continued, "is certain that there is
+intelligent life within it; and Nachbaren," he added dryly, "is usually
+right."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+While Fragoni had been speaking, two more men had quietly joined them.
+
+"Good morning, Lazarre," Fragoni said, addressing a short, swarthy man
+who, very apparently, was of Jewish extraction.
+
+"Good morning," the other replied in a soft and mellifluous voice. "It
+seems," he continued, with a twinkle in his eyes, "as if some of my
+pretty buildings may be toppled over soon."
+
+"Maybe," agreed Fragoni. "And maybe," he added more seriously, "much
+more than your buildings will be toppled over, Lazarre."
+
+"That thing, then, is...?" questioned the heavy-set, slow-speaking,
+blue-eyed Teuton who had come into the room with Lazarre.
+
+"We do not know, Steinholt," admitted Fragoni, "but our knowledge
+undoubtedly will be increased considerably within the next few hours.
+And now," he said, "we will consider the problem at hand."
+
+"--the object which has created such unrest is slowly rising. It is now
+some twenty-five thousand feet above Manhattan. It is--"
+
+The voice from the radiovisor attracted the attention of the five men,
+and, with one accord, they rushed to the terrace and looked toward
+Manhattan. They saw the great leviathan high in the air for a moment,
+and then, suddenly, it seemed to vanish from sight.
+
+"It's gone!" exclaimed Stanton, with a sigh of relief. "It must have
+been some odd atmospheric freak, that's all."
+
+They searched the skies through the luciscope that was on the terrace,
+but failed to detect any trace of the monster.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"That seems to simplify matters," remarked Fragoni as they again walked
+back into the great conference room. But here, once more, they heard the
+voice from the Worldwide Tower.
+
+"--we are advised by Chicago that the thing, dull-red with heat, is
+hovering only a couple of thousand feet over the city. Thousands in the
+streets are being killed by the heat it is radiating--panic reigns,
+despite a rigorous enforcement of martial law. The strange object just
+rose suddenly to a high altitude and disappeared--"
+
+"It's another one of those damned things," asserted Stanton. "That
+couldn't go a thousand miles a minute!"
+
+"It can go faster than that, if I am not mistaken," said Fragoni. And it
+presently appeared that he was right, for in a couple of minutes the
+radiovisor transmitted the news that it was over San Francisco, where it
+remained for only a few seconds. It was not more than a minute later
+that word came from Shanghai that it had passed slowly over that city.
+Then again it was poised high over Manhattan, crimson with heat.
+
+"Is there any possible defense against it, Steinholt?" Fragoni asked.
+The Teuton shook his head with an air of finality.
+
+"None," he said, "as far as I can determine now. We can create and
+direct artificial lightning that would reduce this building to a mass of
+powdered stone and fused metal in a fraction of a second. But I am
+certain that it wouldn't leave as much as a scratch on that monster up
+there. We might try the Z-Rays on it, but an intelligence that could
+devise such a craft would undoubtedly have the wisdom to protect it
+against such an elementary menace as rays. Even the mightiest explosives
+that we have wouldn't send a tremor through that mighty mass."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Why not await developments?" asked Dirk. "We do not even know the
+nature of the thing we are trying to combat."
+
+"It's solid metal," insisted Stanton tenaciously. "It's a metal body
+with a metal brain."
+
+"Don't be ridiculous," said Steinholt. "It seems quite apparent that the
+craft has come from another planet, and, if I am not greatly mistaken,
+there are intelligent creatures inside it."
+
+"In any event," said Dirk, "it seems impractical to make any plans until
+we know more about it. I suggest that we empower Fragoni to act for the
+rest of us in this matter."
+
+"That is very agreeable to me," said Steinholt. "A crisis very possibly
+may arise in which the quick judgment of one man may be necessary to
+avert the danger that always is inherent in delay."
+
+"You hold my proxy," Lazarre said to Fragoni, "and I assume that Stanton
+is agreeable to this procedure."
+
+"--the thing is moving very slowly eastward in the direction of Long
+Island Sound. It is, at the same time, losing altitude. Its movements
+are being carefully watched. As yet we see no cause for immediate
+alarm--people are advised to remain calm--"
+
+"Yes, I am agreeable," said Stanton nervously and hastily. "If there are
+things in it with which we can compromise, I would suggest that we do
+not offend them."
+
+"I am, then, empowered to act for all of you," said Fragoni, ignoring
+the suggestion of Stanton.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+He rose from his chair and walked out on the terrace. The others
+followed after him.
+
+Looking westward, they saw the mammoth craft descending slowly in their
+direction.
+
+Its vast dimensions became more and more apparent as, spellbound, they
+watched it approach closer and closer to them.
+
+The thing in the sky was now not more than three thousand feet above
+them and only a few miles to the westward.
+
+The observers on the terrace regarded it for a moment in silence as it
+drifted forward and downward.
+
+"It's colossal!" Steinholt then exclaimed, lost in scientific admiration
+of the mammoth craft. "Magnificent! Superb!"
+
+"But it's coming right toward us!" cried Stanton.
+
+"What makes it move, I wonder?" asked Dirk. "And how in the world is it
+controlled?"
+
+"It surely is not of this world," said Fragoni quietly. "That gigantic
+thing has come to us from somewhere out of the infinite and terrible
+depths of space."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Another minute elapsed while they watched it, speechless with wonder.
+
+"Do you know," Lazarre then said calmly, "I believe that it is going to
+land in the waters of the Sound. It appears so to me, anyway."
+
+It was nearly opposite them by this time, and not more than a thousand
+feet above the water. A few planes which, very apparently, were being
+flown by intrepid and fearless flyers, were hovering close around it.
+
+Then finally it came to rest, as Lazarre had predicted, in the water
+some two miles off shore, and it was obscured by a great cloud of vapor
+for several minutes.
+
+"Steam," asserted Steinholt. "That trip around the world, which it made
+in a few minutes, generated considerable frictional heat in the shell."
+
+"Come," said Fragoni, "we'll fly out and look the thing over."
+
+Around the corner of the building, on the level of the terrace, there
+was a landing stage which was occupied by a number of planes of various
+sizes.
+
+Dirk entered the door of a small twenty passenger speedster, and the
+others filed in after him.
+
+"Ready?" he asked, after he had seated himself at the controls.
+
+"Ready!" replied Fragoni.
+
+The plane rose straight up into the air and then darted gracefully out
+over the Sound.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Dirk swooped straight down at the leviathan which lay so quietly on the
+surface of the Sound and then slowly circled around it. No sign of an
+aperture of any sort could be seen in the craft. Then he dropped the
+plane lightly on the water, close to the metallic monster, which towered
+fully four hundred feet above them, despite the fact that more than half
+of it was submerged.
+
+"It must be hollow," remarked Steinholt, "or it wouldn't be so far out
+of the water. In fact, it most certainly would sink, if it was solid."
+
+At the touch of a lever which lay under one of Dirk's hands the plane
+rose straight out of the water, and he maneuvered it directly over the
+top of the strange enigma. Then he touched a button and the pontoons
+were drawn up into the undercarriage of the craft.
+
+"Shall I make a landing on it?" he asked, turning his head and
+addressing Fragoni.
+
+The latter nodded his head, and Dirk dropped the ship gently onto the
+smooth surface of the monster, the pneumatic gearing completely
+absorbing the shock of the landing.
+
+Dirk relinquished the controls and, opening the door of the cabin, he
+stepped out onto the rough and pitted substance of which the leviathan
+was compounded. He stood there while the others came out after him.
+
+A large area on the top of the monster was perfectly flat and, within a
+very few moments, Dirk discovered that it was decidedly warm. He had
+brought the plane down close to the middle of the length of the strange
+craft in the belief that there, if anywhere, some indication of an
+entrance might be found.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The voice of Steinholt, tense with suppressed excitement, appraised him
+that his surmise had been correct.
+
+"There is a manhole of some sort," the electrical wizard exclaimed. "And
+look, it is turning!"
+
+They saw, not far ahead of them, a circular twelve-foot section of the
+deck slowly revolving, and, even as they watched, it commenced to rise
+slowly upward as the threads with which it was provided turned gradually
+around.
+
+Almost involuntarily they retreated a few feet and stood there,
+spellbound, as they stared at the massive, revolving section of the
+deck.
+
+It continued to turn until fully ten feet of the mobile cylinder had
+been exposed. Then the bottom of it appeared. Even then it continued to
+revolve and rise on a comparatively small shaft which supported it and,
+at the same time, thrust it upward. Dirk and his companions kept their
+eyes on the rim of the well which had been exposed, and awaited the
+appearance of something, they knew not what. When the top of the great
+cylinder was fully twelve feet above the deck of the craft it slowly
+ceased to revolve.
+
+Moment succeeded moment as the members of the little group rigidly and
+almost breathlessly awaited developments.
+
+Then Dirk, with an impatient ejaculation, stepped forward toward the
+yawning hole and cautiously peered over the edge of it.
+
+He stood there for a moment, as if transfixed, and then, with an
+exclamation of horror, retreated swiftly to where his friends were
+standing.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"What is it?" gasped Steinholt. "What did you see when--"
+
+But the words died on his lips for, swarming swiftly over every side of
+the well, there poured an array of erect, piercing-eyed beings, who had
+all the characteristics of humans. They were clad in tight-fitting
+attire of thin and pliant metal which, with the exception of their
+faces, shielded them from head to foot. On their heads they wore
+close-fitting helmets, apparently equipped with visors which could be
+drawn down to cover their unprepossessing features.
+
+Each one of them carried a tube which bore a striking resemblance to a
+portable electric flashlight.
+
+Swiftly they advanced, in ranks of eight, toward Dirk and his companions
+who, gripped with amazement, held their positions.
+
+The first line came to a halt not more than four feet from the little
+group on the deck. The other lines halted, too, and formed a great
+platoon. Then a shrill whistle sounded and the formation parted in the
+middle, leaving an open path that led backward to the entrance, to the
+well.
+
+A moment later the watchers saw the regal figure of a man emerge from
+the orifice and, after a moment's pause, advance slowly in their
+direction with a stately stride.
+
+He was tall and muscular and blond and his attire, golden in texture,
+glittered with sparkling gems.
+
+As he approached them he raised his right hand and, inasmuch as his
+countenance was calm and benign, his gesture appeared to be one of
+peace and good-will.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Following close behind him there was a younger man who, very apparently,
+was of the same lineage. His expression, however, was petulant and
+haughty and it contained more than a suggestion of rapacity and evil.
+
+Behind him there were others of the same fair type, all of them
+sumptuously and ornately attired.
+
+Fragoni stepped forward, himself a dignified and striking figure, as the
+leader of the strange adventurers came forth from the lane that had been
+formed by his immobile guard of warriors.
+
+The two men confronted each other, one whose power and wealth gave him a
+dominate position on earth, and the other a personage from some domain
+that was remote in the abyss of space.
+
+Fragoni bowed and spoke a few friendly words of welcome and the
+stranger, to the utter amazement of the banker and his associates,
+responded in an English that was rather peculiar in accent but that they
+could understand without any difficulty.
+
+"From what part of the world do you come," asked the astounded Fragoni,
+"that you speak our language?"
+
+"We come from no part of this world," replied the stranger. "The empire
+of my ruler is infinitely far away. But language, my friend, is not a
+thing of accident. Life grows out of the substance of the universe and
+language comes out of life. The speech of mankind, in your state of
+development, varies but little throughout all space and I have heard
+your English, as you call it, spoken among those who dwell in many, many
+worlds."
+
+"And your world?" asked Steinholt with avid curiosity. "Tell us of the
+planet from which you come."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+But Fragoni, smiling at the eagerness of Steinholt, interposed with a
+kindly but arresting gesture.
+
+"My name is Fragoni," he said to the stranger, "and I would have you
+partake, of my hospitality and refresh yourself after your long journey.
+These," he added, "are my friends, Steinholt, Vanderpool and Lazarre."
+
+"I am Teuxical, vassal of his Supreme Highness, Malfero of Lodore," the
+other replied. "This is my son, Zitlan," he continued, indicating the
+young man behind him, "and the others are my high captains, Anteucan,
+Orzitza and Huazibar. More of my officers are below together with ten
+thousand armed and armored men such as you see before you."
+
+If the last part of the statement was intended as a threat or a warning,
+the expression on Fragoni's face gave no indication that he was aware of
+it.
+
+"You carry a large crew, sir," Fragoni replied, "but we gladly will make
+provisions for all of your men. As for yourself, your son, and your
+captains, if you will come with me...."
+
+He nodded in the direction of the plane which rested on the great
+interplanetary vessel and started to walk slowly in the direction of it.
+The leader of the skymen walked by his side and the other men from
+Lodore followed close after them.
+
+Dirk, Steinholt and Lazarre brought up the rear, while the soldiers
+remained motionless in their serried array.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Innumerable planes were circling overhead and hundreds of them had
+landed on the water in the vicinity. Dirk saw that the wanderers from
+the stars regarded them curiously as if they never before had seen
+aircraft of that particular type.
+
+When the cabin door of the plane was thrown open, Teuxical turned to one
+of his captains.
+
+"Remain here, Anteucan, with the soldiers," he commanded, "and await our
+return."
+
+Teuxical then entered the plane with his men and Fragoni, Steinholt and
+Lazarre followed after them. Then Dirk took his seat at the controls.
+
+"These are strange craft you use," he heard Teuxical say. "I have seen
+them in only one of the multitude of other worlds on which I have set my
+feet, worlds which all pay tribute to Malfero of Lodore. It is safer and
+swifter to ride the magnetic currents than it is to ride the unstable
+currents of the air."
+
+Dirk caught the significance of the reference to tribute and he admired
+the clever diplomacy of Teuxical while, at the same time, he wondered if
+the earth and all of those who dwelt upon it were doomed to fall under
+the sway of some remote and unseen despot.
+
+He also realized that the Lodorians had, in some way, devised a craft
+that rode the great magnetic streams which flowed through the universe
+in much the same way that men, in ships, navigated the streams of the
+earth.
+
+He threw on the helicopter switch and the plane rose swiftly into the
+air, the myriad other flying craft which were circling nearby keeping at
+a safe distance from it.
+
+"Land on the grand terrace," Fragoni directed. The flight was short and
+rapid and it was only a matter of seconds before Dirk brought the plane
+down on the landing stage which they had left only a scant half-hour
+before.
+
+He opened the cabin door and stepped out of the plane and the others
+filed out after him.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Fragoni led the way along the stage, walking and chatting with Teuxical,
+and Dirk, following after the others, was the last to turn a corner that
+brought him a sweeping view of the magnificent terrace that fronted the
+private apartments of the banker and his daughter.
+
+And, when he did, he saw that Inga was standing there, superbly
+beautiful, with Stanton a few paces behind her.
+
+Her lovely eyes were alive with awe and wonder and her slender white
+hands were crossed over her heart.
+
+And Dirk saw, too, that Zitlan, son of Teuxical, had paused and was
+standing quite still, with his unwavering and insolent eyes fixed on
+the girl. Resentment, and a touch of apprehension, agitated Dirk when he
+saw the expression on the face of the young Lodorian.
+
+There was admiration in that disagreeable countenance, but it was
+blended with arrogance, haughtiness and ill-concealed desire.
+
+Dirk went quickly to Inga, standing between the girl and the one from
+Lodore who was staring at her so brazenly.
+
+"What does it all mean, Dirk?" she asked in a low voice. "Those strange
+people, where are they from?"
+
+Stanton had come quickly forward and had joined Inga and Dirk.
+
+"They are from some far-off world, Inga," he explained, "that we know
+nothing about as yet."
+
+"But what do they want?" she persisted. "What do they intend to do? I
+saw those horrible creatures through the magnascope when they came
+swarming out of the inside of that thing on the water and I thought, at
+first, that they were going to kill you all."
+
+"No, they seem to come in peace," Dirk replied. "Teuxical, their leader,
+seems to be gracious and kindly."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"We are all doomed," asserted Stanton, "unless something happens. They
+can crumble our cities with heat and bury us under the ruins of them."
+
+"Keep your silence!" breathed Dirk, quietly but tensely. "We will find a
+way to destroy those creatures if it becomes necessary."
+
+"That man who keeps staring at me, who is he?" asked Inga in a voice
+that betrayed her nervousness.
+
+Dirk turned and saw that Zitlan was still standing where he had paused
+and that he still was looking with searching eyes in the direction of
+the girl.
+
+He returned the insolent gaze of the young Lodorian with an impatient
+and threatening stare and the countenance of Zitlan at once became
+stern and menacing. He came striding in the direction of Inga, Dirk and
+Stanton and paused within a few feet of them, his rapacious eyes still
+fixed on the girl.
+
+"My lady," he said, "your beauty pleases me. I have walked on many
+worlds but never before have I seen one as lovely as yourself. Of the
+spoils of this world, all that I crave possession of is you. When we
+return to Lodore," he added with an air of finality, "I will take you
+with me and place you with my other women in the Seraglio of the
+Stars."
+
+Dirk swiftly stepped close to Zitlan and the latter quickly clasped a
+tube that hung at his side, a tube of the sort that the soldiers had
+carried.
+
+"Your words and your manner are insolent," asserted Dirk angrily, "and I
+warn you now to cease making yourself offensive."
+
+"Dog!" exclaimed Zitlan fiercely, leveling the metal tube, "I'll--"
+
+But the left fist of Dirk cut short his threat as it made a sudden
+impact with his chin, and the Lodorian went crashing backward into some
+exotic shrubbery with a look of surprise on his countenance.
+
+Then Dirk heard an odd hissing and crackling sound, and he felt himself
+becoming dizzy and weak.
+
+Darkness seemed to sweep in upon him; he felt that he was dropping
+swiftly through space, and then he lost consciousness.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A vague and shadowy figure was standing close by his side and peering
+down into his face. After a while he realized that it was Steinholt.
+
+"Steinholt!" he gasped. "Why--why am I here--in Fragoni's? I must have
+had a dream--and yet...."
+
+He furrowed his brow in thought and, gradually, he commenced to remember
+what had happened.
+
+"It was no dream," said the scientist softly. "Do you remember the
+trouble that you had with Zitlan?"
+
+"Yes," replied Dirk. "I remember that he was insolent to Inga and that I
+lost my temper and struck him. But what happened to me? I don't recall
+that anybody hit me. I did hear sort of a peculiar sound just before I
+started to pass out, but--"
+
+"Teuxical took a shot at you," said Steinholt, "and you have been
+unconscious for over thirty-six hours."
+
+"Took a shot at me!" exclaimed Dirk. "What did he shoot me with?"
+
+"That is what we all would like to know," said Steinholt. "He leveled
+one of those damn tubes at you and pressed a button on it. There was a
+hissing sound, a flash of light, and you got groggy, and went out. He
+potted Zitlan, too," continued Steinholt, "and he apologized for the
+trouble that his son was responsible for. Do you know," he added, "I
+sort of like the old man."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Lazarre, with a sympathetic smile on his face, entered the room at that
+moment and overheard the conversation.
+
+"Old man is right," he remarked, with a little note of awe in his voice.
+"Teuxical admits that he is three thousand years old and that he has at
+least two thousand more ahead of him. That Lodore must be a queer
+world," he commented, shaking his grizzly head.
+
+"It is not so queer when you take everything into consideration," said
+Steinholt. "It seems quite natural when Teuxical explains it. Lodore it
+seems, is something like a hundred thousand times as big as this
+miniature world we live on. It took Lodore infinitely longer to solidify
+from a gaseous state than it took this world, and its entire evolution
+has been relatively slower than ours. Therefore, according to Teuxical,
+the people up there live longer and, incidentally, know infinitely more
+than we do."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"What time is it now?" asked Dirk, after a moment of thought.
+
+"It is just about twelve o'clock at night," Steinholt informed him.
+
+"Have these Lodorians made any demands yet?" Dirk asked. "Does anybody
+know what they are going to do or what they want?"
+
+"They are liable to do almost anything," said Lazarre, "and it looks as
+though they will be able to get anything that they want. Teuxical, as I
+understand it, just gave you a slight shock with his death-ray device.
+If he had pulled the trigger all the way you would have become just a
+little pile of dust that the first breeze would have blown away."
+
+"Our own death-rays are somewhat similar," said Steinholt, "but they are
+not a hundredth as powerful. And they won't work on the Lodorians,
+either," he added, "because those metal sheaths that they wear make them
+immune to all kinds of destructive rays."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"It appears," remarked Lazarre morosely, "as if this little world of
+ours is going to be taken for a ride. And it's too bad, considering that
+it's the only world we've got. There has been no formal presentation of
+demands yet, but it seems to be sort of understood that the earth is
+going to become a tributary of Lodore. It is a good thing," he added,
+"that Teuxical, and not Zitlan, is the boss of that outfit. I don't like
+the looks of that young fellow. He's only twelve hundred years old and
+he is sort of hot-blooded, I guess."
+
+"I was talking with Anteucan," said Steinholt, "and he told me that the
+Lodorians usually make heavy levies on worlds which they discover and
+dominate. As soon as Teuxical returns to Lodore and announces a new
+discovery a fleet of those damned monsters is sent out to mop up the new
+planet. That Malfero, who is the emperor of Lodore, is considerable of a
+monarch, and it seems that he has a passion for piling up wealth. Gold
+and platinum are as precious on Lodore as they are here and he also
+likes pretty stones."
+
+"And what is worse," added Steinholt, "is his practice of enslaving
+entire populations and making toilers or warriors out of them. Those
+soldiers on the ship are not Lodorians. Millions of them were seized on
+some planet and converted into troops. It was a strange conversion,
+too," said Steinholt with a shudder. "Their brains were operated on and
+most of their faculties removed. They have no sense of fear, no
+consciences, no power of reasoning. They respond only to certain signals
+on a whistle and their only definite and active impulse is that of
+murder and destruction."
+
+"There is nothing to do," said Dirk positively, "but to kill all of
+these interlopers, if we hope to save our world from being desolated."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The three men looked at each other in silence for a moment and then
+Dirk, somewhat weakly, rose into a sitting position in the bed which he
+had been occupying.
+
+"But how," asked Steinholt, "can we kill them? We might, of course, get
+rid of a few of them, but that simply would lead to our destruction by
+those who were left."
+
+"There must be some way," asserted Dirk, "and it is up to us to think of
+it without delay. If we let those Lodorians get a foothold on the world
+all will be lost."
+
+"The old man seems to be reasonable enough," said Lazarre. "He doesn't
+seem inclined to be destructive."
+
+"We must not trust him or any of the others," said Dirk imperatively.
+"We must rid the earth of every one of them. And the sooner we strike
+the better!"
+
+"It had best be soon if it is to be at all," said Steinholt. "Fragoni
+has arranged to have Teuxical appear before the Congress, and the
+meeting has been called for to-night when, I imagine, certain specific
+demands will be made upon us. We all will go to The Hague together on
+the ship of the Lodorians."
+
+"And we leave?" questioned Dirk.
+
+"The meeting is set for ten P. M., New York time," said Lazarre. "We
+will start east at about four o'clock in the morning, I guess, because
+it will only take a minute or so to arrive at our destination."
+
+"Is Fragoni going?" asked Dirk.
+
+"Naturally," replied Lazarre.
+
+"And Inga?"
+
+"I believe so," Lazarre told him. "Fragoni was both afraid to take her
+and to leave her behind, but finally he decided that he wanted her with
+him in case of trouble."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"And are they--the Lodorians--still here?" queried Dirk.
+
+"Yes," responded Lazarre. "Teuxical returned to his ship last night with
+Zitlan and his other followers, but they came back late this afternoon,
+and they are still here. Zitlan seemed to be all right this afternoon,
+too. They must have used some means of bringing him out of the daze that
+he was in. We did everything we could to revive you, but none of our
+measures were effective."
+
+"I'm all right now," asserted Dirk, as he finished attiring himself. "I
+want to see Fragoni at once."
+
+"We'll go out on the terrace then," said Steinholt. "They are all out
+there."
+
+Dirk, with his two companions, strolled out through the maze of rooms
+and corridors that led to the garden which hung so high above the city
+and the Sound below it.
+
+The first thing that Dirk saw, when he passed out onto the terrace, was
+the white tunic of Inga, who was leaning against a coping and talking
+with Zitlan.
+
+The latter was pointing skyward and, very apparently, he was telling her
+of worlds which circled high among the stars.
+
+As if she were suddenly aware of his presence, Inga turned and saw Dirk
+and he realized, by the expression on her face, that she was distraught
+and nervous. She came toward him quickly, after a few words to Zitlan,
+and the face of the latter darkened. There was hatred in his expression
+as he stared malevolently at Dirk.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Steinholt and Lazarre passed along and joined Fragoni and Teuxical, who
+were the center of a group that had formed in another part of the
+terrace.
+
+"Oh, Dirk," said Inga, "I am so afraid of that frightful Zitlan. He has
+been telling me again that he is going to take me back to his own world
+with him and it makes me shudder to think of it. He is so strange and
+queer and his eyes are so terrible. He can't be as young as he looks,
+because he speaks of years like we speak of minutes. I will die if I
+ever find myself in that monster's power! He has been telling me of all
+the creatures he has slain on the worlds on which he has landed, and I
+tell you, Dirk, that he is cruel and ruthless and horrible."
+
+"He will never have you!" swore Dirk. "And if I hear of any more of his
+insolence, I will throw him headlong from this terrace."
+
+"Please, Dirk," she begged, "don't do anything--not yet. He is utterly
+unscrupulous, Dirk. He told me that, even now, he is plotting against
+some Malfero who rules Lodore like a god, and that he is planning to
+seize the throne of the planet. He wants to make me the queen of that
+fearful world when he becomes king. He boasted that, if I were on the
+throne, millions of people from other worlds would be sacrificed in my
+honor in the temples of Lodore." Her voice trembled and her eyes were
+terror-stricken as she continued. "They tear out the hearts of living
+victims," she whispered, "and burn them on their high and mammoth
+pyramids."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Rage took possession of Dirk and, casting a glance at Zitlan, he saw
+that the Lodorian was smiling insolently at him.
+
+"I'll kill that beast, if it's the last thing that I do!" he exclaimed
+to Inga.
+
+"Dirk, Dirk," she implored, "don't even look at him. He is proud and
+impetuous, and he will kill you in defiance of his own father."
+
+"We will find some way to rid the world of the scourge that has
+descended upon it," asserted Dirk confidently, "and he will die with the
+rest of that monstrous crew."
+
+"I am going in, Dirk," Inga said. "Please," she begged, "don't do
+anything rash. If--something--should happen to you, I would lose all the
+hope that I have and I would, I think, kill myself."
+
+"Don't lose hope, my dear," said Dirk reassuringly. "I believe that I
+know of a way to destroy the plague that menaces us."
+
+He pressed her hand and, after she left him, he walked over and joined
+the other men on the terrace. Zitlan, coming from the terrace wall,
+stretched out in a chair not far from Dirk.
+
+Teuxical regarded the latter with a countenance that was calm and
+amicable. "I am sorry, my young friend," he apologized, "that I had to
+intervene between you and my son." He paused a moment and sat in
+silence, a thoughtful expression on his face. "Ah," he then said, "what
+disasters have arisen out of the desire of men for women. In my
+wanderings over the starlit worlds, I have seen...." He ceased speaking,
+brooded for a moment, and then shook his head slowly. "But you cannot
+say that I was not just," he continued, addressing Dirk. "I punished
+Zitlan for his presumption. Fragoni tells me that the woman has pledged
+herself to you. Let her pledge be kept!" he exclaimed sternly, looking
+straight at Zitlan.
+
+"We are the conquerors," asserted the latter boldly, "and to us should
+belong the spoils of our daring!"
+
+"Silence!" thundered Teuxical. "My own son, above all others, shall be
+obedient to my commands! Or, like others have done, he shall die because
+of insubordination!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Zitlan, a defiant expression on his face, ceased to speak, but Dirk
+could see that he was livid with suppressed rage.
+
+"As I was saying," Teuxical remarked, turning to Fragoni, "I am getting
+old and long have I been weary of conquest. I have seen your world and
+it pleases me. It is a tiny and peaceful place, far removed from the
+strife and turbulence of the restless centers of the universe. So it is
+my will to leave you unscathed and return to Lodore for a brief time to
+ask of the mighty Malfero the grant of this little provincial land. And
+then, with his permission, I will return here and rule it with wisdom
+and benevolence.
+
+"I will bring to you much knowledge, and peace will be to the people of
+this earth and peace will be to me."
+
+"It is well," replied Fragoni. "No world, I am certain, could hope for a
+wiser and more just ruler than yourself, and our Congress surely will
+receive you with acclaim."
+
+Teuxical bowed in recognition of the compliment, and his countenance
+indicated that he was gratified.
+
+"We will go, now, back to our vessel," he said, addressing the other
+Lodorians. "We will return for you at the appointed hour and conduct you
+to our ship," he added, speaking to Fragoni.
+
+"We will be ready," Fragoni replied.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Zitlan had arisen with the rest of them and Dirk, with a look of
+contempt and amusement in his eyes, regarded him casually.
+
+"May I have the honor of conducting our guests back to their ship in a
+plane?" Stanton requested of Fragoni.
+
+The latter nodded and Stanton walked across the terrace in the direction
+of the landing stage.
+
+Zitlan, as he followed after the others, passed close to Dirk and,
+pausing for a moment, fixed his hateful eyes on him.
+
+"You dog," he whispered malignantly, "remember what I tell you! The
+time will come when I will cast you to the carnaphlocti in the dark and
+icy caverns of sunless Tiganda. You will die," he swore, "the death of a
+million agonies!"
+
+For a moment Dirk felt an almost irresistible impulse to hurl himself on
+the Lodorian and slay him.
+
+He managed to maintain his control, however, and only regarded Zitlan
+with disdain as the latter turned and went on his way.
+
+In another moment the plane, containing Stanton and the Lodorians, was
+high up in the darkness.
+
+Dirk glanced at the great clock that gleamed atop of the beacon-tower on
+the Metropole Landing Field.
+
+The hour was close to twelve-thirty A. M.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A moment of silence on the terrace followed the departure of the plane
+that bore the Lodorians back to their craft.
+
+For an hour the clouds had been gathering in the sky and now a fine,
+cold rain commenced to fall.
+
+A peal of thunder echoed above them after a sharp flash of lightning had
+streaked across the black night above them.
+
+A servant appeared from the entrance to the apartment and pressed a
+button close to the door.
+
+Protective plates of glass noiselessly enveloped the terrace, sheltering
+those upon it from the inclement weather.
+
+"It is well," remarked Fragoni, breaking the silence, "that we were
+found by a leader like Teuxical. Our tribute will not be unbearable, and
+he will bestow many benefits upon us."
+
+"But surely," protested Dirk, "you do not intend to surrender without a
+struggle! Nothing but disaster," he asserted earnestly, "will come upon
+the earth if you do. Teuxical may be honest and just but, after all, he
+neither is immortal nor all-powerful, and something may happen to him at
+any moment. And there are those like Zitlan who would turn the world
+over to ravage and rape, and then convert it into a blazing pyre, if
+they had their way. These vandals," he insisted, "must be slain one and
+all, or, mark my words, our world will be laid waste."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Dirk spoke with such a sense of conviction that his words held his
+listeners spellbound.
+
+"Who is Teuxical," he asked, "but the vassal of a monarch whose
+corsairs, very apparently, are carrying on a war of conquest in the
+universe? It will be disastrous, I say, to place any dependence in the
+good will of this one Lodorian. If he, or any of his men, return to that
+far-off planet where they dwell word will be carried there of the
+existence of our world. But who can say that Teuxical ever will return
+here again? It may be the whim of his ruler to refuse his request, or
+any one of a thousand other events might arise to thwart his desire to
+live among us. No," concluded Dirk passionately, "it never will do to
+let that great engine of destruction rise into the skies again!"
+
+"He is right!" asserted Steinholt positively. "It will be far better to
+annihilate these raiders, if such a thing can be accomplished!"
+
+Lazarre was rather inclined to take sides with Fragoni.
+
+"But how," he demanded, "can such destruction be brought about? We know
+nothing of the capabilities of that monster that is lying down there in
+the Sound. It is undoubtedly equipped with the deadliest of devices and
+they all will be turned upon us if we fail in an effort to destroy the
+thing and those who have come from space upon it. If there was a way to
+smite them suddenly, to bring death to the Lodorians and to those
+swarming, mindless, murderous minions who act in obedience to them, I
+would favor doing it.
+
+"But, as it is," he concluded, "it seems like inviting disaster even to
+think of such an attempt, much less to try it."
+
+"It can be done, though," asserted Dirk, "or there is at least a
+fighting chance of accomplishing it. The electrosceotan--" He paused,
+and looked questioningly at Steinholt. "The top of that monster is open
+and...."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Teuton furrowed his brow and considered the proposition for a
+moment.
+
+"Yes," he said, nodding his head, "it might be done." Again he silently
+gave the subject his thought. "It is well worth trying," he asserted
+with an air of decision. "But we will have to make haste," he warned,
+"if the thing is to be done before the flight to The Hague."
+
+"So be it," said Fragoni. "We will apply ourselves to the task at hand.
+I, too," he confessed, "had rather see these vandals destroyed like so
+much vermin rather than have them carry the news of the existence of
+this earth back into those strange worlds in the depth of space. I will
+only regret the passing of Teuxical, who could have taught us much
+wisdom. And now," he continued briskly, "I will place myself under your
+orders, Dirk. You are the one who suggested this plan and upon you will
+fall the responsibility of executing it. And, if it succeeds," he added,
+"the glory will be yours."
+
+"I care little for the glory," replied Dirk, "but I gladly accept the
+duties and the responsibilities. These," he said to Fragoni, "are my
+instructions to you. Inasmuch as Teuxical and his captains will return
+here at about four o'clock in the morning to convey us back to their
+craft, it will be necessary to have this building emptied of its
+inhabitants by that time. Let all of those who dwell here depart from
+it, a few at a time, so as not to excite suspicion. Inga, above all
+others, must leave and retreat to a place of safety. Then, as the hour
+approaches for the arrival of the Lodorians, we will escape by plane
+from one of the rear terraces. They will land in search of us
+and--well, then they will feel the force of our power."
+
+"I will follow your orders explicitly," promised Fragoni. "I wonder," he
+added, "where Stanton is? He should be advised of what we are going to
+attempt."
+
+"He will return in due time," replied Dirk. "And, if not, it will be the
+worse for him. Lazarre will remain here with you," he then told Fragoni,
+"and Steinholt and I will now go about our part of the task at hand."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Dirk, followed by Steinholt, hurried across the terrace and, leaving the
+shelter of its quartzite plates, sought the landing stage.
+
+The rain still was falling and the heavens were congested with dark and
+heavy clouds.
+
+Dirk, selecting one of the smaller planes, entered the cabin and
+Steinholt, following after him, closed the door and threw on the
+lights.
+
+Swiftly they shot straight up into the air, Dirk ignoring all of the
+rules of flight in his haste to be under way. Once in the westbound
+lane, he headed his plane toward Manhattan and threw his rheostat wide
+open. In a few minutes they were skimming over the great city and past
+the three-thousand-foot steel tower of the Worldwide Broadcasting
+Station.
+
+For fifteen minutes more he kept the plane on a straight course and
+then, bringing it to a quick stop, he let it drop like a plummet toward
+the earth.
+
+It landed, among many other planes, on the transparent, quartzite roof
+of a vast building and, looking down into the interior, they could see
+several rows of great dynamos. Some of them were turning, and the
+humming that they made could be heard plainly.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Dirk and Steinholt ran rapidly across the roof until they came to a
+superstructure, which they entered. There was a shaft inside. Dirk
+pressed a button, and an elevator shot up and stopped at the door,
+which automatically flashed open.
+
+He closed it after he and his companion had entered the cage and,
+dropping rapidly downward, they came to a stop in a lighted chamber that
+was far below the surface of the ground.
+
+A stoop-shouldered old man greeted them, an expression of surprise on
+his face.
+
+"Gentlemen!" he exclaimed. "What is--"
+
+"Power, Gaeble!" commanded Steinholt tensely. "Power! Let every dynamo
+run its swiftest. To-night we have to use for the electrosceotan!"
+
+"But I thought it was peace that those from the stars desired," said the
+old electrician. "Through my radiovisor I heard--"
+
+"That was sent out," explained Steinholt, "to relieve the fears of the
+people and to keep them in order."
+
+Swiftly the distorted figure of the old man sped to a great switchboard,
+where he pressed button after button.
+
+The very ground commenced to vibrate around them and the massive
+structure seemed to be alive with straining power.
+
+Then Steinholt, going to a corner of the intricate board, adjusted a few
+levers, while his gnomelike companion watched him carefully.
+
+"And now, Gaeble," the scientist said impressively, "these are your
+orders. At precisely the hour of four o'clock in the morning make one
+connection with this switch."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+He indicated, with a stubby finger, the lever to be operated.
+
+"Keep the circuit closed for just four seconds," he added slowly, "and
+then break it. Do you understand, Gaeble?" he demanded.
+
+"I do," replied the old man.
+
+"Then," continued Steinholt, "after you break that connection you
+quickly will close this next circuit. Keep it closed for four seconds
+and then, after opening it for one second, close it again for four
+seconds. Repeat the procedure twice more, Gaeble, after that, and then
+await my further instructions. Is everything clear?" he asked.
+
+"It is, sir," the old man replied. "I will follow your orders
+implicitly."
+
+"There is one thing more," Steinholt said. "Get the Worldwide Tower on
+the televisor and warn them of what is to happen."
+
+"I will do that immediately," Gaeble replied.
+
+Dirk and Steinholt shot up to the roof again and the building over which
+they walked seemed to be quivering with life.
+
+They could see that all of the mammoth dynamos beneath them were
+revolving and the humming which they had heard before had changed into
+an ugly, vibrant roar.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Again they took flight and, reaching Manhattan, they continued north and
+east to the shore of Long Island Sound.
+
+Long before the old East River had been filled in and the space which it
+had occupied reclaimed for building purposes. All indications of its
+former bed had been obliterated by mammoth terraced structures.
+
+When they reached their destination on the shore of the Sound a small
+submarine, which Dirk had ordered by radio, was awaiting them.
+
+"Submerge and proceed up the Sound," Dirk ordered the officer, "and take
+us directly under the craft of the Lodorians."
+
+In a few minutes they were skimming over the surface of the water and,
+when a sufficient depth had been gained, the tiny boat disappeared
+beneath the rain-rippled sea.
+
+Dirk sat at a port and watched the aquatic life as it was illuminated by
+the powerful aquamarine searchlights.
+
+Progress under the water was comparatively slow, as mankind had made but
+little progress in underwater navigation. Air liners long before had
+almost superseded travel by land and sea and the abolition of warfare
+had swept all of the old navies from the ocean.
+
+It was more than an hour before the officer in charge of the boat
+announced that the mammoth hull of the monster that was lying on the
+Sound was visible directly above them.
+
+Both Dirk and Steinholt donned diving apparatus, and the former
+carefully adjusted the mechanism that was contained in a metallic box
+about two feet square.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Then they stepped up into a chamber in the conning tower of the boat
+and, after a door slipped shut beneath them, water slowly commenced to
+pour into the compartment.
+
+When it was full a sliding door that was in front of them slowly opened
+and they passed out onto the deck of the underwater craft.
+
+Steinholt had been provided with some welding apparatus and, in a few
+minutes, the box which Dirk had carried was attached securely to the
+bottom of the craft of the Lodorians.
+
+They then reentered the submarine by reversing the process which had
+attended their exit. Very soon they were in the cabin of the boat
+again.
+
+"If everything goes well," said Dirk, "those damned Lodorians will never
+know what struck them."
+
+"I only hope," said Steinholt, "that we don't destroy that leviathan
+altogether. We might solve the secret of it and then we, too, could ride
+out into the heart of the universe."
+
+"It is impossible to imagine what will happen," Dirk replied, "until
+after we launch our attack."
+
+Both of the men were silent during the return trip of the small undersea
+craft, which emerged at its dock a little before three-thirty in the
+morning.
+
+"We'll have to hurry," urged Dirk nervously, "because we will need a
+little time to make preparations after we get back to Fragoni's."
+
+They entered their plane and Dirk shot it swiftly up into the night,
+following the red shaft of light that rose almost directly from the
+point at which they had made their landing.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Then, having reached the eastbound level, he headed straight in the
+direction of the palace of Fragoni.
+
+Dirk cast a glance at the great city that lay far beneath him. High up
+into the heavens it tossed the fulgurant fires that betokened its wealth
+and power. And, down among those myriad lights, millions and millions of
+people were restless under the danger that menaced them. It was only a
+matter of moments now before their fate, and the fate of their great
+metropolis, would be decided. By dawn they would be free forever from
+the threat of subjugation and slavery or else they, and all that they
+had toiled and striven for, would be the veriest dust of dying embers.
+
+And whatever befell them likewise would befall the rest of the world and
+every living thing that moved upon it.
+
+Dirk was high above Fragoni's when he stopped the forward flight of the
+plane and, dropping it rapidly through the misty night, brought up
+easily on the landing stage. The other planes which had been there when
+he and Steinholt had taken their departure were gone and Dirk felt a
+sense of relief when he observed this. Inga, then, must have departed
+with the other occupants of the colossal structure. Things were going
+according to the plan that he had conceived. He stepped out of the
+cabin, followed by Steinholt, and proceeded hastily along the terrace
+and turned the corner into the garden.
+
+Then he came to an abrupt halt because there, before him, was Zitlan,
+with one of the deadly ray-tubes of the Lodorians in his hand.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Dirk knew immediately that something unexpected had happened and that he
+was in the power of one who not only hated him but who had an unholy
+desire for Inga.
+
+He realized, too, that any show of resistance would be nothing short of
+suicide, for he was well aware of the deadliness of the strange weapon
+with which he and Steinholt were being menaced by the gloating
+Lodorian.
+
+"One false move and you die!" warned Zitlan. "Come forward, now, and
+join those two others over whom Anteucan and Huazibar are watching."
+
+Dirk and Steinholt promptly obeyed the command of Zitlan and walked over
+to where Fragoni and Lazarre were being guarded by two of the
+conquerors.
+
+The rain had ceased to fall, but the skies were dark and overcast with
+heavy clouds. There was an occasional flash of lightning, and thunder
+rolled and echoed through the night.
+
+The terrace, however, was brightly illuminated and every detail of the
+scene around him was visible to Dirk.
+
+He saw Stanton, on another part of the terrace, standing among some
+Lodorians he had not seen before. Stanton, apparently, was not being
+treated as a prisoner and Dirk wondered, rather vaguely, why this was.
+
+"What happened?" Dirk asked Fragoni quietly.
+
+"According to what I have heard," the latter replied, "Zitlan murdered
+his father in a fit of rage, and has taken over the command of the ship.
+Many of the Lodorians are his adherents and even those who do not favor
+him are so terrified that they will be obedient to his wishes."
+
+"And Inga?" questioned Dirk.
+
+"She is inside the apartment," said Fragoni, a note of desperation in
+his voice. "Zitlan surprised us completely and he and his men had us
+covered before we realized that Teuxical was not among them."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Zitlan, in the meantime, had entered the suite of Fragoni and he now
+came out, Inga walking before him.
+
+She was silent and proudly erect but there was a pallor in her face that
+indicated her realization of the danger that she was threatened with.
+
+When Dirk saw her she gave him a brave smile, which he answered with a
+glance of reassurance.
+
+He could see the great clock in the Metropole Tower, and he noticed,
+with a feeling of grave apprehension, that it was twenty minutes to four
+o'clock.
+
+There were only a few minutes more in which to make a desperate and
+apparently a hopeless effort to save Inga, his friends and himself from
+a catastrophe which he had been instrumental in contriving.
+
+Then Zitlan stood before him, haughty and arrogant, his lowering
+countenance ugly with hatred.
+
+"So, dog," he said, "you who dared to defy Zitlan now stand before him a
+captive!"
+
+Neither Dirk nor any one of the three others who were guarded with him
+replied to the utterance.
+
+"You and that woman of yours," continued the Lodorian insolently, "both
+are my prisoners to do with as I please. Your fate," he continued, "I
+already have planned for you and I assure you that it will not be as
+pleasurable as the one to which she is destined. You will find that
+Tigana, on which you and those with you will be cast, is a world of
+terror such as you never could dream of. Even the monsters which crawl
+through the deliriums of the mind are not as horrible as those which
+infest the mad and haunted world of which I speak."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+He paused a moment, a cruel smile on his face, as if he wished the full
+import of his words to sear themselves into the minds of the doomed
+men.
+
+"But the woman," he added, "will return to Lodore with me and be the
+queen of all women. And soon," he said savagely, "she may be queen of
+all Lodore, of the worlds which pay tribute to Lodore, and of other
+worlds which I will conquer and ravage. My father stood in my way and he
+died at my own hands. So will others perish who thwart my ambition, and
+I will become supreme in the universe!"
+
+A feeling of reckless fury possessed Dirk as he listened to the words of
+Zitlan and he felt an almost irresistible desire to drive a fist square
+between the mad, glittering eyes of the Lodorian.
+
+He glanced at the great clock, however, and he saw that the time to act
+had not yet come. At the last moment he would make one desperate attempt
+to frustrate the evil designs of Zitlan. If it failed--well, all would
+be lost. But it was a far better thing to die resisting the despicable
+Zitlan and his minions than it would be to live and to know that,
+without a struggle, he had abandoned to degradation the girl he loved.
+
+"This world of yours will be my world," he heard Zitlan boast, "and the
+spoils from it will add to my riches. This one here," he continued,
+indicating Stanton, "has offered to show me where all of the treasures
+of the earth may be found. And, as a reward, he will return to Lodore
+with me and there be elevated to a high position."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+That, then, was why Stanton was not under guard like the rest of them.
+
+"Our good friend, Stanton," said Lazarre, "seems to have become
+something of a Judas."
+
+"And let his name be forever cursed, like the name of Judas," said
+Dirk.
+
+"Silence!" thundered the Lodorian. "I, Zitlan, am speaking." He paused a
+moment. "When I garner up the treasures of this world in the way of
+precious stones and metals I also shall gather more priceless loot in
+the way of women. And then, having taken all that I desire, I will lay
+waste to this earth so that those who survive will fear the name of
+Zitlan and will grovel before him like a god when once again he appears
+to them."
+
+While Zitlan had been speaking, Dirk had been studying the opponents
+with whom he soon had to clash.
+
+The two Lodorians who were standing guard over himself and his
+companions were close to his left side. Zitlan was directly in front of
+him, and there were seven of his minions clustered behind him.
+
+Again Dirk glanced at the great dial of the clock, and he saw that it
+was seven minutes of four.
+
+The moment had come to act if action was to prove of any avail.
+
+"I will--"
+
+But the words of Zitlan were interrupted by Dirk, who suddenly made a
+mighty sweep with his left arm and knocked the deadly tubes from the
+hands of Anteucan and Huazibar. Startled by the assault, they went
+reeling backward. At almost the same instant Dirk leaped forward and,
+seizing Zitlan, hurled him among those Lodorians who had been massed
+behind him. Then he threw himself violently into the tangled mass, his
+fists driving in and out with deadly strength!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Out of the corner of one eye he saw Inga pass the melee and dart swiftly
+to the corner of the terrace. Instead of passing around to the landing
+stage, however, she lingered there and watched the combat.
+
+Dirk, as he fought, became conscious that Steinholt and Fragoni were at
+his side, battling with him against his enemies. He saw, too, that
+Stanton had retired to the far end of the terrace and that he was
+watching the struggle with frightened eyes.
+
+"We must reach the plane and get away," gasped Dirk. "In another three
+minutes--"
+
+He felled a Lodorian who, having lost his tube, was about to grapple
+with him. He saw Steinholt send another one of their opponents reeling
+backward.
+
+"Fragoni!" he exclaimed. "The plane! Get in with Inga! We will come!"
+
+Even as he spoke his fists were flailing back and forth between each one
+of his staccato commands.
+
+He saw beneath him a hand reaching toward a tube, and he kicked the
+instrument of death. It hurtled over in the direction of Stanton and
+landed close to his feet. Stanton might have picked it up and been in
+possession of the means of aiding his old friends or his new allies. But
+he shrunk away, panic-stricken, from the thing that lay so close to his
+reach.
+
+A Lodorian leaped upon Dirk's back in an effort to bring him to the
+ground, but he stooped swiftly forward and his assailant was catapulted
+over his head into those who were in front of him.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+He caught a flash of the contorted face of Zitlan flying through the
+air, and saw him land with a crash on the terrace, and lie there
+writhing in pain.
+
+"Steinholt, Lazarre!" he said convulsively. "We've got to strike once
+more! And then--run!"
+
+He plunged into their enemies with every bit of energy that he had left,
+and saw two of them toppling down. Then, like a flash, he turned to
+Lazarre, who was trying to fight off three of the Lodorians. Seizing one
+of them by the waist, Dirk hurled him backward and he disposed of
+another one in the same manner. His sheer desperation seemed to have
+given him unbounded strength and power.
+
+Lazarre sent his third opponent down with a blow under the chin and
+then, with Dirk at his side, they turned to the assistance of
+Steinholt.
+
+With one mad rush they crashed into a group of Lodorians and sent them
+reeling away like so many nine-pins.
+
+"Now! To the plane!" exclaimed Dirk, taking to his heels across the
+terrace. Steinholt and Lazarre followed after him and, turning the
+corner, they saw that the ship was in place and that Fragoni was
+anxiously waiting by the door of the cabin. Inga, Dirk knew, already was
+inside and safe. He stood aside while Steinholt and Lazarre leaped in.
+During the momentary wait he caught a glimpse of the great clock. It
+was one minute to four. Dirk jumping into the plane and switched on the
+helicopter without even waiting to close the cabin door.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The ship shot skyward like a rocket. When it reached an altitude of
+thirty-five hundred feet, he turned it north and raced at top speed in
+that direction.
+
+It was miles away from the palace of Fragoni in less than thirty
+seconds. Dirk then stopped the plane and held it poised in the air with
+the helicopter.
+
+The skies were turgid and black and the massed clouds, reflecting the
+lights of the great city below them, were permeated with an ugly,
+feverish, red glow.
+
+From where they were hanging in midair, the occupants of the plane could
+plainly see the sparkling palace of Fragoni towering high up into the
+darkness of the night.
+
+The lights of the magnificent mansion were reflected far out into the
+Sound where, looming in the golden ripples, lay the sinister monster
+from the terrible depths of unfathomable space.
+
+Dirk took a watch from his pocket and, after glancing at it, he hastily
+replaced it.
+
+"Two seconds more," he said, "and--"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A sharp and dazzling bolt of greenish fire came hurling suddenly out of
+the west and, with a thunderous concussion, seemed to fasten itself on
+the crest of Fragoni's palace.
+
+It trembled and quivered, as if endowed with some uncanny life and
+power, as it remained there against the darkness, throwing a weird,
+green tinge over the water and up into the skies.
+
+Blue waves of light could be seen pulsing and racing along the terrible
+beam and there, where it had fastened itself, they seemed to disappear
+in the vast and crumbling structure.
+
+For four seconds that destructive streak of light, one end of which was
+lost back in the mists that concealed Manhattan, tore at the proud
+pile.
+
+And, as the stone crumbled and the steelite fused under the mighty
+assault, an ominous roar swept through the night. The air was so
+violently agitated that the plane, miles away, tossed up and down like a
+tiny boat on a stormy sea.
+
+Then suddenly the bolt was gone, but its livid image still burned in the
+eyes of those who had been watching it.
+
+Once more, it came hurling out of the west and, like the fang of some
+great and deadly serpent, darted into the monster that lay in the waters
+of the Sound.
+
+Dirk and his companions could see plainly, by the light of the bolt
+itself, that it had crashed into the well from which the Lodorians first
+had appeared, and that it was beating and hammering its way into the
+very vitals of the craft.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Dazzling, blinding fire seemed to pour from the aperture through which
+the bolt had passed. The clamor that arose was deafening.
+
+Then again the streak of fires was withdrawn, leaving the night
+intensely black until, in a moment more, it came thundering out of the
+west again and, with an impact that made the land and the sea and the
+very heavens tremble, hurled its way into the depths of the doomed
+leviathan.
+
+Twice again it fell, a fiery scimitar out of the darkness, and twice
+again it careened at the vitals of the stricken monster.
+
+Then, after the assault was over, the ship still floated on the surface
+of the Sound and its shell, as far as Dirk and the others could judge,
+still was unscathed.
+
+"We will soon know our fate," remarked Steinholt calmly. "If that didn't
+kill those beasts we might as well give up our ghosts."
+
+"I'll drop the plane a little lower and a little nearer to the ship,"
+said Dirk. "I don't believe that any life is surviving in that thing."
+
+"My beautiful palace is nothing but dust," sighed Fragoni, mournfully.
+"And all my beautiful treasures, too."
+
+"And that beautiful Zitlan," Lazarre reminded him, "and his beautiful
+boy friends, they are all dust too, thank God!"
+
+"It was a queer fate that Stanton met," suggested Dirk. "He thought that
+he would save his life by going over to our enemies, and, instead of
+that, he lost it."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Poor Stanton," said Steinholt. "He was born that way, I suppose, and I,
+for one, am ready to forgive and forget him. And now," continued the
+Teuton, "I hope that we didn't do too much damage to that little boat of
+the Lodorians. If we could get just a little peep at the inside of it we
+might learn the secret of its contrivance. And then, my friends, we
+could do a little journeying ourselves."
+
+"Have you any theory regarding it?" asked Fragoni.
+
+"Teuxical intimated that it rode the magnetic currents which, of course,
+flow through all the suns and planets in the universe," replied
+Steinholt. "We have been working along that line ourselves, of course,
+and it probably won't be very long anyway before we have the solution of
+interplanetary travel."
+
+"Those Lodorians would have solved it for us if it hadn't been for
+that artificial lightning," said Lazarre. "That's powerful stuff,
+Steinholt."
+
+"Yes, with that three-thousand-foot Worldwide Tower to hurl it from,"
+agreed Steinholt, "we can get fair range with it. If the Lodorians
+hadn't left the well of their ship open, though, the lightning wouldn't
+have done us much good. I was afraid, too, for a time, that we might
+have trouble in welding that automatic wireless circuit box to the
+bottom of the ship."
+
+Dirk, in the meantime, had brought the plane down to within a half-mile
+of the leviathan, and he was holding it poised there.
+
+"It seems to me," he said, after scrutinizing the monster for a couple
+of minutes, "that it is moving in the water. It is!" he exclaimed.
+"Steinholt! Look!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Only a comparatively short time had elapsed since the last bolt of
+lightning had vanished back into the darkness.
+
+"It is still rocking with the force of the shock that we gave it,"
+asserted Steinholt. "You would be rocking, too, if you had been tickled
+by a bolt like that one."
+
+"It is rising, I tell you!" said Dirk. "The front end of it is slowly
+getting higher in the water!"
+
+"You're right, Dirk," said Fragoni, excitement straining his voice.
+"Look! It just dropped back into the water!"
+
+Then, as they watched, the movements of the leviathan became more and
+more agitated, until it was churning up the waves around it like a
+wounded and agonized monster of the sea.
+
+Suddenly the front end tilted upward and the monster rose clear of the
+water. It shot straight up into the air at a speed so terrific that they
+could scarcely follow it.
+
+"It's gone!" gasped Fragoni. "Those brainless, mindless automatons must
+have survived!"
+
+"No," remarked Steinholt thoughtfully. "I don't believe that there is
+any life left on that thing. No one had closed the well when it rose,
+and it would mean death to go out into space with the ship in that
+condition."
+
+"Then what made it go up?" demanded Lazarre. "Can the damn thing run
+itself, Steinholt?"
+
+"I imagine," recalled the Teuton, "that our bolts killed every living
+thing that was on the craft but that, at the same time, they set the
+mechanism of the monster into action. Ah," he moaned, "but that is too
+bad. We could have learned much by an examination of the interior of
+that liner of the air."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A cry from Inga startled them and they saw that she was looking skyward,
+with terror in her eyes.
+
+They followed her gaze and there, streaking through the black clouds,
+they saw a long trail of white fire.
+
+"It's that thing!" exclaimed Fragoni. "I tell you that those upon it
+still live and that they are about to wreak vengeance upon us."
+
+"No," said Steinholt positively. "You are wrong, Fragoni. What is
+happening may be almost as disastrous, though," he admitted. "That
+leviathan is in its death agonies; it is a metal monster gone mad, and
+none can say what will happen before it expires."
+
+"The place for us," asserted Dirk hurriedly, "is in the Worldwide Tower.
+There we can keep track of what is transpiring and try to decide what to
+do."
+
+The others agreed with him and, seeking the westward level of flight, he
+sped the plane in the direction of the mammoth pyramid from which the
+news of the world was broadcast.
+
+They reached the vast structure in a few minutes, and, after dropping
+the plane on a landing stage, they went into the operating room.
+
+Here they learned quickly that the craft of the Lodorians was doing
+incalculable damage, and that it was throwing the population of the
+world into an unprecedented panic.
+
+It was, apparently, following an erratic, uncertain orbit that took it
+far out into space and then back quite close to the surface of the earth
+again.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It had passed through the very heart of Chicago within a few yards of
+the ground, and it had cut and burned a swath more than a mile wide
+through the buildings of that metropolis.
+
+Other cities in America had felt the devastating effects of its
+irresistible and molten heat and, within a short time, thousands of
+people had been slain by it.
+
+Time and again, from the terrace of the great tower, Dirk and his
+companions saw the skies above them light up as that terrible, blazing,
+projectile which, uncontrolled, went hurtling on its way through the
+night.
+
+For three hours it careened on its mad course and hysteria reigned
+throughout the cities of the whole civilized world.
+
+But then a report came from a rocket-liner that had left Berlin en route
+for San Francisco.
+
+"Either a great meteor or that leviathan of the Lodorians just swept
+down past us in mid-Atlantic and plunged into the sea. Apparently it has
+exploded, for it has thrown a great column of water for miles up into
+the air. We are stopping and standing by, although the heat is intense
+and clouds of steam are rising from the sea."
+
+As the minutes passed by after the report from the rocket-ship had been
+received, the disappearance from the sky of the flaming craft from space
+seemed to confirm the belief that it had been swallowed by the ocean.
+This was accepted as a certainty by eight o'clock in the morning.
+
+"Ah," sighed Steinholt, "if only it had crashed on land somewhere. If
+there only was enough of it left for us to--"
+
+"Enough of any damn contraption of that kind," swore Lazarre fervently,
+"is altogether too much. I hope, for one, that its fragments are
+scattered so far that we never can put them together again."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Dirk and Inga leaned against one of the parapets that evening on a
+gardened terrace of his own great mansion in Manhattan.
+
+Their little party had gone there after leaving the Worldwide Tower in
+the morning.
+
+After resting during the day, Lazarre and Fragoni were somewhere
+together, discussing the plans for a new palace to take the place of the
+one that was destroyed so that Zitlan and his minions might die in its
+ruins.
+
+Steinholt, elsewhere, was delving into oceanography and submarine
+engineering, in an attempt to learn whether or not it would be feasible
+to fish for the remains of the lost ship of Lodore.
+
+"It seems like a dream, doesn't it, Dirk?" the girl remarked. "It is
+difficult to believe that we actually have seen and talked with people
+from some far-away world."
+
+Together they looked up into the crystalline skies, where mazes of
+shining stars gave testimony to the countless worlds which were wheeling
+around them.
+
+"And just to think, Dirk," Inga continued proudly, "that it was you who
+saved this world and all of its people from that horrible Zitlan and his
+horde."
+
+"I saved you," he told her gravely and tenderly, "and that somehow means
+more to me than saving all of this world and all of the other worlds
+which are rolling through the uncharted ways of time and space."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  COMING--
+  Murder Madness
+  _An Extraordinary Novel_
+
+  _By_ MURRAY LEINSTER
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber Notes
+
+Typographical inconsistencies have been changed and are listed below.
+
+Hyphenation standardized.
+
+Archaic and variable spelling is preserved.
+
+Authors' punctuation style is preserved.
+
+Passages in italics indicated by _underscores_.
+
+Passages in bold indicated by =equal signs=.
+
+
+Transcriber Changes
+
+The following changes were made to the original text:
+
+  Page 298: Changed =work= to =wreck= (wish to know whether anyone has
+            visited the scene of the =wreck=)
+
+  Page 299: Changed =focussed= to =focused= (This means that we have
+            =focused= or concentrated cold)
+
+  Page 317: Added beginning quotes (Its name-grid glowed with the
+            letters: ="_Anita Prince._"=)
+
+  Page 321: Changed =eavesdroopper= to =eavesdropper= (sitting in the
+            smoking room when the =eavesdropper= fled past)
+
+  Page 321: Changed =pressure-cick= to =pressure-sick= (We missed you at
+            breakfast. Not =pressure-sick=, I hope?)
+
+  Page 323: Changed =linquists= to =linguists= (people are by heritage
+            extraordinary =linguists=)
+
+  Page 324: Added end quote (Did you have Prince's cabin =searched?"=)
+
+  Page 328: Changed =elipse= to =ellipse= (Blackstone had roughly cast
+            its orbital elements)
+
+  Page 339: Changed =focussed= to =focused= (connected its little
+            battery; =focused= its projector)
+
+  Page 339: Changed =syncronized= to =synchronized= (as I crouched in
+            the darkness behind the cylinder-case, I =synchronized=)
+
+  Page 340: Removed extra quote after leaped (Miko doubtless saw it, and
+            the Martian's hot anger =leaped=)
+
+  Page 344: Changed =Mika= to =Miko= ("Wait a minute!" I called to
+            =Miko=. "Navigate--where?")
+
+  Page 344: Changed =catapaulted= to =catapulted= (The force
+            =catapulted= me across the space of the room like a
+            volplane)
+
+  Page 345: Changed =Halian= to =Haljan= ("If you fire, =Haljan=, and
+            kill me--Miko will kill you then, surely.")
+
+  Page 346: Changed =focussed= to =focused= (the image of the lounge
+            interior presently =focused=)
+
+  Page 357: Changed =terriffic= to =terrific= (Perry beat a =terrific=
+            tattoo on the ancient door)
+
+  Page 362: Removed comma (for the news crew and editorial force of the
+            =paper= were a carefully selected body of men indeed)
+
+  Page 367: Changed =villian= to =villain= (Could the old =villain= be
+            playing possum?)
+
+  Page 367: Removed 'the' (With dexterous =hands O'Hara= swiftly went
+            through the old man's pockets)
+
+  Page 367: Changed =similiar= to =similar= (an ugly looking pistol of
+            large caliber, a blackjack =similar= to his own and a small
+            bottle)
+
+  Page 369: Changed =and= to =any= (If you search my car and find =any=
+            red liquor in the left back door pocket, I don't know a
+            thing about it)
+
+  Page 372: Changed =Hanlon= to =Handlon= (could be recognized as those
+            of Horace Perry and Skip =Handlon=)
+
+  Page 372: Changed =focussed= to =focused= (All eyes were now =focused=
+            on Professor Kell)
+
+  Page 373: Changed =Kel= to =Kell= (Hurry up and get =Kell= downstairs
+            so we can see who he is)
+
+  Page 374: Changed =Rotton= to =Rotten= ("=Rotten=," was the reply from
+            the lips of Kell)
+
+  Page 393: Changed =ecstacy= to =ecstasy= (Fear, despair, reckless
+            abandon, mirth, doubt, religious =ecstasy= and all the other
+            nuances in the gamut of human emotions)
+
+  Page 394: Changed =scandals= to =sandals= (On her tiny feet she wore
+            =sandals= which were spun of webby filaments)
+
+  Page 395: Changed =knew= to =know= (fairly close to it in my plane and
+            I =know= what I am speaking about)
+
+  Page 397: Changed =Igna= to =Inga= (Dirk and =Inga= seated close
+            together and Stanton, at a distance)
+
+  Page 397: Changed =part= to =parts= (a proclamation of martial law, to
+            become effective at once in all =parts= of the world)
+
+  Page 399: Changed =melifluous= to =mellifluous= ("Good morning," the
+            other replied in a soft and =mellifluous= voice)
+
+  Page 401: Changed =Steinhold= to =Steinholt= ("It's colossal!"
+            =Steinholt= then exclaimed, lost in scientific admiration)
+
+  Page 412: Changed =fulgerant= to =fulgurant= (High up into the heavens
+            it tossed the =fulgurant= fires that betokened its wealth
+            and power)
+
+  Page 412: Changed =head= to =hand= (with one of the deadly ray-tubes
+            of the Lodorians in his =hand=)
+
+  Page 413: Changed =Lizarre= to =Lazarre= (walked over to where Fragoni
+            and =Lazarre= were being guarded by two of the conquerors)
+
+  Page 413: Changed =Igna= to =Inga= ("And =Inga=?" questioned Dirk.)
+
+  Page 414: Changed =stacatto= to =staccato= (flailing back and forth
+            between each one of his =staccato= commands.)
+
+  Page 417: Removed extra quote before =There= ("is in the Worldwide
+            Tower. =There= we can keep track of what is transpiring and
+            try to decide what to do.")
+
+  Page 417: Changed =irresisible= to =irresistible= (Other cities
+            in America had felt the devastating effects of its
+            =irresistible= and molten heat)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Astounding Stories of Super-Science,
+March 1930, by Various
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ASTOUNDING STORIES, MARCH 1930 ***
+
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+<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Astounding Stories of Super-Science, March 1930.</title>
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+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Astounding Stories of Super-Science, March
+1930, by Various
+
+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: Astounding Stories of Super-Science, March 1930
+
+Author: Various
+
+Release Date: August 4, 2009 [EBook #29607]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ASTOUNDING STORIES, MARCH 1930 ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Greg Weeks, Katherine Ward, and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_1' id='linki_1'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src='images/cover.jpg' alt='' title='' width='360' height='526' /><br />
+</div>
+<h1>ASTOUNDING<br />STORIES<br />OF SUPER-SCIENCE</h1>
+<p class='center smaller'><i>On Sale the First Thursday of Each Month</i></p>
+<table summary="masthead2" width="100%">
+  <col width="30%" />
+  <col width="40%" />
+  <col width="30%" />
+  <tr>
+    <td align="left">W. M. CLAYTON, Publisher</td>
+    <td class="center">HARRY BATES, Editor</td>
+    <td align="right">DOUGLAS M. DOLD, Consulting Editor</td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_2' id='linki_2'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figleft' style='width:99px'>
+<img src='images/146.png' alt='' title='' width='99' height='200' /><br />
+</div>
+<blockquote class="smaller">
+<p>The Clayton Standard on a Magazine Guarantees:</p>
+<p><i>That</i> the stories therein are clean, interesting, vivid; by leading writers of the day and purchased
+under conditions approved by the Authors&#8217; League of America;</p>
+<p><i>That</i> such magazines are manufactured in Union shops by American workmen;</p>
+<p><i>That</i> each newsdealer and agent is insured a fair profit;</p>
+<p><i>That</i> an intelligent censorship guards their advertising pages.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<div class="center">
+<p><i>The other Clayton magazines are</i>:</p>
+<p>ACE-HIGH MAGAZINE, RANCH ROMANCES, COWBOY STORIES, CLUES, FIVE-NOVELS
+MONTHLY, WIDE WORLD ADVENTURES, ALL STAR DETECTIVE STORIES, FLYERS,
+RANGELAND LOVE STORY MAGAZINE, SKY-HIGH LIBRARY MAGAZINE,
+WESTERN ADVENTURES, MISS 1930, and FOREST AND STREAM</p>
+</div></blockquote>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='center'><i>More Than Two Million Copies Required to Supply the Monthly Demand for Clayton Magazines.</i></p>
+<hr class='mini' />
+<div style="margin-bottom:1em">
+<table summary="masthead" width="100%">
+  <col width="30%" />
+  <col width="45%" />
+  <col width="25%" />
+  <tr>
+    <td align="left">VOL. I, No. 3</td>
+    <td class="center larger">CONTENTS</td>
+    <td align="right">MARCH, 1930</td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+<table summary="TOC" width="100%">
+  <col width="45%" />
+  <col width="45%" />
+  <col width="10%" />
+  <tr>
+    <td>COVER DESIGN</td>
+    <td>H. W. WESSOLOWSKI</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td colspan="2" class="toc_desc hang1st"><i>Painted in Water-colors from a Scene in &#8220;Brigands of the Moon.&#8221;</i></td>
+  </tr>
+
+<tr><td>COLD LIGHT</td><td>CAPTAIN S. P. MEEK</td><td align="right"><a href="#COLD_LIGHT">295</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2" class="toc_desc hang1st"><i>How Could a Human Body Be Found Actually Splintered&ndash;&ndash;Broken
+into Sharp Fragments Like a Shattered Glass! Once Again Dr. Bird
+Probes Deep into an Amazing Mystery.</i></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>BRIGANDS OF THE MOON</td><td>RAY CUMMINGS</td><td align="right"><a href="#BRIGANDS_OF_THE_MOON_THE_BOOK_OF_GREGG_HALJAN_BEGINNING_A_FOURPART_NOVEL">306</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2" class="toc_desc hang1st"><i>Black Mutiny and Brigandage Stalk the Space-ship Planetara as
+She Speeds to the Moon to Pick Up a Fabulously Rich Cache of
+Radium-ore.</i></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>THE SOUL MASTER</td><td>WILL SMITH AND R. J. ROBBINS</td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_SOUL_MASTER">350</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2" class="toc_desc hang1st"><i>Desperately O&#8217;Hara Plunged into Prof. Kell&#8217;s Mysterious Mansion.
+For His Friend Skip Was the Victim of the Eccentric Scientist&#8217;s
+De-astralizing Experiment, and Faced a Fate More Hideous than
+Death.</i></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>FROM THE OCEAN&#8217;S DEPTHS</td><td>SEWELL PEASLEE WRIGHT</td><td align="right"><a href="#FROM_THE_OCEANS_DEPTHS">376</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2" class="toc_desc hang1st"><i>Man Came from the Sea. Mercer, by His Thought-telegraph, Learns
+from the Weirdly Beautiful Ocean-maiden of a Branch that Returned
+There.</i></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>VANDALS OF THE STARS</td><td>A. T. LOCKE</td><td align="right"><a href="#VANDALS_OF_THE_STARS">390</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2" class="toc_desc hang1st"><i>A Livid Flame Flares Across Space&ndash;&ndash;and Over Manhattan Hovers
+Teuxical, Vassal of Malfero, Lord of the Universe, Who Comes with
+Ten Thousand Warriors to Ravage and Subjugate One More Planet for
+His Master.</i></td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<div class="smaller">
+<table summary="masthead" width="100%">
+  <col width="55%" />
+  <col width="35%" />
+  <tr>
+    <td align="left">Single Copies, 20 Cents (In Canada, 25 Cents)</td>
+    <td align="right">Yearly Subscription, $2.00</td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+<p>Issued monthly by Publishers&#8217; Fiscal Corporation, 80 Lafayette St., New York, N.&nbsp;Y. W.&nbsp;M. Clayton, President;
+Nathan Goldmann, Secretary. Application for entry as second-class mail pending at the Post Office at
+New York under Act of March 3, 1879. Application for registration of title as Trade Mark pending in the
+U.&nbsp;S. Patent Office. Member Newsstand Group&ndash;&ndash;Men&#8217;s List. For advertising rates address E.&nbsp;R. Crowe &amp; Co.,
+Inc., 25 Vanderbilt Ave., New York; or 225 North Michigan Ave., Chicago.</p>
+<hr class='toprule' />
+<div class='chsp'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_295' name='page_295'></a>295</span>
+<a name='COLD_LIGHT' id='COLD_LIGHT'></a>
+<h2>Cold Light</h2>
+</div>
+<p class='authorhdr'><i>By Capt. S. P. Meek</i></p>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_3' id='linki_3'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src='images/i295.jpg' alt='' title='' width='500' height='396' /><br />
+<p class='caption'>
+&#8220;<i>The bodies had broken into pieces, as though they had been made of glass.</i>&#8221;<br />
+</p>
+</div>
+<p class='dropcapq'><small>&#8220;</small><span class="drop">C</span><span class="dcap">onfound</span> it, Carnes, I am
+on my vacation!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I know it, Doctor, and I
+hate to disturb you, but I
+felt that I simply had to. I have one
+of the weirdest cases on my hands that
+I have ever been
+mixed up in and
+I think that you&#8217;ll
+forgive me for
+calling you when
+I tell you about
+it.&#8221;</p>
+<p class='sidebarright'>How could a human body be found
+actually splintered&ndash;&ndash;broken into sharp
+fragments like a shattered glass! Once
+again Dr. Bird probes deep into an
+amazing mystery.</p>
+<p>Dr. Bird groaned
+into the telephone transmitter.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I took a vacation last summer, or
+tried to, and you hauled me away from
+the best fishing I have found in years
+to help you on a case. This year I
+traveled all the way from Washington
+to San Francisco to get away from you
+and the very day that I get here you
+are after me. I won&#8217;t have anything to
+do with it. Where are you, anyway?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am at Fallon, Nevada, Doctor.
+I&#8217;m sorry that you won&#8217;t help me out
+because the case
+promises to be
+unusually interesting.
+Let me at least tell you
+about it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Dr. Bird groaned
+louder than
+ever into the telephone transmitter.</p>
+<p>&#8220;All right, go ahead and tell me about
+it if it will relieve your mind, but I
+have given you my final answer. I am
+not a bit interested in it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That is quite all right, Doctor, I
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_296' name='page_296'></a>296</span>
+don&#8217;t expect you to touch it. I hope,
+however, that you will be able to give
+me an idea of where to start. Did
+you ever see a man&#8217;s body broken in
+pieces?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Do you mean badly smashed up?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No indeed, I mean just what I said,
+broken in pieces. Legs snapped off as
+though the entire flesh had become
+brittle.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, I didn&#8217;t, and neither did anyone
+else.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I have seen it, Doctor.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hooey! What had you been drinking?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Operative Carnes of the United
+States Secret Service chuckled softly
+to himself. The voice of the famous
+scientist of the Bureau of Standards
+plainly showed an interest which was
+quite at variance with his words.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I was quite sober, Doctor, and so
+was Hughes, and we both saw it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Who is Hughes?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;He is an air mail pilot, one of the
+crack fliers of the Transcontinental
+Airmail Corporation. Let me tell you
+the whole thing in order.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;All right. I have a few minutes to
+spare, but I&#8217;ll warn you again that I
+don&#8217;t intend to touch the case.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcapq'><small>&#8220;</small><span class="drop">S</span><span class="dcap">uit</span> yourself, Doctor. I have no
+authority to requisition your services.
+As you know, the T.&nbsp;A.&nbsp;C. has
+been handling a great deal of the transcontinental
+air mail with a pretty clean
+record on accidents. The day before
+yesterday, a special plane left Washington
+to carry two packages from
+there to San Francisco. One of them
+was a shipment of jewels valued at a
+quarter of a million, consigned to a San
+Francisco firm and the other was a
+sealed packet from the War Department.
+No one was supposed to know
+the contents of that packet except the
+Chief of Staff who delivered it to the
+plane personally, but rumors got out, as
+usual, and it was popularly supposed
+to contain certain essential features of
+the Army&#8217;s war plans. This much is
+certain: The plane carried not only the
+regular T.&nbsp;A.&nbsp;C. pilot and courier, but
+also an army courier, and it was guarded
+during the trip by an army plane
+armed with small bombs and a machine-gun.
+I rode in it. My orders were
+simply to guard the ship until it landed
+at Mills Field and then to guard the
+courier from there to the Presidio of
+San Francisco until his packet was delivered
+personally into the hands of
+the Commanding General of the Ninth
+Corps Area.</p>
+<p>&#8220;The trip was quiet and monotonous
+until after we left Salt Lake City at
+dawn this morning. Nothing happened
+until we were about a hundred miles
+east of Reno. We had taken elevation
+to cross the Stillwater Mountains and
+were skimming low over them, my
+plane trailing the T.&nbsp;A.&nbsp;C. plane by
+about half a mile. I was not paying
+any particular attention to the other
+ship when I suddenly felt our plane
+leap ahead. It was a fast Douglas and
+the pilot gave it the gun and made it
+move, I can tell you. I yelled into
+the speaking tube and asked what was
+the reason. My pilot yelled back that
+the plane ahead was in trouble.</p>
+<p>&#8220;As soon as it was called to my attention
+I could see myself that it wasn&#8217;t
+acting normally. It was losing elevation
+and was pursuing a very erratic
+course. Before we could reach it it
+lost flying speed and fell into a spinning
+nose dive and headed for the
+ground. I watched, expecting every
+minute to see the crew make parachute
+jumps, but they didn&#8217;t and the plane
+hit the ground with a terrific crash.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It caught fire, of course?&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcapq'><small>&#8220;</small><span class="drop">N</span><span class="dcap">o,</span> Doctor, that is one of the
+funny things about the accident.
+It didn&#8217;t. It hit the ground
+in an open place free from brush and
+literally burst into pieces, but it didn&#8217;t
+flame up. We headed directly for the
+scene of the crash and we encountered
+another funny thing. We almost froze
+to death.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What do you mean?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Exactly what I say. Of course, it&#8217;s
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_297' name='page_297'></a>297</span>
+pretty cold at that altitude all the time,
+but this cold was like nothing I had
+ever encountered. It seemed to freeze
+the blood in our veins and it congealed
+frost on the windshields and made the
+motor miss for a moment. It was only
+momentary and it only existed directly
+over the wrecked plane. We went past
+it and swung around in a circle and
+came back over the wreck, but we didn&#8217;t
+feel the cold again.</p>
+<p>&#8220;The next thing we tried to do was
+to find a landing place. That country
+is pretty rugged and rough and there
+wasn&#8217;t a flat place for miles that was
+large enough to land a ship on. Hughes
+and I talked it over and there didn&#8217;t
+seem to be much of anything that we
+could do except to go on until we
+found a landing place. I had had no
+experience in parachute jumping and
+I couldn&#8217;t pilot the plane if Hughes
+jumped. We swooped down over the
+wreck as close as we dared and that
+was when we saw the condition of the
+bodies. The whole plane was cracked
+up pretty badly, but the weird part of
+it was the fact that the bodies of the
+crew had broken into pieces, as though
+they had been made of glass. Arms
+and legs were detached from the
+torsos and lying at a distance. There
+was no sign of blood on the ground.
+We saw all this with our naked eyes
+from close at hand and verified it by
+observations through binoculars from
+a greater height.</p>
+<p>&#8220;When we had made our observations
+and marked the location of the
+wreck as closely as we could, we headed
+east until we found a landing place
+near Fallon. Hughes dropped me here
+and went on to Reno, or to San Francisco
+if necessary, to report the accident
+and get more planes to aid in
+the search. I was wholly at sea, but it
+seemed to be in your line and as I
+knew that you were at the St. Francis,
+I called you up.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcapq'><small>&#8220;</small><span class="drop">W</span><span class="dcap">hat</span> are your plans?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I made none until I talked
+with you. The country where the
+wreck occurred is unbelievably wild
+and we can&#8217;t get near it with any transportation
+other than burros. The only
+thing that I can see to do is to gather
+together what transportation I can and
+head for the wreck on foot to rescue
+the packets and to bring out the bodies.
+Can you suggest anything better?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;When do you expect to start?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;As soon as I can get my pack train
+together. Possibly in three or four
+hours.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Carnes, are you sure that those
+bodies were broken into bits? An arm
+or a leg might easily be torn off in a
+complete crash.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;They were smashed into bits as
+nearly as I could tell, Doctor. Hughes
+is an old flier and he has seen plenty of
+crashes but he never saw anything like
+this. It beats anything that I ever
+saw.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;If your observations were accurate,
+there could be only one cause and that
+one is a patent impossibility. I haven&#8217;t
+a bit of equipment here, but I expect
+that I can get most of the stuff I want
+from the University of California
+across the bay at Berkeley. I can get
+a plane at Crissy Field. I&#8217;ll tell you
+what to do, Carnes. Get your burro
+train together and start as soon as you
+can, but leave me half a dozen burros
+and a guide at Fallon. I&#8217;ll get up there
+as soon as I can and I&#8217;ll try to overtake
+you before you get to the wreck.
+If I don&#8217;t, don&#8217;t disturb anything any
+more than you can help until my arrival.
+Do you understand?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I thought that you were on your
+vacation, Doctor.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh shut up! Like most of my vacations,
+this one will have to be postponed.
+I&#8217;ll move as swiftly as I can
+and I ought to be at Fallon to-night if
+I&#8217;m lucky and don&#8217;t run into any obstacles.
+Burros are fairly slow, but I&#8217;ll
+make the best time possible.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I rather expected you would, Doctor.
+I can&#8217;t get my pack train together
+until evening, so I&#8217;ll wait for you right
+here. I&#8217;m mighty glad that you are going
+to get in on it.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_298' name='page_298'></a>298</span></div>
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Silently</span> Carnes and Dr. Bird
+surveyed the wreck of the T.&nbsp;A.&nbsp;C.
+plane. The observations of the secret
+service operative had been correct. The
+bodies of the unfortunate crew had
+been broken into fragments. Their
+limbs had not been twisted off as a
+freak of the fall but had been cleanly
+broken off, as though the bodies had
+suddenly become brittle and had shattered
+on their impact with the ground.
+Not only the bodies, but the ship itself
+had been broken up. Even the clothing
+of the men was in pieces or had long
+splits in the fabric whose edges were
+as clean as though they had been cut
+with a knife.</p>
+<p>Dr. Bird picked up an arm which had
+belonged to the pilot and examined it.
+The brittleness, if it had ever existed,
+was gone and the arm was limp.</p>
+<p>&#8220;No <i>rigor mortis</i>,&#8221; commented the
+Doctor. &#8220;How long ago was the wreck?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;About seventy-two hours ago.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hm-m! What about those packets
+that were on the plane?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Carnes stepped forward and gingerly
+inspected first the body of the army
+courier and then that of the courier of
+the T.&nbsp;A.&nbsp;C.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Both gone, Doctor,&#8221; he reported,
+straightening up.</p>
+<p>Dr. Bird&#8217;s face fell into grim lines.</p>
+<p>&#8220;There is more to this case than appears
+on the surface, Carnes,&#8221; he said.
+&#8220;This was no ordinary wreck. Bring
+up that third burro; I want to examine
+these fragments a little. Bill,&#8221; he went
+on to one of the two guides who had
+accompanied them from Fallon, &#8220;you
+and Walter scout around the ground
+and see what you can find out. I especially
+wish to know whether anyone
+has visited the scene of the <a name='TC_44'></a><ins class='trchange' title="Was 'work'">wreck</ins>.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">The</span> guides consulted a moment
+and started out. Carnes drove up
+the burro the Doctor had indicated and
+Dr. Bird unpacked it. He opened a
+mahogony case and took from it a high
+powered microscope. Setting the instrument
+up on a convenient rock, he
+subjected portions of the wreck, including
+several fragments of flesh, to
+a careful scrutiny. When he had completed
+his observations he fell into a
+brown study, from which he was
+aroused by Carnes.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What did you find out about the
+cause of the wreck, Doctor?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know what to think. The
+immediate cause was that everything
+was frozen. The plane ran into a belt
+of cold which froze up the motor and
+which probably killed the crew instantly.
+It was undoubtedly the aftermath
+of that cold which you felt when you
+swooped down over the wreck.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It seems impossible that it could
+have suddenly got cold enough to
+freeze everything up like that.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It does, and yet I am confident that
+that is what happened. It was no ordinary
+cold, Carnes; it was cold of the
+type that infests interstellar space;
+cold beyond any conception you have
+of cold, cold near the range of the absolute
+zero of temperature, nearly four
+hundred and fifty degrees below zero
+on the Fahrenheit scale. At such temperatures,
+things which are ordinarily
+quite flexible and elastic, such as rubber,
+or flesh, become as brittle as glass
+and would break in the manner which
+these bodies have broken. An examination
+of the tissues of the flesh shows
+that it has been submitted to some temperature
+that is very low in the scale,
+probably below that of liquid air. Such
+a temperature would produce instant
+death and the other phenomena which
+we can observe.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What could cause such a low temperature,
+Doctor?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know yet, although I hope
+to find out before we are finished. Cold
+is a funny thing, Carnes. Ordinarily
+it is considered as simply the absence
+of heat; and yet I have always held it
+to be a definite negative quantity. All
+through nature we observe that every
+force has its opposite or negative force
+to oppose it. We have positive and
+negative electrical charges, positive
+and negative, or north and south, magnetic
+poles. We have gravity and its
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_299' name='page_299'></a>299</span>
+opposite apergy, and I believe cold is
+really negative heat.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I never heard of anything like that,
+Doctor. I always thought that things
+were cold because heat was taken from
+them&ndash;&ndash;not because cold was added. It
+sounds preposterous.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcapq'><small>&#8220;</small><span class="drop">S</span><span class="dcap">uch</span> is the common idea, and yet
+I cannot accept it, for it does not
+explain all the recorded phenomena.
+You are familiar with a searchlight, are
+you not?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;In a general way, yes.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;A searchlight is merely a source of
+light, and of course, of heat, which is
+placed at the focus of a parabolic reflector
+so that all of the rays emanating
+from the source travel in parallel lines.
+A searchlight, of course, gives off heat.
+If we place a lens of the same size as
+the searchlight aperture in the path of
+the beam and concentrate all the light,
+and heat, at one spot, the focal point of
+the lens, the temperature at that point
+is the same as the temperature of the
+source of the light, less what has been
+lost by radiation. You understand that,
+do you not?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Certainly.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Suppose that we place at the center
+of the aperture of the searchlight a
+small opaque disc which is permeable
+neither to heat nor light, in such a manner
+as to interrupt the central portion
+of the beam. As a result, the beam will
+go out in the form of a hollow rod, or
+pipe, of heat and light with a dark, cold
+core. This core will have the temperature
+of the surrounding air plus the
+small amount which has radiated into
+it from the surrounding pipe. If we
+now pass this beam of light through a
+lens in order to concentrate the beam,
+both the pipe of heat and the cold core
+will focus. If we place a temperature
+measuring device near the focus of the
+dark core, we will find that the temperature
+is lower than the surrounding
+air. This means that we have <a name='TC_1'></a><ins title="Was 'focussed'">focused</ins>
+or concentrated cold.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That sounds impossible. But I can
+offer no other criticism.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcapq'><small>&#8220;</small><span class="drop">N</span><span class="dcap">evertheless</span>, it is experimentally
+true. It is one of the
+facts which lead me to consider cold as
+negative heat. However, this is true of
+cold, as it is of the other negative
+forces; they exist and manifest themselves
+only in the presence of the positive
+forces. No one has yet concentrated
+cold except in the presence of
+heat, as I have outlined. How this cold
+belt which the T.&nbsp;A.&nbsp;C. plane encountered
+came to be there is another question.
+The thing which we have to determine
+is whether it was caused by
+natural or artificial forces.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Both of the packets which the plane
+carried are gone, Doctor,&#8221; observed
+Carnes.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, and that seems to add weight
+to the possibility that the cause was
+artificial, but it is far from conclusive.
+The packets might not have been on
+the men when the plane fell, or someone
+may have passed later and taken
+them for safekeeping.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The doctor&#8217;s remarks were interrupted
+by the guides.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Someone has been here since the
+wreck, Doctor,&#8221; said Bill. &#8220;Walter and
+I found tracks where two men came up
+here and prowled around for some time
+and then left by the way they came.
+They went off toward the northwest,
+and we followed their trail for about
+forty rods and then lost it. We weren&#8217;t
+able to pick it up again.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thanks, Bill,&#8221; replied the doctor.
+&#8220;Well, Carnes, that seems to add more
+weight to the theory that the spot of
+cold was made and didn&#8217;t just happen.
+If a prospecting party had just happened
+along they would either have
+left the wreck alone or would have
+made some attempt to inter the bodies.
+That cold belt must have been produced
+artificially by men who planned
+to rob this plane after bringing it down
+and who were near at hand to get their
+plunder. Is there any chance of following
+that trail?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I doubt it, Doc. Walter and I
+scouted around quite a little, but we
+couldn&#8217;t pick it up again.&#8221;</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_300' name='page_300'></a>300</span></div>
+<p>&#8220;Is there any power line passing
+within twenty miles of here?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;None that Walter and I know of,
+Doc.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Funny! Such a device as must have
+been used would need power and lots
+of it for operation. Well, I&#8217;ll try my
+luck. Carnes, help me unpack and set
+up the rest of my apparatus.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">With</span> the aid of the operative,
+Dr. Bird unpacked two of the
+burros and extracted from cases where
+they were carefully packed and padded
+some elaborate electrical and optical
+apparatus. The first was a short telescope
+of large diameter which he
+mounted on a base in such a manner
+that it could be elevated or depressed
+and rotated in any direction. At the
+focal point of the telescope was fastened
+a small knot of wire from which
+one lead ran to the main piece of apparatus,
+which he sat on a flat rock.
+The other lead from the wire knot ran
+into a sealed container surrounded by
+a water bath under which a spirit lamp
+burned. From the container another
+lead led to the main apparatus. This
+main piece consisted of a series of wire
+coils mounted on a frame and attached
+to the two leads. The doctor took from
+a padded case a tiny magnet suspended
+on a piece of wire of exceedingly small
+diameter which he fastened in place inside
+the coils. Cemented to the magnet
+was a tiny mirror.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What is that apparatus?&#8221; asked
+Carnes as the doctor finished his set-up
+and surveyed it with satisfaction.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Merely a thermocouple attached to
+a D&#8217;Arsonval galvanometer,&#8221; replied
+the doctor. &#8220;This large, squat telescope
+catches and concentrates on the
+thermocouple and the galvanometer
+registers the temperature.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;re out of my depth. What is a
+thermocouple?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;A juncture of two wires made of
+dissimilar metals, in this case of platinum
+and of platinum-iridium alloy.
+There is another similar junction in
+this case, which is kept at a constant
+temperature by the water bath. When
+the temperatures of the two junctions
+are the same, the system is in equilibrium.
+When they are at different temperatures,
+an electrical potential is set
+up, which causes a current to flow from
+one to the other through the galvanometer.
+The galvanometer consists of a
+magnet set up inside coils through
+which the current I spoke of flows.
+This current causes the magnet to rotate
+and by watching the mirror, the
+rotation can be detected and measured.</p>
+<p>&#8220;This device is one of the most sensitive
+ever made, and is used to measure
+the radiation from distant stars. Currents
+as small as .000000000000000000000000001
+ampere have been detected
+and measured. This particular instrument
+is not that sensitive to begin with,
+and has its sensitivity further reduced
+by having a high resistance in one of
+the leads.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What are you going to use it for?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am going to try to locate somewhere
+in these hills a patch of local
+cold. It may not work, but I have
+hopes. If you will manipulate the telescope
+so as to search the hills around
+here, I will watch the galvanometer.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">For</span> several minutes Carnes swung
+the telescope around. Twice Dr.
+Bird stopped him and decreased the
+sensitiveness of his instrument by introducing
+more resistance in the lines
+in order to keep the magnet from twisting
+clear around, due to the fluctuations
+in the heats received on account
+of the varying conditions of reflection.
+As Carnes swung the telescope again
+the magnet swung around sharply,
+nearly to a right angle to its former
+position.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Stop!&#8221; cried the doctor. &#8220;Read your
+azimuth.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Carnes read the compass bearing on
+the protractor attached to the frame
+which supported the telescope. Dr.
+Bird took a pair of binoculars and
+looked long and earnestly in the indicated
+direction. With a sigh he laid
+down the glasses.</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_301' name='page_301'></a>301</span></div>
+<p>&#8220;I can&#8217;t see a thing, Carnesy,&#8221; he
+said. &#8220;We&#8217;ll have to move over to the
+next crest and make a new set-up. Plant
+a rod on the hill so that we can get an
+azimuth bearing and get the airline
+distance with a range finder.&#8221;</p>
+<p>On the hilltop which Dr. Bird had
+pointed out the apparatus was again set
+up. For several minutes Carnes swept
+the hills before an exclamation from
+the doctor told him to pause. He read
+the new azimuth, and the doctor laid
+off the two readings on a sheet of paper
+with a protractor and made a few calculations.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know,&#8221; he said reflectively
+when he had finished his computations.
+&#8220;This darned instrument is still so sensitive
+that you may have merely focused
+on a deep shadow or a cold
+spring or something of that sort, but
+the magnet kicked clear around and it
+may mean that we have located what
+we are looking for. It should be about
+two miles away and almost due west of
+here.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;There is no spring that I know of,
+Doc, and I think I know of every water
+hole in this country,&#8221; remarked Bill.</p>
+<p>&#8220;There could hardly be a spring at
+this elevation, anyway,&#8221; replied the
+doctor. &#8220;Maybe it is what we are seeking.
+We&#8217;ll start out in that direction,
+anyway. Bill, you had better take the
+lead, for you know the country. Spread
+out a little so that we won&#8217;t be too
+bunched if anything happens.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">For</span> three-quarters of an hour the
+little group of men made their
+way through the wilderness in the direction
+indicated by the doctor. Presently
+Bill, who was in the lead, held up
+his hand with a warning gesture. The
+other three closed up as rapidly as
+cautious progress would allow.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What is it, Bill?&#8221; asked the doctor
+in an undertone.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Slip up ahead and look over that
+crest.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The doctor obeyed instructions. As
+he glanced over he gave vent to a low
+whistle of surprise and motioned for
+Carnes to join him. The operative
+crawled up and glanced over the crest.
+In a hollow before them was a crude
+one-storied house, and erected on an
+open space before it was a massive
+piece of apparatus. It consisted of a
+number of huge metallic cylinders,
+from which lines ran to a silvery concave
+mirror mounted on an elaborate
+frame which would allow it to be rotated
+so as to point in any direction.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What is it?&#8221; whispered Carnes.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Some kind of a projector,&#8221; muttered
+the doctor. &#8220;I never saw one quite like
+it, but it is meant to project something.
+I can&#8217;t make out the curve of that mirror.
+It isn&#8217;t a parabola and it isn&#8217;t an
+ellipse. It must be a high degree subcatenary
+or else built on a transcendental
+function.&#8221;</p>
+<p>He raised himself to get a clearer
+view, and as he did so a puff of smoke
+came from the house, to be followed in
+a moment by a sharp crack as a bullet
+flattened itself a few inches from his
+head. The doctor tumbled back over
+the crest out of sight of the house. Bill
+and Walter hurried forward, their
+rifles held ready for action.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Get out on the flanks, men,&#8221; directed
+the doctor. &#8220;The man we want is in a
+house in that hollow. He&#8217;s armed, and
+he means business.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Bill</span> and Walter crawled under
+the shelter of the rocks to a short
+distance away and then, rifles ready,
+advanced to the attack. A report came
+from the hollow and a bullet whined
+over Bill&#8217;s head. Almost instantly a
+crack came from Walter&#8217;s rifle and
+splinters flew from the building in the
+hollow a few inches from a loophole,
+through which projected the barrel of
+a rifle.</p>
+<p>The rifle barrel swung rapidly in a
+circle and barked in Walter&#8217;s direction;
+but as it did so, Bill&#8217;s gun spoke
+and again splinters flew from the building.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Good work!&#8221; ejaculated Dr. Bird as
+he watched the slow advance of the two
+guides. &#8220;If we just had rifles we could
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_302' name='page_302'></a>302</span>
+join in the party, but it&#8217;s a little far for
+effective pistol work. Let&#8217;s go ahead,
+and we may get close enough to do a
+little shooting.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Pistols in hand, Carnes and the
+doctor crawled over the crest and
+joined the advance. Again and again
+the rifle spoke from the hollow and was
+answered by the vicious barks of the
+rifles in the hands of the guides, Carnes
+and the doctor resting their pistols on
+rocks and sending an occasional bullet
+toward the loophole. The conditions of
+light and the moving target were not
+conducive to good marksmanship on
+the part of the besieged man, and none
+of the attackers were hit. Presently
+Walter succeeded in sending a bullet
+through the loophole. The rifle barrel
+suddenly disappeared. With a shout
+the four men rose from their cover and
+advanced toward the building at a run.</p>
+<p>As they did so an ominous whirring
+sound came from the apparatus in front
+of the house and a sudden chill filled
+the air.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Back!&#8221; shouted Dr. Bird. &#8220;Back
+below the hill if you value your lives!&#8221;</p>
+<p>He turned and raced at full speed
+toward the sheltering crest of the hill,
+the others following him closely. The
+whirring sound continued, and the concave
+reflector turned with a grating
+sound on its gears. As the path of its
+rays struck the ground the rocks became
+white with frost and one rock
+split with a sharp report, one fragment
+rolling down the slope, carrying others
+in its trail.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">With</span> panic-stricken faces the
+four men raced toward the sheltering
+crest, but remorselessly the reflector
+swung around in their direction.
+The intense cold numbed the racing
+men, cutting off their breath and impeding
+their efforts for speed.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Stop!&#8221; cried the doctor suddenly.
+&#8220;Fire at that reflector! It&#8217;s our only
+chance!&#8221;</p>
+<p>He set the example by turning and
+emptying his pistol futilely at the
+turning mirror. Bill, Walter and Carnes
+followed his example. Nearer and
+nearer to them came the deadly ray.
+Bill was the nearest to its path, and he
+suddenly stiffened and fell forward,
+his useless gun still grasped in his
+hands. As his body struck the ground
+it rolled down hill for a few feet, the
+deadly ray following it. His head
+struck a rock, and Carnes gave a cry of
+horror as it broke into fragments.</p>
+<p>Walter threw his rifle to his shoulder
+and fired again and again at the rotating
+disc. The cold had became intense
+and he could not control the actions of
+his muscles and his rifle wavered about.
+He threw himself flat on the ground,
+and, with an almost superhuman effort,
+steadied himself for a moment and
+fired. His aim was true, and with a
+terrific crash the reflector split into a
+thousand fragments. Dr. Bird staggered
+to his feet.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s out of order for a moment!&#8221; he
+cried. &#8220;To the house while we can!&#8221;</p>
+<p>As swiftly as his numbed feet would
+allow him, he stumbled toward the
+house. The muzzle of the rifle again
+projected from the loophole and with
+its crack the doctor staggered for a
+moment and then fell. Walter&#8217;s rifle
+spoke again and the rifle disappeared
+through the loophole with a spasmodic
+jerk. Carnes stumbled over the doctor.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Are you hit badly?&#8221; he gasped
+through chattering teeth.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m not hit at all,&#8221; muttered the
+doctor. &#8220;I stumbled and fell just as he
+fired. Look out! He&#8217;s going to shoot
+again!&#8221;</p>
+<p>The rifle barrel came slowly into
+view through the loophole. Walter
+fired, but his bullet went wild. Carnes
+threw himself behind a rock for protection.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">The</span> rifle swung in Walter&#8217;s direction
+and paused. As it did so, from
+the house came a strangled cry and a
+sound as of a blow. The rifle barrel
+disappeared, and the sounds of a struggle
+came from the building.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come on!&#8221; cried Carnes as he rose
+to his feet, and made his stumbling way
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_303' name='page_303'></a>303</span>
+forward, the others following at the
+best speed which their numbed limbs
+would allow.</p>
+<p>As they reached the door they were
+aware of a struggle which was going on
+inside. With an oath the doctor threw
+his massive frame against the door. It
+creaked, but the solid oak of which it
+was composed was proof against the attack,
+and he drew back for another onslaught.
+From the house came a pistol
+shot, followed by a despairing cry and
+a guttural shout. Reinforced by Carnes,
+the doctor threw his weight against the
+door again. With a rending crash it
+gave, and they fell sprawling into the
+cabin. The doctor was the first one on
+his feet.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Who are you?&#8221; asked a voice from
+one corner. The doctor whirled like a
+flash and covered the speaker with his
+pistol.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Put them up!&#8221; he said tersely.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am unarmed,&#8221; the voice replied.
+&#8220;Who are you?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;We&#8217;re from the United States Secret
+Service,&#8221; replied Carnes who had
+gained his feet. &#8220;The game is up for
+you, and you&#8217;d better realize it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Secret Service! Thank God!&#8221; cried
+the voice. &#8220;Get Koskoff&ndash;&ndash;he has the
+plans. He has gone out through the
+tunnel!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Where is it?&#8221; demanded Carnes.</p>
+<p>&#8220;The entrance is that iron plate on
+the floor.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Carnes and the doctor jumped at the
+plate and tried to lift it, without result.
+There was no handle or projection on
+which they could take hold.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Not that way,&#8221; cried the voice.
+&#8220;That cover is fastened on the inside.
+Go outside the building; he&#8217;ll come
+out about two hundred yards north.
+Shoot him as he appears or he&#8217;ll get
+away.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The three men nearly tumbled over
+each other to get through the doorway
+into the bitter cold outside. As they
+emerged from the cabin the gaze of the
+guide swept the surrounding hills.</p>
+<p>&#8220;There he goes!&#8221; he cried.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Get him!&#8221; said Carnes sharply.</p>
+<p>Walter ran forward a few feet and
+dropped prone on the ground, cuddling
+the stock of his rifle to his cheek. Two
+hundred yards ahead a figure was
+scurrying over the rocks away from the
+cabin. Walter drew in his breath and
+his hand suddenly grew steady as his
+keen gray eyes peered through the
+sights. Carnes and the doctor held
+their breath in sympathy.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Suddenly</span> the rifle spoke, and the
+fleeing man threw up his arms and
+fell forward on his face.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Got him,&#8221; said Walter laconically.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Go bring the body in, Carnes,&#8221; exclaimed
+the doctor. &#8220;I&#8217;ll take care of
+the chap inside.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Did you get him?&#8221; asked the voice
+eagerly, as the doctor stepped inside.</p>
+<p>&#8220;He&#8217;s dead all right,&#8221; replied the
+doctor grimly. &#8220;Who the devil are you,
+and what are you doing here?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;There is a light switch on the left
+of the door as you come in,&#8221; was the
+reply.</p>
+<p>Dr. Bird found the switch and
+snapped on a light. He turned toward
+the corner from whence the voice had
+come and recoiled in horror. Propped
+in the corner was the body of a middle-aged
+man, daubed and splashed with
+blood which ran from a wound in the
+side of his head.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Good Lord!&#8221; he ejaculated. &#8220;Let
+me help you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s not much use,&#8221; replied the
+man rather faintly. &#8220;I am about done
+in. This face wound doesn&#8217;t amount to
+much, but I am shot through the body
+and am bleeding internally. If you try
+to move me, it may easily kill me. Leave
+me alone until your partners come.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The doctor drew a flask of brandy
+from his pocket and advanced toward
+the corner.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Take a few drops of this,&#8221; he advised.</p>
+<p>With an effort the man lifted the
+flask to his lips and gulped down a little
+of the fiery spirit. A sound of
+tramping feet came from the outside
+and then a thud as though a body had
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_304' name='page_304'></a>304</span>
+been dropped. Carnes and Walter entered
+the cabin.</p>
+<p>&#8220;He&#8217;s dead as a mackerel,&#8221; said
+Carnes in answer to the doctor&#8217;s look.
+&#8220;Walter got him through the neck and
+broke his spinal cord. He never knew
+what hit him.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;The plans?&#8221; came in a gasping voice
+from the man in the corner.</p>
+<p>&#8220;We got them, too,&#8221; replied Carnes.
+&#8220;He had both packets inside his coat.
+They have been opened, but I guess
+they are all here. Who the devil are
+you?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Since Koskoff is dead, and I am dying,
+there is no reason why I shouldn&#8217;t
+tell you,&#8221; was the answer. &#8220;Leave that
+brandy handy to keep up my strength.
+I have only a short time and I can&#8217;t repeat.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcapq'><small>&#8220;</small><span class="drop">A</span><span class="dcap">s to</span> who I am or what I was, it
+doesn&#8217;t really matter. Koskoff
+knew me as John Smith, and it will
+pass as well as any other name. Let my
+past stay buried. I am, or was, a scientist
+of some ability; but fortune
+frowned on me, and I was driven out of
+the world. Money would rehabilitate
+me&ndash;&ndash;money will do anything nowadays&ndash;&ndash;so
+I set out to get it. In the course
+of my experimental work, I had discovered
+that cold was negative heat and
+reacted to the laws which governed
+heat.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I knew that,&#8221; cried Dr. Bird; &#8220;but
+I never could prove it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Who are you?&#8221; demanded John
+Smith.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Dr. Bird, of the Bureau of Standards.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Bird. I&#8217;ve heard of you. You
+can understand me when I say that as
+heat, positive heat is a concomitant of
+ordinary light. I have found that cold,
+negative heat, is a concomitant of cold
+light. Is my apparatus in good shape
+outside?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;The reflector is smashed.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m sorry. You would have enjoyed
+studying it. I presume that you saw
+that it was a catenary curve?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I rather thought so.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It was, and it was also adjustable. I
+could vary the focal point from a few
+feet to several miles. With that apparatus
+I could throw a beam of negative
+heat with a focal point which I
+could adjust at will. Close to the apparatus,
+I could obtain a temperature
+almost down to absolute zero, but at the
+longer ranges it wasn&#8217;t so cold, due to
+leakage into the atmosphere. Even at
+two miles I could produce a local temperature
+of three hundred degrees below
+zero.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What was the source of your cold?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Liquid helium. Those cylinders
+contain, or rather did contain, for I expect
+that Koskoff has emptied them,
+helium in a liquid state.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Where is your compressor?&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcapq'><small>&#8220;</small><span class="drop">I</span><span class="dcap"> didn&#8217;t</span> have to use one. I developed
+a cold light under whose
+rays helium would liquefy and remain
+in a state of equilibrium until exposed
+to light rays. Those cylinders had
+merely enough pressure to force the
+liquid out to where the sun could hit
+it, and then it turned to a gas, dropping
+the temperature at the first focal point
+of the reflector to absolute zero. When
+I had this much done, Koskoff and I
+packed the whole apparatus here and
+were ready for work.</p>
+<p>&#8220;We were on the path of the transcontinental
+air mail, and I bided my
+time until an especially valuable shipment
+was to be made. My plans, which
+worked perfectly, were to freeze the
+plane in midair and then rob the wreck.
+I heard of the jewel shipment the
+T.&nbsp;A.&nbsp;C. was to carry and I planned to
+get it. When the plane came over,
+Koskoff and I brought it down. The
+unsuspected presence of another plane
+upset us a little, and I started to bring
+it down. But we had been all over this
+country and knew there was no place
+that a plane could land. I let it go on in
+safety.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thank you,&#8221; replied Carnes with a
+grimace.</p>
+<p>&#8220;We robbed the wreck and we found
+two packets, one the jewels I was after,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_305' name='page_305'></a>305</span>
+and the other a sealed packet, which
+proved to contain certain War Department
+plans. That was when I learned
+who Koskoff was. I had hired him in
+San Francisco as a good mechanic who
+had no principles. He was to get one-fourth
+of the loot. When we found
+these plans, he told me who he was. He
+was really a Russian secret agent and
+he wanted to deliver the plans to Russia.
+I may be a thief and a murderer,
+but I am not yet ready to betray my
+country, and I told him so. He offered
+me almost any price for the plans; but
+I wouldn&#8217;t listen. We had a serious
+quarrel, and he overpowered me and
+bound me.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcapq'><small>&#8220;</small><span class="drop">W</span><span class="dcap">e</span> had a radio set here and he
+called San Francisco and sent
+some code message. I think he was
+waiting here for someone to come.
+Had we followed our original plans,
+we would have been miles from here
+before you arrived.</p>
+<p>&#8220;He had me bound and helpless, as
+he thought, but I worked my bonds a
+little loose. I didn&#8217;t let him know it,
+for I knew that the plane I had let
+get away would guide a party here and
+I thought I might be able to help out.
+When you came and attacked the
+house, I worked at my bonds until they
+were loose enough to throw off. I saw
+Koskoff start my cold apparatus to
+working and then he quit, because he
+ran out of helium. When he started
+shooting again, I worked out of my
+bonds and tackled him.</p>
+<p>&#8220;He was a better man than I gave
+him credit for, or else he suspected me,
+for about the time I grabbed him he
+whirled and struck me over the head
+with his gun barrel and tore my face
+open. The blow stunned me, and when
+I came to, I was thrown into this corner.
+I meant to have another try at it,
+but I guess you rushed him too fast.
+He turned and ran for the tunnel, but
+as he did so, he shot me through the
+body. I guess I didn&#8217;t look dead enough
+to suit him. You gentlemen broke open
+the door and came in. That&#8217;s all.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Not by a long shot, it isn&#8217;t,&#8221; exclaimed
+Dr. Bird. &#8220;Where is that cold
+light apparatus of yours?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;In the tunnel.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;How do you get into it?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;If you will open that cupboard on
+the wall, you&#8217;ll find an open knife
+switch on the wall. Close it.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Dr. Bird</span> found the switch and
+closed it. As he did so the cabin
+rocked on its foundations and both
+Carnes and Walter were thrown to the
+ground. The thud of a detonation deep
+in the earth came to their ears.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What was that?&#8221; cried the doctor.</p>
+<p>&#8220;That,&#8221; replied Smith with a wan
+smile, &#8220;was the detonation of two hundred
+pounds of T.N.T. When you dig
+down into the underground cave where
+we used the cold light apparatus, you
+will find it in fragments. It was my
+only child, and I&#8217;ll take it with me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>As he finished his head slumped forward
+on his chest. With an exclamation
+of dismay Dr. Bird sprang forward and
+tried to lift the prostrate form.</p>
+<p>In an agony of desire the Doctor
+tightened his grip on the dying man&#8217;s
+shoulder. But Smith collapsed into
+a heap. Dr. Bird bent forward and
+tore open his shirt and listened at his
+chest. Presently he straightened up.</p>
+<p>&#8220;He is gone,&#8221; he said sadly, &#8220;and I
+guess the results of his genius have
+died with him. He doesn&#8217;t strike me
+as a man who left overmuch to chance.
+Carnes, is your case completed?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Very satisfactorily, Doctor. I have
+both of the lost packets.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;All right, then, come back to the
+wreck and help me pack my burros. I
+can make my way back to Fallon without
+a guide.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Where are you going, Doctor?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That, Carnes, old dear, is none of
+your blankety blanked business. Permit
+me to remind you that I am on my
+vacation. I haven&#8217;t decided yet just
+where I am going, but I can tell you
+one thing. It&#8217;s going to be some place
+where you can&#8217;t call me on the telephone.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='toprule' />
+<div class='chsp'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_306' name='page_306'></a>306</span>
+<a name='BRIGANDS_OF_THE_MOON_THE_BOOK_OF_GREGG_HALJAN_BEGINNING_A_FOURPART_NOVEL' id='BRIGANDS_OF_THE_MOON_THE_BOOK_OF_GREGG_HALJAN_BEGINNING_A_FOURPART_NOVEL'></a>
+<h2>Brigands of the Moon</h2>
+<h3>(The Book of Gregg Haljan)<br /><span class="smaller">BEGINNING A FOUR-PART NOVEL</span></h3>
+</div>
+<p class='authorhdr'><i>By Ray Cummings</i></p>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_4' id='linki_4'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src='images/i306.jpg' alt='' title='' width='460' height='500' /><br />
+<p class='caption'>
+<i>I stood on the turret-balcony of the Planetara with Dr. Frank, watching the arriving passengers.</i><br />
+</p>
+</div>
+<h3><i>Foreword by Ray Cummings</i></h3>
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">I have</span> been thinking that if, during
+one of those long winter evenings
+at Valley Forge, someone had
+placed in
+George Washington&#8217;s
+hands one
+of our present
+day best sellers,
+the illustrious Father of our Country
+would have read it with considerable
+emotion. I do not mean what we
+call a story of science, or fantasy&ndash;&ndash;just
+a novel of
+action, adventure
+and romance. The
+sort of thing you
+and I like to read,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_307' name='page_307'></a>307</span>
+but do not find amazing in any way at
+all.</p>
+<p class='sidebarright'>Black mutiny and brigandage stalk the
+Space-ship Planetara as she speeds to the
+Moon to pick up a fabulously rich cache
+of radium-ore.</p>
+<p>But I fancy that George Washington
+would have found it amazing. Don&#8217;t
+you? It might picture, for instance, a
+factory girl at a sewing machine.
+George Washington would be amazed
+at a sewing machine. And the girl,
+journeying in the subway to and from
+her work! Stealing an opportunity to
+telephone her lover at the noon hour;
+going to the movies in the evening, or
+listening to a radio. And there might
+be a climax, perhaps, with the girl and
+the villain in a transcontinental railway
+Pullman, and the hero sending
+frantic telegrams, or telephoning the
+train, and then chasing it in his airplane.</p>
+<p>George Washington would have
+found it amazing!</p>
+<p>And I am wondering how you and I
+would feel if someone were to give us
+now a book of ordinary adventure of
+the sort which will be published a hundred
+and fifty years hence. I have been
+trying to imagine such a book and the
+nature of its contents.</p>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_5' id='linki_5'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src='images/i307.jpg' alt='' title='' width='424' height='500' /><br />
+</div>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_308' name='page_308'></a>308</span></div>
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Let</span> us imagine it together. Suppose
+we walk down Fifth Avenue,
+a pleasant spring morning of May,
+2080. Fifth Avenue, no doubt, will be
+there. I don&#8217;t know whether the New
+York Public Library will be there or
+not. We&#8217;ll assume that it is, and that
+it has some sort of books, printed, or in
+whatever fashion you care to imagine.</p>
+<p>The young man library attendant is
+surprised at our curiously antiquated
+aspect. We look as though we were
+dressed for some historical costume
+ball. We talk old-fashioned English,
+like actors in an historical play of the
+1930 period.</p>
+<p>But we get the book. The attendant
+assures us it is a good average story
+of action and adventure. Nothing remarkable,
+but he read it himself, and
+found it interesting.</p>
+<p>We thank him and take the book.
