Future v02n02 (1941 12)

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combined with SCIENCE FICV rOdAPLETE

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FUTURi DEC. combined with 5CIEF|jCE FIGil0^i A COMPLETE ' BOj^K-LENGTH NOVEL

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FEMALE BEAUTY ROUND the ^ world.^m€ World’s Greatest Collection of- Strange & Secret Photographs ^OW you can travel round the world with the most daring adventurers. You can see with your own eyes, the weirdest peoples on earth. You witness the strangest customs of the red, white, brown, black and yellow races. You attend their startling rites, their mysterious practices. They are all assembled for you in these five great vol- umes of THE SECRET MUSEUM OF MANKIND. 600 LARGE PAGES Here is the World’s Greatest Collection oi Strange and Secret Photographs. Here are Exotic Photos from Europe, Primitive Photos from Africa, Torture Photos from Asia, Female Photos from Oceania and America, and hun- dreds of others. There are almost 600 LARGE PAGES of Strange & Secret Photographs, each page 57 square inches In sizel 1,000 REVEALING PHOTOS You see actual courtship practic^ in every quarter of the world. You see magic and mys- tery in queer lands where the foot of a white man has rarely trod. You see Oriental modes Contents of 5-Yolume Set Volume 1 — The Secret Album of Africa Volume 2 — The Secret Album of Europe Volume 3— The Secret Album of Asia Volume 4 — The Secret Album of America Volume 5 — The Secret Album of Oceania of marriage and female slavery in China, Japan, India, etc. Through the intimacy of the camera you wit- ness the exotic habits of every con- tinent and the strangest customs of life and love in America, Europe, etc. You are bewildered by these large pages of ONE THOUSAND PHOTO- GRAPHS including 130 full-page photos, and thrilled by the hundreds of short stories that describe them. 5 GREAT VOLUMES The SECRET BHI8EUU OF MANKIND consists of five picture-packed volumes (solidly bound together for convenient reading). Dip into any one .of these volumes, and as you turn Its pages, you find It diffi- cult to tear yourself away. Here. In story and un- usual photo, Is the WORLD'S OUEATKST COLLLO- TION OF STRANGE AND SEritlCT l*HOTOGK.4rH9. containing everything from Female Beauty Round the World to the most Mysterious Cults and Customs. These hundreds and hundreds of large pages will give you days and nights of thrilling Instruction, Specimen Photos Various Secret Societies— OlvUlsed Love vs. Savage — Kzotlc Rites and Cults — Strange Crimes, Crlmi- nali4— -Omens, Totems St Taboos— Mysterious Cus- toms—Dress St Undress Round the World. 1.000 strange and Secret Photos SEND NO MONEY simply lien A miU the coupon. lUm-mbcr. sicli of tha 6 rolumei U 914 Inchet hlsb. md openad o»er t foot wldal Bemembar ttu.* lAla 5-Tolums Sat formerly lold t<a SlO. It ti tMund In expenilTO 'Hfe-tlme cloio. Ihm'l put IhU off. FlU out the coupon, drop It In the next mall, end recelre this huge KorS st ODca.

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•T3.« iMinicil«n I receUea w»» so pmctl- cs1 I was M«n Ale to earn $5 to a week ia sran' time emtetac Radloa. nta Jald for tbt) N.B.I. Course and led to sen' :e work paying for my college educatloB. ”1 had an 118 a week Mb In a shoe raeton. but desired to make more mone; and con- tlDiie mjt education. I read about Badio oproRtmlliee and enrolled wilk the Na- Ucnkl Ka^o Jostilute.* "Tbe N.n.I. Ooutse took me out of a low* par ebfle faclorr job and put me into Bagta at Ko^ par: enabled me to earn tvoa* m a GOUeKC education. TOere'aa -’••■nniinnefn- "lAter the N.R.I. Oradoate Berrlce De- lartment esnt me to Slatlan KtVClt as a Eadio Operator. Mow 1 am Radio RtiBlneer nr »tatlnti WST7I and oomieoted with Xele* rislon Station ffgXK.** '‘Radio aerruam permitted me to attend eehool and work erenlaes and weM-euds. Uion completlne the M.B-I. Course 1 was made Serelce Uaaaser at |40 to *80 a week. than twice my Shoe tactory wage. p m ijumpedfnm^aaimkfo^M —a FreeBook sfarfeJ meioma/d this GOOD PAY IN RADIO Bore Is a outck war tn mwa w- Rsdlo_ offers the rhince to mske *5, liO a wttk »>tra lu spare tlms a fe" moiitUs fran now. ‘Htere Is an Inereaelnii deoitiid tor full time Radio Technlelsns and Radio Operators, too. Msnr mska 830. $10. $50 a week. On top of record business, ibe Radio Indutttr is netUne millions and mlUions of dollars In lieteose Otdars. Clip the coupon below and oulU it. Find out bow I train ro>‘ Uiwe nprorlunitlet. Why Many BnAlo Tecbni Train Make $30, $40, fISO The 883 broadcasllna atailon" empictr thousands ol Radio . arerasre pay antma the >^Astrlee. Itepairl

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FUTURE combined with SCIENCE FiCTiON Volumm Two — Numbmr Two Doeomhmr, J94I A CLASSIC SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL AROUND THE UNIVERSE Ray Cumniiags ID It it«rt«d «i « plvasurs tour «nd andad with a mad raca around atarnity to avart Hia danQor that hun9 ovar Earth. Tubby, Amaana of Vanut, and tha stranga littla profa*- •®r— wa» It pouibla that thj* advanhira had itartad from an Idla wish? A nova! to ramambar. OUTSTANDiNO NOVELET OAY OF THE TITANS Fr«d«rie A. Kummsr, Jr. 74 Thay thought tha tIma*cona might gat tham out of troubla; thay didn't think it would add to thair probUmi! UNUSUAL SHORT STORIES NO STAR SHALL FALL Wilfrad Owo Morliy M Thia >1 that ttranga draam you'va baan trying to ramambar. Martin Pnorsan 70 Mallory K«nt 91 .Lotlio A. Crouteh 9S I hava to bahava or tha aul Oonnis Lovond 100 < thair thipt batwaan tha Usiin Porri 10* J auddanly bacoma aringlng '•ryono 64 HIter 90

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—irtuil «( the man wbo hold* (he title, -Th« W..rWi D cf «loped Uan." Chaplet Atlaa . . . America's Greatest '‘Builder of Men” THAT it the Mine imoMdletely theuiht el by mei »he WANT to *t> Uln • phytleue that •ill vithttand hvdahifl and atrain, ready foraBygu* tibia amartenay, lertoBal or aatlonal. In avery part of the country Charic* Atlaa I* recepalyed aa “America'* Sreatett Builder el Men.” Almoct two mltllen «<n have «rllt(n to him. ThouMnd* upon ihoutands have put their phyticai development Into hia le build th« kind of men Afflirlea vitally need*! MAIL THIS COUPON NOW! wrcni llrlnp nu weakened you inilda. I'll tel after that cooditlon. too, *nd «how you how it feela to LTV£I CHARLES ATLAS, Dept. 4M, 116 East 23rd St., New York City I t.u4 Uu preef ihat your lyttaai of “eynamie Ton- I'on" wlU help make a New Man ot im— plre me a healthy, butky body and bik oiUKular derclopmeot. Kritd B.e your free book. “Evarlaitlap Health and Strensth.” tPleaM print or’ 'wriu plainiy) .State 1C Minutes a Di^! Give me k Just this and ril prove I can^make you ANEW MAN! I'M ■•tradlng-ln” old bodies for new! ■ I’m taklng^ men who know that the condition of their arms, shoulders, chests and legs — their strength, “wind," and endurance — Is not 100%. And I’m making NEW MEJN of them. Right now I’m even training hun- dreds of soldiers and aallors who KNOW they’ve got to get into shape FAST! How do TOU measure up for the i defense of your country? Have YOU i the strong shoulders sad back that can 1 haul (or miles Uncle Sam's standard ei poundK of Army man's eiiulpment? Or if home defense presses you into service, have you the he-man strength and tire- less energy that double-shifts of working and watching may call for? AfflMp all the phytleal iMtrvcter* Now ae Never Before You Need a Body That's Ready for ANY Job In National Emersencyl Are you AUL MAN — tough-muscled, on your toes every minute, with all Che up-and-at-'em that can lick your weight in wildcats? Or do yun want the help 1 e«ja give you— the help that hae already worked such wonders for other fellows, everywhere? All the world knows I was ONCB a skinny, S7-Ib weakling. And NO~W it And new tkal the e«ll I* fer r knows I won the title, “The tVorld's esptble *f helpiap Amerles meet Md Most Perfectly Developed Han." Against cMieuir any national emweeney. many all comers! How did I do It? How do I thewand* ef othw*. eves Ihew work miracles In the bodlss of other is their eeuntry a Amy aad wavs men In such quick time? The answer Is '‘Dynamic Tension’’ I In Just IS minute* a day. right In the prlvary of your fnvn lierae, I'ra ready to prove thel "Oy- aamic Tepiiaa" ren lay a new outfit of lolldmi over every tneh of your body. Let me put i eouthlnc poaer Into your arm* and ehouhlr cive you an arnor-*hie1d of itomach mnirle laufhi St punrhr* — strengthen your lege 1 FREE This Famous Book That Tells You How to Get ^ a Body That Men Respect and Women Admire Almoot Iwo uiilUnn nen have tent for ami read my book. “Evorlattini Hoalth and Shentth." It lelU you eiactly what ''Dynamle Testlen’’ ran do. And It'i packed wicb picturet that gHDW you what it doe*. BhtBL'LTS It hae produced for other smn. H£HL'LT8 I vraot to prove It can get for TBT'I It you are eaUefled to lahe a back ceat aud be puthed uround by other fcl- h-wi wsek-in, week-tait. you deo'l want Ihli book. But if you want to learn haw ymj can actually become a NEW MAN. right tn tlie privMy of your awn hama and In only IS lalnutof a day. than manl— get Ihl* coupon into tba suU ta aee M foot a* your leg* can get to lha lattarbeal CUAKLEB ATLAS. Bapt OI. 115 Eaet 23rd BL. New York City. 5

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A Money-Making Opportunity for Men of Character EXCXUSIVE FRANCmSE FOR An Invention Expected to Replace A Multi-Miluon-Doixar Industry Costly Work Formerly “Sent Out” by Business Men Now Done by Themselves at a Fraction of the Expense This la « call for man everywhere to haaJI* Exclusive aftency for one of the mo«« tinlQue bualneN loveatioas of the day. Pony yetr* tyo the horse tad huiineu wm tapreeu— today ahwst esrioct. Twenty years ago the phonoerapb industry ran into asany millioas— today practically a relic. Only a cocnparacively few foresight^ men taw the fortunes ahead in the aucoaohile and the radio. Yet itreaistible wavea of public buyiat awepe these raea to (orcune, and sent the buggy and tbe phonogrt^ into the discard. So arc great successes made by men able to detKC tbe shift in public favor from one industry to anoucr. Hut tmihtr ehtnti k lnUng fUit. A4 «U anblUW lad a. try— »a bcegrid aa sell She tsae business aua the ide* due seae osr he mtr seed Battethtof like this iftveatioo. Tbe need is ilnadr there-* she nooey it ututXIy beioe sped sigm « ott vwp auaew — tad tbe detinbusty of teving the greetoe fwb ef. this oqeme is obvioos inaedieerly. Some of the Sawtni$ You Can Show Toe esstk loS sa oCce tod pot dowa yra pratpeei • letter froa a ttJet orgtaiitcioo ibovnoi di*l mw dad vtorte In thrown ofiee for ail which fonoedy could btve ,«Ml mea over {200. A buildiae supply eorponaoo sty* air aua P>, wherett the biUeosld have beeo for {l.SClOf Aa auioiBobile detia pun our iipaaautive {13, wheme (he etpease couid have boa over {1,000 A depcroaeal •tOR hts expense bf $tt.60, possible cost if done ouolde she buiineti oehif well ora {1.000. Aod so aa. Ve could m poisibly last sU ewa These etc pMC a^^ at «roffi3th“’ Paccicilly evetyliae of bssla^ lod.cvexy leetion of the esuBoy a iscreMBad by these Add sepoR* tshaeb hasuw tents d sal tag. coavtDcuig BQoeyosvlBg Cgw^^ics which hardly lay hutlaaa osn tan (ail to froftts Typical of No Money Neeif 8e Risked the Young, Crowing Industry u srbg ihU basiaest out. Y« en meuufe the puip' , .... , ., biliues tad not be out I ijllv. Wyw ws fv V Golag Into this busiacM is Boc like selliag soaatbiag sW Sr •«/ businew ehti it M* oderoJ ia every fcocery. dm or deptitmnt store. Foe coaanc into in owo— oa the upptde. iwtetd of iht . latUaat.whearouukea».Saorda,{}.S]ctabeyow dawairtde— t busiacit lb« offen tbe buyer (slief fmb thin, {1.500 snnh of bwuaew. you/ shtre eta be , bw&uoae. but luatvostltble cmnie— s bosiaea thtS {I Jdym. Tbe Ttsy letst you get u your pen of every hts • pretpen prtcticeUy ia every oftee. store, ot (setarp dolltr's north of butiata you do as 47 ceott—oa tea hue nhkli you eia let looe— tvetrdlets of sise— sits is » doUare' noetb {i.70. oo t hundred dollars north {47.00 nminty bur does Dot have tay aviee cuttaog la rotirted — la other woeds cno thirds of every order you get Is with as othet aeceasiciet do— tbit because you eomnl ysun. Noe oaly oa the &(k asder— but o« repeti ordeis «he sties ia esclutiva tefritory is your on* butiaew— -oodyoohtvi ebeopponuaicyofctraiif taevea Itsgei ,s«, ^ ti>t4007-».Mohiie. Wt. I Then tetva the anveauoa wiibout a dolltr dosn. le ' Wkbaw oMietUtn i* na. twd ws (utt Wir. , tuns nnckiag tt ooce. (aifewsbott dsn theiasulU. | wtUotouirBui ertatshloh | cson ihooid aetaiUy produce coough eat* moaej U pty * ^ fot thedetl. nithprofits tbove theiavtaoBeot eoreiogio | nta»..^_»__— — | K the tiae dse. Toa then ctU back. coUeee yow Boney. I w e.uu Nochaag it to coovtaciog ta one odtr to let retulu epeak . ~ ' | dorelaaiieSTwnithootiitktoebeewtotBerlWhilsotocei I *s» St*™ • ftU to eat even a heietog, ooe aea are B^g etlet . cn, I (ttasiag 10(0 the huodredt. They hsvc receivad the actea* | I cias of the Urgett dnat ta cbe aouany. «d U lb* , . . - ■wUetc hssiaetset by (b« ebMunds. Lvawww»aw»«MtMMwnwJ 6

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Now IT Only $1.00 188 PAGES — CL0TUI10tJ«D A Complete Course In the Development of WILL POWER— clear, practical, inspiring. 12 POWERFUL, LESSONS 1— Self-Examination 2— 'Will, Its Power, Func- tion, end Development 3— Physical Dominance **How to Develop Your Will Power" To develop tlie Will ii> far (iMfier end niinptvr then one mitrht xup- r«*>e. The Power of thr Will can be devet- ui>«d (hroogli exercisL Jii-t like the Power of H Mfu-ele. TU«« ear * done by any ntan The way has been miMle elear and ii>e with (be 12 • rful l.oMotta in thia iiopirinK coorse — baved on the 84'len(itlc lawB of human nature, but hO (•iiiipte a cliild eon understand nod follow every word and idt«. i — Development cf Courage 7 — The Value of Habits 8 — Self Ccntrcl ^ g 4 — Physical Dominance, continued 5— 'Physical Dominance, concluded 9 — Self Control and Busi- ness Power 10 — Business Success 11 — ^Wiil and Ideals 12 — Review of Lessons i_HERE can be no donbt that a weak will can beep yoti fremi Success In your Business — 1.000 — Health — anil Other Desires. On the other iianil, history of- fers a coiitinuous record of the Uvea of nmi and women wtiose IRON WILLS ITSHKD THh»I THROUGH TO BRIL- LIANT .'^^CCES.S, in spite of lowdy - birth, lack of eitucation, poor environ- ment, pirverty, physical weakness and iuHnoJties. Will Power Is the Mainspring of life It is the driving power, the engine, n-itliout nhich the complicated maclain- er>' of the huiiiaii being would stop. We Cannot all ikive ourselves to world fame and success like Lincoln, NapoltHtn, Lkli- son and many others — whose will power helfK-d them to overcome discouraging handicaps— hut WE CAN ALI. DEVH,- OP A STRONGrai WII.L and thus wm a GHe4TKR MEASURE OF SUCCESS IN OUR OWN LIVES! What Is Your Aim in Life? VVbar is y«ar strangest desire? What is your h«vrrl aanbitionV What Is your idea of success'.' Wbctiier you aim for Money- fame (i«iod Health— llappy Love and Vtor- riaite— WiHTcss in Art, Pro/eiwlon or Busi- ness— WILL I'OWKIt will surely hdp you gain it for you, oe nothing else In the world will! Uf Us Send This Course for Free Examination Tlon’t delay. Get started now. Mail the cou- IHrtt uow Tor "Haw to llevelop Your Will rower" by C. Tree .Major and start retting the things yon want in life. .M014EY BACK NOT loori. SATISFIED. After book or- rireo, road it and us«. If least bit unsatis- tied. return it and we will send your tsooey back immediately. But write now. SEND HO MONEY; iust Mail This Coupon How! [ HERALD PUBLISHING CO., Dept. W88N ■ 26 East 17th $t.. New York, N. Y. \ Send me "How to Develop Your Will Power" by ■ C. Tree Major, for which I will pay poatmaa • Jl.OO (plug few c«ii1b postage). If I am not eatle- | fled, I may return the hock within 10 daye, and i my money will b« lefonded at once. * I City State . HERALD PUBLISHING CO. < 26 East 17th 8t. Dept. W88N New York City^ □ I am enclosing JJ.OO with the coupon, and you • will pay poKtege. Same money back guarantee. - 7

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Amazing FROM THE FAR OFF GOBUR DISTRICT OF ALGERIA COME THE CHOICE ROOTS USED IN THESE E(/X(/;?K €VEN more surprijing it tKe fa«t thot these Algerian Featherweights, so light and com- Fortoble, are mode with a costly inner cup* of smooth, virgin Gobur Algerian Brtor . for richer appeorance, for longer-lasting quality, and for a sweeter, more satisfying smoke And for att this you don't risk o cent! We tell you how at the bottom of this ad These beautifully corved pipes compare mognifjcently with those in ony mon's collec- tion Under present difficult import conditions —if only for their beauty ond volue— you, os o wise pipe smoker, will be wiser still ii you order the COMPLETE selection of shapes. Use these luxury pipes for your own pleosure or os fine gifts in ony case, you sove o good deol of money ot $1.00. INNER CUP but TRUE IfcBrn® ^**'®“* ^OBACCm /free with each pipe t»bac<c -• »'•« •» 15, m,lt^ AMAZING!!! EVEN MORE THAN YOUR MONEY BACK! 1 FENTNC^EieNT PIPE . . VatHt $1.00 ■OJ) t POUCH BLEND 53 A« Mill mA tttPl£ PIPE MIXTURE . .15 |p9sr 1 PUCK PIREE SOUiRES TOBACCO . .15 Ipaio TOTAL VALUE $1.30 ■ tf. after frying one of theie pipe* wi^h lobeccos, money-order, cash or ttompi to get your pockoge fully you ore not entirely totislicd. |u*t loy the word, prepoid by u*. or »end o postcord to wt you poy Vou keep pipe ond toboccos ond we promptly r«- postmon $1.00 plus tOc CO.0. fee. Free cotologue of turn your money Specify shape wonted. Send check, ether megn! OcenI values with eoch order. "'■‘'"d*""* ^AMES B. HALL, inc. 34H UNION SQUSRE ICtr. IM St.) WEW YORK, N.Y. In New X»rA ¥l$lf »vt rotall eter*

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Personalized Pencil Kit Makes A Popular GiftI 6ENUINE LEATHEB-ALL NAME-STAMPED Here's the season’s most popular gift — it’s a two-piece genuine leather pencil kit and memo pad that every member of the family would be proud to own. For business folk — teachers — college students — secretaries — and youngsters at school — this handy pocket set is every inch an attractive and useful personalized item. The pencil kit consists of pencil pouch and memo pad, both of genuine leather, with in- dividual name stamped in bright gold letters. The pencil kit consists of five quality, hard- wood pencils, each with sturdy ferrule and red para eraser. Fine graphite in each pencil assures smooth-writing. Each pencil is in- dividually stamped with personal name. The memo pad is convenient pocket-size — with refill for pad obtainable everywhere. Your name also stamped on the memo pad in at- tractive gold letters. Get this handy pencil and memo pad today — use it yourself or buy it as a gift for some- one. Order today — only $1.00 postpaid any- where in U. S. — Clip coupon and mail. ALL GENUINE LEATHER M. L. SALES CO.. Dept. 12. Room 315 60 Hudson St.. New York City AsAma Agony Don't r«ly on emokcn. sprays and Injections it you suffer from terrible recurring, choking, gasping, wheeling spells of Asthma. Tliousands of sufferers have found that the first dose of Uendaoo usually palliates Asthma spasms and loosens thick strangling mucus, thus ptomoting freer breathing and more restful sleep. Uet Menuaco in tasteless tablets from druggists. Only 80c. Money back guaranteed unless fully satisfied. Sove on your burglar in$urance WORLD ELECTRIC PROTBCTION COMPANY, rftablisbcd in Brotrklyii, New York, over ?0 years. Burglar aJamis ingtaJIed and maintainefl fur s(ore«, faetortea and liomea. Oiir grade “A” alarms are approved by UndetWiter Laboratories. We al&o install the invisible ray photo- electric eye alarm, low cost. Write for con^e4e information, no obliga^- tion. WORLD ElECIRIC PROTECTION CO. 1081 Flatbush Ave.. Brooklyn, N. Y. START 1260 to $2100 YEAR — Women ■ iiousands aypcfnlmenta. each year Prepare NOW for 1942 Eiamlnatloos / FraDhlin Imfitvic OepL P216 le^wter, N. L Gentlemen: Enclosed please find 11.00 for which send me postpaid a GI^UINB L.EATHEiR PEN- CIL KIT AND MEMO PAD which includes five pencils — all name-stamped in bright gold letters. NAME 32 Page Civil Servk* Book FREE Mail Coupon Today SURE w Cmllemen ; Rush ts me O FREE of charge, list of <% D. S. Government big pay job*. Send me FREE 82- page boob dcscHbiDg sala- ^ ^ vacations, hours and work. ADDRESS CITY STATE, ★ /Hattie ^AtMfeas . 9

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AROUND Tubby no idea when he made hU wish about "knowing the cosmos first hand" that It was going to come true. But come true It did, and he found himself off on a four of existence with the odd little man who called himself Sir Isaac Newton Verne Wells. And Tubby never suspected that their pleasant little jaunt would turn Into a mad race against time, to save Earth from a terrible threat. Here if is — the best>liked of the let- mous "Tubby" stories-^ full-length novel, reprinted by populor request. 10 THE UNIVERSE A COMPLETE NOVEL by RAY CUMMINGS (Author of “Man on tho Motoor," “Tarrmto the Conqueror,’* etc.) of Spate with nothin’ on beyond, that would just be more Space, wouldn’t it?” This question addressed directly to Tub- by, confused him momentarily. The place where' Space stopped with nothing on be- yond! Sure that would just be more Space. Then, quite suddenly, the flaw in the ar- gument struck him. "You got the wrong idea,” he declared condescendingly. '7 ain't never said there was nothin’ on beyond the edge of Space." "He’r right, Jake,” the second man put in. ”He ain’t never said that.” The first man stared. CHAPTER I HAT ain’t so,” Tubby spoke up H suddenly from the seclusion of -H- his seat across the room. He glanced at the three men who sat around Ihe little table under the circle of light, their poker game temporarily suspended, the cards and chips pushed to one side. "That ain't so nohow. Don’t you tell me it is!” ■'He ain't tellin' you,” responded one of (he men caustically. "I ain't sayin' what 1 think,” the first man defended. "I’m fellin'^ you what he said. The Stars goes right on past the Sun — right to the edge of Space — only there ain't no edge of Space. Thai’s what he said. ” "You're right, Jake,” agreed the second man. "That’s what he said.” Tubby glared belligerently, and brought his pudgy fist down upon (he flim^ arm of the camp chair into which he was wedged. "That ain't so. There must be an edge to Space,” he snorted. "How can Space go on forever? That ain't got no sense to it.” The first man continued patiently: "He said if you could imagine the edge 11

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12 ^ Fulura FieKon "You're assumin' somethin' you ain't got no right to assume,” Tuhby went on mer- cilessly. The first man collected liis scattered wits. "Well, what did you say?” he demanded. ' I didn’t say nothin’,’’ Tubby responded. Then to change the subject he added abrupt- ly; "Who was he — said all this?” "A Fertessor— an — an Astronomer,’’ re- plied the finst man. "Us heard him give a lecture last week.” "Did he say the moon had people on it?" 'I'ubby persisted. The first man, confused by the sudden introduction of this new topic, answered sullenly: "No, be didn’t say nothing about no peo- })le in the moon." "What are you gettin’ at, Tubby?” the third man put in. "We're talkin' about Space, not no men in the moon.” Tubby smiled genially. ’Tm talkin’ about the moon. I read a book by a guy named Weils. Now he says — " "He ain’t no Astronomer,” the first man objected. "What's he know about it?” The third man continued the attack. "Stick to what you were sayin', Tubby. Ynu said there would he somethin’ at the edge of Space — not just more Space.” "1 didn’t say nothin' about it,” Tubby re- pealed. "But I uitl wy.... There is an edge to Space because when you get there you wouldn't find more Space, you’d lind ” "What?” demanded the first man ag- gressively when Tubby hesitated. "Why — why, more T.and —that’s what ou'd find.” Tubby glared through the lue haze of the tobacco smoke that bung like a pall about the unvcntilaled room. "More Land," he repeated triumphantly. "Ain't that argument enough? Don’t that show Space can’t go on forever?” The third man was gathering up the cards and chips. "Let’s go ahead with the game,” he sugge.sted. "This here argu- ment ain’t got no sense. You shut up, Tubby — you ain’t in this.” "Right,” said Tubby, with the magnani- mous air of a victor. He shifted his feet more comfortably on the second camp chair and leaned back contentedly. "You don’t want me talkin’. 1 can shoot your argu- ment full o’ holes in no time.” The first man insisted on proceeding with his astronomical narration, while Tubby listened idly. It was then — as he sat there vaguely .sorting out in his mind the mis- cellaneous statements regarding stars, plan- ets and comets which his friend was mak- ing— that his great gift was revealed to him. The revelation came unobtrusively — so unobtrusively in fact, that at first Tub!>y did not grasp its real significance. "I Wish they’d quit that talkin' an’ go on with the game,” he murmured to himself with annoyance. It seemed quite logical that at that in- stant Jake should decide he wanted to re- sume the poker game. At all events, in another moment the chips were clicking on the board table— science was forgotten for the more absorbing intricacies of poker. Tubby, even then not realizing his mar- velous gift, was left alone with bis thoughts. Enormously large numbers whirled in his head — strange words — orbits, suns, planets, comets, stars. .. .Stars! He seized upon that, as one word at least, that was really familiar. It was a beautiful night out. lie remembered; and as he gazed upward to the dim, smoky rafters of the room he was sorry he was not outdoors. WISH I could see them stars now,” JH he murmured. And quite naturally, there were the stars, brilliant and glittering, spread out above him like millions of diamonds on a huge blue-velvet cloth. The moon hung over a clump of trees, above Bill H.swkins' apple orchard. There are some very .surprising things that occur so naturally they do not cause surprise. The revcialion of Tubby’s mai- veloiis gift was one of them, He was not surprised to see the stars, only pleased. "I wish I knew somethin' really true about them stars," he mutteicd thoughtful- ly. And then with sudden vehemence: "I uiih I knew ail about them stars. 1 wish I knew all about Astronomy — I tvish I could sec it all for myself.” He felt fingers plucking at his sleeve, and turning, faced the dim figure of a man who was standing by his side. ”I came,” said the man softly, "because you sent for me.” He stepped forward a little, out of the sh.adow to a place where the moonlight fell on his face. Tubby thought he had never seen so sad a face before. It was long and very thin. It needed a shave, Tubby thought; and its eyes were unnaturally bright. A thin wisp

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Around the Universe A 13 of straggly brown-white hair was above the face; and below, just above the collar of a soft white shirt, protruded a perfectly enor- mous Adam’s apple. Tubby’s gaze swept the man's thin, but somehow muscular-looking figure — bare- headed, coatless, the white negligee shirt with loose, soft collar and a flowing black bow tie; and very baggy tweed trousers that flapped on bony legs. "I’m here because you wanted me,” the man repeated, His voice was deep and throaty, and inexpressively sad. Tubby felt immediately sympathetic. ’Tm sorry you're so sorry about somethin’,” he said consolingly. "I didn't mean to send for you. I ” The man smiled gently, pathetically. Tubby stared at his Adam’s apple, fascinat- ed, for it was bobbing up and down as tiiough its owner were swallowing rapidly. "Oh, I don't mind,” the man said pa- tiently. "You couldn't help it. You wished you knew all there was to know about As- tronomy ” He paused, his voice trail- ing away. "Right,” said Tubby encouragingly. He felt somehow tremendously sad, but deter- mined not to show it. "That’s what I wished. And so you ’’ "So, of course, because you have the pow- er to make all your wishes come true, I had to hurry here to tell you everything you — wanted to know.” His voice broke; and Tubby saw, even in the dim moonlight, that his eyes were filling with tears. "I'll tell you all about Astronomy,” the man went on in his dull monotone. "But you won’t believe me.” His utterly hopeless depression was con- tagious. Tubby swallowed the lump in his throat. He put out his hand and touched the man's elbow — a round, bony knob un- derneath the thin sleeve of his shirt. "Yes, I will believe you," he said kind- ly. "I wouldn’t ne\'er think you was a liar." The man brightened perceptibly. "Let’s get acquainted,” Tubby added. "Then you can tell me why you’re so sad.” NAME is Isaac Wells-Vcrne,” XvM said the man. "Sir Isaac Swift DeFoe Wells-Vernc, but my friends call me Professor.” "Mine's Tubby — pleased to meet you, petfessot.” They shook hands. "What are you perfessor of.^’’ Tubby asked, after an awkward silence. Sir Isaac’s expression, which had cheered somewhat at the introduction, clouded over again. "Professor of Knowledge,” he said sad- ly. "It is my business to know everything and to tell people about it — in writing.” "Oh,” said Tubby. ”I do tell them — ” Sit Isaac sighed heav- ily, and a tear slipped from one of his eyes and roiled down his lined face — lines of care, and of emaciation rather than age, foe the man was not really old. "I do tell them — but nobody ever believes me. Life and pieople on the moon, for instance — ” He sighed again, and shrugged resignedly. 'Tve told them all about that and they don’t take me seriously. They think be- cause I've never been there, that I’m mak- ing it up. Sometimes they won’t even buy what I’ve written. They — ” Tubby's fat little arm went around Sir Isaac’s thin waist. "Don't you care, perfessor. I’ll believe you. / won’t never think you’re makin’ nothin’ up.” A sudden thought occurred to him. "You’re hungry, ain't you, perfes- sor You look hungry. Did you eat to- day.^" "I — no, I didn’t,” Sit Isaac admitted re- luctantly. "But i don’t care about eating. I want people to appreciate my genius. I — ” "You must eat,” declared Tubby. He ex- panded his stomach. "Look at me — I ain’t never missed a meal in ten years. ” The further thought strude him that pos- sibly Sit Isaac had no money with which to buy food. McGuirk’s lunch-wagen was less than a mile away — Tubby himself would pay for the meal. And then, as a climax to this mental activity, Tubby re- membered his own newly discovered power. "I wish we had a abso-/rr/e-Iy perfect din- ner served right now, here on the ground,” he declaimed abruptly. And, even before Tubby himself realized his wish had come true, Sir Isaac was squat- ting cross-legged on the ground eating the food with avidity. Tubby had eaten only an hour before, and with difficulty he crammed down barely a third of the lavish meal. But Sir Isaac was equal to his task; and, for ten minutes, Tubby, completely sa- tiated, sat in silence watching his new friend empty the huge silver platters. Tub- by noticed now that from the pockets of Sir Isaac's shirt the stubs of three or four

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14 ^ ^ Futur* ncti«Mi grubby lead pencils and a fountain pen pro- truded; and that the third finger of his right hand had a corn on it, near the end joint; and all his fingers were ink stained. Also from each of his hip pockets, as he sat hunched forward on the ground, Tubby could see a huge bundle of folded manu- script, sticking out. When everything edible was completely eaten, Sir Isaac sighed contentedly. "I wish we each had a good cigar,” said Tubby promptly; and striking a match deft- ly with his thumb nail, he courteously light- ed the huge black perfecto which Sir Isaac had in his mouth. With his own cigar lighted, Tubby leaned back luxuriously and smiled at his companion. "This ain’t so bad,” he declared cheer- fully. "Now, perfessor, tell me all about everything. You can begin with—” He deliberated. ' — begin with the edge ot Space. These here guys — ” Tubby broke off, for a stupendous idea had just occurred to him. Sir Isaac knew all about everything — but he had not ac- tually seen it. The Moon, for instance. He had never been there — that’s why peo- ple wouldn't believe what he wrote about it. Now with his (Tubby’s) ability to wish for anything, why not go tliere— go every- where— and sec ei’erything.^ It ought to be possible .... "Listen, perfessor,” he said, excitedly. "You don't need to tell me nothin'. Let's go see things for ourselves." He explained his idea vehemently. Sir Isaac looked almost dazed for an in- stant. "If I only could,” he said musingly, his deep voice filled with awe. "I know just what we would find — on the Moon, Venus, Mercury, Mars — everywhere, every- thing— I know it all. If only 1 could verify it — could see it all for myself — ” Tubby was standing up impatiently. "Come on, perfessor. Let’s go." Sir Isaac climbed to his feet mechanical- ly, a look of exaltation on his face. "If I only could — " he murmured; but Tubby interrupted him sharply. "Come on. Don't be no goop.” "But where? How? asked Sir Isaac al- most stupidly, for the anticipatory joy in his heart had dulled momentarily even his gigantic intellect. "I wish we could go anywhere in the Universe. I wish we were ^ ready to go now. I wish we had « — a eloso-htte-ly per- fect ship to go in,” Tubby intoned rapidly. They both saw it the same instant, shining in the moonlight in a field not fifty feet away — a pale, grey-white, square metallic object, as large as the little build- ing that housed O’Conner’s Grocery. ’’There it is,” said Tubby. "What is it? Come on — let's go sec." Sir Isaac’s eyes shone as he looked at it. "My Inter-planetary vehicle,” he mur- mured, pride and awe mingling in his tone. Without another word he gripped Tubby by the hand, jerking him forward at a run. Tubby’s breath was almost gone when they arrived. He stood leaning against the side of the vehicle, panting. 'ITic thing was indeed as big as a very small cottage. It was made of metallic substance — similar to akuninum only different, Sir Isaac said. In shape it was like a huge cube with a lit- tle dome set on top. It had several tiny windows of heavy plate glass set in each side, with a small metal door in front, which door now stood invitingly open. Tubby, his breath recovered, walked around the vehicle, inspecting it curiously; while Sir Isaac stood regarding it as a proud mother might regard her precocious off- spring. After a complete circuit outside. Tubby peered through the doorway into a dim in- terior. "Come on in, perfessor. It’s all ready, waitin’ for us.” They went inside together; and Sir Isaac, as though he had lived in the place all his life, immediately switched on a light. Inside, the vehicle was divided into sev- eral tiny rooms on two floors — just like a toy cottage, Tubby thought — and seemed fully furnished and equipped ready for oc- cupancy. There was a store-room of food — a little kitchen, like the kitchen of a Pull- man dining car — a main room, filled with a mass of scientific instruments — and two very small beds upstairs. Tubby sat down on one of the beds tentatively. Its mattcess was soft; its springs yielding but strong, and its coverings luxurious. Tubby sighed with relief. "I ain't no kicker, perfessor, but I do like to sleep com- fortable.” They went back into the instrument room, where Sir Isaac quietly inspected a little keyboard like that of a typewriter. "What’s that?” Tubby asked. "Do you

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Around Hi* Univer** A A* 'A IS know how to run this thing, perfessor?” Sir Isaac straightened. His manner had completely changed. He was now forceful, commanding, dominant. Tubby was im- pressed by his look, even before he spoke. "This is my Inter-planetary vehicle,” he said sternly. ‘7 invented it — I designed it — I have operated it, in my mind, many times. It is one of the most important of my contributions to science. 1 know tdl about it, of course.” ”Oh,” said Tubby. "That’s fine. Then we’re all ready to start,_ ain't we?” Sir Isaac bowed gravely. Tubby at the moment was standing be- side one of the little windows. The moon was still over Bill Hawkins' apple orchard; and at the sight two ideas came to Tubby simultaneously. "Just a minute, perfessor.” Sir Isaac was about to close the heavy front door, "I ain’t goin' 'til I wish them apples of Bill Hawkins’ is lyin’ rotten on the ground. He’s a mean guy, he is — wouldn’t let me pick none ever.” Tubby’s eyes were sparkling with vindic- tive joy at the thought of this simple and efficacious revenge. "Come on, perfessor. Let’s go see bow all them apples look when they're rotten." Sir Isaac’s glance was scornful. "That is childish,” he said shortly; and banged the door shut. Tubby, subdued but still wishing fen'ent- ly and audibly that this catastrophe would befall the luckless Bill Hawkins, stood by the window while | Sir Isaac went to the keyboard and unhesitatingly pressed one of its keys. There was a faint but perceptible trem- bling of the room. Tubby's feet pressed hard against the floor and his stomach seemed failing. It was like an elevator that suddenly takes you up much too fast. Sir Isaac switched off the light, plunging the room in darkness. Through the win- dow Tubby saw a moonlight landscape si- lently dropping away beneath them. He turned from the window after an in- stant, slightly sick and very frightened; but at once he felt better. The purring had ceased. The room, in fact, was apparently motionless and quite silent. Tubby felt no further desire to look out of the window; be sat down in a chair, mopping the per- spiration from his forehead with his shirt- sleeve. Sir Isaac, his tall thin figure barely vis- ible in the moonlit room, was still standing rigid by the keyboard, his fingers pressed delicately but firmly on its keys as a sur- eon's assistant holds the patient’s pulse uring an operation. Tubby stared at him a moment, then ventured: "Where — where we goin', perfessor?" Sir Isaac moved, and as his fingers left the keyboard to itself, Tubby’s heart leaped. Would the thing fall if you didn’t watch it? Evidently not, for Sir Isaac went over to the window quite calmly. “We will not bother with the moon just now,” he said thoughtfully, more to him- self than to Tubby. "No, we can stop there coming home. . . .1 think we should go toward the sun first, and then, after Venus and Merairy, skip back to Mars and so on out, , . .Yes, that will be best.” He turned away from the window toward Tubby. "Our first stop will he Venus,” he add- ed authoritatively. "Venus!" exclaimed Tubby. "That's fine. Then — then where do wc go?" "After that," said Sit Isaac slowly and impressively — "after that we will inspect the entire Universe!" CHAPTER II OME over licre, TuWby,” said Sir Isaac a few moments later. He had gone back to the keyboard, pressed another of its keys after m^ing a rapid mathematical calculation with one of his pencil stubs on a little paper tablet, and now was standing quietly by the window again. "Come here, Tubby, and look out.” Tubby shook his head emphatically. "You look out. 1 ain't interested.” He was considerably more frightened now than a few moments before, for a very dis- concerting thing had happened. He had secretly been reassured as they started, by the knowledge that in the event of any dire disaster, he could easily wish himself safely back at home. It had been getting ex- tremely warm in the room, and he had wished it would be cooler. But, so far as he could tell, it was getting warmer, rather than cooler. Alarmed, he had wished ve- hemently that they wen? back on Earth looking at Bill Hawkins’ apples. But noth- ing had happened. Sir Isaac was then mak- ing his mathematical computations at the keyboard; finally he had pressed another key carefully, and quite in defiance of Tub-

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14» ^ ^ Putur* Pietiftii by's frantic mental wishes, walked cjuietly to the window. Tubby considered the situation, and now decided to consult his companion about it. Sir Isaac laughed softly. "That was merely your Ejtthly power,” he jiaid condescendingly. ”I suppose 1 am glad you possessed it, since you were en- abled to bring into material being this in- ter-planetary vehicle of mine." He raised his hand deprecalingly. "Of course, I could easily have constructed it myself. In fact, I was intending to — as soon as 1 had the necessary money.” Tubby was aggrieved at this ingratitude. "An’ then I — I ain't able to wish for noth- in' no more.^” "No,” said Sir Isaac. "Naturally not — since you have left the Earth. You are now in the realms of Science — subject only to rational scientific laws. That magical wish- ing ability you had was childish. / could never be concerned in an affair like that.” He seemed to shudder at the thought, and added emphatically; ' / am a man of Science. Everything I iuve ever conceived has been strictly scien- tific. I am ashamed of you — and of course, now that you are in my realm, natur.iiJy all such foolishness has been left behind..^’ Tubby pondered this, sitting hunched up in his chair and sweltering in the heat. He was somewhat sullen; but presently, when Sir Isaac patted him kindly on the shoulder and assured him they were in no great dan- ger, he cheered up a little. "It's too hot in here, perfessor," he de- clared. "Can't we open the window an‘ get a little air in?” Sir Isaac smiled at the idea. "There is no air outside," he said cjuietly. "We have already traversed the few hundred miles of atmospheric envelope and passed beyond even the most rarefied strata of the Earth’s atmosphere. We are now in space. ” Oh, said Tubby. "Well, just as you say. But it’s awful hot." Sir Isaac was bending down to squint up- ward through the window, which from where Tubby was sitting was merely a black rectangle. "It will cool off presently,” he said ca.s- ually, "There's the thermometer by you. See what it says.” The room was now dimly lighted by one small electric bulb — which was lucky. Tub- by thought, for there was not even moon- light coming in through the window. He found the thermometer. It stood a little over a hundred degrees. An alarming idea came to Tubby; it would be terrible to smother and be so hot all at the same time. ”Say, perfessor, how are we goin' to breathe when we use up all the air we got in here?” SIR ISAAC reluctantly turned from his inspection of whatever it was showed through the window, and pointed to one of the instruments on a table over against the wall. "In breathing,” he explained, 'we alter the air only in so far as we use up its oxy- gen and add to it an excess of carlwnic acid gas. Now over there on that table is Reiset and Regnault’s apparatus— which J still consider the best or its kind. It produces oxygen from chlorate of potassium and re- leases it into the air as fast as w-e use it.” Sir Isaac smiled to himself with satisfac- tion. 'I have thought of and provided for every contingency. The carbonic acid gas that we exhale is absorbed. " He indicated several containers under the table. "Those hold caustic potash, which absorbs the car- bonic acid gas.... I have explained all this in my books, but I suppose you have not read them." Yes — no,” said Tubby. Not all of them, I guess.” He felt a little humiliated. "I ain’t so very scientific, perfessor. You'll have to tell me things as we go along. " 'I will," agreed Sir Isaac magnanimous- ly. He pulled out his handkerchief and mopped itis forehead. "It // hot. I'hat’s because of our friction in going through the Earth's atmosphere so fast. We re far be- yond the atmosphere now -exposed to the intense cold of inter-planetary space. We’ll be freezing in a little while — you need not worry about the heat." Tubby glanced apprehensively toward his discarded coat, and tried to recall how many blankets there were on the bed upstairs. Sir Isaac added: "Come over here and look out the win- dow. Don’t be afraid.” Through the window Tubby saw the stars, brighter, more brilliant than they had ever been before. Freed now from the di.s- loftion of the Earth’s atmosphere, they glittered like huge, sparkling diamonds, surrounded, not by the familiar blue of the sky as seen from the Earth, but by a pro- found inky darkness. It was a marvelous — indeed a stupendous

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Around the Univerte it -k -k \7 — si^ht. Tlie whole extent of the heavens swarmed with stars and constellations of pristine purity. Here and there hiin^ huge, spiral nebulous ma.sses, fleecy white, and glittering with tiny blazing points of white fire. Some of the larger stars were blue- white, others silver, still others a dull glow- ing red; and across the firmament stretched that immense ring formed by an impalpable dust of stars, the "Milky Way," in the midst of which our own sun ranks only as a star of the fourth magnitude. "Ain’t that pretty?" Tubby maireled, His fear had entirely gone. "Where’s the moon?" "The moon is on the other side of us," answered Sir Isaac. "It is shining into the room next to this." The instrument room, in which they were, only extended half the width of the vehicle. "Looking out this window we cannot see the moonlight, for there is no atmosphere to diffuse its rays .. .Stoop down and look upwards. Tubby." Tubby s<^uinted up through the window from beneath and saw a very large; thin silver crescent — an enormous arch extending nearly a third of the way across the sky. It glowed with a blue, almost phosphores- cent light, and it.s Outlines were blurred and wavy. Some parts of it were brighter than others, and there were many dark, almost black spots. <<WJ|S^HAT'S that?” he asked, amazed. w w "I ain't never seen nothin’ like that in the .sky before. Is that where we’re goin’ to? We must be almost there. What is it? Venus?” "That's the Earth," said Sir Isaac calmly. "We have turned over, you sec, because our base is heavier. We are falling diagonally away from the Earth, partly toward the moon and partly toward the sun. 1 shall head directly for the sun later tonight.” It was very hard for Tubby to realize that they were going the other way, having turned almost completely over; but finally he managed it. He was beginning to feel comparatively little surprise at anything any more. "Why don’t we sec all of the Earth?" he demanded. "Why is it so thin — like a new moon?" "Because the Earth is 'new',” Sir Isaac explained. "From the position we now oc- cupy that is all that is illuminated by the sun’s rays, though if you look closely you can distinguish the dim outline of the un- illiiminated portion of the sphere. You see the Earth is in its first phase. It ” He seemed contemplating the use of some pro- found scientific language; then, meeting Tubby’s puzzled glance, he shrugged and gave it up. "It is just like a new moon,” he added. "Only it’s a new Earth." They inspected the moon itself a few moments later, through the window of the adjoining room. It hung apparently mo- tionless just below the level of the window. All around it in the blackness, the stars shone as brightly as though it were not there— which, as Sir Isaac reminded, was merely because there was no intervening atmosphere to diffuse its rays and thus ob- scure the .stars. The moon was somewhat larger than when seen from the Earth, and considerably brighter. Its rays bathed the .store-room with a brilliant, blue-white light. Tubby was opening a box of crackers as he stood regarding it. "Ain’t that romantic, ” he murmured a moment later, with his mouth full of bis- aiit. "That’s abso-/«/e-ly pretty moonlight. Come on, perfessor — eat somethin’. This travelin’ so last makes me hungry." They made a very comfortable little mid- night supper of sardines — which Tubby found in a well-filled ice box — and the crackers. Sir Isaac’s appetite revived with eating, and he devoured such a prodigious quantity of the food that Tubby became alarmed over an ultimate shortage. "It’s quite all right, you know,” Sir Isaac assured him. "We are supplied for over a year. I've never started on a journey like this — even a mental journey-r-without an entirely adequate food supply. Besides, we can replenish along the way. You will find the Mercurian cuisine particularly good.” It had been growing steadily colder; and Tubby, discovering that the tiny kitchen which adjoined the store-room held a very decent little gas stove, made them each a steaming hot cup of coffee. "How cold is it liable to get, perfessor?" he asked, as they sat at an immaculately clean board table and drank the coffee. "Ain’t this Iwuse got any heatin’ appara- tus? A nice little furnace now ’’ "It can be heated," Sit Isaac answered. "But we shall not need it. It will be warm enough presently.” Certainly the weather in space was ex- ceedingly changeable; but that was to be

