0^1 , , ._ asvV/ ^ ^ ' ook3tlic hidden secrets, niystfrii*.-* and Intrijftios of tho Orient fairly Imp from thu panes. S'oro your very eyes spreads 3 swiftly moving pano> ramatliat takes you nreathlcss from (ho Iukm places of Hoeiety — from homed of refinement and luxurj to in siiii-sirr underworlds of London and- iho Fur Rast | *av — from 1'lrradllly and Hfoadway ti> Inrredihlu 1/ scenes behind Idol temples in far o(T China- 1 — Atpfc^ to tlin Juncles of Malay, alontf strange pat lis y 54 _ to ibo very scat of flindu sorveo'- " 2 oii*r ^. U Volume. Packed with Thrill. *^^tSm*V/ 0° tho first Jn! your community to ^JiVc own these. 1 1 id most wonderful Ori- *v_ _ ^ onial mystery stories ever publish- caanf«$) wf Iww tkii that havo sold by Iho i*t juur — ltonks you will enjoy readme fiver and over ntmln. ITand- etomely Uniiid in subataiuial eluthcnvers, a proud aili»m , merit for your table or shelf. These aro the soi l or storii* that President Wilson. Roosevelt and ol lnr p i ;n men trail tohelpthotn relax — to forget t heir burdens. To mthI tin-* absorbing Mies »>r tlie inyMerioU't Kasl is toe. worries into oblivion — to increase > our elllcienej . Priced for Quick Sale Prltirinc ttirm vntumrs by the hundred th'iu-^iirl vlii-n piner vm cheap iiukc-i chit low |incc pu.-olblc. Only i* limit til nuiiibta" left. Uui't ItiiC a mi mat! Complete Sett Free on Approval Ynj ncr*lo't srnti :inrl ihl* omtitof set will coin y>u liniiinliilelj . :itl rliurvrs repaid. II 11 lolls lo dt> IlnU yuu. rut urn It lu lilt iIjj s at our cM-ciisc. paid, your wt o? undml thousand tmiiclihlgli- pricos «n«r 10 dam, I oju detlcbt- *£» ed. I will MDdSl.— jy &od 01. un a mi _ H months: when you receive my ire to send me * ^t. ItboutMtmcuit, Otherwise. I will return th© m* In lo X day* bi y«"ire\peasc, tiiecxMiiliLuiuu to -y, I ctibLaifltiutbiu^ ^PREMIUM-YOURS^cZ" 1 ! s This f.vnom Curkha Kukri nf luilld bra**, fik" lone, lau " tiy trtc IPnilii Miltllers In tlic WorU , ..,„ , .,,>rnbMl liy klMlliu: In lili>tirTlcig*iaT 'Tlie Dnims of tlic lore ami Aft .'" llxqiiL-lioly wrought ontwei ;|t1<-4 tn an andivit syriitmlical il<^l:n. A rurc curio t« liaveu gualr tily mi liainl <*UIt»r " wllrniiit tulflcd Ci>4l tiremuim fur promplDM - liul you nn^t Ml lodar' | A3*-* i ( V , h ou cash deduct k « McKinlay.Stone & Mac! enzies.w T«k, n~ w Just ATwist Of The Wrist Banishes Old-Style Can Openers to the Scrap Heap and BRINGS AGENTS $5 T'OMEN universally detest the old-style can opener. Yet in every borne in the land cans are being it. often several times a day. Imagine how icy welcome this method — this automatic C their moot distasteful job. With the Speedo machine you can just put the can in the i the handle, and almost instantly the job This Waste and Danger June II. BO RDeedos: Jun« SO. hi 8t»«lM; tm 30, lBi Speedo*; Mr I. 288 apeedos. ftMfe sells to 9 out of it prospect*." M. Ornoff, Vs. PART TIME W Sale* Id 2 Hours I- I. Corwln. Alii.. "Send more ordar I "old ftrtt 14 hat * nasty, dangerous Job It is -fashioned can opener. You have slowly— rip ping a jagged furrow •round the edge. Next thing you know, the ca n opener slips. Good night I You've torn a hole In your Anger, As liable as not It will get in- rfected and stay sore a long j time. Perhaps even your life i will be endangered from ' blood poisoning I You may be lucky enough to get the can open wit hout cut- ins yourself. Bat there's still the fact to consider thai the ragged edge of tin left around the top makes H al- most] Impossible to pour out all of\thc food. Yet now, all this trouble, waste and dan- gt-r la. ended. No wonder salesmen everywhere are find- ing thl\ Invention a truly -revolutionary money maker I New "Million Dollar" Can Opextmg Machine The Speedo holds the can- opens it — Alps up the Lid so you can grab h — and give* you hack the can without' a drop spilled, without any rough edges to snag your fln- to SIX IN AN HOUR gert— all In a couple of seconds I It's so easy y far -old child can do it In perfect safety! women — and men, too— simply ^ der Speedo salesmen often sell C and make up to $10 an hour. No . wild over HI No won- every house in the block Genertfus Free Test Offer Frankly, men, I realize that the profit possibilities of 4hlf proposition as outlined briefly h«re may seem almost in- credible to you. So I've worked out a plan by which youj can examine the invention and test its profits without risking one penny. Get my free still open— I I'll send you In -week, that br Osta while the territory you want la iiu ii ior you while you make the- ten. he facts about others making 875 to 91(0 also tell you about another fast-selling you two profits on every call. All yon tip — so grab your pencil and shoot me uic coupon right now. , CENTRAL STATES MFG. CO., DepL B-240S 4500 Mary At.. (E.t. over 20 year,) St. LouJa, Mo. is I C.alr.1 Si.la, Mfa- Co. j 41*0 M.rr A™, D.,1. B-J40S J St. Uuli, Mo. I Yea. r\i»! j OFFER. I N»m< I j Address I City J*t ] Chr-ck here if and details of your FREE State interested only In one for your home. wenng- advertisrrnents mention Newsstand Group — Men's List, when ans mm® On Sale the\ First Thursday of Each Month W. M. CLAYTON, HAUI RATES, Urine OOUCUS M. DOLD. CeaanhJaa; Edllea fThe Clayton Standard on a Magazine Guarantees: TAaJ taa siariaa therein era tbu, liUMlag, »rrld | by I— Am0 writsn of Ik* day ud ^ i h mill aaaec frandllieae approved by lb* Aalhen' Laaane af Aaiariaai Taa* eaah ■ ■jaalanr are nunafeatnred la Dale* ahep* br Aaarlns — rbaiaii Teal aacb eewpdeajar and aeaal I* Innniad • fair praili Thmi an lalaQajaal iiaiirihlp anerae ibalr ■ eaVerualBR pagai Taa aiaer CJayfaa majaelaei eref ACE.H1GH 'MAGAZINE, RANCH * HOMANCES, CO* BOY STORIES, CLUES. FIVE.N0VEL3 MONTHLY, VIDE world adventures, all stab detective stobies, flyers. RANCELAND LOVE STORY MAGAZINE, SKY.MCH LIBRARY MAGAZINE, MISS 1930, mmj FOREST AND STREAM Mart Than Two Million Copies Required to Supply she Monthly Demand for Clayton Mataalues. ' i j - FEBRUARY, 19M 153 vol. i, no. 2 CONTENTS COVER DESIGN ' H. W. WBSSOLOWSKI Painted m Water-colors from a Scene in "Spawn of the Stars." OLD CROMPTONS SECRET. * HARL VINCENT Tom's Extraordinary Mackine Glowed — amd Ike Years Wtrt Banished from Old Cramp- ton's Body. Bnl Tkera Still Remained. Deep-stated in His Century-old Mind, the Memory of "His Crime, SPAWN QF THE STARS \ CHARLBS WILLARD DIFPIN Tke Bartk Lay Powerless Beneath Tkolt Lttthsomt, Yellowish Monsters That, Sheathed in Cometlihe Globe* Sprout from the Shies to Annihilate Man and Rednee His Cities to Ashes. THE CORPSE ON THE GRATING HUGH B. CAVE /■ the Gloomy Depths of the Old Warehouse Dolt Saw a Thlnf That Drew a Scream of Horror to His Dry Lips. It Was a Corpse— the Mold of Decay on Its Loaf. dead ' Features end Yet It Was Aline! « ' CREATURES OF THE LIGHT SOPHIE WENZBL BLLIS He Had Striven to Perfect the Faultless Man of the Future, and Had Succeeded— Tot Veil. For m the Pitilessly Cold Byes of Adam, His Super-human Creation, Dr, Muudson Saw Only Contempt— and Annihilation— for tht Human Ract. INTO SPACE N STERNER ST. PAUL What Was tht Bxtraordinary Connection Between Dr. Linermore's Sudden Disappearance and the Constat of a New Satellite to the Bartht THE BEETLE HORDB VICTOR ROUSSEAU Bullets. Shrapnel, Shell— Nothing Can Stop the Trillions of Famished, Man-sited Beetles Which. Ltd by a Madniau, Sweep Down Oner she Human Race. MAD MUSIC ANTHONY PBLCHBR Tht Sixty Stories of the Perfectly Constructed Colossus Buildint Had Mysteriously Crashed! What Was the Connection Between This Catastrophe and tht Weird Strains of the Mad Musician's ViolluT THE THIEF OF TIME CAPTAIN S. P. MEEK The Teller Turned to the packed Pile, of Bills. They Were Gout! And No Out Had' Been Ntarl let 167 19* 221 2» 248 Cull Stack Copiaa, 20 CanU (In Canada, 28 Centa) Yearly SubjcrhtioB, $2.00 larard mqnthty by PobUabrn' Fleeal Corporation. BO Lafayette St.. anal ; Hainan GoldmajiD. Secretary. jAppllentlon for entry aa teooi _ Mav York, loader Act of March I. Application for rerlatratkm of title aa Trade Mark pending In tat D. S. Patent Offlee. Member Newaatknd Group— Men'a List. For adycrtbnnn- ratea nd dre an B. B. Oenva a Qx. tsm-. V Vhnderbllt Aye.. New York : i tt> North MIchLjnn Aye, ChJcaaa, York. N. Y. W. V. Clayton. Preel. Pennine; at tke Peat ObVm i Half a Million People have learned music this easy way Ton, too, Can Learn to Play Tour Fsvorite Instrument Without a Teacher Easy as A'Jb'C YES, half a million. delighted men and women all over the world have learned music this quick, easy way. Half a million— 500,000 — what a gigantic or- chestra they- would make! ' Some arc playing on tfae stage, others in orchestras, and many thou- sands are daily enjoying the pleasure and popu- larity of being able to play some instrument. Surely this is convincing proof of the success of the new, modern method perfected by the U. S. School of Music 1 And what these people have done, YOU, too, can dot Many of this half million didn't know one note froth another — others had never touched an in- strument—yet in half the usual time they learned to play their favorite instrument. Best of all, they found learning music amazingly easy. No monot- onous hours of exercises — no tedious scales — no expensive teachers. This simplified method made learning music as easy as A-B-Cl It It like a fascinating' tame. From the very Hart you axe playing* real tuna, perfectly, by note. Yon simply can't go wrong, for every step, from beginning* to end, U right before your eyea In print and picture. First you are Void bow to do a thing, then a picture show* you bow, then you do It yourself ir It And almost be- wiat ramunirr roi Tour Visas E* Imt D»l sis Trsss Sisal ajatfas (Pt«srr«M l-Strlsi Wm sas tfSBcb CaHai ■rait *mi Cw-mHm fore yon know It, playing your favorlt yoo arc trite pieces — Jan. ballads, classics. No private teacher could make it v clearer. Little theory- plenty of* accomplishment. That's why students of tbe U. 9. School of Music get abend twice as fast — tare* time* as fast as those who study old-fashioned, plodding methods. You don't need any special "talent.'* Many of the half-million who have already become accomplished players ne-ajr dreamed they possessed munlcal ability. They only wanted to play some Instrument — jast like yon — and they found they could quickly learn how this easy way. Just a little of your spare time each day Is need A— ana you enjoy every minute of h. The cost Is surprisingly low — averaging only a few cents a day — and the price Is the same for whatever Instrument you choose, AnV remember, you are studying right In your own borne — artthout paying big feat to private teachers. * Don't mils any more good times 1 Learn now to play your favorite Instrument and surprise all your friends. Change from a wallflower to the cents of attraction. Music Is the best thing to offer at a party — musicians are invited everywhere. Enjoy the popularity-' you have been missing. Gat your share of the must* clan's pleasure and* profit ! Start now I Free Booklet an.fl DaanousUaUoa Laasoa If you ate In earnest about wanting, to Jem the crowd of entertainers and be a "blr bit" at any party— If you really do want to play youo favorite Instrument, to become a performer whose services will be In de- mand — All out and mall /the convenient coupon — Vlng for our Free Booklet apd Free Demonstration Lesson. These explain our wonderful method folly and show yon how easily and quickly you can learn to play st little expense. This booklet will also tell you all about the amazing new Automatic Finoor Control, Instruments ars supplied when needed — cash or credit, U. S. School of Music. 9662 Brunswick Blag.. New York pity. U. g. gCHOOL OF HUaiC. • Stn Brsnrwfet Bids., New Ysrk CHy. Pirate and me roar fret book, "stock: Ti— nn In Tear Own Home " villi Intranrtkn by Dr. Frank Crane. Frer DemonsUv.- tlan la— on. tod pankvUr* of your sir payment plan. 1 an uuarattad In the follovLni "couth: Please mention Newsstand Group — Men's List, when answering advertisements Only 18 years did and earning $15,000 a year Works im Shoo Factory W. T. Cinoo was farced lo leave school at, an early age. His help wu needed at home. He took a **Job** fn a shoo farfofy Is Hooting- ton, W. Vs., al 912 ■ nek. Starts Siwdyimg at Horn* Canon determined lo make some- thing of himself before it wu too laic, u> he look up 4 couth with the International Correapaodenco Now Owns Big Bustmass Today W. T. Canon b the owner of one of the tasfot bail try set* ■via stallou In West Virginia, with, an Income of $15,000 a year. And be ii only 21 yean oldl Ltcturos at CoUtga Just a few month* ago a large college asked Canon to led tor be- fore a clam In ekctrtdly. That sbowt the^ practical valuo of bJa Bow to Barm Mora Momty If the I. C S. can smooth the path to success for men like W. T. Canon It can help yon. If ft can help other men to earn more money It can beip yon too. Tha Boss h Wattbtmg Torn &ow him yon an ambitious and are really trying to got ahead. De- cide today thai yon are at least ■Dug ■ to find out all about the ICS. and what It can do for yoa. ItaUMATIOHAL CORROPOMDiBOt SCHOOLS, ■*■ 1114-1 ■■Una Pecan. ant m phUaaUon. plea* and jut a espy Jfusw tnoalat, "Was WIm aed Way. n and fan, par- Ueolan abort la* easne ee/or* which I tu*a ourkad rFUu Urt below: \ lUIIHOI TRAIN IRS 0OURSES CoowmtaiH niaall Carrlat d aod Bin Lctlfrtiei , Onda Beam] 8 — lw . phy ,1M * typing . BUah ff"*T) l SnbjMU ! Caruvaina . SarrUe . IlluitnUns Iway atall den QLumbar Dealst Ml OA I AMD INDUSTRIAL COURSE! ~AfiBtlon aWeea aadBleani 3Fbai foreman Pinter Baallne and YeatllaUac k qMrt-MMal Worker , tlaaai Baiitaaw Ifariet Enalnatr las aad laapplnf . ftafrlemilon B Kailiwvr B. RTVWlilon . NbtUsUoo , aaaayw , Una and I ...... . fnllk Orttwr or BttpL , Cotton alaDefacturlaw . WaXm Hans" J ' AarleaUnra Orewiac rr yaimlaj, ■aaUo QB Please mcption Newsstand Gboup — Men's List, when answering advertisements S.ET RCA INSTITUTES START YOU OBT THE ROAD TO ... . Success ™radio Radio needs you . . . That's why the entire Radio industry 1a calling for trained men. Radio is thrilling work <■ . . ca$y* hours, vacations with pay and a chance to see the world. Manufacturers and broadcasting stations are now eagerly seeking » j. w i . trained RCA Institutes men. ** o^d In/pJcTol Millions of tea need servicing . . . $1800 to- $4000 thousands of ships require expert* enccd operators ... Never before was there an opportunity like this! This is the Only Course Sponsored by Radio Corporation of America RCA sets the standards for the entire Radio industry . . . The RCA Jn statutes' Home Laboratory Training Course enables you to Sulckly -learn all the secrets of .adio ..... In your spare time you* can obtain a thorough; practical education in Radio. You learn Radio by actual experi- ence with the remarkable outlay of apparatus given to every stu- dent. That's why every graduate of Station OfreratorJISOO SB*40ap«Ycar. For die added anrenfence of iro- denu who p re fer a Resident Study Coune, RCA Institute*, Inc., hat established Resident Schools In the following diicat New York .... 316 Broadway Botcon, Mau. • ■ 899 Boylitoo St. Philadelphia, Pa. . J 211 Chestnut St. Baltimore'. M at Home to Fill a Big-Pay tyuliojob I ( you are tarn inn a otnnv less than 350 L Menstke PROOF |« wfaaurw Tlsnsj "Recently I made S3TQ m one month m my spare time installing, Wrvic- inc. selling Ra- dio Sets.- Barle Cumminga, II Webster St., Haverhill, Mass. Mcmt* I believe to be the brge*t and best- equipped Radio loop in the Sorth- west and alto op- erate KOFI. I am averaging $450 s month." Frank M. Jones, •W Guadalupe St, San Angelo, Tex. I ( tou are earning a penny less than 150 a week, send for my book of information on the opportunities in Radio. It's FREE, (.'lip the coupon NOW. A flood of roM \m pouring into Radio, creating hundreds o? big-pay jobs. Why go along at $25* SJJil or $45 a week when the good jobs in Radio pay $00, $75 and up to $250 a week? "Rich Rewards in Radio" gives full information on these big jobs and explains how you can quickly learn Radio through my easy, practical home-study trainmjr. fotorlM «f MO tm tag o m W«*k Not UmwmI The amazing growth of Radio has astounded the. world. la a few abort years three hun- dred thousand jobs have been created. And the biggest growth is still to conic. That's why salaries oi $50 to $250 a week are not unusual. Radio f jmply hasn't got nearly the number of thoroughly trained rrlcn it needs. Ymm Cos Lm Qwlriity i Uundnda of N. R. I. trained mm are today mak tag blf money— hoJdlni -down htf jobs In Ulr Radio field. Tou. too. should am n»o Radio. You cu »ut borne, -bold /out W and tarn In your tw* Umo. La£» of blah school education or Radio experience ere no drawbacks. Km Em tlf, SM. «M W«Ur Om Um llii Wall* UmIh I teach tou to begin mafcuia money sbonly after you enroll. My new practical method ruMhm this poaslble. 1 al*o >ou MX BIO O IT PITH of Radio pert* and teach tou -to build practically etery type of reotlrlni set known. 11. E. Bull Iran. 413 "3rd St., RrowsJjn, N. T.. writes: "I made 17*0 wall ft mudy Ing." d. W. I'aa*. 1R0T 31tt At*. R.. NaUuille. Tetm.. "1 picked up 9943 In my spare time while atudyiui." 1 Tan Uonmj Baifc U Nat InUM Mr eourv ou you fir all lines — menu fact urine*, aelliu. nerticlni sets, larbuauieu for yodr-eK, operat- ins on board ablp or In a broadcajtt Inc Italian— and nuuiF others- 1 back up my train Ini wttb a aimed efreemeni to refund «iery penny of your money If. after completion, ton are not aatlaBea wlib tie les- sons and Instructions I aire you. act now-niw M-r*s* »•©« u rail Sand for this big book of Radio Information. It has put hundred* of fellows on the road to bluer pay and success. Uet It. Bee what Radio off en you. and bow my Employment' T>i«nment helps Tou set Into Radio ana* rou graduate, nip or tear out ibe coupon and mail It lliailT NOW. J.E SaUk.rV*tfc*Mt. feat MM National Radio Icslilite Wu Ma ft cm, D. C mait Service to all to big pay aWtfflHKaW Mail This FRElCOUPONToday J. E. SMITH. Presldint. Dtpt OB M. Natlanal Radio InitlloU. Waihlnatan. D. C. Dear Mr. Smith: Send me your Free book "Ittch Reward* In Radio." alrlnt Information on in* bil-mon*y opportunities In Radio and y-mr practical method of teacfainc with six Radio Outfit*. | ir- under no obliasuon. Name.. Age_ Please mention Newsstand Group— Men's List, when answering advertisements Wi'rraiMin V asm tarn «Ka «■> n<>a«l i A«Ml« i,^ iicKMiM Lggg tnan^c a Pay X accidbmT Which do you want? •■' Suppose' you met with an accident or sicknass toniyht — salary stopped — which would you prefer, ^ MS Weekly or Sympathy? Which would you Pay? Would you rather pay bills and household ex- pensed out of a slim savings account or ' a Which will your family want? Irt case of your accidental death*/ which wooU y: u rather give your family $1 0,000 Caah or Oyaapathyt $10 bill For ji Whole Year's Protection Againtt S I G K.N ESS ACCIDENT Get Cash instead of Sympathy If you met with an ■«!<■ 'dent in your home, on the Street, or road, in the field, or on your job— «w ill your income con* tiouer Remember, fen escape without accident — andtoone of us can tell what tomorrow holds for us. While you are reading this warning, somewhere some ghastly tragedy is taking its toll of human life or limb, some flood or fire, some automobile or train disaster. Protect yourself now. Get Cash instead of Sympathy If you suddenly became ill — would your income stop? What .if you contracted lobar .pneumonia, appendicitis operation, or any of the many common ills which are covered, in this strong policy, wouldn't you rest easier and convalesce mare quickly if you knew that this old line company stood ready to help lift from your shoulders distressing financial ,burdens in else of a personal tragedy. Pro- tect yourself now. Get Cash instead of , Sympathy I^^fonh American Accident Insurance Co., CrtiMpo]^ SM Wallacb BniUtag, afewuk. New Jsisey. , I I , Gntlenn : At ho cost to me seed details at | j New 110.000 Premier $10 Policy. 1 I Name ^ upon elate I Mall tJLa C+mp+* Mail the Coup bcforcit'i tptfli _ to protect your-*^ self against the chances ol (ate\ picking' you oat as its oefet victim. NO MEDICAL EXAMINATION $10 A Ymt Entire CoiU. No' Dues. No AuaunenUi MEN AND WOMEN 16 to 70 Years Accepted. 919.000 Principal. Sum. $10,000 Low of hands, feet or eyesight. $25 Weekly Benefit* for staled accidents or tick d esses. Doctor's Bills, Hospi ._ Emergency Benefit sua other liberal features to help in time of need- all deafly shown in policy. This is a simple and understand iMl Eilicy — without complicated or mis* adiruj clauses. Yon know encvr what every word means — and every word means exactly what it says. Largest and Oldest Exclusive Health and AceiaaaJ Insurance Company in .Amer" L Address * I ESTABLISHED OVER 40 YE 51 Please mention Newsstand Guuup — Men's List, when answering advertisements > Old Crompton's Secret By Haul Vincent bizarre TWO miles west of the village usually accorded the other of Laketon there lived an aged characters of the streets, recluse who was known only as ' The oldest inhabitants knew nothing Old Crompton. As far back as of his past history, and they had long the villagers could remember he had since lost their curiosity in the matter. Tinted the town regularly twice a month, each time tottering his lone- ly way homeward with a - load of provisions. He appeared to be wall supplied with funds, but pur- dw*ni the wrinkled, leathery countenance. He suspected an ulterior motive, but could not find it within him to turn the old fellow down. "Why— I guess so, Crompton," h*. hesitated. "I have nothing against yo8)f; OLD CROMPTONTS SECRET 155 hat I came here for seclusion and I'll not have anyone bothering me in my work." "I'll not 'bother you, young man. ,But I'm fond of pets and I see you nave many of them here ; guinea pigs, chick- ins, pigeons, and rabbits. Would you mind if I make frier/ds with some of them?" J "They're not pets," answered Tom dryly, "they are material for use in my experiments. But you may amuse your- self with them if you wish." "You mean that you cut them up— kill them, perhaps?" ' "Not that. But I sometimes change them in physical form, sometimes cause them to become of huge size, sometimes produce pigmy offspring of normal animals." "Don't they suffer?" "Very Beldom, though occasionally a •object dies. But the benefit that will accrue to mankind is well worth the ■light inconvenience to the dumb crea- tures, and the infrequent loss of their Uves." OLD CROMPTON regarded him dubiously. "You are trying to find?" he interrogated. "The secret of life I" Tom Porsythe'a •yes took on the stare of fanaticism! "Before I have finished I shall know the nature qf the vital force — how to produce it. I shall prolong human life indefinitely ; create artificial life. And the solution is more closely approached with each passing day." The hermit blinked in pretended ■ratification. But he understood per- fectly, and he bitterly envied the younger man's knowledge and ability that enabled him to delve into the mys- teries of nature which had always been ■o attractive to his own t mind. And somehow, he acquired a sudden deep hatred of the coolly confident young ■an who spoke so positively of accom- plishing the impossible. During the winter months that fol- lowed, the strange acquaintance prog- ramed but little. Tom did not invite his neighbor to visit him, nor did Old Crompton go out of his way to impose his presence on the younger man, though each spoke pleasantly enough to the other on the few occasions when they happened to meet. ' With the coming of spring they en- countered one another more frequently, and Tom found considerable of inter- est in the quaint, borrowed philosophy of the gloomy old mail. Old Crompton, of course, was desperately interested in the things that were hidden in Tom's laboratory, but he never requested per- mission to see them. He hid his real {feelings extremely well and was appar- ently content to spend as much time as possible with the feathered and furred subjects for experiment, being very careful not to incur Tom's displeasure by displaying too great interest m the laboratory itself. / THEN there 'came a day in early summer when an accident served to draw the two men closer together, and Old Crompton's long-sought op- portunity followed. He was starting for the village when, from down the road, there came a series of tremendous squawkings, then a bel- low of dismay in the voice of his young neighbor. He turned quickly and was astonished at sight of a monstrous rooster which had escaped and was headed straight for him with head down and wings fluttering wildly. Tom followed dose, behind, but was unable to catch the darting monster. And monster it was, for this rooster stood no less than three, feet in height and appeared more ferocious* than a large turkey. Old Crompton had 1 his shopping bag, a large one of burlap which he always carried to town, and he summoned enough courage to throw it over the head of the screeching, over- sized fowl. So tangled did the panic- stricken bird become that it was a com- paratively simple matter to effect his capture, and the old man rose to his feet triumphant with th^ bag securely closed over the struggling captive. 156 ASTOUNDING STORIES "Thanks," panted Tom, when he drew alongside. ' "I should never have caught him,' and his appearance at large, might have caused me a great, deal of V trouble — now of all times." "It's all right, Foray the," smirked ahe old man. "Glad I was able to do it." Secretly he gloated, for he. knew this occurrence would be an open sesame < to that laboratory- of Tom's. And it proved to be just that. A FEW nights Liter he was awak- ened by a vigorous thumping at his door, something that had never be- fore occurred during his nearly sixty years occupancy of the tumbledown hut. The moon was high and he cau- tiously peeped from the window and saw that -his late visitor was none other than young Forsythe. "With you in a minute I" he shouted, hastily thrusting his rheumatic old limbs into his shabby trousers. "Now to see the inside of that laboratory," he chuckled to himself. It required but a moment to attire himself in the scanty raiment he wore during the #arm months, but he could hear Tom muttering and impatiently pacing fhe flagstones before his door. "What is it?" he asked, as he drew thejbolt and emerged into the brilljant light of the moon. "Success I" breathed Tom excitedly.' "I have produced growing, living mat- ter synthetically. More than this, I have learned the secret of the vital force — the spark of life. Immortality is within easy; reach. Come and see for yourself." \ ' . W They quickly trav8»Afct|sV«hort dis- tance to the. two-stoCT jfrpM jtfe which comprised Tom's w6^spMp9y>d. Irving quarters. The entire ' groumf floor was taken up by the laboratory, and Old Crompton stared aghast at the wealth of equipment it contained. Furnaces there were, and retorts that reminded him of those pictured in the wood cuts in some of his musty books. Then there were complicated machines with many levers and dials-mounted on their faces, and with huge glass bulbs of pe- culiar shape with coils of wire connect- ing to knoblike protuberances of their transparent walls. In the exact center of the great single room there was what appeared to be a dissecting table, with a brilliant light overhead and with two of the odd glass bulbs at. either end. It was to this table that Tom led the excited old man. "This is my perfected apparatus," said Tom proudly, ""and by its use I intend to create a new race of super- men, men and women who will alwayt retain, the vigor and strength of their youth and who can not die excepting by actual destruction of their bodies, Under the influence of the rays all bodily ailments vanish as if by magic, and organic defects are quickly cor- rected. Watch this now." HE stepped to one of the many cages at the side of the room xai returned with a wriggling cottontail in- his hands. Old Crompton watched anx- iously as he picked a nickeled instru- ment from a tray of surgical appliances and requested his visitor; to hold the protesting animal while he covered its head with a handkerchief. • "Ethyl chloride;* explained Tom, noting with amusement the' look of dis- taste on the old man's face. "Well just put him to sleep for a minute while I amputate a leg." The struggles of the rabbit quickly ceased when die spray soaked the hand- kerchief and the anaesthetic took, ef- fect. With a shining scalpel and a sur- gical saw. Tom speedily removed one of the forelegs of the animal and thes he placed the limp body in the center of the table, removing the handker- chief from its head as he did so. At the end of the table there was a panel with its glittering array oi switches and electrical instruments, and Oil Crompton observed very closely the manipulations of the controls as Tea started the mechanism. With the en- suing hum of a motor-generator from*, comer of the room, the four bulbs ssV OLD CROMPTON*S SECRET 157 Jtcent to the table sprang into life, each glowing with a different color and each* emitting a different vibratory note as it responded to the energy within. "Keep an eye on Mr. Rabbit now," admonished Tom. From the body of the small animal there emanated an intangible though hazily visible aura as the combined ef- fects of the- rays grew in intensity. Old Crompton bent over the table and peered amazedly at the stump of the foreleg, from which , blood -no longer dripped.. The stump was healing over t Yea — it seemed to elongate as' one watched. A new limb was growing on to replace the oldl Then the animal struggled once more, this time to re- gain consciousness. In a moment it was fully awake and, with a frightened hop, was off the table and hobbling •bout in search of a hiding place. TOM FORSYTHE laughed. "Never knew what happened," he exulted, "rod excepting for the temporary limp k not inconvenienced at all. Even that will be gone in a couple of hours, for the new limb will be completely grown by that time." "But — but, Tom," stammered the old man, "this is wonderful. How do you iccomplish it?" "Hal Don't think I'll reveal my secret. But this much I will tell you : the life force generated by my appa- ratus stimulates a certain gland that's normally inactive in warns 1 blooded ani- aals. This gland, when active, poe- tesses the function of growing new ■sabers to the body to replace lost sues in much the same manner as this Is done in case of the lobster and cer- tain other crustaceans. Of course, the process is extremely rapid when the |hnd is stimulated by the vital rays from my tubes. But this is only one ai the many wonders of the process. Here is something far more remark- 'lie took from a large glass jar the sedy of a guinea pig, a body that was ngid In death. "This guinea pig," he explained, "was suffocated twenty-four hours ago and is stone dead." "Suffocated?" "Yes. But quite fbinlessly, I assure you. I merely remold the air from the jar with a vacuum pump and the little creature passed out of the picture very quickly. Now we'll revive it." Old Crompton stretched forth a skin- ny hand to touch the dead animal, but withdrew it hastily when he felt the clammy rigidity of the body. There was no doubt as to the Hfelessness .of this specimen. TOM placed the dead guinea pig on the spot where the rabbit had been subjected to the action of the rays. Again his visitor watched carefully as he manipulated the controls of the ap- paratus. With the glow of the tubes and the ensuing haze of eery light that sur- rounded the little body, a marked change was .apparent The inanimate form relaxed suddenly and it seemed that the muscles pulsated with an ac- cession of energy. Then one leg was 'stretched forth spasmodically. There was a convulsive heave as the lungs drew in a first long breath, and, with that, an astonished and very much alive rodent scrambled to its feet, blinking wondering eyes in the dazzling light. "See? .See?" shouted Tom, grasping Old Crompton by the arm in a' viselike grip. "It is the secret of life and death I Aristocrats, •plutocrats and beg- gars will beat a path to my door. But, never fear, I shall choose my subjects well. The name of Thomas Porsythe will yet be emblazoned in the Hall of Fame. I shall be master of the world I" Old Crompton began to fear tfte glit- ter in the eyes of the gauKt young man who seemed suddenly to have become demented. And his envy and hatred of his talented host blazed anew as For- sythe gloried in the success of his ef- forts. Then he was struck with an idea and he affected his most ingratiating manner. 158 ASTOUNDING STORIES "It is a marvelous thing, Tom," he said, "and is entirely beyond my poor comprehension. But I can see that it is all you say and more. Tell me— can you restore the youths of an aged per- son by these means?" "Positively I" Tom did not catch the eager note in the old man's voice. Rath- er he took the question as an inquiry into the further marvels of his process. "Here," he continued, [enthusiastically, "I'll prove that to yoi also. My dog Spot is around the place somewhere. And he is a decrepit old hound, blind, lame and toothless. You've probably seen him with me." HE rushed to the stairs and whis- tled. There was an answering yelp from above and the pad of uncer- tain paws on. the barb wooden steps. A dejected old beagle! blundered into the room, dragging a crippled hind leg as he fawned upon his master, who stretched forth a hand to pat the un- steady head. "Guess Spot is old , enough for the test," laughed Tom, "and I have been meaning to restore him to his youthful vigor, anyway. No time like the pres- ent." He led his trembling pet to the table of the remarkable tubes and lifted him to its surface. The poor old beast lay trustingly where he was placed, quiet, save for his husky asthmatic breathing. "Hold him, Crompton," directed Tom as he pulled the starting lever of his apparatus. And Old Crompton watched in fas- cinated anticipation as the ethereal lu- minosity bathed. the dog's body in re- sponse to the action of the four rays. Somewhat vaguely it came to him that the baggy flesh of his own wrinkled hands took on a new firmness and color where they reposed on the animal's back. Young Forsythe grinned tri- umphantly as Spot's breathing .-became more regular and the rasp gradually le'ft it. Then the dog whined in pleas- ure and wagged his tail with increasing vigor. Suddenly he raised his head, perked hiB ears in astonishment asi looked his master straight in thV fata with, eyes that saw once more. The le* throat cry rose to a full and joyous bark. He sprang to his feet from W der the restraining hands and jumped to the floor in a lithe-muscled leap tktt carried him half way across the rocuL He capered about with the abandon of a puppy, making extremely active use of four sound limbs. "Why — why, Forsythe," stammered the hermit, "it's absolutely incredible, Tell me — tell me — what is this remark- able force?" HIS host laughed gleefully. "Yob probably wouldn't understand tt anyway, but I'll tell you. It is as lis* pie as the nose on your face. The spuh of life, the vital force, is merely an «s>' trenrtly complicated electrical manifes- tation which I have been able to dupU- cate artificially. This spark or font ^is all that distinguishes living from ia- ^animate matter, and in living beinp 'the force gradually decreases in power as the years pass, causing loss of health and strength. The chemical composi- tion of bones and tissue alters, johds become stiff, muscles atrophied, sad - bones ..brittle. By recharging, as it were, with the vital force, the gland action is intensified, youth and strength is renewed. By repeating the procca every ten or fifteen years the same de- gree of vigor can be maintained indef- nitely. Mankind will become immortal That is why I say I am to be master si the world." Ftir the moment Old Crompton for- got his jealous hatred m the enthuaV asm with which he wadhmbued. 'Tost — Tom," he pleaded fa his excitement "use .me as a subject. Renew my youth. My life has been a sad one and a lonejg one^but I would that I might live $ over. I should make' of .it a far diM> ent one — something worth while. S«% I am ready." He sat on the edge of the gleamW table and made as'tt to lie down on kf gleaming surface. But his young baf OI4> CROMPTON'S SECRET 159 taly stared at him in open amusement ' "What? You?" he sneered, unfeel- ingly. "Why, you old fossil I I told p/a I would choose my subjects care- ^ folly. They are to be people; of stahd- and wealth, who can contribute to gat fame and fortune of one Thomas- forsythe." "But Tom, I have money," Old Crompton begged. But when he saw Ac hard mirth in the younger man's eyes, his old animosity flamed anew aid he sprang from his position and jfcook a skinny fore-finger in Tom's face. "Don't do that to me, you old fool I" ■booted Tom, "and get out of here. Think I'd waste current on an old cad- ger like you? I guess not I Now get , |st. Get out, I say I" Then the old .anchorite saw red. Something seemed to snap in his soured *M brain. He found himself kicking aid biting and punching at his host, •ao backed away from the furious on- drught in surprise. Then Tom tripped over a wire and fell to the floor with a force that rattled' the windows, his fero- cious little adversary on top. The younger man lay still where he had fallen, a trickle of v blood showing at Us temple. "My God I I've- killed him!" gasped Iks old man. With trembling fingers he opened Ton's shirt and listened for his heart- nuts. Panic-stricken, he rubbed the young man's wrists, slapped his cheeks, mi ran for water to dash in his face. But all efforts to revive him proved futile, and then, in awful fear, Old Cnapton dashed into the night, the ■kg Spot snapping at his heels as he an. BOpRS later the stooped figure of a shabby old man might have seen stealthily re-entering the hsjdy workshop where the lights still ■Vied, brightly. Tom Forsythe lay ifajH in the position in which Old QRnpton had left him, and the dog fphrled menacingly. Averting his gaze and circling wide of the body. Old Crompton made for the table of the marvelous rays. In minute detail he recalled every move made by Tom in starting and adjusting the apparatus to produce the incredi- ble results, he had witnessed. Not a moment was to be wasted now. Al- ready he had hesitated too lorg, for soon would come the dawn and possible discovery of his crime. But the inven- tion of his victim would save him from the long arm of the law, for, with youth restored, Old Crompton would cease to' exist and a new life would open its doors to the starved soul of the hermit. Hermit, indeed I He would begin life anew, an active man with youthful vig- or and ambition. Under an assumed name he Would travel abroad, would enjoy life, and would later become a successful man of affairs. He had enough money, he told himself. And the police would never find Old Cromp- ton, the murderer of Tom Forsythe I He deposited his small traveling bag on the floor ant fingered the controls of Tom's apparatus. He threw, the starting switch confi- dently and grinned in satisfaction as the answering whine of the motor-gen- erator came to his ears. One by one he carefully made the adjustments in ex- actly the manner followed by the now silenced discoverer of the process. Everything operated precisely as it had during the preceding experiments. Odd that he should have anticipated some such necessity I But something had told him to observe Tom's move- ments carefully, and now he rejoiced in the fact that his intuition had led him aright. Painfully he climbed to the table top and stretched his aching body in the warm light of the four huge tubes. His exertions during the strug- gle with Tom were beginning to tell on him. But the soreness and stiffness of feeble muscles and stubborn joints would soon be- but a memory. His pulses quickened at the thought and he breathed deep in a sudden feeling of unaccustomed well-being. 160 ASTOUNDING STORIES THE dog. growled continuously from his position at the head of his master, but did' not move to inter- fere with the intruder. And Old Crompton, in the excitement of the mo- mentous experience, paid him not the slightest attention. / His body tingled from head to foot with a not unpleasant sensation that conveyed the assurance of radical changes taking place under the influ- ence of the vital ray*. The tingling sensation increased in* intensity until it seemed that; every corpuscle in his veins danced to the tune of the vibra- tion from those globing tubes' that bathed him in an evefrspreading radi- ance. Aches and pains vanished from his body, but he soon experienced a sharp stab of new pain in his lower jaw. Wi^h an' experimental forefinger he rubbed the gum. He laughed aloud as the realization came to him that in those gums where there had been no teeth for more than twenty years there was now growing a complete new set. And the, rapidity of the process amazed him beyond measure. The aching area tapread quickly and was becoming real- JW uncomfortable. But then — and he consoled himself #ith the' thought — -nothing is brought into being without a pertain amount of pain. Besides, he was confident that his discomfort would soon be over. 1 He examined his hand, and found that the joints of two fingers long crip- pled with rheumatism how moved free- ly and painlessly. The misty brilliance surrounding his body was paling and he saw that the flesh was taking on a faint green fluorescence instead. The rays, had completed their work -and soon the transformation would be fully, effected. He turned on his side and slipped to the floor with the agility of a youngster. The dog snarled anew, but kepi steadfastly to his position. THERE was a small mirror over the wash stand at the far end of the room and Old Crompton made haste to obtain the first view of his reflected image. His step was firm and springy, his bearing confident, and he found ' that his long-stooped shbuMen ' straightened naturally and easily. Hi felt that he had taken on at least t*j« inches in stature, which was indeed 1st case. When he reached the mirror be peered anxiously into its dingy surface and what he saw there so startled him that he stepped backward in bow. merit. This was not Larry Crompton, but an entirely new man. The stiami y white hair had given way to soft, healthy waves of chestnut hue. Gone were the seams from the leathery coun- tenance and the eyes looked out clearly and steadily from under brows as thick and dark as they had been in his youth The reflected features were those of as. entire Btranger. They were not era reminiscent of the Larry Crompton of fifty years ago, but were the featttnt of a far more vigorous and preposseav ing individual than he had ever seemed, even in the best years of his life. TV jaw was firm, the once sunken chceb so we'll filled out that his high check bones were no longer in evidence, h was the face of a man of not more mm thirty-eight years of age,. Reflecting ex- ceptional intelligence and strength of character. "What a disguise I" he exclaimed in delight. And his voice, echoing in the stillness that followed the switcbiaf off of the .apparatus, was deep-throated and mellow — the. voice of a new, man. Now, serenely confident that disco* ery was impossible, he picked up bo small but heavy bag and started for the door. Dawn was breaking and he wished to put as many miles bcrfeea himself and Tom's laboratory as coakf be covered in the next few horn But at the door he hesitated. Then, despite .the furious yapping of Spot, he returned to'the table of the rays sod, with deliberate thoroughness smashed the costly tubes which had bronchi about his rehabilitation. With a pints bar from a nearby tool rack, he wrecked .the controls and generating mechan- isms beyond recognition. Now he wp OLD CROMPTOJTS SECRET 161 absolutely secure! No meddling ex- perts could possibly discover the. secret of Tom's invention. All evidence would show that the < young experi- menter had met his death at the hands of Old Crompton, the despised permit of West Laketon. But none would dream that the handsome man of means who was henceforth to be known as George Voight was that same despised hermit. He recovered his satchel and left the scene. With long, rapid, strides he proceeded down the old dirt road to- ward the main highway where, instead of turning east into the village, he would turn west and walk to Kerns- burg, the neighboring town. There, in not more than two hours time, his new life would really begin I HAD you, a visitor, departed from Laketon when Old Crompton did and returned twelve years later, you would have noticed very little differ- ence in the appearance of the village. The old town hall and the little park were the same, the dingy brick build- ing among the trees being just a little dingier and its wooden steps more worn and sagged. The main street showed evidence of recent repaving, and, in consequence of the resulting in- crease in through automobile traffic, there were two new gasoline filling sta- tions in the heart of the town. Down the road abouA half mile there was a new building, which, upon inquiring from one of the native's, would be proudly designated as the" new' high school building. Otherwise there were no changes to be observed. In his dilapidated chair in the untidy office he had occupied for nearly thirty years, sat Asa Culkin, popularly known as "Judge" Culkin. Justice of the peace, ^sheriff, attorney-at-law, and three times Mayor of Laketon, he was still a controlling factor in local poli- tics and government. And many a knotty legal problem was settled in that gloomy little office. Many a dis* pute in the town council was. dependent for arbitration upon the keen mind and understanding wit of the old judge. The four o'clock train bad just puffed its labored way from" the station when a stranger entered his office, a stranger of uncommonly prosperous air. The keen blue eyes of the old attorney ap- praised him instantly and classified him as a successful man of business, not yet forty years of age, and with a weighty problem oti his mind. >■ "What jean I do for you, sir?" he asked, removing his feet from the bat- tered desk top. "You may be able to help me a great deal. Judge," was the unexpected reply. "I came to Laketon to give myself up." "Give yourself up?" Culkin rose to his feet in surprise and unconsciously straightened his shoulders in the effort to seem less dwarfed before the tall stranger. "Why, what do you mean?" he inquired. "T WISH to give myself up for mur- X der," answered the amazing vis- itor, slowly and with decision, "for a murder conAnitted twelve years ago. I should like you to Uj^n to my story first, thougii. It Jh&b4>een kept too long." " fM\ "But I Btill dar not understand.", There was puzzlement in the honest old face ,pf the attorney. He shook his gray locks in uncertainty. "Why should you come here? Why come to me? What possible interest can I haVe in the matter?" "Just this, Judge. You do not rec- ognize me now, and you will probably consider my story incredible when you hear it. But, when I have given yon- all the -evidence, you will know who I am and will be compelled to believe. The murder was committed in Like- ton. That is whj; I came to you." "A murder in Laketon? Twelve years ago?" Again the aged attorney shook his head. "But — proceed." "Yes. I killed Thomas Forsythe." The stranger looked for an expres- sion of horror in the features t>i his listener, but there was none. Instead 162 ASTOUNDING STORIES the benign countenance took oh a look of deepening amazement, but the smile wrinkles had somehow vanished and the old face was grave in its surprised , interest. \ "You seem astonished," continued the stranger. "Undoubtedly you wye convinced that the murderer was Larry Crompton — Old Cromptonf the hermit. He disappeared the night of the crime and has never been heard from since. Am I correct?" "Yea. He disappeared all right. But continue," . Not by a lift of his eyebrow did Cul- kin betray his disbelief, but the stran- ger sensed that his story was somehow not as startling as it should have been. "You will think me crazy,' I presume. But I am Old Crompton. It was my hand that felled the' unfortunate young man in his laboratory out there in WeBt Laketon twelve years ago to-night. It was his marrelots invention ifhat trans- formed the old hermit into „th< appar- ently young mat; you see before you. But I swear that I am none pttic* than Larry Crompton and that L killed young Forsy\he. I am ready to pay the penalty. I can bear the flagellation of my own conscience no longer." THE visitor's voice had risen to the point of hysteria. But bis listener remained calfaand unmoved. "Now just let^ne get this 1 straight," he said quietly. "Do I understand that you claim to be Old Crompton, rejuven- ated in some mysterious manner, and 'that you killed Tom Foraythe on that night twelve years ago? Do I under- stand that you wish now to go to trial for that crime and to pay. the penalty ?" "Yes I Yes t And the sooner the bet- ter. I can stand it no longer. I am the most miserable man in the world 1" "Hm-m — hm-m," muttered the judge, "this is strange." He spoke soothingly to his visitor. "Do not upset yourself, I beg of you. I will take care of this thing for you, never fear. Just take a seat. Mister— er— " "You may call me Voignt fdr the present," said the stranger, in a more composed tone of voice, "George Voight. That is the name I have been using since the mux — since that fatal night." "Very well, Mr. Voight." replied the counsellor with an air of the greatest solicitude, "please have a seat now, while I make a telephone call." And George Voight slipped into a stiff-backed chair with a sigh of relief. For he knew the judge from the old days and he was now certain that his case would be disposed of very quickly. With the telephone receiver pressed to his ear, Culkin repeated a number. The stranger listened intently during the ensuing silence. Then there came a muffled' "hello" sounding in impa- tient response to the call. "Hello, Alton," spoke kthe attorney, "this is Asa speaking. A stranger has just stepped into my office and he claims to be Old Crompton. Remember the hermit across the road from your son's old laboratory? Well, this man, who bears no resemblance whatever to the old man he claims to be and who seems to be less than half the age of Tom's old neighbor, says that he killed Tom on that night we remember so well.'', THERE were some surprised re- marks from the other end of the wire, but Voight was unable to catch them. He was in a cold perspiration at the thought of meeting bir victim's father. s V' "Why, yes, Alton," continued Culkin, "I think there is something in this story, although I cannot believe it all.