+But we find that the language in which
+it is written is too strange for comfortable
+reading. And it names so many
+extraordinary things so casually! As
+though we knew all about them, which
+we certainly do not!</p>
+<p>So we take it to the kind-hearted
+librarian in the language division. He
+modifies it to old-fashioned English of
+1930, and he puts occasional footnotes
+to help explain some of the things we
+might not understand. Why he should
+bother to do this for us I don&#8217;t know;
+but let us assume that he does.</p>
+<p>And now we take the book home&ndash;&ndash;in
+the pneumatic tube, or aerial moving
+sidewalk, or airship, or whatever it is
+we take to get home.</p>
+<p>And now that we are home, let&#8217;s read
+the book. It ought to be interesting.</p>
+<div class='chsp'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_I' id='CHAPTER_I'></a>
+<h3>CHAPTER I</h3>
+</div>
+<p class='chintro'><i>Tells of the Grantline Moon Expedition
+and of the Mysterious Martian Who
+Followed Us in the City Corridor</i></p>
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">One</span> may write about oneself
+and still not be an egoist. Or
+so, at least, they tell me. My
+narrative went broadcast with
+a fair success. It was pantomimed and
+the public flashed me a reasonable approval.
+And so my disc publishers have
+suggested that I record it in more permanent
+form.</p>
+<p>I introduce myself, begging grace
+that I intrude upon your busy minutes,
+with my only excuse that perhaps I
+may amuse you. For what the commercial
+sellers of my pictured version
+were pleased to blare as my handsome
+face, I ask your indulgence. My feminine
+audience of the pantomimes was
+undoubtedly graciously pleased at my
+personality and physical aspect. That
+I am &#8220;tall as a Viking of old&#8221;&ndash;&ndash;and
+&#8220;handsome as a young Norse God&#8221;&ndash;&ndash;is
+very pretty talk in the selling of my
+product. But I deplore its intrusion
+into the personality of this, my recorded
+narrative. And so now, for preface,
+to all my audience I do give
+earnest assurance that Gregg Haljan is
+no conceited zebra, handsomely striped
+by nature, and proud of it. Not so. I
+am, I do beg you to believe, a very
+humble fellow, striving for your approval,
+hoping only to entertain you.</p>
+<p>My introduction: My name, Gregg
+Haljan. My age, twenty-five years. I
+was, at the time my narrative begins,
+Third Officer on the Space-Ship Planetara.
+Our line was newly established;
+in 2070, to be exact, following the
+modern improvements of the Martel
+Magnetic Levitation.<a name='FNanchor_0001' id='FNanchor_0001'></a><a href='#Footnote_0001' class='fnanchor'>[1]</a></p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Our</span> ship, whose home port was
+Great-New York, carried mail and
+passenger traffic to and from both
+Venus and Mars. Of astronomical necessity,
+our flights were irregular. This
+spring, with the two other planets both
+close to the earth, we were making two
+complete round trips. We had just arrived
+in Great-New York, this May
+evening, from Grebhar, Venus Free
+State. With only five hours in port
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_309' name='page_309'></a>309</span>
+here, we were departing the same night
+at the zero hour for Ferrok-Shahn,
+capital of the Martian Union.</p>
+<p>We were no sooner at the landing
+stage than I found a code-flash summoning
+Dan Dean and me to Divisional
+Detective Headquarters. Dan &#8220;Snap&#8221;
+Dean was one of my closest friends.
+He was radio-helio operator of the
+Planetara. A small, wiry, red-headed
+chap, with a quick, ready laugh and a
+wit that made everyone like him.</p>
+<p>The summons to Detective-Colonel
+Halsey&#8217;s office surprised us. Snap eyed
+me.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You haven&#8217;t been opening any treasury
+vaults, have you, Gregg?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;He wants you, also,&#8221; I retorted.</p>
+<p>He laughed. &#8220;Well, he can roar at
+me like a traffic switchman and my
+private life will remain my own.&#8221;</p>
+<p>We could not think why we should
+be wanted. It was the darkness of mid-evening
+when we left the Planetara for
+Halsey&#8217;s office. It was not a long trip.
+We went direct in the upper monorail,
+descending into the subterranean city
+at Park-Circle 30.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">We had</span> never been to Halsey&#8217;s
+office before. We found it to be
+a gloomy, vaultlike place in one of the
+deepest corridors. The door lifted.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Gregg Haljan and Daniel Dean.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The guard stood aside. &#8220;Come in.&#8221;</p>
+<p>I own that my heart was unduly
+thumping as we entered. The door
+dropped behind us. It was a small blue-lit
+apartment&ndash;&ndash;a steel-lined room like a
+vault.</p>
+<p>Colonel Halsey sat at his desk. And
+the big, heavy-set, florid Captain Carter&ndash;&ndash;our
+commander of the Planetara&ndash;&ndash;was
+here. That surprised us: we had
+not seen him leave the ship.</p>
+<p>Halsey smiled at us gravely. Captain
+Carter said, &#8220;Sit down, lads.&#8221;</p>
+<p>We took the seats. There was an
+alarming solemnity about this. If I had
+been guilty of anything that I could
+think of, it would have been frightening.
+But Halsey&#8217;s first words reassured
+me.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s about the Grantline Moon Expedition.
+In spite of our secrecy, the
+news has gotten out. We want to know
+how. Can you tell us?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Captain Carter&#8217;s huge bulk&ndash;&ndash;he was
+about as tall as I am&ndash;&ndash;towered over us
+as we sat before Halsey&#8217;s desk. &#8220;If you
+lads have told anyone&ndash;&ndash;said anything&ndash;&ndash;let
+slip the slightest hint about
+it&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>Snap smiled with relief; but he
+turned solemn at once. &#8220;I haven&#8217;t. Not
+a word!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Nor have I,&#8221; I declared.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">The</span> Grantline Moon Expedition!
+We had not thought of that as a
+reason for this summons. Johnny
+Grantline was a close friend to us both.
+He had organized an exploring expedition
+to the Moon. Uninhabited, with
+its bleak, forbidding, airless, waterless
+surface, the Moon&ndash;&ndash;even though so
+close to the Earth&ndash;&ndash;was seldom visited.
+No regular ship ever stopped there. A
+few exploring parties of recent years
+had come to grief.</p>
+<p>But there was a persistent rumor
+that upon the Moon, mineral riches of
+fabulous wealth were awaiting discovery.
+The thing had already caused
+some interplanetary complications. The
+aggressive Martians would be only too
+glad to explore the Moon. But the
+U.S.W.<a name='FNanchor_0002' id='FNanchor_0002'></a><a href='#Footnote_0002' class='fnanchor'>[2]</a> definitely warned them away.
+The Moon was World Territory, we
+announced, and we would protect it
+as such.</p>
+<p>The threatened conflict between the
+Earth and Mars had come to nothing.
+There was, this year of 2079, a thorough
+amity between all three of the inhabited
+planets. It still holds, and I pray that
+it may always hold.</p>
+<p>There was, nevertheless, a realization
+by our government, that whatever riches
+might be upon the Moon should be
+seized at once and held by some reputable
+Earth Company. And when Johnny
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_310' name='page_310'></a>310</span>
+Grantline applied, with his father&#8217;s
+wealth and his own scientific record
+of attainment, the government was only
+too glad to grant him its writ.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">The</span> Grantline Expedition had
+started six months ago. The Martian
+government had acquiesced in our
+ultimatum, yet brigands have been
+known to be financed under cover of
+a governmental disavowal. And so the
+expedition was kept secret.</p>
+<p>My words need give no offense to
+any Martian who comes upon them. I
+refer to the history of our earth only.
+The Grantline Expedition was on the
+Moon now. No word had come from it.
+One could not flash helios even in code
+without letting all the universe know
+that explorers were on the Moon. And
+why they were there, anyone could
+easily guess.</p>
+<p>And now Colonel Halsey was telling
+us that the news was abroad! Captain
+Carter eyed us closely; his flashing
+eyes under the white bushy brows
+would pry a secret from anyone.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;re sure? A girl of Venus, perhaps,
+with her cursed, seductive lure!
+A chance word, with you lads befuddled
+by alcolite?&#8221;</p>
+<p>We assured him we had been careful.
+By the heavens, I know that I had
+been. Not a whisper, even to Snap, of
+the name Grantline in six months or
+more.</p>
+<p>Captain Carter added abruptly,
+&#8220;We&#8217;re insulated here, Halsey?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, talk as freely as you like. An
+eavesdropping ray will never get into
+these walls.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">They</span> questioned us. They were
+satisfied at last that, though the
+secret had escaped, we had not done it.
+Hearing it discussed, it occurred to me
+to wonder why Carter was concerned.
+I was not aware that he knew of Grantline&#8217;s
+venture. I learned now the reason
+why the Planetara, upon each of her
+voyages, had managed to pass fairly
+close to the Moon. It had been arranged
+with Grantline that if he
+wanted help or had any important message,
+he was to flash it locally to our
+passing ship. And this Snap knew, and
+had never mentioned it, even to me.</p>
+<p>Halsey was saying, &#8220;Well, we can&#8217;t
+blame you, but the secret is out.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Snap and I regarded each other.
+What could anyone do? What would
+anyone dare do?</p>
+<p>Captain Carter said abruptly, &#8220;Look
+here, lads, this is my chance now to
+talk plainly to you. Outside, anywhere
+outside these walls, an eavesdropping
+ray may be upon us. You know that?
+One may never even dare whisper since
+that accursed ray was developed.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Snap opened his mouth to speak but
+decided against it. My heart was
+pounding.</p>
+<p>Captain Carter went on, &#8220;I know I
+can trust you two more than anyone
+else under me on the Planetara&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What do you mean by that?&#8221; I demanded.
+&#8220;What&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>He interrupted me. &#8220;Nothing at all
+but what I say.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Halsey</span> smiled grimly. &#8220;What he
+means, Haljan, is that things are
+not always what they seem these days.
+One cannot always tell a friend from
+an enemy. The Planetara is a public
+vessel. You have&ndash;&ndash;how many is it, Carter?&ndash;&ndash;thirty
+or forty passengers this
+trip to-night?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thirty-eight,&#8221; said Carter.</p>
+<p>&#8220;There are thirty-eight people listed
+for the flight to Ferrok-Shahn to-night,&#8221;
+Halsey said slowly. &#8220;And some
+may not be what they seem.&#8221; He raised
+his thin dark hand. &#8220;We have information&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;
+He paused. &#8220;I confess, we know
+almost nothing&ndash;&ndash;hardly more than
+enough to alarm us.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Captain Carter interjected, &#8220;I want
+you and Dean to be on your guard.
+Once on the Planetara it is difficult
+for us to talk openly, but be watchful.
+I will arrange for us to be doubly
+armed.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Vague, perturbing words! Halsey
+said, &#8220;They tell me George Prince is
+listed for the voyage. I am suggesting,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_311' name='page_311'></a>311</span>
+Haljan, that you keep your eye especially
+upon him. Your duties on the
+Planetara leave you comparatively free,
+don&#8217;t they?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; I agreed. With the first and
+second officers on duty, and the captain
+aboard, my routine was more or
+less that of an understudy.</p>
+<p>I said, &#8220;George Prince! Who is he?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;A mechanical engineer,&#8221; said Halsey.
+&#8220;An under-official of the Earth
+Federated Radium Corporation. But he
+associates with bad companions&ndash;&ndash;particularly
+Martians.&#8221;</p>
+<p>I had never heard of this George
+Prince, though I was familiar with the
+Federated Radium Corporation, of
+course. A semi-government trust, which
+controlled virtually the entire Earth
+supply of radium.</p>
+<p>&#8220;He was in the Automotive Department,&#8221;
+Carter put in. &#8220;You&#8217;ve heard of
+the Federated Radium Motor?&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">We</span> had, of course. A recent Earth
+invention which promised to
+revolutionize the automotive industry.
+An engine of a new type, using radium
+as its fuel.</p>
+<p>Snap demanded, &#8220;What in the stars
+has this got to do with Johnny Grantline?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Much,&#8221; said Halsey quietly, &#8220;or perhaps
+nothing. But George Prince some
+years ago mixed in rather unethical
+transactions. We had him in custody
+once. He is known now as unusually
+friendly with several Martians in New
+York of bad reputation.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well&ndash;&ndash;&#8221; began Snap.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What you don&#8217;t know,&#8221; Halsey went
+on quietly, &#8220;is that Grantline expects
+to find radium on the Moon.&#8221;</p>
+<p>We gasped.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Exactly,&#8221; said Halsey. &#8220;The ill-fated
+Ballon Expedition thought they had
+found it on the Moon some years ago.
+A new type of ore, as rich in radium
+as our gold-bearing sands are rich in
+gold. Ballon&#8217;s first samples gave uranium
+atoms with a fair representation of
+ionium and thorium. A richly radio-active
+ore. A lode of the pure radium
+is there somewhere, without doubt.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">He</span> added vehemently, &#8220;Do you understand
+now why we should be
+suspicious of this George Prince? He
+has a criminal record. He has a
+thorough technical knowledge of radium
+ores. He associates with Martians
+of bad reputation. A large Martian
+Company has recently developed a radium
+engine to compete with our Earth
+motor. You know that? You know that
+there is very little radium available on
+Mars, and our government will not allow
+our own radium supply to be exported.
+That Martian Company needs
+radium. It will do anything to get
+radium. What do you suppose it would
+pay for a few tons of really rich radio-active
+ore&ndash;&ndash;such as Grantline may have
+found on the Moon?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But,&#8221; I objected, &#8220;that is a reputable
+Martian company. It&#8217;s backed by the
+government of the Martian Union. The
+government of Mars would not dare&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course not!&#8221; Captain Carter exclaimed
+sardonically. &#8220;Not openly! But
+if Martian brigands had a supply of
+radium&ndash;&ndash;I don&#8217;t imagine where it came
+from would make much difference.
+That Martian Company would buy it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Halsey added, &#8220;And George Prince,
+my agents inform me, seems to know
+that Grantline is on the Moon. Put it
+all together, lads. Little sparks show
+the hidden current.</p>
+<p>&#8220;More than that: George Prince
+knows that we have arranged to have
+the Planetara stop at the Moon and
+bring back Grantline&#8217;s radium-ore. This
+is your last voyage this year. You&#8217;ll
+hear from Grantline this time, we&#8217;re
+convinced. He&#8217;ll probably give you the
+signal as you pass the Moon on your
+way out. Coming back, you&#8217;ll stop at
+the Moon and transport whatever radium-ore
+Grantline has ready. The Grantline
+Flyer is too small for ore transportation.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Halsey&#8217;s</span> voice turned grimly
+sarcastic. &#8220;Doesn&#8217;t it seem queer
+that George Prince and a few of his
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_312' name='page_312'></a>312</span>
+Martian friends happen to be listed as
+passengers for this voyage?&#8221;</p>
+<p>In the silence that followed, Snap
+and I regarded each other. Halsey
+added abruptly,</p>
+<p>&#8220;We had George Prince typed that
+time we arrested him four years ago.
+I&#8217;ll show him to you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>He snapped open an alcove, and said
+to his waiting attendant, &#8220;Get me the
+type of George Prince.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The disc in a moment came through
+the pneumatic. Halsey, smiling wryly,
+adjusted it.</p>
+<p>&#8220;A nice looking fellow. Nicely
+spoken. Though at the time we made
+this he was somewhat annoyed, naturally.
+He is older now. Twenty-nine, to
+be exact. Here he is.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The image glowed on the grids before
+us. His name, George Prince, in
+letters illumined upon his forehead,
+showed for a moment and then faded.
+He stood smiling sourly before us as
+he repeated the official formula:</p>
+<p>&#8220;My name is George Prince. I was
+born in Great-New York City twenty-five
+years ago.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">I gazed</span> at this life-size, moving
+image of George Prince. He stood
+somber in the black detention uniform.
+A dark, almost a girlishly handsome
+fellow, well below medium height&ndash;&ndash;the
+rod beside him showed five feet four
+inches. Slim and slight. Long, wavy
+black hair, falling about his ears. A
+pale, clean-cut, really handsome face,
+almost beardless. I regarded it closely.
+A face that would have been femininely
+beautiful without its masculine
+touch of heavy black brows and firmly
+set jaw. His voice as he spoke was low
+and soft; but at the end, with the concluding
+words, &#8220;I am innocent!&#8221; it
+flashed into strong masculinity. His
+eyes, shaded with long, girlish black
+lashes, by chance met mine. &#8220;I am innocent.&#8221;
+His curving sensuous lips
+drew down into a grim sneer....</p>
+<p>The type faded at its end. Halsey
+replaced the disc in its box and waved
+the attendant away. &#8220;Thank you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>He turned back to Snap and me.
+&#8220;Well, there he is. We have nothing
+tangible against him now. But I&#8217;ll say
+this: he&#8217;s a clever fellow, one to be
+afraid of. I would not blare it from the
+newscasters&#8217; microphone, but if he is
+hatching any plot, he has been too
+clever for my agents.&#8221;</p>
+<p>We talked for another half-hour, and
+then Captain Carter dismissed us. We
+left Halsey&#8217;s office with Carter&#8217;s final
+words ringing in our ears. &#8220;Whatever
+comes, lads, remember I trust you....&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Snap</span> and I decided to walk a portion
+of the way back to the ship.
+It was barely more than a mile through
+this subterranean corridor to where we
+could get the vertical lift direct to the
+landing stage.</p>
+<p>We started off on the lower level.
+Once outside the insulation of Halsey&#8217;s
+office we did not dare talk of this
+thing. Not only electrical ears, but
+every possible eavesdropping device
+might be upon us. The corridor was two
+hundred feet or more below the ground
+level. At this hour of the night this
+business section was comparatively deserted.
+The through tube sounded over
+our heads with the passing of its occasional
+trains. The ventilators buzzed
+and whirred. At the cross intersections,
+the traffic directors dozed at their posts.
+It was hot and sticky down here, and
+gloomy with the daylight globes extinguished,
+and only the night lights
+to give a dim illumination. The stores
+and office arcades were all closed and
+deserted; only an occasional night-light
+burning behind their windows.</p>
+<p>Our footfalls echoed on the metal
+grids as we hurried along.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Nice evening,&#8221; said Snap awkwardly.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; I said, &#8220;isn&#8217;t it?&#8221;</p>
+<p>I felt oppressed. As though prying
+eyes and ears were here. We walked
+for a time in silence, each of us busy
+with memory of what had transpired
+in Halsey&#8217;s office.</p>
+<p>Suddenly Snap gripped me. &#8220;What&#8217;s
+that?&#8221;</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_313' name='page_313'></a>313</span></div>
+<p>&#8220;Where?&#8221; I whispered.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">We</span> stopped at a corner. An entryway
+was here. Snap pulled
+me into it. I could feel him quivering
+with excitement.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What is it?&#8221; I demanded in a whisper.</p>
+<p>&#8220;We&#8217;re being followed. Did you hear
+anything?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No!&#8221; Yet I thought now I could
+hear something. Vague footfalls. A
+rustling. And a microscopic electrical
+whine, as though some device were
+near us.</p>
+<p>Snap was fumbling in his pocket.
+&#8220;Wait, I&#8217;ve got a pair of low-scale
+phones.&#8221;</p>
+<p>He put the little grids against his
+ears. I could hear the sharp intake of
+his breath. Then he seized me, pulled
+me down to the metal floor of the entryway.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Back, Gregg! Get back!&#8221; I could
+barely hear his whisper. We crouched
+as far back into the doorway as we
+could get. I was armed. My official permit
+for the carrying of the pencil heat-ray
+allowed me to have it always with
+me. I drew it now. But there was
+nothing to shoot at. I felt Snap clamping
+the grids on my ears. And now I
+heard something! An intensification of
+the vague footsteps I had thought I
+heard before.</p>
+<p>There was something following us!
+Something out in the corridor there
+now! A street light was nearby. The
+corridor was dim, but plainly visible;
+and to my sight it was empty. But
+there was something there. Something
+invisible! I could hear it moving.
+Creeping towards us. I pulled the
+grids off my ears.</p>
+<p>Snap murmured, &#8220;You&#8217;ve got a local
+phone.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes! I&#8217;ll get them to give us the
+street glare!&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">I pressed</span> the danger signal, giving
+our location to the nearest operator.
+In a second or two we got the
+light. The street in all this neighborhood
+burst into a brilliant actinic
+glare. The thing menacing us was revealed!
+A figure in a black cloak,
+crouching thirty feet away across the
+corridor.</p>
+<p>Snap was on his feet. His voice rang
+shrilly, &#8220;There it is! Give it a shot,
+Gregg!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Snap was unarmed, but he flung his
+hands out menacingly. The figure,
+which may perhaps not have been aware
+of our city safeguard, was taken wholly
+by surprise. A human figure. Seven
+feet tall, at the least, and therefore, I
+judged, doubtless a Martian man. The
+black cloak covered his head. He took
+a step toward us, hesitated, and then
+turned in confusion.</p>
+<p>Snap&#8217;s shrill voice was bringing help.
+The whine of a street guard&#8217;s alarm
+whistle nearby sounded. The figure was
+making off! My pencil-ray was in my
+hand and I pressed its switch. The tiny
+heat-ray stabbed through the glare, but
+I missed. The figure stumbled, but did
+not fall. I saw a bare gray arm come
+from the cloak, flung up to maintain
+its balance. Or perhaps my pencil-ray
+of heat had seared the arm. The gray-skinned
+arm of a Martian.</p>
+<p>Snap was shouting, &#8220;Give him another!&#8221;
+But the figure passed beyond
+the actinic glare and vanished.</p>
+<p>We were detained in the turmoil of
+the corridor for ten minutes or more
+with official explanations. Then a message
+from Halsey released us. The Martian
+who had been following us in his
+invisible cloak was never caught.</p>
+<p>We escaped from the crowd at last
+and made our way back to the Planetara,
+where the passengers were already
+assembling for the outward Martian
+voyage.</p>
+<div class='chsp'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_II_A_FLEETING_GLANCE' id='CHAPTER_II_A_FLEETING_GLANCE'></a>
+<h3>CHAPTER II</h3>
+<h4>&#8220;<i>A Fleeting Glance</i>&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</h4>
+</div>
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">I stood</span> on the turret-balcony of
+the Planetara with Captain Carter
+and Dr. Frank, the ship surgeon, watching
+the arriving passengers. It was
+close to the zero hour: the level of the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_314' name='page_314'></a>314</span>
+stage was a turmoil of confusion. The
+escalators, with the last of the freight
+aboard, were folded back. But the
+stage was jammed with the incoming
+passenger baggage: the interplanetary
+customs and tax officials with their
+X-ray and Zed-ray paraphernalia and
+the passengers themselves, lined up for
+the export inspection.</p>
+<p>At this height, the city lights lay
+spread in a glare of blue and yellow beneath
+us. The individual local planes
+came dropping like birds to our stage.
+Thirty-eight passengers for this flight
+to Mars, but that accursed desire of
+every friend and relative to speed the
+departing voyager brought a hundred
+or more extra people to crowd our
+girders and bring added difficulty to
+everybody.</p>
+<p>Carter was too absorbed in his duties
+to stay with us long. But here in the
+turret Dr. Frank and I found ourselves
+at the moment with nothing much to do
+but watch.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Think we&#8217;ll get away on time,
+Gregg?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; I said. &#8220;And this of all voyages&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>I checked myself, with thumping
+heart. My thoughts were so full of
+what Halsey and Carter had told us
+that it was difficult to rein my tongue.
+Yet here in the turret, unguarded by
+insulation, I could say nothing. Nor
+would I have dared mention the Grantline
+Moon Expedition to Dr. Frank. I
+wondered what he knew of this affair.
+Perhaps as much as I&ndash;&ndash;perhaps nothing.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">He</span> was a thin, dark, rather smallish
+man of fifty, this ship&#8217;s surgeon,
+trim in his blue and white uniform. I
+knew him well: we had made several
+flights together. An American&ndash;&ndash;I
+fancy of Jewish ancestry. A likable
+man, and a skillful doctor and surgeon.
+He and I had always been good friends.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Crowded,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Johnson says
+thirty-eight. I hope they&#8217;re experienced
+travelers. This pressure sickness is a
+rotten nuisance&ndash;&ndash;keeps me dashing
+around all night assuring frightened
+women they&#8217;re not going to die. Last
+voyage, coming out of the Venus atmosphere&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>He plunged into a lugubrious account
+of his troubles with space-sick
+voyagers. But I was in no mood to
+listen. My gaze was down on the
+spider incline, up which, over the bend
+of the ship&#8217;s sleek, silvery body, the
+passengers and their friends were coming
+in little groups. The upper deck
+was already jammed with them.</p>
+<p>The Planetara, as flyers go, was not
+a large vessel. Cylindrical of body,
+forty feet maximum beam, and two
+hundred and seventy-five feet in overall
+length. The passenger superstructure&ndash;&ndash;no
+more than a hundred feet long&ndash;&ndash;was
+set amidships. A narrow deck,
+metallic-enclosed, and with large bulls-eye
+windows, encircled the superstructure.
+Some of the cabins opened directly
+onto the deck. Others had doors
+to the interior corridors. There were
+half a dozen small but luxurious public
+rooms.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">The</span> rest of the vessel was given to
+freight storage and the mechanism
+and control compartments. Forward of
+the passenger structure the deck level
+continued under the cylindrical dome-roof
+to the bow. The forward watch-tower
+observatory was here; officers&#8217;
+cabins; Captain Carter&#8217;s navigating
+rooms and Dr. Frank&#8217;s office. Similarly,
+under the stern-dome, was the stern
+watch-tower and a series of power compartments.</p>
+<p>Above the superstructure a confusion
+of spider bridges, ladders and
+balconies were laced like a metal network.
+The turret in which Dr. Frank
+and I now stood was perched here.
+Fifty feet away, like a bird&#8217;s nest,
+Snap&#8217;s instrument room stood clinging
+to the metal bridge. The dome-roof,
+with the glassite windows rolled back
+now, rose in a mound-peak to cover this
+highest middle portion of the vessel.</p>
+<p>Below, in the main hull, blue-lit
+metal corridors ran the entire length
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_315' name='page_315'></a>315</span>
+of the ship. Freight storage compartments;
+gravity control rooms; the air
+renewal systems; heater and ventilators
+and pressure mechanisms&ndash;&ndash;all were located
+there. And the kitchens, stewards&#8217;
+compartments, and the living quarters
+of the crew. We carried a crew of sixteen,
+this voyage, exclusive of the navigating
+officers, and the purser, Snap
+Dean, and Dr. Frank.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">The</span> passengers coming aboard
+seemed a fair representation of
+what we usually had for the outward
+voyage to Ferrok-Shahn. Most were
+Earth people&ndash;&ndash;and returning Martians.
+Dr. Frank pointed out one. A huge
+Martian in a gray cloak. A seven-foot
+fellow.</p>
+<p>&#8220;His name is Set Miko,&#8221; Dr. Frank
+remarked. &#8220;Ever heard of him?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; I said. &#8220;Should I?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well&ndash;&ndash;&#8221; The doctor suddenly
+checked himself, as though he were
+sorry he had spoken.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I never heard of him,&#8221; I repeated
+slowly.</p>
+<p>An awkward silence fell suddenly
+between us.</p>
+<p>There were a few Venus passengers.
+I saw one of them presently coming up
+the incline, and recognized her. A girl
+traveling alone. We had brought her
+from Grebhar, last voyage but one. I
+remembered her. An alluring sort of
+girl, as most of them are. Her name
+was Venza. She spoke English well.
+A singer and dancer who had been imported
+to Great-New York to fill some
+theatrical engagement. She&#8217;d made
+quite a hit on the Great White Way.</p>
+<p>She came up the incline, with the
+carrier ahead of her. Gazing up, she
+saw Dr. Frank and me at the turret
+window and waved her white arm in
+greeting. And flashed us a smile.</p>
+<p>Dr. Frank laughed. &#8220;By the gods of
+the airways, there&#8217;s Alta Venza! You
+saw that look, Gregg? That was for
+me, not you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Reasonable enough,&#8221; I retorted.
+&#8220;But I doubt it&ndash;&ndash;the Venza was nothing
+if not impartial.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">I wondered</span> what could be taking
+Venza now to Mars. I was glad
+to see her. She was diverting. Educated.
+Well-traveled. Spoke English
+with a colloquial, theatrical manner
+more characteristic of Great-New York
+than of Venus. And for all her light
+banter, I would rather put my trust in
+her than any Venus girl I had ever met.</p>
+<p>The hum of the departing siren was
+sounding. Friends and relatives of the
+passengers were crowding the exit incline.
+The deck was clearing. I had
+not seen George Prince come aboard.
+And then I thought I saw him down
+on the landing stage, just arrived from
+a private tube-car. A small, slight figure.
+The customs men were around him: I
+could only see his head and shoulders.
+Pale, girlishly handsome face; long,
+black hair to the base of his neck. He
+was bareheaded, with the hood of his
+traveling-cloak pushed back.</p>
+<p>I stared, and I saw that Dr. Frank
+was also gazing down. But neither of
+us spoke.</p>
+<p>Then I said upon impulse, &#8220;Suppose
+we go down to the deck, Doctor?&#8221;</p>
+<p>He acquiesced. We descended to the
+lower room of the turret and clambered
+down the spider ladder to the upper
+deck-level. The head of the arriving incline
+was near us. Preceded by two
+carriers who were littered with hand-baggage,
+George Prince was coming up
+the incline. He was closer now. I
+recognized him from the type we had
+seen in Halsey&#8217;s office.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">And</span> then, with a shock, I saw it
+was not so. This was a girl coming
+aboard. An arch-light over the incline
+showed her clearly when she was
+half way up. A girl with her hood
+pushed back; her face framed in thick
+black hair. I saw now it was not a
+man&#8217;s cut of hair; but long braids
+coiled up under the dangling hood.</p>
+<p>Dr. Frank must have remarked my
+amazed expression.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Little beauty, isn&#8217;t she?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Who is she?&#8221;</p>
+<p>We were standing back against the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_316' name='page_316'></a>316</span>
+wall of the superstructure. A passenger
+was near us&ndash;&ndash;the Martian whom Dr.
+Frank had called Miko. He was loitering
+here, quite evidently watching this
+girl come aboard. But as I glanced at
+him he looked away and casually
+sauntered off.</p>
+<p>The girl came up and reached the
+deck. &#8220;I am in A&nbsp;22,&#8221; she told the
+carrier. &#8220;My brother came aboard two
+hours ago.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Dr. Frank answered my whisper.
+&#8220;That&#8217;s Anita Prince.&#8221;</p>
+<p>She was passing quite close to us on
+the deck, following the carrier, when
+she stumbled and very nearly fell. I
+was nearest to her. I leaped forward
+and caught her as she went down.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh!&#8221; she cried.</p>
+<p>With my arm about her, I raised her
+up and set her upon her feet again.
+She had twisted her ankle. She balanced
+herself upon it. The pain of it
+eased up in a moment.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m&ndash;&ndash;all right&ndash;&ndash;thank you!&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">In</span> the dimness of the blue-lit deck,
+I met her eyes. I was holding her
+with my encircling arm. She was small
+and soft against me. Her face, framed
+in the thick, black hair, smiled up at
+me. Small, oval face&ndash;&ndash;beautiful&ndash;&ndash;yet
+firm of chin, and stamped with the
+mark of its own individuality. No
+empty-headed beauty, this.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m all right, thank you very
+much&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>I became conscious that I had not
+released her. I felt her hands pushing
+at me. And then it seemed that for an
+instant she yielded and was clinging.
+And I met her startled, upflung gaze.
+Eyes like a purple night with the sheen
+of misty starlight in them.</p>
+<p>I heard myself murmuring, &#8220;I beg
+your pardon. Yes, of course!&#8221; I released
+her.</p>
+<p>She thanked me again and followed
+the carrier along the deck. She was
+limping slightly from the twisted ankle.</p>
+<p>An instant, while she had clung to
+me&ndash;&ndash;and I had held her. A brief flash
+of something, from her eyes to mine&ndash;&ndash;from
+mine back to hers. The poets
+write that love can be born of such a
+glance. The first meeting, across all
+the barriers of which love springs unsought,
+unbidden&ndash;&ndash;defiant, sometimes.
+And the troubadours of old would
+sing: &#8220;A fleeting glance; a touch; two
+wildly beating hearts&ndash;&ndash;and love was
+born.&#8221;</p>
+<p>I think, with Anita and me, it must
+have been like that....</p>
+<p>I stood gazing after her, unconscious
+of Dr. Frank, who was watching me
+with his humorous smile. And presently,
+no more than a quarter beyond
+the zero hour, the Planetara got away.
+With the dome-windows battened
+tightly, we lifted from the landing
+stage and soared over the glowing city.
+The phosphorescence of the electronic
+tubes was like a comet&#8217;s tail behind us
+as we slid upward.</p>
+<p>At the trinight hour the heat of our
+atmospheric passage was over. The
+passengers had all retired. The ship
+was quiet, with empty decks and dim,
+silent corridors. Vibrationless, with
+the electronic engines cut off and only
+the hum of the Martel magnetizers to
+break the unnatural stillness. We were
+well beyond the earth&#8217;s atmosphere,
+heading out in the cone-path of the
+earth&#8217;s shadow, in the direction of the
+moon.</p>
+<div class='chsp'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_III_IN_THE_HELIOROOM' id='CHAPTER_III_IN_THE_HELIOROOM'></a>
+<h3>CHAPTER III</h3>
+<h4><i>In the Helio-room</i></h4>
+</div>
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">At</span> six A.&nbsp;M., earth Eastern time,
+which we were still carrying,
+Snap Dean and I were alone in his instrument
+room, perched in the network
+over the Planetara&#8217;s deck. The bulge
+of the dome enclosed us; it rounded
+like a great observatory window some
+twenty feet above the ceiling of this
+little metal cubby-hole.</p>
+<p>The Planetara was still in the earth&#8217;s
+shadow. The firmament&ndash;&ndash;black interstellar
+space with its blazing white, red
+and yellow stars&ndash;&ndash;lay spread around us.
+The moon, with nearly all its disc illumined,
+hung, a great silver ball, over
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_317' name='page_317'></a>317</span>
+our bow quarter. Behind it, to one
+side, Mars floated like the red tip of a
+smoldering cigarillo in the blackness.
+The earth, behind our stern, was dimly,
+redly visible&ndash;&ndash;a giant sphere, etched
+with the configurations of its oceans
+and continents. Upon one limb a touch
+of the sunlight hung on the mountain-tops
+with a crescent red-yellow sheen.</p>
+<p>And then we plunged from the cone-shadow.
+The sun, with the leaping
+Corona, burst through the blackness behind
+us. The earth lighted into a huge,
+thin crescent with hooked cusps.</p>
+<p>To Snap and me, the glories of the
+heavens were too familiar to be remarked.
+And upon this voyage particularly
+we were in no mood to consider
+them. I had been in the helio-room
+several hours. When the Planetara
+started, and my few routine duties
+were over, I could think of nothing
+save Halsey&#8217;s and Carter&#8217;s admonition:
+&#8220;Be on your guard. And particularly&ndash;&ndash;watch
+George Prince.&#8221;</p>
+<p>I had not seen George Prince. But
+I had seen his sister, whom Carter and
+Halsey had not bothered to mention.
+My heart was still pounding with the
+memory....</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">When</span> the passengers had retired
+and the ship quieted, I prowled
+through the passenger corridors. This
+was about the trinight hour.<a name='FNanchor_0003' id='FNanchor_0003'></a><a href='#Footnote_0003' class='fnanchor'>[3]</a> Hot as
+the corridors of hell, with our hull and
+the glassite dome seething with the
+friction of our atmospheric flight. But
+the refrigerators mitigated that; the
+ventilators blasted cold air from the renewers
+into every corner of the vessel.
+Within an hour or two, with the cold
+of space striking us, it was hot air that
+was needed.</p>
+<p>Dr. Frank evidently was having little
+trouble with pressure-sick passengers<a name='FNanchor_0004' id='FNanchor_0004'></a><a href='#Footnote_0004' class='fnanchor'>[4]</a>&ndash;&ndash;the
+Planetara&#8217;s equalizers were
+fairly efficient. I did not encounter Dr.
+Frank. I prowled through the silent
+metal lounges and passages. I went to
+the door of A&nbsp;22. It was on the deck-level,
+in a tiny transverse passage just
+off the main lounging room. Its name-grid
+glowed with the letters: <a name='TC_4'></a><ins class='trchange' title="Added beginning quotes">&#8220;<i>Anita
+Prince.</i>&#8221;</ins> I stood in my short white
+trousers and white silk shirt, like a
+cabin steward gawping. Anita Prince!
+I had never heard the name until this
+night. But there was magic music in
+it now, as I murmured it to myself.
+Anita Prince....</p>
+<p>She was here, doubtless asleep, behind
+this small metal door. It seemed
+as though that little oval grid were the
+gateway to a fairyland of my dreams.</p>
+<p>I turned away. And thought of the
+Grantline Moon Expedition stabbed at
+me. George Prince&ndash;&ndash;Anita&#8217;s brother&ndash;&ndash;he
+whom I had been told to watch.
+This renegade&ndash;&ndash;associate of dubious
+Martians, plotting God knows what.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">I saw</span>, upon the adjoining door, &#8220;A&nbsp;20,
+<i>George Prince</i>.&#8221; I listened. In
+the humming stillness of the ship&#8217;s interior
+there was no sound from these
+cabins. A&nbsp;20 was without windows, I
+knew. But Anita&#8217;s room had a window
+and a door which gave upon the deck.
+I went through the lounge, out its arch,
+and walked the deck length. The deck
+door and window of A&nbsp;22 were closed
+and dark.</p>
+<p>The ten-foot-wide deck was dim with
+white starlight from the side ports.
+Chairs were here, but they were all
+empty. From the bow windows of the
+arching dome a flood of moonlight
+threw long, slanting shadows down the
+deck. At the corner where the superstructure
+ended, I thought I saw a figure
+lurking as though watching me. I
+went that way, but it vanished.</p>
+<p>I turned the corner, went the width
+of the ship to the other side. There
+was no one in sight save the observer
+on his spider bridge, high in the bow
+network, and the second officer, on duty
+on the turret balcony almost directly
+over me.</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_318' name='page_318'></a>318</span></div>
+<p>As I stood and listened, I suddenly
+heard footsteps. From the direction of
+the bow a figure came. Purser Johnson.</p>
+<p>He greeted me. &#8220;Cooling off, Gregg?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; I said.</p>
+<p>He went past me and turned into the
+smoking room door nearby.</p>
+<p>I stood a moment at one of the deck
+windows, gazing at the stars; and for
+no reason at all I realized I was tense.
+Johnson was a great one for his regular
+sleep&ndash;&ndash;it was wholly unlike him to be
+roaming about the ship at such an hour.
+Had he been watching me? I told myself
+it was nonsense. I was suspicious
+of everyone, everything, this voyage.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">I heard</span> another step. Captain Carter
+appeared from his chart-room
+which stood in the center of the narrowing
+open deck space near the bow.
+I joined him at once.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Who was that?&#8221; he half-whispered.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Johnson.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, yes.&#8221; He fumbled in his uniform;
+his gaze swept the moonlit deck.
+&#8220;Gregg&ndash;&ndash;take this.&#8221; He handed me a
+small metal box. I stuffed it at once
+into my shirt.</p>
+<p>&#8220;An insulator,&#8221; he added, swiftly.
+&#8220;Snap is in his office. Take it to him,
+Gregg. Stay with him&ndash;&ndash;you&#8217;ll have a
+measure of security&ndash;&ndash;and you can help
+him to make the photographs.&#8221; He was
+barely whispering. &#8220;I won&#8217;t be with
+you&ndash;&ndash;no use making it look as though
+we were doing anything unusual. If
+your graphs show anything&ndash;&ndash;or if Snap
+picks up any message&ndash;&ndash;bring it to me.&#8221;
+He added aloud, &#8220;Well, it will be cool
+enough presently, Gregg.&#8221;</p>
+<p>He sauntered away toward his chart-room.</p>
+<p>&#8220;By heavens, what a relief!&#8221; Snap
+murmured as the current went on. We
+had wired his cubby with the insulator;
+within its barrage we could at last talk
+with a degree of freedom.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;ve seen George Prince, Gregg?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No. He&#8217;s assigned A&nbsp;20. But I
+saw his sister. Snap, no one ever mentioned&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>Snap had heard of her, but he hadn&#8217;t
+known that she was listed for this voyage.
+&#8220;A real beauty, so I&#8217;ve heard. Accursed
+shame for a decent girl to have
+a brother like that.&#8221;</p>
+<p>I could agree with him there, but I
+made no comment.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">It</span> was now 6 A.&nbsp;M. Snap had been
+busy all night with routine cosmo-radios
+from the earth, following our
+departure. He had a pile of them beside
+him. Many were for the passengers;
+but anything that savored of a
+code was barred.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Nothing queer looking?&#8221; I suggested.</p>
+<p>&#8220;No. Not a thing.&#8221;</p>
+<p>We were at this time no more than
+some sixty-five thousand miles from the
+moon&#8217;s surface. The Planetara presently
+would swing upon her direct
+course for Mars. There was nothing
+which could cause passenger comment
+in this close passing of the moon; normally
+we used the satellite&#8217;s attraction
+to give us additional starting speed.</p>
+<p>It was now or never that a message
+would come from Grantline. He was
+supposed to be upon this earthward
+side of the moon. While Snap had
+rushed through with his routine, I had
+searched the moon surface with our
+glass, as I knew Carter was searching
+it&ndash;&ndash;and also the observer in his tower,
+very possibly.</p>
+<p>But there was nothing. Copernicus
+and Kepler lay in full sunlight. The
+heights of the lunar mountains, the
+depths of the barren, empty seas were
+etched black and white, clear and clean.
+Grim, forbidding desolation, this unchanging
+moon! In romance, moonlight
+may shimmer and sparkle to light
+a lover&#8217;s smile; but the reality of the
+moon is cold and bleak. There was
+nothing to show my prying eyes where
+the intrepid Grantline might be.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Nothing at all, Snap.&#8221;</p>
+<p>And Snap&#8217;s helio mirrors, attuned
+for an hour now to pick up the faintest
+signal, were motionless.</p>
+<p>&#8220;If he has concentrated any appreciable
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_319' name='page_319'></a>319</span>
+amount of radio-active ore,&#8221; said
+Snap, &#8220;we should get an impulse from
+its Gamma rays.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">But</span> our receiving shield was dark,
+untouched. We tried taking
+hydrogen photographic impressions of
+the visible moon surface. A sequence of
+them, with stereoscopic lenses, forty-eight
+to the second. Our mirror-grid
+gave the magnified images; the spectro-heliograph,
+with its wave-length selection,
+pictured the mountain-levels, and
+slowly descended into the deepest seas.</p>
+<p>There was nothing.</p>
+<p>Yet in those moon caverns&ndash;&ndash;a million
+million recesses amid the crags of that
+tumbled, barren surface&ndash;&ndash;the pin-point
+of movement which might have been
+Grantline&#8217;s expedition could so easily
+be hiding! Could he have the ore insulated,
+fearing its Gamma rays would
+betray its presence to hostile watchers?</p>
+<p>Or might disaster have come to him?
+Or he might not be upon this hemisphere
+of the moon at all....</p>
+<p>My imagination, sharpened by fancy
+of a lurking menace which seemed
+everywhere about the Planetara this
+voyage, ran rife with fears for Johnny
+Grantline. He had promised to communicate
+this voyage. It was now, or
+perhaps never.</p>
+<p>Six-thirty came and passed. We
+were well beyond the earth&#8217;s shadow
+now. The firmament blazed with its
+vivid glories; the sun behind us was a
+ball of yellow-red leaping flames. The
+earth hung, opened to a huge, dull-red
+half-sphere.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">We</span> were within some forty thousand
+miles of the moon. Giant
+white ball&ndash;&ndash;all of its disc visible to the
+naked eye. It poised over the bow, and
+presently, as the Planetara swung upon
+her course for Mars, it shifted sidewise.
+The light of it glared white and
+dazzling in our tiny side windows.</p>
+<p>Snap, with his habitual red celluloid
+eyeshade shoved high on his forehead,
+worked over our instruments.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Gregg!&#8221;</p>
+<p>The receiving shield was glowing a
+trifle! Gamma rays were bombarding
+it! It glowed, gleamed phosphorescent,
+and the audible recorder began sounding
+its tiny tinkling murmurs.</p>
+<p>Gamma rays! Snap sprang to the
+dials. The direction and strength were
+soon obvious. A richly radio-active
+ore body, of considerable size, was
+concentrated upon this hemisphere of
+the moon! It was unmistakable.</p>
+<p>&#8220;He&#8217;s got it, Gregg! He&#8217;s&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>The tiny helio mirrors began quivering.
+Snap exclaimed triumphantly,
+&#8220;Here he comes! By God, the message
+at last! Bar off that light!&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">I flung</span> on the absorbers. The
+moonlight bathing the little room
+went into them and darkness sprang
+around us. Snap fumbled at his instrument
+board. Actinic light showed
+dimly in the quivering, thumbnail mirrors.
+Two of them. They hung poised
+on their cobweb wires, infinitely sensitive
+to the infra-red light-rays Grantline
+was sending from the moon. The
+mirrors in a moment began swinging.
+On the scale across the room the actinic
+beams from them were magnified into
+sweeps of light.</p>
+<p>The message!</p>
+<p>Snap spelled it out, decoded it.</p>
+<p>&#8220;<i>Success! Stop for ore on your return
+voyage. Will give you our location
+later. Success beyond wildest
+hopes&ndash;&ndash;</i>&#8221;</p>
+<p>The mirrors hung motionless. The
+shield, where the Gamma rays were
+bombarding, went suddenly dark.</p>
+<p>Snap murmured, &#8220;That&#8217;s all. He&#8217;s
+got the ore! &#8216;Success beyond wildest
+hopes.&#8217; That must mean an enormous
+quantity of it available!&#8221;</p>
+<p>We were sitting in darkness, and
+abruptly I became aware that across
+our open window, where the insulation
+barrage was flung, the air was faintly
+hissing. An interference there! I saw
+a tiny swirl of purple sparks. Someone&ndash;&ndash;some
+hostile ray from the deck beneath
+us, or from the spider bridge that
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_320' name='page_320'></a>320</span>
+led to our little room&ndash;&ndash;someone out
+there trying to pry in!</p>
+<p>Snap impulsively reached for the absorbers
+to let in the outside light&ndash;&ndash;it
+was all darkness to us outside. But I
+checked him.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Wait!&#8221; I cut off our barrage,
+opened our door and stepped to the
+narrow metal bridge.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Wait, Snap! You stay there.&#8221; I
+added aloud, &#8220;Well, Snap, I&#8217;m going
+to bed. Glad you&#8217;ve cleaned up that
+batch of work.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">I banged</span> the door upon him. The
+lacework of metal bridges and ladders
+seemed empty. I gazed up to the
+dome, and forward and aft. Twenty
+feet beneath me was the metal roof of
+the cabin superstructure. Below it,
+both sides of the deck showed. All
+patched with moonlight.</p>
+<p>No one visible down there. I descended
+a ladder. The deck was empty.
+But in the silence something was moving!
+Footsteps moving away from me
+down the deck! I followed; and suddenly
+I was running. Chasing something
+I could hear, but could not see.
+It turned into the smoking room.</p>
+<p>I burst in. And a real sound smothered
+the phantom. Johnson the purser
+was sitting here alone in the dimness.
+He was smoking. I noticed that his
+cigar held a long, frail ash. It could
+not have been him I was chasing. He
+was sitting there quite calmly. A thick-necked,
+heavy fellow, easily out of
+breath. But he was breathing calmly
+now.</p>
+<p>He sat up with amazement at my
+wild-eyed appearance, and the ash
+jarred from his cigar.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Gregg! What in the devil&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>I tried to grin. &#8220;I&#8217;m on my way to
+bed&ndash;&ndash;worked all night helping Snap
+with those damn Earth messages.&#8221;</p>
+<p>I went past him, out the door into
+the main interior corridor. It was the
+only way the invisible prowler could
+have gone. But I was too late now&ndash;&ndash;I
+could hear nothing. I dashed forward
+into the main lounge. It was
+empty, dim and silent, a silence broken
+presently by a faint click&ndash;&ndash;a stateroom
+door hastily closing. I swung and
+found myself in a tiny transverse passage.
+The twin doors of A&nbsp;22 and A&nbsp;20
+were before me.</p>
+<p>The invisible eavesdropper had gone
+into one of these rooms! I listened at
+each of the panels, but there was only
+silence within.</p>
+<p>The interior of the ship was suddenly
+singing with the steward&#8217;s siren&ndash;&ndash;the
+call to awaken the passengers. It
+startled me. I moved swiftly away. But
+as the siren shut off, in the silence I
+heard a soft, musical voice:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Wake up, Anita&ndash;&ndash;I think that&#8217;s the
+breakfast call.&#8221;</p>
+<p>And her answer: &#8220;All right, George.
+I hear it.&#8221;</p>
+<div class='chsp'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_IV_A_BURN_ON_A_MARTIAN_ARM' id='CHAPTER_IV_A_BURN_ON_A_MARTIAN_ARM'></a>
+<h3>CHAPTER IV</h3>
+<h4><i>A Burn on a Martian Arm</i></h4>
+</div>
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">I did</span> not appear at that morning
+meal. I was exhausted and drugged
+with lack of sleep. I had a moment
+with Snap, to tell him what had occurred.
+Then I sought out Carter. He
+had his little chart-room insulated. And
+we were cautious. I told him what
+Snap and I had learned: the Gamma
+rays from the moon, proving that
+Grantline had concentrated a considerable
+ore-body. I also told him the message
+from Grantline.</p>
+<p>&#8220;We&#8217;ll stop on the way back, as he
+directs, Gregg.&#8221; He bent closer to me.
+&#8220;At Ferrok-Shahn I&#8217;m going to bring
+back a cordon of Interplanetary Police.
+The secret will be out, of course, when
+once we stop at the moon. We have no
+right, even now, to be flying this vessel
+as unguarded as it is.&#8221;</p>
+<p>He was very solemn. And he was
+grim when I told him of the invisible
+eavesdropper.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You think he overheard Grantline&#8217;s
+message?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know,&#8221; I said.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Who was it? You seem to feel it
+was George Prince?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes.&#8221;</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_321' name='page_321'></a>321</span></div>
+<p>I was convinced that the prowler had
+gone into A&nbsp;20. When I mentioned the
+purser, who seemed to have been
+watching me earlier in the night, and
+again was sitting in the smoking room
+when the <a name='TC_5'></a><ins class='trchange' title="Was 'eavesdroopper'">eavesdropper</ins> fled past, Carter
+looked startled.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Johnson is all right, Gregg.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Is he? Does he know anything
+about this Grantline affair?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No&ndash;&ndash;no,&#8221; said the captain hastily.
+&#8220;You haven&#8217;t mentioned it, have you?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course I haven&#8217;t. I&#8217;ve been wondering
+why Johnson didn&#8217;t hear that
+eavesdropper. I could hear him when
+I was chasing him. But Johnson sat
+perfectly unmoved and let him go by.
+What was he sitting there for, anyway,
+at that hour of the morning?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;re too suspicious, Gregg. Overwrought.
+But you&#8217;re right&ndash;&ndash;we can&#8217;t
+be too careful. I&#8217;m going to have that
+Prince suite searched when I catch it
+unoccupied. Passengers don&#8217;t ordinarily
+travel with invisible cloaks. Go
+to bed, Gregg&ndash;&ndash;you need a rest.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">I went</span> to my cabin. It was located
+aft, on the stern deck-space, near
+the stern watch-tower. A small metal
+room, with a desk, a chair and bunk. I
+made sure no one was in it. I sealed
+the lattice grill and the door, set the
+alarm trigger against any opening of
+them, and went to bed.</p>
+<p>The siren for the mid-day meal
+awakened me. I had slept heavily. I
+felt refreshed. And hungry.</p>
+<p>I found the passengers already assembled
+at my table when I arrived in
+the dining salon. It was a low-vaulted
+metal room of blue and yellow tube-lights.
+At the sides its oval windows
+showed the deck, with its ports of the
+dome-side, through which a vista of the
+starry firmament was visible. We were
+well on our course to Mars. The moon
+had dwindled to a pin-point of light
+beside the crescent earth. And behind
+them our sun blazed, visually the largest
+orb in the heavens. It was some
+sixty-eight million miles from the earth
+to Mars, this voyage. A flight, under
+ordinary circumstances, of some ten
+days.</p>
+<p>There were five tables in the dining
+salon, each with eight seats. Snap and
+I had one of the tables. We sat at the
+ends, with three passengers on each of
+the sides.</p>
+<p>Snap was in his seat when I arrived.
+He eyed me down the length of the
+table.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Good morning, Gregg. We missed
+you at breakfast. Not <a name='TC_7'></a><ins class='trchange' title="Was 'pressure-cick'">pressure-sick</ins>, I
+hope?&#8221;</p>
+<p>There were three passengers already
+seated at our table&ndash;&ndash;all men. Snap, in
+a gay mood, introduced me.</p>
+<p>&#8220;This is our third officer, Gregg Haljan.
+Big, handsome fellow, isn&#8217;t he?
+And as pleasant as he is good-looking.
+Gregg, this is Sero Ob Hahn.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">I met</span> the keen, dark-eyed somber
+gaze of a Venus man of middle age.
+A small, slim, graceful man, with sleek
+black hair. His pointed face, accentuated
+by the pointed beard, was pallid.
+He wore a white and purple robe; upon
+his breast was a huge platinum ornament,
+a device like a star and cross entwined.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am happy to meet you, sir.&#8221; His
+voice was soft and sleek.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Ob Hahn,&#8221; I repeated. &#8220;I should
+have heard of you, no doubt. But&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>A smile plucked at his thin, gray
+lips. &#8220;That is the error of mine, not
+yours. My mission is that all the universe
+shall hear of me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;He&#8217;s preaching the religion of the
+Venus Mystics,&#8221; Snap explained.</p>
+<p>&#8220;And this enlightened gentleman,&#8221;
+said Ob Hahn ironically, &#8220;has just
+termed it fetishism. The ignorance&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I say!&#8221; protested the man at Ob
+Hahn&#8217;s side. &#8220;I mean, you seem to think
+I intended something opprobrious. As
+a matter of fact&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;We&#8217;ve an argument, Gregg,&#8221;
+laughed Snap. &#8220;This is Sir Arthur
+Coniston, an English gentleman, lecturer
+and sky-trotter&ndash;&ndash;that is, he will
+be a sky-trotter; he tells us he plans a
+number of voyages.&#8221;</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_322' name='page_322'></a>322</span></div>
+<p>The tall Englishman in his white
+linen suit bowed acknowledgment. &#8220;My
+compliments, Mr. Haljan. I hope you
+have no strong religious convictions,
+else we will make your table here very
+miserable!&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">The</span> third passenger had evidently
+kept out of the argument. Snap
+introduced him as Rance Rankin. An
+American&ndash;&ndash;a quiet, blond fellow of
+thirty-five or forty.</p>
+<p>I ordered my breakfast and let the
+argument go on.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Won&#8217;t make me miserable,&#8221; said
+Snap. &#8220;I love an argument. You said,
+Sir Arthur?...</p>
+<p>&#8220;I mean to say, I think I said too
+much. Mr. Rankin, you are more diplomatic.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Rankin laughed. &#8220;I am a magician,&#8221;
+he said to me. &#8220;A theatrical entertainer.
+I deal in tricks&ndash;&ndash;how to fool an audience&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;
+His keen, amused gaze was on
+Ob Hahn. &#8220;This gentleman from Venus
+and I have too much in common to
+argue.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;A nasty one!&#8221; the Englishman exclaimed.
+&#8220;By Jove! Really, Mr. Rankin,
+you&#8217;re a bit too cruel!&#8221;</p>
+<p>I could see we were doomed to have
+turbulent meals this voyage. I like to
+eat in quiet; arguing passengers always
+annoy me. There were still three seats
+vacant at our table; I wondered who
+would occupy them. I soon learned
+the answer&ndash;&ndash;for one seat at least. Rankin
+said calmly:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Where is the little Venus girl this
+meal?&#8221; His glance went to the empty
+seat at my right hand. &#8220;The Venza&ndash;&ndash;wasn&#8217;t
+that her name? She and I are
+destined for the same theater in Ferrok-Shahn.&#8221;</p>
+<p>So Venza was to sit beside me. It
+was good news. Ten days of a religious
+argument three times a day would be
+intolerable. But the cheerful Venza
+would help.</p>
+<p>&#8220;She never eats the mid-day meal,&#8221;
+said Snap. &#8220;She&#8217;s on the deck, having
+orange juice. I guess it&#8217;s the old gag
+about diet, eh?&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">My</span> attention wandered about the
+salon. Most of the seats were
+occupied. At the captain&#8217;s table I saw
+the objects of my search. George
+Prince and his sister sat one on each
+side of the captain. I saw George
+Prince in the life now as a man who
+looked hardly twenty-five. He was at
+this moment evidently in a gay mood.
+His clean-cut, handsome profile, with
+its poetic dark curls, was turned toward
+me. There seemed little of the villain
+about him.</p>
+<p>And I saw Anita Prince now as a
+dark-haired, black eyed little beauty, in
+feature resembling her brother very
+strongly. She presently finished her
+meal. She rose, with him after her.
+She was dressed in Earth fashion&ndash;&ndash;white
+blouse and dark jacket, wide,
+knee-length trousers of gray, with a
+red sash her only touch of color. She
+went past me, flashed me her smile and
+nod.</p>
+<p>My heart was pounding. I answered
+her greeting, and met George Prince&#8217;s
+casual gaze. He, too, smiled, as though
+to signify that his sister had told him
+of the service I had done her. Or was
+his smile an ironical memory of how
+he had eluded me this morning when I
+chased him?</p>
+<p>I gazed after his small, white-suited
+figure as he followed Anita from the
+salon. And thinking of her, I prayed
+that Carter and Halsey might be wrong.
+Whatever plotting against the Grantline
+Expedition might be going on, I
+hoped that George Prince was innocent
+of it. Yet I knew in my heart it was a
+futile hope. Prince had been that
+eavesdropper outside the helio-room. I
+could not really doubt it. But that his
+sister must be ignorant of what he was
+doing, I was sure.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">My</span> attention was brought suddenly
+back to the reality of our
+table. I heard Ob Hahn&#8217;s silky voice:</p>
+<p>&#8220;We passed quite close to the moon
+last night, Mr. Dean.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; said Snap. &#8220;We did, didn&#8217;t
+we? Always do&ndash;&ndash;it&#8217;s a technical problem
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_323' name='page_323'></a>323</span>
+of the exigencies of interstellar
+navigation. Explain it to them, Gregg&ndash;&ndash;you&#8217;re
+an expert.&#8221;</p>
+<p>I waved it away with a laugh. There
+was a brief silence. I could not help
+noticing Sir Arthur Coniston&#8217;s queer
+look, and I think I have never seen so
+keen a glance as Rance Rankin shot at
+me. Were all these people aware of
+Grantline&#8217;s treasure on the moon? It
+suddenly seemed so. I wished fervently
+at that instant that the ten days
+of this voyage were over and we were
+safely at Ferrok-Shahn. Captain Carter
+was absolutely right. Coming back
+we would have a cordon of interplanetary
+police aboard.</p>
+<p>Sir Arthur broke the awkward silence.
+&#8220;Magnificent sight, the moon,
+from so close a viewpoint&ndash;&ndash;though I
+was too much afraid of pressure-sickness
+to be up to see it.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">I had</span> nearly finished my hasty meal
+when another incident shocked me.
+The two other passengers at our table
+came in and took their seats. A Martian
+girl and man. The girl had the
+seat at my left, with the man beside
+her. All Martians are tall. This girl
+was about my own height&ndash;&ndash;that is, six
+feet, two inches. The man was seven
+feet or more. Both wore the Martian
+outer robe. The girl flung hers back.
+Her limbs were encased in pseudo-mail.
+She looked, as all Martians like to look,
+a very warlike Amazon. But she was a
+pretty girl. She smiled at me with a
+keen-eyed, direct gaze.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mr. Dean said at breakfast that you
+were big and handsome. You are.&#8221;</p>
+<p>They were brother and sister, these
+Martians. Snap introduced them as Set
+Miko and Setta Moa.<a name='FNanchor_0005' id='FNanchor_0005'></a><a href='#Footnote_0005' class='fnanchor'>[5]</a></p>
+<p>This Miko was, from our Earth
+standards, a tremendous, brawny giant.
+Not spindly, like most Martians, this
+fellow, for all his seven feet of height,
+was almost heavy-set. He wore a
+plaited leather jerkin beneath his robe,
+and knee pants of leather out of which
+his lower legs showed as gray, hairy
+pillars of strength. He had come into
+the salon with a swagger, his sword-ornament
+clanking.</p>
+<p>&#8220;A pleasant voyage so far,&#8221; he said to
+me as he started his meal. His voice
+had the heavy, throaty rasp characteristic
+of the Martian. He spoke perfect
+English&ndash;&ndash;both Martians and Venus
+people are by heritage extraordinary
+<a name='TC_9'></a><ins class='trchange' title="Was 'linquists'">linguists</ins>. Miko and his sister Moa had
+a touch of Martian accent, worn almost
+away by living for some years in Great-New
+York.</p>
+<p>The shock to me came within a few
+minutes. Miko, absorbed in attacking
+his meal, inadvertently pushed back his
+robe to bare his forearm. An instant
+only, then it dropped again to his wrist.
+But in that instant I had seen, upon the
+gray flesh, a thin sear turned red. A
+very recent burn&ndash;&ndash;as though a pencil-ray
+of heat had caught his arm.</p>
+<p>My mind flung back. Only last night
+in the City Corridor, Snap and I had
+been followed by a Martian. I had shot
+at him with the heat-ray; I thought I
+had hit him on the arm. Was this the
+mysterious Martian who had followed
+us from Halsey&#8217;s office?</p>
+<div class='chsp'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_V_VENZA_THE_VENUS_GIRL' id='CHAPTER_V_VENZA_THE_VENUS_GIRL'></a>
+<h3>CHAPTER V</h3>
+<h4><i>Venza the Venus Girl</i></h4>
+</div>
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">It was</span> shortly after that mid-day
+meal when I encountered Venza
+sitting on the starlit deck. I had been
+in the bow observatory; taken my
+routine castings of our position and
+worked them out. I was, I think, of
+the Planetara&#8217;s officers the most expert
+handler of the mathematical mechanical
+calculators. The locating of our
+position and charting the trajectory of
+our course was, under ordinary circumstances,
+about all I had to do. And it
+took only a few minutes each twelve
+hours.</p>
+<p>I had a moment with Carter in the
+isolation of his chart-room.</p>
+<p>&#8220;This voyage! Gregg, I&#8217;m getting
+like you&ndash;&ndash;too fanciful. We&#8217;ve a normal
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_324' name='page_324'></a>324</span>
+group of passengers, apparently; but I
+don&#8217;t like the look of any of them. That
+Ob Hahn, at your table&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Snaky-looking fellow,&#8221; I commented.
+&#8220;He and the Englishman are
+great on arguments. Did you have
+Prince&#8217;s cabin <a name='TC_10'></a><ins class='trchange' title="Added end quote">searched?&#8221;</ins></p>
+<p>My breath hung on his answer.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes. Nothing unusual among his
+things. We searched both his room and
+his sister&#8217;s.&#8221;</p>
+<p>I did not follow that up. Instead I
+told him about the burn on Miko&#8217;s
+thick gray arm.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">He</span> stared. &#8220;I wish to the Almighty
+we were at Ferrok-Shahn.
+Gregg, to-night when the passengers
+are asleep, come here to me.
+Snap will be here, and Dr. Frank. We
+can trust him.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;He knows about&ndash;&ndash;about the Grantline
+treasure?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes. And so do Balch and Blackstone.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Balch and Blackstone were our first
+and second officers.</p>
+<p>&#8220;We&#8217;ll all meet here, Gregg&ndash;&ndash;say
+about the zero hour. We must take
+some precautions.&#8221;</p>
+<p>He suddenly felt he should say no
+more now. He dismissed me.</p>
+<p>I found Venza seated alone in a secluded
+corner of the starlit deck. A
+porthole, with the black heavens and
+the blazing stars, was before her. There
+was an empty seat nearby.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hola-lo,<a name='FNanchor_0006' id='FNanchor_0006'></a><a href='#Footnote_0006' class='fnanchor'>[6]</a> Gregg! Sit here with me.
+I have been wondering when you would
+come after me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>I sat down beside her. &#8220;What are
+you doing&ndash;&ndash;going to Mars, Venza? I&#8217;m
+glad to see you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Many thanks. But I am glad to see
+you, Gregg. So handsome a man....
+Do you know, from Venus to the earth
+and I have no doubt on all of Mars, no
+man will please me more.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Glib tongue,&#8221; I laughed. &#8220;Born to
+flatter the male&ndash;&ndash;every girl of your
+world.&#8221; And I added seriously, &#8220;You
+don&#8217;t answer my question? What takes
+you to Mars?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Contract. By the stars, what else?
+Of course, a chance to make a voyage
+with you&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t be silly, Venza.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">I enjoyed</span> her. I gazed at her
+small, slim figure gracefully reclining
+in the deck chair. Her long, gray
+robe parted&ndash;&ndash;by design, I have no
+doubt&ndash;&ndash;to display her shapely, satin-sheathed
+legs. Her black hair was
+coiled in a heavy knot at the back of
+her neck; her carmined lips were
+parted with a mocking, alluring smile.
+The exotic perfume of her enveloped
+me.</p>
+<p>She glanced at me sidewise from beneath
+her sweeping black lashes.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Be serious,&#8221; I added.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am serious. Sober. Intoxicated
+by you, but sober.&#8221;</p>
+<p>I said, &#8220;What sort of a contract?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;A theater in Ferrok-Shahn. Good
+money, Gregg. I&#8217;m to be there a year.&#8221;
+She sat up to face me. &#8220;There&#8217;s a fellow
+here on the Planetara, Rance Rankin,
+he calls himself. At our table&ndash;&ndash;a
+big, good-looking blond American. He
+says he is a magician. Ever hear of
+him?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s what he told me. No, I never
+heard of him.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Nor did I. And I thought I had
+heard of everyone of any importance.
+He is listed for the same theater where
+I&#8217;m going. Nice sort of fellow.&#8221; She
+paused, and added suddenly, &#8220;If he&#8217;s a
+professional entertainer, I&#8217;m a motor-oiler.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">It</span> startled me. &#8220;Why do you say
+that?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Instinctively my gaze swept the
+deck. An Earth woman and child and
+a small Venus man were in sight, but
+not within earshot.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why do you look so furtive?&#8221; she
+retorted. &#8220;Gregg, there&#8217;s something
+strange about this voyage. I&#8217;m no fool,
+nor you, and you know it as well as I
+do.&#8221;</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_325' name='page_325'></a>325</span></div>
+<p>&#8220;Rance Rankin&ndash;&ndash;&#8221; I prompted.</p>
+<p>She leaned closer toward me. &#8220;He
+could fool you. But not me&ndash;&ndash;I&#8217;ve
+known too many real magicians.&#8221; She
+grinned. &#8220;I challenged him to trick
+me. You should have seen him trying
+to evade!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Do you know Ob Hahn?&#8221; I interrupted.</p>
+<p>She shook her head. &#8220;Never heard of
+him. But he told me plenty at breakfast.
+By Satan, what a flow of words
+that devil-driver can muster! He and
+the Englishman don&#8217;t mesh very well,
+do they?&#8221;</p>
+<p>She stared at me. I had not answered
+her grin; my mind was too busy with
+queer fancies. Halsey&#8217;s words: &#8220;Things
+are not always what they seem&ndash;&ndash;&#8221; Were
+these passengers masqueraders? Put
+here by George Prince? And then I
+thought of Miko the Martian, and the
+burn upon his arm.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come back, Gregg! Don&#8217;t go wandering
+off like that!&#8221; She dropped her
+voice to a whisper. &#8220;I&#8217;ll be serious. I
+want to know what in the hell is going
+on aboard this ship. I&#8217;m a woman, and
+I&#8217;m curious. You tell me.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcapq'><small>&#8220;</small><span class="drop">W</span><span class="dcap">hat</span> do you mean?&#8221; I parried.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I mean a lot of things. What we&#8217;ve
+just been talking about. And what was
+the excitement you were in just before
+breakfast this morning?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Excitement?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Gregg, you may trust me.&#8221; For the
+first time she was wholly serious. Her
+gaze made sure no one was within hearing.
+She put her hand on my arm. I
+could barely hear her whisper: &#8220;I know
+they might have a ray upon us&ndash;&ndash;I&#8217;ll be
+careful.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;They?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Anyone. Something&#8217;s going on.
+You know it&ndash;&ndash;you are in it. I saw you
+this morning, Gregg. Wild-eyed, chasing
+a phantom&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And I heard the phantom! A man&#8217;s
+footsteps. A magnetic reflecting invisible
+cloak. You couldn&#8217;t fool an
+audience with that&ndash;&ndash;it&#8217;s too commonplace.
+If Rance Rankin tried&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>I gripped her. &#8220;Don&#8217;t ramble, Venza!
+You saw me?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes. My stateroom door was open.
+I was sitting with a cigarillo. I saw
+the purser in the smoking room. He
+was visible from&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Wait! Venza, that prowler went
+through the smoking room!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I know he did. I could hear him.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Did the purser hear him?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course. The purser looked up,
+followed the sound with his gaze. I
+thought that was queer. He never made
+a move. And then you came along and
+he acted innocent. Why? What&#8217;s going
+on, that&#8217;s what I want to know!&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">I held</span> my breath. &#8220;Venza, where
+did the prowler run to? Can you&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>She whispered calmly, &#8220;Into A&nbsp;20.
+I saw the door open and close&ndash;&ndash;I even
+think I could see the blurred outline of
+him. Those magnetic cloaks!&#8221; She
+added, &#8220;Why should George Prince be
+sneaking around with you after him?
+And the purser acting innocent? And
+who is this George Prince, anyway?&#8221;</p>
+<p>The huge Martian, Miko, with his
+sister Moa came strolling along the
+deck. They nodded as they passed us.</p>
+<p>I whispered, &#8220;I can&#8217;t explain anything
+now. But you&#8217;re right, Venza:
+there is something going on. Listen!
+Whatever you learn&ndash;&ndash;anything you encounter
+which looks unusual&ndash;&ndash;will you
+tell me? I&ndash;&ndash;well, I do trust you&ndash;&ndash;really
+I do!&ndash;&ndash;but the thing isn&#8217;t mine to tell.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The somber pools of her eyes were
+shining. &#8220;You are very lovable, Gregg.
+I won&#8217;t question you.&#8221; She was trembling
+with excitement. &#8220;Whatever it
+is, I want to be in it. Here&#8217;s something
+I can tell you now. We&#8217;ve two high-class
+gold-leaf gamblers aboard. Did
+you know that?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No. Who are&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Shac and Dud Ardley. Let me state
+every detective in Great-New York
+knows them. They had a wonderful
+game with that Englishman, Sir Arthur
+Coniston, this morning. Stripped him
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_326' name='page_326'></a>326</span>
+of half a pound of eight-inch leaves&ndash;&ndash;a
+neat little stack. A crooked game, of
+course. Those fellows are more nimble-fingered
+than Rance Rankin ever dared
+to be!&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">I sat</span> staring at her. She was a
+mine of information, this girl.</p>
+<p>&#8220;And Gregg, I tried my charms on
+Shac and Dud. Nice men, but dumb.
+Whatever&#8217;s going on, they&#8217;re not in it.
+They wanted to know what kind of a
+ship this was. Why? Because Shac
+has a cute little eavesdropping microphone
+of his own. He had it working
+in the night last night. He overheard
+George Prince and that big giant Miko
+arguing about the moon!&#8221;</p>
+<p>I gasped. &#8220;Venza, softer!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Against all propriety of this public
+deck she pretended to drape herself
+upon me. Her hair smothered my face
+as her lips almost touched my ear.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Something about treasure on the
+moon&ndash;&ndash;Shac couldn&#8217;t understand what.
+And they mentioned you. He didn&#8217;t
+hear what they said because the purser
+joined them.&#8221; Her whispered words
+tumbled over one another. &#8220;A hundred
+pounds of gold leaf&ndash;&ndash;that&#8217;s the purser&#8217;s
+price. He&#8217;s with them, whatever it is.
+He promised to do something for them.&#8221;</p>
+<p>She stopped. &#8220;Well?&#8221; I prompted.</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s all. Shac&#8217;s current was interrupted.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Tell him to try it again, Venza! I&#8217;ll
+talk with him. No! I&#8217;d better let him
+alone. Can you get him to keep his
+mouth shut?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think he might do anything I told
+him. He&#8217;s a man.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Find out what you can.&#8221;</p>
+<p>She sat away from me suddenly.
+&#8220;There&#8217;s Anita and George Prince.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">They</span> came to the corner of the
+deck, but turned back. Venza
+caught my look. And understood it.</p>
+<p>&#8220;So you love Anita Prince so much
+as that, Gregg?&#8221; Venza was smiling.
+&#8220;I wish you&ndash;&ndash;I wish some man handsome
+as you would gaze after me like
+that.&#8221;</p>
+<p>She turned solemn. &#8220;You may be interested
+to know that she loves you.
+I could see it. I knew it when I mentioned
+you to her this morning.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Me? Why, we&#8217;ve hardly spoken!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Is it necessary? I never heard that
+it was.&#8221;</p>
+<p>I could not see Venza&#8217;s face; she
+stood up suddenly. And when I rose
+beside her, she whispered,</p>
+<p>&#8220;We should not be seen talking so
+long. I&#8217;ll find out what I can.&#8221;</p>
+<p>I stared after her slight robed figure
+as she turned into the lounge archway
+and vanished.</p>
+<div class='chsp'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_VI_A_TRAITOR_AND_A_PASSING_ASTEROID' id='CHAPTER_VI_A_TRAITOR_AND_A_PASSING_ASTEROID'></a>
+<h3>CHAPTER VI</h3>
+<h4><i>A Traitor, and a Passing Asteroid</i></h4>
+</div>
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Captain Carter</span> was grim. &#8220;So
+they&#8217;ve bought him off, have they?
+Go bring him in here, Gregg. We&#8217;ll
+have it out with him now.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Snap, Dr. Frank, Balch, our first officer,
+and I were in the captain&#8217;s chart-room.
+It was 4 P.&nbsp;M.&ndash;&ndash;our Earth starting
+time. We were sixteen hours upon
+our voyage.</p>
+<p>I found Johnson in his office in the
+lounge. &#8220;Captain wants to see you.
+Close up.&#8221;</p>
+<p>He closed his window upon an
+American woman passenger who was
+demanding details of Martian currency,
+and followed me forward. &#8220;What is it,
+Gregg?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Captain Carter banged the slide upon
+us. The chart-room was insulated. The
+hum of the current was obvious. Johnson
+noticed it. He started at the hostile
+faces of the surgeon and Balch. And he
+tried to bluster.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What is this? Something wrong?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Carter wasted no words. &#8220;We have
+information, Johnson&ndash;&ndash;there&#8217;s some
+under cover plot here aboard. I want
+to know what it is. Suppose you tell
+us frankly.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">The</span> purser looked blank. &#8220;What
+do you mean? We&#8217;ve gamblers
+aboard, if that&#8217;s&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_327' name='page_327'></a>327</span></div>
+<p>&#8220;To hell with that,&#8221; growled Balch.
+&#8220;You had a secret interview with that
+Martian, Set Miko, and with George
+Prince!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Johnson scowled from under his
+heavy brows, and then raised them in
+surprise.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Did I? You mean changing their
+money? I don&#8217;t like your tone, Balch.
+I&#8217;m not your under-officer!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But you&#8217;re under me,&#8221; roared the
+captain. &#8220;By God, I&#8217;m master here!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, I&#8217;m not disputing that,&#8221; said
+the purser mildly. &#8220;This fellow
+Balch&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;We&#8217;re in no mood for argument,&#8221;
+Dr. Frank cut in. &#8220;Clouding the issue.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I won&#8217;t let it be clouded,&#8221; the captain
+exclaimed. I had never seen Carter
+so choleric. He was evidently under a
+tremendous strain. He added,</p>
+<p>&#8220;Johnson, you&#8217;ve been acting suspiciously.
+I don&#8217;t give a damn whether
+I&#8217;ve proof of it or not&ndash;&ndash;I say it. Did
+you, or did you not meet George Prince
+and that Martian last night?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, I did not. And I don&#8217;t mind
+telling you, Captain Carter, that your
+tone also is offensive!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Is it?&#8221; Carter suddenly seized him.
+They were both big men. Johnson&#8217;s
+heavy face went purplish red.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Take your hands!&ndash;&ndash;&#8221; They were
+struggling. Carter&#8217;s hands were fumbling
+at the purser&#8217;s pockets. I leaped,
+flung an arm around Johnson&#8217;s neck,
+pinning him.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Easy there! We&#8217;ve got you, Johnson!&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Snap</span> tried to help me. &#8220;Go on, bang
+him on the head, Gregg. Now&#8217;s
+your chance!&#8221;</p>
+<p>We searched him. A heat-ray cylinder&ndash;&ndash;that
+was legitimate. But we found a
+small battery and eavesdropping microphone
+similar to the one Venza had
+mentioned that Shac the gambler was
+carrying.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What are you doing with that?&#8221; the
+captain demanded.</p>
+<p>&#8220;None of your business! Is it criminal?
+Carter, I&#8217;ll have the Line officials
+dismiss you for this! Take your hands
+off me, all of you!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Look at this!&#8221; exclaimed Dr. Frank.</p>
+<p>From Johnson&#8217;s breast pocket the
+surgeon drew a folded document. It
+was the scale drawing of the Planetara&#8217;s
+interior corridors, the lower control
+rooms and mechanisms. It was always
+kept in Johnson&#8217;s safe. And with
+it, another document: the ship&#8217;s clearance
+papers&ndash;&ndash;the secret code pass-words
+for this voyage, to be used if we
+should be challenged by any interplanetary
+police ship.</p>
+<p>Snap gasped. &#8220;My God, that was in
+my helio-room strong box! I&#8217;m the only
+one on this vessel except the captain
+who&#8217;s entitled to know those pass-words!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Out of the silence, Balch demanded,
+&#8220;Well, what about it, Johnson?&#8221;</p>
+<p>The purser was still defiant. &#8220;I won&#8217;t
+answer your questions, Balch. At the
+proper time, I&#8217;ll explain&ndash;&ndash;Gregg Haljan,
+you&#8217;re choking me!&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">I eased</span> up. But I shook him.
+&#8220;You&#8217;d better talk.&#8221;</p>
+<p>He was exasperatingly silent.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Enough!&#8221; exploded Carter. &#8220;He can
+explain when we get to port. Meanwhile
+I&#8217;ll put him where he&#8217;ll do no
+more damage. Gregg, lock him in the
+cage.&#8221;</p>
+<p>We ignored his violent protestations.
+The cage&ndash;&ndash;in the old days of sea-vessels
+on Earth, they called it the brig&ndash;&ndash;was
+the ship&#8217;s jail. A steel-lined, windowless
+room located under the deck
+in the peak of the bow. I dragged the
+struggling Johnson there, with the
+amazed watcher looking down from the
+observatory window at our lunging,
+starlit forms.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Shut up, Johnson! If you know
+what&#8217;s good for you&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>He was making a fearful commotion.
+Behind us, where the deck narrowed
+at the superstructure, half a dozen
+passengers were gazing in surprise.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll have you thrown out of the Service,
+Gregg Haljan!&#8221;</p>
+<p>I shut him up finally. And flung him
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_328' name='page_328'></a>328</span>
+down the ladder into the cage and
+sealed the deck trap-door upon him. I
+was headed back for the chart-room
+when from the observatory came the
+lookout&#8217;s voice.</p>
+<p>&#8220;An asteroid, Haljan! Officer Blackstone
+wants you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>I hurried to the turret bridge. An
+asteroid was in sight. We had attained
+nearly our maximum speed now. An
+asteroid was approaching, so dangerously
+close that our trajectory would
+have to be altered. I heard Blackstone&#8217;s
+signals ringing in the control
+rooms; and met Carter as he ran to the
+bridge with me.</p>
+<p>&#8220;That scoundrel! We&#8217;ll get more out
+of him, Gregg. By God, I&#8217;ll put the
+chemicals on him&ndash;&ndash;torture him, illegal
+or not!&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">We</span> had no time for further discussion.
+The asteroid was rapidly
+approaching. Already, under the
+glass, it was a magnificent sight. I had
+never seen this tiny world before&ndash;&ndash;asteroids
+are not numerous between the
+Earth and Mars, or in toward Venus.
+I never expected to see this one again.
+How little of the future can we humans
+fathom, for all our science! If I could
+only have looked into the future, even
+for a few short hours! How different
+then would have been the outcome of
+this tragic voyage!</p>
+<p>The asteroid came rushing at us. Its
+orbital velocity, I later computed, was
+some twenty-two miles a second. Our
+own, at the present maximum, was a
+fraction over seventy-seven. The asteroid
+had for some time been under observation
+by the lookout. He gave his
+warning only when it seemed that our
+trajectory should be altered to avoid
+a dangerously close passing.</p>
+<p>At the combined speeds of nearly
+a hundred miles a second the asteroid
+swept into view. With the naked eye,
+at first it was a tiny speck of star-dust,
+unnoticed in the gem-strewn black
+velvet of Space. A speck. Then a
+gleaming dot, silver white, with the
+light of our Sun upon it.</p>
+<p>Five minutes. The dot grew to a disc.
+Expanding. A full moon, silver-white.
+Brightest world in the firmament&ndash;&ndash;the
+light from it bathed the Planetara,
+illumined the deck, painting everything
+with silver.</p>
+<p>I stood with Carter and Blackstone
+on the turret bridge. It was obvious
+that unless we altered our course, the
+asteroid would pass too close for safety.
+Already we were feeling its attraction;
+from the control rooms came the
+report that our trajectory was disturbed
+by this new mass so near.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Better make your calculations now,
+Gregg,&#8221; Blackstone suggested.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">I cast</span> up the rough elements from
+the observational instruments in the
+turret. It took me some ten or fifteen
+minutes. When I had us upon our new
+course, with the attractive and repulsive
+plates in the Planetara&#8217;s hull set in
+their altered combinations, I went out
+to the bridge again.</p>
+<p>The asteroid hung over our bow
+quarter. No more than twenty or thirty
+thousand miles away. A giant ball now,
+filling all that quadrant of the heavens.
+The configurations of its mountains&ndash;&ndash;its
+land and water areas&ndash;&ndash;were plainly
+visible. Its axial rotation was apparent.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Perfectly habitable,&#8221; Blackstone
+said. &#8220;But I&#8217;ve searched all over this
+hemisphere with the glass. No sign of
+human life&ndash;&ndash;certainly nothing civilized&ndash;&ndash;nothing
+in the fashion of cities.&#8221;</p>
+<p>A fair little world, by the look of it.
+A tiny globe: Blackstone had figured
+it at some eight hundred miles in diameter.
+There seemed a normal atmosphere.
+We could see areas where the
+surface was obscured by clouds. And
+oceans, and land masses. Polar icecaps.
+Lush vegetation at its equator.</p>
+<p>Blackstone had roughly cast its orbital
+elements. A narrow <a name='TC_11'></a><ins class='trchange' title="Was 'elipse'">ellipse</ins>. No
+wonder we had never encountered this
+fair little world before. It had come
+from the outer region beyond Neptune.
+At perihelion it would reach inside
+Mercury, round the Sun, and head outward
+again.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_329' name='page_329'></a>329</span></div>
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">We</span> swept past the asteroid at a
+distance of some six thousand
+miles. Close enough, in very truth&ndash;&ndash;a
+minute of flight at our combined speeds
+totaling a hundred miles a second. I
+had descended to the passenger deck,
+where I stood alone at a window, gazing.</p>
+<p>The passengers were all gathered to
+view the passing little world. I saw,
+not far from me, Anita, standing with
+her brother; and the giant figure of
+Miko with them.</p>
+<p>Half an hour since, first with the
+naked eye, this wandering little world
+had shown itself; it swam slowly past,
+began to dwindle behind us. A huge
+half moon. A thinner, smaller quadrant.
+A tiny crescent, like a silver bar-pin to
+adorn some lady&#8217;s breast. And then it
+was a dot, a point of light indistinguishable
+among the myriad others
+hovering in this great black void.</p>
+<p>The incident of the passing of the
+asteroid was over. I turned from the
+deck window. My heart leaped. The
+moment for which all day I had been
+subconsciously longing was at hand.
+Anita was sitting in a deck chair, momentarily
+alone. Her gaze was on me
+as I looked her way, and she smiled an
+invitation for me to join her.</p>
+<div class='chsp'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_VII_UNSPOKEN_LOVE' id='CHAPTER_VII_UNSPOKEN_LOVE'></a>
+<h3>CHAPTER VII</h3>
+<h4><i>Unspoken Love</i></h4>
+</div>
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Unspoken</span> love! I think if I had
+yielded to the impulse of my
+heart, I would have poured out all those
+protestations of a lover&#8217;s ecstasy, incongruous
+here upon this starlit public
+deck, to a girl I hardly knew. I think,
+too, she might have received them with
+a tender acquiescence. The starlight
+was mirrored in her dark eyes. Misty
+eyes, with great reaches of unfathomable
+space in their depths. Yet I felt
+their tenderness.</p>
+<p>Unfathomable strangeness of love!
+Who am I to write of it, with all the
+poets of all the ages striving to express
+the unexpressible? A bond, strangely
+fashioned by nature, between me and
+this little dark-haired Earth beauty.
+As though marked by the stars we were
+destined to be lovers....</p>
+<p>Thus ran the romance of my unspoken
+thoughts. But I was sitting
+quietly in the deck chair, striving to
+regard her gentle beauty impersonally.
+And saying:</p>
+<p>&#8220;But Miss Prince, why are you and
+your brother going to Ferrok-Shahn?
+His business&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>Even as I voiced it, I hated myself
+for such a question. So nimble is the
+human mind that mingled with my
+rhapsodies of love was my need for information
+of George Prince....</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh,&#8221; she said, &#8220;this is pleasure, not
+business, for George.&#8221; It seemed to me
+that a shadow crossed her expressive
+face. But it was gone in an instant, and
+she smiled. &#8220;We have always wanted
+to travel. We are alone in the world,
+you know&ndash;&ndash;our parents died when we
+were children.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">I filled</span> in her pause. &#8220;You will
+like Mars&ndash;&ndash;so many interesting
+things to see.&#8221;</p>
+<p>She nodded. &#8220;Yes, I understand so.
+Our Earth is so much the same all over,
+cast all in one mould.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But a hundred or two hundred years
+ago it was not, Miss Prince. I have
+read how the picturesque Orient, differing
+from&ndash;&ndash;well, Great-New York, or
+London, for instance&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Transportation did that,&#8221; she interrupted
+eagerly. &#8220;Made everything the
+same&ndash;&ndash;the people all look alike&ndash;&ndash;dress
+alike.&#8221;</p>
+<p>We discussed it. She had an alert,
+eager mind, childlike with its curiosity,
+yet strangely matured. And her manner
+was na&iuml;vely earnest. Yet this was no
+clinging vine, this little Anita Prince.
+There was a firmness, a hint of masculine
+strength in her chin, and in her
+manner.</p>
+<p>&#8220;If I were a man, what wonders I
+could achieve in this marvelous age!&#8221;
+Her sense of humor made her laugh at
+herself. &#8220;Easy for a girl to say that,&#8221;
+she added.</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_330' name='page_330'></a>330</span></div>
+<p>&#8220;You have greater wonders to achieve,
+Miss Prince,&#8221; I said impulsively.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes? What are they?&#8221; She had a
+very frank and level gaze, devoid of
+coquetry.</p>
+<p>My heart was pounding. &#8220;The wonders
+of the next generation. A little
+son, cast in your own gentle image&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>What madness, this clumsy brash
+talk! I choked it off.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">But</span> she took no offense. The dark
+rose-petals of her cheeks were
+mantled deeper red, but she laughed.</p>
+<p>&#8220;That is true.&#8221; She turned abruptly
+serious. &#8220;I should not laugh. The wonders
+of the next generation&ndash;&ndash;conquering
+humans marching on....&#8221; Her
+voice trailed away. My hand went to
+her arm. Strange tingling something
+which poets call love! It burned and
+surged from my trembling fingers into
+the flesh of her forearm.</p>
+<p>The starlight glowed in her eyes.
+She seemed to be gazing, not at the
+silver-lit deck, but away into distant
+reaches of the future. And she murmured:</p>
+<p>&#8220;A little son, cast in my own gentle
+image. But with the strength of his
+father....&#8221;</p>
+<p>Our moment. Just a breathless moment
+given us as we sat there with my
+hand burning her arm, as though we
+both might be seeing ourselves joined
+in a new individual&ndash;&ndash;a little son, cast
+in his mother&#8217;s gentle image and with
+the strength of his father. Our moment,
+and then it was over. A step
+sounded. I sat back. The giant gray
+figure of Miko came past, his great
+cloak swaying, with his clanking sword-ornament
+beneath it. His bullet head,
+with its close-clipped hair, was hatless.
+He gazed at us, swaggered past, and
+turned the deck corner.</p>
+<p>Our moment was gone. Anita said
+conventionally, &#8220;It has been pleasant
+to talk with you, Mr. Haljan.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But we&#8217;ll have many more,&#8221; I said.
+&#8220;Ten days&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You think we&#8217;ll reach Ferrok-Shahn
+on schedule?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes. I think so.... As I was saying,
+Miss Prince, you&#8217;ll enjoy Mars. A
+strange, aggressively forward-looking
+people.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">An</span> oppression seemed on her. She
+stirred in her chair.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, they are,&#8221; she said vaguely.
+&#8220;My brother and I know many Martians
+in Great-New York.&#8221; She checked herself
+abruptly. Was she sorry she had
+said that? It seemed so.</p>
+<p>Miko was coming back. He stopped
+this time before us.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Your brother would see you, Anita.
+He sent me to bring you to his room.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The glance he shot me had a touch
+of insolence. I stood up, and he towered
+a head over me.</p>
+<p>Anita said, &#8220;Oh yes. I&#8217;ll come.&#8221;</p>
+<p>I bowed. &#8220;I will see you again, Miss
+Prince. I thank you for a pleasant half-hour.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The Martian led her away. Her little
+figure was like a child with a giant. It
+seemed, as they passed the length of
+the deck with me staring after them,
+that he took her arm roughly. And that
+she shrank from him in fear.</p>
+<p>And they did not go inside. As
+though to show me that he had merely
+taken her from me, he stopped at a
+distant deck window and stood talking
+to her. Once he picked her up as one
+would pick up a child to show it some
+distant object through the window.</p>
+<p>&#8220;A little son with the strength of his
+father....&#8221; Her words echoed in my
+mind. Was Anita afraid of this Martian&#8217;s
+wooing? Yet held to him by some
+power he might have over her brother?
+The vagrant thought struck me.</p>
+<p>Was it that?</p>
+<div class='chsp'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_VIII_A_SCREAM_IN_THE_NIGHT' id='CHAPTER_VIII_A_SCREAM_IN_THE_NIGHT'></a>
+<h3>CHAPTER VIII</h3>
+<h4><i>A Scream in the Night</i></h4>
+</div>
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">We</span> kept, on the Planetara, always
+the time and routine of
+our port of departure. The rest of that
+afternoon and evening were a blank
+of confusion to me. Anita&#8217;s words; the
+touch of my hand upon her arm; that
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_331' name='page_331'></a>331</span>
+vast realm of what might be for us,
+like a glimpse of a magic land of happiness
+which I had seen in her eyes,
+and perhaps she had seen in mine&ndash;&ndash;all
+this surged within me.</p>
+<p>I wandered about the vessel. I was
+not hungry. I did not go to the dining
+salon for dinner. I carried Johnson
+food and water to his cage; and sat,
+with my heat-cylinder upon him, listening
+to his threats of what would happen
+when he could complain to the
+Line&#8217;s higher officials.</p>
+<p>But what was Johnson doing carrying
+a plan of the ship&#8217;s control rooms
+in his pockets? And worse: How had
+he dared open Snap&#8217;s box in the helio-room
+and abstract the code pass-words
+for this voyage? Without them we
+would be an outlawed vessel, subject
+to arrest if any patrol hailed us. Had
+Johnson been planning to sell those
+pass-words to Miko? I thought so. I
+tried to get the confession out of him,
+but could not.</p>
+<p>I had a brief consultation with Captain
+Carter. He was genuinely apprehensive
+now. The Planetara carried no
+long-range guns, and very few side-arms.
+A half-dozen of the heat-ray
+hand projectors; a few old-fashioned
+weapons of explosion-rifles and automatic
+revolvers. And hand projectors
+with the new Benson curve-light. We
+had models of this for curved vision,
+so that one might see around a corner,
+so to speak. And with them, we could
+project the heat-ray in a curve as well.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">The</span> weapons were all in Carter&#8217;s
+chart-room, save the few we officers
+always carried. Carter was apprehensive,
+but of what he could not
+say. He had not thought that our plan
+to stop at the Moon for treasure could
+affect this outward voyage. Any danger
+would be upon the way back, when
+the Planetara would be adequately
+guarded with long-range electronic
+guns, and manned with police-soldiers.</p>
+<p>But now we were practically defenseless....</p>
+<p>I had a moment with Venza, but she
+had nothing new to communicate to me.</p>
+<p>And for half an hour I chatted with
+George Prince. He seemed a gay,
+pleasant young man. I could almost
+have fancied I liked him. Or was it
+because he was Anita&#8217;s brother? He
+told me how he looked forward to
+traveling with her on Mars. No, he had
+never been there before, he said.</p>
+<p>He had a measure of Anita&#8217;s earnest
+na&iuml;ve personality. Or was he a very
+clever scoundrel, with irony lurking in
+his soft voice, and a chuckle that he
+could so befool me?</p>
+<p>&#8220;We&#8217;ll talk again, Haljan. You interest
+me&ndash;&ndash;I&#8217;ve enjoyed it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>He sauntered away from me, joining
+the saturnine Ob Hahn, with whom
+presently I heard him discussing religion.</p>
+<p>The arrest of Johnson had caused
+considerable comment among the passengers.
+A few had seen me drag him
+forward to the cage. The incident had
+been the subject of passenger discussion
+all afternoon. Captain Carter had
+posted a notice to the effect that Johnson&#8217;s
+accounts had been found in serious
+error, and that Dr. Frank for this
+voyage would act in his stead.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">It</span> was near midnight when Snap and
+I closed and sealed the helio-room
+and started for the chart-room, where
+we were to meet with Captain Carter
+and the other officers. The passengers
+had nearly all retired. A game was in
+progress in the smoking room, but the
+deck was almost deserted.</p>
+<p>Snap and I were passing along one
+of the interior corridors. The stateroom
+doors, with the illumined names
+of the passengers, were all closed. The
+metal grid of the floor echoed our footsteps.
+Snap was in advance of me. His
+body suddenly rose in the air. He went
+like a balloon to the ceiling, struck it
+gently, and all in a heap came floating
+down and landed on the floor!</p>
+<p>&#8220;What in the infernal!&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>He was laughing as he picked himself
+up. But it was a brief laugh. We
+knew what had happened: the artificial
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_332' name='page_332'></a>332</span>
+gravity-controls in the base of the ship,
+which by magnetic force gave us normality
+aboard, were being tampered
+with! For just this instant, this particular
+small section of this corridor
+had been cut off. The slight bulk of the
+Planetara, floating in space, had no appreciable
+gravity pull on Snap&#8217;s body,
+and the impulse of his step as he came
+to the unmagnetized area of the corridor
+had thrown him to the ceiling.
+The area was normal now. Snap and I
+tested it gingerly.</p>
+<p>He gripped me. &#8220;That never went
+wrong by accident, Gregg! Someone
+down there&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">We</span> rushed to the nearest descending
+ladder. In the deserted
+lower room the bank of dials stood
+neglected. A score of dials and switches
+were here, governing the magnetism of
+different areas of the ship. There
+should have been a night operator, but
+he was gone.</p>
+<p>Then we saw him lying nearby,
+sprawled face down on the floor! In
+the silence and dim lurid glow of the
+fluorescent tubes, we stood holding our
+breaths, peering and listening. No one
+here.</p>
+<p>The guard was not dead. He lay unconscious
+from a blow on the head. A
+brawny fellow. We had him revived in
+a few moments. A broadcast flash of
+the call-buzz brought Dr. Frank in
+haste from the chart-room.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What&#8217;s the matter?&#8221;</p>
+<p>We pointed at the unconscious man.
+&#8220;Someone was here,&#8221; I said hastily.
+&#8220;Experimenting with the magnetic
+switches. Evidently unfamiliar with
+them&ndash;&ndash;pulling one or another to test
+their workings and so see the reactions
+on the dials.&#8221;</p>
+<p>We told him what had happened to
+Snap in the upper corridor.</p>
+<p>Dr. Frank revived the guard in a moment.
+He was no worse off for the
+episode, save a lump on his head, and
+a nasty headache.</p>
+<p>But he had little to tell us. He had
+heard a step. Saw nothing&ndash;&ndash;and then
+had been struck on the head, by some
+invisible assailant.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">We</span> left him nursing his head,
+sitting belligerent at his post.
+Armed now with my heat-ray cylinder
+which I loaned him.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Strange doings this voyage,&#8221; he told
+us. &#8220;All the crew knows it&ndash;&ndash;all been
+talkin&#8217; about it. I stick it out now, but
+when we get back home I&#8217;m done with
+this star travelin&#8217;. I belong on the sea
+anyway. A good old freighter is all
+right for me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>We hurried back to the upper level.
+We would indeed have to plan something
+at this chart-room conference.
+This was the first tangible attack our
+adversaries had made.</p>
+<p>We were on the passenger deck
+headed for the chart-room when all
+three of us stopped short, frozen with
+horror. Through the silent passenger
+quarters a scream rang out! A girl&#8217;s
+shuddering, gasping scream. Terror in
+it. Horror. Or a scream of agony. In
+the silence of the dully vibrating ship
+it was utterly horrible. It lasted an
+instant&ndash;&ndash;a single long scream; then was
+abruptly stilled.</p>
+<p>And with blood pounding my temples
+and rushing like ice through my veins,
+I recognized it.</p>
+<p>Anita!</p>
+<div class='chsp'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_IX_THE_MURDER_IN_A_22' id='CHAPTER_IX_THE_MURDER_IN_A_22'></a>
+<h3>CHAPTER IX</h3>
+<h4><i>The Murder in A 22</i></h4>
+</div>
+<p class='dropcapq'><small>&#8220;</small><span class="drop">G</span><span class="dcap">ood God,</span> what was that?&#8221; Dr.
+Frank&#8217;s face had gone white in
+the starlight. Snap stood like a statue
+of horror.</p>
+<p>The deck here was patched as always,
+silver radiance from the deck
+ports. The empty deck chairs stood
+about. The scream was stilled, but now
+we heard a commotion inside&ndash;&ndash;the rasp
+of opening cabin doors; questions from
+frightened passengers; the scurry of
+feet.</p>
+<p>I found my voice. &#8220;Anita! Anita
+Prince!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come on!&#8221; shouted Snap. &#8220;Was it
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_333' name='page_333'></a>333</span>
+the Prince girl? I thought so too! In
+her stateroom, A&nbsp;22!&#8221; He was dashing
+for the lounge archway.</p>
+<p>Dr. Frank and I followed. I realized
+that we passed the deck door and window
+of A&nbsp;22. But they were dark, and
+evidently sealed on the inside. The dim
+lounge was in a turmoil; passengers
+standing at their cabin doors. I heard
+Sir Arthur Coniston:</p>
+<p>&#8220;I say, what was that?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Over there,&#8221; said another man.
+&#8220;Come back inside, Martha.&#8221; He shoved
+his wife back. &#8220;Mr. Haljan!&#8221; He
+plucked at me as I went past.</p>
+<p>I shouted, &#8220;Go back to your rooms!
+We want order here&ndash;&ndash;keep back!&#8221;</p>
+<p>We came to the twin doors of A&nbsp;22
+and A&nbsp;20. Both were closed. Dr. Frank
+was in advance of Snap and me. He
+paused at the sound of Captain Carter&#8217;s
+voice behind us.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Was it from in there? Wait a moment!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Carter dashed up; he had a large
+heat-ray projector in his hand. He
+shoved us aside. &#8220;Let me in first. Is the
+door sealed? Gregg, keep those passengers
+back!&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">The</span> door was not sealed. Carter
+burst into the room. I heard him
+gasp, &#8220;Good God!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Snap and I shoved back three or four
+crowding passengers, and in that instant
+Dr. Frank had been in the room
+and out again.</p>
+<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s been an accident! Get back,
+Gregg! Snap, help him keep the crowd
+away.&#8221; He shoved me forcibly.</p>
+<p>From within, Carter was shouting,
+&#8220;Keep them out! Where are you,
+Frank? Come back here! Send a flash
+for Balch&ndash;&ndash;I want Balch!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Dr. Frank went back into the room
+and banged the cabin door upon Snap
+and me. I was unarmed&ndash;&ndash;I had loaned
+my cylinder to the guard in the lower
+corridor. Weapon in hand, Snap forced
+the panic-stricken passengers back to
+their rooms.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s all right! An accident! Miss
+Prince is hurt.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Snap reassured them glibly; but he
+knew no more about it than I. Moa,
+with a night-robe drawn tight around
+her thin, tall figure, edged up to me.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What has happened, Set Haljan?&#8221;</p>
+<p>I gazed around for her brother Miko,
+but did not see him.</p>
+<p>&#8220;An accident,&#8221; I said shortly. &#8220;Go
+back to your room. Captain&#8217;s orders.&#8221;</p>
+<p>She eyed me and then retreated. Snap
+was threatening everybody with his
+cylinder. Balch dashed up. &#8220;What in
+the hell? Where&#8217;s Carter?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;In there.&#8221; I pounded on A&nbsp;22. It
+opened cautiously. I could see only
+Carter, but I heard the murmuring
+voice of Dr. Frank through the interior
+connecting door to A&nbsp;20.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">The</span> captain rasped, &#8220;Get out, Haljan!
+Oh, is that you, Balch? Come
+in.&#8221; He admitted the older officer and
+slammed the door again upon me. And
+immediately reopened it.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Gregg, keep the passengers quiet.
+Tell them everything&#8217;s all right. Miss
+Prince got frightened, that&#8217;s all. Then
+go up to the turret. Tell Blackstone
+what&#8217;s happened.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But I don&#8217;t know what&#8217;s happened,&#8221;
+I protested miserably.</p>
+<p>Carter was grim and white. He whispered,
+&#8220;I think it may turn out to be
+murder, Gregg! No, not dead yet&ndash;&ndash;Dr.
+Frank is trying&ndash;&ndash;Don&#8217;t stand there like
+an ass, man! Get to the turret! Verify
+our trajectory&ndash;&ndash;no&ndash;&ndash;wait&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>The captain was almost incoherent.
+&#8220;Wait a minute, I don&#8217;t mean that! Tell
+Snap to watch his helio-room. Gregg,
+you and Blackstone stay in the chart-room.
+Arm yourselves and guard our
+weapons. By God, this murderer, whoever
+he is&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>I stammered, &#8220;If&ndash;&ndash;if she dies&ndash;&ndash;will
+you flash us word?&#8221;</p>
+<p>He stared at me strangely. &#8220;I&#8217;ll be
+there presently, Gregg.&#8221;</p>
+<p>He slammed the door upon me.</p>
+<p>I followed his orders, but it was like
+a dream of horror. The turmoil of the
+ship gradually quieted. Snap went to
+the helio-room; Blackstone and I sat
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_334' name='page_334'></a>334</span>
+in the tiny steel chart-room. How much
+time passed, I do not know. I was confused.
+Anita hurt! She might die....
+Murdered.... But why? By whom?
+Had George Prince been in his own
+room when the attack came? I thought
+now I recalled hearing the low murmur
+of his voice in there with Dr. Frank
+and Carter.</p>
+<p>Where was Miko? It stabbed at me.
+I had not seen him among the passengers
+in the lounge.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Carter</span> came into the chart-room.
+&#8220;Gregg, you get to bed&ndash;&ndash;you look
+like a ghost!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;She&#8217;s not dead&ndash;&ndash;she may live. Dr.
+Frank and her brother are with her.
+They&#8217;re doing all they can.&#8221; He told
+us what had happened. Anita and
+George Prince had both been asleep,
+each in their respective rooms. Someone
+unknown had opened Anita&#8217;s corridor
+door.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Wasn&#8217;t it sealed?&#8221; I demanded.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes. But the intruder opened it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Burst it? I didn&#8217;t think it was
+broken.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It wasn&#8217;t broken. The assailant
+opened it somehow, and assaulted Miss
+Prince&ndash;&ndash;shot her in the chest with a
+heat-ray. Her left lung.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;She is conscious?&#8221; Balch demanded.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes. But she did not see who did it.
+Nor did Prince. Her scream awakened
+him, but the intruder evidently fled out
+the corridor door of A&nbsp;22, the way he
+entered.&#8221;</p>
+<p>I stood weak and shaken at the chart-room
+entrance. &#8220;A little son, cast in the
+gentle image of his mother. But with
+the strength of his father....&#8221; But
+Anita&ndash;&ndash;dying, perhaps; and all my
+dreams were fading into a memory of
+what might have been.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You go to bed, Gregg&ndash;&ndash;we don&#8217;t
+need you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>I was glad enough to get away. I
+would lie down for an hour, and then
+go to Anita&#8217;s stateroom. I&#8217;d demand
+that Dr. Frank let me see her, if only
+for a moment.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">I went</span> to the stern deck-space
+where my cubby was located. My
+mind was confused, but some instinct
+within me made me verify the seals of
+my door and window. They were intact.
+I entered cautiously, switched on the
+dimmer of the tube-lights, and searched
+the room. It had only a bunk, my tiny
+desk, a chair and clothes robe.</p>
+<p>There was no evidence of any intruder
+here. I set my door and window
+alarm. Then I audiphoned to the helio-room.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Snap?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes.&#8221;</p>
+<p>I told him about Anita. Carter cut
+in on us from the chart-room. &#8220;Stop
+that, you fools!&#8221;</p>
+<p>We cut off. Fully dressed, I flung
+myself on my bed. Anita might die....</p>
+<p>I must have fallen into a tortured
+sleep. I was awakened by the sound of
+my alarm buzzer. Someone was tampering
+with my door! Then the buzzer
+ceased; the marauder outside must
+have found a way of silencing it. But
+it had done its work&ndash;&ndash;awakened me.</p>
+<p>I had switched off the light; my
+cubby was Stygian dark. A heat-cylinder
+was in the bunk-bracket over my
+head; I searched for it, pried it loose
+softly.</p>
+<p>I was fully awake. Alert. I could
+hear a faint sizzling&ndash;&ndash;someone outside
+trying to unseal the door. In the darkness,
+cylinder in hand, I crept from the
+bunk. Crouched at the door. This time
+I would capture or kill this night
+prowler.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">The</span> sizzling was faintly audible.
+My door-seal was breaking. Upon
+impulse I reached for the door, jerked
+it open.</p>
+<p>No one there! The starlit segment of
+deck was empty. But I had leaped, and
+I struck a solid body, crouching in the
+doorway. A giant man. Miko!</p>
+<p>His electronized metallic robe burned
+my hands. I lunged against him&ndash;&ndash;I was
+almost as surprised as he. I shot, but
+the stab of heat evidently missed him.</p>
+<p>The shock of my encounter close-circuited
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_335' name='page_335'></a>335</span>
+his robe; he materialized in
+the starlight. A brief, savage encounter.
+He struck the weapon from my hand.
+He had dropped his hydrogen torch,
+and tried to grip me. But I twisted
+away from his hold.</p>
+<p>&#8220;So it&#8217;s you!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Be quiet, Gregg Haljan! I only
+want to talk.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Without warning, a stab of radiance
+shot from a weapon in his hand. It
+caught me. Ran like ice through my
+veins. Seized and numbed my limbs.</p>
+<p>I fell helpless to the deck. Nerves
+and muscles paralyzed. My tongue was
+thick and inert. I could not speak, nor
+move. But I could see Miko bending
+over me. And hear him:</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t want to kill you, Haljan. We
+need you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>He gathered me up like a bundle in
+his huge arms; carried me swiftly
+across the deserted deck.</p>
+<p>Snap&#8217;s helio-room in the network
+under the dome was diagonally overhead.
+A white actinic light shot from it&ndash;&ndash;caught
+us, bathed us. Snap had been
+awake; had heard the slight commotion
+of our encounter.</p>
+<p>His voice rang shrilly: &#8220;Stop! I&#8217;ll
+shoot!&#8221; His warning siren rang out to
+arouse the ship. His spotlight clung to
+us.</p>
+<p>Miko ran with me a few steps. Then
+he cursed and dropped me, fled away.
+I fell like a sack of carbide to the deck.
+My senses faded into blackness....</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcapq'><small>&#8220;</small><span class="drop">H</span><span class="dcap">e&#8217;s</span> all right now.&#8221;</p>
+<p>I was in the chart-room, with
+Captain Carter, Snap and Dr. Frank
+bending over me. The surgeon said,</p>
+<p>&#8220;Can you speak now, Gregg?&#8221;</p>
+<p>I tried it. My tongue was thick, but
+it would move. &#8220;Yes.&#8221;</p>
+<p>I was soon revived. I sat up, with
+Dr. Frank vigorously rubbing me.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m all right.&#8221; I told them what had
+happened.</p>
+<p>Captain Carter said abruptly, &#8220;Yes,
+we know that. And it was Miko also
+who killed Anita Prince. She told us
+before she died.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Died!...&#8221; I leaped to my feet.
+&#8220;She ... died....&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, Gregg. An hour ago, Miko got
+into her stateroom and tried to force
+his love on her. She repulsed him&ndash;&ndash;he
+killed her.&#8221;</p>
+<p>It struck me blank. And then with a
+rush came the thought, &#8220;He says Miko
+killed her....&#8221;</p>
+<p>I heard myself stammering, &#8220;Why&ndash;&ndash;why
+we must get him!&#8221; I gathered my
+wits; a surge of hate swept me; a wild
+desire for vengeance.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why, by God, where is he? Why
+don&#8217;t you go get him? I&#8217;ll get him&ndash;&ndash;I&#8217;ll
+kill him, I tell you!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Easy, Gregg!&#8221; Dr. Frank gripped
+me.</p>
+<p>The captain said gently, &#8220;We know
+how you feel, Gregg. She told us before
+she died.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll bring him in here to you! But
+I&#8217;ll kill him, I tell you!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No you won&#8217;t, lad. You&#8217;re hysterical
+now. We don&#8217;t want him killed, not attacked
+even. Not yet. We&#8217;ll explain
+later.&#8221;</p>
+<p>They sat me down, calming me.</p>
+<p>Anita dead. The door of the shining
+garden was closed. A brief glimpse,
+given to me and to her of what might
+have been. And now she was dead....</p>
+<div class='chsp'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_X_A_SPECK_OF_HUMAN_EARTHDUST_FALLING_FREE' id='CHAPTER_X_A_SPECK_OF_HUMAN_EARTHDUST_FALLING_FREE'></a>
+<h3>CHAPTER X</h3>
+<h4><i>A Speck of Human Earth-dust, Falling Free....</i></h4>
+</div>
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">I had</span> not been able at first to understand
+why Captain Carter wanted
+Miko left at liberty. Within me there
+was that cry of vengeance, as though
+to strike Miko down would somehow
+lessen my own grief at Anita&#8217;s loss.
+Whatever Carter&#8217;s purpose, Snap had
+not known it. But Balch and Dr. Frank
+were in the captain&#8217;s confidence&ndash;&ndash;all
+three of them working on some plan of
+action. Snap and I argued it, and
+thought we could fathom it; and in
+spite of my desire to kill Miko, the
+thing looked reasonable.</p>
+<p>It was obvious that at least two of
+our passengers were plotting with Miko
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_336' name='page_336'></a>336</span>
+and George Prince; trying during this
+voyage to learn what they could about
+Grantline&#8217;s activities on the Moon;
+scheming doubtless to seize the treasure
+when the Planetara stopped at the Moon
+on the return voyage. I thought I could
+name those masquerading passengers.
+Ob Hahn, supposedly a Venus Mystic.
+And Rance Rankin, who called himself
+an American magician. Those two,
+Snap and I agreed, seemed most suspicious.
+And there was the purser.</p>
+<p>With my hysteria still on me, I sat
+for a time on the deck outside the
+chart-room with Snap. Then Carter
+summoned us back, and we sat listening
+while he, Balch and Dr. Frank
+went on with their conference. Listening
+to them I could not but agree that
+our best plan was to secure evidence
+which would incriminate all who were
+concerned in the plot. Miko, we were
+convinced, had been the Martian who
+followed Snap and me from Halsey&#8217;s
+office in Great-New York. George
+Prince had doubtless been the invisible
+eavesdropper outside the helio-room.
+He knew, and had told the others, that
+Grantline had found radium-ore on the
+Moon&ndash;&ndash;that the Planetara would stop
+there on the way home.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">But</span> we could not incarcerate
+George Prince for being an eavesdropper.
+Nor had we the faintest tangible
+evidence against Ob Hahn or Rance
+Rankin. And even the purser would
+probably be released by the Interplanetary
+Court of Ferrok-Shahn when it
+heard our evidence.</p>
+<p>There was only Miko. We could arrest
+him for the murder of Anita. But
+the others would be put on their guard.
+It was Carter&#8217;s idea to let Miko remain
+at liberty for a time and see if we
+could not identify and incriminate his
+fellows. The murder of Anita obviously
+had nothing to do with any plot against
+the Grantline Moon treasure.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why,&#8221; exclaimed Balch, &#8220;there
+might be&ndash;&ndash;probably are&ndash;&ndash;huge Martian
+interests concerned in this thing. These
+men here aboard are only emissaries,
+making this voyage to learn what they
+can. When they get to Ferrok-Shahn
+they&#8217;ll make their report, and then we&#8217;ll
+have a real danger on our hands. Why,
+an outlaw ship could be launched from
+Ferrok-Shahn that would beat us back
+to the Moon&ndash;&ndash;and Grantline is entirely
+without warning of any danger!&#8221;</p>
+<p>It seemed obvious. Unscrupulous,
+moneyed criminals in Ferrok-Shahn
+would be dangerous indeed, once these
+details of Grantline were given them.