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1$ ^ Pulur* PietloN expected when one was traveling from place to place with such rapidity. "But how cold would it get if we stayed where we are?" Tubby persisted. He was beginning to be theoretical also, which, as Sir Isaac had remarked, is the first prerequi- site of a scientific mind. "I think I once estimated the tempera- ture of space to be about 250 degrees Fah- renheit below zero,” remarked Sir Isaac. "Pass me the cream, will you? And the coffee pot? You make pretty good cof- fee." "Thanks," said Tubby. "I ain't so ter- rible good at cookin' ” He paused dep- recating, his amazement at Sir Isaac's esti- mation at how cold it could get forgotten in the compliment to his culinary skill. "Minus two hundred and fifty degrees,” Sir Isaac repeated thoughtfully. "I wish I could verify it now. But we won't suffer from the cold. Soon we shall be ” As though in answer to his unspoken words, sunlight burst in through a window in the floor directly under Tubby's feet. He had not known this window was there, and leaped aside in terror. The vehicle at that moment had emerged from the (.‘Onical shadow cast by the Earth, and the diagonal rays of the sun struck its lower surface. Bathed in its golden fire, which mingled with the moonlight from the side window, the room in a moment became warm and pleasant. "This is nice,” said Tubby, with rapidly recovered equanimity. He discarded his coat again, and pushed the hot coffee from him. “We sure do have speedy changes of weather, don’t we, perfessor?” SIR ISAAC had donned a pair of smoked spectacles and was on his knees peer- ing down through the window. He called Tubby and offered him a second pair of the glasses. Tubby sat down on the floor. The sun, through the smoked glass, appeared a glow- ing red ball, with enormous tongues of flame rising from it. The globe itself was no larger than usual. They were closer to it, Sir Isaac remarked, but its distance still was so comparatively great that its visual increase of diameter was undiscernible. Also, on Earth, the atmospheric refraction enlarged it. The sun was not directly beneath them, but off considerably to one side — on the side away from the moon. And although Sir Isaac had already explained the phenom- enon in the ca.se of the moon, Tubby was greatly amazed to sec the stars shining quite imperturbably all around the sun. "That’s the first time 1 ever seen stars shinin’ in the daytime,” he murmured. Sir Isaac climbed to his feet. "I'll be back in a moment. I want to change our course and put on more speed.” He left Tubby sitting there and went into the instrument room, where, after a few more algebraic calculations, and careful ref- erence to a huge book that lay at hand, he depressed another of the keys slightly — and, after an instant’s hesitation, two others on another rank of the keyboard. Tubby, squatting on the floor in the oth- er room, saw the sun and ail the stars swing slowly over to one side — the whole firma- ment shifting silently under him. The sun was directly underneath when the movement ceased. Looking over to the side window he saw that the moon had risen considera- bly. It was now so high he could only see it because he was down on the floor. Sir Isaac returned. "Well make good speed now," he said. "We’re headed directly toward the sun, with eleven and a half times our former veloci- ty.” He sat down beside Tubby on the floor. It was amazing to stare down through that window at the sun and stars — into the immensity of space directly under them— and to realize that tliey were falling into it. Yet Tubby was not alarmed, possibly be- cause the vehicle felt so stable, so vibration- less, so absolutely silent and motionless. There had not been the slightest perceptible movement since that first instant when they started. In changing their course it was the stars and sun that appeared to move, not the vehicle. Tubby pondered all this. “Why don’t we feel like we was movin', perfessor?” he demanded some minutes later. "If we’re goin' so fast ” "My dear fellow,” Sir Isaac answered, "you must realize that all motion is relative. There is no such thing as absolute motion — it all depends upon your immediate sur- roundings. Einstein might tell you that as something very new — yet / have always known it.” "I don't get you,” said Tubby, puzzled. "The Earth,” said Sir Isaac, "is flying through space at the rate of some 66,000 miles an hour. You never felt that motion,

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Around th# Unlvvrs* A A A 19 did you? But when you are in a train go- ing 60 miles an hour — that motion you do perceive. That is because, relative to your immediate surroundings, you arc moving that fast. Do you understand now?” "No — yes,” said Tubby. "I guess so. Show me Venus. When do wc get there?” Venus, which fortunately was approach- ing inferior conjunction — that point in its orbit when it is between the Earth and the sun — was discernible slightly to one side of the sun at a visual distance of about twice the sun's diameter. Tubby saw it a» a very Urge, bright, blue-white star. "A telescope would show it ai a crescent in its last phase,” said Sir Isaac. Tubby, with their first stop in such plain view directly beneath them, was intensely interested. "Tell me all about Venus,” he demanded. "An’ tell me how you run this —this inter-planetary house we're in, so you can make it go where you want o.” Sir Isaac glanced at his watch. "Twelve fourteen. You must get some sleep soon. I will explain the operation of iny vehicle tomorrow.” Tubby realized he was a little sleepy. "How long we been travclin’?” he asked. "Two hour.s and twenty-seven minutes" Sir Isaac pulled out a lead pencil and a little slip of paper and began a rapid calculation. "We are now about 947,000 miles from the Earth,” he announced. "In two hours an’ a half! That's some travelin',” Sir Isaac smiled. "I should not say that — however, it is ete revolution around th« sun in a little more than 224 days — hence its year is that long — about a third shorter than ours. Venus has seasons just as we have — only less marked. Its atmosphere is a little denser than ours, but altogether Ve- nus is more like the Earth than any other of the planets.” "Good,” said Tubby. "Go on.” "It has no satellite,” Sir Isaac added as an afterthought. "What’s a satellite?” "A satellite is a smaller body revolving about a planet, just as a planet revolves around the sun. The moon is the Earth’s satellite. It revolves around the Earth about once a month." "How far away?" Tubby demanded. "Oh, very dose. Only about a quarter of a million miles. We are already four times that far from the Earth. You can see how dose the moon and Earth are together now. Look!” Sir Isaac pointed to the side window, pulling Tubby over on the floor nearer to it. The moon had risen still further, and had dwindled greatly in size. The tip of the Earth, very much smaller than before and more silvery, showed in the upper corner of the window. "Why, they’re gettin' right together,” Tubby exclaimed. “That moon really be- longs to us, don’t he? He’s our little brother!” ■‘Yes," said Sir Isaac. "We’ll stop off there going home. Now about our present velocity. Venus, at the time we started, was about 31 million miles from the Earth. We have already gone about one million, at an average rate of some four hundred thousand miles an hour. I have now increased this velocity to four million, six hundred thou- sand miles per hour.” Sir Isaac looked a little worried as he named these figures. "I hope we don’t hit anything," he added anxiously. "Hit anything!” Tubby echoed. He glanced down through the window at the heavens beneath. "Ain’t we got plenty of room? It looks like we had plenty.” Sir Isaac sighed. "All space is relative to motion. We haven't very much room at

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20 Future Fiction this velocity. It's so crowded in here near the sun. Outside — particularly beyond Neptune — things will be different. Then 1 can really put on speed." He shrugged. "You go to bed, Tubby, ril watch here. I don’t fancy we’re in any great danger.” "Right,” said Tubby. "If you see any- thing cornin' you steer around it." He got to his feet. "Good night, perfessor. Tm goin’ upstairs right away. When do we land at Venus.^” Sir Isaac was again absorbed with his mathematics, the sunlight from below light- ing with strange outlines his lanky figure and earnest, intellectual face. "What?” he asked abstractedly. Tubby meekly repeated his question. "I shall alter jur course later tonight,” said Sir Isaac. "I am using the suit’s at- traction now. It’s a little longer route, but simpler. Later I shall head directly for Venus and slow down somewhat.” He added: "I’ll call you about six o’clock. We will be fairly close in by then. We’ll land shortly after breakfast. . . .Good night.” "Good night, perfessor. Don’t make no mistakes with them figures, will you?” He turned, and climbing to the floor above, carefully selected the better of the two beds and soon was snoring heavily. CHAPTER III Tubby had gone to sleep in the starlight and very dim moonlight. He awoke most uncomfortably warm, to find the glaring sunlight beating directly on his bed through the 'oedroom window. For a moment he did not know where he was. The sun, larger than he had cs'cc seen it before, was about level with the window — shining among the stars in the black sky, intolerably bright, excessively hot. He lay blinking and gasping; then with returning memory, he leap^ out of bed and jerked down the green roller shade. The vehicle was without vibration, silent as before. *1116 room was hotter than mid- summer. Where was the professor? Was anything wrong? What time was it? "Oh-h, perfessor!” Tubby bellowed. Sir Isaac’s voice answered him from below. "Oh, you’re awake, arc you? Come on down. Dress as coolly as possible.” Ttd)by was dressed in a few moments, putting on his thinnest clothes — white flan- nel trousers, white buckskin shoes and white negligee shirt — which he had found in the bureau drawers and the ward«'obe. He was tiad to find (hem there, and glad that they tied him so perfectly, for he wanted to look his best when arriving on Venus. When he got downstairs he found Sir Lsaac also dressed all in white, with his shirt sleeves rolled up and his shirt open at the throat exposing half his bony but broad chest. Around his forehead was lied a white silk handkerchief to keep the hair out of his eyes. He was sitting at the instrument room table, working at his in- terminable figures. TTic side window of the room, which was now fumed away from the sun, showed only the black void of space with its glittering stars. Through another window, in the floor directly under Sir Isaac’s feet — which Tubby had net know’n to be there since it had been covered the night before — a soft, pale- blue light was streaming. It flooded the entire room, more intense than moonlight, hut blue rather than silvery. Sir Isaac looked up from his calculations and smiled. "Good morning. 1 was just coming up to call you.” "TTie sun woke me up,” .said Tubby. - "It’s awful hot up there. ... It ain’t so cool down here cither. . . . What's that blue light from? How are we getting on.^ What time is it?” Sir Isaac laid down his pencil reluctantly. "Seven thirty-three,” he said. ‘You’ve had a good long sleep. I just altered our course again. We intersected the orbit of Venus twenty-seven minutes ago, so I thought I had better turn and head di- rectly for her. 'That’s why the sun swung up to your window.” Tubby hung his natty Panama hat on a rack and approached Sir Isaac. "What's that blue light? Venus?” Looking down through the window, Tubby saw directly beneath them an enor- mous blue half moon, with dark, irregular atches all over it. Against the black ackground of space it glowed with intense purity — its pale-blue light making it seem ethereal — unreal. "That is Venus," said Sir Isaac softly. "You can see the whole of the sphere when your eyes become acaistomed to the light." A moment more and Tubby saw the dark, unilluminated portion. He saw, too, that

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Around ih* Univorsc A ^ ^ 21 where the edge of the light crosicd the face of tJie globe it was not a continuous line, but was broken into many bright spots and patches of darkness. “That’s where the sun strikes the tops ot the mountains," Sir Isaac explained. "The dark places are valleys and plains. ... Let us have breakfast. Aren’t you hungry.’" "No — yes, sure I am." Tubby rose to his feet from where lie liad been kneeling heavily on the floor. "That Venus is aw- ful pretty. How far away is she? When do we get there.’" "We intersected her orbit at a point 1,142,606 miles away, roughly speaking, ‘ Sir Isaac replied. "I had to change our velocity once or twite during the night — but still I fancy I may say wc have done fairly well." Sir Isaac drawled this out complacently. He was. .indeed, very Eng- lish at times. ■'I ain’t got nothin' to complain of. Tubby agreed. "When do wc land.’ ’ ’ Our present velocity is only 575,001 miles per hour. Venus is coming toward us at the rate of some 68,000 miles per hour. . . Sir Isaac seemed to be cal- culating in his head. ". , . But allowing time for landing — we shall have to slow up much more a little later on, you know- well, 1 think we should be there by ten thirty or eleven o’clock this morning.” 'Very good," said Tubby briskly. 'Come on. Let’s eat." Tliey had bacon and eggs for breakfast, and iced coffee with whipped cream, because it was too hot for regular coffee. Tubby would have made p.mcakes, but there did not seem to be any maple syrup, at w-hich he was exceedingly annoyed. Several titnes during the mgal Sir Isaac went into the instrument room for a moment to make a brisk calculation, to verify their course and to decrease their velocity a little. Tubby S Cjuestlons about Venus were incessant at first; but as Sir Isaac said, why discuss it theoretically wiicn they were to see it so soon? The store-room, which they were using as a dining room because it adjoined tKe kitchen, was directly under Tubby’s bed- room. The sun hung level with its window, but they kept the shade closely drawn. After breakfast they returned to the instrument room. Tubby insisting he would not wash up the dishes so soon after eating; and Sir Isaac showed him the Earth. It was about level with the instrument room side window and thus almost exactly opposite the sun. So far as Tubby could sec it was a star no different from any of the rest of them, except possibly a little larger, The moon, of course, was invisible. Venus, througli the window beneath their feet, had grown very much larger during breakfast. It was now an enormous glow- ing ball, half dark, half light, apparently nailed fast to the black surface of the firmament. The sensation that they were high above it and falling directly down to its surface came to Tubby suddenly. It made him a little giddy at first; but the unpleasant feeling soon passed away. For nearly an hour they sat talking idly, while this glowing sphere beneath them grew steadily in apparent size. They could distinguish even its dark portion quite clearly now, and its convexity was unmis- takable. They were hardly more than 25,- 000 miles a!>ove its surface, and falling slightly toward its northern hemisphere, when Sir Isaac suggested that Tubby wash up the brc.ikfast dishes. "I shall go down through the atmos- phere very slowly," he said. "But still I think we shall be there in rather more than an hour.” Tubby hastened into the kitchen, and Sir Isaac, jjcncil and pad in hand, took his station at the keyboard. When Tubby finally returned the instrument room was considerably darker than before. Sir Isaac, with two small electric bulbs lighted, was still seated at the keyboard. "Say," began Tubby indignantly, "the sun went l>chind a cloud or somethin'. 1 ain't quite finished, but 1 don’t know how to liglit the lights." They had already entered the atmos- phere of Venus, and had encountered, as chance would have it, a heavy bank of clouds — heavier than clouds ever are in the atmosphere of the earth. The sun thus obscured, the interior of the vehicle had grown quite dark. "Never mind," said Sir i*aac. "Let it ^o. We ll be there very shortly." .‘Tubby located his Pan.ama hat, rolled down his .sleeves, and donning a thin blue serge jacket sat down to await their land- ing. He could see nothing but grey mist through either window for a time; then, as they burst through the clouds, the room suddenly brightened. Sir Isaac bent over the window in tlie

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22 ^ Future Fiction 6oor, calling to Tubby. Beneath, spread out in a vast panorama extending to the horizon in every direction, lay the land- scape of Venus — forests of green vegeta- tion; a thin silvery ribbon of water; tiny grey blobs that were cities; and in the distance a range of blue-green mountains witli heavy white masses of clouds above. And, curiously enough, by a familiar optical illusion, it seemed now a concave surface, as though they were hanging over the center of a huge shallow bow], with the horizon rising upward to form its circular rim. "My!" exclaimed Tubby. "Ain’t that pretty? Just like bein' in a airplane, ain’t it, perfessor?" Sir Isaac, hovering anxiously between the floor window and the keyboard, was now exceedingly busy. 'Tve got to select a landing place," he said. "If you see a large open space where there are no trees, tell me at once.” Tubby, forgetting the possible damage to his white trousers, sat down on the floor beside the window, peering intently down- ward. They were falling rapidly; the land- scape grew momentarily larger in detail, passing slowly to one side as they fell diagonally upon it. The instrument room was now hotter tlian ever before. Tubby took off his hat and coat again, and dashed tht dripping perspiration from his face. "Hey, perfessor, slow up a little," he called to Sir Isaac at the keyboard. "We’re gettin' pretty close." They were now at an altitude of hardly three thousand feet. The circular horizon had already risen so that the range of moun- tains in the distance was visible through the side window. It was a beautiful day outside — subdued rays of sunlight filtering through the white cloud masses and falling upon the vivid green countryside in bril- liant patches of light. They passed over the narrow river, and Tubby saw an open space surrounded by tremendous fo't^ts of tangled green vegeta- tion, with occa-sional white blobs that might have been houses. Beyond, perhaps fire miles distant, a city lay — its low stone build- • ings gleaming a dazzling white. When they were directly ever the open space, Sir Isaac depressed another key sharp- ly; and the vehicle began falling vertically downward, with constantly decreasing velo- city, until, when they were only a few hundred feet up, it seemed floating gently down rather than falling. Sir Isaac’s eyes were now glued to the window, his fingers resting lighrly on the keys. Tubby stood up and put on his coat again ; and a moment later, with scarcely a perceptible jar, they landed on the sur- face of Venus. Sir Isaac relaxed, his face radiating triumph. "We have landed, ' he cried exultantly. ”A perfect trip, my dear fellow — 12 hours, 14 n^inutes and 7 second.s elapsed time!” "Right,” said Tubby. "We’re here. Come on perfessor. let's go outside an’ get some air. ” <<«^HATS that?" Tubby exclaimed wW abruptly. "Don't you hear somethin', perfessor?" Music was wafting to them on the breeze — soft, liquid tones like the music of a harp, and the sweet, pure voice of a girl singing. "It's over there," Tubby half whispered. "Over in the banana trees. Come on — let’s go see." They crept quietly forward; and within the grove of trees came upon a tan-bark path. As they followed it the music grew steadily louder, until nestling under the huge spread of banana leaves they saw a little white marble pavilion, with a tiny splashing fountain before it. The figure of a girl in white reclined beside the fountain — a girl who was apparently alone, play- ing on a small harp-like instrument and singing to its accompaniment. "Hcllo-o! " Tubby called incautiously. The girl sprang erect; and stood trem- bling, lyre in hand, as they hurried for- ward. Tubby saw she was a rather small, very slim girl, dressed in a flowing white garment from shoulder to knee, which was gathered at the waist with a golden cord whose tasseled ends hung down her side. "Good morning, ma’am,” he said gra- ciously. "It's a nice day, ain't it?” The girl smiled, seemingly reassured by his greeting. "We trust you speak our language,” Sir Isaac added anxiously. "It has always been my theory that on Venus — ” The girl replied in a gentle, softly mu.si- cal voice: "I speak the language of the North Countr)' of Venus, sir." Her fear seemed to have left her. She

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Around tho Univort* A A A 23 stood, with dignified bearing, waiting for them to explain their presence. Sir Isaac, with infinite relief on his face, turned to Tubby. "You see? I am vin- dicated. I always knew that on Venus — particularly in the North Country — the lan- guage was — ” Tubby frowned. "My name’s Tubby," he said to the girl. "An’ my friend’s name IS — "Sit Isaac Swift DeFoe Wells-Verne," stated Sir Isaac impressively. "We are charmed to meet you, Miss — cr — ’’ "I am called Amcena,” said the girl, simply; she extended her hand in most friendly fashion. When they had all shaken hands, she added : "You are not of my world, surely. We so seldom have visitors here. I cannot tell — ’’ "We’re from the earth,’’ said Tubby promptly. "We just got in this momin’.’’ "The earth!” Ameena exclaimed. She seemed suddenly perturbed. "I had thought you were Mercurians — men of the Light Country perhaps. We have never had earth- men here before. Never have I seen — ’’ "No," said Sir Isaac. "We are the first." The girl had seated herself on the mar- ble rim of the fountain; her pretty little face was clouded over with anxiety. "i am so glad you came," she said aftei a moment of silence. "Now I can warn you of the danger to your earth. My peo- ple are so indolent. The Martians are about to descend upon your earth and con- quer it. Rebels from the Twilight Coun- try of Mercury are their allies. Only last month they were here in Venus — emissaries asking our people to join with them." She shrugged. "We would not do that, of course. What is war to us? These Mar- tians do not covet onr world, for we have nothing — only our fruits and our wine and our sunple buildings, and our music and poetry — and love-making.” She added, "But your eartli — that is dif- ferent. Your world they desire. They — " "Martians to conquer the earth!” Sir Isaac gasped, stupefied. "They have gone to Jupiter also.” Ameena went on. "When they found we would not join with them, then they said they would enlist help from the great Jovians themselves. I do not know if — " "Oh, my gosh!" Tubby was almost speechless witli fright. "To conquer the earth!” Sir Isaac re- peated. "When, Ameena? Only tell me when?” She answered quietly, but with obvious agitation: "Already they have conquered your moon. Your poor Selcnites could offer but little resistance, and a Martian outpost is es- tablished there. And the Twilight army of Mercury is already massed in readiness on Mars.” She paused; then added swiftly: "At the next opposition of Mars with your earth — only two months off they say it is — then the Martians and their allies will descend in hordes upon you!" CHAPTER IV IN TRUTH it was a drastic, desperate situation for their native earth of which the voyagers were thus un- expectedly informed. Even without his reference books, or the use of mathematics, Sir Isaac’s well informed mind told him that they had no time to waste. Mars would reach opposition — that point in its orbit when it was nearest the earth — in just 57 days, 6 hours and 30 minutes from the present moment. Sir Isaac knew that. He also knew that if the miserable rene- gades of the Twilight Country of Mercury were allied to the Martians in an attack upon the earth, this attack, when it oc- curred, would be irresistible. And already the enemy had conquered the moon— -oc- cupied it— established there a hostile out- post barely 250,000 miles away! Sir Isaac’s stern, intellectual face was pale as he questioned the Venus-girl more close- ly. Tubby, when the details of this das- tardly plot began to sink into his mind, spluttered with indignation. "How dare them people attack out moon?” he demanded. “That ain't right. We never did nothing to them. What are we going to do about it, perfessor? We got to do something.” Sir Isaac had sealed iiimself beside Amcena on the fountain rim. He was trembling a little, and his thin lips were pressed tightly together. "Yes,” he said, struggling to keep a semblance of composure in his voice. "Yes, you are right. We must do something. But what?” "'Tlut’s what I said — what?” Tubby prompted. "Go on, perfessor."

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24 Futur* Fiction He had so forgotten Amcena's gracious beauty in the excitement of the moment that his hat was now jammed on the back of his head, and his fat little fists were clenched belligerently. "It isn’t the moon I'm worried over, ” Sir kaac went on musingly. "That’s a mere detail. It’s the safety of our earth it- jelf. If they land there in any strength at all we’ll be annihilated in a day— every living being on the earth ! Why with that Mercurian Light-ray — and with those great machine bodies to house the Martian In- telligence— " Sir Isaac broke off, overcome at the thought his words invoked. He re- covered after a moment, however, and added to Tubby and the girl impartially: "I fancy you have never read my books. I've told all about it in them.” Amcena shook her head; Tubby seemed embarrassed. Sir Isaac obviously was disappointed. "Oh well, of course here on "Venus they had no sale. It is immaterial. « , . lliis attack on our earth is too horrible — it is unthinkable. It must not be.” "No,” agreed Ameena soberly. "It must not be. But what can we do to prevent it ?” "We?” exclaimed Sir Isaac. "You wilt help us?” She held out her two hands simply; and Tubby and Sir Isaac impulsively grasped them. "I could not let my cousins of the earth come to harm for lack of my help,” she said quietly. Sir Isaac, sentimental by nature, was again overcome with emotion; Tubby pressed the girl’s hand warmly, beaming on her. "That's fine, Ameena,” he declared. "You are a regular girl, ain't you?” There was a brief pause. Then Ameena said: "1 do not know if in Jupiter they are lending help to the Martians or not. But in the Light Country of Mercury I know they hate the Twilight People — these out- law neighbors of theirs who are joining with the Martians. . They of the Light Country, perhaps, would help us.” "The Light Country of Mercury!” Sir Isaac echoed. "By jove, how stupid of me! Of course! They, too, have the Light-ray, With one Light-ray we can fight the other!” "Fine,” agreed Tubby, still beaming at Ameena, who flushed prettily under his openly admiring gaze. Sir Isaac stood up with determination. "Mercury is now fortunately approaching inferior conjunction with Venus. It is bare- ly thirty million miles away from us at this present moment. Let us go to Mer- cury at once!” ^ "Come on!” cried Tubby enthusiastically. "Let’s go. Let’s aim to get there this afternoon — we can if we hurry." And clutching Ameena by the hand, he started off at a nin through the giant banana grove. Sir Isaac following close behind. After a hundred yards Tubby stopped abruptly, almo.st jerking Ameena off her feet. "Say, listen, little girl — how about your family? Ain’t your family liable to get scared, you riinnin’ out into space this way without sayin' nothin’ to nobody?" Sir I.saac also seemed worried by this thought, but the girl smiled readily. ”l have heard about your earth families,” she said. "In Mercury they have them also. But here on Venus there is only the State and the Individual. At fourteen I was free from control of the State. I am my own mistress now.” She raised her arms with a pretty gesture. "Even love has not come to me yet. 1 am free.” Sir Isaac was relieved. "Of course! Nat- urally. How stupid of me. I should have known that on Venus — ” "Great,” said Tubby. "Come on then — let’s get goin’.” He started off again as fast as his fat legs would carry him. They departed from the surface of Venus ten minutes later, hurtling up through the atmosphere at a velocity that heated the interior of the vehicle like an oven. Sir Isaac put its cooling system into operation at once — chemically cooled coils over which air was driven by electric fans and then circulated through the various rooms — after which, ignoring their guest, he seated himself at the instrument-room table and began a computation of their course to Mercury. Tubby showed Ameena over the vehicle with enthusiasm. He had forgotten for the moment the dire portent of this new jour- ney and w'ts like a boy on a holiday. The girl was intensely interested in everything, especially in the maA'elous, ever-changing aspect of her own world as they slowly turned over and dropped away from it.

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Araufid th« UnWers* ★ ★ ★ 25 ■'You can have a. I the upstairs to your- self,” Tubby declared, witli due regard for the conventionalities. They were standing then in the doorway of one of the dainty little chintz bedrooms. 'The perfessor an' i II bunk downstairs. He’s a real nice guy, the perfessor — you’ll like him, ” 'Tm sure I .shall,” Ameena said. Her eyes, glancing at Tubby sidewise, .were veiled by their heavy black lashes. She added softly: "And you, too, my friend Tubby.” Tubby did not quite realize it then, but. indeed, this Venus-gitl, typical of her race, had a distinct talent for love-making. When they came to the kitchen, Tubby was much embarrassed over the remains of the breakfast dishes. But Ameena proved herself a real housewife by immediately assuming charge of this department of the vehicle. She began washing the dishes at once — a curiously incongruous sight in her Greek-maiden robe as she bent over the kitchen sink! — while Tubby stood admir- ingly by, watching her. When the kitchen and store-room were iminaculatc, Tubby and Ameena returned to the instrument room. The sun was shin- ing up through the lower window; the vehicle was cooling off a trifle sincw leaving the atmosphere of "Venus; they were now well launched into space. Sir Isaac, having completed his computa- tions, greeted them triumphantly. We have traveled 2,138 milc.s,” he said. "I am heading directly for the .sun now. I have been taking it very slowly until a moment ago. ’’ "Very good,” Tubby agreed, with a most business-like air for Amcena’s benefit. "But we got to hurry from now on if we’re goin’ to get there today,” They sat down then to discuss the fu- ture. There was really very little to discuss, as a matter of fact, for Amccna's knowl- edge of war conditions throughout the solar system was very slight. What the voyagers could do to protect the earth depended upon two factors. Had the great Jovians joined in this dastardly war? And would the Light-G)untry of Mercury lend its aid— its Light-rays and other weapons — for tlie earth's defense? 'Well,” said Tubby, "we'll know pretty soon. "What's the use arguin’? Ain’t I right?” Sir Isaac yawned involuntarily in spite of their interesting argument. He looked em- barrassed. "You're sleepy,” exclaimed Tubby solic- itously. He added to the girl: "Tlic perfessor ain't had a wink of sleep since we left the earth last night. He'd better go take a nap,” Sir Isaac was indeed fired out. "I must direct our flight,” he said, "I cannot leave Our course to — ” "Why can’t you?" Tubby demanded. "I ast you twenty times already to show, me how this here thing works. I can run it the same as you, if you show me how just once." SN THI: face of his growing fatigue whicli would not be denied, Sir Isaac was forced to yield. "My inter-planetary vehicle operates upon a very simple principle,” he began. "Mrst you must know that the law of gravitation says that every body in the universe at- tracts every other body directly as the mass and inversely a.s the square of the distance between them.” Tubby and Ameena were all attention. "We don't quite get you, " Tubby said. "Directly as the ma.ss means that if one body weighs l()(J tons and another weighs 10 tons, the big one will exert ten times the attractive force of the little one." "That is very clear,” said Ameena. "Go on.” nodded Tubby. "And inversely as the .square of the distance means that when bodies arc twice as far apart they only exert one-fourth the attractive force upson each other. Thus you see every mass of matter in the uni- verse is attracting every other ma.ss accord- ing to those laws. "Now each of the six faces of this vehicle— top, bottom, and the tour sides — is lined with a metallic plate. This very curious metal is found principally on Mer- cury— although, as 1 have showu in my books, it has been prepared by one scientist on earth — he who went first to the moon. My projectile, fired from an enormous can- non, you remember, failed to reach the moon, but merely encircled it.” "I remember that other one, ’ Tubby ex- claimed. Sir Isaac was pleased. "Yes. . . . That was where I explained my gravity screen. . , . Well, wc arc using now a device very much like that, only vastly more efficient. You see, in this particular interplanetary

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26 ★ ★ ★ Future Ffctien vehicle I have a current something like the Mercurian Light-ray, and something like our own electricity, With it I charge any or all of these metallic plates both negatively or positively. I mean, I can make them neutral to gravity — so that gravity is cut off entirely as in the cast of the gravity screen. Or 1 can make them attractive, or repellent. Without any charge, you un- derstand, they are attractive, as all matter is. With my negative charge (hey repel with exactly the same force as normally they would attract.” “Ah," said Tubby. Sir Isaac warmed to his task. “Let me explain to you the exact result of this. When we were resting on (he earth's sur- face, I cut off — only partially, for you see the change may be made with any rapidity desired — the gravity from our base. Having then an insufficient attraction from the earth to hold us there, we left its surface, flying off at a tangent because of the earth's rota- tion on its axis. . . . But 1 won’t go into that. . . . Once in space, as we are now, I merely make one face attractive, and the others neutral or repellent. Thus the at- tractive face acts on whatever heavenly bodies lie in the direction, and we are drawn toward them, For greater speed I also use the repellent power of those bodies lying behind us. For instance, after leav- ing the earth, 1 used the attraction of the sun — only a portion of it, of course. Later, merely for experiment, 1 combined with that a fraction of the earth’s repulsion. Early this morning, when we apprached Venus, I used her attractive power, cutting off the sun completely,” Sir Isaac turned to the keyboard. It was ” For half an hour more Sir Isaac explained the navigation of space — with practical de- monstrations, during which he made the heavens swing over at will in most dizzying fashion as he altered the vehicle’s course. Finally Tubby announced himself satisfied, and competent to asstime charge for a few hours at least.

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Around ih« Univorso A A A 27 I "You go lie down,” he said. "We'll get , you up when Amecna has lunch ready.” ' Still Sir Isaac hesitated. "In half an I hour,” he explained, "1 would, I think, in- crease our speed by using about three- sevenths the repellent power of Venus." I He indicated the changes. "Our velocity : is steadily increasing as we approach the i sun — but we must go still faster. We are in a hurry.” As he turned to leave the room, his face clouded with sudden anxiety. "We shall shortly attain a velocity of nearly sn’en million miles an hour," he said I soberly. "I — I hope I’m not taking too I great chances. It's so crowded in here ; with meteorites. We’ve been marvelously lucky so far.” "Go on to bed," commanded Tubby. "I ain’t goin' to let us hit nothin'. I'll watch. If 1 see anything cornin’ I’ll thump them keys, or yell for you.” , Most reluctantly, Sir Isaac gave up com- mand; and, with Ameena’s gracious per- ' mission, he retired to one of the upper ( bedrooms. IT REALLY was Ameena’s fault, though Tubby was too much of a gentleman I ever to say so — for if Ameena had not I called him into the kitchen it could never i have happened. She had gone to prepare the noonday meal, and Tubby reluctantly liad parted with her and maintained his ! post at the lower window of the instru- j ment room. 'Tlie sun shone up at him in- ! tolerably bright. Nothing showed in the sky below, ex- cept that huge, flaming red ball slowly but steadily increasing in size — the sun as it ap- peared through the smoked glass — and those glorious constellations of stars hang- ing immovable in the black firmament. In thirty minutes exactly, by the instrument room's chronometer — 'Tubby had added to their velocity three -sevenths the repellent power of Venus. This world they were so rapidly leaving hung directly overhead — an enormous silver-blue sphere now complete- ly illuminated by the sun, but visible only from the upper windows of the vehicle. It was just after he had put on the addi- tional speed that Ameena had called Tubby into the kitchen to ask him how to open a can of tomatoes for canned goods were unknown on Venus. Tubby, once in the ' kitchen, had forgotten to return to his post. He was sitting in the doorway of the ad- joining store-room, chatting vivaciously with Ameena, when suddenly he became aware of an unusual light coming diagonally in through the side window. Leaping up, he saw in the black, starry void a huge silver disc — a thousand mo^ns in size! It was below them, off to one side. It was so close he could see barren, rocky mountains on it; and it was turning over like a ball thrown into the air. Even while he gazed, with his heart in his throat, it doubled in size, so stupendously fast was it approaching — and already exerting its at- tractive power upon the base of the vehicle, it was altering the vehicle’s course so that the heavens began shifting sidewise. With a startled cry, Tubby dashed into the instrument room, Amecna following him with the can of tomatoes still in her hand. Through the instrument room floor window the heavenly derelict, again doubled in size, shone directly beneath them. They were rushing into it, drawn irresistibly by its attraction! Tubby took one horrified glance, and then, jumping to the keyboard, he depressed half a dozen of the keys indiscriminately. There was no answering vibration percep- tible within the vehicle; but outside its windows the heavens were whirling! The sun, Venus, the threatening derelict globe, a myriad of stars — all flashed past the win- dows so rapidly they were distorted into mere blurs of light. The vehicle, beyond control, was spituiing on its axis and fall- ing abandoned in space! Tubby and Ameena, standing stock-still on that solid, apparently motionless floor, were giddy at the sight. "Oh-li, perfessor!” Tubby bellowed. "Help, perfessor! Come here quick! We’re failin’ to pieces!" Sir Isaac came clattering downstairs, his apparel awry, his face still dazed by sleep. With one quick glance at the windows he hastened to the keyboard. Tubby and the girl stood anxiously beside him. "Somethin’ w-went wrong,” Tubby chat- tered. "There's a b-big world right out- side. We war r-runnin' into it.” The vehicle, spinning like a top, gave Sir Isaac no opportunity of locating the correct keys to depress. He first threw them all into neutral; then tried, tentatively, throwing the attraction into the base of the vehicle for that instant when it was facing Venus, and releasing it an instant later.

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28 A Future Fktien For five minutes he worked, his face pale with anxiety. ''Am I stopping our rota- tion?” he asked. “Are we slowing down?” Tubby forced bis gaze to the window and saw that the heavens were spinning with A little less rapidity. "Go on,” he encouraged. '"You're doing" fine.” '"I don't dart leave everything in neu- tral,” Sir Isaac muttered to himself. His gaze was glued to the floor window; the perspiration was rolling down his face. "Inertia would carry us forward on our former course without any force of attrac- tion. We could not avoid collision. Per- haps we cannot anyway.” "Don’t say that,” pleaded Tubby. "Go on. You’re doin’ fine.” Ameena now crouched on the floor, grip- ping a chair leg to steady herself; and peered intently downward through the win- dow. At each instant when Venus came into view she called to Sir Isaac, and he promptly depressed the necessary key, re- leasing it once the planet had swung past. With Ameena’s help he did this more ac- curately than before, and gradually the vehicle’s axial rotation was decreased. Finally they caught Venus and held it di- rectly beneath them. Sir Isaac stood up, trembling. "Thank God!” he exclaimed. “We are headed the other way. The danger is past.” OW that the excitement was over. Tubby felt extraordinarily weak in the knees. He sat down in a chair, pant- ing. "What was if, perfessor? What hap- pened ?” "An asteroid,” Sir Isaac answered, smiling w'cakiy. "A minor planet, unknown to as- tronomers. / knew its orbit lay in here, but I had calculated the asteroid itself to be on (he other side the sun this month — fool that I was!” A moment later, carefully. Sir Isaac re- sumed their former course. The asteroid had disappeared; the sun now shone up from beneath them as before. "How close did we come to it?” Tubby asked, wlicn they had all three recovered calmness. "1 guess we didn't miss it by more'n a mile.” "We passed it about 4000 miles away!” Sir Isaac answered.. Tubby was amazed. "Four thousan’ miles! An’ 1 thought we nearly hit it!” Sir Isaac smiled. "I should not care to come any closer. Our velocity at that mo- ment was 7,200,000 miles an hour. That is exactly 2000 miles per second. In just two seconds more we would have collided with that asteroid and been annihilated! That’s why I said we were crowded in here. It is very dangerous to approach within a millibn miles of anything,” They had lunch shortly after that. Sir Isaac insisting on having his served on the store-room floor so that he might keep close watch through the Ittwer window there, for comets, and even infinitesimal meteorites, as well as asteroids, were to be avoided. As Sir Isaac pointed out, to col- lide with even a hundred-ton meteorite at a velocity of 2000 miles a second would be a fatal catastrophe! After lunch, over their cigars, while Ameena straightened the kitchen. Sir Isaac told Tubby about Mercury, which be had hoped they would reach about five o'clock that afternoon, but which now they might not arrive at before six or seven o’clock. "Mercury,” Sir Isaac explained in his slightly pedantic way, "is the smallest of the major planets, and the closest to the sun. Its orbit lies at a mean distance of 36,000,- 000 miles.” “An’ how far did you say Venus was from the sun?" Tubby asked. He was be- coming avid for astronomical matliematics. "Sixty-seven million,” answered Sir Isaac. "An’ the earth i.s 93,000,000. An' the moon a quarter of a million from the earth.” Tubby was memorizing the figures. "All right. Go on.” "Mercury makes one revolution around the sun every eighty-eight days. That is the length of its year. It is so close to (he sun that the enormous solar attraction holds one side of it always facing that way. Hence its axial rotation is also once in eight-eight days, and it has no day or night — always daylight, twilight or dark- ness according to what portion of its sur- face you are on.” "What part are we goin’ to?” Tubby demanded. "To the Light Country, where there is daylight — but it is not too intense. Heavy clouds and a dense atmosphere make life possible on Mercury, even though it is so near the sun. In the Fire Country, which directly faces the sun, the planet is prac- tically uninhabited. 'We wfl! land at the

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Around Univers« ★ ★ ★ 21 Great City — the largest center of population on the planet. It Is the Light Country people we want to enlist as allies, against their outlaw neighbors, the Twilight peo- ple and those horrible Martians. ” This brought them again into a discus sion of the Martian plot which they were determined at all hazards to frustrate. Ameena joined them shortly after that, and for hours they argued, without however, reaching any new conclusions. Sir Isaac was momentarily growing more sleepy; and finally, wlicn Tubby had solemnly promised that for two hours he would not leave the window under any circumstances and would call out at once if anything unusual came into sight. Sir Isaac again retired. They were then about 18,- 000.000 milc.s from Mercury, which shone as the brightest star in the lower hemisphere of the firenament, visually cjuilc near the sun's outer limb. And so great was their haste that again Sir Isaac had resumed al- most their former speed. During these two hours, '1‘ubby and Ameena sat on the floor by the window, exchanging accounts of their respective worlds. "I’m strong for Venus, " Tubby decl.ired once. "When we get these Martians put in their place, an" get our moon back, 1 believe I’ll come to Venus to live." The girl agreed that would be very nice indeed; and Tubby; intoxicated by her beauty and the fragrance of her |ser.son, suddenly laid his hand over hers. "Ain’t this romantic though — shootin” around the .sky like this.^ Sing somethin”, Ameena. Where’s that harp you had.^" Ameena played on her lyre, and sang: Tubby listened, and complimented her, and urged her constantly for more. Thus ab- sorbed in their youth, the two sat oblivious to the vehicle's course, while die sun blazed larger and hotter, and Mercury grew from a gleaming star to a silver crescent larger and larger until, like Venus of the morn- ing, it stretched an enormous arch in the blackness, with the sun to one side behind it. Fortunately for the safety of these bold voyagers (and indeed for the future ex- istence of earth itself, which depended upon the success of their mission), no other uncharted wanderers of space chanced to he in the vehicle's path during those two hours. It was nearly half-past four when Tubby came to himself. A glance through the window reassured him that all was well, and, reluctantly tearing himself from Ameena's presence, he went upstairs to awaken Sir Lsaac. They entered the atmo.sphcre of Mercury at 6:57 P. M., shortly after a hurried sup- per. F.illing diagonally over the Dark Country, they came into the Twilight 7xine. A few moments later the Narrow Sea lay beneath them, and at last they sighted the Great City at the edge of the Light Country. It was 7:29 P. M. exactly when, with only a slight jar, they landed upon the siirLice of Mercury. CHAPTHR V HOW selfish is human nature the Univer.se over I After a voyage of some thirty million miles, the travelers might sjuite as well have re- mained on Venus! The Mercurians of the Light Country were sorry — indeed, they greatly deplored the action of their neigh- bors ol the Twilight Country in joining with the war lords of Mars against the unotfending Earth - but they would do nothing about it 1 How simple all human problems become, wlien viewed in that de- tached spirit! How human nature docs re- peat itself, wherever in the Universe it may be found! The audience with the ruler of the Light Country took place at 9:49 p. m., Earth’s Eastern Time — shortly after the First Meal, as time di.inced to be on Mercury. Tubby, Sir Isaac and Ameena gravely faced the white-haired King and his aged dignitaries who were seated around a huge table in the Audience Room. The place was crowded; its gallery above, open to the public, was thronged with those curious to see these strange visitors from another world. Sir Isaac, who, fortunately, was fairly duent in the Mercurian tongue, explained their mission. He wa.s earnest and elo- uent. And when he had finished having one his very best, the King, after a whispered conference with his councillors, mads his speech of condolence! Sir Isaac was agha.st. He translated the King s words briefly to Tubby and Ameena. "How dare they.^”” the girl cried. "It is inhuman. Tell him / say — " Sir Isaac interrupted her, in a whisper, for the Audience Room was intensely tjuict.

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30 ★ ★ ★ FHfurc PIcficn "Your position is not so impregnable, Ameena. Your own people refused to mix up in this interplanetary war. How can you expect — " "My people have no weapons of war," she defended passionately. "They know nothing of fighting. Never has a voice been raised in anger in my world! What could they do to help, if they would?" "You let her alone,” Tubby whispered vehemently to Sir Isaac. "She's got the tight idea. You tell this King he can help. Ain’t he got that Light- ray? Make him lend it to us." Sfr Isaac then requested the u.se of the Light'iay — a sufficient amount of its ap- paratus which they could set up on Earth for defense. At this a slit tan over the assemblage. The King’s guards, squat little men in leather jackets and wide, knee-length leather trousers, shouted for order. Sn'eral young girls flapped their long red-feathered wings — only the women had wings, it seemed — and one fluttered across the room near the ceiling, until commanded by the guards to cease. The King looked exceedingly grave at Sir Isaac’s request; his whispered confer- ence with his advisors lasted several min- utes. At last he shook his head. Sir Isaac translated his answer. "He says he is sorry. They could riot trust their Light-ray to another world. He claims the Earthmen would then learn its secret and some day might use it against Mer- cury.” "He’s a fool!" shouted Tubby angrily. "Ain’t they got it on Mars already? An' maybe on Jupiter?" He turned toward the King. "say. listen here you — ” Thirty feet separated Tubby from the King at that moment, but he encompassed it on one bound, for on so small a planet as Mercury even Tubby weighed hardly sixty pounds! He landed beside the King’s chair. "Say, listen here you — ” As Tubby's fat little body went hurling through the air pandemonium broke out in the room. Girls were fluttering about; the guard.s were pushing and shoving the crowd. One or two of the older women fainted. A little boy broke into terrified screaming. The King, finding he was not hurt, ignored Tubby's fist in bis face, and with rare presence of mind rose to his feet, shouting reassuringly to the assemblage. Three of the nearest guards, their faces dark with anger, were making for Tubby belligerently; one of the aged councillors put a restraining hand on his shoulder, but he shook it off. Sir Isaac bawled: "Come back here, you fool! They’ll kill us all!” It was Ameena’s pleading voice, rising above the tumult, that brought Tubby to his senses. He stopped abruptly his abu.se of the King, and with another prodigious bound leaped over the heads of the inter- vening people, and landed back beside hi.s friends. "Come on, let’s get out of here," he gasped. “This here Mercury ain’t goin' to get us nothin’.” Sir Isaac, with true diplomatic suavity, waited until order was restored. He then paid his respects to the King, apologizing for Tubby’s conduct, and stating with curt dignity that the Earth would solve its own problems and look after its own safety in its own way. After which, escorted by the King's guards to protect them from the incensed populace, the three visitors coldly departed. As they left the room, a young girl — ■ with huge wings and a sneering, unpleasant face, so different from the beauty of the other girls in the room as to mark her of another nation — climbed from the balcony into one of its outer windows. Poised there a moment, she launched herself into the air, spread her wings and flew away. Sir Isaac, Tubby and Ameena were on the palace steps when this girl Hew past, just over their heads. She shouted some- thing venomously at Sir Isaac, and rising higher, flew rapidly toward the Narrow Sea and the Twilight Country. Sir Isaac did not mention this incident then- to Tubby or Ameena, who had not noticed the girl. Indeed, he forgot it in a moment, though afterward it was brought most vividly and unpleasantly to his me- mot)’. IT WAS I ] :45 p. m., Earth time, when the vehicle was again launched into spjwre. When they had passed over the Dark Country and had left the atmosphere of Mercury — headed this time away from the Sun, back toward Venus and the Earth — the three inter-planetary adventurers sat down quietly in the in.strument room to

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Around the Universe A A* A 31 determine what should now be done, in the face of this unexpected disappointment. "An’ here we went an' wasted all day,” Tubby moaned. "We could have been al- most anywhere w’hile we was foolin' around here with them selfish, pin-headed—” He trailed off into abuse of the Mcrcurians. Sir Isaac, more practical, summed up the situation as it now stood. "We have, of course, no means ot know- ing whether the inhabitants ot Jupiter arc against us or not,” he said. "But at all events, at the next opposition ot Mars with the Earth we may expect their attack.” "Less'n two months frojn now,” Tubby put in gloomily. "In fifty-six days and eighteen hours,” Sir Isaac corrected. ”1 assume their method will be to mass their army first upon the Moon. From that point of vantage, always close to the Earth, they can launch their successive attacks at will.” "That is what they will do," Amecna cried. "From the Moon of course.” Tubby frowned. "What will they do to the Earth You say they're goin’ to kill us, but you ain't never said how.” Then Sir Isaac, his voice trembling in spite of himself, explained the horribly dc structivc power of the Mercurian Light- ray— that beam of red-green light-fire, which from giant projectors ignited every- thing within its path over a distance ot fifteen miles! And the tremendous war- machines of the Martian.? — giant mechanical bodies housing the Martian directing brain in their tops — mechanism.? with metal leg? like steel girders fifty feet long running rampant over the Earth! "That's enough!” interposed Tubby hastily, mopping his face. "Don't tell us nothin' more like that. My idea is we better not let 'em land on the Earth.” "Quite right," agreed Sir Isaac. "But how to prevent them.^ That’s just the ijuestion." It was the <^uestion indeed, and for an- other hour they wrestled with it. "Let's cat," Tubby suddenly announced. "We can do that if we can’t do nothin' else.” Tubby now found himself, after this episode on Mercury, somehow more in the nature of leader of their enterprise than he had been before. "We're done with Mercury,” he said, when over the midnight supper the argu- ment w'as resumed. Sir Isaac nodded. “We are, most cer- tainly.” "An’ Venus ain't no use to us." "No,” Ameena put in. "My world is powerless.” Tubby went on with merciless logic: "If we go home an' wait, we’re licked sure.” “Yes,” agreed Sir Isaac, "that will mean absolute annihilation, even though the world’s armies and navies were massed to our defense.” "An’ we can't land on the Moon,” Tubby persisted. "They'd murder us in thirty seconds — on our own Moon too.” The pathos of this struck Tubby with sudden force. "Ain’t that actually criminal.^ Can't land on our own Moon!” "What are we going to do?” Ameena asked hopelessly. "Oh, dear, we cannot .seem to land anywhere.” "How about Jupiter?” Tubby demanded. "That’s a big place, ain’t it?” “The largest planet of the solar system," said Sir Isaac. "But whether they are friends or enemies — ” "Well let’s go see an’ find out!” The logic as well as the daring of this simple suggestion was immediately ap- parent. "If them Jupiter people ain't enemies they can help us easy,” Tubby added. "Let’s take a chance anyway.” There seemed nothing else to do. The Earth was powerless to defend itself. Help must be obtained — from whatever source — at all costs. And so it was decided. Back in the instrument room Sic Isaac computed their course to Jupiter. A little later, for it was then nearly three o'clock in the morning, Ameena retired to the upper floor. The vehicle had now reached a point in space almost midway between Mercury and Venus. Tubby suddenly remembering the asteroid with which they had so nearly collided that afternoon, peered anxiously down through the lower window, to the tiny blue-white disc among the stars that was Venus. Sir Isaac, hearing Tubby's muttered ex- clamation concerning the asteroid, laughed reassuringly, “It has passed on in its orbit,” he said. “Rushing around the Sun in a most ec- centric ellipse, it is now many million miles from here.”