- But I wish you would accompany us and visit the laboratory. Will you?" "Lord, man, not that I" interrupted the judge's visitor. "I can hardly bear to visit the scene of my crime — and ill the company of Alton Forsythe. Please, not jthat I" "Now. you just let me take care of this, young man," replied the judge, testily. Then, once more speaking into the mouthpiece of the telephone. "All OLD CROMPTON'S SECRET 163 right, Alton. We'll pick you up at your office in five minutes." He replaced the receiver on its hook and turned again to his visitor. "Please be so kind as to do exactly as I re- quest," he safd. "I want to help you, but there is more to this thing than you know and I want you to follow' un- questioningly where I lead and ask no questions at all for the present. Things may turn out differently than you* ex- pect." "AJ1 right, Judge." The visitor re- signed himself to whatever might transpire ' under the guidance of the man he had called upon to turn him over to the officers of the law. "> SEATED in the judge's ancient motor car, they stopped at the ofice of Alton Forsythe a few minutes later and were joined by that red-faced and pompous old man. Few words were spoken during the short run to the well-remembered location of Tom's laboratory, and the man who was known as George Voight caught at his own throat with nervous fingers when they passed the tumbledown remains of the hut in which Old Cromptbn had spent so many, years. With a screech- ing of well-wom brakes the car stopped before the laboratory, which was now almost hidden behind a mass of shrubs and flowers. "Easy now, young man," cautioned the judge, noting the look of fear which had clouded his new client's fea- tures. The three men advanced to the door through which Old Crompton had -fled on that night of horror, twelve years before. The elder Forsythe spoke not a word as he turned the knob and stepped within. Voight' shrank from entering, but soon mastered his. feel- ings and followed the other two. The sight that met his eyes caused him to cry aloud in awe. At the dissecting table, which seemed to be exactly as he had seen it last but with replicas of the tubes he had de- stroyed once more in place, stood Tom Forsythe I Considerably older and ;with hair prematurely .gray, he was still the young man Old Crompton thought he -had killed. Tom Forsythe was -not dead after all I, And all of his years of misery had gone for nothing. He advanced slowly to the side of the won- dering young man, Alton Forsythe and Asa Culkin watching silently from just inside the door. "Tom — Tom," spoke the stranger, "you are alive? You were not dead when I left you on that terrible night when I smashed your precious tubes? Oh — it is too good to be true! I can scarcely believe my eyes!" HE. stretched forth trembling .'fin- gers to touch the body of the young man to assure himself that it was not tall a dream. "Why, 1 * said Tom Forsythe, in aston- ishment. "I do not know you, sir. Never saw you in my life. What do you mean by your talk of smashing' my tubes, of leading me for dead ?" "Mean ?" The stranger's voice rose now; he was growing excited. "Why, Tom, I am Old Crompton. Remember the struggle, here in this very room? You refused to rejuvenate an unhappy old man with your marvelous appa- ratus, a temporarily 'insane old man — Crompton. I was that old man and I fought with you. You fell, striking your head. There was blood. You were unconscious. Yesvior many hours I was sure you were de&d and that I had murdered you. But J had watched your manipulations of the apparatus and I subjected myself to the action of the rays. My- youth wis miraculously restored. I became as you see me now. Detection was impossible, for I looked no more like Old Crompton than you do. I smashed your machinery to avoid suspicion. Then, I escaped. And, for 'twelve years, I nave thought myseH a murderer. I have suffered the tortures of the damned I" & Tom Forsythe advanced on this re- markable visitor with clenched fists. Staring him in the eyes with cold Sp- ' praisal, his wrath was all too apparent. 164 • ASTOUNDING STORIES The dog Spot,, young as ewer, entered the room and, upon bbserving the stran- ger, set up an ominous growling, and snarling. At least the dog recognised him! vh^ , , "What are you trying to > *6, cate- chise me? Are you another of these alienists my father has been bringing around?" The young inventor was fu- rious. "If you are," hi continued, "you can get out of here — now I I'll have no more of this meddling with my af- fairs.. I'm as sane as any of you and I refuse to submit to this continual per- secution." The elder Forsythe grunted, and Culkin laid a restraining hand, on his arm. - "Just a minute now, Tom," he said soothingly. "This stranger is no alienist. He has a story to tell. Please permit him to finish. SOMEWHAT mollified, Torn For- sythe shrugged his assent. "Tom," continued the stranger, more calmly now, "what I have said is the truths I shall prove it to you. I'll tell you things no mortals on earth could know but we two. Remember the day I captured the big rooster for you — the monster you had created? Remember ger, there sto4d before them a bent, withered old-man — Old Crompton be- yond a doubt. The effects of Tom's process were spent. " "Well I'm damned I", ejaculated Al- ton Forsythe. "You have been right all along, Asa. And I am mighty glad I did not commit Tom as I intended. He has told us the truth all these years and. we were not wise enough to Bee it." "Wei" exclaimed the judge. "Your Alton Forsythe 1 I have always up- held him. You have done your son a grave injustice and you owe him your apologies if ever a father owed his son anything." "You are right, Asa." And, his aris- tocratic pride forgotten, Alton For- sythe rushed to the side of his son and embraced him. The judge turned to Old Crompton pityingly. "Rather a bad ending for you, Crompton," he said. "Still, it is better by far than be^ng branded as a murderer." ' \ "Better,? Better?" croaked Old Crompton. "It is wonderful, Judge. I have never been so happy in my life!" THE face of the old man beamed, though scalding tears, coursed the night you awakened me and" down the withered and seamed cheeks. brought me here in the moonlight? Re- member the rabbit whose legiyou ampu- tated and. re-grew? The poor guinea pig you had suffocated and Whose life you restored? Spot here? • Don't you 1 remember rejuvenating hin) ? I was here. And you refused to use your process on me, old man that I was. Then is when I went mad and attacked you. Do you believe me. Torn?" Then a strange thing happened. While Tom Forsythe gazed in growing belief, the stranger's shoulders sagged and he trembled as with the Ague. The two older men who had kfpt in the background gasptfd their astonishment as his hair faded to a sickly gray, then became as .white as the driven snow. The two Forsythes looked up from their demonstrations of peacemaking to listen to the amazing words of the old hermit. "Yes, happy for the first time in my life," he, continued. "I am one hundred years of age, gentlemen, and I now look it and feel it. That is as it should be. Ani my experience has taught me a final lasting lesson. None of you know it, but, when I was but a very young man I was bitterly disappointed in love. Hal ha I Never think it to look at me now,) would you? But I was, and it ruined my entire Hfe. 1 had a little money — inherited — and I traveled wilt in, the world for a few years, then' sttt.le'dMn that old hut across the, road Old Crompton was reverting to his ywhelfe I buried myself for sixty years, previous state I Within five minuteV becoming crabbed arid sour and de- inatead of the handsome young stran- spieable. Young Tom here was the first bright spot and, though. I admired him, I hated him for his opportunities, bated him for that whiolfhe had that I bad not. With the promise of hid in- vention I thought I saw happiness, a new life for myself, t got what I want- ed, though not in the way L had expect- ed. And I want to tell you gentlemen that there is nothing in it. With de- 0LD CROMPTONS SECRET 165 the long-nursed 'anger over the destruc- tion of his equipment melted into a strange mixture "of pity and admiration for the courageous old fellow. , * "Why, I guess I can, Crompton," he replied, '^Fhere was many a day when | struggled^bopelessly to reconstruct my apparatu^ cursing you with' every bit of energy in my make-up. I could velopments of modem science you may cheerfully have throttled you, had you be able to restore a man's youthful vig- or of body, but you can't cure his mind with electricity. Though I had a youthful body, my brain was the brain of an old man — memories were there which could nit be suppressed. Even had I not had the fancied death of young Tom on my conscience I should •till have been miserable. I worked. Cod, how I worked — to forget I But I could not forget. I was successsful in business and made a lot of money. I am more independent — probably wealthier than you, Alton Forsythe, but that did not bring happiness. I longed 4o be myself once more, to have the aches and pains which had been taken from me. It is natural ta age and to die. Immortality would make of us a people of , restless misery. We would quarrel and bicker and long for death, which would not come to relieve His. Now it is over for me and I am glad — glad — glad I" HE paused for breath, looking be- seechingly ajt Tom Forsythe. "Tom," he said, "I suppose you have nothing for me in your heart but hatred. And I don't blame you. But I wish — I wish you would try and for- give me. Can you?" The years had brought increased un- derstanding and tolerance to young Tom. He stared at Old Crompton and ^Heen within reach. Fpr twelve years I have labored incessantly to reproduce the results we obtained on the night of which you speak. People called me in- sane—even my father wished to have me committed to an asylum. And, un- til now, I have been unsuccessful. Only to-day has it seemed for the. first time that the experiments will again suc- ceed. But my ideas have changed-with regard to the uses of the process. I was a cocksure young pup in the old days, with foolish dreams of fame and influence. But I have seen the error of my ways. Your experience, too, con- vinces me that immortality may not be as desirable as I thought. But there are great possibilities in the way of re- lieving the sufferings of mankind and in making this a better world in which to live. With your advice and help I believe I can do great things. I now forgive you freely and I ask you to re- main here with me to assist in the work that is to come. What do you say to the idea?" At the reverent thankfulness in the pale eyes of the broken old man who had so recently been a perfect specimen of vigorous youth, Alton Forsythe blew v his nose noisily. The little judge smiled benevolently and shook his head as if to say, "I told you so." 'Tom and Old Crompton gripped hands— mighti- COMING, NEXT MONTH BRIGANDS OF THE MOON By RAY CUMMINGS The sky was alive with winged shapes, and high n the air skome ike glitter' img menace, trailimg five plumes of gas. Spawn of the Stars By Charles W Ulead DifUn WHEN Cyrus R. Thurston bought himself a single- motored Stoughton job he, was looking for new thrills. Flying around the east coast had lost its zest : he want- ed to join that jaunty group who spoke so easily of hopping off for Los Angeles. And what Cy- rus Thurston wanted he usually obtained. But if that young millionaire-sportsman had The Earth lay powerless beneath thoM loathsome, yellowish monsters that, sheathed in cometlike globes, sprang from the skies to annihilate man and reduce his cities to ashes. M been told that on his first flight this blocky, bulletlike ship waVto pitch him headlong into the exact center of the wildest, strangest war this earth had ever seen — well, it is still probable that the Staughton company would not have lost the sale. They were roaring through the-, starlit, cabs ! night, three thou- sand feet above a sage sprinkled desert when the trip ended. Slim Riley bad the stick when the first blast of hot oil the endless miles of moonlit waste ripped slashingly across the pilot's Wind? They had been boring into it. window. "There goes your old trip I" Through the opened window he he yelled. "Why don't they try putting spotted a likely stretch of ground, engines in these ships?" Setting down the ship on a nice piece He jammed over the throttle and, of Arizona desert was a mere detail for with motor idling, swept down toward Slim. 167 168 ASTOUNDING STORIES "Let off a flare,'' ho ordered, "when I give the 'word." THE white glare of it faded the star* as he sideslipped, then straightened out on his hand-picked field. The plane rolled down a clear space and stopped. The bright glare persisted while he stared, curiously from the quiet cabin. Cutting the mo- tor he opened both windows, then grabbed Thurston by the shoulder. " Tis a curious thing, that," he said unsteadily. His hand pointed straight ■Bead. The flare died, but the bright stars of the desert country still shone on a glistening, shining bulb. It was some two hundred feet away. The lower part was lost in shadow, but its upper 'surfaces shone rounded and silvery like a igiant bubble. It towered-', in the air, scores of feet above the chapparal beside it. There was a round spot of black on its side, which looked absurdly like a door. . . . "I saw something moving," said Thurston slowly. "On the ground I saw. . . . Oh, good Lord, Slim, it isn't reaU" Slim Riley made no reply. His eyes were rivetted to an'undulating, ghast- ly something that oozed and crawled in the pale light not far from the bulb. His hand was reaching, reaching. . . .- It found what he sought ; he leaned to- ward the window. In his hand was the Very pistol for discharging the flares. He aimed forward and up. The second flare hung close before it settled on the sandy floor. Its blind- ing whiteness made the more loath- some the sickening yellow of the flabby flowing thing that writhed frantically in the glare. It was formless, shape- less, a heaving mound of nauseous mat- ter. Yet even in its agonized writhing distortions they sensed the beating pul- sations that marked it a living thing. There were unending ripplings crossing and recrosslng through the convolutions. To Thurston there was suddenly a sickening 1 likeness: the tiling 'was a brain from a gigantic skull — it waa naked — was suffering... . , THE thing poured itself across the sand. Before the staring gaze of the speechless men an excrescence ap- peared — a thick bulb on the mass — that protruded Itself into a tentacle. At the end there grew instantly a hooked hand. It reached for the black open- ing in the great shell, found it, and the whole loathsome shapelessness poured itself up and through the hole. Only at the last was it still. In the dark opening the last slippery mass held quiet for endless seconds. It formed, as they watched, to a head — frightful- menacing. Eyes appeared in the head; eyes flat and round and black save for a cross slit in each; eyes that stared horribly and unchangingly into theirs. Below them a gaping mouth opened and closed. . . . The head melted — was gone. . . . And with its going came a rushing roar of sound. From under the metallic mass f shrieked a vaporous cloud. ' It drove at them, a swirling blast of snow and sand. Some buried memory of gas at- tacks woke Riley from his stupor. He slammed shut the windows an instant before the cloud struck, but not before they had seen, in the moonlight, a gleaming, gigantic, elongated bulb rise swiftly — screamingly — into the upper air. The blast tore at their plane. And the cold in their tight compartment \ was like the cold of outer space. The men stared, speechless, panting. Their breath froze in that frigid room into Bteam clouds. "It — it. . ." Thurston gasped — and slumped helpless upon the floor. IT was an hour before they dared open the door of their cabin. An hour of biting, numbing cold. Zero- on a warm summer night on the desert I Snow in the hurricane that had struck them ! "'Twas the blast from the thing," guessed the pilot; "though never did SPAWN OP THE STARS 169 I tee an edgine with an exhaust like that." He was pounding himself with hit anna to force up the chilled circu- lation. _ "But the beast — the — the thing!" ex- claimed' Thuraton. "It's monstrous; Indecent I It thought — no question ef that — but no body I Horrible! Just a nw, naked, thinking protoplasm I" It was here that he flung open the door. They sniffed cautiously of the air. It was warm again — clean — save for a hint of some nauseous odor. They walked forward; Riley carried a flash. The odor grew to a atench aa they came where the great mass had lain. On the ground was a fleshy mound. There were bones showing, and horns on a skull. Riley held the light' close to show the body of a steer. A body of raw bleeding meat. Half of it had been absorbed. , . . The damned thing," said Riley, and paused vainly for adequate words. "The damned* thing was eating. . . . Like a jelly-fish, it was I" "Exactly," Thurston agreed. He pointed about. There were other heaps scattered among the low sage. "Smothered," guessed Thurston, "with that frozen exhaust. Then the filthy thing landed and came out to est." "Hold the light for me," the pilot commanded. "Km goin' to fix that busted oil line. And I'm goin' to do it right now. Maybe the creature's still hungry." fp HEY sat in their room. About , aVthem was the luxury of a modem WeL Cyrus Thurston stared vacantly st the breakfast he was forgetting to cat He wiped his hands mechanically on, a' snowy napkin. He looked from the window. There were palm treea In the park, and autos in a ceaseless •cream. And people! Sane, sober people, living in a sane world. News- toys were shouting ; the life of the city was flowing. "Riley t" Thurston turned to the man •cross the table. His voice was curi- ously toneless, and his face , haggard. "Riley, I haven't slept for three nights. Neither have you. We've got to get this thing straight. We didn't both become absolute maniacs at the same instant, but — it waaJpt there, it was never there — not that. . . ." He was lost in unpleasant recollections. "There are other records of hallucinations." "Hallucinations — hell!" said Slim Riley. -He was looking at a Los An- geles newspaper. He passed one hand wearily across his eyes, but his face was happier then it had been in days. "We didn't imagine it, we aren't crazy — it's real! Would you read that now!" He passed the paper access to Thurston. The headlines were start- ling. "Pilot Killed by Mysterious Airship. Silvery Bubble Hangs Over New York. Downs Army Plane in Burst of Flame. Vanishes, at Terrific Speed." " "It's wir little friend," said Thurs- ton. And on his facey too, the lines were vanishing; to find this horror a reality was positive relief. "Here's the same cloud of vapor— drifted slowly across the #ity, the accounts says, blow- ing thfe stuff like steam from under- neath. Airplanes investigated — an army plane drove into the vapor — terrific ex- plosion — plane down in flames — others wrecked. The machine ascended with meteor speed, trailing blue flame. Come on, boy, where's that old bus? Thought I never wanted to fly a plane again. Now I don't want to do any- thing but.'' "Where to?" Slim inquired. "Headquarters," Thurston told him. "Washington— let's go!" FROM Los Angeles to Washington is not far, as the. plane flies,. There was a stop or two for gasoline, but it was only a day later that they were seated in the War Office. Thurston's card had gained immediate admittance. "Got the ^low-down," he had written on the back of his card, "on the mystery airship." "What you have told me is incred- 170 ASTOUNDING STORIES ■I ible,", the Secretary was saying, "or would be if General Lozier here had not reported personally on the occur- rence at New, York. But the monster, the thing you have described. . . . Cy, if I didn't know you as I do I would have you locked up." "It's true," said Thurston, simply. "It's damnable, but it's true. Now what does it mean?" "Heaven knows," was the . response. "That's where it came from— out of the heavens." "Not what we saw," Slim Riley broke in. "That thing came straight out of Hell." And in bys voice was no sug- gestion of levity. \ "You left Los Angeles early yester- day; have you seen the papers?" Thurston shook his head. "They are back," said the Secretary. "Reported over London — Paris — the West Coast. Even China has seen them.' Shanghai cabled an hour ago." "Them? How many are there?" "Nobody knows. There were five seen at one time. There are 1 more — unless the same ones go around the world in a matter of minutes." THURSTON remembered that whirlwind of vapor^md a vanish- ing speck in the Arizona sky. "They' could," he asserted. "They're faster than anything on earth. Though what drives them . . . that gas — steam — what- ever it is. . , ." f "Hydrogen," stated General Lozier. "I saw the New York show when poor Davis got his. He flew into the ex- haust ; it went off like a million bombs. Characteristic hydrogen flame trailed the. damn thing up out of sight — a tail of blue fire." "And cold," stated Thurston. "Hot as a Buhsen burner," the Gen- eral contradicted. "Davis' plane almost melted." "Before it ignited," said the other. He told of the cold in their plane. "Hal" The General spoke explosive- ly. "That's expansion. That's a tip on their motive power. Expansion of gas. That accounts for the cold and ; tht vapor. Suddenly expanded it would be intensely cold. The moisture of tkt air would condense, freeze. But how could they carry it? Or" — he frowned for a moment, brows drawn over deep- set gray eyes — "or generate it? But that's crazy — that's impossible!" "So is the whole matter," the Secre- tary reminded him. "With the infor- mation Mr. Thurston and Mr. Riley have given us, the whole affair is be- yond , any gage our past experience might supply. We start from the im- possible, and we go— where? What it to be done ?" "With your permission, sir, a num> ber of things shall be done. It would be interesting to see what a squadron of planes might accomplish, diving oa them from above. Or anti-aircraft fire." "MO," said the Secretary of War, AN "not yet. They have looked ua f over, but they have not attacked. For the present we do not know what they are. All of us have our suspicions- thoughts of interplanetary travel — ' thoughts too wild for serious utterance — but we know nothing. '^Say nothing to the papers of whit you have told me," he directed Thurs- ton. "Lord knows their surmises are wild enough now. And for you, Gen- eral, in the event of any hostile move, you will resist." \ "Your order was anticipated, sir." The General permitted himself a slight smile. "The air force, is ready." "Of course," the Secretary of War nodded. "Meet me here to-night — nine, o'clock." He included Thurston and Riley in the command. "We need to think ... to think . .'. and perhaps their mission is friendly." "Friendly !*' The two flyers ex- changed glances as they went to the door. And each knew what the other was seeing — a viscous ocherous meat that formed into a head where eye* devilish in their hate stared coldly intt theirs. ... SPAWN OF THE STARS 171 "Think, we need to think," repeated Thurston's lips were compressed and Thurston later. "A creature that is just his eyes hardened. He threw the pa- one big hideous brain, that can think pers aside. m arm into existence — think a' head^ "They are here," he said, "and that's vhere.it wishes I What does a thing that we know. I hope the Secretary like that think of?' What beastly thoughts conld that — that thing con- cede?" "If I got the sights of a Lewis gun as it," said Riley vindictively, "I'd sake it think." "And my guess is that is all you would accomplish," Thurston told him. 1 am forming a few theories about our fisitora. One ia that it would me quite impossible to find a vital spot in that big homogeneous, mass." The pilot dispensed with theories: Us was a more literal mind. "Where on earth did they come from, do you ■appose, Mr. Thurston?" THEY were walking to their hotel. Thurston raised his eyes to the somner heavens. Faint Stars were beginning to twinkle; there was one that glowed steadily. "Nowhere on earth," Thurston stated softly, "nowhere on earth." "Maybe soi" said the pilot, "maybe ■0. We've thought about it and talked about it . . . and they've gone ahead and done it." He called to a newsboy ; they look the latest editions to their room. The papers were ablaze with spew of War gets some good men together. And I hope someone is inspired with an answer." "An answer is it?" said Riley. "I'm thinkin' that the -answer will cdme, but not from these swivel-chair fighters. Tis the boys in the cockpits with one hand on the stick and one on the guns that will have .the answer." But Thurston shook his head. "Their speed," he said, "and the gas I Remem- ber that cold. How much of it can they lay over a city?" The question was unanswered, un- less the quick ringing of the phone was a reply. "War Department," said a voice. "Hold the wire." The voice of the Sec- retary of War came on immediately. "Thurston?" he asked. "Come over at once on the jump, old mail. Hell's popping." • l THE windows of the War De- partment Building were all alight as they approached. Cars were com- ing and going; men in uniform, as the Secretary had said, "on the jump." Soldiers with bayonets stopped them, then passed Thurston and his compan- ion. There were dispatches from all *«v>n on. Bells were ringing from all earners of the earth, interviews with scientists and near scientists. The ma- chines were a Soviet invention — they were beyond anything human — they were harmless — they would wipe out civilization— poison gas — blasts of fire like that which had enveloped the army Brer. And through it all Thurston read an Ul-concealed fear, a reflection of panic that was gripping the nation — the whole world. These great machines were sinister. Wherever they ap- peared came the sense of being watched, of a menace being calmly withheld. And at thought of the ob- scene monsters inside those spheres. sides. But in the Secretary's office was perfect quiet.*- General Lozier. was there, Thurston saw, and an imposing array of gold- braided men with a sprinkling of those in civilian clothes. One he recognized : MacGregor from the Bureau of Stand- ards. The Secretary handed Thurston some papers. "Radio," he explained. • "They are over the Pacific coast. . Hit .near Van- couver; Associated Press says city de- stroyed. They are working down the coast. Same story — blast of hydrogen from their funnel shaped base. Colder than Greenland below them; snow fell in Seattle. No real attack since Van- 172 ASTOUNDING STORIES couver and little damage done — " A message was laid before him. "Portland," he taii. "Five mystery ships over city. Dart repeatedly to- ward earth, deliver blast of gas and then retreat. Doing no damage. Apparently inviting attack. All commercial planes 'ordered grounded. Awaiting instruc- tions, t. "Gentlemen," said the Secretary, "I believe I speak for aJJ present when I say that, in the absence of first' hand information, we are utterly unable to arrive at any definite conclusion or make a definite-plan. J There is a men- ace in this, undeniably. Mr. Thurston and Mr. Riley have been good enough to report to me. They have seen one machine at close range. It was occu- pied by a monster so incredible that the report would receive no attention from me did I not know Mr. Thurston per- sonally. "Where have they come from? What does it mean — what is their mission ? Only God knows. "Gentlemen, I feel that I must see them. I want General, Lozier to accom- pany me, also Doctor MacGregor, to advise me from th'e scientific angle. 1 1 am going to the Pacific Coast. They may not' wait — that is true — but they appear to be going slowly south. I -will leave to-night for San Diego. I hope to intercept them.- We have strong air-forces there; the Navy Department is cooperating." HE waited for nc/ comment. "Gen- eral," he ordered! "will you kindly arrange for a plane? Take an escort or not as you think best. "Mr. Thurston and Mr. Riley will also accompany us. We want all the authoritative data we can get. This on my return will be placed before you, gentlemen,' for your consideration." He rose from his chair. "I hope they wait for us," he said. Time was when a commander called loudly for a horse, but in this day a Secretary of War is ; not kept waiting for transportation. Sirening motor- cycles preceded them from the city, ^Within an hour, motors roaring wida open, propellors ripping into the sum. mer night, lights slipping eastward three thousand feet below, the Seen. t tary of War for the United States was on his way. 'And on either side fron their plane stretched^ the arms of a V. Like a flight of gigantic wild geese, fast fighting planes of the Army air service bored steadily into the" night, guarantors of safe convoy. "Tjpe Air Service is ready," General Lozier had said. And Thurston and his pilot knew that from East coast to West, swift scout planes, whose idling, engines could roar into action at a mo- ment's notice, stood waiting; battlt planes hidden in hangars would roll forth at the word— the Navy was co- operating — and at San Diego there were strong naval units, Army units, and Marine Corps. , "They don't know what we can do, what we have up our sleeve : they are feeling us out," said the ) Secretary. They had stopped more than once for gas and 'for wireless reports. He held a sheaf of typewritten briefs. "Going slowly south. They have taken their , time. Hours over San Francisco and the bay district. Re- peating same tactics; fall with terrific speed to'cushion against their (blast of . gas. Trying to draw us out, provoks an attack, make us show our 'strength. Well, we shall beat them to San Diego at this rate. We'll be there in a few hours." / THE afternoon sun was dropping ahead of them when they sighted the water. "Eckener Pass," the pilot told them, "where the Graf Zeppelin came through. Wonder what these birds would think of a Zepp ! "There's the ocean," he added after a thne r San Diego glistened against the bare hills. "There's North Island — the Army field." He stared intently ahead, then .shouted: "And there they- are I Look there I" Over the city a cluster of meteors SPAWN OF THE STARS 173 fallin g. Dark underneath, their ippa ihone like pure silver in. the sun's Anting glare. They fell toward. the city, then buried themselves in a dense tlsud of steam, rebounding at once to the upper air, vapor trailing behind The cloud billowed slowly. It ctrack the hills of the city, then lifted ■si vanished. •land at once," requested the Secre- jKf. A Bash of silver countermanded Ike order. It bung there before them, a great penning globe, keeping always its dis- tance ahead. It was elongated > at the base, Thurston observed. From that hue shot the familiar blast that turned tamy a hundred feet below as it chilled the warm air. There were round orifices, like porta, ranged around the top, where an occasional jet of vapor Aowed this to be a method of control. Other spots shone dark and glassy. Were they windows? He hardly re- ilued their peril, so interested was he in the strange machine ahead. rpHEN: "Dodge that vapor," or- J. dered General Lozier. The plane vmred in signal to the others and •wang sharply to the left. Each man knew the flaming death that was theirs if the fire of their exhaust touched that explosive mixture of hydrogen and air. The great bdbble turned with them and ''paralleled their course. "He's watching us," said Riley, "giv- ing us the once over, the slimy devil. Ain't there a gun on this ship?" The General addressed his superior. Even above the roar of the motors his voice seemed quiet, assured. "We must sot land now," he said. "We can't land tt North Island. It would focus their attention upon our defenses. That tUag— whatever it is — is looking for a vtfaerahle spot. We must. Hold aa-there he goes I" The Ug bulb shot upward. . It slanted awre them, and hovered there. 1 think he is about to attack," said the General quietly. And, to the com- mander of their squadron : "It's in your hands' now, Captain. It's yoyr fight." The Captain nodded and' squinted above. "He's got to throw heavier stuff than that," he remarked. A small ob- ject was falling from the cloud. It passed close to their ship. "Half-pint size," said Cyrus Thurs- ton, and laughed in derision. There was something ludicrous in the futility of the attack. He stuck his head from a window into the gale they created. He sheltered his eyes to try to follow the missile in its fall. THEY were over the city. The criss-cross of streets made a grill- work of lines; tall buildings were dwarfed from this three thousand foot altitude. The sun slanted across a projecting promontory to make golden ripples on a blue sea and the city, sparkled back 'in the clear air. Tiny white faces were massed in the streets, huddled in clusters where the futile black missile had vanished. And then-jthen the 'city was gone . A white cloud-bank billowed and mushroomed. Slowly, it seemed to the watcher — so slowly. It was done in the fraction of a sec- ond. Yet in, that brief time his eyes registered the chaotic sweep in ad- vance of the cloud. There -came a crashing of buildings in some monster whirlwind, a white cloud engulfing it all. . . . It, was rising — was on them. "God," thought Thurston, "why can't I move I" The plane lifted and lurched. A thunder of sound crashed against them, an intolerable force. They were crushed to the floor as the plane was hurled over and upward. Out of the mad whirling tangle of flying bodies, Thurston glimpsed one clear picture. The face of the. pilot hung battered and blood-covered before him, and over the. limp bddy the hand of Slim Riley clutched at the switch. "Bully boy," he said dazedly, "he's cutting the motors. . . ." The thought ended in blackness. 174: ASTOUNDING STORIES There was no Bound of engines or beating propellers when he came to his senses. Something lay heavy upon him. He pushed it to one aid^. It was the | body of General Lozier. HE drew himself to his knees to look slowly about, nibbed stupid- ly at his eyes to quiet the whirl, then' stared at the blood on his hand. It was! so quiet — the motors — what was it that happened? Slim had reached for the jswitch. . : . The whirling subsided. Before Mm be saw Slim Riley at the controls. He got |to his feet and Went unsteadily for- ward. It was a battered face that was lifted to his. # "She was spinning," the puffed lips were muttering slowly. "I brought her out ■. . . there's the field. . . ." His voice was, thick ; he formed the words slow- ly, painfully. "Got to land can you take it? I'm — I'm — " He slumped limply in his seat. Thurston's arms were uninjured. He dragged the pilot to the floor and got back of thf wheel. The field was be- low them. There were planes taxiing out; he heard the roar of their motors. He tried the controls. The plane an- swered stiffly, but he managed to level off as the brown field approached. Thurston never remembered that landing. He was trying to drag Riley from the battered plane when the first man got to him. "Secretary of War?" he gasped. "In there. . . . Take Riley; I can walk." "We'll get them," an officer assured him. "Knew you were coming. They sure gave you hell I But look at the city.!" Arms carried him .stumbling from the field. Above the low hangars he saw smoke-clouds over the bay. These and red rolling flames marked what had been an American city. Far in the heavens movefl five glinting specks. His head reeled with the thunder of engines. There were planes standing in lines and. more erupting from hangars, where khaki-clad men, faces tense under leather helmets, swiftly abotit. "General 'Lozier Is dead," said voice. Thurston turned to the They were bringing the others, rest are smashed up some," the oB told him, "but I think they'll through." THE Secretary of War for United States lay beside him. Mi with red on, their sleeves were alii hit coat. Through . one good eye b| squinted .at Thurston. He even manj. aged a smile. "Well, I wanted to see them close," he said. "They say you uvi us, old man." 4 Thirrston waved that aside. "Tl Riley — " he began/but the words en in the roar of an exhaust. A pi darted swiftly away to shoot vertical]; a hundred feet in the air. Another fol ' lowed and another. In a cloud of brom i dust they streamed endlessly Mri zooming up like. angry hornets, cage to get into the fight. "Fast little devils I" the ambulant - man observed. "Here come the . bi| boys." « A leviathan went deafeningly pit) And again others came on in quick toe ■ 'cession. Farther up the field, silver] gray planes with rudders flaunting their red, white and blue rose cirdiai! to the heights. "That's the Navy," was the explain tion. 1 The surgeon straightened tb Secretary's arm. "See them come ol the big airplane carriers I" If his remarks were part of hit pre {Visional training in removing a pt tient's thoughts from his pain, the] .were effective. - The Secretary star* but to sea, where two great flat-decks craft were shooting 'planes with tb regularity of a rapid 'fir.e gun. Tfcq stood out sharply against a bank « gray fog. Cyras Thurston forgot \k bruised body, forgot' his own perUr ' even the inferno that raged back warn the bay : he was lost in the sheer thffl , of the spectacje. ( SPAWN OF THE STARS 175 ABOVE them the sky was alive with winged shapes. And from (U the disorder there was order appear- in. Squadron after squadron swept 0 ' tattle formation. Like flights of vtld ducks the true sharp-pointed Vb mt ti off into the sky. Far above and beyond, rows of dots marked the race of iwift scouts' for the upper levels. And high in the clear air shone the {Uttering menace trailing their five phases' of gas. A deeper detonation was merging into the uproar. It came from the £ipt, Thurston knew, where anti-air- cnft guns poured a rain of shells into tbe iky. About the invaders they Mooned into clusters of smoke balls. The globes shot a thousand feet into Ike air. Again the shells found them, mi »*ain they retreated. "Look I" said Thurston. "They got He groaned as a long curving arc of sped showed that the big bulb was «n- Jer control. Over^ the ships it paused, to balance and swing, then shot to the smith as one of the great boats ex- ploded in a-, cloud of vapor. .The following blast swept the air- drome. Planes yet on the ground went Ifce dry autumn leaves. The hangars vert flattened. Thurston cowered in awe. They were aWltered, he saw, by a slope of the pound. No ridicule now for th,e bombs I A second blast marked when the gas- cloud ignited: The billowing flames were blue. They writhed in tortured convulsions through the air. Endless explosions merged into one rumbling roar. MacGregor had roused from his stu- par; he raised to a sitting ppsitipn. "Hydrogen," he stated positively, mi pointed where great volumes of tsne were sent whirling aloft. "It barm as it mixes with air." The scien- tist was studying intently the mam- Mtk reaction. "But the volume," he Barreled, "the volume I From that Mall container I Impossible I" \ "Impossible," the Secretary agreed, "but. a. ." He pointed with his one good arm toward the Pacific. Two gTeat ships of steel, blackened and battered in that fiery breath, tossed helplessly upon the pitching, heaving sea. They furnished to the scientist's exclama- tion the only adequate reply. Each man stared aghast -into the pal- lid faces of his companions. "I think we have underestimated the opposi- tion," said the Secretary of War quiet- ly. "Look — the fog is coming in, but it's tqo late to save them." THE big ships were vanishing in the oncoming fog.. Whirls of vapor were eddying toward them in the Same- blaster air. Above their the watchers saw dimly the five gleaming bulbs. There were airplanes attacking: the tapping of machine-gun fire came to them faintly. Fast planes circled arid swooped to- ward the enemy. An armada of big planes drove in from beyond. Forma- tions were blocking space above. . . . Every < branch of the service was there, Thurston exulted, the army, Marine Corps, the Navy. He gripped hard at the dry ground in a paralysis of taut nerves. The battle was on, and in the balance hung the fate of the world. The / fog droye in fast. Through straining eyes he tried in vain to glimpse tbe drama spread above. The world grew dark and gray. He buried his face in his hands. And again came the thunder. The men on the ground forced their gaze^ to the clouds, though they knew some fresh horror awaited. The fog-clouds reflected the blue ter- ror above. They were riven and torn. And through them black objects were falling. Some blazed as 'they fell. They slipped into unthought maneu- vers — they darted to earth trailing a yel- low and black of gasoline 'fires. The air was filled with the dread rain of death that was spewed from the gray clouds. Gone was the roaring of mo-, tors. .The air-force of the San Diego 176 ASTOUNDING STORIES area swept in silence' to the earth, whose impact alone could give kindly Concealment to their flame-stricken burden. Thurston's last control snapped. He flung himself flat to bury his face in the sheltering earth. 