+And so now it was decided that in the
+remaining nine days of our outward
+voyage, we would attempt to secure
+enough evidence to arrest all these
+plotters.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll have them all in the cage when
+we land,&#8221; Carter declared grimly.
+&#8220;They&#8217;ll make no report to their principals.
+The thing will end, be stamped
+out!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Ah, the futile plans of men!</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Yet</span> we thought it practical. We
+were all doubly armed now. Explosive
+bullet-projectors and the heat-ray
+cylinders. And we had several
+eavesdropping microphones which we
+planned to use whenever occasion offered.</p>
+<p>It was now, Earth Eastern Time,
+A.&nbsp;M. Twenty-eight hours only of this
+eventful voyage were passed. The
+Planetara was some six million miles
+from the Earth; it blazed behind us,
+a tremendous giant.</p>
+<p>The body of Anita was being made
+ready for burial. George Prince was
+still in his stateroom. Glutz, effeminate
+little hairdresser, who waxed rich acting
+as beauty doctor for the women
+passengers, and who in his youth had
+been an undertaker, had gone with Dr.
+Frank to prepare the body.</p>
+<p>Gruesome details. I tried not to
+think of them. I sat, numbed, in the
+chart-room.</p>
+<p>An astronomical burial&ndash;&ndash;there was
+little precedent for it. I dragged myself
+to the stern deck-space where, at
+five A.&nbsp;M., the ceremony took place.
+Most of the passengers were asleep,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_337' name='page_337'></a>337</span>
+unaware of all this&ndash;&ndash;which was why
+Carter hastened it.</p>
+<p>We were a solemn little group,
+gathered there in the checkered starlight
+with the great vault of the
+heavens around us. A dismantled electronic
+projector&ndash;&ndash;necessary when a
+long-range gun was mounted&ndash;&ndash;had been
+rigged up in one of the deck ports.</p>
+<p>They brought out the body. I stood
+apart, gazing reluctantly at the small
+bundle, wrapped like a mummy in a
+dark metallic screen-cloth. A patch of
+black silk rested over her face.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Four</span> cabin stewards carried her.
+And beside her walked George
+Prince. A long black robe covered him,
+but his head was bare. And suddenly
+he reminded me of the ancient play-character
+of Hamlet. His black, wavy
+hair; his finely chiseled, pallid face,
+set now in a stern, patrician cast. And
+staring, I realized that however much
+of a villain this man not yet thirty
+might be, at this instant, walking beside
+the body of his dead sister, he was
+stricken with grief. He loved that
+sister with whom he had lived since
+childhood; and to see him now, with
+his set white face, no one could
+doubt it.</p>
+<p>The little procession stopped in a
+patch of starlight by the port. They
+rested the body on a bank of chairs.
+The black-robed Chaplain, roused from
+his bed and still trembling from excitement
+of this sudden, inexplicable death
+on board, said a brief, solemn little
+prayer. An appeal: That the Almighty
+Ruler of all these blazing worlds might
+guard the soul of this gentle girl whose
+mortal remains were now to be returned
+to Him.</p>
+<p>Ah, if ever God seemed hovering
+close, it was now at this instant, on
+this starlit deck floating in the black
+void of space.</p>
+<p>Then Carter for just a moment removed
+the black shroud from her face.
+I saw her brother gaze silently; saw
+him stoop and implant a kiss&ndash;&ndash;and turn
+away. I did not want to look, but I
+found myself moving slowly forward.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">She</span> lay, so beautiful. Her face,
+white and calm and peaceful in
+death. My sight blurred. Words
+seemed to echo: &#8220;A little son, cast in
+the gentle image of his mother....&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Easy, Gregg!&#8221; Snap was whispering
+to me. He had his arm around me.
+&#8220;Come on away!&#8221;</p>
+<p>They tied the shroud over her face.
+I did not see them as they put her body
+in the tube, sent it through the exhaust-chamber,
+and dropped it.</p>
+<p>But a moment later I saw it&ndash;&ndash;a small
+black oblong bundle&ndash;&ndash;hovering beside
+us. It was perhaps a hundred feet
+away, circling us. Held by the Planetara&#8217;s
+bulk, it had momentarily become
+our satellite. It swung around us like
+a moon. Gruesome satellite, by nature&#8217;s
+laws forever to follow us.</p>
+<p>Then from another tube at the bow,
+Blackstone operated a small Zed-co-ray
+projector. Its dull light caught the
+floating bundle, neutralizing its metallic
+wrappings.</p>
+<p>It swung off at a tangent. Speeding.
+Falling free in the dome of the heavens.
+A rotating black oblong. But in a moment
+distance dwindled it to a speck.
+A dull silver dot with the sunlight on
+it. A speck of human Earth-dust, falling
+free....</p>
+<p>It vanished. Anita&ndash;&ndash;gone. In my
+heart was an echo of the prayer that
+the Almighty might watch over her
+and guard her always....</p>
+<div class='chsp'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XI_THE_ELECTRICAL_EAVESDROPPER' id='CHAPTER_XI_THE_ELECTRICAL_EAVESDROPPER'></a>
+<h3>CHAPTER XI</h3>
+<h4><i>The Electrical Eavesdropper</i></h4>
+</div>
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">I turned</span> from the deck. Miko
+was near me! So he had dared to
+show himself here among us! But I
+realized that he could not be aware we
+knew he was the murderer. George
+Prince had been asleep, had not seen
+Miko with Anita. Miko, with impulsive
+rage, had shot the girl and escaped.
+No doubt now he was cursing
+himself for having done it. And he
+could very well assume that Anita had
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_338' name='page_338'></a>338</span>
+died without regaining consciousness
+to tell who had killed her.</p>
+<p>He gazed at me now, here on the
+deck. I thought for an instant he was
+coming over to talk to me. Though
+he probably considered he was not suspected
+of the murder of Anita, he realized,
+of course, that his attack on me
+was known; he must have wondered
+what action Captain Carter would take.</p>
+<p>But he did not approach me; he
+moved away, and went inside. Moa
+had been near him; and as though by
+pre-arrangement with him she now accosted
+me.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I want to speak to you, Set Haljan.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Go ahead.&#8221;</p>
+<p>I felt an instinctive aversion for this
+Martian girl. Yet she was not unattractive.
+Over six feet tall, straight
+and slim. Sleek blond hair. Rather a
+handsome face. Not gray, like the
+burly Miko, but pink and white. Stern-lipped,
+yet feminine, too. She was
+smiling gravely now. Her blue eyes
+regarded me keenly. She said gently:</p>
+<p>&#8220;A sad occurrence, Gregg Haljan.
+And mysterious. I would not question
+you&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Is that all you have to say?&#8221; I demanded,
+when she paused.</p>
+<p>&#8220;No. You are a handsome man, Gregg&ndash;&ndash;attractive
+to women&ndash;&ndash;to any Martian
+woman.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">She</span> said it impulsively. Admiration
+for me was on her face, in her
+eyes&ndash;&ndash;a man cannot miss it.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thank you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I mean, I would be your friend. My
+brother Miko is so sorry about what
+happened between you and him this
+morning. He only wanted to talk to
+you, and he came to your cubby
+door&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;With a torch to break its seal,&#8221; I interjected.</p>
+<p>She waved that away. &#8220;He was afraid
+you would not admit him. He told you
+he would not hurt you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And so he struck me with one of
+your cursed Martian paralyzing rays!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;He is sorry....&#8221;</p>
+<p>She seemed gauging me, trying, no
+doubt, to find out what reprisal would
+be taken against her brother. I felt
+sure that Moa was as active as a man
+in any plan that was under way to capture
+the Grantline treasure. Miko, with
+his ungovernable temper, was doing
+things that put their plans in jeopardy.</p>
+<p>I demanded abruptly, &#8220;What did
+your brother want to talk to me about?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Me,&#8221; she said surprisingly. &#8220;I sent
+him. A Martian girl goes after what
+she wants. Did you know that?&#8221;</p>
+<p>She swung on her heel and left me. I
+puzzled over it. Was that why Miko
+had struck me down, and was carrying
+me off? Was my accursed masculine
+beauty so attractive to this Martian
+girl? I did not think so. I could not
+believe that all these incidents were so
+unrelated to what I knew was the main
+undercurrent. They wanted me, had
+tried to capture me. For something else
+than because Moa liked my looks....</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Dr. Frank</span> found me mooning
+alone.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Go to bed, Gregg! You look awful.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t want to go to bed.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Where&#8217;s Snap?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know. He was here a while
+ago.&#8221; I had not seen him since the
+burial of Anita.</p>
+<p>&#8220;The captain wants him.&#8221; The surgeon
+left me.</p>
+<p>Within an hour the morning siren
+would arouse the passengers. I was
+seated in a secluded corner of the deck,
+when George Prince came along. He
+went past me, a slight, somber, dark-robed
+figure. He had on high, thick
+boots. A hood was over his head, but
+as he saw me he pushed it back and
+dropped down beside me.</p>
+<p>But for a moment he did not speak.
+His face showed pallid in the pallid
+star-gleams.</p>
+<p>&#8220;She said you loved her.&#8221; His soft
+voice was throaty with emotion.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes.&#8221; I said it almost against my
+will. There seemed a bond springing
+between this bereaved brother and me.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_339' name='page_339'></a>339</span>
+He added, so softly I could barely hear
+him, &#8220;That makes you, I think, almost
+my friend. And you thought you were
+my enemy.&#8221;</p>
+<p>I held my answer. An incautious
+tongue running under emotion is a
+dangerous thing. And I was sure of
+nothing.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">He</span> went on, &#8220;Almost my friend.
+Because&ndash;&ndash;we both loved her, and
+she loved us both.&#8221; He was hardly
+more than whispering. &#8220;And there is
+aboard&ndash;&ndash;one whom we both hate.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Miko!&#8221; It burst from me.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes. But do not say it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Another silence fell between us. He
+brushed back the black curls from his
+forehead. And his dark eyes searched
+mine.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Have you an eavesdropping microphone,
+Haljan?&#8221;</p>
+<p>I hesitated. &#8220;Yes.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I was thinking....&#8221; He leaned closer
+toward me. &#8220;If, in half an hour, you
+could use it upon Miko&#8217;s cabin&ndash;&ndash;I
+would rather tell you than the captain
+or anyone else. The cabin will be insulated,
+but I shall find a way of cutting
+off that insulation so that you may
+hear.&#8221;</p>
+<p>So George Prince had turned with
+us! The shock of his sister&#8217;s death&ndash;&ndash;himself
+allied to her murderer!&ndash;&ndash;had
+been too much for him. He was with
+us!</p>
+<p>Yet his help must be given secretly.
+Miko would kill him in an instant if it
+became known.</p>
+<p>He had been watchful of the deck.
+He stood up now.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think that is all.&#8221;</p>
+<p>As he turned away, I murmured,
+&#8220;But I do thank you....&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">The</span> name Set Miko glowed upon
+the small metal door. It was in a
+transverse corridor similar to A&nbsp;22. The
+corridor was forward of the lounge: it
+opened off the small circular library.</p>
+<p>The library was unoccupied and unlighted,
+dim with only the reflected
+lights from the nearby passages. I
+crouched behind a cylinder-case. The
+door of Miko&#8217;s room was in sight, being
+some thirty feet away from me.</p>
+<p>I waited perhaps five minutes. No
+one entered. Then I realized that
+doubtless the conspirators were already
+there. I set my tiny eavesdropper
+on the library floor beside me;
+connected its little battery; <a name='TC_2'></a><ins title="Was 'focussed'">focused</ins>
+its projector. Was Miko&#8217;s room insulated?
+I could not tell. There was a
+small ventilating grid above the door.
+Across its opening, if the room were
+insulated, a blue sheen of radiance
+would be showing. And there would
+be a faint hum. But from this distance
+I could not see or hear such details, and
+I was afraid to approach closer. Once
+in the transverse corridor, I would have
+no place to hide, no way of escape; if
+anyone approached Miko&#8217;s door, I
+would be discovered.</p>
+<p>I threw the current into my little
+apparatus. I prayed, if it met interference,
+that the slight sound would
+pass unnoticed. George Prince had
+said he would make opportunity to disconnect
+the room&#8217;s insulation. He had
+evidently done so. I picked up the interior
+sounds at once; my headphone
+vibrated with them. And with trembling
+fingers on the little dial between
+my knees as I crouched in the darkness
+behind the cylinder-case, I <a name='TC_14'></a><ins class='trchange' title="Was 'syncronized'">synchronized</ins>.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Johnson is a fool.&#8221; It was Miko&#8217;s
+voice. &#8220;We must have the pass-words.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;He got them from the helio-room.&#8221;
+A man&#8217;s voice; I puzzled over it at
+first, then recognized it. Rance Rankin.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Miko</span> said, &#8220;He is a fool. Walking
+around this ship as though
+with letters blazoned on his forehead&ndash;&ndash;&#8216;Watch
+me&ndash;&ndash;I need watching&ndash;&ndash;&#8217; Hah!
+No wonder they apprehended him!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Was George Prince in there? Rankin&#8217;s
+voice said: &#8220;He would have
+turned the papers over to us. I would
+not blame him too much. What
+harm&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I&#8217;ll release him,&#8221; Miko declared.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_340' name='page_340'></a>340</span>
+&#8220;What harm? That braying ass did us
+plenty of harm. He has lost the pass-words.
+Better he had left them in the
+helio-room.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Moa was in the room. Her voice
+said: &#8220;We&#8217;ve got to have them. The
+Planetara, upon such an important voyage
+as this, may be watched. How do
+we know&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is, no doubt,&#8221; Rankin said quietly.
+&#8220;We ought to have the pass-words.
+When we are in control of this
+ship....&#8221;</p>
+<p>It sent a shiver through me. Were
+they planning to try and seize the
+Planetara? Now? It seemed so.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Johnson undoubtedly memorized
+them,&#8221; Moa was saying. &#8220;When we get
+him out&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hahn is to do that, at the signal.&#8221;
+Miko added, &#8220;George could do it better,
+perhaps.&#8221;</p>
+<p>And then I heard George Prince for
+the first time. He murmured, &#8220;I will
+try.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No need,&#8221; said Miko. &#8220;I praise
+where praise is deserved. And I have
+little praise for you now, George!&#8221;</p>
+<p>I could not see what happened. A
+look, perhaps, which Prince could not
+avoid giving this man he had come to
+hate. Miko doubtless saw it, and the
+Martian&#8217;s hot anger <a name='TC_15'></a><ins class='trchange' title="Removed extra quote after leaped">leaped.</ins></p>
+<p>Rankin said hurriedly, &#8220;Stop that!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And Moa: &#8220;Let him alone! Sit down,
+you fool!&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">I could</span> hear the sound of a scuffle.
+A blow&ndash;&ndash;a cry, half suppressed,
+from George Prince.</p>
+<p>Then Miko: &#8220;I will not hurt him.
+Craven coward! Look at him! Hating
+me&ndash;&ndash;frightened!&#8221;</p>
+<p>I could fancy George Prince sitting
+there with murder in his heart, and
+Miko taunting him:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hates me now, because I shot his
+sister!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Moa: &#8220;Hush!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I will not! Why should I not say
+it? I will tell you something else,
+George Prince. It was not Anita I shot
+at, but you! I meant nothing for her,
+but love. If you had not interfered&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>This was different from what we had
+figured. George Prince had come in
+from his own room, had tried to rescue
+his sister, and in the scuffle, Anita had
+taken the shot intended for George.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I did not even know I had hit her,&#8221;
+Miko was saying. &#8220;Not until I heard
+she was dead.&#8221; He added sardonically,
+&#8220;I hoped it was you I had hit, George.
+And I will tell you this: You hate me
+no more than I hate you. If it were
+not for your knowledge of radium
+ores&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Is this to be a personal wrangle?&#8221;
+Rankin interrupted. &#8220;I thought we
+were here to plan&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is planned,&#8221; Miko said shortly. &#8220;I
+give orders, I do not plan. I am waiting
+now for the moment&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">He</span> checked himself. Moa said,
+&#8220;Does Rankin understand that
+no harm is to come to Gregg Haljan?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; said Rankin. &#8220;And Dean. We
+need them, of course. But you cannot
+make Dean send messages if he refuses,
+nor make Haljan navigate.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I know enough to check on them,&#8221;
+Miko said grimly. &#8220;They will not fool
+me. And they will obey me, have no
+fear. A little touch of sulphuric&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;
+His laugh was gruesome. &#8220;It makes
+the most stubborn very willing.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I wish,&#8221; said Moa, &#8220;we had Haljan
+safely hidden. If he is hurt&ndash;&ndash;killed&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>So that was why Miko had tried to
+capture me? To keep me safe so that
+I might navigate the ship.</p>
+<p>It occurred to me that I should get
+Carter at once. A plot to seize the
+Planetara? But when?</p>
+<p>I froze with startled horror.</p>
+<p>The diaphragms at my ears rang with
+Miko&#8217;s words: &#8220;I have set the time for
+now! In two minutes&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>It seemed to startle both Rankin and
+George Prince almost as much as I.
+Both exclaimed:</p>
+<p>&#8220;No!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No? Why not? Everyone is at his
+post!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Prince repeated: &#8220;No!&#8221;</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_341' name='page_341'></a>341</span></div>
+<p>And Rankin: &#8220;But can we trust
+them? The stewards&ndash;&ndash;the crew?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Eight of them are our own men!
+You didn&#8217;t know that, Rankin? They&#8217;ve
+been aboard the Planetara for several
+voyages. Oh, this is no quickly-planned
+affair, even though we let you
+in on it so recently. You and Johnson.
+By God!&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">I crouched</span> tense. There was a
+commotion in the stateroom. Miko
+had discovered that his insulation was
+cut off! He had evidently leaped to his
+feet; I heard a chair overturn. And
+the Martian&#8217;s roar: &#8220;It&#8217;s off! Did you
+do that, Prince? By God, if I
+thought&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>My apparatus went suddenly dead as
+Miko flung on his insulation. I lost my
+wits in the confusion; I should have
+instantly taken off my vibrations.
+There was interference; it showed in
+the dark space of the ventilator grid
+over Miko&#8217;s doorway; a snapping in the
+air there, a swirl of sparks.</p>
+<p>I heard with my unaided ears Miko&#8217;s
+roar over his insulation: &#8220;By God,
+they&#8217;re listening!&#8221;</p>
+<p>The scream of a hand-siren sounded
+from his stateroom. It rang over the
+ship. His signal! I heard it answered
+from some distant point. And then a
+shot; a commotion in the lower corridors....</p>
+<p>The attack upon the Planetara had
+started!</p>
+<p>I was on my feet. The shouts of
+startled passengers sounded, a turmoil
+beginning everywhere.</p>
+<p>I stood momentarily transfixed. The
+door of Miko&#8217;s stateroom burst open.
+He stood there, with Moa, Rankin and
+George Prince crowding behind him.</p>
+<p>He saw me. &#8220;You, Gregg Haljan!&#8221;</p>
+<p>He came leaping at me.</p>
+<div class='chsp'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XII_THE_WEIGHTLESS_COMBAT' id='CHAPTER_XII_THE_WEIGHTLESS_COMBAT'></a>
+<h3>CHAPTER XII</h3>
+<h4><i>The Weightless Combat</i></h4>
+</div>
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">I was</span> taken wholly by surprise.
+There was an instant when I stood
+numbed, fumbling for a weapon at my
+belt, undecided whether to run or stand
+my ground. Miko was no more than
+twenty feet from me. He checked his
+forward rush. The light from an overhead
+tube was on him; I saw in his
+hand the cylinder projector of his
+paralyzing ray.</p>
+<p>I plucked my heat-cylinder from my
+belt, and fired without taking aim. My
+tiny heat-beam flashed. I must have
+grazed Miko&#8217;s hand. His roar of anger
+and pain rang out over the turmoil. He
+dropped his weapon; then stooped to
+pick it up. But Moa forestalled him.
+She leaped and seized it.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Careful! Fool&ndash;&ndash;you promised not
+to hurt him!&#8221;</p>
+<p>A confusion of swift action. Rankin
+had turned and darted away. I saw
+George Prince stumbling half in front
+of the struggling Miko and Moa. And
+I heard footsteps beside me; a hand
+gripped me, jerked at me.</p>
+<p>Over the turmoil Prince&#8217;s voice
+sounded: &#8220;Gregg&ndash;&ndash;Haljan!&#8221;</p>
+<p>I recall I had the impression that
+Prince was frightened; he had half
+fallen in front of Miko. And there was
+Miko&#8217;s voice:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Let go of me!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And Moa: &#8220;Come!&#8221;</p>
+<p>It was Balch gripping me. &#8220;Gregg!
+This way&ndash;&ndash;run! Get out of here!
+He&#8217;ll kill you with that ray&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>Miko&#8217;s ray flashed, but George Prince
+had knocked at his arm. I did not dare
+fire again. Prince was in the way.
+Balch, who was unarmed, shoved me
+violently back.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Gregg&ndash;&ndash;the chart-room!&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">I turned</span> and ran, with Balch after
+me. Prince had fallen, or been
+felled by Miko. A flash followed me.
+Miko&#8217;s weapon, but again it missed. He
+did not pursue me; he ran the other
+way, through the port-side door of the
+library.</p>
+<p>Balch and I found ourselves in the
+lounge. Shouting, frightened passengers
+were everywhere. The place was
+in wild confusion, the whole ship ringing
+now with shouts.</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_342' name='page_342'></a>342</span></div>
+<p>&#8220;To the chart-room, Gregg!&#8221;</p>
+<p>I called to the passengers: &#8220;Get back
+to your rooms!&#8221;</p>
+<p>I followed Balch. We ran through
+the archway to the deck. In the starlight
+I saw figures scurrying aft, but
+none were near us. The deck forward
+was dim with heavy shadows. The oval
+window and door of the chart-room
+were blue-yellow from the tube-lights
+inside. No one seemed on the deck
+there; and then, as we approached, I
+saw, further forward in the bow, the
+trap-door to the cage standing open.
+Johnson had been released.</p>
+<p>From one of the chart-room windows
+a heat-ray sizzled. It barely missed us.
+Balch shouted, &#8220;Carter&ndash;&ndash;don&#8217;t!&#8221;</p>
+<p>The captain called, &#8220;Oh&ndash;&ndash;you, Balch&ndash;&ndash;and
+Haljan&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>He came out on the deck as we
+rushed up. His left arm was dangling
+limp.</p>
+<p>&#8220;God&ndash;&ndash;this&ndash;&ndash;&#8221; He got no further.
+From the turret overhead a tiny
+search-beam came down and disclosed
+us. Blackstone was supposed to be on
+duty up there, with a course-master at
+the controls. But, glancing up, I saw,
+illumined by the turret lights, the figures
+of Ob Hahn in his purple-white
+robe, and Johnson the purser. And on
+the turret balcony, two fallen men&ndash;&ndash;Blackstone
+and the course-master.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Johnson</span> was training the spotlight
+on us. And Hahn fired a Martian
+ray. It struck Balch beside me.
+He dropped.</p>
+<p>Carter was shouting, &#8220;Inside! Gregg,
+get inside!&#8221;</p>
+<p>I stopped to raise up Balch. Another
+beam came down. A heat-ray this
+time. It caught the fallen Balch full
+in the chest, piercing him through. The
+smell of his burning flesh rose to sicken
+me. He was dead. I dropped his body.
+Carter shoved me into the chart-room.</p>
+<p>In the small, steel-lined room, Carter
+and I slid the door closed. We were
+alone here. The thing had come so
+quickly it had taken Captain Carter,
+like us all, wholly unawares. We had
+anticipated spying eavesdroppers, but
+not this open brigandage. No more than
+a minute or two had passed since
+Miko&#8217;s siren in his stateroom had given
+the signal for the attack. Carter had
+been in the chart-room. Blackstone was
+in the turret. At the outbreak of confusion,
+Carter dashed out to see Hahn
+releasing Johnson from the cage. From
+the forward chart-room window now I
+could see where Hahn with a torch had
+broken the cage-seal. The torch lay on
+the deck. There had been an exchange
+of shots; Carter&#8217;s arm was paralyzed;
+Johnson and Hahn had escaped.</p>
+<p>Carter was as confused as I. There
+had simultaneously been an encounter
+up in the turret. Blackstone and the
+course-master were killed. The lookout
+had been shot from his post in the
+forward observatory. His body dangled
+now, twisted half in and half out
+of his window.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">We</span> could see several of Miko&#8217;s
+men&ndash;&ndash;erstwhile members of our
+crew and steward-corps&ndash;&ndash;scurrying
+from the turret along the upper bridges
+toward the dark and silent helio-room.
+Snap was up there. But was he? The
+helio-room glowed suddenly with dim
+light, but there was no evidence of a
+fight there. The fighting seemed mostly
+below the deck, down in the hull-corridors.
+A blended horror of sounds
+came up to us. Screams, shouts, and
+the hissing and snapping of ray weapons.
+Our crew&ndash;&ndash;such of them as were
+loyal&ndash;&ndash;were making a stand down below.
+But it was brief. Within a minute
+it died away. The passengers, amidships
+in the superstructure, were still
+shouting. Then above them Miko&#8217;s
+roar sounded.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Be quiet! Go in your rooms&ndash;&ndash;you
+will not be harmed.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The brigands in these few minutes
+were in control of the ship. All but
+this little chart-room, where, with most
+of the ship&#8217;s weapons, Carter and I
+were intrenched.</p>
+<p>&#8220;God, Gregg, that this should come
+upon us!&#8221;</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_343' name='page_343'></a>343</span></div>
+<p>Carter was fumbling with the chart-room
+weapons. &#8220;Here, Gregg, help me.
+What have you got? Heat-ray? That&#8217;s
+all I had ready.&#8221;</p>
+<p>It struck me then as I helped him
+make the connections that Carter in
+this crisis was at best an inefficient
+commander. His red face had gone
+splotchy purple; his hands were trembling.
+Skilled as captain of a peaceful
+liner, he was at a loss now. Nor
+could I blame him. It is easy to say
+we might have taken warning, done
+this or that, and come triumphant
+through this attack. But only the fool
+looks backward and says, &#8220;I would have
+done better.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">I tried</span> to summon my wits. The
+ship was lost to us, unless Carter
+and I could do something. Our futile
+weapons! They were all here&ndash;&ndash;four or
+five heat-ray hand projectors that could
+send a pencil-ray a hundred feet or so.
+I shot one diagonally up at the turret
+where Johnson was leering down at our
+rear window, but he saw my gesture
+and dropped back out of sight. The
+heat-beam flashed harmlessly up and
+struck the turret roof. Then across the
+turret window came a sheen of radiance&ndash;&ndash;an
+electro-barrage. And behind it,
+Hahn&#8217;s suave, evil face appeared. He
+shouted down:</p>
+<p>&#8220;We have orders to spare you, Gregg
+Haljan&ndash;&ndash;or you would have been killed
+long ago!&#8221;</p>
+<p>My answering shot hit his barrage
+with a shower of sparks, behind which
+he stood unmoved.</p>
+<p>Carter handed me another weapon.
+&#8220;Gregg, try this.&#8221;</p>
+<p>I levelled the old explosive bullet
+projector; Carter crouched beside me.
+But before I could press the trigger,
+from somewhere down the starlit deck
+an electro-beam hit me. The little rifle
+exploded, burst its breech. I sank back
+to the floor, tingling from the shock of
+the hostile current. My hands were
+blackened from the exploding powder.</p>
+<p>Carter seized me. &#8220;No use! Hurt?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">The</span> stars through the dome-windows
+were swinging. A long swing&ndash;&ndash;the
+shadows and starlit patches on
+the deck were all shifting. The Planetara
+was turning. The heavens revolved
+in a great round sweep of movement,
+then settled as we took our new
+course. Hahn at the turret controls
+had swung us. The earth and the sun
+showed over our bow quarter. The
+sunlight mingled red-yellow with the
+brilliant starlight. Hahn&#8217;s signals were
+sounding; I heard them answered from
+the mechanism rooms down below.
+Brigands there&ndash;&ndash;in full control. The
+gravity plates were being set to the
+new positions; we were on our new
+course. Headed a point or two off the
+Earth-line. Not headed for the moon?
+I wondered.</p>
+<p>Carter and I were planning nothing.
+What was there to plan? We were under
+observation. A Martian paralyzing
+ray&ndash;&ndash;or electronic beam, far more
+deadly than our own puny police weapons&ndash;&ndash;would
+have struck us the instant
+we tried to leave the chart-room.</p>
+<p>My swift-running thoughts were interrupted
+by a shout from down the
+deck. At a corner of the cabin superstructure
+some fifty feet from our windows
+the figure of Miko appeared. A
+barrage-radiance hung around him like
+a shimmering mantle. His voice
+sounded:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Gregg Haljan, do you yield?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Carter leaped up from where he and
+I were crouching. Against all reason
+of safety he leaned from the low window,
+waving his hamlike fist.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yield? No! I am in command here,
+you pirate! Brigand&ndash;&ndash;murderer!&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">I pushed</span> him back. &#8220;Careful!&#8221;</p>
+<p>He was spluttering, and over it
+Miko&#8217;s sardonic laugh sounded. &#8220;Very
+well&ndash;&ndash;but you will talk? Shall we argue
+about it?&#8221;</p>
+<p>I stood up. &#8220;What do you want to
+say, Miko?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Behind him the tall, thin figure of
+his sister showed. She was plucking at
+him. He turned violently.</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_344' name='page_344'></a>344</span></div>
+<p>&#8220;I won&#8217;t hurt him! Gregg Haljan&ndash;&ndash;is
+this a truce? You will not shoot?&#8221;
+He was shielding Moa.</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; I called. &#8220;For a moment, no.
+A truce. What is it you want to say?&#8221;</p>
+<p>I could hear the babble of passengers
+who were herded in the cabin with
+brigands guarding them. George
+Prince, bareheaded, but shrouded in his
+cloak, showed in a patch of light behind
+Moa. He looked my way and then
+retreated into the lounge archway.</p>
+<p>Miko called, &#8220;You must yield. We
+want you, Haljan.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No doubt,&#8221; I jeered.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Alive. It is easy to kill you.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">I could</span> not doubt that. Carter and
+I were little more than rats in a
+trap, here in the chart-room. But Miko
+wanted to take me alive: that was not
+so simple. He added persuasively:</p>
+<p>&#8220;We want you to help us navigate.
+Will you?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Will you help us, Captain Carter?
+Tell your cub, this Haljan, to yield.
+You are fools. We understand that
+Haljan has been handling the ship&#8217;s
+mathematics. Him we need most.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Carter roared: &#8220;Get back from there!
+This is no truce!&#8221;</p>
+<p>I shoved aside his levelled bullet-projector.
+&#8220;Wait a minute!&#8221; I called to
+<a name='TC_16'></a><ins class='trchange' title="Was 'Mika'">Miko</ins>. &#8220;Navigate&ndash;&ndash;where?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh,&#8221; he retorted, &#8220;that is our business,
+not yours. When you lay down
+your weapons and come out of there, I
+will give you the course.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Back to the earth?&#8221; I suggested.</p>
+<p>I could fancy him grinning behind
+the sheen of his barrage at my question.</p>
+<p>&#8220;The earth? Yes&ndash;&ndash;shall we go there?
+Give me your orders, Gregg Haljan. Of
+course I will obey them.&#8221;</p>
+<p>His sardonic words were interrupted.
+And I realized that all this parley was
+a ruse of Miko&#8217;s to take me alive. He
+had made a gesture. Hahn, watching
+from the turret window, doubtless
+flashed a signal down to the hull-corridors.
+The magnetizer control under
+the chart-room was altered, our artificial
+gravity cut off. I felt the sudden
+lightness; I gripped the window casement
+and clung. Carter was startled
+into incautious movement. It flung
+him out into the center of the chart-room,
+his arms and legs grotesquely
+flailing.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">And</span> across the chart-room, in the
+opposite window, I felt rather
+than saw the shape of something. A
+figure&ndash;&ndash;almost invisible, but not quite&ndash;&ndash;was
+trying to climb in! I flung the
+empty rifle I was holding. It hit something
+solid in the window; in a flare of
+sparks a black-hooded figure materialized.
+A man climbing in! His weapon
+spat. There was a tiny electronic flash,
+deadly silent. The intruder had shot
+at Carter; struck him. Carter gave one
+queer scream. He had floated to the
+floor; his convulsive movement when
+he was hit hurled him to the ceiling.
+His body struck, twitched; bounced
+back and sank inert on the floor-grid almost
+at my feet.</p>
+<p>I clung to the casement. Across the
+space of the weightless room the
+hooded intruder was also clinging. His
+hood fell back. It was Johnson. He
+leered at me.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Killed him, the bully! Well, he deserved
+it. Now for you, Mr. Third
+Officer Haljan!&#8221;</p>
+<p>But he did not dare fire at me&ndash;&ndash;Miko
+had forbidden it. I saw him reach under
+his robe, doubtless for a low-powered
+paralyzing ray such as Miko
+already had used on me. But he never
+got it out. I had no weapon within
+reach. I leaned into the room, still
+holding the casement, and doubled my
+legs under me. I kicked out from the
+window.</p>
+<p>The force <a name='TC_17'></a><ins class='trchange' title="Was 'catapaulted'">catapulted</ins> me across the
+space of the room like a volplane. I
+struck the purser. We gripped. Our
+locked, struggling bodies bounced out
+into the room. We struck the floor,
+surged up like balloons to the ceiling,
+struck it with a flailing arm or a leg and
+floated back.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_345' name='page_345'></a>345</span></div>
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Grotesque</span>, abnormal combat!
+Like fighting in weightless water.
+Johnson clutched his weapon, but
+I twisted his wrist, held his arm outstretched
+so that he could not aim it. I
+was aware of Miko&#8217;s voice shouting on
+the deck outside.</p>
+<p>Johnson&#8217;s left hand was gouging at
+my face, his fingers plucking at my
+eyes. We lunged down to the floor, then
+up again, close to the ceiling.</p>
+<p>I twisted his wrists. He dropped the
+weapon and it sank away. I tried to
+reach it, but could not. Then I had
+him by the throat. I was stronger
+than he, and more agile. I tried choking
+him, his thick bull-neck within my
+fingers. He kicked, scrambled, tore
+and gouged at me. Tried to shout, but
+it ended in a gurgle. And then, as he
+felt his breath stopped, his hands came
+up in an effort to tear mine loose.</p>
+<p>We sank again to the floor. We
+were momentarily upright. I felt my
+feet touch. I bent my knees. We
+sank further.</p>
+<p>And then I kicked violently upward.
+Our locked bodies shot to the ceiling.
+Johnson&#8217;s head was above me. It struck
+the steel roof of the chart-room. A
+violent blow. I felt him go suddenly
+limp. I cast him off, and, doubling
+my body, I kicked at the ceiling. It
+sent me diagonally downward to the
+window, where I clung and regained
+stability.</p>
+<p>And I saw Miko standing on the
+deck with a weapon levelled at me!</p>
+<div class='chsp'>
+<a name='CHAPTER_XIII_THE_TORTURE' id='CHAPTER_XIII_THE_TORTURE'></a>
+<h3>CHAPTER XIII</h3>
+<h4><i>The Torture</i></h4>
+</div>
+<p class='dropcapq'><small>&#8220;</small><span class="drop">H</span><span class="dcap">aljan!</span> Yield or I&#8217;ll fire!
+Moa, give me the smaller one.
+This cursed&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>He had in his hand too large a projector.
+Its ray would kill me. If he
+wanted to take me alive, he would not
+fire. I chanced it.</p>
+<p>&#8220;No!&#8221;</p>
+<p>I tried to draw myself beneath the
+window. An automatic bullet projector
+was on the floor where Carter had
+dropped it. I pulled myself down.
+Miko did not fire. I reached the revolver.
+The dead bodies of the captain
+and purser had drifted together on
+the floor in the center of the room.</p>
+<p>I hitched myself back to the window.
+With upraised weapon I gazed cautiously
+out. Miko had disappeared.
+The deck within my line of vision was
+empty.</p>
+<p>But was it? Something told me to
+beware. I clung to the casement, ready
+upon the instant to shove myself down.
+There was a movement in a shadow
+along the deck. Then a figure rose up.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t fire, Haljan!&#8221;</p>
+<p>The sharp command, half appeal,
+stopped the pressure of my finger on
+the trigger of the automatic. It was
+the tall lanky Englishman, Sir Arthur
+Coniston, as he called himself. So he
+too was one of Miko&#8217;s band! The
+light through a dome-window fell full
+on him.</p>
+<p>&#8220;If you fire, <a name='TC_18'></a><ins class='trchange' title="Was 'Halian'">Haljan</ins>, and kill me&ndash;&ndash;Miko
+will kill you then, surely.&#8221;</p>
+<p>From where he had been crouching
+he could not command my window.
+But now, upon the heels of his placating
+words, he abruptly shot. The low-powered
+ray, had it struck, would have
+felled me without killing. But it went
+over my head as I dropped. Its aura
+made my senses reel.</p>
+<p>Coniston shouted, &#8220;Haljan!&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">I did</span> not answer. I wondered if he
+would dare approach to see if I had
+been hit. A minute passed. Then another.
+I thought I heard Miko&#8217;s voice
+on the deck outside. But it was an
+aerial, microscopic whisper close beside
+me.</p>
+<p>&#8220;We see you, Haljan! You must
+yield!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Their eavesdropping vibrations, with
+audible projection, were upon me. I
+retorted aloud.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come and get me! You cannot take
+me alive.&#8221;</p>
+<p>I do protest if this action of mine in
+the chart-room may seem bravado. I
+had no wish to die. There was within
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_346' name='page_346'></a>346</span>
+me a very healthy desire for life. But
+I felt, by holding out, that some chance
+might come wherewith I might turn
+events against these brigands. Yet
+reason told me it was hopeless. Our
+loyal members of the crew were killed,
+no doubt. Captain Carter and Balch
+were killed. The lookouts and Course-masters
+also. And Blackstone.</p>
+<p>There remained only Dr. Frank and
+Snap. Their fate I did not yet know.
+And there was George Prince. He,
+perhaps, would help me if he could.
+But, at best, he was a dubious ally.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You are very foolish, Haljan,&#8221; murmured
+the projection of Miko&#8217;s voice.
+And then I heard Coniston:</p>
+<p>&#8220;See here, why would not a hundred
+pounds of gold-leaf tempt you? The
+code-words which were taken from
+Johnson&ndash;&ndash;I mean to say, why not tell
+us where they are?&#8221;</p>
+<p>So that was one of the brigands new
+difficulties! Snap had taken the code-word
+sheet, that time we sealed the
+purser in the cage.</p>
+<p>I said, &#8220;You&#8217;ll never find them. And
+when a police ship sights us, what will
+you do then?&#8221;</p>
+<p>The chances of a police ship were
+slim indeed, but the brigands evidently
+did not know that. I wondered again
+what had become of Snap. Was he captured&ndash;&ndash;or
+still holding them off?</p>
+<p>I was watching my windows; for at
+any moment, under cover of this talk,
+I might be assailed.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Gravity</span> came suddenly to the
+room. Miko&#8217;s voice said.
+&#8220;We mean well by you, Haljan. There
+is your normality. Join us. We need
+you to chart our course.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And a hundred pounds of gold-leaf,&#8221;
+urged Coniston. &#8220;Or more. Why,
+this treasure&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>I could hear an oath from Miko. And
+then his ironic voice: &#8220;We will not
+bother you, Haljan. There is no hurry.
+You will be hungry in good time. And
+sleepy. Then we will come and get
+you. And a little acid will make you
+think differently about helping us....&#8221;</p>
+<p>His vibrations died away. The pull
+of gravity in the room was normal. I
+was alone in the dim silence, with the
+bodies of Carter and Johnson lying
+huddled on the grid. I bent to examine
+them. Both were dead.</p>
+<p>My isolation was no ruse this time.
+The outlaws made no further attack.
+Half an hour passed. The deck outside,
+what I could see of it, was vacant.
+Balch lay dead close outside the chart-room
+door. The bodies of Blackstone
+and the Course-master had been removed
+from the turret window. A forward
+lookout&ndash;&ndash;one of Miko&#8217;s men&ndash;&ndash;was
+on duty in the nearby tower. Hahn
+was at the turret controls. The ship
+was under orderly handling, heading
+back upon a new course. For the
+Earth? Or the Moon? It did not seem
+so.</p>
+<p>I found, in the chart-room, a Benson
+curve-light projector which poor Captain
+Carter had very nearly assembled.
+I worked on it, trained it through my
+rear window, along the empty deck;
+bent it into the lounge archway. Upon
+my grid the image of the lounge interior
+presently <a name='TC_3'></a><ins title="Was 'focussed'">focused</ins>. The passengers
+in the lounge were huddled in a
+group. Disheveled, frightened, with
+Moa standing watching them. Stewards
+were serving them with a meal.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Upon</span> a bench, bodies were lying.
+Some were dead. I saw Rance
+Rankin. Others were evidently only
+injured. Dr. Frank was moving among
+them, attending them. Venza was
+there, unharmed. And I saw the
+gamblers, Shac and Dud, sitting
+white-faced, whispering together. And
+Glutz&#8217;s little be-ribboned, be-curled
+figure on a stool.</p>
+<p>George Prince was there, standing
+against the walls shrouded in his
+mourning cloak, watching the scene
+with alert, roving eyes. And by the
+opposite doorway, the huge towering
+figure of Miko stood on guard. But
+Snap was missing.</p>
+<p>A brief glimpse. Miko saw my
+Benson-light. I could have equipped
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_347' name='page_347'></a>347</span>
+a heat-ray, and fired along the curved
+Benson-light into that lounge. But
+Miko gave me no time.</p>
+<p>He slid the lounge door closed, and
+Moa leaped to close the one on my side.
+My light was cut off; my grid showed
+only the blank deck and door.</p>
+<p>Another interval. I had made plans.
+Futile plans! I could get into the turret
+perhaps, and kill Hahn. I had the
+invisible cloak which Johnson was
+wearing. I took it from his body. Its
+mechanism could be repaired. Why,
+with it I could creep about the ship,
+kill these brigands one by one perhaps.
+George Prince would be with me. The
+brigands who had been posing as the
+stewards and crew-members were unable
+to navigate; they would obey my
+orders. There were only Miko, Coniston
+and Hahn to kill.</p>
+<p>Futile plans! From my window I
+could gaze up to the helio-room. And
+now abruptly I heard Snap&#8217;s voice:</p>
+<p>&#8220;No! I tell you&ndash;&ndash;no!&#8221;</p>
+<p>And Miko: &#8220;Very well. We will try
+this.&#8221;</p>
+<p>So Snap was captured, but not killed.
+Relief swept me. He was in the helio-room,
+and Miko was with him. But my
+relief was short-lived.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">After</span> a brief interval there came
+a moan from Snap. It floated
+down from the silence overhead. It
+made me shudder.</p>
+<p>My Benson-beam shot into the helio
+window. It showed me Snap lying
+there on the floor. He was bound with
+wire. His torso had been stripped. His
+livid face was ghastly plain in my light.</p>
+<p>Miko was bending over him. Miko
+with a heat-cylinder no longer than a
+finger. Its needle-beam played upon
+Snap&#8217;s naked chest. I could see the
+gruesome little trail of smoke rising;
+and as Snap twisted and jerked, there
+on his flesh was the red and blistered
+trail of the violet-hot ray.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now will you tell?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Miko laughed. &#8220;No? Then I shall
+write my name a little deeper....&#8221;</p>
+<p>A black scar now&ndash;&ndash;a trail etched in
+the quivering flesh.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh!&ndash;&ndash;&#8221; Snap&#8217;s face went white as
+chalk as he pressed his lips together.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Or a little acid? This fire-writing
+does not really hurt? Tell me what
+you did with those code-words!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No!&#8221;</p>
+<p>In his absorption Miko did not notice
+my light. Nor did I have the wit
+to try and fire along it. I was trembling.
+Snap under torture!</p>
+<p>As the beam went deeper, Snap
+suddenly screamed. But he ended,
+&#8220;No! I will send&ndash;&ndash;no message for
+you&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>It had been only a moment. In the
+chart-room window beside me again a
+figure appeared! No image. A solid,
+living person, undisguised by any cloak
+of invisibility. George Prince had
+chanced my fire and had crept up upon
+me.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Haljan! Don&#8217;t attack me.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">I dropped</span> my light connections.
+As impulsively I stood up, I saw
+through the window the figure of Coniston
+on the deck watching the result
+of Prince&#8217;s venture.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Haljan&ndash;&ndash;yield.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Prince no more than whispered it.
+He stood outside on the deck; the low
+window casement touched his waist.
+He leaned over it.</p>
+<p>&#8220;He&#8217;s torturing Snap! Call out that
+you will yield.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The thought had already been in my
+mind. Another scream from Snap
+chilled me with horror. I shouted,</p>
+<p>&#8220;Miko! Stop!&#8221;</p>
+<p>I rushed to the window and Prince
+gripped me.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Louder!&#8221;</p>
+<p>I called louder. &#8220;<i>Miko!</i> Stop!&#8221;
+My upflung voice mingled with Snap&#8217;s
+agony of protest. Then Miko heard
+me. His head and shoulders showed
+up there at the helio-room oval.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You, Haljan?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Prince shouted, &#8220;I have made him
+yield. He will obey you if you stop
+that torture.&#8221;</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_348' name='page_348'></a>348</span></div>
+<p>I think that poor Snap must have
+fainted. He was silent. I called,
+&#8220;Stop! I will do what you command.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Miko jeered, &#8220;That is good. A bargain,
+if you and Dean obey me. Disarm
+him, Prince, and bring him out.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Miko</span> moved back into the helio-room.
+On the deck Coniston
+was advancing, but cautiously, mistrustful
+of me.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Gregg.&#8221;</p>
+<p>George Prince flung a leg over the
+casement and leaped lightly into the
+dim chart-room. His small slender
+figure stood beside me, clung to me.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Gregg.&#8221;</p>
+<p>A moment, while we stood there together.
+No ray was upon us. Coniston
+could not see us, nor could he
+hear our whispers.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Gregg.&#8221;</p>
+<p>A different voice; its throaty, husky
+quality gone. A soft pleading.
+&#8220;Gregg&ndash;&ndash;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Gregg, don&#8217;t you know me? Gregg,
+dear....&#8221;</p>
+<p>Why, what was this? Not George
+Prince? A masquerader, yet so like
+George Prince.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Gregg, don&#8217;t you know me?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Clinging to me. A soft touch upon
+my arm. Fingers, clinging. A surge
+of warm, tingling current was flowing
+between us.</p>
+<p>My sweep of instant thoughts. A
+speck of human Earth-dust, falling free.
+That was George Prince, who had been
+killed. George Prince&#8217;s body, disguised
+by the scheming Carter and Dr.
+Frank, buried in the guise of his sister.
+And this black-robed figure who was
+trying to help us&ndash;&ndash;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Anita! Dear God! Anita, darling!
+Anita!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Gregg, dear one!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Anita! Dear God!&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">My</span> arms went around her, my lips
+pressed hers, and felt her tremulous,
+eager answer.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Gregg, dear.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Anita, you!&#8221;</p>
+<p>The form of Coniston showed at our
+window. She cast me off. She said,
+with her throaty swagger of assumed
+masculinity:</p>
+<p>&#8220;I have him, Sir Arthur. He will
+obey us.&#8221;</p>
+<p>I sensed her warning glance. She
+shoved me toward the window. She
+said ironically, &#8220;Have no fear, Haljan.
+You will not be tortured, you and
+Dean, if you obey our commands.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Coniston gripped me. &#8220;You fool!
+You caused us a lot of trouble, didn&#8217;t
+you? Move along there!&#8221;</p>
+<p>He jerked me roughly through the
+window. Marched me the length of
+the deck. Out to the stern-space;
+opened the door of my cubby; flung me
+in and sealed the door upon me.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Miko will come presently.&#8221;</p>
+<p>I stood in the darkness of my tiny
+room, listening to his retreating footsteps.
+But my mind was not on
+him....</p>
+<p>All the Universe in that instant had
+changed for me. Anita was alive!</p>
+<p>(<i>To be continued</i>)</p>
+<hr class='fn' />
+<h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0001' id='Footnote_0001'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0001'><span class='label'>[1]</span></a>
+<p>As early as 1910 it was discovered that an
+object magnetized under certain conditions
+was subject to a loss of weight, its gravity
+partially nullified. The Martel discovery undoubtedly
+followed that method.</p>
+</div>
+<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0002' id='Footnote_0002'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0002'><span class='label'>[2]</span></a>
+<p>&#8220;United States of the World,&#8221; which came
+into being in 2057 upon the centenary of the
+Yellow War.</p>
+</div>
+<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0003' id='Footnote_0003'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0003'><span class='label'>[3]</span></a>
+<p>Trinight Hour, i.e., 3 A. M.</p>
+</div>
+<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0004' id='Footnote_0004'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0004'><span class='label'>[4]</span></a>
+<p>Pressure sickness. Caused by the difficulty
+of maintaining a constantly normal air
+pressure within the vessel owing to the sudden,
+extreme changes from heat to cold.</p>
+</div>
+<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0005' id='Footnote_0005'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0005'><span class='label'>[5]</span></a>
+<p>&#8220;Set and Setta,&#8221; the Martian equivalent of
+Mr. and Miss.</p>
+</div>
+<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0006' id='Footnote_0006'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0006'><span class='label'>[6]</span></a>
+<p>A Venus form of jocular, intimate greeting.</p>
+</div>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='adbox'><i>REMEMBER</i><br />
+<span class="larger">ASTOUNDING STORIES<br /></span>
+<i>Appears on Newsstands</i><br />
+THE FIRST THURSDAY IN EACH MONTH</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<div class="adbox">
+<p class="ad1" style="text-decoration: underline"><i>In the Next Issue</i></p>
+<p class='ad2'>MONSTERS of MOYEN</p>
+<p><i>A Complete Novelet of a Half-God Half-Beast&#8217;s Extraordinary Attempt
+to Dominate the Earth</i><br />
+<i>By</i> Arthur J. Burks</p>
+<hr class='mini' />
+<p><i>A Large Instalment of</i></p>
+<p class='ad2'>BRIGANDS of the MOON</p>
+<p><i>The Splendid Interplanetary Novel</i><br />
+<i>By</i> Ray Cummings</p>
+<hr class='mini' />
+<p class='ad2'>The RAY of MADNESS</p>
+<p><i>The Account of Another of Dr. Bird&#8217;s Amazing Exploits</i><br />
+<i>By</i> Captain S. P. Meek</p>
+<p>&ndash;&ndash;<i>And Many Other Stories by Your Favorite Authors!</i></p>
+</div>
+<hr class='toprule' />
+<div class='chsp'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_350' name='page_350'></a>350</span>
+<a name='THE_SOUL_MASTER' id='THE_SOUL_MASTER'></a>
+<h2>The Soul Master</h2>
+</div>
+<p class='authorhdr'><i>By Will Smith and R. J. Robbins</i></p>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_6' id='linki_6'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src='images/i350.jpg' alt='' title='' width='466' height='500' /><br />
+<p class='caption'>
+<i>A terrific force was emanating from that devilish globe above.</i><br />
+</p>
+</div>
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">The</span> train was slowing down
+for Keegan. A whistle from
+the locomotive ahead had
+warned the two alert young
+men in the smoker to that effect, and
+they arose to
+leave the train.
+Both were neatly
+and quietly dressed.
+One carried
+a medium-sized
+camera with the
+necessary tripod and accessory satchel.
+The other carried no impediments of
+any sort. Both were smoking cigars,
+evidently not of expensive variety,
+judging by the unaromatic atmosphere
+thereabouts.</p>
+<p class='sidebarright'>Desperately O&#8217;Hara plunged into Prof.
+Kell&#8217;s mysterious mansion. For his friend
+Skip was the victim of the eccentric scientist&#8217;s
+de-astralizing experiment, and faced
+a fate more hideous than death.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Can&#8217;t see what
+Bland shipped us
+up to this one-horse
+dump for,&#8221;
+grumbled Skip
+Handlon, the one
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_351' name='page_351'></a>351</span>
+who carried the camera. He was the
+slighter of the two and perhaps half a
+head shorter than the other. &#8220;Do you
+know anything about it?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Not much,&#8221; confessed the other as
+they alighted from the smoker. &#8220;All
+I can tell you is that Bland sent for
+me early this morning, told me to get
+a story out of this Professor Kell and
+to drag you along. After we get there
+you are to do as judgment dictates.
+But I remember that the Chief was
+specific as regards one thing. You are
+to get the proff&#8217;s mug. Don&#8217;t forget.
+The old fellow may growl and show
+fight, but it&#8217;s up to you to deliver the
+goods&ndash;&ndash;or, in this case, get them.
+Don&#8217;t depend on me for help. I expect
+to have troubles of my own.&#8221;
+Thus gloomed Horace Perry, star reporter
+for the Journal.</p>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_7' id='linki_7'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src='images/i351.jpg' alt='' title='' width='491' height='500' /><br />
+</div>
+<p>&#8220;This Keegan place&#8221;&ndash;&ndash;Handlon was
+using his eyes swiftly and comprehensively&ndash;&ndash;&#8220;isn&#8217;t
+worth much. Can&#8217;t see
+how it manages to even rate a name.
+Some dump, all right!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You said a couple mouthfuls.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;How&#8217;s the train service, if any?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Rotten. Two trains a day.&#8221; The
+other was anything but enthusiastic.
+&#8220;We&#8217;ve a nice long wait for the next
+one, you can bet. Now, just add to
+that a rough reception after we reach
+the old lion&#8217;s lair and you get a nice
+idea of what Bland expects from his
+men.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_352' name='page_352'></a>352</span></div>
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Handlon</span> made a wry face at
+this. &#8220;The bird who first applied
+the words &#8216;Hard Boiled&#8217; to the
+Chief&#8217;s monniker knew something.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You don&#8217;t know the half of it,&#8221; retorted
+Perry encouragingly. &#8220;Just
+wait and see what a beaut of a fit he
+can throw for <i>your</i> benefit if you fail
+to do your stuff&ndash;&ndash;and I don&#8217;t mean
+maybe.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Old Man Bland owned the Journal,
+hired and fired his crew and did his
+own editing, with the help of as capable
+an office gang as could be gotten
+together. It is quite possible that
+&#8220;Hard Boiled&#8221; Bland demanded more
+from his men than any other editor
+ever has before or since. Nevertheless
+he got results, and none of his experienced
+underlings ever kicked, for the
+pay was right. If a hapless scribe had
+the temerity to enter the editorial
+sanctum with a negative report, the almost
+invariable reply had been a glare
+and a peremptory order, &#8220;Get the
+copy.&#8221;</p>
+<p>And get it they did. If a person refused
+an interview these clever fellows
+generally succeeded in getting their information
+from the next most reliable
+source, and it arrived in print just the
+same.</p>
+<p>Of such a breed was Perry. Handlon,
+being a more recent acquisition to
+the staff, was not yet especially aggressive
+in his work. On this account the
+former took keen zest in scaring him
+into displaying a bit more sand.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">The</span> train had disappeared around
+a bend and the two reporters felt
+themselves marooned. Keegan, without
+question, was a most forlorn looking
+spot. A dismal shanty, much the
+worse for weather, stood beside the
+track. In front, a few rotting planks
+proclaimed that once upon a time the
+place had boasted a real freight platform.
+Probably, back in some long-forgotten
+age, a station agent had also
+held forth in the rickety shanty. A
+sign hung on each end of the crumbling
+structure on which could still be
+deciphered the legend &#8220;KEEGAN.&#8221;
+On the opposite side of the track was
+an old, disused siding. The only other
+feature of interest thereabouts was a
+well traveled country road which
+crossed the tracks near the shanty,
+wound sinuously over a rock-strewn
+hill and became lost in the mazes of
+an upland forest.</p>
+<p>There being no signboard of any
+kind to indicate their destination, the
+two, after a moment&#8217;s hesitation,
+started off briskly in a chance direction.
+The air was hot and sultry, and
+in the open spaces the sun beat down
+mercilessly upon the two hapless ones.
+As they proceeded into the depths of
+the forest they were shielded somewhat
+from the worst of the heat.
+Gradually upon their city-bred nostrils
+there stole the odor of conifers,
+accompanied by a myriad of other forest
+odors. Both sniffed the air appreciatively.</p>
+<p>&#8220;This is sure the life,&#8221; remarked
+Perry. &#8220;If I weren&#8217;t so darn thirsty
+now....&#8221; He became lost in mournful
+thought.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">A considerable</span> time passed.
+The newspaper men trudged
+wearily along until finally another
+bend brought them to the beginning of
+a steep descent. The forest had thinned
+out to nothing.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Seems to me I smell smoke,&#8221;
+blurted out Handlon suddenly. &#8220;Must
+be that we are approaching the old
+party&#8217;s lair. Remember? Bland said
+that he&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Uh huh!&#8221; the other grunted, almost
+inaudibly. Now that they seemed to
+be arriving at their destination something
+had occurred to him. He had
+fished from his pocket a sheaf of clippings
+and was perusing them intently.
+&#8220;Bland said, &#8216;Get the copy&#8217;,&#8221; he muttered
+irrelevantly and half to himself.</p>
+<p>The clippings all related directly to
+Professor Kell or to happenings local
+to Keegan. Some were of peculiar interest.
+The first one was headlined
+thus:</p>
+<blockquote>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_353' name='page_353'></a>353</span></div>
+<p class='center'>MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE
+OF ROBERT MANION
+AND DAUGHTER STILL
+UNSOLVED</p>
+</blockquote>
+<p>The piece contained a description of
+the missing man, a fairly prosperous
+banker who had been seen four days
+previously driving through Keegan in
+a small roadster, and one of the girl,
+who was in the car with him. It told
+that the banker and his daughter were
+last seen by a farmer named Willetts
+who lived in a shack on the East Keegan
+road, fleeing before a bad thunder
+storm. He believed the pair were trying
+to make the Kell mansion ahead
+of the rain. Nothing more of the
+Manions or their car had been seen,
+and their personal effects remained at
+their hotel in a nearby village unclaimed.
+The heavy rain had of course
+effectually obliterated all wheel tracks.</p>
+<p>Another clipping was fairly lengthy,
+but Perry glanced only at the headlines:</p>
+<blockquote>
+<p class='center'>KELL STILL CARRYING ON
+HIS STRANGE EXPERIMENTS</p>
+<p class='center'>Has Long Been Known to Have
+Fantastic Theories. Refuses to
+Divulge Exact Methods Employed,
+or Nature of Results</p>
+</blockquote>
+<p>Still another appeared to be an excerpt
+from an article in an agricultural
+paper. It read:</p>
+<blockquote>
+<p>A prize bull belonging to Alton
+Shepard, a Keegan cattle breeder,
+has created considerable sensation
+by running amuck in a most peculiar
+manner. While seemingly
+more intelligent than heretofore,
+it has developed characteristics
+known to be utterly alien to this
+type of animal.</p>
+<p>Perhaps the most noteworthy
+feature of the case is the refusal
+of the animal to eat its accustomed
+food. Instead it now consumes
+enormous quantities of meat. The
+terrific bellow of the animal&#8217;s voice
+has also undergone a marked
+change, now resembling nothing
+earthly, although some have remarked
+that it could be likened to
+the bay of an enormous hound.
+Some of its later actions have
+seemingly added further canine
+attributes, which make the matter
+all the more mystifying. Veterinaries
+are asking why this animal
+should chase automobiles, and why
+it should carry bones in its mouth
+and try to bury them!</p>
+</blockquote>
+<p>The last one read in part:</p>
+<blockquote>
+<p>Professor Kell has been questioned
+by authorities at Keegan
+relative to the disappearance there
+last Tuesday of Robert Manion and
+his daughter. Kell seemed unable
+to furnish clues of any value, but
+officials are not entirely satisfied
+with the man&#8217;s attitude toward the
+questions.</p>
+</blockquote>
+<p>Somewhat bewildered by these apparently
+unrelated items, the reporter
+remained lost in thought for quite a
+space, the while he endeavored to map
+out his course of action when he should
+meet the redoubtable Professor. That
+many of the weird occurrences could be
+traced in some way to the latter&#8217;s door
+had evidently occurred to Bland. Furthermore,
+the Old Man relied implicitly
+upon Perry to get results.</p>
+<p>It must be said that for once the star
+reporter was not overly enthusiastic
+with the assignment. Certain rumors
+aside from the clippings in his hand
+had produced in his mind a feeling of
+uneasiness. So far as his personal
+preference was concerned he would
+have been well satisfied if some cub reporter
+had been given the job. Try as
+he would, however, he could offer no
+tangible reason for the sudden wariness.</p>
+<p>He was aroused from his absorption
+by his companion.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thought I smelled smoke a while
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_354' name='page_354'></a>354</span>
+back, and I was right. That&#8217;s the
+house up in the edge of the pines.
+Deep grounds in front and all gone to
+seed; fits the description exactly.
+Thank Heaven we struck off from the
+station in the right direction. This
+stroll has been long enough. Come out
+of it and let&#8217;s get this job finished.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Suiting the action to the words
+Handlon started off at a brisk pace
+down the hill, followed at a more moderate
+rate by Perry. At length they
+came within full sight of the grounds.
+Extending for a considerable distance
+before them and enclosing a large tract
+of land now well covered with lush
+grass, was a formidable looking wall.
+In former days a glorious mantle of
+ivy had covered the rough stones; but
+now there was little left, and what
+there was looked pitifully decrepit.
+They continued their progress along
+this barrier, finally coming upon a huge
+iron gate now much the worse for rust.
+It stood wide open.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">The</span> road up to the house had long
+since become overgrown with
+rank grass and weeds. Faintly traceable
+through the mass of green could
+be seen a rough footpath which the
+two followed carefully. They met no
+one. As they approached the night of
+black pines the mass of the old mansion
+began to loom up before them,
+grim and forbidding.</p>
+<p>Instinctively both shivered. The silence
+of the place was complete and of
+an uncannily tangible quality. Nervously
+they looked about them.</p>
+<p>&#8220;How do you like it, Skip?&#8221; The
+words from Perry&#8217;s previously silent
+lips broke upon the stillness like a
+thunderclap. The other started.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I should hate to die in it,&#8221; Handlon
+answered solemnly. &#8220;I&#8217;ll bet the old
+joint is haunted. Nobody but a lunatic
+would ever live in it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I get a good deal the same impression
+myself,&#8221; said Perry. &#8220;I don&#8217;t wonder
+that Bland sent two of us to cover
+the job.&#8221;</p>
+<p>As he spoke he mounted a flight of
+steps to a tumbledown veranda. There
+was no sign of a door bell on the
+weather-beaten portal, but an ancient
+knocker of bronze hanging forlornly
+before him seemed to suggest a means
+of attracting attention. He raised it
+and rapped smartly.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">No</span> answer.</p>
+<p>Possessing all the attributes of
+the conventional reporter and a few
+additional ones, Perry did not allow
+himself to become disheartened, but
+merely repeated his summons, this
+time with more vim.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, Horace,&#8221; grinned Handlon,
+&#8220;it does look as if we were not so very
+welcome here. However, seems to me
+if you were to pick up that piece of
+dead limb and do some real knocking
+with it.... The dear Professor may
+be deaf, you know, or maybe he&#8217;s&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Skip, my boy, I don&#8217;t know as we
+ought to go in right now after all. Do
+you realize it will soon be dark?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;To tell you the truth, Horace, I&#8217;m
+not stuck on this assignment either.
+And I feel that after dark I should
+like it even less, somehow. But, gee,
+the Old Man....&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I&#8217;m not thinking of quitting on
+the job. We don&#8217;t do that on the Journal.&#8221;
+Perry smiled paternally at the
+photographer. Could it be he had purposely
+raised the other&#8217;s hopes in order
+to chaff him some more? &#8220;But I
+was thinking that it might be a good
+idea to look about the outbuildings a
+bit while we have a little daylight.
+Eh?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Handlon looked disappointed, but
+nodded gamely. He delayed only long
+enough to deposit his camera and traps
+behind a grossly overgrown hydrangea
+by the steps, then, with a resigned air,
+declared himself ready to follow wherever
+the other might lead.</p>
+<p>Perry elected to explore the barn
+first. This was a depressing old pile,
+unpainted in years, with what had once
+been stout doors now swinging and
+bumping in the light breeze. As the
+two men drew nearer, this breeze&ndash;&ndash;which
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_355' name='page_355'></a>355</span>
+seemed to sigh through the
+place at will&ndash;&ndash;brought foul odors that
+told them the place was at least not
+tenantless. In some trepidation they
+stepped inside and stood blinking in
+the half darkness.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Pretty Polly!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Good God! What was that?&#8221; Handlon
+whispered. He knew it was no
+parrot&#8217;s voice. This was a far deeper
+sound than that, a sound louder than
+anything a parrot&#8217;s throat could produce.
+It came from the direction of a
+ruinous stall over near a cobwebbed
+window. As Perry started fearfully
+toward this, there issued from it a curious
+scraping sound, followed by a fall
+that shook the floor, and a threshing as
+of hoofs. Now the great voice could
+be heard again, this time uttering what
+sounded strangely like oaths roared
+out in a foreign tongue. Yet when
+the newspaper men reached the stall
+they found it occupied only by a large
+mule.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">The</span> animal was lying on its side,
+its feet scraping feebly against
+the side of the stall. The heaving,
+foam-flecked body was a mass of hideous
+bruises, some of which were bleeding
+profusely. The creature seemed
+to be in the last stage of exhaustion,
+lying with lips drawn back and eyes
+closed. Beneath it and scattered all
+over the stall floor was a thick layer
+of some whitish seeds.</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s&ndash;&ndash;why that&#8217;s sunflower seed,
+Horace!&#8221; Handlon almost whimpered.
+&#8220;And look! Look in that crib! It&#8217;s
+full of the same stuff! Where&#8217;s the
+hay, Horace? Does this thing&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>He was interrupted by a mighty
+movement of the beast&ndash;&ndash;a threshing
+that nearly blinded the men in the
+cloud of bloodstained seeds it raised.
+With something between a curse and a
+sob, the mule lunged at its crib as if
+attempting to get bodily into it. But
+no: it was only trying to perch on its
+edge! Now it had succeeded. The
+ungainly beast hung there a second,
+two, three. From its uplifted throat
+issued that usually innocuous phrase,
+a phrase now a thing of delirious horror:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Pretty Polly!&#8221;</p>
+<p>With a crash the tortured creature
+fell to the floor, to lie there gasping
+and moaning.</p>
+<p>Skip Handlon left that barn. Perry
+retained just enough wit to do what he
+should have done the instant he first
+saw the animal. He whipped out his
+automatic and fired one merciful shot.
+Then he too started for the outside.
+He arrived in the yard perhaps ten
+seconds behind Handlon.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Good Heavens, Perry,&#8221; gibbered
+Handlon. &#8220;I&#8217;m not going to stay
+around this place another minute. Just
+let me find where I left that suffering
+camera, that&#8217;s all I ask.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Easy now.&#8221; Perry laid a hand on
+his companion&#8217;s shoulder. &#8220;I guess
+we&#8217;re up against something pretty
+fierce here, but we&#8217;re going to see it
+through, and you know it. So let&#8217;s cut
+out the flight talk and go raise the
+Professor.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Handlon tried earnestly to don a
+look of determination. If Perry was
+set on staying here the least he could
+do was stay with him. However, could
+Perry have foreseen the events which
+were to entangle them, he probably
+would have led the race to the gate.
+As it was, he grasped a stick and
+marched bravely up toward the front
+door.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">A sudden</span> commotion behind him
+caused him to wheel sharply
+around. Simultaneously a yell burst
+from Handlon.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Look out, Horace!&#8221;</p>
+<p>What he saw almost froze the blood
+in his veins. From a tumbledown
+coach house had issued an enormous
+wolf-hound which was now almost
+upon then, eyes flaming, fangs gleaming
+horribly.</p>
+<p>So unexpected was the attack that
+both men stood rooted in their tracks.
+The next moment the charging brute
+was upon them, and had bowled Handlon
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_356' name='page_356'></a>356</span>
+off his equilibrium as if he were a
+child. The unfortunate photographer
+made a desperate attempt to prevent
+injury to his precious camera, which
+he had but a moment earlier succeeded
+in retrieving, and in doing so fell
+rather violently to the ground. Every
+moment he expected to feel the powerful
+jaws crunch his throat, and he
+made no effort to rise. For several
+seconds he remained thus, until he
+could endure the suspense no longer.
+He glanced around only to see Perry,
+staring open-mouthed at the animal
+which had so frightened them. Apparently
+it had forgotten the presence
+of the two men.</p>
+<p>Handlon regained his feet rather
+awkwardly, the while keeping a watchful
+eye on the beast, of whose uncertain
+temper he was by now fully aware.
+In an undertone he addressed his companion.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What do you make of it?&#8221; he
+wanted to know. &#8220;Did the critter bite
+you?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No. That&#8217;s the queer part of it.
+Neither did he bite you, if you were
+to think it over a minute. Just put his
+nose down and <i>rammed</i> you, head on.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The photographer was flabbergasted.
+Involuntarily his gaze stole again in
+the direction of the offending brute.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What on earth&ndash;&ndash;&#8221; he began. &#8220;Is he
+sharpening his teeth on a rock preparatory
+to another attack upon us? Or&ndash;&ndash;What
+the deuce <i>is</i> he doing?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;If you ask me,&#8221; came astonishingly
+from the watchful Perry, &#8220;he&#8217;s eating
+grass, which is my idea of something
+damn foolish for a perfectly normal
+hound, genus lupo, to be&ndash;&ndash;Look out!&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">The</span> animal, as if suddenly remembering
+the presence of the men,
+suddenly charged at them again, head
+down, eyes blazing. As before, it made
+no effort to bite. Though both men
+were somewhat disconcerted by the
+great brute they held their ground, and
+when it presented the opportunity the
+older reporter planted a terrific kick
+to the flank which sent the animal
+whimpering back to its shed behind.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Score one,&#8221; breathed Handlon. &#8220;If
+we&ndash;&ndash;&#8221; At a sudden grating sound overhead,
+he stopped.</p>
+<p>Both turned to face the threatening
+muzzle of an ancient blunderbuss. Behind
+it was an irate countenance, nearly
+covered by an unclipped beard of a
+dirty gray color. In the eyes now
+glaring at them malevolently through
+heavily concaved spectacles they read
+hate unutterable. The barrel of the
+blunderbuss swung slightly as it covered
+alternately one and the other.
+Both sensed that the finger even now
+tightening on the trigger would not
+hesitate unduly. Being more or less
+hardened to rebuffs of all kinds in the
+pursuance of their calling, the reporters
+did not hesitate in stating
+their purpose.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What?&#8221; yelled the old man. &#8220;You
+dare to invade my grounds and disturb
+me at my labors for such a reason?
+Reporters! My scientific research work
+is not for publicity, sirs; and futhermore
+I want it understood that I am
+not to be dragged from my laboratory
+again for the purpose of entertaining
+you or any others of your ilk. Get
+away!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Without further ado the window
+was slammed down, a shutter closed
+on the inside, and once more the silence
+of the dead descended upon the
+spot. The two men grinned ruefully
+at each other, Handlon finally breaking
+the stillness.</p>
+<p>&#8220;My idea of the world&#8217;s original one-sided
+conversation. We simply didn&#8217;t
+talk&ndash;&ndash;and yet we&#8217;re supposed to be reporters.
+You&#8217;ve got to hand it to the
+Proff, Horace, for the beautiful rock-crusher
+he just handed us.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You didn&#8217;t think we had anything
+easy, did you?&#8221; said Perry irritably.
+&#8220;He&#8217;ll change his tune presently,
+when&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Handlon</span>&#8217;s jaw dropped. &#8220;You
+don&#8217;t mean you&#8217;re going to take
+any more chances! Would you rouse
+him again after the way he treated us
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_357' name='page_357'></a>357</span>
+with that gun? Besides, the train....&#8221;</p>
+<p>Perry bent a scathing glance at his
+companion. &#8220;What on earth has the
+train to do with our getting the Professor&#8217;s
+confession of crime or whatever
+he has to offer? You evidently
+don&#8217;t know Bland&ndash;&ndash;much. I deduce
+that a lot of my sweetness has been
+wasted on the desert air. Once more,
+let me assure you that if you propose
+to go back without the Proff&#8217;s mug on
+one of those plates you might as well
+mail your resignation from <i>here</i>. Get
+me?&#8221;</p>
+<p>The other wilted.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I wonder,&#8221; Perry ruminated as he
+stared in the direction of the shed
+wherein the canine monstrosity had
+disappeared. &#8220;Do you suppose that
+you can get a snap of the old boy&#8217;s
+mug if I can get him to the window
+again? If you can do that, just leave
+the rest to me. I&#8217;ve handled these
+crusty birds before. What say?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Go as far as you like.&#8221; The photographer
+was once more grinning as he
+unslung his camera and carefully adjusted
+a plate in place. Everything
+at last to his satisfaction he gripped
+flash pan and bulb.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m going to make some racket
+now,&#8221; announced Perry grimly. &#8220;If
+Kell shows up, work fast. He may
+shoot at you, but don&#8217;t get excited.
+It&#8217;s almost dark, so his aim <i>might</i> be
+poor.&#8221;</p>
+<p>At this suggestion his companion
+showed signs of panic, but the other
+affected not to notice this. There came
+a deafening hullaballoo as Perry beat
+a <a name='TC_45'></a><ins class='trchange' title="was 'terriffic'">terrific</ins> tattoo on the ancient door.
+Followed a deep silence, while Perry
+leaped back to stand in front of Skip
+and his camera. After perhaps a full
+minute&#8217;s wait he once more opened up
+his bombardment, to jump quickly
+back to the camera as before. This
+time he had better success. The window
+was again opened and the muzzle
+of the blunderbuss put in its appearance.
+Handlon stood close behind
+Perry as he silently swung the camera
+into a more favorable position for action.
+The face at the window was purple
+with wrath.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You damned pests! Leave my
+grounds at once or I shall call my
+hound and set him upon you. And
+when&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Crack!</span> Flash! Click! Perry
+had made a sudden sidewise
+movement as Handlon went into action.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Much obliged, Professor,&#8221; said
+Perry politely. &#8220;Your pose with that
+old cannon is going to be very effective
+from the front page. The write-up
+will doubtless be interesting too.
+Probably the story won&#8217;t be quite so
+accurate as it would be had you told
+it to us yourself; but we shall get as
+many of the details from the natives
+hereabouts as we can. Good-day to you,
+sir!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Motioning to the other he turned on
+his heel and started down the driveway.
+It was an old trick, and for a
+long moment of suspense he almost
+feared that it would fail. Another
+moment&ndash;&ndash;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Wait!&#8221; The quavering voice of the
+irascible old villain had lost some of
+its malice. &#8220;Come back here a minute.&#8221;</p>
+<p>With simulated reluctance the two
+slowly retraced their steps. &#8220;Is there
+something else, sir?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Perhaps....&#8221; The old man hesitated,
+as if pondering upon his words.
+&#8220;Perhaps if you care to step in I can
+be of assistance to you after all. It
+occurs to me that possibly I have been
+too abrupt with you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am very glad that you have decided
+to cooperate with us, Professor
+Kell,&#8221; answered the reporter heartily,
+as they ascended the steps. The old
+man&#8217;s head disappeared from the window
+and shortly the sound of footsteps
+inside told of his approach. Finally
+the oaken door swung open, and they
+were silently ushered into the musty
+smelling hallway. Though outwardly
+accepting the Professor&#8217;s suddenly
+pacific attitude, Perry made up his
+mind to be on his guard.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_358' name='page_358'></a>358</span></div>
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">As</span> they entered what had evidently
+been the parlor in bygone days,
+an oppressive, heavy odor smote
+their nostrils, telling of age-old carpets
+and of draperies allowed to decay
+unnoticed. On the walls hung
+several antique prints, a poorly executed
+crayon portrait of a person
+doubtless an ancestor of the present
+Kell, and one or two paintings done
+in oil, now badly cracked and stained.
+Everything gave the impression of an
+era long since departed, and the two
+men felt vaguely out of place. Their
+host led them to a pair of dilapidated
+chairs, which they accepted gratefully.
+The ride to Keegan after a hard day&#8217;s
+work had not tended to improve their
+spirits.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now to business.&#8221; Perry went
+straight to the point, desiring to get
+the interview over as soon as possible.
+&#8220;We have heard indirectly of various
+happenings in this vicinity which
+many think have some connection with
+your scientific experiments. Any
+statement you may care to make to us
+in regard to these happenings will be
+greatly appreciated by my paper. Inasmuch
+as what little has already been
+printed is probably of an erroneous
+nature, we believe it will be in your
+own best interest to give us as complete
+data as possible.&#8221; Here he became
+slightly histrionic. &#8220;Of course
+we do not allow ourselves to take the
+stories told by the local inhabitants too
+literally, as such persons are too liable
+to exaggerate, but we must assume that
+some of these stories have partial
+basis in fact. Any information relative
+to your scientific work, incidentally,
+will make good copy for us also.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Perry gazed steadily at the patriarch
+as he spoke. For a moment, a crafty
+expression passed over the old man&#8217;s
+face, but as suddenly it disappeared.
+Evidently he had arrived at a decision.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come with me,&#8221; he wheezed.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">The</span> two newspaper men exchanged
+swift glances, the same
+thought in the mind of each. Were they
+about to be led into a trap? If the old
+man&#8217;s shady reputation was at all deserved
+they would do well to be wary.
+Perry thought swiftly of the clippings
+he had read and of what gossip he had
+heard, then glanced once more in the
+direction of Handlon. That worthy
+was smiling meaningly and had already
+arisen to follow the Professor.
+Reluctantly Perry got to his feet and
+the three proceeded to climb a rickety
+stairway to the third floor. The guide
+turned at the head of the stairs and entered
+a long dark corridor. Here the
+floor was covered with a thick carpet
+which, as they trod upon it, gave forth
+not the slightest sound.</p>
+<p>The hall gave upon several rooms,
+all dark and gloomy and giving the
+same dismal impression of long disuse.
+How could the savant endure
+such a depressing abode! The accumulation
+of dust and cobwebs in these
+long forgotten chambers, the general
+evidence of decay&ndash;&ndash;all told of possible
+horrors ahead. They became wary.</p>
+<p>But they were not wary enough!</p>
+<p>The uncouth figure ahead of them
+had stopped and was fumbling with
+the lock of an ancient door. Instinctively
+Perry noted that it was of great
+thickness and of heavy oak. Now the
+Professor had it open and was motioning
+for them to enter. Handlon started
+forward eagerly, but hurriedly drew
+back as he felt the grip of the other
+reporter&#8217;s hand on his arm.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Get back, you fool!&#8221; The words
+were hissed into the ear of the incautious
+one. Then, to the Professor,
+Perry observed: &#8220;If you have no objection
+we would prefer that you precede
+us.&#8221;</p>
+<p>A look of insane fury leaped to the
+face of the old man, lingered but an
+instant and was gone. Though the expression
+was but momentary, both men
+had seen, and seeing had realized their
+danger.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">They</span> followed him into the chamber,
+which was soon illumined fitfully
+by a smoky kerosene lamp. Both
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_359' name='page_359'></a>359</span>
+took a rapid survey of the place. Conceivably
+it might have been the scene
+of scientific experiments, but its aspect
+surely belied such a supposition.
+The average imagination would instantly
+pronounce it the abode of a
+maniac, or the lair of an alchemist.
+Again, that it might be the laboratory
+of an extremely slovenly veterinary
+was suggested by the several filthy
+cages to be seen resting against the
+wall. All of these were unoccupied
+except one in a dark corner, from
+which issued a sound of contented
+purring, evidently telling of some well-satisfied
+cat.</p>
+<p>The air was close and foul, being
+heavy with the odor of musty, decaying
+drugs. In every possible niche and
+cranny the omnipresent dust had settled
+in a uniform sheen of gray which
+showed but few signs of recent disturbance.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Here, gentlemen,&#8221; their host was
+saying, &#8220;is where I carry on my work.
+It is rather gloomy here after dark, but
+then I do not spend much time here
+during the night. I have decided to
+acquaint you with some of the details
+of one or two of my experiments.
+Doubtless you will find them interesting.&#8221;</p>
+<p>While speaking he had, mechanically
+it seemed, reached for a glass humidor
+in which were perhaps a dozen cigars.
+Silently he selected one and extended
+the rest to the two visitors.</p>
+<p>After all three had puffed for a moment
+at the weeds, the old man began
+to talk, rapidly it seemed to them.
+Perry from time to time took notes, as
+the old man proceeded, an expression
+of utter amazement gradually overspreading
+his face. Handlon pulled
+away contentedly at his cigar, and on
+his features there grew an almost ludicrous
+expression of well-being. Was
+the simple photographer so completely
+at ease that he had at length forsaken
+all thought of possible danger?</p>
+<p>As Professor Kell talked on he
+seemed to warm to his subject. At the
+end of five minutes he began uncovering
+a peculiar apparatus which had
+rested beneath the massive old table
+before which they were sitting. The
+two men caught the flash of light on
+glass, and a jumble of coiled wires became
+visible.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Was</span> the air in the laboratory
+getting unbearably close? Or
+was the queer leaden feeling that had
+taken possession of Perry&#8217;s lungs but
+an indication of his overpowering
+weariness? He felt a steadily increasing
+irritation, as if for some strange
+reason he suddenly resented the words
+of their host, which seemed to be pouring
+out in an endless stream. The
+cigar had, paradoxically, an oddly
+soothing quality, and he puffed away
+in silence.</p>
+<p>Why had the room suddenly taken
+on so hazy an aspect? Why did Handlon
+grin in that idiotic manner? And
+the Professor ... he was getting farther
+and farther away ... that perfecto
+... or was it an El Cabbajo?
+What was the old archfiend doing to
+him anyhow?... Why was he laughing
+and leering at them so horribly?...
+Confound it all ... that cigar
+... where was it?... Just one more
+puff....</p>
+<p>Blindly he groped for the missing
+weed, becoming aware of a cackle of
+amusement nearby. Professor Kell was
+standing near the spot where he had
+fallen and now began prodding him
+contemptuously with his toe.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Fools!&#8221; he was saying. &#8220;You
+thought to interfere with my program.
+But you are in my power and you have
+no hope of escape. I am unexpectedly
+provided with more subjects for my
+experiments. You will....&#8221; His
+words became hazy and unintelligible,
+for the hapless reporter was drifting
+off into a numb oblivion. He had long
+since lost the power to move a muscle.
+Out of the corner of an eye, just before
+he lost consciousness altogether, he
+perceived Handlon lying upon the
+floor still puffing at the fateful drugged
+cigar.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_360' name='page_360'></a>360</span></div>
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Eons</span> passed.</p>
+<p>To the reporter came a vision
+of a throbbing, glaring inferno, wherein
+he was shaken and tossed by terrific
+forces. His very vital essence seemed
+to respond to a mighty vibration. Now
+he was but a part of some terrific chaos.
+Dimly he became aware of another being
+with whom he must contend. Now
+he was in a death struggle, and to his
+horror he found himself being slowly
+but surely overpowered. A demoniac
+grin played upon the features of the
+other as he forced the reporter to his
+knees. It was Handlon.... Once
+more he was sinking into soft oblivion,
+the while a horrid miasma assailed his
+nostrils. He was nothing....</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Slowly,</span> and with infinite effort,
+Perry felt himself returning to
+consciousness, though he had no clear
+conception of his surroundings. His
+brain was as yet but a whirling vortex
+of confused sounds, colors and&ndash;&ndash;yes,
+odors. A temporary rift came in the
+mental cloud which fettered his faculties,
+and things began to take definite
+shape. He became aware that he was
+lying upon his back at some elevation
+from the floor. Again the cloudy incubus
+closed in and he knew no more.</p>
+<p>When he finally recovered the use of
+his faculties it was to discover himself
+the possessor of a violent headache.
+The pain came in such fearsome throbs
+that it was well nigh unendurable. The
+lamp still sputtered dimly where the
+professor had left it. At the moment
+it was on the point of going out altogether.
+The reporter noticed this, and
+over him stole a sense of panic. What
+if the light should fail altogether, leaving
+him lying in the dark in this frightful
+place! Still dizzy and sick, he managed
+to rise upon his elbows enough to
+complete a survey of the room. He
+was still in the laboratory of Professor
+Kell, but that worthy had disappeared.
+Of Handlon there was no sign. The
+mysterious apparatus, of which he now
+had but a vague remembrance, also had
+vanished.</p>
+<p>His thoughts became confused again,
+and wearily he passed a hand over his
+brow in the effort to collect all of his
+faculties. The lamp began to sputter,
+arousing him to action. Desperately
+he fought against the benumbing sensation
+that was even again stealing over
+him. Gradually he gained the ascendancy.
+He struggled dizzily to his feet
+and took a few tentative steps.</p>
+<p>Where was Handlon? He decided
+his friend had probably recovered from
+the drug first and was gone, possibly
+to get a doctor for him, Perry. However,
+he must make some search to determine
+if Skip had really left the
+premises.</p>
+<p>As he walked through the open door
+the lamp in his hand gave a last despairing
+flicker and went out. From
+there he was forced to grope his way
+down the dark hall to the stairs. Just
+how he reached the lower floor he was
+never able to remember, for as yet all
+the effect of the powerful drug had
+not worn off. He had a dim recollection
+of being thankful to the ancestor
+of Kell who had provided such thick
+carpets in these halls. Thanks to them
+his footsteps had been noiseless, at any
+rate.</p>
+<p>What was Kell&#8217;s real object in giving
+them those drugged cigars? he
+wondered. How long had they been
+under the influence of the lethal stuff?
+Surely several hours. Upon glancing
+through a hall window he found that
+outside was the blackness of midnight.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Cautiously</span> he explored the
+desolate chambers on the ground
+floor: the kitchen&ndash;&ndash;where it could be
+plainly seen that cooking of a sort had
+been done&ndash;&ndash;the barn, and woodshed.
+Not a living thing could he find, not
+even the huge wolf-hound which had
+attacked them in so strange a manner
+that afternoon.</p>
+<p>By now he was quite frankly worried
+on Handlon&#8217;s account. At that
+moment, could he have known the actual
+fate that had overtaken his companion,
+it is quite probable he would
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_361' name='page_361'></a>361</span>
+have gone mad. He stumbled back and
+into the dark front hall, shouting his
+friend&#8217;s name. The response was a
+hollow echo, and once or twice he
+thought he heard the ghost of a mocking
+chuckle.</p>
+<p>At length he gave up the search and
+started for the door, intent now only
+upon flight from the accursed place.
+He would report the whole thing to the
+office and let Bland do what he pleased
+about it. Doubtless Handlon had already
+left. Then he stumbled over
+Handlon&#8217;s camera. Evidently the Professor
+had neglected to take possession
+of it. That must be rescued, at all
+costs. He picked it up and felt the
+exposed plate still inside. He started
+again for the door.</p>
+<p>What little light there was faded out
+and he felt stealing over him a horrid
+sensation of weakness. Again came a
+period of agony during which he felt
+the grip of unseen forces. Once more
+it seemed that he was engaged in mortal
+strife with Skip Handlon. Malevolently
+Handlon glared at him as he endeavored
+with all his strength to overcome
+Perry. This time, however, the
+latter seemed to have more strength
+and resisted the attack for what must
+have been hours. Finally the other
+drew away baffled.</p>
+<p>At this the mental incubus surrounding
+Perry&#8217;s faculties broke. Dimly he
+became aware of a grinding noise nearby
+and a constant lurching of his body.
+At length his vision cleared sufficiently
+to enable him to discover the cause
+of the peculiar sensations.</p>
+<p>He was in a railroad coach!</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">He</span> took a rapid glance around and
+noted a drummer sitting in the
+seat across the aisle, staring curiously
+at him. With an effort Perry assumed
+an inscrutable expression and determined
+to stare the other out of countenance.
+Reluctantly the man glanced
+away, and after a moment, under Perry&#8217;s
+stony gaze, he suddenly arose and
+chose a new seat in front of the car.
+Perry took to the solace of a cigarette
+and stared out at the flying telegraph
+poles. From time to time he noted
+familiar landmarks. The train had evidently
+left Keegan far behind and was
+already nearly into the home town.</p>
+<p>For the balance of the ride the reporter
+experienced pure nightmare.
+The peculiar sensations of dizziness,
+accompanied by frightful periods of
+insensibility, kept recurring, now,
+however, not lasting more than ten or
+fifteen minutes at a time. At such
+times as he was conscious he found opportunity
+to wonder in an abstracted
+sort of way how he had ever managed
+to get on the train and pay his fare,
+which must have been a cash one, without
+arousing the conductor&#8217;s suspicions.
+Discovery of a rebate in his
+pocket proved that he must have done
+so, however. The business of leaving
+the train and getting to the office has
+always been an unknown chapter in
+Perry&#8217;s life.</p>
+<p>He came out of one of his mental
+fogs to find himself seated in the private
+editorial sanctum of the Journal.
+Evidently he had just arrived. Bland,
+a thick-set man with the jaw of a bulldog,
+was eyeing him intently.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well! Any report to make?&#8221; The
+question was crisp.</p>
+<p>The reporter passed a hand across
+his perspiring forehead. &#8220;Yes, I guess
+so. I&ndash;&ndash;er&ndash;&ndash;that is&ndash;&ndash;you see&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Where&#8217;s Handlon? What happened
+to you? You act as if you were drunk.&#8221;
+Bland was not in an amiable mood.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Search me,&#8221; Perry managed to respond.
+&#8220;If Skip isn&#8217;t here old man
+Kell must have done for him. I came
+back alone.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You wha-a-t?&#8221; the irate editor fairly
+roared, half rising from his chair.
+&#8220;Tell me exactly what happened and
+get ready to go back there on the next
+train. Or&ndash;&ndash;no, on second thoughts
+you&#8217;d better go to bed. You look all
+used up. Handlon may be dead or dying
+at this minute. That Kell could
+do anything.&#8221; He pressed the button
+on his desk.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Johnny,&#8221; he said to the office boy,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_362' name='page_362'></a>362</span>
+&#8220;get O&#8217;Hara in here on the double
+quick and tell him to bring along his
+hat and coat.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">He</span> turned again to Perry, who
+was gazing nervously at the
+door. &#8220;Now tell me everything that
+happened and make it fast,&#8221; he ordered.</p>
+<p>The reporter complied, omitting
+nothing except the little matter of his
+mental lapses at the house of Professor
+Kell and later on the train. The incident
+of the drugged cigars seemed to
+interest the Old Man hugely, and Perry
+did not forget to play up Handlon&#8217;s exploits
+in getting the picture of the
+Professor. All through the recital he
+was in a sweat for fear that he might
+have a recurrence of one of his brain
+spells and that Bland would become
+cognizant of it. When would the Chief
+finish and let him escape from the office?
+Desperately he fought to prevent
+the numbing sensation from overcoming
+him. All that kept him from
+finally fleeing the place in panic was
+the entrance of Jimmie O&#8217;Hara.</p>
+<p>Slight, wiry and efficient looking,
+this individual was a specimen of the
+perfect Journal reporter. This is saying
+a good deal, for the news crew and
+editorial force of the <a name='TC_46'></a><ins class='trchange' title="Removed comma">paper</ins> were a
+carefully selected body of men indeed.
+Bland never hired a man unless experience
+had endowed him with some
+unusual qualification. Most of them
+could write up a story with realistic
+exactitude, being able in most cases
+to supply details gleaned from actual
+experience in one walk of life or another.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Of</span> this redoubtable crew probably
+the queerest was Jimmie O&#8217;Hara.
+Jimmie had just finished a sentence in
+the &#8220;pen&#8221; for safe-cracking at the time
+he landed the job with the Journal.
+Theoretically all men should have
+shunned him on account of his jailbird
+taint. Not so Bland. The Chief was
+independent in his ideas on the eternal
+fitness of things and allowed none of
+the ordinary conventions of humanity
+to influence his decisions. So Jimmie
+became one of the staff and worked
+hard to justify Bland in hiring him.
+His former profession gave him valuable
+sidelights upon crime stories of
+all kinds, and he was almost invariably
+picked as the man to write these
+up for the columns.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Jimmie,&#8221; said the Chief, &#8220;we have
+need of an experienced strong-arm man
+and all around second story worker.
+You are the only man on the force who
+fills the bill for this job. Perry here
+has just returned from Keegan, where
+I sent him to interview Professor Kell.
+Skip Handlon went with him, but
+failed to return. We want to know
+what happened to Skip. That is your
+job. <i>Get Handlon!</i> If he is dead let
+me know by long distance phone and
+I&#8217;ll have a couple of headquarters men
+down there in a hurry. Get a good
+fast car and don&#8217;t waste any time.
+That&#8217;s all.&#8221;</p>
+<p>O&#8217;Hara stopped long enough to get
+the location of Professor Kell&#8217;s place
+fixed in his mind, then abruptly departed.
+Bland gazed after him musingly.</p>
+<p>&#8220;The Professor will have some job
+to put anything over on that bird,&#8221; he
+said grimly. &#8220;Personally, I&#8217;m sorry
+for the old soul.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">After</span> leaving the Journal office
+Jimmie proceeded directly to a
+certain stable where he kept his private
+car. It was a long, low speedster
+with a powerful engine, and capable
+of eating up distance. It was the work
+of a minute to touch the starter and
+back out of the yard.</p>
+<p>For the next hour he held the
+wheel grimly while the car roared over
+the seventy-odd miles to Keegan.
+Would he be in time? At last a sign
+post told him that he was within five
+miles of the railroad crossing at Keegan.
+Now the headlights were picking
+out the black outlines of the freight
+shed, and the next moment he had
+swept over the tracks. The luminous
+dial on his wrist watch notified him
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_363' name='page_363'></a>363</span>
+that he had been on the road but little
+over an hour, but his spirits somehow
+refused to revive with the knowledge.</p>
+<p>About a mile beyond the station he
+drove the car into a dark wood road
+and parked it, turning off all lights.
+The rest of the way to the Professor&#8217;s
+mansion he did on foot. Rather than
+approach from the front of the grounds
+he nimbly climbed a stone wall and,
+crossing a field or two, entered the
+stretch of woods which extended just
+behind the mansion. His pocket flashlight
+here came into use, and once or
+twice he gave a reassuring pat to a
+rear pocket where bulged a heavy Colt
+automatic.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">What</span> was that? He had approached
+very close to the rear
+of the house now. No lights were visible
+as yet, but unless he was greatly
+mistaken he had heard a muffled
+scream. He stopped in his tracks and
+listened intently. Again it came, this
+time with a blood-curdling cadence
+ending in what he would have sworn
+was a choking sob.</p>
+<p>The little job of getting the old-fashioned
+rear window open was a
+mere nothing to the experienced
+O&#8217;Hara, and in a moment he was inside
+the house. His feet struck soft carpet.
+Catlike, he stepped to one side in order
+to prevent any hidden eyes from perceiving
+his form silhouetted in the dim
+light of the open window. He dared
+not use his flashlight for fear that the
+circle of light would betray his position,
+thus making him an excellent target
+for possible bullets. Following the
+wall closely he managed to circle the
+room without mishap. His searching
+fingers finally came in contact with a
+door frame, and he breathed a sigh of
+relief. Here there was nothing to bar
+his progress except some moth-eaten
+portieres. These he brushed aside.</p>
+<p>The room which he now entered was
+probably the same into which the Professor
+had ushered Handlon and Perry
+the day before. There being still no
+sign of life about, the reporter decided
+to throw caution to the winds. He
+brought his flash into play. Quickly
+casting the powerful beam around the
+chamber he examined the place with
+an all-searching glance.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Nothing.</span></p>
+<p>With a stifled oath he turned
+his attention to the other rooms in the
+immediate vicinity. The brilliant light
+revealed not the slightest trace of a
+person, living or dead. The sound
+must have come from the second story
+or from the cellar. He decided on the
+upper floor.</p>
+<p>Feverish with impatience because of
+the valuable time he had already lost,
+he bounded up the heavily carpeted
+stairs two at a time. Now to his keen
+ears came certain faint sounds which
+told him that he was on the right track.
+Before him extended a long, dusty hall,
+terminating in a single heavy door.
+Several other doors opened at intervals
+along the corridor. One or two
+of these were open, and he threw the
+beam from his flash hastily into one
+after another of them. He saw only
+dusty and mildewed chamber furnishings
+of an ancient massive style.</p>
+<p>Suddenly he pricked up his ears.</p>
+<p>The door ahead of him was creaking
+slowly open. Instantly he extinguished
+his torch and leaped into the nearest
+room. Whoever was opening that end
+door was carrying a lamp. What if
+the Professor had accomplices who
+might discover him and overpower him
+by force of numbers! O&#8217;Hara drew
+the automatic from his pocket, deriving
+a comforting assurance from the
+feel of the cold steel. Here was something
+no man could resist could he but
+get it into action. The light was now
+nearly abreast of his door, and for a
+sickening instant he thought the
+prowler was coming into the room. He
+held his breath. Now the lamp was at
+the open door, and now it was quickly
+withdrawn. After a breathless second
+he tip-toed forward and peered cautiously
+down the hallway.</p>
+<p>About here it was that James O&#8217;Hara
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_364' name='page_364'></a>364</span>
+began to realize that this was going to
+be a horrible night indeed. He had
+wondered why the progress of the light
+had been so deathly slow. Now he
+knew why, by reason of what he saw&ndash;&ndash;and
+what he saw made him feel rather
+sick. The man with the lantern was
+quite plainly Professor Kell, bent nearly
+double with the weight of a grotesquely
+big thing on his back, a thing
+that flung a dim, contorted shadow on
+the ceiling. And that thing was a dead
+man.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">A corpse</span> it was&ndash;&ndash;the attitude
+proved that. With a numb relief
+O&#8217;Hara realized it was not the
+body of Skip Handlon. This had been
+a much larger man than Skip, and the
+clothing was different from anything
+Handlon had worn.</p>
+<p>The light was now disappearing
+down the stairway. For a moment
+O&#8217;Hara felt undecided as to his next
+move. Should he follow Kell and his
+burden, or should he not take advantage
+of this fine opportunity to continue
+his search of the upper story?
+That scream still rang in his ears;
+there had been a very evident feminine
+quality in it, and the remembrance of
+that fact reproached him. Had he been
+guilty of mincing daintily about in
+this old house while a woman was being
+done to death under his nose, when
+a little bolder action on his part might
+have saved her?</p>
+<p>Stepping once more into the hall he
+advanced to the door just closed behind
+the Professor and tried it, only
+to find it locked. Out of a pocket came
+several articles best known to the &#8220;profession&#8221;&ndash;&ndash;a
+piece of stiff wire, a skeleton
+key and other paraphernalia calculated
+to reduce the obstinate mechanism
+to submission. For a minute, two,
+three, he worked at the ancient lock;
+then, without a creak, the door swung
+open. A touch of oil to the hinges had
+insured their silence. Jimmie O&#8217;Hara
+believed in being artistic in his work,
+especially when it came to fine points,
+and he was.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">He</span> found himself in the same
+room where the drugged cigars
+had been proved the undoing of Handlon
+and Perry. In order not to alarm
+the Professor unduly by chance noises
+and perhaps invite a surprise attack
+upon himself, O&#8217;Hara closed the laboratory
+door behind him and let the
+lock spring again. Hastily he made
+search of the place. No trace of the
+missing reporter could he find, except
+two half-consumed cigars in a corner
+whence the Professor had impatiently
+kicked them.</p>
+<p>On the big table in the center of the
+room, however, was an object which
+excited his interest. It was apparently
+nothing more or less than a giant
+Crookes tube, connected in some way
+with a complicated mechanism contained
+in a wooden cabinet under the
+table. Probably this apparatus was
+concerned in the Professor&#8217;s weird experiments
+which had so aroused the
+countryside. He studied it curiously,
+his eyes for the moment closed in
+thought, until a slight sound somewhere
+near at hand caused him to open
+them wide. Was the Kell returning?</p>
+<p>Quickly he extinguished the lamp
+and glided to a nearby door, thinking
+to secrete himself here, and take Kell
+by surprise. To his consternation the
+door swung inward at a touch. He
+prepared instinctively for battle
+against any foe who might present
+himself. For a moment he held himself
+taut; then, nothing of an alarming
+nature having happened, he drew a
+swift breath of relief and flashed on
+his light. He gave vent to a low exclamation.
+The swiftly darting shaft
+from the torch had revealed the figure
+of a girl, bound and gagged.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">The</span> girl lay trembling on a
+wretched bed in a corner of the
+dilapidated old chamber. O&#8217;Hara
+crossed the room and bent over her.
+Still wary of a trap he glanced back in
+the direction of the laboratory door:
+all safe there. Jimmie made haste to
+remove the cruel gag from her mouth.</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_365' name='page_365'></a>365</span></div>
+<p>&#8220;Courage,&#8221; he whispered. &#8220;Half a
+minute and you will be free.&#8221;</p>
+<p>He produced a knife with a suspiciously
+long blade and cut her bonds.
+He then assisted her to her feet, where
+she reeled dizzily. Realizing the need
+for fast action he made her sit down
+while he massaged the bruised arms
+and ankles, which were badly swollen
+from the tight ropes. The girl had apparently
+been in the grip of such terrible
+fright that she had temporarily
+lost her power of speech. Mentally he
+chalked up another score against the
+Professor as the girl made several ineffectual
+attempts to speak.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Easy, kid,&#8221; Jimmie whispered.
+&#8220;Just sit tight, and when you feel able
+you can tell me all about it. I&#8217;m going
+to get him good for this, you can bank
+on that.&#8221;</p>
+<p>She thanked him with a faint smile,
+and of a sudden she found her voice.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Who are you? Where is father?
+Oh, tell me, please! I am afraid that
+horrible man has murdered him. Are
+you a servant here? Oh, I don&#8217;t know
+whom to trust.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;My name is Jimmie O&#8217;Hara,&#8221; replied
+the reporter briefly; &#8220;and I hope
+you won&#8217;t worry about me. I am gunning
+for the Proff myself. Tell me as
+quickly as you can what you know
+about him.&#8221; He still kept an eye on
+the door of the adjoining laboratory.
+Any moment he expected to hear the
+sound of the old man&#8217;s approach. The
+room would make an ideal place to ambush
+the maniac, he had swiftly decided.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am Norma Manion. Please don&#8217;t
+delay, but see if you can locate
+father.&#8221; The girl&#8217;s voice was agonized.
+&#8220;I heard him groan a half-hour ago,
+and a little later came a terrific crash.
+Oh, I&#8217;m afraid he&#8217;s dead!&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Reluctantly</span> Jimmie gave up
+the idea of ambushing the Professor.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Wait here,&#8221; he commanded curtly.
+&#8220;If you hear a shot join me as soon as
+you can. I want to take him alive if
+I can, but....&#8221; With this parting
+hint he disappeared through the door
+into the laboratory. Down the carpeted
+hall he crept to the stairway.
+Here he stopped and listened, but to
+his sensitive ears came no sound from
+below.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Must have gone down the cellar
+with the body,&#8221; he muttered. &#8220;Here
+goes for a general exploration.&#8221;</p>
+<p>With more boldness than the occasion
+perhaps really justified he descended
+the stairs and proceeded to
+examine the ground floor rooms minutely.
+The first was the room through
+which he had made entrance to the
+house. It proved to be but a storeroom
+containing nothing of interest,
+and he soon decided to waste no more
+time on it.</p>
+<p>The adjoining chamber, however,
+yielded some surprising finds. He had
+pushed back a dusty portiere to find
+himself in what could be nothing less
+than the Professor&#8217;s sleeping chamber.
+At present the bed was unoccupied,
+though it showed signs of recent use.
+The electric torch played swiftly over
+every possible corner which could constitute
+a hiding place for an assassin,
+revealing nothing. Now the ever-searching
+ray fell upon an old-fashioned
+dresser, on which was piled a
+miscellaneous array of articles. Here
+were combs, brushes, a wig, a huge
+magnifying glass, and a gold watch.
+With a barely suppressed exclamation,
+Jimmie pounced upon the gold timepiece.</p>
+<p>Handlon&#8217;s! So well did he know the
+particular design of his watch that he
+could have recognized it in the dark
+by sense of touch alone. So the old
+man was not averse to robbery among
+his other activities! The former two-story
+man thought fast. Handlon had
+probably been done in, and the body
+had been disposed of in some weird
+manner. The only thing that remained
+to be done, since the unlucky photographer
+was evidently past human help,
+was to cut short the Professor&#8217;s list of
+murders.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_366' name='page_366'></a>366</span></div>
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">With</span> the intention of missing
+no essential detail O&#8217;Hara
+swept the ray of the searchlight around
+the chamber once more, but discovered
+no more of importance. Deciding that
+the sleeping chamber could yield no
+further clue he shut off the tell-tale
+ray and stepped noiselessly back into
+the next room. Here he groped his
+way around until he encountered a
+door, which stood open. A moment&#8217;s
+cautious exploration with an outstretched
+foot revealed the top step of
+a descending staircase. No faintest
+glimmer of light was visible, but muffled
+sounds proceeding from the depths
+told him that someone was below.</p>
+<p>With infinite care, feeling his way
+gingerly over the rickety old steps and
+fearful that an unexpected creak from
+one of the ancient boards would at any
+moment prove his undoing, he commenced
+the descent. Once a board did
+groan softly, causing him to stop in his
+tracks and stand with bated breath. He
+listened for sign of a movement below,
+while his heart loudly told off a dozen
+strokes. Stealthily he continued his
+progress, until finally soft earth under
+his feet told him he had reached the
+cellar bottom.</p>
+<p>Now his straining eyes perceived a
+tiny bit of light, and simultaneously
+he became conscious of a deathly
+stench. The damp earth padding his
+footsteps, he advanced swiftly toward
+the source of light, which now seemed
+to lie in stripes across his line of vision.
+He soon saw that the stairs gave
+upon a small boarded-off section of
+the cellar proper, and light was seeping
+between the boards. Ah, and here was
+a rickety door, fortuitously equipped
+with a large knot-hole. O&#8217;Hara applied
+an eye to this&ndash;&ndash;and what he saw
+nearly ruined even his cast iron nerve.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">The</span> Professor was working beside
+a heavy wooden cask, from which
+issued the horrible stench. From time
+to time a sodden thud told that he was
+hacking something to pieces with an
+ax. Now and then he would strain
+mightily at a dark and bulky thing
+which lay on the floor, a thing that required
+considerable strength to lift. It
+seemed to be getting lighter after each
+spasm of frenzied chopping. For a
+second Kell&#8217;s shadow wavered away
+from the thing, and the enervated
+newspaper man saw it plainly. His
+senses almost left him as he realized
+that he was witnessing the dismemberment
+of a human body.</p>
+<p>As he hacked the fragments of tissue
+from the torso the fiend carefully
+deposited each in the huge cask. At
+such times a faint boiling sound was
+heard, and there arose an effluvium
+that bade fair to overcome even the
+monster engaged in the foul work. At
+last the limbs and head had been entirely
+removed. The Professor evidently
+decided that the trunk should
+be left whole, and he put his entire
+strength into the job of getting it into
+the cask. It was almost more than he
+could negotiate, but finally a dull
+splash told that he had succeeded.</p>
+<p>At this moment Jimmie O&#8217;Hara came
+out of his trance. The horrible proceeding
+had left him faint and shaken,
+and he wished heartily that he could
+leave the disgusting place as fast as
+his legs could carry him. But there
+was still work to be done and he resolved
+to get it over.</p>
+<p>The lantern! First he must put that
+out of commission. The maniac would
+then be at his mercy. Slowly, steadily
+he stole through the doorway, his eyes
+glued to the Professor&#8217;s back. Now
+he was within a yard of the lantern,
+and he drew back his foot for the kick.</p>
+<p>Next moment Jimmie found himself
+gazing into the glaring eyes of his intended
+victim. Instinctively he struck
+out with the clubbed automatic, but
+the blow must have fallen short, or else
+the Professor had developed an uncanny
+agility. Now to his horror he saw
+the flashing blade of the bloodstained
+ax raised on high. He had no time to
+dodge the blow. He pressed the trigger
+of the Colt from the position in
+which he held it.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_367' name='page_367'></a>367</span></div>
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">The</span> bullet grazed the upraised
+arm. The ax fell toward O&#8217;Hara
+from fingers lacking strength to retain
+it, and he grasped it by the handle in
+midair. The next moment the assassin
+collected his wits and sprang at him.
+Silently, the breath of both coming in
+gasps, the two men strove, each clawing
+desperately at the other&#8217;s throat.
+The reporter fought with the knowledge
+that should he lose he would
+never again see the light of day, the
+other with the fear of the justice that
+would deal with him.</p>
+<p>The maniac hugged his arms tightly
+about Jimmie, pinioning him so tightly
+that the reporter could not use his gun.
+At length their convulsive movements
+brought the men close to the lantern,
+and the next instant the cellar was
+plunged in darkness. A second later
+the Professor tripped over some hidden
+obstruction and fell, dragging his
+opponent with him to the earthen floor.
+To Jimmie&#8217;s surprise there was no
+further movement from the body beneath
+him. Could the old <a name='TC_22'></a><ins class='trchange' title="Was 'villian'">villain</ins> be
+playing possum? He cautiously shifted
+his hold and grasped the hidden throat.
+He pressed the Professor&#8217;s windpipe
+for a moment, but there was no answering
+struggle. Slowly the truth
+dawned upon him. The heavy fall to
+the floor had rendered the older man
+insensible.</p>
+<p>He must work fast. Reaching into
+his pocket he brought out the ever
+handy electric torch and flashed it over
+the features of his prisoner. Kell was
+breathing heavily. With dexterous
+<a name='TC_47'></a><ins class='trchange' title="Removed 'the'">hands O&#8217;Hara</ins> swiftly went through
+the old man&#8217;s pockets, removing all
+which might tend to make that worthy
+dangerous&ndash;&ndash;an ugly looking pistol of
+large caliber, a blackjack <a name='TC_23'></a><ins class='trchange' title="Was 'similiar'">similar</ins> to
+his own and a small bottle.</p>
+<p>The latter item Jimmie examined
+curiously, finally uncorking it and inhaling
+the contents. He inhaled, not
+wisely but too well. The fumes from
+the vial were nigh overpowering, and
+he reeled back nauseated. The cork he
+hastily replaced. Just what the nature
+of the powerful stuff was he never attempted
+to discover. One acquaintance was enough.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">He</span> staggered to his feet and got
+the lantern lighted, then sat, gun
+in hand, waiting for his prisoner&#8217;s return
+to his senses. This was becoming
+increasingly imminent, judging by certain
+changes in the Professor&#8217;s respiration.
+Finally there came a series of
+shuddering movements as the man attempted
+to raise his battered body.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Get up, you damned butcher,&#8221; ordered
+Jimmie, &#8220;and march upstairs.
+And just remember that I&#8217;ve got you
+covered; don&#8217;t make any false moves.&#8221;
+He prodded the prostrate form of the
+by now glaring fiend before him. The
+stench of the place was nearly overcoming
+him, and again he felt an overwhelming
+desire to dash madly from
+that den of evil, and once more breathe
+God&#8217;s fresh air. Under the stimulus
+of several shoves the Professor finally
+won to his feet and stumbled up the
+stairs. Jimmie was taking no chances
+and kept the automatic sharply digging
+into the ribs of his prisoner. The
+fight, however, seemed temporarily to
+have been all taken out of the old man,
+and he made no resistance as the reporter
+drove him on up to the laboratory.</p>
+<p>The room he found exactly as he
+left it. At a word from him Norma
+Manion came from her hiding place in
+the horrible room where she had been
+kept prisoner.</p>
+<p>With an hysterical scream she fell
+limply to the floor. The sight of her
+father&#8217;s murderer had proved too much
+for her. Forgetting his prisoner for
+the moment Jimmie sprang to the girl&#8217;s
+side.</p>
+<p>Kell chose this moment to make a
+dash for freedom. His footsteps, however,
+were not as noiseless as he had
+intended, and O&#8217;Hara whirled just in
+time to see his quarry about to throw
+open the hall door. Jimmie dove for
+his gun, only to encounter the Professor&#8217;s
+mysterious vial, which, though
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_368' name='page_368'></a>368</span>
+forgotten, still lay in his pocket. With
+no time to think, he acted purely upon
+instinct. His arm drew back and the
+bottle flew straight for the Professor&#8217;s
+head.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">By</span> a miracle the missile missed
+its mark. Came a shivering
+crash, as the bottle struck a stud in
+the massive door. Of a sudden recalling
+the terrific potency of the contents
+of that particular bottle, Jimmie
+gasped in dismay. Norma Manion&#8217;s
+safety drove every other thought from
+his mind. At any cost he must remove
+her from the proximity of those lethal
+fumes.</p>
+<p>Hastily and without a backward
+glance, he gathered the girl into his
+arms and dashed into the room where
+he had first found her. Ascertaining
+that she had but swooned he placed
+her gently on the bed. In some perplexity
+as to his next move he stared
+at the beautiful face now so wan and
+white. Queer that he hadn&#8217;t noticed
+the fact before&ndash;&ndash;she was beautiful. He
+even took a second look, then noting a
+continued absence of all sound from
+the laboratory decided to investigate.</p>
+<p>Gingerly he pushed open the door,
+sniffing the air cautiously as he advanced.
+To his nostrils gradually came
+a slight scent, which though almost
+imperceptible made his senses reel. As
+he approached the hall door he found
+the atmosphere heavy with the soporific
+vapors from the broken vial, and
+he staggered drunkenly.</p>
+<p>He gave a start of surprise. On the
+floor, lying in a grotesque huddle
+which suggested a most unpleasant possibility,
+was the inert body of Professor
+Kell.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Jimmie</span> bent over the body and put
+an experienced ear to the heart.
+Yes, there as a faint beat&ndash;&ndash;very faint.