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32 ★ ★ ★ Fufure Ficfio« Having been the one to suggest their fu- ture course of action, Tubby was feeling his growing responsibility. He felt simul- taneously his need for more specific as- tronomical information than he now pos- sessed. <<VF 1 m goin’ to boss this expedition,” JK be announced, "I got to have all the dope in my head.” Sir Isaac had frequently been tracing their Sight upon a celestial map of his own making, and Tubby now demanded to see it. Sir Isaac produced it readily, from the table drawer, and clearing a space on the table, unrolled it before them. By the light of an electric bulb — for the side and floor windows admitted nothing but star- light— Tubby examined it. "This is merely a rough drawing 1 made myself,” Sir Isaac explained apologetically. "It shows the solar system — though not at all to scale — and gives a cough idea of the present positions of the planets, and our course up to date,” This is what Tubby saw; "You notice,” said Sir Isaac, indicating with his pencil point, "(hat the Sun oc- cupies the center of the solar system, and the planets revolve around it in concentric rings which are called orbits. These are not circles, but are ellipses — so that the Sun is not exactly in the center, but a little off to one side — in one of the foci of the ellipse, to be technical. Thus the orbit is somewhat nearer the Sun in one portion and farther away in another. The amount of this difference is called the ec- centricity of the orbit.” Tubby nodded his comprehension; Sir Isaac went on: "Fortunately, as you obser^’e, all the planets chance to be on this side the Sun just now. ... I must alter our course to- ward Jupiter. We are now headed for Venus, but Jupiter, you see, is considerably furtlier along in his orbit.” Sir Isaac went to . the keyboard, and a moment later Venus, as seen through the lower windows, swung sidewise out of sight. A new region of gleaming stars — rwne of unusual brightness — came into view. "I am heading well past Jupiter,” said Sir Issac. "We are falling diagonally side- wise now, jorward by the combined attrac- tion of all those stars, and sidewise by the repulsion of Venus and the Earth and all the stars behind them. This will bring us into a direct line drawn from the Sun to Jupiter — and then 1 can make better speed by using the Sun's repulsion and Jupiter’s attraction combined, which I cannot do now.” By careful consultation of the chart, Tubby finally got this clear. "It’s a longer route,” Sir Isaac added. "But I think it will prove quicker. . . . You’d better lie down, Tubby — you're tired out.” Tubby was indeed terribly sleepy — but, unselfishly he realized that Sir Isaac must be also. 'Til watch,” he said. "You take a nap.” But Sir Isaac wished to get the vehicle upon its direct course first. "Wc’lt be in line with the Sun and Jupiter in about two hours,” he explained. “I’ll call you then. From then on we will hold the same course all the way.” Tubby yielded, and started upstairs. Then, remembering Ameena, he went into the store-room instead, and with the cush- ions from one of (he chairs of the in- strument room for pillows, stretched out on the floor and went to sleep promptly. * * * 'Wake up,” .said Sit Isaac, shaking him. "It’s ses’tn forty — you’ve been asleep near- ly four hours.” Tubby rubbed his eye.s, and clambered to his feet. "What’s doin.^’ Anything new ? Where are we?" "WcTt on our direct course to Jupiter, ” Sir Isaac answered. He had shaved and washed. His hair was slicked baeJe and he was smoking a cigar; but his face was haggard and he looked tired out. "You can take charge now,” he added. "I must get some sleep, if only for a few hours.” Tubby sat alone on a cushion at the floor window of the instrument room. The Sun, from which they were now receding, as Sir Isaac had told him, at a velocity of 151/2 million miles an hour, was blaz- ing high over the roof of the vehicle, and thus was invisible from the starlit room downstairs. Tlirough the floor window Tubby could see nothing but gleaming silver stars. One of them, he could not distinguish which, was Jupiter. Tubby whistled to keep himself awake. After an interval he looked at the chrono- meter. It was 8:20 A. M. Why didn't Ameena wake up.’ Tubby was lonesome

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Arsund ^ht Univ*rs« * ^ 33 and depressed. A little later he went into the kitchen and made himself a cup of coffee. Again he wished fen'cntly Ameena would come down and join him. Should he wake her up? Wasn’t it time for break- fast? Wouldn’t she even come dow-n? For another hour he wandered discon- solately about the lower rooms, glancing at intervals through the floor windows to make sure no derelicts were in sight. Remem- bering Sir Isaac’s jaunty appearance, he shaved and washed — fortunately having had the forethought, the night before, to rescue his razor from the bedroom upstairs. He had about decided in desperation to awaken the girl, when, on an impulse he climbed into the little dome on the roof where Sir Isaac had mounted a small tele- scope. A moment later he was clattering down through the vehicle, bellowing loud- ly for Sir Isaac and Ameena. “Hey, perfessor! Ameena! Oh, Ameena! Get up, quick! There's somethin’ follerin' us!" Sic Isaac came bounding upstairs from the storeroom, meeting Tubby in the upper hallway. From one of the bedrooms came Ameena's sleepy voice: "What is it? Musi 1 get up?" Together the two men rushed up into the little observatory. Another vehicle, twice as large as their own and somewhat different in shape, hovered almost directly above them, showing as a dark spot in the firmament and edged w'ith silver from the Sun’s rays behind it. "That Mercurian girl!" Sir Isaac gasped, with sudden memory. "She flew to the Twilight Country! She said she was going to have revenge!” Th^ were indeed being followed! This pursuing enemy was at that moment hardly more than five million miles away, and was overtaking them rapidly! CHAPTER VI SIR Isaac dashed back to the instru- ment room three steps at a time, with TutJ>y at his heels. Ameena came from her room an<^ followed them. "What is it?" the girl demanded. "Is something wrong?" Tubby called back over his shoulder: "Them Mercurians is after us. Right overhead— cornin’ fast. Come on down — we got to do somethin’." Sir Isaac rushed to the keyboard. "Sft'itch our course." Tubby suggested, "Let’s see if they can turn when we do. . . Or how about goin’ faster? Can we go faster?" ’’Wait," commanded Sir Isaac. He de- pressed two keys — a black one on one bank and a white one on another — and raised the ones which had been down. Then he dashed away upstairs again. Tubby had no more than time to compli- ment Ameena on her appearance — she was dressed quite as on the day before, but she was flushed with excitement and her eyes sparkled, so that she was more beautiful than ever — when Sir Isaac was back. He sank into a chair and smiled at them weakly. "That danger’s past, for the moment. We have left them out of sight behind us.” "So quick?” exclaimed Tubby, "Out of sight already? We must be goin' some.” Ameena looked her relief. Sir Isaac made some further adjustments of the keys. "I’ve just .slowed us up again," he said. "I would not dare go as fast as we would very soon have been going.” "Well, how fast arc we goin' the way you got it now?" Tubby persisted. "About 28 million miles an hour,” stated Sir Isaac. "Of course I haven’t computed it yet — but I judge we shall shortly at- tain that velocity. I am now using six- sevenths of tlie Sun’s repulsion with every- thing else in neutral. Our rate of speed depends very largely on the length of time allowed for acceleration, you under- stand.” He gazed down through the lower win- dow anxiously, and muttered: "Heavens, I do hope nothing gets in our way!” "Maybe we better slow up," Tubby sug- gested. It did seem a trifle fast to be go- ing, when he came to think of it. On the other hand such a speed was not in the least beyond his understanding now. Sic Isaac had already explained something of the laws governing freely falling bodies; and Tubby had recalled that old stunt of dropping a baseball from the top of the Washington Monument, which fell so fast even in that little distance that the pro- fessional catchers could hardly catch it. The vehicle was more than a freely falling body— it was being pushed downward. Sir Is.iac shook his head at Tubby’s sug- gestion that they slow up a bit. "We must chance the danger,” be said.

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34 ★ ★ ★ Future Ftctien though not without considerable perturba- tion. "That Mercurian vehicle may be able to attain this speed also — or even a greater one. We cannot tell.” "Suppose they should overtake us," Ameena speculated. "They could not board us — or collide with us without death to themselves?" "They might have some means of de- stroying us — / do not know,” Sir Isaac re- plied. "Though possibly the Light-ray is useless in Space." His voice became medi- tative, "Curious 1 never thought of lhal before. 1 suppose it would be inoperative." "I think,” said Ameena, "that they are merely trying to reach Jupiter before us. Perhaps they want to warn the Jovians against us. To persuade them not to — ” "Meaning — ” Sir Isaac interrupted eager- ly. The poor man’s mind was working so constantly that he seemed grateful to anyone who would do his thinking for him. "Meaning that I think it shows that on Jupiter the rulers ace at least neutral.” "Sure," exclaimed Tubby. "You’re some clever girl, Ameena. If them Jovians was oiu- enemies, these Mercurian guys wouldn t bother chasin' us there. They’d know we’d get walloped anyhow. You got the right idea, kid." He gazed admiringly at Ameena, and the Venus-gitl blushed charmingly. This conclusion, thus happily arrived at, cheered the three adventurers immeasur- ably. They now felt tolerably certain of at least a square deal on Jupiter — if only they could arrive there ahead of the enemy. "Well, that bein’ settled," declared Tub- by, rising. "Let’s eat.” On this flight outward from the Sun they had crossed the orbit of Venus about 6.30 A. M., while Tubby and Ameena were asleep — though this course to Jupiter took them many million miles ahead of Venus’ position in her obit. This Tubby and Ameena readily understood by another glance at Sir Isaac's drawing, which they consulted soon after brcakfa.st. About 8.15 A. M., while Tubby had been on watch alone, they had crossed the orbit of the Earth — though nearly twice as far then from the Earth as they had been from Venus. "Mars revolves around the Sun at a mean distance of 141,701,000 miles," said Sir Isaac, some little time after breakfast. "We should have intersected his orbit about 10.40 A. M. — that was when w« were closest to him.” "An’ you didn’t tell us!” cried Tubby reprovingly. "I want to get a look at that — that murderin’ villain.” It was then about ten minutes of eleven. Mars, to which they had passed compara- tively dose, still showed as a half-lighted, circular, reddish disc. Its tracings of fine intersecting lines — the "canals” — were quite distinguishable. Even at the enormous velocity the vehicle had now attained, all the heavenly bodies hung apparently motionless in the firma- ment— except Mars, which because of its nearness, seemed slowly moving upwards as the vehicle dropped past it. Tubby, standing at the side w'indow, shook his fist at the disturber of the peace of the Solar System. "We’ll fix you yet — you — ” Ameena laughingly pulled him away. "Is Mars as large as my Venus?" she asked Sir Isaac. "Or your Earth?” "The diameter of Mars is 4,3l6 miles," said Sir Isaac. "The Earth is 7,917 and Venus 7,629.” "Only a little guy!” Tubby was con- temptuous. "That’s the way with them little fellers — Mercury too — always lookin’ for a scrap.” Sir Isaac went on: "Mars revolves around the Sun once in a little less than 687 days. That is the length of his year. His orbital speed is 15 miles jx;r second. He is ahead of the Earth now in his orbit; but the Earth travels forward at the rate of I8I/2 miles per second. Thus you see, the Earth is overhauling Mars — and when they are both in line with the Sun, that will be opposi- tion. That’s their closest point to each other until the Earth comes around again — and that’s when the Martians will attack.” Sir Isaac, h>ecause of one threatened catas- trophe or another, had had so far very Imie sleep since leaving the Earth two days be- fore. About half pa.st eleven that morning Tubby and Ameena sent him to bed again. "Don't let me sleep more than two hours at the most,” he said anxiously. "There are thousands of Minor Planets in here be- tween Mars and Jupiter.” "Shucks,” disclaimed Tubby. "That don’t make no difference. Ain't 1 on guard?” It was a magnificent chance for sarcusm, but the sterling charatter of Sir Isaac for- bade such weakness. All he said was;

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Around the Universe ^ 35 “Our velocity of 28,000,000 miles an hour would be sufficient to carry us from Earth to Venus, or from Venus to Mercury in a little over sixty minutes.' 1 don’t want you to forget bow fast wc are fall- ing now.” With which admonition he retired. It was a long, tiresome, comparatively uneventful day — at least it would have been, if Tubby had not had Ameena’s compan- ionship. She sang to him again; and with his somewhat raucous tenor voice they contrived "Interplanetary duets” as Sir Isaac jocularly called them. When they had tired of music they climbed into the dome to make sure their pursuers had not again come into sight. The overhead sky, out of which they .were falling, showed rwthing unusual. Mars — well above them now — had dwindled to a small, reddish star; the Earth, Venus and Mercury were indistinguishable among the ma.ss of other glittering worlds. "Look at the Sun,” said Tubhy. He pulled Ameena toward him. He had in- deed, progressed to where his arm was almost constantly about her, which, since youth and love are the same the Universe over, Ameena accepted as quite reason- able and natural. "Ain't the Sun gettin’ little.^" Tuhby added. The orb ol day had dwindled to half its apparent size as viewed from Earth. The vehicle too, was growing hourly colder. Ameena shivered a little. “Come on down," said Tubby solicitioiis- ly. "We'll have to get the perfessor to beat the place up more — an' get you dressed warmer." His appreciative glance swept Amecna’s dainty figure. "I'll see what I can dig you up — right after lunch. Come on down where it's warmer — Jet‘.s play cards." Explaining to the girl the intric- acies of the fifty-two differc-nt cards of the deck took nearly anotI>er hour, after which Tubby’s .stomach peremptorily in- formed him that it was time for lunch. He swept up the cards, and with sudden thought gazed anxiously down through the lower window to .see if they were about to collide with anything. Jupiter had grown to a marvelously brilliant star; be- yond that, everything was as before. "You go fix up somethin' to cat,” he .said to the girl, "ril call the perfessor — he's asleep long enough anyway." Sir Isaac came down shortly, dressed in a warm-looking tweed suit with golf trous- ers. Glancing at the chronometer, he im- mediately plunged into an intricate mathe- matical calculation. "Our velocity since 9-50 this morning has averaged just 28,502,122 miles an hour," he announced a little later. "My guess was right.” "Good,” said Tubby. "Come on ii>to the dinin’ room. Lunch is ready. ” After lunch Tubby him^If dressed more warmly — in a Norfolk jacket golt suit and heavy grey flannel shirt, an outfit that was extremely becoming. He then sent Ameena upstairs, magnanimously offering her any- thing and everything in the way of ap- parel she could find. She returned a few moments later, and stood shyly awaiting his approval. She had donned a heavy pair of golf stockings and rubber-soled shoes which miraculously were .Imost small enough for her. And over her knee-length white dress she was wearing a natty-look- ing man’s overcoat which almost swept the ground. Her hair was now piled on her head, with a huge, red-.silk handkerchief bound around it. Even Sir l.saac glanced up from his fig- ures long enough to admire her appear- ance. She looked indeed, like a radiantly beautiful little Earth-girl, on her way to the beach for a swim. "Fine,” declared Tubby. "Keep that coat buttoned up an’ you'll be nice an' warm." They were now — it was af>out 2.30 P. M. — more than half-way in distance from Mercury to Jupiter, Sir Isaac announced. "Tell us .somethin' about Jupiter, ' said Ameena, sitting down beside Tubby and giving him her little hand to hold. "You said it was a very big Planet. ’ Its mean diameter is 87,380 miles,” Sir Isaac answered. "Its volume is 1 3SK) times greater than the Earth!” "Some big planet.” Tubby commented. Sic Isaac added; "And it makes one revolution around the sun in 4332.5 days. Thus its year is equal to 11 years, 314.9 days on Earth." "My goodness," said Tubby. "But Jupiter's is only about 9 hours and 56 seconds long. That is because it rotates on its axis .so very swiftly.” Tubby interjected.

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36 ^ A ^ Futwr* Ffetion “This here Jupiter's a re-wjri-ablc Planet, ain't it?" “Go on," said Ameena. "Tell us more." Sir Isaac seemed embarrassed. "Well to tell you the truth," he said hesitantly, "I don’t really know very much about Jupiter. You see I've never really had occasion, up to now, to — ” "Right," interrupted Tubby. He had no wi.sh to be hard on his friend, especially before a girl. “What's the difference? We'll soon be there an’ see it for our- selves. . . , When do we land, perfessor?" Sir Isaac looked worried again. “At our present velocity I calculate we should enter the Jovian atmosphere about 10.15 P. M. tonight, but — ” "Very good, indeed, perfessor." But I dare not maintain this velocity," Sir Isaac finished. "Why not? Ain't we in a hurry?" “We are in a hurry certainly," Sir Isaac conceded- "But, as you know, the more haste the less speed sometimes. We are now in the region ot Minor Planets. More than eight hundred ot tliese little worlds have Iseeo discovered and listed, even bv those Inefficient astronomers of Earth. / have never given tiK subject much atten- tion— except in the case of 'Hector Serv- tdac'-- and in that story — " ''\Y’e ain’t seen no Minor Planets yet," Tubby hastily interrupted. Sir Isaac drew him and the girl to tiM side window. "There are a dozen or so," he said sim- ply. Tubby made them out after a moment very tiny half-moons gleaming among the stars. They were apparently moving up- ward as the vehicle felt past them, while all the stars appeared quite motionless. "Some of these little worlds are only from a few hundred thousand to a million miles away from us," Sir Isaac added. "We could reach them with this velocity m a minute or two! They’re all around us now — so you can understand what chances we're taking." Tubby understood indeed; and when, a little later, he saw through tlic lower win- dow a gleaming disc come into sight, grow to the size of the Moon, and sweep past them to one side and out of sight above them -all in the space of a minute — he was glad enough to have Sir Isaac reduce his speed. It gave the pursuing Mercurian vehicle a better chance to overtake them, of course, but even that was the le.sscr of the two dangers. The evening was a long one. Tubby and Sir Isaac played cards after dinner, with Ameen.i an interested spectator. They dis- cussed their Mercurian pursuers a little — the other vehicle had not again appeared. Ameena retired about ten o’clock and Sir Isaac, shortly afterward, lay down at Tubby's feet on the floor of the instrument room. Tubby faithfully kept watch until two in the morning. Jupiter was now considerably larger than the Moon appears from Earth — a silver disc with broad dark bands on it, and a huge red spot, like a dull red lantern gleaming from its lower hemisphere The red spot winked and went out shortly after Tubby discovered it. When Sir Isaac woke up, of his own accord, Tubby, too tired to ask any ques- tions, fell asleep on the floor, wrapped up in a blanket from the vacant bed upstairs. He dreamed he was a railroad train and that Jupiter was flagging him with a red lantern. He wanted to stop, but couldn’t. There was a terrible collision. . . . Tubby opened his eyes to find Sir Isaac shaking him violently. "All right,” Ik protested, sitting up dizzily. ' Lcmme alone. What time is ft? Ain’t we there yet? Where’s Ameena? "What’s that red light cornin' from?" IT WAS just six o'clock. A lurid red glare was shining up through the lower window. The room was frightfully hot ! Tubby, as soon as he was fully awake, stared down through the heavy glass pane. The dark surface of Jupiter, over which they were poised, stretched out as far as he could see in every direction. Di- rectly underneath the window, like the huge mouth of a red-hot furnace, yawned a gap in the Jovian atmosphere from which lurid tongues of flame were licking upward into Space- -venomous, scarlet-red longues thou- sands of miles in length. Tubby was awed as well as alarmed. They were -^l■opping directly into the mouth ot Hell! "Don’t Ik frightened," laughed Sir Isaac from tKhind Tubby's shoulder. "We’re two million miles up yet and falling only at the rate of half a million miles an hour. That is the great red spot of Jupiter. I 'C always wondered just what it was. Those arc tongues of flaming hydrogen. It proves

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ArowMl tW Univ*rs« -k it conclusively that Jupiter is more l&e the Sun than any other Planet. Its surface is not solid on this side, and a« you sec, it is internally heated to a very consider- able degree.” While Tubby gazed, fascinated, Sir Isaac went on enthusiastically: "Jupiter is partially self-luminous, which I have also always believed. And, be- cause of its internal heat, the surface tem- perature is easily warm enough to sustain life, even out here .so remote from the Sun.” "That looks absolutely too hot to live in,” Tubby declared, gazing down into the crater of this mammoth volcano. Sir Isaac laughed again; evidently he was In high spirits at this complete veri- fication of this theories. "Of course it's too hot cm /bis side. 1 knew that, but I came around here to see the red spot. We had to follow It around, you sec, because of the Planet's very rapid axial rotrtion. The surface, as I said, isn’t solid. Nevertheless, since we know that Jupiter is inhabited, however much it would appear not to be, there must be at least a snaalJ portion of solid surface. We'll go around to the other side again and locate I f "Like lookin' for land w'hen flyin' over I the ocean?” Tubby illustrated. ' "Exactly. That is just what it can be compared to." I Tubby rose to his feet. "Very good, perfessor. Very good, w- detd. You navigate us around, an' I'll go I wake up Ameena. She mustn’t sleep M [ the time. We got to eat.” I They pa.ssed fairly close to Satellite IV, which revolves around its mother globe at a mean distance ot 1,162,000 miles. They were then having breakfast, and during the remainder of the meal Sir Isaac en- tertained them with a most interesting dis- ‘ .sertation «i the nine satellites of Jupiter. They were all three dressed as on the. evening before, though Ameena bad dis- carded the overcoat. She resumed it after breakfa.st, however, for when they had passed around over the other hemisphere of Jupiter, beyond the flames of the "red t spot,” exposed again to the cold of Inter- planetary Space and w'armed only by a very small, pale little Sun, the interior of the vehicle rapidly cooled off. After breakfast, an observation of Jupiter through the lower window showed only dense, black cloud masses. "Let’s go down, perfessor,” Tubby sug- gested. "Can’t see nothin' up here through them clouds.” He added gloatingly: "I guess we beat them Mercurians in, all right." They entered the Jovian atmosphere about eight o’clock — at an altitude of 1,400 miles — a depth of air strata that surprised even Sir Isaac. Inky blackness surrounded them for a time. At 110 miles they emerged into daylight. Later all the clouds swept away. The pale Sun shone through the side window, rising over the horizon — for it chanced to' be early morning on this por- tion of the mighty Planet — shortly after dawn of a clear, frosty-Iooking Jovian day. "Look.s awful chilly out," Tubby re- marked dubiously. "Yes," agreed Sir Isaac. "We would be freezing in here now if it were- not for our friction in passing through the atmosphere. 1 have shut off our heating apparatus. . . . It will be much warmer down below', how- ever, The internal heat of Jupiter warms its lower strata of air.” At an altitude of 25,000 feet they could distinguish quite plainly the Jovian land- scape over which they were pa.ssing hori- zontally— a barren land that looked as though it might be thick black water and mud. It .seemed to boil very sluggishly in .‘‘pots. Here and there it appeared firmer — and there were curious vegetable growths as near like two hundred foot mushroom.s as anything el.se Tubby could think of. The landscape was changing constantly. Now they came over a barren, almost rocky land, with enormous trees like pines and cedars. Half an hour later the forests be- gan occasionally to be dotted with citie.s — mammoth buildings rising in terraces two thousand feet into the air. ... Everything seemed built on the same gigantic scale. They selected, quite at random, one of the largest of the cities; and descended in an open space nearby. It was 9.50 A. M. when they came to rest upon the surface of Jupiter— a flight from Mercury, smallest major planet of the solar system, to Jupiter, the largest, of exactly 34 hours and 5 min- utes. The AUDIENCE with the Great Mogul of Jupiter — who came riding out of the city with his Wise Men on an enormous animal — like a queer-looking elephant with

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3d ^ A Future Fktlou broad, very flat feet — took place about 12 o'clock noon Earth Eastern time, though it was by then late afternoon of the Jovian day. It may seem remarkable that so great a dignitary would go to his visitors rather than bidding them come to him. The an- swer, however, is obvious to any thinking student. Tubby and Sir Isaac had flatly refused to allow themselves to be carried; .and since gravity on the surface of Jupitet is more than 2^2 times that of the Earth, they could hardly stand on their feet, much less walk! The Great Mogul was a lowering giant some fifteen feet tall, with his Counsellors in proportion. A robe of richly-colored cloth fell in folds to his feet. There were ropes of enormous gems about his neck — that is to say they might have been consid- ered gems, though they looked more like little gargoyles moulded out ot red and green putty and his braided white beard hung down his chest to his waist. The audience was held in front ot the vehicle, with Tubby, Sir Isaac and Ameena sitting on the floor in its doorway while a circle of guards kept back the crowd of gi- ants that had collected. Within this circle the Great Mogul and his four Wisest Men stood. Tul>by felt as though he weighed over four hundred {sounds — which indeed was the case: and his companions in pro{>of- tion. "It's just like Ix'ing a Lilliputian in Gul- liver's Travels,” he whispicred to Sir Isaac as the Great Mogul kneeled down to see him more closely. Tubby was struggling for breath; a great weight seemed compressing liis chest; his head was ringing; his ear- drums felt as though something were push- ing them inward — all, as Sir Isaac had ex- plained an hour before, because of the ex- tc.ssive pressure of the Jovian itmosphere. It was most disagreeable. And especially it was unpleasant to be nailed down by one’s own weight — to be forced to interview he greatest monarch of the Solar System in an undignified sitting posture on one’s own doorstep ! Sir Isaac beamed when Tubby in.ide !ii> remark about the Lilliputians. "Ah, so you have read my 'Gulliver’s Travels’.' There was a book! If I do say it myself, my sci entific conceptions in that were. ...” ”Sh! ' Tubby whispered. "He’s talkin' to us !" Tubby noticed suddenly that the Great Mogul and all his followers had very big, flat feet — shaped like snow-shoes — as though they were meant for w.ilking on very soft surfaces. They The Great Mogul was talking in a huge, roaring voice. The words were strange, un- intelligible. Sir Isaac smiled with embarrassment; and shook his head. "Too bad," he whispered to Tubby. “I or/ghl to know their language — but I don't. You see I've never written much alx)ut Jupiter. I ” The little Joviar stepped forward — a stoop-shouldered, weazened individual no more than nine or ten feet tall. By his face he might have been two or three hun- dred years old, He looked more like a giant mummy than a man. ”I s{ieak your Earth-language,” he said. "All of them — the languages of the Solar System are my study.” TuW>y felt impressed. He whis|>ered to Sir Isaac: "Looks like he’d l>ecn studyin’ too much, don’t he? Mean lookin' guy. huh, j>cr- fessor?" The Interpreter added: "His Supreme Highness demands that you explain your mission. " Sir Isaac did so, respectfully but eloquent- ly Outlining the nature of the disaster that threatened the Earth from Mars and Mer- cury, and ending by pleading most earnestly that the great Jovians lend their aid to the Earth to prevent so murderou.s an attack. The Interpreter turned to his master and tran>lated. When be had finished, the Great Mogul laughed ! The three voyagers knew then, before an answering word was spoken, that tlici; mis- siotj to Jupiter was a failure. They had made their plea — the lives of all the teem- ing millions of people of the Earth were at stake —and the Great Mogul laughed! "That dirty, mean " Tubby would have broken into open vilification, but Sir Isaac stopped him. Tlie Great Mogul was now .speaking to his Interpreter. ' His Supreme Highness the Great Mo- gul is extremely .sorry," said the Interpreter a moment later. "Yes. he looks it.” Ihis from Tubby. The Interpreter's face darkened as he re- peated this sarcasm to his master. A tor- rent of passionate anger swe}>t over the Great Mogul's face. The Interpreter lis-

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AroMid fiM Umv«tm A A 99 tened to his words a moment; then, in translating them his anger made him lapse into an Earth-collo^uiaiism nmre expressive than elegant. "His Supreme Highness says all you little worlds can shoot yourselves to Hell for all Me cares," said the Interpreter. Tubby tried belligerently to ri.se to his feet, but his weight made the effort a lamentable failure. "We’re sorry,” Sir Isaac shouted at once. "Tell His Highness we meant no offense . . . .These Jovians are most hot-tempered people it would seem." He added this last to Ameena in an undertone. "Ask him about Saturn, Uranus and Nep- tune,” the cjuick-witted girl said immediate- 'y- . Sir Isaac put the question as humbly and placatingly as possible. "They are uninhabited," said tl>e Inter- preter sourly. His Supreme Highness was making ready to depart, apparently without further in- terest in the proceedings. Tubby had almost managed to climb to his feet, but at last he gave it up and sank back again. "Come on," he panted. "Let’s get — out of this.... This ain’t no place for us — were wastin' — time again." Without further ceremony, like little dis- appearing manikins in a mechanical box, the three voyagers pulled them.selves back out of the doorway of their vehicle and closed the door after them. Sir Isaac rolled across the floor of the instrument room — the easiest mode of locomotion — and hoisted himself Into reach of the keyboard. An instant later the vehicle, freed from the tremendous gravitational pull of Jupi- ter, flew like a rifle bullet into Space. CHAPTER VII Again, after a voyage of some 450,- 000,000 miles, the would-be sa- viours of their own world were doomed to disappointment! When they had again safely traversed the Jovian at- mosphere. avoided Satellites II and IV with one of which they very nearly collided and were again launched into space, headed they cared not whither for the moment, the adventurers .sat down to discuss this terrible misfortune. As might be expected, the discussion yielded nothing. The mi.serable Jovian af- fair was most discouraging, though Tubby took a measure of satisfaction in it. 'Tm sorry for them Mercurians when they get here," he declared, with a sudden grin at the thought. "I wouldn’t wish them no worse luck than askin’ a favor of that Mogul guy." "But what will we do?" Ameena asked. The brave little girl was extremely agitated as the possibility — even probability— of their final failure forced itself upon her. "Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are unin- habited! That leaves us nowhere else to go — and we must have help. We must!” ’’/ wouldn’t bet a plugged nickel on any- thing tliat guy said about them other Plan- ets," Tubby declared doggedly. "I say — let’s see for ourselves. It ain’t so much of a trip, is it?" Tubby, with Ameena’s hand to hold most of the time, was not finding the voyage unpleasant in the least. Ameena flashed him a look of admira- tion as he made this sturdy suggestion. Sir Isaac pondered. "We are now about 485,000,000 miles from the Sun," he said thoughtfully. "Sat- urn's mean distance is 887,098,000 miles; Uranus is 1,784,732,000 miles, and Nep- tune is 2,796,528,000 miles from the Sun!" Tubby was slightly staggered; but he tried not to show it. "That ain’t so far," he declared. "May- be we could speed it up a little out here." Sir Isaac, as the idea began taking hold of him, was making a swift mathematical calculation. "We might go past each of them with- out stopping to land if they are not habita- ble," he said finally. "Owing to their pres- ent positions it would be a trip of about 3,281,000,000 miles from here.” He added : “That’s nearly a third farther than a di- rect route to Neptune owing to Saturn and Uranus being out of line." He showed Tubby and Ameena his chart again. "How- ever, we ought to be able ” "Sure thing," Tubby interrupted. "Let’s gel goin’. We re always wastin’ so much time." They were comparatively uneventful, the days that followed — uneventful that is, so far as astronomical occurrences were con- cerned. To Tubby, bowe%’er, they were days of never-flagging interest. Sir Isaac, with his charts and his mathematics, concerned himself almost exclusively with navigating the vehicle. He had started on a rapidly-

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40 ★ ★ ★ Future FictJoe "rowing manuscript also — a sequel to the "War of the Worlds,” he said; and except for a brief game of poker in the evening, he left his fellow-travelers entirely to their own devices. Tubby and Ameena cooked the meals to- gether, and washed the dishes; and, for re- laxation sang their Inlet-planelary dueti. Tor the rest, Tubby held her little hand, and with his arm around her awed into si- lence, they watched together the ncver-end ing vista of glorious stars toward which the vehicle was falling with constantly accel- erating velocity. Now that their voyage was extended into such gigantic distances, Sir Isaac, more than ever before, felt the need of baste. Only fifty-five days and some six hours from the time they left Jupiter remained before the fatal opposition of Mars with the Earth. Much could bt accomplished m fifty-five days; but still, as Tubby lugubriously re- marked, at the rate they were accomplish- ing it, fifty-five days was a very little time. Wherefore Sir Isaac, setting his determined jaw firmly, hurled the vehicle with pro- digious velocity onward. The danger of collision, which had so perturbed Sir Isaac in the region of Minor Planets between Mars and Jupiter was now greatly lessened. They had plenty of room now — for Asteroids, Meteors, even Comets were seldom sighted. It was a run of some 460,000,000 miles to Saturn, through a region of space comparatively deserted. At their former maximum velocity of twenty-eight million miles an hour, which Sir Isaac now maintained as an average, six- teen hours after leaving Jupiter they were approaching Saturn. It was then half-past four the following morning. Sir Isaac had slept the afternoon previous . nd was on watch. He awakened Tubby; and Tubby went immediately upstairs and called Ameena. Shortly afterward all three were crouched over the instrument room floor window, peering down at the great Ringed Planet above which they were seemingly poised some twelve million miles away. Sir Isaac had decreased their speed materially so that they might make observations with- out approaching too close. Saturn, a globe almost as large as Jupi- ter, and with its marvelous system of rings very much larger, at this proximity was a magnificent sight. The gic6e itself— a gi- gantic silver disc occupying half the firma- ment visible through the window — had broad bands of darkened area upon it sim- ilar to those the voyagers had observed on Jupiter. But those rings! Tubby and Ameena were amazed into silence; even Sic Isaac was awed by their splendor. As viewed from the venicle's present po- sition, the concentric rings — the inner one somewhat darker — were opened up to an angle of nearly thirty degrees^ — a glistening, gleaming silver band, like the bro.id brim of a crownless hat encircling the Planet — a silver brim more than 37,000 miles broad, with a total diameter, including the sphere it encircled, of nearly 167,000 miles! Hang- ing there in space ^low them, the Planet, its rings and its several tiny moons bathed the interior of the instrument room with silver fire. It wa.s the most glorious, most stupendous sight that human eyes had ever looked uf>on! "Let us go down close," said Sir I.saac quietly. A little later they could make out the composition of the rings with perfect clari- ty. Billions upon billions of tiny fragments of star-dust, each of them infinitesimal sat- ellites, each of them like tiny moons re- flecting the sunlight, whirled in their re- spective orbits about the mother Planet! "The wonder of it!” Sir Isaac murmured. "A biliion billion, and yet countless other billions of satellites — -all on one identical plane, each separate, each holding its place and following its own circular orbit!” Through the cloud-masses occasionally the onlookers could distinguish the surface of the Planet itself — could observe that it also was in motion, moving in gigantic whirl- pools. "It is undoubtedly entirely liquid or gas- eous," said Sir Isaac, "of a density very much less than water. We shall find no inhabitants here.” "No, I s' pose not," Tubby agreed. He .seemed, for once, reluctant to proceed with the journey. He sat with his arm tightly encircling Aineena's wai.st — as who would not with such a girl and such a sight before one? "1 guess we got to get on our way," he added with a sigh. Sir Isaac altered their course; and in an hour more they were well on their way to Uranus, with Saturn and his rings hi<;h in the firmament above them. It was a run of alxtut eleven hundred million miles from Saturn to Uramis. Sic Isaac had already maintained an average velocity of twenty-eight million miles an

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Around the Universe ^ A 41 hour for some hours. He now determined to better it. Beyond Saturn, be was con- vinced, there was still less chance of en- countering any derelicts. And, with each passing hour — each passing Planet from which they hoped to obtain help for their own threatened world — the panic in their hearts grew. It was Tubby who voiced it most strong- •y-, "In fifty-four days from today the Earth goes out of business,” he remarked dole- fully, from a deep, reflective silence into which all three had fallen. "Fifty-four days and twelve hours,” cor- rected Sir Isaac. '7/ we don’t succeed.” “We shall succe^,” declared Ameena. "We must never think but that we shall,'’ Thus, always, woman’s stronger hope and courage never flags. The run to Uranus occupied sewne 28 hours-— an average velocity of a trifle over 3y, 000, 000 miles an hour. It was about noon of the following day when, after no particularly unusual incidents — Sir Isaac again slowed down for them to make crf>- servations. It had grown colder steadily; the ve- hicle’s heating plant was in active operation. I The Sun had dwindled to a little blazing point among the stars. All that morning the travelers had sat looking downward, watching Uranus grow from a brilliant star to a little moon ; from moon to glowing silver-green disc. And now, at noon when they slackened their fall, the seventh Planet of the Solar ^- ! tem lay beneath them. [ After Saturn, the sight was disappointing. Uranus, 32,879 miles in diameter, lay per- 1 fectly barren. Its axial motion, observed I closely over a period of time, was distin- guishable— like the minute hand of a clock that creeps slowly forward. Sir Isaac bc- i lieved it to be of some six or eight hours I duration. I Heavy banks of cloud masses obscured the Planet’s surface; Sir Isaac had r>ot be- lieved Uranus would prove to have an at- mosphere— but it had^, and a very dense one enviously. But the surface of the Plan- et itself, what little they occasionally could set of it, was obviously liquid. INHABITANTS here," said Sir Isaac. Quite evidently he was tre- mendously disappointed, for Ik knew that the average den.sity of Uranus was not much n>ore than that of Jupiter, and he had hoped that in this instance the Jovian interpreter had been lying. "No inhabitants here,” Tubby echoed sadly. ’’Well, let’s get on our way.” Between the orbits of Uranus and Nep- tune there lies a mean distarKC of 1,011,- 796,000 miles — that is to .say, something over a thousand million miles. Neptune now, however, was unfortunately very much farther along in its orbit, so that the oblique course necessary to reach this lat- ter Planet lengthened the distance to near- ly eighteen hundred million miles. Sir Isaac, after a very abstruse calculation, an- nounced the exact mileage to be .seventeen • hundred and ten million and twenty-six. Tubby was getting used to these gigantic figures, which as anyone can realize, are only relative. Sir Isaac pointed this out clearly. ■’On earth, in a railroad train,” he said, "if you were going at the rate of fifty miles an hour and had a journey of 1710 miles to make, it would not be very confusing to fathom the figures, would it? Or to cal- culate how long it would take you to make the run ? That is exactly comparable to this run we have before us now, from Uranus to Neptune. We have about 1710 million miles to go, and I propose to average about 50 million miles an hour.” Here Sir Isaac fell back upon one of his favorite topics. "All distances are relative to other distances. A mile to a snail is a long trip, but an airplane makes it in two or three dozen seconds. There is no such thing as absolute distance — or absolute mo- tion, or time or size. Everything is relative to something else. Twenty-four hours is a very little time in the life of an elephant — but it is more than a lifetime to many insects. Our trip from here to Neptune is not more than an inch in all the countless miles of space.... But I’ll tell you more about that .some other time.” ■■Right,” said Tubby, considerably re- lieved. "Just now we got to eat. Ameena's got lunch all ready.” The flight to Neptune occupied just thir- ty hours — an average of 57 million miles an hour. Sir Isaac was intensely pleased, though as he admitted to Tubby, the maxi- mum velocity of the vehicle had never yet been tested. Tubby and An>eena were also enthu.sia.s- tic. "Wonder what become of them Mer-

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42 ★ ★ ★ Fi€«oii curians who was after us?” Tubby speculat- ed. "Swell chance of them gettin' way out here.” "They must have stopped at Jupiter,” said Amecna. "We were gone then — they could not tell where.” This, obviou.sly, was logical. At all events, the Mercurian vehicle was now the least of their worries. Neptune lay beneath them. Would they secure, on this far out- post ol the Solar System, the help they needed? Fervently they prayed so, for it seemed their last chance. It was just 6 P. M., on the day following their departure from the vicinity of Uranus, when Sir Isaac held the vehicle poised above the surface of Neptune. The Planet, very slightly smaller than Uranus, lay completely enveloped in its dense atmospheric envelope. "We got to go down," said Tubby frowning. "Can’t see nothin' from way up here.” The descent through Neptune's atmos- phere was pleasurable, for the friction warmed the vehicle once more to comforta- ble temperature. At an altitude of some fifteen thousand feet they emerged from the dense cloud-banks into Neptunian day- light. And what a dim, miserable daylight it was! And below, what a bleak, dreary sight met their disappointed gaze! With sinking hearts — their last hope gone — they stared downward. Neptune's surface — flat, unmarked by a single distinguishing physi- cal conformation — might have been the sur- face of a p>oIar sea! In all directions, to the circular rim of the raised horizon, stretched a level surface of grey-white snow, dirty- looking in the twilight which was Nep- tune’s day. But whether land lay beneath, or merely some frozen liquid, could not be told. There was not a sign of life — noth- ing but bleak desolation. It was an amaz- ing sight — an old world seemingly, when everything in the logic of Sir Isaac's scien- tific mind had led him to anticipate a new one — a world of heat, of liquid or gas tur- bulent from its own internal fire. Sir Isaac muttered to himself. Looking upward through the side window with Tub- by, they saw the Sun through a rift in the clouds — a tiny pencil-point of light in tlie dull, reddish-blue day — a dreary, remote Sun, hopelessly impotent to light or to warm this far-away offspring. Tubby’s face was solemn as be turned to his friend. "Ain’t no use goin’ down no farther. That's our finish — that puts our Earth out of business." Silently the vehicle, with its three sad- dened. frightened occupants, ascended through the Neptunian atmosphere again into space. "Well,” said Tubby finally. "Now what? That’s the end, ain’t it?” Again it was Ameena who first recovered her courage. Her lips were compressed; her l>eautiful, dark eyes blazed with de- termination. "It is not the end, my friends! To such men as you the end never comes before defeat !” She pointed to the Stars blazing outside the window — the band of "Milky Way,” a myriad stars brighter now from this outer edge of the Solar System — and added: "There are other worlds — countless other worlds. Let us go to them! With all tlK haste we can make — forgetting danger to ourselves — let us hurry. Here at home. In our own little Solar System, wc have been rebuffed. But somewhere in this Uni- verse there must be humans who are un- selfish —who though without hope of re- ward, still will not suffer their own kind to go down into disaster and death!” Her enthusiasm was contagious. "Co«ne on! ’ shouted Tubby. "Let's get goin’! There’s a big star — let’s go to that one! " Sir Lsaac thumped his fist on the tabic. "We will!” he exclaimed. "I shall at- tain a velocity never Iscforc even imagined! We must — wc shall find help for our Earth !" A few moments later, sweeping circularly around Neptune, the undaunted adventurers left tlie ^lar System behind them and launched themselves boldly out into the uncharted realms of Inter-stellar Space! CHAPTER VIII (,<• MUST nol rush into this thing thoughtlessly” Sir W W Isaac declared, when the first flush of their enthusiasm was passed and practicality began to creep in. "Wc must plan — calculate. Our time is limited. We only have — " "Fifty-two days exact,” Tubby finisfied, "How far we got to go? Ain’t we gone a good ways already?" Sir Isaac had made several brisk compu-

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Around Hio UiMvorse ^ ^ 43 tations a few moments before. Neptune, with the entire Solar System behind it, al- ready hung far above them. They were falling downward, apparently toward a very bright Star which gleamed amid a myriad of its fellows in the lower firmament. "We have relatively a very great dis tance to go," said Sir Isaac, answering Tubby’s question. "We are already on our course to the nearest of all the Stars— and fortunately we happen to be at that extremity of the Solar System nearest to it. He pointed to the lower window. "Very good,” approved Tubby as usual. "The closest Star. Very good. What's its name an' how far away are we? An' say. what's a Star anyway? We been dcalin in Planets so long — ” Sir Isaac smiled. "To answer your la^t que.stion first, I sliall have to give you a brief explanation of tlie nature of the entire Universe.” Anticipating a somewhat lengthy disser- tation of the sort Sir Isaac seemed to delight in, Ameena settled herself beside Tubby and gave him her hand to hold. "Go on, Sir Isaac, please do," site pleaded. "Go ahead— shoot!" said Tubby. Thus encouraged, Sir Isaac began; "The region we call Space is a limited area whose boundaries I shall explain some other time.” Tubby and Antcena were anxious to know. Sir Isaac frowned slightly. ' Oli well — that is immaterial. In that scientific nar- rative I dealt with infinite smallness, and now we are dealing with infinite largeness. The theory is the same. . . . However, this region we call Space is devoid of air. It is not, of course, a vacuum, but is com- pletely filled by the ether." "What’s that?” demanded Tubby. "The ether, my friends, is an agglomera- tion of imponderable atoms, which, rela- tively to their small dimensions, are as far removed from each other as are the Celes- tial bodies in Space. It is these atoms which, by their vibratory motion, produce both light and heat in the Universe. . . . That's my own definition. I hope you like it?" ^ ' Its — it's beautiful," declared Ameena. Thank you,” replied Sir Isaac, smiling graciously. "I think it /s rather neat. I've used it frequently. Though lately, these foolish modern .scientists of Earth arc be- ginning to dispute me. . . . Well, to pro- ceed. In this region of Space, billions upon billions of Celestial bodies are whirl- ing. They all obey recognized laws of Cele,stial mechanics — ail are acted upon by different balancing forces. ... I shall not weary you with that.” "No," said Tubby. "We'll pass that up. Co on." "These Celestial bodies range in sizc from the most gigantic blazing Suns, mil- lions ot times in volume of our own Sun of the Solar System, down to the very minutest fragment — which is nothing more or less than an atom of the ether itself! "We call these Celestial bodies by dif- ferent names. A Star, for instance, refers to luminous bodies. Our own Sun is one of them. Planets are reflecting, or partially self-luminous bodies revolving around a central Sun. You already understand what Satellites are. Then there are Asteroids, which are merely Planetoids— smaller Plan- ets. And there are Comets, and Meteors, and "Never mind all them," Tubby inter- rupted hastily. He squeezed Ameena’s hand consolingly as Sir Isaac plunged on: "Therefore, you understand, we live on one of tl>c Planets — I beg your pardon, Ameena— on two of the Planets of the Solar System— the Earth and Venus. Our Sun. with all its Planets, forms only ot>e System ot an infinite number. Each of those Stars He waved his hand again toward the window — "Each of tfwse Stars very prolsably has revolving about it a system of worlds much greater than our own 'Solar System ' " My goodnesN,” Tubby commented. ' This here Universe is a big place, ain't it? We only got started, so far." 1 lie memory of those fifty-two days of grace which were all that remained to them, struck Tubby forcibly. He added anxiously: "How soon do we get to this first Star, perfessor?" Sir Isaac referred to a memorandum "Tl»e neare.st Star to the Solar System is Al- pha Centauri," he answered. "Tl»e Astrem omers of Earth recently claim to have found one slightly nearer, but / do not recognize it. That is Alpha Centauri we are heading for — a splendia binary of the First Magni tude, with a parallax of 0.73" whose com- ponents revolve in 81 years. I mean - he added apologetically, "it is really two Stars several hundred million miles apart.