1 ONLY the driving necessity of work to be done saved the sanity of the survivors. The commercial broadcast- ing stations were stemolished, a part of the fuel for the terrible furnace across the bay. But the Naval radio station was beyond on an outlying hill. The Secretary of Waf was in charge. An hour's work and this was again in com- mission to flash to the world the. story of disaster. It told the world also of what lay ahead. The writing was plain. No prophet was needed to fore- cast the' doom and destruction that awaited the earth. Civilization was helpless. What of armies and cannon, of navies, qf air- craft, when from some unreachable height these"- monsters within . their r bulbous machines could drop coldly — methodically— -their diminutive bombs. And when each bomb meant shattering destruction ; each explosion blasting all within a radius- of miles ; each followed by the blue blast of fire that melted the twisted framework of buildings and powdered the stones to make of a proud city a desolation of wreckage, black and silent beneath the cold stars. There was no crumb of qomfort for the \ world in the terror the radio told. Slim Riley was lying on an" impro- vised cot when Thurston and the rep- resentative of the Bureau of Standards joined him. Four walls of a room still gave shelter in a half-wrecked build- ing. There were candles burning: the dark was unbearable. "Sit down," said MacGregor quietly ; "we must think. < ." "Think I" Thurston's voice had an hysterical note. "I can't think I I mustn't think I I'll go raving crazy. "Yes, think," said the scientist. "Had it occurred to you that that is-our < weapon left 1 ? "We must think, we must Have these devils a vulnerable tntf Is there any known means of artattj We do not know. We must ita Here in this room we have all the i rect information the world possesses «f this menace. I have seen their chines Jn operation. Yoji have more — you have loofcetT^t the i themselves. At one of them, anywaj),* THE man's' voice was quiet, met ical. Mr. MacGregor was atl ing a problem. Problems called concentration ; not hysterics. He < have poured the contents from a I without spilling a drop. His poise l needed : they were soon to make a 1 oratory experiment The door burst open to admit a i eyed figure that snatched up their < dies and dashed them to the floor. "Ljghts outl" he screamed at "There's one of 'em coming back." Hi was gone from the room. r The men sprang for the door, thita turned to where Riley was clums^ crawling from his couch. An arm ai- der each' of his, and the three mil stumbled from the room. They looked about them in (he nigh. The fog-banks were high, drifting jh from the ocean. Beneath them the ak was clear ; from somewflere above a b» den moon forced a pale light throon the clouds. And over the ocean, ckst to the water, drifted a familiar shif Familiar in its huge sleek round in its funnel-shaped base where a I roar made vaporous clouds upon water. Familiar, too, in the wild < it inspired. The watchers were spellbound. ThurstA there came a fury of ' tent frenzy. It was so near I hands trembled ■ to \tar at that to rip at that foul mass he knew ' within.L. The great bulb past. It was nearing the shore, its action I Its motion I Gone was the swift certainty of i SPAWN OF THE STARS- \ • ■ 177 KoL The -thing settled and sank, to pug weakly with a fresh blast of gas Ipsa its exhaust. It settled again, and ■sosed waveringly on in the night. THURSTON was throbbingly alive with hope that was certainty. "It's been hit," he exulted; "it's been hit. Qtrick! After it, follow it I" He tasked for a car. There were some Ait had been salvaged from the less ruined buildings. He swung it quickly ■round where the others were waiting. "Get a gun," he commanded". "Hey, you," — to an officer who_ appeared — •your pistol, man, quick I We're go- ing after it I" He. caught the tossed gun and hurried the others into the car. ""Wait," MacGregpr commanded. "Would you hunt elephants with a pop- jnn? Or these things?" "Yes," the other told him, "or my bare hands I Are you coming, or aren't you?" """ The physicist was unmoved. . "The creature you saw — you said that it writhed in a bright light — you said it teemed almost in agony. There's an Idea there I Yes, I'm going with you, tot keep your shirt on, and think." He turned again to the officer. "We need lights," he explained, "bright lights. What is there? Magnesium? lights of any kind?" "Wait." The man rushed off into ne dark. He was back in a moment to. thrust s pistol into the car. ."Flares," he ex- plained. "Here's a flashlight, if you need it." The car tore at the ground js Thurston opened it wide. He drove recklessly toward the highway that fol- lowed the shore. , The high fog had thinned to a mist. A full moon was breaking through ttf touch with silver the white breakers Ulting on' the sand. It spread its full (lory on dunes and sea: one more of the countless soft nights where peace sod calm beauty told of an ageless ex- igence that made naught of the red ■woe of men or of monsters. It shone on the' ceaseless surf that had beaten 4hese shores before there were men, that would thunder there still when men were no more. But to the tense, crouching men in the car it shone only ahead on a distant,, glittering speck. A waverirfg reflection marked the uncer- tain flight of, the stricken enemy. THURSTON drove like a maniac; the road carried them straight to- ward their quarry. What could he do ^ when he overtook it ? He neither knew nor cared. There was only the blind fury forcing him on within reach of the thing. He cursed as the lights of the car Showed a bend in the road. It was leaving the shore. He slackened their speed to drive cautiously into the sand. It dragged at the- car, but he fought through to the beach, where ''he hoped for firm footing. The tide was out. They tore madly along the smooth sand, break- ers clutching at the flying wheels. The strange aircraft was nearer; it was plainly oyer the shore, they/ saw. Thurston groaned as it shot high in the air in an effort to clear the cliffs ahead. But the heights were no longer a ref- uge. Again it settled. It struck on the cliff to rebound in a last futile leap. The great pear shape'tilted, then shot end over end to crash hard on the firm sand. The lights of the car struck the wreck, and they saw the shell roll over once. A ragged break was opening — the spherical top fell slowly to one side. It was still rocking as' they brought the car to a stop. Filling the lower shell, they saw dimly, was a mrfcouslike mass that seethed and struggled in the brilliance M their lights. MacCregor was persisting in his the- ory. "Keep the lights on tit I" he shouted. "It can't stand the light." While they watched, the hideous, bubbling beast oozed over the side of the broken shell to shelter itself in the shadow beneath. And again Thurs- ton sensed the pulse and throb of life in the monstrous mass. 178 ASTOUNDING STORIES HE saw again in his rage the streaming rain of black air- planes; saw, too, the bodies, blackened and charred as they saw them when first they tried rescue from; the crashed ships; the smoke clouds and flames from the blasted city, where people — his people, men and women and little children — had met terrible death. He sprang from the car. Yet he faltered with a revulsion that was almost a nausea. His gun was gripped in his hand as he ran toward the monster. "Come back |" shouted MacGregor. "Come back I Have you gone mad?" He was jerking at the door of the car. Beyond the white funnel of their lights a yellow thing was moving. It twisted and flowed with incredible speed a hundred feet back to the base of the cliff. It drew itself together in a quivering heap. ' An out-thrusting rock -threw a shel- tering shadow; the moon was low in the west, i In the blackness a phosphor- escence "was apparent. It rippled and rose in the dark with the pulsing beat of the jellylike mass. And through it were showing two discs. Gray at first, they formed to black, staring eyes.' Thurston had followed. His gun was raised as he neared it. Then out of the mass, shot a serpentine arm. It whipped about him, soft, sticky, viscid -^utterly loathsome, He screamed once when- it clung to his face, then tore savagely and in silence at the encir- cling folds. T HE gun I He ripped a blinding mass from his face and emptied the automatic in a stream of shots straight toward the eyes. And he knew as. he fired that the effort was useless; to have shot at the milky surf would have been as vain. The thing was pulling him irresisti- bly; he sank to his knees; it dragged him over the sand. He clutched at a rock. A vision was before him: the carcass of. a steer, half absorbed and still bleeding on the sanJ of an Ari- zona desert. . . . To be drawn to the smothering brace of that glutinous mass . . . that monstrous appetite. ... He afresh at the unyielding folds, 1 knew MacGregor was beside him. In the man's hand was a flai The scientist risked his life on a gui He thrust the powerful light into clinging serpent. It was like the ti of hot iron to human flesh. The struggled and flailed in a paroxysm «| pain. \ Thurston was fret. He lay gaspinf on the sand. But , MacGregor I . . i He looked up to see him vanish in fW clinging ooze. Another, thick tentada had been projected from the main ami to sweep like a whip about the nasi It hissed as it whirled about him M the still air. j . The flashlight was gone; Thunrteo'i hand touched it in the sand. He spitst , to his feet and pressed the switch. Hi light responded ; the flashlight was | twisted in horrible convulsions. Hey ; ran stumblingly — drunkenly — towns' i the car. Riley was half out of the machine , He had tried to drag himself to their assistance. "I 'couldn't make it," " said ; "then I thought of the flares." "Thank Heaven," said MacGrtf* with emphasis, "it was your legs tht were paralyzed, Riley, not your bran." Thurston found his voice. "Let** have that Very pistol. If light Bsrh that damn thing, I km going to pat t SPAWN OF THE STARS 179 tbie of magnesium into the, 'middle of it if I die for it" "They're all gone," said Riley. "Then let's get out of here. I've had enough. We can come back later on." He got /back of* the wheel and ■lammed the door of the sedan. The moonlight \was gone. The darkness wm velvet just tinged with the gray that precedes the dawn. Back in the deeper blackness at the cliff -base a phosphorescent something wavered and. (lowed. The light rippled and flowed in all directions over the mass. Thurston felt, vaguely, its mystery — the bulk was a vast, naked brain; its quiverings were like visible thought wives. . . . THE phosphorescence grew bright- er. The thing was approaching. Thurston let in his clutch, but the sci- entist checked him. "Wait," he implored, "wait I I wouldn't miss this for the world." He wived toward the east, where far dis- ' ,-taat ranges were etched in palest rose. "We know less than nothing of these creatures, in what part of the universe they are spawned, how they live',' where they live — Satum I — Mars I — the Moon I "But— we shall soon know how one dies I" The thing was coming from the cliff.. In the dim grayness it seemed less yellow, less fluid. A membrane en- closed it. It was close to the car. Was it hunger that drove it, or cold rage fox these puny opponents ? The hollow eyes were glaring ; a thick arm formed •sickly to dart out toward the car. A cktod, high above, caught the color of approaching day. ' Before their eyes the vile mass" pulsed visibly; it quivered and beat. Then, sensing its danger, it darted like sine headless serpent for its machine. It massed itself about .the shattered top to heave convulsively. The top was lifted, carried toward the rest of the great metal egg. The sun's first rays Bade golden arrows through the dis- tant peaks. The struggling mass released its bur- den to stretch its vile length toward the dark caves under the cliffs. The last sheltering fog-veil ^parted. The thing was half-way to the high -bank when ttie first bright shaft of direct sunlight shot through. Incredible in the concealment of night, the vast protoplasmic pod was doubly so in the glare of day. But it was there before them, not a hundred feet distant. And .it boiled in vast tor- tured convulsions. The clean sunshine struck it, and the mass heaved itself into the air in a nauseous eruption, then fell limply to the earth. THE yellow membrane turned paler. Once* more the staring black eyes formed to turn hopelessly toward the -sheltering glojpe. Then the bulk flattened out on the Band. It was a jelly like mound, through which trem- bled endless quivering palpitations. The sun str%ck hot, and before the eyes of the watching, speechless men was a sickening, horrible Bight — a festering mass of corruption. The sickening yellow was liquid. It seethed and bubbled with liberated gases; it decomposed to purplish fluid streams. A breath of w^nd .blew in their direction. The stench from the hideoUB pool was overpowering, un- bearable. Their heads swam in the evil breath. Thurston ripped the gears into reverse, nor stopped until they were far away on the clean sand. The tide, was coming in wheil they returned.' Gone was the vile putres- cence. The waves were lapping at the base of the gleaming machine. "We'll have to work fast," said Mac- Cregor. "I must know, I must learn." He drew himself up and into the shat- tered shell. It was of metal, some forty feet across, its framework a maze of lat- ticed struts. The central part was clear. Here in a wide, shallow pan the monster had rested. Below this was tubing, intricate coils, massive, heavy and strong. MacGregor lowered him- 180 ASTOUNDING STORIES self upon it', Thurston was beside him;' They went down into the dim bowels of the deadly instrument. "Hydrogen," the physicist was stat- ing. "Hydrogen — there's our starting point. A generator, obviously, forming the gas — from what? They couldn't compress itl They couldn't carry it or make it, not the volume that they evolved. But they did it, theydid itl" CLOSE to the coils a dim light was glowing. It was a pin-point of radiance in the half-darkness about them. The two men bent closer. "See," directed MacGregor, "it strikes on this mirror — bright metal and parabolic. It disperses the- light, doesn't concentrate itl Ah! Here is another, and another. This one is bent —broken. They are adjustable. Hm ! Micrometer accuracy for reducing the light. The last one could reflect through this Blot. I^s light that does it; Thurston, it's light that does it I" V "Does what?" Thurston had fol- lowed the other's analysis of the diffu- sion process. "The light that would finally reach that slot would be hardly perceptible." "It's the agent," said MacGregor, "the activator — the catalyst I What does it strike upon? I must know — I must I" The waves were splashing outside the shell. Thurston turned in a fever- ish search of the unexplored depthsA There was a surprising simplicity, an absence of complicated, mechanism. Th.e generator, with its, tremendous braces to carry its thrust to the. frame- work itself, filled most of the space. Some of the ribs were thicker, he no- ticed. Solid metal, aa if they might carry great weights. Resting upon them were ranged numbers of objects. They were like eggs, slender, and inches in length, On some were pro- pellers. They worked through the shells on long slender rods. Each was threaded finely— an adjustable) arm en- gaged the thread. Thurston called ex- citedly to the other ,| "Here they are," he said. "Latkt Here are the shells. Here's what him us up!" HE pointed tp the slim shafts win their little propellorlike fist "Adjustable, see? Unwind in thefe fall ... Bet 'em for any length of trod . . . fires the charge in the air. Thtfi how' they wiped'out our air fleet." There were 'others without the pro. pellors ; they had firis to hold them note downward. On each nose was a «n( | Tounded cap. <' ' "Detonators of some sort," said Mc- Gregor. "We've got to have one. Wr must get it out quick; the tide's cociuaf in." He laid his hands upon one af" the slim, egg-shaped things. He lifted, ! then strained mightily. 1 But the object j did not rise ; if only rolled sluggishly, i The scientist stared at it amucij "Specific gravity," he exclaimed, "te! yond anything known I There's Both- 1 ing on earth . . . there is no such caV i stance ... no form of matter. ..." Ha eyes were incredulous. "Lots to learn," Thurston answered; grimly. "We've yet to leara how to! fight dlff theVrther four." The other nodded. "Here's the secret," he said. "These shells liberate | the same gas that drives the machine,' Solve one and we solve both — then we learn, how to combat it. But how to n> j move it — that is the problem. You mi I can never lift this out of here." His glance darted^ about. There wp! a small door in the metal beam. The groove in which the shells were place! led to it; it was a port for launckbf. the projectiles. He moved it, opened it. A dash of spray struck him in the face. He glanced inquiringly at aa' companion. "Dare we do it?" he asked. "SB* ■one of them out?" Each man looked long into the eja of the other. Was this, then, the eai of their terrible night? One shell * be dropped — then a bursting vcfleaw, to blast them to eternity. ... "The boys in the planes risked V SPAWN OF THE STARS 181 Bid Thurston quietly. "They got theirs." He stopped for a broken f rag- nent of steel. "Try one with a fain on ; it hasn't a detonator." The men pried at the slim thing. It ■lid slowly toward the open port. One heave and it balanced on the edge, then vanished abruptly, The spray was cold on their faces. They breathed heavily with the. realization that they still lived. THERE were days of horror that followed, horror tempered by a numbing paralysis of all emotions. There were bodies by thousands to be heaped in the pit where San Diego had stood, to be buried beneath countless tons of debris and dirt. Trains brought an army of helpers; airplanes came with doctors and nurses and the begin- ning of a mountain of supplies. The need was there; it must be met. Yet the whole world was waiting while it helped, waiting for the next b|pw to fall. Telegraph service was improvised, and radio receivers rushed in. The news of the world was theirs once more. And it told of a terrified, wait- ing world. There would be no tem- porizing now on the part, of the in- vaders. They bad seen' the airplanes ■warming from the ground— "they would know an airdrome next time from, the air. Thurston had noted the windows in the great shell, windows of dull-colored glass which would pro- tect the darkness of the interior, es- sential to life for the horrible occu- pant, but through which it could see. It could watch all directions at once. THE great shell had vanished from the shore. Pounding waves and the shifting sands of high tide had ob- literated all trace. More than once had Thurston uttered devout thanks for the chance shell from an anti-aircraf.t gun that had entered the funnel beneath the machine, had bent and twisted the ar- rangement of mirrors that he and Mac- Gregor had seen, and, exploding, had cracked and broken the domed roof of the bulb. They had learned, little, but MacCregor was up north within reach of Los Angeles laboratories. And he had with him the slim cylinder of death. He was studying, thinking. Telephone service had been estab- lished for official business. The whole nation-wide system, for that matter, was under military control. The Sec- retary of War had flown back to Wash- ington. The whole world was ,on a war basis. War I And none knew where they should defend themselves, nor how. An orderly rushed Thurston to the telephone. "You are wanted at once; Los Angeles calling." The voice of MacCregor was cool and unhurried as Thurston listened. "Grab a- plane, old man," he was say- ing, "and come up here on the jump*!" The phrase brought a grim smile to Thurston's tired lips. "Hell's pop- ping I" the Secretary of War had added on that evening those long ages before. Did MacGregW have. something? Was a different kind of hell preparing to pop ? The thoughts flashed through the listener's mind. "I need a good deputy," MacGregor said. "You may be the whole works — may have to carry on — but I'll tell you it all later. Meet me at (he Biltmore." "In less than two hours," Thurston assured him. A PLANE was at his disposal. Riley's legs were functioning again, after a fashion. They kept the appointment with minutes to spare. "Come on," said MacGregor, "I'll talk to you in the car." The automo- bile, whirled them out of the city to race off upon a winding highway that climbed into far hills. There was twenty miles of this; MacGregor had time for his talk. "They've struck," he told the two men. "They were over Germany yes- terday. The news' was kept quiet; I got the last report a half-hour ago. They pretty well wiped out Berlin. No 182 ASTOUNDING STORIES air-fo&ce there. France and England sent a swarm of planes, from the re- ports. Poor devils j No need to tell you what they got. We've seen it first hand. They headed west over the At- lantic, the four machines. Gave Eng- land a burst or two frqm high up, paused over New York, then went on. But they're here somewhere, we think. Now listen: drawn a cer- tain, amount of gas from each of the smaller tubes, distilling! them throiigh acid into the minute phial at the end. Vet even now, as I' stared down at the fantastic paraphernalia before me, I could sense no conclusive reason for * its existence. I turned to the Professor with a quiet stare of bewilderment. He smiled. "The experiment is over," he s^id. "As to its conclusion, you. Dale, as a medical man, will be sceptical. And you" — turning to M: S, — "as_ a scien- tist you will be amazed. I, being nei- ther physician nor scientist, am merely ' filled with wonder I" HE stepped to a long, square table- like structure in the center of the room. Standing over it, he glanced quizztcallyaat M. S., then at roe. "For a period of two weeks," he went on, "I have kept, on the table here, the .body of a man who has been dead more than a month. I have tried, gentlemen, with acid combinations of, my own origination, to bring that body back to life. And ... I have— failedl "But," he added quickly, noting the smile .that crept across my face, "that failure was in itself worth more than the average scientist's greatest achieve* mentl You know, Dale, that heat, if a man is not truly dead, will some, times resurrect him. In a qa.se of epi- lepsy, for instance, victims have been pronounced dead only to'Veturn to life — sometimes in the grave. "I say 'if a man be not truly, dead.' But what if that man Vs truly dead? Docs the cure alter itself in any man- ner? The motor of your car dies- do you bury it? You do not; you lo- cate the faulty part, correct it, and in- fuse i new life. , And so, gentlemen, afte.r remedying the ruptured heart of 1 this dead man, by operation, I pro- ceeded to bring him back to life. "I used heat. Terrific heat will sometimes originate a spark of new life in something long dead. Gentlemen, on the fourth day of my tests, follow- ing a continued application of electric and acid heat, the patient — " Daimfcr leaned over- the table and took up a cigarette. Lightning it, he dropped the match and resumed his monologue. "The patient turned suddenly over and drew his arm weakly across his eyes. I rushed to his side. When I reached him, the body was once again stiff and lifeless. And — it has remained The Professor stared at us quietly, waiting for comment. I answered him, as carelessly as I could, with a shrug of my shoulders. "Professor, have you ever played with the dead body of a frog?" I said softly. HE shook his head silently. "You would find it interest- ing sport," I told him. "Take a com- mon dry cell battery with enough volt- age to render a sharp shock. Then ap- ply your wires to various parts of the frog's anatomy. If you are lucky, and strike the right set of muscles, you THE CORPSE ON THE GRATING 189 will have the pleasure of seeing a dead frog leap suddenly t forward. Under- stand, he will not regain life. You' have merely released his dead muscles by shock, and sent him bolting." -. The Professor did not reply. I could feel his eyes on me, and had I turned, I should probably had found M. S. glaring at me in honest hate. These men were students of mesmerism, of spiritualism, and-my commonplace con- tradiction was not over welcome. " "You are cynical, Dale," said M. S. coldly, "because you do not under- stand!" "■Understand ? I am a doctor — not a ghost I" But M. S. had turned eagerly to the Professor. "Where if . this body — this experi- ment?" he demanded. Daimler shook his head. Evidently he had acknowledged failure and did not intend to drag his dead man be- fore our eyes, unless he could bring that man forth alive, upright, and ready to join our conversation I , "I've put it away," he said distantly. "There is nothing more to be done, now that our reverend doctor has in- sisted in making a matter of fact thing out of our experiment. • You under- stand, I had not intended to go in for wholesale resurrection, even if I had met with success. It was my belief that a dead body, like a dead piece of mechanism, can be brought to life again, provided we are intelligent enough to discover the secret. And by Cod, it is still my belief I" THAT was the situation, _then, when M. S. and I paced slowly back along the narrow street that con- tained the Professor's dwelling-place. My companion was strangely silent. More than once I felt his eyes upon me in an uncomfortable stare, yet he said nothing. Nothing, that is, until I had opened the conversation with some casual remark about the lunacy of the man we had just left. "You are wrong in mocking him. Dale," M. S. replied bitterly. "Daim- ler is a man of science. He is no child, experimenting with, a toy; he is a grown man who has the courage to believe in his powers. One of these days. . ." He had intended to say that some day I should respect the Professor's efforts. One of these days I The in- terval of time was far shorter than anything so indefinite. The firsi event, with* its succeeding series of horrors, came vrithin the next three minutes. WE had reached a more deserted section of the square, a black, uninhabited street extending like a shadowed band of darkness between gaunt, high walls. ,1 had noticed for some time that the stone structure be- side us seemed to be unbroken by door or Window — that it appeared to be a single gigantic building, black and for- bidding.. I mentioned the fact to M. S. "The warehouse," he said simply. "A lonely, Gfd-forsaken place. We shall probably see the flicker of the watch- man's light in one of the upper chinks." At his words, I glanced up." True enough, the higher part of the grim structure was punctured by narrow, barred openings. Safety vaults, prob- ably. But the light, unless its tiny (learn was somewhere in 'the inner re- cesses of the warehouse, was dead. The great building was like an im- mense burial vault, a tomb — silent and lifeless. We had reached the most forbidding section of the narrow street, where a single arch-lamp overhead cast a halo of ghastly yellow light over the pave- ment. At the very rim of the circle of illumination, where the shadows, were deeper and more silent, I could make out the black mouldings of a heavy iron grating. The bars of metal were designed, I Vjelieve, to seal the side entrance of the great warehouse from night marauders. It was bolted in place and secured with a set of im- mense chains, immovable. This much I saw as my intent gaze 190 ASTOUNDING STORIES ■wept the wall before me. This huge tombjof silence held for me a peculiar fascination, and as, I paced along be- side my gloomy companion, I stared directly ahead of me into the darkness of the street. I wish to God my «yes had. been closed or blinded I '■ HE was hanging on the grating. Hanging there,,'* with white, twisted hands clutching the' rigid bars of iron, straining to force them apart. His whole distorted body was forced against the barrier, like the form of a madman struggling to escape from his cage. His face — the image of it still haunts me whenever I see iron bars in the darkness of a passage — was the face of a man who has died from utter, stark horror. It was frozen in a silent shriek, of agony, staring out at me with fiendish maliciousness. Lips / twisted apart. White teeth gleaming in the light. Bloody eyes, with a hor- rible glare of colorless pigment. And —dead. I believe M. S. saw him at the very 'instant I recoiled. I felt a sudden grip on my arm; and then, as an exclama- tion 1 came harshly from my compan- ion's lips, I was pulled forward rough- ly. I found myself staring straight into the dead eyes of that fearful thing before me, found myself standing rigid; motionless, before the corpse that hung within reach of my arm. And then, through that overwhelm- ing sense of the horrible, came the quiet voice of my comrade— the voice of a man who looks upon death as nothing more than an opportunity for. research. "The fellow has been frightened to death, Dale. Frightened most hor- ribly.' Note the expression of his mouth, the evident struggle to force these bars apart and escape. Something has driven fear to his soul, killed him." I REMEMBER the words vaguely. When M, S. had finished speaking, I did not reply. Not until he had stepped forward and bent over the dls- 'torted face of the thing before me, did I attempt to speak. When I did, my thoughts were a jargon. "What, in God's name," I cried, "could have brought, such horror to i strong man? What — ■" "Loneliness, perhaps," suggested M, S. with a smile. "The fellow is evi- dently the watchman. He is alone, in a huge, deserted pit of darkness, for hours at a time. His light is merely a ghostly ray of illumination, hardly enough ,to do more than increase the darkness. I have heard of snch cases before." He shrugged his shoulders. Even as he spoke, I sensed the evasion in his words. When I replied, he hardly heard my answer, for he had suddenly stepped forward, where he .could look directly into those fear twisted eyes. "Dale," he\ said at length, turning slowly to face me, "you ask for in explanation of this horror T There is an explanation. It is written with an almost fearful clearness on this fel- low's mind. Yet if I tell you, you will return to your old skepticism — your damnable habit of disbelief I" I looked at him quietly. I had- heard M. S. claim, at other times, that he : "could read -the thoughts of a dead man by the mental image that lay on that men's brain. I had^laughed at him. Evidently, in the present moment, he recalled those laughs. -Nevertheless, he faced me seriously. "I can see two things. Dale," he said deliberately. "One of them is a darjf, narrow room — a room piled with indis- tinct boxes and crates, and with an open door bearing the black number 4167. And in that open doorway, com- ing forward with slow steps — alive, With arms extended and a frightful face of passion — is a decayed human form. A corpse, Dale. A man who. has been, dead for inany days, and is now — alive!" j MS. turned slowly and pointed < with upraised hand to the, corpse on the grating. THE CORPSE ON THE GRATING 191 "That is why," he said simply, "this fellow died from horror." His words died into emptiness. For I moment I stared at Him. Then, in spite of our surroundings, in spite -of the Sate hour, the loneliness of the street, the awful thing beside us, I laughed. He turned upon me with a snarl. For the first fime in my life I saw M. S. convulsed with rage. His old, lined face had suddenly become savage with intensity. "You laugh at me, Dale," he thun- * dered. "By God, you make a mockery out of a science that I have spent more than my life in studyingl__Yj>u call yourself -a medical man — and you are not fit to carry- the name t I will wager jpu, man, that your laughter 1 is not backed by courage I" I fell away from him. Had I stood within reach, I am sure he would have struck me. Struck met And I have been nearer to M. S. for the past ten years than any man in London. And as I retreated from his temper, he reached forward to seize my arm. I could not help but feel impressed at bis grim intentness. "Look here. Dale," he said bitterly, "I will wager you a hundred pounds that you will not spend the remainder of this night in the warehouse above yout I will, wager a hundred pounds' against your own courage that you will not back your laughter, by going through what this fellow has gone through. That you will not prowl through the corridors of this great structure until you have found room 4167 — and remain in that room until Jawnt" THERE was no -choice. I glanced at the dead man, at the face of fear and the clutching, twisted hands, and a cold dread filled me. But to re- fuse my friend's wager "Would have been to brand myself an empty coward. I had mocked him. Now, whatever the cost, I must stand ready to pay for that mockery. "Room 4167 ?" I replied' quietly, in a voice which I made every effort to con- trol, lest he should discover the tremor in it. "Very well, I will do it J" It was nearly midnight when I found myself alone, climbing a musty, wind- ing ramp between the first and second floors of the deserted building. Not a sound, except the sharp intake of my breath and the dismal creak of the wooden stairs, echoed through that tomb of death. There was no light, not even the usual dim glow that is left to illuminate an unused corridor. Moreover, I had brought no means of light with me — nothing but/ a half empty box of safety matches Which, by some unholy premonition, I had forced myself to save for some future mo- ment. . The stairs were black and diffi- cult, and I mounted them slowly, grop- ing with both hands, along the rough wall. I had left M. S. some few moments before. In his usual decisive manner he had helped me to climb the iron grating and lower myself to the sealed alley-way on. the farther side. Then, leaving him without a word, for I was bitter against the triumphant tone of his parting words, I proceeded into the darkness, fumbling forward until I had discovered the open door in the lower part of the warehouse. And then the ramp, winding crazily upward — upward — upward, seemingly without end. I was seeking blindly for that particular room which was to be my destination. Room 4167, with its high number, could hardly be on the 'lower floors,, and sd I had stum- bled upward. . . IT was at the entrance of the second floor corridor that I struck the first of my desultory supply ' of matches, and by its light discovered a placard nailed to the wall. The thing was yel- low with age and hardly legible. In the drab light of the match I had diffi- culty in reading it — but, as far as I can remember, the notice went something 'like this: 192 ASTOUNDING STORIES WAREHOUSE RULES 1. No light shall be permitted in any room or corridor, as a pre- vention against fire. 2. No person shall be admitted to rooms or corridors unless ac- companied by an employee. 3. A watchman shall be on the premises from 7 P. M. until 6 A. M. He shall make the round of the corridors every hour duting that interval, at a Quarter past the hour. 4. Rooms are located by their ' numbers: the first figure in the room number indicating its floor location. ./ I could read no further. The match in my fingers burned to a black thread and dropped. Then, nauted chamber, filled with empty ■fate. This was the reason, probably, why the watchman had made use of it as a retreat during the intervals be- tween his rounds. But I had no desire to ponder over the sordidness of my surroundings. I returned to my stool in silence, and stooping, picked up .the fallen book fcom the floor. Carefully I placed the lamp on the table, where its light would shine on the open page. Then, turn; ing the cover, I began to glance through the thing which the man be- fore me had evidently been studying. " ' And before I had read two lines, the explanation of the whole horrible thing struck me. I stared dumbly down at the little book and laughed. Laughed harshly, so that the Sound of my mad cackle echoed in a thousand ghastly re- verberations through the dead corri- dors of the building. IT was a book of horror, of fantasy. A collection of werrd, terrifying, supernatural tales with grotesque il- lustrations in funereal black and white. And the very line I had turned to, the line which had probably struck terror to that unlucky devil's soul, explained M. S.'e "decayed human form, stand- ing in the doorway with arms extended and a frightful face of passion!" The description — the same description— lay before me, almost in my. friend's words. Little wonder that the fellow on the grating below, after reading this orgy of horror, had suddenly gone mad with fright. Little wonder that the picture engraved on his dead mind was a pic- ture of a corpse standing in the door- way of room 4167 ! I. glanced at that doorway and laughed. No doubt of it, it was that awful description in M. i S.'s- untem- pered language that had made me dread my surroundings, not the loneliness and silence of the corridors about me. ,. Now, as I stared at the room, the closed door, the shadows on the wall, I could not repress a grin. , But the grin' was not long in 'dura- tion. A six-hour siege awaited me be- fore I could 'hear the sound of human 194 ASTOUNDING 'STORIES voice again — six hours of silence and gloom. I did not relish it. Thank Cod the fellow before me had had foresight enough to leave his book of fantasy for my amusement I 1 TURNED to the beginning of the story. A lovely beginning it was, outlining in some detail how a certain Jack Fulton, English adventurer, had suddenly found himself imprisoned (by a mysterious blacjr gang of monks, or something of the sort) in a forgotten cell at the monastery of El Totcj. The cell, according to the pages before me, was located in the "empty, haunted pits below the stone floors of the structure. . . . Lovely setting 1 And the brave Fulton bad been secured firmly to a huge metal ring set in the farther wall, opposite the entrance. I read the description twice. At the end of it I could not help but lift my head to stare at my own surroundings. Except for the location of the cell, I might have been in the same setting. The same darkness, same silence, same loneliness. Peculiar similarity I And then: "Fulton lay quietly, without attempt to struggle. In the dark, the stillness of the vaults became unbearable, terrifying. Not a sugges- tion of sound, except the scraping of unseen rats — " I dropped the book with a start. From the opposite end of the room in\ which I sat came a half inaudible scuf- fling noise — the sound of hidden ro- dents scrambling through the great pile of boxes. Imagination ? I am not sure. At the moment, V would have- sworn that the sound was a definite One, that I had heard it distinctly. Now, as I recount this tale of horror, I am not sure. But I am sure of this: There. Was no smile on my lips as I pithe - light of my lamp, nang violently upwards, twisting to- ward the ceiling. I saw the grin change to an expression of agony, of torment. And then the thing crashed upon me — dead. With a great cry of fear I stumbled to the door. I groped out of that room of horror, stumbled along the corridor. So light, I left it behind, on the table, IT was the afternoon of the follow- ing -day, December 6, when M. S. sat across the table from me in my own study. I had made a rather hesitant attempt to tell him, without dramatics and without dwelling on my own lack of courage, of the events of the previ- ous night. "You deserved it, Dale," he said quietly. "You are a medical man, noth- ing more, and yet you mock the be- \^ liefs of a scientist as gretft as Daimler. \I wonder — do you still mock the Professor's beliefs?" "That he can bring a' dedd man to life?" I smiled, a bit doubtfully. "I will tell you something, Dale," said M. S. deliberately. He was lean- ing across the table, staring at me. "The Professor made only one mistake in his great experiment. He did not wait long enough for the effect of his strange acids to work. He acknowl- edged failure too soon, and got rid of the body." He paused. "W^hen the Professor stored his pa- tient away, Dale," he said quietly, "he stored it in room 4170, at the great warehouse. If you are acquainted with fhe place, you will know that room 4170 is directly across the corri- dor from 4167." IN a night club of many lights and much high-pitched laughter, where he had come for an hour of forgetfulness and an execrable dinner, John Northwood was suddenly conscious that Fate had begun shuffling the cards of his destiny for a dra- matic game. First, he was aware that the singularly ugly and deformed He -had striTen to perfect the faultless nun of the future, end had succeeded — too wall. For in the pitilessly cold ayes of Adam, his super-human creation, Dr. Mandson saw only contempt — and anni- hilation — for the human race. man at the next table was gazing it him with an intense, almost excited scrutiny. But, more disturbing than this, was the scowl of hate on the fate of another man, as handsome a* this other was hideous, who sat in a far corner bidden be- hind a broad ctd- umn> with rode elbows on ' the table, gawkinf first Jti^North- wood anffv the 196 Creatures of the Light By Sophie Wenzel Ellis A- at the. deformed, almost hideous man. Northwood's blood chilled over the expression on the handsome, fair-haired stringer's perfectly carved face. If a figure in marble could display a fierce, unnatural passion, it would seem no more eldritch than the hate in the icy blue eyes. It was not a new experience for Northwood to be stared at : he was not merely a good looking young fellow of twenty-five, he was scenery, mag- nificent and compelling. Furthermore. 197 The projector', belching jortti its stinking breath oj corrupt lion, swnnc in a mad arc over the ceiling, over the walls, i . he had been in the public eye for years, first as a precocious child and, later, as a brilliant young scientist. Yet, for all his experience with hero worship- pers to put an adamantine crust on his sensibilities, he grew warm-eared un- der the gaze of these two strangers — this hunchback with a face like a grotesque mask in a Greek play, this other who, even handsomer than him- self, chilled the blood queerly with the cold perfection of his godlike mascu- line beauty. 198 ASTOUN0ING STORIES "F^T ORTHWOOD sensed somethingltback stepped into the waiting tail far-Miar about the. hunchback. Somewhere he had . seen that huge, round, intelligent' lace splattered with startling features. The very breadth of the man's massive brow was not al- together unknown to him, nor could Northwood look into the mournful, near-sighted black eyes without trying to recall when and where he had last seen them. But this other of the marble-perfect nose and jaw, the blond, thick-waved hair, was totally *a stranger, whom Northwood fervently hoped be would nearer know too v/ell. Trying to analyze the queer repug- nance that he- felt for this handsome, boldly staring fellow, Northwood 'de- cided: "He's like a newly-made wax figure endowed with life." Shivering over his own fantastic thought, he again glanced Swiftly at the hunchback, who he noticed was playing with his coffee, evidently to prolong the meal. .One year of calm-headed scientific teaching in a famous old eastern uni- versity had not made him callous to mysteries. Thus, with a feeling of high adventure, he finished hyi supper and prepared to got From the corner of his eye, he saw the hunchback leave his seat, while the handsome man behind the column rose furtively, as though he,. too, intended to follow. Northwood wasr ottt in the dusky street about thirty seconds, when the hunchback yant from the foyer. With- out apparently noticing Northwood, he hailed a taxi. For a moment, he 'stood still, waiting for the taxi.ro pull up at the curb. Standing thus, with the street light limning every unnatural angle of his twisted body and every queer abnormality of his huge-jfeatures, he looked' almost repulsive.