+Even as he listened he perceived a
+slight increase in the respiration. Now
+the breath began coming in great, choking
+gasps, only to die suddenly to next
+to nothing. At last with a rueful sigh
+Jimmie reached to his hip and produced
+the private O&#8217;Hara flagon. He
+stooped over the Professor&#8217;s form once
+more and by dint of much prying at
+clenched jaws managed to force a sizeable
+charge of fiery liquid down the
+old man&#8217;s throat. Jimmie had just begun
+to entertain a strong hope that
+this latter effort would bring the Professor
+to life, when his keen ear detected
+signs of a commotion below.</p>
+<p>He sprang from his position over the
+slowly reviving Kell and leaped to a
+vantage point beside the door. A
+blackjack miraculously appeared from
+some hidden part of his anatomy and
+the ever-dependable Colt also became
+in evidence. Now came the banging
+of a door, muffled voices, a crash as of
+a chair overturned in the dark. Up
+rolled a horrible oath, and the same
+was rendered in a voice to Jimmie
+sweetly familiar. Came the sound of
+footsteps on the stairway and several
+persons coming along the hall.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Where in hell is Jimmie?&#8221; roared a
+wicked voice. &#8220;If he&#8217;s met with any
+monkey business in this hell-hole I&#8217;ll
+see that the damned place burns to
+the ground before I leave it!&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Delightedly</span> Jimmie jerked
+open the door.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Still alive, Chief,&#8221; he chirped as
+the Old Man strode into the laboratory.
+Bland was followed by Perry, who
+seemed to be in a sort of daze. Bringing
+up the rear were a pair of plainclothesmen
+whom Jimmie knew very
+well&ndash;&ndash;almost too well. One of these
+gentlemen bore a lantern which reminded
+Jimmie strongly of some he
+had seen that night guarding an open
+ditch in the public highway.</p>
+<p>The Professor had fully regained
+consciousness and was struggling to
+his feet. As for Norma Manion, she
+had suddenly appeared, leaning weakly
+against the door casing, and was surveying
+the group in great alarm.</p>
+<p>After being assured by O&#8217;Hara that
+they were her friends she smiled wanly.
+To Bland and the others she was,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_369' name='page_369'></a>369</span>
+of course, an unexpected factor in the
+weird night&#8217;s doings, and for several
+moments they regarded her curiously.</p>
+<p>At length Jimmie, sensing the question
+in the Old Man&#8217;s eyes, elected to
+offer a few words of explanation.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Miss Manion has just been through
+a terrible experience,&#8221; he said. &#8220;She
+and her father have been for some time
+at the mercy of this monster&#8221;&ndash;&ndash;indicating
+Kell&ndash;&ndash;&#8220;and her nerves are completely
+shattered. We&#8217;d better get her
+out of this as quickly as we can.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mike!&#8221; Hard Boiled Bland glared
+at one of the officers. &#8220;Don&#8217;t stand
+there with your teeth in your gums
+like that. Take this girl out to my
+car and let her lie down. She needs
+a stimulant, too. If you search my car
+and find <a name='TC_24'></a><ins class='trchange' title="Was 'and'">any</ins> red liquor in the left back
+door pocket, I don&#8217;t know a thing about
+it. And stay with her so she won&#8217;t be
+afraid to go to sleep.&#8221;</p>
+<p>She smiled in silent gratitude and
+allowed the plainclothesman to lead
+her away from that chamber of horror.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">The</span> reporter lost no time in telling
+Bland of his failure to find
+Skip Handlon. He went on to acquaint
+his Chief with the facts of all
+that had occured while he had been at
+the Professor&#8217;s house.</p>
+<p>The fiery old fellow listened grimly.
+When Jimmie came to the story of the
+corpse and the cask the editor breathed
+one word, &#8220;Manion!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Jimmie nodded sadly. All eyes
+turned to the dejected huddle on the
+floor that was Professor Kell. Finally
+Bland could wait no longer, but fixed
+a terrible eye on the murderer and demanded
+harshly, &#8220;Where&#8217;s Handlon?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Now the Professor burst into a fit
+of insane laughter, laughter that curdled
+the blood of the listeners.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You ask me that! It&#8217;s almost too
+good. Hee-hee! You sent your two
+precious reporters out to my house to
+pry into my secrets, and thought to display
+my name all over your yellow
+sheet; but you forgot that you were
+dealing with Professor Anton Kell,
+didn&#8217;t you?&#8221; The last he fairly
+shrieked. &#8220;A lot of people have tried
+to intrude upon me before, but none
+ever escaped me!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;We know that,&#8221; cut in Jimmie, for
+he was getting impatient and the old
+man&#8217;s boastings seemed out of place.
+&#8220;You are slated for the rope anyway,
+after what I discovered down cellar.&#8221;
+He jerked his eyes in the direction of
+the door significantly. &#8220;Now we propose
+to find Handlon, and the better it
+will be for you if you tell us what you
+have done with him. Otherwise....&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You can go to hell!&#8221; screamed the
+maniac. &#8220;If you are so clever, find out
+for yourselves. He isn&#8217;t so far away
+that you couldn&#8217;t touch him by reaching
+out your hand. In fact, he&#8217;s been
+with you quite a while. Hee-hee-hee!
+Well, if you must know&ndash;&ndash;there he is!&#8221;
+With an insane chuckle he pointed at
+Horace Perry. And Perry did a strange
+thing.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, you fiend, here I am!&#8221; Whose
+voice was that? Was it Perry speaking,
+or was it Skip Handlon? Most
+assuredly Perry stood before them, but
+the voice, in a subtle manner, reminded
+the group strongly of poor old Skip.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">As</span> he spoke Perry had launched
+himself at the Professor&#8217;s throat
+and had to be restrained by the others.
+Savagely he fought them but slowly
+and surely they overcame his struggles
+and placed him, writhing, in a chair.</p>
+<p>Of a sudden Bland leaned forward
+and scrutinized Perry&#8217;s face sharply.
+Had the reporter gone insane too? The
+pupils of the eyes had taken on a sort
+of queer contraction, a fixed quality
+that was almost ludicrous. He looked
+like a man under hypnosis. He had
+gone limp in their grasp, but now suddenly
+he stiffened. The eyes underwent
+another startling change, this
+time glowing undoubtedly with the
+look of reason. Bland was mystified
+and waited for Perry to explain his
+queer conduct. The latter seemed
+finally to come to. Simultaneously he
+realized that his peculiar lapse from
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_370' name='page_370'></a>370</span>
+consciousness had been observed by the
+others.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Guess I may as well admit it,&#8221; he
+said with a wry smile. &#8220;Ever since I
+came back from my assignment with
+Kell I have had a hell of a time. Half
+the time I have been in a daze and
+have not had the least idea what I was
+doing. Funny part of it is that I have
+seemed to keep right on doing things
+even while I was out of my head.&#8221; He
+told briefly of the visions he had had
+in which he had seemed to contend
+with his brother reporter, the horrid
+sensations as he felt himself overcome,
+the black oblivion in which he then
+found himself, and the mysterious
+manner in which he had left Keegan
+on that ill-fated assignment.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What have you done to Handlon?&#8221;
+Jimmie&#8217;s voice cut in. He was standing
+over the form of the maniac, rigid
+and menacing. &#8220;You have exactly two
+minutes to go.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Find out for yourself!&#8221; snarled the
+bruised and battered fiend.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I will,&#8221; was the answer, and on the
+instant a horrible shriek rent the air.
+Jimmie had quickly grasped both of
+the Professor&#8217;s arms at the wrists and
+was slowly twisting them in a grip of
+iron. Kell&#8217;s face went white, the lips
+writhed back over toothless gums, the
+eyes closed in the supreme effort to
+withstand the excruciating pain.
+Then&ndash;&ndash;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Enough, enough!&#8221; he screamed.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">O&#8217;Hara</span> eased the pressure slightly
+but retained his hold upon the
+clawlike hands. &#8220;Talk fast,&#8221; he ordered.</p>
+<p>The old man struggled futilely in
+the grasp of the powerful reporter,
+finally glancing in the direction of the
+others. Would they show signs of
+pity? Surely not Hard Boiled Bland.
+The Chief was watching the struggles
+of the victim through a cloud of
+tobacco smoke which he was slowly
+exhaling through his nose. The plainclothesman
+displayed no sign of interest
+at all. The game was up!</p>
+<p>&#8220;Very well,&#8221; he said sullenly.
+&#8220;Handlon and Perry are both occupying
+the same body.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Wh-a-a-t?&#8221; roared Bland. &#8220;Jimmie,
+I guess you&#8217;ll have to put the screws to
+him some more. He&#8217;s trying to make
+fools of us at the last minute!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, no!&#8221; screamed the Professor.
+&#8220;What I say is true. I have been working
+for years on my system of de-astralization.
+This last year I at length
+perfected my electric de-astralizer,
+which amplifies and exerts the fifth influence
+of de-cohesion.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The whole party began to look uneasy
+and gazed apprehensively at the
+huge Crookes tube which still stood in
+its supporting frame on the table.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I have been forced to experiment on
+animals for the most part,&#8221; the Professor
+continued. &#8220;I succeeded in de-astralizing
+a dog and a bull and caused
+them to exchange bodies. The bodies
+continued to function. I was enthusiastic.
+Other experiments took place
+of which I will not tell you. Finally
+I began to long for a human subject on
+which to try my fifth influence.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Just get down to cases, if you don&#8217;t
+mind, Kell.&#8221; The Chief wanted action.
+&#8220;Suppose you tell us just what you did
+to Handlon and where we can find him.
+I may as well mention that your life
+depends upon it. If we find that you
+have done for him, something worse
+than death may happen to you.&#8221; The
+tone was menacing. Although Handlon
+was a comparatively late acquisition
+to the old Chief&#8217;s staff, still he had
+been loyal to the paper.</p>
+<p>&#8220;When your two damned reporters
+entered my driveway,&#8221; Kell resumed.
+&#8220;I saw them coming through a powerful
+glass which I always have on hand.
+I had no desire to see them, but they
+forced themselves upon me. At last I
+determined that they should furnish
+material for my experiments.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcapq'><small>&#8220;</small><span class="drop">I</span><span class="dcap">f</span> your men had looked into the
+grove behind the barn they would
+have found the automobile which furnished
+two more subjects I was keeping
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_371' name='page_371'></a>371</span>
+on hand in a room upstairs. Old
+Manion and his daughter gave me quite
+a bit of trouble, but I kept them
+drugged most of the time. He broke
+out of the room to-night though, and I
+had to kill him. It was self defense,&#8221;
+he added slyly.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Anyway, I found it was possible to
+make two astrals exchange bodies. But
+I also wanted to see if it were possible
+to cause two astrals to occupy the same
+body at the same time, and if so what
+the result would be. I found out. It
+was rare sport to watch your star reporter
+leave my house. He was damned
+glad to leave, I believe....&#8221; Again
+came the insane cackle.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Guess we have to believe him
+whether we want to or not.&#8221; The detective
+came to life. &#8220;How about making
+him release Handlon&#8217;s&ndash;&ndash;what d&#8217;ye
+call it?&ndash;&ndash;astral&ndash;&ndash;from Perry&#8217;s body?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Just a moment.&#8221; The voice now
+was unmistakably Handlon&#8217;s, though it
+was issuing from the throat of Perry.
+&#8220;In the minute I have in consciousness
+let me suggest that before you do any
+more de-astralizing you <i>locate my
+body</i>. Until then, if I am released
+from this one I am a dead man.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The words struck the group dumb.
+Where <i>was</i> Handlon&#8217;s body? Could
+the Professor produce it?</p>
+<p>That worthy looked rather haunted
+at that moment, and they began to see
+the fear of death coming upon him.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mercy, mercy!&#8221; he begged as the
+four men started to advance upon him.
+&#8220;As soon as I had de-astralized Handlon
+I destroyed his body in my pickling
+barrel down cellar. But there is
+another way....&#8221; He paused, uncertain
+as to how his next words would be
+received. &#8220;Go out and get the Manion
+girl. She can be de-astralized and
+friend Handlon can have her body.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">At</span> this suggestion, advanced so
+na&iuml;vely, the four men recoiled in
+horror. It was entirely too much even
+for Hard Boiled Bland, and he could
+hardly restrain himself from applying
+the editorial fist to the leering face before
+him. Undoubtedly Professor Kell
+was hopelessly insane, and for that reason
+he held himself in leash.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Kell, you are slated to pull off one
+more stunt,&#8221; Jimmie addressed the
+cringing heap. &#8220;You know what it is.
+Get busy. And just remember that I
+am standing over here&#8221;&ndash;&ndash;he indicated
+a corner well separated from the rest&ndash;&ndash;&#8220;with
+this cannon aimed in your direction.
+If things aren&#8217;t just according to
+Hoyle, you get plugged. Get me?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What about it, men?&#8221; Bland spoke
+up. &#8220;Is it going to be treating Handlon
+right to de-astralize him now? It
+will be his last chance to have a body
+on this earth.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Unfortunately that body never belonged
+to Handlon,&#8221; said O&#8217;Hara.
+&#8220;Hence I fail to see why Perry should
+be discommoded for the balance of his
+life with a companion astral. Perry is
+clearly entitled to his own body, free
+and unhampered. Friend Skip is out
+of luck, unless&ndash;&ndash;Well, I don&#8217;t mind
+telling you, Kell, that you just gave
+me an idea. Snap into it now!&#8221;</p>
+<p>The Professor dragged himself to his
+feet and under the menace of the automatic
+fumbled under the table until he
+had located the intricate apparatus before
+mentioned.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now if Mr. Perry&ndash;&ndash;or Handlon&ndash;&ndash;will
+kindly recline at full length on
+this table,&#8221; he said with an obscene
+leer, &#8220;the experiment will begin.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Just remember, Kell, this is no experiment,&#8221;
+advised Bland, fixing the
+Professor with an ugly eye. &#8220;You do
+as you&#8217;re told.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The other made no reply, but threw
+a hidden switch. Perry, lying flat on
+his back on the ancient table, suddenly
+found himself being bathed by what
+seemed to be a ray of light, and yet was
+not a ray of light. What was it? It
+was surely not visible, yet it was tangible.
+A terrific force was emanating
+from that devilish globe above him,
+drawing him out of himself&ndash;&ndash;or&ndash;&ndash;no&ndash;&ndash;was
+he expanding? Again his ears became
+filled with confused, horrible
+sounds, the outlines of the room faded
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_372' name='page_372'></a>372</span>
+from sight, he felt a strange sense of
+inflation ... of lightness.... Oblivion!</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">From</span> where the others sat a gasp
+of wonder went up. At the first
+contact of the switch there had been a
+momentary flash of greenish light
+within the bulb, and then a swift
+transition to a beautiful orange. It had
+then faded altogether, leaving the
+glass apparently inert and inactive.</p>
+<p>But it was not so! The form lying
+beneath the bulb was evidently being
+racked with untold tortures. The face
+became a thing of horror. Now it had
+twisted into a grotesque semblance of
+Handlon&#8217;s&ndash;&ndash;now it again resembled
+Perry&#8217;s. The Professor quietly increased
+the pressure of the current.
+From the bulb emanated a steel gray
+exhalation of what must be termed
+light, and yet so real it was seemingly
+material. Assuredly it was not a ray of
+light as we understand light. It came
+in great beating throbs, in which the
+actual vibrations were entirely visible.
+Under each impact the body of Perry
+seemed to change, slowly at first, then
+with increasing speed. The body was
+now swelled to enormous size. Bland
+reached forward to touch it.</p>
+<p>&#8220;This de-cohering influence,&#8221; the
+Professor was murmuring, almost
+raptly, &#8220;causes the atoms that go to
+make a living body repel one another.
+When the body is sufficiently nebulized,
+the soul&ndash;&ndash;Back! Back, you
+fool!&#8221; he suddenly shrieked, grasping
+Bland by the arm. &#8220;Do you want to
+kill him?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Bland hurriedly retreated, convinced
+perforce that Kell&#8217;s alarm was genuine.
+The editorial fingers had penetrated
+the subject&#8217;s garments without
+resistance and sank into the body as
+easily as if it were so much soft soap!</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">The</span> body continued to expand until
+at length even the hard-headed
+plainclothesman realized that it had
+been reduced to a mere vapor. Within
+this horrid vaporized body, which
+nearly filled the room and which had
+now lost all semblance to a man, could
+be discerned two faint shapes. Swiftly
+the Professor extinguished the lantern.
+The shapes, vague though they were,
+could be recognized as those of Horace
+Perry and Skip <a name='TC_48'></a><ins class='trchange' title="Was 'Hanlon'">Handlon</ins>. And they
+were at strife!</p>
+<p>All eyes were now <a name='TC_6'></a><ins title="Was 'focussed'">focused</ins> on Professor
+Kell, who was evidently waiting
+for something to happen. The two apparitions
+within the body-cloud were
+at death grips. One had been overcome
+and was temporarily helpless. It was
+that of Handlon. And then again the
+astral of Perry forcibly ousted that of
+Handlon from the cloud-cyst. And at
+that instant Professor Kell shut off the
+influence-tube.</p>
+<p>At once a terrific metamorphosis
+took place. There came a sharp sound
+almost like a clap of thunder, with the
+slight exception that this was occasioned
+by exactly the reverse effect.
+Instead of being an <i>ex</i>plosion it might
+more properly be termed an <i>in</i>plosion,
+for the mist-cloud suddenly vanished.
+The de-cohering influence having been
+removed, the cloud had condensed into
+the form of Perry. Apparently none
+the worse, he was even now beginning
+to recover consciousness. The astral
+of Handlon was no longer visible,
+though hovering in the vicinity.</p>
+<p>Perry&#8217;s body was again his own.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">At</span> this time Jimmie O&#8217;Hara elected
+to start something new by hitting
+the Professor a workmanlike blow on
+the back of the head with the butt of
+his automatic. The next thing Bland
+or anyone else present knew the unconscious
+body of the Professor was on
+the table and Jimmie was groping for
+the concealed switch. At length he
+found it, and the green flash of light
+appeared in the bulb, followed by the
+brilliant orange manifestation.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What in hell are you doing?&#8221;
+gasped Bland.</p>
+<p>&#8220;De-astralizing the Professor,&#8221; replied
+O&#8217;Hara cheerfully. &#8220;Don&#8217;t you
+get the idea yet? Watch!&#8221;</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_373' name='page_373'></a>373</span></div>
+<p>Fascinated, the four men saw the terrific
+emanation take its baleful effect.
+As before, the body commenced to expand
+and gradually took on a misty
+outline. Larger and larger it grew, until
+finally it had become a vast cloud
+of intangible nothingness which filled
+the room like some evil nebula.</p>
+<p>A cry of consternation from the detective
+aroused Jimmie. Skip Handlon&#8217;s
+astral had appeared within the
+field of the nebula to fight for possession.
+There ensued what was perhaps
+the weirdest encounter ever witnessed.
+Though he was in poor physical shape,
+the Professor seemed to have an extremely
+powerful astral; and for some
+time the spectators despaired of Handlon&#8217;s
+victory. Once the latter, evidently
+realizing that the powerful influence
+tube had rendered him visible,
+glanced sharply in Jimmie&#8217;s direction.
+O&#8217;Hara was considerably puzzled at
+this, but watched the progress of the
+struggle tensely. At length the moment
+seemed to arrive which the reporter&#8217;s
+astral had been awaiting. It
+turned tail and fled away from the
+astral of the Professor, disappearing
+beyond the outer confines of the
+nebula.</p>
+<p>Jimmie suddenly divined the other&#8217;s
+purpose and dived for the hidden
+switch. As he had anticipated, Handlon
+had finally given up the attempt to
+overcome the astral of Kell by force
+and had made up his mind to accomplish
+his end by strategy. Almost on
+the instant that Jimmie&#8217;s hand closed
+on the switch the reporter&#8217;s astral
+again leaped into the field of the nebula.
+Fiercely it signalled to the former
+second story man to shut off the current,
+but the admonition was unnecessary,
+for Jimmie had already done so.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Swiftly</span> the cloud-cyst faded.
+Even as the group caught a fleeting
+sight of Skip Handlon, the last that
+mortal eyes would ever see of him as
+he actually was, there came a violent
+disturbance at the edge of the shrinking
+nebula. Would the speed of condensation
+of the atoms which comprised
+the body of Professor Kell serve
+to shut out the pursuing astral of Kell?</p>
+<p>Even Bland held his breath!</p>
+<p>The cloud lost its luminous quality,
+the action of condensation increasing
+in speed. It was barely visible in the
+enshrouding gloom. An astral had
+long since been enveloped within the
+rapidly accumulating substance. Came
+a sudden clap of sound as before, and
+the final act of resolution had been accomplished.
+Whether the Professor
+had succeeded in regaining a position
+within the cloud-cyst before the crucial
+second none could say.</p>
+<p>Jimmie relighted the lantern. Apparently
+the effect of the love tap administered
+by his automatic was more
+or less of a lasting character, and the
+men were put to some ado to restore
+the body of Kell to consciousness. At
+length their efforts began to bear fruit,
+however, and it became expedient to
+remove the patient to the softer couch
+in the sitting room below. As they
+moved forward to lay hold of the limp
+body a figure appeared in the doorway
+to the hall. It was the plainclothesman,
+Riley.</p>
+<p>&#8220;How about getting under way for
+town,&#8221; he wanted to know. &#8220;Is the old
+party croaked yet? Miss Manion has
+had a fierce time and says she won&#8217;t
+stay near this house another minute.
+I don&#8217;t like this place myself either.
+Do you know I just got kicked by a
+poll parrot? Let&#8217;s get away from
+here.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hold on, Riley, what are you talking
+about?&#8221; growled Bland. &#8220;Kicked
+by a poll parrot! You&#8217;re&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s all right, Chief,&#8221; broke in the
+now thoroughly cheerful Perry. &#8220;That
+jackass I shot could probably have told
+us all about it. I positively know the
+beast could talk.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Humph!&#8221; snorted Bland, &#8220;Well, if
+a donkey can talk, and a bull can bite,
+and a hound can hook, why shouldn&#8217;t
+a parrot&ndash;&ndash;Judas Priest, I&#8217;m getting as
+crazy as the rest of you! Hurry up
+and get <a name='TC_25'></a><ins class='trchange' title="Was 'Kel'">Kell</ins> downstairs so we can see
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_374' name='page_374'></a>374</span>
+who he is. There I go again! Oh, go
+lie down, Riley.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But look, Bland, look!&#8221; Riley was
+pointing a demoralized finger at a cage
+in the corner. He tugged frantically at
+Bland&#8217;s coat sleeve. &#8220;See what&#8217;s in
+there, won&#8217;t you? I&ndash;&ndash;well, I did find
+some liquor in your car, and Miss
+Manion made me take some. I&ndash;&ndash;I
+didn&#8217;t know it would do this to me.
+Look in there; please, Mr. Bland!&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Bland</span> gave Riley a dark look,
+but nevertheless he reached for
+O&#8217;Hara&#8217;s flashlight. In the cage two
+yellow eyes blinked sleepily out at him.
+Perry began to laugh.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why, there&#8217;s nothing in there but a
+cat. Skip and I heard it purring when
+we first came in here this afternoon.
+Guess Riley&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Great God, Jimmie, give me your
+gun!&#8221; Hard Boiled Bland for the moment
+failed to merit his sobriquet. The
+torch in his hand threw a trembling
+beam full into the cage. &#8220;It&#8217;s a snake!
+And&ndash;&ndash;there! It&#8217;s doing it again!&#8221;</p>
+<p>A snake it was, indubitably, a huge
+black specimen with bright yellow
+stripes. Bland&#8217;s frenzied yell seemed
+not to have excited it at all, for now the
+sleek fellow had arched its body neatly
+and was calmly licking its sides with a
+long forked tongue. After a moment it
+halted the operation long enough to
+rub its jaw against a bar of its cage,
+and gave vent to a sociable mew!</p>
+<p>Even this could not dash the spirits
+of Horace Perry. He laughed delightedly
+again as he laid Bland by the arm.</p>
+<p>&#8220;That creature is perfectly harmless,
+Chief,&#8221; he told the editor. &#8220;Somewhere
+I suppose there&#8217;s a mighty dangerous
+kitty cat at large, but there&#8217;s no
+sense in taking it out on this poor reptile.
+Let&#8217;s live and let live.&#8221;</p>
+<p>With a show of reluctance Bland returned
+Jimmie&#8217;s automatic, then strode
+over to where lay the form of Kell.
+Perry and O&#8217;Hara lingered by the cage
+long enough to arrange a plan to let the
+snake out doors as soon as opportunity
+offered, after which they joined their
+Chief. Riley went out to resume his
+vigil in Bland&#8217;s car, while his fellow
+sleuth prepared to light the way downstairs.
+Under his guidance the sick
+man was carried below without mishap.</p>
+<p>Downstairs the now conscious form
+of the venerable Professor was laid out
+on the ancient sofa until his senses
+could clear a bit. Presently the eyelids
+fluttered open and a feeble voice
+asked, &#8220;Where the deuce am I, and how
+did all you guys get here?&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">A joyous</span> gasp went up. That
+voice! Although uttered in somewhat
+the same vocal quality as Kell&#8217;s
+the intonation and accents had strangely
+altered. O&#8217;Hara leaned eagerly over
+the figure on the couch. The question
+he asked was startling in its incongruity:</p>
+<p>&#8220;How are you feeling, <i>Skip</i>!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;<a name='TC_26'></a><ins class='trchange' title="Was 'Rotton'">Rotten</ins>,&#8221; was the reply from the lips
+of Kell. &#8220;What hit me such a crack on
+the dome? I feel as if I had been
+dragged through a knot-hole. Lemme
+up.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Stay still,&#8221; commanded O&#8217;Hara,
+kindly but firmly. &#8220;You aren&#8217;t fit to
+move yet. You are going on a long ride
+and will need your strength. Don&#8217;t
+talk, either.&#8221;</p>
+<p>A half-hour later they left the house.
+In the front yard the editor called a
+hasty conclave which included the entire
+party. Hard Boiled Bland has
+never been known to talk so much at a
+stretch, before or since.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Before we start back,&#8221; he began,
+&#8220;we had better come to an understanding.
+In the first place&ndash;&ndash;Skip, come
+over here a minute.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Norma Manion uttered an involuntary
+cry of fear as the aged form of
+Kell passed by her. Skip&#8217;s instant response
+to his name had, of course, been
+perfectly natural to him. But it had an
+odd effect on the others.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Miss Manion, and gentlemen,&#8221;
+Bland went on, with a bow of mock
+ceremony, &#8220;I want you to meet Mister&ndash;&ndash;er,
+Mister&ndash;&ndash;oh hell, call him Saunders.
+This is Mr. Kenneth Saunders,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_375' name='page_375'></a>375</span>
+ladies and gentlemen. When he gets a
+shave and has his new face patched up
+I believe you will like his appearance
+much more than you do now.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Seriously though, folks, I hope that
+with a little fixing up the gentleman
+will hardly resemble Professor Anton
+Kell. Kell is dead. Obviously, however,
+this gentleman can hardly continue
+his existence as Skip Handlon.
+Hence&ndash;&ndash;well, hence Mr. Saunders. And
+don&#8217;t forget the name.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now another little matter. This
+house has proven a curse to humanity.
+What has transpired here need never
+be known. Would it not be the wiser
+to eliminate all traces of to-night&#8217;s happenings?
+There is a way.&#8221; He looked
+significantly at the others.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcapq'><small>&#8220;</small><span class="drop">Y</span><span class="dcap">ou</span> mean&ndash;&ndash;&#8221; began Perry.</p>
+<p>&#8220;That we destroy all traces of
+Professor Kell&#8217;s villainy. Although he
+is no more, still someone might notice
+that <i>his body actively remains</i>. And no
+one wants to do any explaining.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s the only way we can protect
+Handlon,&#8221; one of the sleuths ruminated,
+half to himself. &#8220;No judge
+would ever believe a word about this
+de-astralization business. The chances
+are we would all go to the booby hatch
+and Handlon would go to prison for
+Kell&#8217;s crimes.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;There were four of us that witnessed
+the fact of the&ndash;&ndash;the soul
+transfusion, though,&#8221; Perry objected.
+&#8220;Wouldn&#8217;t that be enough to clear
+Skip? Besides, wouldn&#8217;t it be possible
+for us to lead a jury out here and duplicate
+the experiment?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Too much undesirable publicity,&#8221;
+growled Bland, who for once in his life
+had found reason to keep something
+good out of the headlines. &#8220;What do
+you say, people?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I move we move,&#8221; from the detective
+who had had the uncomfortable
+job of attending to Norma Manion.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Gentleman, I believe we understand
+each other,&#8221; said Jimmie quietly.
+&#8220;Now I am going into the barn&#8221;&ndash;&ndash;significantly&ndash;&ndash;&#8220;to
+see if everything&#8217;s all
+right. While I am there something
+<i>might</i> happen. You understand?&#8221;</p>
+<p>The others nodded silent assent.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">In</span> the snug seat of Jimmie&#8217;s speedster
+Norma Manion shivered as she
+followed the direction indicated by her
+companion&#8217;s finger. It was that darkest
+hour which comes just before the
+dawn.</p>
+<p>To the westward could be perceived
+a dull, red glow, which, even as they
+watched with fascinated eyes, developed
+into an intense glare. Gradually
+the fading stars became eclipsed in the
+greater glory.</p>
+<p>Three cars, motors throbbing as if
+eager to be gone, stood a space apart
+on the main road. The car behind
+O&#8217;Hara&#8217;s was the Manion machine, now
+occupied by Bland and Riley. The remaining
+one was a touring car and contained
+the balance of the party. Perry
+was at the wheel, and beside him sat
+the Handlon-Kell-Saunders combination.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thus passes a den of horror,&#8221; whispered
+Jimmie to his companion.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is the funeral pyre of my father,&#8221;
+the girl answered simply. She had
+long since recovered from her initial
+outburst of grief at her loss, and now
+watched the progress of the conflagration
+dry-eyed. At length Jimmie
+slipped an arm protectingly about the
+trembling shoulders.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You have seen enough,&#8221; he said. As
+the three cars raced from the scene of
+the holocaust, faint streamers in the
+east told of the rising orb of day.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Good-by, Keegan, forever,&#8221; murmured
+Norma.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Amen,&#8221; O&#8217;Hara devoutedly agreed.</p>
+<hr class='toprule' />
+<div class='chsp'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_376' name='page_376'></a>376</span>
+<a name='FROM_THE_OCEANS_DEPTHS' id='FROM_THE_OCEANS_DEPTHS'></a>
+<h2>From the Ocean&#8217;s Depths</h2>
+</div>
+<p class='authorhdr'><i>By Sewell Peaslee Wright</i></p>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_8' id='linki_8'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src='images/i376.jpg' alt='' title='' width='446' height='500' /><br />
+<p class='caption'>
+<i>Her head was a little to one side, in the attitude of one who listens intently.</i><br />
+</p>
+</div>
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">From</span> somewhere out on the
+black, heaving Atlantic, the
+rapid, muffled popping of a
+speed-boat&#8217;s exhaust drifted
+clearly through the night.</p>
+<p class='sidebarright'>Man came from the sea. Mercer, by his
+thought-telegraph, learns from the
+weirdly beautiful ocean-maiden of a branch
+that returned there.</p>
+<p>I dropped my
+book and stretched,
+leaning back
+more comfortably
+in my chair.
+There was real
+romance and adventure! Rum-runners,
+seeking out their hidden port with
+their cargo of contraband from Cuba.
+Heading fearlessly through the darkness,
+fighting the high seas, still running
+after the
+storm of a day
+or so before, daring
+a thousand
+dangers for the
+sake of the straw-packed
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_377' name='page_377'></a>377</span>
+bottles they carried. Sea-bronzed
+men, with hard, flat muscles
+and fearless eyes; ready guns slapping
+their thighs as they&ndash;&ndash;</p>
+<p>Absorbed in my mental picture of
+these modern free-booters, the sudden
+alarm of the telephone startled me like
+an unexpected shot fired beside my ear.
+Brushing the cigarette ashes from my
+smoking-jacket, I crossed the room and
+snatched up the receiver.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hello!&#8221; I snapped ungraciously into
+the mouthpiece. It was after eleven by
+the ship&#8217;s clock on the mantel, and if&ndash;&ndash;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Taylor?&#8221; The voice&ndash;&ndash;Warren Mercer&#8217;s
+familiar voice&ndash;&ndash;rattled on without
+waiting for a reply. &#8220;Get in your car
+and come down here as fast as possible.
+Come just as you are, and&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcapq'><small>&#8220;</small><span class="drop">W</span><span class="dcap">hat&#8217;s</span> the matter?&#8221; I managed
+to interrupt him. &#8220;Burglars?&#8221;
+I had never heard Mercer
+speak in that high-pitched, excited
+voice before; his usual speech was slow
+and thoughtful, almost didactic.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Please, Taylor, don&#8217;t waste time
+questioning me. If it weren&#8217;t urgent, I
+wouldn&#8217;t be calling you, you know.
+Will you come?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You bet!&#8221; I said quickly, feeling
+rather a fool for ragging him when he
+was in such deadly earnest. &#8220;Have&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>The receiver snapped and crackled;
+Mercer had hung up the instant he had
+my assurance that I would come. Usually
+the very soul of courtesy and consideration,
+that act alone would have
+convinced me that there was an urgent
+need for my presence at The Monstrosity.
+That was Mercer&#8217;s own name for
+the impressive pile that was at once his
+residence and his laboratory.</p>
+<p>I threw off the smoking-jacket and
+pulled on a woolen golfing sweater, for
+the wind was brisk and sharpish. In
+two minutes I was backing the car out
+of the garage; a moment later I was off
+the gravelled drive and tearing down
+the concrete with the accelerator all the
+way down, and the black wind shrieking
+around the windshield of my little
+roadster.</p>
+<p>My own shack was out of the city
+limits&ndash;&ndash;a little place I keep to live in
+when the urge to go fishing seizes me,
+which is generally about twice a year.
+Mercer picked the place up for me at
+a song.</p>
+<p>The Monstrosity was some four miles
+further out from town, and off the
+highway perhaps a half-mile more.</p>
+<p>I made the four miles in just a shade
+over that many minutes, and clamped
+on the brakes as I saw the entrance to
+the little drive that led toward the sea,
+and Mercer&#8217;s estate.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">With</span> gravel rattling on my
+fenders, I turned off the concrete
+and swept between the two massive,
+stuccoed pillars that guarded the
+drive. Both of them bore corroded
+bronze plates, &#8220;The Billows,&#8221; the name
+given The Monstrosity by the original
+owner, a newly-rich munitions manufacturer.</p>
+<p>The structure itself loomed up before
+me in a few seconds, a rambling
+affair with square-shouldered balconies
+and a great deal of wrought-iron work,
+after the most flamboyant Spanish pattern.
+It was ablaze with light. Apparently
+every bulb in the place was burning.</p>
+<p>Just a few yards beyond the surf
+boomed hollowly on the smooth, shady
+shore, littered now, I knew, by the pitiful
+spoils of the storm.</p>
+<p>As I clamped on my brakes, a swift
+shadow passed two of the lower windows.
+Before I could leap from the
+car, the broad front door, with its
+rounded top and circular, grilled window,
+was flung wide, and Mercer came
+running to meet me.</p>
+<p>He was wearing a bathrobe, hastily
+flung on over a damp bathing suit, his
+bare legs terminating in a pair of disreputable
+slippers.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Fine, Taylor!&#8221; he greeted me. &#8220;I
+suppose you&#8217;re wondering what it&#8217;s all
+about. I don&#8217;t blame you. But come
+in, come in! Just wait till you see her!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Her?&#8221; I asked, startled. &#8220;You&#8217;re not
+in love, by any chance, and bringing me
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_378' name='page_378'></a>378</span>
+down here like this merely to back up
+your own opinion of them eyes and
+them lips, Mercer?&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">He</span> laughed excitedly.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;ll see, you&#8217;ll see! No, I&#8217;m
+not in love. And I want you to help,
+and not admire. There are only Carson
+and myself here, you know, and the
+job&#8217;s too big for the two of us.&#8221; He
+hurried me across the broad concrete
+porch and into the house. &#8220;Throw the
+cap anywhere and come on!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Too much amazed to comment further,
+I followed my friend. This was a
+Warren Mercer I did not know. Usually
+his clean-cut, olive-tinted face was a
+polite mask that seldom showed even
+the slightest trace of emotion. His eyes,
+dark and large, smiled easily, and shone
+with interest, but his almost beautiful
+mouth, beneath the long slim mustache,
+always closely cropped, seldom smiled
+with his eyes.</p>
+<p>But it was his present excited speech
+that amazed me most. Mercer, during
+all the years I had known him, had
+never been moved before to such tempestuous
+outbursts of enthusiasm. It
+was his habit to speak slowly and
+thoughtfully, in his low, musical voice;
+even in the midst of our hottest arguments,
+and we had had many of them,
+his voice had never lost its calm, unhurried
+gentleness.</p>
+<p>To my surprise, instead of leading
+the way to the really comfortable, although
+rather gaudy living room, Mercer
+turned to the left, towards what
+had been the billiard room, and was
+now his laboratory.</p>
+<p>The laboratory, brilliantly illuminated,
+was littered, as usual, with apparatus
+of every description. Along
+one wall were the retorts, scales, racks,
+hoods and elaborate set-ups, like the articulated
+glass and rubber bones of
+some weird prehistoric monster, that
+demonstrated Mercer&#8217;s taste for this
+branch of science. On the other side
+of the room a corresponding workbench
+was littered with a tangle of
+coils, transformers, meters, tools and
+instruments, and at the end of the
+room, behind high black control panels,
+with gleaming bus-bars and staring,
+gaping meters, a pair of generators
+hummed softly. The other end of the
+room was nearly all glass, and opened
+onto the patio and the swimming pool.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Mercer</span> paused a moment, with
+his hand on the knob of the
+door, a strange light in his dark eyes.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now you&#8217;ll see why I called you
+here,&#8221; he said tensely. &#8220;You can judge
+for yourself whether the trip was worth
+while. Here she is!&#8221;</p>
+<p>With a gesture he flung open the
+door, and I stared, following his glance,
+down at the great tiled swimming pool.</p>
+<p>It is difficult for me to describe the
+scene. The patio was not large, but it
+was beautifully done. Flowers and
+shrubs, even a few small palms, grew
+in profusion in the enclosure, while
+above, through the movable glass roof&ndash;&ndash;made
+in sections to disappear in fine
+weather&ndash;&ndash;was the empty blackness of
+the sky.</p>
+<p>None of the lights provided for the
+illumination of the covered patio was
+turned on, but all the windows surrounding
+the patio were aglow, and I
+could see the pool quite clearly.</p>
+<p>The pool&ndash;&ndash;and its occupant.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">We</span> were standing at one side of
+the pool, near the center. Directly
+opposite us, seated on the bottom
+of the pool, was a human figure,
+nude save for a great mass of tawny
+hair that fell about her like a silken
+mantle. The strangely graceful figure
+of a girl, one leg stretched out straight
+before her, the other drawn up and
+clasped by the interlocked fingers of
+her hands. Even in the soft light I
+could see her perfectly, through the
+clear water, her pale body outlined
+sharply against the jade green tiles.</p>
+<p>I tore myself away from the staring,
+curious eyes of the figure.</p>
+<p>&#8220;In God&#8217;s name, Mercer, what is it?
+Porcelain?&#8221; I asked hoarsely. The
+thing had an indescribably eery effect.</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_379' name='page_379'></a>379</span></div>
+<p>He laughed wildly.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Porcelain? Watch ... <i>look</i>!&#8221;</p>
+<p>My eyes followed his pointing finger.
+The figure was moving. Gracefully it
+arose to its full height. The great
+cloud of corn-colored hair floated down
+about it, falling below the knees. Slowly,
+with a grace of movement comparable
+only with the slow soaring of a
+gull, she came toward me, walking on
+the bottom of the pool through the
+clear water as though she floated in air.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Fascinated,</span> I watched her. Her
+eyes, startlingly large and dark in
+the strangely white face, were fixed on
+mine. There was nothing sinister in
+the gaze, yet I felt my body shaking
+as though in the grip of a terrible fear.
+I tried to look away, and found myself
+unable to move. I felt Mercer&#8217;s tense,
+sudden grip upon my arm, but I did
+not, could not, look at him.</p>
+<p>&#8220;She&ndash;&ndash;she&#8217;s smiling!&#8221; I heard him
+exclaim. He laughed, an excited, high-pitched
+laugh that irritated me in some
+subtle way.</p>
+<p>She was smiling, and looking up into
+my eyes. She was very close now,
+within a few feet of us. She came still
+closer, until she was at my very feet as
+I stood on the raised ledge that ran
+around the edge of the pool, her head
+thrown back, staring straight up at me
+through the water.</p>
+<p>I could see her teeth, very white between
+her coral-pink lips, and her
+bosom rising and falling beneath the
+veil of pale gold hair. She was breathing
+<i>water</i>!</p>
+<p>Mercer literally jerked me away from
+the edge of the pool.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What do you think of her, Taylor?&#8221;
+he asked, his dark eyes dancing with
+excitement.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Tell me about it,&#8221; I said, shaking
+my head dazedly. &#8220;She is not human?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know. I think so. As human
+as you or I. I&#8217;ll tell you all I
+know, and then you can judge for yourself.
+I think we&#8217;ll know in a few minutes,
+if my plans work out. But first
+slip on a bathing suit.&#8221;</p>
+<p>I didn&#8217;t argue the matter. I let Mercer
+lead me away without a word. And
+while I was changing, he told me all
+he knew of the strange creature in the
+pool.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcapq'><small>&#8220;</small><span class="drop">L</span><span class="dcap">ate</span> this afternoon I decided to
+go for a little walk along the
+beach,&#8221; Mercer began. &#8220;I had been
+working like the devil since early in
+the morning, running some tests on
+what you call my thought-telegraph. I
+felt the need of some fresh sea air.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I walked along briskly for perhaps
+five minutes, keeping just out of reach
+of the rollers and the spray. The shore
+was littered with all sorts of flotsam
+and jetsam washed up by the big storm,
+and I was just thinking that I would
+have to have a man with a truck come
+and clean up the shore in front of the
+place, when, in a little sandy pool, I
+saw&ndash;&ndash;<i>her</i>.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcapq'><small>&#8220;</small><span class="drop">S</span><span class="dcap">he</span> was laying face down in the
+water, motionless, her head towards
+the sea, one arm stretched out
+before her, and her long hair wrapped
+around her like a half-transparent
+cloak.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I ran up and lifted her from the
+water. Her body was cold, and deathly
+white, although her lips were faintly
+pink, and her heart was beating, faintly
+but steadily.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Like most people in an emergency.
+I forgot all I ever knew about first aid.
+All I could think of was to give her a
+drink, and of course I didn&#8217;t have a
+flask on my person. So I picked her up
+in my arms and brought her to the
+house as quickly as I could. She seemed
+to be reviving, for she was struggling
+and gasping when I got here with her.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I placed her on the bed in the guest
+room and poured her a stiff drink of
+Scotch&ndash;&ndash;half a tumblerful, I believe.
+Lifting up her head, I placed the glass
+to her lips. She looked up me, blinking,
+and took the liquor in a single
+draught. She did not seem to drink it,
+but sucked it out of the glass in a
+single amazing gulp&ndash;&ndash;that&#8217;s the only
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_380' name='page_380'></a>380</span>
+word for it. The next instant she was
+off the bed, her face a perfect mask of
+hate and agony.</p>
+<p>&#8220;She came at me, hands clutching and
+clawing, making odd murmuring or
+mewing sounds in her throat. It was
+then that I noticed for the first time
+that her hands were webbed!&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcapq'><small>&#8220;</small><span class="drop">W</span><span class="dcap">ebbed?&#8221;</span> I asked, startled.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Webbed,&#8221; nodded Mercer
+solemnly. &#8220;As are her feet. But listen,
+Taylor. I was amazed, and not a little
+rattled when she came for me. I ran
+through the French windows out into
+the patio. For a moment she ran after
+me, rather awkwardly and heavily, but
+swiftly, nevertheless. Then she saw
+the pool.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Apparently forgetting that I existed,
+she leaped into the water, and as
+I approached a moment later I could
+see her breathing deeply and gratefully,
+a smile of relief upon her features,
+as she lay upon the bottom of the pool.
+Breathing, Taylor, on the bottom of the
+pool! Under eight feet of water!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And then what, Mercer?&#8221; I reminded
+him, as he paused, apparently
+lost in thought.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I tried to find out more about her.
+I put on my bathing suit and dived into
+the pool. Well, she came at me like a
+shark, quick as a flash, her teeth showing,
+her hands tearing like claws
+through the water. I turned, but not
+quickly enough to entirely escape.
+See?&#8221; Mercer threw back the dressing
+robe, and I saw a ragged tear in his
+bathing suit on his left side, near the
+waist. Through the rent three deep,
+jagged scratches were clearly visible.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcapq'><small>&#8220;</small><span class="drop">S</span><span class="dcap">he</span> managed to claw me, just
+once,&#8221; Mercer resumed, wrapping
+the robe about him again. &#8220;Then
+I got out and called on Carson for help.
+I put him into a bathing suit, and we
+both endeavored to corner her. Carson
+got two bad scratches, and one rather
+serious bite that I have bandaged. I
+have a number of lacerations, but I
+didn&#8217;t fare so badly as Carson because
+I am faster in the water than he is.</p>
+<p>&#8220;The harder we tried, the more determined
+I became. She would sit
+there, calm and placid, until one of us
+entered the water. Then she became a
+veritable fury. It was maddening.</p>
+<p>&#8220;At last I thought of you. I phoned,
+and here we are!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But, Mercer, it&#8217;s a nightmare!&#8221; I
+protested. We moved out of the room.
+&#8220;Nothing human can live under water
+and breathe water, as she does!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mercer paused a moment, staring at
+me oddly.</p>
+<p>&#8220;The human race,&#8221; he said gravely,
+&#8220;came up out of sea. The human race
+as we know it. Some may have gone
+back.&#8221; He turned and walked away
+again, and I hurried after him.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What do you mean. Mercer? &#8216;Some
+may have gone back?&#8217; I don&#8217;t get it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mercer shook his head, but made no
+other reply until we stood again on the
+edge of the pool.</p>
+<p>The girl was standing where we had
+left her, and as she looked up into my
+face, she smiled again, and made a
+quick gesture with one hand. It
+seemed to me that she invited me to
+join her.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcapq'><small>&#8220;</small><span class="drop">I</span><span class="dcap"> believe</span> she likes you, Taylor,&#8221;
+said Mercer thoughtfully.
+&#8220;You&#8217;re light, light skin, light hair.
+Carson and I are both very dark, almost
+swarthy. And in that white bathing
+suit&ndash;&ndash;yes, I believe she&#8217;s taken a fancy
+to you!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mercer&#8217;s eyes were dancing.</p>
+<p>&#8220;If she has,&#8221; he went on, &#8220;it&#8217;ll make
+our work very easy.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What work?&#8221; I asked suspiciously.
+Mercer, always an indefatigable experimenter,
+was never above using his
+friends in the benefit of science. And
+some of his experiments in the past
+had been rather trying, not to say exciting.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think I have what you call my
+thought-telegraph perfected, experimentally,&#8221;
+he explained rapidly. &#8220;I fell
+asleep working on it at three o&#8217;clock,
+or thereabouts, this morning, and some
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_381' name='page_381'></a>381</span>
+tests with Carson seem to indicate that
+it is a success. I should have called
+you to-morrow, for further test. Nearly
+five years of damned hard work to
+a successful conclusion, Taylor, and
+then this mermaid comes along and
+makes my experiment appear about as
+important as one of those breakers rolling
+in out there!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And what do you plan to do now?&#8221;
+I asked eagerly, glancing down at the
+beautiful pale face that glimmered up
+at me through the clear water of the
+pool.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcapq'><small>&#8220;</small><span class="drop">W</span><span class="dcap">hy,</span> try it on her!&#8221; exclaimed
+Mercer with mounting enthusiasm.
+&#8220;Don&#8217;t you see, Taylor? If it
+will work on her, and we can direct her
+thoughts, we can find out her history,
+the history of her people! We&#8217;ll add a
+page to scientific history&ndash;&ndash;a whole big
+chapter!&ndash;&ndash;that will make us famous.
+Man this is so big it&#8217;s swept me off my
+feet! Look!&#8221; And he held out a thin,
+aristocratic brown hand before my
+eyes, a hand that shook with nervous
+excitement.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t blame you,&#8221; I said quickly.
+&#8220;I&#8217;m no savant, and still I see what an
+amazing thing this is. Let&#8217;s get busy.
+What can I do?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mercer reached around the door into
+the laboratory and pressed a button.</p>
+<p>&#8220;For Carson,&#8221; he explained. &#8220;We&#8217;ll
+need his help. In the meantime, we&#8217;ll
+look over the set-up. The apparatus is
+strewn all over the place.&#8221;</p>
+<p>He had not exaggerated. The set-up
+consisted of a whole bank of tubes,
+each one in its own shielding copper
+box. On a much-drilled horizontal
+panel, propped up on insulators, were
+half a score of delicate meters of one
+kind and another, with thin black fingers
+that pulsed and trembled. Behind
+the panel was a tall cylinder wound
+with shining copper wire, and beside it
+another panel, upright, fairly bristling
+with knobs, contact points, potentiometers,
+rheostats and switches. On the
+end of the table nearest the door was
+still another panel, the smallest of the
+lot, bearing only a series of jacks along
+one side, and in the center a switch
+with four contact points. A heavy,
+snaky cable led from this panel to the
+maze of apparatus further on.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcapq'><small>&#8220;</small><span class="drop">T</span><span class="dcap">his</span> is the control panel,&#8221; explained
+Mercer. &#8220;The whole affair,
+you understand, is in laboratory
+form. Nothing assembled. Put the different
+antennae plug into these jacks.
+Like this.&#8221;</p>
+<p>He picked up a weird, hastily built
+contrivance composed of two semi-circular
+pieces of spring brass, crossed at
+right angles. On all four ends were
+bright silvery electrodes, three of them
+circular in shape, one of them elongated
+and slightly curved. With a quick, nervous
+gesture, Mercer fitted the thing to
+his head, so that the elongated electrode
+pressed against the back of his
+neck, extending a few inches down his
+spine. The other three circular electrodes
+rested on his forehead and either
+side of his head. From the center of
+the contrivance ran a heavy insulated
+cord, some ten feet in length, ending
+in a simple switchboard plug, which
+Mercer fitted into the uppermost of the
+three jacks.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now,&#8221; he directed, &#8220;you put on this
+one&#8221;&ndash;&ndash;he adjusted a second contrivance
+upon my head, smiling as I shrank from
+the contact of the cold metal on my
+skin&ndash;&ndash;&#8220;and think!&#8221;</p>
+<p>He moved the switch from the position
+marked &#8220;Off&#8221; to the second contact
+point, watching me intently, his
+dark eyes gleaming.</p>
+<p>Carson entered, and Mercer gestured
+to him to wait. Very nice old chap,
+Carson, impressive even in his bathing
+suit. Mercer was mighty lucky to have
+a man like Carson....</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Something</span> seemed to tick suddenly,
+somewhere deep in my consciousness.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, that&#8217;s very true: Carson is a
+most decent sort of chap.&#8221; The words
+were not spoken. I did not <i>hear</i> them,
+I <i>knew</i> them. What&ndash;&ndash;I glanced at Mercer,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_382' name='page_382'></a>382</span>
+and he laughed aloud with pleasure
+and excitement.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It worked!&#8221; he cried. &#8220;I received
+your thought regarding Carson, and
+then turned the switch so that you received
+my thought. And you did!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Rather gingerly I removed the thing
+from my head and laid it on the table.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s wizardry, Mercer! If it will
+work as well on <i>her</i>....&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It will, I know it will!&ndash;&ndash;if we can
+get her to wear one of these,&#8221; replied
+Mercer confidently. &#8220;I have only three
+of them; I had planned some three-cornered
+experiments with you, Carson,
+and myself. We&#8217;ll leave Carson out of
+to-night&#8217;s experiment, however, for
+we&#8217;ll need him to operate this switch.
+You see, as it is now wired only one
+person transmits thoughts at a time.
+The other two receive. When the
+switch is on the first contact, Number
+One sends, and Numbers Two and
+Three receive. When the switch is on
+Number Two, then he sends thoughts,
+and Numbers One and Three receive
+them. And so on. I&#8217;ll lengthen these
+leads so that we can run them out into
+the pool, and then we&#8217;ll be ready. Somehow
+we must induce her to wear one of
+these things, even if we have to use
+force. I&#8217;m sure the three of us can
+handle her.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;We should be able to,&#8221; I smiled. She
+was such a slim, graceful, almost delicate
+little thing; the thought that three
+strong men might not be able to control
+her seemed almost amusing.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You haven&#8217;t seen her in action yet,&#8221;
+said Mercer grimly, glancing up from
+his work of lengthening the cords that
+led from the antennae to the control
+panel. &#8220;And what&#8217;s more, I hope you
+don&#8217;t.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">I watched</span> him in silence as he
+spliced and securely taped the last
+connection.</p>
+<p>&#8220;All set,&#8221; he nodded. &#8220;Carson, will
+you operate the switch for us? I believe
+everything is functioning properly.&#8221;
+He surveyed the panel of instruments
+hastily, assuring himself that
+every reading was correct. Then, with
+all three of the devices he called antennae
+in his hand, their leads plugged
+into the control panel, he led the way
+to the side of the pool.</p>
+<p>The girl was strolling around the
+edge of the pool, feeling the smooth
+tile sides with her hands as we came
+into view, but as soon as she saw us she
+shot through the water to where we
+were standing.</p>
+<p>It was the first time I had seen her
+move in this fashion. She seemed to
+propel herself with a sudden mighty
+thrust of her feet against the bottom;
+she darted through the water with the
+speed of an arrow, yet stopped as gently
+as though she had merely floated
+there.</p>
+<p>As she looked up, her eyes unmistakably
+sought mine, and her smile
+seemed warm and inviting. She made
+again that strange little gesture of invitation.</p>
+<p>With an effort I glanced at Mercer.
+There was something devilishly fascinating
+about the girl&#8217;s great, dark,
+searching eyes.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m going in,&#8221; I said hoarsely.
+&#8220;Hand me one of your head-set things
+when I reach for it.&#8221; Before he could
+protest, I dived into the pool.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">I headed</span> directly towards the
+heavy bronze ladder that led to the
+bottom of the pool. I had two reasons
+in mind. I would need something to
+keep me under water, with my lungs
+full of air, and I could get out quickly
+if it were necessary. I had not forgotten
+the livid, jagged furrows in Mercer&#8217;s
+side.</p>
+<p>Quickly as I shot to the ladder she
+was there before me, a dim, wavering
+white shape, waiting.</p>
+<p>I paused, holding to a rung of the
+ladder with one hand. She came closer,
+walking with the airy grace I had noted
+before, and my heart pounded against
+my ribs as she raised one long, slim
+arm towards me.</p>
+<p>The hand dropped gently on my
+shoulder, pressed it as though in token
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_383' name='page_383'></a>383</span>
+of friendship. Perhaps, I thought
+quickly, this was, with her, a sign of
+greeting. I lifted my own arm and returned
+the salutation, if salutation it
+were, aware of a strange rising and
+falling sound, as of a distant humming,
+in my ears.</p>
+<p>The sound ceased suddenly, on a rising
+note, as though of inquiry, and it
+dawned on me that I had heard the
+speech of this strange creature. Before
+I could think of a course of action, my
+aching lungs reminded me of the need
+of air, and I released my hold on the
+ladder and let my body rise to the surface.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">As</span> my head broke the water, a
+hand, cold and strong as steel,
+closed around my ankle. I looked
+down. The girl was watching me, and
+there was no smile on her face now.</p>
+<p>&#8220;All right!&#8221; I shouted across the pool
+to Mercer, who was watching anxiously.
+Then, filling my lungs with air
+again, I pulled myself, by means of the
+ladder, to the bottom of the pool. The
+restraining hand was removed instantly.</p>
+<p>The strange creature thrust her face
+close to mine as my feet touched bottom,
+and for the first time I saw her
+features distinctly.</p>
+<p>She was beautiful, but in a weird,
+unearthly sort of way. As I had already
+noticed, her eyes were of unusual
+size, and I saw now that they were an
+intense shade of blue, with a pupil of
+extraordinary proportion. Her nose
+was well shaped, but the nostrils were
+slightly flattened, and the orifices were
+rather more elongated than I had ever
+seen before. The mouth was utterly
+fascinating, and her teeth, revealed by
+her engaging smile, were as perfect as
+it would be possible to imagine.</p>
+<p>The great mane of hair which enveloped
+her was, as I have said, tawny in
+hue, and almost translucent, like the
+stems of some seaweeds I have seen.
+And as she raised one slim white hand
+to brush back some wisps that floated
+by her face, I saw distinctly the webs
+between her fingers. They were barely
+noticeable, for they were as transparent
+as the fins of a fish, but they were there,
+extending nearly to the last joint of
+each finger.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">As</span> her face came close to my own,
+I became aware of the humming,
+crooning sound I had heard before,
+louder this time. I could see, from the
+movement of her throat, that I had been
+correct in assuming that she was attempting
+to speak with me. I smiled
+back at her and shook my head. She
+seemed to understand, for the sound
+ceased, and she studied me with a little
+thoughtful frown, as though trying to
+figure out some other method of communication.</p>
+<p>I pointed upward, for I was feeling
+the need for fresh air again, and slowly
+mounted the ladder. This time she did
+not grasp me, but watched me intently,
+as though understanding what I did,
+and the reasons for it.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Bring one of your gadgets over
+here, Mercer,&#8221; I called across the pool.
+&#8220;I think I&#8217;m making progress.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Good boy!&#8221; he cried, and came running
+with two of the antennae, the
+long insulated cords trailing behind
+him. Through the water the girl
+watched him, evident dislike in her
+eyes. She glanced at me with sudden
+suspicion as Mercer handed me the two
+instruments, but made no hostile move.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You won&#8217;t be able to stay in the
+water with her,&#8221; explained Mercer
+rapidly. &#8220;The salt water would short
+the antennae, you see. Try to get her
+to wear one, and then you get your
+head out of water, and don yours. And
+remember, she won&#8217;t be able to communicate
+with us by words&ndash;&ndash;we&#8217;ll have
+to get her to convey her thoughts by
+means of mental pictures. I&#8217;ll try to
+impress that on her. Understand?&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">I nodded,</span> and picked up one of
+the instruments. &#8220;Fire when ready,
+Gridley,&#8221; I commented, and sank again
+to the bottom of the pool.</p>
+<p>I touched the girl&#8217;s head with one
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_384' name='page_384'></a>384</span>
+finger, and then pointed to my own
+head, trying to convey to her that she
+could get her thoughts to me. Then I
+held up the antennae and placed it on
+my own head to show that it could not
+harm her.</p>
+<p>My next move was to offer her the
+instrument, moving slowly, and smiling
+reassuringly&ndash;&ndash;no mean feat under
+water.</p>
+<p>She hesitated a moment, and then,
+her eyes fixed on mine, she slowly
+fixed the instrument over her own head
+as she had seen me adjust it upon my
+own.</p>
+<p>I smiled and nodded, and pressed her
+shoulder in token of friendly greeting.
+Then, gesturing toward my own head
+again, and pointing upward. I climbed
+the ladder.</p>
+<p>&#8220;All right, Mercer,&#8221; I shouted.
+&#8220;Start at once, before she grows restless!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve already started!&#8221; he called
+back, and I hurriedly donned my own
+instrument.</p>
+<p>Bearing in mind what Mercer had
+said, I descended the ladder but a few
+rungs, so that my head remained out of
+water, and smiled down at the girl,
+touching the instrument on my head,
+and then pointing to hers.</p>
+<p>I could sense Mercer&#8217;s thoughts now.
+He was picturing himself walking
+long the shore, with the stormy ocean
+in the background. Ahead of him I
+saw the white body lying face downward
+in the pool. I saw him run up to
+the pool and lift the slim, pale figure
+in his arms.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Let</span> me make it clear, at this point,
+that when I say that I saw these
+things, I mean only that mental images
+of them penetrated my consciousness.
+I visualized them just as I could close
+my eyes and visualize, for example, the
+fireplace in the living room of my own
+home.</p>
+<p>I looked down at the girl. She was
+frowning, and her eyes were very wide.
+Her head was a little on one side, in
+the attitude of one who listens intently.</p>
+<p>Slowly and carefully Mercer thought
+out the whole story of his experiences
+with the girl until she had plunged
+into the pool. Then I saw again the
+beach, with the girl&#8217;s figure in the pool.
+The picture grew hazy; I realized Mercer
+was trying to picture the bottom of
+the sea. Then he pictured again the
+girl lying in the pool, and once again
+the sea. I was aware of the soft little
+tick in the center of my brain that announced
+that the switch had been
+moved to another contact point.</p>
+<p>I glanced down at her. She was staring
+up at me with her great, curious
+eyes, and I sensed, through the medium
+of the instrument I wore, that she was
+thinking of me. I saw my own features,
+idealized, glowing with a strange
+beauty that was certainly none of my
+own. I realized that I saw myself, in
+short, as she saw me. I smiled back at
+her, and shook my head.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">A strange,</span> dim whirl of pictures
+swept through my consciousness.
+I was on the bottom of the
+ocean. Shadowy shapes swept by silently,
+and from above, a dim bluish
+light filtered down on a scene such as
+mortal eyes have never seen.</p>
+<p>All around were strange structures
+of jagged coral, roughly circular as to
+base, and rounded on top, resembling
+very much the igloos of the Eskimos.
+The structures varied greatly in size,
+and seemed to be arranged in some sort
+of regular order, like houses along a
+narrow street. Around many of them
+grew clusters of strange and colorful
+seaweeds that waved their banners
+gently, as though some imperceptible
+current dallied with them in passing.</p>
+<p>Here and there figures moved, slim
+white figures that strolled along the
+narrow street, or at times shot overhead
+like veritable torpedoes.</p>
+<p>There were both men and women
+moving there. The men were broader
+of shoulder, and their hair, which they
+wore to their knees, was somewhat
+darker in color than that of the women.
+Both sexes were slim, and there was a
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_385' name='page_385'></a>385</span>
+remarkable uniformity of size and appearance.</p>
+<p>None of the strange beings wore garments
+of any kind, nor were they necessary.
+The clinging tresses were cinctured
+at the waist with a sort of cord
+of twisted orange-colored material, and
+some of the younger women wore bands
+of the same material around their
+brows.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Nearest</span> of all the figures was
+the girl who was visualizing all
+this for us. She was walking slowly
+away from the cluster of coral structures.
+Once or twice she paused, and
+seemed to hold conversation with
+others of the strange people, but each
+time she moved on.</p>
+<p>The coral structures grew smaller
+and poorer. Finally the girl trod alone
+on the floor of the ocean, between great
+growths of kelp and seaweeds, with
+dim, looming masses of faintly tinted
+coral everywhere. Once she passed
+close to a tilted, ragged hulk of some
+ancient vessel, its naked ribs packed
+with drifted sand.</p>
+<p>Sauntering dreamily, she moved
+away from the ancient derelict. Suddenly
+a dim shadow swept across the
+sand at her feet, and she arrowed from
+the spot like a white, slim meteor. But
+behind her darted a black and swifter
+shadow&ndash;&ndash;a shark!</p>
+<p>Like a flash she turned and faced the
+monster. Something she had drawn
+from her girdle shone palely in her
+hand. It was a knife of whetted stone
+or bone.</p>
+<p>Darting swiftly downward her feet
+spurned the yellow sand, and she shot
+at her enemy with amazing speed. The
+long blade swept in an arc, ripped the
+pale belly of the monster just as he
+turned to dart away.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">A great</span> cloud of blood dyed the
+water. The white figure of the
+girl shot onward through the scarlet
+flood.</p>
+<p>Blinded, she did not see that the jutting
+ribs of the ancient ship were in
+her path. I seemed to see her crash,
+head on, into one of the massive timbers,
+and I cried out involuntarily, and
+glanced down at the girl in the water
+at my feet.</p>
+<p>Her eyes were glowing. She knew
+that I had understood.</p>
+<p>Hazily, then, I seemed to visualize
+her body floating limply in the water.
+It was all very vague and indistinct,
+and I understood that this was not
+what she had seen, but what she
+thought had happened. The impressions
+grew wilder, swirled, grew gray
+and indistinct. Then I had a view of
+Mercer&#8217;s face, so terribly distorted it
+was barely recognizable. Then a kaleidoscopic
+maze of inchoate scenes,
+shot through with flashes of vivid,
+agonizing colors. The girl was thinking
+of her suffering, taken out of her
+native element. In trying to save her,
+Mercer had almost killed her. That,
+no doubt, was why she hated him.</p>
+<p>My own face appeared next, almost
+godlike in its kindliness and its imagined
+beauty, and I noticed now that
+she was thinking of me with my yellow
+hair grown long, my nostrils elongated
+like her own&ndash;&ndash;adjusted to her own
+ideas of what a man should be.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">I flung</span> the instrument from my
+head and dropped to the bottom of
+the pool. I gripped both her shoulders,
+gently, to express my thanks and friendship.</p>
+<p>My heart was pounding. There was
+a strange fascination about this girl
+from the depths of the sea, a subtle appeal
+that was answered from some deep
+subterranean cavern of my being. I
+forgot, for the moment, who and what
+I was. I remembered only that a note
+had been sounded that awoke an echo
+of a long-forgotten instinct.</p>
+<p>I think I kissed her. I know her
+arms were about me, and that I pressed
+her close, so that our faces almost met.
+Her great, weirdly blue eyes seemed to
+bore into my brain. I could feel them
+throbbing there....</p>
+<p>I forgot time and space. I saw only
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_386' name='page_386'></a>386</span>
+that pale, smiling face and those great
+dark eyes. Then, strangling, I tore myself
+from her embrace and shot to the
+surface.</p>
+<p>Coughing, I cleared my lungs of the
+water I had inhaled. I was weak and
+shaking when I finished, but my head
+was clear. The grip of the strange fantasy
+that had gripped me was shaken
+off.</p>
+<p>Mercer was bending over me; speaking
+softly.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I was watching, old man,&#8221; he said
+gently. &#8220;I can imagine what happened.
+A momentary, psychic fusing of an ancient,
+long since broken link. You, together
+with all mankind, came up out
+of the sea. But there is no retracing
+the way.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">I nodded,</span> my head bowed on my
+streaming chest.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Sorry, Mercer,&#8221; I muttered. &#8220;Something
+got into me. Those big eyes of
+hers seemed to tug at threads of memory
+... buried.... I can&#8217;t describe
+it....&#8221;</p>
+<p>He slapped me on my naked shoulder,
+a blow that stung, as he had intended
+it to. It helped jerk me back to
+the normal.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;ve got your feet on the ground
+again, Taylor,&#8221; he commented soothingly.
+&#8220;I think there&#8217;s no danger of
+you losing your grip on terra firma
+again. Shall we carry on?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s more you&#8217;d like to learn?
+That you think she can give us?&#8221; I
+asked hesitantly.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I believe,&#8221; replied Mercer, &#8220;that she
+can give us the history of her people,
+if we can only make her understand
+what we wish. God! If we only could!&#8221;
+The name of the Deity was a prayer as
+Mercer uttered it.</p>
+<p>&#8220;We can try, old-timer,&#8221; I said, a bit
+shakenly.</p>
+<p>Mercer hurried back to the other
+side of the pool, and I adjusted my
+head-set again, smiling down at the
+girl. If only Mercer could make her
+understand, and if only she knew what
+we wanted to learn!</p>
+<p>I was conscious of the little click that
+told me the switch had been moved.
+Mercer was ready to get his message
+to her.</p>
+<p>Fixing my eyes on the girl pleadingly,
+I settled myself by the edge of the
+pool to await the second and more momentous
+part of our experiment.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">The</span> vision was vague, for Mercer
+was picturing his thoughts with
+difficulty. But I seemed to see again
+the floor of the ocean, with the vague
+light filtering down from above, and
+soft, monstrous growths waving their
+branches lazily in the flood.</p>
+<p>From the left came a band of men
+and women, looking around as though
+in search of some particular spot. They
+stopped, and one of the older men
+pointed, the others gathering around
+him as though in council.</p>
+<p>Then the band set to work. Coral
+growth were dragged to the spot. The
+foundation for one of the semi-circular
+houses was laid. The scene swirled
+and cleared again. The house was completed.
+Several other houses were in
+process of building.</p>
+<p>Slowly and deliberately, the scene
+moved. The houses were left behind.
+Before my consciousness now was only
+a vague and shadowy expanse of ocean
+floor, and in the sand dim imprints that
+marked where the strange people had
+trod, the vague footprints disappearing
+in the gloom in the direction from
+which the little weary band had come.
+To me, at least, it was quite clear that
+Mercer was asking whence they came.
+Would it be as clear to the girl? The
+switch clicked, and for a moment I was
+sure Mercer had not been able to make
+his question clear to her.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">The</span> scene was the interior of one
+of the coral houses. There were
+persons there, seated on stone or coral
+chairs, padded with marine growths.
+One of the occupants of the room was
+a very old man; his face was wrinkled,
+and his hair was silvery. With him
+were a man and a woman, and a little
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_387' name='page_387'></a>387</span>
+girl. Somehow I seemed to recognize
+the child as the girl in the pool.</p>
+<p>The three of them were watching the
+old man. While his lips did not move,
+I could see his throat muscles twitching
+as the girl&#8217;s had done when she
+made the murmuring sound I had
+guessed was her form of speech.</p>
+<p>The scene faded. For perhaps
+thirty seconds I was aware of nothing
+more than a dim gray mist that seemed
+to swirl in stately circles. Then, gradually,
+it cleared somewhat. I sensed the
+fact that what I saw now was what the
+old man was telling, and that the majestic,
+swirling mist was the turning
+back of time.</p>
+<p>Here was no ocean bottom, but land,
+rich tropical jungle. Strange exotic
+trees and dense growths of rank undergrowth
+choked the earth. The trees
+were oddly like undersea growths,
+which puzzled me for an instant. Then
+I recalled that the girl could interpret
+the old man&#8217;s words only in terms of
+that which she had seen and understood.
+This was the way she visualized
+the scene.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">There</span> was a gray haze of mist
+everywhere. The leaves were glistening
+with condensed moisture; swift
+drops fell incessantly to the soaking
+ground below.</p>
+<p>Into the scene roamed a pitiful band
+of people. Men with massive frames,
+sunken in with starvation, women tottering
+with weakness. The men carried
+great clubs, some tipped with
+rudely shaped stone heads, and both
+men and women clothed only in
+short kittles of skin.</p>
+<p>They searched ceaselessly for something,
+and I guessed that something
+was food. Now and then one or the
+other of the little band tore up a root
+and bit at it, and those that did so soon
+doubled into a twitching knot of suffering
+and dropped behind.</p>
+<p>At last they came to the edge of the
+sea. A few yards away the water was
+lost in the dense steaming miasma that
+hemmed them in on all sides. With
+glad expressions on their faces, the
+party ran down to the edge of the
+water and gathered up great masses of
+clams and crabs. At first they ate the
+food raw, tearing the flesh from the
+shells. Then they made what I understood
+was a fire, although the girl was
+able to visualize it only as a bright red
+spot that flickered.</p>
+<p>The scene faded, and there was only
+the slowly swirling mist that I understood
+indicated the passing of centuries.
+Then the scene cleared again.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">I saw</span> that same shore line, but the
+people had vanished. There was
+only the thick, steamy mist, the tropic
+jungle crowding down to the shore,
+and the waves rolling in monotonously
+from the waste of gray ocean beyond
+the curtain of fog.</p>
+<p>Suddenly, from out of the sea, appeared
+a series of human heads, and
+then a band of men and women that
+waded ashore and seated themselves
+upon the beach, gazing restlessly out
+across the sea.</p>
+<p>This was not the same band I had
+seen at first. These were a slimmer
+race, and whereas the first band had
+been exceedingly swarthy, these were
+very fair.</p>
+<p>They did not stay long on shore, for
+they were restless and ill at ease. It
+seemed to me they came there only
+from force of habit, as though they
+obeyed some inner urge they did not
+understand. In a few seconds they rose
+and ran into the water, plunged into it
+as though they welcomed its embrace,
+and disappeared. Then again the
+vision was swallowed up by the swirling
+mists of time.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">When</span> the scene cleared again,
+it showed the bottom of the sea.
+A group of perhaps a hundred pale
+creatures moved along the dim floor of
+the ocean. Ahead I could see the dim
+outlines of one of their strange cities.
+The band approached, seemed to talk
+with those there, and moved on.</p>
+<p>I saw them capture and kill fish for
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_388' name='page_388'></a>388</span>
+food, saw them carve the thick, spongy
+hearts from certain giant growths and
+eat them. I saw a pair of killer sharks
+swoop down on the band, and the
+quick, deadly accuracy with which
+both men and woman met the attack.
+One man, older than the rest, was injured
+before the sharks were vanquished,
+and when their efforts to
+staunch his wounds proved unavailing,
+they left him there and moved on. And
+as they left I saw a dim, crawling shape
+move closer, throw out a long, whiplike
+tentacle, and wrap the body in a
+hungry embrace.</p>
+<p>They came to and passed other communities
+of beings like themselves, and
+a city of their own, in much the way
+that Mercer had visualized it.</p>
+<p>Fading, the scene changed to the interior
+of the coral house again. The
+old man finished his story, and moved
+off into a cubicle in the rear of the
+place. Dimly, I could see there a low
+couch, piled high with soft marine
+growths. Then the scene shifted once
+more.</p>
+<p>A man and a woman hurried up and
+down the narrow streets of the strange
+city the girl had pictured when she
+showed us how she had met with the
+shark, and struck her head, so that for
+a long period she lost consciousness
+and was washed ashore.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Others</span>, after a time, joined them
+in their search, which spread out
+to the floor of the ocean, away from
+the dwellings. One party came to the
+gaunt skeleton of the ancient wreck,
+and found the scattered, fresh-picked
+bones of the shark the girl had killed.
+The man and the woman came up, and
+I looked closely into their faces. The
+woman&#8217;s features were torn with grief;
+the man&#8217;s lips were set tight with suffering.
+Here, it was easy to guess, were
+the mother and the father of the girl.</p>
+<p>A milling mass of white forms shot
+through the water in every direction,
+searching. It seemed that they were
+about to give up the search when suddenly,
+from out of the watery gloom,
+there shot a slim white figure&ndash;&ndash;the girl!</p>
+<p>Straight to the mother and father
+she came, gripping the shoulder of
+each with frantic joy. They returned
+the caress, the crowd gathered around
+them, listening to her story as they
+moved slowly, happily, towards the
+distant city.</p>
+<p>Instead of a picture, I was conscious
+then of a sound, like a single pleading
+word repeated softly, as though someone
+said &#8220;Please! Please! Please!&#8221; over
+and over again. The sound was not at
+all like the English word. It was a
+soft, musical beat, like the distant
+stroke of a mellow gong, but it had all
+the pleading quality of the word it
+seemed to bring to mind.</p>
+<p>I looked down into the pool. The
+girl had mounted the ladder until her
+face was just below the surface of the
+water. Her eyes met mine and I knew
+that I had not misunderstood.</p>
+<p>I threw off the instrument on my
+head, and dropped down beside her.
+With both hands I grasped her shoulders,
+and, smiling, I nodded my head
+vigorously.</p>
+<p>She understood, I know she did. I
+read it in her face. When I climbed
+the ladder again, she looked after me,
+smiling confidently.</p>
+<p>Although I had not spoken to her,
+she had read and accepted the promise.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Mercer</span> stared at me silently,
+grimly, as I told him what I
+wished. Whatever eloquence I may
+have, I used on him, and I saw his cold,
+scientific mind waver before the
+warmth of my appeal.</p>
+<p>&#8220;We have no right to keep her from
+her people,&#8221; I concluded. &#8220;You saw her
+mother and father, saw their suffering,
+and the joy her return would bring.
+You will, Mercer&ndash;&ndash;you will return her
+to the sea?&#8221;</p>
+<p>For a long time, Mercer did not reply.
+Then he lifted his dark eyes to
+mine, and smiled, rather wearily.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is the only thing we can do,
+Taylor,&#8221; he said quietly. &#8220;She is not
+a scientific specimen; she is, in her
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_389' name='page_389'></a>389</span>
+way, as human as you or I. She would
+probably die, away from her own kind,
+living under conditions foreign to her.
+And you promised her, Taylor,
+whether you spoke your promise or
+not.&#8221; His smile deepened a bit. &#8220;We
+cannot let her receive too bad an
+opinion of her cousins who live above
+the surface of the sea!&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">And</span> so, just as the dawn was
+breaking, we took her to the
+shore. I carried her, unresisting,
+trustful, in my arms, while Mercer
+bore a huge basin of water, in which
+her head was submerged, so that she
+might not suffer.</p>
+<p>Still in our bathing suits we waded
+out into the ocean, until the waves
+splashed against our faces. Then I
+lowered her into the sea. Crouching
+there, so that the water was just above
+the tawny glory of her hair, she gazed
+up at us. Two slim white hands
+reached towards us, and with one accord,
+Mercer and I bent towards her.
+She gripped both our shoulders with a
+gentle pressure, smiling at us.</p>
+<p>Then she did a strange thing. She
+pointed, under the water, out towards
+the depths and with a broad, sweeping
+motion of her arm, indicated the
+shore, as though to say that she intended
+to return. With a last swift,
+smiling glance up into my face, she
+turned. There was a flash of white
+through the water. She was gone....</p>
+<p>Silently, through the silence and
+beauty of the dawn, we made our way
+back to the house.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">As</span> we passed through the laboratory,
+Mercer glanced out at the
+empty pool.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Man came up from the sea,&#8221; he said
+slowly, &#8220;and some men went back to it.
+They were forced back to the teeming
+source from whence they came, for
+lack of food. You saw that, Taylor&ndash;&ndash;saw
+her forebears become amphibians,
+like the now extinct Dipneusta and
+Ganoideii, or the still existing Neoceratodus,
+Polypterus and Amia. Then
+their lungs became, in effect, gills, and
+they lost their power of breathing atmospheric
+air, and could use only air
+dissolved in water.</p>
+<p>&#8220;A whole people there beneath the
+waves that land-man never dreamed of&ndash;&ndash;except,
+perhaps, the sailors of olden
+days, with their tales of mermaids,
+which we are accustomed to laugh at in
+our wisdom!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But why were no bodies ever
+washed ashore?&#8221; I asked. &#8220;I would
+think&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You saw why,&#8221; interrupted Mercer
+grimly. &#8220;The ocean teems with hungry
+life. Death is the signal for a
+feast. It was little more than a
+miracle that her body came ashore, a
+miracle due perhaps to the storm which
+sent the hungry monsters to the
+greater depths. And even had a body
+come ashore it would have been buried
+as that of some unknown, unfortunate
+human. The differences between these
+people and ourselves would not be
+noticeable to a casual observer.</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, Taylor, we have been party to
+what was close to a miracle. And we
+are the only witnesses to it, you and
+Carson and myself. And&#8221;&ndash;&ndash;he sighed
+deeply&ndash;&ndash;&#8220;it is over.&#8221;</p>
+<p>I did not reply. I was thinking of
+the girl&#8217;s odd gesture, at parting, and
+I wondered if it were indeed a finished
+chapter.</p>
+<hr class='toprule' />
+<div class='chsp'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_390' name='page_390'></a>390</span>
+<a name='VANDALS_OF_THE_STARS' id='VANDALS_OF_THE_STARS'></a>
+<h2>Vandals of the Stars</h2>
+</div>
+<p class='authorhdr'><i>By A. T. Locke</i></p>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_9' id='linki_9'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src='images/i390.jpg' alt='' title='' width='463' height='500' /><br />
+<p class='caption'>
+<i>Many planes and Zeppelins were circling around the mysterious visitant.</i><br />
+</p>
+</div>
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">It</span> came suddenly, without warning,
+and it brought consternation to
+the people of the world.</p>
+<p class='sidebarright'>A livid flame flares across Space&ndash;&ndash;and
+over Manhattan hovers Teuxical, vassal
+of Malfero, Lord of the Universe, who
+comes with ten thousand warriors
+to ravage and subjugate one more planet
+for his master.</p>
+<p>A filament of flame darted down
+the dark skies
+one moonless
+night and those
+who saw it believed,
+at first,
+that it was a meteor.
+Instead of
+streaking away into oblivion, however,
+it became larger and larger, until it
+seemed as though some vagrant, blazing
+star was about to plunge into the
+earth and annihilate
+the planet
+and every vestige
+of life upon it.
+But then it drew
+slowly to a stop
+high up in the atmosphere,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_391' name='page_391'></a>391</span>
+where it remained motionless,
+glowing white and incandescent
+against the Stygian background of the
+overcast skies.</p>
+<p>In shape it resembled a Zeppelin,
+but its dimensions very apparently exceeded
+by far those of any flying craft
+that ever had been fabricated by the
+hand of man.</p>
+<p>As it hung poised high up in the air
+it gradually lost its dazzling glow and
+became scarlet instead of white. Then,
+as it continued to cool, the color
+swiftly drained from it and, in a few
+minutes, it shone only with the dull
+and ugly crimson of an expiring ember.
+In a half-hour after it first had appeared
+its effulgence had vanished
+completely and it was barely visible to
+the millions who were staring up toward
+it from the earth.</p>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_10' id='linki_10'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src='images/i391.jpg' alt='' title='' width='479' height='500' /><br />
+</div>
+<p>It seemed to be suspended directly
+above Manhattan, and the inhabitants
+of New York were thrown into a feverish
+excitement by the strange and unprecedented
+phenomenon.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">For</span> it scarcely had come to a stop,
+and certainly it had not been
+poised aloft for more than a few minutes,
+when most of those who had not
+actually witnessed its sensational appearance
+were apprised of the inexplicable
+occurrence by the radiovision,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_392' name='page_392'></a>392</span>
+which were scattered throughout the
+vast metropolis. In theaters and restaurants
+and other gathering places, as
+well as in millions of homes, a voice
+from the Worldwide Broadcasting
+Tower announced the weird visitant.
+And its image, as it glowed in the
+night, was everywhere transmitted to
+the public.</p>
+<p>Only a short time after it first had
+been observed people were thronging
+roof-tops, terraces, and streets, and
+gazing with awe and wonder at the
+great luminous object that was floating
+high above them.</p>
+<p>There were those who thought that
+the world was coming to an end, and
+they either were dumb with fright or
+strident with hysteria. People with
+more judgment, and a smattering of
+scientific knowledge, dismissed the
+thing as some harmless meteorological
+manifestation that, while interesting,
+was not necessarily dangerous. And
+there were many, inclined to incredulity
+and skepticism, who believed
+that they were witnessing a hoax or an
+advertising scheme of some new sort.</p>
+<p>But as the moments went by the
+world commenced to become stirred
+and alarmed by the reports which came
+over the radiovisors.</p>
+<p>For powerful planes and metal-shelled
+Zeppelins had climbed swiftly
+aloft to investigate the incomprehensible
+Thing that was poised high
+above Manhattan, and almost unbelievable
+reports were being sent earthward.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Dirk Vanderpool</span> had been
+sitting alone on the broad terrace
+of his apartment that occupied the
+upper stories of the great Gotham
+Gardens Building when he saw that
+streak of fire slip down against the
+darkness of the night.</p>
+<p>For a moment he, too, had believed
+that he was watching a meteor, but,
+when he saw it come to a slow stop
+and hang stationary in the heavens, he
+rose to his feet with an exclamation of
+surprise.</p>
+<p>For a while he gazed upward with an
+expression of astonishment on his face
+and then he turned as he heard someone
+walking softly in his direction. It
+was Barstowe, his valet, and the eyes
+of the man were alive with fear.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What is that thing, Mr. Vanderpool?&#8221;
+he asked in a voice that trembled
+with alarm. Barstowe was a man
+of middle age, diminutive in size, and
+he had the appearance of being nearly
+petrified with terror. &#8220;They are saying
+over the televisor that&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What are they saying about it?&#8221;
+asked Dirk somewhat impatiently.</p>
+<p>&#8220;That no one can explain what it is,&#8221;
+continued Barstowe. &#8220;It must be something
+terrible, Mr. Vanderpool.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Wheel out the luciscope,&#8221; ordered
+Dirk.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Barstowe</span> disappeared into the
+apartment and returned with a
+cabinet that was mounted on small,
+rubber-tired wheels. The top of it was
+formed of a metallic frame in which a
+heavy, circular, concave glass was
+fitted. The frame was hinged in front
+so that it could be raised from the rear
+and adjusted to any angle necessary to
+catch the light rays from any distant
+object. Within the cabinet the rays
+passed through an electrical device
+that amplified them millions of times,
+thus giving a clear, telescopic vision of
+the object on which the luciscope was
+focused.</p>
+<p>This instrument, years before, had
+supplanted entirely the old-fashioned
+telescopes which not only had been immense
+and unwieldly but which also
+had a very limited range of vision.</p>
+<p>Dirk adjusted the light-converger so
+that it caught the rays that were being
+emanated by the weird and shimmering
+mass that was suspended almost directly
+above the lofty terrace on which
+he was standing.</p>
+<p>Then he switched on the current and
+glanced into the eye-piece of the apparatus.
+For several moments he remained
+silent, studying the image that
+was etched so vividly on the ground-glass
+within the luciscope.</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_393' name='page_393'></a>393</span></div>
+<p>&#8220;It is a queer thing, there is no doubt
+about that,&#8221; he confessed when finally
+he raised his head. &#8220;It resembles a
+gigantic Zeppelin in shape but it does
+not seem to have any undercarriage or,
+as far as I can see, any indication of
+propellers or portholes. I would say,
+though, Barstowe, that it might be a
+ship from some other planet if it wasn&#8217;t
+for the fact that it seems to be in an
+almost molten state.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Dirk</span> again looked into the luciscope
+and then he made a few adjustments
+with a thumb-screw that
+projected from the side of the apparatus.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is up about forty thousand feet,&#8221;
+he told Barstowe, &#8220;and it must be more
+than a half-mile in length. Probably,&#8221;
+he added, &#8220;it is a planetary fragment
+of some odd composition that is less
+responsive to gravitation than the materials
+with which we are familiar. You
+will find, Barstowe, that there is nothing
+about it that science will not be
+able to explain. That will be all now,&#8221;
+he concluded.</p>
+<p>Barstowe walked over the terrace and
+disappeared into the apartment. Dirk,
+left alone, wheeled the luciscope over
+by the chair in which he had been sitting
+and near which a radiovisor was
+standing.</p>
+<p>He switched on the latter and listened
+to the low but very distinct voice
+of the news-dispatcher.</p>
+<p>&#8220;&ndash;&ndash;and planes and Zeppelins now are
+starting up to investigate the strange
+phenomenon&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>Again Dirk placed an eye to the lens
+of the luciscope and once more the
+Thing leaped into his vision. The
+powerful machine brought it so close
+to him that he could see the heat waves
+quiver up from it.</p>
+<p>The light that it radiated illuminated
+the night for thousands of feet and
+Dirk could see, by means of that crimson
+glare, that many planes and Zeppelins
+were circling around the mysterious
+visitant. None of them, however,
+approached the alien freak, the heat apparently
+being too intense to permit
+close inspection.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Dirk</span> himself was tempted for a
+moment to jump into a plane and
+go up and take a look at the fiery mass.</p>
+<p>But, after a moment&#8217;s consideration,
+he decided, that it would be far more
+interesting and comfortable to remain
+right where he was and listen to the
+reports which were being sent down
+from above.</p>
+<p>&#8220;&ndash;&ndash;thus far there seems to be no
+cause for alarm, and people are advised
+to remain calm&ndash;&ndash;careful observations of
+the luminous monster are being made
+and further reports concerning it will
+be broadcast&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>Dirk Vanderpool rose to his feet,
+walked to the coping of the terrace
+and peered into the magnascope that
+was set into the wall.</p>
+<p>He saw that the street, far below
+him, was jammed with struggling people
+and the device through which he
+was looking brought their faces before
+him in strong relief. Dirk was deeply
+interested and, at the same time,
+gravely concerned as he studied the
+upturned countenances in the mob.</p>
+<p>Fear, despair, reckless abandon,
+mirth, doubt, religious <a name='TC_28'></a><ins class='trchange' title="Was 'ecstacy'">ecstasy</ins> and all
+the other nuances in the gamut of human
+emotions and passions were reflected
+in those distorted visages which
+were gazing skyward.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">The</span> silvery humming of a bell diverted
+his attention from the
+scene of congestion below him and,
+turning away, he walked across the terrace
+and into the great living room of
+his luxurious abode.</p>
+<p>Stepping to the televisor, he turned
+a tiny switch, and the face of a girl
+appeared in the glass panel that was
+framed above the sound-box. He smiled
+as he lifted the receiver and placed it
+to his ear.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What is the matter, Inga?&#8221; he
+asked. &#8220;You look as if you were expecting&ndash;&ndash;well,
+almost anything disastrous.&#8221;</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_394' name='page_394'></a>394</span></div>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Dirk, what is that thing?&#8221; the
+girl asked. &#8220;I really am frightened!&#8221;</p>
+<p>He could see by the expression in
+her blue eyes that she, too, was becoming
+a victim of the hysteria that was
+taking possession of many people.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I wouldn&#8217;t be alarmed, Inga,&#8221; he replied
+reassuringly. &#8220;I don&#8217;t know what
+it is, and no one else seems to be able
+to explain it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But it is frightful and uncanny,
+Dirk,&#8221; the girl insisted, &#8220;and I am sure
+that something terrible is going to happen.
+I wish,&#8221; she pleaded, &#8220;that you
+would come over and stay with me for
+a little while. I am all alone and&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;All right, Inga,&#8221; he told her. &#8220;I will
+be with you in a few minutes.&#8221;</p>
+<p>He hung up the receiver of the televisor
+and clicked off the switch. The
+image of the golden-haired girl to
+whom he had been speaking slowly
+faded from the glass.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Attiring</span> himself for a short
+sixty-mile hop down Long Island,
+Dirk passed out to the landing
+stage and, stepping into the cabin of
+his plane, he threw in the helicopter
+lever. The machine rose straight into
+the air for a couple of hundred feet
+and then Dirk headed it westward to
+where the nearest ascension beam sent
+its red light towering toward the stars.
+It marked a vertical air-lane that led
+upward to the horizontal lanes of
+flight.</p>
+<p>Northbound ships flew between two
+and four thousand feet; southbound
+planes between five and seven thousand
+feet; those eastbound confined themselves
+to the level between nine and
+eleven thousand feet, while the westbound
+flyers monopolized the air between
+twelve and fourteen thousand
+feet.</p>
+<p>All planes flying parallel to the
+earth were careful to avoid those red
+beacons which marked ascension
+routes, and the shafts of green light
+down which descending planes dropped
+to the earth or into lower levels of
+travel.</p>
+<p>When Dirk&#8217;s altimeter indicated
+seventy-five hundred feet he turned the
+nose of his ship eastward and adjusted
+his rheostat until his motors, fed by
+wireless current, were revolving at top
+speed.</p>
+<p>The great canyons of Manhattan,
+linked by arches and highways which
+joined and passed through various
+levels of the stupendous structures of
+steelite and quartzite, passed swiftly
+beneath him; and, after passing for a
+few minutes over the deserted surface
+of Long Island, he completed his
+sixty-mile flight and brought his ship
+to a rest on a landing stage that was
+far up on the side of a vast pile that
+rose up close to the shore of the Sound.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">As</span> soon as he stepped from the
+door of the cabin he was joined
+by a girl who, apparently, had been
+lingering there, awaiting his arrival.</p>
+<p>She was perhaps twenty years old,
+and she had the golden hair, the light
+complexion, and the blue eyes which
+still were characteristic of the women
+of northern Europe.</p>
+<p>The slender lines of her exquisite
+figure and the supple grace which she
+displayed when she moved toward
+Dirk were evidence, however, of the
+Latin blood which was in her veins.</p>
+<p>For Inga Fragoni, the daughter and
+heiress of Orlando Fragoni, seemed to
+be a culmination of all of the desirable
+qualities of the women of the south
+and those of the north.</p>
+<p>The terrace on which Dirk had
+landed was illuminated by lights which
+simulated sunshine, and their soft
+bright glow revealed the violet hue of
+her eyes and the shimmering gloss of
+her silken hair. She wore a sleeveless,
+light blue tunic which was gathered
+around her waist with a bejeweled
+girdle.</p>
+<p>On her tiny feet she wore <a name='TC_30'></a><ins class='trchange' title="Was 'scandals'">sandals</ins>
+which were spun of webby filaments
+of gold and platinum.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Dirk, I am so glad that you are
+here!&#8221; she exclaimed. &#8220;I felt so much
+alone when I called you up. Dad is
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_395' name='page_395'></a>395</span>
+locked in the observatory with Professor
+Nachbaren and three or four
+other men and the servants&ndash;&ndash;well, they
+all are so terrified that it simply alarms
+me to have them around.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But that is Stanton&#8217;s plane there,
+isn&#8217;t it?&#8221; asked Dirk, indicating a
+powerful looking machine that stood
+on the terrace.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcapq'><small>&#8220;</small><span class="drop">Y</span><span class="dcap">es,</span> Dirk,&#8221; the girl replied. &#8220;He
+arrived here three or four minutes
+before you did. I thought, at first,
+that it was you coming. And Dirk,&#8221;
+she continued, with a note of excitement
+in her voice, &#8220;he flew up to look
+at that thing, and I know that he is as
+frightened about it as I am.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Dirk grunted, but he gave no expression
+of the dislike and distrust
+that Stanton aroused in him. The latter,
+he knew, was very much inclined
+to look with favor on Inga, and his
+presumption annoyed Dirk because,
+while he and the girl had not declared
+their intention of living together, they
+were very much in love with each
+other.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You will want to hear him tell
+about it, I know, Dirk,&#8221; the girl said.
+&#8220;I left Stanton up on the garden terrace
+when I saw you coming down.
+Come; we will go and join him.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Dirk and Inga strolled slowly along
+paths which were lined with exotic
+shrubbery and plants. Here and there
+a fountain tossed its glittering spray
+high into the air while birds, invisible
+in the feathery foliage, warbled and
+thrilled entrancingly. Soft music,
+transmitted from the auditoriums below,
+blended so harmoniously with the
+atmosphere of the terraces that it
+seemed to mingle with and be a part of
+the drifting, subtle scents of the
+abundant flowers which bloomed on
+every side.</p>
+<p>For these upper terraces of Fragoni&#8217;s
+palace were enclosed, during inclement
+weather, with great glass plates which,
+at the touch of a button, automatically
+appeared or disappeared.</p>
+<p>Winding their way easily upward,
+Dirk and Inga came finally to a secluded
+terrace which overlooked the
+Sound. Here they saw Stanton, who
+was unaware of their approach, looking
+skyward at the dim and sinister shape
+which was outlined against the sky.
+Stanton&#8217;s brow was contracted and his
+expression was filled with apprehension.
+He started suddenly when he became
+conscious of the presence of Dirk
+and the lovely daughter of Fragoni.</p>
+<p>He rose to his feet, a short man in
+his forties, stocky in build and somewhat
+swarthy in complexion. He contrasted
+very unfavorably with Dirk,
+who was tall and well-built and who
+had abundant blond hair and steady
+steel-blue eyes.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What do you make of that thing,
+Vanderpool?&#8221; he asked, almost ignoring
+the presence of Inga.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know enough about it yet to
+be able to express an opinion,&#8221; Dirk replied.
+&#8220;We will find out about it soon
+enough,&#8221; he added, &#8220;so why worry
+about it in the meantime?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is well enough to affect such an
+attitude,&#8221; said Stanton, with a touch of
+sarcasm in his voice, &#8220;but let me tell
+you, Vanderpool, that there is good
+reason to worry about it.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Dirk</span> frowned at the statement as
+he saw a shadow pass over the
+fair face of Inga.</p>
+<p>&#8220;That thing up there,&#8221; continued
+Stanton, with conviction in his voice,
+&#8220;is not a natural phenomenon. I flew
+fairly close to it in my plane and I
+<a name='TC_31'></a><ins class='trchange' title="Was 'knew'">know</ins> what I am speaking about. That
+thing is some sort of a monster, Vanderpool,
+that is made of metal or of
+some composition that is an unearthly
+equivalent of metal. It is a diabolical
+creation of some sort that has come
+from out of the fathomless depths of
+the universe.&#8221; He shuddered at the
+fantasy that his feverish imagination
+was creating. &#8220;It is metal, I tell you,&#8221;
+he continued, &#8220;but it is metal that is
+endowed with some sort of intelligence.
+I was up there,&#8221; he breathed
+swiftly, &#8220;and I saw it hanging there in
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_396' name='page_396'></a>396</span>
+the sky, quivering with heat and life.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You are nervous, Stanton,&#8221; said
+Vanderpool coolly. &#8220;Get a grip on
+yourself, man, and look at the thing
+reasonably. If that thing has intelligence,&#8221;
+he added, &#8220;we will find some
+way to slay it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Slay it!&#8221; exclaimed Stanton. &#8220;How
+can you expect to slay a mad creation
+that can leap through space, from
+world to world, like a wasp goes darting
+from flower to flower? How can
+you kill a thing which not only defies
+absolute zero but also the immeasurable
+heat which its friction with the
+atmosphere generated when it plunged
+toward the earth? How can you kill
+a thing that seems to have brains and
+nerves and bones and flesh of some
+strange substance that is harder and
+tougher than any earthly compound we
+have discovered?&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">He stopped</span> speaking for a moment.
+They listened to the voice that
+was broadcasting from the Worldwide
+Tower.</p>
+<p>&#8220;&ndash;&ndash;our planes have approached to
+within a few thousand feet of it and
+are playing their searchlights over the
+surface of the leviathan. It is not a
+meteorite of any kind that scientists
+have heretofore examined&ndash;&ndash;its surface
+is smooth and unpitted and shows no
+apparent effect of the tremendous heat
+to which it was subjected during its
+drop through the atmosphere. It seems
+to be immune to gravity&ndash;&ndash;its weight
+must be tremendous, and it is fully
+three-quarters of a mile long and between
+seven and eight hundred feet
+in diameter at its widest part, but it
+lies motionless&ndash;&ndash;motionless&ndash;&ndash;at about
+forty thousand feet.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It doesn&#8217;t appear now as if it
+would prove very dangerous,&#8221; remarked
+Dirk.</p>
+<p>&#8220;&ndash;&ndash;and people are warned again to
+maintain their composure and to go to
+their homes and remain there for their
+own protection and the protection of
+others. Riots and serious disturbances
+are reported from cities in all parts
+of the world&ndash;&ndash;mobs are swarming the
+streets of Manhattan and the other
+boroughs of New York, and the police
+are finding it difficult to restrain the
+frenzied populations in other centers....&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">There</span> was a pause, then, of some
+moments, and then the voice of
+the broadcaster, vibrant with excitement,
+was heard again.</p>
+<p>&#8220;&ndash;&ndash;a plane has made a landing on the
+surface of the monstrosity, which, it
+seems, has not only lost its heat but is
+becoming decidedly cold&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>A servant appeared from among the
+shrubbery and paused before Dirk.</p>
+<p>&#8220;There is a call for you, Mr. Vanderpool,&#8221;
+he said respectfully.</p>
+<p>Dirk excused himself and, entering
+the sumptuous apartment that opened
+from the terrace, went to the televisor.
+He saw the face of Sears, the chief
+secretary of Fragoni, in the glass
+panel.</p>
+<p>&#8220;There will be a meeting of the council
+at nine o&#8217;clock in the morning, Mr.
+Vanderpool,&#8221; came the voice over the
+wire.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thank you, Sears,&#8221; replied Dirk.
+&#8220;It happens that Stanton is here at the
+present time. Shall I notify him of the
+conclave?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;If you will, please,&#8221; Sears responded.
+&#8220;By the way, Mr. Vanderpool,
+is there anything wrong at your
+apartment? I tried to call you there
+before I located you here and I failed
+to get any response.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I guess that all of my servants have
+run out from under cover because of
+their fear of that thing in the sky,&#8221;
+Dirk responded. &#8220;Do you know anything
+about it, Sears?&#8221; he asked.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It will be discussed at the meeting
+to-morrow morning,&#8221; replied Sears
+shortly. &#8220;Good night, Mr. Vanderpool.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Dirk</span>, upon returning to the terrace,
+saw that both Stanton and
+Inga were silently and fearfully looking
+up into the night.</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_397' name='page_397'></a>397</span></div>
+<p>&#8220;A meeting of the council at nine
+o&#8217;clock in the morning, Stanton,&#8221; Dirk
+said abruptly. &#8220;I told Sears I would
+notify you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I thought that we would be called
+together very soon,&#8221; said Stanton. &#8220;It&#8217;s
+concerning that damn thing up there.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Perhaps,&#8221; agreed Dirk carelessly.
+&#8220;Well,&#8221; he added, &#8220;I believe that I will
+hop home and get some sleep.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Sleep!&#8221; exclaimed Stanton. &#8220;Sleep?
+On a night like this?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Dirk,&#8221; pleaded Inga, &#8220;stay here
+with me, won&#8217;t you? I am not going
+to bed because I just know that I
+wouldn&#8217;t be able to close my eyes.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Let him go, Inga, if he wants to
+sleep,&#8221; urged Stanton. &#8220;I will stay
+here and keep watch with you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;&ndash;&ndash;and if order is not restored in the
+streets of Manhattan within the course
+of a short time, the authorities will resort
+to morphite gas to quell the
+turbulence and rioting&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;The streets must be frightfully congested,&#8221;
+said Inga. &#8220;It is the first occasion
+in a long time that the police
+have had to threaten the use of morphite.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;&ndash;&ndash;we do not want to alarm people
+unnecessarily but we have to report,&#8221;
+came the hurried voice of the broadcaster,
+&#8220;that the monstrous mass that
+has been hanging above the city just
+made a sudden drop of five thousand
+feet and again came to a stop. It is
+now a little more than six miles over
+Manhattan and&ndash;&ndash;again it has dropped.
+This time it fell like a plummet for
+twelve thousand feet. It is now about
+twenty thousand feet, some four miles,
+above Manhattan and&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">A cry</span> of alarm came from the lips
+of Inga as she gazed upward and
+saw that gigantic, ominous-appearing
+object loom dim and vast in the darkness
+above them.</p>
+<p>She went to Dirk and threw her arms
+around him, as if she were clinging to
+him for protection.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t leave me, Dirk,&#8221; she whispered.
+&#8220;I can just feel that something
+terrible is going to happen, and I want
+you with me!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll stay with you, of course,&#8221; whispered
+Dirk. Something of that feeling
+of dread and apprehension which
+so fully possessed his two companions
+entered into his mind. &#8220;Don&#8217;t tremble
+so, Inga,&#8221; he pleaded. &#8220;It is a strange
+thing, but we will know more about it
+in the morning. Be calm until then,
+my dear, if you can.&#8221;</p>
+<p>He looked over the shoulder of the
+girl, whose face was buried against his
+breast, and he saw a hundred great red
+and green shafts of light shooting up
+into the air. Fleeting shadows seemed
+to pass swiftly up and down them, and
+he knew that thousands of planes were
+abroad, some of them seeking the
+heights and others dropping down.</p>
+<p>The great towers of Long Island
+were all aglow, and it was apparent
+that few people were sleeping that
+night. The scarlet sky over Manhattan
+indicated that the center of the metropolis,
+too, was alive to the menace of
+the weird visitant that now was so
+plainly visible.</p>
+<p>All night long they remained on the
+terrace. Dirk and <a name='TC_32'></a><ins class='trchange' title="Was 'Igna'">Inga</ins> seated close together
+and Stanton, at a distance,
+brooding alone over the disaster which
+he felt was impending.</p>
+<p>The illuminated dial of the great
+clock that was a part of the beacon-tower
+on the Metropole Landing Field
+told of the slow passing of the hours.</p>
+<p>All night long they listened to the
+reports that came through the radiovisor
+and watched that immobile,
+threatening monster of metal.</p>
+<p>But it remained static during the
+rest of the night. And, with the coming
+of a gray and sunless dawn, it still
+hung there, motionless, silent and sinister.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">The</span> next morning the President
+of the United States of the World,
+from the capitol at The Hague, issued
+a proclamation of martial law, to become
+effective at once in all <a name='TC_33'></a><ins class='trchange' title="Was 'part'">parts</ins> of the
+world.</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_398' name='page_398'></a>398</span></div>
+<p>The edict forbade people to leave
+their homes, and it was vigorously
+executed, wherever the police themselves
+were not in a state of demoralization.</p>
+<p>At about the same time a special
+meeting of the Supreme Congress was
+called, the body to remain in session
+until some solution of the mystery had
+been arrived at.</p>
+<p>At the same time that martial law
+was declared, however, and the special
+assemblage of lawmakers convened, a
+statement was issued in which an attempt
+was made to eliminate from the
+minds of the people the idea that the
+undefinable object above the metropolis
+was at all dangerous.</p>
+<p>It was, indeed, suggested that it very
+probably was some sort of new device
+which had been constructed on the
+earth and which was being introduced
+to the people of the world in a somewhat
+sensational manner by the person
+or persons who were responsible for it.</p>
+<p>The fears of the populace were, to
+some extent, allayed by this means, and
+some degree of order restored.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">At</span> nine o&#8217;clock Dirk Vanderpool
+was shown into the council chamber
+in the palace of Orlando Fragoni,
+and he was closely followed by Stanton.
+Fragoni was already there, and
+he greeted the two men with a countenance
+that was serene but that,
+nevertheless, revealed indications of
+concern. He was a man past middle
+age, tall and strikingly handsome in
+appearance. His eyes were dark and
+penetrating and his forehead, high and
+wide, was crowned by an abundance of
+snow-white hair. His voice, while
+pleasing to the ear, was vibrant with
+life and energy, and he spoke with the
+incisive directness of one accustomed
+to command.</p>
+<p>For Orlando Fragoni, as nearly as
+any one man might be, was the ruler
+of the world.</p>
+<p>It was in the early part of the twentieth
+century that wealth had commenced
+to concentrate into a relatively
+few hands. This was followed by a
+period in which vast mergers and consolidations
+had been effected as a result
+of the financial power and genius
+for organization which a few men possessed.
+A confederation of the countries
+of the world was brought about
+by industrial kings who had learned, in
+one devastating war, that militarism,
+while it might bring riches to a few,
+was, in the final analysis, destructive
+and wasteful.</p>
+<p>Mankind the world over, relieved of
+the menace of war, made more progress
+in a decade than they had made in any
+previous century, but all the time the
+invisible concentration of power and
+money continued.</p>
+<p>And, in 1975, the affairs of the world
+were controlled by five men, of whom
+Orlando Fragoni was the most powerful
+and most important.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">His</span> grandfather had been a small
+banker, and out of his obscure
+transactions the great House of
+Fragoni had arisen. The money power
+of the world was now controlled by
+Orlando Fragoni. Dirk Vanderpool,
+partly as a result of a vast inheritance
+and partly through his own ability and
+untiring industry, dominated the transportation
+facilities of the world. Planes
+and Zeppelins, railroad equipment and
+ships, were built in his plants and
+operated by the many organizations
+which he controlled.</p>
+<p>Stanton had inherited the agricultural
+activities of the world and, in addition
+to this, he was the sovereign of
+distribution. He owned immense acreages
+in all of the continents; he not
+only cultivated every known variety of
+produce, but also handled the sale of
+his products through his own great
+chains of stores. His father had been
+one of the great geniuses of the preceding
+generation, but Stanton, while
+inheriting the commercial empire
+which he had ruled, had not inherited
+much of the ability which had gone
+into the establishment of it.</p>
+<p>There were two other members of
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_399' name='page_399'></a>399</span>
+that invisible council of Five, the very
+existence of which was not even suspected
+by the general populace of the
+world.</p>
+<p>Sigmund Lazarre was the world&#8217;s
+mightiest builder, and millions of great
+structures, which were built of material
+from his own mines, were under
+his control. It was Lazarre, too, who
+owned the theaters and other amusement
+centers in which millions upon
+millions of people sought relaxation
+every day. The creation and application
+of electrical power made up the
+domain of Wilhelm Steinholt, who also
+owned the factories that made the machinery
+of the world.</p>
+<p>Absolute control of all of the necessities
+and luxuries of life, in fact, were
+in the hands of the five men, who used
+their vast power wisely and beneficently.</p>
+<p>Ostensibly the peoples of the world
+ruled themselves by means of a democratic
+form of government.</p>
+<p>In reality their lives were directed
+by a few men whose power and wealth
+were entirely unsuspected by any but
+those who were close to them.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">The</span> council room in which
+Fragoni had received Dirk and
+Stanton was lofty and sumptuously appointed.</p>
+<p>The rugs which covered the floor
+were soft to the tread, and the walls
+and ceiling were adorned with a series
+of murals which represented the various
+heavenly constellations.</p>
+<p>At the far end of the chamber there
+was a staircase, and Dirk was among
+those who knew that it led up to the
+great observatory in which Fragoni
+and certain of his scientific associates
+spent so much of their time at night.</p>
+<p>For men had commenced to talk
+about the conquest of the stars, and it
+was generally believed that it would
+not be many years more before a way
+would be found to traverse the interplanetary
+spaces.</p>
+<p>&#8220;We are rather fortunate, my
+friends,&#8221; Fragoni said to his two associates,
+&#8220;to have been the witnesses of
+the event that transpired last night.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Fortunate!&#8221; exclaimed Stanton.
+&#8220;Then you know that the thing is
+harmless?&#8221;</p>
+<p>A little smile lit the benign and
+scholarly countenance of Fragoni as he
+calmly regarded Stanton.</p>
+<p>&#8220;We know very little about it,&#8221; he
+replied after a brief pause, &#8220;and, if our
+surmises are correct, it may be very
+far from harmless. It is intensely interesting,
+nevertheless,&#8221; he continued,
+&#8220;because that thing, as you term it, unquestionably
+is directed by intelligence.
+Without the slightest doubt
+the people of the earth are about to behold
+a form of life from some far-away
+planet. What that form will be,&#8221; he
+added, with an almost imperceptible
+shrug of his shoulders, &#8220;it is impossible
+to forecast.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But it was so hot,&#8221; commenced
+Stanton, &#8220;that&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;True,&#8221; agreed Fragoni, &#8220;but it also
+is large and it may be that only the
+outer shell of it was affected by friction
+with the atmosphere that surrounds
+the earth. Nachbaren,&#8221; he continued,
+&#8220;is certain that there is intelligent
+life within it; and Nachbaren,&#8221; he
+added dryly, &#8220;is usually right.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">While</span> Fragoni had been speaking,
+two more men had quietly
+joined them.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Good morning, Lazarre,&#8221; Fragoni
+said, addressing a short, swarthy man
+who, very apparently, was of Jewish
+extraction.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Good morning,&#8221; the other replied in
+a soft and <a name='TC_34'></a><ins class='trchange' title="Was 'melifluous'">mellifluous</ins> voice. &#8220;It seems,&#8221;
+he continued, with a twinkle in his
+eyes, &#8220;as if some of my pretty buildings
+may be toppled over soon.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Maybe,&#8221; agreed Fragoni. &#8220;And
+maybe,&#8221; he added more seriously,
+&#8220;much more than your buildings will
+be toppled over, Lazarre.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That thing, then, is...?&#8221; questioned
+the heavy-set, slow-speaking,
+blue-eyed Teuton who had come into
+the room with Lazarre.</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_400' name='page_400'></a>400</span></div>
+<p>&#8220;We do not know, Steinholt,&#8221; admitted
+Fragoni, &#8220;but our knowledge
+undoubtedly will be increased considerably
+within the next few hours.
+And now,&#8221; he said, &#8220;we will consider
+the problem at hand.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;&ndash;&ndash;the object which has created such
+unrest is slowly rising. It is now some
+twenty-five thousand feet above Manhattan.
+It is&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>The voice from the radiovisor attracted
+the attention of the five men,
+and, with one accord, they rushed to
+the terrace and looked toward Manhattan.
+They saw the great leviathan
+high in the air for a moment, and then,
+suddenly, it seemed to vanish from
+sight.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s gone!&#8221; exclaimed Stanton, with
+a sigh of relief. &#8220;It must have been
+some odd atmospheric freak, that&#8217;s all.&#8221;</p>
+<p>They searched the skies through the
+luciscope that was on the terrace, but
+failed to detect any trace of the
+monster.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcapq'><small>&#8220;</small><span class="drop">T</span><span class="dcap">hat</span> seems to simplify matters,&#8221;
+remarked Fragoni as they
+again walked back into the great conference
+room. But here, once more,
+they heard the voice from the Worldwide
+Tower.</p>
+<p>&#8220;&ndash;&ndash;we are advised by Chicago that
+the thing, dull-red with heat, is hovering
+only a couple of thousand feet over
+the city. Thousands in the streets are
+being killed by the heat it is radiating&ndash;&ndash;panic
+reigns, despite a rigorous enforcement
+of martial law. The strange
+object just rose suddenly to a high altitude
+and disappeared&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s another one of those damned
+things,&#8221; asserted Stanton. &#8220;That
+couldn&#8217;t go a thousand miles a minute!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It can go faster than that, if I am
+not mistaken,&#8221; said Fragoni. And it
+presently appeared that he was right,
+for in a couple of minutes the radiovisor
+transmitted the news that it was
+over San Francisco, where it remained
+for only a few seconds. It was not
+more than a minute later that word
+came from Shanghai that it had passed
+slowly over that city. Then again it
+was poised high over Manhattan, crimson
+with heat.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Is there any possible defense
+against it, Steinholt?&#8221; Fragoni asked.
+The Teuton shook his head with an
+air of finality.</p>
+<p>&#8220;None,&#8221; he said, &#8220;as far as I can determine
+now. We can create and direct
+artificial lightning that would reduce
+this building to a mass of powdered
+stone and fused metal in a fraction
+of a second. But I am certain
+that it wouldn&#8217;t leave as much as a
+scratch on that monster up there. We
+might try the Z-Rays on it, but an intelligence
+that could devise such a craft
+would undoubtedly have the wisdom to
+protect it against such an elementary
+menace as rays. Even the mightiest
+explosives that we have wouldn&#8217;t send
+a tremor through that mighty mass.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcapq'><small>&#8220;</small><span class="drop">W</span><span class="dcap">hy</span> not await developments?&#8221;
+asked Dirk. &#8220;We do not even
+know the nature of the thing we are
+trying to combat.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s solid metal,&#8221; insisted Stanton
+tenaciously. &#8220;It&#8217;s a metal body with
+a metal brain.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t be ridiculous,&#8221; said Steinholt.