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44 ★ ★ ★ Fttfwr« PictiMi revolving around each other. It is drift- ing through Space with a velocity of some sixty miles a second.” Tuhby lifted his eyd>rows; Sir Isaac con- tinued hastily: “Every Star is moving — drifting, I call it — as though they were in gigantic cur- rents circulating about — I don’t know just whither or why. Our own Sun, for in- stance, with all its Planets, is drifting- floating toward some of the Stars and away from others — at the rate of many miles a .second, but always holding its mass of Planets intact.” Tubby turned to the girl beside him. "Kind of complicated, ain't it, Ameena.’” Then to Sir I.saac; "How far is this closest Star we’re head- in’ for? I ast you ‘•’lat, an’ you. ...” ”1 was getting to that. But it you fnusi know at once....” Sir Isaac spoke with some asperity. “If you insist, I'll tell you that Alpha Centauri is a trifle le.ss than 2^.000,000,000,000 miles from here! " Tubby and the girl stared blankly as Sir Isaac stated this astounding figure. "You see.^ I knew you would not un- derstand me. What I wanted to explain first, was that in dealing with these larger figures, to save confusion we generally use a larger unit than the mile. "The best one is the Light-year. It is the distance light travels in a year.” "How far?” Tubby a.sked, with rapidly recos-ered poise. IGHT travels about 186,000 miles a second.” said Sir Isaac. "Multi- ply that up to a year and divide it into 25,000.000.000,000 and you get 4.35. A child could do that by simple arithmetic. Thus you find that Alpha Centauri is dis- tant 4.35 Light-years.” This latter figure wa.s con.siderably less awe in.spiring. Tubby seized it eagerly. "Only four Light-years. That ain’t so far.” "No," said Sir Isaac, smiling with re- turned good humor. "Comparatively speak- ing, of course, it isn't far. All distance is relative. If you can travel fast enough, 4.35 Light-years, especially compared to the many hundred Light-years which separate some of the Stars, is relatively quite near. . . . Now about our own velocity. ...” It was, in truth, the problem of attaining a sufficiently great velocity to cope with these greater distances that bad worried Sir Isaac from the moment they decided to launch out into Inter-Stellar Space. With- in the comparatively narrow confines of the Solar System — menaced by Asteroids and Meteors — a great velocity was neither nec- essary nor desirable. But now — in the out- er realms — it was both. Sir Isaac, in spite of his bombastic state- ment to Tubby as they left the Earth, had never really anticipated a prolongation ol the voyage beyond Neptune. Nevertheless he had always believM that the vehicle’s velocity, theoretically, was illimitable. Sev- eral factors contributed to this conclusion. It is one of the laws of motion, inertia to be exact, that a body once in motion and not acted upon by any force, will continue for- ever in motion at exactly its original rate. Thus, whatever force was applied to the vehicle must accelerate its rate of speed in- definitely. LLe entire Solar System now lay above them, and thus the combined repellent force of ail its Planets and its Sun could be used. This, with the attractive force of all the countless gigantic Stars that lay below, Sir Isaac was confident would cause them to fall into the void of Space with tremendous velocity — a velocity that had no limit ex- cept the time allowed for acceleration. Haste was needed, and now, for the first time since leaving' the Earth, Sir Isaac used almost all the total force at his command. They had left the vicinity of Neptune about 8 P. M. At midnight, just when the sleepy Ameena was about to retire. Sir Isaac looked up from the most complicated calculation he had so far made. “Our velocity is now approaching two hundred thousand miles a second,” he an- nounced triumphantly. "Thousand!" Tubby exclaimed in dis- may. "We was goin"' in millions this aft- ernoon I" "I said a second,” Sir Isaac returned. "We did attain — at one short period last night — about a hundred million miles an hour. But I cut it down at once. This is per sec- ond— not per hour." "Oh," said Tubby with relief. "How much is that an hour?” "About seven hundred and twenty mil- lion—that is to say, seven times our for- mer maximum.’’ This was joyful news indeed; but Sir Isaac’s next words dispelled the joy com- pletely. "At this fate, ” be added, “we should

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Ar-oun^ fli« Univcrs* -k ir -k reach Alpha Centauri in about four years!" And in fifty-two days Mars would de- stroy the Earth unless they were back there to prevent it! "But — but then — ” Tubby protested. Sir Isaac's quiet smile stopped him. "You need not worry over that," he said. "There are many forces acting upon us which you do not understand. The accel- eration of a falling body is in astounding ratio — especially when it has an additional repellent force above it.... I've told you that before. Wait until tomorrow — then we shall see." There followed a somewhat lengthy si- lence. "Say, perfessor," Tubby began finally, ' ain't this kind of re-wjri-able — this extra speedy travelin’?” ' Sir Isaac looked up from his mathematics. "My dear fellow, I ao suppose these Astro- nomical figures confuse you. I've .tlreadv tried to explain — ” "No — I mean, us bein’ able to jo so fast." Sir I.saac laid aside his pencil, and trowned. "I see nothing extraordinary in it. Your mind is still in its Earth-rut. You must get out of that Hoe of thinking," "1 will,” Tubby declared humbly. "Only tell me how to." Sir Isaac's good nature returned, promptly as usual. He laughed. "You must understand that on Earth you have always been dealing — personally, ! mean, with mileage the longest distance of which is the circumference of the Earth — 25,000 miles. AH your life you have been a little ant. chained down by gravity. Nat- urally, for you, motion has had a very nar- row meaning. Your own motion, in rela- tion to the ground beneath you, is all your mind daily recognized. That, for you, was the standard of motion. "But, my dear friend, that is not really motion at all. You were like an ant, crawl- ing around the narrow limits of its little world. How can you expect an ant to un- derstand, or to fathom the velocity of an airplane, or a rifle bullet, which covers m a fraction of a second, a space — a distance — equal to the entire known world of the ant.^ " Sir Isaac was gradually warming up. "You call that motion. On the other liand, though you did not know it, perhaps, lx>th you and the ant have always been mov- •ng with great rapidity. For instance, the rotation of tlie Earth on its axis, if you happened to be on the Equator, would car- ry you around a circle of 24,000 miles in one day -every day. That is a thousand miles an hour. Added to that, the Earth also moves around in its orbit some 66,000 miles an hour. Still more than that, the Sun drags the Earth along at about 36,000 miles an hour. This motion of the Sun can only be calculated by its relation to the oth- er Stars. And, so far as / know, the whole Universe may be hurtling through Space a thousand times that fast. In fact, 1 think it is. And still more than that probably Space itself is moving — a million times faster than everything else. . . .But that you cannot un- derstand yet.... I'll explain that to you later." "Tell me more," Tubby murmured des- perately. "Well," said Sir Isaac, "in Space, you see, all Earthly ideas of motion must be recon- structed. We are now a Celestial body our- selves— obeying all the laws of Celestial Mechanics — a little world all our own — a world of three inhabitants." It was -in interesting thought ; it aroused in Tubhy a sudden patriotism for the ve- hicle .ind its welfare. Sir Isaac went on quietly and earnestly: "Some of the Stars are drifting at the rate of 230 miles a second. Drifting — you un- derstand. But we are not drifting, wc arc falling — pulled down by attraction from be- low and pushed down by repulsion from alx)ve. Is it any wonder then — atter fall- ing freely for millions ol miles, and with such a constant, tremendous impulse — that we should attain an enormous velocity?" Both Tubby and \ineena admitted the reasonableness of this. Motion, as Sir Isaac so clearly pointed out. depended entirely upon the motion of something else with which you compared it. "I guess it ain’t so wonderful, perfes- sor? ” Tubhy said finally. "But you got to get used to flunkin' about it. " Sir Isaac smiled, and turned to tlie tired girl. "Hadn't you better run along to bed. Ainecna?" Tubby escorted her to the foot of tlic stairs. As lie parted with her for the night, she said softly: “Do not worry, Tubby dear. Wc shall succeed- I know it. " With a radiant smile she kissed him goodnight and darted up the stairs. For an hour thereafter Sir Isaac's figures fell upon deaf cars; the memory of Ameena’s Iseiu-

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4* ★ ★ ★ Fn*#r« tiful face and the tenderness in her voice — attributes that had all the inheiited inten- sity of hundreds of Venus-women ancestors behind them — absorbed Tubby’s entire con- sciousness. During the night, Tubby and Sir Isaac alternated keeping watch, though as usual Tubby did most of the sleeping. Poor Sir Isaac was getting thinner than ever; but his wonderful courage and vitality held him up. He was almost always either working with his calculations, or using some of the many scientific instruments with which the room was ecjuipped; and, for diversion, writing his manuscript, which hourly grew in bulk. He was engaged in this latter occu- pation the following morning after breakfast, when Ameena, coming in from washing the breakfast dishes, timidly asked him what be was writing. He looked up to her with tired eyes as she and Tubby, with arms around each other, stood beside him. "I am writing a scientific narrative which 1 think I shall call 'Around the Universe’,’’ he said quietly. Ameena clapped her har>ds. "Oh, Isn't that fine? All about our trip! Will you publi.sh it on your Earth? Everyone will love to read about all these wonderful things, won’t they?” Sir Isaac’s smile was veiy gentle, slightly cynical. "My dear child,” he said, "you do not understand human nature. People may con- descend to read w'hat we have done, but do you think they will believe it?” "But, of course, they must," the girl cried. "Is it not actually happening to us?” Sir Isaac sighed. “It is, most certainly. But people are so skeptical. They do not even believe that Jupiter is habitable. They will think I made it all up — treat it as a joke. All my scientific data — my personal observations — the most wonderful Astro- nomical ” "Let ’em go to blares," Tubby put in fiercely. "We ll give it to Venus. If them Earth-people ain’t got no more sen.se than . . . . ” "But first we must .save the Earth-people, or tho.se terrible Martians will destroy them,” reminded Arrteena. Tubby sobered. “That’s .so.” Another thought struck him. “We’ll save all them Earth-people from gettin' murdered — an’ then tl^ey’ll laugh at us foe fellin' them bow we did it ! That's gratitude for yo»"! That’s ” Ameena kissed him gently. "Never mind. Tubby. We shall do what we can • — for the sake of humanity—witbout hope of reward. ” Sir Isaac, practical as always, remarked somewhat cynically: “To accomplish that, we mu.st have help. We must find some other humans in this Universe as unselfish as ourselves. Can we do that? 1 doubt it.” “You arc extreme. Sir Isaac, ' An'iecna said. "On your Earth, when you have had war, have not Nations aided each other?” "Yes," he answered. “But only for their own interest — for their own defense. I cannot recall a single instance of real un- selfishness. Yes, 1 think there were two. A few years ago there was a little Na- tion " "A little Nation!” Tubby exclaimed. "Say, maybe that’s the answer! Maybe we was wrong to pass up all them little Plan- ets between Mars and Jupiter!" "I thought of that,’’ Sir Isaac responded. "A .small Nation or a world, I think, is more likely to be completely unselfish. I don't know why it should be so — but it seems to be. There are Ceres, Juno, Pal- las-—many Minor Planets — and we ignored them ail.” He shrugged. "You see. a lit- tle world, however willing, would be pow- erless to help us materially anyway — even if they wanted to. That is why 1 did not consider them." The train of thought which this conversa- tion brought to Sir Isaac worried him after- ward very considerably. In drawing an analogy between individual Nations and Planets, it became perfectly clear that to ask aid of any Nation is a very different mat- ter from going to another world. Nations on the same Planet have infinitely diversi- fied interests interwoven. War comes. However unselfish a Nation may appear — may in fact really and sincerely in its heart feel itself to be — it cannot by the very na- ture of things, be wholly detached. But go to another Planet. The detachment is com- plete. Then— and then only — can you p>ut it to the real test of altruism. Thus the identical attitudes of the peo- ple of the Light Country of Mercury, and of Venus, and Jupiter, while they cannot be condoned, at feast can be understood. And following this train of thought, as Sir Isaac did that morning while he sat .star-

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Around fhe Univorso A A A 47 ing with unseeing eyes at his neglected man- uscript, an additionally disturbing conclu- sion was inevitable. All the Planets the voyagers had so tar importuned, belonged to the Solar System. To some extent, therefore, their theoretical interests were mutual. And, if Mercury, Venus and Jupiter were willing to stand by and see the War Lords of Mars overrun the Earth, how much more likely were worlds far outside the Solar System to adopt a similar attitude.^ Sir Isaac pondered this, until at last he began to realize how inev- itable would be their rebuff, no matter where in the Universe they went. Noon came. Sir Isaac ate moodily, then went back to the instrument room and his gloomy reverie. Ameena put the kitchen in order with Tubby's help, after which the two young people sat in the store-room, Ameena strumming her lyre and Tubby singing with enthusiastic abandon, It finally became too much for Sir Isaac's overwrought nerves. “Won’t you please slop?’’ he called querulously. “1 can’t stand that infernal noi.se when I’m thinking." They stopped obediently; arid a moment later joined Sir Isaac. "How we makin’ out, perfessor.'’’ Tubby asked timidly. “Were sorry we disturbed you — this here house is so awful quiet.” Sir Isaac was never one to hold rancor. ARE doing very nicely. Our ww per second velocity now is ap- proximately 45 million miles. At this rate wc would reach Alpha Centauri in about six days. 1 shall, however, do much better than that— our rate of acceleration is quite satisfactory.” But Sir Isaac c^ily slKM>k his Itead and went back to his reverie. It was a futile thing — Sir Isaac smiled cynically to himself at the thought of it. *rhe Stars themselves would not be inhab- ited since they were blazing Suns. Hope only remained with their individual Plan- ets; and to locate these Planets anc land upon them would consume much more time than the meager 51 days of grace that were left. A very real problem of Celestial Mechan- ics showed Sir Isaac the mathematical im- possibility of landing upon more than two or three additional Planets at the most, in such a time. The vehicle, during these many hours that Sir Isaac had remained lost in thought, had accelerated to a velocity of some two hundred million miles a second — enough to take it far beyond Alpha Cen- tauri in .1 very few days — especially since the acceleration was constantly progressing. But more than twenty-four hours had been consumed in attaining this velocity; and to check it entirely, under similar conditions would require an equal length of time. But suppose Alpha Centauri had no Planets! Or suppose the Planets were not inhabited .■> To go to the next nearest Star would re- quire many days more — a still higher ve- locity-still greater loss of time in start- ing and stopping. And then the actual time necessary to land upon a Planet — the slow descent through its atmosphere — the ascent, and hours afterward proceeding at a snail’s pace such as they had used within the Solac System! No, it was impossible. A year would be required to make any extended exploration — a year at the very least. "I u>iU figure it out,” he muttered grim- ly. "The most delicate, abstruse mathe- matical problem ever attempted I But it can be solved — and 1 will — 1 niHsl — solve it." CHAPTER IX The car passed between the com- ponent stars of Alpha Centauri dur- ini> the early afternoon of the follow- ing day. The two gigantic blazing suns were four times our own sun in apparent diameter. Their light was intolerable to the naked eye. Even with the shades of the side windows drawn, the interior of ihc vehicle was disagreeably bright. The heat was tremendous — almost sti- fling. All that morning the temperature had l>een rising, until, at lunch time, the two men again appeared in their white flan- nels, and Ameena was back to her charming native costume. During the morning the two stars that compose Alpha Centauri had visibly sep- arated, and Sir Lsaac laid his course between them —a thing that was possible only be cause the vehicle's tremendous velocity pre- cluded even these gigantic masses from drawing it aside and into them. The actual passage between the stars was very brief, fortunately, or the voyagers would have perished in the intolerable heat. Sir Isaac estimated the stars to be some 3,600,000,000 miles apart. He professed ignorance as to what figure the earthly as

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4i ★ ★ ★ tronomers had set, and admitted his esti- mate probably was greatly in error since he had nothing to judge it by save the stars' apparent flight upward past the side win- dows. It was indeed, only a few seconds before they were above the vehicle and vis- ually again drawing together. When it was over. Sir Isaac, trembling at t^je keyboard, turned his white face to hi.s companions and smiled weakly. "I should not have tried that, ” he said. "It was too dangerous, attempting to pass through that little .space. How ' ever man- aged it " He broke off, adding; "Well, we're past now, at all events. 1 did not want to slow down — but suppo.sc — just suppose we had run too close to one of those stars— -suppose we had collided with one of Alpha Centauri's planets?" "Was there any planets?” asked Tubby. "I didn't see none. " "Neither did 1," Sir Isaac confessed. "I did not see anything. There might have been -I do not know." He took a swallow of water from the carafe on the table, light- ed a cigarette — he was smoking incessantly — and went back to the mathematics in which he was now constantly engaged. Tubby watched him timidly for a mo- ment. Then, encouraged by a glance from Ameena. he said, hesitatingly; "Where we goin' next, perfessor?” Sir Isaac looked up, KOwning. "Eh? What's that?" "I said, where we goin' next? You .said this mornin’ we wouldn't stop at Alpha Centauri, but you forgot to tell us why.” Sir Isaac, still working on his plans, Irad made a brusque statement to that effect. He had promptly immersed himself in his mathematics again, so Tubby and Ameena had thought it best to let him alone tempo- rarily. They had spent almost tJie entire morning together in the little observatory upstairs, where, through the small telescope they had tried to locate the Solar System. Sir I.saac, during the morning, had reached a definite conclusion; and now in the face of Tubby's ingratiating attitude, his austerity melted a little, and he detailed his plans. "I did not stop at Alpha Centauri, " he said, "because I calculated that the time we would lo-se in checking our present high ve- locity and starting again, would, after a very few stops, exhaust all the time at our com- mand.” He smiled in fr'iendly fashion, and explained in detail. "But then,” protested Tubby, "it we don’t never stop, how are we goin’ to get any help?" Sir Isaac hesitateo. "To be quite frank with you, my friends, I have about con- cluded we cannot get any help. ” "Oh,” said Tubby. "Oh dear," Ameena echoed faintly. Sir Isaac continued. ”1 think we can .save our earth alone — through our own efforts — without any out- side assistance. " Coming from such a meticulous perstm as Sir Isaac this was good news indeed. Tubby and the girl vociferously demanded details. Sir Isaac raised his hand. "I ha\e not worked it out yet. That’s why I didn’t want to tell you anything about it. The plan involves a tremendous, a very abstruse and delicate mathematical calculation. If I can secure complete and exact enough fig- ures the execution of my plan will be very simple. I am working on the calculation now. 1 worked all last night — all this morning. It may require many days — I do not know. But if only my strength holds — ” “You go right ahead," encouraged Tubby. "We won't bother you none. And mean- time- "In the meantime," Sir Isaac supplied, "1 thought we might as well go onward." He smiled with just a touch of embarrassment. "To tell you the truth, I am very curious about these outer realms of space. I have lots of good theories — but I really know very little about this portion of the Uni- verse." "Me neither," Tubby declared liberally. "And," Sir Isaac went on, "since we have attained this high velocity, and are each moment accelerating it. 1 thought we might as well utilize our spare time to — well just to satisfy our curiosity. I have a theory regarding the edge of Space — ’ "Ah! The edge of Space!" "Yes, the very ultimate edge of this Space we are traversing. If we could reach it and return with my calculation completed, and then save our Earth, it would — ” "Great!" cried Tubby. "We can! We will!” cried the girl. " — it would gratify me very much." Sir Isaac hnished. Thus it was arranged. Tubby and Ameena returned to the observatory — the only part

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Around th« Universe A A A 49 of the vehicle where they could sing with abandon and without fear of disturbing Sir Isaac. Two hours later they came quietly down to indulge in afternoon tea. In the instru- ment room, sprawling in his chair, with his arms on the table and his head upon them in the midst of a litter of papers cov- ered with algebraic hieroglyphics, sat Sir Isaac, fast asleep. "Poor dear man,” murmured Ameena. "He is completely worn out.” "Yeh, he’s all in," agreed Tubby. "Let's get him to bed.” They awakened him gently, and ordered him up to one of the bedrooms. Like a child, he obeyed. On the stairs he roused himself sufficiently to caution Tubby. WANT you to look altead through M. the floor window at least once every minute.” he declared. "We have very lit- tle room, even out here, at this velocity. I have several times barely avoided colli- sions that I haven't told you about. If we approach closer than 900.000,000 miles — or even as close as that — to any celes- tial body of sufficient mass to deflect us, we are lost. Will you promise?" Tubby promised; and this time, with Ameena’s assistance, he kept his word. As Sir Isaac explained to them tl»c fol- lowing morning, the danger of collision in one way was now very great, though in another way it had lessened. They had passed Alpha Centaur! at a velocity per second of something like 275.000,000 miles. This by steady acceleration, now approxi- mated 740,000,000. Any very gigantic ce- lestial body in front of them would de- flect them aside and into it. It was this danger that they must avoid. But of course, so enormous a body would be visible an enormous distance away and so could be seen in time to l>e avoided. On the other hand, there was now little danger to be apprehended from smaller bodies such as the asteroid with which they had so nearly collided back in the Solar System. Even if one of the,out 15^2 -ight-years from here — Betelgeuse is about 150 light-years!” "He — he must be lots bigger, then,” Tub- by concluded after a moment of amaze- ment. "He is," said Sir Isaac. "Professor Al- bert Michclson measured the diameter of Betelgeuse in the autumn of 1920. His figures show that star to be equal in size to 27,000,000 Suns like ours!” TuNsy was staggered. Sir Isaac went on calmly. "The diameter of Betelgeuse is 260,000.- 000 miles. Let me show you how really enormous chat is. You remember our trip from the Earth to Venus, and to Mercury? Well, if Betelgeuse were a hollow globe and you put our Sun suspended in its cen- ter, Mercury, Venus and the Earth would all luve plenty of room to traverse their orbits inside it! Even the orbit of Mars would be only a short di.stancc outside!"

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50 ★ ★ ★ Fti+nre Rctwii Neither Tubby DOr Ameena could think of anything to say. "Professor Michelson found ail that o»it by what he calls the 'Interference Method.’ I won’t bother you by explaining it....’* Sir Isaac raised his hand despairingly. "Of course Michelson deserves a lot of credit. 1 never had occasion to work on just that particular problem, or I would, of course, have been able to ’ "Show us somethin’ else,” Tubby inter- posed. Sir Isaac pointed out several binaries that now were visually separated. It was all a most wonderful sight; the multiple stars— "clusters" — and the curious spiral nebulae, the still faint, far-off Milky Way. It was indeed a stupendou,s, awe-inspiring sight, though Tubby and Ameena were now suffi- ciently used to it, to be comparatively unim- press^. For nearly a week the vehicle, with steady acceleration, dropped into Space, while Sir Isaac worked almost incessantly at his com- pilations and Tubby and Ameena engrossed themselves in each other’s companion.ship. They entered the Milky Way on the sev- enth day after passing Alpha Centaiiri. Though their actual entrance into the Ga- lactic Plane was unmarked by any vi.sual phenomena — the firmament blazed with stars as usual — a different set of stars were now brightest, but to the non-technical ob- .server there was no marked change. During this week an apparent star mo- tion had gradually increased, until now, looking down through the lower windows, the stars could be seen opening up as the vehicle dropped into them- -separating themselves, passing upward, across the side windows, and closing together again over- head. ^ "How fast we goin’ now, professor.'" Tubby asked once. It was supper time. Sir Isaac hastily mas- ticated a huge mouthful of chee.se sandwich and washed it down with a swallow of cof- fee, before replying. "1 cannot tell you in miles, " he answered. "In light-years 1 estimated it this morning to be about 1/120 a second. That i.s, 1/2 light-year a minute, or about 720 a day. We are now about 3,500 light-years from the Earth." Tubby had by this time rrwde up his mind never to be surprised again at anything. "That’s an awful lot faster than we used to go, ain’t it?" he remarked. "Around Mercury or Venus, f’r instance." Sir I.saac's smile was condescending. i iPBPIHE diameter of the entire Solar A System, from Neptune’s orbit, across the Sun, and out again to Neptune's orbit on the other side is a mean distance of 5,593,056,000 miles. We are traveling that distance now just about once every second !" Probably no other statement of Sir Isaac’s was so amazing. And, as Tubby and the girl pondered it, the immensity of this Space through which, day after day, night after night, they were plunging at this al- most inconceivable rate, was made clear to them. Sir Isaac added laughingly: "The Solar System isn't very large. Why, that star Betelgeuse could hardly turn around in it. A mere 5,500,000,000 miles — it's only a few time.s the diameter of that one star.” How Sir I.saac ever avoided the stars of the Milky Way, even with the gigantic dis- stances separating them, he never under- stood. All that night, his still elusive cal- culation neglected, he sat at the door win- dow in the instrument room. From time to time he leaped to the keyboard to alter their course. It was a nerve-wracking, hor- rible night. But in the morning, when Tubby, and a little later, Ameena appeared, the Milky Way lay glistening above them. Below, only a ^ew stars showed ; beyond that, darkness- - blank, unfathomable. Sir Isaac greeted his friends with a wan smile; he was on the verge ot physical exhaustion, but his .spirit remained un- daunted. "We are beyond the star.s. ’ he said. "It is as I always thought. Even from Earth I have telescopically observed a perceptible thinning out of the Celestial bodies. Wc have reached the limits of our Celestial Universe on this side. We have now below us only empty Space — unless we encounter anotiier Universe. " Sir Isaac quite evidently had his own theories as to what lay beneath them in that void of darkness. But he smilingly resisted all Tubby's efforts to make him talk about it. Finally in desperation. Tubby exclaimed; "We ain’t got fw business goin’ much farther. The opposition of Mars comes off in forty-two days from 6 P. M. tonight — an’

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Around tfie Univortc A 51 we’re gettin’ a fair distance away from the excitement.” Sir Isaac smiled confidently. "We shall return without a stop — quite in time, e\’en at our present speed. That isn't worrying me. It’s — ” "Your calculations?" supplied Amecna, "Your great plans oi which you will tell us nothing? How are they progressing, Sir Isaac?” His face clouded. "I have been so busy,” he said somewhat anxiously. "But I’m mak- ing progress. Now that we are beyond the stars, I will have more freedom — will re- double my efiorts.” Poor Sir Isaac, for ail bis eagerness to work, was forced to retire immediately aft- er breakfast tor a few hours of much need- ed rest. They awakened him for luncheon — which he gobbled in haste — retreating at once to the instrument room, where by the light of the table electrolier, he became in- stantly immersed in his interminable figures. Thus, in similar fashion, while the ve- hicle plunged onward through Space at a velocity sufficient to take it across the 5,593,056,000-mile diameter of the Solar System in very much les.s than one second, fifteen more days and nights of intermin- able voyaging went by! The Universe of which our Solar System is so minute a portion, had long since faded into invi,sibility. Others bad been distantly sighted on both sides, and pas.sed overnight — reduced by comparison into mere nebu- lar regions, though each may have been as large, or larger than our own Universe. On the fifteenth day, skirting alongside a smaller Universe — possibly no more than a thousand light-years in diameter, Sir Isaac announced that they were approaching the end of their outward voyage. 'The vehicle was still dropping to that va.st void of silence and darkness with a ve- locity now quite beyond calculation. It was a decreasing velocity, now, however, for, sometime since. Sir Isaac had begun to re- tard it. Overhead, the last starry firmament was visible, though every hour with perceptibly lessening brilliance. Tubby and Amecna sat together in the observatory, watching the receding stars, and wondering how, among ail these Universes, Sir Isaac would ever set his course going back, in order to reach that partiailar one of the Solar Sys- tems to which they belonged. 'The temperature of the vehicle was now, curiously enough, very comfortably warm — so warm, indeed, that Tuboy wore his white clothes and Ameena that dainty costume in which he had first seen her on Venus. This paradox of temperature — for here in outer Space it should have been insufierably cold -^ir Isaac had explained to them the eve- ning before. Their velocity was so great, he said, that even the minute, widely sep- arated atoms of the ether, pounding against the vehicle’s base, were heating it — just as it had been heated before when passing through the atmospheres of the several plan- ets upon which they had landed. Sir Isaac, alone in the instrument room, worked over his figures incessantly, fever- ishly, all that afternoon. It was nearly five o’clock when, with a cry of triumph, he dropped his pencil and staggered to his feet. 'Tve solved it! Tubby, Ameena, my friends, at last the problem is completed. We shall save our Earth now — nothing can prevent us!” With liead reeling, he groped bis way Out into the dim hallway and up the stairs, looking for his companions. In the star- light of the observatory he found them — Tubby lying prone with his head in Ameena's lap, she stroking his hair gently, singing softly a tender love song of Venus. "I’ve solved it!” Sir Isaac cried. "We can- not fail now to save the Earth ! My calcu- lation is completed at last, down to the smallest decimal.” Tubby turned his head slightly; Ameena’s .song died away. "Oh, is that you, perfessor? Come on in an' congratulate us. Ameena an’ me just got engaged!” CHAPTER X The silent, lonely, little vehicle plunging through the darkness of Space, a world to itself, now rang with the gay laughter of its three inhabi- tants. Sir Isaac haa successfully completed his complex calculation, using therein every intricate device known to higher mathemat- ics, with a verified result correct to seventeen decimals. Tubbje and Ameena were en- gaged to be married. What stupendous events to have occur simultaneously. No wonder the little Celestial wanderer was the scene of rejoicing. It was an evening of the gayest festivity. "We must hasten now,” Sir Isaac said in a moment of comparative quiet. “Nothing

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SX ^ Fiifura netioR remains but for me to show you the ed^e ot Space, v'hich 1 want very much to do. Then we must hurry back and put my plan for the downfall of Mars and his allies into operation. 1 fear nothing now'. We can- not fail.” "You can't get back too quick for us,” Tubby declared. "This here outer Space ain’t no place to go lookin' for a minister in. Where we goin' to get married. Ameena? The Earth or Venus? The girl had not yet made her choice; and the question was left open. The penny-ante poker game in the instru- ment room — a game at which Ameena had now become extremely proficient — lasted well into the night. When it was over Sir Isaac made a brief calculation and concluded that the "Edge of Space” — as, with a slight smile, he still insisted on calling it — ^was still considerably below them. The vehicle, therefore, needed no attention. After this pleasant discovery, Ameena lingeringly parted from Tubby and retired to the upjser floor. The two men made up their beds in the instrument room. Within fifteen minutes all three were fast asleep. Evidently nothing unusual occurred dur- ing the night, for when the three voyagers awoke about ten o’clock next morning they found themselves still dropping into the abyss of blackness. Overhead the stats of that last Universe were still visible, though now extremely faint. During a lazy breakfast the three friends fell to talking personalities. "You got a lot of names, ain't you, per- fessor?” Tubby said. "Quite a good many," responded Sir Isaac pleasantly. He was obviously pleased at the question. "I .am usually known merely as Sir Isaac Swift Defoe Wells- Verne — but I have other names — Stockton, for instance." "What's the 'Isaac' for?" Tubby a>kcd. "I ain't never seen that on your books." Sir Isaac frowned. "Well, to tell you the truth, my friends, I am just a little ashamed of that. Even in my early infancy my marked scientific bent was apparent, and my grandfather insisted on my t«ing named Isaac. He was a great admirer of Isaac New'ton, you see. Of course Newton was, in a way, a brilliant man. 1 would have preferred jules, or Herbert George however. I often use both those names. I think Her- bert George is rather natty, don't you?" Ameena agreed that it was. Sir Isaac might have pursued this in- teresting topic indefinitely, but Tubby cut him short. "Won't you please tell us about this here Edge of Space we’re headed for?” Sir Isaac, in view of their imminent ar- rival at the Edge of Space, evidently consid- ered that the proper dramatic moment had come to tell them about it. "I'm sorry you are not familiar with my scientific narrative about this subject,” he began somewhat pompously. "However, that is immaterial In it 1 explain that every atom of the Univer.se is really a world in itsell. Its interior is a void of ether, an infinitesimal core of Space, surrounded by a shell of matter. That is an atom. I do not mean the old-fashioned word atom, but the inner nucleus which the professional scientists of Earth have just managed to dis- cover. Do you follow me?” "Sure,” declared Tubby. "An atom is like a cocoanut, only with ether where the milk ought to be.” Sir Isaac beamed; Ameena regarded Tub- by with admiration. ^t^B^XACTLY,” agreed Sir Isaac. "There JEi are electrons, ol course, which Sir Ernest Rutherford most doggedly insists are particles of disembodied electricity — nega- tive, you know — spontaneously liberated from the atoms. However, in this Golden Atom which I described, there revolved, in its central void of ether, an infinite number of minute worlds, stars, planets, comets; a complete little Universe of its own. Do you still follow me?” His two auditors nodded somewhat dubi- ously. "What's this got to do with the Edge of Space?” Tubby demanded. "Im coming to that. You must under- stand now, that just as all distances and all motions arc relative one to the other, so also is size. I have brought to your imagina- tion the golden atom containing a minute Universe in its central void of Space. That to our minds, is almost infinite smallness.” Sir Isaac hesitated imprcs.sivcly. "Now, my friends, remember, size is only relative. Conceive now another atom, an almost infinitely large atom. Within this gigantic atom, revolving in its central void of ether, place a Celestial Universe in which you and I live, the stars and planets among which we have been voyaging for many days past.”

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Around Ihe Universe A A 53 ‘'Yes,” said Tubby faintly. ‘'An' then — " "Then you will realize that we ate soon to reach the limits of this atomic void. We shall land upon the inner, concave surface of the atom which contains us!” Sir Isaac's smile was triumphant. "Is it not wholly logical that we shall land upon this inner surface shortly? But we will not stay there, or proceed further. We must return at once to, our own tiny little planet. So much for facts. If you wish to imagine beyond that, I shall say that were we able enormously to increase our bodily size, we might pass through the shell of out Atom, which possibly is as thick through as it is across its central void of Space. Then we should emerge on the convex outer surface. By still further in- creasing our bodily dimensions, we would outgrow this Atom and find ourselves in another world, an inconceivably large world, of which this Atom of ours may quite well be an atom of somebody's wedding ring, or the atom of a column in a King's castle, or the minute fragment of a grain of sand in a vast desert. You asked me about ab- solute motion. Suppose our atom is in a grain of sand of some vast desert and is now being blown in a storm — or that — ” "Never mind any more,” Tubby cried. "We got the idea, ain't we, Ameena?” "It is very wonderful,” the girl declared slowly. "But a little difficult to follow, just at first.” "You’ll get used to it,” said Sir Isaac. "Just keep on thinking about it a while. It’s my own theory. I’m going to tell Sir Ernest about it because my atom is really that inner nucleus, that portion, around which his electrons revolve. So you see this theory of mine will help him out a lot. . . . Ameena, you do make very good coffee. Can I have another cup?” When, after breakfast, they gazed down through the floor window, a very faint lu- minous glow seemed growing in the black- ness far below them. Sir Isaac regarded it intently a moment, then with a cry of satis- faction hastened to the keyboard. “That is light diffused throughout the atmosphere of the Inner Surface,” he said, as he altered the positions of several of the keys. "I am checking our velocity very rapidly now,” he added as he straightened up. “We will arrive at our destination this evening.” His prediction was correct. All that after- noon the luminous glow beneath them grew in intensity. By supper time it gleamed like a pale phosphorescence, spreading out in all directions to the visual limits of the floor window. Shortly after supper they entered the atmosphere of the Inner Sur- face at an altitude which Sir Isaac calculat- ed to be se^’cral hundred thousand miles. It was nearly nine o'clock when Tubby, peering downward, saw what might have been the broad plateau of a mountain-top coming up out of the yellowish, luminous haze. It was a flat surface extending out of sight in three directions. But its fourth side, almost directly beneath them, ended in a sharp line with a dimly yellow abyss beside it. "Look at the cliff,” Tubby called to Sir Isaac. "You better slow up some more an’ figure out where we’re goin’ to land.” They were then some ten thousand feet above the top of this "cliff,” as Tubby called it. Sir Isaac, after a careful inspec- tion of it which was difficult in the very dim, hazy yellow light, finally decided to descend very slowly close beside its perpen- dicular face and thus reach the lower level of land adjacent. They made the descent in the dim star- light in an increasing yellow glare from below a thousand feet away from the face of the precipice. The wall of rock extend- ed in a direct line as far as they could see, as straight as though it were hewn by a rule. IT WAS a descent of some fifteen miles.- Tiny points of light now showed be- neath them. Through the side window of the instrument room, the dim face of the huge rocky wall slid swiftly upward, as though the vehicle were a silently dropping elevator car. Occasionally, rectangular open- ings in the rock w’all went up past the win- dow, openings five hundred feet long, from which a lurid glare of yellow-red light blazed with blinding force out into the night. "Say,” whispered Tubby, awestruck. "What sort of a place is this?” A brilliant ball of fire, seeming hardly more than a hundred feet away, came ver- tically up past the side window, a ball of blazing flames ten times the size of the vehicle itself. The heat from it was tre- mendous. From the lower window an even brighter though diffused light was stream- ing in' and a deafening, roaring noise filled the room.

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54 'A' Fufare FicKon It all happened within the space of a few seconds. Sir Isaac, who had been !>overing anxiouslv between the windows and the keyboard, became suddenly confused. He started toward the table, then changed his mind and leaped to the side window, half falling over Amecna, who was in his path. "Look!” shouted Tubby, above the roar. "Hey, look out, perfessor! Let’s get out of here!” An enormous, swiftly moving black sur- face, completely obstructing the side win- dow for an instant, went past close outside. Sir Isaac leaped back to the table just as the vehicle struck something soft and yield- ing— a glancing, sidewise blow. Tubby and Ameena were hurled to the floor. Sir Isaac, clinging desperately to the table, fum- bled for the keylward, and altered several of the keys. There was i gigantic swish- ing noise; the room trembled — tilted side- wi,se. Then silence. Tubby raised his aching head. "Where's Ameena? Ameena! You ain’t hurt?" Her faint voice reassured him. He raised himself to a sitting position. "Oh, perfes- sor— ^you hurt? Wliat happened? Where are we?” They were none of them more than bad- ly shaken up. The room was level again, vibrationless, soundless. Through the floor window shone the faint stars; out of the side window, high above, the yellow glare of the Inner Surface was fading. The ve- hicle had turned over, and was again drop- ping out into Space! Tubby liftea Ameena to a chair and kissed her reassuringly. " ’Sail right. We ain’t hurt none. What happened, perfes- sor? What was all that?" Sir Isaac did not know. For an hour they compared notes on what they had seen. It had all happened so quickly; it was so con- fusing, so unexpected. Their view through the little windows at near objects was so limited they found that each of them had seen things differently. "Well, anyhow,” Tubby declared with a shrug, "we landed on that there Inner Sur- face, an’ we got away again without gettin' smashed up. Now let’s get home an' fix this Mars business. We only got twenty- six days left.” With the entire repellent force of the In- ner Surface above it, and the attraction of several of the celestial universes at its base, the vehicle rapidly gained velocity. It was nearly midnight when Sir Isaac, coming out of a profound meditation, suddenly ex- claimed. "I know what happened to us on the Inner Surface! Fancy that! How could 1 have been so stupid?” "What?” demanded Tubby. Ameena, who just at that mcMTicnt was preparing to retire to bed, stood poised with a little of liniment in her hand. Sir Isaac said excitedly; "The inhabitants of the Inner Surface, relative to us, must be gigantic in size. How silly of me not to have re.alized that!" "Well?” "Well," Sir Isaac continued, "that was a gigantic building alongside of which we went down — a building fifteen or twenty miles high! Those huge, yellow rectangles were its lighted windows! That ball of- fire was a street light! We descended directly into a city street, and collided, probably, with the coal-sleeve of a pedestrian!" CHAPTKR XI The VEHICLE had passed within the orbit of Jupiter on its return voyage before Sit Isaac deemed it expedient to explain to his fellow voyagers his mathe- matical plan for the salvation of the Earth. It wa.s the morning of the day before Mars was to be in opposition with the Earth. To be exact, just thirt)’-four hours remained at the moment the orbit of Jupiter was crossed. The return trip — of a little less duration than the voyage out — had been devoid of any exciting events chiefly owing to the un- flagging vigilance of Sir Isaac. His genius for astronomy — by some method which he did not see fit to explain to hts friends— enabled him unerringly to find his way back to the proper Universe, and thence to the Solar System. During these days and weeks, .sleeping little, Sir Isaac had remained almost con- stantly at his post at the instrument room floor window, or at the table beside the key- board. verifying over and over again, his gigantic calculations; or writing on his now very bulky manuscript. ’Tubby and Ameena. left thus to their own devices, passed the tjmc pleasantly enough, singing their duets whenever Sir Isaac would let them, and always cooking the meals and washing the dishes together. The wedding had now been set to take place on the Earth, immediately upon their arrival, with a honeymoon trip to Venus.

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Around fh« Universe ^ ^ 55 At meal time which the three friends oc- cupied principally with argument and with scientific dissertations from Sir Isaac, Tub- by had once remarked: "Them inhabitants of the Edge of Space must have been awful big, pcrfessor. Big as anybody could get. Ain’t 1 right Sir Isaac, in a manner that now was be- coming quite habitual, smiled condescend- ingly. "My dear fellow, those inhabitants of the Inner Surface of our Atom may "be, pos- sibly, several hundred times larger than our- selves. But, like us, they are merely deni- aens of an infinitesimal Atom. The inhab- itants of that outer world are so much larg- er that their most powerful microscopes — assuming they have microscopes — would be necessary even to sec our Atom itself much less see us or the planets in it!” Within the orbit of Jupiter — they were heading for Mars and had passed a very considerable distance from Jupiter itself — Sir Isaac materially checked their velocity. The region of the Minor Planets lay ahead. It was among them that he planned to op- erate. After breakfast that morning he called Tubby and the girl into the instrument room and very quietly but solemnly announced that he was ready to explain his plan. Tub- by and Ameena sat together in the huge easy chair, she perched on his lap, and hand in hand they prepared to give Sir Isaac their closest attention. "My dear friends and fellow voyagers. " Sir Isaac began, with something of the tone of a public lecturer, "we come now to the most important, most remarkable, and I may say the most awe-inspiring event of our sci- entific adventure around the Celestial Uni- verse." "I wish he did not have such long pre- faces,” Ameena whispered to Tubby. "Sh! you’ll make him mad," Tubby whis- pered back. "He don't mean nothin'. He gets that way from writin' so much. ” "As you both know,” Sir Isaac went on, ignoring these whispered asides, "at 6:13 P. M. tomorrow evening the Planet Mars will be at its closest point to the Earth. We anticipate then that the combined Mar- tian and Mercurian armies will voyage to our Moon, which already they have con- quered, there to prepare to attack the Earth. It is necessary, therefore, for us to pre\’ent this migration. If we can keep the armies on Mars their small force now occupying our Moon will be powerless for offensive movement. We could e^’en send armies from Earth to destroy them; or, at the next opposition doubtless they would return to Mars of their own volition." "Right,” Tubby agreed impatiently. "But please tell us how we're goin’ to stop the Mars armies from movin’ over to our Moon.” "I will,” stated Sir Isaac. "But first you must understand the scientific laws govern- ing what we are about to do. A poet once said, ’Thou canst not touch a flower with- out troubling of a star.’ He did not mean it scientifically perhaps, but its scientific application is very pertinent. It means that if you so much as pick a flower any- where in the Universe, you alter, by some minute fraction, the course of every star — every celestial body, no matter how distant, or how gigantic. "1 see you do not quite understand me. The Celestial Universe is very delicately balanced. Every force acting upon the ce- lestial bodies has another force to counter- act it. Now' since every body attracts every other body directly a's the mass you will realize that a daisy growing in a field on Earth attracts Neptune or Mars just as much in proportion to its mass, as they attract the daisy. And since attraction is inversely as the square of the distance, it follows that if you pick the daisy, thus altering its posi- tion, you alter its attraction. And therefore — very minutely, of course — you disturb the movements of every body in the Universe." "I think wt understand you,"’ Ameena said. Sir Isaac had paused, and this time Tubby had failed to make any comment. "It is really very interesting. Do go on. Sir Isaac.” Sir Isaac continued: "Well, I propose to do just that very thing. To " "Pick a daisy.’” Tubby put in. He glanced at Ameena for approval of tliis quip, but she frowned. "To so alter the course of some very small celestial body — by using the attraction of our vehicle upon it — that a series of collisions, progressively greater in the masses of the colliding bodies, will rapidly ocair among the Minor Planets.” "Oh,” said Tubby, somewhat abashed. "Then what?” "I have figured it out very carefully,” declared Sir Isaac. "You may appreciate possibly the abstruseness and the delicacy of

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S4 ★ ★ ★ Putur* Pteti«n $uch a calculation. The collisions will cli- max at 5.34 P. M. tomorrow afternoon, by ■■ The sentence wa.s never finished. Past the side window, very close outside, a gleaming white object flashed! Sir Isaac, Tubby and the girl leaped to their feet in fright. A glance upward out of the side window was enough. It was that same Mercurian vehicle, hovering here between Mars and Jupiter, awaiting their return! “Say — what the — did they try an' run into us?” Tubby gasped. The glistening white cube was receding rapidly above them. Suddenly it turned, and as they hurried into the store-room to observe it from there, it came rushing to- ward them again. ^^WTS RUNNIN’ into us.‘ " Tubby cried Jl in terror. “Hey, perfessor! Let’s do somethin — let’s get a-goin’ somewhere! ” Sir Isaac rushed back to the keyboard. The horrible meaning of the situation be- came clear. The Mercurian vehicle, manned by "suicide volunteers,” was endeavoring to destroy them and itself >imultaneou.sIy by a collision in Space! Sir Isaac, his blood running cold in his veins, shook himself together, and with de- liberate care depressed two of the keys. 'I'he Heavens turned over swiftly, dizzily. Tubby, who was standing in the center of the room, clutched Amecna for their mu- tual Support. "Don’t look at them windows!” he cau- tioned. "Close your eyes. Perfessor, which way we goin'? What'll I do to help? Where’s tlicm Mercurtans? Are we duckin' ’em?” Nothing could be distinguished through the windows save the rapidly shifting firma- ment. Sir Isaac gritted his teeth. "That tiny asteroid!” he muttered. "We were near it, the first asteroid in my calcu- lation.” A blinding white glare burst through the side window; Sir Isaac, desperately pressing other keys, finally brought the Heavens to rest. If’s — all right,” he panted. "That burst of light — that ” Through the side window a tiny blazing globe was receding above them; from none of the windows was the Mercurian vehicle to be seen. "Wc arc safe," said Sir Isaac a moment later, when they had all calmed down a little. '"Ihc Mcrcurians collided witli that little asteroid. They are annihilated." Sir Isaac's face was as sober as though this were personally a great misfortune to himself — which indeed it was. He added; "That asteroid was the first in my cal- culation— the one on which I w'as to begin operations. This unforeseen collision has changed its course — the whole fabric of iny calculations has been altered.” Tears w'elled into his eyes. "1—1 tried so hard to have it mathematically perfect. And now it's ruined! Now we are powerless to save our world!" The unfortunate mao was overcome for a moment. Tubby and the white-faced girl sat beside him. "You can figure it out again,” Tubby said consolingly. "Try, perfessor. Maybe it ain’t ruined at all.” Under the influence of Ameena's gentle fingers stroking his hair, and her soft words of courage in his ear, Sir Isaac suddenly braced up. 'Til do it!” he cried. "Give me my pen- cil and paper. .. .Amecna, make me some strong, black coffee. Bring it here.... with my lunch. . . .Tubby, give me my cig- arettes, and let me atone. Go away. I must rectify this terrible error.” He dashed the damp locks of hair from his eyes; and while Amecna hurried into the kitchen, he lighted a cigarette, pu.shed Tubby away, and plunged feverishly into his mined computation. Ten minutes later he was altering the vehicle’s course and, with his array of delicate scientific instru- ments, was making careful observations of the asteroid's present direction and flight. Tubby kept out of the instrument room. At noon, Amcena took Sir Isaac's luncheon in to him on a tray. He .smiled up at her, momentarily suspending his flying pencil. "1 do hope your computation isn’t ruined, dear Sir Isaac." she murmured gently. "Oh. no," he said. "In fact I am begin- ning to think C|uite the contrary." He .seemed wholly cheerful. "The Mecurian vehicle colliding with my a.steroid altered its course, naturally. But I am beginning to discover tlut the alteration is favorable to my plans rather than the reverse.” He patted her shoulder. "Thank you. Ameena. ... That stew looks delicious.... 1 shall have iny ikw calculation completed in an hour. I hope. Tliat Mercurian colli- sion was a blessing in disguise." So it proved, for by two o’clock in the