*-* On his way to the taxi, his ■ thick shoulder jostled the younger man. Northwood felt something strike his foot, and, stooping in the crowded «treet, picked up a black leather wallet. "Waitr he shouted as the bunch-. h But th,e man did not falter. In a moment, Northwood lost sight of hia as the taxi moved away. HE debated with himself whether or not he should attempt to follow. And while he stood thus in indecision, the handsome stranger ap- proached him. "Good evening to you," he said curt' ly. His rich, musical voice, for all its deepness, held a faint hint of the tremulous, birdlike notes heard in the voice of a 'young child whd has not used his vocal chords long enough for them to have lost their exquisite new- ness. "Good evening'," echoed Northwood, somewhat uncertainly. A sudden aun of repulsion swept coldly over him, Seen close, with the brilliant light of the street directly on his too perfect face, the man was more sinister than a the cafe\ Yet Northwood, struggling desperately for a reason to explain Us violent dislike, could not discover why he shrank from this splendid creature, whose eyes and flesh had a new, fresh appearance rarely seen except in very young boys. "I want what you picked up," went on the stranger. "It isn't yours I" Northwood' flashed . back. Ah I that effluvium of hatred which seemed to weave a .tangible net around^him I "Norj is it yours. Give it to mef ' "Youfre insolent, aren't you?" "If you don't give it to me*, you will be sorry." The man did not raise his voice in anger, yet the words whipped Northwood with almost physical vis* | lence. "If he knew" that I saw every* > thing that happened in there — that I am talking to you at this moment— it ' would tremble with fear." "But you can't intimidate me." "No?" For a long moment, the cold' blue eyes held his contemptuously. "No ? I can't frighten you — you wona | of the Black Age?" , Before Northwood's horrified sight, CREATURES be vanished ;' vanished as though he had turned suddenly to air and floated iway. L - THE street was not crowded at that time, and there was no pressing group ©f v bodies to hide the splendid creature. Northwood gawked stupidly, mouth half open, eyes searching wildly everywhere. The man was gone. He had eimplw disappeared, in this sane, electric-lighted street. Suddenly, close to Northwood's ear, grated a derisive laugh. "I can't frighten you?" From nowhere' came that singularly young-old voice. At Northwood jerked his head around to meet blank space; a blow ■truck the corner of his mouth. He felt the warm blood run 'over his chin. "I could take that wallet from you, worm, but you may keep it, and see me later. But remember this — tlje thing iaiide never will be yours." The words fell from- empty air. For several minutes, xJorthwood waited at the spot, expecting another demonstration of the abnormal, but nothing else occurred. At last, trem- bling violently, he wiped the thick moisture from his forehead and dabbed at the blood which he still felt on his chin. ; JJut when he looked at his handker- chief, he muttered: "Well, I'll be jiggered I" The handkerchief bore not the ■lightest trace of blood. UNDER the light in his bedroom, Northwood examined the wallet. It was made of alligator skin, clasped with a gold signet that, bore the initial M. The first pocket was empty; the second yielded an object that jent a warm flush to his face. It was the photograph of a gloriously beautiful .girl, so seductively lovely that the picture seemed almost to be alive. The short, curved upper lip, the hill, delicately voluptuous lower, parted slightly in a smile that seemed to linger in every exquisite line of her 3F THE LIGHT 199 face. She looked as though she had just BpokeVi passionately, and the spirit of her words had inspired her sweet fleslj and eyes. Northwcod^turned his head abruptly and groaned, "Good Heavens I" .He had' no right to palpitate over _th« picture of an \ unknown beauty. Only a month ago, he had become en- gaged to ^a young woman whose mind was as brilliant as her face was plain. Always he had vowed that he would /never marry a pretty girl, for he de» tested his own masculine beauty sin- cerely. He tried to' grasp a mental picture .of Mary Burns, who had never stirred in him the emotion that this smiling pic- ture invoked. But, gazing at the pic- ture, he could not remember how his fiancee looked. ~~ \ Suddenly the. picture fell from his fingers and dropped to the floor on its face, revealing an inscription on the back. In a bold, masculine hand, he read: "Your future wife." "Some lucky fellow is headed for a life of bliss," was his jealous thought. He frowned at the» beautiful face. What was this girl to that hideous hunchback? Why did the handsome stranger warn him, "The thing inside never will be yours?" Again he turned eagerly ,to the wallet. I In the last flap he found something that gave him another surprise : a plain white card on which a name and ad- dress were written by the same hand that had penned the inscription on the picture. Bmil Mundson, Ph. D., Indian Cour,t Emil Mundson, the electrical wizard and distinguished scientific writer, friend of the professor of science at the university where Northwood was an assistant professor; Emil Mundson, whom, a week ago, Northwood had yearned mightily to meet. Now Northwood knew why the 200 ASTOUNDING STORIESX hunchback's intelligent, ugly face was familar to him. He had seen it pic- tured as. Often as enterprising news photographers could steal a likeness from the over-sensitive scientist, who would never sit --for a formal portrait. EVEN before Northwood had grad.- uated from the university where he now taught, he had been avidly in- terested in' pmil Mundson's fantastic articles in scientific journals. Only a week ago, Professor Michael' had come to him with the current issue of New Science, shouting excitedly: "Did you read this, John, this ar- ticle by Emil Muhdson?" His 'shaking, gnarled old fingers tapped the open magazine. 'Northwood seized the magazine and looked avidly at the title of the article, "Creatures of the Light." "No, I haven't read it," he admitted. "My magazine hasn't come yet." "Run -through it now briefly, will you? And note with especial care the passages I have marked. In fact, you needn't bother with anything else just now. Read this — and this — and this." He pointed out penciled paragraphs. Northwood read: Man always has been, always will be a creature of the light. He is forever reaching for some future ' point of perfected evolution which, even when his most remote an- cestor was a fish creature com- \ posed of a few cells, was the guid- ing power -that brought him up from the first stinking sea and caused him to create gods in his own image. It is this yearning for perfection which sets man' apart from all other life, which made him man even in the rudimentary stages of his development. He was man when he wallowed in the slime of the new world and yearned fo» the air above. He will still be man when he has evolved into that glorious creature of the future whose body is deathless and whose mind rules the universal ■» ' '■ Professor Michaef, looking over Northwood's shoulder, interrupted the reading: "Man always' has been, man," fie droned emphatically. "That's not orif. inal with friend Mundson, of course; - yet it is a theory that has not received sufficient. investigation." He indicated another marked paragraph. "Read tin thoughtfully, John. It's the crux of Mundson's thought." Northwood continued: Since the human body is chem- ical" and electrical, increased knowledge of its powers and limi- tations will enable us to work with Nature in her sublime but infinite- ly slow processes of human evolu- tion. We need not wait another fifty thousand years to be god- like creatures. Perhaps even now we may be standing at the begin- ning of the .splendid bridge that will take us to that state of per- fected evolution when we shall be Creatures who have reached the Light. r Northwood looked questioningly,«t the professor. "Queer, fantastic thing, isn't it?" PROFESSOR MICHAEL smoothed i hrs thin, gray hair with ha' dried-out hand. "Fantastic?" Hit intellectual eyes behind the thick; glasses sought the ceUing. "Who cm say ? Haven't you ever wondered why all parents expect their children to be nearer perfection ^han themselves, and why is it a natural impulse for then to be willing to sacrifice themselves to better their •offspring?" Ht! paused and moistened Jiis pale, wrinkled lips. "In- stinct, Northwood. We Creatures of the Light know that our race' shall 'reach that point in evolution when, at perfect creatures, we shall rule all m«>j ter arid live forever." He punctuated! CREATURES OF THE LIGHT 201 -the last words with blows oh the table. Northwood laughed dryly. "How many thousands of years are you look- ing forward, Professor?" The professor made an obscure noise that sounded like a smothered sniff. "You and I shall never agree on the point that mental advancement may wipe out physical limitations . in the human race, perhaps in a few hundred years. It seems as though your pro- found admiration for Dr. Mundson would win you over to this pet theory." "But what sane man can believe that even perfectly developed beings, through mental control, could over- come Nature's fixed laws?" "We don't know I We don't know I" The professor slapped the magazine with an emphatic hand. "Emil Mund- son hasn't written this article for noth- ing. He's paving the way for some an- nouncement that will startle the scien- tific world. I know him. In the same manner he gave out veiled hints of his various brilliant discoveries and inven- tions long before he offered them to the world." "But Dr. Mundson is an electrical wiiard. He would not be delving seri- ously into the mysteries of evolution, would he?" "Why not?" The professor's wiz- ened face screwed up wisely. "A year 'ago, when he was back from one of those mysterious long excursions he takes in that weirdly different aircraft of his, about which he is so secretive, be told me that he was conducting ex- periments to prove his belief that the human brain generates electric current, and that the electrical impulses in the brain set up radioactive waves that some day, among other miracles, will make thought communication possible. Perfect man, he says, will perform mental feats which will give him com- plete mental domination over the phys-' icaL" NORTHWOOD finished, reading and turned thoughtfully^ to the* window. His profile in repose had the straight-nosed, full-lipped perfection of a Greek coin. Old, wizened Pro- fessor Michael, gazing at him covertly, smothered a sigh. ,jr "I' wish you knew. Dr. Mundson!" he said. "He, the ugliest man in the world, delights in physical perfection. He would revel in your splendid body and brilliant mind." NorthwobM blushed hotly. "You'll have to arrange a meeting between us." "I have." The professor's thin, dry lips pursed comically. "He'll drop in to see you within a few days." And now John Northwood sat hold- ing Dr. Mundson's card and the wallet which the scientist had so mysterious- ly dropped at his feet. HERE was high adventure, per-^ haps, for which he had been sin- gled out by the famous electrical wizard. While excitement mounted in his blood, Northwood again examined the photograph. The .girl's < strange eyes, odd in expression rather than in size or shape, seemed to hold him. The young man's breath came quicker. "It's a challenge," he said softly. "It won't hurt to see what it's all about." His watch showed' eleven o'clock. He would return the wallet that night. Into hisfcoat pocket Jse slipped a re- volver. One sometimes needed weap- ons in Indian Court, ' He took a taxi, which soon . turned from the well-lighted streets into a sec- tion where squalid houses crowded against each other, -and dirty children swarmed in the streets in their last games of the day. ' " Indian Court was little more than ah alley, dark and evil smelling. The chauffeur stopped at the en- trance and said: . "If I drive in, I'll have to back out, sir. Number forty-four and a half is the end house, facing the entrance!" "Yiou've been here before?" asked Northwood. "Last week I drove the queerest bird here — a fellow as good-looking as you, who had me follow the taxi occupied 202 ASTOUNDING STORIES' by a hunchback with a face like Old Nick." The man hesitated and went on haltingly: "It might sound goofy, mister, but there -was something funny about my fare. He jumped out, asked me the charge, and, in. the moment I glanced at my 'taxi-meter, he disap- peared. Yes, sir. Vanished, owing me four dollars, six bits. It was almost ghostlike, mister." Northwood laughed nervously and dismissed him. He found his number and knocked at #ie dilapidated door. He heard a sudden movement in the lighted room beyond, and the door opened .quickly. Dr. Mundson faced him. "I knew you'd cornel" he said with a slight Teutonic accent. "Often I'm not wrong in sizing up my man. Come in." Northwood cleared his throat awk- wardly. "You dropped your wallet at my feet, Dr Mundson. I tried to 'stop you before you got away, but I guess you did not hear me." "He offered the wallet, but the hunch- back waved it aside. "A ruse, of course," he confessed. "It just was my way of testing what your Professor Michael told about you — that lyou are extraordinariljrSintelligent, virile, and imaginative. Had; you sent the wallet to me, I should hare sought elsewhere for my man. Come in," •l i NORTHWOOD followed '-him\ into a living room evidently, recently furnished in a somewhat hurried man- ner. The furniture, although rich, was not placed to best advantage 1 . The new rug was a trifle crooked on the floor, and the lamp shades clashed in color with the otfler furnishings! Dr. Mundson's intense eyes svdept over Northwood'* tall, slim body. "Ah, you're a man I" he said softly. "You are what all men would: be if we followed Nature''! plan that only the fit shall survive. But modern science is permitting the unfit to live and to mix their defective beings with, the, de- veloping race-l" His huge fist gesticu- lated madly. "Fools 1, Fools! They, need me and perfect men like you." "Why?" "Because you can help me in my plan to populate the earth with a new rata! of godlike people. But don't quMaW me too closely now. Even if I should; explain, you would call me insane. But watch; gradually I shall unfold the mystery before you, so that, you witf believe." , • He reached .for the wallet that Northwood still held, opened it with t monstrous hand, and reached for the photograph. "She shall bring you loTt* She's more beautiful than a poet's dream." • A warm flush, crept over the younfj man's face. "I can easily understand," he said, "how a man could love her, but for me she comes too late." "Pooh I Fiddlesticks I" The scien- tist snapped his fingers. "This girl wat created for you. That other — you will forget her the moment you set eyes oa the sweet flesh of this Athalia. She is' an houri from Paradise — a maiden of musk and incense." He held the girfi; photograph toward the. young man., "Keep it. She is yours, if you art: strong enough to hold her." Northwood opened his card case and placed the picture inside, facing; Mary's photograph. Again the warn- ing words of the mysterious stranger rang jn his memory: "The thing it- side never will be yours." "Where to," he said eagerly; "and when do we start ?" "To the new Garden of Edenj" said the scientist, with such a beatific smile that his face was less hideout)' "We start immediately. I have ar- ranged with Professor Michael for you to go,'*- NORTHWOOD followed Dr. Mundson to the street and walked with him a few blocks to a garage where the scientist's" .motor v* waited. - \ \ "The apartment in- Indian Court * CREATURES OP THE LIGHT 203 / just a little eccentricity of mine," ex- plained Dr. Mundson. "I need people in my work, people whom I must select through swift, sure tests. The apart- ment comes in handy, as to-night." Northwood scarcely noted where they were going, or how long they had been on the way. He was vaguely aware that theyj had left the city behind, and were now passing through farms bathed in moonlight. At last they entered a path that led through a bit of woodland. For half ai mile the path continued, and then ended at a small, enclosed field. In the middle of this Tested a queer aircraft. Northwood knew it was a flying ma- chine only by the propellers mounted on the top of the huge ball-shaped body. There were no wings, jio bird- like hull, no tail. \ "It looks almost like a little world ready to fly off into space," he com- mented. "It is just about that." The scientist's squat, bunched-out body, settled squarely on long, thin* straddled legs, looked gnomelike in the moonlight. "One cannot copy flesh 'with steel and wood, but one* cars make metal perform magic of which flesh is not capable. My tun-ship is not a mechanical reproduc- tion of a bird. It is — but, climb m, tyoung friend." NORTHWOOD followed Dr. Mundson into the aircraft. The moment the scientist closed the metal door behind them, Northwood was in- stantly aware of some concealed horror that vibrated through his nerves. For one dreadful moment, he expected' some terrific agent of the shadows that escaped the electric lights to leap upon him. And this was odd, for nothing could be saner than the glcibular in- terior of the aircraft, divided into four wedge-shaped apartments. Dr. Mundson also paused at the door, puzzled, hesitant. "Someone has been herd" he ex- claimed. "Look, Northwood I The bunk has been occupied — the one in this cabin I had set aside for you." He pointed to the disarranged bunk, where the impression of a head could still be seen on a pillow. "A tramp, perhaps." "No I The door Was locked, and, as you saw, the fence around' this field was protected with barbed wire. There's something wrong. I felt it on my trip here all the way, like someone watch- ing me in the dark. And don't laugh 1 I' have stopped laughing at all things that seem unnatural. You don't know what is naturan" Northwood shivered. "Maybe some-, one is concealed about the ship." "Impossible. Me, I thought so, too. But I looked and looked, and there wis nothing." A^l evening Northwood had burned to tell the scientist about the handsome -stranger in the Mad Hatter Club. But even now he shrank from saying that a man had vanished before his eyes. Dr. Mundson was working with a succession of buttons and levers. There was a slight jerk, and then the strange craft shot up, straight as a bullet from a gun, wjfth scarcely a sound other than a continuous whistle. "The vertical rising aircraft per- fected," explained Dr. Mundson. "But what would you think if I told you that there is not an ounce pf gasoline in my heavier-than-air craft?" "I shouldn't be surprised. A n elec- trical genius would 'seek for a less ob- solete source of power." IN the bright flare of the electric lights, the scientist's ugly face flushed.- "The man who harnesses the sun rules the world. He can make' the desert places bloom, the frozen* poles balmy and verdant. You, John North- wood, are one of the very few to fly in a 'machine operated solely by elec- trical energy from the sun's rays." ''Are you telling me that this airship is operated with power from the sun?" "Yes. And I cannot take the credit for its invention." He sighed. "The dream was mine," but a greater brain 204 ASTOUNDU developed it — a brain that ' may be greater than I suspect." His face grew suddenly graver. At little later Northwood said: "It seems that we must be making fabulous speed." "Perhaps I" Dr. Mundson worked with the controls. "Here, I've cut her down to the average speed of the or- dinary airplane. Now you can see a bit of the night scenery." Northwood peeped out the thick; glass porthole. Far below, he saw two' tiny streaks of' ligb.t, one smooth and stationery, the other wavering ^as though it were a Reflection in water.' "That can't be a lighthouse I" he cried. The scientist glanced outj "It is. We're approaching the Florida Keys." "Impossible I We've been traveling less than ah hour." j "But, my young friend,- do you real- ize that my sun-ship has a speed of over one'thousand- miles an hour, how much over I dare not tell you ?" Throughout the night, . Northwood sat beside Dr. Mundson, watching his deft fingers control the simple-looking ^buttons and levers. So fast was their flight now that, through the portholes, sky arid earth looked the same: dark gray films of emptiness. The continu- ous weird whistle from the hidden mechanism of the sun-ship was like the drone of a monster insect, monotonous and soporific during the long intervals when the scientist was too busy with his controls to engage in conversation. For some reason that he could not explain, Northwood had an aversion to going into the sleeping apartment be- hind the control room. Then, towards morning, when the suddenly falling temperature struck a -biting chill throughout the sun ship, Northwood, going into the cabin for fur coats, dis- covered why his mind and body sfirank in horror from the cabin. AFTER he had procured k the fur coats from a closet, he paused a moment, in the privacy of the cabin, to G STORIES f i look at Athalia's picture. Every nerrel in his body leaped to meet the man netiam of. her beautiful eyes. Never had Mary Bums -stirred emotion like this in him. He hung over Mary's pk>j ture, wistfully, hoping almost prayer! fully that he could react to ber as ha did to Athalia ; but her pale, over-mtel-i lectual face left him cold. "Cadi" he ground out between hit teeth. "Forgetting her so soon!" The two pictures were lying side by Bide on a little table. Suddenly a^ ob- scure noise in the room caught his at. tention. It. was more vibration than noise, for small sounds could scarcely be heard above the wpistle of the sun- ship. A slight compression: of the ait against his neck gave him the eery feeling that someone was standing close behind him. He wheeled and looked over his shoulder. Hall ashamed of his startled gesture,, be again turned to his pictures. Then a sharp cry broke from him; Athaniafs picture was gone. He searched for it everywhere in the room, in his own pockets, under the furniture. It was nowhere to be found; In sudden, overpowering horror, be seized the fur coats and returned to the control room. ! DR. MUNDSON was changing tbe speed. "Look out the windowY' he called to 1 Northwood. The young man looked and started violently. Day had come, and now that the sun-ship was flying at a moderate; speed, the ocean beneath was plalnfy visible ; and its entire*surface was cori ered with broken floes of ice and small, ragged icebergs, He seized a telescope and focusd it below. A typical polar scene met his eyes! penguins strutted, about on cakes of ice, a whale blowing in the. icy water. "A part of the Antarctic that bat never been explored," said Dr. Mundi son; "and there, just showing on the 1 horizon, is the Great Ice Barrier." Hil characteristic smile lighted the morass, CREATURES OF THE LIGHT 205 black eyes. "I am enough of the dramatist to wish you to be impressed with what I shall show you within less than an hour. Accordingly, I shall make a landing and let you feel polar ice under your feet." After less than a minute's search, Dr. Mundson found a suitable place on the ice for a landing, and, with a few deft manipulations of the controls, brought the sun-ship swooping down like an eagle on its prey. * For a long moment after the scientist had stepped out on the ice, Northwpod paused at the door. His feet were chained by a strange reluctance to" en- ter this white, dead wilderness or ice. But Dr. Mundson's impatient, "Ready?" drew from him one last glance at? the cozy interior of the sun- ship "before he, too, went out into the frozen stillness. They left the sun-ship resting on the ice like a fallen silver moon, while they wandered to the edge of the Barrier and Iookcdxat the fray, narrow stretch of sea between the ice pack and the high cliffs of the -Barrier. The tun of the commencing six-months' Antarctic day was a low, cold ball whose slanted rays struck the ice with blinding whiteness. There were constant falls of ice from the Barrier, which thun- dered into the ocean amid great clouds of ice smoke that lingered like wraiths around the edge. It was a scene of loneliness and waiting death. "What's that?" exclaimed the scien- tist suddenly. • Out pf the white silence shrilled a low whistle, a familiar whistle. Both men wheeled toward 'the sun-ship. Before their horrified eyes, the great sphere jerked and glided up, and swerved into the heavens. UP it soared; then, gaining speed, it swung into the blue distance until, in a moment, it was a tiny star that flickered out even as they watched. Both men (creamed and 'cursed and, flung up their arms despairingly. A penguin, attracted by their cries, wad- dled solemnly over to them and re- garded them with manlike curiosity. > "Stranded in the coldest spot on earth I" groaned the scientist. "Why did it start itself, Dr. Mund- son!" Norwood narrowed his eyes as he spoke. "It didn't I" The scientist's huge face, red from cold, quivered with help- less rage. "Human hands started it." "What! Whose hands?" "Ach! Do I know?" Hi's Teutonic accent grew more pronounced, as it al- ways did when he was under emotional stress. "Somebody whose brain is bet- ter than mine. Somebody who found a. way to hide away from our eyes. Acb.\ Gott! Don't let me think t" His great head sank between hi? shoulders, giving him, in his fur suit, the grotesque appearance of a friendly brown bear. "Doctor Mundson," said Northwood •uddenly, "did you have an enemy, a man with the face and body of a pagan god — a great, blond creature with eyes as cold and cruel as the ice under onr feet?" "Wait I" The huge found head jerked up. "How do you know about Adam? xou have not seen him, won't see him until we arrive at our destina- tion." "But I have seen him. He was sit- ting not thirty "feet from you in the Mad Hatter's Club last night. Didn't you know? He followed me to the street, spoke to me, • and then — " Northwood stopped. How could he let the insane words pass his lips? , "Then, what? Speak up!" NORTHWOOD laughed nervous- i ly. "It sounds foolish, but I saw him vanish like that." He snapped his • fingers. . "Ach, Gott I" .All the ruddy color- drained from the scientist's face. As though talking to himself, he con- tinued : "Then it is true, as he said. He' has crossed the bridge, He has reached the Light. And now he comes to see 206 ASTOUNDING STORIES the world he will conquer — came un- seen when I refused my permission:" He was silent (or a long time, pon- dering. Then he turned passionately to Northwood. ' "John Northwood, kill me I I have brought a new horror into the world. From the unborn future, I have snatched a creature who has reached the Light too soon. Kill me I" He bowed his great, shaggy head. 1 "What do you mean, Dr. Mundson : that this Adam has arrived at a. point in evolution beyond this age?" "Yes. Think of itl I visioned god- like creatures with the souls of gods. But, Heaven help us, man always will be man; always will lust for conquest. You and' I, Northwood, and all others are barbarians to Adam. He and his kind will do what men always do to barbarians— conquer and kill." "Are there more like him?" North- wood struggled with a smite of uhbe- ' ■"I Hon't know. I did not know that i £iSam had reached a point so near the ultimate.' But y4u have seen. Already he is able to set aside what we call natural laws." Northwood looked at the scientist closely. The man was surely mad — mad in this desert of white death. "Cornel" he said cheerfully. "Let's build an Eskimo snow house.. We can live on penguins for days. Ahd who knows what may rescue us?" For three hours the two worked at cutting ice blocks. With snow for mortar, they built a 'crude shelter which enabled them to rest out of the cold breath of the spiral polar winds that blew from the south. ' I . DR. MUNDSON was sitting at the door of their hut,' moodily pull- ing ,at his strong, black pipe. As though a fit had seized-him, he leaped up and let his pipe fall to the ice. ' Look I" he shouted. "The sun-ship!" It seemed but a moment before the tiny speck on the horizon had swept overhead, a silver comet on the gray- ish-blue polar sky. In another moment it had swooped down, eaglewise, scarcely fifty feet from the ice hut. Dr. Mundson and Northwood ran forward. From . the metal sphere stepped the stranger of the Mad Hatter ' Club. His tall, straight form, erect and slim, swung toward them over the ice, "Adam I" shouted Dr. Mundson. "What does this mean? How dare you!" Adam's laugh was like the happy demonstration of a boy. "So? Yon think you still are master? You think I returned because I reverenced you yet?" Hate shot viciously through the freezing blue eyes. "You worm of the Black Age!" Northwood shuddered. He had heard those strange words addressed to him- self scarcely more than twelve houn ago/ Adam -was still speaking: "With » thought I could annihilate you where you are standing. But I have use for you. Get in v " He swept his hand to the sun-ship. s Both men hesitated. Then North- wood strode forward until he was with- in three feet of Adam. They stood thai, eyeing each other, two splendid beings, one blond as a Viking, the other dark and vital. "Just what is your game?'' demanded Nortawood. The icy eyes «hot forth a gleam like lightning. "I needn't tell you, of course, but I may as well let you suffer . over the knowledge." He curled hii lips with superb scorn. "I have one human weakness. I want Athalia." The icy eyes warmed for a, fleeting second. "She is anticipating her meeting with you — bah! The taste of these women of the Black Age I I could kill you, of course; tut that would only inflame her. And so I take you to her, thrust you down her throat. When she sees, you, she will fly to me." He spread hit magnificent chest. "Adam!" Dr. Mundson's face was dark with anger. "What of Eve-?" "Who are you to question my so- CREATURES OF THE LIGHT 207 tions? What a fool you were to let me, ' whom you forced into life thousands of years too soon, grow more powerful than you I Before I am through with all of you petty creatures of- the Black Age, you will call me more terrible than your Jehovah I For see what you have called forth from unborn time." He vanished. BEFORE the startled men could recover from the shock of it, the vibrant, too-new voice went on : "I am sorry for you, Mundson, be- cause, like you, I need specimens for my experiments. What a splendid specimen you will be 1" His laugh was ugly with significance. "Get in, Worms I" Unseen hands cuffed and pushed them into the sun- ship- Inside, Dr. Mundson stumbled to the control room, white and drawn of face, his great brain seemingly paralyzed by be catastrophe. "You needn't attempt tricks," wen,t on the voice. "I am watching you both. You cannot even hide your thoughts' from me." , And thus began the strange con- tinuation of the journey. Not once, in that wild half-hour's rush over the polar ice clouds, did they tee Adam. They saw and heard only the weird signs of his presence: a puffing cigar hanging in midair, a glass of water swinging to unseen lips, a ghostly voice hurling threats and insults at them. v Once the scientist whispered: "Don't cross him; it is useless. John North- wood, you'll have to fight a demigod for your woman I" Because of the terrific speed of the sun-ship, Northwood could distinguish nothing of the topographical details b#- low. At the end of half-an-hour, the scientist slowed enough to point out a tall range of snow-covered mountains, over which hovered a play of colored lights like the aurora australis. "Behind those mountains," he said, "is our destination." ALMOST in a moment, the sun- ship had soared over the peaks. Dr. Mundson kept the speed low enough for Northwood to see the splendid view below. In the giant cup formed by the en- circling mountain range was a green valley of tropical luxuriance, Stretches of dense forest swept half up the moun- tains and filled the valley . cup with tan- gled verdure. In the center, sur- rounded by a broad field and a narrow ring of Woods, towered a group of buildings. From the largest, which was circular, came the auroralike radiance that formed an umbrella of light over the entire valley. "Do I guess right," said Northwood : "that the light is responsible for this oasis in the ice?" "Yes,", said Dr. Munson. "In your American slang, it is cartnep sunshine containing an overabundance. of certain rays, especially the Life Ray, which i have isolated." He smiled proudly. "You needn't look startled, my friend. Some of the most common things store sunlight. On very. dark nights, if you have sharp eyes, you can see the radi- ance given off by certain flowers, which many naturalists say is trapped sun- shine. The familiar nasturtium and the marigold opened for me . the way to hold sunshine against the long polar night, for they taught me how to' apply the Einstein theory of bent light. Stated simply, during the polar night, when the sun is hidden over the rim of the world, we steal some of his rays ; during the polar day we concentrate the light." "But could, stored sunshine/ alone give enough warmth for the luxuriant growth of those jungles?" "An overabundance of the Life Ray is responsible for the miraculous growth of all life in New Eden. The Life Ray is Nature's most powerful forte. Yet Nature is often niggardly and paradoxical in her use of her powers. In New Eden, we' have forced the powers of creation to take ascen- dency over the powers of destruction." 208 ASTOUNDING STORIES At Northwood's Sudden start, the scientist laughed and continued: "Is it not a pity that Nature, left alone, re- quires twenty years to make a man who begins to die in another ten years?' Such waste is not tolerated in New Elden, where supermen are .younger than babes and — "° "Come, worms ; let's Jand." ' It was Adam's voice. Suddenly he materialized, a blond gtfd, whose eyes and flesh were too new. , THEY wWe in a world of golden skylight, warmth [and tropical vegetation. The field dn which they bad landed was covered with a velvety green growth of very soft, fine-bladed grass, sprinkled with tiny,, star-shaped blue flowers. A balmy, sweet-scented wind, downy as the breeze of a dream, blew gently along the grass and tin- gled against Northwood's skin refresh- ingly. Almost instantly he had the sensation of perfect well being, and this feeling of physical perfection was part of the ecstasy that seemed to per- vade the entire valley. ' Crass and breeze and golden skylight were satu- rated with a strange -ether of joyous- ness. 1 At one end of the field was a dense jungle, cut through by a road that led to the towering building from which, while above in the sun-ship, they had seen the golden light issue. From the jungle road came a man and a woman, large, handsome people, whose flesh and eyes had the sinister fewness of Adam's. Even before they , came close enough to speak, North- cwood was aware that while they seemed of Adam's breed, they wpre yet unlike him. The difference Was psychical rather than physical; they lacked the aura of hate and horror that sur- rounded Adam. The woman drew Adam's head down and kissed him af- fectionately on both cheeks. Adam, from his towering height, patted her shoulder impatiently and Mid: "Run on back to 'the laboratory, grandmother. We're following soon. You have some new human embryos, I believe you told me this morning." "Four fine specimens, two, of them being your sister's twins." "Splendid! I was sure that creation had stopped with my generation. I must see them." He turned to the scientist and Northwood. "You need- n't try to' leave this spot. Of course I shall know instantly and deal with you in my own way. Wa.it here." He strode over the emerald grass on the heels of the woman.' Northwodd asked : "Why does he call that girl grandmother?" "Because she is his ancestress." He stirred uneasily. "She is of the first generation brought forth in the lab- oratory, and is no different from you or ! I, except that, at the age of - five years, she is the ancestress of twenty generations." , "My God!" muttered Northwood. "Don't start being horrified, my friend. Forget about so-called natural laws while you are in New Eden. Re- member, here we have isolated the Life Ray. But look! Here comes your Athalial" NORTHWOOD gazed covertly at the beautiful girl approaching them with a rarely graceful walk. She was tall, slender, round-bosomed, nar- row-hipped, and she held her lovely body in the erect poise of splendid health. Northwood had a confused realization of uncovered bronzy hair, drawn to- the back Of a white neck in a bunch of short curls ; of immense soft black eyes ; lips the . color of blood, and delicate, plump flesh on which the golden skylight lingered graciously. He was instantly glad to see that while she possessed the fresh- ness of young girlhood; her skin and eyes did not hav^ the, horrible newness of Adam's. % When she was still twenty feet dis- tant, Northwood met her eyes and she smiled shyly. The rich, red blood ran through* her face ; and he, too, flushed. She went to Dr. Mundson and, pise- CREATURES OF THE LIGHT 209 |ng her hands on his thick shoulders, kissed him affectionately. "I've been worried about you, Daddy Mundson." Her rich contralto voice matched her exotic beauty. "Since you and Adam had that quarrel the day you left, I did not see him until this morn- ing, when he landed the sun-ship alone." "And you pleaded with him to return lor us?" "Yes." Her eyes drooped and a hot Bush swept over her face. Dr. Mundson smiled. "Bnt I'm back now, Athalia, and I've brought some one whom I hope you will be glad to know." Reaching for her hand, he placed it ■imply in Northwood'a. "This is John, Athalia. Isn't he handsomer than the pictures of him which I televfsioned to you? God bless both of you." He walked ahead and turned his back. A MAGICAL half hour followed for Northwood and Athalia. The girl t61d him of her past life, how Dr. Mundson had discovered her one year ago working in a New York sweat shop, half dead from consumption. Without friends, she was eager to fol- low the scientist to New Eden, where' he promised she would recover her health immediately. "And He was right, John," she said shyly. "The Life Ray, that marvelous energy ray which penetrates to the ut- most depths of earth and ocean, giving to the cells of all living bodies the 'power to grow and remain animate, has .been concentrated by Dr. Mundson . in bis stored sunshine. The Life Ray healed me almost immediately. 1 * Northwood looked* down at the glorious girl beside him, whose eyes already fluttered away from his like shy black butterflies. Suddenly he squeezed the soft hand in his and said passionately : "Athalia I Because Adam wants you and will get you if he can, let us set aside all the artificialities of civiliza-' tion. I have loved you madly ever since I saw your picture. If you can say the same to me, it will give me courage to face what I know lies before me." Athalia, her face suddenly tender, came' closer to him. "John Northwood, I love you." . Her red lips came temptingly close ; but before he could touch them, Adam suddenly pushed his b$dy between him and Athalia! Adam was pale, and all the icyneas was gone from his blue eyes' which were deep and dark and very human. He looked down at Athalia, and she looked up at him, two handsome specimens of perfect man- hood and womanhood. "Fast work, Athalia I" The new vi- brant voice was strained! "I was hop- ing you would be disappointed in him, especially after having been wooed, by me this morning. I could take you' if I wished, of course; but I prefer to win you in the ancient manner. Dis- miss hfmt" He jerked his thumb over his shoulder in Northwood'a direction. Athalia flashed vividly and looked at him almost compassionately. "I am not great enough for you, Adam. I dare not love you." ADAM laughed,' and still oblivious of Northwood and Dr. Mundson, folded his arms over his breast. With the golden skylight onr his burnished hair, he was a valiant, magnificent spectacle. "Since the beginning of time', gods and archangels have looked upon the daughters of men and found them fair. Mate with me, Athalia, and' I>, fifty thousand years beyond the creature Mundson has selected for you, will make you as I am, the deathless over- lord of life and all nature." He drew her hand to his bosom. For one dark moment, Northwood fel{ himself seared by jealousy, for, through the plump, sweet flesh of Athalia's face, he saw the red blood leap again. How could she withhold herself from this splendid superman? 