+&#8220;It seems quite apparent that the craft
+has come from another planet, and, if
+I am not greatly mistaken, there are
+intelligent creatures inside it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;In any event,&#8221; said Dirk, &#8220;it seems
+impractical to make any plans until
+we know more about it. I suggest that
+we empower Fragoni to act for the
+rest of us in this matter.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That is very agreeable to me,&#8221; said
+Steinholt. &#8220;A crisis very possibly
+may arise in which the quick judgment
+of one man may be necessary to avert
+the danger that always is inherent in
+delay.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You hold my proxy,&#8221; Lazarre said
+to Fragoni, &#8220;and I assume that Stanton
+is agreeable to this procedure.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;&ndash;&ndash;the thing is moving very slowly
+eastward in the direction of Long
+Island Sound. It is, at the same time,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_401' name='page_401'></a>401</span>
+losing altitude. Its movements are being
+carefully watched. As yet we see
+no cause for immediate alarm&ndash;&ndash;people
+are advised to remain calm&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, I am agreeable,&#8221; said Stanton
+nervously and hastily. &#8220;If there are
+things in it with which we can compromise,
+I would suggest that we do
+not offend them.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am, then, empowered to act for
+all of you,&#8221; said Fragoni, ignoring the
+suggestion of Stanton.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">He</span> rose from his chair and walked
+out on the terrace. The others
+followed after him.</p>
+<p>Looking westward, they saw the
+mammoth craft descending slowly in
+their direction.</p>
+<p>Its vast dimensions became more and
+more apparent as, spellbound, they
+watched it approach closer and closer
+to them.</p>
+<p>The thing in the sky was now not
+more than three thousand feet above
+them and only a few miles to the westward.</p>
+<p>The observers on the terrace regarded
+it for a moment in silence as it
+drifted forward and downward.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s colossal!&#8221; <a name='TC_35'></a><ins class='trchange' title="Was 'Steinhold'">Steinholt</ins> then exclaimed,
+lost in scientific admiration of
+the mammoth craft. &#8220;Magnificent!
+Superb!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But it&#8217;s coming right toward us!&#8221;
+cried Stanton.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What makes it move, I wonder?&#8221;
+asked Dirk. &#8220;And how in the world
+is it controlled?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It surely is not of this world,&#8221; said
+Fragoni quietly. &#8220;That gigantic thing
+has come to us from somewhere out
+of the infinite and terrible depths of
+space.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Another</span> minute elapsed while
+they watched it, speechless with
+wonder.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Do you know,&#8221; Lazarre then said
+calmly, &#8220;I believe that it is going to
+land in the waters of the Sound. It
+appears so to me, anyway.&#8221;</p>
+<p>It was nearly opposite them by this
+time, and not more than a thousand
+feet above the water. A few planes
+which, very apparently, were being
+flown by intrepid and fearless flyers,
+were hovering close around it.</p>
+<p>Then finally it came to rest, as Lazarre
+had predicted, in the water some
+two miles off shore, and it was obscured
+by a great cloud of vapor for several
+minutes.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Steam,&#8221; asserted Steinholt. &#8220;That
+trip around the world, which it made
+in a few minutes, generated considerable
+frictional heat in the shell.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come,&#8221; said Fragoni, &#8220;we&#8217;ll fly out
+and look the thing over.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Around the corner of the building,
+on the level of the terrace, there was
+a landing stage which was occupied by
+a number of planes of various sizes.</p>
+<p>Dirk entered the door of a small
+twenty passenger speedster, and the
+others filed in after him.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Ready?&#8221; he asked, after he had seated
+himself at the controls.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Ready!&#8221; replied Fragoni.</p>
+<p>The plane rose straight up into the
+air and then darted gracefully out over
+the Sound.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Dirk</span> swooped straight down at the
+leviathan which lay so quietly
+on the surface of the Sound and then
+slowly circled around it. No sign of
+an aperture of any sort could be seen
+in the craft. Then he dropped the
+plane lightly on the water, close to the
+metallic monster, which towered fully
+four hundred feet above them, despite
+the fact that more than half of it was
+submerged.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It must be hollow,&#8221; remarked Steinholt,
+&#8220;or it wouldn&#8217;t be so far out of
+the water. In fact, it most certainly
+would sink, if it was solid.&#8221;</p>
+<p>At the touch of a lever which lay
+under one of Dirk&#8217;s hands the plane
+rose straight out of the water, and he
+maneuvered it directly over the top of
+the strange enigma. Then he touched
+a button and the pontoons were drawn
+up into the undercarriage of the craft.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Shall I make a landing on it?&#8221; he
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_402' name='page_402'></a>402</span>
+asked, turning his head and addressing
+Fragoni.</p>
+<p>The latter nodded his head, and Dirk
+dropped the ship gently onto the
+smooth surface of the monster, the
+pneumatic gearing completely absorbing
+the shock of the landing.</p>
+<p>Dirk relinquished the controls and,
+opening the door of the cabin, he
+stepped out onto the rough and pitted
+substance of which the leviathan was
+compounded. He stood there while the
+others came out after him.</p>
+<p>A large area on the top of the monster
+was perfectly flat and, within a
+very few moments, Dirk discovered
+that it was decidedly warm. He had
+brought the plane down close to the
+middle of the length of the strange
+craft in the belief that there, if anywhere,
+some indication of an entrance
+might be found.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">The</span> voice of Steinholt, tense with
+suppressed excitement, appraised
+him that his surmise had been correct.</p>
+<p>&#8220;There is a manhole of some sort,&#8221;
+the electrical wizard exclaimed. &#8220;And
+look, it is turning!&#8221;</p>
+<p>They saw, not far ahead of them, a
+circular twelve-foot section of the deck
+slowly revolving, and, even as they
+watched, it commenced to rise slowly
+upward as the threads with which it
+was provided turned gradually around.</p>
+<p>Almost involuntarily they retreated
+a few feet and stood there, spellbound,
+as they stared at the massive, revolving
+section of the deck.</p>
+<p>It continued to turn until fully ten
+feet of the mobile cylinder had been
+exposed. Then the bottom of it appeared.
+Even then it continued to revolve
+and rise on a comparatively small
+shaft which supported it and, at the
+same time, thrust it upward. Dirk and
+his companions kept their eyes on the
+rim of the well which had been exposed,
+and awaited the appearance of
+something, they knew not what. When
+the top of the great cylinder was fully
+twelve feet above the deck of the craft
+it slowly ceased to revolve.</p>
+<p>Moment succeeded moment as the
+members of the little group rigidly and
+almost breathlessly awaited developments.</p>
+<p>Then Dirk, with an impatient ejaculation,
+stepped forward toward the
+yawning hole and cautiously peered
+over the edge of it.</p>
+<p>He stood there for a moment, as if
+transfixed, and then, with an exclamation
+of horror, retreated swiftly to
+where his friends were standing.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcapq'><small>&#8220;</small><span class="drop">W</span><span class="dcap">hat</span> is it?&#8221; gasped Steinholt.
+&#8220;What did you see when&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>But the words died on his lips for,
+swarming swiftly over every side of
+the well, there poured an array of erect,
+piercing-eyed beings, who had all the
+characteristics of humans. They were
+clad in tight-fitting attire of thin and
+pliant metal which, with the exception
+of their faces, shielded them from
+head to foot. On their heads they
+wore close-fitting helmets, apparently
+equipped with visors which could be
+drawn down to cover their unprepossessing
+features.</p>
+<p>Each one of them carried a tube
+which bore a striking resemblance to
+a portable electric flashlight.</p>
+<p>Swiftly they advanced, in ranks of
+eight, toward Dirk and his companions
+who, gripped with amazement, held
+their positions.</p>
+<p>The first line came to a halt not
+more than four feet from the little
+group on the deck. The other lines
+halted, too, and formed a great platoon.
+Then a shrill whistle sounded and the
+formation parted in the middle, leaving
+an open path that led backward
+to the entrance, to the well.</p>
+<p>A moment later the watchers saw the
+regal figure of a man emerge from the
+orifice and, after a moment&#8217;s pause, advance
+slowly in their direction with a
+stately stride.</p>
+<p>He was tall and muscular and blond
+and his attire, golden in texture, glittered
+with sparkling gems.</p>
+<p>As he approached them he raised his
+right hand and, inasmuch as his countenance
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_403' name='page_403'></a>403</span>
+was calm and benign, his gesture
+appeared to be one of peace and
+good-will.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Following</span> close behind him
+there was a younger man who, very
+apparently, was of the same lineage.
+His expression, however, was petulant
+and haughty and it contained more
+than a suggestion of rapacity and evil.</p>
+<p>Behind him there were others of the
+same fair type, all of them sumptuously
+and ornately attired.</p>
+<p>Fragoni stepped forward, himself a
+dignified and striking figure, as the
+leader of the strange adventurers came
+forth from the lane that had been
+formed by his immobile guard of warriors.</p>
+<p>The two men confronted each other,
+one whose power and wealth gave him
+a dominate position on earth, and the
+other a personage from some domain
+that was remote in the abyss of space.</p>
+<p>Fragoni bowed and spoke a few
+friendly words of welcome and the
+stranger, to the utter amazement of
+the banker and his associates, responded
+in an English that was rather peculiar
+in accent but that they could understand
+without any difficulty.</p>
+<p>&#8220;From what part of the world do
+you come,&#8221; asked the astounded Fragoni,
+&#8220;that you speak our language?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;We come from no part of this
+world,&#8221; replied the stranger. &#8220;The empire
+of my ruler is infinitely far away.
+But language, my friend, is not a thing
+of accident. Life grows out of the
+substance of the universe and language
+comes out of life. The speech of mankind,
+in your state of development,
+varies but little throughout all space
+and I have heard your English, as you
+call it, spoken among those who dwell
+in many, many worlds.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And your world?&#8221; asked Steinholt
+with avid curiosity. &#8220;Tell us of the
+planet from which you come.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">But</span> Fragoni, smiling at the eagerness
+of Steinholt, interposed with
+a kindly but arresting gesture.</p>
+<p>&#8220;My name is Fragoni,&#8221; he said to the
+stranger, &#8220;and I would have you partake,
+of my hospitality and refresh
+yourself after your long journey.
+These,&#8221; he added, &#8220;are my friends,
+Steinholt, Vanderpool and Lazarre.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am Teuxical, vassal of his Supreme
+Highness, Malfero of Lodore,&#8221;
+the other replied. &#8220;This is my son,
+Zitlan,&#8221; he continued, indicating the
+young man behind him, &#8220;and the others
+are my high captains, Anteucan,
+Orzitza and Huazibar. More of my
+officers are below together with ten
+thousand armed and armored men such
+as you see before you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>If the last part of the statement was
+intended as a threat or a warning, the
+expression on Fragoni&#8217;s face gave no
+indication that he was aware of it.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You carry a large crew, sir,&#8221; Fragoni
+replied, &#8220;but we gladly will make
+provisions for all of your men. As
+for yourself, your son, and your captains,
+if you will come with me....&#8221;</p>
+<p>He nodded in the direction of the
+plane which rested on the great interplanetary
+vessel and started to walk
+slowly in the direction of it. The
+leader of the skymen walked by his
+side and the other men from Lodore
+followed close after them.</p>
+<p>Dirk, Steinholt and Lazarre brought
+up the rear, while the soldiers remained
+motionless in their serried array.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Innumerable</span> planes were circling
+overhead and hundreds of
+them had landed on the water in the
+vicinity. Dirk saw that the wanderers
+from the stars regarded them curiously
+as if they never before had seen aircraft
+of that particular type.</p>
+<p>When the cabin door of the plane
+was thrown open, Teuxical turned to
+one of his captains.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Remain here, Anteucan, with the
+soldiers,&#8221; he commanded, &#8220;and await
+our return.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Teuxical then entered the plane with
+his men and Fragoni, Steinholt and Lazarre
+followed after them. Then Dirk
+took his seat at the controls.</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_404' name='page_404'></a>404</span></div>
+<p>&#8220;These are strange craft you use,&#8221;
+he heard Teuxical say. &#8220;I have seen
+them in only one of the multitude of
+other worlds on which I have set my
+feet, worlds which all pay tribute to
+Malfero of Lodore. It is safer and
+swifter to ride the magnetic currents
+than it is to ride the unstable currents
+of the air.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Dirk caught the significance of the
+reference to tribute and he admired
+the clever diplomacy of Teuxical while,
+at the same time, he wondered if the
+earth and all of those who dwelt upon
+it were doomed to fall under the sway
+of some remote and unseen despot.</p>
+<p>He also realized that the Lodorians
+had, in some way, devised a craft that
+rode the great magnetic streams which
+flowed through the universe in much
+the same way that men, in ships, navigated
+the streams of the earth.</p>
+<p>He threw on the helicopter switch
+and the plane rose swiftly into the air,
+the myriad other flying craft which
+were circling nearby keeping at a safe
+distance from it.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Land on the grand terrace,&#8221; Fragoni
+directed. The flight was short
+and rapid and it was only a matter of
+seconds before Dirk brought the plane
+down on the landing stage which they
+had left only a scant half-hour before.</p>
+<p>He opened the cabin door and
+stepped out of the plane and the others
+filed out after him.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Fragoni</span> led the way along the
+stage, walking and chatting with
+Teuxical, and Dirk, following after the
+others, was the last to turn a corner
+that brought him a sweeping view of
+the magnificent terrace that fronted the
+private apartments of the banker and
+his daughter.</p>
+<p>And, when he did, he saw that Inga
+was standing there, superbly beautiful,
+with Stanton a few paces behind her.</p>
+<p>Her lovely eyes were alive with awe
+and wonder and her slender white
+hands were crossed over her heart.</p>
+<p>And Dirk saw, too, that Zitlan, son
+of Teuxical, had paused and was standing
+quite still, with his unwavering and
+insolent eyes fixed on the girl. Resentment,
+and a touch of apprehension,
+agitated Dirk when he saw the expression
+on the face of the young Lodorian.</p>
+<p>There was admiration in that disagreeable
+countenance, but it was
+blended with arrogance, haughtiness
+and ill-concealed desire.</p>
+<p>Dirk went quickly to Inga, standing
+between the girl and the one from
+Lodore who was staring at her so brazenly.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What does it all mean, Dirk?&#8221; she
+asked in a low voice. &#8220;Those strange
+people, where are they from?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Stanton had come quickly forward
+and had joined Inga and Dirk.</p>
+<p>&#8220;They are from some far-off world,
+Inga,&#8221; he explained, &#8220;that we know
+nothing about as yet.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But what do they want?&#8221; she persisted.
+&#8220;What do they intend to do?
+I saw those horrible creatures through
+the magnascope when they came
+swarming out of the inside of that
+thing on the water and I thought, at
+first, that they were going to kill you
+all.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, they seem to come in peace,&#8221;
+Dirk replied. &#8220;Teuxical, their leader,
+seems to be gracious and kindly.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcapq'><small>&#8220;</small><span class="drop">W</span><span class="dcap">e</span> are all doomed,&#8221; asserted
+Stanton, &#8220;unless something
+happens. They can crumble our cities
+with heat and bury us under the ruins
+of them.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Keep your silence!&#8221; breathed Dirk,
+quietly but tensely. &#8220;We will find a
+way to destroy those creatures if it
+becomes necessary.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That man who keeps staring at me,
+who is he?&#8221; asked Inga in a voice that
+betrayed her nervousness.</p>
+<p>Dirk turned and saw that Zitlan was
+still standing where he had paused and
+that he still was looking with searching
+eyes in the direction of the girl.</p>
+<p>He returned the insolent gaze of the
+young Lodorian with an impatient and
+threatening stare and the countenance
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_405' name='page_405'></a>405</span>
+of Zitlan at once became stern and
+menacing. He came striding in the
+direction of Inga, Dirk and Stanton
+and paused within a few feet of them,
+his rapacious eyes still fixed on the
+girl.</p>
+<p>&#8220;My lady,&#8221; he said, &#8220;your beauty
+pleases me. I have walked on many
+worlds but never before have I seen
+one as lovely as yourself. Of the spoils
+of this world, all that I crave possession
+of is you. When we return to
+Lodore,&#8221; he added with an air of finality,
+&#8220;I will take you with me and place
+you with my other women in the Seraglio
+of the Stars.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Dirk swiftly stepped close to Zitlan
+and the latter quickly clasped a tube
+that hung at his side, a tube of the
+sort that the soldiers had carried.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Your words and your manner are
+insolent,&#8221; asserted Dirk angrily, &#8220;and
+I warn you now to cease making yourself
+offensive.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Dog!&#8221; exclaimed Zitlan fiercely,
+leveling the metal tube, &#8220;I&#8217;ll&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>But the left fist of Dirk cut short
+his threat as it made a sudden impact
+with his chin, and the Lodorian went
+crashing backward into some exotic
+shrubbery with a look of surprise on
+his countenance.</p>
+<p>Then Dirk heard an odd hissing and
+crackling sound, and he felt himself
+becoming dizzy and weak.</p>
+<p>Darkness seemed to sweep in upon
+him; he felt that he was dropping
+swiftly through space, and then he lost
+consciousness.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">A vague</span> and shadowy figure was
+standing close by his side and
+peering down into his face. After a
+while he realized that it was Steinholt.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Steinholt!&#8221; he gasped. &#8220;Why&ndash;&ndash;why
+am I here&ndash;&ndash;in Fragoni&#8217;s? I must have
+had a dream&ndash;&ndash;and yet....&#8221;</p>
+<p>He furrowed his brow in thought
+and, gradually, he commenced to remember
+what had happened.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It was no dream,&#8221; said the scientist
+softly. &#8220;Do you remember the trouble
+that you had with Zitlan?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; replied Dirk. &#8220;I remember
+that he was insolent to Inga and that
+I lost my temper and struck him. But
+what happened to me? I don&#8217;t recall
+that anybody hit me. I did hear sort
+of a peculiar sound just before I started
+to pass out, but&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Teuxical took a shot at you,&#8221; said
+Steinholt, &#8220;and you have been unconscious
+for over thirty-six hours.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Took a shot at me!&#8221; exclaimed
+Dirk. &#8220;What did he shoot me with?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That is what we all would like to
+know,&#8221; said Steinholt. &#8220;He leveled
+one of those damn tubes at you and
+pressed a button on it. There was a
+hissing sound, a flash of light, and you
+got groggy, and went out. He potted
+Zitlan, too,&#8221; continued Steinholt, &#8220;and
+he apologized for the trouble that his
+son was responsible for. Do you
+know,&#8221; he added, &#8220;I sort of like the
+old man.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Lazarre</span>, with a sympathetic
+smile on his face, entered the
+room at that moment and overheard
+the conversation.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Old man is right,&#8221; he remarked,
+with a little note of awe in his voice.
+&#8220;Teuxical admits that he is three thousand
+years old and that he has at least
+two thousand more ahead of him. That
+Lodore must be a queer world,&#8221; he
+commented, shaking his grizzly head.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is not so queer when you take
+everything into consideration,&#8221; said
+Steinholt. &#8220;It seems quite natural
+when Teuxical explains it. Lodore it
+seems, is something like a hundred
+thousand times as big as this miniature
+world we live on. It took Lodore
+infinitely longer to solidify from a gaseous
+state than it took this world, and
+its entire evolution has been relatively
+slower than ours. Therefore, according
+to Teuxical, the people up there
+live longer and, incidentally, know infinitely
+more than we do.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcapq'><small>&#8220;</small><span class="drop">W</span><span class="dcap">hat</span> time is it now?&#8221; asked
+Dirk, after a moment of
+thought.</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_406' name='page_406'></a>406</span></div>
+<p>&#8220;It is just about twelve o&#8217;clock at
+night,&#8221; Steinholt informed him.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Have these Lodorians made any demands
+yet?&#8221; Dirk asked. &#8220;Does anybody
+know what they are going to do
+or what they want?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;They are liable to do almost anything,&#8221;
+said Lazarre, &#8220;and it looks as
+though they will be able to get anything
+that they want. Teuxical, as I
+understand it, just gave you a slight
+shock with his death-ray device. If
+he had pulled the trigger all the way
+you would have become just a little
+pile of dust that the first breeze would
+have blown away.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Our own death-rays are somewhat
+similar,&#8221; said Steinholt, &#8220;but they are
+not a hundredth as powerful. And
+they won&#8217;t work on the Lodorians,
+either,&#8221; he added, &#8220;because those metal
+sheaths that they wear make them immune
+to all kinds of destructive rays.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcapq'><small>&#8220;</small><span class="drop">I</span><span class="dcap">t</span> appears,&#8221; remarked Lazarre morosely,
+&#8220;as if this little world of
+ours is going to be taken for a ride.
+And it&#8217;s too bad, considering that it&#8217;s
+the only world we&#8217;ve got. There has
+been no formal presentation of demands
+yet, but it seems to be sort of
+understood that the earth is going to
+become a tributary of Lodore. It is a
+good thing,&#8221; he added, &#8220;that Teuxical,
+and not Zitlan, is the boss of that outfit.
+I don&#8217;t like the looks of that
+young fellow. He&#8217;s only twelve hundred
+years old and he is sort of hot-blooded,
+I guess.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I was talking with Anteucan,&#8221; said
+Steinholt, &#8220;and he told me that the
+Lodorians usually make heavy levies
+on worlds which they discover and
+dominate. As soon as Teuxical returns
+to Lodore and announces a new discovery
+a fleet of those damned monsters
+is sent out to mop up the new planet.
+That Malfero, who is the emperor of
+Lodore, is considerable of a monarch,
+and it seems that he has a passion for
+piling up wealth. Gold and platinum
+are as precious on Lodore as they are
+here and he also likes pretty stones.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And what is worse,&#8221; added Steinholt,
+&#8220;is his practice of enslaving entire
+populations and making toilers or
+warriors out of them. Those soldiers
+on the ship are not Lodorians. Millions
+of them were seized on some
+planet and converted into troops. It
+was a strange conversion, too,&#8221; said
+Steinholt with a shudder. &#8220;Their
+brains were operated on and most of
+their faculties removed. They have no
+sense of fear, no consciences, no power
+of reasoning. They respond only to
+certain signals on a whistle and their
+only definite and active impulse is that
+of murder and destruction.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;There is nothing to do,&#8221; said Dirk
+positively, &#8220;but to kill all of these interlopers,
+if we hope to save our world
+from being desolated.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">The</span> three men looked at each other
+in silence for a moment and then
+Dirk, somewhat weakly, rose into a
+sitting position in the bed which he
+had been occupying.</p>
+<p>&#8220;But how,&#8221; asked Steinholt, &#8220;can we
+kill them? We might, of course, get
+rid of a few of them, but that simply
+would lead to our destruction by those
+who were left.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;There must be some way,&#8221; asserted
+Dirk, &#8220;and it is up to us to think of
+it without delay. If we let those
+Lodorians get a foothold on the world
+all will be lost.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;The old man seems to be reasonable
+enough,&#8221; said Lazarre. &#8220;He doesn&#8217;t
+seem inclined to be destructive.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;We must not trust him or any of
+the others,&#8221; said Dirk imperatively.
+&#8220;We must rid the earth of every one
+of them. And the sooner we strike the
+better!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It had best be soon if it is to be at
+all,&#8221; said Steinholt. &#8220;Fragoni has arranged
+to have Teuxical appear before
+the Congress, and the meeting has been
+called for to-night when, I imagine,
+certain specific demands will be made
+upon us. We all will go to The Hague
+together on the ship of the Lodorians.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And we leave?&#8221; questioned Dirk.</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_407' name='page_407'></a>407</span></div>
+<p>&#8220;The meeting is set for ten P.&nbsp;M.,
+New York time,&#8221; said Lazarre. &#8220;We
+will start east at about four o&#8217;clock in
+the morning, I guess, because it will
+only take a minute or so to arrive at
+our destination.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Is Fragoni going?&#8221; asked Dirk.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Naturally,&#8221; replied Lazarre.</p>
+<p>&#8220;And Inga?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I believe so,&#8221; Lazarre told him.
+&#8220;Fragoni was both afraid to take her
+and to leave her behind, but finally he
+decided that he wanted her with him in
+case of trouble.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcapq'><small>&#8220;</small><span class="drop">A</span><span class="dcap">nd</span> are they&ndash;&ndash;the Lodorians&ndash;&ndash;still
+here?&#8221; queried Dirk.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; responded Lazarre. &#8220;Teuxical
+returned to his ship last night with
+Zitlan and his other followers, but they
+came back late this afternoon, and they
+are still here. Zitlan seemed to be all
+right this afternoon, too. They must
+have used some means of bringing him
+out of the daze that he was in. We
+did everything we could to revive you,
+but none of our measures were effective.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m all right now,&#8221; asserted Dirk,
+as he finished attiring himself. &#8220;I want
+to see Fragoni at once.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;We&#8217;ll go out on the terrace then,&#8221;
+said Steinholt. &#8220;They are all out
+there.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Dirk, with his two companions,
+strolled out through the maze of rooms
+and corridors that led to the garden
+which hung so high above the city and
+the Sound below it.</p>
+<p>The first thing that Dirk saw, when
+he passed out onto the terrace, was the
+white tunic of Inga, who was leaning
+against a coping and talking with
+Zitlan.</p>
+<p>The latter was pointing skyward and,
+very apparently, he was telling her of
+worlds which circled high among the
+stars.</p>
+<p>As if she were suddenly aware of his
+presence, Inga turned and saw Dirk
+and he realized, by the expression on
+her face, that she was distraught and
+nervous. She came toward him quickly,
+after a few words to Zitlan, and the
+face of the latter darkened. There was
+hatred in his expression as he stared
+malevolently at Dirk.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Steinholt</span> and Lazarre passed
+along and joined Fragoni and
+Teuxical, who were the center of a
+group that had formed in another part
+of the terrace.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Dirk,&#8221; said Inga, &#8220;I am so
+afraid of that frightful Zitlan. He has
+been telling me again that he is going
+to take me back to his own world with
+him and it makes me shudder to think
+of it. He is so strange and queer and
+his eyes are so terrible. He can&#8217;t be as
+young as he looks, because he speaks
+of years like we speak of minutes. I
+will die if I ever find myself in that
+monster&#8217;s power! He has been telling
+me of all the creatures he has slain on
+the worlds on which he has landed, and
+I tell you, Dirk, that he is cruel and
+ruthless and horrible.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;He will never have you!&#8221; swore
+Dirk. &#8220;And if I hear of any more of
+his insolence, I will throw him headlong
+from this terrace.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Please, Dirk,&#8221; she begged, &#8220;don&#8217;t
+do anything&ndash;&ndash;not yet. He is utterly
+unscrupulous, Dirk. He told me that,
+even now, he is plotting against some
+Malfero who rules Lodore like a god,
+and that he is planning to seize the
+throne of the planet. He wants to make
+me the queen of that fearful world
+when he becomes king. He boasted
+that, if I were on the throne, millions
+of people from other worlds would be
+sacrificed in my honor in the temples
+of Lodore.&#8221; Her voice trembled and
+her eyes were terror-stricken as she
+continued. &#8220;They tear out the hearts
+of living victims,&#8221; she whispered, &#8220;and
+burn them on their high and mammoth
+pyramids.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Rage</span> took possession of Dirk and,
+casting a glance at Zitlan, he saw
+that the Lodorian was smiling insolently
+at him.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll kill that beast, if it&#8217;s the last
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_408' name='page_408'></a>408</span>
+thing that I do!&#8221; he exclaimed to Inga.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Dirk, Dirk,&#8221; she implored, &#8220;don&#8217;t
+even look at him. He is proud and impetuous,
+and he will kill you in defiance
+of his own father.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;We will find some way to rid the
+world of the scourge that has descended
+upon it,&#8221; asserted Dirk confidently,
+&#8220;and he will die with the rest of that
+monstrous crew.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am going in, Dirk,&#8221; Inga said.
+&#8220;Please,&#8221; she begged, &#8220;don&#8217;t do anything
+rash. If&ndash;&ndash;something&ndash;&ndash;should
+happen to you, I would lose all the
+hope that I have and I would, I think,
+kill myself.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t lose hope, my dear,&#8221; said Dirk
+reassuringly. &#8220;I believe that I know
+of a way to destroy the plague that
+menaces us.&#8221;</p>
+<p>He pressed her hand and, after she
+left him, he walked over and joined
+the other men on the terrace. Zitlan,
+coming from the terrace wall, stretched
+out in a chair not far from Dirk.</p>
+<p>Teuxical regarded the latter with
+a countenance that was calm and
+amicable. &#8220;I am sorry, my young
+friend,&#8221; he apologized, &#8220;that I had to
+intervene between you and my son.&#8221;
+He paused a moment and sat in silence,
+a thoughtful expression on his face.
+&#8220;Ah,&#8221; he then said, &#8220;what disasters
+have arisen out of the desire of men
+for women. In my wanderings over
+the starlit worlds, I have seen....&#8221; He
+ceased speaking, brooded for a moment,
+and then shook his head slowly.
+&#8220;But you cannot say that I was not
+just,&#8221; he continued, addressing Dirk.
+&#8220;I punished Zitlan for his presumption.
+Fragoni tells me that the woman
+has pledged herself to you. Let her
+pledge be kept!&#8221; he exclaimed sternly,
+looking straight at Zitlan.</p>
+<p>&#8220;We are the conquerors,&#8221; asserted
+the latter boldly, &#8220;and to us should belong
+the spoils of our daring!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Silence!&#8221; thundered Teuxical. &#8220;My
+own son, above all others, shall be
+obedient to my commands! Or, like
+others have done, he shall die because
+of insubordination!&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Zitlan</span>, a defiant expression on
+his face, ceased to speak, but Dirk
+could see that he was livid with suppressed
+rage.</p>
+<p>&#8220;As I was saying,&#8221; Teuxical remarked,
+turning to Fragoni, &#8220;I am getting
+old and long have I been weary
+of conquest. I have seen your world
+and it pleases me. It is a tiny and
+peaceful place, far removed from the
+strife and turbulence of the restless
+centers of the universe. So it is my
+will to leave you unscathed and return
+to Lodore for a brief time to ask of the
+mighty Malfero the grant of this little
+provincial land. And then, with his
+permission, I will return here and rule
+it with wisdom and benevolence.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I will bring to you much knowledge,
+and peace will be to the people of this
+earth and peace will be to me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is well,&#8221; replied Fragoni. &#8220;No
+world, I am certain, could hope for a
+wiser and more just ruler than yourself,
+and our Congress surely will receive
+you with acclaim.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Teuxical bowed in recognition of the
+compliment, and his countenance indicated
+that he was gratified.</p>
+<p>&#8220;We will go, now, back to our vessel,&#8221;
+he said, addressing the other
+Lodorians. &#8220;We will return for you
+at the appointed hour and conduct you
+to our ship,&#8221; he added, speaking to
+Fragoni.</p>
+<p>&#8220;We will be ready,&#8221; Fragoni replied.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Zitlan</span> had arisen with the rest of
+them and Dirk, with a look of
+contempt and amusement in his eyes,
+regarded him casually.</p>
+<p>&#8220;May I have the honor of conducting
+our guests back to their ship in a
+plane?&#8221; Stanton requested of Fragoni.</p>
+<p>The latter nodded and Stanton
+walked across the terrace in the direction
+of the landing stage.</p>
+<p>Zitlan, as he followed after the
+others, passed close to Dirk and, pausing
+for a moment, fixed his hateful eyes
+on him.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You dog,&#8221; he whispered malignantly,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_409' name='page_409'></a>409</span>
+&#8220;remember what I tell you! The
+time will come when I will cast you
+to the carnaphlocti in the dark and icy
+caverns of sunless Tiganda. You will
+die,&#8221; he swore, &#8220;the death of a million
+agonies!&#8221;</p>
+<p>For a moment Dirk felt an almost irresistible
+impulse to hurl himself on
+the Lodorian and slay him.</p>
+<p>He managed to maintain his control,
+however, and only regarded Zitlan with
+disdain as the latter turned and went
+on his way.</p>
+<p>In another moment the plane, containing
+Stanton and the Lodorians, was
+high up in the darkness.</p>
+<p>Dirk glanced at the great clock that
+gleamed atop of the beacon-tower on
+the Metropole Landing Field.</p>
+<p>The hour was close to twelve-thirty
+A.&nbsp;M.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">A moment</span> of silence on the terrace
+followed the departure of
+the plane that bore the Lodorians back
+to their craft.</p>
+<p>For an hour the clouds had been
+gathering in the sky and now a fine,
+cold rain commenced to fall.</p>
+<p>A peal of thunder echoed above them
+after a sharp flash of lightning had
+streaked across the black night above
+them.</p>
+<p>A servant appeared from the entrance
+to the apartment and pressed a
+button close to the door.</p>
+<p>Protective plates of glass noiselessly
+enveloped the terrace, sheltering those
+upon it from the inclement weather.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is well,&#8221; remarked Fragoni,
+breaking the silence, &#8220;that we were
+found by a leader like Teuxical. Our
+tribute will not be unbearable, and he
+will bestow many benefits upon us.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But surely,&#8221; protested Dirk, &#8220;you
+do not intend to surrender without a
+struggle! Nothing but disaster,&#8221; he
+asserted earnestly, &#8220;will come upon the
+earth if you do. Teuxical may be
+honest and just but, after all, he
+neither is immortal nor all-powerful,
+and something may happen to him at
+any moment. And there are those like
+Zitlan who would turn the world over
+to ravage and rape, and then convert it
+into a blazing pyre, if they had their
+way. These vandals,&#8221; he insisted,
+&#8220;must be slain one and all, or, mark
+my words, our world will be laid
+waste.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Dirk</span> spoke with such a sense of
+conviction that his words held
+his listeners spellbound.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Who is Teuxical,&#8221; he asked, &#8220;but
+the vassal of a monarch whose corsairs,
+very apparently, are carrying on a war
+of conquest in the universe? It will
+be disastrous, I say, to place any dependence
+in the good will of this one
+Lodorian. If he, or any of his men, return
+to that far-off planet where they
+dwell word will be carried there of the
+existence of our world. But who can
+say that Teuxical ever will return here
+again? It may be the whim of his
+ruler to refuse his request, or any one
+of a thousand other events might arise
+to thwart his desire to live among us.
+No,&#8221; concluded Dirk passionately, &#8220;it
+never will do to let that great engine
+of destruction rise into the skies
+again!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;He is right!&#8221; asserted Steinholt
+positively. &#8220;It will be far better to
+annihilate these raiders, if such a thing
+can be accomplished!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Lazarre was rather inclined to take
+sides with Fragoni.</p>
+<p>&#8220;But how,&#8221; he demanded, &#8220;can such
+destruction be brought about? We
+know nothing of the capabilities of
+that monster that is lying down there
+in the Sound. It is undoubtedly
+equipped with the deadliest of devices
+and they all will be turned upon us if
+we fail in an effort to destroy the thing
+and those who have come from space
+upon it. If there was a way to smite
+them suddenly, to bring death to the
+Lodorians and to those swarming,
+mindless, murderous minions who act
+in obedience to them, I would favor
+doing it.</p>
+<p>&#8220;But, as it is,&#8221; he concluded, &#8220;it
+seems like inviting disaster even to
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_410' name='page_410'></a>410</span>
+think of such an attempt, much less to
+try it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It can be done, though,&#8221; asserted
+Dirk, &#8220;or there is at least a fighting
+chance of accomplishing it. The electrosceotan&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;
+He paused, and looked
+questioningly at Steinholt. &#8220;The top
+of that monster is open and....&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">The</span> Teuton furrowed his brow
+and considered the proposition for
+a moment.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; he said, nodding his head, &#8220;it
+might be done.&#8221; Again he silently
+gave the subject his thought. &#8220;It is
+well worth trying,&#8221; he asserted with an
+air of decision. &#8220;But we will have to
+make haste,&#8221; he warned, &#8220;if the thing
+is to be done before the flight to The
+Hague.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;So be it,&#8221; said Fragoni. &#8220;We will
+apply ourselves to the task at hand. I,
+too,&#8221; he confessed, &#8220;had rather see
+these vandals destroyed like so much
+vermin rather than have them carry the
+news of the existence of this earth
+back into those strange worlds in the
+depth of space. I will only regret the
+passing of Teuxical, who could have
+taught us much wisdom. And now,&#8221; he
+continued briskly, &#8220;I will place myself
+under your orders, Dirk. You are the
+one who suggested this plan and upon
+you will fall the responsibility of
+executing it. And, if it succeeds,&#8221; he
+added, &#8220;the glory will be yours.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I care little for the glory,&#8221; replied
+Dirk, &#8220;but I gladly accept the duties
+and the responsibilities. These,&#8221; he
+said to Fragoni, &#8220;are my instructions
+to you. Inasmuch as Teuxical and his
+captains will return here at about four
+o&#8217;clock in the morning to convey us
+back to their craft, it will be necessary
+to have this building emptied of
+its inhabitants by that time. Let all
+of those who dwell here depart from it,
+a few at a time, so as not to excite
+suspicion. Inga, above all others, must
+leave and retreat to a place of safety.
+Then, as the hour approaches for the
+arrival of the Lodorians, we will escape
+by plane from one of the rear terraces.
+They will land in search of us and&ndash;&ndash;well,
+then they will feel the force of
+our power.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I will follow your orders explicitly,&#8221;
+promised Fragoni. &#8220;I wonder,&#8221; he
+added, &#8220;where Stanton is? He should
+be advised of what we are going to
+attempt.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;He will return in due time,&#8221; replied
+Dirk. &#8220;And, if not, it will be the
+worse for him. Lazarre will remain
+here with you,&#8221; he then told Fragoni,
+&#8220;and Steinholt and I will now go about
+our part of the task at hand.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Dirk</span>, followed by Steinholt, hurried
+across the terrace and, leaving
+the shelter of its quartzite plates,
+sought the landing stage.</p>
+<p>The rain still was falling and the
+heavens were congested with dark and
+heavy clouds.</p>
+<p>Dirk, selecting one of the smaller
+planes, entered the cabin and Steinholt,
+following after him, closed the
+door and threw on the lights.</p>
+<p>Swiftly they shot straight up into
+the air, Dirk ignoring all of the rules
+of flight in his haste to be under way.
+Once in the westbound lane, he
+headed his plane toward Manhattan
+and threw his rheostat wide open. In
+a few minutes they were skimming
+over the great city and past the three-thousand-foot
+steel tower of the
+Worldwide Broadcasting Station.</p>
+<p>For fifteen minutes more he kept the
+plane on a straight course and then,
+bringing it to a quick stop, he let it
+drop like a plummet toward the earth.</p>
+<p>It landed, among many other planes,
+on the transparent, quartzite roof of a
+vast building and, looking down into
+the interior, they could see several
+rows of great dynamos. Some of them
+were turning, and the humming that
+they made could be heard plainly.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Dirk</span> and Steinholt ran rapidly
+across the roof until they came
+to a superstructure, which they entered.
+There was a shaft inside. Dirk
+pressed a button, and an elevator shot
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_411' name='page_411'></a>411</span>
+up and stopped at the door, which
+automatically flashed open.</p>
+<p>He closed it after he and his companion
+had entered the cage and, dropping
+rapidly downward, they came to
+a stop in a lighted chamber that was
+far below the surface of the ground.</p>
+<p>A stoop-shouldered old man greeted
+them, an expression of surprise on his
+face.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Gentlemen!&#8221; he exclaimed. &#8220;What
+is&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Power, Gaeble!&#8221; commanded Steinholt
+tensely. &#8220;Power! Let every
+dynamo run its swiftest. To-night we
+have to use for the electrosceotan!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But I thought it was peace that
+those from the stars desired,&#8221; said the
+old electrician. &#8220;Through my radiovisor
+I heard&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That was sent out,&#8221; explained Steinholt,
+&#8220;to relieve the fears of the people
+and to keep them in order.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Swiftly the distorted figure of the
+old man sped to a great switchboard,
+where he pressed button after button.</p>
+<p>The very ground commenced to vibrate
+around them and the massive
+structure seemed to be alive with
+straining power.</p>
+<p>Then Steinholt, going to a corner of
+the intricate board, adjusted a few
+levers, while his gnomelike companion
+watched him carefully.</p>
+<p>&#8220;And now, Gaeble,&#8221; the scientist said
+impressively, &#8220;these are your orders.
+At precisely the hour of four o&#8217;clock
+in the morning make one connection
+with this switch.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">He</span> indicated, with a stubby finger,
+the lever to be operated.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Keep the circuit closed for just
+four seconds,&#8221; he added slowly, &#8220;and
+then break it. Do you understand,
+Gaeble?&#8221; he demanded.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I do,&#8221; replied the old man.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then,&#8221; continued Steinholt, &#8220;after
+you break that connection you quickly
+will close this next circuit. Keep it
+closed for four seconds and then, after
+opening it for one second, close it
+again for four seconds. Repeat the
+procedure twice more, Gaeble, after
+that, and then await my further instructions.
+Is everything clear?&#8221; he
+asked.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is, sir,&#8221; the old man replied. &#8220;I
+will follow your orders implicitly.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;There is one thing more,&#8221; Steinholt
+said. &#8220;Get the Worldwide Tower on
+the televisor and warn them of what is
+to happen.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I will do that immediately,&#8221; Gaeble
+replied.</p>
+<p>Dirk and Steinholt shot up to the
+roof again and the building over which
+they walked seemed to be quivering
+with life.</p>
+<p>They could see that all of the mammoth
+dynamos beneath them were revolving
+and the humming which they
+had heard before had changed into an
+ugly, vibrant roar.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Again</span> they took flight and, reaching
+Manhattan, they continued
+north and east to the shore of Long
+Island Sound.</p>
+<p>Long before the old East River had
+been filled in and the space which it
+had occupied reclaimed for building
+purposes. All indications of its former
+bed had been obliterated by mammoth
+terraced structures.</p>
+<p>When they reached their destination
+on the shore of the Sound a small submarine,
+which Dirk had ordered by
+radio, was awaiting them.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Submerge and proceed up the
+Sound,&#8221; Dirk ordered the officer, &#8220;and
+take us directly under the craft of the
+Lodorians.&#8221;</p>
+<p>In a few minutes they were skimming
+over the surface of the water and,
+when a sufficient depth had been
+gained, the tiny boat disappeared beneath
+the rain-rippled sea.</p>
+<p>Dirk sat at a port and watched the
+aquatic life as it was illuminated by
+the powerful aquamarine searchlights.</p>
+<p>Progress under the water was comparatively
+slow, as mankind had made
+but little progress in underwater navigation.
+Air liners long before had almost
+superseded travel by land and sea
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_412' name='page_412'></a>412</span>
+and the abolition of warfare had swept
+all of the old navies from the ocean.</p>
+<p>It was more than an hour before the
+officer in charge of the boat announced
+that the mammoth hull of the monster
+that was lying on the Sound was
+visible directly above them.</p>
+<p>Both Dirk and Steinholt donned
+diving apparatus, and the former carefully
+adjusted the mechanism that was
+contained in a metallic box about two
+feet square.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Then</span> they stepped up into a
+chamber in the conning tower of
+the boat and, after a door slipped shut
+beneath them, water slowly commenced
+to pour into the compartment.</p>
+<p>When it was full a sliding door that
+was in front of them slowly opened
+and they passed out onto the deck of
+the underwater craft.</p>
+<p>Steinholt had been provided with
+some welding apparatus and, in a few
+minutes, the box which Dirk had carried
+was attached securely to the bottom
+of the craft of the Lodorians.</p>
+<p>They then reentered the submarine
+by reversing the process which had
+attended their exit. Very soon they
+were in the cabin of the boat again.</p>
+<p>&#8220;If everything goes well,&#8221; said
+Dirk, &#8220;those damned Lodorians will
+never know what struck them.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I only hope,&#8221; said Steinholt, &#8220;that
+we don&#8217;t destroy that leviathan altogether.
+We might solve the secret of
+it and then we, too, could ride out into
+the heart of the universe.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is impossible to imagine what
+will happen,&#8221; Dirk replied, &#8220;until after
+we launch our attack.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Both of the men were silent during
+the return trip of the small undersea
+craft, which emerged at its dock a little
+before three-thirty in the morning.</p>
+<p>&#8220;We&#8217;ll have to hurry,&#8221; urged Dirk
+nervously, &#8220;because we will need a little
+time to make preparations after we
+get back to Fragoni&#8217;s.&#8221;</p>
+<p>They entered their plane and Dirk
+shot it swiftly up into the night, following
+the red shaft of light that rose
+almost directly from the point at which
+they had made their landing.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Then</span>, having reached the eastbound
+level, he headed straight in
+the direction of the palace of Fragoni.</p>
+<p>Dirk cast a glance at the great city
+that lay far beneath him. High up into
+the heavens it tossed the <a name='TC_37'></a><ins class='trchange' title="Was 'fulgerant'">fulgurant</ins> fires
+that betokened its wealth and power.
+And, down among those myriad lights,
+millions and millions of people were
+restless under the danger that menaced
+them. It was only a matter of moments
+now before their fate, and the
+fate of their great metropolis, would
+be decided. By dawn they would be
+free forever from the threat of subjugation
+and slavery or else they, and
+all that they had toiled and striven for,
+would be the veriest dust of dying
+embers.</p>
+<p>And whatever befell them likewise
+would befall the rest of the world and
+every living thing that moved upon it.</p>
+<p>Dirk was high above Fragoni&#8217;s when
+he stopped the forward flight of the
+plane and, dropping it rapidly through
+the misty night, brought up easily on
+the landing stage. The other planes
+which had been there when he and
+Steinholt had taken their departure
+were gone and Dirk felt a sense of relief
+when he observed this. Inga, then,
+must have departed with the other occupants
+of the colossal structure.
+Things were going according to the
+plan that he had conceived. He stepped
+out of the cabin, followed by Steinholt,
+and proceeded hastily along the terrace
+and turned the corner into the garden.</p>
+<p>Then he came to an abrupt halt because
+there, before him, was Zitlan,
+with one of the deadly ray-tubes of the
+Lodorians in his <a name='TC_49'></a><ins class='trchange' title="Was 'head'">hand</ins>.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Dirk</span> knew immediately that something
+unexpected had happened
+and that he was in the power of one
+who not only hated him but who had
+an unholy desire for Inga.</p>
+<p>He realized, too, that any show of
+resistance would be nothing short of
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_413' name='page_413'></a>413</span>
+suicide, for he was well aware of the
+deadliness of the strange weapon with
+which he and Steinholt were being
+menaced by the gloating Lodorian.</p>
+<p>&#8220;One false move and you die!&#8221;
+warned Zitlan. &#8220;Come forward, now,
+and join those two others over whom
+Anteucan and Huazibar are watching.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Dirk and Steinholt promptly obeyed
+the command of Zitlan and walked
+over to where Fragoni and <a name='TC_38'></a><ins class='trchange' title="Was 'Lizarre'">Lazarre</ins>
+were being guarded by two of the conquerors.</p>
+<p>The rain had ceased to fall, but the
+skies were dark and overcast with
+heavy clouds. There was an occasional
+flash of lightning, and thunder rolled
+and echoed through the night.</p>
+<p>The terrace, however, was brightly
+illuminated and every detail of the
+scene around him was visible to Dirk.</p>
+<p>He saw Stanton, on another part of
+the terrace, standing among some
+Lodorians he had not seen before.
+Stanton, apparently, was not being
+treated as a prisoner and Dirk wondered,
+rather vaguely, why this was.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What happened?&#8221; Dirk asked
+Fragoni quietly.</p>
+<p>&#8220;According to what I have heard,&#8221;
+the latter replied, &#8220;Zitlan murdered his
+father in a fit of rage, and has taken
+over the command of the ship. Many
+of the Lodorians are his adherents and
+even those who do not favor him are
+so terrified that they will be obedient
+to his wishes.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And <a name='TC_39'></a><ins class='trchange' title="Was 'Igna'">Inga</ins>?&#8221; questioned Dirk.</p>
+<p>&#8220;She is inside the apartment,&#8221; said
+Fragoni, a note of desperation in his
+voice. &#8220;Zitlan surprised us completely
+and he and his men had us covered before we
+realized that Teuxical was not
+among them.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Zitlan</span>, in the meantime, had entered
+the suite of Fragoni and he
+now came out, Inga walking before
+him.</p>
+<p>She was silent and proudly erect but
+there was a pallor in her face that indicated
+her realization of the danger
+that she was threatened with.</p>
+<p>When Dirk saw her she gave him a
+brave smile, which he answered with a
+glance of reassurance.</p>
+<p>He could see the great clock in
+the Metropole Tower, and he noticed,
+with a feeling of grave apprehension,
+that it was twenty minutes to four
+o&#8217;clock.</p>
+<p>There were only a few minutes more
+in which to make a desperate and apparently
+a hopeless effort to save Inga,
+his friends and himself from a catastrophe
+which he had been instrumental
+in contriving.</p>
+<p>Then Zitlan stood before him,
+haughty and arrogant, his lowering
+countenance ugly with hatred.</p>
+<p>&#8220;So, dog,&#8221; he said, &#8220;you who dared
+to defy Zitlan now stand before him
+a captive!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Neither Dirk nor any one of the
+three others who were guarded with
+him replied to the utterance.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You and that woman of yours,&#8221; continued
+the Lodorian insolently, &#8220;both
+are my prisoners to do with as I please.
+Your fate,&#8221; he continued, &#8220;I already
+have planned for you and I assure you
+that it will not be as pleasurable as
+the one to which she is destined. You
+will find that Tigana, on which you and
+those with you will be cast, is a world
+of terror such as you never could
+dream of. Even the monsters which
+crawl through the deliriums of the
+mind are not as horrible as those which
+infest the mad and haunted world of
+which I speak.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">He</span> paused a moment, a cruel smile
+on his face, as if he wished the
+full import of his words to sear themselves
+into the minds of the doomed
+men.</p>
+<p>&#8220;But the woman,&#8221; he added, &#8220;will return
+to Lodore with me and be the
+queen of all women. And soon,&#8221; he
+said savagely, &#8220;she may be queen of all
+Lodore, of the worlds which pay
+tribute to Lodore, and of other worlds
+which I will conquer and ravage. My
+father stood in my way and he died at
+my own hands. So will others perish
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_414' name='page_414'></a>414</span>
+who thwart my ambition, and I will become
+supreme in the universe!&#8221;</p>
+<p>A feeling of reckless fury possessed
+Dirk as he listened to the words of
+Zitlan and he felt an almost irresistible
+desire to drive a fist square between
+the mad, glittering eyes of the
+Lodorian.</p>
+<p>He glanced at the great clock, however,
+and he saw that the time to act
+had not yet come. At the last moment
+he would make one desperate attempt
+to frustrate the evil designs of Zitlan.
+If it failed&ndash;&ndash;well, all would be lost.
+But it was a far better thing to die resisting
+the despicable Zitlan and his
+minions than it would be to live and
+to know that, without a struggle, he
+had abandoned to degradation the girl
+he loved.</p>
+<p>&#8220;This world of yours will be my
+world,&#8221; he heard Zitlan boast, &#8220;and the
+spoils from it will add to my riches.
+This one here,&#8221; he continued, indicating
+Stanton, &#8220;has offered to show me
+where all of the treasures of the earth
+may be found. And, as a reward, he
+will return to Lodore with me and
+there be elevated to a high position.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">That</span>, then, was why Stanton was
+not under guard like the rest of
+them.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Our good friend, Stanton,&#8221; said
+Lazarre, &#8220;seems to have become something
+of a Judas.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And let his name be forever cursed,
+like the name of Judas,&#8221; said Dirk.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Silence!&#8221; thundered the Lodorian.
+&#8220;I, Zitlan, am speaking.&#8221; He paused
+a moment. &#8220;When I garner up the
+treasures of this world in the way of
+precious stones and metals I also shall
+gather more priceless loot in the way
+of women. And then, having taken all
+that I desire, I will lay waste to this
+earth so that those who survive will
+fear the name of Zitlan and will grovel
+before him like a god when once again
+he appears to them.&#8221;</p>
+<p>While Zitlan had been speaking,
+Dirk had been studying the opponents
+with whom he soon had to clash.</p>
+<p>The two Lodorians who were standing
+guard over himself and his companions
+were close to his left side.
+Zitlan was directly in front of him,
+and there were seven of his minions
+clustered behind him.</p>
+<p>Again Dirk glanced at the great
+dial of the clock, and he saw that it was
+seven minutes of four.</p>
+<p>The moment had come to act if action
+was to prove of any avail.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I will&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>But the words of Zitlan were interrupted
+by Dirk, who suddenly made a
+mighty sweep with his left arm and
+knocked the deadly tubes from the
+hands of Anteucan and Huazibar.
+Startled by the assault, they went reeling
+backward. At almost the same
+instant Dirk leaped forward and, seizing
+Zitlan, hurled him among those
+Lodorians who had been massed behind
+him. Then he threw himself violently
+into the tangled mass, his fists driving
+in and out with deadly strength!</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Out</span> of the corner of one eye he saw
+Inga pass the melee and dart
+swiftly to the corner of the terrace.
+Instead of passing around to the landing
+stage, however, she lingered there
+and watched the combat.</p>
+<p>Dirk, as he fought, became conscious
+that Steinholt and Fragoni were at his
+side, battling with him against his
+enemies. He saw, too, that Stanton had
+retired to the far end of the terrace
+and that he was watching the struggle
+with frightened eyes.</p>
+<p>&#8220;We must reach the plane and get
+away,&#8221; gasped Dirk. &#8220;In another three
+minutes&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>He felled a Lodorian who, having
+lost his tube, was about to grapple with
+him. He saw Steinholt send another
+one of their opponents reeling backward.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Fragoni!&#8221; he exclaimed. &#8220;The
+plane! Get in with Inga! We will
+come!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Even as he spoke his fists were
+flailing back and forth between each
+one of his <a name='TC_40'></a><ins class='trchange' title="Was 'stacatto'">staccato</ins> commands.</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_415' name='page_415'></a>415</span></div>
+<p>He saw beneath him a hand reaching
+toward a tube, and he kicked the instrument
+of death. It hurtled over in
+the direction of Stanton and landed
+close to his feet. Stanton might have
+picked it up and been in possession of
+the means of aiding his old friends or
+his new allies. But he shrunk away,
+panic-stricken, from the thing that lay
+so close to his reach.</p>
+<p>A Lodorian leaped upon Dirk&#8217;s back
+in an effort to bring him to the ground,
+but he stooped swiftly forward and his
+assailant was catapulted over his head
+into those who were in front of him.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">He</span> caught a flash of the contorted
+face of Zitlan flying through the
+air, and saw him land with a crash on
+the terrace, and lie there writhing in
+pain.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Steinholt, Lazarre!&#8221; he said convulsively.
+&#8220;We&#8217;ve got to strike once
+more! And then&ndash;&ndash;run!&#8221;</p>
+<p>He plunged into their enemies with
+every bit of energy that he had left,
+and saw two of them toppling down.
+Then, like a flash, he turned to Lazarre,
+who was trying to fight off three of the
+Lodorians. Seizing one of them by the
+waist, Dirk hurled him backward and
+he disposed of another one in the same
+manner. His sheer desperation seemed
+to have given him unbounded strength
+and power.</p>
+<p>Lazarre sent his third opponent
+down with a blow under the chin and
+then, with Dirk at his side, they turned
+to the assistance of Steinholt.</p>
+<p>With one mad rush they crashed into
+a group of Lodorians and sent them
+reeling away like so many nine-pins.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now! To the plane!&#8221; exclaimed
+Dirk, taking to his heels across the terrace.
+Steinholt and Lazarre followed
+after him and, turning the corner, they
+saw that the ship was in place and that
+Fragoni was anxiously waiting by the
+door of the cabin. Inga, Dirk knew,
+already was inside and safe. He stood
+aside while Steinholt and Lazarre
+leaped in. During the momentary wait
+he caught a glimpse of the great clock.
+It was one minute to four. Dirk jumping
+into the plane and switched on the
+helicopter without even waiting to
+close the cabin door.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">The</span> ship shot skyward like a
+rocket. When it reached an altitude
+of thirty-five hundred feet, he
+turned it north and raced at top speed
+in that direction.</p>
+<p>It was miles away from the palace of
+Fragoni in less than thirty seconds.
+Dirk then stopped the plane and held
+it poised in the air with the helicopter.</p>
+<p>The skies were turgid and black and
+the massed clouds, reflecting the lights
+of the great city below them, were
+permeated with an ugly, feverish, red
+glow.</p>
+<p>From where they were hanging in
+midair, the occupants of the plane
+could plainly see the sparkling palace
+of Fragoni towering high up into the
+darkness of the night.</p>
+<p>The lights of the magnificent mansion
+were reflected far out into the
+Sound where, looming in the golden
+ripples, lay the sinister monster from
+the terrible depths of unfathomable
+space.</p>
+<p>Dirk took a watch from his pocket
+and, after glancing at it, he hastily replaced
+it.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Two seconds more,&#8221; he said,
+&#8220;and&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">A sharp</span> and dazzling bolt of
+greenish fire came hurling suddenly
+out of the west and, with a
+thunderous concussion, seemed to
+fasten itself on the crest of Fragoni&#8217;s
+palace.</p>
+<p>It trembled and quivered, as if endowed
+with some uncanny life and
+power, as it remained there against the
+darkness, throwing a weird, green tinge
+over the water and up into the skies.</p>
+<p>Blue waves of light could be seen
+pulsing and racing along the terrible
+beam and there, where it had fastened
+itself, they seemed to disappear in the
+vast and crumbling structure.</p>
+<p>For four seconds that destructive
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_416' name='page_416'></a>416</span>
+streak of light, one end of which was
+lost back in the mists that concealed
+Manhattan, tore at the proud pile.</p>
+<p>And, as the stone crumbled and the
+steelite fused under the mighty assault,
+an ominous roar swept through
+the night. The air was so violently
+agitated that the plane, miles away,
+tossed up and down like a tiny boat on
+a stormy sea.</p>
+<p>Then suddenly the bolt was gone,
+but its livid image still burned in the
+eyes of those who had been watching
+it.</p>
+<p>Once more, it came hurling out of
+the west and, like the fang of some
+great and deadly serpent, darted into
+the monster that lay in the waters of
+the Sound.</p>
+<p>Dirk and his companions could see
+plainly, by the light of the bolt itself,
+that it had crashed into the well from
+which the Lodorians first had appeared,
+and that it was beating and hammering
+its way into the very vitals of the craft.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Dazzling</span>, blinding fire seemed
+to pour from the aperture
+through which the bolt had passed.
+The clamor that arose was deafening.</p>
+<p>Then again the streak of fires was
+withdrawn, leaving the night intensely
+black until, in a moment more, it came
+thundering out of the west again and,
+with an impact that made the land and
+the sea and the very heavens tremble,
+hurled its way into the depths of the
+doomed leviathan.</p>
+<p>Twice again it fell, a fiery scimitar
+out of the darkness, and twice again
+it careened at the vitals of the stricken
+monster.</p>
+<p>Then, after the assault was over, the
+ship still floated on the surface of the
+Sound and its shell, as far as Dirk and
+the others could judge, still was unscathed.</p>
+<p>&#8220;We will soon know our fate,&#8221; remarked
+Steinholt calmly. &#8220;If that
+didn&#8217;t kill those beasts we might as
+well give up our ghosts.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll drop the plane a little lower and
+a little nearer to the ship,&#8221; said Dirk.
+&#8220;I don&#8217;t believe that any life is surviving
+in that thing.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;My beautiful palace is nothing but
+dust,&#8221; sighed Fragoni, mournfully.
+&#8220;And all my beautiful treasures, too.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And that beautiful Zitlan,&#8221; Lazarre
+reminded him, &#8220;and his beautiful boy
+friends, they are all dust too, thank
+God!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It was a queer fate that Stanton
+met,&#8221; suggested Dirk. &#8220;He thought
+that he would save his life by going
+over to our enemies, and, instead of
+that, he lost it.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcapq'><small>&#8220;</small><span class="drop">P</span><span class="dcap">oor</span> Stanton,&#8221; said Steinholt.
+&#8220;He was born that way, I suppose,
+and I, for one, am ready to forgive
+and forget him. And now,&#8221; continued
+the Teuton, &#8220;I hope that we
+didn&#8217;t do too much damage to that little
+boat of the Lodorians. If we could
+get just a little peep at the inside of
+it we might learn the secret of its contrivance.
+And then, my friends, we
+could do a little journeying ourselves.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Have you any theory regarding it?&#8221;
+asked Fragoni.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Teuxical intimated that it rode the
+magnetic currents which, of course,
+flow through all the suns and planets
+in the universe,&#8221; replied Steinholt.
+&#8220;We have been working along that line
+ourselves, of course, and it probably
+won&#8217;t be very long anyway before we
+have the solution of interplanetary travel.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Those Lodorians would have solved
+it for us if it hadn&#8217;t been for that artificial
+lightning,&#8221; said Lazarre. &#8220;That&#8217;s
+powerful stuff, Steinholt.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, with that three-thousand-foot
+Worldwide Tower to hurl it from,&#8221;
+agreed Steinholt, &#8220;we can get fair
+range with it. If the Lodorians hadn&#8217;t
+left the well of their ship open, though,
+the lightning wouldn&#8217;t have done us
+much good. I was afraid, too, for a
+time, that we might have trouble in
+welding that automatic wireless circuit
+box to the bottom of the ship.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Dirk, in the meantime, had brought
+the plane down to within a half-mile
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_417' name='page_417'></a>417</span>
+of the leviathan, and he was holding
+it poised there.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It seems to me,&#8221; he said, after scrutinizing
+the monster for a couple of
+minutes, &#8220;that it is moving in the water.
+It is!&#8221; he exclaimed. &#8220;Steinholt!
+Look!&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Only</span> a comparatively short time
+had elapsed since the last bolt of
+lightning had vanished back into the
+darkness.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is still rocking with the force
+of the shock that we gave it,&#8221; asserted
+Steinholt. &#8220;You would be rocking, too,
+if you had been tickled by a bolt like
+that one.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is rising, I tell you!&#8221; said Dirk.
+&#8220;The front end of it is slowly getting
+higher in the water!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;re right, Dirk,&#8221; said Fragoni,
+excitement straining his voice. &#8220;Look!
+It just dropped back into the water!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Then, as they watched, the movements
+of the leviathan became more
+and more agitated, until it was churning
+up the waves around it like a
+wounded and agonized monster of the
+sea.</p>
+<p>Suddenly the front end tilted upward
+and the monster rose clear of the water.
+It shot straight up into the air at
+a speed so terrific that they could
+scarcely follow it.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s gone!&#8221; gasped Fragoni. &#8220;Those
+brainless, mindless automatons must
+have survived!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; remarked Steinholt thoughtfully.
+&#8220;I don&#8217;t believe that there is
+any life left on that thing. No one
+had closed the well when it rose, and
+it would mean death to go out into
+space with the ship in that condition.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then what made it go up?&#8221; demanded
+Lazarre. &#8220;Can the damn thing run
+itself, Steinholt?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I imagine,&#8221; recalled the Teuton,
+&#8220;that our bolts killed every living thing
+that was on the craft but that, at the
+same time, they set the mechanism of
+the monster into action. Ah,&#8221; he
+moaned, &#8220;but that is too bad. We could
+have learned much by an examination
+of the interior of that liner of the air.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">A cry</span> from Inga startled them and
+they saw that she was looking
+skyward, with terror in her eyes.</p>
+<p>They followed her gaze and there,
+streaking through the black clouds,
+they saw a long trail of white fire.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s that thing!&#8221; exclaimed Fragoni.
+&#8220;I tell you that those upon it still live
+and that they are about to wreak vengeance
+upon us.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; said Steinholt positively. &#8220;You
+are wrong, Fragoni. What is happening
+may be almost as disastrous,
+though,&#8221; he admitted. &#8220;That leviathan
+is in its death agonies; it is a
+metal monster gone mad, and none can
+say what will happen before it expires.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;The place for us,&#8221; asserted Dirk
+hurriedly, &#8220;is in the Worldwide Tower.
+<a name='TC_42'></a><ins class='trchange' title="Removed extra quote">There</ins> we can keep track of what is
+transpiring and try to decide what to
+do.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The others agreed with him and,
+seeking the westward level of flight, he
+sped the plane in the direction of the
+mammoth pyramid from which the
+news of the world was broadcast.</p>
+<p>They reached the vast structure in a
+few minutes, and, after dropping the
+plane on a landing stage, they went
+into the operating room.</p>
+<p>Here they learned quickly that the
+craft of the Lodorians was doing incalculable
+damage, and that it was
+throwing the population of the world
+into an unprecedented panic.</p>
+<p>It was, apparently, following an erratic,
+uncertain orbit that took it far
+out into space and then back quite
+close to the surface of the earth again.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">It</span> had passed through the very heart
+of Chicago within a few yards of
+the ground, and it had cut and burned
+a swath more than a mile wide through
+the buildings of that metropolis.</p>
+<p>Other cities in America had felt the
+devastating effects of its <a name='TC_43'></a><ins class='trchange' title="Was 'irresisible'">irresistible</ins>
+and molten heat and, within a short
+time, thousands of people had been
+slain by it.</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_418' name='page_418'></a>418</span></div>
+<p>Time and again, from the terrace of
+the great tower, Dirk and his companions
+saw the skies above them light up
+as that terrible, blazing, projectile
+which, uncontrolled, went hurtling on
+its way through the night.</p>
+<p>For three hours it careened on its
+mad course and hysteria reigned
+throughout the cities of the whole
+civilized world.</p>
+<p>But then a report came from a
+rocket-liner that had left Berlin en
+route for San Francisco.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Either a great meteor or that leviathan
+of the Lodorians just swept down
+past us in mid-Atlantic and plunged
+into the sea. Apparently it has exploded,
+for it has thrown a great column
+of water for miles up into the air. We
+are stopping and standing by, although
+the heat is intense and clouds of steam
+are rising from the sea.&#8221;</p>
+<p>As the minutes passed by after the
+report from the rocket-ship had been
+received, the disappearance from the
+sky of the flaming craft from space
+seemed to confirm the belief that it
+had been swallowed by the ocean. This
+was accepted as a certainty by eight
+o&#8217;clock in the morning.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Ah,&#8221; sighed Steinholt, &#8220;if only it
+had crashed on land somewhere. If
+there only was enough of it left for
+us to&ndash;&ndash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Enough of any damn contraption of
+that kind,&#8221; swore Lazarre fervently, &#8220;is
+altogether too much. I hope, for one,
+that its fragments are scattered so far
+that we never can put them together
+again.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p class='dropcap'><span class="dcap">Dirk</span> and Inga leaned against one
+of the parapets that evening on a
+gardened terrace of his own great mansion
+in Manhattan.</p>
+<p>Their little party had gone there
+after leaving the Worldwide Tower in
+the morning.</p>
+<p>After resting during the day, Lazarre
+and Fragoni were somewhere together,
+discussing the plans for a new
+palace to take the place of the one
+that was destroyed so that Zitlan and
+his minions might die in its ruins.</p>
+<p>Steinholt, elsewhere, was delving
+into oceanography and submarine engineering,
+in an attempt to learn
+whether or not it would be feasible to
+fish for the remains of the lost ship
+of Lodore.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It seems like a dream, doesn&#8217;t it,
+Dirk?&#8221; the girl remarked. &#8220;It is difficult
+to believe that we actually have
+seen and talked with people from some
+far-away world.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Together they looked up into the
+crystalline skies, where mazes of shining
+stars gave testimony to the countless
+worlds which were wheeling
+around them.</p>
+<p>&#8220;And just to think, Dirk,&#8221; Inga continued
+proudly, &#8220;that it was you who
+saved this world and all of its people
+from that horrible Zitlan and his
+horde.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I saved you,&#8221; he told her gravely
+and tenderly, &#8220;and that somehow means
+more to me than saving all of this
+world and all of the other worlds which
+are rolling through the uncharted ways
+of time and space.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<div class="adbox">
+<p><i>COMING</i>&ndash;&ndash;<br />
+<span class="muchlarger">Murder Madness</span><br />
+<i>An Extraordinary Novel</i><br />
+<br />
+<i>By</i> MURRAY LEINSTER</p>
+</div>
+<hr class='pb' />
+<div class="trnote">
+<p><b>Transcriber Notes</b></p>
+<p>Typographical inconsistencies have been changed and are
+listed below.</p>
+<p>Hyphenation standardized.</p>
+<p>Archaic and variable spelling is preserved.</p>
+<p>Authors&#8217; punctuation style is preserved.</p>
+<hr class='invis' />
+<p><b>Transcriber Changes</b></p>
+<p>The following changes were made to the original text:</p>
+<p><a href='#TC_44'>Page 298</a>: Changed <b>work</b> to <b>wreck</b> (wish to know whether anyone has visited the scene of the <b>wreck</b>)</p>
+<p><a href='#TC_1'>Page 299</a>: Changed <b>focussed</b> to <b>focused</b> (This means that we have <b>focused</b> or concentrated cold)</p>
+<p><a href='#TC_4'>Page 317</a>: Added beginning quotes (Its name-grid glowed with the letters: <b>&#8220;<i>Anita Prince.</i>&#8221;</b>)</p>
+<p><a href='#TC_5'>Page 321</a>: Changed <b>eavesdroopper</b> to <b>eavesdropper</b> (sitting in the smoking room when the <b>eavesdropper</b> fled past)</p>
+<p><a href='#TC_7'>Page 321</a>: Changed <b>pressure-cick</b> to <b>pressure-sick</b> (We missed you at breakfast. Not <b>pressure-sick</b>, I hope?)</p>
+<p><a href='#TC_9'>Page 323</a>: Changed <b>linquists</b> to <b>linguists</b> (people are by heritage extraordinary <b>linguists</b>)</p>
+<p><a href='#TC_10'>Page 324</a>: Added end quote (Did you have Prince&#8217;s cabin <b>searched?&#8221;</b>)</p>
+<p><a href='#TC_11'>Page 328</a>: Changed <b>elipse</b> to <b>ellipse</b> (Blackstone had roughly cast its orbital elements)</p>
+<p><a href='#TC_2'>Page 339</a>: Changed <b>focussed</b> to <b>focused</b> (connected its little battery; <b>focused</b> its projector)</p>
+<p><a href='#TC_14'>Page 339</a>: Changed <b>syncronized</b> to <b>synchronized</b> (as I crouched in the darkness behind the cylinder-case, I <b>synchronized</b>)</p>
+<p><a href='#TC_15'>Page 340</a>: Removed extra quote after leaped (Miko doubtless saw it, and the Martian&#8217;s hot anger <b>leaped</b>)</p>
+<p><a href='#TC_16'>Page 344</a>: Changed <b>Mika</b> to <b>Miko</b> (&#8220;Wait a minute!&#8221; I called to <b>Miko</b>. &#8220;Navigate&ndash;&ndash;where?&#8221;)</p>
+<p><a href='#TC_17'>Page 344</a>: Changed <b>catapaulted</b> to <b>catapulted</b> (The force <b>catapulted</b> me across the space of the room like a volplane)</p>
+<p><a href='#TC_18'>Page 345</a>: Changed <b>Halian</b> to <b>Haljan</b> (&#8220;If you fire, <b>Haljan</b>, and kill me&ndash;&ndash;Miko will kill you then, surely.&#8221;)</p>
+<p><a href='#TC_3'>Page 346</a>: Changed <b>focussed</b> to <b>focused</b> (the image of the lounge interior presently <b>focused</b>)</p>
+<p><a href='#TC_45'>Page 357</a>: Changed <b>terriffic</b> to <b>terrific</b> (Perry beat a <b>terrific</b> tattoo on the ancient door)</p>
+<p><a href='#TC_46'>Page 362</a>: Removed comma (for the news crew and editorial force of the <b>paper</b> were a carefully selected body of men indeed)</p>
+<p><a href='#TC_22'>Page 367</a>: Changed <b>villian</b> to <b>villain</b> (Could the old <b>villain</b> be playing possum?)</p>
+<p><a href='#TC_47'>Page 367</a>: Removed &#8217;the&#8217; (With dexterous <b>hands O&#8217;Hara</b> swiftly went through the old man&#8217;s pockets)</p>
+<p><a href='#TC_23'>Page 367</a>: Changed <b>similiar</b> to <b>similar</b> (an ugly looking pistol of large caliber, a blackjack <b>similar</b> to his own and a small bottle)</p>
+<p><a href='#TC_24'>Page 369</a>: Changed <b>and</b> to <b>any</b> (If you search my car and find <b>any</b> red liquor in the left back door pocket, I don&#8217;t know a thing about it)</p>
+<p><a href='#TC_48'>Page 372</a>: Changed <b>Hanlon</b> to <b>Handlon</b> (could be recognized as those of Horace Perry and Skip <b>Handlon</b>)</p>
+<p><a href='#TC_6'>Page 372</a>: Changed <b>focussed</b> to <b>focused</b> (All eyes were now <b>focused</b> on Professor Kell)</p>
+<p><a href='#TC_25'>Page 373</a>: Changed <b>Kel</b> to <b>Kell</b> (Hurry up and get <b>Kell</b> downstairs so we can see who he is)</p>
+<p><a href='#TC_26'>Page 374</a>: Changed <b>Rotton</b> to <b>Rotten</b> (&#8220;<b>Rotten</b>,&#8221; was the reply from the lips of Kell)</p>
+<p><a href='#TC_28'>Page 393</a>: Changed <b>ecstacy</b> to <b>ecstasy</b> (Fear, despair, reckless abandon, mirth, doubt, religious <b>ecstasy</b> and all the other nuances in the gamut of human emotions)</p>
+<p><a href='#TC_30'>Page 394</a>: Changed <b>scandals</b> to <b>sandals</b> (On her tiny feet she wore <b>sandals</b> which were spun of webby filaments)</p>
+<p><a href='#TC_31'>Page 395</a>: Changed <b>knew</b> to <b>know</b> (fairly close to it in my plane and I <b>know</b> what I am speaking about)</p>
+<p><a href='#TC_32'>Page 397</a>: Changed <b>Igna</b> to <b>Inga</b> (Dirk and <b>Inga</b> seated close together and Stanton, at a distance)</p>
+<p><a href='#TC_33'>Page 397</a>: Changed <b>part</b> to <b>parts</b> (a proclamation of martial law, to become effective at once in all <b>parts</b> of the world)</p>
+<p><a href='#TC_34'>Page 399</a>: Changed <b>melifluous</b> to <b>mellifluous</b> (&#8220;Good morning,&#8221; the other replied in a soft and <b>mellifluous</b> voice)</p>
+<p><a href='#TC_35'>Page 401</a>: Changed <b>Steinhold</b> to <b>Steinholt</b> (&#8220;It&#8217;s colossal!&#8221; <b>Steinholt</b> then exclaimed, lost in scientific admiration)</p>
+<p><a href='#TC_37'>Page 412</a>: Changed <b>fulgerant</b> to <b>fulgurant</b> (High up into the heavens it tossed the <b>fulgurant</b> fires that betokened its wealth and power)</p>
+<p><a href='#TC_49'>Page 412</a>: Changed <b>head</b> to <b>hand</b> (with one of the deadly ray-tubes of the Lodorians in his <b>hand</b>)</p>
+<p><a href='#TC_38'>Page 413</a>: Changed <b>Lizarre</b> to <b>Lazarre</b> (walked over to where Fragoni and <b>Lazarre</b> were being guarded by two of the conquerors)</p>
+<p><a href='#TC_39'>Page 413</a>: Changed <b>Igna</b> to <b>Inga</b> (&#8220;And <b>Inga</b>?&#8221; questioned Dirk.)</p>
+<p><a href='#TC_40'>Page 414</a>: Changed <b>stacatto</b> to <b>staccato</b> (flailing back and forth between each one of his <b>staccato</b> commands.)</p>
+<p><a href='#TC_42'>Page 417</a>: Removed extra quote before <b>There</b> (&#8220;is in the Worldwide Tower. <b>There</b> we can keep track of what is transpiring and try to decide what to do.&#8221;)</p>
+<p><a href='#TC_43'>Page 417</a>: Changed <b>irresisible</b> to <b>irresistible</b> (Other cities in America had felt the devastating effects of its <b>irresistible</b> and molten heat)</p>
+</div>
+
+<!-- generated by ppg.rb version: ppg0727 -->
+<!-- timestamp: Mon Aug 03 20:06:20 -0400 2009 -->
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Astounding Stories of Super-Science,
+March 1930, by Various
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+</body>
+</html>
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@@ -0,0 +1,10171 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Astounding Stories of Super-Science, March
+1930, by Various
+
+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: Astounding Stories of Super-Science, March 1930
+
+Author: Various
+
+Release Date: August 4, 2009 [EBook #29607]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ASTOUNDING STORIES, MARCH 1930 ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Greg Weeks, Katherine Ward, and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+ASTOUNDING STORIES OF SUPER-SCIENCE
+
+
+_On Sale the First Thursday of Each Month_
+
+  W. M. CLAYTON, Publisher
+  HARRY BATES, Editor
+  DOUGLAS M. DOLD, Consulting Editor
+
+The Clayton Standard on a Magazine Guarantees:
+
+_That_ the stories therein are clean, interesting, vivid; by leading
+writers of the day and purchased under conditions approved by the
+Authors' League of America;
+
+_That_ such magazines are manufactured in Union shops by American
+workmen;
+
+_That_ each newsdealer and agent is insured a fair profit;
+
+_That_ an intelligent censorship guards their advertising pages.
+
+
+_The other Clayton magazines are_:
+
+ACE-HIGH MAGAZINE, RANCH ROMANCES, COWBOY STORIES, CLUES, FIVE-NOVELS
+MONTHLY, WIDE WORLD ADVENTURES, ALL STAR DETECTIVE STORIES, FLYERS,
+RANGELAND LOVE STORY MAGAZINE, SKY-HIGH LIBRARY MAGAZINE, WESTERN
+ADVENTURES, MISS 1930, and FOREST AND STREAM
+
+_More Than Two Million Copies Required to Supply the Monthly Demand for
+Clayton Magazines._
+
+
+  VOL. I, No. 3                CONTENTS                     MARCH, 1930
+
+  COVER DESIGN                 H. W. WESSOLOWSKI
+  _Painted in Water-colors from a Scene in "Brigands of the Moon."_
+
+  COLD LIGHT                   CAPTAIN S. P. MEEK                   295
+  _How Could a Human Body Be Found Actually Splintered--Broken
+  into Sharp Fragments Like a Shattered Glass! Once Again Dr. Bird
+  Probes Deep into an Amazing Mystery._
+
+  BRIGANDS OF THE MOON         RAY CUMMINGS                         306
+  _Black Mutiny and Brigandage Stalk the Space-ship Planetara as
+  She Speeds to the Moon to Pick Up a Fabulously Rich Cache of
+  Radium-ore._
+
+  THE SOUL MASTER              WILL SMITH AND R. J. ROBBINS         350
+  _Desperately O'Hara Plunged into Prof. Kell's Mysterious Mansion.
+  For His Friend Skip Was the Victim of the Eccentric Scientist's
+  De-astralizing Experiment, and Faced a Fate More Hideous than
+  Death._
+
+  FROM THE OCEAN'S DEPTHS      SEWELL PEASLEE WRIGHT                376
+  _Man Came from the Sea. Mercer, by His Thought-telegraph, Learns
+  from the Weirdly Beautiful Ocean-maiden of a Branch that Returned
+  There._
+
+  VANDALS OF THE STARS         A. T. LOCKE                          390
+  _A Livid Flame Flares Across Space--and Over Manhattan Hovers
+  Teuxical, Vassal of Malfero, Lord of the Universe, Who Comes with
+  Ten Thousand Warriors to Ravage and Subjugate One More Planet for
+  His Master._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  Single Copies, 20 Cents (In Canada, 25 Cents)
+  Yearly Subscription, $2.00
+
+Issued monthly by Publishers' Fiscal Corporation, 80 Lafayette St., New
+York, N. Y. W. M. Clayton, President; Nathan Goldmann, Secretary.
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+New York under Act of March 3, 1879. Application for registration of
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+Inc., 25 Vanderbilt Ave., New York; or 225 North Michigan Ave.,
+Chicago.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+Cold Light
+
+_By Capt. S. P. Meek_
+
+    How could a human body be found actually splintered--broken into
+    sharp fragments like a shattered glass! Once again Dr. Bird
+    probes deep into an amazing mystery.
+
+[Illustration: "_The bodies had broken into pieces, as though they had
+been made of glass._"]
+
+
+"Confound it, Carnes, I am on my vacation!"
+
+"I know it, Doctor, and I hate to disturb you, but I felt that I simply
+had to. I have one of the weirdest cases on my hands that I have ever
+been mixed up in and I think that you'll forgive me for calling you when
+I tell you about it."
+
+Dr. Bird groaned into the telephone transmitter.
+
+"I took a vacation last summer, or tried to, and you hauled me away from
+the best fishing I have found in years to help you on a case. This year
+I traveled all the way from Washington to San Francisco to get away from
+you and the very day that I get here you are after me. I won't have
+anything to do with it. Where are you, anyway?"
+
+"I am at Fallon, Nevada, Doctor. I'm sorry that you won't help me out
+because the case promises to be unusually interesting. Let me at least
+tell you about it."
+
+Dr. Bird groaned louder than ever into the telephone transmitter.
+
+"All right, go ahead and tell me about it if it will relieve your mind,
+but I have given you my final answer. I am not a bit interested in it."
+
+"That is quite all right, Doctor, I don't expect you to touch it. I
+hope, however, that you will be able to give me an idea of where to
+start. Did you ever see a man's body broken in pieces?"
+
+"Do you mean badly smashed up?"
+
+"No indeed, I mean just what I said, broken in pieces. Legs snapped off
+as though the entire flesh had become brittle."
+
+"No, I didn't, and neither did anyone else."
+
+"I have seen it, Doctor."
+
+"Hooey! What had you been drinking?"
+
+Operative Carnes of the United States Secret Service chuckled softly to
+himself. The voice of the famous scientist of the Bureau of Standards
+plainly showed an interest which was quite at variance with his words.
+
+"I was quite sober, Doctor, and so was Hughes, and we both saw it."
+
+"Who is Hughes?"
+
+"He is an air mail pilot, one of the crack fliers of the Transcontinental
+Airmail Corporation. Let me tell you the whole thing in order."
+
+"All right. I have a few minutes to spare, but I'll warn you again that
+I don't intend to touch the case."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Suit yourself, Doctor. I have no authority to requisition your
+services. As you know, the T. A. C. has been handling a great deal of
+the transcontinental air mail with a pretty clean record on accidents.
+The day before yesterday, a special plane left Washington to carry two
+packages from there to San Francisco. One of them was a shipment of
+jewels valued at a quarter of a million, consigned to a San Francisco
+firm and the other was a sealed packet from the War Department. No one
+was supposed to know the contents of that packet except the Chief of
+Staff who delivered it to the plane personally, but rumors got out, as
+usual, and it was popularly supposed to contain certain essential
+features of the Army's war plans. This much is certain: The plane
+carried not only the regular T. A. C. pilot and courier, but also an
+army courier, and it was guarded during the trip by an army plane armed
+with small bombs and a machine-gun. I rode in it. My orders were simply
+to guard the ship until it landed at Mills Field and then to guard the
+courier from there to the Presidio of San Francisco until his packet was
+delivered personally into the hands of the Commanding General of the
+Ninth Corps Area.
+
+"The trip was quiet and monotonous until after we left Salt Lake City at
+dawn this morning. Nothing happened until we were about a hundred miles
+east of Reno. We had taken elevation to cross the Stillwater Mountains
+and were skimming low over them, my plane trailing the T. A. C. plane by
+about half a mile. I was not paying any particular attention to the
+other ship when I suddenly felt our plane leap ahead. It was a fast
+Douglas and the pilot gave it the gun and made it move, I can tell you.
+I yelled into the speaking tube and asked what was the reason. My pilot
+yelled back that the plane ahead was in trouble.
+
+"As soon as it was called to my attention I could see myself that it
+wasn't acting normally. It was losing elevation and was pursuing a very
+erratic course. Before we could reach it it lost flying speed and fell
+into a spinning nose dive and headed for the ground. I watched,
+expecting every minute to see the crew make parachute jumps, but they
+didn't and the plane hit the ground with a terrific crash."
+
+"It caught fire, of course?"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"No, Doctor, that is one of the funny things about the accident. It
+didn't. It hit the ground in an open place free from brush and literally
+burst into pieces, but it didn't flame up. We headed directly for the
+scene of the crash and we encountered another funny thing. We almost
+froze to death."
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"Exactly what I say. Of course, it's pretty cold at that altitude all
+the time, but this cold was like nothing I had ever encountered. It
+seemed to freeze the blood in our veins and it congealed frost on the
+windshields and made the motor miss for a moment. It was only momentary
+and it only existed directly over the wrecked plane. We went past it and
+swung around in a circle and came back over the wreck, but we didn't
+feel the cold again.
+
+"The next thing we tried to do was to find a landing place. That country
+is pretty rugged and rough and there wasn't a flat place for miles that
+was large enough to land a ship on. Hughes and I talked it over and
+there didn't seem to be much of anything that we could do except to go
+on until we found a landing place. I had had no experience in parachute
+jumping and I couldn't pilot the plane if Hughes jumped. We swooped down
+over the wreck as close as we dared and that was when we saw the
+condition of the bodies. The whole plane was cracked up pretty badly,
+but the weird part of it was the fact that the bodies of the crew had
+broken into pieces, as though they had been made of glass. Arms and legs
+were detached from the torsos and lying at a distance. There was no sign
+of blood on the ground. We saw all this with our naked eyes from close
+at hand and verified it by observations through binoculars from a
+greater height.
+
+"When we had made our observations and marked the location of the wreck
+as closely as we could, we headed east until we found a landing place
+near Fallon. Hughes dropped me here and went on to Reno, or to San
+Francisco if necessary, to report the accident and get more planes to
+aid in the search. I was wholly at sea, but it seemed to be in your line
+and as I knew that you were at the St. Francis, I called you up."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"What are your plans?"
+
+"I made none until I talked with you. The country where the wreck
+occurred is unbelievably wild and we can't get near it with any
+transportation other than burros. The only thing that I can see to do is
+to gather together what transportation I can and head for the wreck on
+foot to rescue the packets and to bring out the bodies. Can you suggest
+anything better?"
+
+"When do you expect to start?"
+
+"As soon as I can get my pack train together. Possibly in three or four
+hours."
+
+"Carnes, are you sure that those bodies were broken into bits? An arm or
+a leg might easily be torn off in a complete crash."
+
+"They were smashed into bits as nearly as I could tell, Doctor. Hughes
+is an old flier and he has seen plenty of crashes but he never saw
+anything like this. It beats anything that I ever saw."
+
+"If your observations were accurate, there could be only one cause and
+that one is a patent impossibility. I haven't a bit of equipment
+here, but I expect that I can get most of the stuff I want from the
+University of California across the bay at Berkeley. I can get a
+plane at Crissy Field. I'll tell you what to do, Carnes. Get your burro
+train together and start as soon as you can, but leave me half a
+dozen burros and a guide at Fallon. I'll get up there as soon as I can
+and I'll try to overtake you before you get to the wreck. If I don't,
+don't disturb anything any more than you can help until my arrival. Do
+you understand?"
+
+"I thought that you were on your vacation, Doctor."
+
+"Oh shut up! Like most of my vacations, this one will have to be
+postponed. I'll move as swiftly as I can and I ought to be at Fallon
+to-night if I'm lucky and don't run into any obstacles. Burros are
+fairly slow, but I'll make the best time possible."
+
+"I rather expected you would, Doctor. I can't get my pack train together
+until evening, so I'll wait for you right here. I'm mighty glad that you
+are going to get in on it."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Silently Carnes and Dr. Bird surveyed the wreck of the T. A. C. plane.
+The observations of the secret service operative had been correct. The
+bodies of the unfortunate crew had been broken into fragments. Their
+limbs had not been twisted off as a freak of the fall but had been
+cleanly broken off, as though the bodies had suddenly become brittle and
+had shattered on their impact with the ground. Not only the bodies, but
+the ship itself had been broken up. Even the clothing of the men was in
+pieces or had long splits in the fabric whose edges were as clean as
+though they had been cut with a knife.
+
+Dr. Bird picked up an arm which had belonged to the pilot and examined
+it. The brittleness, if it had ever existed, was gone and the arm was
+limp.
+
+"No _rigor mortis_," commented the Doctor. "How long ago was the
+wreck?"
+
+"About seventy-two hours ago."
+
+"Hm-m! What about those packets that were on the plane?"
+
+Carnes stepped forward and gingerly inspected first the body of the army
+courier and then that of the courier of the T. A. C.
+
+"Both gone, Doctor," he reported, straightening up.
+
+Dr. Bird's face fell into grim lines.
+
+"There is more to this case than appears on the surface, Carnes," he
+said. "This was no ordinary wreck. Bring up that third burro; I want to
+examine these fragments a little. Bill," he went on to one of the two
+guides who had accompanied them from Fallon, "you and Walter scout
+around the ground and see what you can find out. I especially wish to
+know whether anyone has visited the scene of the wreck."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The guides consulted a moment and started out. Carnes drove up the burro
+the Doctor had indicated and Dr. Bird unpacked it. He opened a mahogony
+case and took from it a high powered microscope. Setting the instrument
+up on a convenient rock, he subjected portions of the wreck, including
+several fragments of flesh, to a careful scrutiny. When he had completed
+his observations he fell into a brown study, from which he was aroused
+by Carnes.
+
+"What did you find out about the cause of the wreck, Doctor?"
+
+"I don't know what to think. The immediate cause was that everything was
+frozen. The plane ran into a belt of cold which froze up the motor and
+which probably killed the crew instantly. It was undoubtedly the
+aftermath of that cold which you felt when you swooped down over the
+wreck."
+
+"It seems impossible that it could have suddenly got cold enough to
+freeze everything up like that."
+
+"It does, and yet I am confident that that is what happened. It was no
+ordinary cold, Carnes; it was cold of the type that infests interstellar
+space; cold beyond any conception you have of cold, cold near the range
+of the absolute zero of temperature, nearly four hundred and fifty
+degrees below zero on the Fahrenheit scale. At such temperatures, things
+which are ordinarily quite flexible and elastic, such as rubber, or
+flesh, become as brittle as glass and would break in the manner which
+these bodies have broken. An examination of the tissues of the flesh
+shows that it has been submitted to some temperature that is very low in
+the scale, probably below that of liquid air. Such a temperature would
+produce instant death and the other phenomena which we can observe."
+
+"What could cause such a low temperature, Doctor?"
+
+"I don't know yet, although I hope to find out before we are finished.
+Cold is a funny thing, Carnes. Ordinarily it is considered as simply the
+absence of heat; and yet I have always held it to be a definite negative
+quantity. All through nature we observe that every force has its
+opposite or negative force to oppose it. We have positive and negative
+electrical charges, positive and negative, or north and south, magnetic
+poles. We have gravity and its opposite apergy, and I believe cold is
+really negative heat."
+
+"I never heard of anything like that, Doctor. I always thought that
+things were cold because heat was taken from them--not because cold was
+added. It sounds preposterous."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Such is the common idea, and yet I cannot accept it, for it does not
+explain all the recorded phenomena. You are familiar with a searchlight,
+are you not?"
+
+"In a general way, yes."
+
+"A searchlight is merely a source of light, and of course, of heat,
+which is placed at the focus of a parabolic reflector so that all of the
+rays emanating from the source travel in parallel lines. A searchlight,
+of course, gives off heat. If we place a lens of the same size as the
+searchlight aperture in the path of the beam and concentrate all the
+light, and heat, at one spot, the focal point of the lens, the
+temperature at that point is the same as the temperature of the source
+of the light, less what has been lost by radiation. You understand that,
+do you not?"
+
+"Certainly."
+
+"Suppose that we place at the center of the aperture of the searchlight
+a small opaque disc which is permeable neither to heat nor light, in
+such a manner as to interrupt the central portion of the beam. As a
+result, the beam will go out in the form of a hollow rod, or pipe, of
+heat and light with a dark, cold core. This core will have the
+temperature of the surrounding air plus the small amount which has
+radiated into it from the surrounding pipe. If we now pass this beam of
+light through a lens in order to concentrate the beam, both the pipe of
+heat and the cold core will focus. If we place a temperature measuring
+device near the focus of the dark core, we will find that the
+temperature is lower than the surrounding air. This means that we have
+focused or concentrated cold."
+
+"That sounds impossible. But I can offer no other criticism."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Nevertheless, it is experimentally true. It is one of the facts which
+lead me to consider cold as negative heat. However, this is true of
+cold, as it is of the other negative forces; they exist and manifest
+themselves only in the presence of the positive forces. No one has yet
+concentrated cold except in the presence of heat, as I have outlined.
+How this cold belt which the T. A. C. plane encountered came to be there
+is another question. The thing which we have to determine is whether it
+was caused by natural or artificial forces."
+
+"Both of the packets which the plane carried are gone, Doctor," observed
+Carnes.
+
+"Yes, and that seems to add weight to the possibility that the cause was
+artificial, but it is far from conclusive. The packets might not have
+been on the men when the plane fell, or someone may have passed later
+and taken them for safekeeping."
+
+The doctor's remarks were interrupted by the guides.
+
+"Someone has been here since the wreck, Doctor," said Bill. "Walter and
+I found tracks where two men came up here and prowled around for some
+time and then left by the way they came. They went off toward the
+northwest, and we followed their trail for about forty rods and then
+lost it. We weren't able to pick it up again."
+
+"Thanks, Bill," replied the doctor. "Well, Carnes, that seems to add
+more weight to the theory that the spot of cold was made and didn't just
+happen. If a prospecting party had just happened along they would either
+have left the wreck alone or would have made some attempt to inter the
+bodies. That cold belt must have been produced artificially by men who
+planned to rob this plane after bringing it down and who were near at
+hand to get their plunder. Is there any chance of following that
+trail?"
+
+"I doubt it, Doc. Walter and I scouted around quite a little, but we
+couldn't pick it up again."
+
+"Is there any power line passing within twenty miles of here?"
+
+"None that Walter and I know of, Doc."
+
+"Funny! Such a device as must have been used would need power and lots
+of it for operation. Well, I'll try my luck. Carnes, help me unpack and
+set up the rest of my apparatus."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+With the aid of the operative, Dr. Bird unpacked two of the burros and
+extracted from cases where they were carefully packed and padded some
+elaborate electrical and optical apparatus. The first was a short
+telescope of large diameter which he mounted on a base in such a manner
+that it could be elevated or depressed and rotated in any direction. At
+the focal point of the telescope was fastened a small knot of wire from
+which one lead ran to the main piece of apparatus, which he sat on a
+flat rock. The other lead from the wire knot ran into a sealed container
+surrounded by a water bath under which a spirit lamp burned. From the
+container another lead led to the main apparatus. This main piece
+consisted of a series of wire coils mounted on a frame and attached to
+the two leads. The doctor took from a padded case a tiny magnet
+suspended on a piece of wire of exceedingly small diameter which he
+fastened in place inside the coils. Cemented to the magnet was a tiny
+mirror.
+
+"What is that apparatus?" asked Carnes as the doctor finished his set-up
+and surveyed it with satisfaction.
+
+"Merely a thermocouple attached to a D'Arsonval galvanometer," replied
+the doctor. "This large, squat telescope catches and concentrates on the
+thermocouple and the galvanometer registers the temperature."
+
+"You're out of my depth. What is a thermocouple?"
+
+"A juncture of two wires made of dissimilar metals, in this case of
+platinum and of platinum-iridium alloy. There is another similar
+junction in this case, which is kept at a constant temperature by the
+water bath. When the temperatures of the two junctions are the same, the
+system is in equilibrium. When they are at different temperatures, an
+electrical potential is set up, which causes a current to flow from one
+to the other through the galvanometer. The galvanometer consists of a
+magnet set up inside coils through which the current I spoke of flows.
+This current causes the magnet to rotate and by watching the mirror, the
+rotation can be detected and measured.
+
+"This device is one of the most sensitive ever made, and is used to
+measure the radiation from distant stars. Currents as small as
+.000000000000000000000000001 ampere have been detected and measured.
+This particular instrument is not that sensitive to begin with, and has
+its sensitivity further reduced by having a high resistance in one of
+the leads."
+
+"What are you going to use it for?"
+
+"I am going to try to locate somewhere in these hills a patch of local
+cold. It may not work, but I have hopes. If you will manipulate the
+telescope so as to search the hills around here, I will watch the
+galvanometer."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+For several minutes Carnes swung the telescope around. Twice Dr. Bird
+stopped him and decreased the sensitiveness of his instrument by
+introducing more resistance in the lines in order to keep the magnet
+from twisting clear around, due to the fluctuations in the heats
+received on account of the varying conditions of reflection. As Carnes
+swung the telescope again the magnet swung around sharply, nearly to a
+right angle to its former position.
+
+"Stop!" cried the doctor. "Read your azimuth."
+
+Carnes read the compass bearing on the protractor attached to the frame
+which supported the telescope. Dr. Bird took a pair of binoculars and
+looked long and earnestly in the indicated direction. With a sigh he
+laid down the glasses.
+
+"I can't see a thing, Carnesy," he said. "We'll have to move over to the
+next crest and make a new set-up. Plant a rod on the hill so that we can
+get an azimuth bearing and get the airline distance with a range
+finder."
+
+On the hilltop which Dr. Bird had pointed out the apparatus was again
+set up. For several minutes Carnes swept the hills before an exclamation
+from the doctor told him to pause. He read the new azimuth, and the
+doctor laid off the two readings on a sheet of paper with a protractor
+and made a few calculations.
+
+"I don't know," he said reflectively when he had finished his
+computations. "This darned instrument is still so sensitive that you may
+have merely focused on a deep shadow or a cold spring or something of
+that sort, but the magnet kicked clear around and it may mean that we
+have located what we are looking for. It should be about two miles away
+and almost due west of here."
+
+"There is no spring that I know of, Doc, and I think I know of every
+water hole in this country," remarked Bill.
+
+"There could hardly be a spring at this elevation, anyway," replied the
+doctor. "Maybe it is what we are seeking. We'll start out in that
+direction, anyway. Bill, you had better take the lead, for you know the
+country. Spread out a little so that we won't be too bunched if anything
+happens."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+For three-quarters of an hour the little group of men made their way
+through the wilderness in the direction indicated by the doctor.
+Presently Bill, who was in the lead, held up his hand with a warning
+gesture. The other three closed up as rapidly as cautious progress would
+allow.
+
+"What is it, Bill?" asked the doctor in an undertone.
+
+"Slip up ahead and look over that crest."
+
+The doctor obeyed instructions. As he glanced over he gave vent to a low
+whistle of surprise and motioned for Carnes to join him. The operative
+crawled up and glanced over the crest. In a hollow before them was a
+crude one-storied house, and erected on an open space before it was a
+massive piece of apparatus. It consisted of a number of huge metallic
+cylinders, from which lines ran to a silvery concave mirror mounted on
+an elaborate frame which would allow it to be rotated so as to point in
+any direction.
+
+"What is it?" whispered Carnes.
+
+"Some kind of a projector," muttered the doctor. "I never saw one quite
+like it, but it is meant to project something. I can't make out the
+curve of that mirror. It isn't a parabola and it isn't an ellipse. It
+must be a high degree subcatenary or else built on a transcendental
+function."
+
+He raised himself to get a clearer view, and as he did so a puff of
+smoke came from the house, to be followed in a moment by a sharp crack
+as a bullet flattened itself a few inches from his head. The doctor
+tumbled back over the crest out of sight of the house. Bill and Walter
+hurried forward, their rifles held ready for action.
+
+"Get out on the flanks, men," directed the doctor. "The man we want is
+in a house in that hollow. He's armed, and he means business."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Bill and Walter crawled under the shelter of the rocks to a short
+distance away and then, rifles ready, advanced to the attack. A report
+came from the hollow and a bullet whined over Bill's head. Almost
+instantly a crack came from Walter's rifle and splinters flew from the
+building in the hollow a few inches from a loophole, through which
+projected the barrel of a rifle.
+
+The rifle barrel swung rapidly in a circle and barked in Walter's
+direction; but as it did so, Bill's gun spoke and again splinters flew
+from the building.
+
+"Good work!" ejaculated Dr. Bird as he watched the slow advance of the
+two guides. "If we just had rifles we could join in the party, but it's
+a little far for effective pistol work. Let's go ahead, and we may get
+close enough to do a little shooting."
+
+Pistols in hand, Carnes and the doctor crawled over the crest and joined
+the advance. Again and again the rifle spoke from the hollow and was
+answered by the vicious barks of the rifles in the hands of the guides,
+Carnes and the doctor resting their pistols on rocks and sending an
+occasional bullet toward the loophole. The conditions of light and the
+moving target were not conducive to good marksmanship on the part of the
+besieged man, and none of the attackers were hit. Presently Walter
+succeeded in sending a bullet through the loophole. The rifle barrel
+suddenly disappeared. With a shout the four men rose from their cover
+and advanced toward the building at a run.
+
+As they did so an ominous whirring sound came from the apparatus in
+front of the house and a sudden chill filled the air.
+
+"Back!" shouted Dr. Bird. "Back below the hill if you value your
+lives!"
+
+He turned and raced at full speed toward the sheltering crest of the
+hill, the others following him closely. The whirring sound continued,
+and the concave reflector turned with a grating sound on its gears. As
+the path of its rays struck the ground the rocks became white with frost
+and one rock split with a sharp report, one fragment rolling down the
+slope, carrying others in its trail.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+With panic-stricken faces the four men raced toward the sheltering
+crest, but remorselessly the reflector swung around in their direction.
+The intense cold numbed the racing men, cutting off their breath and
+impeding their efforts for speed.
+
+"Stop!" cried the doctor suddenly. "Fire at that reflector! It's our
+only chance!"
+
+He set the example by turning and emptying his pistol futilely at the
+turning mirror. Bill, Walter and Carnes followed his example. Nearer
+and nearer to them came the deadly ray. Bill was the nearest to its
+path, and he suddenly stiffened and fell forward, his useless gun still
+grasped in his hands. As his body struck the ground it rolled down hill
+for a few feet, the deadly ray following it. His head struck a rock, and
+Carnes gave a cry of horror as it broke into fragments.
+
+Walter threw his rifle to his shoulder and fired again and again at the
+rotating disc. The cold had became intense and he could not control the
+actions of his muscles and his rifle wavered about. He threw himself
+flat on the ground, and, with an almost superhuman effort, steadied
+himself for a moment and fired. His aim was true, and with a terrific
+crash the reflector split into a thousand fragments. Dr. Bird staggered
+to his feet.
+
+"It's out of order for a moment!" he cried. "To the house while we
+can!"
+
+As swiftly as his numbed feet would allow him, he stumbled toward the
+house. The muzzle of the rifle again projected from the loophole and
+with its crack the doctor staggered for a moment and then fell. Walter's
+rifle spoke again and the rifle disappeared through the loophole with a
+spasmodic jerk. Carnes stumbled over the doctor.
+
+"Are you hit badly?" he gasped through chattering teeth.
+
+"I'm not hit at all," muttered the doctor. "I stumbled and fell just as
+he fired. Look out! He's going to shoot again!"
+
+The rifle barrel came slowly into view through the loophole. Walter
+fired, but his bullet went wild. Carnes threw himself behind a rock for
+protection.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The rifle swung in Walter's direction and paused. As it did so, from the
+house came a strangled cry and a sound as of a blow. The rifle barrel
+disappeared, and the sounds of a struggle came from the building.
+
+"Come on!" cried Carnes as he rose to his feet, and made his stumbling
+way forward, the others following at the best speed which their numbed
+limbs would allow.
+
+As they reached the door they were aware of a struggle which was going
+on inside. With an oath the doctor threw his massive frame against the
+door. It creaked, but the solid oak of which it was composed was proof
+against the attack, and he drew back for another onslaught. From the
+house came a pistol shot, followed by a despairing cry and a guttural
+shout. Reinforced by Carnes, the doctor threw his weight against the
+door again. With a rending crash it gave, and they fell sprawling into
+the cabin. The doctor was the first one on his feet.
+
+"Who are you?" asked a voice from one corner. The doctor whirled like a
+flash and covered the speaker with his pistol.
+
+"Put them up!" he said tersely.
+
+"I am unarmed," the voice replied. "Who are you?"
+
+"We're from the United States Secret Service," replied Carnes who had
+gained his feet. "The game is up for you, and you'd better realize it."
+
+"Secret Service! Thank God!" cried the voice. "Get Koskoff--he has the
+plans. He has gone out through the tunnel!"
+
+"Where is it?" demanded Carnes.
+
+"The entrance is that iron plate on the floor."
+
+Carnes and the doctor jumped at the plate and tried to lift it, without
+result. There was no handle or projection on which they could take
+hold.
+
+"Not that way," cried the voice. "That cover is fastened on the inside.
+Go outside the building; he'll come out about two hundred yards north.
+Shoot him as he appears or he'll get away."
+
+The three men nearly tumbled over each other to get through the doorway
+into the bitter cold outside. As they emerged from the cabin the gaze of
+the guide swept the surrounding hills.
+
+"There he goes!" he cried.
+
+"Get him!" said Carnes sharply.
+
+Walter ran forward a few feet and dropped prone on the ground, cuddling
+the stock of his rifle to his cheek. Two hundred yards ahead a figure
+was scurrying over the rocks away from the cabin. Walter drew in his
+breath and his hand suddenly grew steady as his keen gray eyes peered
+through the sights. Carnes and the doctor held their breath in
+sympathy.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Suddenly the rifle spoke, and the fleeing man threw up his arms and fell
+forward on his face.
+
+"Got him," said Walter laconically.
+
+"Go bring the body in, Carnes," exclaimed the doctor. "I'll take care of
+the chap inside."
+
+"Did you get him?" asked the voice eagerly, as the doctor stepped
+inside.
+
+"He's dead all right," replied the doctor grimly. "Who the devil are
+you, and what are you doing here?"
+
+"There is a light switch on the left of the door as you come in," was
+the reply.
+
+Dr. Bird found the switch and snapped on a light. He turned toward the
+corner from whence the voice had come and recoiled in horror. Propped in
+the corner was the body of a middle-aged man, daubed and splashed with
+blood which ran from a wound in the side of his head.
+
+"Good Lord!" he ejaculated. "Let me help you."
+
+"There's not much use," replied the man rather faintly. "I am about done
+in. This face wound doesn't amount to much, but I am shot through the
+body and am bleeding internally. If you try to move me, it may easily
+kill me. Leave me alone until your partners come."
+
+The doctor drew a flask of brandy from his pocket and advanced toward
+the corner.
+
+"Take a few drops of this," he advised.
+
+With an effort the man lifted the flask to his lips and gulped down a
+little of the fiery spirit. A sound of tramping feet came from the
+outside and then a thud as though a body had been dropped. Carnes and
+Walter entered the cabin.
+
+"He's dead as a mackerel," said Carnes in answer to the doctor's look.
+"Walter got him through the neck and broke his spinal cord. He never
+knew what hit him."
+
+"The plans?" came in a gasping voice from the man in the corner.
+
+"We got them, too," replied Carnes. "He had both packets inside his
+coat. They have been opened, but I guess they are all here. Who the
+devil are you?"
+
+"Since Koskoff is dead, and I am dying, there is no reason why I
+shouldn't tell you," was the answer. "Leave that brandy handy to keep up
+my strength. I have only a short time and I can't repeat.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"As to who I am or what I was, it doesn't really matter. Koskoff knew me
+as John Smith, and it will pass as well as any other name. Let my past
+stay buried. I am, or was, a scientist of some ability; but fortune
+frowned on me, and I was driven out of the world. Money would
+rehabilitate me--money will do anything nowadays--so I set out to get
+it. In the course of my experimental work, I had discovered that cold
+was negative heat and reacted to the laws which governed heat."
+
+"I knew that," cried Dr. Bird; "but I never could prove it."
+
+"Who are you?" demanded John Smith.
+
+"Dr. Bird, of the Bureau of Standards."
+
+"Oh, Bird. I've heard of you. You can understand me when I say that as
+heat, positive heat is a concomitant of ordinary light. I have found
+that cold, negative heat, is a concomitant of cold light. Is my
+apparatus in good shape outside?"
+
+"The reflector is smashed."
+
+"I'm sorry. You would have enjoyed studying it. I presume that you saw
+that it was a catenary curve?"
+
+"I rather thought so."
+
+"It was, and it was also adjustable. I could vary the focal point from a
+few feet to several miles. With that apparatus I could throw a beam of
+negative heat with a focal point which I could adjust at will. Close to
+the apparatus, I could obtain a temperature almost down to absolute
+zero, but at the longer ranges it wasn't so cold, due to leakage into
+the atmosphere. Even at two miles I could produce a local temperature of
+three hundred degrees below zero."
+
+"What was the source of your cold?"
+
+"Liquid helium. Those cylinders contain, or rather did contain, for I
+expect that Koskoff has emptied them, helium in a liquid state."
+
+"Where is your compressor?"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"I didn't have to use one. I developed a cold light under whose rays
+helium would liquefy and remain in a state of equilibrium until exposed
+to light rays. Those cylinders had merely enough pressure to force the
+liquid out to where the sun could hit it, and then it turned to a gas,
+dropping the temperature at the first focal point of the reflector to
+absolute zero. When I had this much done, Koskoff and I packed the whole
+apparatus here and were ready for work.
+
+"We were on the path of the transcontinental air mail, and I bided my
+time until an especially valuable shipment was to be made. My plans,
+which worked perfectly, were to freeze the plane in midair and then rob
+the wreck. I heard of the jewel shipment the T. A. C. was to carry and I
+planned to get it. When the plane came over, Koskoff and I brought it
+down. The unsuspected presence of another plane upset us a little, and I
+started to bring it down. But we had been all over this country and knew
+there was no place that a plane could land. I let it go on in safety."
+
+"Thank you," replied Carnes with a grimace.
+
+"We robbed the wreck and we found two packets, one the jewels I was
+after, and the other a sealed packet, which proved to contain certain
+War Department plans. That was when I learned who Koskoff was. I had
+hired him in San Francisco as a good mechanic who had no principles. He
+was to get one-fourth of the loot. When we found these plans, he told me
+who he was. He was really a Russian secret agent and he wanted to
+deliver the plans to Russia. I may be a thief and a murderer, but I am
+not yet ready to betray my country, and I told him so. He offered me
+almost any price for the plans; but I wouldn't listen. We had a serious
+quarrel, and he overpowered me and bound me.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"We had a radio set here and he called San Francisco and sent some code
+message. I think he was waiting here for someone to come. Had we
+followed our original plans, we would have been miles from here before
+you arrived.
+
+"He had me bound and helpless, as he thought, but I worked my bonds a
+little loose. I didn't let him know it, for I knew that the plane I had
+let get away would guide a party here and I thought I might be able to
+help out. When you came and attacked the house, I worked at my bonds
+until they were loose enough to throw off. I saw Koskoff start my cold
+apparatus to working and then he quit, because he ran out of helium.
+When he started shooting again, I worked out of my bonds and tackled
+him.
+
+"He was a better man than I gave him credit for, or else he suspected
+me, for about the time I grabbed him he whirled and struck me over the
+head with his gun barrel and tore my face open. The blow stunned me, and
+when I came to, I was thrown into this corner. I meant to have another
+try at it, but I guess you rushed him too fast. He turned and ran for
+the tunnel, but as he did so, he shot me through the body. I guess I
+didn't look dead enough to suit him. You gentlemen broke open the door
+and came in. That's all."
+
+"Not by a long shot, it isn't," exclaimed Dr. Bird. "Where is that cold
+light apparatus of yours?"
+
+"In the tunnel."
+
+"How do you get into it?"
+
+"If you will open that cupboard on the wall, you'll find an open knife
+switch on the wall. Close it."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Dr. Bird found the switch and closed it. As he did so the cabin rocked
+on its foundations and both Carnes and Walter were thrown to the ground.
+The thud of a detonation deep in the earth came to their ears.
+
+"What was that?" cried the doctor.
+
+"That," replied Smith with a wan smile, "was the detonation of two
+hundred pounds of T.N.T. When you dig down into the underground cave
+where we used the cold light apparatus, you will find it in fragments.
+It was my only child, and I'll take it with me."
+
+As he finished his head slumped forward on his chest. With an
+exclamation of dismay Dr. Bird sprang forward and tried to lift the
+prostrate form.
+
+In an agony of desire the Doctor tightened his grip on the dying man's
+shoulder. But Smith collapsed into a heap. Dr. Bird bent forward and
+tore open his shirt and listened at his chest. Presently he straightened
+up.
+
+"He is gone," he said sadly, "and I guess the results of his genius have
+died with him. He doesn't strike me as a man who left overmuch to
+chance. Carnes, is your case completed?"
+
+"Very satisfactorily, Doctor. I have both of the lost packets."
+
+"All right, then, come back to the wreck and help me pack my burros. I
+can make my way back to Fallon without a guide."
+
+"Where are you going, Doctor?"
+
+"That, Carnes, old dear, is none of your blankety blanked business.
+Permit me to remind you that I am on my vacation. I haven't decided yet
+just where I am going, but I can tell you one thing. It's going to be
+some place where you can't call me on the telephone."
+
+
+
+
+Brigands of the Moon
+
+(The Book of Gregg Haljan)
+BEGINNING A FOUR-PART NOVEL
+
+_By Ray Cummings_
+
+    Black mutiny and brigandage stalk the Space-ship Planetara as
+    she speeds to the Moon to pick up a fabulously rich cache of
+    radium-ore.
+
+[Illustration: _I stood on the turret-balcony of the Planetara with Dr.
+Frank, watching the arriving passengers._]
+
+
+_Foreword by Ray Cummings_
+
+I have been thinking that if, during one of those long winter evenings
+at Valley Forge, someone had placed in George Washington's hands one of
+our present day best sellers, the illustrious Father of our Country
+would have read it with considerable emotion. I do not mean what we call
+a story of science, or fantasy--just a novel of action, adventure and
+romance. The sort of thing you and I like to read, but do not find
+amazing in any way at all.