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Arcund th* Unlvers* -A ^ ^ 57 afternoon Sit Isaac called his friends into the instrument room and triumphantly dis- played his new set of figures. "Very good indeed,” approved Tubby. "Let’s get to usin’ ’em. What do we do first.^” "At 3.57 P. M. this afternoon we shall approach that same asteroid,” Sir Isaac an- nounced. "Just leave everything to me. It is all quite simple now!” At 3:57 P. M. exactly they were encir- cling the asteroid at a distance of some ten miles — speeding aroi.nd it in a circular or- bit as though they were its satellite. But with each rev’olution they paused on one side and drew away slightly, coaxing it from its path by their attraction. It was a tiny celestial wanderer indeed — not more than three or four thousand feet in diameter, Sir Isaac said — nothing but a boulder flying alone through Space. At 4.17 P. M. the vehicle withdrew. Tub- by was anxious to have something happen; but for nearly an hour nothing did. It was 4:45 P. M. when Sir Isaac pointed through the side window to another, somewhat larg- er asteroid approaching. With careful work at the keyboard he swooj>ed the vehicle to- ward it — around it twice — and then slowly away again in the opposite direction. "There,” he murmured. "I think I have done my part correctly. The laws of Ce- lestial Mechanics must do the rest.” He sat by at the side window, watching, Tubby and Amcena saw the first asteroid far above them. The other was obviously nearing it. Both had been deflected from their normal course by Sir Isaac’s skill; a collision was inevitable. IT CAME at 5:51 P. M. — as Sir Isaac had calculated — a soundless flash, and then a new» larger celestial body, the fused mass of the other two, wavering in Space, plunging diagonally toward the Sun, and at last finding its new orbit by that delicate balancing of forces which is the marvel of Celestial Mechanics. Sir Isaac was jubilant. He took several ob.servations of the new asteroid. "Perfect, my dear friends. The new or- bit is identical with my calculation. There will be another collision, with a much larg- er planetoid, at 7:19 P. M. Let us have dinner.” "Very good idea,” approved Tubby with relish. Tubby and Ameena still had only a vague idea of how all this was to save the Earth; but they trusted Sir Isaac implicitly. Besides, they did not dare a.sk any advance details, which would have offended Sir Isaac’s sense of the dramatic. The second collision — another, larger flash — took place exactly at the appointed time. And all during the evening and far into the night, other collisions occurred. Each involved larger bodies — and after each, from the vehicle which followed in their train. Sit Isaac computed the orbital elements of the new celestial body. "You had better go to sleep,” he said, at two o’clock. "There will not be another until 4.35 A. M. It involves a very con- siderably larger body — I shall wake you up in time to sec it.” He added solemnly: "I trust this next Minor Planet is not in- habited. I do not think so, though it is over two hundred miles in diameter. I did not want to involve it — but I had to.” At 6:03 P. M. the following evening, just twelve minutes before the long-antici- pated opposition of Mars with the Earth, the climax came. There had been two gi- gantic collisions during the day. The last one — at 2:23 P. M. — involved two bodies of almost equal mass which approached each other from diametically opposite directions. A head-on crash ensued. A new body, fused into a molten mass by the created heat of arrested motion, hung for an instant suspended — completely de\’oid of orbital velocity. Then it moved downward — slow- ly at first, then swiftly, with constant ac- celeration plunging down toward the cen- ter of mass of the Solar System — the Sun. The vehicle followed it cautiously. Watching (his enormous, fiery derelict ac- ated by the mathematical genius of Sir Isaac, it was nearly six o’clock before Tub- by and Ameena gra.sped the true signifi- cance of what was taking place before their very eyes. The new asteroid — five hundred miles in diameter, a white-hot core with flames hun- dreds of miles in height leaping from it, plunged for (he Sun. But Mars also lay beneath it though slightly off to one side — Mats, now a huge, reddish, smug-looking crescent across the lower firmament. Minutes passed. 'The three watchers crouched tense at the lower window of the instrument room. The blaaing asteroid plunged on. Us course for the Sun would take it half a million miles to the side of

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58 ★ ★ ★ Fuiurtt FictSisn Mars! Five mingtes more! The asteroid, feeling Mars’ attraction as it approached, began turning gradually aside, deflected by this other attraction which at such proxim- ity was greater than the Sun’s. Then at last Tubby understood ! He gripped Ameena — breathless. "Look! Mars is pullin’ it! Look!” It was 6.03 P. M. exactly when, with a gigantic, soundless flash, the molten aster- oid collided squarely with the Plinet's up- per surface! CHAPTER XII WHAT a triumph, even for the genius of a super-maiheinatician! A blazing, molten mass of mat- ter five hundred miles in diameter bad fallen upon the surface of Mars at almost the very moment of its anticipated triumph over an inoffensive neighboring planet! No wonder Tubby and Ameena were overjoyed! No wonder Sir Isaac's pale, intellectual countenance could not but reflect the pride in his heart! Tubby shook his friend's hand warmly; Ameena kissed him. ■'Well," declared Tubby. "I guess that settles them Martians. Some excitement for them right now!” "Did it kill many of them, do you think. Sir Isaac?” Ameena asked anxiously. "Women and little children " 'Tm afraid it did,” Sir Isaac said soberly. "I could not help that — the innocent must everywhere suffer for the guilty. I had to do the best I could for our own world." He sat down, pondering. Then he added: “i have no idea what such a collision would do or what may be the result of it to the orbit of Mars and thus to the other planets. The heat generated may hive roasted every living creature on the globe. Or perhaps not. But I rather imagine these armies will have enough to do at home without undertaking an invasion of tlie Earth for some time to come.” "I should guess yes,” Tubby declared en- thusiastically. He threw his arms around Ameena and kissed her vigorously. "Now all we got to do is hurry right home so you an' me can get married. Ain’t I right. kidr The girl agreed that this wa.s logical. "I shall have you there tomorrow,” said Sir Isaac. “We need not bother with th# Moon — let us leave that little Martian army marooned there. We will let it alone — it cannot harm us.” "Sure,” agreed Tubby. 'Let it alone. Come on, Jet's eat and then play poker.” On this last leg of the journey, Sir Isaac insisted on going slowly. In the first place he was thoroughly exhausted and demand- ed twelve solid hours' sleep; and also, with Tubby and Ameena thus in continuous com- mand, he felt it was advisable to make haste slowly. It was therefore not until 9:45 P. M. the following evening that the ve- hicle landed again upon the Earth from which it had departed some sixty davs pre- viously. The last evening in the vehicle was a sol- emn one. Tubby and Ameena were to part from their friend and take their honeymoon trip alone in it to Venus. A hazardous voyage, doubtless! But youth and inex- perience are always confident. "You're a very wondeail man, Sir Isaac,” Ameena said during that last supper. "You sure are,” Tubby confirmed. He hesitated, scratching his head. "But say, perfessor, there’s one or two things about this here voyage of ours I ain’t quite got clear.” Sir Isaac nodded encouragingly. "For one thing,” Tubby began. "I ain't got this gravity part very straight. Why is it when we're in this vehicle we don’t per- sonally feel all these here changes of grav- ity? If the gravity is cut off from under us why don’t we gel lighter?” It was a stupendous bit of logic.al rea- soning on Tubby's part. It surprised Aniee- na; it amazed Sir Isaac. "Why— wliy — ” he stammered. Then he smiled frankly. "I really cannot explain exactly,” he con- fessed. "llie thing surprised me very much. I’ve been worrying over it for my manuscript. It is a fact that we do not feel any changes of gravity until we actually land upon some celestial body. But why, I cannot say. I think it’s because of our ve- locity, the constant acceleration or changes of velocity of the vehicle. Motion and gravity arc very closely related. If it’s that, Einstein would know all about it. He dis- agrees with me on almost ei'erytliing, but still hc’.s a nice sort of chap. I think I shall have to consult him.”

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Around fhc Universo ^ -Ar 59 “I would,” said Tubby. "Then there's another thing. You got this here vehicle built wrong. You got the observatory on top an' we’re always goin' the other way. You never onc’t used that little telescope. An’ then there's ” "Tubby!" cautioned Amecna. And, in deference to the feelings of their friend, who after all was only hunun and there- fore liable to err, Tubby took the hint and stopped. They landed, after a careful reconnoi- ter, within a few hundred feet of where they had started. As they stepped from the vehicle to that earth upon which Amecna had never before set foot. Bill Hawkins' ap- ple trees were in plain sight in the moon- light. Instantly Tubby remembered his won- derful gift which had brought Sir Isaac’s Inter-planetary vehicle into material being. The thought of it had never crossed his mind since the first few minutes after their departure from Earth. How foolish all their perturbation over the Martian attack! Why all they need have done was come home, and Tubby could have wished that all the Martians and Mercurians would drop dead as fast as they landed! Tubby explained all this excitedly to his friends. Sir Isaac frowned. "I thought of that," he said. "But I could not concerned in trickery like that. My public would not stand for it. We had a scientific problem to solve, and we solved it with science — x^uite reasonably and prop- erly.” Tubby nodded aojuicstence; but his eyes were sparkling as he regarded Bill Hawkins' apple orchard. "All right, perfessor. But i’w goin' to get revenge on this guy Hawkins anyway. You do things your way — I do them my way. Come on over an' let’s see them ap- ples turn rotten." Sir Isaac was greatly annoyed. "I beg of you not to, It is childish. To engage in such foolishness, after all our scientific ad- ventures " You did that onc't,” Tubby suddenly accused. "An’ when you wrote how you did it, you signed that there Wells name. I read it." Sir Isaac flushed. "Yes, I did,” he ad- mitted, with some heat. "I did descend once to such an unplausible trick — and I’ve been sorry for it ever since. I've been try- ing to live it down. I — Tubby, you'll only bring disaster upon yourself — upon all of us. Forget that ability you have. Don’t ever " "I ain’t goin’ to forget it," Tubby persist- ed doggedly. "I wish all Bill Hawkins’ apples was rottin' on the trees, i wish — ” A diabolical memory of that similar situ- ation Sir Isaac had once conceived under his favorite "Herbert George ’ name came to Tubby. "I wish the earth was revolvin' twice as fast as usual, so Bill Hawkins’ house would fly off in the air,” he intoned. Amecna flung her arms about his ncck^ Sir Isaac gave a cry of terror. A fearful gale of wind came roaring down upon tliem. Stones, sticks, every manner of fly- ing missile, whistled by. Sir Isaac, shouting something incoherent, flung himself prone upon the ground. Tub- by gripped a tree-trunk to hold himself from blowing away; Ameena clutched him in terror. In the midst of the hurricane Bill Hawk- ins’ house was standing firm. Suddenly madness possessed Tubby. "I wish the Earth was revolvin' ten times as fast! I wish ” Sir Isaac’s body left the ground, hurtling into the air like a bullet. Tubby swung one arm around Ameena, and one about the tree-trunk. He felt like a balloon tugging its leash. The wind was a cyclone. A house went sailing through ihe air — Bill Hawkins’ house. "Tubby! Don’t, Tubby!” The girl’s appealing cry frightened Tub- by. A flying billet of wood struck him viciously on the shoulder. He tried desper- ately to think of something to stop this horrible cataclysm. "I wish — ” he murmured. "I wish I hadn’t never been able to wish nothin'. I wish I'd forget all about havin’ done this. I wish ” The clink of the poker chips was inces- sant— annoying. Tubby stared across the smoke-laden room at the three men under the circle of light. He remembered dimly that they had been arguing, and sat up abruptly. As I was sayin’, Jake,” be announced, "I got a idea that this here Edse of Space ”

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NO STAR SHALL FALL an extrava9ania *»y WILFRED OWEN MORLEY fAulhor of "'A Maitor of PhUosoithr,” “Am- bition" €tc.) “So long at tha race andures, thus long shall mankind extend its hand to help any other beings who seek our aid. No crea- ture shall perish; no star shall tall if it be within our power to set aside the danger.' Remember how startled you were when you awoke suddenly last night? For a moment you could not believe that you were in the world o( actuality, so clear and intricatcl) defined had been the sequences through which you lud just passed. You were sure it was not merely a dream. You knew that, in some way, you had passed physically into the far-distant future, lived a portion of your own life there. Your first impulse was to get up and write down all the memories that flooded your consciousness, for you didn’t want to lose any of them. But the first shock of awakening had now passed away; you felt drowsy. You lay back thinking that you wouldn’t forget this anyway; you couldn’t forget. Perhaps if you made just a few notes now, that would be enough. Tomor- row you would get to work and write down the entire experience in full detail. While you were thinking thus, sleep claimed you again. Morning came and you awoke, got up, and went about your usual way of living as if nothing had happened. But you haven't forgotten, really. Your conscious mind, occupied so fully as it is with the business of nuking a living' in this world, has merely shoved these mena- ories into a corner of your brain. Relax. Forget for a moment about your obliga- tions, your ambitions, your problems. Relax completely and remember. What was the first impression, now? How did it start? TWO people, a man and a woman stroll- ing in the city. Both dressed in bright- ly colored costumes, the woman wearing a greatcape which trailed many yards be- hind her. For a moment, you could not believe that one of these figures was you. You thought, almost frantically, to your- 60

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No Star SKoll Foil ^ 61 self: but I don't look like this. For you were — beautiful. That is the only word for it. You glanced at your companion who smiled warmly at you. The two of you, you knew, were mated. Thoughtfully, you fingered your clothing, noting that it had some of the qualities of silk and some of rubber, yet was neither. Bit by bit the multitude of impressions came to you — it was as if you had been asleep for a Jong time; you knew all about this world, but so full of the otherworld were you that you must think in terms of it. This wide pathway beneath you — it was resilient to your step, giving your every motion a springiness most pleasing. The gently curving hills to the right of you that led to an expanse of white-sanded shore, the woodland to the left of you — you knew this scene well. In chc distance you saw the shafts of buildings towering into the sky. The great height of them, you knew, was shecrly ornamental. These were not the outskirts of the city; you were strolling in the city proper. How different from the cities of that otherworld where so long you had sojourned! The people of those cities had to go Jar away from the metropolis to get into expanses of hills or woodlands or seashores. True, they did have parks and beaches but these were always so crowded . . . Was there anything at all in this otherworld to cor- respond with what you saw about you? Only the visions of a few dreamers, and a feeble attempt in the general direction at something they called a World's Fair. But you had been strolling long enough. You grasped your companion’s hand, and indicated a colored block in the wide pave- ment, blocks which appeared at regular intervals. Without speaking, the two of you stepped upon it, and slowly it began to sink down beneath you, coming to rest at last in a great subterranean cavern, quiet- ly Jit, completely air conditioned. A single open car was there, one which seated two comfortably. You did not see any sign of wheels, or of any other locomotive power. However, as soon as the two of you were settled — it took a moment or so to fix the grcatcapc comfortably — the car began moving rapidly, the cool air stream- ing your hair pleasantly. YOU emerged from the car to find yourself in a large courtyard sort of place. The great shafts of what seemed to be several distinct buildings arose around you, although you knew that this was really but one construction. However, you had not long to look around, for ycur com- panion suddenly grasped your arm and pointed upward. You looked and gasped. For hovering in the air, near the top of the buildings was a creature fantastic beyond your wildest dreams. Huge it was, and you thought of a titanic jellyfish and a titanic plant, and discarded both for the creature was neither. The spread of its hood must have been some thirty feet, while the many hair-like tentacles of it were easily twice that in extent. Jet black it was, devoid of any marking; it floated there, as atop the crest of sea-waves, rising and falling softly in the air-currents. You were astonished, but you were not afraid. Deep in your brain, something tinkled, almost bell-like, then impressions began to come to you. They were not in the form of words, or even ideas, or then again definite images. Yet, you under- stood. The creature was telling you, in its own manner, that it meant no harm, that it came to you for help. It wanted you to accom- pany it to a fat place; it promised that no danger, so far as it knew, awaited you there. And you assented. It was the very key- note of this society in whicli you lived that none who came to you for help could be denied. For man, in this remote day, had extended his reach fat into the very deeps of creation itself and many were the strange and alien beings known to him. Emblazoned in the great central hall of the planet, where regularly ail humans within reach met to engage in a common pooling of consciousness, was the legend you had learned as early in life as you could recall. long as the race endures, thus long shall mankind extend its hand to help any other beings who seek our aid. No creature shall perish; no star shall jail if it he uilhin cur power to set aside the danger." You assented, even as you wondered how you would help this creature, wondered through what means you would bridge the stellar void. In this otherworld where you had sojourned so long as partially, it seemed, to forget your own world, men had dreamed of crude reaction ships for the purposes of leaping from Earth to her satellite. And some there were who dreamed of greater ships reaching farther

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42 ★ ★ ★ Future Fiction distances, but all were greatly limited in their dreams. While you were pondering, your hand stole to the wide belt you wore and touched a stud thereon, even as your com- panion performed the same act. You felt a slight exhilaration, and sensed that some apparatus on your shoulders, which you bad assumed to be decorative, was operating. Then it was that you realized the ground was falling away from you and you M'cre rising, soaring upward to meet the alien being. The being's tentacles touched you and lifted you up to its great hood where a smaller membrane wrapped itself about you. You knew this was merely to secure you, to keep you from floating away into the void. For you knew now that this was a space-dweller, a creature whose natural habitat was space itself, knew that it could plunge through the starry gulf at speeds greater than light; nor did this knowledge disturb you, for man had long known, in this world, of motions and velocities ex- ceeding light. For the veriest fragment of an instant you felt alarmed, for how could you live in the airless, heatless deeps between worlds. But even as these thoughts came to you, your greater knowledge had dispelled them. Swiftly your body became inert, your breath stopped, your heart ceased, and, sc far as could be observed, your brain had ceased to function. Yet this was not entirely so, for in the core of your mind remained one little spark which would keep burning so long as your body were not totally de- stroyed. And, back on Earth, in the great central building, within the indescribable complica- tions of a titanic machine, a connection was made. A great eye trained itself upon you and your steed, recording your jour- ney. And a great brain trained itself upon the spark that remained burning in the core of your being, receiving impressfons no less perfectly than did your own brain when awake. IT WAS not until you had returned to Earth, and your full individual con- sciousness had been restored that you knew what occurred after you and the alien one had departed from Earth. You sat in the great hall, with all available members of the race to see records of this exploit, and you were no less a new spectator to these scenes than they. You saw the creature, your mate, and yourself plunging through the deeps of space to come at last to a small star, long dead. It was about the size of the moon. At one time, you knew, it had been a luminary, even as your own sun; then, as it cooled, it had supported life, even as a planet, until, finally, devoid of atmos- phere and light, it now drifted aimlessly in the void, dark and lifeless. You saw the space-creature, to whom the plunge into Earth's atmosphere had been as a mao’s plunge to the bottom of a deep lake to retrieve an object, finally come to rest on its surface, saw there .1 group of similar creatures. And there, on the barren surface of the star, was a great building. Not only tall was it, but spread out, and the architecture was such that it suggested human construc- tion. These creatures, you knew, regarded this building with a sort of reverence. You entered the building, along with the creature who had borne you here, an- 1 found it to be a titanic planetarium. He,; was a miniature solar system, though m . the solar system of the sun you knew. Thc.i. was a central group of suns, and a family of planets and satellites, moving in many different planes, unlike the orbits of your own sun’s famil). 1 rained on one ot the central suns was what you at once recognized as a gigantic microscope. You peered into it and were amazed to find that there were living crea- tures on this little miniature, which could not have been more than twenty feet in diameter. For some time you gazed at them, fascinated, even though you, yourself, were not aw-are of the fact then. And you saw further that the space-creatures regarded this miniature as a special sort of deity. Now the space -creature was indicating what had happened. One of the moons had somehow broken away from its orbit and was heading for this sun. Eventually it would cra.sh into the larger body, and the creatures feared that the life upon their revered star would be destroyed. No less than you were your fellow hu- mans in the great hall on Earth, watching the scene, moved by this, for the beings who lived upon this miniature world were very similar to humans. You now beheld

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No Stor Shall Foil ★ ★ ★ 63 yourselves examining the mechanism which kept these artificial worlds in motion, far above the planetarium’s floor, finding at last a plan of the construction. Examin- ing this plan carefully, checking with the Ian against the controls, at last you found ow to avert the catastrophe. By shutting off the motive power of this moon which had gone astray, it would settle slowly to the floor and all would be well. Since the whole system revolved according to plan, and individual power-leads, rather than gravitation, there would be no upset in the orbits of the other little worlds. And, as the space-creatures hovered around you excitedly, you shut oft the in- dividual power-lead and the moon, even now dangerously close to the great sphere, slowly dropped to the floor of the huge building, idly rolling along until at last it came to rest. OW that the danger was averted, you went back to the microscope to ex- amine more carefully the sphere your ac- tions had saved and the life upon it. A strange little world, indeed, it was, and a strange people, so much like humans in form, even for their stalk-eyes, their flower- like heads, and a third arm projecting from the center of their bodies. Then the screen in the great chamber went blank as the being who had brought you to the dark star prepared to return you to your home planet. What was tnc purpose of this great planetarium? Why had no other buildings been observed on the dark star? Who had built the planetarium and what had become of them? How had life occurred upon this central sun-sphere? Had life also oc- curred on other of the miniatures? These were but a few of the questions that arose. Before the meeting had dispersed, an expedition to go to the dark star had been formed and you and your mate had volun- teered to make a study of the space-creatures for the central archives of the race. You and your mate left the great central hall of Earth to prepare foe the expedition, which would start in a few days. You re- tired to an abode of your own by the shore, leaving notices to all that you were not to be disturbed, for you wished to be alone together tor a time before undertak- ing this new task. It was at this point that you awoke, sud- denly. to find yourself in a darkened room. What had happened? Where was your mate? What were you doing in this strange place? Then you knew. Yet, even as realiza- tion came to you. there came also the cer- tainty that this was not merely a dream, such as humans experience almost at any period of sleep. You knew that this was real, that you had lived a small part of the future, a future wherein you dwelt. You could not forget this, you told your- self. It was all far too vivid and beauti- ful ever to forget. You wanted to set it down in writing at that very moment, but it was so pleasant lying there and thinking about it. Perhaps just a few notes would do. Besides, there was nothing to worry about ; you knew you could never forget it. So you lay back, smiling to yourself, until at last sleep claimed you again. Remember ? TARRANO the CONQUEROR Ray Cummings' Most Famous Novel COMPLETE in NO. 4 Science Fiction Quarterly ON ALL STANDS

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STATION X Tfc* >y«i and No«i of Fandom (Y®g «r* inyittd to $*nd your UH»ri of eommonf upon FUTURE FICTION, and scienca ficHon in gentral, for puoticaHon in thU daparfmont, fo FUTURE FICTION, 60 Hudson Straef, New York Clfy.) Heigh Ha. Keaapis. I’uuing Kutme to- getiier ia a lot like i>iecing a Jigaaw puzzle, only in this case all the pieces do not nec- essarily fit into a given unit. We still re- call the chagrin we £elt when, after having to cut Les Croutch’s story out o£ the August hook, wc found that we'd forgotten to cut the introduction out. too. Weil, the old say- ing "It's an ill wind . . applies here be- c.au. our new artist. l>anion Knight. So everyone should be happy on that score. TJiat leads up to the introductions for thl.«i time. Starting off. we see our old friend Ray Cummings with his most famous •'Tub- by" story. Sfou'd never guess, we think, that It was written back in 1923 if you didn't know il was a reprint. And we suspect that if we hadn't Just told you the date, you’d think it was no earlier a vintage than 1930. We think that was the .sort of thing Morley was driving .at when he spoke of timeless stories, some time back. Kred Kuinmer, Jr., is very much of an all- ai'OUii'l writer. His scieiice-flctioii stories have appeared in neaily every mag.azlne lU that nature going, nor la this his flrsi appearance in Future. We've met fans who swear by Kummer and fans who swear at Kummcr — that's the kind of stories hr writes: they don’t just leave you Indifler- rol. This story, we think, will put yon into the first above-inenttoned type. Just in case you didn't get the Augu.-ennis Ijivond's lit- tle fantasy. “Something from Be.vond.” The drawing is symbolic, mlher than actually illustrating a scene. •And Morley contributes the cover story, a tale which we think you will find unusual, to say the least. Morley reporta, by the by. ihat the Bandersnatch Club Is coming along very nicely, the newest member.s being Jimmy Wilson, of Wyoming, and Lilith Lor- raine of Texas. That’s thetr order o£ joining. -Artiste ihis issue include Hannea Bok— who-ie cover for "Pogo Planet'’ brought down the house — on the cover, and interior for •’No Star Shall Fall." H. 1. Dolgov, whom ws hope lo use as a cover-artist some day, John H. Forte, another cover-man — we'll re- peat him, too — and Damon Knight Damon the Demon, as he la called by those who know him. recently saw the error of his ways .Tnd came to live in New York: once hete we pounced upon htm and put him to work drawing pictures. And if you like this sample, he has plenty more up his sleeve. You'll all be wanting to know about (he .Million Years and a Day" contest, sj here’s the dope. Winners are (1) Basil Wells, Box 12, Sprlugboro, Penna., (2) Bob atucUey. 210 West 109th St.. New York City, and (3) Carl Q. Bishop, 413 Central Ave- nue, Williamsburg. West Virginia. These winners received the I'aul double-spread. Forte full-page and Forte half-page origi- nals respectively. Three contestants came clo.se enougli to winning to be listed as drawora of honorable mention: Isaac Asi- mov, of Brooklyn, N’lrginla Combs of Cran- don. Wisconsin, and I. V. Daniel of Now York City. .Mr. Woiirt.s and youi' editor were the judges. As foi the itiiiite.si wlnnei' this time, the writer of what r*-afiers thought to be ilie most iiiieresiing letter in the October Fu- ture—there haven't been many votes, but Antony Oirka is clearly ahead. So, Tony, it's the Bok original for "Man on the Me- tet>r" l'<ii you. and let's see if you e.an re- peat again.st the compel Won, Now for a word about the Quarterl.v. Science Fiction Quarterly, we call ft, and not only does It look neat and natty, with it» lU trlimned pages of first-rate science fic- tion, .sans advertising, but It features an out- standing .science fiction novel in each Issue. This time, it’s Kay Cummings' immortal ’’Tarrant), the Conqueror,’’ which cops the Paul cover, and has an interior double-spread by Bok. .VIso in this Bummer issue are “Kai til Doi's Not Reply.” by Lawrence Woods. (lIliistiHtion by Doiliokov), “The World on the Edge of the Universe," by .MalHiii IVai-soii. (illustration by Bok). and "Path of Kmplre,” by Hugli Raymond, (il- liisiration by Dolbokov). Dulbokov, an some of you recall. Is Hannea Bok and B. I. Dolgt)v working in collaboration; the.se are the first Dollv)kov drawings to be published and they aren't half bad, readers tell us. As a rule, the Qiinrterly gives more than three shorl stories jiet- Issue, hut "Tarrano" is quite a long .story hiuI we knew you’d prefer to aee fewer short tales than to have this f«- mons novel cut. So. If irou haven’t a copy, may we suggest that yon sound out your new.sdealer right away. If he’s sold out, then you may c»btaln a copy hy sending tweuly-five cents to this otttce and asking for the Summer Quarterly. However, if

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ttatkon X ^ * 65 you hurry, that extra wait may yet b« saved. JSo, on wiih the nhow, and we start In with the winning" entries from the ‘'Mililon Yeai's and a Day" contest. The first prize winner put hla entry in the form of a con- tinuation of the story. So. here is HASIL WKU S David started toward her. horror and doubt battling fur mastery in his eyes. Had his wife doomed the world to resumed conflict that might huil all mankind back into bar- baric chaos, or had she chosen to wipe out the last of humanity — leaving but two of them alive'.* He swept the back of his hand across hts eyes as though to blot out what he must see. Jauiee was smiling as she came slowly to him and ran slim ttngers through bis rum- pled hair. "Had you forgotten that these controls operate only the broadcasting units in the Old World?" she whispered. "I pressed the buttons that renewed the vibrations — but only over half the world! The Old World is dead but the New World sleeps! ■’When we reach the controls In the Old World we can restore the sleepers to life again and there will be no war. Half a world is dead — true — but the younger, more progressive civilization of the New World will live on . . . our people, David!" BOB STLDI.ET So you want to know what buttons Janice pressed, do you? Why, that’s simple. Being in love with David and not wanting to take a chance of losing him to afty possible future rival, she pressed the buttons renewing the sleep-vlbi"atlon and they lived happily ever after. C-UtL BI.SHOF The finish to the story "A Million Years and a Day" Is very obvious. Janice pressed the buttons which renewed the life In the Old World because In doing this, she had the solution of the way to avoid both the annihilation of the human race and war and bloodshed. The Old World would awaken and would do as the New World had Intended; Janice knew .that to kill ail the human race save David and herself would only have thrown back the evolution of the world a million years and destroyed all they had ever bc- complished. She and David could have re- newed the race but could not have lived long enough to teach them the knowledge they should have had; when they died the world would have reverted to a savage state and all the arts and sciences would have been lost. Some might say that Janice did not renew the sleep-vibration because in so doing she would have put David and herself to steep also, but from the information derived from this story, this was impossible: the vibra- tion affected only those in tho opposite plane from which it wa.<? operated. (It’s amazing how many conle.stants overlooked this point, editor) Janice and David could have awakened both the Old and the New Worlds at the same time, but each one having the sleep- vibration, they would have stalemated and would have reverted to move primitive weap- ons in the attempt to conquer each other. Wbat Janice did resulted In the tables being turned on the New World, but this was the only nue bloodless .solution she could effect. (Thus the contest closes, and we thank ail readers who took the time to make it in- teresting for all by writing in. Sorry you all couldn't win, but there's still a chance for you on the current contest. Each issue. Future wil] send the original double-spread illustration to the writer of what the other readers, by their votes, decide to be the most interesting letter in Station X. Your vote must accompany h letter of critical comment upon Fulure. Editor) Now let's hear fiom F. .SCHCTLEB .VILLEK The "different" quality of Hannes Bok's cover struck me as soon as I went into the news room this week, and completely justifies your trying hbn with color work. It at once set the magazine off from the other science fiction in the rack. His distinctive style will be a good trade mark for Future, as Paul's was tor the old "Amazing.” back in 1926 and '27. The second surprise was seeing Cummings' "Man on the Meteor," for thereby hangs my own introduction to science fiction. I had teethed, practically, on some of Jules Verne’s books — "Mysterious Island,” "20,600 Leagues Under the Sea," and "Five Weeks in a Balloon," though not his more extravagant works — but being isolated on a farm, had seen nothing else, unless you rate Tom Swift as an intrwluction to the boy marvels of modern science fiction. Then, one Saturday, just before coming to Scotia to enter high school, the Miller family went to town for the week’s groceries. I was given a quarter for lunch, and started off to get it. but en rotite I saw Pau1'.s portrait of a Martian on the cover of Science and Invention — ami went without lunch. "The Man on the Meteor” was well under way — the third or fourth part, 1 think — In that issue, and it was my introduction to Cum- mings and to modern science fiction. But until now I have never, known how the story started — and I am not disappointed. It follows Ihe Cummings -formula, true, but it is the strangest of all his tales, and I miss only the many bizarre illustrations by Paul which decorated the original serial. In 1926 I was anxiously waiting for “Amazing Sto- ries" to appear, and I have not missed an issue of any science fiction magazine, al- though I am months behind on my reading and have been using this summer to catch up. "Out of Nowhere" seemed to me the best of the .short stories, although "Pogo Planet" had Us ziiny points, particularly In the Char- acter of its hero. "The tragedy of “Forbidden Flight” seemed a hit forced and limping, but it i.s hard to make convincing at best. And Bok, wliom 1 disliked on his first appearance, is definitely something. It is probaUy a qiillible to object to Siiturn's appearing in toto as viewed from a point beyond and well below the rings, when the story definitely places Nemo's meteor in the rings them- selves, and such quibbles on points of fact seem to have gone out of fashion of recent years as more and more fantasy has shared the bed of science fiction. I don’t object to the combination, but I do hate to see the bars let down on science — and Future is far from the worst offender in this respect. I could point te a number of publishers who hoot louder about their aeeuracy and offend with more nonsense than those who go quietly

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★ ★ ★ Future Ffetlon H»>out the business of printing: good sioiios when and where they can And them. Incidentally, thanks Cor publishing a guar- ferly that is really a quarterly. 1 don't ob- ject to reprints of good stories, plainly la- )>ellcd as such, though In a general science Action maga;tinc I feel they should alternate with modern stuff, and when new illustra- tions are used for the reprint. I gladly buy it, no matter how many other veislons 1 have (always the perfect collector, you seei. But 1 do object to some things which have happened in the name of being qnai-ierliea, and am willing to .say .'jo loudly wlienevei' prodded. I think you're wise in conibining: there are too many science Action and fantasy magazine.^. The result has been to make au- thors lazy: they will aim at the highest pay- ing, and the Immssed editor who la ahon a big Action budget must buy i-ejeets oi develop new authors, which is an unauie aini nerve-wracking business, I am sure. 1 have ]>een doing some editing in connection with my Job and know how it feels — «and with yon a deadline Is a deadline, and not someihlnu that will stretch when pushed. If I ever do get to producing, I hope i can land a yarn with you some time, if for no other reason than to see what your artiste make of the illustration. An author looks at bis own story In a very different light when it Is decorated (or occasionally marred) by an artist’s conception of scenes he ha- described. At any rate. go->d luck and more Boi. covers. Scotia. New York. Your last paragraph reads very nicely to us, Mr. Miller, because we've l>een one o( your fans since the d.ays of “The Red Plague," “Dust of DestrucUon,'’ and “I'hryiigh the Vibrations," your eailiest api«-aring sto- ries. So we'll be looking for that tale, and have special lollypops for Buk and/or Dolgov if all's well and we can give it to .\n artist In regard to sclentlAc accuracy — we aren't so much hipped on the straight "educational" features of scf, and. while we don't want to present anything as a sclentlAc fact which is not a sclentlAc fact, still we're more iii- lerested In Arst-rate Action, full of inspiia- tlonal and “dreaming" qualities than having every pimse of every story “sciontlHcaHy ac- curate." In regard to developing new au- thors. it Is nerve-wracking at times, but fun. Little by little, we are bringing up a circle of Future's own writers, and. when they are way up. we suppose they’ll be tty- ing other markets, too — that’s the way things are. But ifl! be a real satisfaction, when that time comes, to know' that they got theii start with us, Thtinks for the well wlshejact full-length books of weird tales to .sell at $2 the copy. The Arst of these books i.s sched- uled for publication October 1, 1!)41: It Ls 'Someone in the Dark,’ sixteen weirds by August Derleth, a book containing what the author considers the best among bis tales of the uncanny. If 'Someone in the Dark' Is successful. 1. e., pays the expense of publica- tion, Arkham House will publish selections of weirds by Clark Ashton Smith, Henry S. Whitehead, and others." So, readers, here U AUdUST W. PEKLETH The leaAet is the bearer of potential good news — If fandom co-operates. If we. as Ark- ham House, can sell only 800 copies of each book, printed at |2 the copy, we plan to publish the best shorts of Merritt, C. A. Smith, Whitehead. Bloch, Kuttner, etc., an- thologies, etc., weird and science-Actlonal ma- larial, at the rate of four books a year — all reprint material. Be assured we want to do li. and "Someone in the Dark" Is a feeler in that direction; if that book sells well enough, we can go ahead with others in the list. I think Smith Is down next. But the important thing to sell the fans is the necessity of their buying every book, as in a book club (and indeed, this is something like a book club) so that the books will move and pay for themselves. In short, it’s a promise of a fli '.t rate fantasy library in a handy, beautiful, and expensive format that will match any book put out today — dellnitcly out of the class of the average light Action binding, for instance— on condliiun the fans tru.st our Judgment to bring out the books they want. We’re open to suggestion: we’re not going into this thing to make money, but only to break even. Will you do whnt you can to further this plun, and also let me know what you, youi-self think of it? Ke your editorial In the new FF — most of us, Lovecraft et al, that Is, have always felt that fantasy covers the entire field of the weird on one hand, sf on the other, though pure fantasy in literature is the woik of Stephen.s, Dunsany, et al, far removed from .■ done. We do wish to suggest, however, th.at all interested take time off to let Mr. Der- leth know which stories of Chirk Ashton Smith, who is next on the list, they would like to see In a volume of his stories. Read- ers can also help by nominating stoifes for Inclusion in an anthology of weird talcs, of fantasy, and of science Action. And Mr. Der- leth might be Inteiested in suggestions for a volume or two of the best storie.s of favorite science-Action writers ... or of reprints ol outstanding aclencc-flttiou novels which may have seen print but once in some magazine now dilAcult. or virtually impossibie, to obtain. The idea of a fantasy book club appeals to us very highly; If enough fans were to write Ml'. Derleth pledging membership and a inin- Irnuin annual support, It might be worked out. In the meantime, Fiiluie will be happy to keep yon posted on latest developments. W-iteh our department, Futmian Times. This one Is short and sour. The writer Is A. L. SCHWARTZ Yngvi is not a louse. You are. What the hell is the Idea Of using small type? Aincha got no consideration for our eyes? Insistently yours. 529 Washington Street, Dorchester. Mass.

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Slatlon X ★ ★ ★ «7 Matter o£ fact, Mr. Schwart*, you are the only one, so far, who's cOJiii»laiued al>ont our new size type, while we’ve received a num)>er of very nice complltneuts on It. Suppoae you see if you can find a few thousand Future readers who agree with you. then we may be able to do something about it. Though, per- sonally, we think it’s pretty antt'.zy. Now, we present £.UtL K.iKil Congrats on the latest Science Fiction Quarterly and especially the October Future, Evidently you have acceas to tt>e utd Sci- ence and Invention fllt-s. If able, bow about reprinting MaClure's "Ark of the Covenant," Fezandle’s "Doctor Mackensaw's Secrets" (as a series), Cummings' "Around the Univei-se" (It’s here. Editor), John Martin Leahy's "The Living Death,” Cummings’ "into the Fourth Dimension" (almost forgotten) and some of his "Tales of the Scientific Club." Your fine new illustrations biiug new zest to the old classics. 812 SW 1st Street, Miainl, Florida. We'll look up those suggested reprint sco- i-ies. However, we're happy to say that we beat you to the draw on "Around the Uni- verse" and — well, we may as well announce it now-— The Quarterly's feature is to be "into the Fourth Dimension.” Now. here's a frank lettei- from i. S. KLI^AKIS Every once In a while sheer desperation forces us to go tramping to the nearest news- stand to buy up the current crop of ''science" fiction in the hope of finding someililmj read- ably entertaining. August Fulure Fiction, alas, was there too. Well, let's see wliat the record is. Foi te's cover, very good. Must be a Imigover fiom 1927, but the sight of winged rockets iiunil>lng a many-colored city still gets me. As for the featured "novel." "I'hey Xevei Come Back" — much could l>e said, but the leas said the better. Nowadays one can't be too particular al>out making a living, and if Fritz liClber makes a living dishing oiil such monstrous dung, who am I to tell him what to do? All I can do is fervently piay that in the next issue ye editoi finds some- thing that someone who's passed his seventh birthday can read. “Topaz Gate" was another stinker. 'Th* story is so significantly r>arallel to Earthlj history." Haw! Mr. Blish Is a Immorist as well! But, like In the movies. I’m afraid that “any resemblance is purely accidental." Let’s dismias any comment upon the oveidy trite “power-mad es-plumber" and the golden qualities of the beloved monarch, and. witli- out another word, to.s.s Mr. Bllsh to Lite anx- ious and hungry lions. But cheer up. Mr. Editor, there are one oi' two things to commend you foi-. .After all, in every editor's life, a little I'flin of acid must fall. It you expected only a little cliculallon- increase trout on (he end of the "Million Years and a Day" line. I'm afi-aid that you've copped a pretty big whale. The idea of sci- ence fiction brain teasers Is a whopper. If you guarantee something sirallur In every is- sue, editor, 1 promise to buy every dainii issue no matter how god awful the rest of the stories are. 1 spent hnlf the night try- ing to figure out which buttons to press, to no avail. So instead of mailing in my en- iry, I think I’ll let some other wortliy gentle- man take the prize. Bravo, editor! Morrison's "The Barljarians” was not only good reading but pretty interesting reading et that. I rate it the best story in the issue. If Morrison can duplicate il in quality, let's see some more of his stuff. Who’s the gent, by the way? Saari’s "Shadowless World" Is an example of a fellow who tosses awa.v diamonds in or- der to pick up a piece of wood underneath. He had a whale of a good story in the idea of Zeymo being resfvonsible for the develop- ineiu of the world. Bnt instead ot using it. he drowns It in a pile of nonsense aivout a millionaire playboy who’s a aenius In dl.s- guise. Why don’t .sclentiflction writers learn to write? Why doesn’t someone send them back to college to learn what makes a story — it might do some. good, who knows? Your editorial on the weird and Ihe fan- tastic was very good. Having defined science fiction, all th.at remains, .Mr. Edilor. la foi you to explain it to your writers — perhaps we may see some good scieutifletion, then, in the nol-too-dist.'int future. After filting up a page. Mr. Morey finally comes to the conclusion that the test of a science fiction cias.sio Ls its modernity. Well, well, well! Now. Mr. Morley, just what tlif hell is a "modern outlook"? "What type of writing has survived througli the ages?" asks Mr. .Morley, and then. “Exciude from this category all those items of classic fame which were stuffed down your throat during .school da.vs and which you privately anil frankly tlionght to be epitomes of utter boredom." What arrant nonsense! E.xclude Shake.spture? Goldsmith? Grey? Forget all about Stevenson? Poe? Scedt? Tolstoy? What sort of hull is tills Morley throwing? Is he serious? The fault, dear Wilfred, was not in tlie classic.s which bored you when you stiidieil them, but {>erhap.s in your own inubility to understand them at that time, or in the In- aldlity of your teachers to make them pal- atable to you. Science fiction can become classic only when it becomes living literature. And lll- erafure, dear Morley. Is alive when it is an emotiona! expression of hunnui experience or human aspiration. Science fiction can be- come living literature when it fulfills that requirement. What true science fiction reader has not wept with Mary Shelley's monster lhat tried to win the love and un- derstanding of Dr. Frankenstein? Who has not felt a lump in his throat as Nemo's Nau- tilus finally sank beneath tlie waves after de- fying niankiiid and twenty thousiiod leagues undt*r the sea? Who has not looked uneasily np at the strange stars after the W.ar of the World.!? ended? Who has been able to sail calmly over a quiet sea after Poe'.s “De- scent Into a Maelstrom"? Who among us la not a Faust or a Manfre-J? In the light of such living liier-atiue, and they are also science fiction clas-Mcs, Morley’s words about "modern outlook'' fade away Into nothingness. 46 Ten Eyck Street, Brooklyn, New Y’ork. We really appreciate your criticism, Mr. KUmaris, and will wait eagerly to see If current selections come closer to your Idea of good reading. Looks as if a controversy has been started over Moiley's article, so we ll let him speak for himself. Here he is, .Mr. KUmaris. WILFRED OWEN MORLEY It would seem as If I didn't have a leg to stand on, but 1 really think that the main

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M ir if i( Futar* Ficfien dieiculty lien in the hUerprctatioa of my pbrane ‘•modern ouHook” and readily admit (hat a betlei' one should and could have been used. Perhaps ‘•universal,’’ "tiraelesa,” or "progressive” would have been better. Fii-at of all. just for your private edifica- tion, Mr. Klim.aris, I was by no ineau.s bored by Shakespeare, Stevenson, Scott, etc., when we studied them in school. Nor, unless they were all con.summate actors, were the major- ity of the classes in which 1 studied, and they were a very good cross-section of a large town, loo. We acted out Bhake-speare’s ••.l4aeBeth," "Julius Caesar," etc., in the course of studying (let’s nut talk about the quality of the interpretations) and so far a.« 1 know, English Lit. was one period which never lasted long enough for us. But there are a good many works, labelled "ciassU'S" by pedants, and often run in on otherwise Innocent students, which are unut- terably dull— -and likely as not, the afternaalh of these is enotigh to moke the hapless stu- dent flinch at the name “clas.sic." It was this sort of thing at which 1 was driving in the sentence which you dissected with suck precision. These stories which you mention In youi' last paragraph all have the "timeless" quality to which I refer. They are not bound up in the very local and limited concepts of any given period, even though the writing may, In some cases, be archaic. What 1 meant by ‘■modern outlook" was this: read any of (licse examples of "living literature" aud you do not get the leeiing of being cramped into the obsolete concepts, superstitious, conceits, etc., of a long-dead age. There is something in them that will be new and "modern" » long as homo sap remains as he is, es- sentially. Your letter admirably gives the substance of what I thought I was saying, and 1 appreciate your successful presenta- tion of the subject, even if it does show ui> my apparent failure to get it acros.s. Heine's hoping i'll see many more of youi stimulating letters in Station X. Oh yes. and here’s an aside to you, .Mr. Editor. Would you Just ns soon not publish my addres.s? ] haven't the time for correspondence. New York City. Okay, Morley, old fellow. We’ll await re- marks from Klimaii.s on your an.swer. And now, on to \ IKCIMA II. CU.HBS As fur the must sensilile letter in the cur- rent (Oct.) Issue of P'utui-e, I think Antony Dirka’s takes my vote. He seems to know what he wants and to have a mind of his own. 1 like that. Being a female of voting age (just), J have very definite Ideas niyaelf. I liked this issue of Future a great deal. "Man on the .Meteor" us one of the best by Ra- Cummings that 1 have re.ad in a long time. Not that Mr. Cummings does not al- ways do a good job, but 1 just can’t read Jiis stories alone, and there are others that stand out in my memory and arouse the fondest rec-ollections long afterwards. ".Across the Ages" ranked second . . . good yarn . . . I liked tho.se descriptions of Mars. Station X comes next , . . lieck, it's better than the others stories. (!I! Editor.) The othei'.s deserve no more than numerical rating. 4. "The Thought Feeders" . . . worth reading, odd idea. Fair. 6. "Forbidden Flight” ... I must say Conant got rid of ’em in a hurry, it had the bitter irony of truth. 6. "rogo Planet” ... I have four broihers, so 1 have no illusions about them as wear the pants. Emperor Ajax ia so darned typical of conceited ma.sculliilty that I almost liked him. 7. "Out of Nowhere" . . . I hesitated a long time lyefore rating thi.s last, but somehow I liked the others belter. Bui it's good. J.el's have moie Pearson. Soon! Futurian Times rales as interesting, but 1 don't care for it overmuch. Still, I think such a department is necessary . . . ami this is ihe be.=l of its type I’ve run across yet. Bok on the covei. Ahhhhhhhhhhbhhbb : Yum. ynin. How does he do it? Turn oul such delectable pix all the time. I mean. (We feed him regularly on Futurian Chop Suey. That stimulates hLs imagination. Ed- itor.) John Forte displays a refreshing clear- ness of drawing that moJce.s him oustandlng. Lei's have lots more of him, too. Dolgov and Bok together are swell, same way by themselves, but together, it's like having ice-cream and watermelon for one meal. Box 907, Crandon, Wisconsin. Maybe we're more than usually dense to- day, but haven't you sort of contradlcterl yourself? You say that, outside of the first two mentioned, the rest of the stories deserve no more than numerical rating, but the com- ment.s you made on each, going so far as to rate the least of them good, somewhat belles that. However, we won't be anywhere near sat- isfied until a majority of readers write in and tell us that the last-ranking story was excellent. .And that means a long, hard inill ahead for authors and editor alike. Incidentally, vx forgot to include a PS on Morley'p lettw. but it can go here jii.st as well. He says: "Pardon the conceit, but, just In case it may be justified, please tell readers that I'm not in the competition for the prize double-.spread drawing thl.s time, or any other time.” .And, to bring up another side-issue, we notice that, here and there we have made what appear some rather definite stntpments upon various authors and stories. These are just our opinions, subject to change on any number of fronts, your desires being one of them. We are not out to squelch any reader or to try to Impress our opinions upon you. so if yoti disagree with anything we say. don't hesitate to come back with both b.Tnel». We'll publish your rebuttal if possible. Comes now a letter from DAMON kMRHT Dear Doc, Okay, you asked for it: Score 10 on the October Future’s arU-nik. The Bok cover is definitely super, and the il- In.stralions on the whole follow suit. 1 d.iu'i think it’s an exaggeration to say that yoms l.s now the best-illustrated stf magazine cui- rently published. Score 10 again for the editorial, blurbs, and departments. As I’ve said before, these leave nothing to be asked. Now start on the .stories. “The Man on the .Meteor” is a bad Cum- mings tale, than which there is conceivably no worse. Plot, characterization, and style are pure magoozelum — unadulterated hack, Give it 3. “The Thought Feeders" is cute; style and characterlKition are good, but the plot, a.s with much cf Winterbotham’s work, annoys because of its harebrained metaphysical rea.s- oning. 5. "Pogo Planet" Is best iu the book — one of

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S««ti«N X ★ ★ ★ 49 the two completely acceptable storiee in the issue — not such a good Ijottiug average, with the Cumminga stinker dlling up well over half of the ai>ace. Ajax Calkins is a very amusing character, and I'm looking forward to the next in the series. 10. "Across the Ages" siuells up the issue, in its own way. even worse than "The Man on the Meteor." It is a fairly good faiitas.v story, but stopped over with phoney aclentlfli- explanations to make it read like stf. Thai anomaly is one which I abhor. 3. "Out of Nowhere" Is the other complete!' acceptable story. In any other company, i Huspect, it would be just an average yarn, hut in Future it stands out head ami shoul- ders. 9. "Forbidden Flight” Is l>ad only because li is Incomplete. It poses a question to which no answer, or even the suggestion of an an- swer. is given. An incident In a longei story, It would have been perfect. 3. Totaling up, you get 58 out of a possible 80 for the issue. Roughly. 70'S . That's with the Cummings tiling flgured as one unit. Figured as it really ought to be. as somethin,? like five units out of twelve, it dra.gs down the average unthlnkahly. But despair not. Lowndes, we still love you! 143 West lOSd Street. New York City. Well, Damon, you're rather unique in your comments in that, to date, you are one of the two persons writing in who did not place "Man on the Meteor" first in the Oc- tober Future, and the only one writing in to express dislike. We've heard personally from several people who thought "Pogo Planet was beat, but they gave tl»e Cumminga tab lop rating, too. This doesn’t necessarily mean you’re wrong, old thing, but that, so far as we can ascertain, the readers do not agree with you. So it's more Cummings this time, and still more in our next issue. You mention Win- lerbotham'a plots as belug fraught with "harebrained metaphysical reasoning. " .Now I'd like very much to have a bit of a dis- cussion on that iKiint, and maybe Mr. Wln- terbotham would like to make a few state- luents, too (all in the nature of good-nnturcil debate). But we can’t do this until you present your case more clearly: how do you define "metaphysical reasoning"? Do you mean that metaphysical reasoning, in itself, is "harebrained"? Or is It just Mr. Wlnter- botham’a use of metaphysical reasoning which appears to you to be at fault? How’s about a letter, Sir Knight, so we can get off onto the tourney? Thanks for your remarks, at any late, anerson to be seen with in public. The new title is very good, dignified, and yet Ju.st what it takes. Bok on the cover Is a big jump from Scott, Forte, and even, in a way. Paul. Ray Cummings' yarn was a pleasure. I'd never read it before and Til bet only one nut of five thousand readers ever had. either. It’s not in the Cummings rut It’s dUIerent; it's unique; hooray! Although I strongly disapprove of reprinting old stories, in this case I can allow it. Don’t think reprinting is fair either to writers or reeder and hoj>e you don't make it a habit. "Pogo Planet" was a wlzzer. A superman to end alt supermen! And what’s more. Ajax Calkins Is a pretty good commentary on tlie Richard Seatons and Adam Links floating around, too. Ajax Is just honest about what he thinks he is. More of him! "Out of No- where” came next, followed by Winterbot- haiu. who is doing good stuff for you. Tho Conant story was pretty feeble, jerkily writ- ten, and going nowhere. This Dom Passante thing must have been a hangover from the old smelly day.s. But even at that, its stench is less than the old Passante the garbage can.s are familiar with. Your art work is now near tops. Keep up the Improvement and maybe you’ll have a top-rauker magozine yet! Waterloo. Indiana. This, as you readers can surmise. Is pretty much of a shock. In fact, we are virtually speechless. So. we shall just thank you, Mr. Conway, for your kind words, gird up our loin.s. and put our nose hack to the grind- stone. .7u»l one word more: we’ve found that, aftei' we'd very carefully listed ratings of stories for this department, and sent it off to the printer, a whole new batch of letters would come in, on the strength of which rat- ings would be -shifted all around. And. due to circumstance.^, there haven't been oppor- tunitle.s. the last two issues, to shove in a final, corrected list at the last minute. So, this lime, we’re nut reporting on the Oc- tober book: we’ll give you the dope on that next Issue. And, just for the records, here’s how the contents of our April and August is- sues eventually came out. April: 1. A Prince of Pluto, 2. The Ra- diant .^vengei'. 3. Martian Guns. <t. Statas Quo. 5. 30lh Century Duel, and 8. Tbs Genius Bureau. August: 1. The Barbarians, 2. The Shadowless World, 3. The Time Maker, 4. A Mlllitm Years and a Day, 5. The Stone Men of Ignota. 6. The Topaz Gate, and 7. They Never Come Back. Spring Quarterly: 1. Weapon Out of Time, 2. Callistan Tomb, 3. Cosmos Bye, 1. The Life .lewet. 5. Rocket’s Swan Song, 8. Kemintown. .Mara and 7. Rescue hYom Vemi.s. A (wlogies to all concerned for the errors in the first listings. From now on, the polls will be closed only when the issue following the one in question has reached the news- stands. Thanks for all your fine letters, and happy reading to you! RWL The new Kunire is It's actually read- It’s actually some- wouldn't be ash-amed HAVE YOU SEEN CLOSE-UP?