210 ► ASTOUNDING STORIES j But her answer, given with faltering voice, was the old, simple one : "I have promised him, Adam. I love him." TeSrsJkrembled on her thick lashes. "Sol I cannot get V|Ou in the ancient manner. Now I'll use my own." He seized her in ,his arms, crushed her against him, and, laughing over her head at Northwood, bent his glistening head and kissed her on the mouth. There, was a blinding flash of blue' electric sparks— and nothing else. Both Adam and Athalia had vanished. A' DAM'S voice came in a last mock- l ing challenge : "J. shall be what no other gods before me have been — a good sport. I'll leave you both to your own devices, until I want you again." White-lipped and trembling, North- wood groane'd: "What has he done now?" Dr. Mundson's great head drooped. "I don't know. Our bodies are 'electric . and chemical machines ; and a super in- telligence has'' discovered new' laws of which you -and I are ignorant." "But Athalia. . . ." "She is safe; be loves her." . "Loves her I" Northwood shivered. "I cannot believe that those freezing eyes could ever look with love on a woman." "Adam is a man. At heart he is as human as the . first man-creature that wallowed in the new earth's slime." His voice dropped as though he were musing aloud. "It might be well to let him have Athalia. She will help to keep vigor in the new race, which would stop reproducing in another few generations without the injection of Black Age blood.': "Do you want to bring more crea- tures like Adam into the world?" Northwood flung at him. "You have tampered with life enough. Dr. Mund- son. But, although Adam has my sym- pathy. I'm not willing to turn Athalia over to him." "Well said I Now come to the labora- i tory for chemical nourishment and rest ! under the L,iie Ray." They went to the treat circular building from whose highest tower it. Bued the golden radiance that shamed the light of the sun, hanging low in the northeast. "John Northwood," said Dr. Mund- son, "with that laboratory, which is the center of all life in New Eden, well have to whip Adam. He gave lis what he called a 'sporting"chance' because he knew that he is able to send us and all mankind to a doom more terrible than hell. Even now we might be entering some hideous trap that he has Bet for us." i THEY entered by a side entrance and went immediately to what Dr. Mundson called the Rest Ward. Here, in a large room, were ranged rows of cots, on many of which lay men bask- ing in the deep orange flood of light which poured from individual lamp* set above each cot. "It is the Life Ray I" said Dr. Mund- son reverently. "The source of. all growth and restoration in Nature. It is the power that bursts dpen the seed and brings forth the shoot, that in- creases the shoot, into a giant tree. It is the same power that enables the fer- tilized ovum to develop into an animal It create^ and recreates cells almost in- stantly; Accordingly, it is the perfect substitute for sleep. Stretch but, enjoy its power ; and while you rest, eat these nourishing tablets." Northwood lay on a cot, and Dr. Mundson turned the Life Ray on him. For a few minutes a delicious drowsi- ness fell upon him, producing a spell of perfect peace which the cells of his be- ing seemed to drink in.' For another delirious, fleeting spacer every inch of' him vibrated with a thrilling sensation of freshness. ■? He took a deep, ecstatic breath and opened his eyes. " "Enough," said Dr. Mundsotr, switch- ing off the Ray. "After three minutes of rejuvenation, you are eommendnf- again with perfect cells. All ravages from disease and wear have been cor- rected." CREATURES OF THE LIGHT 211 Northwood leaped up joyously. His yiinAmmnr pyes Bparkled, his skin glowed, "ilfeel great I Never felt so good since l\was a kid." A pleased grin spread over the scientist's homely face. "See what my discovery wilLtnean to the world I In the future wo' shall all go to f he labora- tory for recuperation and nourishment. We'll have almost twenty-four hours a day for work and play." HE stretched out on the bed con- tentedly. "Some day, when my work is nearly done, I shall permit the life Ray to cure my hump." "Why not now ?" Dr. Mundson sighed. "If I were per- fect, I should cease to be so over- whelmingly conscious of the impor- tance of perfection." He settled back to enjoyment of the Life Ray'. A few minutes later, he jumped up, alert as a boy.. "Act! That's fine. Now I'll show you how the Life Ray speeds up development and produces four generations of humans a year." "With restored energy, Northwood began thinking of Athalia. As he fol- lowed Dr. Mundson down a long cor- ridor, he yearned to see her again, to be certain that. she was safe. Once he 1 imagined he felt a gentle, soft-fleshed touch against his hand, and was disap- pointed not to see her walking by his side. Was she with- him, unseen? The thought was sweet. Before. Dr. Mundson opened the^mas- stve bronze door at the end of the cor- ridor, he said: "Don't be surprised or shocked over anything you see here, John North- wood. This is the Baby Laboratory." They entered a room which seemed no different from a hospital warH. On little white beds lay naked children of various sizes, perfect, solemn-eyed youngsters and older children as beautiful as animated statues. Above each bed was a small Life Ray pro- jector. A white-capped nurse went from bed to bed. They are recuperating from the daily educational period," said the Bc)entist. "After a few minutes of this they will, go into the growing room, which I shall have to show you through a window. Should you and I enter, we might be changed in a most extraor- dinary manner." He laughed mis>-. chievously. "But, look, Northwood I" HE slid back a panel in the wall, and}- Northwood peered in through a thick panp of clear glass. The room was .really an immense out- door arena, its only carpet the fine- bladefl grass. Its roof the blue sky cut in the middle by an enormous disc from which shot the aurora of trapped sunshine which made a golden um- brella over the valley. Through open- ings in the bottom of the disc poured a fine rain of rays which fell constantly upon groups of children, youths and young girls, all clad in (the merest scraps of clothing. Some were danc- ing, others were playing games, but all seemed as supremely happy as the birds and butterflies which fluttered about the shrubs and flowers edging .the arena. "I don't expect you to believe," said. Dr. Mundson, "that the oldest young man in thert is three months old. You cannot see visible changes in a body which grows as slowly as the human being, whose normal period of develop- ment is twenty years or more. But I can give you visible proof of how fast growth' takes place under the full power of the Life Ray. Plant life, which, even when left to nature, often develops from seed to flower within a few weeks or months, can be seen mak- ing its miraculous changes under the Life Ray. Watch those gorgeous pur- ple /flowers over which the butterflies are hovering." ' Northwood followed his pointing finger.' Near the glass, window through which they looked grew an enormous bank of resplendent violet colored flowers, which literally enshrouded the entire bush with their royal glory. At first glance it seemed as though a via* 212 ASTOUNDII lent wind were snatching at flower and bush, but closer inspection proved that the af|i cation was part of the plant it- self. And then he saw that the move- ments . were the result of perpetual composition, and growth. HE fastened his eyes «n one huge bud. He saw it swell, burst, spread out its passionate purple velvet, lift the broad flower face to the light for a joyous minute'. A few seconds later a butterfly lighted- airily to sample its nectar and to brush the pollen from its yellow dusted wings. Scarcely had the winged visitor flown away than the purple petals began to wither and fall away, leaving the seed pod on the stem. The visible change went on in this seed pod. It turned rapidly .brown, dried out, and then sent the released seeds in a shower to the rich black earth below. Scarcely had the seeds touched the ground thaq they sent up tiny green shoots that grew larger each moment. Within' ten min- utes there was a new plant a foot high. Within half an hour, the plant budded, blossomed, and cast forth i^s own seed. "You understand?" asked the scien- tist, "Development is going on as rapid- ly among the children. Before the first year has passed, the youngest baby will have grandchildreXi'that is^if the baby tests out fii^ to^pass its seed down to the new generation. I know it sounds absurd. Yet you saw the plant." "But Doctor," Northwood rubbed his jaw thoughtfully, "Nature's forces of destruction, of tearing down, are as powerful as her creative powers. You have discovered the ultimate in crea- tion and upbuilding. But perhaps— oh, Lord, it is too awful to think I" "Speak, Northwood I" The scientist's voice was impatient. "It is nothing 1" The pale young man attempted a smile. "I was only imagin- ing some of the horror that could.be thrust on the world if a supermind like Adam's should discover Nature's secret of death and destruction and speed it up as you -have sped the life force." KG STORIES "Acb Gottl" Dr. Mundton's face wag white. "He has his own laboratory, where he works every day. Don't talk so laud. He might be listening. And I . believe he can do anything he sets out 'to accomplish." Close to Northwood's ear fell a faint," triumphant whisper: "Yes, he can do anything. How did 'you guess, worm?" It was Adam's voice. "^TOW 'come and see the Leyden X^l jar mothers," said Dr. Mundson. "We do not wait for the child to be born 'to start our work." He took Northwood to a laboratory crowded with strange apparatus, where young men and women worked. North- wood knew instantly that these people, although unusually handsome and strong, were not of Adam's generation. None of them had the look of newness which marked those who had grown up under the Life Ray. "They are the perfect couples whom I combed the world to find," said the scientist. "From their eugenic mar- riages sprang the first children that passed through the laboratory. I bad hoped," he hesitated and looked side- ways at Northwood, "I had dreamed of having the children of you and Athalli to help strengthen the New Race." A wave of sudden disgust passed over Northwood. "V "Thanks," he said tartly. "When I marry Athalia, I intend to have an old- fashioned home and a Black Age fami- ly. I don't relish having my children turned into— experiments." "But wait until you see all the won- ders of the laboratory I That is why I am showing you all this." Northwood drew his handkerchief and mopped his brow. "It sickens me. Doctor I The more I -see, the more pity I have for Adam — and the less I blame him for his rebellion and his desire to kill and to rule. Heavens I What a terrible \thing you have done, experi- menting! with human life." "Nonsense I Can you Bay that all life \ — all matter— is not the result of scien- TREATURES qf the light 2U tific experiment? Can you?" His 'black' gaze made Northwood uncomfortable. "Buck up, young friend, for now I am going to show you a 'marvelous im- provement "on. Nature's bungling ways —the Leyden jar mother." He raised his voice and called, "Lilith I" The wdman whom they had met on the field came forward. "May. we take a peep at Lona's twins?" aBked the scientist. "They are about ready to go to the growing dome, are they not?" "In five more minutes," said the woman. "Come see." SHE lifted one of the black velvet curtains that lined an entire side of the laboratory and thereby disclosed a globular jar of glass and metal, con- nected by wires, to a dynamo.. Above the jar was a Life Ray projector. Lilith slid aside a metal portion of the jar, disclosing through the glass under- neath the squirming, kicking body of a baby, resting on a bed of soft, spongy substance, to which it was connected by the navel cord. "The Leyden jar mother," said Dr. Mundson. "It is the dream of us scien- tists realized. The human mother's body does nothing but nourish and pro- tect her unborn child, a job which science can do better. And so, in New Eden, we take the young embryo and place it in the Leyden jar mother, where the Life Ray, electricity, anty chemical food shortens the period of gestation to a few days." At that moment a bell under the. Leyden jar began to ring. Dr. Mundson uncovered tbe jar and lifted out the thild, a beautiful, perfectly formed boy, who began to cry lustily. "Here ib one baby who'll never be kissed," he said. "He'll be nourished chemically, and, at the end of the week, will no longer be a baby. If you are patient, you can actually see the proc- esses of development taking place un- der the Life Ray, for babies develop wry fast." Northwood buried his face in his hands. "Lord I This is awful. No child- hood; no mother to mould his mind! No parents to watch over him, to give him their tender care!" ' "A\ti£ul, fiddlesticks I Come see how children get their education, how they learn to use their hands and. feet so they need not pass through the awk- wardness of childhood." HE led Northwood to a magnificent building whose facade of white marble was as simply beautiful as a Greek temple. The side walls, built al- most entirely of glass, permitted the synthetic sunshine. to sweep from end to end. They first entered a library, where youths and young girls poured over books of all kinds. Their manner of reading mystified -Northwood. With a single sweep of the eye, they seemed to devour a page, and then turned to the next. He stepped closer to peer over the shoulder of' a beautiful girl. She waa reading "Euclid's Elements of Geometry," in Latin, and she turned the pages as swiftly as the. other girl occupying htjr table, who was devour- ing "Paraditfc Lost/' Dr. Mundson whispered to him: "If you do not believe that Ruth here is getting her Euclid, which she probably ?ever saw before today, examine her rom the book; that is, if you are a good enough Latin scholar." Ruth stopped her reading to talk to him, and, in* a few minutes, had com- pletely dumbfounded him with her pe- dantic replies, which fell from lips as luscious and unformed as an infant's. "Now," said Dr.' Mundson, "test Rachael on her Milton. As far as she has read, she should not misquote a line, and her comments will probably' prove, her scholarly appreciation of Milton." Word for word, Rachael was able to give him "Paradise Lost" from memory, . except the last four pages, which she! had not read. Then, taking the book from him, she swept her eyes ovetj these pages, returned theybook to hirn^ and quoted copiously and correctly. J 214 ASTOUNDI1 DR. MUNDSON gloated trium- phantly over his astonishment. "There, my, friend. Could you now be satisfied with old-fashioned children who spend long, expensive years in getting an education ? Of course, your children will not haye- the perfect brains of these, yet, developed under the Life Ray, they should have splen- did mentality 1 . "These children, through selective breeding, have brains that make ever- lasting records instantly. A page in a book, once seen, is indelibly retained by them, and understood. The same is true of a lecture, of an explanation given by a teacher,. of even idle con- versation. Any. man or [woman in this room should be able to' repeat the most trivial conversation diyis old." "But what of the arts, Dr. Mundson? Surely even your supermen and women cannot instantly learn to paint a mas- terpiece or to guide their fingers and their brains through the intricacies of a difficult musical composition." "No?" His dark eyes glowed. "Come see I" Before they entered another wing of the building, they heard a violin being played masterfully. Dr. Mundson paused at the door. "So that you may understand what you shall see, let me remind you that the nerve impulses and the coordinat- ing means in the human body are pure- ly electrical. The world, has not yet accepted my theory, but it will. Under . superman's system of education, the instantaneous records made on the brain give immediate skill to the acting parts of the body. Accordingly, musi- cians' are made over night." He threw open the door. Under a Life Ray projector, a beautiful, Juno- esque woman was playing a violin. Facing her, and with eyes fastened to hers, stood a young man, whose arms and slender fingers mimicked every motion she made. Rresently she stopped playing and handed the violin to him. In her own masterly manner, he re- peated the score she had played. G STORIES '•»■ '.That is Eve," whispered Dr. MuogV son. "I had selected her as Adamfe wife. But he does not want her, the most brilliant woman of the New Race." ' Northwood gave the woman an ap- praising look. "Who wants - a perfect woman? I don't blame Adam for pre- ferring Athalia. But how is she teach- ing her pupil?" "Through thought vibration, which these perfect people have developed until they can record permanently the radioactive waves of the brains of others." Eve turned, caught Northwood's eyes in her magnetic blue gaze, and smiled as only a goddesA can smile upon i mortal she has maSd as her own. She.' came toward him with outflung hands. "So you* have cornel" Her vibrant contralto voice, like Adam's, held the birdlike, ' broken tremulo of a young child's. "I have been waiting for yon, John Northwood." ! HER dyes, as bine and icy ■ Adam's, lingered long on htm, until he flinched from their steely magnetism. She slipped her am through his. and drew him gently but firmly from the room, while Dr. Mund- son stood gaping after them. They ' were on a flagged terrace arched with roses, of gigantic sue, which sent forth billows of sensuous fragrance. Eve led him to a while marble seat piled with silk cushions, on which she reclined her superb body, while she regarded him from narrowed lids. "I saw your picture that he tele- visioned to Athalia," she said. "What t botch ' Dr. Mundson has made of Ids mating." Her laugh rippled like falling water. "I want you, John NorthwoodP Northwood started and blushed furi- ously. Smile dimples broke aroundjKr red, humid lips. "Ah, you're old-fashioned I" " Her large,-- beautiful hand, fleshed more tenderly than any woman's hand he had ever seen, went out to him sp- pealingly. "I can bring you amorous CREATURES OF THE LIGHT 215 delight that your Athalia -never could offer in her few years of youth. And I'll never grow old, John Northwood." She came closer until he could feel the fragrant warmth of (her tawny, ribbon bound Jiair pulse against his face. In sudden panic he drew back. "But I am pledged to Athalia I" tumbled from him. "It is all a dreadful mistake Eve. You and Adam were created for each other." "Hush I" The lightning that flashed from her blue eyes changed he"r from seductress to angry goddess. "Created for each other I Who wants a made-to- measure lover?" THE luscious lips trembled slight- ly, and into the vivid eyes crept i suspicion of moisture. Etetnal Eve's weapons I Northwood's handsome face relaxed with pity. "I want you, John Northwood," she continued shamelessly. "Our love will be sublime." She leaned heavily against him, and her lips were like a blood red flower pressed against white satin. "Come, beloved, kiss met" Northwood gasped and turned his head. "Don't, Eve I" "But a kiss from me will set you apart from all your generation, John Northwood, and you shair understand what no man of the Black Age could possibly fathom." Her hair had partly fallen from its ribbon bandage and poured its fragrant gold against his shoulder. "For God's sake, don't tempt me I" he groaned. "What do you mean?" That mental and physical and spiri- tual contact- with me will temporarily give you, a three-dimension creature, the power of the new sense, which your race wjH not have for fifty thou- sand years." White-lipped and trembling, he de- manded: "Explain!" , Eve smiled. "Have you not guessed that Adam has developed an additional •cue? You've Been him vanish. He and I have the sixth sense of Time Percep- tion — the new sense which enables, us to penetrate what you of the Black Age call .the Fourth Dimension. Even you whose mentalities are framed by three dimensions have, thja^ sixth sense in- stinct. Your very religion is based on it, for you believe that in another life you shall step into Time, or, as you call it, eternity.'' She leaned closer so that her hair brushed his cheek. "What is eternity, John Northwood? It it not keeping forever ahead* of tEe Destroy- er? The future is eternal, for it is never reached. Adam and I, .through our new sense which comprehends Time and Space, can vanish by stepping a few seconds into the future, the Fourth Dimension of Space. Death can never reach us, not even accidental death; unless that which causes death could also slip into the future, which is not 'yet possible." "But if the Fourth Dimension is future Time, why can one in the third dimension feel the touch of an unseen presence in the Fourth Dimension — t hear his voice, even ?" "Thought vibration. The touch is not really felt nor the voice heard:. they are only imagined. The radioactive waves of the brain of even you Black Age people are swift enough to bridge Space and. Time. And it is the mind that carries us beyond the third dimen- sion." HER red mouth reached closer to him, her blue eyes touched hid- den forces that slept in remote cells of his being. You are going into Eternal Time, John Northwood, Eter- nity without beginning or end. You understand? You feel it? Comprehend it? Now for the contact— kfss met" Northwood had seen Athalia vanish under Adam's kiss. Suddenly, in one mad burst of understanding,' he leaned over to. his magnificent temptress. For a' split second he felt the sweet pressure of baby-soft lips, and then the atoms of his body seemed to fly assunasp. Black chaos held him for a frightful moment before he felt sanity return. 216 ^ASTOUNDING STORIES He was back on the terrace again, with Eve by hit side. They were stand- ing now. The world about him looked the same, yet there was a subtle, change in' everything. Eve laughed softly. "It is puzzling, isn't it? ^You're seeing everything as in a mirror. What was left before is now right. Only you and I are real. All else is but a vision, a. dream. For now you and I are existing one minute in future time, or, more simply, we are in the? Fourth Dimension. To every- thing in the third dimension, we are invisible. Let me show you that Dr. Mundson cannot see you." They went back to the room beyond the terrace. Dr. Mundson was not present. ''There he goes down the jifngle path," said Eve, looking out a window. She laughed. "Poor old fellow. The children of his genius are worrying THEY' were standing in the' recess , formed by a bay window. Eve picked up his hand and laid it against her face, giving him the full, blasting glory of her smiling blue eyes. Northwood, looking away miserably, uttered a low cry. Coming over the field beyond were Adam and Athalia. By the trimming on the blue dress she wore, he could see that she was still in. the Fourth Dimension, for he did not see her as a mirror image. A look of fear leaped to Eve's face, She clutched Northwood's arm, trem- bling. "I don't want Adam to see that I have passed you beyond," she gasped. "We are existing but one . minute in the future. Always Adam and I have feared to pass too far beyond the sweetness of reality. But now, so that Adam may not see us, we shall step five minutes into what-is-yet-to-be. And even he, with all his power, cannot see into a future thatiis more distant than that in which he exists." She raised her humid lips to his. "Come, beloved." Northwood kissed her. 'Again came the moment of confusion, of the awful vacancy that was Uke death, and then he found himself and Eve in the labo- ratory, following Adam and AthaUa down a long' corridor. Athalia was cry- •ing and pleading frantically with Adam/ Once she stopped and threw herself at his feet in a gesture of dramatic supplication, arms outflung, streaming eyes wide open; with fear. Adam stooped and lifted her "gently and. continued on his way, supporting her, against his side. EVE dug her fingers into North- wood's arm. Horror contorted her face, horror mixed with rage; "My mind, hears what he is saying, understands the vile plan be has made, John Northwood. He is oh his way to his laboratory to 'destroy not only you and most of these in New Eden, but me as well. He wants only Athalia." Striding forward like an avenging goddess, she pulled Northwood after her. "Hurry I" she whispered. "Remember, you and I are five minutes in the future, and Adam is only one. We aret witness ing what will occur four minutes front now. We yet have time to reach the . laboratory before him and be ready lot him when he enters. And because he will have to go back to Present Time to do his work of destruction, I will be able to destroy him. Ah I" Fierce joy burned in her flashing blue eyes, and her slender nostrils quivered- delicately. Northwood, peep- ing at her in hqrjor, knew that no mercy could be expected of her. And when she stopped at a certain door and inserted a Iteyf he Remembered Athalia. What if she should enter with Adam in Present Time? THEY we.re inside Adam's labora- tory, a huge apartment filled with queer apparatus and cages of live ani- mals. The room was a strange paradox- . Part of fhe equipment, the walls, and the floor was glistening with newness, CREATURES OF THE LIGHT 217 sad part was rSvulding^with extreme fgt. The powers of disintegration that haunt a tropical forest seemed to be devouring certain spots of ' the room. Here, -in the midst of bright marble, ms a section of wall that seemed as old as the pyramids. The surface of the itone had an appalling mouldiness, as though it had been lifted from an an- cient graveyard where it had lain in the festering ground for unwholesome cen- turies. Between cracks in this stained and decayed section of stone grew fetid moss that quivered with the micro- scopic organisms that infest age-rotten places. Sections of the flooring and woodwork also reeked with mustiness. In one dark, webby corner of the room lay a pile of bleached bones, still tinted with the ghastly grays and pinks of putrefaction. Northwood, overwhelm- ingly nauseated, withdrew his eyes from the bonea, only to see, in another corner, a pile of worm-eaten clothing that lay on the floor in the outline of a man. Faint with the reek of ancient musti- est*, Northwood retreated to the door, dizzy and staggering. "It sickens you," said Eve, "and it sickens me also, for death and decay ire not pleasant. Yet Nature, left- to herself, reduces all to this. Every grave that has yawned to receive its pray hides corruption no less shocking. Nature's forces of 'creation and de- struction forever work in partnership. Never satisfied with her composition, •hr destroys and starts again, building, building towards the ultimate of per- fection. ThuB, it . is natural that if Dr. Mundson isolated the Life ' Ray, Na- ture's supreme force of compensation, isolation of the Death 1 Ray should closely follow. Adam, thirsting for power, has succeeded. A few sweeps of his unholy ray of decomposition will undo all Dr. Mundson's work in tins valley and reduce it to a stinking holocaust of destruction. And the time for his striking has cornel" y She seized his face and drew it to- ward her. "Quick I" she said. "We'll have to go back to the third dimension. I could leave,you safe in the fourth, but if anything should happen to me, you would be stranded forever in future time." She kissed his lips. In a moment, he was back in the old familiar world, where right is right and left is left. Again the subtle change wrought by Eve's magic lips had taken place. EVE went to a 'machine standing in a corner of the room. "Come here and' get behind me, John Northwood. I want to test it before he enters." Northwood stood behind her shoul- der. "Now watch |" she ordered. "I shall turn it on one of those cages of guinea- pigs over there." She swung the projector around, ' pointed it at' the cage of small, squeal- ing animals, and threw a lever. Instant- ly a cone of black mephitis shot forth, f a loathsome, bituminous stream of putrefaction that reeked of the grave and the cesspool, of the utmost reaches of decay before the dust accepts the disintegrated atoms. Ttoe, first touch of seething, pitchy destruction brought screams of sudden agony from the guinea pigs, but the screams were cut short as the little animals fell in shock- ing, instant decay. The very cage which imprisoned them shriveled and- re- treated from the hellish,' devouring breath that struck its noisome rot into the heart of the wood and the metal, reducing both to revolting ruin. Eve cut off the frightful power, and the black cone disappeared, leaving the room putrid with its defilement. "And Adam would do that to the world," she said, her blue eyes like electric-shot icicles. "He would do it to you, John Northwood — and to me J" Her full bosom strained under the passion beneath. "Listen I" She raised her hand warn- ingly. "He corneal The destroyer i comes I" 218 -ASTOUND! « A HAND was at the door'. Eve reached for the lever, and, . the same moment, Northwood leaned over her imploringly. "If Athalia is with him I" he gasped. "You will not harm her?" A wild shriek at the door, a "slight scuffle, and then the doorknob was wrenched as though two were fighting over it. "For God's sake. Eve I" implored Northwood. "Wait I Wait I" "No I She shall (lie, too. You love her I" , Icy, cruel eyes the walls — and then straight at Adam. Then, quicker than thought, came the accident. Eve, attempting to throw Northwood off, trippejl, fell half over the machine, and, with a short scream of despair, dropped, 'into the black path of destruction, j NORTHWOOD paused, horrified. The Death Ray was pointed at an inner wall of the room, which, even as he looked, crumbled and disap- peared, bringing down upon him dust more foul than any obscenity the bowels of the earth might yield. In an G STORIES * instant the black cone ate through tkj outer parts of the building, when crashing stone and screams that wen more horrible because of their short- ness followed the ruin that swept fat into the fair reaches of the valley. The paralyzing odor of decay took his breath, numbed his muscles, until, of all that huge building, the wall be-' hind him and one small section of tat room by the doorway alone remained whole. He was trying to nerve himself to reach for the lever close to that quiet formless thing still partly draped Over the machine, when a faint 8b nod in the door electrified him. At first, at dared not look, but his own name, spoken almost in a gasp,, gave has courage. Athalia lay on the floor, apparently untouched. He jerked the lever violently before running to her, exultant with the knowledge that his own efforts to keep the ray from the door had saved bet. "And you're not hurt I" He gathered her slose. "John I I saw it get Adam." She pointed to a new mound of mouldy clothes on the floor. "Oh, it is hideom for me to be so glad, but he was going to destroy everything and everyone ex- cept me. He made the ray projector 'for that one purpose." Northwood looked over the pill of putrid ruins which a few minutes tg*r had been a building. There was not I wall left intact. "His intention is accomplished, Atht- lia," he said sadly. "Let's get out before more stones fall." IN a moment the^ were in the opes, An ominous • stillness seemed ts grip the very air — the awful silence of the polar wastes which lay not fat beyond the mountains. - "How dark it is, John I" cried Atha- lia. "Dark and cold I" "The sunshine projector!'' gasped Northwood. "It must have been de- stroyed. Look, dearest! The goldea light has disappeared." , < CREATURES OF THE LIGHT 219 "And the warm air of the valley will Uft immediately.' That means a polar blixzard." She shuddered and clung closer to him. "I've seen Antarctic ■tonus, John. They're death." Northwood avoided her eyes. "There's the sun-sbjp. We'll give the ruins the joce oyer in case there are any sur- vivors; then, we'll save ourselves." Eyen a cursory examination of the mouldy piles of stone and dust con- vinced them that there could be no turrivers. The ruins looked as though they had lain in those crumbling piles for centuries. Northwood, smothering his repugnance, stepped among them — tmong the green, slimy stones and the unspeakable revolting debris, stagger- ing* back and faint and shocked when be came upon dust that was ( once human. "God!" he groaried, hands over eyes. "We're alone, .Athalial Alone in a chamal house. The laboratory housed the entire population, didn't it?" "Yes. Needing^ no sleep nor food, we did not need houses. We all worked here,' under Dr. Mundson's general- ship, and, lately under Adam's, like a little band of soldiers fighting for a great cause." "Let's go to the sun-ship, dearest." "But Daddy Mundson was in the library," sobbed Athalia. "Let's look for him a little longer." SUDDEN remembraaee came to Northwood. "No, Athalial He left the library. I saw him go down the jungle path several minutes before I and Eve went to Adam's laboratory." "Then he might be safe I" • Her eyes danced. "He might have gone to the mn-ehip." (Shivering, she slumped against him. "Oh; John I I'm cold." Her face was blue. Northwood jerked off his coat and wrapped it around her, taking the intense cold against his un- protected shoulders. The low, gray sky wis rapidly darkening, and the feeble light of the sun could scarcely pierce the clouds. It was disturbing to know that even the summer temperature in the Antarctic wis far. below zero. "Come, girl," said Northwood grave- ly. "Hurry I It's snowing." They started to run down the road through the narrow strip of jungle. The Death Ray had cut huge swathes in the tangle of trees and vines, and now areas of heaped debris, livid, with the colors of recent decay, exhaled a mephitic humidity altogether alien to the snow that fell an soft, slow flakes. .Each hesitated to voice the new fear: had the Bun-sh,ip been destroyed? . By the time they reached the . open field, the snow stung their flesh like sharp needles, but it was not yet- thick enough to hide from them a hideous fact! \The sun-ship was gone. IT might have occupied one of sever- al black, foul areas a& the, green grass, where the searching Death Ray had made the very soil putrefy, and the rocks' crumble into shocking dust. Northwood snatched Athalia to him, f too full of despair to speak. A sudden terrific flurry of snow whirled around them, and they were almost blown from their feet hy the icy wind that tore oven the unprotected field. "It won't be long," said Athalia faintly. "Freezing doesn't hurt, John, dear." "It isn't fair, Athalial There never would have been such a marriage as ours. Dr. Mundson searched the world to bring us together." ' "For scientific experiment!"' she sobbed. "I'd rather die, John. I want an old-fashioned home, a Black Age family. I want to grow old with you and leave the earth to my children. Or else I want to die here now under the kind, white blanket the snow is already spreading over us." She drooped in his arms. Clinging together, they stood in the howling wind, looking at each other hungrily, as though they would snatch from death, this one last picture of the other. 220 ASTOUNDING STORIES Northwood's freezing lips translated some of the futile words that crowded against them. "I love you because you are- not perfect. I hate perfection I" "Yes. Perfection is the only hope- less state, John. That is why Adam wanted to destroy, so that he might build again." They were sitting in the snow now, for they were very tired. The storm began whistling louder, as it hough it were only a few fee* above their heads. "That sounds almost like the sun- ship," »said Athalia drowsily. "It's only the wind. Hold your face down so it won't strike your flesh so cruelly." "I'm not Buffering. I'm getting warm again." She smiled at him sleepily. LITTLE icicles began to form on their clothing, and the powdery snow frosted their uncovered hair. Suddenly came a familiar voice: "Ach Gottl" Dr. Mundson stood before them, covered with snow until he looked like a polar bear. , "Get up I" he shouted. "Quick 1 To the sun-ship I" He seized Athalia and jerked her to her feet. She looked at him sleepily for a moment, and then threw, herself at him and hugged him frantically. "You're not dead?" Taking each by 'the arm, he half dragged them to the stln-ship, which had landed .only a few feet away. In a few minutes he had hot brandy for them. Whjle they sipped greedily, hi talked, between working the sun-ahip'i controls. "No, I wouldn't say it was a lucky moment that drew me to the sun-ship, When I Baw Eve trying to charm Jona, I had what you American slangiibj call a hunch, 'which 'sent me to the sun-ship to get it off the ground n that Adam couldn't commandeer ft. And what is a hunch but a mental penetration .into the Fourth Dimes, sion?" For a long moment, he broodst, absent-minded. "I was in the air what-, the black ray, which I suppose f Adam's deviltry, began to delta everything it touched. From a itp elevation I saw it wreck all my wash? A sudden spasm crossed his face. Tsj flown over the entire valley. We're ffci only survivors — thank God I" "And so at last sued my hobby, literature. Dr. lin- more's courses were the easiest in tks school and they counted as science, m I regularly registered for then, cat them, and attended a class in literate as an auditor. The Doctor used to awt me on the campus and laughingly scall me for my absence, but. he was rest) in sympathy with my ambition and at regularly gave me a passing mark mt my. units of credit without regard fe) my attendance, or, rather, lack of it When I graduated from Cahadi I was theoretically an electrical. «agk neer. Practically I had a pretty pal knowledge of contemporary litenhn and knew almost nothing about my w called profession. I stalled trews 1 . Dad's office for a few months dntfil landed a job as a cub reporter on the San Francisco Graphic and then I qrit him cold. When the storm blew ofs, Dad admitted that you couldn't nafat a silk purse out of a sow's ear isj agreed with a grunt to my new line af work. He said that I would probity be a better reporter than an engines: because I couldn't by any possibility bt a worse one, and let it go at that Ho* ' ever, all this has ^nothing to do wA the' story. It just explains how I am to be acquainted with Dr. Liveroasc, in the first place, and why he seat to me on September twenty-scond, ia m second place. THE morning of the twenty ncjbJ the City Editor called me haw asked me if I knew "Old Lr» pills." "He says that he has a good stay ready to break bat he won't talk to mf one but you," went on Barnes. 1 * INTO SPACE 223 feed to send out a good man, for when Old Liverpills starts a story it ought to be good, but all I got was a high mi tied bawling out. He said that he vsnld talk to you or no one and would jsst as soon talk to no one as to me any fcBger. Then he hung up. You'd bet- ter take a run out to Calvada and see yjut be has to say. I can have a good fan re-write your drivel when you get tack." I was more or less used to that sort of talk from 'Barnes so I paid no atten- tion to it. I drove my flivver down to Cuftda and asked for the Doctor. "Dr. Livermore?" said the bursar. "Why, he hasn't been around here for fa kit ten mohths. This is his sab- kadeal year and he is spending it on lanch he owns up, at Hat 'Creek, near Haunt Lassen. You'll .have to go there U yon want to sea him." ~ I knew better than to report back to Bancs without the story, so there was atffcteg to it but to drive up to Hat Creek, and a long, hard drive it was. I nwle Redding late that night ; the oat day I drove on to Bumey and ■ked for directions to the Doctor's *8o you're going up ta Doc Liver- ■gre't, are you?" asked the Postmas- kc, my informant. "Have you 1 got an Mtation?" I assured him that I had. It's a good thiijg," he replied, "be- erne he don't allow anyone on his fhee without one. I'd like to go up Aert myself and see what's going on, k* I don't want to get shot at like ttd J*«te Johnson did when he tried tt drop, in on the Doc and pay him a stale call. There's something mighty many going on up there." NATJJRALLY I tried to find out what -Was going on but evidently tat Postmaster, who was also the ex- W*m agent, didn't know. All he could ••B.nie was that a "lot of junk" had for the Doctor by express and *»t « lot. more had been hauled in by •Wek from Redding. 1 "What kind of junk?" I asked him, /.-."Almost* everything. Bub: sheet $rtfeel, machinery, batteries, cases of glay, and Lord knows what all. It's been, going on ever Bince he . landed there. He has a bunch of Indians work- ing for him and he don't let a white man on the place." Forced to be satisfied with this meager information, I started old Liz- zie and lit out for the ranch. After I had turned off the' main trail I met no one until the ranch house was in sight. As I rounded a bend in the road which brought me in sight of the build- ing, I was. forced to put on my brakes at top spaed to avoid running into a chain which was stretched across the road. An .Indian armed with a Win- chester rifle stood behind it, and when I stopped he came up and asked my. business. ' ' "My business is ' with Dr. Liver- more," I said tartly. " r You got letter?" he inquired. "No," I answered. "No ketchum letter, no ketchum Doc- tor," he repliaU, and walked stolidly back to his post. "This is absurd," I shouted, and drove Lizzie up to the chain. I saw that it was merely hooked to a ring at the end, and I climbed out and started to take it down. A thirty-thirty bullet embedded itself in the pott an inch or two from my head, and I changed my mind about taking down that chain. "No ketchum letter, no ketchum Doc- tor," said the Indian laconically as he pumped another shell into his gun. * 1WAS balked, until I noticed a .pair of telephone wires running from the house to the tree to which one. end of the, chain was fastened. "Is that a telephone to the house?" I demanded. The Indian grunted an assent "Dr. Livermore telephoned me to come and see him," I said. "Can't I call him up andisee if he still wants to see me?" 22.4 ASTOUND! <-Tbe Indian debated the question with himself for a minute and then nodded a doubtful assent. I cranked the old c0ffee mill type of telephone which I found, and presently heard the voice of Dr. Livermore. "This is Tom Faber, Doctor," I said. "The Graphic sent me up to get a story from . you, but there's an Indian here who started to murder me when I tried to get past your barricade." "Good for him," chuckled the Doc- tor. "I heard the shot, but didn't know 'that he was shooting at you. Tell him to talk to me." The Indian took the telephone at my bidding and listened for a minute. "You go in," he agreed when he hung up the receiver. He took down the chain and I drove on up to the house, to find the Doctor waiting for me on the veranda. "Hello, Tom," he greeted me heart- ily. "So you had trouble with my guard, did you?" "I nearly got murdered," I said rue- fully. "I expect that Joe would have drilled you if' you had tried to force your way in," he remarked cheerfully. "I forgot to tell him that you were coming to- day. I told him you would be here yesterday, but yesterday isn't to-day to that Indian. I wasn't sure you would get here at all, in point of fact, for I didn't know whether that old fool I. talked to in your office would send you or some one else. If anyone else had been sent, he would have never' got by Joe, I can tell you. Come in. Where's yonr bag?" . "I haven't one," I replied. "I went to.Calvada yesterday to see you,. and didn't know until I got there that you were up here." The .Doctor chuckled. "I guess I forgot to tell where I was," he said. "That man I talked to got me so mad that I hung up on him before I told himi It doesn't matter, though. I can dig" you up a new tooth- brush, and I guess you can make out with that. Come in." IC STORIES 1 FOLLOWED him .into the boo* and he showed me a room fittel with a crude bunk, a washstand, a boa] and .a pitcher. "You won't have many lurnrij here, Tom," he said, "but you wort need to stay here for more than.* hi days. My work is done: I am rest) to start. In fact, I would have starts] yesterday instead of to-day, had jm arrived. Now don't ask any questiooi; it's nearly lunch time." v "What's the story, Doctor?" I trial after'luneh as I puffed one of hit » cetlent cigars. "And why. did yen pick me to tell it to?" "For several reasons," he replied, If. noring my first question. "In the firs place, I like you and I think thatyar can keep your mouth shut until jm are told to open it. In the second bIsr, I have always found that you hid tat gift of vision or imagination and bnt the ability to believe. In the ttU place, you are the only man I know who had the literary ability to write tf a good story and at the same time hn the scientific background to grasp wbn it is all about. Understand that imka . I have your promise not to write tsk story until I tell you that you can, art a word will I tell you." I reflected for a moment. TV: Graphic would expect the story what I got back, but on the other hind I knew tha.t unless I gave the' denial! promise, the Doctor wouldn't talk. "All right," I assented, 'Til prcmht' "Good I" he replied. * "In that cue, I'll tell you all about it. No doubt jm, like the reat of the world, think that I'm crazy?" "Why, not at all," I stammered la point of fact, I had often harbored such a suspicion. "Oh, that's all right," he went as cheerfully. "I am crazy, crazy •» • loon, which, by the way, is a highly sensible bird with a well balanced mentality. There is no doubt tint I am. crazy, but my craziness is not of the usual type. Mine is the insanity of genius." INTO SPACE ?25 HE looked at me sharply as he "There are none so blind as those spoke, but long sessions at poker who will not see," he quoted with an In the San Francisco Press Cllib .had ,icy smile. "I can probably predict taught me how to control my facial your puerile argument, but go ahead muscles, and I never batted an eye. He. and present it." Itemed satisfied^ and went on. "From.your college work you are fa- "TF two magnets are placed so that miliar with the laws of magnetism," he X the, north pole of one' is in juxta- said. "Perhaps, considering just what position to the south pole of the other, your college career really was, I might they attract one another," I said. "If better say that you are supposed to be - the position of the magnets be reversed familiar with them." so that the two similar poles are eppo- I joined with him in his laughter. site, they will repel. If your theory 'It Won't require a Very deep knowl- were correct, a man standing on his edge to follow the thread df my argu- head would fall off the' earth." ■sent," he went on. "You • know, of "Exactly what I expected," he re- course, 'that the force of magnetic at- plied. "Now let me ask you a question, traction is inversely proportional to the Have you ever seen a small bar magnet square of the distances separating the placed within the field of attraction of magnet and the attracted particles, and a large electromagnet? Of course you also that each magnetized particle had have, and you have noticed that, when two. poles, a positive and a negative the north pole of the bar magnet was pole, or a north pole and a south pole, pointed toward the electromagnet, the as they are -usually called ?" bar was attracted. However, when the I nodded. bar was reversed and the south ,pole "Consider for a moment that the laws pointed' toward the electromagnet, the of magnetism, insofar' as concerns the bar was still attracted: You doubtless relation between distance and power of remember that experiment." attraction, are exactly matched by the f "But in that case the magnetism of laws of gravitation." the electromagnet was so large that the "But there the similarity between the polarity of the small magnet was re* two forces ends," I interrupted. versed I ) cried. . "But there the similarity does not "Exactly, and the field of gravity of end," he said sharply. "That is the the earth is so great compared to the crux of the discovery which I have gravity of k man that when he stands made: that magnetism, and gravity are on his head, his polarity is instantly one and the same, or, rather, that the reversed." two are separate, but similar manifests- I nodded. His explanation was too tioni of one force. The parallel be- logical for me to pick a flaw in it. tween the two grows closer with each "If that -same bar magnet were held succeeding experiment. You know, in the field of the electromagnet with for example, that each magnetized par- its north pole pointed toward the mag- ticle has two poles. Similarly each net arid then, by the action of some gravitized particle^ to coin a new word, outside force of sufficient -■ I have to tell you. I have developed 226 ASTOUNDING STORIES an electrical method of neutralizing the gravity of a body while lit ia within the field of the earth, and also, by a ■light extension, a methodj of entirely reversing its'polarity." IjMODDED calmly. "Do .you realize what this means?" he cried. "No," I replied, puzzled "by his great excitement. ' "Man alive," he cried, "it means that the problem of aerial flignjt is entirely revolutionized, and that trie era 6^ in terplanetary travel is at hand I S pose that I construct an airship an then render it neutral to gravity. ' It would weigh nothing, absolutely noth- ing! The tiniest propeller would drive it at almost incalculable speed with a minimum consumption of power, for the only resistance to its motion would be the resistance of the air. If I were to reverse the polarity, it would be re- pelled from the earth with the same force with which it is now attracted, and it would rise with the same accel- eration aa a body falls toward the earth.' It would travel to the moon in tWo hours and forty minutes." "Air resistance would — " ''There is no air a few 'miles from the earth. Of course, I do not mean that such a craft would take off from the earth and land on the moon three hours later. There are two things which wou4d interfere with that. One is the fact that the propelling force, the grav- ity of the earth, would diminish as the square of the distance from the center of the earth, and the other is that when the band of neutral attraction, or rathe/ repulsion, between the earth apd the moon had. been reached, it would be necessary to decellerate so as to avoid a smash on landing. I have been over the whole thing and I find that it would take twenty-nine hours and fifty-two minutes to make the whole trip. The entire thing is perfectly possible. In fast, I have asked, you here to witness arrfl report the first interplanetary trip to be made." "Have you constructed such a de> vice?" I cried. r ' - 4 "My space ship is finfshed and ready for your inspection," he replied. "If you will come with me, I will show it to you." HARDLY knowing what to believe, I followed him from the house" and to a huge barnlike structure, over a hundred feet high, which stood nearby. He opened the door and switched on .a light, and there before me yitood what looked at fist glance to a huge artillery shell, but of a size larger than any ever made. It was con- structed of sheet steel, and while the lower part was solid, the upper sections had 1 huge glass windows set in them. On ^he point was a mushroom shaped protuberance. It measured perhaps fifty feet in