+
+But I fancy that George Washington would have found it amazing. Don't
+you? It might picture, for instance, a factory girl at a sewing machine.
+George Washington would be amazed at a sewing machine. And the girl,
+journeying in the subway to and from her work! Stealing an opportunity
+to telephone her lover at the noon hour; going to the movies in the
+evening, or listening to a radio. And there might be a climax, perhaps,
+with the girl and the villain in a transcontinental railway Pullman, and
+the hero sending frantic telegrams, or telephoning the train, and then
+chasing it in his airplane.
+
+George Washington would have found it amazing!
+
+And I am wondering how you and I would feel if someone were to give us
+now a book of ordinary adventure of the sort which will be published a
+hundred and fifty years hence. I have been trying to imagine such a book
+and the nature of its contents.
+
+Let us imagine it together. Suppose we walk down Fifth Avenue, a
+pleasant spring morning of May, 2080. Fifth Avenue, no doubt, will be
+there. I don't know whether the New York Public Library will be there or
+not. We'll assume that it is, and that it has some sort of books,
+printed, or in whatever fashion you care to imagine.
+
+The young man library attendant is surprised at our curiously antiquated
+aspect. We look as though we were dressed for some historical costume
+ball. We talk old-fashioned English, like actors in an historical play
+of the 1930 period.
+
+But we get the book. The attendant assures us it is a good average story
+of action and adventure. Nothing remarkable, but he read it himself, and
+found it interesting.
+
+We thank him and take the book. But we find that the language in which
+it is written is too strange for comfortable reading. And it names so
+many extraordinary things so casually! As though we knew all about them,
+which we certainly do not!
+
+So we take it to the kind-hearted librarian in the language division. He
+modifies it to old-fashioned English of 1930, and he puts occasional
+footnotes to help explain some of the things we might not understand.
+Why he should bother to do this for us I don't know; but let us assume
+that he does.
+
+And now we take the book home--in the pneumatic tube, or aerial moving
+sidewalk, or airship, or whatever it is we take to get home.
+
+And now that we are home, let's read the book. It ought to be
+interesting.
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+    _Tells of the Grantline Moon Expedition and of the Mysterious
+    Martian Who Followed Us in the City Corridor_
+
+One may write about oneself and still not be an egoist. Or so, at least,
+they tell me. My narrative went broadcast with a fair success. It was
+pantomimed and the public flashed me a reasonable approval. And so my
+disc publishers have suggested that I record it in more permanent form.
+
+I introduce myself, begging grace that I intrude upon your busy minutes,
+with my only excuse that perhaps I may amuse you. For what the
+commercial sellers of my pictured version were pleased to blare as my
+handsome face, I ask your indulgence. My feminine audience of the
+pantomimes was undoubtedly graciously pleased at my personality and
+physical aspect. That I am "tall as a Viking of old"--and "handsome as a
+young Norse God"--is very pretty talk in the selling of my product. But
+I deplore its intrusion into the personality of this, my recorded
+narrative. And so now, for preface, to all my audience I do give earnest
+assurance that Gregg Haljan is no conceited zebra, handsomely striped by
+nature, and proud of it. Not so. I am, I do beg you to believe, a very
+humble fellow, striving for your approval, hoping only to entertain
+you.
+
+My introduction: My name, Gregg Haljan. My age, twenty-five years. I
+was, at the time my narrative begins, Third Officer on the Space-Ship
+Planetara. Our line was newly established; in 2070, to be exact,
+following the modern improvements of the Martel Magnetic Levitation.[1]
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Our ship, whose home port was Great-New York, carried mail and passenger
+traffic to and from both Venus and Mars. Of astronomical necessity, our
+flights were irregular. This spring, with the two other planets both
+close to the earth, we were making two complete round trips. We had just
+arrived in Great-New York, this May evening, from Grebhar, Venus Free
+State. With only five hours in port here, we were departing the same
+night at the zero hour for Ferrok-Shahn, capital of the Martian Union.
+
+We were no sooner at the landing stage than I found a code-flash
+summoning Dan Dean and me to Divisional Detective Headquarters. Dan
+"Snap" Dean was one of my closest friends. He was radio-helio operator
+of the Planetara. A small, wiry, red-headed chap, with a quick, ready
+laugh and a wit that made everyone like him.
+
+The summons to Detective-Colonel Halsey's office surprised us. Snap eyed
+me.
+
+"You haven't been opening any treasury vaults, have you, Gregg?"
+
+"He wants you, also," I retorted.
+
+He laughed. "Well, he can roar at me like a traffic switchman and my
+private life will remain my own."
+
+We could not think why we should be wanted. It was the darkness of
+mid-evening when we left the Planetara for Halsey's office. It was not a
+long trip. We went direct in the upper monorail, descending into the
+subterranean city at Park-Circle 30.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We had never been to Halsey's office before. We found it to be a gloomy,
+vaultlike place in one of the deepest corridors. The door lifted.
+
+"Gregg Haljan and Daniel Dean."
+
+The guard stood aside. "Come in."
+
+I own that my heart was unduly thumping as we entered. The door dropped
+behind us. It was a small blue-lit apartment--a steel-lined room like a
+vault.
+
+Colonel Halsey sat at his desk. And the big, heavy-set, florid Captain
+Carter--our commander of the Planetara--was here. That surprised us: we
+had not seen him leave the ship.
+
+Halsey smiled at us gravely. Captain Carter said, "Sit down, lads."
+
+We took the seats. There was an alarming solemnity about this. If I had
+been guilty of anything that I could think of, it would have been
+frightening. But Halsey's first words reassured me.
+
+"It's about the Grantline Moon Expedition. In spite of our secrecy, the
+news has gotten out. We want to know how. Can you tell us?"
+
+Captain Carter's huge bulk--he was about as tall as I am--towered over
+us as we sat before Halsey's desk. "If you lads have told anyone--said
+anything--let slip the slightest hint about it--"
+
+Snap smiled with relief; but he turned solemn at once. "I haven't. Not a
+word!"
+
+"Nor have I," I declared.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Grantline Moon Expedition! We had not thought of that as a reason
+for this summons. Johnny Grantline was a close friend to us both. He had
+organized an exploring expedition to the Moon. Uninhabited, with its
+bleak, forbidding, airless, waterless surface, the Moon--even though so
+close to the Earth--was seldom visited. No regular ship ever stopped
+there. A few exploring parties of recent years had come to grief.
+
+But there was a persistent rumor that upon the Moon, mineral riches of
+fabulous wealth were awaiting discovery. The thing had already caused
+some interplanetary complications. The aggressive Martians would be only
+too glad to explore the Moon. But the U.S.W.[2] definitely warned them
+away. The Moon was World Territory, we announced, and we would protect
+it as such.
+
+The threatened conflict between the Earth and Mars had come to nothing.
+There was, this year of 2079, a thorough amity between all three of the
+inhabited planets. It still holds, and I pray that it may always hold.
+
+There was, nevertheless, a realization by our government, that whatever
+riches might be upon the Moon should be seized at once and held by some
+reputable Earth Company. And when Johnny Grantline applied, with his
+father's wealth and his own scientific record of attainment, the
+government was only too glad to grant him its writ.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Grantline Expedition had started six months ago. The Martian
+government had acquiesced in our ultimatum, yet brigands have been known
+to be financed under cover of a governmental disavowal. And so the
+expedition was kept secret.
+
+My words need give no offense to any Martian who comes upon them. I
+refer to the history of our earth only. The Grantline Expedition was on
+the Moon now. No word had come from it. One could not flash helios even
+in code without letting all the universe know that explorers were on the
+Moon. And why they were there, anyone could easily guess.
+
+And now Colonel Halsey was telling us that the news was abroad! Captain
+Carter eyed us closely; his flashing eyes under the white bushy brows
+would pry a secret from anyone.
+
+"You're sure? A girl of Venus, perhaps, with her cursed, seductive lure!
+A chance word, with you lads befuddled by alcolite?"
+
+We assured him we had been careful. By the heavens, I know that I had
+been. Not a whisper, even to Snap, of the name Grantline in six months
+or more.
+
+Captain Carter added abruptly, "We're insulated here, Halsey?"
+
+"Yes, talk as freely as you like. An eavesdropping ray will never get
+into these walls."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+They questioned us. They were satisfied at last that, though the secret
+had escaped, we had not done it. Hearing it discussed, it occurred to me
+to wonder why Carter was concerned. I was not aware that he knew of
+Grantline's venture. I learned now the reason why the Planetara, upon
+each of her voyages, had managed to pass fairly close to the Moon. It
+had been arranged with Grantline that if he wanted help or had any
+important message, he was to flash it locally to our passing ship. And
+this Snap knew, and had never mentioned it, even to me.
+
+Halsey was saying, "Well, we can't blame you, but the secret is out."
+
+Snap and I regarded each other. What could anyone do? What would anyone
+dare do?
+
+Captain Carter said abruptly, "Look here, lads, this is my chance now to
+talk plainly to you. Outside, anywhere outside these walls, an
+eavesdropping ray may be upon us. You know that? One may never even dare
+whisper since that accursed ray was developed."
+
+Snap opened his mouth to speak but decided against it. My heart was
+pounding.
+
+Captain Carter went on, "I know I can trust you two more than anyone
+else under me on the Planetara--"
+
+"What do you mean by that?" I demanded. "What--"
+
+He interrupted me. "Nothing at all but what I say."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Halsey smiled grimly. "What he means, Haljan, is that things are not
+always what they seem these days. One cannot always tell a friend from
+an enemy. The Planetara is a public vessel. You have--how many is it,
+Carter?--thirty or forty passengers this trip to-night?"
+
+"Thirty-eight," said Carter.
+
+"There are thirty-eight people listed for the flight to Ferrok-Shahn
+to-night," Halsey said slowly. "And some may not be what they seem." He
+raised his thin dark hand. "We have information--" He paused. "I
+confess, we know almost nothing--hardly more than enough to alarm us."
+
+Captain Carter interjected, "I want you and Dean to be on your guard.
+Once on the Planetara it is difficult for us to talk openly, but be
+watchful. I will arrange for us to be doubly armed."
+
+Vague, perturbing words! Halsey said, "They tell me George Prince is
+listed for the voyage. I am suggesting, Haljan, that you keep your
+eye especially upon him. Your duties on the Planetara leave you
+comparatively free, don't they?"
+
+"Yes," I agreed. With the first and second officers on duty, and the
+captain aboard, my routine was more or less that of an understudy.
+
+I said, "George Prince! Who is he?"
+
+"A mechanical engineer," said Halsey. "An under-official of the
+Earth Federated Radium Corporation. But he associates with bad
+companions--particularly Martians."
+
+I had never heard of this George Prince, though I was familiar with the
+Federated Radium Corporation, of course. A semi-government trust, which
+controlled virtually the entire Earth supply of radium.
+
+"He was in the Automotive Department," Carter put in. "You've heard of
+the Federated Radium Motor?"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We had, of course. A recent Earth invention which promised to
+revolutionize the automotive industry. An engine of a new type, using
+radium as its fuel.
+
+Snap demanded, "What in the stars has this got to do with Johnny
+Grantline?"
+
+"Much," said Halsey quietly, "or perhaps nothing. But George Prince some
+years ago mixed in rather unethical transactions. We had him in custody
+once. He is known now as unusually friendly with several Martians in New
+York of bad reputation."
+
+"Well--" began Snap.
+
+"What you don't know," Halsey went on quietly, "is that Grantline
+expects to find radium on the Moon."
+
+We gasped.
+
+"Exactly," said Halsey. "The ill-fated Ballon Expedition thought they
+had found it on the Moon some years ago. A new type of ore, as rich in
+radium as our gold-bearing sands are rich in gold. Ballon's first
+samples gave uranium atoms with a fair representation of ionium and
+thorium. A richly radio-active ore. A lode of the pure radium is there
+somewhere, without doubt."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+He added vehemently, "Do you understand now why we should be suspicious
+of this George Prince? He has a criminal record. He has a thorough
+technical knowledge of radium ores. He associates with Martians of bad
+reputation. A large Martian Company has recently developed a radium
+engine to compete with our Earth motor. You know that? You know that
+there is very little radium available on Mars, and our government will
+not allow our own radium supply to be exported. That Martian Company
+needs radium. It will do anything to get radium. What do you suppose it
+would pay for a few tons of really rich radio-active ore--such as
+Grantline may have found on the Moon?"
+
+"But," I objected, "that is a reputable Martian company. It's backed by
+the government of the Martian Union. The government of Mars would not
+dare--"
+
+"Of course not!" Captain Carter exclaimed sardonically. "Not openly! But
+if Martian brigands had a supply of radium--I don't imagine where it
+came from would make much difference. That Martian Company would buy
+it."
+
+Halsey added, "And George Prince, my agents inform me, seems to know
+that Grantline is on the Moon. Put it all together, lads. Little sparks
+show the hidden current.
+
+"More than that: George Prince knows that we have arranged to have the
+Planetara stop at the Moon and bring back Grantline's radium-ore. This
+is your last voyage this year. You'll hear from Grantline this time,
+we're convinced. He'll probably give you the signal as you pass the Moon
+on your way out. Coming back, you'll stop at the Moon and transport
+whatever radium-ore Grantline has ready. The Grantline Flyer is too
+small for ore transportation."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Halsey's voice turned grimly sarcastic. "Doesn't it seem queer that
+George Prince and a few of his Martian friends happen to be listed as
+passengers for this voyage?"
+
+In the silence that followed, Snap and I regarded each other. Halsey
+added abruptly,
+
+"We had George Prince typed that time we arrested him four years ago.
+I'll show him to you."
+
+He snapped open an alcove, and said to his waiting attendant, "Get me
+the type of George Prince."
+
+The disc in a moment came through the pneumatic. Halsey, smiling wryly,
+adjusted it.
+
+"A nice looking fellow. Nicely spoken. Though at the time we made this
+he was somewhat annoyed, naturally. He is older now. Twenty-nine, to be
+exact. Here he is."
+
+The image glowed on the grids before us. His name, George Prince, in
+letters illumined upon his forehead, showed for a moment and then faded.
+He stood smiling sourly before us as he repeated the official formula:
+
+"My name is George Prince. I was born in Great-New York City twenty-five
+years ago."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I gazed at this life-size, moving image of George Prince. He stood
+somber in the black detention uniform. A dark, almost a girlishly
+handsome fellow, well below medium height--the rod beside him showed
+five feet four inches. Slim and slight. Long, wavy black hair, falling
+about his ears. A pale, clean-cut, really handsome face, almost
+beardless. I regarded it closely. A face that would have been femininely
+beautiful without its masculine touch of heavy black brows and firmly
+set jaw. His voice as he spoke was low and soft; but at the end, with
+the concluding words, "I am innocent!" it flashed into strong
+masculinity. His eyes, shaded with long, girlish black lashes, by chance
+met mine. "I am innocent." His curving sensuous lips drew down into a
+grim sneer....
+
+The type faded at its end. Halsey replaced the disc in its box and waved
+the attendant away. "Thank you."
+
+He turned back to Snap and me. "Well, there he is. We have nothing
+tangible against him now. But I'll say this: he's a clever fellow, one
+to be afraid of. I would not blare it from the newscasters' microphone,
+but if he is hatching any plot, he has been too clever for my agents."
+
+We talked for another half-hour, and then Captain Carter dismissed us.
+We left Halsey's office with Carter's final words ringing in our ears.
+"Whatever comes, lads, remember I trust you...."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Snap and I decided to walk a portion of the way back to the ship. It was
+barely more than a mile through this subterranean corridor to where we
+could get the vertical lift direct to the landing stage.
+
+We started off on the lower level. Once outside the insulation of
+Halsey's office we did not dare talk of this thing. Not only electrical
+ears, but every possible eavesdropping device might be upon us. The
+corridor was two hundred feet or more below the ground level. At this
+hour of the night this business section was comparatively deserted. The
+through tube sounded over our heads with the passing of its occasional
+trains. The ventilators buzzed and whirred. At the cross intersections,
+the traffic directors dozed at their posts. It was hot and sticky down
+here, and gloomy with the daylight globes extinguished, and only the
+night lights to give a dim illumination. The stores and office arcades
+were all closed and deserted; only an occasional night-light burning
+behind their windows.
+
+Our footfalls echoed on the metal grids as we hurried along.
+
+"Nice evening," said Snap awkwardly.
+
+"Yes," I said, "isn't it?"
+
+I felt oppressed. As though prying eyes and ears were here. We walked
+for a time in silence, each of us busy with memory of what had
+transpired in Halsey's office.
+
+Suddenly Snap gripped me. "What's that?"
+
+"Where?" I whispered.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We stopped at a corner. An entryway was here. Snap pulled me into it. I
+could feel him quivering with excitement.
+
+"What is it?" I demanded in a whisper.
+
+"We're being followed. Did you hear anything?"
+
+"No!" Yet I thought now I could hear something. Vague footfalls. A
+rustling. And a microscopic electrical whine, as though some device were
+near us.
+
+Snap was fumbling in his pocket. "Wait, I've got a pair of low-scale
+phones."
+
+He put the little grids against his ears. I could hear the sharp intake
+of his breath. Then he seized me, pulled me down to the metal floor of
+the entryway.
+
+"Back, Gregg! Get back!" I could barely hear his whisper. We crouched as
+far back into the doorway as we could get. I was armed. My official
+permit for the carrying of the pencil heat-ray allowed me to have it
+always with me. I drew it now. But there was nothing to shoot at. I felt
+Snap clamping the grids on my ears. And now I heard something! An
+intensification of the vague footsteps I had thought I heard before.
+
+There was something following us! Something out in the corridor there
+now! A street light was nearby. The corridor was dim, but plainly
+visible; and to my sight it was empty. But there was something there.
+Something invisible! I could hear it moving. Creeping towards us. I
+pulled the grids off my ears.
+
+Snap murmured, "You've got a local phone."
+
+"Yes! I'll get them to give us the street glare!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I pressed the danger signal, giving our location to the nearest
+operator. In a second or two we got the light. The street in all this
+neighborhood burst into a brilliant actinic glare. The thing menacing
+us was revealed! A figure in a black cloak, crouching thirty feet away
+across the corridor.
+
+Snap was on his feet. His voice rang shrilly, "There it is! Give it a
+shot, Gregg!"
+
+Snap was unarmed, but he flung his hands out menacingly. The figure,
+which may perhaps not have been aware of our city safeguard, was taken
+wholly by surprise. A human figure. Seven feet tall, at the least, and
+therefore, I judged, doubtless a Martian man. The black cloak covered
+his head. He took a step toward us, hesitated, and then turned in
+confusion.
+
+Snap's shrill voice was bringing help. The whine of a street guard's
+alarm whistle nearby sounded. The figure was making off! My pencil-ray
+was in my hand and I pressed its switch. The tiny heat-ray stabbed
+through the glare, but I missed. The figure stumbled, but did not fall.
+I saw a bare gray arm come from the cloak, flung up to maintain its
+balance. Or perhaps my pencil-ray of heat had seared the arm. The
+gray-skinned arm of a Martian.
+
+Snap was shouting, "Give him another!" But the figure passed beyond the
+actinic glare and vanished.
+
+We were detained in the turmoil of the corridor for ten minutes or more
+with official explanations. Then a message from Halsey released us. The
+Martian who had been following us in his invisible cloak was never
+caught.
+
+We escaped from the crowd at last and made our way back to the
+Planetara, where the passengers were already assembling for the outward
+Martian voyage.
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+"_A Fleeting Glance_--"
+
+I stood on the turret-balcony of the Planetara with Captain Carter and
+Dr. Frank, the ship surgeon, watching the arriving passengers. It was
+close to the zero hour: the level of the stage was a turmoil of
+confusion. The escalators, with the last of the freight aboard, were
+folded back. But the stage was jammed with the incoming passenger
+baggage: the interplanetary customs and tax officials with their X-ray
+and Zed-ray paraphernalia and the passengers themselves, lined up for
+the export inspection.
+
+At this height, the city lights lay spread in a glare of blue and yellow
+beneath us. The individual local planes came dropping like birds to our
+stage. Thirty-eight passengers for this flight to Mars, but that
+accursed desire of every friend and relative to speed the departing
+voyager brought a hundred or more extra people to crowd our girders and
+bring added difficulty to everybody.
+
+Carter was too absorbed in his duties to stay with us long. But here in
+the turret Dr. Frank and I found ourselves at the moment with nothing
+much to do but watch.
+
+"Think we'll get away on time, Gregg?"
+
+"No," I said. "And this of all voyages--"
+
+I checked myself, with thumping heart. My thoughts were so full of what
+Halsey and Carter had told us that it was difficult to rein my tongue.
+Yet here in the turret, unguarded by insulation, I could say nothing.
+Nor would I have dared mention the Grantline Moon Expedition to Dr.
+Frank. I wondered what he knew of this affair. Perhaps as much as
+I--perhaps nothing.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+He was a thin, dark, rather smallish man of fifty, this ship's surgeon,
+trim in his blue and white uniform. I knew him well: we had made several
+flights together. An American--I fancy of Jewish ancestry. A likable
+man, and a skillful doctor and surgeon. He and I had always been good
+friends.
+
+"Crowded," he said. "Johnson says thirty-eight. I hope they're
+experienced travelers. This pressure sickness is a rotten nuisance--keeps
+me dashing around all night assuring frightened women they're not
+going to die. Last voyage, coming out of the Venus atmosphere--"
+
+He plunged into a lugubrious account of his troubles with space-sick
+voyagers. But I was in no mood to listen. My gaze was down on the spider
+incline, up which, over the bend of the ship's sleek, silvery body, the
+passengers and their friends were coming in little groups. The upper
+deck was already jammed with them.
+
+The Planetara, as flyers go, was not a large vessel. Cylindrical of
+body, forty feet maximum beam, and two hundred and seventy-five feet in
+overall length. The passenger superstructure--no more than a hundred
+feet long--was set amidships. A narrow deck, metallic-enclosed, and with
+large bulls-eye windows, encircled the superstructure. Some of the
+cabins opened directly onto the deck. Others had doors to the interior
+corridors. There were half a dozen small but luxurious public rooms.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The rest of the vessel was given to freight storage and the mechanism
+and control compartments. Forward of the passenger structure the
+deck level continued under the cylindrical dome-roof to the bow. The
+forward watch-tower observatory was here; officers' cabins; Captain
+Carter's navigating rooms and Dr. Frank's office. Similarly, under
+the stern-dome, was the stern watch-tower and a series of power
+compartments.
+
+Above the superstructure a confusion of spider bridges, ladders and
+balconies were laced like a metal network. The turret in which Dr. Frank
+and I now stood was perched here. Fifty feet away, like a bird's nest,
+Snap's instrument room stood clinging to the metal bridge. The
+dome-roof, with the glassite windows rolled back now, rose in a
+mound-peak to cover this highest middle portion of the vessel.
+
+Below, in the main hull, blue-lit metal corridors ran the entire length
+of the ship. Freight storage compartments; gravity control rooms; the
+air renewal systems; heater and ventilators and pressure mechanisms--all
+were located there. And the kitchens, stewards' compartments, and the
+living quarters of the crew. We carried a crew of sixteen, this voyage,
+exclusive of the navigating officers, and the purser, Snap Dean, and Dr.
+Frank.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The passengers coming aboard seemed a fair representation of what we
+usually had for the outward voyage to Ferrok-Shahn. Most were Earth
+people--and returning Martians. Dr. Frank pointed out one. A huge
+Martian in a gray cloak. A seven-foot fellow.
+
+"His name is Set Miko," Dr. Frank remarked. "Ever heard of him?"
+
+"No," I said. "Should I?"
+
+"Well--" The doctor suddenly checked himself, as though he were sorry he
+had spoken.
+
+"I never heard of him," I repeated slowly.
+
+An awkward silence fell suddenly between us.
+
+There were a few Venus passengers. I saw one of them presently coming up
+the incline, and recognized her. A girl traveling alone. We had brought
+her from Grebhar, last voyage but one. I remembered her. An alluring
+sort of girl, as most of them are. Her name was Venza. She spoke English
+well. A singer and dancer who had been imported to Great-New York to
+fill some theatrical engagement. She'd made quite a hit on the Great
+White Way.
+
+She came up the incline, with the carrier ahead of her. Gazing up, she
+saw Dr. Frank and me at the turret window and waved her white arm in
+greeting. And flashed us a smile.
+
+Dr. Frank laughed. "By the gods of the airways, there's Alta Venza! You
+saw that look, Gregg? That was for me, not you."
+
+"Reasonable enough," I retorted. "But I doubt it--the Venza was nothing
+if not impartial."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I wondered what could be taking Venza now to Mars. I was glad to see
+her. She was diverting. Educated. Well-traveled. Spoke English with a
+colloquial, theatrical manner more characteristic of Great-New York than
+of Venus. And for all her light banter, I would rather put my trust in
+her than any Venus girl I had ever met.
+
+The hum of the departing siren was sounding. Friends and relatives of
+the passengers were crowding the exit incline. The deck was clearing. I
+had not seen George Prince come aboard. And then I thought I saw him
+down on the landing stage, just arrived from a private tube-car. A
+small, slight figure. The customs men were around him: I could only see
+his head and shoulders. Pale, girlishly handsome face; long, black hair
+to the base of his neck. He was bareheaded, with the hood of his
+traveling-cloak pushed back.
+
+I stared, and I saw that Dr. Frank was also gazing down. But neither of
+us spoke.
+
+Then I said upon impulse, "Suppose we go down to the deck, Doctor?"
+
+He acquiesced. We descended to the lower room of the turret and
+clambered down the spider ladder to the upper deck-level. The head of
+the arriving incline was near us. Preceded by two carriers who were
+littered with hand-baggage, George Prince was coming up the incline. He
+was closer now. I recognized him from the type we had seen in Halsey's
+office.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+And then, with a shock, I saw it was not so. This was a girl coming
+aboard. An arch-light over the incline showed her clearly when she was
+half way up. A girl with her hood pushed back; her face framed in thick
+black hair. I saw now it was not a man's cut of hair; but long braids
+coiled up under the dangling hood.
+
+Dr. Frank must have remarked my amazed expression.
+
+"Little beauty, isn't she?"
+
+"Who is she?"
+
+We were standing back against the wall of the superstructure. A
+passenger was near us--the Martian whom Dr. Frank had called Miko. He
+was loitering here, quite evidently watching this girl come aboard. But
+as I glanced at him he looked away and casually sauntered off.
+
+The girl came up and reached the deck. "I am in A 22," she told the
+carrier. "My brother came aboard two hours ago."
+
+Dr. Frank answered my whisper. "That's Anita Prince."
+
+She was passing quite close to us on the deck, following the carrier,
+when she stumbled and very nearly fell. I was nearest to her. I leaped
+forward and caught her as she went down.
+
+"Oh!" she cried.
+
+With my arm about her, I raised her up and set her upon her feet again.
+She had twisted her ankle. She balanced herself upon it. The pain of it
+eased up in a moment.
+
+"I'm--all right--thank you!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+In the dimness of the blue-lit deck, I met her eyes. I was holding her
+with my encircling arm. She was small and soft against me. Her face,
+framed in the thick, black hair, smiled up at me. Small, oval
+face--beautiful--yet firm of chin, and stamped with the mark of its own
+individuality. No empty-headed beauty, this.
+
+"I'm all right, thank you very much--"
+
+I became conscious that I had not released her. I felt her hands pushing
+at me. And then it seemed that for an instant she yielded and was
+clinging. And I met her startled, upflung gaze. Eyes like a purple night
+with the sheen of misty starlight in them.
+
+I heard myself murmuring, "I beg your pardon. Yes, of course!" I
+released her.
+
+She thanked me again and followed the carrier along the deck. She was
+limping slightly from the twisted ankle.
+
+An instant, while she had clung to me--and I had held her. A brief flash
+of something, from her eyes to mine--from mine back to hers. The poets
+write that love can be born of such a glance. The first meeting, across
+all the barriers of which love springs unsought, unbidden--defiant,
+sometimes. And the troubadours of old would sing: "A fleeting glance; a
+touch; two wildly beating hearts--and love was born."
+
+I think, with Anita and me, it must have been like that....
+
+I stood gazing after her, unconscious of Dr. Frank, who was watching me
+with his humorous smile. And presently, no more than a quarter beyond
+the zero hour, the Planetara got away. With the dome-windows battened
+tightly, we lifted from the landing stage and soared over the glowing
+city. The phosphorescence of the electronic tubes was like a comet's
+tail behind us as we slid upward.
+
+At the trinight hour the heat of our atmospheric passage was over. The
+passengers had all retired. The ship was quiet, with empty decks and
+dim, silent corridors. Vibrationless, with the electronic engines cut
+off and only the hum of the Martel magnetizers to break the unnatural
+stillness. We were well beyond the earth's atmosphere, heading out in
+the cone-path of the earth's shadow, in the direction of the moon.
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+_In the Helio-room_
+
+At six A. M., earth Eastern time, which we were still carrying, Snap
+Dean and I were alone in his instrument room, perched in the network
+over the Planetara's deck. The bulge of the dome enclosed us; it rounded
+like a great observatory window some twenty feet above the ceiling of
+this little metal cubby-hole.
+
+The Planetara was still in the earth's shadow. The firmament--black
+interstellar space with its blazing white, red and yellow stars--lay
+spread around us. The moon, with nearly all its disc illumined, hung, a
+great silver ball, over our bow quarter. Behind it, to one side, Mars
+floated like the red tip of a smoldering cigarillo in the blackness. The
+earth, behind our stern, was dimly, redly visible--a giant sphere,
+etched with the configurations of its oceans and continents. Upon one
+limb a touch of the sunlight hung on the mountain-tops with a crescent
+red-yellow sheen.
+
+And then we plunged from the cone-shadow. The sun, with the leaping
+Corona, burst through the blackness behind us. The earth lighted into a
+huge, thin crescent with hooked cusps.
+
+To Snap and me, the glories of the heavens were too familiar to be
+remarked. And upon this voyage particularly we were in no mood to
+consider them. I had been in the helio-room several hours. When the
+Planetara started, and my few routine duties were over, I could think of
+nothing save Halsey's and Carter's admonition: "Be on your guard. And
+particularly--watch George Prince."
+
+I had not seen George Prince. But I had seen his sister, whom Carter and
+Halsey had not bothered to mention. My heart was still pounding with the
+memory....
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+When the passengers had retired and the ship quieted, I prowled through
+the passenger corridors. This was about the trinight hour.[3] Hot as the
+corridors of hell, with our hull and the glassite dome seething with the
+friction of our atmospheric flight. But the refrigerators mitigated
+that; the ventilators blasted cold air from the renewers into every
+corner of the vessel. Within an hour or two, with the cold of space
+striking us, it was hot air that was needed.
+
+Dr. Frank evidently was having little trouble with pressure-sick
+passengers[4]--the Planetara's equalizers were fairly efficient. I did
+not encounter Dr. Frank. I prowled through the silent metal lounges and
+passages. I went to the door of A 22. It was on the deck-level, in a
+tiny transverse passage just off the main lounging room. Its name-grid
+glowed with the letters: "_Anita Prince._" I stood in my short white
+trousers and white silk shirt, like a cabin steward gawping. Anita
+Prince! I had never heard the name until this night. But there was magic
+music in it now, as I murmured it to myself. Anita Prince....
+
+She was here, doubtless asleep, behind this small metal door. It seemed
+as though that little oval grid were the gateway to a fairyland of my
+dreams.
+
+I turned away. And thought of the Grantline Moon Expedition stabbed at
+me. George Prince--Anita's brother--he whom I had been told to watch.
+This renegade--associate of dubious Martians, plotting God knows what.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I saw, upon the adjoining door, "A 20, _George Prince_." I listened. In
+the humming stillness of the ship's interior there was no sound from
+these cabins. A 20 was without windows, I knew. But Anita's room had a
+window and a door which gave upon the deck. I went through the lounge,
+out its arch, and walked the deck length. The deck door and window of
+A 22 were closed and dark.
+
+The ten-foot-wide deck was dim with white starlight from the side ports.
+Chairs were here, but they were all empty. From the bow windows of the
+arching dome a flood of moonlight threw long, slanting shadows down the
+deck. At the corner where the superstructure ended, I thought I saw a
+figure lurking as though watching me. I went that way, but it vanished.
+
+I turned the corner, went the width of the ship to the other side. There
+was no one in sight save the observer on his spider bridge, high in the
+bow network, and the second officer, on duty on the turret balcony
+almost directly over me.
+
+As I stood and listened, I suddenly heard footsteps. From the direction
+of the bow a figure came. Purser Johnson.
+
+He greeted me. "Cooling off, Gregg?"
+
+"Yes," I said.
+
+He went past me and turned into the smoking room door nearby.
+
+I stood a moment at one of the deck windows, gazing at the stars; and
+for no reason at all I realized I was tense. Johnson was a great one for
+his regular sleep--it was wholly unlike him to be roaming about the ship
+at such an hour. Had he been watching me? I told myself it was nonsense.
+I was suspicious of everyone, everything, this voyage.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I heard another step. Captain Carter appeared from his chart-room which
+stood in the center of the narrowing open deck space near the bow. I
+joined him at once.
+
+"Who was that?" he half-whispered.
+
+"Johnson."
+
+"Oh, yes." He fumbled in his uniform; his gaze swept the moonlit deck.
+"Gregg--take this." He handed me a small metal box. I stuffed it at once
+into my shirt.
+
+"An insulator," he added, swiftly. "Snap is in his office. Take it to
+him, Gregg. Stay with him--you'll have a measure of security--and you
+can help him to make the photographs." He was barely whispering. "I
+won't be with you--no use making it look as though we were doing
+anything unusual. If your graphs show anything--or if Snap picks up any
+message--bring it to me." He added aloud, "Well, it will be cool enough
+presently, Gregg."
+
+He sauntered away toward his chart-room.
+
+"By heavens, what a relief!" Snap murmured as the current went on. We
+had wired his cubby with the insulator; within its barrage we could at
+last talk with a degree of freedom.
+
+"You've seen George Prince, Gregg?"
+
+"No. He's assigned A 20. But I saw his sister. Snap, no one ever
+mentioned--"
+
+Snap had heard of her, but he hadn't known that she was listed for this
+voyage. "A real beauty, so I've heard. Accursed shame for a decent girl
+to have a brother like that."
+
+I could agree with him there, but I made no comment.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It was now 6 A. M. Snap had been busy all night with routine cosmo-radios
+from the earth, following our departure. He had a pile of them beside
+him. Many were for the passengers; but anything that savored of a code
+was barred.
+
+"Nothing queer looking?" I suggested.
+
+"No. Not a thing."
+
+We were at this time no more than some sixty-five thousand miles from
+the moon's surface. The Planetara presently would swing upon her direct
+course for Mars. There was nothing which could cause passenger comment
+in this close passing of the moon; normally we used the satellite's
+attraction to give us additional starting speed.
+
+It was now or never that a message would come from Grantline. He was
+supposed to be upon this earthward side of the moon. While Snap had
+rushed through with his routine, I had searched the moon surface with
+our glass, as I knew Carter was searching it--and also the observer in
+his tower, very possibly.
+
+But there was nothing. Copernicus and Kepler lay in full sunlight. The
+heights of the lunar mountains, the depths of the barren, empty seas
+were etched black and white, clear and clean. Grim, forbidding
+desolation, this unchanging moon! In romance, moonlight may shimmer and
+sparkle to light a lover's smile; but the reality of the moon is cold
+and bleak. There was nothing to show my prying eyes where the intrepid
+Grantline might be.
+
+"Nothing at all, Snap."
+
+And Snap's helio mirrors, attuned for an hour now to pick up the
+faintest signal, were motionless.
+
+"If he has concentrated any appreciable amount of radio-active ore,"
+said Snap, "we should get an impulse from its Gamma rays."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+But our receiving shield was dark, untouched. We tried taking hydrogen
+photographic impressions of the visible moon surface. A sequence of
+them, with stereoscopic lenses, forty-eight to the second. Our
+mirror-grid gave the magnified images; the spectro-heliograph, with its
+wave-length selection, pictured the mountain-levels, and slowly
+descended into the deepest seas.
+
+There was nothing.
+
+Yet in those moon caverns--a million million recesses amid the crags of
+that tumbled, barren surface--the pin-point of movement which might have
+been Grantline's expedition could so easily be hiding! Could he have the
+ore insulated, fearing its Gamma rays would betray its presence to
+hostile watchers?
+
+Or might disaster have come to him? Or he might not be upon this
+hemisphere of the moon at all....
+
+My imagination, sharpened by fancy of a lurking menace which seemed
+everywhere about the Planetara this voyage, ran rife with fears for
+Johnny Grantline. He had promised to communicate this voyage. It was
+now, or perhaps never.
+
+Six-thirty came and passed. We were well beyond the earth's shadow now.
+The firmament blazed with its vivid glories; the sun behind us was a
+ball of yellow-red leaping flames. The earth hung, opened to a huge,
+dull-red half-sphere.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We were within some forty thousand miles of the moon. Giant white
+ball--all of its disc visible to the naked eye. It poised over the bow,
+and presently, as the Planetara swung upon her course for Mars, it
+shifted sidewise. The light of it glared white and dazzling in our tiny
+side windows.
+
+Snap, with his habitual red celluloid eyeshade shoved high on his
+forehead, worked over our instruments.
+
+"Gregg!"
+
+The receiving shield was glowing a trifle! Gamma rays were bombarding
+it! It glowed, gleamed phosphorescent, and the audible recorder began
+sounding its tiny tinkling murmurs.
+
+Gamma rays! Snap sprang to the dials. The direction and strength were
+soon obvious. A richly radio-active ore body, of considerable size, was
+concentrated upon this hemisphere of the moon! It was unmistakable.
+
+"He's got it, Gregg! He's--"
+
+The tiny helio mirrors began quivering. Snap exclaimed triumphantly,
+"Here he comes! By God, the message at last! Bar off that light!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I flung on the absorbers. The moonlight bathing the little room went
+into them and darkness sprang around us. Snap fumbled at his instrument
+board. Actinic light showed dimly in the quivering, thumbnail mirrors.
+Two of them. They hung poised on their cobweb wires, infinitely
+sensitive to the infra-red light-rays Grantline was sending from the
+moon. The mirrors in a moment began swinging. On the scale across the
+room the actinic beams from them were magnified into sweeps of light.
+
+The message!
+
+Snap spelled it out, decoded it.
+
+"_Success! Stop for ore on your return voyage. Will give you our
+location later. Success beyond wildest hopes--_"
+
+The mirrors hung motionless. The shield, where the Gamma rays were
+bombarding, went suddenly dark.
+
+Snap murmured, "That's all. He's got the ore! 'Success beyond wildest
+hopes.' That must mean an enormous quantity of it available!"
+
+We were sitting in darkness, and abruptly I became aware that across our
+open window, where the insulation barrage was flung, the air was faintly
+hissing. An interference there! I saw a tiny swirl of purple sparks.
+Someone--some hostile ray from the deck beneath us, or from the spider
+bridge that led to our little room--someone out there trying to pry
+in!
+
+Snap impulsively reached for the absorbers to let in the outside
+light--it was all darkness to us outside. But I checked him.
+
+"Wait!" I cut off our barrage, opened our door and stepped to the narrow
+metal bridge.
+
+"Wait, Snap! You stay there." I added aloud, "Well, Snap, I'm going to
+bed. Glad you've cleaned up that batch of work."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I banged the door upon him. The lacework of metal bridges and ladders
+seemed empty. I gazed up to the dome, and forward and aft. Twenty feet
+beneath me was the metal roof of the cabin superstructure. Below it,
+both sides of the deck showed. All patched with moonlight.
+
+No one visible down there. I descended a ladder. The deck was empty. But
+in the silence something was moving! Footsteps moving away from me down
+the deck! I followed; and suddenly I was running. Chasing something I
+could hear, but could not see. It turned into the smoking room.
+
+I burst in. And a real sound smothered the phantom. Johnson the purser
+was sitting here alone in the dimness. He was smoking. I noticed that
+his cigar held a long, frail ash. It could not have been him I was
+chasing. He was sitting there quite calmly. A thick-necked, heavy
+fellow, easily out of breath. But he was breathing calmly now.
+
+He sat up with amazement at my wild-eyed appearance, and the ash jarred
+from his cigar.
+
+"Gregg! What in the devil--"
+
+I tried to grin. "I'm on my way to bed--worked all night helping Snap
+with those damn Earth messages."
+
+I went past him, out the door into the main interior corridor. It was
+the only way the invisible prowler could have gone. But I was too late
+now--I could hear nothing. I dashed forward into the main lounge. It
+was empty, dim and silent, a silence broken presently by a faint
+click--a stateroom door hastily closing. I swung and found myself in a
+tiny transverse passage. The twin doors of A 22 and A 20 were before
+me.
+
+The invisible eavesdropper had gone into one of these rooms! I listened
+at each of the panels, but there was only silence within.
+
+The interior of the ship was suddenly singing with the steward's
+siren--the call to awaken the passengers. It startled me. I moved
+swiftly away. But as the siren shut off, in the silence I heard a soft,
+musical voice:
+
+"Wake up, Anita--I think that's the breakfast call."
+
+And her answer: "All right, George. I hear it."
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+_A Burn on a Martian Arm_
+
+I did not appear at that morning meal. I was exhausted and drugged with
+lack of sleep. I had a moment with Snap, to tell him what had occurred.
+Then I sought out Carter. He had his little chart-room insulated. And we
+were cautious. I told him what Snap and I had learned: the Gamma rays
+from the moon, proving that Grantline had concentrated a considerable
+ore-body. I also told him the message from Grantline.
+
+"We'll stop on the way back, as he directs, Gregg." He bent closer to
+me. "At Ferrok-Shahn I'm going to bring back a cordon of Interplanetary
+Police. The secret will be out, of course, when once we stop at the
+moon. We have no right, even now, to be flying this vessel as unguarded
+as it is."
+
+He was very solemn. And he was grim when I told him of the invisible
+eavesdropper.
+
+"You think he overheard Grantline's message?"
+
+"I don't know," I said.
+
+"Who was it? You seem to feel it was George Prince?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+I was convinced that the prowler had gone into A 20. When I mentioned
+the purser, who seemed to have been watching me earlier in the night,
+and again was sitting in the smoking room when the eavesdropper fled
+past, Carter looked startled.
+
+"Johnson is all right, Gregg."
+
+"Is he? Does he know anything about this Grantline affair?"
+
+"No--no," said the captain hastily. "You haven't mentioned it, have
+you?"
+
+"Of course I haven't. I've been wondering why Johnson didn't hear that
+eavesdropper. I could hear him when I was chasing him. But Johnson sat
+perfectly unmoved and let him go by. What was he sitting there for,
+anyway, at that hour of the morning?"
+
+"You're too suspicious, Gregg. Overwrought. But you're right--we can't
+be too careful. I'm going to have that Prince suite searched when I
+catch it unoccupied. Passengers don't ordinarily travel with invisible
+cloaks. Go to bed, Gregg--you need a rest."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I went to my cabin. It was located aft, on the stern deck-space, near
+the stern watch-tower. A small metal room, with a desk, a chair and
+bunk. I made sure no one was in it. I sealed the lattice grill and the
+door, set the alarm trigger against any opening of them, and went to
+bed.
+
+The siren for the mid-day meal awakened me. I had slept heavily. I felt
+refreshed. And hungry.
+
+I found the passengers already assembled at my table when I arrived in
+the dining salon. It was a low-vaulted metal room of blue and yellow
+tube-lights. At the sides its oval windows showed the deck, with its
+ports of the dome-side, through which a vista of the starry firmament
+was visible. We were well on our course to Mars. The moon had dwindled
+to a pin-point of light beside the crescent earth. And behind them our
+sun blazed, visually the largest orb in the heavens. It was some
+sixty-eight million miles from the earth to Mars, this voyage. A flight,
+under ordinary circumstances, of some ten days.
+
+There were five tables in the dining salon, each with eight seats. Snap
+and I had one of the tables. We sat at the ends, with three passengers
+on each of the sides.
+
+Snap was in his seat when I arrived. He eyed me down the length of the
+table.
+
+"Good morning, Gregg. We missed you at breakfast. Not pressure-sick, I
+hope?"
+
+There were three passengers already seated at our table--all men. Snap,
+in a gay mood, introduced me.
+
+"This is our third officer, Gregg Haljan. Big, handsome fellow, isn't
+he? And as pleasant as he is good-looking. Gregg, this is Sero Ob
+Hahn."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I met the keen, dark-eyed somber gaze of a Venus man of middle age. A
+small, slim, graceful man, with sleek black hair. His pointed face,
+accentuated by the pointed beard, was pallid. He wore a white and purple
+robe; upon his breast was a huge platinum ornament, a device like a star
+and cross entwined.
+
+"I am happy to meet you, sir." His voice was soft and sleek.
+
+"Ob Hahn," I repeated. "I should have heard of you, no doubt. But--"
+
+A smile plucked at his thin, gray lips. "That is the error of mine, not
+yours. My mission is that all the universe shall hear of me."
+
+"He's preaching the religion of the Venus Mystics," Snap explained.
+
+"And this enlightened gentleman," said Ob Hahn ironically, "has just
+termed it fetishism. The ignorance--"
+
+"Oh, I say!" protested the man at Ob Hahn's side. "I mean, you seem to
+think I intended something opprobrious. As a matter of fact--"
+
+"We've an argument, Gregg," laughed Snap. "This is Sir Arthur Coniston,
+an English gentleman, lecturer and sky-trotter--that is, he will be a
+sky-trotter; he tells us he plans a number of voyages."
+
+The tall Englishman in his white linen suit bowed acknowledgment.
+"My compliments, Mr. Haljan. I hope you have no strong religious
+convictions, else we will make your table here very miserable!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The third passenger had evidently kept out of the argument. Snap
+introduced him as Rance Rankin. An American--a quiet, blond fellow of
+thirty-five or forty.
+
+I ordered my breakfast and let the argument go on.
+
+"Won't make me miserable," said Snap. "I love an argument. You said, Sir
+Arthur?...
+
+"I mean to say, I think I said too much. Mr. Rankin, you are more
+diplomatic."
+
+Rankin laughed. "I am a magician," he said to me. "A theatrical
+entertainer. I deal in tricks--how to fool an audience--" His keen,
+amused gaze was on Ob Hahn. "This gentleman from Venus and I have too
+much in common to argue."
+
+"A nasty one!" the Englishman exclaimed. "By Jove! Really, Mr. Rankin,
+you're a bit too cruel!"
+
+I could see we were doomed to have turbulent meals this voyage. I like
+to eat in quiet; arguing passengers always annoy me. There were still
+three seats vacant at our table; I wondered who would occupy them. I
+soon learned the answer--for one seat at least. Rankin said calmly:
+
+"Where is the little Venus girl this meal?" His glance went to the empty
+seat at my right hand. "The Venza--wasn't that her name? She and I are
+destined for the same theater in Ferrok-Shahn."
+
+So Venza was to sit beside me. It was good news. Ten days of a religious
+argument three times a day would be intolerable. But the cheerful Venza
+would help.
+
+"She never eats the mid-day meal," said Snap. "She's on the deck, having
+orange juice. I guess it's the old gag about diet, eh?"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+My attention wandered about the salon. Most of the seats were occupied.
+At the captain's table I saw the objects of my search. George Prince and
+his sister sat one on each side of the captain. I saw George Prince in
+the life now as a man who looked hardly twenty-five. He was at this
+moment evidently in a gay mood. His clean-cut, handsome profile, with
+its poetic dark curls, was turned toward me. There seemed little of the
+villain about him.
+
+And I saw Anita Prince now as a dark-haired, black eyed little beauty,
+in feature resembling her brother very strongly. She presently finished
+her meal. She rose, with him after her. She was dressed in Earth
+fashion--white blouse and dark jacket, wide, knee-length trousers of
+gray, with a red sash her only touch of color. She went past me, flashed
+me her smile and nod.
+
+My heart was pounding. I answered her greeting, and met George Prince's
+casual gaze. He, too, smiled, as though to signify that his sister had
+told him of the service I had done her. Or was his smile an ironical
+memory of how he had eluded me this morning when I chased him?
+
+I gazed after his small, white-suited figure as he followed Anita from
+the salon. And thinking of her, I prayed that Carter and Halsey might be
+wrong. Whatever plotting against the Grantline Expedition might be going
+on, I hoped that George Prince was innocent of it. Yet I knew in my
+heart it was a futile hope. Prince had been that eavesdropper outside
+the helio-room. I could not really doubt it. But that his sister must be
+ignorant of what he was doing, I was sure.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+My attention was brought suddenly back to the reality of our table. I
+heard Ob Hahn's silky voice:
+
+"We passed quite close to the moon last night, Mr. Dean."
+
+"Yes," said Snap. "We did, didn't we? Always do--it's a technical
+problem of the exigencies of interstellar navigation. Explain it to
+them, Gregg--you're an expert."
+
+I waved it away with a laugh. There was a brief silence. I could not
+help noticing Sir Arthur Coniston's queer look, and I think I have never
+seen so keen a glance as Rance Rankin shot at me. Were all these people
+aware of Grantline's treasure on the moon? It suddenly seemed so. I
+wished fervently at that instant that the ten days of this voyage were
+over and we were safely at Ferrok-Shahn. Captain Carter was absolutely
+right. Coming back we would have a cordon of interplanetary police
+aboard.
+
+Sir Arthur broke the awkward silence. "Magnificent sight, the moon, from
+so close a viewpoint--though I was too much afraid of pressure-sickness
+to be up to see it."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I had nearly finished my hasty meal when another incident shocked me.
+The two other passengers at our table came in and took their seats. A
+Martian girl and man. The girl had the seat at my left, with the man
+beside her. All Martians are tall. This girl was about my own
+height--that is, six feet, two inches. The man was seven feet or more.
+Both wore the Martian outer robe. The girl flung hers back. Her limbs
+were encased in pseudo-mail. She looked, as all Martians like to look, a
+very warlike Amazon. But she was a pretty girl. She smiled at me with a
+keen-eyed, direct gaze.
+
+"Mr. Dean said at breakfast that you were big and handsome. You are."
+
+They were brother and sister, these Martians. Snap introduced them as
+Set Miko and Setta Moa.[5]
+
+This Miko was, from our Earth standards, a tremendous, brawny giant. Not
+spindly, like most Martians, this fellow, for all his seven feet of
+height, was almost heavy-set. He wore a plaited leather jerkin beneath
+his robe, and knee pants of leather out of which his lower legs showed
+as gray, hairy pillars of strength. He had come into the salon with a
+swagger, his sword-ornament clanking.
+
+"A pleasant voyage so far," he said to me as he started his meal. His
+voice had the heavy, throaty rasp characteristic of the Martian. He
+spoke perfect English--both Martians and Venus people are by heritage
+extraordinary linguists. Miko and his sister Moa had a touch of Martian
+accent, worn almost away by living for some years in Great-New York.
+
+The shock to me came within a few minutes. Miko, absorbed in attacking
+his meal, inadvertently pushed back his robe to bare his forearm. An
+instant only, then it dropped again to his wrist. But in that instant I
+had seen, upon the gray flesh, a thin sear turned red. A very recent
+burn--as though a pencil-ray of heat had caught his arm.
+
+My mind flung back. Only last night in the City Corridor, Snap and I had
+been followed by a Martian. I had shot at him with the heat-ray; I
+thought I had hit him on the arm. Was this the mysterious Martian who
+had followed us from Halsey's office?
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+_Venza the Venus Girl_
+
+It was shortly after that mid-day meal when I encountered Venza sitting
+on the starlit deck. I had been in the bow observatory; taken my routine
+castings of our position and worked them out. I was, I think, of the
+Planetara's officers the most expert handler of the mathematical
+mechanical calculators. The locating of our position and charting the
+trajectory of our course was, under ordinary circumstances, about all I
+had to do. And it took only a few minutes each twelve hours.
+
+I had a moment with Carter in the isolation of his chart-room.
+
+"This voyage! Gregg, I'm getting like you--too fanciful. We've a normal
+group of passengers, apparently; but I don't like the look of any of
+them. That Ob Hahn, at your table--"
+
+"Snaky-looking fellow," I commented. "He and the Englishman are great on
+arguments. Did you have Prince's cabin searched?"
+
+My breath hung on his answer.
+
+"Yes. Nothing unusual among his things. We searched both his room and
+his sister's."
+
+I did not follow that up. Instead I told him about the burn on Miko's
+thick gray arm.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+He stared. "I wish to the Almighty we were at Ferrok-Shahn. Gregg,
+to-night when the passengers are asleep, come here to me. Snap will be
+here, and Dr. Frank. We can trust him."
+
+"He knows about--about the Grantline treasure?"
+
+"Yes. And so do Balch and Blackstone."
+
+Balch and Blackstone were our first and second officers.
+
+"We'll all meet here, Gregg--say about the zero hour. We must take some
+precautions."
+
+He suddenly felt he should say no more now. He dismissed me.
+
+I found Venza seated alone in a secluded corner of the starlit deck. A
+porthole, with the black heavens and the blazing stars, was before her.
+There was an empty seat nearby.
+
+"Hola-lo,[6] Gregg! Sit here with me. I have been wondering when you
+would come after me."
+
+I sat down beside her. "What are you doing--going to Mars, Venza? I'm
+glad to see you."
+
+"Many thanks. But I am glad to see you, Gregg. So handsome a man.... Do
+you know, from Venus to the earth and I have no doubt on all of Mars, no
+man will please me more."
+
+"Glib tongue," I laughed. "Born to flatter the male--every girl of your
+world." And I added seriously, "You don't answer my question? What
+takes you to Mars?"
+
+"Contract. By the stars, what else? Of course, a chance to make a voyage
+with you--"
+
+"Don't be silly, Venza."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I enjoyed her. I gazed at her small, slim figure gracefully reclining in
+the deck chair. Her long, gray robe parted--by design, I have no
+doubt--to display her shapely, satin-sheathed legs. Her black hair was
+coiled in a heavy knot at the back of her neck; her carmined lips were
+parted with a mocking, alluring smile. The exotic perfume of her
+enveloped me.
+
+She glanced at me sidewise from beneath her sweeping black lashes.
+
+"Be serious," I added.
+
+"I am serious. Sober. Intoxicated by you, but sober."
+
+I said, "What sort of a contract?"
+
+"A theater in Ferrok-Shahn. Good money, Gregg. I'm to be there a year."
+She sat up to face me. "There's a fellow here on the Planetara, Rance
+Rankin, he calls himself. At our table--a big, good-looking blond
+American. He says he is a magician. Ever hear of him?"
+
+"That's what he told me. No, I never heard of him."
+
+"Nor did I. And I thought I had heard of everyone of any importance. He
+is listed for the same theater where I'm going. Nice sort of fellow."
+She paused, and added suddenly, "If he's a professional entertainer, I'm
+a motor-oiler."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It startled me. "Why do you say that?"
+
+Instinctively my gaze swept the deck. An Earth woman and child and a
+small Venus man were in sight, but not within earshot.
+
+"Why do you look so furtive?" she retorted. "Gregg, there's something
+strange about this voyage. I'm no fool, nor you, and you know it as well
+as I do."
+
+"Rance Rankin--" I prompted.
+
+She leaned closer toward me. "He could fool you. But not me--I've known
+too many real magicians." She grinned. "I challenged him to trick me.
+You should have seen him trying to evade!"
+
+"Do you know Ob Hahn?" I interrupted.
+
+She shook her head. "Never heard of him. But he told me plenty at
+breakfast. By Satan, what a flow of words that devil-driver can muster!
+He and the Englishman don't mesh very well, do they?"
+
+She stared at me. I had not answered her grin; my mind was too busy with
+queer fancies. Halsey's words: "Things are not always what they seem--"
+Were these passengers masqueraders? Put here by George Prince? And then
+I thought of Miko the Martian, and the burn upon his arm.
+
+"Come back, Gregg! Don't go wandering off like that!" She dropped her
+voice to a whisper. "I'll be serious. I want to know what in the hell is
+going on aboard this ship. I'm a woman, and I'm curious. You tell me."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"What do you mean?" I parried.
+
+"I mean a lot of things. What we've just been talking about. And what
+was the excitement you were in just before breakfast this morning?"
+
+"Excitement?"
+
+"Gregg, you may trust me." For the first time she was wholly serious.
+Her gaze made sure no one was within hearing. She put her hand on my
+arm. I could barely hear her whisper: "I know they might have a ray upon
+us--I'll be careful."
+
+"They?"
+
+"Anyone. Something's going on. You know it--you are in it. I saw you
+this morning, Gregg. Wild-eyed, chasing a phantom--"
+
+"You?"
+
+"And I heard the phantom! A man's footsteps. A magnetic reflecting
+invisible cloak. You couldn't fool an audience with that--it's too
+commonplace. If Rance Rankin tried--"
+
+I gripped her. "Don't ramble, Venza! You saw me?"
+
+"Yes. My stateroom door was open. I was sitting with a cigarillo. I saw
+the purser in the smoking room. He was visible from--"
+
+"Wait! Venza, that prowler went through the smoking room!"
+
+"I know he did. I could hear him."
+
+"Did the purser hear him?"
+
+"Of course. The purser looked up, followed the sound with his gaze. I
+thought that was queer. He never made a move. And then you came along
+and he acted innocent. Why? What's going on, that's what I want to
+know!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I held my breath. "Venza, where did the prowler run to? Can you--"
+
+She whispered calmly, "Into A 20. I saw the door open and close--I even
+think I could see the blurred outline of him. Those magnetic cloaks!"
+She added, "Why should George Prince be sneaking around with you after
+him? And the purser acting innocent? And who is this George Prince,
+anyway?"
+
+The huge Martian, Miko, with his sister Moa came strolling along the
+deck. They nodded as they passed us.
+
+I whispered, "I can't explain anything now. But you're right, Venza:
+there is something going on. Listen! Whatever you learn--anything you
+encounter which looks unusual--will you tell me? I--well, I do trust
+you--really I do!--but the thing isn't mine to tell."
+
+The somber pools of her eyes were shining. "You are very lovable, Gregg.
+I won't question you." She was trembling with excitement. "Whatever it
+is, I want to be in it. Here's something I can tell you now. We've two
+high-class gold-leaf gamblers aboard. Did you know that?"
+
+"No. Who are--"
+
+"Shac and Dud Ardley. Let me state every detective in Great-New York
+knows them. They had a wonderful game with that Englishman, Sir Arthur
+Coniston, this morning. Stripped him of half a pound of eight-inch
+leaves--a neat little stack. A crooked game, of course. Those fellows
+are more nimble-fingered than Rance Rankin ever dared to be!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I sat staring at her. She was a mine of information, this girl.
+
+"And Gregg, I tried my charms on Shac and Dud. Nice men, but dumb.
+Whatever's going on, they're not in it. They wanted to know what kind of
+a ship this was. Why? Because Shac has a cute little eavesdropping
+microphone of his own. He had it working in the night last night. He
+overheard George Prince and that big giant Miko arguing about the
+moon!"
+
+I gasped. "Venza, softer!"
+
+Against all propriety of this public deck she pretended to drape herself
+upon me. Her hair smothered my face as her lips almost touched my ear.
+
+"Something about treasure on the moon--Shac couldn't understand what.
+And they mentioned you. He didn't hear what they said because the purser
+joined them." Her whispered words tumbled over one another. "A hundred
+pounds of gold leaf--that's the purser's price. He's with them, whatever
+it is. He promised to do something for them."
+
+She stopped. "Well?" I prompted.
+
+"That's all. Shac's current was interrupted."
+
+"Tell him to try it again, Venza! I'll talk with him. No! I'd better let
+him alone. Can you get him to keep his mouth shut?"
+
+"I think he might do anything I told him. He's a man."
+
+"Find out what you can."
+
+She sat away from me suddenly. "There's Anita and George Prince."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+They came to the corner of the deck, but turned back. Venza caught my
+look. And understood it.
+
+"So you love Anita Prince so much as that, Gregg?" Venza was smiling. "I
+wish you--I wish some man handsome as you would gaze after me like
+that."
+
+She turned solemn. "You may be interested to know that she loves you. I
+could see it. I knew it when I mentioned you to her this morning."
+
+"Me? Why, we've hardly spoken!"
+
+"Is it necessary? I never heard that it was."
+
+I could not see Venza's face; she stood up suddenly. And when I rose
+beside her, she whispered,
+
+"We should not be seen talking so long. I'll find out what I can."
+
+I stared after her slight robed figure as she turned into the lounge
+archway and vanished.
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+_A Traitor, and a Passing Asteroid_
+
+Captain Carter was grim. "So they've bought him off, have they? Go bring
+him in here, Gregg. We'll have it out with him now."
+
+Snap, Dr. Frank, Balch, our first officer, and I were in the captain's
+chart-room. It was 4 P. M.--our Earth starting time. We were sixteen
+hours upon our voyage.
+
+I found Johnson in his office in the lounge. "Captain wants to see you.
+Close up."
+
+He closed his window upon an American woman passenger who was demanding
+details of Martian currency, and followed me forward. "What is it,
+Gregg?"
+
+"I don't know."
+
+Captain Carter banged the slide upon us. The chart-room was insulated.
+The hum of the current was obvious. Johnson noticed it. He started at
+the hostile faces of the surgeon and Balch. And he tried to bluster.
+
+"What is this? Something wrong?"
+
+Carter wasted no words. "We have information, Johnson--there's some
+under cover plot here aboard. I want to know what it is. Suppose you
+tell us frankly."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The purser looked blank. "What do you mean? We've gamblers aboard, if
+that's--"
+
+"To hell with that," growled Balch. "You had a secret interview with
+that Martian, Set Miko, and with George Prince!"
+
+Johnson scowled from under his heavy brows, and then raised them in
+surprise.
+
+"Did I? You mean changing their money? I don't like your tone, Balch.
+I'm not your under-officer!"
+
+"But you're under me," roared the captain. "By God, I'm master here!"
+
+"Well, I'm not disputing that," said the purser mildly. "This fellow
+Balch--"
+
+"We're in no mood for argument," Dr. Frank cut in. "Clouding the
+issue."
+
+"I won't let it be clouded," the captain exclaimed. I had never seen
+Carter so choleric. He was evidently under a tremendous strain. He
+added,
+
+"Johnson, you've been acting suspiciously. I don't give a damn whether
+I've proof of it or not--I say it. Did you, or did you not meet George
+Prince and that Martian last night?"
+
+"No, I did not. And I don't mind telling you, Captain Carter, that your
+tone also is offensive!"
+
+"Is it?" Carter suddenly seized him. They were both big men. Johnson's
+heavy face went purplish red.
+
+"Take your hands!--" They were struggling. Carter's hands were fumbling
+at the purser's pockets. I leaped, flung an arm around Johnson's neck,
+pinning him.
+
+"Easy there! We've got you, Johnson!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Snap tried to help me. "Go on, bang him on the head, Gregg. Now's your
+chance!"
+
+We searched him. A heat-ray cylinder--that was legitimate. But we found
+a small battery and eavesdropping microphone similar to the one Venza
+had mentioned that Shac the gambler was carrying.
+
+"What are you doing with that?" the captain demanded.
+
+"None of your business! Is it criminal? Carter, I'll have the Line
+officials dismiss you for this! Take your hands off me, all of you!"
+
+"Look at this!" exclaimed Dr. Frank.
+
+From Johnson's breast pocket the surgeon drew a folded document. It was
+the scale drawing of the Planetara's interior corridors, the lower
+control rooms and mechanisms. It was always kept in Johnson's safe. And
+with it, another document: the ship's clearance papers--the secret code
+pass-words for this voyage, to be used if we should be challenged by any
+interplanetary police ship.
+
+Snap gasped. "My God, that was in my helio-room strong box! I'm the only
+one on this vessel except the captain who's entitled to know those
+pass-words!"
+
+Out of the silence, Balch demanded, "Well, what about it, Johnson?"
+
+The purser was still defiant. "I won't answer your questions, Balch. At
+the proper time, I'll explain--Gregg Haljan, you're choking me!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I eased up. But I shook him. "You'd better talk."
+
+He was exasperatingly silent.
+
+"Enough!" exploded Carter. "He can explain when we get to port.
+Meanwhile I'll put him where he'll do no more damage. Gregg, lock him in
+the cage."
+
+We ignored his violent protestations. The cage--in the old days of
+sea-vessels on Earth, they called it the brig--was the ship's jail. A
+steel-lined, windowless room located under the deck in the peak of the
+bow. I dragged the struggling Johnson there, with the amazed watcher
+looking down from the observatory window at our lunging, starlit forms.
+
+"Shut up, Johnson! If you know what's good for you--"
+
+He was making a fearful commotion. Behind us, where the deck narrowed at
+the superstructure, half a dozen passengers were gazing in surprise.
+
+"I'll have you thrown out of the Service, Gregg Haljan!"
+
+I shut him up finally. And flung him down the ladder into the cage and
+sealed the deck trap-door upon him. I was headed back for the chart-room
+when from the observatory came the lookout's voice.
+
+"An asteroid, Haljan! Officer Blackstone wants you."
+
+I hurried to the turret bridge. An asteroid was in sight. We had
+attained nearly our maximum speed now. An asteroid was approaching, so
+dangerously close that our trajectory would have to be altered. I heard
+Blackstone's signals ringing in the control rooms; and met Carter as he
+ran to the bridge with me.
+
+"That scoundrel! We'll get more out of him, Gregg. By God, I'll put the
+chemicals on him--torture him, illegal or not!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We had no time for further discussion. The asteroid was rapidly
+approaching. Already, under the glass, it was a magnificent sight. I had
+never seen this tiny world before--asteroids are not numerous between
+the Earth and Mars, or in toward Venus. I never expected to see this one
+again. How little of the future can we humans fathom, for all our
+science! If I could only have looked into the future, even for a few
+short hours! How different then would have been the outcome of this
+tragic voyage!
+
+The asteroid came rushing at us. Its orbital velocity, I later computed,
+was some twenty-two miles a second. Our own, at the present maximum, was
+a fraction over seventy-seven. The asteroid had for some time been under
+observation by the lookout. He gave his warning only when it seemed that
+our trajectory should be altered to avoid a dangerously close passing.
+
+At the combined speeds of nearly a hundred miles a second the asteroid
+swept into view. With the naked eye, at first it was a tiny speck of
+star-dust, unnoticed in the gem-strewn black velvet of Space. A speck.
+Then a gleaming dot, silver white, with the light of our Sun upon it.
+
+Five minutes. The dot grew to a disc. Expanding. A full moon,
+silver-white. Brightest world in the firmament--the light from it bathed
+the Planetara, illumined the deck, painting everything with silver.
+
+I stood with Carter and Blackstone on the turret bridge. It was obvious
+that unless we altered our course, the asteroid would pass too close for
+safety. Already we were feeling its attraction; from the control rooms
+came the report that our trajectory was disturbed by this new mass so
+near.
+
+"Better make your calculations now, Gregg," Blackstone suggested.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I cast up the rough elements from the observational instruments in the
+turret. It took me some ten or fifteen minutes. When I had us upon our
+new course, with the attractive and repulsive plates in the Planetara's
+hull set in their altered combinations, I went out to the bridge again.
+
+The asteroid hung over our bow quarter. No more than twenty or thirty
+thousand miles away. A giant ball now, filling all that quadrant of the
+heavens. The configurations of its mountains--its land and water
+areas--were plainly visible. Its axial rotation was apparent.
+
+"Perfectly habitable," Blackstone said. "But I've searched all over this
+hemisphere with the glass. No sign of human life--certainly nothing
+civilized--nothing in the fashion of cities."
+
+A fair little world, by the look of it. A tiny globe: Blackstone had
+figured it at some eight hundred miles in diameter. There seemed a
+normal atmosphere. We could see areas where the surface was obscured by
+clouds. And oceans, and land masses. Polar icecaps. Lush vegetation at
+its equator.
+
+Blackstone had roughly cast its orbital elements. A narrow ellipse. No
+wonder we had never encountered this fair little world before. It had
+come from the outer region beyond Neptune. At perihelion it would reach
+inside Mercury, round the Sun, and head outward again.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We swept past the asteroid at a distance of some six thousand miles.
+Close enough, in very truth--a minute of flight at our combined speeds
+totaling a hundred miles a second. I had descended to the passenger
+deck, where I stood alone at a window, gazing.
+
+The passengers were all gathered to view the passing little world. I
+saw, not far from me, Anita, standing with her brother; and the giant
+figure of Miko with them.
+
+Half an hour since, first with the naked eye, this wandering little
+world had shown itself; it swam slowly past, began to dwindle behind us.
+A huge half moon. A thinner, smaller quadrant. A tiny crescent, like a
+silver bar-pin to adorn some lady's breast. And then it was a dot, a
+point of light indistinguishable among the myriad others hovering in
+this great black void.
+
+The incident of the passing of the asteroid was over. I turned from the
+deck window. My heart leaped. The moment for which all day I had been
+subconsciously longing was at hand. Anita was sitting in a deck chair,
+momentarily alone. Her gaze was on me as I looked her way, and she
+smiled an invitation for me to join her.
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+_Unspoken Love_
+
+Unspoken love! I think if I had yielded to the impulse of my heart, I
+would have poured out all those protestations of a lover's ecstasy,
+incongruous here upon this starlit public deck, to a girl I hardly knew.
+I think, too, she might have received them with a tender acquiescence.
+The starlight was mirrored in her dark eyes. Misty eyes, with great
+reaches of unfathomable space in their depths. Yet I felt their
+tenderness.
+
+Unfathomable strangeness of love! Who am I to write of it, with all the
+poets of all the ages striving to express the unexpressible? A bond,
+strangely fashioned by nature, between me and this little dark-haired
+Earth beauty. As though marked by the stars we were destined to be
+lovers....
+
+Thus ran the romance of my unspoken thoughts. But I was sitting quietly
+in the deck chair, striving to regard her gentle beauty impersonally.
+And saying:
+
+"But Miss Prince, why are you and your brother going to Ferrok-Shahn?
+His business--"
+
+Even as I voiced it, I hated myself for such a question. So nimble is
+the human mind that mingled with my rhapsodies of love was my need for
+information of George Prince....
+
+"Oh," she said, "this is pleasure, not business, for George." It seemed
+to me that a shadow crossed her expressive face. But it was gone in an
+instant, and she smiled. "We have always wanted to travel. We are alone
+in the world, you know--our parents died when we were children."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I filled in her pause. "You will like Mars--so many interesting things
+to see."
+
+She nodded. "Yes, I understand so. Our Earth is so much the same all
+over, cast all in one mould."
+
+"But a hundred or two hundred years ago it was not, Miss Prince. I have
+read how the picturesque Orient, differing from--well, Great-New York,
+or London, for instance--"
+
+"Transportation did that," she interrupted eagerly. "Made everything the
+same--the people all look alike--dress alike."
+
+We discussed it. She had an alert, eager mind, childlike with its
+curiosity, yet strangely matured. And her manner was naively earnest.
+Yet this was no clinging vine, this little Anita Prince. There was a
+firmness, a hint of masculine strength in her chin, and in her manner.
+
+"If I were a man, what wonders I could achieve in this marvelous age!"
+Her sense of humor made her laugh at herself. "Easy for a girl to say
+that," she added.
+
+"You have greater wonders to achieve, Miss Prince," I said impulsively.
+
+"Yes? What are they?" She had a very frank and level gaze, devoid of
+coquetry.
+
+My heart was pounding. "The wonders of the next generation. A little
+son, cast in your own gentle image--"
+
+What madness, this clumsy brash talk! I choked it off.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+But she took no offense. The dark rose-petals of her cheeks were mantled
+deeper red, but she laughed.
+
+"That is true." She turned abruptly serious. "I should not laugh. The
+wonders of the next generation--conquering humans marching on...." Her
+voice trailed away. My hand went to her arm. Strange tingling something
+which poets call love! It burned and surged from my trembling fingers
+into the flesh of her forearm.
+
+The starlight glowed in her eyes. She seemed to be gazing, not at the
+silver-lit deck, but away into distant reaches of the future. And she
+murmured:
+
+"A little son, cast in my own gentle image. But with the strength of his
+father...."
+
+Our moment. Just a breathless moment given us as we sat there with my
+hand burning her arm, as though we both might be seeing ourselves joined
+in a new individual--a little son, cast in his mother's gentle image and
+with the strength of his father. Our moment, and then it was over. A
+step sounded. I sat back. The giant gray figure of Miko came past, his
+great cloak swaying, with his clanking sword-ornament beneath it. His
+bullet head, with its close-clipped hair, was hatless. He gazed at us,
+swaggered past, and turned the deck corner.
+
+Our moment was gone. Anita said conventionally, "It has been pleasant to
+talk with you, Mr. Haljan."
+
+"But we'll have many more," I said. "Ten days--"
+
+"You think we'll reach Ferrok-Shahn on schedule?"
+
+"Yes. I think so.... As I was saying, Miss Prince, you'll enjoy Mars. A
+strange, aggressively forward-looking people."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+An oppression seemed on her. She stirred in her chair.
+
+"Yes, they are," she said vaguely. "My brother and I know many Martians
+in Great-New York." She checked herself abruptly. Was she sorry she had
+said that? It seemed so.
+
+Miko was coming back. He stopped this time before us.
+
+"Your brother would see you, Anita. He sent me to bring you to his
+room."
+
+The glance he shot me had a touch of insolence. I stood up, and he
+towered a head over me.
+
+Anita said, "Oh yes. I'll come."
+
+I bowed. "I will see you again, Miss Prince. I thank you for a pleasant
+half-hour."
+
+The Martian led her away. Her little figure was like a child with a
+giant. It seemed, as they passed the length of the deck with me staring
+after them, that he took her arm roughly. And that she shrank from him
+in fear.
+
+And they did not go inside. As though to show me that he had merely
+taken her from me, he stopped at a distant deck window and stood talking
+to her. Once he picked her up as one would pick up a child to show it
+some distant object through the window.
+
+"A little son with the strength of his father...." Her words echoed in
+my mind. Was Anita afraid of this Martian's wooing? Yet held to him by
+some power he might have over her brother? The vagrant thought struck
+me.
+
+Was it that?
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+_A Scream in the Night_
+
+We kept, on the Planetara, always the time and routine of our port of
+departure. The rest of that afternoon and evening were a blank of
+confusion to me. Anita's words; the touch of my hand upon her arm; that
+vast realm of what might be for us, like a glimpse of a magic land of
+happiness which I had seen in her eyes, and perhaps she had seen in
+mine--all this surged within me.
+
+I wandered about the vessel. I was not hungry. I did not go to the
+dining salon for dinner. I carried Johnson food and water to his cage;
+and sat, with my heat-cylinder upon him, listening to his threats of
+what would happen when he could complain to the Line's higher
+officials.
+
+But what was Johnson doing carrying a plan of the ship's control rooms
+in his pockets? And worse: How had he dared open Snap's box in the
+helio-room and abstract the code pass-words for this voyage? Without
+them we would be an outlawed vessel, subject to arrest if any patrol
+hailed us. Had Johnson been planning to sell those pass-words to Miko? I
+thought so. I tried to get the confession out of him, but could not.
+
+I had a brief consultation with Captain Carter. He was genuinely
+apprehensive now. The Planetara carried no long-range guns, and very few
+side-arms. A half-dozen of the heat-ray hand projectors; a few
+old-fashioned weapons of explosion-rifles and automatic revolvers. And
+hand projectors with the new Benson curve-light. We had models of this
+for curved vision, so that one might see around a corner, so to speak.
+And with them, we could project the heat-ray in a curve as well.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The weapons were all in Carter's chart-room, save the few we officers
+always carried. Carter was apprehensive, but of what he could not say.
+He had not thought that our plan to stop at the Moon for treasure could
+affect this outward voyage. Any danger would be upon the way back, when
+the Planetara would be adequately guarded with long-range electronic
+guns, and manned with police-soldiers.
+
+But now we were practically defenseless....
+
+I had a moment with Venza, but she had nothing new to communicate to
+me.
+
+And for half an hour I chatted with George Prince. He seemed a gay,
+pleasant young man. I could almost have fancied I liked him. Or was it
+because he was Anita's brother? He told me how he looked forward to
+traveling with her on Mars. No, he had never been there before, he
+said.
+
+He had a measure of Anita's earnest naive personality. Or was he a very
+clever scoundrel, with irony lurking in his soft voice, and a chuckle
+that he could so befool me?
+
+"We'll talk again, Haljan. You interest me--I've enjoyed it."
+
+He sauntered away from me, joining the saturnine Ob Hahn, with whom
+presently I heard him discussing religion.
+
+The arrest of Johnson had caused considerable comment among the
+passengers. A few had seen me drag him forward to the cage. The incident
+had been the subject of passenger discussion all afternoon. Captain
+Carter had posted a notice to the effect that Johnson's accounts had
+been found in serious error, and that Dr. Frank for this voyage would
+act in his stead.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It was near midnight when Snap and I closed and sealed the helio-room
+and started for the chart-room, where we were to meet with Captain
+Carter and the other officers. The passengers had nearly all retired. A
+game was in progress in the smoking room, but the deck was almost
+deserted.
+
+Snap and I were passing along one of the interior corridors. The
+stateroom doors, with the illumined names of the passengers, were all
+closed. The metal grid of the floor echoed our footsteps. Snap was in
+advance of me. His body suddenly rose in the air. He went like a balloon
+to the ceiling, struck it gently, and all in a heap came floating down
+and landed on the floor!
+
+"What in the infernal!--"
+
+He was laughing as he picked himself up. But it was a brief laugh. We
+knew what had happened: the artificial gravity-controls in the base of
+the ship, which by magnetic force gave us normality aboard, were being
+tampered with! For just this instant, this particular small section of
+this corridor had been cut off. The slight bulk of the Planetara,
+floating in space, had no appreciable gravity pull on Snap's body, and
+the impulse of his step as he came to the unmagnetized area of the
+corridor had thrown him to the ceiling. The area was normal now. Snap
+and I tested it gingerly.
+
+He gripped me. "That never went wrong by accident, Gregg! Someone down
+there--"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We rushed to the nearest descending ladder. In the deserted lower room
+the bank of dials stood neglected. A score of dials and switches were
+here, governing the magnetism of different areas of the ship. There
+should have been a night operator, but he was gone.
+
+Then we saw him lying nearby, sprawled face down on the floor! In the
+silence and dim lurid glow of the fluorescent tubes, we stood holding
+our breaths, peering and listening. No one here.
+
+The guard was not dead. He lay unconscious from a blow on the head. A
+brawny fellow. We had him revived in a few moments. A broadcast flash of
+the call-buzz brought Dr. Frank in haste from the chart-room.
+
+"What's the matter?"
+
+We pointed at the unconscious man. "Someone was here," I said hastily.
+"Experimenting with the magnetic switches. Evidently unfamiliar with
+them--pulling one or another to test their workings and so see the
+reactions on the dials."
+
+We told him what had happened to Snap in the upper corridor.
+
+Dr. Frank revived the guard in a moment. He was no worse off for the
+episode, save a lump on his head, and a nasty headache.
+
+But he had little to tell us. He had heard a step. Saw nothing--and
+then had been struck on the head, by some invisible assailant.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We left him nursing his head, sitting belligerent at his post. Armed now
+with my heat-ray cylinder which I loaned him.
+
+"Strange doings this voyage," he told us. "All the crew knows it--all
+been talkin' about it. I stick it out now, but when we get back home I'm
+done with this star travelin'. I belong on the sea anyway. A good old
+freighter is all right for me."
+
+We hurried back to the upper level. We would indeed have to plan
+something at this chart-room conference. This was the first tangible
+attack our adversaries had made.
+
+We were on the passenger deck headed for the chart-room when all three
+of us stopped short, frozen with horror. Through the silent passenger
+quarters a scream rang out! A girl's shuddering, gasping scream. Terror
+in it. Horror. Or a scream of agony. In the silence of the dully
+vibrating ship it was utterly horrible. It lasted an instant--a single
+long scream; then was abruptly stilled.
+
+And with blood pounding my temples and rushing like ice through my
+veins, I recognized it.
+
+Anita!
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+_The Murder in A 22_
+
+"Good God, what was that?" Dr. Frank's face had gone white in the
+starlight. Snap stood like a statue of horror.
+
+The deck here was patched as always, silver radiance from the deck
+ports. The empty deck chairs stood about. The scream was stilled, but
+now we heard a commotion inside--the rasp of opening cabin doors;
+questions from frightened passengers; the scurry of feet.
+
+I found my voice. "Anita! Anita Prince!"
+
+"Come on!" shouted Snap. "Was it the Prince girl? I thought so too! In
+her stateroom, A 22!" He was dashing for the lounge archway.
+
+Dr. Frank and I followed. I realized that we passed the deck door and
+window of A 22. But they were dark, and evidently sealed on the inside.
+The dim lounge was in a turmoil; passengers standing at their cabin
+doors. I heard Sir Arthur Coniston:
+
+"I say, what was that?"
+
+"Over there," said another man. "Come back inside, Martha." He shoved
+his wife back. "Mr. Haljan!" He plucked at me as I went past.
+
+I shouted, "Go back to your rooms! We want order here--keep back!"
+
+We came to the twin doors of A 22 and A 20. Both were closed. Dr. Frank
+was in advance of Snap and me. He paused at the sound of Captain
+Carter's voice behind us.
+
+"Was it from in there? Wait a moment!"
+
+Carter dashed up; he had a large heat-ray projector in his hand. He
+shoved us aside. "Let me in first. Is the door sealed? Gregg, keep those
+passengers back!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The door was not sealed. Carter burst into the room. I heard him gasp,
+"Good God!"
+
+Snap and I shoved back three or four crowding passengers, and in that
+instant Dr. Frank had been in the room and out again.
+
+"There's been an accident! Get back, Gregg! Snap, help him keep the
+crowd away." He shoved me forcibly.
+
+From within, Carter was shouting, "Keep them out! Where are you, Frank?
+Come back here! Send a flash for Balch--I want Balch!"
+
+Dr. Frank went back into the room and banged the cabin door upon Snap
+and me. I was unarmed--I had loaned my cylinder to the guard in the
+lower corridor. Weapon in hand, Snap forced the panic-stricken
+passengers back to their rooms.
+
+"It's all right! An accident! Miss Prince is hurt."
+
+Snap reassured them glibly; but he knew no more about it than I. Moa,
+with a night-robe drawn tight around her thin, tall figure, edged up to
+me.
+
+"What has happened, Set Haljan?"
+
+I gazed around for her brother Miko, but did not see him.
+
+"An accident," I said shortly. "Go back to your room. Captain's
+orders."
+
+She eyed me and then retreated. Snap was threatening everybody with his
+cylinder. Balch dashed up. "What in the hell? Where's Carter?"
+
+"In there." I pounded on A 22. It opened cautiously. I could see only
+Carter, but I heard the murmuring voice of Dr. Frank through the
+interior connecting door to A 20.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The captain rasped, "Get out, Haljan! Oh, is that you, Balch? Come in."
+He admitted the older officer and slammed the door again upon me. And
+immediately reopened it.
+
+"Gregg, keep the passengers quiet. Tell them everything's all right.
+Miss Prince got frightened, that's all. Then go up to the turret. Tell
+Blackstone what's happened."
+
+"But I don't know what's happened," I protested miserably.
+
+Carter was grim and white. He whispered, "I think it may turn out to be
+murder, Gregg! No, not dead yet--Dr. Frank is trying--Don't stand there
+like an ass, man! Get to the turret! Verify our trajectory--no--wait--"
+
+The captain was almost incoherent. "Wait a minute, I don't mean that!
+Tell Snap to watch his helio-room. Gregg, you and Blackstone stay in the
+chart-room. Arm yourselves and guard our weapons. By God, this murderer,
+whoever he is--"
+
+I stammered, "If--if she dies--will you flash us word?"
+
+He stared at me strangely. "I'll be there presently, Gregg."
+
+He slammed the door upon me.
+
+I followed his orders, but it was like a dream of horror. The turmoil of
+the ship gradually quieted. Snap went to the helio-room; Blackstone and
+I sat in the tiny steel chart-room. How much time passed, I do not
+know. I was confused. Anita hurt! She might die.... Murdered.... But
+why? By whom? Had George Prince been in his own room when the attack
+came? I thought now I recalled hearing the low murmur of his voice in
+there with Dr. Frank and Carter.
+
+Where was Miko? It stabbed at me. I had not seen him among the
+passengers in the lounge.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Carter came into the chart-room. "Gregg, you get to bed--you look like a
+ghost!"
+
+"But--"
+
+"She's not dead--she may live. Dr. Frank and her brother are with her.
+They're doing all they can." He told us what had happened. Anita and
+George Prince had both been asleep, each in their respective rooms.
+Someone unknown had opened Anita's corridor door.
+
+"Wasn't it sealed?" I demanded.
+
+"Yes. But the intruder opened it."
+
+"Burst it? I didn't think it was broken."
+
+"It wasn't broken. The assailant opened it somehow, and assaulted Miss
+Prince--shot her in the chest with a heat-ray. Her left lung."
+
+"She is conscious?" Balch demanded.
+
+"Yes. But she did not see who did it. Nor did Prince. Her scream
+awakened him, but the intruder evidently fled out the corridor door of
+A 22, the way he entered."
+
+I stood weak and shaken at the chart-room entrance. "A little son, cast
+in the gentle image of his mother. But with the strength of his
+father...." But Anita--dying, perhaps; and all my dreams were fading
+into a memory of what might have been.
+
+"You go to bed, Gregg--we don't need you."
+
+I was glad enough to get away. I would lie down for an hour, and then go
+to Anita's stateroom. I'd demand that Dr. Frank let me see her, if only
+for a moment.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I went to the stern deck-space where my cubby was located. My mind was
+confused, but some instinct within me made me verify the seals of my
+door and window. They were intact. I entered cautiously, switched on the
+dimmer of the tube-lights, and searched the room. It had only a bunk, my
+tiny desk, a chair and clothes robe.
+
+There was no evidence of any intruder here. I set my door and window
+alarm. Then I audiphoned to the helio-room.
+
+"Snap?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+I told him about Anita. Carter cut in on us from the chart-room. "Stop
+that, you fools!"
+
+We cut off. Fully dressed, I flung myself on my bed. Anita might
+die....
+
+I must have fallen into a tortured sleep. I was awakened by the sound of
+my alarm buzzer. Someone was tampering with my door! Then the buzzer
+ceased; the marauder outside must have found a way of silencing it. But
+it had done its work--awakened me.
+
+I had switched off the light; my cubby was Stygian dark. A heat-cylinder
+was in the bunk-bracket over my head; I searched for it, pried it loose
+softly.
+
+I was fully awake. Alert. I could hear a faint sizzling--someone outside
+trying to unseal the door. In the darkness, cylinder in hand, I crept
+from the bunk. Crouched at the door. This time I would capture or kill
+this night prowler.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The sizzling was faintly audible. My door-seal was breaking. Upon
+impulse I reached for the door, jerked it open.
+
+No one there! The starlit segment of deck was empty. But I had leaped,
+and I struck a solid body, crouching in the doorway. A giant man. Miko!
+
+His electronized metallic robe burned my hands. I lunged against him--I
+was almost as surprised as he. I shot, but the stab of heat evidently
+missed him.
+
+The shock of my encounter close-circuited his robe; he materialized in
+the starlight. A brief, savage encounter. He struck the weapon from my
+hand. He had dropped his hydrogen torch, and tried to grip me. But I
+twisted away from his hold.
+
+"So it's you!"
+
+"Be quiet, Gregg Haljan! I only want to talk."
+
+Without warning, a stab of radiance shot from a weapon in his hand. It
+caught me. Ran like ice through my veins. Seized and numbed my limbs.
+
+I fell helpless to the deck. Nerves and muscles paralyzed. My tongue was
+thick and inert. I could not speak, nor move. But I could see Miko
+bending over me. And hear him:
+
+"I don't want to kill you, Haljan. We need you."
+
+He gathered me up like a bundle in his huge arms; carried me swiftly
+across the deserted deck.
+
+Snap's helio-room in the network under the dome was diagonally overhead.
+A white actinic light shot from it--caught us, bathed us. Snap had been
+awake; had heard the slight commotion of our encounter.
+
+His voice rang shrilly: "Stop! I'll shoot!" His warning siren rang out
+to arouse the ship. His spotlight clung to us.
+
+Miko ran with me a few steps. Then he cursed and dropped me, fled away.
+I fell like a sack of carbide to the deck. My senses faded into
+blackness....
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"He's all right now."
+
+I was in the chart-room, with Captain Carter, Snap and Dr. Frank bending
+over me. The surgeon said,
+
+"Can you speak now, Gregg?"
+
+I tried it. My tongue was thick, but it would move. "Yes."
+
+I was soon revived. I sat up, with Dr. Frank vigorously rubbing me.
+
+"I'm all right." I told them what had happened.
+
+Captain Carter said abruptly, "Yes, we know that. And it was Miko also
+who killed Anita Prince. She told us before she died."
+
+"Died!..." I leaped to my feet. "She ... died...."
+
+"Yes, Gregg. An hour ago, Miko got into her stateroom and tried to force
+his love on her. She repulsed him--he killed her."
+
+It struck me blank. And then with a rush came the thought, "He says Miko
+killed her...."
+
+I heard myself stammering, "Why--why we must get him!" I gathered my
+wits; a surge of hate swept me; a wild desire for vengeance.
+
+"Why, by God, where is he? Why don't you go get him? I'll get him--I'll
+kill him, I tell you!"
+
+"Easy, Gregg!" Dr. Frank gripped me.
+
+The captain said gently, "We know how you feel, Gregg. She told us
+before she died."
+
+"I'll bring him in here to you! But I'll kill him, I tell you!"
+
+"No you won't, lad. You're hysterical now. We don't want him killed, not
+attacked even. Not yet. We'll explain later."
+
+They sat me down, calming me.
+
+Anita dead. The door of the shining garden was closed. A brief glimpse,
+given to me and to her of what might have been. And now she was
+dead....
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+_A Speck of Human Earth-dust, Falling Free...._
+
+I had not been able at first to understand why Captain Carter wanted
+Miko left at liberty. Within me there was that cry of vengeance, as
+though to strike Miko down would somehow lessen my own grief at
+Anita's loss. Whatever Carter's purpose, Snap had not known it. But
+Balch and Dr. Frank were in the captain's confidence--all three of
+them working on some plan of action. Snap and I argued it, and thought
+we could fathom it; and in spite of my desire to kill Miko, the thing
+looked reasonable.
+
+It was obvious that at least two of our passengers were plotting with
+Miko and George Prince; trying during this voyage to learn what they
+could about Grantline's activities on the Moon; scheming doubtless to
+seize the treasure when the Planetara stopped at the Moon on the return
+voyage. I thought I could name those masquerading passengers. Ob Hahn,
+supposedly a Venus Mystic. And Rance Rankin, who called himself an
+American magician. Those two, Snap and I agreed, seemed most suspicious.
+And there was the purser.
+
+With my hysteria still on me, I sat for a time on the deck outside the
+chart-room with Snap. Then Carter summoned us back, and we sat listening
+while he, Balch and Dr. Frank went on with their conference. Listening
+to them I could not but agree that our best plan was to secure evidence
+which would incriminate all who were concerned in the plot. Miko, we
+were convinced, had been the Martian who followed Snap and me from
+Halsey's office in Great-New York. George Prince had doubtless been the
+invisible eavesdropper outside the helio-room. He knew, and had told the
+others, that Grantline had found radium-ore on the Moon--that the
+Planetara would stop there on the way home.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+But we could not incarcerate George Prince for being an eavesdropper.
+Nor had we the faintest tangible evidence against Ob Hahn or Rance
+Rankin. And even the purser would probably be released by the
+Interplanetary Court of Ferrok-Shahn when it heard our evidence.
+
+There was only Miko. We could arrest him for the murder of Anita. But
+the others would be put on their guard. It was Carter's idea to let Miko
+remain at liberty for a time and see if we could not identify and
+incriminate his fellows. The murder of Anita obviously had nothing to do
+with any plot against the Grantline Moon treasure.
+
+"Why," exclaimed Balch, "there might be--probably are--huge Martian
+interests concerned in this thing. These men here aboard are only
+emissaries, making this voyage to learn what they can. When they get to
+Ferrok-Shahn they'll make their report, and then we'll have a real
+danger on our hands. Why, an outlaw ship could be launched from
+Ferrok-Shahn that would beat us back to the Moon--and Grantline is
+entirely without warning of any danger!"
+
+It seemed obvious. Unscrupulous, moneyed criminals in Ferrok-Shahn would
+be dangerous indeed, once these details of Grantline were given them.
+And so now it was decided that in the remaining nine days of our outward
+voyage, we would attempt to secure enough evidence to arrest all these
+plotters.
+
+"I'll have them all in the cage when we land," Carter declared grimly.
+"They'll make no report to their principals. The thing will end, be
+stamped out!"
+
+Ah, the futile plans of men!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Yet we thought it practical. We were all doubly armed now. Explosive
+bullet-projectors and the heat-ray cylinders. And we had several
+eavesdropping microphones which we planned to use whenever occasion
+offered.
+
+It was now, Earth Eastern Time, A. M. Twenty-eight hours only of this
+eventful voyage were passed. The Planetara was some six million miles
+from the Earth; it blazed behind us, a tremendous giant.
+
+The body of Anita was being made ready for burial. George Prince was
+still in his stateroom. Glutz, effeminate little hairdresser, who waxed
+rich acting as beauty doctor for the women passengers, and who in his
+youth had been an undertaker, had gone with Dr. Frank to prepare the
+body.
+
+Gruesome details. I tried not to think of them. I sat, numbed, in the
+chart-room.
+
+An astronomical burial--there was little precedent for it. I dragged
+myself to the stern deck-space where, at five A. M., the ceremony took
+place. Most of the passengers were asleep, unaware of all this--which
+was why Carter hastened it.
+
+We were a solemn little group, gathered there in the checkered starlight
+with the great vault of the heavens around us. A dismantled electronic
+projector--necessary when a long-range gun was mounted--had been rigged
+up in one of the deck ports.
+
+They brought out the body. I stood apart, gazing reluctantly at the
+small bundle, wrapped like a mummy in a dark metallic screen-cloth. A
+patch of black silk rested over her face.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Four cabin stewards carried her. And beside her walked George Prince. A
+long black robe covered him, but his head was bare. And suddenly he
+reminded me of the ancient play-character of Hamlet. His black, wavy
+hair; his finely chiseled, pallid face, set now in a stern, patrician
+cast. And staring, I realized that however much of a villain this man
+not yet thirty might be, at this instant, walking beside the body of his
+dead sister, he was stricken with grief. He loved that sister with whom
+he had lived since childhood; and to see him now, with his set white
+face, no one could doubt it.
+
+The little procession stopped in a patch of starlight by the port. They
+rested the body on a bank of chairs. The black-robed Chaplain, roused
+from his bed and still trembling from excitement of this sudden,
+inexplicable death on board, said a brief, solemn little prayer. An
+appeal: That the Almighty Ruler of all these blazing worlds might guard
+the soul of this gentle girl whose mortal remains were now to be
+returned to Him.
+
+Ah, if ever God seemed hovering close, it was now at this instant, on
+this starlit deck floating in the black void of space.
+
+Then Carter for just a moment removed the black shroud from her face. I
+saw her brother gaze silently; saw him stoop and implant a kiss--and
+turn away. I did not want to look, but I found myself moving slowly
+forward.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+She lay, so beautiful. Her face, white and calm and peaceful in death.
+My sight blurred. Words seemed to echo: "A little son, cast in the
+gentle image of his mother...."
+
+"Easy, Gregg!" Snap was whispering to me. He had his arm around me.
+"Come on away!"
+
+They tied the shroud over her face. I did not see them as they put her
+body in the tube, sent it through the exhaust-chamber, and dropped it.
+
+But a moment later I saw it--a small black oblong bundle--hovering
+beside us. It was perhaps a hundred feet away, circling us. Held by the
+Planetara's bulk, it had momentarily become our satellite. It swung
+around us like a moon. Gruesome satellite, by nature's laws forever to
+follow us.
+
+Then from another tube at the bow, Blackstone operated a small
+Zed-co-ray projector. Its dull light caught the floating bundle,
+neutralizing its metallic wrappings.
+
+It swung off at a tangent. Speeding. Falling free in the dome of the
+heavens. A rotating black oblong. But in a moment distance dwindled it
+to a speck. A dull silver dot with the sunlight on it. A speck of human
+Earth-dust, falling free....
+
+It vanished. Anita--gone. In my heart was an echo of the prayer that the
+Almighty might watch over her and guard her always....
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+_The Electrical Eavesdropper_
+
+I turned from the deck. Miko was near me! So he had dared to show
+himself here among us! But I realized that he could not be aware we knew
+he was the murderer. George Prince had been asleep, had not seen Miko
+with Anita. Miko, with impulsive rage, had shot the girl and escaped. No
+doubt now he was cursing himself for having done it. And he could very
+well assume that Anita had died without regaining consciousness to tell
+who had killed her.
+
+He gazed at me now, here on the deck. I thought for an instant he was
+coming over to talk to me. Though he probably considered he was not
+suspected of the murder of Anita, he realized, of course, that his
+attack on me was known; he must have wondered what action Captain Carter
+would take.
+
+But he did not approach me; he moved away, and went inside. Moa had been
+near him; and as though by pre-arrangement with him she now accosted
+me.
+
+"I want to speak to you, Set Haljan."
+
+"Go ahead."
+
+I felt an instinctive aversion for this Martian girl. Yet she was not
+unattractive. Over six feet tall, straight and slim. Sleek blond hair.
+Rather a handsome face. Not gray, like the burly Miko, but pink and
+white. Stern-lipped, yet feminine, too. She was smiling gravely now. Her
+blue eyes regarded me keenly. She said gently:
+
+"A sad occurrence, Gregg Haljan. And mysterious. I would not question
+you--"
+
+"Is that all you have to say?" I demanded, when she paused.
+
+"No. You are a handsome man, Gregg--attractive to women--to any Martian
+woman."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+She said it impulsively. Admiration for me was on her face, in her
+eyes--a man cannot miss it.
+
+"Thank you."
+
+"I mean, I would be your friend. My brother Miko is so sorry about what
+happened between you and him this morning. He only wanted to talk to
+you, and he came to your cubby door--"
+
+"With a torch to break its seal," I interjected.
+
+She waved that away. "He was afraid you would not admit him. He told you
+he would not hurt you."
+
+"And so he struck me with one of your cursed Martian paralyzing rays!"
+
+"He is sorry...."
+
+She seemed gauging me, trying, no doubt, to find out what reprisal would
+be taken against her brother. I felt sure that Moa was as active as a
+man in any plan that was under way to capture the Grantline treasure.
+Miko, with his ungovernable temper, was doing things that put their
+plans in jeopardy.
+
+I demanded abruptly, "What did your brother want to talk to me about?"
+
+"Me," she said surprisingly. "I sent him. A Martian girl goes after what
+she wants. Did you know that?"
+
+She swung on her heel and left me. I puzzled over it. Was that why Miko
+had struck me down, and was carrying me off? Was my accursed masculine
+beauty so attractive to this Martian girl? I did not think so. I could
+not believe that all these incidents were so unrelated to what I knew
+was the main undercurrent. They wanted me, had tried to capture me. For
+something else than because Moa liked my looks....
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Dr. Frank found me mooning alone.
+
+"Go to bed, Gregg! You look awful."
+
+"I don't want to go to bed."
+
+"Where's Snap?"
+
+"I don't know. He was here a while ago." I had not seen him since the
+burial of Anita.
+
+"The captain wants him." The surgeon left me.
+
+Within an hour the morning siren would arouse the passengers. I was
+seated in a secluded corner of the deck, when George Prince came along.
+He went past me, a slight, somber, dark-robed figure. He had on high,
+thick boots. A hood was over his head, but as he saw me he pushed it
+back and dropped down beside me.
+
+But for a moment he did not speak. His face showed pallid in the pallid
+star-gleams.
+
+"She said you loved her." His soft voice was throaty with emotion.
+
+"Yes." I said it almost against my will. There seemed a bond springing
+between this bereaved brother and me. He added, so softly I could
+barely hear him, "That makes you, I think, almost my friend. And you
+thought you were my enemy."
+
+I held my answer. An incautious tongue running under emotion is a
+dangerous thing. And I was sure of nothing.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+He went on, "Almost my friend. Because--we both loved her, and she loved
+us both." He was hardly more than whispering. "And there is aboard--one
+whom we both hate."
+
+"Miko!" It burst from me.
+
+"Yes. But do not say it."
+
+Another silence fell between us. He brushed back the black curls from
+his forehead. And his dark eyes searched mine.
+
+"Have you an eavesdropping microphone, Haljan?"
+
+I hesitated. "Yes."
+
+"I was thinking...." He leaned closer toward me. "If, in half an hour,
+you could use it upon Miko's cabin--I would rather tell you than the
+captain or anyone else. The cabin will be insulated, but I shall find a
+way of cutting off that insulation so that you may hear."
+
+So George Prince had turned with us! The shock of his sister's
+death--himself allied to her murderer!--had been too much for him. He
+was with us!
+
+Yet his help must be given secretly. Miko would kill him in an instant
+if it became known.
+
+He had been watchful of the deck. He stood up now.
+
+"I think that is all."
+
+As he turned away, I murmured, "But I do thank you...."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The name Set Miko glowed upon the small metal door. It was in a
+transverse corridor similar to A 22. The corridor was forward of the
+lounge: it opened off the small circular library.
+
+The library was unoccupied and unlighted, dim with only the reflected
+lights from the nearby passages. I crouched behind a cylinder-case. The
+door of Miko's room was in sight, being some thirty feet away from me.
+
+I waited perhaps five minutes. No one entered. Then I realized
+that doubtless the conspirators were already there. I set my tiny
+eavesdropper on the library floor beside me; connected its little
+battery; focused its projector. Was Miko's room insulated? I could not
+tell. There was a small ventilating grid above the door. Across its
+opening, if the room were insulated, a blue sheen of radiance
+would be showing. And there would be a faint hum. But from this
+distance I could not see or hear such details, and I was afraid to
+approach closer. Once in the transverse corridor, I would have no
+place to hide, no way of escape; if anyone approached Miko's door, I
+would be discovered.
+
+I threw the current into my little apparatus. I prayed, if it met
+interference, that the slight sound would pass unnoticed. George Prince
+had said he would make opportunity to disconnect the room's insulation.
+He had evidently done so. I picked up the interior sounds at once; my
+headphone vibrated with them. And with trembling fingers on the little
+dial between my knees as I crouched in the darkness behind the
+cylinder-case, I synchronized.
+
+"Johnson is a fool." It was Miko's voice. "We must have the pass-words."
+
+"He got them from the helio-room." A man's voice; I puzzled over it at
+first, then recognized it. Rance Rankin.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Miko said, "He is a fool. Walking around this ship as though with
+letters blazoned on his forehead--'Watch me--I need watching--' Hah! No
+wonder they apprehended him!"
+
+Was George Prince in there? Rankin's voice said: "He would have turned
+the papers over to us. I would not blame him too much. What harm--"
+
+"Oh, I'll release him," Miko declared. "What harm? That braying ass did
+us plenty of harm. He has lost the pass-words. Better he had left them
+in the helio-room."
+
+Moa was in the room. Her voice said: "We've got to have them. The
+Planetara, upon such an important voyage as this, may be watched. How do
+we know--"
+
+"It is, no doubt," Rankin said quietly. "We ought to have the
+pass-words. When we are in control of this ship...."
+
+It sent a shiver through me. Were they planning to try and seize the
+Planetara? Now? It seemed so.
+
+"Johnson undoubtedly memorized them," Moa was saying. "When we get him
+out--"
+
+"Hahn is to do that, at the signal." Miko added, "George could do it
+better, perhaps."
+
+And then I heard George Prince for the first time. He murmured, "I will
+try."
+
+"No need," said Miko. "I praise where praise is deserved. And I have
+little praise for you now, George!"
+
+I could not see what happened. A look, perhaps, which Prince could not
+avoid giving this man he had come to hate. Miko doubtless saw it, and
+the Martian's hot anger leaped.
+
+Rankin said hurriedly, "Stop that!"
+
+And Moa: "Let him alone! Sit down, you fool!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I could hear the sound of a scuffle. A blow--a cry, half suppressed,
+from George Prince.
+
+Then Miko: "I will not hurt him. Craven coward! Look at him! Hating
+me--frightened!"
+
+I could fancy George Prince sitting there with murder in his heart, and
+Miko taunting him:
+
+"Hates me now, because I shot his sister!"
+
+Moa: "Hush!"
+
+"I will not! Why should I not say it? I will tell you something else,
+George Prince. It was not Anita I shot at, but you! I meant nothing for
+her, but love. If you had not interfered--"
+
+This was different from what we had figured. George Prince had come in
+from his own room, had tried to rescue his sister, and in the scuffle,
+Anita had taken the shot intended for George.
+
+"I did not even know I had hit her," Miko was saying. "Not until I heard
+she was dead." He added sardonically, "I hoped it was you I had hit,
+George. And I will tell you this: You hate me no more than I hate you.
+If it were not for your knowledge of radium ores--"
+
+"Is this to be a personal wrangle?" Rankin interrupted. "I thought we
+were here to plan--"
+
+"It is planned," Miko said shortly. "I give orders, I do not plan. I am
+waiting now for the moment--"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+He checked himself. Moa said, "Does Rankin understand that no harm is to
+come to Gregg Haljan?"
+
+"Yes," said Rankin. "And Dean. We need them, of course. But you cannot
+make Dean send messages if he refuses, nor make Haljan navigate."
+
+"I know enough to check on them," Miko said grimly. "They will not fool
+me. And they will obey me, have no fear. A little touch of sulphuric--"
+His laugh was gruesome. "It makes the most stubborn very willing."
+
+"I wish," said Moa, "we had Haljan safely hidden. If he is hurt--killed--"
+
+So that was why Miko had tried to capture me? To keep me safe so that I
+might navigate the ship.
+
+It occurred to me that I should get Carter at once. A plot to seize the
+Planetara? But when?
+
+I froze with startled horror.
+
+The diaphragms at my ears rang with Miko's words: "I have set the time
+for now! In two minutes--"
+
+It seemed to startle both Rankin and George Prince almost as much as I.
+Both exclaimed:
+
+"No!"
+
+"No? Why not? Everyone is at his post!"
+
+Prince repeated: "No!"
+
+And Rankin: "But can we trust them? The stewards--the crew?"
+
+"Eight of them are our own men! You didn't know that, Rankin? They've
+been aboard the Planetara for several voyages. Oh, this is no
+quickly-planned affair, even though we let you in on it so recently. You
+and Johnson. By God!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I crouched tense. There was a commotion in the stateroom. Miko had
+discovered that his insulation was cut off! He had evidently leaped to
+his feet; I heard a chair overturn. And the Martian's roar: "It's off!
+Did you do that, Prince? By God, if I thought--"
+
+My apparatus went suddenly dead as Miko flung on his insulation. I lost
+my wits in the confusion; I should have instantly taken off my
+vibrations. There was interference; it showed in the dark space of the
+ventilator grid over Miko's doorway; a snapping in the air there, a
+swirl of sparks.
+
+I heard with my unaided ears Miko's roar over his insulation: "By God,
+they're listening!"
+
+The scream of a hand-siren sounded from his stateroom. It rang over the
+ship. His signal! I heard it answered from some distant point. And then
+a shot; a commotion in the lower corridors....
+
+The attack upon the Planetara had started!
+
+I was on my feet. The shouts of startled passengers sounded, a turmoil
+beginning everywhere.
+
+I stood momentarily transfixed. The door of Miko's stateroom burst open.
+He stood there, with Moa, Rankin and George Prince crowding behind him.
+
+He saw me. "You, Gregg Haljan!"
+
+He came leaping at me.
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+_The Weightless Combat_
+
+I was taken wholly by surprise. There was an instant when I stood
+numbed, fumbling for a weapon at my belt, undecided whether to run or
+stand my ground. Miko was no more than twenty feet from me. He checked
+his forward rush. The light from an overhead tube was on him; I saw in
+his hand the cylinder projector of his paralyzing ray.
+
+I plucked my heat-cylinder from my belt, and fired without taking aim.
+My tiny heat-beam flashed. I must have grazed Miko's hand. His roar of
+anger and pain rang out over the turmoil. He dropped his weapon; then
+stooped to pick it up. But Moa forestalled him. She leaped and seized
+it.
+
+"Careful! Fool--you promised not to hurt him!"
+
+A confusion of swift action. Rankin had turned and darted away. I saw
+George Prince stumbling half in front of the struggling Miko and Moa.
+And I heard footsteps beside me; a hand gripped me, jerked at me.
+
+Over the turmoil Prince's voice sounded: "Gregg--Haljan!"
+
+I recall I had the impression that Prince was frightened; he had half
+fallen in front of Miko. And there was Miko's voice:
+
+"Let go of me!"
+
+And Moa: "Come!"
+
+It was Balch gripping me. "Gregg! This way--run! Get out of here! He'll
+kill you with that ray--"
+
+Miko's ray flashed, but George Prince had knocked at his arm. I did not
+dare fire again. Prince was in the way. Balch, who was unarmed, shoved
+me violently back.
+
+"Gregg--the chart-room!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I turned and ran, with Balch after me. Prince had fallen, or been felled
+by Miko. A flash followed me. Miko's weapon, but again it missed. He did
+not pursue me; he ran the other way, through the port-side door of the
+library.
+
+Balch and I found ourselves in the lounge. Shouting, frightened
+passengers were everywhere. The place was in wild confusion, the whole
+ship ringing now with shouts.
+
+"To the chart-room, Gregg!"
+
+I called to the passengers: "Get back to your rooms!"
+
+I followed Balch. We ran through the archway to the deck. In the
+starlight I saw figures scurrying aft, but none were near us. The deck
+forward was dim with heavy shadows. The oval window and door of the
+chart-room were blue-yellow from the tube-lights inside. No one seemed
+on the deck there; and then, as we approached, I saw, further forward in
+the bow, the trap-door to the cage standing open. Johnson had been
+released.
+
+From one of the chart-room windows a heat-ray sizzled. It barely missed
+us. Balch shouted, "Carter--don't!"
+
+The captain called, "Oh--you, Balch--and Haljan--"
+
+He came out on the deck as we rushed up. His left arm was dangling
+limp.
+
+"God--this--" He got no further. From the turret overhead a tiny
+search-beam came down and disclosed us. Blackstone was supposed to be on
+duty up there, with a course-master at the controls. But, glancing up, I
+saw, illumined by the turret lights, the figures of Ob Hahn in his
+purple-white robe, and Johnson the purser. And on the turret balcony,
+two fallen men--Blackstone and the course-master.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Johnson was training the spotlight on us. And Hahn fired a Martian ray.
+It struck Balch beside me. He dropped.
+
+Carter was shouting, "Inside! Gregg, get inside!"
+
+I stopped to raise up Balch. Another beam came down. A heat-ray this
+time. It caught the fallen Balch full in the chest, piercing him
+through. The smell of his burning flesh rose to sicken me. He was dead.
+I dropped his body. Carter shoved me into the chart-room.
+
+In the small, steel-lined room, Carter and I slid the door closed. We
+were alone here. The thing had come so quickly it had taken Captain
+Carter, like us all, wholly unawares. We had anticipated spying
+eavesdroppers, but not this open brigandage. No more than a minute or
+two had passed since Miko's siren in his stateroom had given the signal
+for the attack. Carter had been in the chart-room. Blackstone was in the
+turret. At the outbreak of confusion, Carter dashed out to see Hahn
+releasing Johnson from the cage. From the forward chart-room window now
+I could see where Hahn with a torch had broken the cage-seal. The torch
+lay on the deck. There had been an exchange of shots; Carter's arm was
+paralyzed; Johnson and Hahn had escaped.
+
+Carter was as confused as I. There had simultaneously been an encounter
+up in the turret. Blackstone and the course-master were killed. The
+lookout had been shot from his post in the forward observatory. His body
+dangled now, twisted half in and half out of his window.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We could see several of Miko's men--erstwhile members of our crew and
+steward-corps--scurrying from the turret along the upper bridges toward
+the dark and silent helio-room. Snap was up there. But was he? The
+helio-room glowed suddenly with dim light, but there was no evidence of
+a fight there. The fighting seemed mostly below the deck, down in the
+hull-corridors. A blended horror of sounds came up to us. Screams,
+shouts, and the hissing and snapping of ray weapons. Our crew--such of
+them as were loyal--were making a stand down below. But it was brief.
+Within a minute it died away. The passengers, amidships in the
+superstructure, were still shouting. Then above them Miko's roar
+sounded.
+
+"Be quiet! Go in your rooms--you will not be harmed."
+
+The brigands in these few minutes were in control of the ship. All but
+this little chart-room, where, with most of the ship's weapons, Carter
+and I were intrenched.
+
+"God, Gregg, that this should come upon us!"
+
+Carter was fumbling with the chart-room weapons. "Here, Gregg, help me.
+What have you got? Heat-ray? That's all I had ready."
+
+It struck me then as I helped him make the connections that Carter in
+this crisis was at best an inefficient commander. His red face had gone
+splotchy purple; his hands were trembling. Skilled as captain of a
+peaceful liner, he was at a loss now. Nor could I blame him. It is easy
+to say we might have taken warning, done this or that, and come
+triumphant through this attack. But only the fool looks backward and
+says, "I would have done better."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I tried to summon my wits. The ship was lost to us, unless Carter and I
+could do something. Our futile weapons! They were all here--four or
+five heat-ray hand projectors that could send a pencil-ray a hundred
+feet or so. I shot one diagonally up at the turret where Johnson was
+leering down at our rear window, but he saw my gesture and dropped back
+out of sight. The heat-beam flashed harmlessly up and struck the turret
+roof. Then across the turret window came a sheen of radiance--an
+electro-barrage. And behind it, Hahn's suave, evil face appeared. He
+shouted down:
+
+"We have orders to spare you, Gregg Haljan--or you would have been
+killed long ago!"
+
+My answering shot hit his barrage with a shower of sparks, behind which
+he stood unmoved.
+
+Carter handed me another weapon. "Gregg, try this."