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DESTINY WORLD by MARTIN PEARSON I^Aii$h^ir “Pogo “Cosmos Eye,” elc.) Is one defeat enoi»9h to discourage the 9reate$t man the human race has produced? A thousand times no, declared Ajax Calkins. From the debacle of Pogo Planet he arose to write another page in the history of the cosmos. 1 NEVER take no for an answer. When I made up my mind to become ruler of a planet of my own, 1 forged ahead relentlessly vowing not to halt until I had gained my way. Tims it was that my spaceship Daimy 11 cased itself through the tortuous paths of the asteroids towards my goal. Auroral The world which was destined to be mine 1 Not a new world, an old one. But a planet over which the clutch of the Interplanetary Union had ex- pired. Of course the 1. U. did not know that. That was why their sovereignty had ex- pired. While the Union was primarily made up of the inhabited planets, and those other regions where colonial or commercial habitation had occurred, it also claimed rule over every region that I. U. patrols visited. But there was a strict order on these things— an old Terrestrial rule — and that was: if the I. U. failed to patrol * region in a reasonable number of years, it could not claim sovereignty there. In an- cient times the Canadian government in North America had had to send police reg;ularly to mush over the barren regions of their far North. Not because there was anything to police, but merely to guarantee sovereignty. And I had found that the planetoid Aurora had not been visited by the Inter- planetary Patrol in thirty years! There were lots of tiny planetoids that had never been patrolled but Aurora was not a tiny fragment. It was a Grade B minor planet and at least 50 mile.s in diameter. I have always been aware of my differ- ence from other men. I am not content with an humble lot as one of teeming bil- lions. Others of history have gained em- pires for themselves; 1, Ajax Calkins, le- gitimate Emperor of Midplanet, was deter- mined to regain a world for myself. What 70

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mattered how small it may be? From little nuts, great trees do grow. At last my ship eased close to the world of my choosing. I stared hungrily through the forward plates of the control room. Hungry, as much for fame as for the fact that my meals were irregular due to my tendency towards space- sidmess. Down, through the void, and at last, landing with a slight jar upon the airless soil of my small world. 1 hastened to buckle on my space-suit and to hurry out the lock of my ship. My first eager step on the soil of Aurora and astonishedly 1 found myself flying head over heels up- wards. The gravity of the planetoid was so light that 1 weighed a bare pound or two! And my tread had thrust me up- wards with unexpected vigor. Falling gently downwards like a lazy feather on a Spring breeze, 1 surveyed the landscape. It was cold and uninviting, mostly slag and bare rock. Above, the cold stars shone down in the black sky of space. But all over on the surface there arose orderly hemispheres of glistening brown glass! I was startled! Pinsky’s “Catalogue of Minor Bodies" distinctly listed Aurora as an uninhabited world! How then could this be ? Pinsky was never wrong ; yet, these artificial glassine hemispheres, between which ran thin glassy roads, gave all the appearance of being tho.se of a highly ad- vanced culture. At last I reached the ground. This time I took great care to orient my.self and ad- just my belt-rockets. Under control now, J shot rapidly across to the nearest tructure. It towered over me some thirty or forty feet; it was smooth, perfectly finished, stone-glassy. Around it and from it ran roads, straight as dies, in all directions. And down several of them tame the in- habitants. They were squat, slow-moving creatures, about the size of a big dog. They seemed to be hard shelled like insects and yet they lacked the intricate designing of in- sects. They were like crude unfinished models for ants. In place of legs they moved along on which seemed dozens of cilia extending a few inches beneath their bodies. I could detect no eyes, no mouth or nostrils. A .single pair of antennae stuck Destiny World ★ ★ ★ 71 out in front of them and jerked steadily up and down as they progressed. I braced myself ana drew my para-ray preparing to fight if necessary. But the one that was closest to me, passed along the road by which 1 was standing without pey- ing me any attention and passed into the hemisphere through a round opening. I stared after it, dumbfounded, until I remembered that they had no eyes or ears. Because I am unusually brave, 1 followed the creature into the dome. INSIDE a thin reddish light filtered down. There was still no air. There were no rooms, no furnishings save curious piles of greenish glass cubes. The creatures moved about on the polished floor, bumping into each other with a curious rhythmic pat- tern. I poked one; it paid no heed to me. I pushed another, it was undisturbed. Try as I might, I could not get any of the creatures to acknowledge my existence. Then, like a flash, it came to me. These were not intelligent beings! These were silicon-insects! There were a number of asteroids inhabited by these curious beings. They were not protoplasmic oxygen-breath- ers as we are, but were of a living sub- stance in which silicon takes, rhe place of carbon which is the basts of Earthly life. They were literally rock-animals, made of a form of rock, eating and breathing rock! Their social structure was vaguely akin to that of ants, they had no intelligence, only an instinct-pattern which caused them to build these silico-glass structures and roads. What had misled me is that i had never heard of them growing to this size before. On other airless worlds where they had l>een found, their size was scarcely ever more than a few inches in length. Here they were gigantic by comparison. Ignoring the creatures farther, I set out to explore Aurora. My first act was to stand in the center of the largest cluster of domes and proclaim myself King-Com- mander of Aurora. Although the insects ignored me, I felt it my duty to what was now my planet. Returning to tlie Destiny II, I flew low over the small world, mapping out its ter- rain. It was covered with the silicon- creatures’ cities. It would be impossible to land anywhere and not find them. i made my permanent residence, iny capital, at the place where I first landed. There I cleared away a deserted dome, and

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72 ★ ★ ★ Future Ftetien transferred some of my belongings. In a few days I had scaled all the entrances but one and made it airtight. Air from the ship's tanks made it habitable. IT WAS not comfortable but we empire- builders must- allow for discomfort. I, Ajax Olkins, had at last my own planet. From here 1 could advance to greater things. So it was that 1 sat there several weeks later, on my throne (it had originally been a ship’s barber-chair) listening to swing- sing records. I lo^'c swing-sing records ; they were the rage on Earth when I had left and I had stacked several dozen of the marvelous music spools, composites of Occidental swing with Oriental tones and scales. 1 had just played my favorite ■■Razzmatazz on the Gobi-Gobi’ for the tenth time when I idly turned on the radio receiver of my player. Instantly I heard the voice ot Radio- Juno ("The Voice of the Asteroids") giv- ing the latest news. Idly I listened to the reports of the latest events of the major asteroids when suddenly the name of Aurora was mentioned. 1 .sat bolt upright. Radio-Juno said that the Interplanetary Union was sending a small fleet of ships to establish a fueling and trade-control sta- tion on Aurora. On my Aurora! On my own planet! 1, Ajax Calkins, King-Com- mander of Aurora! That, to me! I sat stunned for a few minutes. I had not expected a showdown with the 1. U. for a long time. But this now! I must think. Then I had it ! I knew how I could drive them away without risking a drop of blood. Hastily I gathered all my swing- sing records and counted them. There were enough for my defense; I set to work. For three days I built tiny crystal player- broadca.stcrs, little simple afiairs made of wire and glassine crystals easily obtained. Each was equipped to play endlessly a spool of song record wire, but to play them backwards. For three more days I rushed around the planetoid installing these players, each with its reversed record, in the center dome of rock-ant cities. The rock-ants ignored me as they always did. Soon the entire planet was covered with the players, from every quadrant and pole, the reversed tune.s were endlessly broadcasting. At my capital, 1 rigged up a special record and a large broadcaster of my own. Then 1 waited. A short time later. Radio- Juno announced that the fleet had left for Aurora. I kept carefully searching the wave-bands fo: sound of the fleet's communications and finally I heard them. I listened in on the conversations between the various captains. Already they were discussing the etheric disturbances that had increased as they came nearer Aurora. One remarked how like it was to the radio increase you note as you approach a major planet. I smiled. My plan was working. At last they' hovered near Aurora, un- certain and confused. I knew what they were hearing. From every section of my little globe, broadcasts were coming. Weird, strange, incomprehensible voices and un- earthly music. Did you ever play a record backwards.^ Spoken English sounds like Hawai- ian; gay tunes sound like Gypsy laments; ev’crything is unearthly and puzzling. That's what they heard. The sounds of a completely alien planet, densely populated, with innumerable radio conversations going on in totally unfamiliar patterns. 1 heard one captain say to another that Aurora was supposed to be uninhabited and here it seemed that it was very heavily populated, totally outside of the Inter- planetary Union. That was my cue. 1 started my special record. On it I had recorded one part of a conversation in broken English in a deep harsh voice. To this conversation, I replied in as sinister a tone as I could. All this was broadcast outwards towards the fleet so that I could be sure to be overheard. What the fleet commanders listened in on was a conversation between a supposed general of an unknown invading army from the star Polaris and a leader of a hitherto unheard of band of Solar system pirates. The subject discussed was how Aurora had become the main base of a simply terrific army, of how that army was so much more powerful than anything the Interplanetary Union could offer and how completely fatal it would be for the I. U. to dare attack. It was quite terrifying and impressive. That was because 1, Ajax Calkins, am a bril- liantly ingenious man. No, let us not say man, let us say with an eye for scientific accuracy, superman . It worked. It worked loo well. The

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Destiny World ★ ★ ★ 73 I. U. fleet heard. The I. U. fleet fled without landing. For the next few days I gloated over my triumph and proceeded therewith to establish and award myself the Order of the Shining Star of Aurora. Then I hap- pened to listen in on Radio-Juno again. The voice of the announcer said that the I. U. was not going to risk a ship. The voice said that the I. U. was simply going to move a couple of larger Grade C asteroids from their orbits so that they would suddenly and unexpectedly crash into Aurora from opposite sides. Aurora would be reduced to its component atoms in a fraction of a second after the impact and the menace of the terrible invader base completely annihilated before the enemy knew it was attacked. 1 nearly jumped out of my skin when 1 heard that. My plan had worked too well. I had not merely scared the fleet away, I had overscared them. 1 had brought about the doom of Aurora! I fled precipitately from my capital, not daring to rescue my property. Who knew when the planetoids would crash? 1 dashed into my space-ship, slammed the air-lock and fired the rockets. Discretion was bet- ter than valor now. As the Destiny 11 left Aurora behind. I stood facing the stars in my control room and, placing my right hand in the front of my jacket and my left hand behind me, stared ahead coldly into the black of space. Napoleon too, had had his defeats. But like a Phoenix, I too would rise again. Destiny! Ah, destiny! If you enjoy a bit of light reading in pictures . . . Get a Copy of JACKPOT COMICS iOc Everywhere A Success How I Stepped .nto.BIGPAY “ Hotel Job Newepni>er iCuute Mnn. H'bo Knew NotKing About Work, Now Stewwrd "At 50 I found my opportunities aa a rent eatate aaleaman greatly limited. Long hours — worry over the uncertainty of Income were too much for me. Then I anawered a Lewis advertisement. At first frankly skeptical about changing profes- aions at my age, l finally enrolled. Immediately after graduation 1 became Clerk of a Western hotel. Now I have advanced to this well-paid l-'ront Office position in a beautiful California club. My success is due to Lewis Leisure-Time, Home Study Training." "Having nothing to look forward to but hard, monotonous work, long hours and poor pay in my Job as newspaper route m.an, I enrolled In the Lewis Schools. Shortly after graduation, the Lewis Schools placed me In a fine resort hotel in Wes'ern I’ennsylvanla. When our season was over the manager asked me to go to Miami Beach to take a similar position in their Florida hotel. Now 1 am Steward in a Pennsylvania hotel. T.ewls Training did It!" STEP INTO A WEI.E-PAin UOTEI. POSITION From rMit to enti LecrU-triilDed men and women are winnini turceis in the liolol, club, cesUiinint and inititu- lional field. They're "luiikine good" ii msnxKers. assialani Enioegere, houaekeeperl. bcole-ees, purihaelng aaenls and In SS other lypea of well-nald poslcioni. Now the Oovemmenl'i TOO-mllllon-dollaf defense food, hooelog and recreation pro- gram meuni erotrer oppoTtunltleg than erer betore. For 28 yeg» (be auecoM of t.ewia sraduales has pto>ed prerioui — ..w — — ■ Clifford Lewis, Pres. I Lewis Hotel Training Schools, ■ Room ZW*2528, Washington. D. C. ■ Send me your TYee Ttonk and tletalls as to how ■ to qualify for a well-paid position, at home In I leisure time. eiperionce unneceesary In this buslneai where you're net dropp^ lierauie you are 40. Kllher buiinels. home, profea- alonal or grade achooi background, plus Lends Training qualinea you at home, in leisure time. Coupon hrlngi FRr.R book which telle how to qualify for a well-paid porltlon: e<- plalne how you are rezlelered KRKK of extra c<wt. in Lenll N'allonal Placement Serrire. Mall if NOWI City State..

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DAY OF THE TITANS by FREDERIC A. KUMMER, JR. (Authur of ‘"D.iy of Comet." "f.oreJoi of Spoce,” etc.> Th«ir ons chanc* of roscua lay In th* tima-cona; throu9h it they inlght find sonw sort of weapon against the hostile TItanlans. But they didn't reckon upon plunging Into a deeper mess than the one they had left behind them. CHAPTER I The rain dripped down steadily upon Titan's bleak, cheerless surface, sluic- ing over the rocks and sand, drench- ing the tall white fungoid growths. The air, almost unbearably heavy with carbon dioxide, was saturated witli moisture from the ceaseless drizzle until it seemed that one breathed it in lumps. Mark Vallard pulled his feet from the mud with a sick- ening squelch and swore softly. "Worse than Pluto.” he muttered. "Eh, Doag ?” "What price archaeology.’" the big Jovian grunted. He sucked at the small oxygen flash he carried, grinned under the heady influence of the stuff. The atmosphere on Saturn's largest satellite didn't require space suits, but what with the unbelievable humid- ity, the large percentage of free carbon di- oxide, a whiff of oxygen every so often was gratifying. Vallard glanced about the desolate scene. They were in the middle of a vast plain, covered for the most part with pallid, mush- room-like vegetation. Here and there in the white jungle, .smoke from the villages of the primitive Titans rose, and an occa- sional huge worm, blind and harmless for all its size, writhed through the forests. The two men stood on the edge of the mound from which the expedition had ex- cavated the ancient ruins of Titan’s early civilization. An immense masonry dome, of which only the outline remained, had attracted them; and the diggings within it had proven fruitful in clues to the long- lost civilization of the satellite. Sodden archaeologists were busy pawing through mud and sand, studying the inscriptions on various fallen blocks of stone. The Sietlar, base-ship of the First Titan Archaeological Expedition, lay perhaps a quarter of a mile off. rusty and mud-spattered from long weeks of inaction. Vallard sighed in sheer depression. 'Where'rc the diggers, today.’’ he said. "Another of their everlasting holidays?” The expedition u.sed workmen from the tribes of uncivilized Titans who had no love for labor. "Looks like a permanent holiday this time.” Doag shrugged his massive shoul- ders. "They decided we were profaning the resting place of the ancient ones. And just when wc were unebvering the mo.st interesting inscriptions of all. Hello, there’s Fowler!” In tlic middle of the ruins a large tent had been pitched. A wizened little man with the pompous air of a cock-sparrow had stepped out into the eternal rain, was rubbing grease from his hands. Vallard and Doag moved toward" him. "So Achilles has quit sulking in liis tent?” Vallard said genially. "I suppose it might interest you to know that all our diggers have up and quit.” "Diggers?” Fowler continued to scrape grease from his hands. "Quite immaterial, my boy. Science has other means at her disposal.” He swelled importantly, started back into the tent. "Wait a minute!” said Vallard. "Don't you think you’ve been playint; Indian chief long enough? You’re nommaJly in com- mand of this expedition and all you've done since we've been on Titan is stay in this tent and work on your mysterious in- vention !” "True.’’ Doag nodded gravely. "You A COMPLETE NOVELET 75

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ir if ir Fufur* Fiction carry strange machinery into this tent, ham- mer away, and no one even knows what you're making." He chuckled. "Mad scientist lurking in tent. ...” “Your attempts at humor," Fowler said portentiously, "are proof of your immature minds. But genius always has to contend with such ignorance, I suppose.” He dis- appeared once more into tlie tent and the sound of hammering was resurhed. "A hell of an expedition.” Vallard glanced at the dripping scientists knee-deep in mud about the ancient ruins. "Rain and more rain, the diggers quitting, Fowler hav- ing one of his brainstorms, and....” He broke off, staring. "Look, Doag! The Titans! " Doag stared through the mists in the direction of the Stellar. In the mud and muck about the ship, small, ugly fig- ures were nroving. Titans, for these crea- tures, was the most classic misnomer in the solar system. Scrawny arms and legs, big, pot-bellied bodies, pendulous ear-lobes and webbed fingers, round red eyes .... and the whole surmounted by a mop of hair that gave the appearance of a chrysanthemum. Savage, ugly, treacherous, they were about as titanic as a space-rat. Vallard watched them move toward the Stellar; from their waists hung vines weighted with stones, like bolos. He remembered what Doag had said about the Titans believing that the expedition was profaning the ancient ones. And there were only two men left as guards aboard the space-ship. "Hey! Campbell, Walker, you others!" Vallard called to the group of men about the excavations. "There's a bunch of na- tives heading for the Stellar! We'd better see what they’re up to! I don’t just like . . . Good Lord!” The Titans about the ship had moved suddenly, their webbed feet keeping them on the surface of the mud. 'They were swinging into the airlock of the spaceship, and in the gloom Vallard could see the flash of heat-guns behind her portholes. "Quick!” Doag drew his gun. "They’re fighting aboard her! Come on!” He and Vallard raced toward the Stellar, but already the firing had ceased. The two guards, unsuspecting, had gone down after only a brief struggle. Vallard swore softly and the big Jovian beside him drew a bead on the ship’s airlock, fired . . . but at that distance his aim was poor. The other scientists were rurming forward to join them, but for the most part they were unarmed. Suddenly from the ship's airlock the ugly Titans began to emerge. And they weie armed with heat-guns from the Stellar's supplies. Scores of them, racing across the mud on light webbed feet. Vallard fired and two of them toppled to the ground,' but more pressed on. Flashes of light were rising on all sides as the heat guns, in- exp>ertly handled by the natives, missed them. Wherever the beams struck the mud, steam rose to mingle with the mist, and the Titans were rapidly drawing so close that they could not fail to miss. Doag fell flat in the mire to avoid .1 shot aimed at his head; the lurid beam passed above him like a white-hot lance. When he arose, he was hard to tell from the mud. His answering shot checked the Titans momentarily, but Vallard could see a party edging arourMl to cut them off from the ruins. "Got to get back ... to excavations," he muttered. "They can move faster than we can out here!” Doag nodded and the two men, bend- ing low, dodged in and out of the white fungi of the plain. Now and again flashes of gun-fire would light up the rain-swept terrain but they ploughed steadily ahead, trusting to the Titans’ poor marksmanship. Scrambling over the crumbling wall of the ancient ruins, they rejoined the other mem- bers of the expedition. "Safe?” Walker nodded. "We couldn’t help. Only two other guns besides yours in the whole damn diggings. Weren't ex- pecting this.” He peered over the edge of a q'clopcan monolith, ducked hastily as red flame spat above him. "Looks like we’re in for a seige,” Vallard said grimly. "Is Sitting Bull still in his teepee?” He moved toward Fowler’s mys- terious tent. "If this doesn’t bring him out of his pipe-dreams . . .” He paused as the tent-flap opened and Fowler emerged. The little archaeologist favored them with a superior smile. "Finished!” he announced. “They laughed when 1 returned from Pluto...." "And now you’re the life of the party,” Vallard concluded. "Would it interest you to know that the Titans have raided the

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S>ay of tk« Tifans -k if -k 17 Stellar, scuppered Wells and Donnelly, and ace now besieging u? here . . . armed with our guns?” 'Titans? Besieged?” I'owler’s air of triumph fell from him like a cloak. "At a time like this!” "I don't see what the time has to do with it." Doag watclied the flickering rays, like heat-lightning, dance along the rain-wet Stones. The rest of the expedition W’as seeking shelter among the crumbling ruins of the ancient structure. The Titans seemed content to draw their fire in return, wait until the four heat guns in the earthmen's hands were exhausted, before trying a rush. "So.” The big Jovian picked off a spin- dly-leggcd figure that showed itself too clearly among the pallid waxy growths. 'Three hundred or more of them out there. .\nd at least eighty guns. Twenty of us, four guns. Simple mathcm.atics. Wc'i! last two days with luck. No way to reach the ship, no way to get help. And archaeology’s supposed to be a peaceful science!” Fowler stared out at the rainswept plain, the lowering clouds. Suddenly he straight- ened his shoulders. "Give your guns to Campbell and Walk- er," he said. "Then come to the tent." The two men did as he requested, duck- ing from rock to rock for cover. When they returned, the little aichacologi.st wa' waiting for them by the canvas shelter. "You’ve been wondering what I was up to, these past weeks,” he said slowly. "Re- member our experience on Pluto?” "I’m not likely to forget it in a hurry,' Valiard grunted. "I’ve been called the biggest liar in the solar system whenever I mention that time-machine." Doag nodded in assent. "The greatest experience any three men ever knew,” he said. "Going backward in time! And the world refusing to believe! If only the machine hadn’t been wrecked, archaeology would be able to . . .” "Come here.” Fowler entered the tent. "Look!” Valiard drew a sharp sibilant breath. In the center of the lent amid a litter of tools and machinery, rose a transparent cone, some ten feet tall. At its apex was a tangle of wires, beneath which a control board rose. In one side of the cone was a small air-tight door. "The time-cone!” Doag’s big craggy face lit up. "But it was destroyed! We saw it blasted by a ray-gun. . .” "True,” Fowler nodded. "But when we returned from Pluto 1 had the remains sent back to earth. For three months I studied them, checking every part, trying to re- member how each w-irc went. I didn't tell anyone what I was working on. Not even you two, because I knew whaf they'd say if the .story got out. They'd want tu put me in a nice padded cell. Time-travel's supposed to l>e impossible. ’ "Right." Valiard nodded grimly. "I know. Just like trying to convince people back in the twentieth century that a rocket- .ship wasn’t a dream. You think it’ll work?” "Wliat odds?” Doag shrugged. "Yester- day we could have made the greatest archaeological discoveries ever dreamed of! Not trying to piece out history from old inscriptions, but actually seeing, living, the past. Now', with those mad Titaifs be- sieging us. . ‘^"Look!” Fowler was deathly serious now. "The time-cone saved us on Pluto. From -Starvation. We know the people who built these ruined building.? were powerful. Thcir inscriptions show them to he scientists, warriors! Wliy not go Kick and enlist their aid! The aid of men dead ten thou- sand years!” "But” . . . Valiard glanced out of the entrance of the tent. . . "how about the others? We'll have to tell them. . ." "Nonsense!” Fowler shook an impatient head. ‘Time is our servant. We can return at the exact moment we left! This mo- ment! Hven if we stay away a week ... a year. They won’t know we've been gone an instant! Com: on!” The two men stood motionless, listening to the drumming rain, the hiss of heat guns, the fierce shouts of the Titans sur- rounding the ruined city. Suddenly Val- lard nodded. "Right!” he said. "It’s the only chance.” He stepped into the time-cone, followed by Doag. "Do your stufl, Doc!” Fowler moved to the controls, his normal pomposity returning. '"Thus doe.s genius triumph over all oh- stacles,” he announced. "The name of Fowler shall be among the immortals of science! 1. . ." Valiard never heard the rest ot Fowler's modest tribute, for at that moment the little man threw the switch. A blue light broke from the apex of the cone and in another moment they were lost in the abyss of time.

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78 ★ ★ ★ Putur* Nctiftii CHAPTER II IT WAS like the time on Pluto all over again, Vailard thought. The black swirling mists, the sensation of eter- nity stretching away on all sides, the stag- gering terror of infinity. And his two com- panions standing like ghosts beside him while the unknown cosmos beyond the cone writhed with alien life. Then suddenly the darkness about them took on a greenish hue, and Doag, leaning forward, gave a surprised grunt. "Look! ” he said, pointing. Vailard stared. The time-cone was com- pletely surrounded by a thick swirling greenish vapor ... a vapor alive with «^ueer misshapen birds, strange lizard-likc crea- tures, great strips of livid vegetation. The door, air-tight, prevented leakage, but they were entirely surrounded by the thick green luminous mist. "A nice time-era you pick!" Vailard grunted. "We re in the middle of a gas- cloud!” Fowler frowned. "This should be the period when that ruined city was at its peak,” he said, fingering the controls. "1 don’t just understand. . . Look!” He pointed. "That’s where the green smoke came from!" Doag and Vailard followed bis gaze. Be- yond the glowing mists the walls of a large room were visible; and at one end of the loom a circular bronze door, through which the vapor poured, was closing. "Locks of some kind,” Doag grunted, "We seem to be in the middle of a pre- historic gas-works. And, say . . . isn't the vapor getting lower?” "Right!” Fowler nodded in satisfaction. "Must be heavier than air! Draining out through gratings, holes, in the floor !” The three men peered through the trans- arent walls of the time-cone. As Fowler ad said, the green luminous gas was drain- ing off, leaving a litter of queer vege- tation, grotesque birds and beasts that gasped like fish out of water, on the stone floor. Then before their curious gaze they saw a small door open at the end of the room, and half a dozen odd, semi-human figures appeared. Tall, muscular, bronzed, they would have been rather earthly in appearance had it not been for their pen- dulous ear-lobes, and bushy shocks of hair. They were, it seemed, a refined, less de- generate edition of the savage Titans of the era the time-travellers had left. Dressed in close-fitting garments of shining red, they carried long, fork-iike implements in their hands with which to spear the beasts flop- ping upon the floor. Sight of the time- cone seemed to fill them with wonder and alarm. "1 think I've got it,” Fowler muttered. "This room is a sort of fisherman's net. After draining off the green gas, they gather in a haul of animals, vegetation. Only they hadn't counted on landing us.” "A nice spot you picked to set up the cone!” Doag growled. "We . . . look! They're coming this way!” The red-clad figures, after one long look at the time-cone, were advancing toward it, their pronged spears raised. "Think fast, mastermind,” Vailard rapped out. "Do we try a more healthy time-cycle, or take ’em on unarmeor ’ "This,” said Fowler airily, "is merely a matter of impressing them with our su- perior mentality. Thus!" He opened the door at the side of the cone, stepped out; drawing himself up to a triumphant five- foot-six, he extended one arm in dramatic dictatorial salute. From that point on things happened fast. Far from being impress^ by Fowler’s "superior mentality,” the bushy haired men sprang fon^-ard, bore him to the ground. "Come on!" Doag shouted. "Got to help!” He and Vailard leaped from the cone, empty-handed. Stooping low, the big Jovian picked up one of their attackers, slammed him into the group, sending three of them skidding into the litter of vegeta- tion and gasping Hzard-like creatures. Val- lard followed this success with a hard right that sent another of their attackers sprawl- ing. He sprang forward to pull Fowler to his feet, but a hand clutched his ankle and he slipped on the polished floor. The fall knocked the breath out of him, and when he picked himself up, Doag was hemmed in by a circle of pronged spears. "Just a matter of impressing them,” Val- lard said sarcastically. "Eh, Fowler?” The little doctor swayed to his feet, glanced about; the tall beings, spears ready for the first threatening gesture, were jab- bering among themselves. "Listen!” Fowler exclaimed. "Their speech is like that of (he Titans! A little

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Day of fho Titans ★ ★ ★ 7? different, but basically the same!" He drogped into the rough gutterai dialect they had' picked up during their explorations in the other time-cycle, but their captors re- fused to answer his questions. With a curt gesture, they urged their prisoners toward the small door at the end of the big room. As they stumbled through the doorway, Doag gave a grunt of surprise. "Look!” He pointed upward. "Roofed in!" The others followed his gaze. The out- line of the dome they had ^served among the ruins of their era, now became clear ... for a vast half-sphere of massive ma- sonry rose over the city beneath. Streets, tall buildings, small grass plots, all were sheltered beneath the dome. Gazing about, Vallard drew a sharp breath. The vast dignity, the hoary age of the city was some- how breathtaking. Large ultra-violet pro- jectors, like street lamps, gave ligh> re- vealing the eerie beauty of the place. For the motif of the city was the globe . . . rounded buildings, spherical minarets, globe-shaped dwellings in tiers stretching to the top of the dome. "Remarkable!” Fowler nodded. "Makes one feel like an ant in a heap of marbles! An unique architectural sy.stcm! I must make notes on this for my brochure on Titan's early civilization . . .” "Optimist,” Vallard grunted. “Better get that 'superior mentality' to work on these mugs first!" Their captors were taking them through narrow streets, from which curious passers- by stared at them. Vallard caught the words, "Telcite” and "zirkon” often re- peated among the crowds. He and his three companions didn’t make imposing spec- tacles, he realized. Fowler's pompous air was marred by a promising black eye, while Doag, although his size and Jovian solem- nity were impressive, was still torn and muddy from tlie struggle with the Titans. A vast globular building loomed before them; they passed through the massive doors with some misgivings, made tht-ir way along a maze of corridors. Guards, armed w'ith copper shields and swords, ad- mitted them into a large hall at the top of the glolsc. "Gods of Jupiter!" Doag muttered. "Look!” The room itself was no novelty, for it contained only a bronze table and chairs. But in the center was a hole opening, via a circular staircase, into the floor below. Here was machinery . , . huge complicated ma- chinery . . . and glass pipes through which the green gas flowed, emitting an eerie glow. The weird light, pouring from the hole in the floor, gave an unreality to the bizarre murals on the walls of the upper room until it seemed a witches' den. As the three prisoners and their guards waited, a man and a woman toiled up the ladder from the strange engine-room. Young, muscular, though seemingly tired, only the large earlobes and bushy hair dif- ferentiated them from earth-beings. Both were clad in brilliant starlet. "Failure, Tama,” the man was .saying. "Always failure. But we must find out. . .” He broke off at sight of the three captives. "Who . . . who are these beings?" << EXCELLENCIES!" The leader of the guards bowed first to the man, then to the woman. "We are workers in the admission chamber. The zirkon had been let in as usual, drained off for the power stations” ... he motioned to the masses of machinery below . . . "as it always has been done. When the chamber was dear of zirkon we entered, to obtain food, and found a queer cone, containing these beings, At first we thought it was some trick of the Teleites, but these arc a new race.” The tired young man nodded, studied the archaeologists with keen curious eyes. "I am Kahl, headman of this dome." he said in the rough Titan dialect. "Who are you? Where have you come from?" Vallard shot a glance at Fowler. "Start impressing 'em,” he said. "You got us into this!" The wizened little doctor stepped for- ward. Choosing his words carefully, using synonyms whenever the young man seemed puzzled, he explained the time-cone. The slender girl beside Kahl frowned. "Men from another world?" she said. "From a time in which we are long dead? This is some Teleite trick . . ." "Let us listen, Tama my wife.” The young ruler turned again to Fowler. "If your story is true, you must be a great race, and powerful. Why have you come to our poor city?” "The Titans . . . savages ... are be- sieging our expedition in our time-era." Foster was gaining assurance now. "We want warriors, weapons, to defeat them."

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80 ★ ★ ★ Future Ffction "Here there is no help for you.” Tama shook her head. "We are almost savages ourselves. Through ease, lack of necessity, we have lost the great learning of our fore- fathers. There is no science in this dome, or in any of the others, if they still sur- vive.” Doag glanced dow/n at the maze of ma- chinery below. The scarlet-clad Kahl fol- lowed his gaze. "You think the machines below arc proof of our power?” He shook a disconsolate head. "They were built in the old days before the zirkon came. And built too well! Everything was foreseen by our an- cestors ; they made the domes so perfect that there was no need for us to work, think, improve. So we have forgotten their science, leaving everything to the automa- tic machines. Someday the machines must break, wear out . . . and we will be help- less! So many times Tama and I have gone below to study them, but their principles are beyond our grasp! Unless we learn, this dome is someday doomed.” "But” . . . Big Doag studied the two young people . . . "you mentioned other domes. And what is this zirkon?” He shot a glance at his companions, Fowler nodding, making mental notes, Vallard staring at the machinery below. "We may be able to help.” Kahl and Tama reflected a moment. The green light pouring from the circular hole in the floor cast weird shadows over their sombre faces. The armed guards who had brought the three prisoners into the room were silent, immobile. Then suddenly the young headman of the dome spoke. "This is the story of our people as my grandfather told it,” he said with deep solemnity. "Centuries ago we on this satellite you call Titan were a peaceful, happy, civilized race, and endowed with great science, vast learning. Then one day our astronomers noticed one of the rings of the parent body, Saturn as you have named it, was expanding. Within a few years, they calculated, the great ring would en- velop Titan. Studying the ring they dis- covered it was no circle of dust and tiny meteors, but a band of strange and deadly gases, charged with ions of free electricity which made it glow. This gas was zirkon." Kahl paused, gazing at the green glow from the pit below. When he resumed speaking, his voice was low. "Our forefathers decided to exert all their power to protect themselves from the deadly gas. But there were two schools of thought. One was to build these domes as protection, the other to remain in the ^cn and accustom themselves to the zirkon. T^hese latter groups knew that the change would come gradually and hoped for a biological evolution such as the evolution of fish to men. Each of the two schools thought the other wrong and went ahead with its plans. We are the Dome-men and those who conditioned themselves to the zirkon are the Teleites.” "1 begin to understand,” Fowler nodded intently. "Highly interesting, psychological- ly. And you mean that outside this dome there's a ... a sea of this electrically- charged gas?” IN ANSWER the girl Tama moved to one side of the room, drew back heavy metallic curtains. The building in which they stood was set against the outer dome and the heavy glass bullseye permitted a glimpse of the world beyond. "Great G>smos!" Vallard swallowed hard. "It . . . it’s like a window into hell!” His companions made no answer; their eyes were glued to the scene before them. It was, as Vallard said, like an opening into the inferno. Heavier than air, the zirkon lay in a luminous green layer, cover- ing everything like a deep glowing sea. The queer light from the suspended ions of electricity gave a weird mephitic look and Vallard felt as though he were gazing, hypnotized, into the depths of a great em- erald. More, there was life in the sea of zirkon, queer, teeming, alien life. Vegeta- tion, strange leprous stuff, writhing in the manner of a nest of serpents, its groping tendrils twisted into a thick jungle . . . and animal life, grotesque, leathery birds, giant slug.s, and lizard-like horrors creeping among the tangle of vines and fungi. The surface of Titan, beyond the dome, was a horror of rampant, unreal life, monstrou.s, repulsive, an inferno worthy of a Dore’s pen. "So," Tama said softly, "the world out- side has evolved to suit the atmosphere of zirkon. The gas is full of carbon, and plants thrive. And all life has become semi- reptilian . . . even the Teleites." "Amazing!” Fowler nodded. "In some respects it correspond.s to the mesozoic era

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0«y «f tli« Titant t1 of cfcrth! What do you inside this dome do for air, food, and power?” "All that was figured out by the an cients,” Kahl muttered. "The admission chamber in which you were trapped, gives us food. We bait it with scraps of meat, and the creatures from outside enter. When enough are inside, we close the door, allow the zirkon to drain off. The beasts die in the air, like fish out of water, and supply us with food. Our water comes from ponds beneath the dome. Then, as to power, the green gas flows into this room below" . . he pointed to the machines in the room beneath . . . "and in some way the free ions of electricity are collected, utilizea. This power runs the ultra violet lamps, neces- sary to our health since we arc cut off from the sun, and also the air regenerators. And from the zirkon other m.aterials vital to our existence are obtained. Salt, carbon, similar chemicals. For the zirkon is a composite of heavy gases, which bring death by strangulation.” "Like the deluge of water on earth,” Val- lard grinned. "Only here it’s this zirkon gas-mixture. And the domes are sort of Noah’s arks. But there weren't any of those Teleites on earth!" He turned to Kahl. "Ever see any of your Teleite friends?” "A few have been caught in the admis- sion chambers,” Kahl gave a look of revul- sion. "They died in our air. But before they died, they killed many of our people with their terrible powers.” He made a weary gesture. "And now you know all there is to our dome-world. Sameness . . . eternal, unchanging. The machinery goes on, life goes on. No w'ay to reach the other domes, because of the zirkon, the fierce creatures outside. No adventure, no excitement, no deviation from our rou- tine. . Doag glanced about, nodding. The dreary sameness of the dome-world offered no help. "Better go back further,” he muttered. "To the days before the zirkon came. The men who built these domes ought to have weapons, brains. And with the expedition surrounded by those damned Titans, we better step on it . . .” "Right. Come to. Doc!" Vallard gripped Fowler’s arm, shook him out of his archae- ological day-dreams. "We’ve got to go back further in time to get help! You can study this civilization later!" "I shall go to the admission chamber with you,” K.ihl said. "The sight ot your transition .should prove interesting. So little ever happens here . . .” Even as Kahl spoke, his words were proven false. Shouts sounded in the corridor, excited dotne-dwcllers burst into the room. "Kahl! Kahl!" came the rising cry. "The Teleites! Entering through the admission chamber! Wearing masks so that our at- mosphere does not harm them! Quick!” "Teleites! But this is impossible! Never in our history . . .” The your.g ruler snatched up an ornamental bronze sword and shield. "Rouse the dome! Hurry!” For a long moment the three time-travel- lers stood stunned. Vallard reached for a heat gun that was not there, swore. "First excitement in a thousand years,” he grated. "And we have to land in it! You're a jinx, fowler! The admission chamber, too! Where the cone is! If they smash that . . "Come on !” Doag’s face was grim. "Can't get marooned in this era! Got to lijjht!" Then they were racing after Kahl, through winding corridors, toward the clamor outside. Mad, Vallard thought. Quite mad. Even on Pluto they hadn’t run into anything like this. Panting, he followed Doag through the doorway of the globular building. The streets of the dome-city were in a turmoil of confusion. The dome-men, armed with bronze swords and shields, poured into the .streets, shouting furiously. But coming from the admission chamber at the far end of the dome were beings who made the bushy-haired dome-men handsome by comparison. Scaly, hideous, they em- anated a queer glow, like phosphorus. The result of breathing in the free ions of elec- tricity from the zirkon. Vallard realized, and absorbing the strange current. On their backs were small copper tanks, with masks covering nose and mouth. Conditioned to the heavy gases, they could not now breathe air, and were like divers, carrying their own atmosphere in tanks. The Teleites were unarmed, yet were driving the dome-men back with great slaughter and the latter were near to breaking. At sight of Kahl, his people rallied. The young licadman forced his way through the throng, sword in hand, followed by the three strangers. Along narrow streets, in

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92 -k 'k "k Fiifur* Flctloa ihe shadow of great spherical buildings, they raced, faces white in the pale light of the ultra-violet lamps. As they neared the admission chamber, they could see the glowing Teleites, bodies exuding a greenish witch-fire, pushing onward with fierce cries. Motionless, inert dome-men lay upon the stone street, their still figures unmarked except for queer burn-marks. Doag snatched up a bronze sword and shield, and the others followed suit. "Don’t know what we re up against,” Vallard mattered. "But we’ll soon find out!” He grinned at little Fowler, brandish- ing a sword nearly as big as he was. "Atta- boy, Achilles! Come on!” They were in the front rank now, be- side Kahl. A group of (he scaly, moist- skinned Teleites sprang forward, the green light from their bodies giving a weird glow to the scene. "Extraordinary phenomenon,” Fowler panted. "Common among certain types of marine life, but unknown to homo sapiens! Ah!’’ He threw up the bronze shield as one of the Teleites lunged at him with bare hands. The glowing fingers touched the shield and Fowler gave a sharp gasp, writhed as though in pain. The sword fell from his hand, he slumped to his knees, fell flat. "Fowler!” Doag leaped forward, mighty muscles tensed. In one terrible stroke his sword bit through the Teleite’s scales, all but sheared his body in two. A fearful blow, it brought death to the glowing war- rior . . . but Doag, gripping the .sword- hilt, went rigid. The weapon was buried deep in the queer creature’s side, yet Doag seemed unable to move, even to relinquish his grip on the hilt. "Charged!” he muttered through clenched teeth. "Like . . . electric eels! No hope of . . He swayed as the dying Teleite, in a last spasm, poured his deadly charge along the sword. Then with a crash Doag, the mighty Jovian, toppled to the ground. Vallard understood now. Through breathing the zirkon, the invaders accum- ulated a tremendous potential. Like, as Doag had said, electric eels. The bronze and copper shields, far from being pro- tection, merely made good conductors. And every .sword-stroke meant death to its wield- er. He glanced about. Kahl was down, the street was littered with still figures, and the remainder of the dome-men were throw- ing down their arms. From the cornet of his eye Vallard saw two of the glowing Teleites rushing toward him. Whirling, he threw the sword at one of them, saw him slump to the ground. The other, unchecked, reached out and gripped Vallard's wrist. 'The earthman stiffened, as the surging cur- rent tore through his body. Through dark mists he saw the Teleite’s eyes burning over the top of the mask that brought zirkon to his nose and mouth. Then Vallard's limbs seemed to turn to water and the domed city, the rounded dwellings, the eerie glowing figure, all faded into black oblivion. CHAPTER III V.\.LLARD came to feeling as if he’d been on the rack; every muscle ached and his wrist was burned where the Teleite had gripped it. He rolled over, sat up. At the other side of the little room he saw Fowler and Doag, heads together in conversation. Fowler looked up, grinning. "Ah,” he .said. "Our hero revives. How d’you feel?” "Like hell,” Vallard grunted. "And that guy Kahl said nothing ever happened around here! Where are we now?” "In one of the rooms of Kahl’s palace,” Doag said gravely. "The Teleites are in full control. They’re avenging the death, so they say, ot some of their people who got caught in the dome’s admission cham- ber. Kahl and Tama and the rest of the dome-people are penned up in the admis- sion chamber right now.” "While we are kept separate,” Fowler said. "The . . . ah . . . assailants have not failed to recognize our superior men- tality." "A little less of that superior mentality and we wouldn’t be here,” Vallard growled. "What about the time-cone?” "We don’t know.” Doag shook bis mas- sive head. "But it isn’t likely they'd tinker with it just now. What worries me is the thought of Walker, Campbell, and the rest, hemmed in by those lousy Titans . . "A mere bagatelle!" Fowler snapped his fingers. "Once we get out of here, it’s •simple. Have you stopped to consider closely these electrical beings? For in- stance, why don’t they lose their charge with every mos-e they make?” "Why doesn’t an electric eel?” Doag said.