diameter and wafc one hun- dred and-\forty feet high, the Doctor informed me. A ladder led from the floor to a door about fifty feet from the ground. I followed the Doctor up the ladder ai\d into the space flier. The door led us into a comfortable living room through a dpuble door arrangement. "The whole hull beneath us," .ex- plained the Doctor, "is filled with .bat- teries and machinery except for a space in the center, where a shaft leads to a glass window in tfft bottom so that I can see behind me, so to speak. The space above is filled with storerooms and the air purifying apparatus. On this level is my bedroom, kitchen, and other living rooms, together with a laboratory and an observatory. There is a central control room located on an upper level, but it need seldom be entered, for the craft can be /controlled by a system of relays from this room or from any other room in the ship. I suppose that you .are more or lets familiar with imaginative stories of interplanetary travel?" I NODDED an assent. "In that case there is no use in going over the details of the air purl- INTO SPACE 227 fying and such matters," he said. "The Itory writers have worked out all that port of thing in great detail,' and there ' is nothing novel in my arrangements. I carry food and water for six months and air enough for two months by con- stant renovating. Have you arty ques- tion you wish to, ask?" > "One objection I have seen frequent- t ]y raised to the idea of interplanetary travel is that the human body could not stand the rapid acceleration which would be necessary to attain speed enough to ever get anywhere. How do you overcome this?" "My dear boy, who knows what the human body can stand? When the locomotive was first invented learned ■dentists predicted that, the Iimif of •peed was thirty miles an hour, as the human body could not stand a higher ■peed. Today tlje human body stands ■ speed of three hundred and sixty miles an hour without ill effects. At any rate, on my first trip I intend to take no chances. We know 4 that the body can stand an acceleration of thirty-two feet per second without trouble. That is the rate of' accelera- tion due to gravity and is the rate at which a body increases speed when it fills. This is the acceleration which I will use. "Remember, that the space traveled by a falling body in a vacuum is equal to one half the acceleration multiplied by the square of the elapsed time. The moon,/to which I intend to make my first trip, is only 280,000 miles, or 1,4*8,400.000 feet, from us. With an acceleration of thirty-two feet per sec- ond, I would pass the moon two hours and forty minutes after leaving the earth. If I later take another trip, say to Mars, I will haye to find a means of increasing my acceleration, possibly by the use of the rocket principle. - Then will be time enough to worry about what my body will stand." V ! A short calculation verified the figures the Doctor had given me, and I stood convinced. "Are you really going?" I asked. "Most decidedly. To repeat* I would have started yesterday, had you ar- rived. As it is, I am ready to start at once. We will go back to the house for a few minute* while I show you the location of an excellent telescope through which you may watch my progress, .and instruct you in the use of an ultra-short-wave receiver which I am confident will pierce the heaviest layer. With this I will keep in com- munication with/ you, although I have made no arrangements for you to send messages to me on this trip. I intend to go to the moon and land. I ■'will take atmosphere samples through an air port and, if there is an atmosphere which will support life, I will step out on the surface. If there is not, I will return to the earth." A PEW minutes was enough, for for me to grasp the simple manipulations which I would have to perform, and I followed hint again to the space flier. "How are you going to get it out?" I asked. # "Watch," he said. He worked some levers and the roof of the barn folded back, leaving the way clear for the departure of the huge projectile. I followed him in- side and he climbed the ladder. "When I shut the door, go, back to the house and test the radio," be di-_ rected. The door clanged shut and I has- tened into the house. His voice came plainly enough. I went back to the flier and waved him a final, farewell, which he acknowledged throagh a window; then I returned to the re- ceiver. A loud hum filled the air, and suddenly the projectile rose and flew out' through trie open roof, gaining speed rapidly until it was a mere speck in the sky. It vanished. ' I had n*o trouble ; in picking him up with the telescope. In fact, I could see the Doc- tor through one of the windows. "I have passed beyond the range of the atmosphere, Tom," came bis voice 228 ASTOUNDING STORIES over the receiver, ."and I find that everything is going exactly as it should. . I feel no discomfort, and my only regret is that I did not install a transmitter in the house so' that you could talk to me; but there is no real necessity for it. I am going to make some observations now, but I will call you again with a report of progress in hajf-an-hour." FOR the rest of the afternoon and all of that night I received his mes- sages regularly, but with the coming of daylight they began to fade. By nine o'clock I could get only a word here and there. By noon I could hear nothing. I went to sleep hoping that the night would bring better reception, nor was I disappointed. About eight o'clock} I received a message, rather faintly,' but none the. less distinctly. "I regret more than ever thai I did not install a transmitter so that I could learn from you whether you are receiv- ing my messages," his voice said faint- ly. "I have no idea of whether you can hear me or not, but I will keep on re- peating this message every hour while my battery holds out. . It is now thirty hours since I left the. earth and I should be .on'.the moon, according to my calculations. But I am not, and never will be. I am caught at the neu- tral point where the gravity of the earth and the- moon are exactly equal. "I had relied on my tnomehtum to carry me over this point. Once over it, I expected to reverse my polarity and fall on the moon. My momentum did nof do so. If I keep my polarity as it was when I left the earth, both the earth and the moon repel me. If I ie- verse it, they both, attract me, and again I cannot move. If I had equipped my space flier with a rocket so that I could move a few miles, or even- a few feet, from the dead line, I could proceed, but I llid npt do so, and I cannot move forward or back. Apparently I am doomed to stay here until my air gives out. Then my body, entombed in my space ship, will end* lessly circle the earth as a satellite until the end of time. There is no hope for me, for long before a dupli- ' cate of my device, equipped with rockets could be -constructed and come to my rescue, my air would be ex- hausted. Cood-by, Tom. You may write your story as soon as you wish. I will repeat my message in one hour. Good-byl" At nine and at ten o'clock the mes- sage was repeated. At eleven it started again, but after a few sentences the sound suddenly ceased and the receiver went dead. I' thought that the fault was with the receiver and I toiled feverishly the rest of the night, but without result. I learned later that the messages heard all over the world ceased atfthe same hour. i The next moming Professor Mon- tescue announced his discovery of the world's new satellite. Coming — MURDER MADNESS An Extraordinary Four-Part Novel By MURRAY LEBVSTER The Beetle Horde By Victor Rouaaecai CONCLUSION TOMMY TRAVERS and James Dodd, of the Travers Antarctic Expedition, crash in their plane some- where near the South Pole, /and are uized by a swarm of man-sized beetles. They are carried down to Submun- dia, a world un- der the earth's crust, where the beetles have de- veloped their civilization to an amaz- ing point, using a wretched race of de- generated humans, whom they breed u cattle, for foed. The insect horde is ruled by a hu Bullets, shrapnel, shell — nothing can stop the trillions of famished^ man-siied beetles which, led by a madman, swe e p down over the human race. man from the outside world — a drug- doped madman. Dodd recognizes this man as Brain, the archaeologist who had been lost years before at the Pole and given up for dead by a world he had hated because it refused to ac- cept tys radical scientific theo- ries. His fiendish mind now plans the horrible revenge of leading his un- conquerable horde of monster insects forth to ravage the wt'rld, destroy the humafl race an& establish a new era— the era of the insect. 229 230 * ASTOUNDING STORIES The world has to be warned of the impending doom. The two, with Haidia^ a girl of Submundia, escape, and pass through menacing dangers to within two miles of the exit. There, suddenly, Tommy sees towering over him a creature that turns his blood cold — a gigantic prating mantis. Be- fore he has time to act, the monster springs at them I d the trail was growing steeper ■plt> and slippery bb -glass. "What is it, Jim?" Tommy panted, as Dodd, leaving Haidia for a moment, came back to him. "I'd say lava," Dodd answered. "If only one could see something I I don't know how she finds her way. My im- pression is that we are coming ou,t through the interior of an extinct/ volfano." "But where are there volcanoes in the south polar regions?" inquired Tommy. * "There are Mount Erebus and Mount Terror, in South Victoria Land, ac- tive volcanoes discovered by Sir James Ross in 1841; and again by Borch- grevink, in 1899. If that's where we're coming out — well, Tommy, we're doomed, because it's the heart of the polar continent. We might as well turn back." "But we won't turn back," said Tommy. "I'm damned if we do." "We're damned if we don't," said Dodd. "Come along please I" sang Haidia's voice, high up the slope. They struggled on. And now a faint luminosity was beginning to penetrate that infernal darkness. The rasping of the beetle-legs, too, was no longer audible. Perhaps they had thrown Bram off their track I Per- haps in the' darkness he had not known which way they had gone after leaving the whirlpool I 4 That thought encouraged them. to a ''last effort. JThey pushed their flag- ging limbs up, upward through an lh- ferao of heated air. Suddenly Dodd " uttered a yell and pointed upward. "God I" ejaculated Tommy. Then he seized Dodd in his arms and nearly crushed him. For high above them, a pin-point in the black void, they saw — a start They were almost at the earth's surface I One more, effort, and suddenly the ground seemed to give beneath them. They breathed the outer air, and went sliding down a (.chute of sand, and 7 stopped, half buried, at the bottom. ASTOUNDING STORIES CHAPTER VIII Recaptured <*\ * 7 HERE are we?" each de- W-manded of the ether, at they staggered' out. It waB a moonless night, and the air was chill, but they were certainly nowhere near the polar regions, for theft' was no trace of snow to be seen anywhere. All about them was' sand, with here and there a spiny shrub standing up stiff and erect and solitary. When they had disengaged them- «elves from the clinging sand, they could see that they were apparently in. the, hollow of a vast crater, that must have been half a mile in circumference. It was low and worn down, to an eleva- ,tion of not more than two or i three hundred feet, and evidently the vol- cano that had thrown it up had been ex- tinct for millennia. "Water I" gasped Dodd. They looked all about them. They could see no signs of a spring any- where, and both were parched with thirst after their terrific climb. "We must find water, Haidia,'' said Tommy. "Why, what's the matter?" Haidia was pointing upward at the starry heaven, and shivering with fear. "Eyes!" she cried. "Big beetles wait- ing for us up there!" "No, no, Haidia," Dodd explained. "Those are stars. They -are worlds — places where people live." •"Will you take me up there?"! asked Haidia. v "No, this is our world," said Dodd. 4>And by and by the sun will rise, that's , a big ball of fire up there. He watches > over the world and gives us light) arid Warmth. Don't be afraid. I'll take care of you." "Haidia is not alraid with Jimmy- dodd to take care of her," replied the girl with dignity. "Haidia smells water — over there." She pointed across one side of the crater. "There we'd better hurry,"; said Tommy, ■'because I can't hold out much longer." THE three scrambled over the soft sand, which sucked in their lettM the ankle at every step. It was with the greatest difficulty that they soo ceeded in reaching the crater's summit, low though it was. Then Dodd uttered a cry, and pointed. In front of thea extended a long pool of water, with i scrubby grqwth around the edges. ' , The ground was firmer here, and they'' hurried toward it. Tommy wo the first to reach it: He lay down as his face and drank eagerly. He had taken in a quart before, he discovered that the water was saline. / At the same time Dodd ^uttered n exclamation of disgust. Haidia, too, after sipping a little of the fluid, had stood up, chattering excitedly in ha own language. But she, was not chattering about the water, She was pointing toward the scrub.- "Men there!" she cried. "Ma like you and Tommy, Jimmydodd." Tommy and Dodd looked at each other, the water already forgotten in their excitement at Haidia's informa- tion, which neither of Ahem doubted. Brave as she was, the girl now hang back behind Dodd, letting the two men take precedence of her. The water,* saline as it was, had partly quenched their thirst. They felt their strength reviving. . \ . And it was growing light. In the east the sky was already flecked with yellow pink. They felt a thrill of in- tense excitement at- the. prospect of meeting others of their kind. "Where do you think we are?" asked Tommy. DODD stopped to look at a shnh that was growing near the edge of the pool. "I don't think,' I know. Tommy," he answered. "This is wattle.' "Yes?" "We're somewhere in the inteaft regions of the Australian continent and that's not going to help us much.* "Over there — over there," panted Haidia. "Hold - me, Jimmydodd. I can't see. Ah, this terrible light P THE BEETLE HORDE 235 She screwed her eyelids tightly to- gether to shut out 'the pale light of fcwn. The men had already discovered Hut the third membrane had been turned away. "We must get her out of here, M -whis-' ptted Dodd to Tommy. "Somewhere where it's dark, before the sun rises. Let's go back to the entrance of the enter." But Haidia, her arm extended, per- litted, "Over there I Over there I" Suddenly a spear came whirling out of a growth of wattle beside the 'pool. It whizzed past Tommy's face and dropped into the sand behind. Be- tween the trunks of the wattles they could see (he forms of -a party df hltckfellowa, watching them intently. s Tommy held up ' his arms and moved forward with a show of confidence that he wis tar from feeling. After what he had escaped in the underworld he was (n no mood to be massacred now. BUT the blacks were evidently not hostile. It was probable' that the' ■pear had not been aimed to kill. At the sight of the two white men, and the' white woman, they came forward doubtfully, then more fearlessly, shout- ing in their language. In another min- 'ate Tommy and Dodd were the center of a group of wondering savages. Especially Haidia. Three or four gins, or black women, had crept out of the scrub, and were already examining her with guttural cries, and fingering the hair garment that she wore. "Water!" said Tommy, pointing to bis throat, and then to the pool, with a frown of disgust. The blackfellows grinned, and led the three a short distance to a place where a large hollow had been scooped fat the sandy floor of the desert. It wis full of water, ' perfectly sweet to the taste. The three drank gratefully. Suddenly the edge - of the sun ap- peared above the horizon, gilding the Bad with gold. The sunlight fell upon the three, and Haidia uttered a terrible 07 of distress. She dropped upon the Band, her hands -pressed tjo her eyes con- vulsively. Tommy and Dodd dragged her into the thickest part of the scrub, where she lay moaning. > They contrived bandages from the remnants of their clothing, and these, damped with cold water, and bound over the girl's eyes, alleviated her suf- fering somewhat. Meanwhile the black- fellows had prepared a meal of roast, opossum. After their long ' diet of shrimps, it tasted like ambrosia to the two men. MUCH to their surprise, Haidia seemed to enjoy it too. The three squatted in the scrub among the friendly blacks, discussing their situ- ation. "These fellows will save us," said Dodd. . "It may be that we're quite near the coast, 'but, any way, they'll stick to us, even if only out of curios- ity." They'll take us somewhere. But as soon ai we get Haidia to safety well have to go back along our trail. We mustn't lose f>ur direction. Suppose I was to laughed at when I get back, called a liar I tell you, we've got to have something to show, to prove my statements, before I can persuade any- body to fit out an expedition into Sub- mundia. Even those three beetle-shells that we dropped in the crater won't be conclusive evidence for 'the' type of mind that sits in the chairs of science today. And, speaking of that, we must get those blacks to carry those shells for us. I tell I you, nobody will be- lieve—" v, "What's that?" cried-Tommy sharply, as a rasping Bound rose above the cries of the frightened blacks. But there, was no need to ask. Out of the crater two enormous beetles were 'winging their way toward them, two beetles .larger than any that they had seen. Fully seven s feet in length, they were circling about each other, apparently engaged in a vicious battle. . The fearful beaks stabbed at the flesh beneath the shells, and they alternately 236 ASTOUNDI* stabbed and. drew back, all the while approaching the party, which watched them, petrified with terror. It was evident that the monsters had no conception of the .presence of hu- mans. Blinded by the sun, only one. thing could have induced them to leave' the dark depths of Submundia. That was the mating instinct. The beetles were evidently rival leaders of some swarm, engaged in a duel to»the death. Round and round, they went in a dizzy maze, stabbing and thrusting, jaws closing on, flesh,\ until) they dropped, close-locked in battle, not more than twenty feet from thej little party .of .blacks and whites,! both squirming in the agonies of death. "T DON'T think that necessarily A means that the swarm is on our trail," said Tommy, a little later, as the three stood beside the shells that they >had discarded. "Those two were strays, lost from the swarm and maddened by the mating instinct. Still, it might be as well to wear these . things for a while, in case they do follow us." "You're right," answered Dodd, as he placed one of the shells around Haidia. "We've got to get this little' lady to civilization, and we've, got to protect our lives in order to give this great new knowledge to the world. If we are attacked, you must sacrifice your life for me, Tommy, so that I can carry back the news." "Righto I" answered Tommy; with alacrity.* "You bet I will, Jim." !' The glaring sun of mid-afttrnoon was shining down upon the desert, but Haidia was no longer in pain. It was evident that she was fast becoming ac- customed to the sunlight, though she still kept her eyes, screwed up tightly, and had to be helped along by Dodd and Jimmy. In high good humor the' three reached the encampment, to find that the blacks were feasting on the dead beetles, while the two eldest members of the party had proudly donned the shells- It was near sunset before they finally (G STORIES' ft started. Dodd and Tommy had dm*. aged to malce it clear to them that tfcsj wished, to reach civilization, but to* near this was there was, of course, at. means of determining. They noted, however, that the party started in ■ southerly direction. "L should say," said Dodd, "that m are in South' Australia, probably ,tbrw or four hundred miles from the ogtst, We've, got a long journey before at, but these blackfellows will know ho* to procure food for us." ^ THEY certainly knew how to get water, for, just as it began to gr*» dark, when the three wire already tor* mented by thirst, they stopped at what' .seemed a mere hollow among the stoats and boulders that strewed the face of the desert, and scooped away the tad; leaving a hole which quickly filled with* clear, cold water of excellent taste. After which they made signs that they were to camp there for the night The moon was riding, high in the 117. As it grew dark, Haidia opened her eyes, saw the luminary, and ^uttered ■ exclamation, this time not df fear, hot of wondeY. "Moon," said Dodd. "That's iD right, girl. She watches over the night, as the sun does over the day." "Haidia likes the moon better thai the sun," said the girl wistfully. "Bat the moon not strong enough to ktcf away the beetles." "If I was you, I'd forget about the beetles, Haidia," said Dodd. : "They won't come out of ■that hole in nV ground. You'll never see them again,', And, as he spoke, they heard a fa- miliar rasping sound far in the dis- tance. "How t)ie wind blows," said Tons*/, desperately resolved not to beliete hnv ears. "I think a storm's coming of- But Haidia, with a scream of fear, was clinging to Dodd, and the blacH were on their feet, spears and boa* erangs in their hands, looking north- wafd. THE BEETLE HORDE 237 Out of that north a little black cloud cat gathering. A cloud that spread gradually, as a thunder-cloud, until it covered a good part of the sky. And ttill more of'the sky, and still more. All the while that faint, distant rasp- iag was audible, but it did ""not in- crease in volume. It was as if the beetles had halted until the full number ot the swarm had come up out of the enter. THEN the cloud, 'which by now covered half the sky, began to take geometric form, ft 'grew square, the ragged edges seemed ( to trim them- telves away, streaks of " light shot through it at right angles, as if it was ■■noaling itself into companies. The doomed men and the girl stood perfectly still, staring at that phe- - aomenon. They knew that only a miracle could save them. They did oot even speak, but Haidia clung, more tightly to Dodd's arm. Then suddenly the cloud spread up- ward and covered the face of the moon. "Well, this is good-by. Tommy," said Dodd, gripping his friend's hand. "Cod, I wish I had a revolver, or a knife I" He looked at Haidia. Suddenly the rasping became r.whin- iagl shriek. A score of enormous hectics, the advance guards of the ■nay, zoomed out of the darkness into t ray of straggling moonlight. Shriek- ing, the blacks, who had watched the approaching swarm perfectly immobile,, threw away the two shells and bolted.- "Good Lord," Dodd shouted, "did you see the color of their shells, Tommy?" Even in that moment the ■dentific observer came uppermost in hhn. "Those red edges? They must he voting ones. Tommy. It's the new 1 hraodl No wonder Bram stayed be- sted t He was waiting for them to hatch ! The new brood I We're doomed —doomed! All my' work wasted I" The blackfellowa did not get very fa ■ A hundred yards from the place where they started to run they dropped, (heir bodies hidden beneath the clus- tering monsters, their screams cut short as those frightful beaks sought their throats, and those jaws crunched through flesh and bone. CIRCLING around Dodd, Tommy, and Haidiat as if puzzled by their appearance, the beetles kept up a con- tinuous, furious droning that sounded like the roar of Niagara mixed with the' shrieking of a thousand sirens. The moon was completely hidden, and only a dim, nebulous light showed the re- pulsive monsters as they flew within a few feet of the heads of the fugitives. The stench was overpowering. But suddenly a' ray .of white light shot through the darkness, and, with a changed note, just perceptible to the ears of the two men, but doubtless of the greatest significance to-the beetles, the swarm fled apart to right and left, leaving a clear lane, through which ap- peared — Bram, reclining on his shell- couch * above his eight trained beetle steeos I Hovering overhead, the eight huge monsters dropped lightly to the ground' beside the thref. Bram sat up, a vici- ous grin upon his twisted "fcase. In his hand he held a large electric bulb, its sides sheathed in a roughly carved wooden frame; the wire was attached to a battery behind him. "Well met, my friends I" he shouted exultantly. "I owe you more thanks than I can express for 'having 'so providentially left the electrical equip- ment of - your plane undamaged after you crashed at the entrance to Sub- mund^ia. I had a hunch about it — and the hunch worked I" HE grinaed more 'malevolently aa he looked from one man to the other. / "You've run your race," he said. "But I'm going to have a little fun with you before you die. I'm going to use' you as an object lesson. You'll find it out in a little while." "Go ahead, go ahead, Bram," Dodd grinned back at ljim. "Just a few mil- 238 ASTOUNDING STOSIES lion years ago, and you were a speck of protoplasm — in that pre-pleistocence age-i-swimming among the invertebrate crustaceans that characterized that epoch." "Invertebrates and monotremes, Dodd," said Bram, almost wistfully. "The' mammals w;ere already existent on the earth, as you know — " Sudden- ly he broke off, as he realized that Dodd was spoofing hjm. A yell of ex- ecration broke from his lips. He ut- tered a high whistle, and instantly the whiplike laBhes of a hundred beetles whizzed through the darkless and re- mained poised over Doddjs head. "Not even the marsupial lion, Bram," grinned Dodd, undismayed. "Co ahead, go ahead, but I'll not die, with a lie upon my lips I" CHAPTER IX The Trail of Death HERE'S -sure some sort of hpo- A. doo on these Antarctic expedi- tions, Wilson," said the city editor of The Daily Record to; the star rewrite man. He glanced through the hastily typed report that had come through on the wireless set erected on the thirty- sixth story of the Record Building. "Tommy Travers gone, eh ? And James Dodd, too I There'll be woe and wail- ing, along the Great White Way to- night when this news gets out, They say that half the chorus girls in town, considered themselves engaged to Tommy. jNice fellow, tool Always did like him I "Queer, that curtain of fog that seems to lie on the actual site of the south pole," he continued, glancing oveV the report again. "So Storm thinks that Tommy crashed in it, and that it's a million to one against their ever finding his remains. What's this about beetles? Shells of enormous prehis- toric beetles found by Tommy and Dodd! That'll make good copy,' Wil- son. Let's play that up. Hand it to Jones, and tell him -to scare up a catch- ing headline or two." H' E beckoned to the boy who vm hurrying toward his desk, a flimsy in his hand, glanced' throngs it, and tossed it toward Wilson. "What do they think this is, AanV Fool's Day?" he asked. "I'm-surprint that the International Press should fan for such stuff as that I" "Why, to-morrow is the first ol April I" exclaimed Wilson, toning back the cable dispatch with a con- temptuous laugh. "Well, it won't do the I.P. mock good to play those tricks on their sub- scribers," said the city editor tettih/. "I'm surprised, to Bay the least I guess their Adelaide corresponds*! has gone off his head or something. Using, poor Travers's name, tool Of course .that fellow didn't know he wm dead, but still. . . ." That was how The . Daily RettU missed being the first to give out at- tain information that 'was to stagger the world. The- dispatch, .which kai evidently outrun an .earlier one, was a follows: /' ADELAIDE, South Australia, March 31i — Further telegraphic communications '. arriving almost continuously from Settler's Sta- tion, signed by Thomas -Travcn, member of Travers Antarctic Ex- pedition, who claims to have pens- ' trated earth's interior at soufk pole and to have come out near Victoria Desert. Travers states that swarm of prehistoric beetles, estimated at two trillion, and ■ large as men, with shells impene- trable by rifle bullets, now be- sieging Settler's Station, where be and Dodd and Haidia, woman of. subterranean race whom they ' brought away, arershut up in tele- graph office. Bram, former men ber of Greystoke Expedition, said to be in charge of swarm, with in-' tbntion of obliterating human race, Every living thing at Settler"*'. Station destroyed, and swarm me** r ing Bouth. THE BEETLE HORDE 239 It was a small-town paper a hundred gilef from New York that took a fiance on publishing this report from Ike International Press, in spite of {untie efforts on the parts of the head tfice to recall it after it had been Utumitted. This paper published the Kcount as an April Fool's Day joke, tough later it took to itself the credit for hiving believed it. But by the time April Fool's Day dawned all the world knew that the account was, if 'any- thing, an under-estimate of the fearful things that were happening "down un- der." IT was known now that the swarm of monsters had originated in the (treat VictoriafDeaert, one of the worst stretches of desolation in the world, ■tasted in the south-east corner of Western . Australia. Their numbers were incalculable. Wimbush, the avi- ttsr, Who was attempting to cross the continent from east to west, reported ■forward that he had flown for four bra, skirting the edge of the Bwann, sad that the whole of that time they were moving in the same direction, a thick cloud that left a trail of dense fatness on earth beneath them, like Ike path of an eclipse. Wimbush escaped them only because he had a lind. An opacity had formed over the 'crystalline lens of the eye. Blind, they were no less for- midable than with their sight. They existed only to devour, and their num- bers made them irresistible, .no matter which way they turned. As soon as the vanguard of the dark cloud was sighted from Broken Hill, the airplanes went aloft. Four hun- dred planes, each armed with machine gans, dashed into the serried hosts, drumming, out volleys of lead.- In a long line, extending nearly to the linv its of the beetle formation, thus giving each aviator all the room he needed, the planes gave battle. , THE first terror that fell upon tkj airmen was the discovery taa; even at close range, the """•hint gn bullets failed to- penetrate the •j^n t The force of the impact whirled tb beetles around, drove them togethetyj bunches, sent them groping with «e» ing tentacles through the air — bnttkat was all. On the main body of the is. vaders no impression was made what ever. The second terror was the realuMisi that the swarm, driven down here asj there frpm an altitude of several bay dred feet, merely resumed their prog- ress, on the ground, in a succession of gigantic leaps. Within a few minutes, instead of presenting an inflexible ba> rier, the line of airplanes was \mBj broken, each plane surrounded . bj swarms of the monsters. Then Bram was seen. And that *■ the third terror, the sight of the famm beetle steeds, four pairs abreast, viA Bram reclining like a Roman empent upon, the surface of the shells. It Is true, Bram had no inclination to rat his own life in battle. At the fit* sight of the, aviators he dodged into.tkt thick of the swarm, where no ballet could reach him. Bram managed a) transmit an order, and the beetles dm' together. Some thought afterward that it wm by thought ' transference he effects! ' this maneuver, for instantly theheetkt which had hitherto flown in loose oris, became a solid wall, a thousand feet ii height, closing in on the planes. Tit propellers struck them and snaps*! short, and as the planes went weariflf i down, THE BEETLE HORDE 241 dgnificant results. Their skeletons ytre found not twenty paces from their guns — where the, Gunners' Monu- ment now stands. Half an hour after the flight had first been sighted the news was being ra- dioed to Sydney, Melbourne, and ahl other Australian cities, advising in- stant flight to sea as the only chance of safety. That radio message was cut, ihort— and men listened and shud- dered. After that came the crowding iboard all craft in the harbors, ths^ tragedies, of the Eystis, the All Aus- Utlia, the Seppboris, sunk at their moorings. The innumerable sea tra- gedies. The horde of fugitives that landed in New Zealand. The reign of terror when the mob got out of hand, the burning of Melbourne, the sack of Sydney. And south and eastward, like a re-, Bftless flood, the beetle swarm came pouring. Well had Bram toasted that he would make the earth a desert I ' A HUNDRED miles of poisoned carcasses of sheep, extended out- side Sydney's suburbs, gave the first promise of success. Long mounds of " beetle shells testified to the results; moreover, the beetles that fed on the carcasses of their fellows, were in turn poisoned and died. But this was only ( drop in the bucket. What counted was that the swift advance was slowing down. As if exhausted by their efforts,, or else satiated with food, the beetles were doing what the soldiers did. They were digging in I Twenty-four miles from Sydney, eighteen outside Melbourne, the ad- vance was stayed. Volunteers who went out from those dues reported that the beetles seemed tobe resting in long trenches that they hid excavated,' so that only their shells appeared above ground. Trees were covered with clinging beetles, every, wall, every house was invisible beneath •he beetle armor. Australia had a respite. Perhaps •>ly for * night or day, but still time 9 to draw breath, time to consider, time for the shiploads of fugitives to get farther from the continent that had be- come a shambles. "' And then the cry went up, not only from Australia, 'but from all the world, "Get'TrayersI" CHAPTER X r At Bay BRAM put his fingers to his mouth and whistled, a shrill whistle, yet audible to Dodd, Tommy, and Haidia. Instantly three pairs of beetles ap- peared out of the throng. Their ten- tacles went out, and the twe men and the girl found themselves hoisted sepa- rately upon the bafks of. the pairs. Next moment they were flying side" by side, high in. the air, above the surrounding swarm. ' They could see one another, but it wa»,impossible for them to make their voices heard above the rasping of the beetles' legs. Hours went by, while the moon crossed die sky and dipped to- ward the horizon. Tommy knew that the moon would set about the hour of! dawn. And the stars were already be- ginning to pale when he saw a line of telegraph poles, then twb lines of shin- ing metals, then a small settlement of stone and brick houses. Tommy was not familiar with-the ge- ography of Australia* but he knew this , must be the transcontinental line. Whirling onward, the cloud of bee- tles suddenly swooped downward. For a moment Tommy could see the fright- ened occupants of the ' settlement crowding into the single street, then he shuddered with sick horror as he saw them obliterated by the swarm'. There was no struggle, no attempt at flight or resistance. One moment those forty-odd men were there — the. .next minute they existed no longer. There was nothing but a swarm of beetles, walking about like men with shells upon their backs. And now Tommy saw evidences of B ram's devilish control of the swarm. 242. ASTOUNDING STORIES For out of "the cloud dropped what seemed to be a phalanx of beetle guards, the military police of beetle- dom, and, lashing fiercely with their tentacles, they drove back all the swarm that sought to join their com- . panions in their ghoulish feast. There was just so much food and no more; the rest must seek theirs further. BUT even bee'tles, it may be pre- sumed, are not entirely under discipline at all times. The pair of beetles that bore Tommy, suddenly swboped apart, ten or a dozen feet from the ground, and dashed into the thick of the struggling, frenzied mass, fling- ing their rider to earth. Tommy struck the soft sand, sat up, half dazed, saw his shell lying a few feet away from him, and retrieved it just as a couple of the monsters came swooping down at him. He looked about him. Not far away ttp,od Dodd and Haidia, with their shells on their backs. They recognized Tommy and ran toward him. Not more than twenty yards away stood the railroad station, with several crates of goods on the platfdrm. Next to it was a substantial house of stone, with the front door open. Tommy pointed to it, and Dodd un- derstood and shouted something that was lost in the furious buzz of the bee- tles' wings as they devoured their prey. The three raced for the entrance, gained it unmolested, and closed the door. There was a key in the door, and it was light enough for them to see a* chain, which Dodd pulled into position. There was only one story, and there were three rooms, apparently, with the kitchen. Tommy rushed to the kitchen door, locked it, too, and, with almost superhuman -efforts, dragged the large iron stove against it. He rushed to the window, but it was a mere loophole, not large chough to admit a child. Nevertheless, he stood the heavy table on end so' that it covered* it. Then he ran back. DODD had already barricaded tht window of the lafger room, which was a bed-sitting room, with a' heavy wardrobe, and the wooden bedstead, jamming the two . pieces sidewiat against the wall, so that they could "not be forced- apart without being demol- ished. He was now busy in the smaller iogm, which seemed to be the station- master's office, dragging an iron safe across the floor. But the window was criss-crossed with iron bars, and it was evident that the safe, which mi locked, contained at times considerable money, for the window could hardly have been forced •save by a charge of nitro-glycerine or dynamite. However, it was against the door that Dodd placed the safe, and he stood back, panting. "Good," said Haidia. "That will hold them." The two men looked at her doubtful- ly. Did Haidia know what she was talking about? The sun had risen. A long shaft shot into the room. Outside the beetles were Btill buzzing as they turned over tfat vestiges of their prey. There were M yet no signs of attack. Suddenly Tom- my grasped Dodd's arm. "Look I" he shouted, pointing to a comer which had been in gloom a mo- ment before. There was a table there, and on It a telegraphic instrument. Telegraphy had been One of Tommy's hobbies a boyhood. In a moment he was busy It the table. Dot— dash — dot — dash I Then tud- denly outside a furious hum, and tin impact of beetle bodies against tbf front door. TOMMY got up, grinning. That was the. first, interrupted mtstap from Tommy that was received. Through the barred window the three could see the furious efforts of the be*-. - ties to force an entrance. ' But the very tensile, strength of the beetle-shells, which rendered them impervious to bullets, required a laminate construe- THE BEETLE HORDE 243 lion which rendered them powerless against brick or stone. Desperately, the swarm dashed itself Igainst the walls, until the ground out- tide was piled high with stunned bee- tles. Not the faintest impression was glide on the defenses. "Watch-them, Jim," said Tom. "I'll go see if the rear's "secure." That thought of his seemed to have been anticipated by the beetles, formal Tommy reached the kitchen the swarm ffttir dashing against door and window, always recoiling. - Tommy came back,, grinning all over his face. "You were right,' Haidia," .toe said 1 ! "We've held them all right, and the tables are turned on Bram. Also I. got i message through, I think," he added to Dodd. Dash— dot— dash — dot from the in- strument. Tommy ran to the table ■gam. Dash — dot went back. For. five - minutes Tommy labored, while the bee- tles hammered how on one door, now on another, now oa, the windows. Then Tommy got up. "It was some station down the line," be said. "I've .told them, and they're tending a man up here to replace the telegraphist, also a couple of cops. They think I'm crazy. I told them again. That's the best I could do." "■pvODDI Traversl For the last JL/ time — let's talk I" The cloud of beetles seemed to have thinned, for the sun was shining into the room. Bram's voice was perfectly audible, though he. himself was in- visible; probably he thought it likely that the defenders had obtained fire- inns. "Nothing to say to you, Bram," called Dodd. "We've finished our discussion on the-monotremes." *I want -you fellows to stand in with meT* came Bram's plaintive tones. "It's H lonesome all by one's self, Dodd." "Ah, you're beginning to find that out, are you?'.' Dodd could not resist ■swerlng. "You'll be lonelier yet be-' (we you're through." "Dodd, I didn't bring that swarm up here. I swear.it. I've been trying to control them from the beginning. I saw .what was coming. I believe I can avert this horror, drive them into the sea or something like that. Don't make me, desperate, Dodd. "And listen, old man. About those tnonotremes — sensible men don't quar- rel over things like that. Why can't we agree to differ?" "Ah, noW you're talking, Bram," Dodd^answered. "Only you're too late. After what's happened here to-day* we'll have no truck with you. That's [ final." "Damn you," shrieked 'Bram. "I'll batter down this house. I'll — " "You'll do nothing, Bram, because you can't," Dodd answered. . "Travers has wired full information about you* devil-horde, and likewise about you, and all Australia will be prepared to give you a warm reception when you arrive." "I. tell you I'm invincible," Bram screamed. "In ttiVee days Australia will be a ruin, a depopulated desert. In a week, all southern Asia, in three weeks Europe, in two months Amer- ica." "You've been taking too many of those . pellets, Bram,'*' Dodd answered. i 1 "Stand back now I Stand back, wher- ever you are, or I'll open the door and throw, the slops over you." BRAM'S screech rose high above the droning of the wings.. In an- other moment the interior of the room had grown as black as night. The rattle of the beetle shells against the four walls of the house was like the clatter- ing of stage thunder. AH through the darkness Dodd could hear the unhurried clicking of the key. At last the rattling ceased. The sun shone in again. The ground all around the house was packed with fallen bee- tles, six feet high, a writhing mass that creaked and clattered as it strove to dis- engage itself. * Bram's voice once mote : "I'm leav- 244 ASTOUNDING STORIES ing a guard, Dodd. They'll get you if you try to leave. But they won't eat you. .I'm going to have you ) three sliced into little. pieces, the Thousand Deaths of the Chinese. The beetles will eat the parts that are sliced away — and you'll live to watch them. I'll be back with a stick or two of dynamite to-morrow." "Yeah, but listen, Bram," Dodd sang out. "Listen, you old marsupial tiger. When those pipe dreams clear away, I'm going to build a gallows of beetle- shells reaching to the moon, to hang you oal" B ram's screechy of madness died away. The strident rasping of the bee- tles' legs began again. For hours the three heard it ; it was not until night- fall that it died away. BRAl^ had made good his threat, ''for all around the house, extend- ing as\far as they could see, was the host o\ beetle-guards. To venture out, even With their shells about them, was clearly a hazardous undertaking. There was neither food nor water in the place. "We'll just have to hold»out," said Dodd, breaking one of the long periods of silence. Tommy did not answer; he did not hear him, for he was busy at the key. Suddenly he leaped to His feet. *'God, Jimmy," he cried, "that devil's making good his threat I The,. swarm's in South Australia, destroying every living thing, wiping out whole towns and villages! And they — they believe me now I" , He sank into a chair. For the first time the strain of the awful past seemed to grip him. Haidia came to his side. * * \ "The beetles are finish," she said in her soft voice. "How d'you know, Haidia?" de- manded Dodd. "The beetles are finish," Haidia re- peated quietly, and that was all that Dodd could get out of her. But again the key began to click, and Tommy ■taggered to the table. • Dot-dash-dash- dot. Presently he looked up once matt, "The swarm's half-way to Adelaide," he said. "They want to know if I can help them. Help them'" He bunt into hysterical laughter. Toward evening he came back after anp hour at the key. "Line must be' broken," he said. "I'm getting noth- ing." T NT the moonlight' they could see the JL huge compound eyes of the beetle guards glittering like enormous dia- monds outside. They had not been conscious of thirst during the day, but now, with the coming of the cool night their desire for water became para- mount. "Tommy, there must be water in the station," and Dodd. "I'm going to get a pitcher from the kitchen and risk it, Tommy% Take care of Haidia if—" he added. _•■ But £Iaidia laid her hand upon hit arm. "Do not go, Jimmydodd," the said. "We cart be thirsty to-night, and to-morrow the beetles will be finish." "How d'you know?" asked Dodd .again. But now he realized that Haidia had never learned the signifi- cance of an interrogation. She only re- peated her statement, and again the two men had to remain content. The long night passed. Outside the many facets 'of the beetle eyes. Inside the two men, desperate with anxiety, not for themselves, but for the fate of the world, snatching a few momenta* sleep from time to time, then looking up to see those glaring eyes from the silent watchers. * Then dawn came stealing over the desert, and the two shook themselves free from sleep. And now . the eyel were gone; But there was immense 'activity among the beetles. They were scur- ry ing 1 to and fro, and, as they watched, Dodd and Tommy began to see some significance in their movements. "Why, they're digging tTenchesP Tommy shouted. "That's horriMe, Jimmy I Are they intending to con» THE BEETLE HORDE 245 fact sapping operations against us like engineers, or what?" Dodd did not reply, and Tommy hardly expected any answer.. r ^As the two men, now joined by* Haidia, witched, they saw that the beetles were actually digging themselves '■into the sand. WITHIN the space Of an hour, by the time the first, shafts of sunlight began to stream into the room, there was to be seen only the missive, rounded shells of the mon- sters as they squatted in the sand. "Now you may fetch water," said Haidia, smiling at her lover. "No, you do -not need the shells," she added. The beetles are finish. It is as the wise men of iny people told me." Wondering, hesitating. Tommy and Dodd unlocked. the front door. They stood upon the threshold ready to bolt back again. But there was no stirring among the beetle hosts. Growing bolder, they advanced a few steps; then, shamed by Haidia's cour- age, they followed her, still cautiously to .the station. Dodd shouted as he saw a water- tank, and a receptacle above it with a water-cock. , They let Haidia drink, then followed suit, afed for a few mo- . aenta, as they appeased their thirst, the beetles were forgotten. Then they turned back. There had been no movement in that line of shells that glinted in the morning sunlight. "Come, I shall show you," said Haidia' confidently, advancing toward tie trench. Dodd would have stoppedf her, but the girl moved forward quickly, eluded kirn with a graceful, mirthful gesture, tad stooped down over the trench. She rose up, raising in her arms an empty beetle-shell I. Dodd, who had reached the trench before Tommy, turned round and Filled to him excitedly. Tommy ran forward — and then he understood. The shells were empty. The swarm, whose life cycle Bram had admitted he did not understand, had just moulted I It had moulted because the bodies, gorged with food, bad grown too large for the shells. In time, if left alone, the monsters would grow larger shells, become invincible again. But just now they were' defenseless as new-born • babe,s — and knew it. Deep underneath, the empty shells they had (burrowed into the ground. Everywhere at the bottom of the deep trenches were the naked, bestial crea- tures, waving helpless tentacles and squirming over one another as they strove to find shelter and security. A sudden madness came over Tom- my and Dodd. "Dynamite — there must be dynamite 1" Dodd shouted, as he ran back to the station. "Something better than dynamite," shouted Tommy, holding up one of a score of drums of petrol I CHAPTER XI The World Set Free THEY waited two days at Settler's Station.