+
+I levelled the old explosive bullet projector; Carter crouched beside
+me. But before I could press the trigger, from somewhere down the
+starlit deck an electro-beam hit me. The little rifle exploded, burst
+its breech. I sank back to the floor, tingling from the shock of the
+hostile current. My hands were blackened from the exploding powder.
+
+Carter seized me. "No use! Hurt?"
+
+"No."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The stars through the dome-windows were swinging. A long swing--the
+shadows and starlit patches on the deck were all shifting. The Planetara
+was turning. The heavens revolved in a great round sweep of movement,
+then settled as we took our new course. Hahn at the turret controls had
+swung us. The earth and the sun showed over our bow quarter. The
+sunlight mingled red-yellow with the brilliant starlight. Hahn's signals
+were sounding; I heard them answered from the mechanism rooms down
+below. Brigands there--in full control. The gravity plates were being
+set to the new positions; we were on our new course. Headed a point or
+two off the Earth-line. Not headed for the moon? I wondered.
+
+Carter and I were planning nothing. What was there to plan? We were
+under observation. A Martian paralyzing ray--or electronic beam, far
+more deadly than our own puny police weapons--would have struck us the
+instant we tried to leave the chart-room.
+
+My swift-running thoughts were interrupted by a shout from down the
+deck. At a corner of the cabin superstructure some fifty feet from our
+windows the figure of Miko appeared. A barrage-radiance hung around him
+like a shimmering mantle. His voice sounded:
+
+"Gregg Haljan, do you yield?"
+
+Carter leaped up from where he and I were crouching. Against all reason
+of safety he leaned from the low window, waving his hamlike fist.
+
+"Yield? No! I am in command here, you pirate! Brigand--murderer!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I pushed him back. "Careful!"
+
+He was spluttering, and over it Miko's sardonic laugh sounded. "Very
+well--but you will talk? Shall we argue about it?"
+
+I stood up. "What do you want to say, Miko?"
+
+Behind him the tall, thin figure of his sister showed. She was plucking
+at him. He turned violently.
+
+"I won't hurt him! Gregg Haljan--is this a truce? You will not shoot?"
+He was shielding Moa.
+
+"No," I called. "For a moment, no. A truce. What is it you want to
+say?"
+
+I could hear the babble of passengers who were herded in the cabin with
+brigands guarding them. George Prince, bareheaded, but shrouded in his
+cloak, showed in a patch of light behind Moa. He looked my way and then
+retreated into the lounge archway.
+
+Miko called, "You must yield. We want you, Haljan."
+
+"No doubt," I jeered.
+
+"Alive. It is easy to kill you."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I could not doubt that. Carter and I were little more than rats in a
+trap, here in the chart-room. But Miko wanted to take me alive: that was
+not so simple. He added persuasively:
+
+"We want you to help us navigate. Will you?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Will you help us, Captain Carter? Tell your cub, this Haljan, to yield.
+You are fools. We understand that Haljan has been handling the ship's
+mathematics. Him we need most."
+
+Carter roared: "Get back from there! This is no truce!"
+
+I shoved aside his levelled bullet-projector. "Wait a minute!" I called
+to Miko. "Navigate--where?"
+
+"Oh," he retorted, "that is our business, not yours. When you lay down
+your weapons and come out of there, I will give you the course."
+
+"Back to the earth?" I suggested.
+
+I could fancy him grinning behind the sheen of his barrage at my
+question.
+
+"The earth? Yes--shall we go there? Give me your orders, Gregg Haljan.
+Of course I will obey them."
+
+His sardonic words were interrupted. And I realized that all this parley
+was a ruse of Miko's to take me alive. He had made a gesture. Hahn,
+watching from the turret window, doubtless flashed a signal down to the
+hull-corridors. The magnetizer control under the chart-room was
+altered, our artificial gravity cut off. I felt the sudden lightness; I
+gripped the window casement and clung. Carter was startled into
+incautious movement. It flung him out into the center of the chart-room,
+his arms and legs grotesquely flailing.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+And across the chart-room, in the opposite window, I felt rather than
+saw the shape of something. A figure--almost invisible, but not
+quite--was trying to climb in! I flung the empty rifle I was holding. It
+hit something solid in the window; in a flare of sparks a black-hooded
+figure materialized. A man climbing in! His weapon spat. There was a
+tiny electronic flash, deadly silent. The intruder had shot at Carter;
+struck him. Carter gave one queer scream. He had floated to the floor;
+his convulsive movement when he was hit hurled him to the ceiling. His
+body struck, twitched; bounced back and sank inert on the floor-grid
+almost at my feet.
+
+I clung to the casement. Across the space of the weightless room the
+hooded intruder was also clinging. His hood fell back. It was Johnson.
+He leered at me.
+
+"Killed him, the bully! Well, he deserved it. Now for you, Mr. Third
+Officer Haljan!"
+
+But he did not dare fire at me--Miko had forbidden it. I saw him reach
+under his robe, doubtless for a low-powered paralyzing ray such as Miko
+already had used on me. But he never got it out. I had no weapon within
+reach. I leaned into the room, still holding the casement, and doubled
+my legs under me. I kicked out from the window.
+
+The force catapulted me across the space of the room like a volplane. I
+struck the purser. We gripped. Our locked, struggling bodies bounced out
+into the room. We struck the floor, surged up like balloons to the
+ceiling, struck it with a flailing arm or a leg and floated back.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Grotesque, abnormal combat! Like fighting in weightless water. Johnson
+clutched his weapon, but I twisted his wrist, held his arm outstretched
+so that he could not aim it. I was aware of Miko's voice shouting on the
+deck outside.
+
+Johnson's left hand was gouging at my face, his fingers plucking at my
+eyes. We lunged down to the floor, then up again, close to the ceiling.
+
+I twisted his wrists. He dropped the weapon and it sank away. I tried to
+reach it, but could not. Then I had him by the throat. I was stronger
+than he, and more agile. I tried choking him, his thick bull-neck within
+my fingers. He kicked, scrambled, tore and gouged at me. Tried to shout,
+but it ended in a gurgle. And then, as he felt his breath stopped, his
+hands came up in an effort to tear mine loose.
+
+We sank again to the floor. We were momentarily upright. I felt my feet
+touch. I bent my knees. We sank further.
+
+And then I kicked violently upward. Our locked bodies shot to the
+ceiling. Johnson's head was above me. It struck the steel roof of the
+chart-room. A violent blow. I felt him go suddenly limp. I cast him off,
+and, doubling my body, I kicked at the ceiling. It sent me diagonally
+downward to the window, where I clung and regained stability.
+
+And I saw Miko standing on the deck with a weapon levelled at me!
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+_The Torture_
+
+"Haljan! Yield or I'll fire! Moa, give me the smaller one. This
+cursed--"
+
+He had in his hand too large a projector. Its ray would kill me. If he
+wanted to take me alive, he would not fire. I chanced it.
+
+"No!"
+
+I tried to draw myself beneath the window. An automatic bullet projector
+was on the floor where Carter had dropped it. I pulled myself down.
+Miko did not fire. I reached the revolver. The dead bodies of the
+captain and purser had drifted together on the floor in the center of
+the room.
+
+I hitched myself back to the window. With upraised weapon I gazed
+cautiously out. Miko had disappeared. The deck within my line of vision
+was empty.
+
+But was it? Something told me to beware. I clung to the casement, ready
+upon the instant to shove myself down. There was a movement in a shadow
+along the deck. Then a figure rose up.
+
+"Don't fire, Haljan!"
+
+The sharp command, half appeal, stopped the pressure of my finger on the
+trigger of the automatic. It was the tall lanky Englishman, Sir Arthur
+Coniston, as he called himself. So he too was one of Miko's band! The
+light through a dome-window fell full on him.
+
+"If you fire, Haljan, and kill me--Miko will kill you then, surely."
+
+From where he had been crouching he could not command my window. But
+now, upon the heels of his placating words, he abruptly shot. The
+low-powered ray, had it struck, would have felled me without killing.
+But it went over my head as I dropped. Its aura made my senses reel.
+
+Coniston shouted, "Haljan!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I did not answer. I wondered if he would dare approach to see if I had
+been hit. A minute passed. Then another. I thought I heard Miko's voice
+on the deck outside. But it was an aerial, microscopic whisper close
+beside me.
+
+"We see you, Haljan! You must yield!"
+
+Their eavesdropping vibrations, with audible projection, were upon me. I
+retorted aloud.
+
+"Come and get me! You cannot take me alive."
+
+I do protest if this action of mine in the chart-room may seem bravado.
+I had no wish to die. There was within me a very healthy desire for
+life. But I felt, by holding out, that some chance might come wherewith
+I might turn events against these brigands. Yet reason told me it was
+hopeless. Our loyal members of the crew were killed, no doubt. Captain
+Carter and Balch were killed. The lookouts and Course-masters also. And
+Blackstone.
+
+There remained only Dr. Frank and Snap. Their fate I did not yet know.
+And there was George Prince. He, perhaps, would help me if he could.
+But, at best, he was a dubious ally.
+
+"You are very foolish, Haljan," murmured the projection of Miko's voice.
+And then I heard Coniston:
+
+"See here, why would not a hundred pounds of gold-leaf tempt you? The
+code-words which were taken from Johnson--I mean to say, why not tell us
+where they are?"
+
+So that was one of the brigands new difficulties! Snap had taken the
+code-word sheet, that time we sealed the purser in the cage.
+
+I said, "You'll never find them. And when a police ship sights us, what
+will you do then?"
+
+The chances of a police ship were slim indeed, but the brigands
+evidently did not know that. I wondered again what had become of Snap.
+Was he captured--or still holding them off?
+
+I was watching my windows; for at any moment, under cover of this talk,
+I might be assailed.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Gravity came suddenly to the room. Miko's voice said. "We mean well by
+you, Haljan. There is your normality. Join us. We need you to chart our
+course."
+
+"And a hundred pounds of gold-leaf," urged Coniston. "Or more. Why, this
+treasure--"
+
+I could hear an oath from Miko. And then his ironic voice: "We will not
+bother you, Haljan. There is no hurry. You will be hungry in good time.
+And sleepy. Then we will come and get you. And a little acid will make
+you think differently about helping us...."
+
+His vibrations died away. The pull of gravity in the room was normal. I
+was alone in the dim silence, with the bodies of Carter and Johnson
+lying huddled on the grid. I bent to examine them. Both were dead.
+
+My isolation was no ruse this time. The outlaws made no further attack.
+Half an hour passed. The deck outside, what I could see of it, was
+vacant. Balch lay dead close outside the chart-room door. The bodies of
+Blackstone and the Course-master had been removed from the turret
+window. A forward lookout--one of Miko's men--was on duty in the nearby
+tower. Hahn was at the turret controls. The ship was under orderly
+handling, heading back upon a new course. For the Earth? Or the Moon? It
+did not seem so.
+
+I found, in the chart-room, a Benson curve-light projector which poor
+Captain Carter had very nearly assembled. I worked on it, trained it
+through my rear window, along the empty deck; bent it into the lounge
+archway. Upon my grid the image of the lounge interior presently
+focused. The passengers in the lounge were huddled in a group.
+Disheveled, frightened, with Moa standing watching them. Stewards were
+serving them with a meal.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Upon a bench, bodies were lying. Some were dead. I saw Rance Rankin.
+Others were evidently only injured. Dr. Frank was moving among them,
+attending them. Venza was there, unharmed. And I saw the gamblers, Shac
+and Dud, sitting white-faced, whispering together. And Glutz's little
+be-ribboned, be-curled figure on a stool.
+
+George Prince was there, standing against the walls shrouded in his
+mourning cloak, watching the scene with alert, roving eyes. And by the
+opposite doorway, the huge towering figure of Miko stood on guard. But
+Snap was missing.
+
+A brief glimpse. Miko saw my Benson-light. I could have equipped a
+heat-ray, and fired along the curved Benson-light into that lounge. But
+Miko gave me no time.
+
+He slid the lounge door closed, and Moa leaped to close the one on my
+side. My light was cut off; my grid showed only the blank deck and
+door.
+
+Another interval. I had made plans. Futile plans! I could get into the
+turret perhaps, and kill Hahn. I had the invisible cloak which Johnson
+was wearing. I took it from his body. Its mechanism could be repaired.
+Why, with it I could creep about the ship, kill these brigands one by
+one perhaps. George Prince would be with me. The brigands who had been
+posing as the stewards and crew-members were unable to navigate; they
+would obey my orders. There were only Miko, Coniston and Hahn to kill.
+
+Futile plans! From my window I could gaze up to the helio-room. And now
+abruptly I heard Snap's voice:
+
+"No! I tell you--no!"
+
+And Miko: "Very well. We will try this."
+
+So Snap was captured, but not killed. Relief swept me. He was in the
+helio-room, and Miko was with him. But my relief was short-lived.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+After a brief interval there came a moan from Snap. It floated down from
+the silence overhead. It made me shudder.
+
+My Benson-beam shot into the helio window. It showed me Snap lying there
+on the floor. He was bound with wire. His torso had been stripped. His
+livid face was ghastly plain in my light.
+
+Miko was bending over him. Miko with a heat-cylinder no longer than a
+finger. Its needle-beam played upon Snap's naked chest. I could see the
+gruesome little trail of smoke rising; and as Snap twisted and jerked,
+there on his flesh was the red and blistered trail of the violet-hot
+ray.
+
+"Now will you tell?"
+
+"No!"
+
+Miko laughed. "No? Then I shall write my name a little deeper...."
+
+A black scar now--a trail etched in the quivering flesh.
+
+"Oh!--" Snap's face went white as chalk as he pressed his lips
+together.
+
+"Or a little acid? This fire-writing does not really hurt? Tell me what
+you did with those code-words!"
+
+"No!"
+
+In his absorption Miko did not notice my light. Nor did I have the wit
+to try and fire along it. I was trembling. Snap under torture!
+
+As the beam went deeper, Snap suddenly screamed. But he ended, "No! I
+will send--no message for you--"
+
+It had been only a moment. In the chart-room window beside me again a
+figure appeared! No image. A solid, living person, undisguised by any
+cloak of invisibility. George Prince had chanced my fire and had crept
+up upon me.
+
+"Haljan! Don't attack me."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I dropped my light connections. As impulsively I stood up, I saw through
+the window the figure of Coniston on the deck watching the result of
+Prince's venture.
+
+"Haljan--yield."
+
+Prince no more than whispered it. He stood outside on the deck; the low
+window casement touched his waist. He leaned over it.
+
+"He's torturing Snap! Call out that you will yield."
+
+The thought had already been in my mind. Another scream from Snap
+chilled me with horror. I shouted,
+
+"Miko! Stop!"
+
+I rushed to the window and Prince gripped me.
+
+"Louder!"
+
+I called louder. "_Miko!_ Stop!" My upflung voice mingled with Snap's
+agony of protest. Then Miko heard me. His head and shoulders showed up
+there at the helio-room oval.
+
+"You, Haljan?"
+
+Prince shouted, "I have made him yield. He will obey you if you stop
+that torture."
+
+I think that poor Snap must have fainted. He was silent. I called,
+"Stop! I will do what you command."
+
+Miko jeered, "That is good. A bargain, if you and Dean obey me. Disarm
+him, Prince, and bring him out."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Miko moved back into the helio-room. On the deck Coniston was advancing,
+but cautiously, mistrustful of me.
+
+"Gregg."
+
+George Prince flung a leg over the casement and leaped lightly into the
+dim chart-room. His small slender figure stood beside me, clung to me.
+
+"Gregg."
+
+A moment, while we stood there together. No ray was upon us. Coniston
+could not see us, nor could he hear our whispers.
+
+"Gregg."
+
+A different voice; its throaty, husky quality gone. A soft pleading.
+"Gregg--
+
+"Gregg, don't you know me? Gregg, dear...."
+
+Why, what was this? Not George Prince? A masquerader, yet so like George
+Prince.
+
+"Gregg, don't you know me?"
+
+Clinging to me. A soft touch upon my arm. Fingers, clinging. A surge of
+warm, tingling current was flowing between us.
+
+My sweep of instant thoughts. A speck of human Earth-dust, falling free.
+That was George Prince, who had been killed. George Prince's body,
+disguised by the scheming Carter and Dr. Frank, buried in the guise of
+his sister. And this black-robed figure who was trying to help us--
+
+"Anita! Dear God! Anita, darling! Anita!"
+
+"Gregg, dear one!"
+
+"Anita! Dear God!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+My arms went around her, my lips pressed hers, and felt her tremulous,
+eager answer.
+
+"Gregg, dear."
+
+"Anita, you!"
+
+The form of Coniston showed at our window. She cast me off. She said,
+with her throaty swagger of assumed masculinity:
+
+"I have him, Sir Arthur. He will obey us."
+
+I sensed her warning glance. She shoved me toward the window. She said
+ironically, "Have no fear, Haljan. You will not be tortured, you and
+Dean, if you obey our commands."
+
+Coniston gripped me. "You fool! You caused us a lot of trouble, didn't
+you? Move along there!"
+
+He jerked me roughly through the window. Marched me the length of the
+deck. Out to the stern-space; opened the door of my cubby; flung me in
+and sealed the door upon me.
+
+"Miko will come presently."
+
+I stood in the darkness of my tiny room, listening to his retreating
+footsteps. But my mind was not on him....
+
+All the Universe in that instant had changed for me. Anita was alive!
+
+(_To be continued_)
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+  [1] As early as 1910 it was discovered that an object magnetized under
+      certain conditions was subject to a loss of weight, its gravity
+      partially nullified. The Martel discovery undoubtedly followed
+      that method.
+
+  [2] "United States of the World," which came into being in 2057 upon the
+      centenary of the Yellow War.
+
+  [3] Trinight Hour, i.e., 3 A. M.
+
+  [4] Pressure sickness. Caused by the difficulty of maintaining a
+      constantly normal air pressure within the vessel owing to the
+      sudden, extreme changes from heat to cold.
+
+  [5] "Set and Setta," the Martian equivalent of Mr. and Miss.
+
+  [6] A Venus form of jocular, intimate greeting.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  _REMEMBER_
+  ASTOUNDING STORIES
+  _Appears on Newsstands_
+  THE FIRST THURSDAY IN EACH MONTH
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+_In the Next Issue_
+
+  MONSTERS of MOYEN
+
+  _A Complete Novelet of a Half-God Half-Beast's Extraordinary Attempt
+  to Dominate the Earth_
+  _By_ Arthur J. Burks
+
+
+  _A Large Instalment of_
+
+  BRIGANDS of the MOON
+
+  _The Splendid Interplanetary Novel_
+  _By_ Ray Cummings
+
+
+  The RAY of MADNESS
+
+  _The Account of Another of Dr. Bird's Amazing Exploits_
+  _By_ Captain S. P. Meek
+
+  --_And Many Other Stories by Your Favorite Authors!_
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+The Soul Master
+
+_By Will Smith and R. J. Robbins_
+
+    Desperately O'Hara plunged into Prof. Kell's mysterious mansion.
+    For his friend Skip was the victim of the eccentric scientist's
+    de-astralizing experiment, and faced a fate more hideous than
+    death.
+
+[Illustration: _A terrific force was emanating from that devilish globe
+above._]
+
+
+The train was slowing down for Keegan. A whistle from the locomotive
+ahead had warned the two alert young men in the smoker to that effect,
+and they arose to leave the train. Both were neatly and quietly dressed.
+One carried a medium-sized camera with the necessary tripod and
+accessory satchel. The other carried no impediments of any sort. Both
+were smoking cigars, evidently not of expensive variety, judging by the
+unaromatic atmosphere thereabouts.
+
+"Can't see what Bland shipped us up to this one-horse dump for,"
+grumbled Skip Handlon, the one who carried the camera. He was the
+slighter of the two and perhaps half a head shorter than the other. "Do
+you know anything about it?"
+
+"Not much," confessed the other as they alighted from the smoker. "All I
+can tell you is that Bland sent for me early this morning, told me to
+get a story out of this Professor Kell and to drag you along. After we
+get there you are to do as judgment dictates. But I remember that the
+Chief was specific as regards one thing. You are to get the proff's mug.
+Don't forget. The old fellow may growl and show fight, but it's up to
+you to deliver the goods--or, in this case, get them. Don't depend on me
+for help. I expect to have troubles of my own." Thus gloomed Horace
+Perry, star reporter for the Journal.
+
+"This Keegan place"--Handlon was using his eyes swiftly and
+comprehensively--"isn't worth much. Can't see how it manages to even
+rate a name. Some dump, all right!"
+
+"You said a couple mouthfuls."
+
+"How's the train service, if any?"
+
+"Rotten. Two trains a day." The other was anything but enthusiastic.
+"We've a nice long wait for the next one, you can bet. Now, just add to
+that a rough reception after we reach the old lion's lair and you get a
+nice idea of what Bland expects from his men."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Handlon made a wry face at this. "The bird who first applied the words
+'Hard Boiled' to the Chief's monniker knew something."
+
+"You don't know the half of it," retorted Perry encouragingly. "Just
+wait and see what a beaut of a fit he can throw for _your_ benefit if
+you fail to do your stuff--and I don't mean maybe."
+
+Old Man Bland owned the Journal, hired and fired his crew and did his
+own editing, with the help of as capable an office gang as could be
+gotten together. It is quite possible that "Hard Boiled" Bland demanded
+more from his men than any other editor ever has before or since.
+Nevertheless he got results, and none of his experienced underlings ever
+kicked, for the pay was right. If a hapless scribe had the temerity to
+enter the editorial sanctum with a negative report, the almost
+invariable reply had been a glare and a peremptory order, "Get the
+copy."
+
+And get it they did. If a person refused an interview these clever
+fellows generally succeeded in getting their information from the next
+most reliable source, and it arrived in print just the same.
+
+Of such a breed was Perry. Handlon, being a more recent acquisition to
+the staff, was not yet especially aggressive in his work. On this
+account the former took keen zest in scaring him into displaying a bit
+more sand.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The train had disappeared around a bend and the two reporters felt
+themselves marooned. Keegan, without question, was a most forlorn
+looking spot. A dismal shanty, much the worse for weather, stood beside
+the track. In front, a few rotting planks proclaimed that once upon a
+time the place had boasted a real freight platform. Probably, back in
+some long-forgotten age, a station agent had also held forth in the
+rickety shanty. A sign hung on each end of the crumbling structure on
+which could still be deciphered the legend "KEEGAN." On the opposite
+side of the track was an old, disused siding. The only other feature of
+interest thereabouts was a well traveled country road which crossed the
+tracks near the shanty, wound sinuously over a rock-strewn hill and
+became lost in the mazes of an upland forest.
+
+There being no signboard of any kind to indicate their destination, the
+two, after a moment's hesitation, started off briskly in a chance
+direction. The air was hot and sultry, and in the open spaces the sun
+beat down mercilessly upon the two hapless ones. As they proceeded into
+the depths of the forest they were shielded somewhat from the worst of
+the heat. Gradually upon their city-bred nostrils there stole the odor
+of conifers, accompanied by a myriad of other forest odors. Both sniffed
+the air appreciatively.
+
+"This is sure the life," remarked Perry. "If I weren't so darn thirsty
+now...." He became lost in mournful thought.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A considerable time passed. The newspaper men trudged wearily along
+until finally another bend brought them to the beginning of a steep
+descent. The forest had thinned out to nothing.
+
+"Seems to me I smell smoke," blurted out Handlon suddenly. "Must be that
+we are approaching the old party's lair. Remember? Bland said that
+he--"
+
+"Uh huh!" the other grunted, almost inaudibly. Now that they seemed to
+be arriving at their destination something had occurred to him. He had
+fished from his pocket a sheaf of clippings and was perusing them
+intently. "Bland said, 'Get the copy'," he muttered irrelevantly and
+half to himself.
+
+The clippings all related directly to Professor Kell or to happenings
+local to Keegan. Some were of peculiar interest. The first one was
+headlined thus:
+
+    MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE OF ROBERT MANION AND DAUGHTER STILL
+    UNSOLVED
+
+The piece contained a description of the missing man, a fairly
+prosperous banker who had been seen four days previously driving through
+Keegan in a small roadster, and one of the girl, who was in the car with
+him. It told that the banker and his daughter were last seen by a farmer
+named Willetts who lived in a shack on the East Keegan road, fleeing
+before a bad thunder storm. He believed the pair were trying to make the
+Kell mansion ahead of the rain. Nothing more of the Manions or their car
+had been seen, and their personal effects remained at their hotel in a
+nearby village unclaimed. The heavy rain had of course effectually
+obliterated all wheel tracks.
+
+Another clipping was fairly lengthy, but Perry glanced only at the
+headlines:
+
+    KELL STILL CARRYING ON HIS STRANGE EXPERIMENTS
+
+    Has Long Been Known to Have Fantastic Theories. Refuses to
+    Divulge Exact Methods Employed, or Nature of Results
+
+Still another appeared to be an excerpt from an article in an
+agricultural paper. It read:
+
+    A prize bull belonging to Alton Shepard, a Keegan cattle
+    breeder, has created considerable sensation by running amuck in
+    a most peculiar manner. While seemingly more intelligent than
+    heretofore, it has developed characteristics known to be utterly
+    alien to this type of animal.
+
+    Perhaps the most noteworthy feature of the case is the refusal
+    of the animal to eat its accustomed food. Instead it now
+    consumes enormous quantities of meat. The terrific bellow of
+    the animal's voice has also undergone a marked change, now
+    resembling nothing earthly, although some have remarked that it
+    could be likened to the bay of an enormous hound. Some of its
+    later actions have seemingly added further canine attributes,
+    which make the matter all the more mystifying. Veterinaries are
+    asking why this animal should chase automobiles, and why it
+    should carry bones in its mouth and try to bury them!
+
+The last one read in part:
+
+    Professor Kell has been questioned by authorities at Keegan
+    relative to the disappearance there last Tuesday of Robert
+    Manion and his daughter. Kell seemed unable to furnish clues of
+    any value, but officials are not entirely satisfied with the
+    man's attitude toward the questions.
+
+Somewhat bewildered by these apparently unrelated items, the reporter
+remained lost in thought for quite a space, the while he endeavored to
+map out his course of action when he should meet the redoubtable
+Professor. That many of the weird occurrences could be traced in some
+way to the latter's door had evidently occurred to Bland. Furthermore,
+the Old Man relied implicitly upon Perry to get results.
+
+It must be said that for once the star reporter was not overly
+enthusiastic with the assignment. Certain rumors aside from the
+clippings in his hand had produced in his mind a feeling of uneasiness.
+So far as his personal preference was concerned he would have been well
+satisfied if some cub reporter had been given the job. Try as he would,
+however, he could offer no tangible reason for the sudden wariness.
+
+He was aroused from his absorption by his companion.
+
+"Thought I smelled smoke a while back, and I was right. That's the
+house up in the edge of the pines. Deep grounds in front and all gone to
+seed; fits the description exactly. Thank Heaven we struck off from the
+station in the right direction. This stroll has been long enough. Come
+out of it and let's get this job finished."
+
+Suiting the action to the words Handlon started off at a brisk pace down
+the hill, followed at a more moderate rate by Perry. At length they came
+within full sight of the grounds. Extending for a considerable distance
+before them and enclosing a large tract of land now well covered with
+lush grass, was a formidable looking wall. In former days a glorious
+mantle of ivy had covered the rough stones; but now there was little
+left, and what there was looked pitifully decrepit. They continued their
+progress along this barrier, finally coming upon a huge iron gate now
+much the worse for rust. It stood wide open.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The road up to the house had long since become overgrown with rank grass
+and weeds. Faintly traceable through the mass of green could be seen a
+rough footpath which the two followed carefully. They met no one. As
+they approached the night of black pines the mass of the old mansion
+began to loom up before them, grim and forbidding.
+
+Instinctively both shivered. The silence of the place was complete and
+of an uncannily tangible quality. Nervously they looked about them.
+
+"How do you like it, Skip?" The words from Perry's previously silent
+lips broke upon the stillness like a thunderclap. The other started.
+
+"I should hate to die in it," Handlon answered solemnly. "I'll bet the
+old joint is haunted. Nobody but a lunatic would ever live in it."
+
+"I get a good deal the same impression myself," said Perry. "I don't
+wonder that Bland sent two of us to cover the job."
+
+As he spoke he mounted a flight of steps to a tumbledown veranda. There
+was no sign of a door bell on the weather-beaten portal, but an ancient
+knocker of bronze hanging forlornly before him seemed to suggest a means
+of attracting attention. He raised it and rapped smartly.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+No answer.
+
+Possessing all the attributes of the conventional reporter and a few
+additional ones, Perry did not allow himself to become disheartened, but
+merely repeated his summons, this time with more vim.
+
+"Well, Horace," grinned Handlon, "it does look as if we were not so very
+welcome here. However, seems to me if you were to pick up that piece of
+dead limb and do some real knocking with it.... The dear Professor may
+be deaf, you know, or maybe he's--"
+
+"Skip, my boy, I don't know as we ought to go in right now after all. Do
+you realize it will soon be dark?"
+
+"To tell you the truth, Horace, I'm not stuck on this assignment either.
+And I feel that after dark I should like it even less, somehow. But,
+gee, the Old Man...."
+
+"Oh, I'm not thinking of quitting on the job. We don't do that on the
+Journal." Perry smiled paternally at the photographer. Could it be he
+had purposely raised the other's hopes in order to chaff him some more?
+"But I was thinking that it might be a good idea to look about the
+outbuildings a bit while we have a little daylight. Eh?"
+
+Handlon looked disappointed, but nodded gamely. He delayed only long
+enough to deposit his camera and traps behind a grossly overgrown
+hydrangea by the steps, then, with a resigned air, declared himself
+ready to follow wherever the other might lead.
+
+Perry elected to explore the barn first. This was a depressing old pile,
+unpainted in years, with what had once been stout doors now swinging and
+bumping in the light breeze. As the two men drew nearer, this
+breeze--which seemed to sigh through the place at will--brought foul
+odors that told them the place was at least not tenantless. In some
+trepidation they stepped inside and stood blinking in the half
+darkness.
+
+"Pretty Polly!"
+
+"Good God! What was that?" Handlon whispered. He knew it was no parrot's
+voice. This was a far deeper sound than that, a sound louder than
+anything a parrot's throat could produce. It came from the direction of
+a ruinous stall over near a cobwebbed window. As Perry started fearfully
+toward this, there issued from it a curious scraping sound, followed by
+a fall that shook the floor, and a threshing as of hoofs. Now the great
+voice could be heard again, this time uttering what sounded strangely
+like oaths roared out in a foreign tongue. Yet when the newspaper men
+reached the stall they found it occupied only by a large mule.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The animal was lying on its side, its feet scraping feebly against the
+side of the stall. The heaving, foam-flecked body was a mass of hideous
+bruises, some of which were bleeding profusely. The creature seemed to
+be in the last stage of exhaustion, lying with lips drawn back and eyes
+closed. Beneath it and scattered all over the stall floor was a thick
+layer of some whitish seeds.
+
+"That's--why that's sunflower seed, Horace!" Handlon almost whimpered.
+"And look! Look in that crib! It's full of the same stuff! Where's the
+hay, Horace? Does this thing--"
+
+He was interrupted by a mighty movement of the beast--a threshing that
+nearly blinded the men in the cloud of bloodstained seeds it raised.
+With something between a curse and a sob, the mule lunged at its crib as
+if attempting to get bodily into it. But no: it was only trying to perch
+on its edge! Now it had succeeded. The ungainly beast hung there a
+second, two, three. From its uplifted throat issued that usually
+innocuous phrase, a phrase now a thing of delirious horror:
+
+"Pretty Polly!"
+
+With a crash the tortured creature fell to the floor, to lie there
+gasping and moaning.
+
+Skip Handlon left that barn. Perry retained just enough wit to do what
+he should have done the instant he first saw the animal. He whipped out
+his automatic and fired one merciful shot. Then he too started for the
+outside. He arrived in the yard perhaps ten seconds behind Handlon.
+
+"Good Heavens, Perry," gibbered Handlon. "I'm not going to stay around
+this place another minute. Just let me find where I left that suffering
+camera, that's all I ask."
+
+"Easy now." Perry laid a hand on his companion's shoulder. "I guess
+we're up against something pretty fierce here, but we're going to see it
+through, and you know it. So let's cut out the flight talk and go raise
+the Professor."
+
+Handlon tried earnestly to don a look of determination. If Perry was set
+on staying here the least he could do was stay with him. However, could
+Perry have foreseen the events which were to entangle them, he probably
+would have led the race to the gate. As it was, he grasped a stick and
+marched bravely up toward the front door.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A sudden commotion behind him caused him to wheel sharply around.
+Simultaneously a yell burst from Handlon.
+
+"Look out, Horace!"
+
+What he saw almost froze the blood in his veins. From a tumbledown coach
+house had issued an enormous wolf-hound which was now almost upon then,
+eyes flaming, fangs gleaming horribly.
+
+So unexpected was the attack that both men stood rooted in their tracks.
+The next moment the charging brute was upon them, and had bowled
+Handlon off his equilibrium as if he were a child. The unfortunate
+photographer made a desperate attempt to prevent injury to his precious
+camera, which he had but a moment earlier succeeded in retrieving, and
+in doing so fell rather violently to the ground. Every moment he
+expected to feel the powerful jaws crunch his throat, and he made no
+effort to rise. For several seconds he remained thus, until he could
+endure the suspense no longer. He glanced around only to see Perry,
+staring open-mouthed at the animal which had so frightened them.
+Apparently it had forgotten the presence of the two men.
+
+Handlon regained his feet rather awkwardly, the while keeping a watchful
+eye on the beast, of whose uncertain temper he was by now fully aware.
+In an undertone he addressed his companion.
+
+"What do you make of it?" he wanted to know. "Did the critter bite
+you?"
+
+"No. That's the queer part of it. Neither did he bite you, if you were
+to think it over a minute. Just put his nose down and _rammed_ you, head
+on."
+
+The photographer was flabbergasted. Involuntarily his gaze stole again
+in the direction of the offending brute.
+
+"What on earth--" he began. "Is he sharpening his teeth on a rock
+preparatory to another attack upon us? Or--What the deuce _is_ he
+doing?"
+
+"If you ask me," came astonishingly from the watchful Perry, "he's
+eating grass, which is my idea of something damn foolish for a perfectly
+normal hound, genus lupo, to be--Look out!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The animal, as if suddenly remembering the presence of the men, suddenly
+charged at them again, head down, eyes blazing. As before, it made no
+effort to bite. Though both men were somewhat disconcerted by the great
+brute they held their ground, and when it presented the opportunity the
+older reporter planted a terrific kick to the flank which sent the
+animal whimpering back to its shed behind.
+
+"Score one," breathed Handlon. "If we--" At a sudden grating sound
+overhead, he stopped.
+
+Both turned to face the threatening muzzle of an ancient blunderbuss.
+Behind it was an irate countenance, nearly covered by an unclipped beard
+of a dirty gray color. In the eyes now glaring at them malevolently
+through heavily concaved spectacles they read hate unutterable. The
+barrel of the blunderbuss swung slightly as it covered alternately one
+and the other. Both sensed that the finger even now tightening on the
+trigger would not hesitate unduly. Being more or less hardened to
+rebuffs of all kinds in the pursuance of their calling, the reporters
+did not hesitate in stating their purpose.
+
+"What?" yelled the old man. "You dare to invade my grounds and disturb
+me at my labors for such a reason? Reporters! My scientific research
+work is not for publicity, sirs; and futhermore I want it understood
+that I am not to be dragged from my laboratory again for the purpose of
+entertaining you or any others of your ilk. Get away!"
+
+Without further ado the window was slammed down, a shutter closed on the
+inside, and once more the silence of the dead descended upon the spot.
+The two men grinned ruefully at each other, Handlon finally breaking the
+stillness.
+
+"My idea of the world's original one-sided conversation. We simply
+didn't talk--and yet we're supposed to be reporters. You've got to hand
+it to the Proff, Horace, for the beautiful rock-crusher he just handed
+us."
+
+"You didn't think we had anything easy, did you?" said Perry irritably.
+"He'll change his tune presently, when--"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Handlon's jaw dropped. "You don't mean you're going to take any more
+chances! Would you rouse him again after the way he treated us with
+that gun? Besides, the train...."
+
+Perry bent a scathing glance at his companion. "What on earth has the
+train to do with our getting the Professor's confession of crime or
+whatever he has to offer? You evidently don't know Bland--much. I deduce
+that a lot of my sweetness has been wasted on the desert air. Once more,
+let me assure you that if you propose to go back without the Proff's mug
+on one of those plates you might as well mail your resignation from
+_here_. Get me?"
+
+The other wilted.
+
+"I wonder," Perry ruminated as he stared in the direction of the shed
+wherein the canine monstrosity had disappeared. "Do you suppose that you
+can get a snap of the old boy's mug if I can get him to the window
+again? If you can do that, just leave the rest to me. I've handled these
+crusty birds before. What say?"
+
+"Go as far as you like." The photographer was once more grinning as he
+unslung his camera and carefully adjusted a plate in place. Everything
+at last to his satisfaction he gripped flash pan and bulb.
+
+"I'm going to make some racket now," announced Perry grimly. "If Kell
+shows up, work fast. He may shoot at you, but don't get excited. It's
+almost dark, so his aim _might_ be poor."
+
+At this suggestion his companion showed signs of panic, but the other
+affected not to notice this. There came a deafening hullaballoo as Perry
+beat a terrific tattoo on the ancient door. Followed a deep silence,
+while Perry leaped back to stand in front of Skip and his camera. After
+perhaps a full minute's wait he once more opened up his bombardment, to
+jump quickly back to the camera as before. This time he had better
+success. The window was again opened and the muzzle of the blunderbuss
+put in its appearance. Handlon stood close behind Perry as he silently
+swung the camera into a more favorable position for action. The face at
+the window was purple with wrath.
+
+"You damned pests! Leave my grounds at once or I shall call my hound and
+set him upon you. And when--"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Crack! Flash! Click! Perry had made a sudden sidewise movement as
+Handlon went into action.
+
+"Much obliged, Professor," said Perry politely. "Your pose with that old
+cannon is going to be very effective from the front page. The write-up
+will doubtless be interesting too. Probably the story won't be quite so
+accurate as it would be had you told it to us yourself; but we shall get
+as many of the details from the natives hereabouts as we can. Good-day
+to you, sir!"
+
+Motioning to the other he turned on his heel and started down the
+driveway. It was an old trick, and for a long moment of suspense he
+almost feared that it would fail. Another moment--
+
+"Wait!" The quavering voice of the irascible old villain had lost some
+of its malice. "Come back here a minute."
+
+With simulated reluctance the two slowly retraced their steps. "Is there
+something else, sir?"
+
+"Perhaps...." The old man hesitated, as if pondering upon his words.
+"Perhaps if you care to step in I can be of assistance to you after all.
+It occurs to me that possibly I have been too abrupt with you."
+
+"I am very glad that you have decided to cooperate with us, Professor
+Kell," answered the reporter heartily, as they ascended the steps. The
+old man's head disappeared from the window and shortly the sound of
+footsteps inside told of his approach. Finally the oaken door swung
+open, and they were silently ushered into the musty smelling hallway.
+Though outwardly accepting the Professor's suddenly pacific attitude,
+Perry made up his mind to be on his guard.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+As they entered what had evidently been the parlor in bygone days, an
+oppressive, heavy odor smote their nostrils, telling of age-old carpets
+and of draperies allowed to decay unnoticed. On the walls hung several
+antique prints, a poorly executed crayon portrait of a person doubtless
+an ancestor of the present Kell, and one or two paintings done in oil,
+now badly cracked and stained. Everything gave the impression of an era
+long since departed, and the two men felt vaguely out of place. Their
+host led them to a pair of dilapidated chairs, which they accepted
+gratefully. The ride to Keegan after a hard day's work had not tended to
+improve their spirits.
+
+"Now to business." Perry went straight to the point, desiring to get the
+interview over as soon as possible. "We have heard indirectly of various
+happenings in this vicinity which many think have some connection with
+your scientific experiments. Any statement you may care to make to us in
+regard to these happenings will be greatly appreciated by my paper.
+Inasmuch as what little has already been printed is probably of an
+erroneous nature, we believe it will be in your own best interest to
+give us as complete data as possible." Here he became slightly
+histrionic. "Of course we do not allow ourselves to take the stories
+told by the local inhabitants too literally, as such persons are too
+liable to exaggerate, but we must assume that some of these stories have
+partial basis in fact. Any information relative to your scientific work,
+incidentally, will make good copy for us also."
+
+Perry gazed steadily at the patriarch as he spoke. For a moment, a
+crafty expression passed over the old man's face, but as suddenly it
+disappeared. Evidently he had arrived at a decision.
+
+"Come with me," he wheezed.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The two newspaper men exchanged swift glances, the same thought in the
+mind of each. Were they about to be led into a trap? If the old man's
+shady reputation was at all deserved they would do well to be wary.
+Perry thought swiftly of the clippings he had read and of what gossip he
+had heard, then glanced once more in the direction of Handlon. That
+worthy was smiling meaningly and had already arisen to follow the
+Professor. Reluctantly Perry got to his feet and the three proceeded to
+climb a rickety stairway to the third floor. The guide turned at the
+head of the stairs and entered a long dark corridor. Here the floor was
+covered with a thick carpet which, as they trod upon it, gave forth not
+the slightest sound.
+
+The hall gave upon several rooms, all dark and gloomy and giving the
+same dismal impression of long disuse. How could the savant endure such
+a depressing abode! The accumulation of dust and cobwebs in these long
+forgotten chambers, the general evidence of decay--all told of possible
+horrors ahead. They became wary.
+
+But they were not wary enough!
+
+The uncouth figure ahead of them had stopped and was fumbling with the
+lock of an ancient door. Instinctively Perry noted that it was of great
+thickness and of heavy oak. Now the Professor had it open and was
+motioning for them to enter. Handlon started forward eagerly, but
+hurriedly drew back as he felt the grip of the other reporter's hand on
+his arm.
+
+"Get back, you fool!" The words were hissed into the ear of the
+incautious one. Then, to the Professor, Perry observed: "If you have no
+objection we would prefer that you precede us."
+
+A look of insane fury leaped to the face of the old man, lingered but an
+instant and was gone. Though the expression was but momentary, both men
+had seen, and seeing had realized their danger.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+They followed him into the chamber, which was soon illumined fitfully by
+a smoky kerosene lamp. Both took a rapid survey of the place.
+Conceivably it might have been the scene of scientific experiments, but
+its aspect surely belied such a supposition. The average imagination
+would instantly pronounce it the abode of a maniac, or the lair of an
+alchemist. Again, that it might be the laboratory of an extremely
+slovenly veterinary was suggested by the several filthy cages to be seen
+resting against the wall. All of these were unoccupied except one in a
+dark corner, from which issued a sound of contented purring, evidently
+telling of some well-satisfied cat.
+
+The air was close and foul, being heavy with the odor of musty, decaying
+drugs. In every possible niche and cranny the omnipresent dust had
+settled in a uniform sheen of gray which showed but few signs of recent
+disturbance.
+
+"Here, gentlemen," their host was saying, "is where I carry on my work.
+It is rather gloomy here after dark, but then I do not spend much time
+here during the night. I have decided to acquaint you with some of the
+details of one or two of my experiments. Doubtless you will find them
+interesting."
+
+While speaking he had, mechanically it seemed, reached for a glass
+humidor in which were perhaps a dozen cigars. Silently he selected one
+and extended the rest to the two visitors.
+
+After all three had puffed for a moment at the weeds, the old man began
+to talk, rapidly it seemed to them. Perry from time to time took notes,
+as the old man proceeded, an expression of utter amazement gradually
+overspreading his face. Handlon pulled away contentedly at his cigar,
+and on his features there grew an almost ludicrous expression of
+well-being. Was the simple photographer so completely at ease that he
+had at length forsaken all thought of possible danger?
+
+As Professor Kell talked on he seemed to warm to his subject. At the end
+of five minutes he began uncovering a peculiar apparatus which had
+rested beneath the massive old table before which they were sitting. The
+two men caught the flash of light on glass, and a jumble of coiled wires
+became visible.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Was the air in the laboratory getting unbearably close? Or was the queer
+leaden feeling that had taken possession of Perry's lungs but an
+indication of his overpowering weariness? He felt a steadily increasing
+irritation, as if for some strange reason he suddenly resented the words
+of their host, which seemed to be pouring out in an endless stream. The
+cigar had, paradoxically, an oddly soothing quality, and he puffed away
+in silence.
+
+Why had the room suddenly taken on so hazy an aspect? Why did Handlon
+grin in that idiotic manner? And the Professor ... he was getting
+farther and farther away ... that perfecto ... or was it an El Cabbajo?
+What was the old archfiend doing to him anyhow?... Why was he laughing
+and leering at them so horribly?... Confound it all ... that cigar ...
+where was it?... Just one more puff....
+
+Blindly he groped for the missing weed, becoming aware of a cackle of
+amusement nearby. Professor Kell was standing near the spot where he had
+fallen and now began prodding him contemptuously with his toe.
+
+"Fools!" he was saying. "You thought to interfere with my program. But
+you are in my power and you have no hope of escape. I am unexpectedly
+provided with more subjects for my experiments. You will...." His words
+became hazy and unintelligible, for the hapless reporter was drifting
+off into a numb oblivion. He had long since lost the power to move a
+muscle. Out of the corner of an eye, just before he lost consciousness
+altogether, he perceived Handlon lying upon the floor still puffing at
+the fateful drugged cigar.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Eons passed.
+
+To the reporter came a vision of a throbbing, glaring inferno, wherein
+he was shaken and tossed by terrific forces. His very vital essence
+seemed to respond to a mighty vibration. Now he was but a part of some
+terrific chaos. Dimly he became aware of another being with whom he must
+contend. Now he was in a death struggle, and to his horror he found
+himself being slowly but surely overpowered. A demoniac grin played upon
+the features of the other as he forced the reporter to his knees. It was
+Handlon.... Once more he was sinking into soft oblivion, the while a
+horrid miasma assailed his nostrils. He was nothing....
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Slowly, and with infinite effort, Perry felt himself returning to
+consciousness, though he had no clear conception of his surroundings.
+His brain was as yet but a whirling vortex of confused sounds, colors
+and--yes, odors. A temporary rift came in the mental cloud which
+fettered his faculties, and things began to take definite shape. He
+became aware that he was lying upon his back at some elevation from the
+floor. Again the cloudy incubus closed in and he knew no more.
+
+When he finally recovered the use of his faculties it was to discover
+himself the possessor of a violent headache. The pain came in such
+fearsome throbs that it was well nigh unendurable. The lamp still
+sputtered dimly where the professor had left it. At the moment it was on
+the point of going out altogether. The reporter noticed this, and over
+him stole a sense of panic. What if the light should fail altogether,
+leaving him lying in the dark in this frightful place! Still dizzy and
+sick, he managed to rise upon his elbows enough to complete a survey of
+the room. He was still in the laboratory of Professor Kell, but that
+worthy had disappeared. Of Handlon there was no sign. The mysterious
+apparatus, of which he now had but a vague remembrance, also had
+vanished.
+
+His thoughts became confused again, and wearily he passed a hand over
+his brow in the effort to collect all of his faculties. The lamp began
+to sputter, arousing him to action. Desperately he fought against the
+benumbing sensation that was even again stealing over him. Gradually he
+gained the ascendancy. He struggled dizzily to his feet and took a few
+tentative steps.
+
+Where was Handlon? He decided his friend had probably recovered from the
+drug first and was gone, possibly to get a doctor for him, Perry.
+However, he must make some search to determine if Skip had really left
+the premises.
+
+As he walked through the open door the lamp in his hand gave a last
+despairing flicker and went out. From there he was forced to grope his
+way down the dark hall to the stairs. Just how he reached the lower
+floor he was never able to remember, for as yet all the effect of the
+powerful drug had not worn off. He had a dim recollection of being
+thankful to the ancestor of Kell who had provided such thick carpets in
+these halls. Thanks to them his footsteps had been noiseless, at any
+rate.
+
+What was Kell's real object in giving them those drugged cigars? he
+wondered. How long had they been under the influence of the lethal
+stuff? Surely several hours. Upon glancing through a hall window he
+found that outside was the blackness of midnight.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Cautiously he explored the desolate chambers on the ground floor: the
+kitchen--where it could be plainly seen that cooking of a sort had been
+done--the barn, and woodshed. Not a living thing could he find, not even
+the huge wolf-hound which had attacked them in so strange a manner that
+afternoon.
+
+By now he was quite frankly worried on Handlon's account. At that
+moment, could he have known the actual fate that had overtaken his
+companion, it is quite probable he would have gone mad. He stumbled
+back and into the dark front hall, shouting his friend's name. The
+response was a hollow echo, and once or twice he thought he heard the
+ghost of a mocking chuckle.
+
+At length he gave up the search and started for the door, intent now
+only upon flight from the accursed place. He would report the whole
+thing to the office and let Bland do what he pleased about it. Doubtless
+Handlon had already left. Then he stumbled over Handlon's camera.
+Evidently the Professor had neglected to take possession of it. That
+must be rescued, at all costs. He picked it up and felt the exposed
+plate still inside. He started again for the door.
+
+What little light there was faded out and he felt stealing over him a
+horrid sensation of weakness. Again came a period of agony during which
+he felt the grip of unseen forces. Once more it seemed that he was
+engaged in mortal strife with Skip Handlon. Malevolently Handlon glared
+at him as he endeavored with all his strength to overcome Perry. This
+time, however, the latter seemed to have more strength and resisted the
+attack for what must have been hours. Finally the other drew away
+baffled.
+
+At this the mental incubus surrounding Perry's faculties broke. Dimly he
+became aware of a grinding noise nearby and a constant lurching of his
+body. At length his vision cleared sufficiently to enable him to
+discover the cause of the peculiar sensations.
+
+He was in a railroad coach!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+He took a rapid glance around and noted a drummer sitting in the seat
+across the aisle, staring curiously at him. With an effort Perry assumed
+an inscrutable expression and determined to stare the other out of
+countenance. Reluctantly the man glanced away, and after a moment, under
+Perry's stony gaze, he suddenly arose and chose a new seat in front of
+the car. Perry took to the solace of a cigarette and stared out at the
+flying telegraph poles. From time to time he noted familiar landmarks.
+The train had evidently left Keegan far behind and was already nearly
+into the home town.
+
+For the balance of the ride the reporter experienced pure nightmare. The
+peculiar sensations of dizziness, accompanied by frightful periods of
+insensibility, kept recurring, now, however, not lasting more than ten
+or fifteen minutes at a time. At such times as he was conscious he found
+opportunity to wonder in an abstracted sort of way how he had ever
+managed to get on the train and pay his fare, which must have been a
+cash one, without arousing the conductor's suspicions. Discovery of a
+rebate in his pocket proved that he must have done so, however. The
+business of leaving the train and getting to the office has always been
+an unknown chapter in Perry's life.
+
+He came out of one of his mental fogs to find himself seated in the
+private editorial sanctum of the Journal. Evidently he had just arrived.
+Bland, a thick-set man with the jaw of a bulldog, was eyeing him
+intently.
+
+"Well! Any report to make?" The question was crisp.
+
+The reporter passed a hand across his perspiring forehead. "Yes, I guess
+so. I--er--that is--you see--"
+
+"Where's Handlon? What happened to you? You act as if you were drunk."
+Bland was not in an amiable mood.
+
+"Search me," Perry managed to respond. "If Skip isn't here old man Kell
+must have done for him. I came back alone."
+
+"You wha-a-t?" the irate editor fairly roared, half rising from his
+chair. "Tell me exactly what happened and get ready to go back there on
+the next train. Or--no, on second thoughts you'd better go to bed. You
+look all used up. Handlon may be dead or dying at this minute. That Kell
+could do anything." He pressed the button on his desk.
+
+"Johnny," he said to the office boy, "get O'Hara in here on the double
+quick and tell him to bring along his hat and coat."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+He turned again to Perry, who was gazing nervously at the door. "Now
+tell me everything that happened and make it fast," he ordered.
+
+The reporter complied, omitting nothing except the little matter of his
+mental lapses at the house of Professor Kell and later on the train. The
+incident of the drugged cigars seemed to interest the Old Man hugely,
+and Perry did not forget to play up Handlon's exploits in getting the
+picture of the Professor. All through the recital he was in a sweat for
+fear that he might have a recurrence of one of his brain spells and that
+Bland would become cognizant of it. When would the Chief finish and let
+him escape from the office? Desperately he fought to prevent the numbing
+sensation from overcoming him. All that kept him from finally fleeing
+the place in panic was the entrance of Jimmie O'Hara.
+
+Slight, wiry and efficient looking, this individual was a specimen of
+the perfect Journal reporter. This is saying a good deal, for the news
+crew and editorial force of the paper were a carefully selected body of
+men indeed. Bland never hired a man unless experience had endowed him
+with some unusual qualification. Most of them could write up a story
+with realistic exactitude, being able in most cases to supply details
+gleaned from actual experience in one walk of life or another.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Of this redoubtable crew probably the queerest was Jimmie O'Hara. Jimmie
+had just finished a sentence in the "pen" for safe-cracking at the time
+he landed the job with the Journal. Theoretically all men should have
+shunned him on account of his jailbird taint. Not so Bland. The Chief
+was independent in his ideas on the eternal fitness of things and
+allowed none of the ordinary conventions of humanity to influence his
+decisions. So Jimmie became one of the staff and worked hard to justify
+Bland in hiring him. His former profession gave him valuable sidelights
+upon crime stories of all kinds, and he was almost invariably picked as
+the man to write these up for the columns.
+
+"Jimmie," said the Chief, "we have need of an experienced strong-arm man
+and all around second story worker. You are the only man on the force
+who fills the bill for this job. Perry here has just returned from
+Keegan, where I sent him to interview Professor Kell. Skip Handlon went
+with him, but failed to return. We want to know what happened to Skip.
+That is your job. _Get Handlon!_ If he is dead let me know by long
+distance phone and I'll have a couple of headquarters men down there in
+a hurry. Get a good fast car and don't waste any time. That's all."
+
+O'Hara stopped long enough to get the location of Professor Kell's place
+fixed in his mind, then abruptly departed. Bland gazed after him
+musingly.
+
+"The Professor will have some job to put anything over on that bird," he
+said grimly. "Personally, I'm sorry for the old soul."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+After leaving the Journal office Jimmie proceeded directly to a certain
+stable where he kept his private car. It was a long, low speedster with
+a powerful engine, and capable of eating up distance. It was the work of
+a minute to touch the starter and back out of the yard.
+
+For the next hour he held the wheel grimly while the car roared over the
+seventy-odd miles to Keegan. Would he be in time? At last a sign post
+told him that he was within five miles of the railroad crossing at
+Keegan. Now the headlights were picking out the black outlines of the
+freight shed, and the next moment he had swept over the tracks. The
+luminous dial on his wrist watch notified him that he had been on the
+road but little over an hour, but his spirits somehow refused to revive
+with the knowledge.
+
+About a mile beyond the station he drove the car into a dark wood road
+and parked it, turning off all lights. The rest of the way to the
+Professor's mansion he did on foot. Rather than approach from the front
+of the grounds he nimbly climbed a stone wall and, crossing a field or
+two, entered the stretch of woods which extended just behind the
+mansion. His pocket flashlight here came into use, and once or twice he
+gave a reassuring pat to a rear pocket where bulged a heavy Colt
+automatic.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+What was that? He had approached very close to the rear of the house
+now. No lights were visible as yet, but unless he was greatly mistaken
+he had heard a muffled scream. He stopped in his tracks and listened
+intently. Again it came, this time with a blood-curdling cadence ending
+in what he would have sworn was a choking sob.
+
+The little job of getting the old-fashioned rear window open was a mere
+nothing to the experienced O'Hara, and in a moment he was inside the
+house. His feet struck soft carpet. Catlike, he stepped to one side in
+order to prevent any hidden eyes from perceiving his form silhouetted in
+the dim light of the open window. He dared not use his flashlight for
+fear that the circle of light would betray his position, thus making him
+an excellent target for possible bullets. Following the wall closely he
+managed to circle the room without mishap. His searching fingers finally
+came in contact with a door frame, and he breathed a sigh of relief.
+Here there was nothing to bar his progress except some moth-eaten
+portieres. These he brushed aside.
+
+The room which he now entered was probably the same into which the
+Professor had ushered Handlon and Perry the day before. There being
+still no sign of life about, the reporter decided to throw caution to
+the winds. He brought his flash into play. Quickly casting the powerful
+beam around the chamber he examined the place with an all-searching
+glance.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Nothing.
+
+With a stifled oath he turned his attention to the other rooms in the
+immediate vicinity. The brilliant light revealed not the slightest trace
+of a person, living or dead. The sound must have come from the second
+story or from the cellar. He decided on the upper floor.
+
+Feverish with impatience because of the valuable time he had already
+lost, he bounded up the heavily carpeted stairs two at a time. Now to
+his keen ears came certain faint sounds which told him that he was on
+the right track. Before him extended a long, dusty hall, terminating in
+a single heavy door. Several other doors opened at intervals along the
+corridor. One or two of these were open, and he threw the beam from his
+flash hastily into one after another of them. He saw only dusty and
+mildewed chamber furnishings of an ancient massive style.
+
+Suddenly he pricked up his ears.
+
+The door ahead of him was creaking slowly open. Instantly he extinguished
+his torch and leaped into the nearest room. Whoever was opening that end
+door was carrying a lamp. What if the Professor had accomplices who
+might discover him and overpower him by force of numbers! O'Hara drew the
+automatic from his pocket, deriving a comforting assurance from the
+feel of the cold steel. Here was something no man could resist could he
+but get it into action. The light was now nearly abreast of his door, and
+for a sickening instant he thought the prowler was coming into the room.
+He held his breath. Now the lamp was at the open door, and now it was
+quickly withdrawn. After a breathless second he tip-toed forward and
+peered cautiously down the hallway.
+
+About here it was that James O'Hara began to realize that this was
+going to be a horrible night indeed. He had wondered why the progress of
+the light had been so deathly slow. Now he knew why, by reason of what
+he saw--and what he saw made him feel rather sick. The man with the
+lantern was quite plainly Professor Kell, bent nearly double with the
+weight of a grotesquely big thing on his back, a thing that flung a dim,
+contorted shadow on the ceiling. And that thing was a dead man.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A corpse it was--the attitude proved that. With a numb relief O'Hara
+realized it was not the body of Skip Handlon. This had been a much
+larger man than Skip, and the clothing was different from anything
+Handlon had worn.
+
+The light was now disappearing down the stairway. For a moment O'Hara
+felt undecided as to his next move. Should he follow Kell and his
+burden, or should he not take advantage of this fine opportunity to
+continue his search of the upper story? That scream still rang in his
+ears; there had been a very evident feminine quality in it, and the
+remembrance of that fact reproached him. Had he been guilty of mincing
+daintily about in this old house while a woman was being done to death
+under his nose, when a little bolder action on his part might have saved
+her?
+
+Stepping once more into the hall he advanced to the door just closed
+behind the Professor and tried it, only to find it locked. Out of a
+pocket came several articles best known to the "profession"--a piece of
+stiff wire, a skeleton key and other paraphernalia calculated to reduce
+the obstinate mechanism to submission. For a minute, two, three, he
+worked at the ancient lock; then, without a creak, the door swung open.
+A touch of oil to the hinges had insured their silence. Jimmie O'Hara
+believed in being artistic in his work, especially when it came to fine
+points, and he was.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+He found himself in the same room where the drugged cigars had been
+proved the undoing of Handlon and Perry. In order not to alarm the
+Professor unduly by chance noises and perhaps invite a surprise attack
+upon himself, O'Hara closed the laboratory door behind him and let the
+lock spring again. Hastily he made search of the place. No trace of the
+missing reporter could he find, except two half-consumed cigars in a
+corner whence the Professor had impatiently kicked them.
+
+On the big table in the center of the room, however, was an object which
+excited his interest. It was apparently nothing more or less than a
+giant Crookes tube, connected in some way with a complicated mechanism
+contained in a wooden cabinet under the table. Probably this apparatus
+was concerned in the Professor's weird experiments which had so aroused
+the countryside. He studied it curiously, his eyes for the moment closed
+in thought, until a slight sound somewhere near at hand caused him to
+open them wide. Was the Kell returning?
+
+Quickly he extinguished the lamp and glided to a nearby door, thinking
+to secrete himself here, and take Kell by surprise. To his consternation
+the door swung inward at a touch. He prepared instinctively for battle
+against any foe who might present himself. For a moment he held himself
+taut; then, nothing of an alarming nature having happened, he drew a
+swift breath of relief and flashed on his light. He gave vent to a low
+exclamation. The swiftly darting shaft from the torch had revealed the
+figure of a girl, bound and gagged.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The girl lay trembling on a wretched bed in a corner of the dilapidated
+old chamber. O'Hara crossed the room and bent over her. Still wary of a
+trap he glanced back in the direction of the laboratory door: all safe
+there. Jimmie made haste to remove the cruel gag from her mouth.
+
+"Courage," he whispered. "Half a minute and you will be free."
+
+He produced a knife with a suspiciously long blade and cut her bonds. He
+then assisted her to her feet, where she reeled dizzily. Realizing the
+need for fast action he made her sit down while he massaged the bruised
+arms and ankles, which were badly swollen from the tight ropes. The girl
+had apparently been in the grip of such terrible fright that she had
+temporarily lost her power of speech. Mentally he chalked up another
+score against the Professor as the girl made several ineffectual
+attempts to speak.
+
+"Easy, kid," Jimmie whispered. "Just sit tight, and when you feel able
+you can tell me all about it. I'm going to get him good for this, you
+can bank on that."
+
+She thanked him with a faint smile, and of a sudden she found her
+voice.
+
+"Who are you? Where is father? Oh, tell me, please! I am afraid that
+horrible man has murdered him. Are you a servant here? Oh, I don't know
+whom to trust."
+
+"My name is Jimmie O'Hara," replied the reporter briefly; "and I hope
+you won't worry about me. I am gunning for the Proff myself. Tell me as
+quickly as you can what you know about him." He still kept an eye on the
+door of the adjoining laboratory. Any moment he expected to hear the
+sound of the old man's approach. The room would make an ideal place to
+ambush the maniac, he had swiftly decided.
+
+"I am Norma Manion. Please don't delay, but see if you can locate
+father." The girl's voice was agonized. "I heard him groan a half-hour
+ago, and a little later came a terrific crash. Oh, I'm afraid he's
+dead!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Reluctantly Jimmie gave up the idea of ambushing the Professor.
+
+"Wait here," he commanded curtly. "If you hear a shot join me as soon as
+you can. I want to take him alive if I can, but...." With this parting
+hint he disappeared through the door into the laboratory. Down the
+carpeted hall he crept to the stairway. Here he stopped and listened,
+but to his sensitive ears came no sound from below.
+
+"Must have gone down the cellar with the body," he muttered. "Here goes
+for a general exploration."
+
+With more boldness than the occasion perhaps really justified he
+descended the stairs and proceeded to examine the ground floor rooms
+minutely. The first was the room through which he had made entrance to
+the house. It proved to be but a storeroom containing nothing of
+interest, and he soon decided to waste no more time on it.
+
+The adjoining chamber, however, yielded some surprising finds. He had
+pushed back a dusty portiere to find himself in what could be
+nothing less than the Professor's sleeping chamber. At present the
+bed was unoccupied, though it showed signs of recent use. The
+electric torch played swiftly over every possible corner which could
+constitute a hiding place for an assassin, revealing nothing. Now
+the ever-searching ray fell upon an old-fashioned dresser, on which
+was piled a miscellaneous array of articles. Here were combs, brushes,
+a wig, a huge magnifying glass, and a gold watch. With a barely
+suppressed exclamation, Jimmie pounced upon the gold timepiece.
+
+Handlon's! So well did he know the particular design of his watch that
+he could have recognized it in the dark by sense of touch alone. So the
+old man was not averse to robbery among his other activities! The former
+two-story man thought fast. Handlon had probably been done in, and the
+body had been disposed of in some weird manner. The only thing that
+remained to be done, since the unlucky photographer was evidently past
+human help, was to cut short the Professor's list of murders.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+With the intention of missing no essential detail O'Hara swept the ray
+of the searchlight around the chamber once more, but discovered no more
+of importance. Deciding that the sleeping chamber could yield no further
+clue he shut off the tell-tale ray and stepped noiselessly back into the
+next room. Here he groped his way around until he encountered a door,
+which stood open. A moment's cautious exploration with an outstretched
+foot revealed the top step of a descending staircase. No faintest
+glimmer of light was visible, but muffled sounds proceeding from the
+depths told him that someone was below.
+
+With infinite care, feeling his way gingerly over the rickety old steps
+and fearful that an unexpected creak from one of the ancient boards
+would at any moment prove his undoing, he commenced the descent. Once a
+board did groan softly, causing him to stop in his tracks and stand with
+bated breath. He listened for sign of a movement below, while his heart
+loudly told off a dozen strokes. Stealthily he continued his progress,
+until finally soft earth under his feet told him he had reached the
+cellar bottom.
+
+Now his straining eyes perceived a tiny bit of light, and simultaneously
+he became conscious of a deathly stench. The damp earth padding his
+footsteps, he advanced swiftly toward the source of light, which now
+seemed to lie in stripes across his line of vision. He soon saw that the
+stairs gave upon a small boarded-off section of the cellar proper, and
+light was seeping between the boards. Ah, and here was a rickety door,
+fortuitously equipped with a large knot-hole. O'Hara applied an eye to
+this--and what he saw nearly ruined even his cast iron nerve.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Professor was working beside a heavy wooden cask, from which issued
+the horrible stench. From time to time a sodden thud told that he was
+hacking something to pieces with an ax. Now and then he would strain
+mightily at a dark and bulky thing which lay on the floor, a thing that
+required considerable strength to lift. It seemed to be getting lighter
+after each spasm of frenzied chopping. For a second Kell's shadow
+wavered away from the thing, and the enervated newspaper man saw it
+plainly. His senses almost left him as he realized that he was
+witnessing the dismemberment of a human body.
+
+As he hacked the fragments of tissue from the torso the fiend carefully
+deposited each in the huge cask. At such times a faint boiling sound was
+heard, and there arose an effluvium that bade fair to overcome even the
+monster engaged in the foul work. At last the limbs and head had been
+entirely removed. The Professor evidently decided that the trunk should
+be left whole, and he put his entire strength into the job of getting it
+into the cask. It was almost more than he could negotiate, but finally a
+dull splash told that he had succeeded.
+
+At this moment Jimmie O'Hara came out of his trance. The horrible
+proceeding had left him faint and shaken, and he wished heartily that he
+could leave the disgusting place as fast as his legs could carry him.
+But there was still work to be done and he resolved to get it over.
+
+The lantern! First he must put that out of commission. The maniac would
+then be at his mercy. Slowly, steadily he stole through the doorway, his
+eyes glued to the Professor's back. Now he was within a yard of the
+lantern, and he drew back his foot for the kick.
+
+Next moment Jimmie found himself gazing into the glaring eyes of his
+intended victim. Instinctively he struck out with the clubbed automatic,
+but the blow must have fallen short, or else the Professor had developed
+an uncanny agility. Now to his horror he saw the flashing blade of the
+bloodstained ax raised on high. He had no time to dodge the blow. He
+pressed the trigger of the Colt from the position in which he held it.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The bullet grazed the upraised arm. The ax fell toward O'Hara from
+fingers lacking strength to retain it, and he grasped it by the handle
+in midair. The next moment the assassin collected his wits and sprang at
+him. Silently, the breath of both coming in gasps, the two men strove,
+each clawing desperately at the other's throat. The reporter fought with
+the knowledge that should he lose he would never again see the light of
+day, the other with the fear of the justice that would deal with him.
+
+The maniac hugged his arms tightly about Jimmie, pinioning him so
+tightly that the reporter could not use his gun. At length their
+convulsive movements brought the men close to the lantern, and the next
+instant the cellar was plunged in darkness. A second later the Professor
+tripped over some hidden obstruction and fell, dragging his opponent
+with him to the earthen floor. To Jimmie's surprise there was no further
+movement from the body beneath him. Could the old villain be playing
+possum? He cautiously shifted his hold and grasped the hidden throat. He
+pressed the Professor's windpipe for a moment, but there was no
+answering struggle. Slowly the truth dawned upon him. The heavy fall to
+the floor had rendered the older man insensible.
+
+He must work fast. Reaching into his pocket he brought out the ever
+handy electric torch and flashed it over the features of his prisoner.
+Kell was breathing heavily. With dexterous hands O'Hara swiftly went
+through the old man's pockets, removing all which might tend to make
+that worthy dangerous--an ugly looking pistol of large caliber, a
+blackjack similar to his own and a small bottle.
+
+The latter item Jimmie examined curiously, finally uncorking it and
+inhaling the contents. He inhaled, not wisely but too well. The fumes
+from the vial were nigh overpowering, and he reeled back nauseated. The
+cork he hastily replaced. Just what the nature of the powerful stuff
+was he never attempted to discover. One acquaintance was enough.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+He staggered to his feet and got the lantern lighted, then sat, gun in
+hand, waiting for his prisoner's return to his senses. This was becoming
+increasingly imminent, judging by certain changes in the Professor's
+respiration. Finally there came a series of shuddering movements as the
+man attempted to raise his battered body.
+
+"Get up, you damned butcher," ordered Jimmie, "and march upstairs. And
+just remember that I've got you covered; don't make any false moves." He
+prodded the prostrate form of the by now glaring fiend before him. The
+stench of the place was nearly overcoming him, and again he felt an
+overwhelming desire to dash madly from that den of evil, and once more
+breathe God's fresh air. Under the stimulus of several shoves the
+Professor finally won to his feet and stumbled up the stairs. Jimmie was
+taking no chances and kept the automatic sharply digging into the ribs
+of his prisoner. The fight, however, seemed temporarily to have been all
+taken out of the old man, and he made no resistance as the reporter
+drove him on up to the laboratory.
+
+The room he found exactly as he left it. At a word from him Norma Manion
+came from her hiding place in the horrible room where she had been kept
+prisoner.
+
+With an hysterical scream she fell limply to the floor. The sight of her
+father's murderer had proved too much for her. Forgetting his prisoner
+for the moment Jimmie sprang to the girl's side.
+
+Kell chose this moment to make a dash for freedom. His footsteps,
+however, were not as noiseless as he had intended, and O'Hara whirled
+just in time to see his quarry about to throw open the hall door. Jimmie
+dove for his gun, only to encounter the Professor's mysterious vial,
+which, though forgotten, still lay in his pocket. With no time to
+think, he acted purely upon instinct. His arm drew back and the bottle
+flew straight for the Professor's head.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+By a miracle the missile missed its mark. Came a shivering crash, as the
+bottle struck a stud in the massive door. Of a sudden recalling the
+terrific potency of the contents of that particular bottle, Jimmie
+gasped in dismay. Norma Manion's safety drove every other thought from
+his mind. At any cost he must remove her from the proximity of those
+lethal fumes.
+
+Hastily and without a backward glance, he gathered the girl into his
+arms and dashed into the room where he had first found her. Ascertaining
+that she had but swooned he placed her gently on the bed. In some
+perplexity as to his next move he stared at the beautiful face now so
+wan and white. Queer that he hadn't noticed the fact before--she was
+beautiful. He even took a second look, then noting a continued absence
+of all sound from the laboratory decided to investigate.
+
+Gingerly he pushed open the door, sniffing the air cautiously as he
+advanced. To his nostrils gradually came a slight scent, which though
+almost imperceptible made his senses reel. As he approached the hall
+door he found the atmosphere heavy with the soporific vapors from the
+broken vial, and he staggered drunkenly.
+
+He gave a start of surprise. On the floor, lying in a grotesque huddle
+which suggested a most unpleasant possibility, was the inert body of
+Professor Kell.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Jimmie bent over the body and put an experienced ear to the heart. Yes,
+there as a faint beat--very faint. Even as he listened he perceived a
+slight increase in the respiration. Now the breath began coming in
+great, choking gasps, only to die suddenly to next to nothing. At last
+with a rueful sigh Jimmie reached to his hip and produced the private
+O'Hara flagon. He stooped over the Professor's form once more and by
+dint of much prying at clenched jaws managed to force a sizeable charge
+of fiery liquid down the old man's throat. Jimmie had just begun to
+entertain a strong hope that this latter effort would bring the
+Professor to life, when his keen ear detected signs of a commotion
+below.
+
+He sprang from his position over the slowly reviving Kell and leaped to
+a vantage point beside the door. A blackjack miraculously appeared from
+some hidden part of his anatomy and the ever-dependable Colt also became
+in evidence. Now came the banging of a door, muffled voices, a crash as
+of a chair overturned in the dark. Up rolled a horrible oath, and the
+same was rendered in a voice to Jimmie sweetly familiar. Came the sound
+of footsteps on the stairway and several persons coming along the hall.
+
+"Where in hell is Jimmie?" roared a wicked voice. "If he's met with any
+monkey business in this hell-hole I'll see that the damned place burns
+to the ground before I leave it!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Delightedly Jimmie jerked open the door.
+
+"Still alive, Chief," he chirped as the Old Man strode into the
+laboratory. Bland was followed by Perry, who seemed to be in a sort of
+daze. Bringing up the rear were a pair of plainclothesmen whom Jimmie
+knew very well--almost too well. One of these gentlemen bore a lantern
+which reminded Jimmie strongly of some he had seen that night guarding
+an open ditch in the public highway.
+
+The Professor had fully regained consciousness and was struggling to his
+feet. As for Norma Manion, she had suddenly appeared, leaning weakly
+against the door casing, and was surveying the group in great alarm.
+
+After being assured by O'Hara that they were her friends she smiled
+wanly. To Bland and the others she was, of course, an unexpected factor
+in the weird night's doings, and for several moments they regarded her
+curiously.
+
+At length Jimmie, sensing the question in the Old Man's eyes, elected to
+offer a few words of explanation.
+
+"Miss Manion has just been through a terrible experience," he said.
+"She and her father have been for some time at the mercy of this
+monster"--indicating Kell--"and her nerves are completely shattered.
+We'd better get her out of this as quickly as we can."
+
+"Mike!" Hard Boiled Bland glared at one of the officers. "Don't stand
+there with your teeth in your gums like that. Take this girl out to my
+car and let her lie down. She needs a stimulant, too. If you search my
+car and find any red liquor in the left back door pocket, I don't know a
+thing about it. And stay with her so she won't be afraid to go to
+sleep."
+
+She smiled in silent gratitude and allowed the plainclothesman to lead
+her away from that chamber of horror.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The reporter lost no time in telling Bland of his failure to find Skip
+Handlon. He went on to acquaint his Chief with the facts of all that had
+occured while he had been at the Professor's house.
+
+The fiery old fellow listened grimly. When Jimmie came to the story of
+the corpse and the cask the editor breathed one word, "Manion!"
+
+Jimmie nodded sadly. All eyes turned to the dejected huddle on the floor
+that was Professor Kell. Finally Bland could wait no longer, but fixed a
+terrible eye on the murderer and demanded harshly, "Where's Handlon?"
+
+Now the Professor burst into a fit of insane laughter, laughter that
+curdled the blood of the listeners.
+
+"You ask me that! It's almost too good. Hee-hee! You sent your two
+precious reporters out to my house to pry into my secrets, and thought
+to display my name all over your yellow sheet; but you forgot that you
+were dealing with Professor Anton Kell, didn't you?" The last he fairly
+shrieked. "A lot of people have tried to intrude upon me before, but
+none ever escaped me!"
+
+"We know that," cut in Jimmie, for he was getting impatient and the old
+man's boastings seemed out of place. "You are slated for the rope
+anyway, after what I discovered down cellar." He jerked his eyes in the
+direction of the door significantly. "Now we propose to find Handlon,
+and the better it will be for you if you tell us what you have done with
+him. Otherwise...."
+
+"You can go to hell!" screamed the maniac. "If you are so clever, find
+out for yourselves. He isn't so far away that you couldn't touch him by
+reaching out your hand. In fact, he's been with you quite a while.
+Hee-hee-hee! Well, if you must know--there he is!" With an insane
+chuckle he pointed at Horace Perry. And Perry did a strange thing.
+
+"Yes, you fiend, here I am!" Whose voice was that? Was it Perry
+speaking, or was it Skip Handlon? Most assuredly Perry stood before
+them, but the voice, in a subtle manner, reminded the group strongly of
+poor old Skip.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+As he spoke Perry had launched himself at the Professor's throat and had
+to be restrained by the others. Savagely he fought them but slowly and
+surely they overcame his struggles and placed him, writhing, in a
+chair.
+
+Of a sudden Bland leaned forward and scrutinized Perry's face sharply.
+Had the reporter gone insane too? The pupils of the eyes had taken on a
+sort of queer contraction, a fixed quality that was almost ludicrous. He
+looked like a man under hypnosis. He had gone limp in their grasp, but
+now suddenly he stiffened. The eyes underwent another startling change,
+this time glowing undoubtedly with the look of reason. Bland was
+mystified and waited for Perry to explain his queer conduct. The latter
+seemed finally to come to. Simultaneously he realized that his peculiar
+lapse from consciousness had been observed by the others.
+
+"Guess I may as well admit it," he said with a wry smile. "Ever since I
+came back from my assignment with Kell I have had a hell of a time. Half
+the time I have been in a daze and have not had the least idea what I
+was doing. Funny part of it is that I have seemed to keep right on doing
+things even while I was out of my head." He told briefly of the visions
+he had had in which he had seemed to contend with his brother reporter,
+the horrid sensations as he felt himself overcome, the black oblivion in
+which he then found himself, and the mysterious manner in which he had
+left Keegan on that ill-fated assignment.
+
+"What have you done to Handlon?" Jimmie's voice cut in. He was standing
+over the form of the maniac, rigid and menacing. "You have exactly two
+minutes to go."
+
+"Find out for yourself!" snarled the bruised and battered fiend.
+
+"I will," was the answer, and on the instant a horrible shriek rent the
+air. Jimmie had quickly grasped both of the Professor's arms at the
+wrists and was slowly twisting them in a grip of iron. Kell's face went
+white, the lips writhed back over toothless gums, the eyes closed in the
+supreme effort to withstand the excruciating pain. Then--
+
+"Enough, enough!" he screamed.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+O'Hara eased the pressure slightly but retained his hold upon the
+clawlike hands. "Talk fast," he ordered.
+
+The old man struggled futilely in the grasp of the powerful reporter,
+finally glancing in the direction of the others. Would they show signs
+of pity? Surely not Hard Boiled Bland. The Chief was watching the
+struggles of the victim through a cloud of tobacco smoke which he was
+slowly exhaling through his nose. The plainclothesman displayed no sign
+of interest at all. The game was up!
+
+"Very well," he said sullenly. "Handlon and Perry are both occupying the
+same body."
+
+"Wh-a-a-t?" roared Bland. "Jimmie, I guess you'll have to put the screws
+to him some more. He's trying to make fools of us at the last minute!"
+
+"No, no!" screamed the Professor. "What I say is true. I have been
+working for years on my system of de-astralization. This last year I at
+length perfected my electric de-astralizer, which amplifies and exerts
+the fifth influence of de-cohesion."
+
+The whole party began to look uneasy and gazed apprehensively at the
+huge Crookes tube which still stood in its supporting frame on the
+table.
+
+"I have been forced to experiment on animals for the most part," the
+Professor continued. "I succeeded in de-astralizing a dog and a bull and
+caused them to exchange bodies. The bodies continued to function. I was
+enthusiastic. Other experiments took place of which I will not tell you.
+Finally I began to long for a human subject on which to try my fifth
+influence."
+
+"Just get down to cases, if you don't mind, Kell." The Chief wanted
+action. "Suppose you tell us just what you did to Handlon and where we
+can find him. I may as well mention that your life depends upon it. If
+we find that you have done for him, something worse than death may
+happen to you." The tone was menacing. Although Handlon was a
+comparatively late acquisition to the old Chief's staff, still he had
+been loyal to the paper.
+
+"When your two damned reporters entered my driveway," Kell resumed. "I
+saw them coming through a powerful glass which I always have on hand. I
+had no desire to see them, but they forced themselves upon me. At last I
+determined that they should furnish material for my experiments.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"If your men had looked into the grove behind the barn they would have
+found the automobile which furnished two more subjects I was keeping on
+hand in a room upstairs. Old Manion and his daughter gave me quite a bit
+of trouble, but I kept them drugged most of the time. He broke out of
+the room to-night though, and I had to kill him. It was self defense,"
+he added slyly.
+
+"Anyway, I found it was possible to make two astrals exchange bodies.
+But I also wanted to see if it were possible to cause two astrals to
+occupy the same body at the same time, and if so what the result would
+be. I found out. It was rare sport to watch your star reporter leave my
+house. He was damned glad to leave, I believe...." Again came the insane
+cackle.
+
+"Guess we have to believe him whether we want to or not." The detective
+came to life. "How about making him release Handlon's--what d'ye call
+it?--astral--from Perry's body?"
+
+"Just a moment." The voice now was unmistakably Handlon's, though it was
+issuing from the throat of Perry. "In the minute I have in consciousness
+let me suggest that before you do any more de-astralizing you _locate my
+body_. Until then, if I am released from this one I am a dead man."
+
+The words struck the group dumb. Where _was_ Handlon's body? Could the
+Professor produce it?
+
+That worthy looked rather haunted at that moment, and they began to see
+the fear of death coming upon him.
+
+"Mercy, mercy!" he begged as the four men started to advance upon him.
+"As soon as I had de-astralized Handlon I destroyed his body in my
+pickling barrel down cellar. But there is another way...." He paused,
+uncertain as to how his next words would be received. "Go out and get
+the Manion girl. She can be de-astralized and friend Handlon can have
+her body."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+At this suggestion, advanced so naively, the four men recoiled in
+horror. It was entirely too much even for Hard Boiled Bland, and he
+could hardly restrain himself from applying the editorial fist to the
+leering face before him. Undoubtedly Professor Kell was hopelessly
+insane, and for that reason he held himself in leash.
+
+"Kell, you are slated to pull off one more stunt," Jimmie addressed the
+cringing heap. "You know what it is. Get busy. And just remember that I
+am standing over here"--he indicated a corner well separated from the
+rest--"with this cannon aimed in your direction. If things aren't just
+according to Hoyle, you get plugged. Get me?"
+
+"What about it, men?" Bland spoke up. "Is it going to be treating
+Handlon right to de-astralize him now? It will be his last chance to
+have a body on this earth."
+
+"Unfortunately that body never belonged to Handlon," said O'Hara. "Hence
+I fail to see why Perry should be discommoded for the balance of his
+life with a companion astral. Perry is clearly entitled to his own body,
+free and unhampered. Friend Skip is out of luck, unless--Well, I don't
+mind telling you, Kell, that you just gave me an idea. Snap into it
+now!"
+
+The Professor dragged himself to his feet and under the menace of the
+automatic fumbled under the table until he had located the intricate
+apparatus before mentioned.
+
+"Now if Mr. Perry--or Handlon--will kindly recline at full length on
+this table," he said with an obscene leer, "the experiment will begin."
+
+"Just remember, Kell, this is no experiment," advised Bland, fixing the
+Professor with an ugly eye. "You do as you're told."
+
+The other made no reply, but threw a hidden switch. Perry, lying flat on
+his back on the ancient table, suddenly found himself being bathed by
+what seemed to be a ray of light, and yet was not a ray of light. What
+was it? It was surely not visible, yet it was tangible. A terrific force
+was emanating from that devilish globe above him, drawing him out of
+himself--or--no--was he expanding? Again his ears became filled with
+confused, horrible sounds, the outlines of the room faded from sight,
+he felt a strange sense of inflation ... of lightness.... Oblivion!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+From where the others sat a gasp of wonder went up. At the first contact
+of the switch there had been a momentary flash of greenish light within
+the bulb, and then a swift transition to a beautiful orange. It had then
+faded altogether, leaving the glass apparently inert and inactive.
+
+But it was not so! The form lying beneath the bulb was evidently being
+racked with untold tortures. The face became a thing of horror. Now it
+had twisted into a grotesque semblance of Handlon's--now it again
+resembled Perry's. The Professor quietly increased the pressure of the
+current. From the bulb emanated a steel gray exhalation of what must be
+termed light, and yet so real it was seemingly material. Assuredly it
+was not a ray of light as we understand light. It came in great beating
+throbs, in which the actual vibrations were entirely visible. Under each
+impact the body of Perry seemed to change, slowly at first, then with
+increasing speed. The body was now swelled to enormous size. Bland
+reached forward to touch it.
+
+"This de-cohering influence," the Professor was murmuring, almost
+raptly, "causes the atoms that go to make a living body repel one
+another. When the body is sufficiently nebulized, the soul--Back! Back,
+you fool!" he suddenly shrieked, grasping Bland by the arm. "Do you want
+to kill him?"
+
+Bland hurriedly retreated, convinced perforce that Kell's alarm was
+genuine. The editorial fingers had penetrated the subject's garments
+without resistance and sank into the body as easily as if it were so
+much soft soap!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The body continued to expand until at length even the hard-headed
+plainclothesman realized that it had been reduced to a mere vapor.
+Within this horrid vaporized body, which nearly filled the room and
+which had now lost all semblance to a man, could be discerned two faint
+shapes. Swiftly the Professor extinguished the lantern. The shapes,
+vague though they were, could be recognized as those of Horace Perry and
+Skip Handlon. And they were at strife!
+
+All eyes were now focused on Professor Kell, who was evidently waiting
+for something to happen. The two apparitions within the body-cloud were
+at death grips. One had been overcome and was temporarily helpless. It
+was that of Handlon. And then again the astral of Perry forcibly ousted
+that of Handlon from the cloud-cyst. And at that instant Professor Kell
+shut off the influence-tube.
+
+At once a terrific metamorphosis took place. There came a sharp sound
+almost like a clap of thunder, with the slight exception that this was
+occasioned by exactly the reverse effect. Instead of being an
+_ex_plosion it might more properly be termed an _in_plosion, for the
+mist-cloud suddenly vanished. The de-cohering influence having been
+removed, the cloud had condensed into the form of Perry. Apparently none
+the worse, he was even now beginning to recover consciousness. The
+astral of Handlon was no longer visible, though hovering in the
+vicinity.
+
+Perry's body was again his own.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+At this time Jimmie O'Hara elected to start something new by hitting the
+Professor a workmanlike blow on the back of the head with the butt of
+his automatic. The next thing Bland or anyone else present knew the
+unconscious body of the Professor was on the table and Jimmie was
+groping for the concealed switch. At length he found it, and the green
+flash of light appeared in the bulb, followed by the brilliant orange
+manifestation.
+
+"What in hell are you doing?" gasped Bland.
+
+"De-astralizing the Professor," replied O'Hara cheerfully. "Don't you
+get the idea yet? Watch!"
+
+Fascinated, the four men saw the terrific emanation take its baleful
+effect. As before, the body commenced to expand and gradually took on a
+misty outline. Larger and larger it grew, until finally it had become a
+vast cloud of intangible nothingness which filled the room like some
+evil nebula.
+
+A cry of consternation from the detective aroused Jimmie. Skip Handlon's
+astral had appeared within the field of the nebula to fight for
+possession. There ensued what was perhaps the weirdest encounter ever
+witnessed. Though he was in poor physical shape, the Professor seemed to
+have an extremely powerful astral; and for some time the spectators
+despaired of Handlon's victory. Once the latter, evidently realizing
+that the powerful influence tube had rendered him visible, glanced
+sharply in Jimmie's direction. O'Hara was considerably puzzled at this,
+but watched the progress of the struggle tensely. At length the moment
+seemed to arrive which the reporter's astral had been awaiting. It
+turned tail and fled away from the astral of the Professor, disappearing
+beyond the outer confines of the nebula.
+
+Jimmie suddenly divined the other's purpose and dived for the hidden
+switch. As he had anticipated, Handlon had finally given up the attempt
+to overcome the astral of Kell by force and had made up his mind to
+accomplish his end by strategy. Almost on the instant that Jimmie's hand
+closed on the switch the reporter's astral again leaped into the field
+of the nebula. Fiercely it signalled to the former second story man to
+shut off the current, but the admonition was unnecessary, for Jimmie had
+already done so.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Swiftly the cloud-cyst faded. Even as the group caught a fleeting sight
+of Skip Handlon, the last that mortal eyes would ever see of him as he
+actually was, there came a violent disturbance at the edge of the
+shrinking nebula. Would the speed of condensation of the atoms which
+comprised the body of Professor Kell serve to shut out the pursuing
+astral of Kell?
+
+Even Bland held his breath!
+
+The cloud lost its luminous quality, the action of condensation
+increasing in speed. It was barely visible in the enshrouding gloom. An
+astral had long since been enveloped within the rapidly accumulating
+substance. Came a sudden clap of sound as before, and the final act of
+resolution had been accomplished. Whether the Professor had succeeded in
+regaining a position within the cloud-cyst before the crucial second
+none could say.
+
+Jimmie relighted the lantern. Apparently the effect of the love tap
+administered by his automatic was more or less of a lasting character,
+and the men were put to some ado to restore the body of Kell to
+consciousness. At length their efforts began to bear fruit, however, and
+it became expedient to remove the patient to the softer couch in the
+sitting room below. As they moved forward to lay hold of the limp body a
+figure appeared in the doorway to the hall. It was the plainclothesman,
+Riley.
+
+"How about getting under way for town," he wanted to know. "Is the old
+party croaked yet? Miss Manion has had a fierce time and says she won't
+stay near this house another minute. I don't like this place myself
+either. Do you know I just got kicked by a poll parrot? Let's get away
+from here."
+
+"Hold on, Riley, what are you talking about?" growled Bland. "Kicked by
+a poll parrot! You're--"
+
+"That's all right, Chief," broke in the now thoroughly cheerful Perry.
+"That jackass I shot could probably have told us all about it. I
+positively know the beast could talk."
+
+"Humph!" snorted Bland, "Well, if a donkey can talk, and a bull can
+bite, and a hound can hook, why shouldn't a parrot--Judas Priest, I'm
+getting as crazy as the rest of you! Hurry up and get Kell downstairs so
+we can see who he is. There I go again! Oh, go lie down, Riley."
+
+"But look, Bland, look!" Riley was pointing a demoralized finger at a
+cage in the corner. He tugged frantically at Bland's coat sleeve. "See
+what's in there, won't you? I--well, I did find some liquor in your car,
+and Miss Manion made me take some. I--I didn't know it would do this to
+me. Look in there; please, Mr. Bland!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Bland gave Riley a dark look, but nevertheless he reached for O'Hara's
+flashlight. In the cage two yellow eyes blinked sleepily out at him.
+Perry began to laugh.
+
+"Why, there's nothing in there but a cat. Skip and I heard it purring
+when we first came in here this afternoon. Guess Riley--"
+
+"Great God, Jimmie, give me your gun!" Hard Boiled Bland for the moment
+failed to merit his sobriquet. The torch in his hand threw a trembling
+beam full into the cage. "It's a snake! And--there! It's doing it
+again!"
+
+A snake it was, indubitably, a huge black specimen with bright yellow
+stripes. Bland's frenzied yell seemed not to have excited it at all, for
+now the sleek fellow had arched its body neatly and was calmly licking
+its sides with a long forked tongue. After a moment it halted the
+operation long enough to rub its jaw against a bar of its cage, and gave
+vent to a sociable mew!
+
+Even this could not dash the spirits of Horace Perry. He laughed
+delightedly again as he laid Bland by the arm.
+
+"That creature is perfectly harmless, Chief," he told the editor.
+"Somewhere I suppose there's a mighty dangerous kitty cat at large, but
+there's no sense in taking it out on this poor reptile. Let's live and
+let live."
+
+With a show of reluctance Bland returned Jimmie's automatic, then strode
+over to where lay the form of Kell. Perry and O'Hara lingered by the
+cage long enough to arrange a plan to let the snake out doors as soon as
+opportunity offered, after which they joined their Chief. Riley went
+out to resume his vigil in Bland's car, while his fellow sleuth prepared
+to light the way downstairs. Under his guidance the sick man was carried
+below without mishap.
+
+Downstairs the now conscious form of the venerable Professor was laid
+out on the ancient sofa until his senses could clear a bit. Presently
+the eyelids fluttered open and a feeble voice asked, "Where the deuce am
+I, and how did all you guys get here?"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A joyous gasp went up. That voice! Although uttered in somewhat the same
+vocal quality as Kell's the intonation and accents had strangely
+altered. O'Hara leaned eagerly over the figure on the couch. The
+question he asked was startling in its incongruity:
+
+"How are you feeling, _Skip_!"
+
+"Rotten," was the reply from the lips of Kell. "What hit me such a crack
+on the dome? I feel as if I had been dragged through a knot-hole. Lemme
+up."
+
+"Stay still," commanded O'Hara, kindly but firmly. "You aren't fit to
+move yet. You are going on a long ride and will need your strength.
+Don't talk, either."
+
+A half-hour later they left the house. In the front yard the editor
+called a hasty conclave which included the entire party. Hard Boiled
+Bland has never been known to talk so much at a stretch, before or
+since.
+
+"Before we start back," he began, "we had better come to an understanding.
+In the first place--Skip, come over here a minute."
+
+Norma Manion uttered an involuntary cry of fear as the aged form of Kell
+passed by her. Skip's instant response to his name had, of course, been
+perfectly natural to him. But it had an odd effect on the others.
+
+"Miss Manion, and gentlemen," Bland went on, with a bow of mock
+ceremony, "I want you to meet Mister--er, Mister--oh hell, call him
+Saunders. This is Mr. Kenneth Saunders, ladies and gentlemen. When he
+gets a shave and has his new face patched up I believe you will like his
+appearance much more than you do now.
+
+"Seriously though, folks, I hope that with a little fixing up the
+gentleman will hardly resemble Professor Anton Kell. Kell is dead.
+Obviously, however, this gentleman can hardly continue his existence as
+Skip Handlon. Hence--well, hence Mr. Saunders. And don't forget the
+name.
+
+"Now another little matter. This house has proven a curse to humanity.
+What has transpired here need never be known. Would it not be the wiser
+to eliminate all traces of to-night's happenings? There is a way." He
+looked significantly at the others.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"You mean--" began Perry.
+
+"That we destroy all traces of Professor Kell's villainy. Although he is
+no more, still someone might notice that _his body actively remains_.
+And no one wants to do any explaining."
+
+"It's the only way we can protect Handlon," one of the sleuths
+ruminated, half to himself. "No judge would ever believe a word about
+this de-astralization business. The chances are we would all go to the
+booby hatch and Handlon would go to prison for Kell's crimes."
+
+"There were four of us that witnessed the fact of the--the soul
+transfusion, though," Perry objected. "Wouldn't that be enough to clear
+Skip? Besides, wouldn't it be possible for us to lead a jury out here
+and duplicate the experiment?"
+
+"Too much undesirable publicity," growled Bland, who for once in his
+life had found reason to keep something good out of the headlines. "What
+do you say, people?"
+
+"I move we move," from the detective who had had the uncomfortable job
+of attending to Norma Manion.
+
+"Gentleman, I believe we understand each other," said Jimmie quietly.
+"Now I am going into the barn"--significantly--"to see if everything's
+all right. While I am there something _might_ happen. You understand?"
+
+The others nodded silent assent.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+In the snug seat of Jimmie's speedster Norma Manion shivered as she
+followed the direction indicated by her companion's finger. It was that
+darkest hour which comes just before the dawn.
+
+To the westward could be perceived a dull, red glow, which, even as they
+watched with fascinated eyes, developed into an intense glare. Gradually
+the fading stars became eclipsed in the greater glory.
+
+Three cars, motors throbbing as if eager to be gone, stood a space apart
+on the main road. The car behind O'Hara's was the Manion machine, now
+occupied by Bland and Riley. The remaining one was a touring car and
+contained the balance of the party. Perry was at the wheel, and beside
+him sat the Handlon-Kell-Saunders combination.
+
+"Thus passes a den of horror," whispered Jimmie to his companion.
+
+"It is the funeral pyre of my father," the girl answered simply. She had
+long since recovered from her initial outburst of grief at her loss, and
+now watched the progress of the conflagration dry-eyed. At length Jimmie
+slipped an arm protectingly about the trembling shoulders.
+
+"You have seen enough," he said. As the three cars raced from the scene
+of the holocaust, faint streamers in the east told of the rising orb of
+day.
+
+"Good-by, Keegan, forever," murmured Norma.
+
+"Amen," O'Hara devoutedly agreed.
+
+
+
+
+From the Ocean's Depths
+
+_By Sewell Peaslee Wright_
+
+    Man came from the sea. Mercer, by his thought-telegraph, learns
+    from the weirdly beautiful ocean-maiden of a branch that
+    returned there.
+
+[Illustration: _Her head was a little to one side, in the attitude of one
+who listens intently._]
+
+
+From somewhere out on the black, heaving Atlantic, the rapid, muffled
+popping of a speed-boat's exhaust drifted clearly through the night.
+
+I dropped my book and stretched, leaning back more comfortably in my
+chair. There was real romance and adventure! Rum-runners, seeking out
+their hidden port with their cargo of contraband from Cuba. Heading
+fearlessly through the darkness, fighting the high seas, still running
+after the storm of a day or so before, daring a thousand dangers for the
+sake of the straw-packed bottles they carried. Sea-bronzed men, with
+hard, flat muscles and fearless eyes; ready guns slapping their thighs
+as they--
+
+Absorbed in my mental picture of these modern free-booters, the sudden
+alarm of the telephone startled me like an unexpected shot fired beside
+my ear. Brushing the cigarette ashes from my smoking-jacket, I crossed
+the room and snatched up the receiver.
+
+"Hello!" I snapped ungraciously into the mouthpiece. It was after eleven
+by the ship's clock on the mantel, and if--
+
+"Taylor?" The voice--Warren Mercer's familiar voice--rattled on without
+waiting for a reply. "Get in your car and come down here as fast as
+possible. Come just as you are, and--"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"What's the matter?" I managed to interrupt him. "Burglars?" I had never
+heard Mercer speak in that high-pitched, excited voice before; his usual
+speech was slow and thoughtful, almost didactic.
+
+"Please, Taylor, don't waste time questioning me. If it weren't urgent,
+I wouldn't be calling you, you know. Will you come?"
+
+"You bet!" I said quickly, feeling rather a fool for ragging him when he
+was in such deadly earnest. "Have--"
+
+The receiver snapped and crackled; Mercer had hung up the instant he had
+my assurance that I would come. Usually the very soul of courtesy and
+consideration, that act alone would have convinced me that there was an
+urgent need for my presence at The Monstrosity. That was Mercer's own
+name for the impressive pile that was at once his residence and his
+laboratory.
+
+I threw off the smoking-jacket and pulled on a woolen golfing sweater,
+for the wind was brisk and sharpish. In two minutes I was backing the
+car out of the garage; a moment later I was off the gravelled drive and
+tearing down the concrete with the accelerator all the way down, and the
+black wind shrieking around the windshield of my little roadster.
+
+My own shack was out of the city limits--a little place I keep to live
+in when the urge to go fishing seizes me, which is generally about twice
+a year. Mercer picked the place up for me at a song.
+
+The Monstrosity was some four miles further out from town, and off the
+highway perhaps a half-mile more.
+
+I made the four miles in just a shade over that many minutes, and
+clamped on the brakes as I saw the entrance to the little drive that led
+toward the sea, and Mercer's estate.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+With gravel rattling on my fenders, I turned off the concrete and swept
+between the two massive, stuccoed pillars that guarded the drive. Both
+of them bore corroded bronze plates, "The Billows," the name given The
+Monstrosity by the original owner, a newly-rich munitions manufacturer.
+
+The structure itself loomed up before me in a few seconds, a rambling
+affair with square-shouldered balconies and a great deal of wrought-iron
+work, after the most flamboyant Spanish pattern. It was ablaze with
+light. Apparently every bulb in the place was burning.
+
+Just a few yards beyond the surf boomed hollowly on the smooth, shady
+shore, littered now, I knew, by the pitiful spoils of the storm.
+
+As I clamped on my brakes, a swift shadow passed two of the lower
+windows. Before I could leap from the car, the broad front door, with
+its rounded top and circular, grilled window, was flung wide, and Mercer
+came running to meet me.
+
+He was wearing a bathrobe, hastily flung on over a damp bathing suit,
+his bare legs terminating in a pair of disreputable slippers.
+
+"Fine, Taylor!" he greeted me. "I suppose you're wondering what it's all
+about. I don't blame you. But come in, come in! Just wait till you see
+her!"
+
+"Her?" I asked, startled. "You're not in love, by any chance, and
+bringing me down here like this merely to back up your own opinion of
+them eyes and them lips, Mercer?"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+He laughed excitedly.
+
+"You'll see, you'll see! No, I'm not in love. And I want you to help,
+and not admire. There are only Carson and myself here, you know, and the
+job's too big for the two of us." He hurried me across the broad
+concrete porch and into the house. "Throw the cap anywhere and come
+on!"
+
+Too much amazed to comment further, I followed my friend. This was a
+Warren Mercer I did not know. Usually his clean-cut, olive-tinted face
+was a polite mask that seldom showed even the slightest trace of
+emotion. His eyes, dark and large, smiled easily, and shone with
+interest, but his almost beautiful mouth, beneath the long slim
+mustache, always closely cropped, seldom smiled with his eyes.
+
+But it was his present excited speech that amazed me most. Mercer,
+during all the years I had known him, had never been moved before to
+such tempestuous outbursts of enthusiasm. It was his habit to speak
+slowly and thoughtfully, in his low, musical voice; even in the midst of
+our hottest arguments, and we had had many of them, his voice had never
+lost its calm, unhurried gentleness.
+
+To my surprise, instead of leading the way to the really comfortable,
+although rather gaudy living room, Mercer turned to the left, towards
+what had been the billiard room, and was now his laboratory.
+
+The laboratory, brilliantly illuminated, was littered, as usual, with
+apparatus of every description. Along one wall were the retorts, scales,
+racks, hoods and elaborate set-ups, like the articulated glass and
+rubber bones of some weird prehistoric monster, that demonstrated
+Mercer's taste for this branch of science. On the other side of the room
+a corresponding workbench was littered with a tangle of coils,
+transformers, meters, tools and instruments, and at the end of the
+room, behind high black control panels, with gleaming bus-bars and
+staring, gaping meters, a pair of generators hummed softly. The other
+end of the room was nearly all glass, and opened onto the patio and the
+swimming pool.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Mercer paused a moment, with his hand on the knob of the door, a strange
+light in his dark eyes.
+
+"Now you'll see why I called you here," he said tensely. "You can judge
+for yourself whether the trip was worth while. Here she is!"
+
+With a gesture he flung open the door, and I stared, following his
+glance, down at the great tiled swimming pool.
+
+It is difficult for me to describe the scene. The patio was not large,
+but it was beautifully done. Flowers and shrubs, even a few small palms,
+grew in profusion in the enclosure, while above, through the movable
+glass roof--made in sections to disappear in fine weather--was the empty
+blackness of the sky.
+
+None of the lights provided for the illumination of the covered patio
+was turned on, but all the windows surrounding the patio were aglow, and
+I could see the pool quite clearly.
+
+The pool--and its occupant.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We were standing at one side of the pool, near the center. Directly
+opposite us, seated on the bottom of the pool, was a human figure, nude
+save for a great mass of tawny hair that fell about her like a silken
+mantle. The strangely graceful figure of a girl, one leg stretched out
+straight before her, the other drawn up and clasped by the interlocked
+fingers of her hands. Even in the soft light I could see her perfectly,
+through the clear water, her pale body outlined sharply against the jade
+green tiles.
+
+I tore myself away from the staring, curious eyes of the figure.
+
+"In God's name, Mercer, what is it? Porcelain?" I asked hoarsely. The
+thing had an indescribably eery effect.
+
+He laughed wildly.
+
+"Porcelain? Watch ... _look_!"
+
+My eyes followed his pointing finger. The figure was moving. Gracefully
+it arose to its full height. The great cloud of corn-colored hair
+floated down about it, falling below the knees. Slowly, with a grace of
+movement comparable only with the slow soaring of a gull, she came
+toward me, walking on the bottom of the pool through the clear water as
+though she floated in air.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Fascinated, I watched her. Her eyes, startlingly large and dark in the
+strangely white face, were fixed on mine. There was nothing sinister in
+the gaze, yet I felt my body shaking as though in the grip of a terrible
+fear. I tried to look away, and found myself unable to move. I felt
+Mercer's tense, sudden grip upon my arm, but I did not, could not, look
+at him.
+
+"She--she's smiling!" I heard him exclaim. He laughed, an excited,
+high-pitched laugh that irritated me in some subtle way.
+
+She was smiling, and looking up into my eyes. She was very close now,
+within a few feet of us. She came still closer, until she was at my very
+feet as I stood on the raised ledge that ran around the edge of the
+pool, her head thrown back, staring straight up at me through the
+water.
+
+I could see her teeth, very white between her coral-pink lips, and her
+bosom rising and falling beneath the veil of pale gold hair. She was
+breathing _water_!
+
+Mercer literally jerked me away from the edge of the pool.
+
+"What do you think of her, Taylor?" he asked, his dark eyes dancing with
+excitement.
+
+"Tell me about it," I said, shaking my head dazedly. "She is not
+human?"
+
+"I don't know. I think so. As human as you or I. I'll tell you all I
+know, and then you can judge for yourself. I think we'll know in a few
+minutes, if my plans work out. But first slip on a bathing suit."
+
+I didn't argue the matter. I let Mercer lead me away without a word. And
+while I was changing, he told me all he knew of the strange creature in
+the pool.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Late this afternoon I decided to go for a little walk along the beach,"
+Mercer began. "I had been working like the devil since early in the
+morning, running some tests on what you call my thought-telegraph. I
+felt the need of some fresh sea air.
+
+"I walked along briskly for perhaps five minutes, keeping just out of
+reach of the rollers and the spray. The shore was littered with all
+sorts of flotsam and jetsam washed up by the big storm, and I was just
+thinking that I would have to have a man with a truck come and clean up
+the shore in front of the place, when, in a little sandy pool, I
+saw--_her_.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"She was laying face down in the water, motionless, her head towards the
+sea, one arm stretched out before her, and her long hair wrapped around
+her like a half-transparent cloak.
+
+"I ran up and lifted her from the water. Her body was cold, and deathly
+white, although her lips were faintly pink, and her heart was beating,
+faintly but steadily.
+
+"Like most people in an emergency. I forgot all I ever knew about first
+aid. All I could think of was to give her a drink, and of course I
+didn't have a flask on my person. So I picked her up in my arms and
+brought her to the house as quickly as I could. She seemed to be
+reviving, for she was struggling and gasping when I got here with her.
+
+"I placed her on the bed in the guest room and poured her a stiff drink
+of Scotch--half a tumblerful, I believe. Lifting up her head, I placed
+the glass to her lips. She looked up me, blinking, and took the liquor
+in a single draught. She did not seem to drink it, but sucked it out of
+the glass in a single amazing gulp--that's the only word for it. The
+next instant she was off the bed, her face a perfect mask of hate and
+agony.
+
+"She came at me, hands clutching and clawing, making odd murmuring or
+mewing sounds in her throat. It was then that I noticed for the first
+time that her hands were webbed!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Webbed?" I asked, startled.
+
+"Webbed," nodded Mercer solemnly. "As are her feet. But listen, Taylor.
+I was amazed, and not a little rattled when she came for me. I ran
+through the French windows out into the patio. For a moment she ran
+after me, rather awkwardly and heavily, but swiftly, nevertheless. Then
+she saw the pool.
+
+"Apparently forgetting that I existed, she leaped into the water, and as
+I approached a moment later I could see her breathing deeply and
+gratefully, a smile of relief upon her features, as she lay upon the
+bottom of the pool. Breathing, Taylor, on the bottom of the pool! Under
+eight feet of water!"
+
+"And then what, Mercer?" I reminded him, as he paused, apparently lost
+in thought.
+
+"I tried to find out more about her. I put on my bathing suit and dived
+into the pool. Well, she came at me like a shark, quick as a flash, her
+teeth showing, her hands tearing like claws through the water. I turned,
+but not quickly enough to entirely escape. See?" Mercer threw back the
+dressing robe, and I saw a ragged tear in his bathing suit on his left
+side, near the waist. Through the rent three deep, jagged scratches were
+clearly visible.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"She managed to claw me, just once," Mercer resumed, wrapping the robe
+about him again. "Then I got out and called on Carson for help. I put
+him into a bathing suit, and we both endeavored to corner her. Carson
+got two bad scratches, and one rather serious bite that I have bandaged.
+I have a number of lacerations, but I didn't fare so badly as Carson
+because I am faster in the water than he is.
+
+"The harder we tried, the more determined I became. She would sit there,
+calm and placid, until one of us entered the water. Then she became a
+veritable fury. It was maddening.
+
+"At last I thought of you. I phoned, and here we are!"
+
+"But, Mercer, it's a nightmare!" I protested. We moved out of the room.
+"Nothing human can live under water and breathe water, as she does!"
+
+Mercer paused a moment, staring at me oddly.
+
+"The human race," he said gravely, "came up out of sea. The human race
+as we know it. Some may have gone back." He turned and walked away
+again, and I hurried after him.
+
+"What do you mean. Mercer? 'Some may have gone back?' I don't get it."
+
+Mercer shook his head, but made no other reply until we stood again on
+the edge of the pool.
+
+The girl was standing where we had left her, and as she looked up into
+my face, she smiled again, and made a quick gesture with one hand. It
+seemed to me that she invited me to join her.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"I believe she likes you, Taylor," said Mercer thoughtfully. "You're
+light, light skin, light hair. Carson and I are both very dark, almost
+swarthy. And in that white bathing suit--yes, I believe she's taken a
+fancy to you!"
+
+Mercer's eyes were dancing.
+
+"If she has," he went on, "it'll make our work very easy."
+
+"What work?" I asked suspiciously. Mercer, always an indefatigable
+experimenter, was never above using his friends in the benefit of
+science. And some of his experiments in the past had been rather trying,
+not to say exciting.
+
+"I think I have what you call my thought-telegraph perfected,
+experimentally," he explained rapidly. "I fell asleep working on it at
+three o'clock, or thereabouts, this morning, and some tests with Carson
+seem to indicate that it is a success. I should have called you
+to-morrow, for further test. Nearly five years of damned hard work to a
+successful conclusion, Taylor, and then this mermaid comes along and
+makes my experiment appear about as important as one of those breakers
+rolling in out there!"
+
+"And what do you plan to do now?" I asked eagerly, glancing down at the
+beautiful pale face that glimmered up at me through the clear water of
+the pool.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Why, try it on her!" exclaimed Mercer with mounting enthusiasm. "Don't
+you see, Taylor? If it will work on her, and we can direct her thoughts,
+we can find out her history, the history of her people! We'll add a page
+to scientific history--a whole big chapter!--that will make us famous.
+Man this is so big it's swept me off my feet! Look!" And he held out a
+thin, aristocratic brown hand before my eyes, a hand that shook with
+nervous excitement.
+
+"I don't blame you," I said quickly. "I'm no savant, and still I see
+what an amazing thing this is. Let's get busy. What can I do?"
+
+Mercer reached around the door into the laboratory and pressed a
+button.
+
+"For Carson," he explained. "We'll need his help. In the meantime, we'll
+look over the set-up. The apparatus is strewn all over the place."
+
+He had not exaggerated. The set-up consisted of a whole bank of tubes,
+each one in its own shielding copper box. On a much-drilled horizontal
+panel, propped up on insulators, were half a score of delicate meters of
+one kind and another, with thin black fingers that pulsed and trembled.
+Behind the panel was a tall cylinder wound with shining copper wire, and
+beside it another panel, upright, fairly bristling with knobs, contact
+points, potentiometers, rheostats and switches. On the end of the table
+nearest the door was still another panel, the smallest of the lot,
+bearing only a series of jacks along one side, and in the center a
+switch with four contact points. A heavy, snaky cable led from this
+panel to the maze of apparatus further on.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"This is the control panel," explained Mercer. "The whole affair, you
+understand, is in laboratory form. Nothing assembled. Put the different
+antennae plug into these jacks. Like this."
+
+He picked up a weird, hastily built contrivance composed of two
+semi-circular pieces of spring brass, crossed at right angles. On all
+four ends were bright silvery electrodes, three of them circular in
+shape, one of them elongated and slightly curved. With a quick, nervous
+gesture, Mercer fitted the thing to his head, so that the elongated
+electrode pressed against the back of his neck, extending a few inches
+down his spine. The other three circular electrodes rested on his
+forehead and either side of his head. From the center of the contrivance
+ran a heavy insulated cord, some ten feet in length, ending in a simple
+switchboard plug, which Mercer fitted into the uppermost of the three
+jacks.
+
+"Now," he directed, "you put on this one"--he adjusted a second
+contrivance upon my head, smiling as I shrank from the contact of the
+cold metal on my skin--"and think!"
+
+He moved the switch from the position marked "Off" to the second contact
+point, watching me intently, his dark eyes gleaming.
+
+Carson entered, and Mercer gestured to him to wait. Very nice old chap,
+Carson, impressive even in his bathing suit. Mercer was mighty lucky to
+have a man like Carson....
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Something seemed to tick suddenly, somewhere deep in my consciousness.
+
+"Yes, that's very true: Carson is a most decent sort of chap." The words
+were not spoken. I did not _hear_ them, I _knew_ them. What--I glanced
+at Mercer, and he laughed aloud with pleasure and excitement.
+
+"It worked!" he cried. "I received your thought regarding Carson, and
+then turned the switch so that you received my thought. And you did!"
+
+Rather gingerly I removed the thing from my head and laid it on the
+table.
+
+"It's wizardry, Mercer! If it will work as well on _her_...."
+
+"It will, I know it will!--if we can get her to wear one of these,"
+replied Mercer confidently. "I have only three of them; I had planned
+some three-cornered experiments with you, Carson, and myself. We'll
+leave Carson out of to-night's experiment, however, for we'll need him
+to operate this switch. You see, as it is now wired only one person
+transmits thoughts at a time. The other two receive. When the switch is
+on the first contact, Number One sends, and Numbers Two and Three
+receive. When the switch is on Number Two, then he sends thoughts, and
+Numbers One and Three receive them. And so on. I'll lengthen these leads
+so that we can run them out into the pool, and then we'll be ready.