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Doy of tk« Tlt«M ilr ^ t3 ’They’re completely surrounded by water, an excellent conductor!” ’’Splendid.” Fowler nodded like a plcas^ parent. "You show the glimmer- ings of intelligence. 'The answer is, of course, that the eel only generates electric- ity when attacked or frightened. So with these Teleites. When they want to knock someone out, they turn on the juice. The charge passes through their hands into the person they touch, through the ground and back into the Teieitc to complete the cir- cuit. Thus they shock by touch, with their hands, or where, as in Doag’s case, a sword- blade touches their bodies. So much for applied logic. I will now show you what, with admirable foresight, I brought along in case of repairs to the time-cone.” He reached into his pocket and, with the air of a magician pulling a rabbit from a hat, produced a roll of copper wire. "So what?” said Vallard suspiciously. "1 don’t see . . "Look,” Fowler said patiently, "you lie down there and pretend to be dying. Or crazy. Or both. Only raise enough noise to attract the guard. And leave the rest to me.” "When it comes to acting nutty, I'm hardly the one," Vallard began. "It seems to me . . But Fowler wasn't listening. Very care- fully he bound his hands with dry cloth torn from his coat, to form a crude but effective insulation. Over the cloth he wrapped the copper wire, taking care to leave a long strand dangling from each wrist to touch the damp floor. "All right,” he announced at length "Yell!" They did. The shouts echoed through cell, the corridor outside, like the wail of doom, With a clatter of footsteps one of the tall glowing figures appeared in the passage, his face half-bidden by his airkon mask. "He’s dying!" Doag motioned to Vallard, doing a realistic bit of writhing in one corner of the room. "Insane! Put him out of his misery before he attacks us!” Warily the Telcite opened the door, •Stepped inside. And as he did so, Fowler sprang from the shadows to face him, fists drawn back. There was a contemptuous look on the guard’s countenance as he whirled to meet this attack. His hand shot out, crackling with blue sparks, toward Fowler’s face. One touch of that highly-charged body and the little archaeologist would have b^n out of the fight . . . but with a quick motion he caught the thrust with his left hand. Sparks shot out as the Telcite’s fingers touched the copper-bound h.tnd. The cloth insula- tion smoked ominously, but the current, fol- lowing the line of least resistance, ran down the wire that trailed upon the stone floor, sparkling violently. The wire was a light- ning rod, diverting the current from Fow- ler's body, grounding the charge. ’'Some powerhouse!" Vallard, standing helplessly alongside Doag, watched the Teleite lash out again . . . and again Fow- ler caught the thrust with his copper-bound hand, grounded the charge. In spite of the trailing wire, the cloth insulation, some of the charge entered his body and he winced, but stuck to his task. "Go to it. Doc!” Doag clenched his big fists, cursing his own helplessness. But one touch of that glowing body, unless grounded, or insulated, meant sure shock . . . p>erhaps death. FDWLER and the guard were doing a wild dance about the cell. The Teleite, now that he found his thrusts were turned aside by Fowler’s "lightning rods,” was rushing his opponent, in hopes of bringing his body into contact with that of the little archaeologist and thus ending the struggle. But always a blow from Fowler’s copper- bound fists hurled him back, kept him at a distance. Once the guard kicked out with his foot, and only a quick leap backwards kept the leg from touching Fowler. A miracle of skill it seemed, that, using his hands as twin shields, he was able to avoid being touched elsewhere on his small figure. The Teleite wa.s worried, now, his eyes showed fear. He could not quite under- stand why his electrical charge had failed him. Moreover, it began to appear that this charge was weakening. The sparks were growing less, it seemed an effort for him to produce the needed power. And with the zirkon mask over his mouth, he could not shout. It was at this mask that Fowler now aimed. With one sharp blow he knocked it from his opponent’s face. Gasping, choking in the unaccustomed oxy- gen, the guard slumped to his knees, striv- ing to replace the mask, get a breath of his life-giving zirkon. The green glow of his body had faded away, and r.o more sparks leaped from his hands.

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•4 ^ ^ ^ Fiitur* Pietion "O . . okay!” Fowler grunted. “He's too weak to generate more juice! Tie him up, you two!” Doag and Vallard lashed the queer figure with their belts. The best he could put out was a mild charge like that of a run-down battery. In a moment the two men had him securely bound. Vallard lifted one of Fowler’s bound hands above his head. 'The winnah, and still champecn!” he grinned. ” ’Mastermind’ Fowler, the kayo king!” 'A rudimentary application ot practical physics,” Fowler began, swelling percepti- bly. "Thus docs genius triumph over . . "Hadn’t we better get going?" Doag cut in. 'We’ve got to reach the time-cone, go back further in time, get help from the people who built this dome! The expedi- tion. surrounded by those Titans . . "First,” said Fowler importantly, ”wc must overcome these Teleites, free Kahl and bis people. Then . . . " "What!” Vallard gasped. "Why . . . why you dried up little goat! Let Kahf and these walking generators fight their own feuds! Don’t you realize the expedition is fighting for its life! 'Fbat It we don’t get help, quick, it's doomed ! There’s nothing in this time-cycle that can overcome the heat-guns the Titans got trom us! What good arc Kahl and his sword-and-shield gang against flame-guns? You can’t do this, Fowler! Can’t! We’ve got to get help . , "You can't handle the time-cone, " Fow- ler said blandly. "And I can. So you bet- ter stick with me. Coming, Doag?” The Jovian shrugged helplessly, followed Fowler from the room. "Okay,” Vallard said bitterly. "You win. So now we fight for the dear old dome- people while the rest ot the bunch back in our time -cycle gets knocked off!" Fowler vouchsafed no reply and the three men made their way along the corridor, walking softly. The u. v. lamps still shed their cold light and the stone wails gleamed queerly. They were, it appeared, in the main building, where Kahl had received them before the invasion. "This way,” Fowler muttered. "1 want to have a look at those machines in the lower level.” Vallard grunted disgustedly, followed, his shadow looming grotesquely upon the wall. This was, apparently, the dwelling quarters, for there were tables, stools. benches, in the big rooms. Queer frescoes covered the wa'ts until it seemed they were surrounded by ghostly legions, and the silence within the great spherical building was eerie. Once they passed a window that opened onto the green, zirkon-laden world beyond the dome, and sight of the teem- ing rampant life outside made them think of some nightmare jungle where life fed upon life and the luminescent green mists hid a thous.ind horrors. Small wonder the Teleites, denizens ot this outside world, were merciless, savage. Once, too, they passed a window that gave view of the streets of the dome-city and here they could see the Teleites looting buildings, roistering through the broad avenues . . . silent, since the zirkon masks covered their faces to enable them to breathe. But from the way many of them stood hand touch- ing hand it seemed that they had a code of short and long electric charges that per- mitted them to communicate. Two, quarrel- ling over a looted jewel-casket, gripped hands, drawing electric energy from each other until the weaker, drained of his charge, collapsed. All this the three men noted in a glance, then tiptoed on through the empty rooms. At the entrance of KahJ's reception room, Vallard suddenly gripped Fowler’s arm, f>ointed. Ahead of them, standing motion- css, s»'is the glowing figure of a guard. Fowler nodded, started forward with his copjacr trailing hands, poised, but a motion from Do.ig stopped him. The huge Jovian bent, picked up a heavy wooden footstool. It scraped the floor a trifle as he picked it up, but the Teleite's hearing, accustomed to the heavy zirkon which conveyed sound bet ter than air, did not hear. Doag threw back his herculean arm, let fly. The footstool spun through the air, caught the guard at the base of the skull. One trightened flurry of sparks flew from his fingertips, tlicn he fell to the floor, un- conscious. "Nice pitching,” Vallard said. "A per- fect strike!” "Quiet!” Fowler waved him to silence, led the way into the large room where they had first seen Kahl. The queer light still poured through the circular opening in the floor and the massive machinery below hummed unceasingly. Face a set grim mask in the ghastly illumination, Fowler mo- tioned to the ladder leading to the ma- chine-room below.

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B«y ©f tfc« Tffans ★ ★ ★ 85 V ALLARD, swinging down the circular iron stairs, gave an admiring whistle. The machines there would have done credit to the most elaborate factory on Terra. They were, to be sure, alien in design, and he could not figure out their use . . . but the mere sight of them was somehow awe- inspiring. Huge glass tubes, as big around as a man's body, led the glowing green zirkon from the admission chamber to great copper tanks, wreathed in coils of tubing. Here the free ions were converted to elec- tric power, the carbon dioxide, methane, and other heavy gases broken down into carbon products for food, and the arcs of the u. V. lamps. Other chemicals, too, were obtained in smaller quantities but without analysis Vallard could not tell just what they were. In addition to the machines, there were supplies to make repairs of alt sorts. Great sheets of glass, bars of copper, strics of tin, tools of every type. TTie builders of the dome had provided for every contingency except the one which had occurred . . . that their dcsccndents would abandon learning, science, grow laay and allow the great knowledge to die out. "So,” Doag said somberly. "Here is everything. But the machines I do not understand. It would take weeks, months of study, to learn their principles.” "Weeks? Months?" Vallard grated. "And the Tclcites'Il discover our jail-break any minute now! Better go back in the time-cone and fight with the rest of the ex- pedition than stay prisoners here!” Fowler was examining the great vats of carbon and other products derived from the break-down of the zirkon. "Carbon,” he muttered, frowning. "Am- monia could be made from it. And they must have iodine. Living matter needs small quantities of iodine. Nitrogen tetra- iodide isn’t a terrific explosive, but . . “Nitrogen tetra-iodide?” Doag nodded reflectively. "It’d take time to make. But there’s a chance . . ." "That's what you think!” Vallard cried. "Look!" Fowler and Doag went rigid. The flow of lirkon through the great tubes had ceased, leaving only the light of the u. v. lamps. And (hrough the big pipes, each over three feet in diameter, dark forms were sliding, shooting down until the first figure was stopped by a strainer in the tube; the others, sliding into him, were strung out inside the huge pipe like beads. And they were dome-men ! In one bound Doag had snatched up h heavy bar of coppe*. swung it above his head. Then, with a crash, the massive glass pipe shattered, the score or more fig- ures slia to the floor. "Great Cosmos!" Doag reclaimed. "Kahl!” three strangers!" The young i ruler shook a wondering head. "The gods are good! Those fools confined me and these of my guard in the admis- sion chamber. There we stood, up to our necks in zirkon, helpless. But when all of the gas had sunk through the pipes, we lifted a grating and followed, sliding down the pipes 'til we got here! With this" ... he held up the great diamond he wore about his neck ... "I planned to cut open the pipe! Your methoef was quicker!" Several of Kahl’s followers had rolled up their cloaks, stuffed them into the pipe in case more ztrkon were admitted from out- side. This done, tbej' turned to the three strangers, as though awaiting orders. Fow- ler glowed at this tribute to his leadership. ■'You and your men will hold the stairs, Kahl,” he directed. "I haven’t checked over this apparatus thoroughly, but I'm willing to brt I can produce an explosive, a weapon of some sort. . "But there is no time!" Kahl shook his head. "The Teleites took pains to tell me that they're going to make this dome a fortress! Going to let in the zirkon, re- lease all the air inside! Then when it's full of zirkon, they’ll be able to take off their masks, be at home! And all my peo- ple will die! Unless we act at once, there is no hope!"' "You . . . you say we haven't time?” For once Fowler was taken aback. "But . . . without lime even the simplest reaction can't . . "Never mind the science, Doc!” Vallard Tinned. "This is a fight!” His gaze shifted rom the shattered glass of the pipe to the sheets of the stuff among the supplies. Snatching up a hammer, he began to break it into rough oblongs. "Here!” Vallard slid two of the pieces of glass toward Kahl. "Tie the.se to your feet! Like sandals! It's thick enough not to break easily, but walk gently!" "Ah!” Doag stared at the half-inch thick pieces of glass and grinned. "Insulation !

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^ ^ Future Fiction And without our being grounded they can't hurt us! Nice going, Vallard!" He bent to help chip the thick glass. Kahl and the dome-men bound the clumsy sandals to their feet with strips of dry, fibrous cloth. "Not a bad idea,” Fowler admitted grudgingly. ’’But what about weapons?" "Plenty of 'em lying in the streets from the first fight,” Vallard stood up, moved clumsily on his insulators. "Teleites haven't bother^ to pick them up. They don't need weapons . . . usually.' He .shot a grim look at Kahl. "All set? Then let's go!” Up the stairs they went, and through the rooms above. They walked heavily, and nothing could muffle the clank of the glass insulators. Before they had readied the entrance of the building, half a dozen Tcleitc guards were running toward them. Vallard swung from somewhere in the region of his ankles, caught the foremost glowing figure flush on the chin. He felt a mild shock, no more, for with the cir- cuit broken, thanks to the insulators, he couldn't be grounded. But the Teleite was grounded ... in quite another fashion; Vallard's blow stretched him out cold. With a shout, Kahl's men, who had been hanging back to observe the results of the glass shoes, sprang forward, confident. With tools, bars of copper, and other odds and ends they had picked up in the machine- rooms, they fell upon the remaining guards, and bowled them over. Then, brandishing their improvised weapons, they clattered out into the streets, w'here the fallen bodies of their comrades, killed in the earlier fight- ing, supplied them with their familiar swords and shields. The entire group had armed themselves before tlie Teleites at- tacked. The tall glowing shapes were pouring from the buildings, bewildered, some laden with loot, but all converging on the group about Kahl and the three time-travellers. Clattering forward on liis crude insulators, the young headman gave a shout, raised his bronze sword. To Vallard, the next few moments were sheer madness, The dome-men, now they had lost their fear of shock, poured in with a savage rage, their reddened swords cleav- ing through the press of glowing bodies. Vallard had fleeting remembrances of dark butchery, of feeble shocks as the insulation prevented complete grounding, of hacking at scaly forms witli a bronze sword. He remembered Doag, towering above the melee like some legendary gi-ant, wielding a massive bar of metal, he remembered Fow- ler discoursing learnedly on the theories of animal electricity between strokes, he remem- bered how the blood ot the Teleites was luminous from the charge it had ab,sorbcd from the zirkon and dripped like phos- phorus upon the stone street. As suddenly as it had begun, tlie struggle ended. The Teleites, finding their sole weapon, their electrical potential, to be use- less, were seized with panic. Cut down in droves by the triumphant dome-men, they fled toward the admi.ssion chamber, leaving a trail of dead and wounded behind. Into the massive locks they raced, hotly pursued, and so to the green hell of zirkon outside, where they were free from chase. But of the hundreds who had entered the dome, less than half escaped. The great covered city was Iree. CHAPTER IV Fowler straightened up from his ex- amination of the time-cone with a satisfied nod. "Okay, ’ he announced. "Not harmed in the slightest." "Then let’s get going!” Vallard growled. "I’ve been down checking over that equip- ment in the machine-room. ExplosivesTe out of the question, Fowler, in spite of your hopes! Not enough apparatus. And when I think of the eypedition, figliting for its life against those damned Titans . . "True. ’ Doag nodded gravely. "Tliere are no weapons in this time-era. Perhaps, further back, in the days of the builders of this dome, we may find science, forces powerful enough to overcome the heat- guns. " Kahl. standing beside Tama, shook his head. "Good luck to you, strangers,” he said. “May your battle be as victorious as ours has been!" He turned to Fowler. "My men are bringing what you requested. "It’s little enough to give after all you have done for us." Doag and Vallard gasped. Halt a dozen of Kahl’s men were approaching the time- cone . . . and they were carrying one of the big. powerful ultra-violet lamps that liglited the dome. "What's that for?" Vallard said sus- piciously. "Another of your brainstorms?”

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Day of Ml* Tlfoiis -A- ^ 'Ar 87 Fowler motioned the men to place the big lamp within the cone. "That,'' he said with chilling dignity, "is the weapon that will overcome the Titans! Through sheer genius 1 have evolved . . "Weapon?” Vallard howled. "U. V. rays? I suppose you aim to sunburn them! Good Lord! Look, Fowler, let’s be ser- ious! Walker, Campbell, Derrickson, all the rest, are battling for their lives! You can't . . But the .little scientist had already en- tered the cone; one hand on the control- lever, he was waving farewell to Kahl. "Come,” Big Doag shrugged. 'We can- not remain in this time-era. Fowler has brought us through so far.” He squeeaed into the cone, followed by the protesting Vallard. There wasn't much room in the time- cone, with the big u. v. lamp taking up so much space. "All set," Fowler warned. "Here goes!” He turned the dials, and once again the queer writhing blackness engulfed them, and the rushing sound, like wind wailing through infinity, met their ears. Vallard braced himself against a sensation of dizai- nc.ss, and then the dark abyss vanished. Once again they were in the tent, and outside they could hear the hiss of heat- guns, the drumming of rain, the wild shouts of the Titans. "Here!” Fowler snapped. "Help me with the u. v. projector!” Vallard and Doag obeyed, doubting; the three of them managed to carry the big lamp out into the rain-swept ruins. The beams of the Titans' stolen heat-guns played in lurid fury over the ancient masonry, turn- ing the driving rain into clouds of steam. They were, it seemed, creeping steadily nearer, and the weak answering fire could not check their advance. Walker, muddy, hands blackened by the back-spit of his heat-gun, glanced at the three men. "Decide anything in your huddle?” he demanded. "And what’s that gim-crack? The machine Fowler’s been working on?” For a moment Vallard frowned, wonder- ing why Walker wasn’t more surprised at their long absence; then he realized that Fowler had brought them back to within a few moments of the time-era they’d left. Others of the beseiged expedition were moving toward them, dodging from stone to stone. Derrickson, the stocky radio op- erator, glanced at the projector, nursing a badly-burned hand. "Looks like a big u. v. lamp,” he grunted. "We’ll need more than that! They’re get- ting closer every minute! Can’t hold jul much longer!” He ducked as a fiery beam tore at the ancient stones. "Quick!” Fowler was adjusting the wires of the u. V. lamp. "Here, Walker, give me the power-pack from your gun!” Walker obeyed and Fowler connected it to the projector. Under the power of the little atomic pack, a bluish beam cut the heavens like a searchlight. Keeping the ultra-violet lamp well behind a massive stone, Fowler swung its beam up on a long slant over the besiegers. The Titans at once replied with a barrage of rays, fear- ing some new weapon, but upon finding that the beam was pointed only at the rain and mist above their heads, hurled mocking .shouts at the earthmen. Slowly, imperturba- bly, Fowler -swung the beam in circles, above the ring of howling natives who surrounded the ruins. "All fight!" Vallard exclaimed. "So what? When you've finished playing anti- aircraft searchlight, we can use that power pack in Walker’s gun! Don’t you see they’re edging closer every minute?” "Keep your shirt on.” Fowler said dryly. "And leave this to me." VERY methodically he swung the bluish beam in circles, piercing the foggy, carbon-dioxide laden air. The fire from the Titans was growing fiercer, and two of the expedition fell, .scared, blackened figures among the ruins. The three remaining guns within the enclosure stabbed the gloom in answer but their assailants, edging from rock to rock, drew steadily nearer. Doag shifted uneasily from foot to toot, glanced at Vallard. The latter frowned, staring at Fowler. Beneath his banter he had a deep respect for the little archae- ologist, but this madness of trying to de- feat a crowd of well-armed Titans by point- ing a u. V. beam into the air above them was too much. "All right, Doc," he said harshly. "Call it insubordination, mutiny, or anything you like. But I’m taking that power-pack and utting it back into Walker’s gun. Another ve minutes and those ugly devils’ll be close enough for a rush! And we’ll need every gun to try and beat ’em off! Not that

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9t i( -k if Future Fiction there's much chance of succeeding but at least we can kick off knowing we’ve done all we can!” "Dramatic,” said Fowler caustically. "Very. If you ever used your head . . "Sorry,” Valiard grated. "We're getting that power-pack! Now! Come on, Doag!" The two men bore down on little Fow- ler, were about to tear the power-pack from the machine, when Walker, peering cau- tiously over a block of stone, gave a cry of wonder. "Look!" he shouted. "The Titans! They . . . they're going nutsl ’ "Nuts?” Valiard straightened up, peered over the massive rampart . . . and gave a startled gasp. The grotesque beings were shouting, dancing with pain, clutching their eyes. Many of them seemed suddenly blind, for, dropping their stolen gun.s, they were blundering about in the gloom, grop- ing their way with cries of pain into the tall white forest. Fleeing in wild disorder, they stumbled away from the ruined dome, were soon swallowed up by the mists. "But” . . . Doag couldn’t believe his eyes. . . "but what was it? What in the solar system ..." Fowler smiled in his most benign, toler- ant manner, like a teacher addressing chil- dren. "The u. V. rays you were so scornful ol, ’ he said, "So simple . . . ” "But they weren’t pointed at the Titans,” Valiard barked. "You pointed the projector into the fog above their heads! ” "Exactly,” Fowler grinned. "The air here has a high content of carbon dioxide. So much so that you can hardly breathe it. And the fog, the rain, give water. Con- sider what happens if carbon dioxide and water react under energy, as represented by the u. V. rays. You get formic aldehyde.” "Formic aldehyde?” Doag muttered. "Otherwise known as formaldehyde,” said Fowler airily. "Plants, vegetation, utilizing water, carbon dioxide, and sun- light, manufacture formaldehyde in one of the intermediate steps toward making starch. We didn't carry on the process that far. Formaldehyde was what we wanted. One of the strongest antiseptics known. On the mucuous membranes of the throat, nose and lungs, it's not pleasant. Tn the eyes it's blinding. That’s where -ve got them, mostly. The stuff was suspended in the mist, in tiny particles. Must lave burned their eyes like fire.” He chuckled. "Catch on? When I saw those u. v. lamps in the city, I figured it out. Decided if we could help Kahl in his fight with the Tcleites, he’d be glad to let us have one of his precious lamps. Any further questions?” "You win!" Valiard swallowed hard. ’’You win, mastermind!” He held out a lean hard hand, grinning. "Thus does genius triumph . . "... over the feeble intellects of lesser being.s,” Fowler finished. "Eh, Doag? ” '"fhere will be only one Fowler," the big Jovian assured him gravely; but his gaze caught Vallard’s above the little man's head, and one of his eyelids closed in a slow, amused wink. INFOHBfATIOIV I'l.K.ASK! As you can see, we have combined our two magazines. SCIENCE FICTION and FUTURE FICTION into one book — FUTURE COMBINED WITH SCIENCE FIC- TION. It is our intention to give you the best features of both magazines, without an in- crease in price — one the contrary, the new. neat, and smalier-size type used in FUTURE is the equivalent of adding pages to the book without an increase in price. But we need your help in making FUTURE conform to your wishes. We need In- formation which only you can give. What do you think of our combining the two magazines? Do you like the present title: FUTURE? What kind of stories would you like to sea In forthcoming Issues? Do you like our covers and artwork? You can help us by writing your answers to these questions and mailing them in to FI TinUC rOMBI>KO WITH FIl'TIOIV M HUDSON STREET. NEW YORK CtTY

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LATEST SEX FACTS Pred Is telling Jim about "Sex Satisfaction and Happy Mar- riage." "Yes." Fred is saying, "I laughed, too, when a friend of MINE) told me to read a good booh on Sex. I, too, thought r knew it all. And I. too, had the same sexual problecos that worry you right now. "Not until I read ^ex Satisfaction and Happy Marriage', did I realize how much joy my wife and 1 had been missing. NOW she no longer nags me. nor do I snap at her — because we have found HOW to obtain perfect happiness from each other! '•There's a dollar and cents side to this, too. My promotion at the office is a direct result of our gloriously happy sex life at home." LOVE IS NOT ENOUGH Many husbands and wives hesitate to talk frankly to each other about the meet Intimate side of married life. These couples are advised to read "Sex Satisfaction and Happy Marriage" TOGE7THEJR. • Til* S«s Sl<l« *( Mirriai*. • 8«i Oritn*— Otttlli, • DI*M*alntte WIm. • Hm« far SatlifMtary tax LIfa In MvrUia. « Bax Mlfhta at MarriaB CaM«laa. • Tka Fainala tax erfant. Tha HyMB. Marrla«a, Maatlruatia*. • Tha Malt tax Orfaat. • SwMtiaR-eravidlni Araaa. • Wkaa tax Pawar fill*. • Saxual Draxmi. • Idaal tax lataraavraa. • Bfftat an Witt: an Huaband. • tax laltftairraa MuM Ba Lasrxaa • IntartaurM Onrins Pratnanay. • Wkas Huakdxd aad WIta Caanat Raap Paaa. • Franuanty if Utamdri*. • Tka RUM la Rtfvt*. • Pratnanty. • Wkan « Child It Wantad. • IntarMum Attar (fta Ckanaa at tifa. • Trdth Abaul Blrlb Cantral. • tax Adiwatnanta tafara Marriaia. • tyaalal Cara at tax Oraan*. • TaMfarary Leu at tax Ptaer. • Valaa at Lava-Play. • Drivinf Ona't Lavtr Inta tha Arna at Anatkar. • Saxual Slawnaaa in Waman. • Saxual Stinulatian Mefhcda. • SIfia at Sax Oealra. • Tha UnraiMnalva Wita. • Tha Bridal Nlfht. • Ovaraanlna Sax Monctoay. • Prataaiixf Sax Unian. • Caitvi WIthaut Driaim. • Maaturkatlan: Amani Beyx, Amant filrit. TELLS WHAT TO DO AND HOW Tin* brand-new book telln exactly what to do before, during and after nex intercourM no that no married couple need any longer remain imorant of just hew to happily carry out their aexual dutiee. " — deecribea with completeneeo and frankneas the marital ralatieno in their many aepecte." — Tbo Canadkaa OectM (Medlcni donriial). "A book at lut containing tho vital Infonaatlon." — Dr. 9. D. Griffin, <M. D.), of Committee for Mental Hygiene. ". . . an enthusiastic discussion of tho tecbnlnue of sexual Intercourse . . . plainly and elmply written, with anatom- ical diagrams."— Pnbiic Health XorriDg. "This book Is tho one to recommend." — Ohio gtate Medical JToarul. READ FIRST -• THEN DECIDE S-DAV MONEY-BACK QUARANTEE Return the coupon and read "Sex Satisfaction and Happy Marriage" FRBSl. Then, if you do not think it is worth DOUBLE the price you paid, return it within 5 days and get your money back. I tmfotenM. t The Frifld Wile. I MlAInt tka HanayniMn Laxt Paravar. 1 Saxual JaxiMxy. MAIL THIS COUPON NOW! SEX CHARTS & EXPLANATIONS fio that you may know exactly how the organs work there are detailed pictures of sex anatomy (male and female sex organs) to Illustrate the text. These show clearly what is important for each partner to know about own and other’s sexuiu make- up. The UlustratioBfi are scientific and accurate. ^ SEND NO MONEY HRAl.TH CRAFT, INC. Dept. S36-B, X47 We*t iBth St., New York, N. T. Send me “Sex Satisfaction and Happy Mar- riage." by the Rev. A. H. Tyrer, in plain wrapper marked “Personal." 1 will pay <1.98 and a few cents delivery chxkree. 1 MUST BB DELIGHTOD or I will return book within 6 days and you will refund pur- chase price. (1 am over 21 years old.) Name Addiees □ CHBCK HBRB if you wish to enclose only 21.98 with coupon, thus saving de- livery charges. ISoine Mon<*y-back Gnarantca, of Coarse)

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Futurian Times FUTURE FICTION'S UNIQUE DEPARTMENT As reponed In our lait tnaue. I.iliiU L«rraJ«« of Uoic Uu’jte 8, San Antonio, 'i'cxad, U tioad of the Avalon Poetry Shrine, wiifch will bury a poeiry time e*i>aula next year. AniunQ the Ueuis to be Included will be a voliiuia of welid and futuristic or famusUi- poetry. 'I'he contents of this volnme will be selected as follows. Each con* cestant Is to submit what they conaicler their beel ^iii^le iiemd of acie.ice'ficilon, or fantastic, aud/or weird poetry. There are no le- eiricclona as to form, style, leiis'h. or specitic theme, Poems will be Judged on the standards of origi- nality, universality, emotional ik>w- •r. beauty of wording and peifec* tlon of technique. Any poet, anywhere, puhlishej prevlaudly or not. known or iin- koowi), may enter any one of Tie ma.ty coutests. All enlrtmts are required to subntie n very brief biography, giving iiuMie, pennarne, address, data as (o whether they are married or not. dale and pla?a of birth, names of children. If any. approximate number of poems pub- lished. names of national maga- alnea of verse or prose bi which but poems appeared, if i>oet has been published before, hobbles, pol- ities, i-eliglon, literary atfillatlons. Questions should he answered in order given, and entire Informallon ss brief as possible. Bach coropetifo' may enter ma- terlnl for every contest, providing he enters It all at one time and not later than April 1. IdlU. Baoh conte-oiaiU, In aubmiC'liig nia'eiial, must enclose 23 rents in stamps for mailing out bis work to tUs various judges. He must place his full name, pen-name if any. and address In upper left band corner, so that U can be cut off and re- placed by a number as poeiii.s go anonymously to the Judge*. Only one poem (for each contest: the science fiction and fantasy contest arid the weird poetry contest ao- parently are lumped logeiher Into one) can be euhmitte.l and mate- rial must be lypewrillen. Your editor has been chosen as chief Of the committee to Judge the sclence-flclion i>oetry aiiomitte], while the well-known (nnlasy fen, Donald A. Wollhelin. will heaj ihe coininitteo Judging the weird po- etry. The fantastic poetry will be sent to either your editor or Mr. Wollhelm. all depending upon whether it leans more to the fu- turistic or the weird side. Fhili Informatfoii upon the entire panorama of the couleste revolv- ing around the time capsule aul the Avalon Voetry Shrine can he obtained by writing Miss Lorraine at the address given above. FANTASY ril.lM8 Hollywood seems at last to have realized the potentlalitlsa of fau- tssy Ifltnn and has, In the Suromer '41 seonoii nioiie, produaed more gnod pU'tuves of this type than Here HKUB COMES MB. JORDAN— A Cuiuiiibla I'lciure. Joe Reudletoii (Uobeu Mjnigomeryj, a prlze- ligliier, supposadly dies in a plane ciasu and his soul ta taken by the •n; ViierViiC'-'.l and uier-zealous Mvs- se.igcr 7012 (Udnard Everett Hor- loiij 10 Mr. Jordan, the ileavenly Dupl'cher (Claude Rains). Dls- coveiltig through (he records tiiai the Messenger has made a mis- take . a squawk tor a uew body as healthy us his former one. so be and Mr. Jordan scour the. earth luokl'ig ever “iHst year's crop,” itiialiy settling 00 a rich man, bCi ice t'aiiiswouh, who has Just been luuideretl by hIs wife biid sec- retary. Just as Pendleton oecouies sccusiomed to life as Farnsworth, and --toil falls In love. Farnsworta k4 tniH-dered again! We won't gu 011 any fni lliei— just see the rest for yourself; It’s nifty. Don't miss II. Dft. JKKYI.L A.SD MU. HYDE- MUM J'U-tuia. Revived for the (hti-d time ou Che screen, Bteveii- son'u lumiortal classic of split per- arniJtlily fealiiren Spencer Tracy, liigild Bergman, and Lana Turner in the leading roles. A rehash of (his i>lot is unnecessary, but lueiiiiun can be made ot Tracy's sui'erh and uuusual portrayal of boUi Jekvil and Hyde (a far cry from b'a.uer Flanagan!) and also of the modern photography, fea- lurl.ig shots of the change from one peisanalit.'r to aaother. Mise Turner lUeuirlx. fiancee of Dr. JeUyll) and Miss Bergman (Ivy. Loiidtii harmald) furnish the neces- .*oiy feniliiiiie pulcUrllude. and the cast is w'ell rounded out by C. Aubrey Jmilh, Ian Hunter, Donald Cils;'. au-,1 Brtitoii Maclane. Def- initely a must. (Ed. Note: ‘We’ve nes.-J conllioiing reiKirts on Ihis one. Anybody wanna argue?) TUB RELUCTA.NT DRAGOX- R K O. Picture. F’unnynmn Dob Benjnley touts Walt Dlem-y’e Hol- lywj^Mj studios, viewing ihe var- ious s’liges of production and, ae V resuii. seeing five animated slioi irt— a Donald Duck carloon, a uii"py Dav.g cartoon, ‘’Casey, Jr.,” ■’BJi‘>y Weems” and the feature, •’liie Reluctant Dragon.” A com- hliuHlon of Ulack-Riid-whUe film, tei'iuileo'or and cartooiw, this movie (inaugh not ns good as the other full-lenglU Disneyai Is an Interes'inq liialghi Into canooii- making— and the shorts alone am war'll rbft price of adiutesion. Rec- ominemieJ. T'*«. DICK, A.N'D HAftRY — a.U.O. Redlo Picture. •1‘hough only pseodo-fanlany. this picture features several faniaeUc shots worth viswing. Miss Rogers plays the pert of a telephone operator In the curious predlcameot ot be- ing engaged ta three ineu at once. Having to decide by inoralug whicti of the three she will marry, the fantasy scenes occur when she dreams ot married life tvtlh each: Tom. (he auto salesman (George Muriihyi, Dick, the garage ma- :hanic (Burgess Meredith) and Harry, a rich playboy (Alan Mar- shall). To reveal her choice would be '0 give the story away. Light comedy and good entertainment. -BILL Sl'OY. BOOK KEVIKW THR OTHER WORI.DS — An Anthology. Wilfred funk. New York. g2.30. It’s too l>ad that blurn-wTiters and anthologists can't get together sometimes. The pub- licity men proolalin Phi! Stoog. culprit in the case of this vol- ume. to be "the foremoat author- ity on ncience-fictlon and fantasy in Iho country" while our Mr. Stong ably disproves It. Ui. Stong la BUDuosed to have claimed that stf and weird tales are his hobby; this we can believe by the way he rldee It; blindfolded, with spurs, and, we presume, a big black whip. For we have seen many a vitriolic atlack upon stf and fan- tasy by those who claimed to de- spise its very guts, but none so completely hypociltlcBl and cynical as friend Stong'e Introductory re- marks. Not one item among the many storied considered '•classic" by the multitude of readers and enthusi- asts of science fiction appears In this anthclogy. As a matter of fart, moat of Ihe selecUons are wolrd stories ot varying mwdtocrUy. The tew excepiiona only prove the A year's suhscrlpilon to any regularly appearing solence-ficllon magazine will Ming ynn more worth for youi* nione.v then Itil* oi>us malodoruH, F.k.N'T.ASV FKTION MKI.D Mention of science and weird fle- iloii classics brings to our mind Ihe subject of old copies of science fle- lloii and weird magazines, which are rather hard to get these days, in iiianv cases. There are a num- ber of science fiction tans who do a bit of part-time dealing In back Issues, and foremost among these Is .lulliw Itnger rf ITIW Dahlll Road. Brooklyu. New York. A card to Mr. Unger wir secure fur you his current price Hsl. which appear.s now and then In FANTASY FICTION FIELD IL- I.USTRATED NKW3 WKEKt-Y. This, In addition lo cariylng dope upon stf magazines, htx'ks, ei- cerpis. end whatnot, obtalnabls through Mr. Unger's service, is the ouly-pcience fiction newsweekly now running. Vour editor ts asHociate on this pubIleaMon, hut since II Isn't all ours, we can pmftio It without breaking any ot the fragile etlilcs ot publishing. 90

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QUARRY by MALLORY KENT He had fhe sensafion of being hunfedi He awoke with the half- formed consciousness that a battle had been fought and lost. Very dim and indistinct were these first waking im- pressions, but they filtered through the basking warmth of the August sun so that he lay shivering as he wrapped the flimsy summer sheets tightly about him. For a long time he lay there, eyes tightly closed, willing desperately for a return to sleep. No respite here. The dread was a tighter garment than any he could don, and the mindless force of it beat again.st him until he leaped from the bed in an ecstasy of fright, for an instant he stood there naked, his lean body quivering as bis eyes darted from one corner of the room to an- other, then, momentarily exhausted, he fell back upon the pillow. Mechanically he reached for a cigarette, lit it, and blued the morning air while reason raced madly to thrust its finger into the breached dikes. What was this thing he feared? He discarded the possibility of madness after a brief inventory. Insanity, he as- sumed, not considering physical defects and disease (and he was free of these, he knew) was a method of escape. And what mo- tive could he have for wanting to escape? Perhaps it would be best to consider them in order, First of all, there was the question of economic security: well, he was as safe as most people, more so than some, perhaps. So long as he could continue to turn out a not-too-high minimum of tunes and lyrics that suited fhe popular fancy, his income was assured. He would never become wealthy, barring freaks of luck the consideration of which never bothered him anyway. As for the war — there was little he could do about it outside of taking the limited constitutional action open to him in the best manner he knew; he'd voted, con- vened, and discussed all in the way which seemed best for his own interests and those of his friends — if things got worse despite all that, suflicient unto the day . . . Social position? He had his own circle of friends and acquaintances, got along well with some and not so well with others. He didn’t fed particularly frustrated in that line. Women? No kick there; some liked him; some didn’t. So what? He weighed his love life in the balance and found it wanting little. Was there any responsibility he was try- ing to dodge? None. There was at least one girl he knew who wouldn’t be not hav- ing any thanks if he proposed — perhaps more than one. Debts? Nothing stagger- ing. Sensitive spots? Well, he didn’t ex- actly relish being called Oscar — Richard O. Manton was much nearer to his taste, or Dick to friends. But someone had thought that "Oscar Manton’’ was a much better trade name, so it stuck. No, there was no reason why he should be going mad. Was it the hangover of some nightmare? Slowly he dressed, as the first panic re- ceded, leaving only a highwater mark of dread in his being. But even as the mel- lowing sun caressed him, he knew that the tide would return; it had not entirely forsaken him. The dread was now a thing withdrawn, lurking subtly behind the facade of aaure sky and the outlines of familiar things.

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t2 ★ ★ ★ Future Fktion How thin, how thin was the barrier? Would he have time to learn the nature of it before it came again? How much time had he? A ripple ol the terror splashed over him as the familiar words "it is later than you think” formed in his brain. He made his way to the lavatory wondering it he were the last man alive on a suddenly stricken earth, hnding ominous tokens in a Lack ot noise from the street. Just now, he didn't quite dare look out the window. Later . . . later . . . Suddenly he laughed, then paused to listen to his laughter. A rather we.ak laugh, a tired little laugli, but no signs of crackup yet. He darted back to the r.adio, turned it on. An instant as the tulses lit up, then the familiar voice ol an announcer introducing a soap opera. Carelessly he flicked it off, picked up the fallen towel and soap and completed his interrupted rendezvous with cleanliness. rMlHE incoming wave of dread drenched him for a second time just before he was leaving the apartment lor a downtown appointment. It was to l'»e a semi-holiday, lazing with prolonged lunch and small talk with his publisher, the delivery ol completed mss., and winding up with Joan and a matinee. Complete agenda for eve- ning to be worked out later. The dread lanced through his being like a bolt of lightning, held him irresistibly. He stood there, br.ain freezing, his heart battering its way to the open air, or so it seemed. Lor the veriest fragment of an instant, he thought he saw through the world, saw into the dread spaces which were not entirely empty. Frantically he seized the door, clung to it; he would not be drawn into that abyss . . . Then the vision passed and the world resumed its solidity. But the dread remained. And the fear of tscing caught here in this semi-dark apartment, caught like a rat burrowing be- neath the ground, made him plunge foi the stairs, race madly down the hall out onto the welcome street. He s.it upon the stones steps, panting, his eyes wander- ing gratefully about him, resting upon the housewives, the superintendents, and the drivers of cars rolling by. He sat, staring ahead of him trying to think. What was after him- -hunting him? Abruptly he shook his head. He mustn’t -Stare into nothingness like that, Isecaiise it he did, he would begin to see through ag.iin. The hands on a nearby bar-clock caught his eyes. He arose, dusted him- self off, -uid started down the subway. But when he entered the little terminal, the drc.id arose. No, no, he didn’t wart to be found away from tlie sun and the sky and the dean air. Yes, he knew that the air here wasn't exactly clean, but it was sweet to him, the air of the city, and he w.anted to breath it, smell it, bathe him- self in it so long as he could. He would try to escape above ground. Escape? His heart sank within him at the thought. Could he elude them? Or was there merely one; could he escape it? It was seeking him, groping for him with indescribable lingers. And the dread witihn him waxed and waned as it approached or veered away. mi'E stepped away from the subway en- -®"®- trance, walked a few blocks to a bus stop, saw with relief that the vehicle ap- proaching was well filled. He eased him- self into a seat by the window, found com- fort in the passing Broadway pedestrians. Doggedly he kept thinking to himself: if 1 can only stay hidden until noon, if I c-*n Iiold it off until high noon; he clamped a subconscious censor upon liimsdf and re- fu.sed to consider what might happen after twelve o’clock. His breithing took on a slow, steady rhythm; he leaned back against the Iciithcr se.at, intent cijx>n conversation between a couple ot girls behind him, grateful foe the diversion. The nervous tension had tired him; things l>egan to Islur before his eyes and ,i weariness was yammering away

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Quarry ★ ★ ★ ?3 at him. The sights and sounds about him began to taper off, taper off . . . No! He sat bolt upright. He mu.stn't go to sleep. It was in sleep that it had spotted him, marked him for its quarry. Perhaps it would lire could he but hold out longer, tire and seek easier prey. Al- most anyone in this bus would do — or would they? Perhaps only humans with a higher tlian normal sensitivity could be spotted. After all, he thought, this is such a tiny planet, and even the greate.st of us so small. He shook his head again, pulled the cord for stopping the vehicle. If there was ever a time when drugs were excusable, this was it ; he needed something to keep him starkly awake and aware. He entered the store, realizing that his walk was almost a shamble, leaned against the counter and told of his needs. The druggist gave him something guar- anteed to keep him awake for twelve hours at least. He read the instructions care- fully, then went over to the counter and took a stiff dose of the stuff. The dread had pretty well receded now. He strode down Broadway toward the cor- ner where Bcntly would meet him, wonder- ing how many of the people passing him were real. Was he real? Yes, that much he had to take fot granted. But that man passing by, stiff, sedate. Was he real? Was be actually there in full dimensions, or was he but a projection, a temporary replacement pending his re- moval, his final removal from the scene of Terrestrial affairs by “death?” The daig had stimulated his thoughts enormously; be exulted in the clarity of them, the facility with which he seemed to sec things for the first time. Suppose there were hunters, beings from some other plane of existence who sought specimens of humanity for their trophy col- lections, just as men seek game or fish to mount. It wouldn’t be as easy game, he thought. And they wouldn’t want to spoil it by letting the hunted become aware of what was going on, or permitting them to know just how many were taken, constantly. Wouldn't the simplest thing for these hunters to do be to replace the victim with a three-dimensional projection, which would meet some sort of fatal accident shortly after the actual person’s removal? He half- smiled at these thoughts because, for all the mad logic of them, e\‘en his limited intelligence (limited in comparison with that of the hunters) could pick flaws in such a procedure. What projection, no matter how cun- ning, could stand up under the incessant scrutiny of fellow humans, or, most of the all, scrutiny by trained physicians attend- ing death. No, it was all nice fantasy, but it wouldn’t stand up in the cold light of logic. WV7£LL, there was nothing to bo afraid » » of now. He stopped and leaned against a store front, staring fixedly at the building opposite him. He wanted to dis- cover if he could sec through the way he’d done this morning. Smiling, his eyes bored into the edifice, but it trembled not nor wavered. He thought he detected a flicker, after awhile, but that was clearly an indication that his eyes were getting tired. He looked at his watch. Hell, there wasn't time to walk; he'd be late. Very well, then, the IRT was only a block awav. Striding along at an easy jaunt, he passed under the noses of zipping taxis and merited the frown of one of the city's finest Grin- ning he slipped his nickle into the slot, and sw'ung*' himself through the turnstile with a gaiety he hadn't felt in weeks. His eyes roved over the headlines on the station newsstand and he invested in chewing gum. Once within the car, his attention was captured and held prisioner by a coppery haired wench who didn’t seem to mind the summer breezes playing with her skirt. She went so far as to return hi’s interest with a smile, then descited him at the next sta- tion.