* To push along the line into the desert would have been use- less, and both men were convinced that, an airplane would arrive for them. But it was not until the second afternoon that the aviator arrived, half-dead with thirst and fatigue, and almost incoher- ent. His was the last plane on the Aus- tralian continent. He brought the news of the destruction of Adelaide, and of the siege of Melbourne and Sydney, as he termed it. He told Dodd and T6mmy that the two cities had been surrounded with trenches arid* barbed wire. Machine guns and artillery were bombarding the trenches in which the beetles had taken shelter: "Has any one been out on reconnais- sance?" asked Tommy. Nobody had been permitted to pass through the barbed wire, though there had been volunteers. It meant certain death. But, unless the beetles' were sapling deep {n the ground; what theii purpose was, nobody knew. 246 ASTOUNDING STORIES TOMMY and Dodd ied him to the 'piles of smoking, stinking debris and told him. That was where the aviator fainted from sheer relief. "The Commonwealth wants you to take supreme command against the beetles," he told Tommy, when he had recovered. "I'm to bring you back. Not that they expect me back. But — God, what a piece of news ! Forgive my swearing — I used to be a parson. Still am, for the matter of that." / "How are you going to bring us three back in your plane?" asked Tommy. "I shall stay here with Jimmydodd," said Haidia suavely. "There is not the least danger any more. You must de- stroy the beetles before their shells have grown again, that's all." "Used to be a parson, you say? Still are?" shouted Dodd excitedly. "Thank God I I mean,- I'm glad to hear it. Come inside, and come quick.' I want you too, Tommy I" Then Tommy understood. And it seemed as girreerin^ skill > and knowledge. He pronounced the building positively O. K. — 100 per cent." "Where is Jenks?" "He will be here as soon as hi* car can drive down from! Tarrytown. Be should be here now," A**? they talked Jenks, the younfeeat A member of the engineering force, entered. He entered like a whirlwind. He threw his bat on the floor and drew out a drawer of a cabinet. He polled out the plans for the Colossus, Uf blue prints, some of them yards in a- tent, and threw them on the floor. The* he dropped to his knees and began par- ing over them. "This is a hell of a time for job to begin getting around," exploded Mid- ler. "What were you doing, cabaret- ing all night?" "It sure is terrible — awful," taU' Jenks, half to himself. "Answer me," thundered Muller. "Oh yes," said Jenks, looking op. He saw the look of anguish on hk boss's face and fqrgot his own excite', ment in sympathy. He jumped to fata feet, placed his arm about the shoulden of the older man and led him to a chair. Linane only scowled at the young mo. "I was delayed because I stopped by to see the wreck. My God, Mr. Muller, it is awful." Jenks drew his had across his eye as if to erase the teat of the wrecked building. Then pitttaf the older man affectionately on the back he said: , "Buck up. I'm on the job, as ufOst < I'll find out about it. It .could not haw been our fault. Why man, that buff* MAD MUSIC 251 log -was as strong as Gibraltar itself I" 'You were the last' to inspect it," accused Muller, with a break in his Mice. "Nobody knows that better than I, nd I can swear by all that's square tad honest that it was no fault v o£ the , material or the construction. It must tare been—" v "Must have been what?" Til be damned if I know." "That's like him,"' said Linane, who, while really kindly intentioned, had al- ways rather enjoyed prodding the young engineer. "Like me, lijtf the devil," shouted Jenks, glaring at Linane. "I suppose yoo know all about it, you're so blamed wisfcT "No, I don't know," admitted Linane. "Bat I do know that you don't like me to tell you anything. Nevertheless, I an going to tell you' that you had bet- ter get busy and find out what caused it, or—" "That's just what I'm doing," said Jsakt, and he dived for his plans on the floor. Newspaper reporters, many of them, wtre fighting outside to get in. Muller looked at Linane when a stenographer hsdVnnounced the reporters for the tenthSimo "We had better let them in," he said, "it looks bad to crawl for cover." "What are you going to tell' them?" tsked Linane. "God only knowa," said Muller. "Let me handje them," said Jenks, looking up confidently. THE newspapermen had rushed the office. They came in like a wild wave. Questions flew like feathers at » cock-fight. Muller held up his hand and there wis something in his grief-stricken y* that held the gentlemen of the Vttm is silence. They had time to !u* Si Uld ' They saw the nandsome, "*-hS»ed, brown-eyed Jenks poring W At plans. Dust from the carpet ■■noged his knees, and he had rubbed some of it over a sweating forehead, but he still looked the picture of self- confident efficiency. "Gentlemen," said Muller slowly, "I can answer ajl your questions at once. Our firm is one of the oldest and staunchest in the trade. Our buildings stand as monuments to our integrity — " "All but one," said a young Irishman. - "You are right. . All but one," con- fessed Muller. "But that one, believe me, has been visited by an act of God. Some form of earthquake or some un- booked for, uncontrolled, almost unbe- lievable catastrophe has happened. Jhe Muller company stands . back of its work to its last dollar. Gentlemen, you know as much as we do. Mrf Jenks there, whose reputation as an engineer is quite sturdy, I assure you, was the last to inspect the building. He passed upon it when it was finished. He is at your service." 1 , Jenks arose, brushed some dust from his knees. "You look like you'd been praying," bandied the Irishman. "Maybe % have. Now. let me' talk. Don't broadside me with questions. I know what -you want to know. Let me talk." 'The newspapermen were silent. "There has been talk of probing this disaster, naturally," began Jenks. "You all know, gentlemen, that we will aid any inquiry to our utmost. You want to know what we have to say about it— who is responsible. In a reasonable time I will have a statement to make that! will be ^startling in the extreme: I am not sure*of my ground now." "How about the ground under the Colossus?" said the Irishman. "Don't let's kid each other," pleaded Jenks. "Look at Mr. Muller: it is as if he had lost his whole family. We axe good people. I am doing all I can. "Mr. Linane", who had charge of the con- struction, is doing all he can. We be- ' lieve we are blameless. If it is proven otherwise we will acknowledge our fault, assume financial responsibility, atfS take our medicine. ' Believe me. 252 ASTOUNDING STORIES that building was perfection plus, like all our buildings. .TJiat covers the en- tire situation." Hundreds of questions were parried and answered by the three engineers, and the reporters left convinced that if the Muller Construction' Company was responsible, it was .not through any fault of its own. THE fact that Jenks and Linane were not strong for each other, except to recognize each other's ability as engineers, was*' due to an incident of the past. This incident had caused a ripple of mirth in engineering circles /when it happened, and the laugh was on the older man, Linane. It was when radio was new. Linane, a structural engineer, had paid little attention to radio. Jenks* was the kind of an engineer who dabbled in all sci- ences. He knew his radio. When Jenks first came to work with a technical sheepskin and^ a few tons of brass, Linane accorded him only passing notice. Jenks craved the plau- dits of the older man and his palship. Linane treated, him as a son, but did not warm to his social' advances. "I'm as good an engineer as he is," - mused Jenks, "and if he is going to high-hat me, I'll just put a swift one over on him' and compel his notice." The next day Jenks approached Linane in conference and said: "I've got a curious bet on, Mr. Linane. I am betting sound can travel i mile quicker than it travels a quarter - of a mile." "What?" said Linane. "I'm betting; fifty that sound can travel a mile quicker than it can travel a quarter of a mile." "Oh no— it can't," insisted Linane. "Oh yes— it can 1" decided Jenks. "I'llf take some of that fool mot)ey myself," said Linane. "How much?" asked Jenks. "As much as you want." "AU right— five hundred dollars." "How you going to prove your con- tention?" "By stop watches, and your men can hold the watches. We'll bet that t pistol shot can be heard two miles away quicker than it can be heard a quarts of a mile away." "Sound travels about a fifth of a milt a second. The rate varies slightly ac- cording to temperature," explained Linane. "At the freezing point the rate is 1,090 feet per second and in- creases a little over one foot 'for ever/ degree Fahrenheit." "Hot or cold," *reezed Jenks, '^1 m betting you five hundred dollars tint sound can travel two miles quicker thai a quarter-mile." ' "You're on, you ' damned idiot T shouted the completely exasperated Linane. JENKS let Linane's friends hold tat watches*' and his friend held the money. Jenks was to fire the shot Jenks fired the shot in front of ■ microphone on a football field. One ef Linane's friends picked the sound ns Instantaneously on a three-tube radio set two miles away. The other watch holder was standing in the open a quar- ter of a mile away and his watts showed a second and a fraction. All hands agreed that Jenks had wen the bet fairly. Linane never exactly liked Jenks after that. Then Jenks rather aggravated nat- ters by .a habit. Whenever Linane would make a very positive statement Jenks would look owl-eyed and eey: "Mr. Linane, I'll have to sound you eat about that." The heavy accent on the word "sound" nestled Linane mbb> what. Linane never completely, forgne Jenks for putting over this "fast one' Socially they were always more or lea at loggerheads. tut neither let this feel- ing interfere with their work. They worked together faithfully enough nil each recognized .the ability of the other. 4 And so it was that Linane and Jenta, their heads together, worked all nifht in an attempt to find some cause thai MAD MUSIC 253 would tie responsibility for the 'dis- aster on mother nature. \ They failed to find it and, sleepy- eyed, they were forced to admit failure, n far. .. The newspapers, to whom Muller had aid that he would not shirk any re- iponsibility, began a hue and cry for the arrest of all parties in any waV con- cerned with the direction of the build- ing of the Colossus. When the death list from the crash tod subway wreck reached 97, the press waxed nasty and demanded the arrest of Muller, Linane and Jenks in no uncertain tones. Half dead from lack of sleep, .the three men were taken by the police to the district attorney's offices and, after I strenuous grilling, were formally placed under arrest on charges of crim- inal negligence.' They put up a $50,000 bond in each case and were permitted to go and seek-further to find the cause of what the newspapers now began call- ing the "Colossal failure." Several days were spent by Linane and Jenks in examining the wreckage which was. being removed from Times Square, truckload after truckload, to a point outside the city. .Here it. was ■gain sorted and examined and failed for future disposal. / So far as could be found every brick, •tone and ounce of material used in the building was perfect. Attorneys, how- wet, assured Linane, Jenks and Muller that 1 they would have to find the real cause of the disaster if they were to escape possible long prison sentences. Night after night Jenks courted sleep, but it would not come. He be- .'(an to grow wan and haggard. JENKS took to walking the streets N at night, mile after mire, thinking, always thinking, and searching his nund for a solution of the mystery. It was evening. He had walked past the scene of the Colossus crash several times. He found himself on a side •treet. He looked up and saw in elec- tric lights: TOWN HALL Munsterbergen, the Mad Musician Concert Here To-night. He took five dollars fromihis pocket and bought a ticket. He entered with 'the crowd and was ushered to a seat. He locjked neither to the right or left. His eyes were sunken, his face lined with worry. Something within Jenks caused him to turn slightly. He was curiously aware qf a beautiful girl who sat beside him. She had a mass of golden hair which seemed to defy control. It was wild, positively tempestuous. Her eyes were deep blue and her skin as white as fleecy clouds in spring. He was "dimly conscious that those glorious eyes were troubled. She glanced at him. She was aware that he was suffering. A great surge of .sympathy welled in her heart. She could not explain the feeling. A great red plush curtain parted in ^the center and drew in graceful folds to the edges of the proscenium. A small" stage was revealed. ' A tbusle-headed man with glaring, beady blackfeyps, dressed in black even- ing clothes stepped forward and bowed. Under his arm was a violin. He brought the violin forward. His nose, like the beak of some great bird, bobbed up and down in acknowledgment of the plau- dits which greeted him. His long ner- vous fingers began to caress the instru- ment and his }ips began to move. Jenks was aware that he was. saying something, but was not at air- inter- ested. What he said was this: "Maybe, yes, I couldn't talk so good English, but you could understood it, yes?' Und now I tell you dot J never play the compositions of any man. • I axtemporize exgloosively. I chust blay und blay, und maybe you should listen, yes? If I bleeze you I am chust happy." Jenks' attention was drawn to him. He ndted his wild appearance. "He sure looks mad enough," mused Jenks. j, 254 ASTOUNDING STORIES np'HE violinist Hipped the fiddle up X 'under his chin. He drew the bow over the strings and began a gentle melody that reminded one of rain drops falling on calm waters. Jenks forgot his troubles. He forgot everything. He slumped in his seat and his eyes closed. The rain con- tinued falling from the strings of the violin. Suddenly the melody changed to . a glad little lilting measure, as sweet as love itself. The sun was coming oiit again and the ' birds began to sing. There was the trill of a canary with the sun on its cage. There wye the song of the thrush, the mocking-bird and the meadow lark. These 'blended finally into a melodious burst of chirp- ing melody which seemed a chorus of the wild birds of the forest and "glen. Then the lilting love measure again. 'It 'tore at the heart strings, and brought tears to one's eyes. , i. Unconsciously the girl next to Jenks leaned towards him'. Involuntarily he leaned to meet her. Their shoulders touched. The cloud of her golden, hair came to rest against his dark locks. Their hands found each other with gentle pressure. Both were lost to the world. ■ Abruptly the music changed. There was a succession of. broken treble notes that sounded .like the crackling of flames. Moans deep -and melancholy followed. These grew more strident and prolonged, giving place to abject howls, suggesting the lamentations of the damned. ^ The, hands of the boy and girl .gripped tensely. They could not help shuddering. The Violin began to produce notes of a leering, jeering character, growing more horrible with each measure until they burst in a loud guffaw of maniac- al laughter. The whole performance -was as if someone had taken a heaven and plunged it into a hell. The musician bowed jerkily, and was gone. THERE was no applause, only wild exclamations. Half the house was on its feet. The other half sat u if glued to chairs.. , The boy and the girl were standing their hands still gripping tensely. "Come, let's get out of here," said Jenks. The girl took her wrap and Jenks helped her into it. Hand ia hand they fled the place. In the lobby their eyes met, and for the first time they realized they wen strangers. Vet deep in their hurt] was a feeling that their fates had beat sealed. "My goodness I" burst from the girl "It can't be helped now," said Jenks decisively. "Whaf\can't be -helped?" asked tat girl, although she knew in her heart. "Nothing can be helped," said Jenks, Then he added : "We. should know east other btt this time. We have M holdidgjbands for an hour." 'T The girl's eyes flared. "You have no right to presume on that situation,' she said. Jinks could have kicked himself, "Forgive me," he said. "It was onh- that I just wanted so to know yea, Won't you let me see you home?" '♦You may," said the girl simply, and she led the way to her own car. They drove north. 'Their bodies sdemed like magnets, They were again shoulder to should*; holding hands. «, "Will you tell me your name?" pleaded Jenks. "Surely," replied the girl. "I m Elaine Linane." "What?"j^xploded Jenks. "Why, I work with a Linane, an engineer wttk the Muller Construction Company." "He is my father," she said. "Why, we are great friends," aid the boy. "I am Jenks, hit assistant— at least we work together." "Yes, I have heard of you," said Ik girl. "It is strange, the way we nit My father admires your work, bat, I am afraid you are not great friends," <*The girl had forgotten her troohka, MAD MUSIC She chuckled. She had heard tlje way Jealcs had "sounded" her father out. Jenks was speechless. The girl con- tinued: "I don't know whether to like you or to hate you. 1 My father is an old dear. You were cruel to him." Jenks was abject. "I did, not mean to be," he said. "He rather belittled me without realizing it. I had to make my stand. The difference in our years made him take me rather too lightly. I bad to compel his notice, if I was to advance." "Oh I" said the girl. "I am sorry — so sorry." "You might not have been altogether tt fault," said the girl. "Father forgets it times that I have grown up. I re- seat being treated like a child, but he is the soul of goodness and fatherly eire." 1 "I know that,", said Jenks. EVERY engineer knows his mathe- matics. It wasting fact, 'coupled with what the world calls a "lucky break," that solved the Colossus mys- tery. Nobody can get around the fact that two and two make four. Jenks had happened on accomplish- ment to advance in the engineering pro- fession, and it was well for him that he bad reached a crisis. He had never be- lieved in luck or in hunches, bo it was good for him to" be brought face to face with the fact that sometimes the foot-, steps of man are guided. It made him begin to look .Into the engineering of the universe, to think more deeply, and to acknowledge a Higher Power. With Linane he had butted into a <*tone wall. "They Were coming to know what real trouble meant. The fact that they wire innocent did not make the steel bars of a cage any more attractive. Their troubles began to wrap about them with the clammy in- mnacy x>i a shroud. Then came the lucky break. L Next to his troubles, Jenks' favorite topic was the Mad Musician. He tried to learn all 'he could about this un- canny character at whose concert he had met the girl of his life. He learned 1 two facts that made him perk up and think. One was that the Mad Musican had had offices and a studio in the Colossus and was one of the first to move in. The other was that the Mad Musician took great delight in shattering glass- ware with notes of or vibrations from a violin. Nearly everyone knows that a glass tumbler can be shattered by the proper note sounded' on a violin. The Mad. Musician took delight in this trick. Jenks courted his acquaintance, and saw him shatter a row of glasses .of different sizes by sounding different notes on his fiddle. The glasses - crashed one after another , like gelatine balls hit by the bullets of an expert rifleman. i 'Then Jenks, the engineer who* knew his mathematics, put two and two to- gether. It made four, of course. , "Listen, Linane," he said to bis co- worker : "tnis- fiddler is crazier than a flock of cuckoos. If he can crack crockery with violin sound vibrations, is it not possible, by carrying the vi- brations to a much higher power, that he could crack a pile of stone, steel, brick and cement, like; the Colossus?" "Possible, but hardl^ /probable. .Still," Linane mused, "when you think about it, and put two and two together. . . . Let's go after him 'and see what he is doing now'." Both jumped for their coats and hats. As they fared forth, Jenks cinched bis ' argument : "If a madman takes delight in break- ing glassware with a vibratory wave or vibration, how much more of a thrill would'he get by crashing a mountain ?" "Wild, but unanswerable," said Lin- ane. "1 JENKS had been calling on the Mad Musicaiuat his country place. "He> had a studio in the Colossus," he re- minded Linane. "He must have re- opened somewhere else in town. I wonder where." 256 t ASTOUNDING STORIES "Musicians are great, union men," said Linane. "Phone the union." Teddy Jenks did, but the union gave, the last known town address as the Colossus. "He would remain in the same dis- trict around Times Square," reasoned Jenks. "Let's page out the big build- ings and see if he is not preparing to crash another one." "Fair enough," said Linane, who was too busy, with the problem at hand to choose his words. Together the engineers started a can- vass of the big buildings in the theatri- cal district. After four or five had been searched without result they entered the 30-story Acme Theater building. Here they learned that the Mad Musician had leased' a fear-room suite just a few days before. This suite was on the fifteenth floor, just half way up in the big structure. They went to the manager of the ouilding and frankly stated their sus- picions. "We want to enter that suite when the tenant is not there," they ex- plained, "and we want him forestalled from entering while we are examining the premises." "Hadn't we better notify, the police ?" asked the building manager, who had broken out in a sweat when be heard the aire disaster which might be in Store for the stately Acme building. "Nbt yet," said Linane. "You see, we are not sure: we have just been putting two and two together. "We'il get the building detective, ?nyway," insisted the manager. "Let him come along, but do not let him know until we are sure. If we afe right we will find a most unusual in- fernal machine," said Linane. THE three men entered the suite with a pass-key. The detective was left outside in the hall to halt anyone who might disturb the search- ers. It was as Jenks had thought. In an inner room they found a diabolical machine — a single string stretched •cross two bridges, one of brass, and one of wood. A big horsehair bow at- tached to a shaft operated by a motor was automatically sawing across the string. The note resulting was evident- ly higher than the range of the human ear, because no audible sound resulted. It was later estimated that the de- structive note was several octaves higher than the highest » note on a piano. The entire machine was inclosed in a heavy wire-net cage, securely bolted/to the floor. Neither the string or bow-, could be reached. It was evidently the Mad Musician's idea that the devilish contrivance should not be reached by hands other than his own.' * How long the infernal machine had been operating no one knew, but the visitors were startled when the build- ing suddenly began to sway -percep- tibly. Jenks. jumped forward to stop the machine but could not find a switch. "See if the machine plugs in any where in a wall socket I"" he shouted to Linane. who promptly began examin- ing the walls. Jenks shouted to the building manager to phone the police to clear the streets around the big 'building. 'Tell the police that the Acme Thea- ter building may crash at any moment,' he instructed. . "* The engineers were perfectly cool hi' face of the great peril, but the building manager, lost his head completely and began to run around in circlet -mutter- ing : "Oh, my God, save me I" and other - words of supplication that blended into an incoherent babel. Jenks rushed to the man, trying to still his wild hysteria. The building continued to sway dan- gerously. JENKS looked from a window. Aa enormous crowd was collecting! watching the big building swingings' foot out of plumb like a giant pendu- lum. The crowd was growing. Should, the building fall the loss of life wooU be appalling. /It wa% mid-morning.- The interior of- the building teenaav MAD MUSIC jfth^fcousands of workers, for all |gors above the third were offices. Teddy Jenks turned suddenly. He lord the watchman in the hall scream in terror. Then he he%rd a body fall. He ruahed to 'the door to see the Mad Musician standing over the prostrate farm of the detective, a devilish grin & his distorted countenance. The madman turned, saw Jenks, arid tinted to run. Jenks took after him. Up the staircase the madman rushed to- ward the roof. Teddy followed him two floors and then rushed out to take the elevators. The building in its mad ■wiring had made it impossible for the lifts to be operated. Teddy realized this with a distraught gulp in his throat He returned to the stairway and took up the pursuit of the madman. The corridors were -beginning to fill with screaming men and wailing girls. It was a might never to be forgotten. ' Laboriously Jenks climbed story af- ter story without getting sight of the Finally he reached the roof. It was waving like swells on a lake be- fore t breeze. He caught sight of the Mad Musician standing on the street wall thirty stories from the street, a leer on his devilish visage. He jumped for him. The madman grasped him and lifted kirn up to the top of the wall as a cat night have lifted a mouse. Both men were breathing heavily as a result of their 15-story climb. - The madman tried to throw Teddy Jenks to the street below. Teddy clung to* him. The two battled desperately u tfee building swayed. The dense crowd in the street had taught sight of the two men fighting on the narrow-coping, and tfie snout which not the air reached the ears of Jenks. THE mind of the engineer was still working clearly, but a wild fear (ripped his heart. His strength seemed to be leaving him. The madman pushed kin back, bending his spine wi$h brute •rength. Teddy was forced to the nar- Wr ledge that had given the two men footing. The fingers of the madman gripped bis throat. He was dimly conscious that the swaying of the building wSs slowing down. His reason told him_that Linane had found the wall socket and had stopped the sawing of the devil's bow on the engine of hell. He saw the madman draw a big knife. With bis last remaining strength he reached out and grasped the wrist above tbe hand which held the weapon. In spite of all he could do he saw the madman inching the knife nearer and nearer his throat. Grim death was peering into the bulging eyes of Teddyjenks, when his engineering knowledge came to his res- cue. He remembered the top stories of the Acme building were constructed with a step of ten feet in from the street line, for every 'story of construc- tion above the 24th floor. "If Ave fall," he reasoned, "we can only fall one story." Then he deliber- ately rolled his own body and the weight of the madman, who held him, over the edge of the coping. At the' same time he twisted the madman's wrist so the point of the knife pointed to the madman's body. There was a. dim consciousness of a painful impact. Teddy had fallen un- derneath, but the force of the two bodies coming together had thrust the knife deep into the entrails of the Mad Musician. • Clouds which had "been collecting .in the sky began a splattering downpour. The storm grew in fury and lightning tore tbe heavens, while thunder boomed and crackled. The rain began falling in sheets. ^ THIS served' to revive the uncon- scious Teddy. He painfully with- drew his body from under that of the madman. The falling rain, stained with the blood of the Mad Musician, trickled over the edge of the building. Teddy dragged himself through a window and passed his hand over hit forehead, which was aching miserably. 258 ASTOUNDING STORIES He tried to get to his feet and fell -back, only to try again. Several times he tried and then, his strength returning, he was able to walk. He macje his way to thcstudio where he had left Linane and found him there surrounded by police, reporters and others. The infernal machine had been rendered harmless, but was kept intact as evidence. Catching sight of Teddy, Linane shouted with joy. "I stopped the damned thing," he chuckled, like a pleased schoolboy. Then, observing Teddy's exhausted condition he added : "Why, you look like you have been to a funeral I" , 260 ASTOUNDING STORIES "Got them? Of course not, how could I?" replied the paymaster. "There they are " His v*oic,e trailed off into nothing- ness as he looked at the empty counter. ."I must have dropped them," said Winston as he turned. He glanced back at the rear rack where his main stock of currency was piled. He. stood paralyzed^ for a moment and then reached under the counter and. pushed a button. The bank resounded instantly to the clangor of gongs and huge stjjel grills shot into place with a clfng, sealing all doors and preventing anyone from en-, tering or- leaving the bank. 'The guards sprang to their stations wjMv, drawn weapons and from the inner offices the bank officials came swarming out. The cashier, followed by two* men, hurried to the paying teller's cage. jtL "What is it, Mr. Winston?" he cfl "I've bfen robbed I" gaBped^^^P mm "Who by? How?" demanded ^ne cashier. "I — I don't know, sir," stammered the teller. "I was counting out Mr.< Trier's payroll, and after I had stacked the twenties I turned to get the tens": When I turned back the twenties were gone." "Where had they gone?" asked the cashier,.- "I don't know, sir. Mr. Trier was as surprised as I was, and then V turned back, thinking that I had knocked thenr off the counter, and I saw at a glance that there was a big hole in my back racks. You can see yourself, sir." The cashier turned to the paymaster. "Is this a practical joke, Mr. Trier?" he demanded, sharply. "Of course not," replied the paymas- ter. "Winston's grill was closed. It still is. Granted that I might have reached the twenties he had piled up, how could I have gone through a grill and .taken the rest of the missing money without his seeing me? The money disappeared almost instantly. It was there a moment before, for I noticed when Winston todk the twth ties from his rack that it was full" "But ' someone must have taken It," said the bewildered cashier. "Money doesn't walk off of its own accord ft vanish into thin air — " A bell interrupted his speech. ' "There are the police," he said with an air of relief. "I'll let them in." THJE smaller of the two men wha had -.followed the cashier from ks office when the alarm had sounded stepped forward and spoke quietly. His .voice, was low and well pitched yet it carried a note of authority tad power that held his auditors' attentisi while he spoke. The voice harmonized with the "man. The most noticeable point about him was the incontpicaoM of his voice and manner, yet there way a glint of steel in his gray eyes that told of enormous force in him. ,- "I don't believe that I would Id them in for a few moments, kit. Rogers," he said. "I think that we in up against something a little differed from the usual bank Tobbery." * ^But, Mr. Carnes," protested tht cashier, "we must call in the police k a case like this, and the sooner they take charge the better chance then will be of apprehending the thief." "Suit yourself," replied the littk man with a shrug of his shoulders. "I merely offered my advice." "Will you take charge, Mr. CarnejT asked the cashier. "I can't supersede the local authori- ties in a case like this," replied Camel "The secret service is primarily inter- ested in the suppression of counter* feiting and the enforcement of certain federal statutes, but I will be glad t» assist the local authorities to the best of my ability, provided they desire my help. My advice to you would be ta keep out the patrolmen who are de- manding admittance and get in touch with the chief of police. I would afk that his best detective together with as expert finger-print photographer ht sent here before anyone else ii.ai* THE THIEF OF TIME 261 Bitted. If the patrolmen are allowed to wipe their hands over Mr. Winston's counter they may destroy valuable evi- dence." "You are right, Mr. Cames," ex- claimed the cashier. "Mr. Jervis, will you tell the police that there is no violence threatening and ask them "to wait for a few minutes? I'll telephone the chief of police at once." Carries stepped a little closer' to the doctor. 4-' Another reason, why I didn't want patrolmen tramping around," he said in an undertone, "is this. If Winston gave the alarm quickly enough, the thief is probably still in the building." "He's a good many miles away by now," replied Dr. Bird with a shrug of his shoulders. AS the cashier hurried away to his /"*. ARNES" eyes opened widely, telephone Carries turned to his V> "Why? — how? — who?" he stam- companiofi who had stood an inter- mered. "Have you any idea of who ested, although silent spectator of the did it, or how it was done?" , 'icene. His companion was a marked "Possibly I have an idea," replied contrast to the Secret service operator. Dr. Bird with a cryptic smile. "My He stood well over six feet in height, advice to you, Carnes, is to keep away t tai his protruding jaw- and shock of -from the local authorities as much as unruly black hair combined 'with his possible. I want to be present when massive shoulders and chest to give Winston and Trier are questioned and him the appearance of a man who I may possibly wish to ask a few ques- libored with his hands — until one tions myself. . Use your authority that looked at them. His hands were in far, but no farther. Don^t volunteer strange contrast to -the rest of him. any information and especially don't Long, slim, mobile hands they, were, let' my name get out. We'll drop the with tapering nervous fingers — the counterfeiting case we were summoned hands of a thinker or of a musician. > here ort for the present and look into Telltale splotches bf acid told of hours this a little on our own hook. I will spent in a laboratory, a tale that was want your aid, so don't get tied up confirmed by the almost imperceptible ^vvth the police." a) 'stoop of his shoulders. "At that; we don't want the police "Do you agree 'with my advice, Dr. grossing our trail at every turn," pro- Bird?" asked Carncs deferentially. tested Carnes. The noted scientist, who from his ''They won't," promised the doctor, laboratory in the Bureau bf Standards "They Will never get any evidence on had sent forth many new things in the this case, if I am right, and neither realms of chemistry and physics, and will We — for the present. Our stunt is who, incidentally, had been instrument to lie. low and wait for the taexf at- til in solving some of the most tempt of this nature and thus accumu- haffling mysteries which the secret late some evidence and some idea of amice had been called upon to face, where to look." ____ gnmted. "Will; there be another attempt?" "It didn't do any harm," he said, "but asked Carnes. It is rather a waste of time'. The thief "Surely. You don't expect a man wore gloves." who got away with a crime like' this "How in thunder do you know that ?" to quit operations just because a few demanded Carnes. flatfeet run around and make a hulla- , "It's merely common sense^A man baloo about it, do you? I may be who can do what he did had at least wrong in my Assumption, but if I am •sane rudiments -of intelligence, and right, the most important thing is fo *»en the feeblest-minded crooks know keep all reference to my name or poai- tnoogh to wear gloves nowadays." tion out of the press reports." 262 ASTOUNDING STORIES The cashier hastened up to them. "Detective-Captain Sturtevant will be here in a few minutes with a (pho- tographer and some other men/' he said. "Is there anything that we can do in the meantime, Mr. Carnes?" "I would suggest that Mr. Trier and bis guard and Mr. Winston go i your office," replied Carnes. "My: you come clean and spill it, the bettv it will be for you. Where did you hMi it?" "I didn't hide it I" cried the teller, his voice trembling "Mr. Trier cat tell you that I didn't touch it from the time I laid it down' until I turned back.^ \ "Thai's right," replied the payna*. sistant and I would like to be present sAaper. "lie turned his back on me for during' the questioning, if there are no a moment, and when he turned back, objections." * "I - didn't know that you had an assistant iwith you," answered the cashier/ Games indicated Dr. Bird. "This gentleman is Mr. Berger, my assistant," he said. "Do you under- stand ?" "Certainly. I am sure there will be ho objection to your presence, Mr. Carnes," replied the cashier as he led the way to his office. A FEW minutes later Detective- Captain Sturtevant of* the Chicago . police was announced. He acknowl- edged the. introductions gruffly ' and got down, rb business at once. , ' "What were the circumstances of the robbery?" he asked. Winston told his story, Trier and the guard -confirming it. "Pretty thin I" snorted the detective when they had 'finished. He whirled suddenly on Winston. "Where did you hide the loot?" he thundered. "Why — uh — er — what do you mean ?" gulped the teller. "Just what I said," replied the detec- tive. "Where did, you hide the loot," ^ "I didn't hide it anywhere," said the teller. "It was stolen." "You had better .thiijk up a better one," sneered Sturtevant. "If you think that you can make me believe ,that that money was stolen from you in broad daylight with two men in plain sight of you who didn't see it, you might just as well get over it. I know that you have some hiding place where you have slipped the stuff and the quicker it was gone. "So you're in on it ,too, are you?* said Sturtevant. "What do you mean?" demanded the paymaster hotly. "Oh nothing, nothing at all," replied the - detective. "Of course Winston didn't touch it and it disappeared tad you never saw it go, although jm were within three feet of it all tat time.. Did you see anything?" he de- manded of the guard. "Nothing that I am sure of," th- swered. the guard. "I thought that a shadow passed in front of me for ta instant, but when I looked again, it was gone." D R. BIRD sat forward suddenly. like?" he asked. "It wasn't exactly a shadow," aid the' guard. "It was as if a person hid passed suddenly before me sy quickly that I couldn't see him. I seemed tt feel that there was someone there, bat I didn't rightly see anything." "Did you notice anything of the. sort?" demanded the doctor of Trier. "J don't know","- replied Triei thoughtfully. "Now that Williams bM mentioned it, I did seem jo feel l breath of air or a morion as thoa|k something had passed in front of me. I didn't think Of it at the time" "Was this shadow opaque enough to even momentarily obscure your vi- sion?" went on ttfe doctor. "Not that I am conscious of. It wm just a breath of air such as a penal mighty cause by passing very rapidly. "What made you ask Trier if he kerf THE THIEF OF TIME 263 the money when you turned aTound?" aked the doctor of Winston. "Say-y-y." broke in the detective. •Who the devil are you, and what do you mean by breaking inta/my ex- amination and stopping it?" Carnes tossed a- leather wallet *on the table. "There are my credentials," he said in his quiet voice. "I am chief of one icction of the United States' Secret Service as you will see, and this is Mr. Berger, my assistant. We were in the bulk, engaged on a counterfeiting case, irhen the robbery took place. We have had a good deal of experience along these lines and we are merely anxious to aid you." Sturtevant examined Carnes' creden- tials carefully and returned them. This is a Chicago robbery," he said, "tod we have had a-Jittle experience in robberies and in apprehending robbers ourselves. I think that we can get along without your help." "You have had more experience with robberies that with apprehending rob- bers if the papers tell the truth," said Dr. Bird with a chuckle. THE detective's face^ Hushed. "That will be enough from you, Mr. Sherlock Holmes," he said. "If you open your mouth again, I'll arrest you as a material witness and as a pos- sible accomplice." -That sounds -like Chicago methods," Bid Carnes quietly. "Now listen to oe. Captain. My assistant and I are merely trying to assist you in this case. If ypu don't desire our assistance toll proceed along our own lines with- out interfering, but in the meantime remember that this is a' National Bank, and that -our questions will be an- swered. The United States is higher than even the Chicago police force, and I am here under orders to investigate • counterfeiting case. If I desire, I can seal the doors of this bank and al- low no one in or out until I have the evidence I desire/ Do you under-' stand r Sturtevant Sprang to his feet with an oath, but the sight of the gold badge which Carnes displayed stopped him. "Oh well," he said ungraciously. "I suppose, that no harm will ,come of letting .Winston answer your fool questions, but I'll warn you that I'll re- port to Washington that you are inter- fering with the course of justice and using your- authority to aid the get* away of a criminal;'' "That is your privilege," replied .Carnes quietly.' "Mr. Winston, will you answer Mr. Berger's question?." "Why, I asked him- because he was right close to the money, and I thought that he might have reached through the wicket and picked it up. Then, too — " He hesitated for a moment and Dr. Bird smiled encouragingly. "What else?" he asked. "Why, I can't exactly tell. It just seemed to me that I had heard the rustle that bills make when they are pulled across a counter. When I saw them gone, I thought that he might have taken, them. Then when I turned toward him, I seamed to hear tile rustle of bills behind me, .although I knew that I was alone in' the cage. Wherf I looked back the money was gone.'.' "Did you see or bear anything like a shadow or a person moving?'' "No — yes — I don't' know. Just as I turrfed around it seemed to me that the rear door to my cage had moved cand there may have been a shadow for an instant. I don't know. I' hadn't thought of it before." "How long after that did you ring the alarm gongs?" "Not over a second or two." "That's -all," said Dr.' Bird. "If your high and mightiness has no further questions to ask, perhaps you will let me ask a few," said Sturtevant. 4< /""MO ahead, ask all you wish,"- re- VJ plied Dr. Bird with a laugh. "I have all the information I desire here for the present. I may want to ask other questions -later, but just now I think we'll be going." 