+Somehow we must induce her to wear one of these things, even if we have
+to use force. I'm sure the three of us can handle her."
+
+"We should be able to," I smiled. She was such a slim, graceful, almost
+delicate little thing; the thought that three strong men might not be
+able to control her seemed almost amusing.
+
+"You haven't seen her in action yet," said Mercer grimly, glancing up
+from his work of lengthening the cords that led from the antennae to the
+control panel. "And what's more, I hope you don't."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I watched him in silence as he spliced and securely taped the last
+connection.
+
+"All set," he nodded. "Carson, will you operate the switch for us? I
+believe everything is functioning properly." He surveyed the panel of
+instruments hastily, assuring himself that every reading was correct.
+Then, with all three of the devices he called antennae in his hand,
+their leads plugged into the control panel, he led the way to the side
+of the pool.
+
+The girl was strolling around the edge of the pool, feeling the smooth
+tile sides with her hands as we came into view, but as soon as she saw
+us she shot through the water to where we were standing.
+
+It was the first time I had seen her move in this fashion. She seemed to
+propel herself with a sudden mighty thrust of her feet against the
+bottom; she darted through the water with the speed of an arrow, yet
+stopped as gently as though she had merely floated there.
+
+As she looked up, her eyes unmistakably sought mine, and her smile
+seemed warm and inviting. She made again that strange little gesture of
+invitation.
+
+With an effort I glanced at Mercer. There was something devilishly
+fascinating about the girl's great, dark, searching eyes.
+
+"I'm going in," I said hoarsely. "Hand me one of your head-set things
+when I reach for it." Before he could protest, I dived into the pool.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I headed directly towards the heavy bronze ladder that led to the bottom
+of the pool. I had two reasons in mind. I would need something to keep
+me under water, with my lungs full of air, and I could get out quickly
+if it were necessary. I had not forgotten the livid, jagged furrows in
+Mercer's side.
+
+Quickly as I shot to the ladder she was there before me, a dim, wavering
+white shape, waiting.
+
+I paused, holding to a rung of the ladder with one hand. She came
+closer, walking with the airy grace I had noted before, and my heart
+pounded against my ribs as she raised one long, slim arm towards me.
+
+The hand dropped gently on my shoulder, pressed it as though in token
+of friendship. Perhaps, I thought quickly, this was, with her, a sign of
+greeting. I lifted my own arm and returned the salutation, if salutation
+it were, aware of a strange rising and falling sound, as of a distant
+humming, in my ears.
+
+The sound ceased suddenly, on a rising note, as though of inquiry, and
+it dawned on me that I had heard the speech of this strange creature.
+Before I could think of a course of action, my aching lungs reminded me
+of the need of air, and I released my hold on the ladder and let my body
+rise to the surface.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+As my head broke the water, a hand, cold and strong as steel, closed
+around my ankle. I looked down. The girl was watching me, and there was
+no smile on her face now.
+
+"All right!" I shouted across the pool to Mercer, who was watching
+anxiously. Then, filling my lungs with air again, I pulled myself, by
+means of the ladder, to the bottom of the pool. The restraining hand was
+removed instantly.
+
+The strange creature thrust her face close to mine as my feet touched
+bottom, and for the first time I saw her features distinctly.
+
+She was beautiful, but in a weird, unearthly sort of way. As I had
+already noticed, her eyes were of unusual size, and I saw now that they
+were an intense shade of blue, with a pupil of extraordinary proportion.
+Her nose was well shaped, but the nostrils were slightly flattened, and
+the orifices were rather more elongated than I had ever seen before. The
+mouth was utterly fascinating, and her teeth, revealed by her engaging
+smile, were as perfect as it would be possible to imagine.
+
+The great mane of hair which enveloped her was, as I have said, tawny in
+hue, and almost translucent, like the stems of some seaweeds I have
+seen. And as she raised one slim white hand to brush back some wisps
+that floated by her face, I saw distinctly the webs between her
+fingers. They were barely noticeable, for they were as transparent as
+the fins of a fish, but they were there, extending nearly to the last
+joint of each finger.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+As her face came close to my own, I became aware of the humming,
+crooning sound I had heard before, louder this time. I could see, from
+the movement of her throat, that I had been correct in assuming that she
+was attempting to speak with me. I smiled back at her and shook my head.
+She seemed to understand, for the sound ceased, and she studied me with
+a little thoughtful frown, as though trying to figure out some other
+method of communication.
+
+I pointed upward, for I was feeling the need for fresh air again, and
+slowly mounted the ladder. This time she did not grasp me, but watched
+me intently, as though understanding what I did, and the reasons for
+it.
+
+"Bring one of your gadgets over here, Mercer," I called across the pool.
+"I think I'm making progress."
+
+"Good boy!" he cried, and came running with two of the antennae, the
+long insulated cords trailing behind him. Through the water the girl
+watched him, evident dislike in her eyes. She glanced at me with sudden
+suspicion as Mercer handed me the two instruments, but made no hostile
+move.
+
+"You won't be able to stay in the water with her," explained Mercer
+rapidly. "The salt water would short the antennae, you see. Try to get
+her to wear one, and then you get your head out of water, and don yours.
+And remember, she won't be able to communicate with us by words--we'll
+have to get her to convey her thoughts by means of mental pictures. I'll
+try to impress that on her. Understand?"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I nodded, and picked up one of the instruments. "Fire when ready,
+Gridley," I commented, and sank again to the bottom of the pool.
+
+I touched the girl's head with one finger, and then pointed to my own
+head, trying to convey to her that she could get her thoughts to me.
+Then I held up the antennae and placed it on my own head to show that it
+could not harm her.
+
+My next move was to offer her the instrument, moving slowly, and smiling
+reassuringly--no mean feat under water.
+
+She hesitated a moment, and then, her eyes fixed on mine, she slowly
+fixed the instrument over her own head as she had seen me adjust it upon
+my own.
+
+I smiled and nodded, and pressed her shoulder in token of friendly
+greeting. Then, gesturing toward my own head again, and pointing upward.
+I climbed the ladder.
+
+"All right, Mercer," I shouted. "Start at once, before she grows
+restless!"
+
+"I've already started!" he called back, and I hurriedly donned my own
+instrument.
+
+Bearing in mind what Mercer had said, I descended the ladder but a few
+rungs, so that my head remained out of water, and smiled down at the
+girl, touching the instrument on my head, and then pointing to hers.
+
+I could sense Mercer's thoughts now. He was picturing himself walking
+long the shore, with the stormy ocean in the background. Ahead of him I
+saw the white body lying face downward in the pool. I saw him run up to
+the pool and lift the slim, pale figure in his arms.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Let me make it clear, at this point, that when I say that I saw
+these things, I mean only that mental images of them penetrated my
+consciousness. I visualized them just as I could close my eyes and
+visualize, for example, the fireplace in the living room of my own
+home.
+
+I looked down at the girl. She was frowning, and her eyes were very
+wide. Her head was a little on one side, in the attitude of one who
+listens intently.
+
+Slowly and carefully Mercer thought out the whole story of his
+experiences with the girl until she had plunged into the pool. Then I
+saw again the beach, with the girl's figure in the pool. The picture
+grew hazy; I realized Mercer was trying to picture the bottom of the
+sea. Then he pictured again the girl lying in the pool, and once again
+the sea. I was aware of the soft little tick in the center of my brain
+that announced that the switch had been moved to another contact point.
+
+I glanced down at her. She was staring up at me with her great, curious
+eyes, and I sensed, through the medium of the instrument I wore, that
+she was thinking of me. I saw my own features, idealized, glowing with a
+strange beauty that was certainly none of my own. I realized that I saw
+myself, in short, as she saw me. I smiled back at her, and shook my
+head.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A strange, dim whirl of pictures swept through my consciousness. I was
+on the bottom of the ocean. Shadowy shapes swept by silently, and from
+above, a dim bluish light filtered down on a scene such as mortal eyes
+have never seen.
+
+All around were strange structures of jagged coral, roughly circular as
+to base, and rounded on top, resembling very much the igloos of the
+Eskimos. The structures varied greatly in size, and seemed to be
+arranged in some sort of regular order, like houses along a narrow
+street. Around many of them grew clusters of strange and colorful
+seaweeds that waved their banners gently, as though some imperceptible
+current dallied with them in passing.
+
+Here and there figures moved, slim white figures that strolled along the
+narrow street, or at times shot overhead like veritable torpedoes.
+
+There were both men and women moving there. The men were broader of
+shoulder, and their hair, which they wore to their knees, was somewhat
+darker in color than that of the women. Both sexes were slim, and there
+was a remarkable uniformity of size and appearance.
+
+None of the strange beings wore garments of any kind, nor were they
+necessary. The clinging tresses were cinctured at the waist with a sort
+of cord of twisted orange-colored material, and some of the younger
+women wore bands of the same material around their brows.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Nearest of all the figures was the girl who was visualizing all this for
+us. She was walking slowly away from the cluster of coral structures.
+Once or twice she paused, and seemed to hold conversation with others of
+the strange people, but each time she moved on.
+
+The coral structures grew smaller and poorer. Finally the girl trod
+alone on the floor of the ocean, between great growths of kelp and
+seaweeds, with dim, looming masses of faintly tinted coral everywhere.
+Once she passed close to a tilted, ragged hulk of some ancient vessel,
+its naked ribs packed with drifted sand.
+
+Sauntering dreamily, she moved away from the ancient derelict. Suddenly
+a dim shadow swept across the sand at her feet, and she arrowed from the
+spot like a white, slim meteor. But behind her darted a black and
+swifter shadow--a shark!
+
+Like a flash she turned and faced the monster. Something she had drawn
+from her girdle shone palely in her hand. It was a knife of whetted
+stone or bone.
+
+Darting swiftly downward her feet spurned the yellow sand, and she shot
+at her enemy with amazing speed. The long blade swept in an arc, ripped
+the pale belly of the monster just as he turned to dart away.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A great cloud of blood dyed the water. The white figure of the girl shot
+onward through the scarlet flood.
+
+Blinded, she did not see that the jutting ribs of the ancient ship were
+in her path. I seemed to see her crash, head on, into one of the
+massive timbers, and I cried out involuntarily, and glanced down at the
+girl in the water at my feet.
+
+Her eyes were glowing. She knew that I had understood.
+
+Hazily, then, I seemed to visualize her body floating limply in the
+water. It was all very vague and indistinct, and I understood that this
+was not what she had seen, but what she thought had happened. The
+impressions grew wilder, swirled, grew gray and indistinct. Then I had a
+view of Mercer's face, so terribly distorted it was barely recognizable.
+Then a kaleidoscopic maze of inchoate scenes, shot through with flashes
+of vivid, agonizing colors. The girl was thinking of her suffering,
+taken out of her native element. In trying to save her, Mercer had
+almost killed her. That, no doubt, was why she hated him.
+
+My own face appeared next, almost godlike in its kindliness and its
+imagined beauty, and I noticed now that she was thinking of me with my
+yellow hair grown long, my nostrils elongated like her own--adjusted to
+her own ideas of what a man should be.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I flung the instrument from my head and dropped to the bottom of the
+pool. I gripped both her shoulders, gently, to express my thanks and
+friendship.
+
+My heart was pounding. There was a strange fascination about this girl
+from the depths of the sea, a subtle appeal that was answered from some
+deep subterranean cavern of my being. I forgot, for the moment, who and
+what I was. I remembered only that a note had been sounded that awoke an
+echo of a long-forgotten instinct.
+
+I think I kissed her. I know her arms were about me, and that I pressed
+her close, so that our faces almost met. Her great, weirdly blue eyes
+seemed to bore into my brain. I could feel them throbbing there....
+
+I forgot time and space. I saw only that pale, smiling face and those
+great dark eyes. Then, strangling, I tore myself from her embrace and
+shot to the surface.
+
+Coughing, I cleared my lungs of the water I had inhaled. I was weak and
+shaking when I finished, but my head was clear. The grip of the strange
+fantasy that had gripped me was shaken off.
+
+Mercer was bending over me; speaking softly.
+
+"I was watching, old man," he said gently. "I can imagine what happened.
+A momentary, psychic fusing of an ancient, long since broken link. You,
+together with all mankind, came up out of the sea. But there is no
+retracing the way."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I nodded, my head bowed on my streaming chest.
+
+"Sorry, Mercer," I muttered. "Something got into me. Those big eyes of
+hers seemed to tug at threads of memory ... buried.... I can't describe
+it...."
+
+He slapped me on my naked shoulder, a blow that stung, as he had
+intended it to. It helped jerk me back to the normal.
+
+"You've got your feet on the ground again, Taylor," he commented
+soothingly. "I think there's no danger of you losing your grip on terra
+firma again. Shall we carry on?"
+
+"There's more you'd like to learn? That you think she can give us?" I
+asked hesitantly.
+
+"I believe," replied Mercer, "that she can give us the history of her
+people, if we can only make her understand what we wish. God! If we only
+could!" The name of the Deity was a prayer as Mercer uttered it.
+
+"We can try, old-timer," I said, a bit shakenly.
+
+Mercer hurried back to the other side of the pool, and I adjusted my
+head-set again, smiling down at the girl. If only Mercer could make her
+understand, and if only she knew what we wanted to learn!
+
+I was conscious of the little click that told me the switch had been
+moved. Mercer was ready to get his message to her.
+
+Fixing my eyes on the girl pleadingly, I settled myself by the edge of
+the pool to await the second and more momentous part of our experiment.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The vision was vague, for Mercer was picturing his thoughts with
+difficulty. But I seemed to see again the floor of the ocean, with the
+vague light filtering down from above, and soft, monstrous growths
+waving their branches lazily in the flood.
+
+From the left came a band of men and women, looking around as though in
+search of some particular spot. They stopped, and one of the older men
+pointed, the others gathering around him as though in council.
+
+Then the band set to work. Coral growth were dragged to the spot. The
+foundation for one of the semi-circular houses was laid. The scene
+swirled and cleared again. The house was completed. Several other houses
+were in process of building.
+
+Slowly and deliberately, the scene moved. The houses were left behind.
+Before my consciousness now was only a vague and shadowy expanse of
+ocean floor, and in the sand dim imprints that marked where the strange
+people had trod, the vague footprints disappearing in the gloom in the
+direction from which the little weary band had come. To me, at least, it
+was quite clear that Mercer was asking whence they came. Would it be as
+clear to the girl? The switch clicked, and for a moment I was sure
+Mercer had not been able to make his question clear to her.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The scene was the interior of one of the coral houses. There were
+persons there, seated on stone or coral chairs, padded with marine
+growths. One of the occupants of the room was a very old man; his face
+was wrinkled, and his hair was silvery. With him were a man and a woman,
+and a little girl. Somehow I seemed to recognize the child as the girl
+in the pool.
+
+The three of them were watching the old man. While his lips did not
+move, I could see his throat muscles twitching as the girl's had done
+when she made the murmuring sound I had guessed was her form of speech.
+
+The scene faded. For perhaps thirty seconds I was aware of nothing more
+than a dim gray mist that seemed to swirl in stately circles. Then,
+gradually, it cleared somewhat. I sensed the fact that what I saw now
+was what the old man was telling, and that the majestic, swirling mist
+was the turning back of time.
+
+Here was no ocean bottom, but land, rich tropical jungle. Strange exotic
+trees and dense growths of rank undergrowth choked the earth. The trees
+were oddly like undersea growths, which puzzled me for an instant. Then
+I recalled that the girl could interpret the old man's words only in
+terms of that which she had seen and understood. This was the way she
+visualized the scene.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+There was a gray haze of mist everywhere. The leaves were glistening
+with condensed moisture; swift drops fell incessantly to the soaking
+ground below.
+
+Into the scene roamed a pitiful band of people. Men with massive frames,
+sunken in with starvation, women tottering with weakness. The men
+carried great clubs, some tipped with rudely shaped stone heads, and
+both men and women clothed only in short kittles of skin.
+
+They searched ceaselessly for something, and I guessed that something
+was food. Now and then one or the other of the little band tore up a
+root and bit at it, and those that did so soon doubled into a twitching
+knot of suffering and dropped behind.
+
+At last they came to the edge of the sea. A few yards away the water was
+lost in the dense steaming miasma that hemmed them in on all sides.
+With glad expressions on their faces, the party ran down to the edge of
+the water and gathered up great masses of clams and crabs. At first they
+ate the food raw, tearing the flesh from the shells. Then they made what
+I understood was a fire, although the girl was able to visualize it only
+as a bright red spot that flickered.
+
+The scene faded, and there was only the slowly swirling mist that I
+understood indicated the passing of centuries. Then the scene cleared
+again.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I saw that same shore line, but the people had vanished. There was only
+the thick, steamy mist, the tropic jungle crowding down to the shore,
+and the waves rolling in monotonously from the waste of gray ocean
+beyond the curtain of fog.
+
+Suddenly, from out of the sea, appeared a series of human heads, and
+then a band of men and women that waded ashore and seated themselves
+upon the beach, gazing restlessly out across the sea.
+
+This was not the same band I had seen at first. These were a slimmer
+race, and whereas the first band had been exceedingly swarthy, these
+were very fair.
+
+They did not stay long on shore, for they were restless and ill at ease.
+It seemed to me they came there only from force of habit, as though they
+obeyed some inner urge they did not understand. In a few seconds they
+rose and ran into the water, plunged into it as though they welcomed its
+embrace, and disappeared. Then again the vision was swallowed up by the
+swirling mists of time.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+When the scene cleared again, it showed the bottom of the sea. A group
+of perhaps a hundred pale creatures moved along the dim floor of the
+ocean. Ahead I could see the dim outlines of one of their strange
+cities. The band approached, seemed to talk with those there, and moved
+on.
+
+I saw them capture and kill fish for food, saw them carve the thick,
+spongy hearts from certain giant growths and eat them. I saw a pair of
+killer sharks swoop down on the band, and the quick, deadly accuracy
+with which both men and woman met the attack. One man, older than the
+rest, was injured before the sharks were vanquished, and when their
+efforts to staunch his wounds proved unavailing, they left him there and
+moved on. And as they left I saw a dim, crawling shape move closer,
+throw out a long, whiplike tentacle, and wrap the body in a hungry
+embrace.
+
+They came to and passed other communities of beings like themselves, and
+a city of their own, in much the way that Mercer had visualized it.
+
+Fading, the scene changed to the interior of the coral house again. The
+old man finished his story, and moved off into a cubicle in the rear of
+the place. Dimly, I could see there a low couch, piled high with soft
+marine growths. Then the scene shifted once more.
+
+A man and a woman hurried up and down the narrow streets of the strange
+city the girl had pictured when she showed us how she had met with the
+shark, and struck her head, so that for a long period she lost
+consciousness and was washed ashore.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Others, after a time, joined them in their search, which spread out to
+the floor of the ocean, away from the dwellings. One party came to the
+gaunt skeleton of the ancient wreck, and found the scattered,
+fresh-picked bones of the shark the girl had killed. The man and the
+woman came up, and I looked closely into their faces. The woman's
+features were torn with grief; the man's lips were set tight with
+suffering. Here, it was easy to guess, were the mother and the father of
+the girl.
+
+A milling mass of white forms shot through the water in every direction,
+searching. It seemed that they were about to give up the search when
+suddenly, from out of the watery gloom, there shot a slim white
+figure--the girl!
+
+Straight to the mother and father she came, gripping the shoulder of
+each with frantic joy. They returned the caress, the crowd gathered
+around them, listening to her story as they moved slowly, happily,
+towards the distant city.
+
+Instead of a picture, I was conscious then of a sound, like a single
+pleading word repeated softly, as though someone said "Please! Please!
+Please!" over and over again. The sound was not at all like the English
+word. It was a soft, musical beat, like the distant stroke of a mellow
+gong, but it had all the pleading quality of the word it seemed to bring
+to mind.
+
+I looked down into the pool. The girl had mounted the ladder until her
+face was just below the surface of the water. Her eyes met mine and I
+knew that I had not misunderstood.
+
+I threw off the instrument on my head, and dropped down beside her. With
+both hands I grasped her shoulders, and, smiling, I nodded my head
+vigorously.
+
+She understood, I know she did. I read it in her face. When I climbed
+the ladder again, she looked after me, smiling confidently.
+
+Although I had not spoken to her, she had read and accepted the
+promise.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Mercer stared at me silently, grimly, as I told him what I wished.
+Whatever eloquence I may have, I used on him, and I saw his cold,
+scientific mind waver before the warmth of my appeal.
+
+"We have no right to keep her from her people," I concluded. "You saw
+her mother and father, saw their suffering, and the joy her return would
+bring. You will, Mercer--you will return her to the sea?"
+
+For a long time, Mercer did not reply. Then he lifted his dark eyes to
+mine, and smiled, rather wearily.
+
+"It is the only thing we can do, Taylor," he said quietly. "She is not a
+scientific specimen; she is, in her way, as human as you or I. She
+would probably die, away from her own kind, living under conditions
+foreign to her. And you promised her, Taylor, whether you spoke your
+promise or not." His smile deepened a bit. "We cannot let her receive
+too bad an opinion of her cousins who live above the surface of the
+sea!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+And so, just as the dawn was breaking, we took her to the shore. I
+carried her, unresisting, trustful, in my arms, while Mercer bore a huge
+basin of water, in which her head was submerged, so that she might not
+suffer.
+
+Still in our bathing suits we waded out into the ocean, until the waves
+splashed against our faces. Then I lowered her into the sea. Crouching
+there, so that the water was just above the tawny glory of her hair, she
+gazed up at us. Two slim white hands reached towards us, and with one
+accord, Mercer and I bent towards her. She gripped both our shoulders
+with a gentle pressure, smiling at us.
+
+Then she did a strange thing. She pointed, under the water, out towards
+the depths and with a broad, sweeping motion of her arm, indicated the
+shore, as though to say that she intended to return. With a last swift,
+smiling glance up into my face, she turned. There was a flash of white
+through the water. She was gone....
+
+Silently, through the silence and beauty of the dawn, we made our way
+back to the house.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+As we passed through the laboratory, Mercer glanced out at the empty
+pool.
+
+"Man came up from the sea," he said slowly, "and some men went back to
+it. They were forced back to the teeming source from whence they came,
+for lack of food. You saw that, Taylor--saw her forebears become
+amphibians, like the now extinct Dipneusta and Ganoideii, or the still
+existing Neoceratodus, Polypterus and Amia. Then their lungs became, in
+effect, gills, and they lost their power of breathing atmospheric air,
+and could use only air dissolved in water.
+
+"A whole people there beneath the waves that land-man never dreamed
+of--except, perhaps, the sailors of olden days, with their tales of
+mermaids, which we are accustomed to laugh at in our wisdom!"
+
+"But why were no bodies ever washed ashore?" I asked. "I would think--"
+
+"You saw why," interrupted Mercer grimly. "The ocean teems with hungry
+life. Death is the signal for a feast. It was little more than a miracle
+that her body came ashore, a miracle due perhaps to the storm which sent
+the hungry monsters to the greater depths. And even had a body come
+ashore it would have been buried as that of some unknown, unfortunate
+human. The differences between these people and ourselves would not be
+noticeable to a casual observer.
+
+"No, Taylor, we have been party to what was close to a miracle. And we
+are the only witnesses to it, you and Carson and myself. And"--he sighed
+deeply--"it is over."
+
+I did not reply. I was thinking of the girl's odd gesture, at parting,
+and I wondered if it were indeed a finished chapter.
+
+
+
+
+Vandals of the Stars
+
+_By A. T. Locke_
+
+    A livid flame flares across Space--and over Manhattan hovers
+    Teuxical, vassal of Malfero, Lord of the Universe, who comes
+    with ten thousand warriors to ravage and subjugate one more
+    planet for his master.
+
+[Illustration: _Many planes and Zeppelins were circling around the
+mysterious visitant._]
+
+
+It came suddenly, without warning, and it brought consternation to the
+people of the world.
+
+A filament of flame darted down the dark skies one moonless night and
+those who saw it believed, at first, that it was a meteor. Instead of
+streaking away into oblivion, however, it became larger and larger,
+until it seemed as though some vagrant, blazing star was about to plunge
+into the earth and annihilate the planet and every vestige of life upon
+it. But then it drew slowly to a stop high up in the atmosphere, where
+it remained motionless, glowing white and incandescent against the
+Stygian background of the overcast skies.
+
+In shape it resembled a Zeppelin, but its dimensions very apparently
+exceeded by far those of any flying craft that ever had been fabricated
+by the hand of man.
+
+As it hung poised high up in the air it gradually lost its dazzling glow
+and became scarlet instead of white. Then, as it continued to cool, the
+color swiftly drained from it and, in a few minutes, it shone only with
+the dull and ugly crimson of an expiring ember. In a half-hour after it
+first had appeared its effulgence had vanished completely and it was
+barely visible to the millions who were staring up toward it from the
+earth.
+
+It seemed to be suspended directly above Manhattan, and the inhabitants
+of New York were thrown into a feverish excitement by the strange and
+unprecedented phenomenon.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+For it scarcely had come to a stop, and certainly it had not been poised
+aloft for more than a few minutes, when most of those who had not
+actually witnessed its sensational appearance were apprised of the
+inexplicable occurrence by the radiovision, which were scattered
+throughout the vast metropolis. In theaters and restaurants and other
+gathering places, as well as in millions of homes, a voice from the
+Worldwide Broadcasting Tower announced the weird visitant. And its
+image, as it glowed in the night, was everywhere transmitted to the
+public.
+
+Only a short time after it first had been observed people were thronging
+roof-tops, terraces, and streets, and gazing with awe and wonder at the
+great luminous object that was floating high above them.
+
+There were those who thought that the world was coming to an end, and
+they either were dumb with fright or strident with hysteria. People with
+more judgment, and a smattering of scientific knowledge, dismissed the
+thing as some harmless meteorological manifestation that, while
+interesting, was not necessarily dangerous. And there were many,
+inclined to incredulity and skepticism, who believed that they were
+witnessing a hoax or an advertising scheme of some new sort.
+
+But as the moments went by the world commenced to become stirred and
+alarmed by the reports which came over the radiovisors.
+
+For powerful planes and metal-shelled Zeppelins had climbed swiftly
+aloft to investigate the incomprehensible Thing that was poised high
+above Manhattan, and almost unbelievable reports were being sent
+earthward.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Dirk Vanderpool had been sitting alone on the broad terrace of his
+apartment that occupied the upper stories of the great Gotham Gardens
+Building when he saw that streak of fire slip down against the darkness
+of the night.
+
+For a moment he, too, had believed that he was watching a meteor, but,
+when he saw it come to a slow stop and hang stationary in the heavens,
+he rose to his feet with an exclamation of surprise.
+
+For a while he gazed upward with an expression of astonishment on his
+face and then he turned as he heard someone walking softly in his
+direction. It was Barstowe, his valet, and the eyes of the man were
+alive with fear.
+
+"What is that thing, Mr. Vanderpool?" he asked in a voice that trembled
+with alarm. Barstowe was a man of middle age, diminutive in size, and he
+had the appearance of being nearly petrified with terror. "They are
+saying over the televisor that--"
+
+"What are they saying about it?" asked Dirk somewhat impatiently.
+
+"That no one can explain what it is," continued Barstowe. "It must be
+something terrible, Mr. Vanderpool."
+
+"Wheel out the luciscope," ordered Dirk.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Barstowe disappeared into the apartment and returned with a cabinet that
+was mounted on small, rubber-tired wheels. The top of it was formed of a
+metallic frame in which a heavy, circular, concave glass was fitted. The
+frame was hinged in front so that it could be raised from the rear and
+adjusted to any angle necessary to catch the light rays from any distant
+object. Within the cabinet the rays passed through an electrical device
+that amplified them millions of times, thus giving a clear, telescopic
+vision of the object on which the luciscope was focused.
+
+This instrument, years before, had supplanted entirely the old-fashioned
+telescopes which not only had been immense and unwieldly but which also
+had a very limited range of vision.
+
+Dirk adjusted the light-converger so that it caught the rays that were
+being emanated by the weird and shimmering mass that was suspended
+almost directly above the lofty terrace on which he was standing.
+
+Then he switched on the current and glanced into the eye-piece of the
+apparatus. For several moments he remained silent, studying the image
+that was etched so vividly on the ground-glass within the luciscope.
+
+"It is a queer thing, there is no doubt about that," he confessed when
+finally he raised his head. "It resembles a gigantic Zeppelin in shape
+but it does not seem to have any undercarriage or, as far as I can see,
+any indication of propellers or portholes. I would say, though,
+Barstowe, that it might be a ship from some other planet if it wasn't
+for the fact that it seems to be in an almost molten state."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Dirk again looked into the luciscope and then he made a few adjustments
+with a thumb-screw that projected from the side of the apparatus.
+
+"It is up about forty thousand feet," he told Barstowe, "and it must be
+more than a half-mile in length. Probably," he added, "it is a planetary
+fragment of some odd composition that is less responsive to gravitation
+than the materials with which we are familiar. You will find, Barstowe,
+that there is nothing about it that science will not be able to explain.
+That will be all now," he concluded.
+
+Barstowe walked over the terrace and disappeared into the apartment.
+Dirk, left alone, wheeled the luciscope over by the chair in which he
+had been sitting and near which a radiovisor was standing.
+
+He switched on the latter and listened to the low but very distinct
+voice of the news-dispatcher.
+
+"--and planes and Zeppelins now are starting up to investigate the
+strange phenomenon--"
+
+Again Dirk placed an eye to the lens of the luciscope and once more the
+Thing leaped into his vision. The powerful machine brought it so close
+to him that he could see the heat waves quiver up from it.
+
+The light that it radiated illuminated the night for thousands of feet
+and Dirk could see, by means of that crimson glare, that many planes and
+Zeppelins were circling around the mysterious visitant. None of them,
+however, approached the alien freak, the heat apparently being too
+intense to permit close inspection.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Dirk himself was tempted for a moment to jump into a plane and go up and
+take a look at the fiery mass.
+
+But, after a moment's consideration, he decided, that it would be far
+more interesting and comfortable to remain right where he was and listen
+to the reports which were being sent down from above.
+
+"--thus far there seems to be no cause for alarm, and people are advised
+to remain calm--careful observations of the luminous monster are being
+made and further reports concerning it will be broadcast--"
+
+Dirk Vanderpool rose to his feet, walked to the coping of the terrace
+and peered into the magnascope that was set into the wall.
+
+He saw that the street, far below him, was jammed with struggling people
+and the device through which he was looking brought their faces before
+him in strong relief. Dirk was deeply interested and, at the same time,
+gravely concerned as he studied the upturned countenances in the mob.
+
+Fear, despair, reckless abandon, mirth, doubt, religious ecstasy and all
+the other nuances in the gamut of human emotions and passions were
+reflected in those distorted visages which were gazing skyward.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The silvery humming of a bell diverted his attention from the scene of
+congestion below him and, turning away, he walked across the terrace and
+into the great living room of his luxurious abode.
+
+Stepping to the televisor, he turned a tiny switch, and the face of a
+girl appeared in the glass panel that was framed above the sound-box. He
+smiled as he lifted the receiver and placed it to his ear.
+
+"What is the matter, Inga?" he asked. "You look as if you were
+expecting--well, almost anything disastrous."
+
+"Oh, Dirk, what is that thing?" the girl asked. "I really am frightened!"
+
+He could see by the expression in her blue eyes that she, too, was
+becoming a victim of the hysteria that was taking possession of many
+people.
+
+"I wouldn't be alarmed, Inga," he replied reassuringly. "I don't know
+what it is, and no one else seems to be able to explain it."
+
+"But it is frightful and uncanny, Dirk," the girl insisted, "and I am
+sure that something terrible is going to happen. I wish," she pleaded,
+"that you would come over and stay with me for a little while. I am all
+alone and--"
+
+"All right, Inga," he told her. "I will be with you in a few minutes."
+
+He hung up the receiver of the televisor and clicked off the switch. The
+image of the golden-haired girl to whom he had been speaking slowly
+faded from the glass.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Attiring himself for a short sixty-mile hop down Long Island, Dirk
+passed out to the landing stage and, stepping into the cabin of his
+plane, he threw in the helicopter lever. The machine rose straight into
+the air for a couple of hundred feet and then Dirk headed it westward to
+where the nearest ascension beam sent its red light towering toward the
+stars. It marked a vertical air-lane that led upward to the horizontal
+lanes of flight.
+
+Northbound ships flew between two and four thousand feet; southbound
+planes between five and seven thousand feet; those eastbound confined
+themselves to the level between nine and eleven thousand feet, while the
+westbound flyers monopolized the air between twelve and fourteen
+thousand feet.
+
+All planes flying parallel to the earth were careful to avoid those red
+beacons which marked ascension routes, and the shafts of green light
+down which descending planes dropped to the earth or into lower levels
+of travel.
+
+When Dirk's altimeter indicated seventy-five hundred feet he turned the
+nose of his ship eastward and adjusted his rheostat until his motors,
+fed by wireless current, were revolving at top speed.
+
+The great canyons of Manhattan, linked by arches and highways which
+joined and passed through various levels of the stupendous structures of
+steelite and quartzite, passed swiftly beneath him; and, after passing
+for a few minutes over the deserted surface of Long Island, he completed
+his sixty-mile flight and brought his ship to a rest on a landing stage
+that was far up on the side of a vast pile that rose up close to the
+shore of the Sound.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+As soon as he stepped from the door of the cabin he was joined by a girl
+who, apparently, had been lingering there, awaiting his arrival.
+
+She was perhaps twenty years old, and she had the golden hair, the light
+complexion, and the blue eyes which still were characteristic of the
+women of northern Europe.
+
+The slender lines of her exquisite figure and the supple grace which she
+displayed when she moved toward Dirk were evidence, however, of the
+Latin blood which was in her veins.
+
+For Inga Fragoni, the daughter and heiress of Orlando Fragoni, seemed to
+be a culmination of all of the desirable qualities of the women of the
+south and those of the north.
+
+The terrace on which Dirk had landed was illuminated by lights which
+simulated sunshine, and their soft bright glow revealed the violet hue
+of her eyes and the shimmering gloss of her silken hair. She wore a
+sleeveless, light blue tunic which was gathered around her waist with a
+bejeweled girdle.
+
+On her tiny feet she wore sandals which were spun of webby filaments of
+gold and platinum.
+
+"Dirk, I am so glad that you are here!" she exclaimed. "I felt so much
+alone when I called you up. Dad is locked in the observatory with
+Professor Nachbaren and three or four other men and the servants--well,
+they all are so terrified that it simply alarms me to have them
+around."
+
+"But that is Stanton's plane there, isn't it?" asked Dirk, indicating a
+powerful looking machine that stood on the terrace.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Yes, Dirk," the girl replied. "He arrived here three or four minutes
+before you did. I thought, at first, that it was you coming. And Dirk,"
+she continued, with a note of excitement in her voice, "he flew up to
+look at that thing, and I know that he is as frightened about it as I
+am."
+
+Dirk grunted, but he gave no expression of the dislike and distrust that
+Stanton aroused in him. The latter, he knew, was very much inclined to
+look with favor on Inga, and his presumption annoyed Dirk because, while
+he and the girl had not declared their intention of living together,
+they were very much in love with each other.
+
+"You will want to hear him tell about it, I know, Dirk," the girl said.
+"I left Stanton up on the garden terrace when I saw you coming down.
+Come; we will go and join him."
+
+Dirk and Inga strolled slowly along paths which were lined with exotic
+shrubbery and plants. Here and there a fountain tossed its glittering
+spray high into the air while birds, invisible in the feathery foliage,
+warbled and thrilled entrancingly. Soft music, transmitted from the
+auditoriums below, blended so harmoniously with the atmosphere of the
+terraces that it seemed to mingle with and be a part of the drifting,
+subtle scents of the abundant flowers which bloomed on every side.
+
+For these upper terraces of Fragoni's palace were enclosed, during
+inclement weather, with great glass plates which, at the touch of a
+button, automatically appeared or disappeared.
+
+Winding their way easily upward, Dirk and Inga came finally to a
+secluded terrace which overlooked the Sound. Here they saw Stanton, who
+was unaware of their approach, looking skyward at the dim and sinister
+shape which was outlined against the sky. Stanton's brow was contracted
+and his expression was filled with apprehension. He started suddenly
+when he became conscious of the presence of Dirk and the lovely daughter
+of Fragoni.
+
+He rose to his feet, a short man in his forties, stocky in build and
+somewhat swarthy in complexion. He contrasted very unfavorably with
+Dirk, who was tall and well-built and who had abundant blond hair and
+steady steel-blue eyes.
+
+"What do you make of that thing, Vanderpool?" he asked, almost ignoring
+the presence of Inga.
+
+"I don't know enough about it yet to be able to express an opinion,"
+Dirk replied. "We will find out about it soon enough," he added, "so why
+worry about it in the meantime?"
+
+"It is well enough to affect such an attitude," said Stanton, with a
+touch of sarcasm in his voice, "but let me tell you, Vanderpool, that
+there is good reason to worry about it."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Dirk frowned at the statement as he saw a shadow pass over the fair face
+of Inga.
+
+"That thing up there," continued Stanton, with conviction in his voice,
+"is not a natural phenomenon. I flew fairly close to it in my plane and
+I know what I am speaking about. That thing is some sort of a monster,
+Vanderpool, that is made of metal or of some composition that is an
+unearthly equivalent of metal. It is a diabolical creation of some sort
+that has come from out of the fathomless depths of the universe." He
+shuddered at the fantasy that his feverish imagination was creating. "It
+is metal, I tell you," he continued, "but it is metal that is endowed
+with some sort of intelligence. I was up there," he breathed swiftly,
+"and I saw it hanging there in the sky, quivering with heat and life."
+
+"You are nervous, Stanton," said Vanderpool coolly. "Get a grip on
+yourself, man, and look at the thing reasonably. If that thing has
+intelligence," he added, "we will find some way to slay it."
+
+"Slay it!" exclaimed Stanton. "How can you expect to slay a mad creation
+that can leap through space, from world to world, like a wasp goes
+darting from flower to flower? How can you kill a thing which not only
+defies absolute zero but also the immeasurable heat which its friction
+with the atmosphere generated when it plunged toward the earth? How can
+you kill a thing that seems to have brains and nerves and bones and
+flesh of some strange substance that is harder and tougher than any
+earthly compound we have discovered?"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+He stopped speaking for a moment. They listened to the voice that was
+broadcasting from the Worldwide Tower.
+
+"--our planes have approached to within a few thousand feet of it
+and are playing their searchlights over the surface of the leviathan.
+It is not a meteorite of any kind that scientists have heretofore
+examined--its surface is smooth and unpitted and shows no apparent
+effect of the tremendous heat to which it was subjected during its drop
+through the atmosphere. It seems to be immune to gravity--its weight
+must be tremendous, and it is fully three-quarters of a mile long and
+between seven and eight hundred feet in diameter at its widest part, but
+it lies motionless--motionless--at about forty thousand feet."
+
+"It doesn't appear now as if it would prove very dangerous," remarked
+Dirk.
+
+"--and people are warned again to maintain their composure and to go to
+their homes and remain there for their own protection and the protection
+of others. Riots and serious disturbances are reported from cities in
+all parts of the world--mobs are swarming the streets of Manhattan and
+the other boroughs of New York, and the police are finding it difficult
+to restrain the frenzied populations in other centers...."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+There was a pause, then, of some moments, and then the voice of the
+broadcaster, vibrant with excitement, was heard again.
+
+"--a plane has made a landing on the surface of the monstrosity, which,
+it seems, has not only lost its heat but is becoming decidedly cold--"
+
+A servant appeared from among the shrubbery and paused before Dirk.
+
+"There is a call for you, Mr. Vanderpool," he said respectfully.
+
+Dirk excused himself and, entering the sumptuous apartment that opened
+from the terrace, went to the televisor. He saw the face of Sears, the
+chief secretary of Fragoni, in the glass panel.
+
+"There will be a meeting of the council at nine o'clock in the morning,
+Mr. Vanderpool," came the voice over the wire.
+
+"Thank you, Sears," replied Dirk. "It happens that Stanton is here at
+the present time. Shall I notify him of the conclave?"
+
+"If you will, please," Sears responded. "By the way, Mr. Vanderpool, is
+there anything wrong at your apartment? I tried to call you there before
+I located you here and I failed to get any response."
+
+"I guess that all of my servants have run out from under cover because
+of their fear of that thing in the sky," Dirk responded. "Do you know
+anything about it, Sears?" he asked.
+
+"It will be discussed at the meeting to-morrow morning," replied Sears
+shortly. "Good night, Mr. Vanderpool."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Dirk, upon returning to the terrace, saw that both Stanton and Inga were
+silently and fearfully looking up into the night.
+
+"A meeting of the council at nine o'clock in the morning, Stanton," Dirk
+said abruptly. "I told Sears I would notify you."
+
+"I thought that we would be called together very soon," said Stanton.
+"It's concerning that damn thing up there."
+
+"Perhaps," agreed Dirk carelessly. "Well," he added, "I believe that I
+will hop home and get some sleep."
+
+"Sleep!" exclaimed Stanton. "Sleep? On a night like this?"
+
+"Oh, Dirk," pleaded Inga, "stay here with me, won't you? I am not going
+to bed because I just know that I wouldn't be able to close my eyes."
+
+"Let him go, Inga, if he wants to sleep," urged Stanton. "I will stay
+here and keep watch with you."
+
+"--and if order is not restored in the streets of Manhattan within the
+course of a short time, the authorities will resort to morphite gas to
+quell the turbulence and rioting--"
+
+"The streets must be frightfully congested," said Inga. "It is the first
+occasion in a long time that the police have had to threaten the use of
+morphite."
+
+"--we do not want to alarm people unnecessarily but we have to report,"
+came the hurried voice of the broadcaster, "that the monstrous mass that
+has been hanging above the city just made a sudden drop of five thousand
+feet and again came to a stop. It is now a little more than six miles
+over Manhattan and--again it has dropped. This time it fell like a
+plummet for twelve thousand feet. It is now about twenty thousand feet,
+some four miles, above Manhattan and--"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A cry of alarm came from the lips of Inga as she gazed upward and saw
+that gigantic, ominous-appearing object loom dim and vast in the
+darkness above them.
+
+She went to Dirk and threw her arms around him, as if she were clinging
+to him for protection.
+
+"Don't leave me, Dirk," she whispered. "I can just feel that something
+terrible is going to happen, and I want you with me!"
+
+"I'll stay with you, of course," whispered Dirk. Something of that
+feeling of dread and apprehension which so fully possessed his two
+companions entered into his mind. "Don't tremble so, Inga," he pleaded.
+"It is a strange thing, but we will know more about it in the morning.
+Be calm until then, my dear, if you can."
+
+He looked over the shoulder of the girl, whose face was buried against
+his breast, and he saw a hundred great red and green shafts of light
+shooting up into the air. Fleeting shadows seemed to pass swiftly up and
+down them, and he knew that thousands of planes were abroad, some of
+them seeking the heights and others dropping down.
+
+The great towers of Long Island were all aglow, and it was apparent that
+few people were sleeping that night. The scarlet sky over Manhattan
+indicated that the center of the metropolis, too, was alive to the
+menace of the weird visitant that now was so plainly visible.
+
+All night long they remained on the terrace. Dirk and Inga seated close
+together and Stanton, at a distance, brooding alone over the disaster
+which he felt was impending.
+
+The illuminated dial of the great clock that was a part of the
+beacon-tower on the Metropole Landing Field told of the slow passing of
+the hours.
+
+All night long they listened to the reports that came through the
+radiovisor and watched that immobile, threatening monster of metal.
+
+But it remained static during the rest of the night. And, with the
+coming of a gray and sunless dawn, it still hung there, motionless,
+silent and sinister.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The next morning the President of the United States of the World, from
+the capitol at The Hague, issued a proclamation of martial law, to
+become effective at once in all parts of the world.
+
+The edict forbade people to leave their homes, and it was vigorously
+executed, wherever the police themselves were not in a state of
+demoralization.
+
+At about the same time a special meeting of the Supreme Congress was
+called, the body to remain in session until some solution of the mystery
+had been arrived at.
+
+At the same time that martial law was declared, however, and the special
+assemblage of lawmakers convened, a statement was issued in which an
+attempt was made to eliminate from the minds of the people the idea that
+the undefinable object above the metropolis was at all dangerous.
+
+It was, indeed, suggested that it very probably was some sort of new
+device which had been constructed on the earth and which was being
+introduced to the people of the world in a somewhat sensational manner
+by the person or persons who were responsible for it.
+
+The fears of the populace were, to some extent, allayed by this means,
+and some degree of order restored.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+At nine o'clock Dirk Vanderpool was shown into the council chamber in
+the palace of Orlando Fragoni, and he was closely followed by Stanton.
+Fragoni was already there, and he greeted the two men with a countenance
+that was serene but that, nevertheless, revealed indications of concern.
+He was a man past middle age, tall and strikingly handsome in
+appearance. His eyes were dark and penetrating and his forehead, high
+and wide, was crowned by an abundance of snow-white hair. His voice,
+while pleasing to the ear, was vibrant with life and energy, and he
+spoke with the incisive directness of one accustomed to command.
+
+For Orlando Fragoni, as nearly as any one man might be, was the ruler of
+the world.
+
+It was in the early part of the twentieth century that wealth had
+commenced to concentrate into a relatively few hands. This was followed
+by a period in which vast mergers and consolidations had been effected
+as a result of the financial power and genius for organization which a
+few men possessed. A confederation of the countries of the world was
+brought about by industrial kings who had learned, in one devastating
+war, that militarism, while it might bring riches to a few, was, in the
+final analysis, destructive and wasteful.
+
+Mankind the world over, relieved of the menace of war, made more
+progress in a decade than they had made in any previous century, but all
+the time the invisible concentration of power and money continued.
+
+And, in 1975, the affairs of the world were controlled by five men, of
+whom Orlando Fragoni was the most powerful and most important.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+His grandfather had been a small banker, and out of his obscure
+transactions the great House of Fragoni had arisen. The money power of
+the world was now controlled by Orlando Fragoni. Dirk Vanderpool, partly
+as a result of a vast inheritance and partly through his own ability and
+untiring industry, dominated the transportation facilities of the world.
+Planes and Zeppelins, railroad equipment and ships, were built in his
+plants and operated by the many organizations which he controlled.
+
+Stanton had inherited the agricultural activities of the world and, in
+addition to this, he was the sovereign of distribution. He owned immense
+acreages in all of the continents; he not only cultivated every known
+variety of produce, but also handled the sale of his products through
+his own great chains of stores. His father had been one of the great
+geniuses of the preceding generation, but Stanton, while inheriting the
+commercial empire which he had ruled, had not inherited much of the
+ability which had gone into the establishment of it.
+
+There were two other members of that invisible council of Five, the
+very existence of which was not even suspected by the general populace
+of the world.
+
+Sigmund Lazarre was the world's mightiest builder, and millions of great
+structures, which were built of material from his own mines, were under
+his control. It was Lazarre, too, who owned the theaters and other
+amusement centers in which millions upon millions of people sought
+relaxation every day. The creation and application of electrical power
+made up the domain of Wilhelm Steinholt, who also owned the factories
+that made the machinery of the world.
+
+Absolute control of all of the necessities and luxuries of life, in
+fact, were in the hands of the five men, who used their vast power
+wisely and beneficently.
+
+Ostensibly the peoples of the world ruled themselves by means of a
+democratic form of government.
+
+In reality their lives were directed by a few men whose power and wealth
+were entirely unsuspected by any but those who were close to them.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The council room in which Fragoni had received Dirk and Stanton was
+lofty and sumptuously appointed.
+
+The rugs which covered the floor were soft to the tread, and the walls
+and ceiling were adorned with a series of murals which represented the
+various heavenly constellations.
+
+At the far end of the chamber there was a staircase, and Dirk was among
+those who knew that it led up to the great observatory in which Fragoni
+and certain of his scientific associates spent so much of their time at
+night.
+
+For men had commenced to talk about the conquest of the stars, and it
+was generally believed that it would not be many years more before a way
+would be found to traverse the interplanetary spaces.
+
+"We are rather fortunate, my friends," Fragoni said to his two
+associates, "to have been the witnesses of the event that transpired
+last night."
+
+"Fortunate!" exclaimed Stanton. "Then you know that the thing is
+harmless?"
+
+A little smile lit the benign and scholarly countenance of Fragoni as he
+calmly regarded Stanton.
+
+"We know very little about it," he replied after a brief pause, "and, if
+our surmises are correct, it may be very far from harmless. It is
+intensely interesting, nevertheless," he continued, "because that thing,
+as you term it, unquestionably is directed by intelligence. Without the
+slightest doubt the people of the earth are about to behold a form of
+life from some far-away planet. What that form will be," he added, with
+an almost imperceptible shrug of his shoulders, "it is impossible to
+forecast."
+
+"But it was so hot," commenced Stanton, "that--"
+
+"True," agreed Fragoni, "but it also is large and it may be that only
+the outer shell of it was affected by friction with the atmosphere that
+surrounds the earth. Nachbaren," he continued, "is certain that there is
+intelligent life within it; and Nachbaren," he added dryly, "is usually
+right."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+While Fragoni had been speaking, two more men had quietly joined them.
+
+"Good morning, Lazarre," Fragoni said, addressing a short, swarthy man
+who, very apparently, was of Jewish extraction.
+
+"Good morning," the other replied in a soft and mellifluous voice. "It
+seems," he continued, with a twinkle in his eyes, "as if some of my
+pretty buildings may be toppled over soon."
+
+"Maybe," agreed Fragoni. "And maybe," he added more seriously, "much
+more than your buildings will be toppled over, Lazarre."
+
+"That thing, then, is...?" questioned the heavy-set, slow-speaking,
+blue-eyed Teuton who had come into the room with Lazarre.
+
+"We do not know, Steinholt," admitted Fragoni, "but our knowledge
+undoubtedly will be increased considerably within the next few hours.
+And now," he said, "we will consider the problem at hand."
+
+"--the object which has created such unrest is slowly rising. It is now
+some twenty-five thousand feet above Manhattan. It is--"
+
+The voice from the radiovisor attracted the attention of the five men,
+and, with one accord, they rushed to the terrace and looked toward
+Manhattan. They saw the great leviathan high in the air for a moment,
+and then, suddenly, it seemed to vanish from sight.
+
+"It's gone!" exclaimed Stanton, with a sigh of relief. "It must have
+been some odd atmospheric freak, that's all."
+
+They searched the skies through the luciscope that was on the terrace,
+but failed to detect any trace of the monster.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"That seems to simplify matters," remarked Fragoni as they again walked
+back into the great conference room. But here, once more, they heard the
+voice from the Worldwide Tower.
+
+"--we are advised by Chicago that the thing, dull-red with heat, is
+hovering only a couple of thousand feet over the city. Thousands in the
+streets are being killed by the heat it is radiating--panic reigns,
+despite a rigorous enforcement of martial law. The strange object just
+rose suddenly to a high altitude and disappeared--"
+
+"It's another one of those damned things," asserted Stanton. "That
+couldn't go a thousand miles a minute!"
+
+"It can go faster than that, if I am not mistaken," said Fragoni. And it
+presently appeared that he was right, for in a couple of minutes the
+radiovisor transmitted the news that it was over San Francisco, where it
+remained for only a few seconds. It was not more than a minute later
+that word came from Shanghai that it had passed slowly over that city.
+Then again it was poised high over Manhattan, crimson with heat.
+
+"Is there any possible defense against it, Steinholt?" Fragoni asked.
+The Teuton shook his head with an air of finality.
+
+"None," he said, "as far as I can determine now. We can create and
+direct artificial lightning that would reduce this building to a mass of
+powdered stone and fused metal in a fraction of a second. But I am
+certain that it wouldn't leave as much as a scratch on that monster up
+there. We might try the Z-Rays on it, but an intelligence that could
+devise such a craft would undoubtedly have the wisdom to protect it
+against such an elementary menace as rays. Even the mightiest explosives
+that we have wouldn't send a tremor through that mighty mass."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Why not await developments?" asked Dirk. "We do not even know the
+nature of the thing we are trying to combat."
+
+"It's solid metal," insisted Stanton tenaciously. "It's a metal body
+with a metal brain."
+
+"Don't be ridiculous," said Steinholt. "It seems quite apparent that the
+craft has come from another planet, and, if I am not greatly mistaken,
+there are intelligent creatures inside it."
+
+"In any event," said Dirk, "it seems impractical to make any plans until
+we know more about it. I suggest that we empower Fragoni to act for the
+rest of us in this matter."
+
+"That is very agreeable to me," said Steinholt. "A crisis very possibly
+may arise in which the quick judgment of one man may be necessary to
+avert the danger that always is inherent in delay."
+
+"You hold my proxy," Lazarre said to Fragoni, "and I assume that Stanton
+is agreeable to this procedure."
+
+"--the thing is moving very slowly eastward in the direction of Long
+Island Sound. It is, at the same time, losing altitude. Its movements
+are being carefully watched. As yet we see no cause for immediate
+alarm--people are advised to remain calm--"
+
+"Yes, I am agreeable," said Stanton nervously and hastily. "If there are
+things in it with which we can compromise, I would suggest that we do
+not offend them."
+
+"I am, then, empowered to act for all of you," said Fragoni, ignoring
+the suggestion of Stanton.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+He rose from his chair and walked out on the terrace. The others
+followed after him.
+
+Looking westward, they saw the mammoth craft descending slowly in their
+direction.
+
+Its vast dimensions became more and more apparent as, spellbound, they
+watched it approach closer and closer to them.
+
+The thing in the sky was now not more than three thousand feet above
+them and only a few miles to the westward.
+
+The observers on the terrace regarded it for a moment in silence as it
+drifted forward and downward.
+
+"It's colossal!" Steinholt then exclaimed, lost in scientific admiration
+of the mammoth craft. "Magnificent! Superb!"
+
+"But it's coming right toward us!" cried Stanton.
+
+"What makes it move, I wonder?" asked Dirk. "And how in the world is it
+controlled?"
+
+"It surely is not of this world," said Fragoni quietly. "That gigantic
+thing has come to us from somewhere out of the infinite and terrible
+depths of space."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Another minute elapsed while they watched it, speechless with wonder.
+
+"Do you know," Lazarre then said calmly, "I believe that it is going to
+land in the waters of the Sound. It appears so to me, anyway."
+
+It was nearly opposite them by this time, and not more than a thousand
+feet above the water. A few planes which, very apparently, were being
+flown by intrepid and fearless flyers, were hovering close around it.
+
+Then finally it came to rest, as Lazarre had predicted, in the water
+some two miles off shore, and it was obscured by a great cloud of vapor
+for several minutes.
+
+"Steam," asserted Steinholt. "That trip around the world, which it made
+in a few minutes, generated considerable frictional heat in the shell."
+
+"Come," said Fragoni, "we'll fly out and look the thing over."
+
+Around the corner of the building, on the level of the terrace, there
+was a landing stage which was occupied by a number of planes of various
+sizes.
+
+Dirk entered the door of a small twenty passenger speedster, and the
+others filed in after him.
+
+"Ready?" he asked, after he had seated himself at the controls.
+
+"Ready!" replied Fragoni.
+
+The plane rose straight up into the air and then darted gracefully out
+over the Sound.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Dirk swooped straight down at the leviathan which lay so quietly on the
+surface of the Sound and then slowly circled around it. No sign of an
+aperture of any sort could be seen in the craft. Then he dropped the
+plane lightly on the water, close to the metallic monster, which towered
+fully four hundred feet above them, despite the fact that more than half
+of it was submerged.
+
+"It must be hollow," remarked Steinholt, "or it wouldn't be so far out
+of the water. In fact, it most certainly would sink, if it was solid."
+
+At the touch of a lever which lay under one of Dirk's hands the plane
+rose straight out of the water, and he maneuvered it directly over the
+top of the strange enigma. Then he touched a button and the pontoons
+were drawn up into the undercarriage of the craft.
+
+"Shall I make a landing on it?" he asked, turning his head and
+addressing Fragoni.
+
+The latter nodded his head, and Dirk dropped the ship gently onto the
+smooth surface of the monster, the pneumatic gearing completely
+absorbing the shock of the landing.
+
+Dirk relinquished the controls and, opening the door of the cabin, he
+stepped out onto the rough and pitted substance of which the leviathan
+was compounded. He stood there while the others came out after him.
+
+A large area on the top of the monster was perfectly flat and, within a
+very few moments, Dirk discovered that it was decidedly warm. He had
+brought the plane down close to the middle of the length of the strange
+craft in the belief that there, if anywhere, some indication of an
+entrance might be found.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The voice of Steinholt, tense with suppressed excitement, appraised him
+that his surmise had been correct.
+
+"There is a manhole of some sort," the electrical wizard exclaimed. "And
+look, it is turning!"
+
+They saw, not far ahead of them, a circular twelve-foot section of the
+deck slowly revolving, and, even as they watched, it commenced to rise
+slowly upward as the threads with which it was provided turned gradually
+around.
+
+Almost involuntarily they retreated a few feet and stood there,
+spellbound, as they stared at the massive, revolving section of the
+deck.
+
+It continued to turn until fully ten feet of the mobile cylinder had
+been exposed. Then the bottom of it appeared. Even then it continued to
+revolve and rise on a comparatively small shaft which supported it and,
+at the same time, thrust it upward. Dirk and his companions kept their
+eyes on the rim of the well which had been exposed, and awaited the
+appearance of something, they knew not what. When the top of the great
+cylinder was fully twelve feet above the deck of the craft it slowly
+ceased to revolve.
+
+Moment succeeded moment as the members of the little group rigidly and
+almost breathlessly awaited developments.
+
+Then Dirk, with an impatient ejaculation, stepped forward toward the
+yawning hole and cautiously peered over the edge of it.
+
+He stood there for a moment, as if transfixed, and then, with an
+exclamation of horror, retreated swiftly to where his friends were
+standing.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"What is it?" gasped Steinholt. "What did you see when--"
+
+But the words died on his lips for, swarming swiftly over every side of
+the well, there poured an array of erect, piercing-eyed beings, who had
+all the characteristics of humans. They were clad in tight-fitting
+attire of thin and pliant metal which, with the exception of their
+faces, shielded them from head to foot. On their heads they wore
+close-fitting helmets, apparently equipped with visors which could be
+drawn down to cover their unprepossessing features.
+
+Each one of them carried a tube which bore a striking resemblance to a
+portable electric flashlight.
+
+Swiftly they advanced, in ranks of eight, toward Dirk and his companions
+who, gripped with amazement, held their positions.
+
+The first line came to a halt not more than four feet from the little
+group on the deck. The other lines halted, too, and formed a great
+platoon. Then a shrill whistle sounded and the formation parted in the
+middle, leaving an open path that led backward to the entrance, to the
+well.
+
+A moment later the watchers saw the regal figure of a man emerge from
+the orifice and, after a moment's pause, advance slowly in their
+direction with a stately stride.
+
+He was tall and muscular and blond and his attire, golden in texture,
+glittered with sparkling gems.
+
+As he approached them he raised his right hand and, inasmuch as his
+countenance was calm and benign, his gesture appeared to be one of
+peace and good-will.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Following close behind him there was a younger man who, very apparently,
+was of the same lineage. His expression, however, was petulant and
+haughty and it contained more than a suggestion of rapacity and evil.
+
+Behind him there were others of the same fair type, all of them
+sumptuously and ornately attired.
+
+Fragoni stepped forward, himself a dignified and striking figure, as the
+leader of the strange adventurers came forth from the lane that had been
+formed by his immobile guard of warriors.
+
+The two men confronted each other, one whose power and wealth gave him a
+dominate position on earth, and the other a personage from some domain
+that was remote in the abyss of space.
+
+Fragoni bowed and spoke a few friendly words of welcome and the
+stranger, to the utter amazement of the banker and his associates,
+responded in an English that was rather peculiar in accent but that they
+could understand without any difficulty.
+
+"From what part of the world do you come," asked the astounded Fragoni,
+"that you speak our language?"
+
+"We come from no part of this world," replied the stranger. "The empire
+of my ruler is infinitely far away. But language, my friend, is not a
+thing of accident. Life grows out of the substance of the universe and
+language comes out of life. The speech of mankind, in your state of
+development, varies but little throughout all space and I have heard
+your English, as you call it, spoken among those who dwell in many, many
+worlds."
+
+"And your world?" asked Steinholt with avid curiosity. "Tell us of the
+planet from which you come."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+But Fragoni, smiling at the eagerness of Steinholt, interposed with a
+kindly but arresting gesture.
+
+"My name is Fragoni," he said to the stranger, "and I would have you
+partake, of my hospitality and refresh yourself after your long journey.
+These," he added, "are my friends, Steinholt, Vanderpool and Lazarre."
+
+"I am Teuxical, vassal of his Supreme Highness, Malfero of Lodore," the
+other replied. "This is my son, Zitlan," he continued, indicating the
+young man behind him, "and the others are my high captains, Anteucan,
+Orzitza and Huazibar. More of my officers are below together with ten
+thousand armed and armored men such as you see before you."
+
+If the last part of the statement was intended as a threat or a warning,
+the expression on Fragoni's face gave no indication that he was aware of
+it.
+
+"You carry a large crew, sir," Fragoni replied, "but we gladly will make
+provisions for all of your men. As for yourself, your son, and your
+captains, if you will come with me...."
+
+He nodded in the direction of the plane which rested on the great
+interplanetary vessel and started to walk slowly in the direction of it.
+The leader of the skymen walked by his side and the other men from
+Lodore followed close after them.
+
+Dirk, Steinholt and Lazarre brought up the rear, while the soldiers
+remained motionless in their serried array.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Innumerable planes were circling overhead and hundreds of them had
+landed on the water in the vicinity. Dirk saw that the wanderers from
+the stars regarded them curiously as if they never before had seen
+aircraft of that particular type.
+
+When the cabin door of the plane was thrown open, Teuxical turned to one
+of his captains.
+
+"Remain here, Anteucan, with the soldiers," he commanded, "and await our
+return."
+
+Teuxical then entered the plane with his men and Fragoni, Steinholt and
+Lazarre followed after them. Then Dirk took his seat at the controls.
+
+"These are strange craft you use," he heard Teuxical say. "I have seen
+them in only one of the multitude of other worlds on which I have set my
+feet, worlds which all pay tribute to Malfero of Lodore. It is safer and
+swifter to ride the magnetic currents than it is to ride the unstable
+currents of the air."
+
+Dirk caught the significance of the reference to tribute and he admired
+the clever diplomacy of Teuxical while, at the same time, he wondered if
+the earth and all of those who dwelt upon it were doomed to fall under
+the sway of some remote and unseen despot.
+
+He also realized that the Lodorians had, in some way, devised a craft
+that rode the great magnetic streams which flowed through the universe
+in much the same way that men, in ships, navigated the streams of the
+earth.
+
+He threw on the helicopter switch and the plane rose swiftly into the
+air, the myriad other flying craft which were circling nearby keeping at
+a safe distance from it.
+
+"Land on the grand terrace," Fragoni directed. The flight was short and
+rapid and it was only a matter of seconds before Dirk brought the plane
+down on the landing stage which they had left only a scant half-hour
+before.
+
+He opened the cabin door and stepped out of the plane and the others
+filed out after him.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Fragoni led the way along the stage, walking and chatting with Teuxical,
+and Dirk, following after the others, was the last to turn a corner that
+brought him a sweeping view of the magnificent terrace that fronted the
+private apartments of the banker and his daughter.
+
+And, when he did, he saw that Inga was standing there, superbly
+beautiful, with Stanton a few paces behind her.
+
+Her lovely eyes were alive with awe and wonder and her slender white
+hands were crossed over her heart.
+
+And Dirk saw, too, that Zitlan, son of Teuxical, had paused and was
+standing quite still, with his unwavering and insolent eyes fixed on
+the girl. Resentment, and a touch of apprehension, agitated Dirk when he
+saw the expression on the face of the young Lodorian.
+
+There was admiration in that disagreeable countenance, but it was
+blended with arrogance, haughtiness and ill-concealed desire.
+
+Dirk went quickly to Inga, standing between the girl and the one from
+Lodore who was staring at her so brazenly.
+
+"What does it all mean, Dirk?" she asked in a low voice. "Those strange
+people, where are they from?"
+
+Stanton had come quickly forward and had joined Inga and Dirk.
+
+"They are from some far-off world, Inga," he explained, "that we know
+nothing about as yet."
+
+"But what do they want?" she persisted. "What do they intend to do? I
+saw those horrible creatures through the magnascope when they came
+swarming out of the inside of that thing on the water and I thought, at
+first, that they were going to kill you all."
+
+"No, they seem to come in peace," Dirk replied. "Teuxical, their leader,
+seems to be gracious and kindly."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"We are all doomed," asserted Stanton, "unless something happens. They
+can crumble our cities with heat and bury us under the ruins of them."
+
+"Keep your silence!" breathed Dirk, quietly but tensely. "We will find a
+way to destroy those creatures if it becomes necessary."
+
+"That man who keeps staring at me, who is he?" asked Inga in a voice
+that betrayed her nervousness.
+
+Dirk turned and saw that Zitlan was still standing where he had paused
+and that he still was looking with searching eyes in the direction of
+the girl.
+
+He returned the insolent gaze of the young Lodorian with an impatient
+and threatening stare and the countenance of Zitlan at once became
+stern and menacing. He came striding in the direction of Inga, Dirk and
+Stanton and paused within a few feet of them, his rapacious eyes still
+fixed on the girl.
+
+"My lady," he said, "your beauty pleases me. I have walked on many
+worlds but never before have I seen one as lovely as yourself. Of the
+spoils of this world, all that I crave possession of is you. When we
+return to Lodore," he added with an air of finality, "I will take you
+with me and place you with my other women in the Seraglio of the
+Stars."
+
+Dirk swiftly stepped close to Zitlan and the latter quickly clasped a
+tube that hung at his side, a tube of the sort that the soldiers had
+carried.
+
+"Your words and your manner are insolent," asserted Dirk angrily, "and I
+warn you now to cease making yourself offensive."
+
+"Dog!" exclaimed Zitlan fiercely, leveling the metal tube, "I'll--"
+
+But the left fist of Dirk cut short his threat as it made a sudden
+impact with his chin, and the Lodorian went crashing backward into some
+exotic shrubbery with a look of surprise on his countenance.
+
+Then Dirk heard an odd hissing and crackling sound, and he felt himself
+becoming dizzy and weak.
+
+Darkness seemed to sweep in upon him; he felt that he was dropping
+swiftly through space, and then he lost consciousness.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A vague and shadowy figure was standing close by his side and peering
+down into his face. After a while he realized that it was Steinholt.
+
+"Steinholt!" he gasped. "Why--why am I here--in Fragoni's? I must have
+had a dream--and yet...."
+
+He furrowed his brow in thought and, gradually, he commenced to remember
+what had happened.
+
+"It was no dream," said the scientist softly. "Do you remember the
+trouble that you had with Zitlan?"
+
+"Yes," replied Dirk. "I remember that he was insolent to Inga and that I
+lost my temper and struck him. But what happened to me? I don't recall
+that anybody hit me. I did hear sort of a peculiar sound just before I
+started to pass out, but--"
+
+"Teuxical took a shot at you," said Steinholt, "and you have been
+unconscious for over thirty-six hours."
+
+"Took a shot at me!" exclaimed Dirk. "What did he shoot me with?"
+
+"That is what we all would like to know," said Steinholt. "He leveled
+one of those damn tubes at you and pressed a button on it. There was a
+hissing sound, a flash of light, and you got groggy, and went out. He
+potted Zitlan, too," continued Steinholt, "and he apologized for the
+trouble that his son was responsible for. Do you know," he added, "I
+sort of like the old man."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Lazarre, with a sympathetic smile on his face, entered the room at that
+moment and overheard the conversation.
+
+"Old man is right," he remarked, with a little note of awe in his voice.
+"Teuxical admits that he is three thousand years old and that he has at
+least two thousand more ahead of him. That Lodore must be a queer
+world," he commented, shaking his grizzly head.
+
+"It is not so queer when you take everything into consideration," said
+Steinholt. "It seems quite natural when Teuxical explains it. Lodore it
+seems, is something like a hundred thousand times as big as this
+miniature world we live on. It took Lodore infinitely longer to solidify
+from a gaseous state than it took this world, and its entire evolution
+has been relatively slower than ours. Therefore, according to Teuxical,
+the people up there live longer and, incidentally, know infinitely more
+than we do."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"What time is it now?" asked Dirk, after a moment of thought.
+
+"It is just about twelve o'clock at night," Steinholt informed him.
+
+"Have these Lodorians made any demands yet?" Dirk asked. "Does anybody
+know what they are going to do or what they want?"
+
+"They are liable to do almost anything," said Lazarre, "and it looks as
+though they will be able to get anything that they want. Teuxical, as I
+understand it, just gave you a slight shock with his death-ray device.
+If he had pulled the trigger all the way you would have become just a
+little pile of dust that the first breeze would have blown away."
+
+"Our own death-rays are somewhat similar," said Steinholt, "but they are
+not a hundredth as powerful. And they won't work on the Lodorians,
+either," he added, "because those metal sheaths that they wear make them
+immune to all kinds of destructive rays."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"It appears," remarked Lazarre morosely, "as if this little world of
+ours is going to be taken for a ride. And it's too bad, considering that
+it's the only world we've got. There has been no formal presentation of
+demands yet, but it seems to be sort of understood that the earth is
+going to become a tributary of Lodore. It is a good thing," he added,
+"that Teuxical, and not Zitlan, is the boss of that outfit. I don't like
+the looks of that young fellow. He's only twelve hundred years old and
+he is sort of hot-blooded, I guess."
+
+"I was talking with Anteucan," said Steinholt, "and he told me that the
+Lodorians usually make heavy levies on worlds which they discover and
+dominate. As soon as Teuxical returns to Lodore and announces a new
+discovery a fleet of those damned monsters is sent out to mop up the new
+planet. That Malfero, who is the emperor of Lodore, is considerable of a
+monarch, and it seems that he has a passion for piling up wealth. Gold
+and platinum are as precious on Lodore as they are here and he also
+likes pretty stones."
+
+"And what is worse," added Steinholt, "is his practice of enslaving
+entire populations and making toilers or warriors out of them. Those
+soldiers on the ship are not Lodorians. Millions of them were seized on
+some planet and converted into troops. It was a strange conversion,
+too," said Steinholt with a shudder. "Their brains were operated on and
+most of their faculties removed. They have no sense of fear, no
+consciences, no power of reasoning. They respond only to certain signals
+on a whistle and their only definite and active impulse is that of
+murder and destruction."
+
+"There is nothing to do," said Dirk positively, "but to kill all of
+these interlopers, if we hope to save our world from being desolated."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The three men looked at each other in silence for a moment and then
+Dirk, somewhat weakly, rose into a sitting position in the bed which he
+had been occupying.
+
+"But how," asked Steinholt, "can we kill them? We might, of course, get
+rid of a few of them, but that simply would lead to our destruction by
+those who were left."
+
+"There must be some way," asserted Dirk, "and it is up to us to think of
+it without delay. If we let those Lodorians get a foothold on the world
+all will be lost."
+
+"The old man seems to be reasonable enough," said Lazarre. "He doesn't
+seem inclined to be destructive."
+
+"We must not trust him or any of the others," said Dirk imperatively.
+"We must rid the earth of every one of them. And the sooner we strike
+the better!"
+
+"It had best be soon if it is to be at all," said Steinholt. "Fragoni
+has arranged to have Teuxical appear before the Congress, and the
+meeting has been called for to-night when, I imagine, certain specific
+demands will be made upon us. We all will go to The Hague together on
+the ship of the Lodorians."
+
+"And we leave?" questioned Dirk.
+
+"The meeting is set for ten P. M., New York time," said Lazarre. "We
+will start east at about four o'clock in the morning, I guess, because
+it will only take a minute or so to arrive at our destination."
+
+"Is Fragoni going?" asked Dirk.
+
+"Naturally," replied Lazarre.
+
+"And Inga?"
+
+"I believe so," Lazarre told him. "Fragoni was both afraid to take her
+and to leave her behind, but finally he decided that he wanted her with
+him in case of trouble."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"And are they--the Lodorians--still here?" queried Dirk.
+
+"Yes," responded Lazarre. "Teuxical returned to his ship last night with
+Zitlan and his other followers, but they came back late this afternoon,
+and they are still here. Zitlan seemed to be all right this afternoon,
+too. They must have used some means of bringing him out of the daze that
+he was in. We did everything we could to revive you, but none of our
+measures were effective."
+
+"I'm all right now," asserted Dirk, as he finished attiring himself. "I
+want to see Fragoni at once."
+
+"We'll go out on the terrace then," said Steinholt. "They are all out
+there."
+
+Dirk, with his two companions, strolled out through the maze of rooms
+and corridors that led to the garden which hung so high above the city
+and the Sound below it.
+
+The first thing that Dirk saw, when he passed out onto the terrace, was
+the white tunic of Inga, who was leaning against a coping and talking
+with Zitlan.
+
+The latter was pointing skyward and, very apparently, he was telling her
+of worlds which circled high among the stars.
+
+As if she were suddenly aware of his presence, Inga turned and saw Dirk
+and he realized, by the expression on her face, that she was distraught
+and nervous. She came toward him quickly, after a few words to Zitlan,
+and the face of the latter darkened. There was hatred in his expression
+as he stared malevolently at Dirk.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Steinholt and Lazarre passed along and joined Fragoni and Teuxical, who
+were the center of a group that had formed in another part of the
+terrace.
+
+"Oh, Dirk," said Inga, "I am so afraid of that frightful Zitlan. He has
+been telling me again that he is going to take me back to his own world
+with him and it makes me shudder to think of it. He is so strange and
+queer and his eyes are so terrible. He can't be as young as he looks,
+because he speaks of years like we speak of minutes. I will die if I
+ever find myself in that monster's power! He has been telling me of all
+the creatures he has slain on the worlds on which he has landed, and I
+tell you, Dirk, that he is cruel and ruthless and horrible."
+
+"He will never have you!" swore Dirk. "And if I hear of any more of his
+insolence, I will throw him headlong from this terrace."
+
+"Please, Dirk," she begged, "don't do anything--not yet. He is utterly
+unscrupulous, Dirk. He told me that, even now, he is plotting against
+some Malfero who rules Lodore like a god, and that he is planning to
+seize the throne of the planet. He wants to make me the queen of that
+fearful world when he becomes king. He boasted that, if I were on the
+throne, millions of people from other worlds would be sacrificed in my
+honor in the temples of Lodore." Her voice trembled and her eyes were
+terror-stricken as she continued. "They tear out the hearts of living
+victims," she whispered, "and burn them on their high and mammoth
+pyramids."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Rage took possession of Dirk and, casting a glance at Zitlan, he saw
+that the Lodorian was smiling insolently at him.
+
+"I'll kill that beast, if it's the last thing that I do!" he exclaimed
+to Inga.
+
+"Dirk, Dirk," she implored, "don't even look at him. He is proud and
+impetuous, and he will kill you in defiance of his own father."
+
+"We will find some way to rid the world of the scourge that has
+descended upon it," asserted Dirk confidently, "and he will die with the
+rest of that monstrous crew."
+
+"I am going in, Dirk," Inga said. "Please," she begged, "don't do
+anything rash. If--something--should happen to you, I would lose all the
+hope that I have and I would, I think, kill myself."
+
+"Don't lose hope, my dear," said Dirk reassuringly. "I believe that I
+know of a way to destroy the plague that menaces us."
+
+He pressed her hand and, after she left him, he walked over and joined
+the other men on the terrace. Zitlan, coming from the terrace wall,
+stretched out in a chair not far from Dirk.
+
+Teuxical regarded the latter with a countenance that was calm and
+amicable. "I am sorry, my young friend," he apologized, "that I had to
+intervene between you and my son." He paused a moment and sat in
+silence, a thoughtful expression on his face. "Ah," he then said, "what
+disasters have arisen out of the desire of men for women. In my
+wanderings over the starlit worlds, I have seen...." He ceased speaking,
+brooded for a moment, and then shook his head slowly. "But you cannot
+say that I was not just," he continued, addressing Dirk. "I punished
+Zitlan for his presumption. Fragoni tells me that the woman has pledged
+herself to you. Let her pledge be kept!" he exclaimed sternly, looking
+straight at Zitlan.
+
+"We are the conquerors," asserted the latter boldly, "and to us should
+belong the spoils of our daring!"
+
+"Silence!" thundered Teuxical. "My own son, above all others, shall be
+obedient to my commands! Or, like others have done, he shall die because
+of insubordination!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Zitlan, a defiant expression on his face, ceased to speak, but Dirk
+could see that he was livid with suppressed rage.
+
+"As I was saying," Teuxical remarked, turning to Fragoni, "I am getting
+old and long have I been weary of conquest. I have seen your world and
+it pleases me. It is a tiny and peaceful place, far removed from the
+strife and turbulence of the restless centers of the universe. So it is
+my will to leave you unscathed and return to Lodore for a brief time to
+ask of the mighty Malfero the grant of this little provincial land. And
+then, with his permission, I will return here and rule it with wisdom
+and benevolence.
+
+"I will bring to you much knowledge, and peace will be to the people of
+this earth and peace will be to me."
+
+"It is well," replied Fragoni. "No world, I am certain, could hope for a
+wiser and more just ruler than yourself, and our Congress surely will
+receive you with acclaim."
+
+Teuxical bowed in recognition of the compliment, and his countenance
+indicated that he was gratified.
+
+"We will go, now, back to our vessel," he said, addressing the other
+Lodorians. "We will return for you at the appointed hour and conduct you
+to our ship," he added, speaking to Fragoni.
+
+"We will be ready," Fragoni replied.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Zitlan had arisen with the rest of them and Dirk, with a look of
+contempt and amusement in his eyes, regarded him casually.
+
+"May I have the honor of conducting our guests back to their ship in a
+plane?" Stanton requested of Fragoni.
+
+The latter nodded and Stanton walked across the terrace in the direction
+of the landing stage.
+
+Zitlan, as he followed after the others, passed close to Dirk and,
+pausing for a moment, fixed his hateful eyes on him.
+
+"You dog," he whispered malignantly, "remember what I tell you! The
+time will come when I will cast you to the carnaphlocti in the dark and
+icy caverns of sunless Tiganda. You will die," he swore, "the death of a
+million agonies!"
+
+For a moment Dirk felt an almost irresistible impulse to hurl himself on
+the Lodorian and slay him.
+
+He managed to maintain his control, however, and only regarded Zitlan
+with disdain as the latter turned and went on his way.
+
+In another moment the plane, containing Stanton and the Lodorians, was
+high up in the darkness.
+
+Dirk glanced at the great clock that gleamed atop of the beacon-tower on
+the Metropole Landing Field.
+
+The hour was close to twelve-thirty A. M.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A moment of silence on the terrace followed the departure of the plane
+that bore the Lodorians back to their craft.
+
+For an hour the clouds had been gathering in the sky and now a fine,
+cold rain commenced to fall.
+
+A peal of thunder echoed above them after a sharp flash of lightning had
+streaked across the black night above them.
+
+A servant appeared from the entrance to the apartment and pressed a
+button close to the door.
+
+Protective plates of glass noiselessly enveloped the terrace, sheltering
+those upon it from the inclement weather.
+
+"It is well," remarked Fragoni, breaking the silence, "that we were
+found by a leader like Teuxical. Our tribute will not be unbearable, and
+he will bestow many benefits upon us."
+
+"But surely," protested Dirk, "you do not intend to surrender without a
+struggle! Nothing but disaster," he asserted earnestly, "will come upon
+the earth if you do. Teuxical may be honest and just but, after all, he
+neither is immortal nor all-powerful, and something may happen to him at
+any moment. And there are those like Zitlan who would turn the world
+over to ravage and rape, and then convert it into a blazing pyre, if
+they had their way. These vandals," he insisted, "must be slain one and
+all, or, mark my words, our world will be laid waste."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Dirk spoke with such a sense of conviction that his words held his
+listeners spellbound.
+
+"Who is Teuxical," he asked, "but the vassal of a monarch whose
+corsairs, very apparently, are carrying on a war of conquest in the
+universe? It will be disastrous, I say, to place any dependence in the
+good will of this one Lodorian. If he, or any of his men, return to that
+far-off planet where they dwell word will be carried there of the
+existence of our world. But who can say that Teuxical ever will return
+here again? It may be the whim of his ruler to refuse his request, or
+any one of a thousand other events might arise to thwart his desire to
+live among us. No," concluded Dirk passionately, "it never will do to
+let that great engine of destruction rise into the skies again!"
+
+"He is right!" asserted Steinholt positively. "It will be far better to
+annihilate these raiders, if such a thing can be accomplished!"
+
+Lazarre was rather inclined to take sides with Fragoni.
+
+"But how," he demanded, "can such destruction be brought about? We know
+nothing of the capabilities of that monster that is lying down there in
+the Sound. It is undoubtedly equipped with the deadliest of devices and
+they all will be turned upon us if we fail in an effort to destroy the
+thing and those who have come from space upon it. If there was a way to
+smite them suddenly, to bring death to the Lodorians and to those
+swarming, mindless, murderous minions who act in obedience to them, I
+would favor doing it.
+
+"But, as it is," he concluded, "it seems like inviting disaster even to
+think of such an attempt, much less to try it."
+
+"It can be done, though," asserted Dirk, "or there is at least a
+fighting chance of accomplishing it. The electrosceotan--" He paused,
+and looked questioningly at Steinholt. "The top of that monster is open
+and...."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Teuton furrowed his brow and considered the proposition for a
+moment.
+
+"Yes," he said, nodding his head, "it might be done." Again he silently
+gave the subject his thought. "It is well worth trying," he asserted
+with an air of decision. "But we will have to make haste," he warned,
+"if the thing is to be done before the flight to The Hague."
+
+"So be it," said Fragoni. "We will apply ourselves to the task at hand.
+I, too," he confessed, "had rather see these vandals destroyed like so
+much vermin rather than have them carry the news of the existence of
+this earth back into those strange worlds in the depth of space. I will
+only regret the passing of Teuxical, who could have taught us much
+wisdom. And now," he continued briskly, "I will place myself under your
+orders, Dirk. You are the one who suggested this plan and upon you will
+fall the responsibility of executing it. And, if it succeeds," he added,
+"the glory will be yours."
+
+"I care little for the glory," replied Dirk, "but I gladly accept the
+duties and the responsibilities. These," he said to Fragoni, "are my
+instructions to you. Inasmuch as Teuxical and his captains will return
+here at about four o'clock in the morning to convey us back to their
+craft, it will be necessary to have this building emptied of its
+inhabitants by that time. Let all of those who dwell here depart from
+it, a few at a time, so as not to excite suspicion. Inga, above all
+others, must leave and retreat to a place of safety. Then, as the hour
+approaches for the arrival of the Lodorians, we will escape by plane
+from one of the rear terraces. They will land in search of us
+and--well, then they will feel the force of our power."
+
+"I will follow your orders explicitly," promised Fragoni. "I wonder," he
+added, "where Stanton is? He should be advised of what we are going to
+attempt."
+
+"He will return in due time," replied Dirk. "And, if not, it will be the
+worse for him. Lazarre will remain here with you," he then told Fragoni,
+"and Steinholt and I will now go about our part of the task at hand."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Dirk, followed by Steinholt, hurried across the terrace and, leaving the
+shelter of its quartzite plates, sought the landing stage.
+
+The rain still was falling and the heavens were congested with dark and
+heavy clouds.
+
+Dirk, selecting one of the smaller planes, entered the cabin and
+Steinholt, following after him, closed the door and threw on the
+lights.
+
+Swiftly they shot straight up into the air, Dirk ignoring all of the
+rules of flight in his haste to be under way. Once in the westbound
+lane, he headed his plane toward Manhattan and threw his rheostat wide
+open. In a few minutes they were skimming over the great city and past
+the three-thousand-foot steel tower of the Worldwide Broadcasting
+Station.
+
+For fifteen minutes more he kept the plane on a straight course and
+then, bringing it to a quick stop, he let it drop like a plummet toward
+the earth.
+
+It landed, among many other planes, on the transparent, quartzite roof
+of a vast building and, looking down into the interior, they could see
+several rows of great dynamos. Some of them were turning, and the
+humming that they made could be heard plainly.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Dirk and Steinholt ran rapidly across the roof until they came to a
+superstructure, which they entered. There was a shaft inside. Dirk
+pressed a button, and an elevator shot up and stopped at the door,
+which automatically flashed open.
+
+He closed it after he and his companion had entered the cage and,
+dropping rapidly downward, they came to a stop in a lighted chamber that
+was far below the surface of the ground.
+
+A stoop-shouldered old man greeted them, an expression of surprise on
+his face.
+
+"Gentlemen!" he exclaimed. "What is--"
+
+"Power, Gaeble!" commanded Steinholt tensely. "Power! Let every dynamo
+run its swiftest. To-night we have to use for the electrosceotan!"
+
+"But I thought it was peace that those from the stars desired," said the
+old electrician. "Through my radiovisor I heard--"
+
+"That was sent out," explained Steinholt, "to relieve the fears of the
+people and to keep them in order."
+
+Swiftly the distorted figure of the old man sped to a great switchboard,
+where he pressed button after button.
+
+The very ground commenced to vibrate around them and the massive
+structure seemed to be alive with straining power.
+
+Then Steinholt, going to a corner of the intricate board, adjusted a few
+levers, while his gnomelike companion watched him carefully.
+
+"And now, Gaeble," the scientist said impressively, "these are your
+orders. At precisely the hour of four o'clock in the morning make one
+connection with this switch."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+He indicated, with a stubby finger, the lever to be operated.
+
+"Keep the circuit closed for just four seconds," he added slowly, "and
+then break it. Do you understand, Gaeble?" he demanded.
+
+"I do," replied the old man.
+
+"Then," continued Steinholt, "after you break that connection you
+quickly will close this next circuit. Keep it closed for four seconds
+and then, after opening it for one second, close it again for four
+seconds. Repeat the procedure twice more, Gaeble, after that, and then
+await my further instructions. Is everything clear?" he asked.
+
+"It is, sir," the old man replied. "I will follow your orders
+implicitly."
+
+"There is one thing more," Steinholt said. "Get the Worldwide Tower on
+the televisor and warn them of what is to happen."
+
+"I will do that immediately," Gaeble replied.
+
+Dirk and Steinholt shot up to the roof again and the building over which
+they walked seemed to be quivering with life.
+
+They could see that all of the mammoth dynamos beneath them were
+revolving and the humming which they had heard before had changed into
+an ugly, vibrant roar.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Again they took flight and, reaching Manhattan, they continued north and
+east to the shore of Long Island Sound.
+
+Long before the old East River had been filled in and the space which it
+had occupied reclaimed for building purposes. All indications of its
+former bed had been obliterated by mammoth terraced structures.
+
+When they reached their destination on the shore of the Sound a small
+submarine, which Dirk had ordered by radio, was awaiting them.
+
+"Submerge and proceed up the Sound," Dirk ordered the officer, "and take
+us directly under the craft of the Lodorians."
+
+In a few minutes they were skimming over the surface of the water and,
+when a sufficient depth had been gained, the tiny boat disappeared
+beneath the rain-rippled sea.
+
+Dirk sat at a port and watched the aquatic life as it was illuminated by
+the powerful aquamarine searchlights.
+
+Progress under the water was comparatively slow, as mankind had made but
+little progress in underwater navigation. Air liners long before had
+almost superseded travel by land and sea and the abolition of warfare
+had swept all of the old navies from the ocean.
+
+It was more than an hour before the officer in charge of the boat
+announced that the mammoth hull of the monster that was lying on the
+Sound was visible directly above them.
+
+Both Dirk and Steinholt donned diving apparatus, and the former
+carefully adjusted the mechanism that was contained in a metallic box
+about two feet square.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Then they stepped up into a chamber in the conning tower of the boat
+and, after a door slipped shut beneath them, water slowly commenced to
+pour into the compartment.
+
+When it was full a sliding door that was in front of them slowly opened
+and they passed out onto the deck of the underwater craft.
+
+Steinholt had been provided with some welding apparatus and, in a few
+minutes, the box which Dirk had carried was attached securely to the
+bottom of the craft of the Lodorians.
+
+They then reentered the submarine by reversing the process which had
+attended their exit. Very soon they were in the cabin of the boat
+again.
+
+"If everything goes well," said Dirk, "those damned Lodorians will never
+know what struck them."
+
+"I only hope," said Steinholt, "that we don't destroy that leviathan
+altogether. We might solve the secret of it and then we, too, could ride
+out into the heart of the universe."
+
+"It is impossible to imagine what will happen," Dirk replied, "until
+after we launch our attack."
+
+Both of the men were silent during the return trip of the small undersea
+craft, which emerged at its dock a little before three-thirty in the
+morning.
+
+"We'll have to hurry," urged Dirk nervously, "because we will need a
+little time to make preparations after we get back to Fragoni's."
+
+They entered their plane and Dirk shot it swiftly up into the night,
+following the red shaft of light that rose almost directly from the
+point at which they had made their landing.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Then, having reached the eastbound level, he headed straight in the
+direction of the palace of Fragoni.
+
+Dirk cast a glance at the great city that lay far beneath him. High up
+into the heavens it tossed the fulgurant fires that betokened its wealth
+and power. And, down among those myriad lights, millions and millions of
+people were restless under the danger that menaced them. It was only a
+matter of moments now before their fate, and the fate of their great
+metropolis, would be decided. By dawn they would be free forever from
+the threat of subjugation and slavery or else they, and all that they
+had toiled and striven for, would be the veriest dust of dying embers.
+
+And whatever befell them likewise would befall the rest of the world and
+every living thing that moved upon it.
+
+Dirk was high above Fragoni's when he stopped the forward flight of the
+plane and, dropping it rapidly through the misty night, brought up
+easily on the landing stage. The other planes which had been there when
+he and Steinholt had taken their departure were gone and Dirk felt a
+sense of relief when he observed this. Inga, then, must have departed
+with the other occupants of the colossal structure. Things were going
+according to the plan that he had conceived. He stepped out of the
+cabin, followed by Steinholt, and proceeded hastily along the terrace
+and turned the corner into the garden.
+
+Then he came to an abrupt halt because there, before him, was Zitlan,
+with one of the deadly ray-tubes of the Lodorians in his hand.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Dirk knew immediately that something unexpected had happened and that he
+was in the power of one who not only hated him but who had an unholy
+desire for Inga.
+
+He realized, too, that any show of resistance would be nothing short of
+suicide, for he was well aware of the deadliness of the strange weapon
+with which he and Steinholt were being menaced by the gloating
+Lodorian.
+
+"One false move and you die!" warned Zitlan. "Come forward, now, and
+join those two others over whom Anteucan and Huazibar are watching."
+
+Dirk and Steinholt promptly obeyed the command of Zitlan and walked over
+to where Fragoni and Lazarre were being guarded by two of the
+conquerors.
+
+The rain had ceased to fall, but the skies were dark and overcast with
+heavy clouds. There was an occasional flash of lightning, and thunder
+rolled and echoed through the night.
+
+The terrace, however, was brightly illuminated and every detail of the
+scene around him was visible to Dirk.
+
+He saw Stanton, on another part of the terrace, standing among some
+Lodorians he had not seen before. Stanton, apparently, was not being
+treated as a prisoner and Dirk wondered, rather vaguely, why this was.
+
+"What happened?" Dirk asked Fragoni quietly.
+
+"According to what I have heard," the latter replied, "Zitlan murdered
+his father in a fit of rage, and has taken over the command of the ship.
+Many of the Lodorians are his adherents and even those who do not favor
+him are so terrified that they will be obedient to his wishes."
+
+"And Inga?" questioned Dirk.
+
+"She is inside the apartment," said Fragoni, a note of desperation in
+his voice. "Zitlan surprised us completely and he and his men had us
+covered before we realized that Teuxical was not among them."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Zitlan, in the meantime, had entered the suite of Fragoni and he now
+came out, Inga walking before him.
+
+She was silent and proudly erect but there was a pallor in her face that
+indicated her realization of the danger that she was threatened with.
+
+When Dirk saw her she gave him a brave smile, which he answered with a
+glance of reassurance.
+
+He could see the great clock in the Metropole Tower, and he noticed,
+with a feeling of grave apprehension, that it was twenty minutes to four
+o'clock.
+
+There were only a few minutes more in which to make a desperate and
+apparently a hopeless effort to save Inga, his friends and himself from
+a catastrophe which he had been instrumental in contriving.
+
+Then Zitlan stood before him, haughty and arrogant, his lowering
+countenance ugly with hatred.
+
+"So, dog," he said, "you who dared to defy Zitlan now stand before him a
+captive!"
+
+Neither Dirk nor any one of the three others who were guarded with him
+replied to the utterance.
+
+"You and that woman of yours," continued the Lodorian insolently, "both
+are my prisoners to do with as I please. Your fate," he continued, "I
+already have planned for you and I assure you that it will not be as
+pleasurable as the one to which she is destined. You will find that
+Tigana, on which you and those with you will be cast, is a world of
+terror such as you never could dream of. Even the monsters which crawl
+through the deliriums of the mind are not as horrible as those which
+infest the mad and haunted world of which I speak."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+He paused a moment, a cruel smile on his face, as if he wished the full
+import of his words to sear themselves into the minds of the doomed
+men.
+
+"But the woman," he added, "will return to Lodore with me and be the
+queen of all women. And soon," he said savagely, "she may be queen of
+all Lodore, of the worlds which pay tribute to Lodore, and of other
+worlds which I will conquer and ravage. My father stood in my way and he
+died at my own hands. So will others perish who thwart my ambition, and
+I will become supreme in the universe!"
+
+A feeling of reckless fury possessed Dirk as he listened to the words of
+Zitlan and he felt an almost irresistible desire to drive a fist square
+between the mad, glittering eyes of the Lodorian.
+
+He glanced at the great clock, however, and he saw that the time to act
+had not yet come. At the last moment he would make one desperate attempt
+to frustrate the evil designs of Zitlan. If it failed--well, all would
+be lost. But it was a far better thing to die resisting the despicable
+Zitlan and his minions than it would be to live and to know that,
+without a struggle, he had abandoned to degradation the girl he loved.
+
+"This world of yours will be my world," he heard Zitlan boast, "and the
+spoils from it will add to my riches. This one here," he continued,
+indicating Stanton, "has offered to show me where all of the treasures
+of the earth may be found. And, as a reward, he will return to Lodore
+with me and there be elevated to a high position."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+That, then, was why Stanton was not under guard like the rest of them.
+
+"Our good friend, Stanton," said Lazarre, "seems to have become
+something of a Judas."
+
+"And let his name be forever cursed, like the name of Judas," said
+Dirk.
+
+"Silence!" thundered the Lodorian. "I, Zitlan, am speaking." He paused a
+moment. "When I garner up the treasures of this world in the way of
+precious stones and metals I also shall gather more priceless loot in
+the way of women. And then, having taken all that I desire, I will lay
+waste to this earth so that those who survive will fear the name of
+Zitlan and will grovel before him like a god when once again he appears
+to them."
+
+While Zitlan had been speaking, Dirk had been studying the opponents
+with whom he soon had to clash.
+
+The two Lodorians who were standing guard over himself and his
+companions were close to his left side. Zitlan was directly in front of
+him, and there were seven of his minions clustered behind him.
+
+Again Dirk glanced at the great dial of the clock, and he saw that it
+was seven minutes of four.
+
+The moment had come to act if action was to prove of any avail.
+
+"I will--"
+
+But the words of Zitlan were interrupted by Dirk, who suddenly made a
+mighty sweep with his left arm and knocked the deadly tubes from the
+hands of Anteucan and Huazibar. Startled by the assault, they went
+reeling backward. At almost the same instant Dirk leaped forward and,
+seizing Zitlan, hurled him among those Lodorians who had been massed
+behind him. Then he threw himself violently into the tangled mass, his
+fists driving in and out with deadly strength!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Out of the corner of one eye he saw Inga pass the melee and dart swiftly
+to the corner of the terrace. Instead of passing around to the landing
+stage, however, she lingered there and watched the combat.
+
+Dirk, as he fought, became conscious that Steinholt and Fragoni were at
+his side, battling with him against his enemies. He saw, too, that
+Stanton had retired to the far end of the terrace and that he was
+watching the struggle with frightened eyes.
+
+"We must reach the plane and get away," gasped Dirk. "In another three
+minutes--"
+
+He felled a Lodorian who, having lost his tube, was about to grapple
+with him. He saw Steinholt send another one of their opponents reeling
+backward.
+
+"Fragoni!" he exclaimed. "The plane! Get in with Inga! We will come!"
+
+Even as he spoke his fists were flailing back and forth between each one
+of his staccato commands.
+
+He saw beneath him a hand reaching toward a tube, and he kicked the
+instrument of death. It hurtled over in the direction of Stanton and
+landed close to his feet. Stanton might have picked it up and been in
+possession of the means of aiding his old friends or his new allies. But
+he shrunk away, panic-stricken, from the thing that lay so close to his
+reach.
+
+A Lodorian leaped upon Dirk's back in an effort to bring him to the
+ground, but he stooped swiftly forward and his assailant was catapulted
+over his head into those who were in front of him.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+He caught a flash of the contorted face of Zitlan flying through the
+air, and saw him land with a crash on the terrace, and lie there
+writhing in pain.
+
+"Steinholt, Lazarre!" he said convulsively. "We've got to strike once
+more! And then--run!"
+
+He plunged into their enemies with every bit of energy that he had left,
+and saw two of them toppling down. Then, like a flash, he turned to
+Lazarre, who was trying to fight off three of the Lodorians. Seizing one
+of them by the waist, Dirk hurled him backward and he disposed of
+another one in the same manner. His sheer desperation seemed to have
+given him unbounded strength and power.
+
+Lazarre sent his third opponent down with a blow under the chin and
+then, with Dirk at his side, they turned to the assistance of
+Steinholt.
+
+With one mad rush they crashed into a group of Lodorians and sent them
+reeling away like so many nine-pins.
+
+"Now! To the plane!" exclaimed Dirk, taking to his heels across the
+terrace. Steinholt and Lazarre followed after him and, turning the
+corner, they saw that the ship was in place and that Fragoni was
+anxiously waiting by the door of the cabin. Inga, Dirk knew, already was
+inside and safe. He stood aside while Steinholt and Lazarre leaped in.
+During the momentary wait he caught a glimpse of the great clock. It
+was one minute to four. Dirk jumping into the plane and switched on the
+helicopter without even waiting to close the cabin door.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The ship shot skyward like a rocket. When it reached an altitude of
+thirty-five hundred feet, he turned it north and raced at top speed in
+that direction.
+
+It was miles away from the palace of Fragoni in less than thirty
+seconds. Dirk then stopped the plane and held it poised in the air with
+the helicopter.
+
+The skies were turgid and black and the massed clouds, reflecting the
+lights of the great city below them, were permeated with an ugly,
+feverish, red glow.
+
+From where they were hanging in midair, the occupants of the plane could
+plainly see the sparkling palace of Fragoni towering high up into the
+darkness of the night.
+
+The lights of the magnificent mansion were reflected far out into the
+Sound where, looming in the golden ripples, lay the sinister monster
+from the terrible depths of unfathomable space.
+
+Dirk took a watch from his pocket and, after glancing at it, he hastily
+replaced it.
+
+"Two seconds more," he said, "and--"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A sharp and dazzling bolt of greenish fire came hurling suddenly out of
+the west and, with a thunderous concussion, seemed to fasten itself on
+the crest of Fragoni's palace.
+
+It trembled and quivered, as if endowed with some uncanny life and
+power, as it remained there against the darkness, throwing a weird,
+green tinge over the water and up into the skies.
+
+Blue waves of light could be seen pulsing and racing along the terrible
+beam and there, where it had fastened itself, they seemed to disappear
+in the vast and crumbling structure.
+
+For four seconds that destructive streak of light, one end of which was
+lost back in the mists that concealed Manhattan, tore at the proud
+pile.
+
+And, as the stone crumbled and the steelite fused under the mighty
+assault, an ominous roar swept through the night. The air was so
+violently agitated that the plane, miles away, tossed up and down like a
+tiny boat on a stormy sea.
+
+Then suddenly the bolt was gone, but its livid image still burned in the
+eyes of those who had been watching it.
+
+Once more, it came hurling out of the west and, like the fang of some
+great and deadly serpent, darted into the monster that lay in the waters
+of the Sound.
+
+Dirk and his companions could see plainly, by the light of the bolt
+itself, that it had crashed into the well from which the Lodorians first
+had appeared, and that it was beating and hammering its way into the
+very vitals of the craft.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Dazzling, blinding fire seemed to pour from the aperture through which
+the bolt had passed. The clamor that arose was deafening.
+
+Then again the streak of fires was withdrawn, leaving the night
+intensely black until, in a moment more, it came thundering out of the
+west again and, with an impact that made the land and the sea and the
+very heavens tremble, hurled its way into the depths of the doomed
+leviathan.
+
+Twice again it fell, a fiery scimitar out of the darkness, and twice
+again it careened at the vitals of the stricken monster.
+
+Then, after the assault was over, the ship still floated on the surface
+of the Sound and its shell, as far as Dirk and the others could judge,
+still was unscathed.
+
+"We will soon know our fate," remarked Steinholt calmly. "If that didn't
+kill those beasts we might as well give up our ghosts."
+
+"I'll drop the plane a little lower and a little nearer to the ship,"
+said Dirk. "I don't believe that any life is surviving in that thing."
+
+"My beautiful palace is nothing but dust," sighed Fragoni, mournfully.
+"And all my beautiful treasures, too."
+
+"And that beautiful Zitlan," Lazarre reminded him, "and his beautiful
+boy friends, they are all dust too, thank God!"
+
+"It was a queer fate that Stanton met," suggested Dirk. "He thought that
+he would save his life by going over to our enemies, and, instead of
+that, he lost it."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Poor Stanton," said Steinholt. "He was born that way, I suppose, and I,
+for one, am ready to forgive and forget him. And now," continued the
+Teuton, "I hope that we didn't do too much damage to that little boat of
+the Lodorians. If we could get just a little peep at the inside of it we
+might learn the secret of its contrivance. And then, my friends, we
+could do a little journeying ourselves."
+
+"Have you any theory regarding it?" asked Fragoni.
+
+"Teuxical intimated that it rode the magnetic currents which, of course,
+flow through all the suns and planets in the universe," replied
+Steinholt. "We have been working along that line ourselves, of course,
+and it probably won't be very long anyway before we have the solution of
+interplanetary travel."
+
+"Those Lodorians would have solved it for us if it hadn't been for
+that artificial lightning," said Lazarre. "That's powerful stuff,
+Steinholt."
+
+"Yes, with that three-thousand-foot Worldwide Tower to hurl it from,"
+agreed Steinholt, "we can get fair range with it. If the Lodorians
+hadn't left the well of their ship open, though, the lightning wouldn't
+have done us much good. I was afraid, too, for a time, that we might
+have trouble in welding that automatic wireless circuit box to the
+bottom of the ship."
+
+Dirk, in the meantime, had brought the plane down to within a half-mile
+of the leviathan, and he was holding it poised there.
+
+"It seems to me," he said, after scrutinizing the monster for a couple
+of minutes, "that it is moving in the water. It is!" he exclaimed.
+"Steinholt! Look!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Only a comparatively short time had elapsed since the last bolt of
+lightning had vanished back into the darkness.
+
+"It is still rocking with the force of the shock that we gave it,"
+asserted Steinholt. "You would be rocking, too, if you had been tickled
+by a bolt like that one."
+
+"It is rising, I tell you!" said Dirk. "The front end of it is slowly
+getting higher in the water!"
+
+"You're right, Dirk," said Fragoni, excitement straining his voice.
+"Look! It just dropped back into the water!"
+
+Then, as they watched, the movements of the leviathan became more and
+more agitated, until it was churning up the waves around it like a
+wounded and agonized monster of the sea.
+
+Suddenly the front end tilted upward and the monster rose clear of the
+water. It shot straight up into the air at a speed so terrific that they
+could scarcely follow it.
+
+"It's gone!" gasped Fragoni. "Those brainless, mindless automatons must
+have survived!"
+
+"No," remarked Steinholt thoughtfully. "I don't believe that there is
+any life left on that thing. No one had closed the well when it rose,
+and it would mean death to go out into space with the ship in that
+condition."
+
+"Then what made it go up?" demanded Lazarre. "Can the damn thing run
+itself, Steinholt?"
+
+"I imagine," recalled the Teuton, "that our bolts killed every living
+thing that was on the craft but that, at the same time, they set the
+mechanism of the monster into action. Ah," he moaned, "but that is too
+bad. We could have learned much by an examination of the interior of
+that liner of the air."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A cry from Inga startled them and they saw that she was looking skyward,
+with terror in her eyes.
+
+They followed her gaze and there, streaking through the black clouds,
+they saw a long trail of white fire.
+
+"It's that thing!" exclaimed Fragoni. "I tell you that those upon it
+still live and that they are about to wreak vengeance upon us."
+
+"No," said Steinholt positively. "You are wrong, Fragoni. What is
+happening may be almost as disastrous, though," he admitted. "That
+leviathan is in its death agonies; it is a metal monster gone mad, and
+none can say what will happen before it expires."
+
+"The place for us," asserted Dirk hurriedly, "is in the Worldwide Tower.
+There we can keep track of what is transpiring and try to decide what to
+do."
+
+The others agreed with him and, seeking the westward level of flight, he
+sped the plane in the direction of the mammoth pyramid from which the
+news of the world was broadcast.
+
+They reached the vast structure in a few minutes, and, after dropping
+the plane on a landing stage, they went into the operating room.
+
+Here they learned quickly that the craft of the Lodorians was doing
+incalculable damage, and that it was throwing the population of the
+world into an unprecedented panic.
+
+It was, apparently, following an erratic, uncertain orbit that took it
+far out into space and then back quite close to the surface of the earth
+again.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It had passed through the very heart of Chicago within a few yards of
+the ground, and it had cut and burned a swath more than a mile wide
+through the buildings of that metropolis.
+
+Other cities in America had felt the devastating effects of its
+irresistible and molten heat and, within a short time, thousands of
+people had been slain by it.
+
+Time and again, from the terrace of the great tower, Dirk and his
+companions saw the skies above them light up as that terrible, blazing,
+projectile which, uncontrolled, went hurtling on its way through the
+night.
+
+For three hours it careened on its mad course and hysteria reigned
+throughout the cities of the whole civilized world.
+
+But then a report came from a rocket-liner that had left Berlin en route
+for San Francisco.
+
+"Either a great meteor or that leviathan of the Lodorians just swept
+down past us in mid-Atlantic and plunged into the sea. Apparently it has
+exploded, for it has thrown a great column of water for miles up into
+the air. We are stopping and standing by, although the heat is intense
+and clouds of steam are rising from the sea."
+
+As the minutes passed by after the report from the rocket-ship had been
+received, the disappearance from the sky of the flaming craft from space
+seemed to confirm the belief that it had been swallowed by the ocean.
+This was accepted as a certainty by eight o'clock in the morning.
+
+"Ah," sighed Steinholt, "if only it had crashed on land somewhere. If
+there only was enough of it left for us to--"
+
+"Enough of any damn contraption of that kind," swore Lazarre fervently,
+"is altogether too much. I hope, for one, that its fragments are
+scattered so far that we never can put them together again."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Dirk and Inga leaned against one of the parapets that evening on a
+gardened terrace of his own great mansion in Manhattan.
+
+Their little party had gone there after leaving the Worldwide Tower in
+the morning.
+
+After resting during the day, Lazarre and Fragoni were somewhere
+together, discussing the plans for a new palace to take the place of the
+one that was destroyed so that Zitlan and his minions might die in its
+ruins.
+
+Steinholt, elsewhere, was delving into oceanography and submarine
+engineering, in an attempt to learn whether or not it would be feasible
+to fish for the remains of the lost ship of Lodore.
+
+"It seems like a dream, doesn't it, Dirk?" the girl remarked. "It is
+difficult to believe that we actually have seen and talked with people
+from some far-away world."
+
+Together they looked up into the crystalline skies, where mazes of
+shining stars gave testimony to the countless worlds which were wheeling
+around them.
+
+"And just to think, Dirk," Inga continued proudly, "that it was you who
+saved this world and all of its people from that horrible Zitlan and his
+horde."
+
+"I saved you," he told her gravely and tenderly, "and that somehow means
+more to me than saving all of this world and all of the other worlds
+which are rolling through the uncharted ways of time and space."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  COMING--
+  Murder Madness
+  _An Extraordinary Novel_
+
+  _By_ MURRAY LEINSTER
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber Notes
+
+Typographical inconsistencies have been changed and are listed below.
+
+Hyphenation standardized.
+
+Archaic and variable spelling is preserved.
+
+Authors' punctuation style is preserved.
+
+Passages in italics indicated by _underscores_.
+
+Passages in bold indicated by =equal signs=.
+
+
+Transcriber Changes
+
+The following changes were made to the original text:
+
+  Page 298: Changed =work= to =wreck= (wish to know whether anyone has
+            visited the scene of the =wreck=)
+
+  Page 299: Changed =focussed= to =focused= (This means that we have
+            =focused= or concentrated cold)
+
+  Page 317: Added beginning quotes (Its name-grid glowed with the
+            letters: ="_Anita Prince._"=)
+
+  Page 321: Changed =eavesdroopper= to =eavesdropper= (sitting in the
+            smoking room when the =eavesdropper= fled past)
+
+  Page 321: Changed =pressure-cick= to =pressure-sick= (We missed you at
+            breakfast. Not =pressure-sick=, I hope?)
+
+  Page 323: Changed =linquists= to =linguists= (people are by heritage
+            extraordinary =linguists=)
+
+  Page 324: Added end quote (Did you have Prince's cabin =searched?"=)
+
+  Page 328: Changed =elipse= to =ellipse= (Blackstone had roughly cast
+            its orbital elements)
+
+  Page 339: Changed =focussed= to =focused= (connected its little
+            battery; =focused= its projector)
+
+  Page 339: Changed =syncronized= to =synchronized= (as I crouched in
+            the darkness behind the cylinder-case, I =synchronized=)
+
+  Page 340: Removed extra quote after leaped (Miko doubtless saw it, and
+            the Martian's hot anger =leaped=)
+
+  Page 344: Changed =Mika= to =Miko= ("Wait a minute!" I called to
+            =Miko=. "Navigate--where?")
+
+  Page 344: Changed =catapaulted= to =catapulted= (The force
+            =catapulted= me across the space of the room like a
+            volplane)
+
+  Page 345: Changed =Halian= to =Haljan= ("If you fire, =Haljan=, and
+            kill me--Miko will kill you then, surely.")
+
+  Page 346: Changed =focussed= to =focused= (the image of the lounge
+            interior presently =focused=)
+
+  Page 357: Changed =terriffic= to =terrific= (Perry beat a =terrific=
+            tattoo on the ancient door)
+
+  Page 362: Removed comma (for the news crew and editorial force of the
+            =paper= were a carefully selected body of men indeed)
+
+  Page 367: Changed =villian= to =villain= (Could the old =villain= be
+            playing possum?)
+
+  Page 367: Removed 'the' (With dexterous =hands O'Hara= swiftly went
+            through the old man's pockets)
+
+  Page 367: Changed =similiar= to =similar= (an ugly looking pistol of
+            large caliber, a blackjack =similar= to his own and a small
+            bottle)
+
+  Page 369: Changed =and= to =any= (If you search my car and find =any=
+            red liquor in the left back door pocket, I don't know a
+            thing about it)
+
+  Page 372: Changed =Hanlon= to =Handlon= (could be recognized as those
+            of Horace Perry and Skip =Handlon=)
+
+  Page 372: Changed =focussed= to =focused= (All eyes were now =focused=
+            on Professor Kell)
+
+  Page 373: Changed =Kel= to =Kell= (Hurry up and get =Kell= downstairs
+            so we can see who he is)
+
+  Page 374: Changed =Rotton= to =Rotten= ("=Rotten=," was the reply from
+            the lips of Kell)
+
+  Page 393: Changed =ecstacy= to =ecstasy= (Fear, despair, reckless
+            abandon, mirth, doubt, religious =ecstasy= and all the other
+            nuances in the gamut of human emotions)
+
+  Page 394: Changed =scandals= to =sandals= (On her tiny feet she wore
+            =sandals= which were spun of webby filaments)
+
+  Page 395: Changed =knew= to =know= (fairly close to it in my plane and
+            I =know= what I am speaking about)
+
+  Page 397: Changed =Igna= to =Inga= (Dirk and =Inga= seated close
+            together and Stanton, at a distance)
+
+  Page 397: Changed =part= to =parts= (a proclamation of martial law, to
+            become effective at once in all =parts= of the world)
+
+  Page 399: Changed =melifluous= to =mellifluous= ("Good morning," the
+            other replied in a soft and =mellifluous= voice)
+
+  Page 401: Changed =Steinhold= to =Steinholt= ("It's colossal!"
+            =Steinholt= then exclaimed, lost in scientific admiration)
+
+  Page 412: Changed =fulgerant= to =fulgurant= (High up into the heavens
+            it tossed the =fulgurant= fires that betokened its wealth
+            and power)
+
+  Page 412: Changed =head= to =hand= (with one of the deadly ray-tubes
+            of the Lodorians in his =hand=)
+
+  Page 413: Changed =Lizarre= to =Lazarre= (walked over to where Fragoni
+            and =Lazarre= were being guarded by two of the conquerors)
+
+  Page 413: Changed =Igna= to =Inga= ("And =Inga=?" questioned Dirk.)
+
+  Page 414: Changed =stacatto= to =staccato= (flailing back and forth
+            between each one of his =staccato= commands.)
+
+  Page 417: Removed extra quote before =There= ("is in the Worldwide
+            Tower. =There= we can keep track of what is transpiring and
+            try to decide what to do.")
+
+  Page 417: Changed =irresisible= to =irresistible= (Other cities
+            in America had felt the devastating effects of its
+            =irresistible= and molten heat)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Astounding Stories of Super-Science,
+March 1930, by Various
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ASTOUNDING STORIES, MARCH 1930 ***
+
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