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Futur* Fiction Don’t Go Through Life Handicajipoit! Improve Your Appearance by wearing on Imperia] Health Brace Makes you feel stronger and more confi* derit in undertaking any work, whether in a factory, office, store or home. FOR MEN Straichtans tha aboul- aara, axpanda (ha chaat. railocoa tha walat and compela daap and prapar hraatlilnr wiilch aasures correct poature. FOR WOMEN It can l>a noru with any Kuvrn, u It in invialhla. improved uml alaudar- laaa the flKura without Uauearoua dial. ALSO FOR CHILDREN When ordering, be sure to give us the fol- lowing information: Man . . .Woman Bor Oirt ... Halfbt .....Walfht . (.‘heat maaauremen( under arma.. IMPERIAL HEALTH BRACES have been on the market for over 25 years. They were formerly sold at $5.00 and $6.00 each. Our Special Price P. P. prepaid is $1.50 M. L. SALES CO. Room 315, 1(0 W. Broidway, Dogit 12, N.Y.C. When he emerged from the subway, i clock was beginning to strike twelve. He stood still waiting for it to finish. Without knowing exactly why, he glanced up at the eastern sky. His jaws ceased mauling the gum. "What an illusion,” he murmured to himself, noting with the cor- ner of his eyes tliat the people around him did not see. Of course; how could they see an illu- sion which was his alone? But it looked real, all right. It really did look as if the sky up in that section, were being torn slowly, as if something were poking through the tear. What that something was, he could not be sure. He wished that illusions could be more explicit. All he could be sure of was that he seemed to see something reach- ing down, down out of the eastern sky, down between the towering Manhattan structures, down into the street, reaching Out for him. There was no dread now. He closed his eyes and tried to imagine what it would feel like when it caught him. Bentley looked worried as the familiar form of Manton hove into view. "You're late, Oscar," he chided. The other looked somewhat confused. "Am I? Awfully sorry — guess I miscal- culated . . ." Bently nodded. "Don’t be so apologetic, old thing. Have you the stuff with you?" "Stuff? Oh — oh yes, of course.” The publisher peered more closely at his companion. "You’re not yourself to'*ay, Oscar. Have a bad night, eh? Well, I didn’t sleep any too well, either; damned heat! Better have a drink with me before we talk, eh?" He took the other’s arm and st.irted for a nearby bar. y

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SALVAGE JOB by LESLIE A. CROUTCH Beetle wes the best undersea worker on Venus. But Beetle loved the bottle. Not wise- ly and much too well. Hooan thought he had the problem nicely solved until the time came when Beetle would 90 down info those boiling waters sober and come up stewed to fhe gills. A little tale to tickle your funnybone. REMEMBER, you little squirt, you may think you're ^ ^ 1^^^ ^y God, you pull any of your shenanigans on this job, and, so help me Hannah, I’ll bust you so flat they'll think a steam-roller ran over you!" Hogan, the salvage boss, spat forcibly on the dirty deck, and glared at the smaller man, as if he could, by main force, drive his threat home. The other grinned, and cocked a pop-eye at him. He wiggled his ears derisively, chuckled deep down in his scrawny throat. That always got the other — wiggling his ears that way. "And you quit wigglin’ your cars, you little imp of satan!” roared Hogan, expel- ling the bedraggled weed with a sound like a cork popping out of a bottle of kick. "You tend to your work this trip, and get them firestones up without any funny business.’' The crew chuckled. They enjoyed these perpetual tiffs between Hogan and his diminutive diver. Percival Selwyn Brewster, London born, motioned for the men to place the helmet. Lugubrious he looked, in t^ bulky suit nec- essary for diving in the warm Venusian seas. Seas that would almost boil a man red as a lobster but for the protection of the special Bergen suit. Over the side, standing on the little metal platform, they swung him, and he started on his long trip to the sunken wreck below. Hogan leaned over the rail, watched the descent with a practiced eye. The clun^ of a heavy foot behind him drew him from his reverie. Turning, he spied his first mate, who halted, made a perfunctory salute, and handed him a suspi- cious-looking black bottle. Hogan snatched it with a growl. "Why the little riim-giiazler!" he growled. Hogan sniffed at the bottle. "Hmmm, the little mutt’s got taste, anyway! Good kick, this. Costs like the devil !” He tilted the bottle, and let a delicious drop dribble down his throat. The mate watched him with a slight grin, and two of the crew nudged and winked. Hogan lowered the bottle, and roared. "Well, what are you all statin' at? Get to work!” He hurled the bottle far out into the 9S

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-k -k ir I^Htiir* Fiction sparkling sunlight, to fall in th« heaving depths of the hot sea. "Just wait till I get my hands on that little rum-hound,” he threatened, striving to keep from noticing the smirks of his men. "Listen, Riley,” he said, turning to his mate. "You keep a watch on him. We’ll keep that little runt sober if it kills him— at least, until the fire-stones are all hauled up, then he can drown himself in the junk." Riley grinned, dra^>ed himscU over the rail, to stare pensively clown into the murky depths. A diver can stay down only halt an hour at very shallow depths in chose treacherous waters. By then hi:' suit feels hot enough to fry an egg on, anc? the inside isn’t much cooler. Many men pass out under such working conditions. That is why Brewster, or Beetle, as he is called, because of his ab- surd little round paunch, spindly limbs, and beady eyes that make you think of some lit- tle black bug, is a regular jewel in uncouth form. He can stay down, and be the most active of any man on Venus, where strong men are the order of the day rather than the exception. The half hour was up, and they were hauling Beetle up with a w'ill. The water broke, and the rounded ex- panse of Beetle’s helmet came into view. Something about the way the dimin- utive diver held onto the stays cau.scd the boss of the sah'agc crew to order haste. "Looks like he’s caved in this time,” he exclaimed, as Beetle staggered off the plat- form, and sat down heavily. With great haste, they unbolted his hel- met, and lifted the unwieldy thing off. "Are you all right, man?" demanded Ho- gan, anxiously. If anything happened to Beetle they were sunk, figuratively and lit- erally. He was the best man on Venus, by the time another had come out from earth, it would be well righ impossible to s. Ivage the treasure below. The powerful convec- tion currents of the mighty oceans would have broken up the hulk. Beetle opened his eyes, stared at the oth- er. He smirked, wiggled both ears, and closed his eyes again. Hogan shook him. "Allsli shright!” Beetle murmured, in a mushy tone. "rcelish goodsh. Ver' goodsh !" "If 1 didn’t know he couldn’t be tight, rd swear he was!” Riley muttered, para- doxically. Hogan grunted. "Probably too much oxygen. They get that way sometimes.” Riley snorted. "You know damned well it’s not too much oxygen, Hogan. You're just trying to side-step the issue.” Beetle stepped from his diving suit. He staggered, tried to do a ludicrous step-dance, which ended up with him in a pretzel-tan- gle on the deck. From there he surveyed his feet with great intensity, then tried to get up. He failed miserably; so he just lay back, and broke into a ribald song. Hogan leaned down, hooking his fin- gers into the other’s collar, jerked him to his feet. He shoved his not too insignifi- cant nose into the other’s face, and sniffed deeply. "by all the little imps, he is drunk. Riley! Smell his breath.” Riley did, and voiced the verdict. "But, how could he, sir?" He wasn't drunk when he went down. He couldn’t get a drink down there. So how can he?” "I dunno. But he is, or else we’re tight! Here—" to one of the men. "Put him to bed. Sweat this outta him if ya gotta kill the little gutter snipe!" They searched Beetle's syit for a hidden pocket holding a hidden flask of the forbid- den. But no luck. They searched him when he went down the next time. Still no luck. But when he came up the second time, he was drunker than he was the first! Hogan swore, the crew heard a few choice epithets they’d never even suspected existed, let alone heard. Down Beetle went, sober. He’d work like a beaver the first fifteen minutes, and the firestones came up by the bucketful. Then Beetle would be very quiet. Up on the salvage ship they would wait, and won- der. Hogan would roar, and spit bechewed cigars about until the crew complained about the filthy condition of the deck. Then, up would come Beetle Staggering, singing, reeking of Venusian kick, a nickname given a vile mixture derived by squeezing the stem of the giant Venusian carnivorous lily, and then allowing the collected sap to fer- ment. "I'm fed up," roared Hogan one day when the job was about finished. 'Tm go- ing down this lime instead of that little bot- tle-sucker. I’m goin' to find out what hap- pens down there or— -or — " As he didn’t know what he co'uld do, he shut up, rather

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Selvos^ than incriminate himself he couldn't keep. by making threats Let Me Make YOU A FLUORESCENT EXPERT FOR LESS MONEY IHAN YOU CAN EARN IN I DAY’S WORK IN THIS NEW EXCITIN© FIELD r .1. ■!!?■ ■ ' i'*" I A«tu»Hy. th* kiMwl»dt* to b* CXVORCffCBNT fii>u> (pondinc Jutl lO mlmilrt 1» SALESMEN yiriir bviR» teuninc Ju«l pmrt (U« Did j«j «r«r whtre you bewroen th# proBt on » liB»w you ibouW b»T« »otd »«• your eutU-mtr «or* 6m- »n ewnwu* pr«t I F^ntaw of «»n turei, but dldn-M tnjteed In thl» fisrlnUina you lost Ml(s you knew bu»lne«» irt rowhiiur fibuleu* you .bould ha»* aula bo- ““ couAO youf cuftcCBor octu- nioot from now on Ij tbo am »b* ■llyr nieded (ho anuzirg »"'* ^ ‘•‘L adranugo of Fiuoroacontf Thon e«t facia on Utia ^ tlghtlng. BEOOUE IBB Dlan that will eUf ylui* pofl(«tr« Tube ?0 eentt extra. Chromium plated and < Whit* anamel bedy. Pric* includaa awiteh. (Continued On Page 98) n

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iow #« M VICTOR H. LINDLAH8 show you Row fo eat your way to s7imne$s on 3 square meofs a day Just frhink of it! l'ktsify->4iuicklr~SAfcly. you can lose aa many as lU pounds in 10 days. 20 pounds in 20 days, 30 pounds in 30 days! You can do this without starvation diotiiir. without drugs and without nioiiotonooa exercise. l'’ollow the famous Liiidlaiir Plan and you ro duce by eating plenty — 3 square meals a day— of tempting, appetizing, iieaithful foods that are rich in minerals and vitamins, but which are very low in sugar and starches and practically w'itnout fat. Resuifs Begin fa Show in 4$ Hours The radnninir menos tn (lie fJad- lehr Krstem sr« no s«ientiricnilr •rrane^ that excesa fat iu«t BBems to m«tt away. Eesulto io most capy Mati«oal Nutfilloa •( EAT AND REDlit^i:! by Victor H. Lindl^ir and begin imimedlato* JtF toaiag Mcess weight— «a 3 aqaure meals a HALL, Inc. I S Dept. EB-33, 70 Fifth Avd., N. V. C. ■ Pleasa send me z eopy of EAT AND AEOUCEI t on* * •Into $2.S0. in full paymsot. with this undontandint: It, ■ after tO da^ trial of Victor H. Lindlahr*t oal-and-r«* ■ duea system I do not actually toss «ei«hl as aramiwd. I H may rotura tho book Md yuu *111 rofuod ny money. ■ i NAME i * ADDRESS I ■ errv STATE ■ I Chaik here it yoa arofor C. O. D. shipmoni. In vhlek * SMse yoo pay few rants ottra for postago and efcaroes. ■ SAME MONEY-BACK CUAAANTEEI > 98 Future Fiction CConUnued From Page 97) tempt the imtanglement of the snarl at the blocKS, the remainder were making ready to lower a makeshift affair, somewhat like a basket-seat, to the helpless man on the diving platform. And, all this time, the fantastic thing was steadily drawing closer. It halted. Had a dart finally taken ef* feetp But, no. It had sighted the man, and, lowering its head, was edging closer. Hogan stumbled back, almost fell over the edge of his support. Riley, sweat be- dewing his ashy brow, was firing steadily. Darts from the rifles were churning the sea about die monster, now moving in an er- ratic manner and throwing their aims off. The temporary seat was l^Ing lowered as rapidly as was possible, but it was plainly manifest that it would not reach the doomed man in time to effect his rescue. The blocks were still jammed. It was evident that, unless a miracle happened, Hogan was doomed. Suddenly, through the air, flashed a round, white body, legs splayed out and arms bowed, looking like an immense frog diving into the cool depths of its. own pri- vate pool. The figure disappeared into the sea, to reappear immediately. Shaking its head to clear its eyes, it started to swim not away, but toward the approaching uUh, for sudi it was. Riley suddenly depressed the barrel of the cannon, and shouted to the men to halt their firing. "It’s Beetle!" someone yelled. "Going to his death to save a friend. Boozer or not, he’s got guts, and plenty of them!" Beetle was carrying something In one hand, which slowed up his speed somewliat. Riley whipped up his glasses to ascertain what manner of weapon the little diver was risking his life on. "Damn — is the man crazy? Carrying a bottle to fight an uith?” Man and monster were within a dozen yards of one another when the former halt- ed, and, treading water, managed to rise up in a lunge, and throw the black bottle straight at the oncoming thing. Then wiUi out waiting to ascertain the results of hi.; attack, turned, and began swinimiiig back to the ship. Riley gasped, and stared unbelievingly. Forgotten was Hogan; forgotten the littl- man risking his life in the hot waters whid- would likely give him a good broiling. For

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Solvoge Job the bottle, sailing through the morning air, had struck the monster, whether by luck or remarkable aiming, squarely on the head. It burst. For a moment nothing happened, then the uith reared, shook ks head blindly, leaped high into the air and disappeared into the depths, to reappear a moment later swimming away in an erratic fashion, exact- ly as though attempting its escape from some unseen enemy. They helped poor Beetle up before they did Hogan, for the latter was protected by the suit. The diminutive diver was a lob- ster red; the doctor hurried him off to the sick bay to treat him for extensive scalds. The man was literally half-cooked from end to end! Hogan came into the radio shack the oth- er night. He was grinnin' like the kitty that’d licked up the spilt cream, and ate the canary for lunch. "I was down to see Beetle, Sparks,” he said. "He told me a few things that will make the crew chuckle when they ^ hear them.” I pricked up my ears. "Yes, sir?” I asked, respectfully. "Yeah." He smiled, reminiscently. "He was telling me about the kick, and the ulth.” I pricked up my ears at that. 1 was won- dering, as was everyone, about how Beetle had got drunk, and what was in the bottle he threw at the ulth. "Yeah. Beetle says he found a case down there in the captain's cabin. Swears he smelled the stuff on the way down." "I don't doubt it," I grunted. "That guy could smell liquor for a hundred miles!” "Yeah, that’s why I believe him when he said he found it so easy. Well, it seems when the boat went down, there was a lot of air caught in the cabin. The pressure of the water kept it prisoned there. Beetle swears he’d open his helmet, and drink a bottle or two, sittin’ on the table with his head in the air!” I stared at him. "He — what?” Hogan grinned. "Hard to believe, isn’t it? And then the ulth — remember where those lilies grow?" "Sure, in swamps — say — ^you don't mean those ulths hate kick that bad? They’ll run from it like I would from a skunk?” He nodded. "Well, son, I never saw you run from a skunk, but that's the gen- eral idea.” THE EASY WAY TO POPULARITY Here Is a Complete EdueoHen for Jusf a few Cenfs Swing Steps Tip Top Tapping How to Be a Detective Police Jiu Jitsu How to Dance Scientific Boxing Qet These Profusely Illustrated Books at the Special Price of: 35c EACH 3 for *1.00 OR 0 FOR *1.75 M. L. SALES CO.. Deph 12 Room 315, 160 W. Broadway, N. Y. C. 1 enclose f for which please send me the following books (check those you want). Tip Top Tapping H Swing Steps How to be a Detective Q Police Jiu Jitsu How to Dance □ Scientific Boxing Name Address »»

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SOMETHING FROM BEYOND by PAUL DENNIS LAVOND (Autiuir of “A Prince «/ “Coitisian He.) Oul of »p«ce if came fo prey upon fh« men who rode befween worlds. Fcrewoid WALLACE GREY was born in 2009, some thirty years after Harley Graeme made his first moon flight, in Norwich, and was schooled in Laurie Hall nearby, later attending Nor- wich University. Although not nationally known, Norwich University has a fine, solid reputation for turning out acute, liberally-minded men, men who are neither too idealistic to adjust themselves to the harsh practicalities, nor yet too ait and dried to see beyond their noses. There are compulsory courses in subjects the mere mention of which would bring ridicule in other schools; they teach the ocailt and delve into what is known as Black Magic. Yet never do they permit their students thus to lose their grip on a world which denies and derides these things. The purpose of these courses is to instil into the student a love of truth and the un- known; they seek to make them like those sturdy scholars of a distant past who were willing to search through innumerable hay- stacks of falsehood for the needle of truth therein. Norwich men have always been the last to snort and cry "impossible" when the unknown occurs. Shortly after graduating, Grey turned to anthropology for his vocation, but found the recognized authorities in the field to be grey-headed dodderers with a distaste for unorthodox views. In a fit of despair, he joined the Space Patrol, then popularly thought to be a glorified suicide club, noth- ing more. After a few months, his state of mind improved; but instead of buying his way out, as easily he could have done, he set about forging ahead in the Patrol. He was the first commissioned officer to rise from the ranks and there is no doubt but that he would have gone far, made a name both for himself and for the Patrol had not his career abruptly been terminated. Grey was found dead, along with two other members of (he crew, in the Patrol ship he commanded. The circumstances of his death were unusual inasmuch as the bodies of the three men were frozen, al- though the ship was quite warm. These bodies could not be thawed, yet gained heat rapidly upon arrival at Earth until the tem- perature was almost that of living men. An investigation brought no light upon the incident ; there remains only Wallace Grey’s journal, extracts from which we give below. Ftom the joional of Wallace Grey <<W®7HATEVER our scientists may ww say about the lifelessness of space, I cannot help believing that the void is indeed a haibor of life, even though it may not irsfinblc the life we know. Per- TOO

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Something From Beyond haps such life is so alien that the very word itself cannot be applied, so different that by no stretch could the most plastic imagina- tion conceive it. Yet, we have this word, and it signifies anything which possesses consciousness of being ; to that we add growth, power of ingestion, reproduction, motion, and thought. Perhaps there are vortices of pure tliought here in space. . . . But there is something out here which we cannot see, hear, taste, touch or smell. Yet we do sense its presence; we know it is here. "It.... I cannot call the thing by any term more definite than ‘it’.... is watch- ing us, or, should I say, it is aware of us; it may not possess what we know as sight. It is aware of us and has been following us for the last few days. .. .perhaps longer: we cannot tell how long it may have been hovering over us before we became aware of it. Perhaps a considerable length of time in its presence is necessary before any suggestion of its being can permeate us ; Awareness has come, but not through the customary channels of perception. I won- der, though: is it conscious of us?. . . .Are trees conscious of the birds and animals that nest therein, of the little boys that climb them, of the men who come at last to hew them down ? . . . . No, trees are still strange to men, even though men have known and dealt with trees as far back as Our racial memories go. Even yet we do not know whether or not the tree has a consciousness of being, an awareness of other life-forms about it .... imagination, psychological delusion, wishes that father thought. . . ,we cannot be certain about any- thing; our greatest positivism can only 1^ relative. Yet, I say that I can feel that this is a living, malevolent entity; but how do I know it is not my own emotions tell- ing me this, my emotions which color my every act no matter how diligently I try to whitewash? It is only natural that we dis- trust what we do not know: all that we know is full of danger, pain, disaster, and death for us. We cannot trust ourselves: how, then, can the unknown bring other than apprehension to us?.... "I think that I am aware of this. . . . phenomenon. .. .more than Orloff or Jac; yet Orloff has been acting queerly for a number of days. He always was more than a little absent-minded; now he seems com- pletely dazed. Ever since he and Jac re- paired the blast-tube, Orloff has been. . . . (Continued On Page 102) spare Time Training that helps you SERVE and PROSPER in this national crisis YOU want to serve your fullest in this Defense situation, do your utmost to help our nation. You want also to advance yourself in position and (Mf —win promotion and more money. You can do troth at the same time. Our nation needs many more men for specialized and supervisory positions— to help defense production and business growth. Thousands — scores of thou- sands—must fit themselves quickly for these better paying jobs in offices and stores and factories. They must train as accountants, salesmen, managers, fwe- men. traffic managers, general foremen, office man- ageia. insi>cctors. etc. If you wish this advantage, simply mark on the coupon the held of business in which you are moat interested. We will send you full information about the opportunities in chat lield. tell you huw our com- plete succcss-building program helps you plan your future, trains you in your spare time, and works with you all through your career. Send the coupon NOW. USAUE EXTENSION UNIVERSin A Correspondence Institution Oapt. 1373-B CHICAGO rdins the s I tave □ Moilern Salesmanship) Tralninc for posi- tion ;ts Sales Executi^-e, Salesman. Trainer. Sales Promotion Manager, and all poaltiooa In retail, wbolesale or specialty selling. □ Higher Accountancy; Training for posi- tion as Auditor. Comptroller, Certified Fui>- Uc Accountant, Cost Accountant, etc. □ TraMc MenaAetneat: Training for posi- tion as Railroad, Truck or Industrial Traffic Manager, Rate Expert, Freight Solicitor, etc. □ Law: LL. B. Degree. □ Modern Foretuaaihip; Training for posi- tions ia Shop Management, such as that of Superintendent, Creneral Foreman. Foreman, Sub-Foreman, et& □ Industrial ManaAemest: Training foi Works Management, ProductloD Control. Industrial Engineering, etc. □ Modern Business Correspondence □ Expert Bookkeeping • Age. Fresent Position . 101

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Something From Beyond umes when we left Earth; yet it is not there now. I am sure Jac would not be rummag- ing around my things; even if he were, what possible Interest could a book like that hold for him. And Orloff . . . .but how could the lock on my chest be tampered with without traces being left? Moreover, of what value could a copy of this book be to other than myself? It is in cipher, most ingenious cipher. It took grandfather ten years to work it out, and another five to prepare the volume I now possess. But the mere possession of the key would be of little value, for even then one uninitiate could not read it. Each page holds a dif- ferent variation of the cipher, the clue to which lies in the little sketch heading the page. Grandfather told me before he died. I mention this to point out the difficulty of reading a volume like my special copy of the So»g of Ysie and to draw attention to the high improbability that two people on the same ship, two members of the Space Patrol, further, would have the required abilities. Yet, Orloffs condition leaves him open to grave suspicion.” Later: "Orloff has taken a change for the worse. He is unconscious now: Jac found him lying on the floor when he went below to see why Orloff did not respond to his signals. For a moment, he appeared to revive; his eyes opened yet I would swear that it was not Orloff who looked at us. He is lying on the couch in the next room; Jac and I are sharing his duties. I took advan- tage of the emergency to search Orloffs room. Of course, it is within my authori ty to demand search at any time but I had been reluctant to use my power in this case as I was not sure that perhaps the blame was not mine. But the search proved my initial suspicions to be correct; it was in his room, and he had been reading it. found figures on a sheet of paper in his desk which prove conclusively that he knew the cipher, was computing the variations for specific pages. When I am free, I shall determine just what he was reading; per- haps it will shed some light upon this grue- some sfate of affairs.” Later: "We are functioning under automatic controls, such as they are. ... 1 have been reading that portion of the Soitg of Ysie (Continued On Page lOf) WANTED MEN and WOMEN Wiirt For Tho CMEmBlillT Salaries ^1700-^2600 Per Year No Layoffs! Vacations With Pay! Regular Raises! Good Pensions! A LIFETIME JOB ★ RAILWAY POSTAL CLERKS ^ w- riti. M.ii Clerks— File Clerks 1 . * Stenoai-aph.rs — ★ Post -Office Clerks Typists ★ Rural Mail Carriers ★ Inspectors of Customs •k Patrol and Immigration Inspectors -it Pay for Course Only After You Are Appointed & Working So sure are we that our simpliiied Interstate Home Study Course of coaching will result in your passing the government examination and being appointed, that we are willing to accept your enrollment on the following basis. The price of our complete 10-week lesson course is $30, plus $3 Examiner’s Fee. We are willing to give you the course with the understanding ^at you are to pay for it ONLY AFTER YOU ARE APPOINTED AND WORKING. Should you take the examination and fail or not be appointed for any reason what- soever. the loss will be ours, and you will not owe us one cent Cor the course! GET READY IMMEDIATELY! FULL Particulars FREE! r****cnp and Mall This Coupon NOW!""**, ■ INTERSTATE HOME STUDY ACADEMY , 901 Broad 8t., Oiv. DA-12, Newark, N. J. I PIcRM RUSH ts me FREE particulars— withaut tny iblllitUu— haw ta duality for a Boaornmoiil Jab. I PUinly (• PdDall • 103

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SomethinQ From Beyond try to put down what I read in that ac- cursed book last night. . . . ” 'Let not the hearts of men dwell loo pleasantly upon escape from this earth to worlds of strangeness and glamor beyond the veil of ni^t for without lies horror and madness and that which no human tongue or pen can describe. Vaster by far than the might and malevolence of those demons that plague and befoul the earth is that which comes out of space to feast upon the souls of men; yet, indeed, it is but a lesser manifestation of the evil which dwells beyond the stars. This out of space may be known by the coldness it brings, a coldness which no fire can abate, and by its unholy piping by which it summons its victims to sacrifice. For of old is it known to send itself into the living bodies of certain crea- tures so that they appear bewitched and know not themselves, shunning the day and the radiance of the sun tvhicb is hateful to it. Many and multiform are the prodigies it performs, for it may enter a city and blast ali within into frozen corpses, yet, when these are discovered, there will have been no sign either of cold or of its point of entrance. Many and multiform are the prodigies it performs for its own amuse- ment and contempt for men. And the crowning foulness of all....' "1 may write no more. The space lock is opening. . . .Orloff. . . Entry in the log of the Space- Liner Majestic, Earth-Mars voyage EM 206: (From File .0078, Derelicts, Report of, for the year 2027, Record Rooms, Interplanetary Transit Building, N’York, Terra.) "December 9, 2027. Discovered derelict space-patrol cruiser. #SP-070 R3, report- ed missing August 24, 2027, drifting in and parallel to Band 5. Found bodies of three men in cabin. Two in their official places; a third lying on the floor in such a position as to assume he had been placed there after death. Although ship was en- tirely warm and instruments showed no var- iation in room temperature, the corpses were frozen. Ship’s log, found in cabin, was dated August 5, 2027, no entries after that date ^ing found. Journal of Commanding Officer, Wallace Grey, Lieutenant, Space- Patrol, hereby forwarded without comment. Lt. Grey was found, pen in hand, in the act of making entries in aforementioned journal.’’ THE END BRAND NEW SYSTEM! Founded on the most simple end practicel principle for self tuition with Complete English pronunciation of every word LATEST REVISED EDITION 35Ceach-3for ®®-5for^1 M. L. SALES OO., 160 W. Broadway, N. V. O. Dept. 0-12 Enclosed find $ for which send me the follow- ing books: □ Spanish Q Polish Q Italian D French Q German Name Address FOR SALE! Indian Relics, Beadwork, Old West Photos, Books, Minerals, Fossils, Stamps, Coins, Bills, Old Glass, Dolls, Miniatures, Indian Jewelry- pottery-baskets and rugs. Weap- ons, pistols, cartridges. Gem Opal 15c. Confederate Bill 15c. U. S. 2c piece 15c. Bird Point 10c. Arrowhead 10c. Spearhead 15c. Catalog 8c. VERNON LEMLEY Dept. D. A. Osborne, Kansas 105

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SPACE EPISODE by LESLIE PERRI So liftit time wes left; quicMy their ship wet plunginq towerd the looming Eerth. And still the two men set entranced. SHE STARED at her two companions for a moment and then a sickening revalsion replaced feat, the fear that held each of the three in a terrible grip of inertia. Her slim hands bit hard into the back of one of the metal seats. The tiny rocket ship was plummeting to destruction, careening dizzily through space. Here, in the atmos- phereless void, their motion was negligible to them, but instrui :ents told a grim story; unless they could blast the forward rockets very soon they would be caught in the Earth's titanic grip and drawn with inten- sifying acceleration to its surface. They would come screaming down like some co- lossal shell and the planet's surface would become a molten sore where they struck. And now, while precious seconds fled, the three of them stood transfixed, immobile. What had happened ? A simple thing, an unimportant thing in space. They had encountered a meteor swarm, one utterly in- finitesimal in the sight of the looming worlds about them. But it had left one of its members jammed in their forward rock- et nozzles, the tubes which determined whether they would land safely or cra.sh in a blaze of incandescence. They bad turned off their operating power rather than wreck the ship completely; with no escape for the rocket-blasts, their motors would be smashed to pieces. The first they knew of disaster, striking unheralded from space, was the car-shatter- ing impart of the meteor. No sound; just concussion that was worse than any deafen- ing crash. Then the power generator dial shot to the danger line; the ship began to plunge, teleplate showing the universe seem- ingly turning fast somersaults as their ship careened end over end. The truth was evi- dent at once; that impediment must be re- moved from the forward tubes. One of them must volunteer to clear away the ob- struction, or all were doomed. A time for heroics, this, but none of them felt like heroes. Erik and Michael stood side by side, a .sort of bewildered terror on their faces — a "this can’t happen to us" look. Neither had moved or spoken a word since the first invc.stigation. Erik, upon dis- covering that the outer door was gone, had flung his space suit to the floor with an impotent airse. For that shorn-off door meant that whoever left the ship now could never return ; it was a one-way passage. The taller of the two men played with the instruments, spinning them this way and that, then stood waiting. Waiting for heaven alone knew what miracle to happen. Lida found her confidence in them, that fine cpnfidence she had known up to now, dissolving away, leaving her with an empty feeling which was greater than any fear 104

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Spoee Episode could have been. She could not square them, as they were now, with the men she had known before — through innumerable Terrestrial dangers on land, sea, and in the clouds. The three had had a planet-wide reputation as reckless and danger-despising. And now. . . . "Erik!” she cried suddenly. "Damn it, this is not a tea party! We have to do something now. Toss coins or draw lots. Either one of us goes out there now, or we all crack up.” Michael glanced at her dully as she spoke, his tongue moving over dry lips. Erik closed his eyes, brushing his hair with a limp gesture. Lida’s hands tightened on the back seat; what was wrong with them? She bent forward slightly, lier heart beating like a dull and distant drum. The dials on the control board frightened her; she whispered now. "You see what little time we have left.^ Nothing's going to happen unless we make it happen. We're falling, falling fast.” Michael slumped in his seat, dropped his head to his knees groaning. Erik looked at her vaguely for a long second, then turned his eyes to the teleplate. Cold perspiration stood on his forehead. This was the dash- ing Erik Vane, onetime secret dream hero, close companion since that day, years back, when he and Mike had fished her out of the wreck of her plane somewhere in the Pacific. Suddenly, it all seemed amusing to her; the question of sacrifice lay between Michael and Erik — this was strictly men's work. But they were finding life a sweet thing — a sudden burst of laughter overcame her. There was such an amusing impotency to Erik’s strength and the dash of his clothes; the knuckles stood white on his hands, cold damp fear glittering on his fore- head. And what of Michael, the gallant? He slumped in his seat, holding his face in shaking hands. Could this be the same man who had saved them all by scaling what was virtually a sheer cliff by night and obtaining help from neighboring aborig- ines? All the dangers they fiaJ faced to- gether-and overcome together now crowded in her memory, one piling upon another. Scores of times one of them had unliesitat- ingly faced unpleasant death for the sake of all; she had been no exception. And there was anottier picture that made her laugh, too, but it wasn’t a gay laugh. (Continued On IDS) TWENfY GRAND WORLD’S PRODUCTS CO., Spencer, Indiano '’!SEND NO MONEY! -^Save Mon«yl TfUNSPARENT / ««0>y9>Triall K *OOFLESS W« make FALSE TEETH (or by MAIL (rom etlMi. t r flCC Fre«imore33iODmaten*l.d<r«ctiODS.e*talog •I Modal p. 8. Dental Co. Dept. C-A40 Chicago, HI. AniAxe Four friends . . . IDEN- , TIFY reiriilAr CNUAKKKD rUriAgr Cards (rom their baeks. Oat Sarapla Card*, ons aseb. taken (rom Tao diffirenl popular deek* — B*a. Bl- tyela. aU.. sivwin* rirrln around Key Mark*, with eomplata Isttruttien*, <1.00. THE TEI.I.rBtrM CO. F. 0. Bek 678-DA. Wallate. Idehe ASTHMA W.K.STERLINE, 070 Ohio Ave., Sidney. Ohio tatmofit fsailad . FREE TRIAL. I( sadeAed, sand }1; If not. Ifa Fro*. Write (or traatmaot today. GET ACQUAINTED CLUB If you want a "wife.'’ "husband,” or "sweethearf." tell us your age, description of your "ideal." and by r»- turn mail you will receiv'e tealed particulars of one of the oldest, most modern Clubs, in Americe, repro- tenting many wealthy educated members. R. B. SrairsON Box 1351 Denrer, Colo. O. 8. A. SOCIAL 'Correspondence Club EXPERIENCE the thrill o( romaace thru thi* solaet club! iDtroduciioDB-by-letter. This club it coaductad on a high Slanoto help lonely, refined, marriageable moa aodwemea nd corDpatibla friends. Discreet, confidential Vast natioDwida n lait FREE. EVAN oembarship. Eat 1922... Saalad paiticu- MOORE, Box 988, Jacksonville, Florida WHAT CAUSES EPILEPSY? booklet containing the opinions of famous doctors this interesting subject will im sent l-'RKi:. wliUe they last, to any reader wrUiu,< to the Bdueational OivlMion, Dept, DB-L3, S55 Fifth Are.. New York. 107

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Spoee Episode over. Her fingers were swift and sure» ad- justing the steei clamps. Michael was still in a semi-coma. Erik was watching her reflection. He knew what she was doing. His shoulders were rigid now, but he made no move to stop her. And now memory played the final ironic trick. She recalled Michael saying, with his arm around her shoulders, "When we get to Mars, you'll be the glamor girl of the planet. It’ll be wonderful, Lida — just the two of us.” His eyes had hinted at things he did not put into words and even though she knew that nothing of the kind would happen so long as there were three of them, she had been glad for him then. She jerked up the front zipper, trying to close her memories with the same motion. There weren't many seconds to spare now. She fastened the tools to her belt, checked them and with them her signal sending but- ton with the receiving set on the instrument board. Then, with shaking hands she could not help, she picked up the helmet. Michael looked up suddenly, incredulity filling his eyes. Erik wheeled around from the teleplate. "Lida!” he said, his voice hoarse. Gone was the bitterness and contempt now. "So long, Erik,” she replied softly, ’’ril do the best I can. Watch for the sig- nal on the control board. I’ll send it through when the rocket nozzles are clear — that is, if I’m not blown from the ship.” He swayed for an instant, lurched over to where she stood. "I can’t let you do it. Give me the suit. Lida. I ll go." She looked at him, cynical and proud, her eyes glittering like steel and her small chin thrust forward determinedly. These words he had said — what were they but words he flung from him, reaching out to pull to- gether the tatters of his self-respect.^ She pitied him. "There’s no time for that now,” she re- plied crisply. "Good luck.” On a sudden impulse she darted over to Michael and struck him sharply across the face. He looked up suddenly, his eyes widening in amazement. "Aren’t you go- ing to say — ^goodbye?” "Lida,” he muttered, "don't go. Don’t leave us now; it won’t do any good, Lida. Take off the suit and we’ll all go together.” I^HE shook her head defiantly. "No! There's still time. Goodbye, Michael.” She fastened on the helmet, her hands cold. (Continued On Page III) GOOD NEWS FOR PILES SUFFERERS The McCleary Clinic. 1225 Elms Bird., Ebccel- sior Springs, Mo., is putting out an up-to-the- minute 122-page book on Piles (Hemorrhoids), Fistula, related ailments and colon disorders. You can have a copy of this book by asking for it on a postcard sent to the above address. No charge. It may save you much suffering and money. Write to.00 In a ilocls dar eWlnt MlantlUg Swedlih anj B7dc»-Tbsrap7 ir«aua«Bti. Tlxta li a bll ttmani rrant BupitaU. Sinltariuui. Clubi. Doctwi and pcitXt patUaCi a« «»H «i aopociooUlei (or esiibllaliinc rout own oMco. Loam thli Inlerodlns aoner-makiiiK protetilsn In your awn boma ' r mull, (broiii;b our bom* itudr courao. Sam* iualnicioif I In our NdTlONAIXT KNOWN raildent trbooL A diploma airatdad upon eompUtloo o( ths courao. Courao can bo I complotod la 3 to 4 Dontbi. Hi(b School tnln- I inE la not i>oc*aiat7. Baaj oiia blf aooor abUo Anatomy Charts S Booklet FREE Enroll now aod wo will Include unKeroi coat, nodical dlnlonarr. paionlad rnluctaE roller anil Hydro- Tborapy tupplUi without eatra coat. T)-u i,-D.a v: sirSSS®® BRIQHTON-THOMA8 DENTAL LABaRATORV OEPT. B3J S2I7 S. HAUSTEO STREET. CHICAGO. ILL 109

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Spoee Epl>»d3 (Continued From Page 109) Steeling herself against the sudden chill of terror that was seeping through her, she forced herself to the inner door. She pressed tlie electric release, her hands, heav- ily swathed, clinging to tlie steel ring. The panel slid open slowly; a buzzing sound would be filling the cabin now, but she could not hear it. She could feel their eyes on her. Witli a magnetic damp in readi- ness, she waited for the moment when the aperture would be wide enough. Then sud- denly, pressing the button in reverse, she plunged through and was hurtled against the wall of the air lock. The magnetic clamp held ! Breathing a deep sigh of relief, Lida glanced around her. The inner door was shut already; this, then, was her final good- bye. There could l>e no returning to the cabin. She was conscious of a dull, throb- bing pain in her arm. It was numb from the impact. Frantically, trying to save time, she worked it up and down until gradually life returned to it. Then she made her way to the ragged-edged gash in the hull. Nothing remained of the outer door. Cling- ing to a large metal splinter, she made a liurried survey. The path of the meteor and the damage it had done was clearly visible. It had ploughed a deep welt-like furrow in the side of the ship and piled melted metal and large chunks from the side over the nozzle ends. There were probably meteor frag- ments as well. But her job would be easy even so. Judicious blasting with the torch would take care of everytlaing. Placing a heavily padded foot in the still glowing furrow, she detached a magnetic clamp from her belt. Space lay around her and, as she worked, she felt a nameless dread seep into her be- ing. The face of the planet was directly above. Desperately, she tried not to look at it. Despite her efforts, she could not'- help but glance upward at its looming immensity, cringing as she did so. It was so horribly large — failing on her. It seemed to be drawing her u^, the way an electromagnet catches a piece of scrap-iron. And around her was space, space filled with pinpoints, billiatd ball-s, and footballs of light. She knew she must not stop to look at them. They would charm away her senses and burn oat her eyes. She knew this without ever having been told. Tlicre was a horror in space, not anything alive, but a dread that chilled and stole away one’s life. (Continued On Page 112) GENUINE DIIAIVIONDS ON APPROVAL I ' SEND ONLY 10 MffNTHS Ta PW . YouT-Moh>(y Boejk - if)Not"Sa(isfi«d No. 41„V?“ Witch. 7 jaweis. Dustproot, Shock- tirool. With Hsity. wood link tmcelat. WriRen $1 i nr ouinntae. • ••'w No. 14 S-,.,, Jewali. Gamilno Fully guarantaeii. Exeillant ----- •14.95 No. 227„r,r^ Sllf ART L A D t K ^ mAMOXD RING. •! 0 n u I a e pcrfo^tl) a t c b ed dlam.ntlK »t (n 14 St. fiilld whlto OF yeltovr moiintlnir. •dU- Ho. 299 enTigotaftit r I n a ind 3 - Dianwnd woddlnR ring. 14 Kl. BoUd sold, porfoctly matched. Both *2995 IRTB GOLD STONE RING the lidy. Unuiual^ month daiired I •“ ’11.95 Wrl» Foe FREE CaUlos HOW 90 ORDER; Sand only *1. Pay balancB (a 10 monthly paymentt. State aie, Mcuntisn. No axtra tharfi. No rod tape. Orders filled premptly. ORDER TODAY. ASTHMA U you auiTer from Asthma Paiwn.r«ma. from courha. KaapiOF. wheeklnF — errita quick for daring FRICB TRIAL OFFEB of amazing relief. Inquiries from so-called “hopeless'* cases especially Invited. Write. NAOOB, «g88-x. State iJffe Btde.. ladlAnapoUs, tod. SCREW IN PLUG aUORESCENT Screw* tnlo Socket Like Ordinary Bulh p^ES_^low^aa^n.5S incUidln^^be •CTc\» lu aii.t lFte-kino fST g^*ruiur PLIJOHIESCENT BiM tbo LwbL— Liko daylraht. AvMtUowa^ofle ou:aaO oaod. Kuib cuuaa (oc ImU. All baei NAMCO. Oapt. «M. 033 E. Efia St. Chlcaie, III. Seektete, and ether novettiae. Caeh booklet Size 4',2 by 3M. Tea diflarant sample bosklate sent for SOe er 25 attortad for $1.50 er too bitortad far *2.00. Shipped prepaid. Whalasala nayaltv write Mat tent with order oely. No ordara sent C. 0. D. Caih. Staw^ or Menay-Ofder, Rapsaa 9 ' '' '* iiCo.. I W. 13th St! Oepl. D-12. W.V.C. “RHEUMATIC PAINS" MAKE THIS TEST FREE ir you’ll Ititt lend me your ntree and address. I'll mall you ABSOLl'TBLT FREE a panarous irlal tr't auiiply i>( Ute NUW IMPROVKU CASE COMBINATION METHOD fnr relief of tbaae ag.KiiFlna pains cemmwily aa«oelaiod with RUEUklATIC. SCIATIC. .tRTIIRTTir. and NEUKALOir condlt.ione. No matter hoi* loop you liate had thoso awlul oaloa you oits it to yourself and your di‘ar ones to tiy roy new lEnprored Caso CnnihliiaUmi Method. IT I»OEf*.VT COST YOU ONE PENNY TO TRY IT. «0 SEND TOCU NAME AND ADDRbi^S TODiT. PAUL CONI-:. UrorktuO, Naan. Ill

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Fuiure Fiction WHEN THE WAR IS WON— Wliat manner ot lU* will prevail in ttt« Oalted SUtea? How can w« m««t tb« national 4«bt burden? Will prlntinS'PresB money bo Baoeaeary? Where will we And jobs for demoblliaed soldiers? What bind of taxes will be Imposed? Host ws gc late a deprcsaioD? Is fascism or communism the next step? Ton are searching for the answers to these qnes- tiena We all are. Opinions are nseless. We need knowledge. We need an understanding of the laws of Political Economy which give meaning to social trenda PROGRESS AND POVERTY Millions of peopio havs read and enjoyed this eaptlvatlng velum# en fundamental eco* Domics. As Amertoan classic, the baodbeek of ecMomio democracy. It has been trans- lated Into nearly evory cfrll* Izcd language. It makes oco* nomics understandable, bttai- Ised what was known as tka "dismal setenea* Ppep Home Study Course in ^lll■El Fundomentol Economies Tka aabject la vital; tha reading reoulres con- centration. As n help la underataadiBg at its teob- nieaJIUes, and ta higtutgbt its Important concepts, we offer n free correspondence eewrea Ca every purchaser of '‘Progress and Poverty." Ten easy lessons, esch covering a reading asslgnmenC In the book. Taer answers ara corrected and cammanted upen by trained men. There la no Charge («r this coarse, FrleaOa of the Henry George Schoel af Sectal Sefenea make It poseible because they believe that the wide dls- aemlnatlott of a knowledge at ecanamlea will make for a happier people. Send for This Book To-day This 671 page book, beautifully printed, cloth bound, will be sent ta you postpaid, (or only One Dollar. By the earns mail yeu will receive your ftrst lesson paper af the Frea Carrespandence Oeursa When yen have finished the ten lessens you will be sorbrlBed at the wider oaderstandihg this study haa brought ta yon. Han’t delay. Pill out and mail this ceupon today. M. L. SALES CO.. Depf. 12 Room 316, 60 Hudson SC, Ntw VoPk City Enclosed find One Dollar for which send me copy of "ProgrcM and Poverty" and enrell me In yonr PRES cerrespondence course. Name Address City d State 112 (Confinued From Page 111) Slowly, carefully, she made her way up the side of the ship, using her torch, when necessary, to clear obstructions. Finally she reached the nose, rested against the boldly painted nameplate Ares. A sense of the horrible irony of the situation struck her. If they had immediately fired the forward rockets when the meteor struck, the tremen- dous blast furnace would have melted the obstruction, for. she saw now, it was very slight. Given a chance to harden, how- ever, it was a different story; to blast now, with it there, would blow out the tubes. She understood, now, why men who had faced all manner of Terrestrial dangers had become weak and helpless here. They had been fools, all of them, to come on this flight without conditioning — space was no place for humans unless they had been con- ditioned to it gradually. And they had thought themselves so clever in the way they had evaded the reejuirements for a license. She pressed the signal button at her waist as the last trace of the obstruction was eaten away. An instant later, there was an an- swering flash in the small metal tube next to it; they bad been watching the control button. A single tear ran down her nose as she thought: "J hope they go to bell, damn them." Pulling her hand from the magnetic clamp, she straightened up stiffly, and, with a hard, <^uick push jumped clear of *the ship. It swerved suddenly and with dizzying vio- lence knocked her clear of their rockets. She had not considered the imminence of them before. The thought of being charred .... Earth loomed above her. She had not the acceleration of the ship. Soon it would leave her behind. She would float out here in an orbit of her own, a second moon. Perhaps a meteor would strike her some day; perhaps in the future space-voyagers would find her and bring her home. Soon, within an hour at the most, there would be no more air. But why wait hours ? With a sudden movement, she threw open the hel- met of her suit. The ship was gone now. Michael and Erik were safe. And something tenuous had clamped itself over her nose and mouth so that she could no longer breathe. For an instant she struggled, lungs bursting, as in the throes of a nightmare. Her thoughts cried out, "Michael! Michael!’* ' The darkness gathered her in.

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“SECRETS of LOVE and MARRIAGE” Daringly Revealed Edited by Dr. Edward Podolsky This is an enlightened age. Are you one of those, etill afraid to know the truth about the many intimate (juea* tions of man or woman? Or are you one of those who thinks— “I know it all” — and is actually unaware of isi patti many important facts and pleasures? Do you know how iliyttra- jjyg complete, vigorous and delightful sex life? Do you know your part In the game of love? Every happy marriage Is based, to a great extent, on a happy sex life. But how can you lead a satisfactory love life, if you do not know — or are not sure, of the many, many facts and ways of love, of marriage, of sex — of the 1000 ways of a man with a woman! Are you getting ALIi that you expected, that you dreamed of — from your love, from your marriage, from your sex life? Or are doubts and difficulties in the art of love troubling you, holding you back, spoiling everything? Offers a Liberal Edueofion in Sexual Science At last the wholft truth about sex! The time has come to bring this intimate and necessary knowledge into the light of day — into the-hands of every adult man and wom- an who wants to lead a satisfactory, healthy, full love life. Written in simple and frank Untruage— SECRETS OF LOVE AND MAR- RIAOE explains; How to attract the opposite sex— how to win love — how to conduct your- self during your honeymoon. The book teach- es the proper sexual eoaduct in marriage and the technique of performing the sex act. The book explains: the problems of the wife and how to solve them— and the problems of the husbands and how to overcome them. Some- times they are actual physical disabilities, such as Impotence, sterility, etc. The book advises you on correcting these difficulties. It also devotes a chapter to "BIRTH CON- TROL.” with reasons for and against — and the method of accomplishing. It features a table of “safe periods.” It explains concep- tion. pregnancy. In short. It is a complete teacher and guide on practically every phase of Love and Marriage. "Secrets of Love and Marriage” is an end- less source of intimate, intriguing informa- tion, from the first awakening of youthful love to the full flowering of grand passion. . . answering many questions you hesitate to ask oven your closest friends. Tou must know the real facts and ways or be cheated out of life's most precious pleasures! Lei Us Send Yon This Book on Triol! Send no monei- now. Just mall the coupon. When book arrives, deposit with postman only 98c plus shipping charges, under our MONET BACK GUARANTEE. Tou risk noth- ing. Mall coupon now. ■ •■■■awwaawaiawwwBiawaewawww** HKRA1.D PUBLISHING OO., DcpL DA*U S 2$ East nth St., New York, N. | ud Bie "SECBETS OP LOYT AND MABBUOE." g in plkin wteppBr. 1 will pay pwlaiSD 98e plus iblo- ■ ping eofti oa dellTBry. I cio return tbe (took, if not . leturied. end 07 OMMJ wiU be retuaded. et to be popu- lar?—Embrseing bodies and kiss- ing lips dangerous?— yearning ds- sires dlfflcull to control. Chapter I — How to produce Ideal rondltlons for mirittl relations Chapter 8— Birth Central A moral liiue long debated— arguments in faror and against limitation of cbildrsn—mechanlcal coatrlrances against law — earloua matbodi used — no method tdeil. Chapter 19— Mistaken ideas on — Adrics Chapter I Chapter 12— Prepnansy Changes (ollowlag reciillsatloa — first indlcetioru of prignancy — cate of ptospectiee mothsc— abor- tions and mitcarrlsgsi— dangers of prognancy— prepersitoni for blrlb — pregnincy 280 days eppreoi- mitely- Chapter IS — Techniques fa»orab1» for mutUsl satisfaction. Chapisr 14— Can Sex ei Unbwa Child Be Chestn Science inreitlgatlng etrlous theories — no certain metbodi. Chapter IS— Mstherheod Aciuil process of childbirth — follow doctMr*e Instructions — caesarian operations — puerperal ferer — eummtry for protpoctlra mothers. Chapter la — Metheds of Easy Childbirth Select doctor you hare complete confidence in — follow his initruc- tloni— anesthetlci which dlttliiltb tabor pains wiiboul Iniuriiig In- fant. Chapter 17— Intimate BueetUa* of Husbands Orsreoming some common sexual problems — how to attsin “contr^" — importance of prolonged eouit- ehlp-^ffecl of frequency of con- trol—overcoming (rigidity in wires — cin impoteney be orercome— or- ganic dericieocias — ririous faults snd their remedies. Chapter IS— Intimate Questleni o? Wives ImporteruA of free discussion with husban^BTOid haste— be pa- tient— etrive for perfection-^ex o mutual matter— abstinence and ox- resses— Intimate women problems. Chapter I^Feminine Hygiene and Beauty How to develop your charm and ter appesl. Chapter 29— Discussion of lexua types. HERALD PUBLISHING COMPANY 26 East 17th St, Dept. DA-12 New York 113

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A KEY TO MODERN SHOP PRACTICE PRACTICAL INSIDE INFORMATION For Every Machinist, Toolmaker, Engi- neer, Machine Operator, Mechanical Draughtsman, Metal Worker, Mechan- ic or Student. This 1600 Page Handy Book Covers Modem Machine Shop Practice in All Its Branches. A COMPLETE INSTRUCTOR WITH READY REFERENCE INDEX New from Cover to Cover. Tells How to Operate and Set Up Lathes, Screw & Milling Machines, Shapers, Drill Presses & All Other Machine Tools. 5 PRACTICAL BOOKS IN ONE! 60 FULLY ILLUSTRATED CHAPTERS Covering: 1 — Modern Machine Shop Practice. 2 — Blue Print Reading and How to Draw. 3 — Calculations & Mathe- matics for Machinists. 4- -Shop Physics. 5 — How to Use the Slide Rule. YOUR QUESTIONS Easy to read and underatand — flexible covers — Handy aze 6 X 6^ X 2 — a ready reference that answers your questions accurately. ..ASK TO SEE ITL. TO GET THIS ASSISTANCE FOR YOURSELF SIMPLY HU IN AND HAIL COUPON TODAY 4 COMPLETE I PAT A ll TNEO. AUOEL & CO, 49 West 23rd St, New York Mail AUDELS MACmNISTS & TOOLMAK- ERS HANDY BOOK, Price $4 on 7 Days Free Trial, If O. K. I/will remit SI in 7 days and SI Monthly until $4 13 Paid. OUierwisel will return it. THEO. AUDEL & CO., 49 VV. 23rd St, NewVi rk I -/

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WOftDER