264 ASTOUNDING STORIES "If you find any strange finger-prints on Winston's, counter, I'll be glad to have them compared with our files," said Carries. "I am not bothering with finger- prints," snorted the detective. "This is an open, and shut case. There Would be 4ots of Winston's finger-prints there and no others. There isn't the slight- est doubt that this is an inside case and I have the men I want right here. Mr. Rogers, your bank is closed for today. Everyone in M will be searched and then all those not needed* to dose up will be sent away. I will get a squad of men here to go over your building and locate the hiding place. Your money is still on the premises unless these men slipped it to -a; con- federate who got out before the alarm was given. I'll question the guards about that. If that happened, a little sweating will get it out of them." "Are you going to arrest me?!' de- manded Trier in surprise. "Yes, dearie," answered the detec- tive. "I am going to arrest you and your two little playmates -if jthese Washington experts will allow me to. You will save 'a lot of time and quite a few paipfiil experiences if you will come clean now instead of later." "I demand to see my lawyer and to communicate with my firm," said the paymaster. "Time enough for that when I am through with you," replied the detec- tive. > He turned to Games. "Have I your gracious permission to arrest these three criminals?" he asked. ,f Ycs indeed. Captain," replied. Carnes sweetly. "Yqu have my gra- cious permission to make JuBt as big an ass of yourself as you wish. We're going now." U T"> Y the way. Captain," said Dr. J_J Bird as he followed Carnes out. "When you get through playing: with your prisoners and start to look for the thief, here is a tip. Look lot a left-handed man who has a thorotajl knowledge of chemistry and especially toxicology*.'. "It's easy enough to see that he wm left-handed if he pulled that money out through -the grill from the posi- tions occupied by Trier and his guard, but what the dickens led you to gas- ped that he is a «fiemist and a tod. cologist ?" asked Carnes as he and the doctor left the bank. "Merely a shrewd guess, my den Watson," replied the doctor with a chuckle. "I am likely to be wrong, bit there is a good chance that I am right I am judging solely from the method used." "Have you solved the method?" de- manded Carnes in amazement. "Whtt on earth was it? The more I hate thought about it, the more inclined I am to believe that Sturtevant is right and that it is an inside job. It teen to me impossible that a man could bin entered in broad daylight and lifted that money in front of three men tad within sight of a hundred more with- out some one getting a .glimpse of his. He must have taken the money out is a grip or a sack or something like that, yet the bank record shows that no one but Trier entered with a grip and no. one left with a package for ten minuttt before Trier entered." . "There may be something in what "you say, Carnes, but I am inclined tt have a different idea. I don't think it is the usual run of bank robbery, and I would rathsr not hazard a guess jott now. I am going 1 back to Washington to-night. Before I go v any further into the matter, I need some rather special- ized knowledge that I don't posMSl and I want to consurfwith Dr. Knolks. I'll be back in a week or so and dies we" can jook into that counterfeiting case after we get this disposed of." "What am I to do?" asked Carnes. "Sit around the lobby of your hotel, eat three meals a .day, and read the ta- pers. If you get bored, I 'would ret- -ornmend that you pay a visit to the Art Institute and admire the graceful Vtm THE THIEF OF TIME 265 which adorn the steps. Artistic con-v temptations may well improve -your culture." "All righC replied Carnes. "I'll as- tuffle a pensive air and moon at the lions, but I might do better if you told me what I. was looking for.", "You are looking for knowledge, my dear Carnes," said the doctor with a laugh. "Remember the saying of the uges: To the wise man, no knowledge* ii useless." -* A HUGE Martin bomber roared down to a landing ar* the May- wood airdrome, and a burly figure descended from- the rear cockpit and waved his hand jovially to the waiting Cames. The secret service man kittened over to greet his colleague. "Have you got *hat truck 1 wired you to have ready?" demanded the doctor. "Wai|ing at the entrance; but say, Tvi got some news for you." "It can wait. Get a detail of men and help us to unload this ship. Some of the cases are pretty heavy." . Carnes hurried off and returned with a gang of laborers, who took from the bomber a dozen heavy packing cases of various sizes,' several of them labelled either "Fragile" or "Inflam- mable" in large type. "Where do they go, Doctor?" he liked when the last of them had been loaded onto the waiting truck. , "To the First National Bank," re- plied Dr. Bird, "and Casey here goes with them. You know Casey, don't you, Carnes? He is the best photogra- pher in the Bureau." "Shall I go along too?" asked Cames as he acknowledged the intro- duction. "No need for it. I wired Rogers and he knows the stuff is coming and what to do with it. Unpack as" soon as you get there, Casey, 'and start setting up M toon as the bank closes." "All right, Doctor," replied Casey as he mounted the truck beside the •war. "Where do we go, Doctor?" asked Carnes as the truck rolled off. "To the Blackstone Hotel for a bath and some clean clothes," replied the .doctor. "And now, what is the news you have for me?" "The news is this, Doctor. I carried out' your instructions diligently and, during the daylight hours, the lions have not moved." DR. BIRD looked contrite. "I beg your pardon, Cames," he said. "I really didn't think when I left you so mystified how you must have felt. Believe me, I had my own reasons, excellent ones, for secrecy." "I have usually been able to main- tain silence when asked to," replied Carnes stiffly. "My dear fellow, I - didn't mean to question your discretion. I know that whatever I tell you is safe, but there are angles to this affair that are so wejrd and improbable that I don't dare to trust my own conclusions, let alone share them. I'll tell you all about it soon. Did you get those tickets I wired for?" • "Of course I got them, but what have two' tickets to the A. A. U. track' meet this afternoon got to do with a bank robbery ?" i."One trouble with you, Carnes," re- plied the doctor with a judical air, "is that you have no idea , of .the im- portance of proper relaxation. It it possible that .you have no desire to see Ladd, this new marvel who is" smashing records right arid left, run? He per- forms' for the Illinois Athletic Club this afternoon, and it would not sur- prise me to see him lower the world's record again. He has already lowered the record for the hundred yard dash from nine and three-fifths to eight and four-fifths. There is -no telling what he will do." "Are we going to waste the whole afternon just "to watch a man run?" demanded Carnes in disgust. "We will see, many men run. my dear fellow, but there is only one in whom ASTOUNDING STORIES I ""have a deep abiding' interest, and that is Mr. Ladd. Have you your binoculars, with you ?" ' "No." : f "Then by all means beg, borrow or steal two pairs before this afternoon. We might easily miss half the fun without them. Are' our seats near the starting line fAV the sprints?" "Yes. The big demand was for seats near the finish line." "The start will be much more inter- esting, Carnes. I was ^somewhat of a minor star in track myself in my col- lege days and it will be of the greatest interest to me to observe the starting form of this new speed artist. Now Carnes, don't ask any more questions. I may be barking up the wrong tree and I don't want to give yon a chance to laugh, at me. I'll {ell you what to watch for at the track." THE sprinters lined up on the hundred yard mark and Dr. Bird and Carnes sat with their glasses glued fo their eyes, watching the slim figure in the colors of the Illinois Athletic Club, whose large "62" on'his batik identified him as the new. star. "On your mark I" cried the starter. "Get set I" i "Ah!" cried Dr. Bird. "Did you see that, Carnes?" 'The starting gun cracked and the; runners were off on their short grind. Ladd leaped into the .lead and rapidly distanced the field, his legs' twinkling under him almost faster than the eye Could Tollo)v. He was fully twenty yards in the lead when his speed sud- denly lessened and the balance of the runners closed up the gap m had opened. His lead was" too great for them, and he was still a good ten yards in, the lead when he crossed the tape. The official time was posted as. eight and nine-tenths seconds. "Another: thirty yards and>he would have been beaten," said Carnes as: he lowered his; glasses. "That is the way he ha$ won all of bis races," replied the doctor. "Ha piles up a huge lead at first and thea loses a. good dqal at the finish. Hit speed doesn't hold up. Never mind that, though, it is only an addition^] point in my favor. Did you notice his jaws just before the gun went?" "They seemed to clench and then he swallowed, but most of them did some thing like that." "Watch him carefully for the next heat and see if he puts anything into his mouth. That is the important thing." / Dr. Bird sank into a brown study and paid no attention to the next few events, but he came to ^attention promptly when the final heat of the hundred yard dash was called. With his glasses he watched Ladd closely u t^e runner trotted up to the starting line. "There, Carnes I" he cried suddenly. "Did you see?" ' "I saw him wipe his mouth," uid i Carnes doubtfully. » 1 "All right, now. watch his jaws just, before the gun goes." THE final heat- was a duplicate of the first preliminary. Ladd took an early lead which he held for three- fourths of the distance to the tape, then his pace slackened and he finished only a bare- ten yards ahead of the next runner. The time tied his previous world's record of eight and four-Jifths seconds. "He crunched and swallowed all right, Doctor," said Carnes. ; "That is all I wanted to be sure of. Now Carnes, here is something for yoa to do. Get hold of the United States Commissioner and get a John Doe warrant and go back to the hotel with it and wait for me. I may phone yoa at any minute and I may not. If I don't, wait fn your room until you heav from me. Don't leave it'for a minute." "Where are you going, Doctor?" "I'm going down and congratulate Mr. Ladd. An old track man like ox can't let auch an opportunity pass." *"I don't know what this is all a boot THE THIEF OF TIME 207 Doctor," replied Carries, "but I know^ you well enough to obey orders and to keep my mouth shut until it is my turn to speak." Few men could resist Dr. Bird when he set out to make a favorable impres- ifonf-and even a world's champion is apt to be flattered by the attention of one of the greatest scientists of his day, especially when that scientist has nude an Unviable reputation as an ath- lete in his college days and can talk die jargon of the champion's particu- lar sport. Henry Ladd promptly capit- ulated to the charm of the doctor- and allowed himself to be led away to sup- per at Bird's club. The supper passed off pleasantly, and when the doctor re- quested an interview with the young athlete in a private room, he gladly consented. THey entered the room to- gether, remained for an hour and a hali, and then came out. The smile had left .Ladd's face and he appeared nervous and distracted. The doctor talked cheerfully with him but kept a firm grip on his arm as they descended the stairs together. They entered a -telephone booth where the dtfctor made several calls, and then descended to the itreet, where they entered a taxi. "Haywood airdrome," the doctor told the driver. TWO hoiits later the big Martin bomber which had carried the doctor to Chicago roared away into the sight, and Bird turned back, reentered fie taxi, and headed for the city aldrle. When Carnes received the telephone call, which was one of those the doc- tor made from the booth in his club, he hurried over to the First National Bank. His badge~ secured him an en- trance and he found Casey busily en- gaged in rigging up an elaborate piece of apparatus on one of the balconies •here guards were normally stationed earing banking hours. /"Dr. Bird said to tell you to keep on ny job all night if necessary," he told Casey. "He thinks he will need your BSKhine to-morrow." "I'll have it ready to turn on the power at four A- M.," replied Casey. Carnes watched' him curiously for a while as he soldered together the elec- trical connections and assembled an ap- paratus which looked like % motion pic- ture projector. ".What are you setting up ?" he asked at length. "It is a high speed motion picture camera," replied Casey, "with a tele- scopic lens. It is a piece of apparatus which Dr. Bird designed f»hile he was in Washington last week and which I made from his sketches, using some apparatus we had on hand. It's a dandy, all. right." . "What is special about it?" "The speed. You know how fast an ordinary movie is taken, don't you? No? Well, it's sixteen exposures per second. The slow pictures are taken sometimes at a hundred and twenty- eight or two hundred and fifty-six ex- posures per second, and then shown at sixteen. This affair will take half a million pictures per second." "I didn't know that a film would reg- ister with tha| short an exposure." "fT* HAT'S slow." replied Casey X wifW a laugh. "It all depends on the light. The best flash-light powder gives a flash about one ten-thousandth of a second in duration, but that is by no means the speed limit of the film* The only trouble is enough light and sufficient shutter speed. Pictures have been taken by means of spark photog- raphy with an exposure of less than one three-millionth of a second. The whole secret of this machine lies in the shutter.. This big disc with the slots in the edge is. set up before the lens and run at such a speed that half a million Blots per second pass before the lens. The film, which is sixteen millimeter X-ray film, travels behind the lens at a speed of nearly five-miles per second. It has to be gradually worked up to this speed, and after the whole thing is set up, it takes it nearly four hours to get to full speed." " 268 ASTOUNDING STORIES "At that speed, it must take a mil- lion miles of 'film before you get up ■team." "It would, if the film were being ex- posed. There is only about a hundred yards of film all told, which will run over these huge drums in an endless belt. There is a regular camera shut- ter working on an electric principle which remains closed. When the switch is tripped, the shutter opens in about two thirty-thousandths of a sec- ond, stays open just one**one-huhdredth of a second, and titan closes. This time is enough to expose nearly all of our film. When we have our picture, I shut the current down, start applying a magnetic brake, and let -it slow down. It takes over an hour to' stop it without breaking the film. It sounds compli- cated, but it works all right." ' "Where is your switch?" "/"IAHAT is tlie trick part of it. It J. is a remote control affair. The shutter opens and starts the machine taking . pictures when the back door of the paying teller's &ge is opened half an inch. There is also a hand switch in the line that can be opened so that you can open the door without setting off the camera, if you wish. When the hand switch is closed and the door opened, this is what happens. The shutter on the camera opens, the . machine takes five thousand pictures during the next hundredth of i a sec- ond, and th?n the shutter closes. Those five thousand exposures will take about five minutes to show at the usual rate of sixteen per second." "You said that you had to get plenty of light. How are you managing that?" "The camera, is equipped with a spe- cial lens ground out of rock crystal. This lens lets in ultra-violet light which the ordinary lens shuts out, and X-ray film is especially sensitive to ultra-violet light. Sin order to-be sure that we get enough illumination, I will set up these two ultra-violet floodlights to illumine, the cage. The teller will bare to wear glasses to protect his eyes' and he'll get well sunburned, but some, thing has to be sacrificed to science, as Dr. Bird is always telling me.' "It's too deep fot me," said Carnei with a sigh. "Can I do anything, to .help? The doctor told me to stand by and do anything I could." VI might be able to use you a little if yqu can use tools," said Casey win a grjn. J'You can start bolting together that light proof shield if you want 'to* "TX TELL, Camet, did you have an VV instructive night?" asked Dr.i Bird cheerfully as he entered the Pint National Bank at eight-thirty the neat »>orning. r "I don't see that I did much good, Doctor. Casey would have had the ma- chine ready on time anyway, and I'm no machinist." "Well, frankly, Carries, I didn't ex- pect you to be of much help to him, but I v did want you to see what Casey was doing, and a little of it was pretty heavy for (him to handle alone. I sap- pose that everything is reddy?" "The motor reached full speed about fifteen minutes ago and Casey went out to get a cup of coffee. Would yon mind telling me the object of the whole thing?" "Not at all. I plan to make a perma- nent record of the work of the most ingenious bank robber in the world. J hope he Jjeeps his word." "What do you mean?" "Three days ago when Sturtevant sweated a 'confession' out of poor Win- ston, the bank got a message that the robbery would be repeated this morn- ing and dared them to. prevent it. Rog- ers thought it was a hoax, but he tele- phoned me and I worked the Burem men night and day to get my earner* ready in time fbr kirn. I am afraid that I can't do much to prevent the robbery, but I may be able to take i picture of it and "thus prevent other cases of a like nature." "Was the Naming. written?" "No. It was telephoned from a pay station- in the loop district, and by the (fane it was i traced and men got theret the telephoher was probably a mile ■way. He said that he would rob the tame cage in the same manner as he did before."' "Aren't you taking any special pre- cautions?" "Oh, yes, the bank is putting on extra guards ajid making a lot of fuss of that sort, probably to the great amusement of the robber." "Why not close the cage for the Uayf Then he would rob a different one «nd we would have no way of photo- graphing his actions. To be sure, we will put dummy money there, bundles with bills on the outside and paper on the inside, so if - 1 don't get a picture of him, he won't get much. Svery bill in the cage will be marked as well." '. "Did he say at what time he would operate?" :/ T ~ "No, he didn't, so we'll have to stand by all day. Oh, hello, Casey, is every- thing all right ?" "As sweet as chocolate candy. Doc- tor. I have tested it out thoroughly, and unless we have to run it so long (hat the film wears out and breaks, we are sitting ptetty. If we don't get the pictures you are looking for,' I'm a dodo, and I haven't been called that yet." "Good work, Casey. Keep the bear- ings oiled and pray that the film doesn't break." THE bank had been opened only, ten minutes when the clangor of gongs announced a robbery. It was practically' a duplicate of the first. The paying teller had turned from his, win- dow to take some bills from his rack 'and had found several dozens of bun- dles missing. As the gongs sounded, Dr. Bird and Casey leaped to the cam- era. "She snapped, Doctor I" cried Casey as he threw two switches. "It'll take an hoar to stop and half a day to de- velop the film, but I ought to be able to show you what we got by to-night." THE THIEF OF TIME 269 f \ ''(Good enough I" cried Dr. Bird. "Co ahead while I try to calm down the bank officials. Will you have every- thing ready by eight o'clock?" "Easy, Doctor," replied Casey as he turned to the magnetic brake. By eight o'clock quite' a crowd had assembled in a private room at the Blackstone Hotel. Besides Dr. Bird and Carnea, Rogers and several other officials of the First National Bank were present, together with Detective- Captain Sturtevant and a group of the most prominent scientists and physi- cians gathered from the schools of the city. "Gentlemen," said Dr. Bird when all had taken seats facing a miniature moving picture screen on one wall, "to- night I expect to show you some pic- tures which will, I am sure, astonish you. It marks the advent of a new de- parture in transcendental medicine. I will be glad to answer any questions you may wisn to ask >nd to explain the pictures after they -are shown, but before we start a discussion, I will ask that you examine what I have to show you. Lights gut, please !" He stepped to the rear of the room as the lights went out. As his eyes grew used to the dimness of the room he moved forward and took a vacant seat. His hand fumbled in his pocket for a second. "Now I" he cried suddenly. In the momentary silence which fol- lowed his cry, two dull metallic clicks could be heard, and a quick cry that was suddenly strangled as Dr. Bird clamped his hand over the mouth of the man who sat ' between him and Carnes. "All right, Casey," called the doctor. THE whir of a projection machine could be heard and on the screen before them leaped a picture of the pay- ing teller's cage of the first National Bank. Winston's successor was stand- ing motionless at the wicket, his lips .parted in a smile, but the attention of all was riveted °n a figure who moved 270 ASTOUNDING STORIES at the back of the cage. As the picture started, the figure was bent over an opened suitcase, stuffing into it, bundles of bills. He straightened up arid reached to the rack for more bills, and as he did so he faced the camera, full for a moment. He picked up other bundles of bills, filled the suitcase, fas- tened it in a leisurely manner, opened the rear doo'r of the cage and walked out. "Again, please,!" called Dr. Bird. "And stop when he faces us full." ,^ The picture was repeated and stopped at the point indicated. "Lights, please I" cried thf doctor. The lights .flashed on and Dr. Bird rose to his feefj pulling up after him the wilted figure of a middle-aged man. "Gentlemen," said the doctor in ring- ing tones, "allow me to present to you Professor James Kirkwood of the fac- ulty of the Richton University, for- merly known as*"james Collier of the Bureau of Standards, and robber of the First National Bank." Detective-CaptairfSturtevant jumped to his feet and cast a searching glance at the captive. "He's,. the man all' right," he cried. "Hang onjfthim until I get a wafcon here I" " "Oh, shut up I" said Carnes. "He's under federal arrest just now, charged with the possession of narcotics. When we are through with him, you can have him if you want him." "How did you get that picture, Doc- tor?" cried the cashier. "I watched that cage every minute, during the morning and I'll swear that man never entered and stole that money as .the picture shows, unless he managed to make himself invisible." "XZOU'RE closer to the truth than X you suspect, Mr. Rogers," said Dr. Bird. "It is not quite a matter of invisibility, but something pnetty close to it. It is a matter of catalysts." "What kind of cats?" asked the cash- ier. 1 . "Not catB, Mr. Rogers, catalysts. Catalysts is the name of a chemical re- action consisting essentially of a de- composition and a new combination effected by means of a catalyst which acts on the compound, bodies in ques- tion, but which goes through the reac- tion itself unchanged. There are i great many of them which .are used in the arts and in manufacturing, and while their action is not always clearly understood, the results are well lpiown and can be banked on. "One* of the commonest instances of the use of A catalyst is the use of sponge platinum in the manufacture of sulphuric acid. I will not burden you with the details' of the 'contact' proc- ess, as it is known, but the combina- tion is effected by means of finely di- vided .platinum which is neither changed, consumed or wasted during the process. While there are a number of other catalysts known, for instance Iron in reactions in which metallic mag- nesium is concerned, the commonest ate the metals of the platinum group - . "Less is known of the action of cata- lysts in the organic reactions, but it has been the subject of intensive, study by Dr. Knolles of the Bureau of Stan- dards for several years. His studies of the effects of different colored lights, tha't is, raj(p of different wave-lengths, on the reactions which constitute growth in plants have had a great ef- fect on pothouse forcing of plants and promise to revolutionize the truck gar- dening industry. He has speeded up the rate of growth to as high as ten times the normal rate in 'Borne cases. "A few years ago, he and his assis- tant, James Collier., turned their atten- tion toward discovering a catalyst which would do for the metabolic re- actions in animal life what his light rays did. for plants. What his method 6 was, I will not disclose for Obvious reasons, but suffice it to say that he met with great success. He took a puppy and by 'treating it with his catalytic drugs, made it grow to maturity, pais through its entire normal life span, and die of old age in six months." THE THIEF OF TIME v 271 UfT^HAT is very interesting,* Doctor, X but I fail to ace what bearing it has on the robbery.'' "Mr. Rogers, how, on a 'dartt day and in the absence of a timepiece, would you judge the passage of time?" "Why, by my stomach, I guess." "Exactly. By your metabolic rate. You eat a meal, it digests, you expend the energy which you have, taken into your system, your stomach becomes empty and your system demands more energi. You are hungry and you judge that some five or six hours must hue passed since you last ate. Do you^fol- low?" ^ "Certainly." "Let us suppose that by means of tome tonic, some catalytic drug, your rate of metabolism and also your rate of- expenditure of energy has been in- creased six fold. 'You would eat a meal and in one hour you would be hungry again. Having no timepiece, and as- suming that you were in a light-proof room, you would judge that some five hours had passed, would you not?" "I expect so." "Very well. Now suppose that this accelerated rate of digestion and ex- penditure of energy continued. You would be sleepy in perhaps three hours, would sleep about an hour and a quar- ter, and would then wake, ready for your breakfast. In other words, you would have lived through a day in four hours." "What advantage would there be in that?" "None, from your standpoint. It would, however, increase the rate of reproduction gf cattle greatly and might be a great boom to agriculture, but we will not discuss this phase now. Suppose it -were possible- to increase your rate or metabolism and expendi- ture of energy, in other words, your rate of living, not six times, but thirty thousand fimes. In such a case you would live five minutes in one one- hundredth of a second." "Naturally, and you would live a year in about seventeen and one-half minutes, and a normal lifespan of sev- enty years in about twenty hours. You would be as badly off as any common may-fly." M A CREED, but suppose that you XA. jcould so regulate the dose of your catalyst that its effect would last for only one one-hundredth of a sec- ond. During that short period of time, you would be able to do the work that would ordinarily take you five minutes. In othej- words, you could enter a bank, pack a satchel with currency and walk out. You would be working in a lei- surely manner, yet your actions would have been so quick that no human eye could have detected them. This is my theory of what actually took place. For verification, I will turn tp Dr. Kirkwood, as he prefers to be known now." "I don't know how you got that pic- ture, but what you have said is about right," replied the prisoner. "I got that picture by using a speed of thirty thousand times the normal sixteen exposures per second," replied Dr. Bird. "That^figure I got from Dr. Knolles, the man who perfected the, secret you stole when you left the Bu- reau three years ago. You secured only part of it and I suppose it took all your time since to perfect and complete it. You gave yourself away when you ex- perimented on young Ladd. I was* a track man myself , in my college days and when I saw an account of his run-, ning, I smelt a. rat, so I came back and watched him. As soon as I saw him crush and swallow a capsule just as the gun was fired, I was suie, and gbt hold of him. He was pretty stubborn, but he finally told me what name you were running under now, and the rest 'was easy. *T^vould have got you ,in time anywayL but your bravado in telling us when yiu would next operate gave me the ideal of letting you do it and photo- graphing you at work. That is all I have to say. ^Captain Sturtevant, you can take your prisoner whenever you want him." 272 ASTOUNDING STORIES MX RECKONED without you, Dr. service, did you? Remember, your old A Bird, but the end hasn't come yet. Bureau records showed you to be am. You may send me up for a few years, bidexterous.™ but you'll never find that money. I'm "Whaf about Winston's confession?* sure of .that." asked Rogers suddenly. "Tut, tut, Professor," laughed , "Detective-Captain Sturtevant can .Carnes. "Your safety deposit box in explain that to a court when Mr. Win- e Commercial National is already ston brings suit against him for false led until a court orders' it opened, arrest and brutal treatment," replied;, bills you took this morning Were Carnes. all nurked, so that is merely additional "A very interesting case, Carnes," re- proorS4| we needed it. You surely marked the doctor a few hours later, didn't tfrrajt^that such a transparent "It was an enjoyable interlude in the device as changing yoUr name from routine of most of the cases on which 'James Collier' to 'John Collyer' and you consult me, but our play time ii signing with your left hand instead over. We'll have Jo get after that of your right would fool the secret counterfeiting case to-morrow." IN THE NEXT ISSUE — 7 BRIGANDS OF THE MOON Beginning an Amazing Four-part Interplanetary Novel By RAY CUMMINGS THE SOUL MASTER A Thrilling Novelette of the Substitution of Personality By WILI, SMIT H jwfl R. J. 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Because big business refuses to burden itself with men who are bund from promotion by the lack of elementary education. Cut You Qualify for i Better Position We hare a plan whereby you can. We can give you a com* piste but simplified high school course In two years, giving you all the essentials that form the foundation of practical business. It will prepare you to hold your own where competition is keen and exacting. Do not doubt your abili- ty, but make up your mind to ft and you will toon have the requirements that will bring you success and big money; YOU CAN DO IT. Let us show you how to get on the road to success. It will not cost you a Single working hour. Write today, fx costs you nothing but a stamp. American School Dept. n.237 1 Drcx el Ave, and 58th St., Chicago Depi. 11-237 Dm si At. Sand me full reformation on yon will help me win success. ....Architect ....Building Contractor ....Automobile Engineer .... Automobile Repairman ... .Crvfl Engineer ....Structural Engineer ....Business Manager ... .Cert. Public Accountant ... .Accountant and Auditor ....Bookkeeper .... Draftsman and Designer ....Electrical Engineer .... Electric Light & Power . . . .General Education ....Vocational Guidance School and Sflth St., Chicago the subject checked and how ....Business Law ....Lawyer .... Machine Shop Practice. . . . .Mechanical Engineer . . . .Shop Superintendent ....Employment Maaeger . ., .Steam Engineer ....Foremanship Sanitary Engineer . . . .Surveyor (& Mapping) . . . .Telephone Engineer . . . .Telegraph Engineer ....High School Qi ....Wireless Radii ....Undecided raduate 1 EXTRA 1 STRONG IMPROVED MODEL COPPER free _ .sias! _ . malty toseWo floatonUn oo ulm of I »hlrti far M. « PaiWs ^ pwM . 19 veJo*. rsvutard fut crteni. ItoarperuoeDOMtM. CompWt* wlUas eaaJpakSkt VtMB Botnmum mi co. »-ioo. a ggrt a. t ^ ^ DEAFNESS IS MISERY Mulinodn of pvmniwiih drfccnn bansf •nd Hfid Noiir* tn/of too'truliss, go so Theatre ™d Church betas* sbtfy I V" H fewmble Ti»t Mciaphorxi biting in she Ear entirety out ol lift hi. No wit*i. batterir* or heid puce* Their ar« incipcniivc. Wrise (or bookies and ltrern mtcntrnl ol 1 he inventor »bo *il himtel f dct I. _ s. 0. LPfMW. fcss. Setts H3. T» Sta In, sww rsrtf W54 Ww* %fHihs \ ^JPv&S Wer udddI j all coteiUJnmrtrt nctdi for dramatic club*, \wlr V^' rehoolt. etc., and for V^^**^ every occasion. \^ T. S. mnum^ Co. . SIS a. »s*—fc. Cwt. 1 10 DontStoploDdcco Withont precautions againat injurious jff«*J> Eaco-Caro given the necessary oasuitanoa ■ «*•■»■ bacco while you take it Eu aided hundreds. Qss- plcto $6.00 treatment guaranteed to get rtattlttw money refunded. Write for booklet, ' Eureka Chemical Co., B-26 Columbus, «*> IMtasc mention Newsstand Gkol'p— Mln's List, when answering advertisements gew, practical, amazing. Home Study Course pre- i you quickly to fill .my of (he fascinating Avjalion ft _ skilled flyer, pay in to $100 a week. I tram you to succeed quietly, t eitber on the -ground # XUV » i 11.1111 j uu iu aubwhu nun»Hi » w k of , the thousands of air and ground jobs now i, and I help you find your right place in Aviation. r*n Help Yon Get Tour Job b«?aadr lu Junr tt/tnt inatruittona at (really raducad nIH »t any airport ■ - yi>ur :. ■ - . or n«bl bar* In Dtytua, Or 7--tba fuLul jrruwtnr ."rto.lry U mJUm ral You nak r*nhlr.av^lf «uffi3£^&: u si'si! &, ° !!S5, " " MAJOR R. I~ ROCKWELL The Day ton School o| Aviation Daytaa, Ofcte 1 Sbptted le ^Arrangement Ptafira f*U naturally iato playing posit ton. Mates it extremely eaiy to play rabidly co the Boescfaer r Trno-Torm Sauopbone is __ _ 1 wind loitruiaanu to play and ■ it beautiful. Yoa can learn the and in a few weeks bo play First 8 lessons fre*, wi™ For bo me en t ortainmen t ->ooJ or for Onbmtrm Dam Ml* the Ideal InatroaMnt. e allow 6 days* free trial i n ply while you play.WriU^SuopboM Catalog. r co. ELKHART. INDIANA ■ CM WANTED FOR RAILROADS fore— to train for firemen, Brakemcn: : . I.j , monthly. l*romot«l u Conductor or wages on railroads. Also clerks. ItaUway association. Dept. D -30, nroobtjn, New MONEYiW POULTRYh. Sj* "at a real Job— at real par or If > EL* ** rt Prontablo btM,ncM of jour own- HSt..' "^'w*! Poultrymao it's LntwesUn ■J»«nu, profitable. Oiir f am out hom*> Ktusiyl I Scientist alter sevei ered a new. safe wi . „ 2 1 and to norma] bral:h anil -act caaea. Thu new hygiene is 1 called • notable achievement i I prominence. The iratitution In Steti- has now na<-hed larro proportions. •*Voraa and nm hunduibu of letters i •-very day. and In many c»«m reported jMavj beco.littlf short of amlutng. In ca , men bare reported — ntm ln-stt di . at thoicou i as Is the rntnons*) to thl . t, natural relaxation. involv ric rays whatever. The wicntlM i why tnany mm are ■ i at forty li Si-pace, Illustrated form. Send liquid know the true On- an Inc. of obllration is incurred. Bat- act I exaavteted. Simply nil In your name below," tear off and mail. THE ELECTRp THERMAL COMPANY 1K26 Morris Ays— j Steuhentllle. Ohio If you live West of the Rockies, address Tbe Electro Thermal Co.. 303 Van Xuys Building. Dept. 48-C; Los Angeles, Calif. In Canada, address The Electro Ther- ma) Co., Desk 4$-C M Yunge St., Toronto Can. TH£ ELECTRO THE BM A L CO.. 4*» sjomi Ave., StciiBenvllle. Ohio. Name ■■ — ■ — , ,— Address , , tteinsysm G«our- SowTo Secure A overnmentPositiofl Ulift l g..i .1 aHsMlS at.ILM 1. 1 ^fTu Karri — * " Why worry about strikes, layoffs, bard Ureas? Oct a Government Jobl ' In- creased salaries, steady work, travel, good pay. Examinations coming. I'll help you hecomo a Cu-tom House Clerk, Hadway I'ostal Clerk. I'ost omco Clerk. City Mail Carrier, Uural fcPfmer— or set Into any other Government Job you want. I was a Sccretary-Kiaiiiuicr of Civil Service Commission for 8 years. llaro helped tboi- NOW My 32-paro book tells open— and bow 1 can hell ... Write TODAY. AKTIICK It. PAT- TKIISON, civil Swu.-i- Kxpert. l'AT- TKKPON SCIIOOU 1"=2 Wiincr BuUd- lng. Jtochester. ICY. i how to Er V' POIIIIO* ..I.;.- |(| $1 54 Photos ( jaArktal photo irurai>t**d. SEND NO MONEY SK^jfifcMBt a «*«k joowlll MSStn T one brftutlful UFa-lika «l«t«iMBt alt* in '20 in. ftlfr-i. I'*r (K*tm»n SSc pin* p»W or ■•nd Si. 00 w;fh n :«; ^ j^'nt'wVTii StfS'At cixl Kii»sahueam$l5adny 1 _ taking orders from your friends «fi uaghbora for our" fine tailoring. Onto* ante easy when you show our I gadl taniple* and smart Btyles. Wm / MnrTac How — you don t need to I |pn»«gythinfl about tailoring -aim ply 1 agfeai o ur dlreOiQaJ — we ma ke ft cajy. I IB SUIT OFFER , lew «fc> to your friend* end get ■ \ keed to your order auit. In any style, \ J ran. In addl Una to y our cab prof) La. 1 W Hot, Mb New, style oooven- ' ff, e* aenaea lent carrying outfit, OVTTfT large all-wool eam- ■nnoto n^ nr MMry to start *t oace — MORE PAY PAY ^ fg!^ QUAKER FREE OUTFIT Earn big money righs from the ■tart. Let Quaker help you. Won* derful fr ee S ample outfit mtm ordera everywhere. Hen'iShTrta, Ties, Underwear. Hosiery. Un- matchabks valuea. Unique aatitrur f oaturaa. Ironclad sruarentev. You can't fall with Quaker. Writs for your Free outfit NOW. SHIRT CORPORATION FRENCH LOVE DROPS An enchanting exotic perfume of lrre- ifcAlble charm. clinging for tours like I m en loath to pan. Just a . few dropa ar* enough. Pull size bottle 08a prepaid or 11.39 C. O. D. plui pottage. Direction* with wary order. HIKE: 1 full alae botUe IT rou order 3 rlala. D'ORO CO. Boa 90, .Varich Station. New York Dent NSC 2 JOKE TO BE DEAF -mw our pdhon knows that oo I raatn day ead aajhL Tory atop I haul Dowai and rtoatai ears. They I era perlestlr eonJonaole. Hoooe ■ earn these. WrtteDseandlwllltFli roa atroa atoryjHnr Igot deaf and tew 1 make you near. Address SO. P>. WAV. Artificial Car Or» Ce. (tea)) „ I Heffwaa Bid a , De troit. Mica. -to A Detective Secret Investigations Etta Big Money. Work home or travel. ™™ring work. Experience unnecessary. KlECTTIE Particulars FREE, Write NOW to «U WISHER, 21 90 Broadway. New Y ork TOBACCO Sf? "T** 3 aa " B oupwra nemeuy to help atop Pip*. Chewing or Smut Writsvfor full tre a t m e nt bd dope or habit forming drum. Coats pm if if not SUPERBA CO. . *-tl. Bartrrwa. Md. Strong with O Ihfise luipro v ea Why pay an extnnnnt price for strength— here's an opportunity to nt all the oiuipuusu you require along with an cirrtlent rourne of instructions Tor only 13.00. Beallis yoor ambition and develop muscles of a Ruper-man. Get strong and anuue your friend*. Wo ■how yoo bow to easily muter feats which dow item difficult — or U you Kl want physical culture for your kllb'i sake, tbl* equipment la Just what you need. With this apeelat offer you aaro at least I20.no. We furnish a ten table- chan erpaoder which is ed- ible to flro realnanoa up to 200 It b made of new lire extra strength. Rnrlnar rubber to aa to assure long wear and gire the remittance you need far real muscle development. Too alao ret a pair of patented hand tries for drrrloplng. powerful grip and fore- arm*. We Include wall eirrclalng parts which permit you to develop your bark. jjjy" j** 1 tSi Mw^jpa^Sf etEiy«. t». Brit TUi win mfrm ten rp— < I aad «nJw<« bat BMbi'tdMrant. UadditbawwhaaMa • nckllr aihui mtm which luwtabai pie- barwj nan itmii— ■hovnar m bum is way part of rmr body «ha» yoo win qukklr 0*4 an aflta tfcaaa eawaa^ pad gala WMST*at- awl tJ'i»fc<» tnmr Miatr eea. Art bow wblka F dm c ww b«Ibw aad nil it Lb m. Wa wjll Md row lam rabU cwwal ]«t*I«p«t. Oia w%Jl pvta. a pair of band arlpa. not Btr BV ud |ba raaru trr MV1 W^T P«j CRU6ADCR APPARATUS CO,. Deet. 2002. 41 Parker- Am.. Hasleweed, M. S: , I accept *your oOit. rtcnif mr e*pryihlnf described In your' | adrertuemail by return mall. I will par ponman 15.00 plus ■ portage on arrival. It j* tinrtmtood If I am not entirely | ■aHifled after examination I can return the goods and you ■ will refund my unxiey. | Noli:— No C 0. D. Order* to Fonlgn Ceunnif* er Qanadm. ■ | City. _ Stale. _ | Please mcnlipn NewsstanTj Gbditp— Men's List, when answering advertisements Win $3.50022 PtIki from 11800.00 lo 14249.00 each htm bnn woo throuib our unlaw ■drtrtiilac plxn. Id our hit, AO old man of CB. out or watt, man o'cT lJOOO.00. A boy. only IS. «an 1900.00. la oert 3 or < rnonihi ibouuoJi of dollars will be awarded ta fortunate pertoni who lulto our pulxUj and win oui prliej. FIND THE TWIN FLYERS W»Uh out 1 Thc»o iwelrr plctaii-i or • faraaiii woman flyer all loot ilLke — nUT — two, and only two. ate riacll/ alike. Ftad than t*(n flyer*!' Boina Dictum an different In the collar, helmet, aoEsSei, or ill. HeuciLbef. only tao of tbo twe Ire'are nartly alike. Kind them, or.J tend i Lie number i of tbo iwln fljcri on a po*i rard or letter t poil rard or Idler today. If correct, your anitrer vlll'qualiry rou fa •71M.UO DiraiUS OIVEN THIS TIMX for ihii opportunity chooaea liSTS.OO In «»h or a new Waco airplane, a big automobile, or a new home. A inrcroui prlie Uill ANYONE V>T10 ANSWERS TH IS P UZZLE CORI1KCTLY MAY IIECEIVE PRIZES OB CAafJ. ADDITIONAL FOA FBOMfTNXSIt *W TI* D romp st It p:yi. >'lnd the ml t»ln firm, and I will aend Certificate which will be good nd win flm prlia. Imarlne, ■ lint prlae or fUOLOQI Kny rpme. wtmi. tm. or Bid In Its* O. 6. A.vfvm at all. «m«0* r— Ii1ira« ot w wtmy. » of tat ptKyla vho fra» cp tM» pf»ar ms* gvJaw ta wfa iHhi i wgariar. S^SS^ J. D. aMYDOr. Dept. 14, UW.-taaktr f-r ffllS.nn If you arr rfnninl — • MOHI PU'OLtS TO SOLVE i, UllooU. aaJTorur maj QGami Clat ,' □PaMka Cfeil (lliaMni)DCBtNalnN*0 || aaijUdcra (UTatijiiKciimiiMJbnMrt 'Please mention Newsstand Group — Men's List, when answering advertisements Hare'a an oppor- tunity far «?*tt- odi to develop bis muKlH and obtain nut strength by □sins ihi n h«*ry ■ icosloned rnoancserTE exeh- CISER, adjustable from 20 to 200 lbs. resistance. Complete Instructions with each exerciser. Get rid or those aches ud pains, IndJresrlon. constipation, headaches, rta. Build up your [ ' and look Uko a Ml lie-man. I STOP WORRYING I about Money i: £^ffirSii^ r ii5:.^, fv UMi NOW. HOW SHARP IS YOUR RAZOR? Dtf job have trouble (hiving this morning? If your mm Hade smncd and pulled you will appreciate this re nw t riaw new discovery'. . . . Gold Nugget Strop Drew « . , on be used gBtiifacionlst on all itropping de* visit , . . put* kxen ait ting edge on any razor, blade. . . . ily . . . ruulu assured. Makes you feel like you above. Sr postpaid. NO'HONE COMPANY Ornihi, Nebraska 1114 CaiafornU St. Omilu, Nebrai t PATENTS flan mm& In applying for patent*. Don't flak delay In a— rm yew lanes. Band sketch or model for instruc- ■11 au for FREE book, "Oow to Obtain a Patent" sjj| laoard of Invention" form. No char re for lnfoma- tkss m bow to proceed. Qomnraoiesilonj rtrlotly connden*> fat Pnwit, careful, esTacJeni aorrlm. Cltmm A. OWai. Heglst£n-d Paieot Attorney. 1§78, Security Bat- . ■at aad Comm'l Bank Hulldlns (directly across street I a— nun Otto) Washington, D. a | STOP Tobacco ■* tan bsliw eta escape the ruumfol effects of tebaoea aan fey ■> quit without ™ -._>_„ S bat IJ.0O. Cray —z" — w ~] refunded If poa do tut ret desired result*. SW J kt a BtrssJan preparation, oarrfttlly .ootDpormde*' to over- fai *** oandlQco. that willi tube qui tear of tobacco pteuuC. Ha vsy- It ■ssaw wltli a money beck guarantee, laH-Tobacco League .ag^aa G WRITERS/ SUBSTANTIAL ADVANCE ROYALTIES •re paid on work found acceptable for publica- tion. Anyone wishing to write either the words or ' for tonn may submit work for free ex- s - — at ion and advice. Pan experience unnecriury. New demand created by "Talking Pictures" raDy described in our free book. Write for It May. NEWCOMER ASSOCIATES 723 Earle Building, New York CARDS^ Urns a New, Easy VI ay to Make YES— here's a wonderful opportunity te start rigbt in making $15 in a day. You can have plenty of money to pay your bills, to spend for new clothes, furniture, radio, pleasure trips, or whatever you want. No more pinching pennies or counting the nickels and dimes. No more raying "We can't afford it." .That's the biggest mistake any man or woman ever made, Aad I'll prove It, Van Allen Makes $100 a Week Just lend me your name and address and I'll aire' yon some facta tnat will open your eye*. I'll sbow you how U c. Van Alien, of Illinois, quit a lU't-week lob. took bold of my proposition, and madotbrtter ibu 1100 a week) Then I here's Ouster Karoaib. of lllDDchCTm. who cleared 120.35 the first Ave been, and Mrs. B. L. Hodges, lot New York, who aays sbe dot or falls io make a profit of 118 to 120 a day. I ban letters from men. and women every- where tbat tell about profits of lid, lis, 120 ud as high as US and 130 In a ilnajs eu. Start Bight In Ton don't need any experience or capital to make bit none* nay way. ho coarse of training la necessary. You simply' act as my rtcpresenuilre In your locality and look after my hnilnnag there. AH you hare to do Is ceil on your friends and my estab- lldied customers and take care of their coders for my fast aelllnj llnc of Orocerln, Toller Anirlm and other Household Nereealilei. I bare t housands of oostomers In erary section of every State. They must order from you because I never sell through mores. " 5 car my DepreaenutlTos made nearly two ■ II lioe> r dollars. When, _ set the coupon from you I send lull details by return maTl> ou can qulehky be making money fust like I said. FREE! N«w Ford NOT a contest. I offer a brand-new car free to produrm as an ertra re- ward or bonus— In addi- tion to their larn cash profits. Mail coupon for particulars^ return mall> I will also supply you srilh Oroterlce and other Household NtoaulUoi at low- est, wholesale prices. SEND NO MONEY ir you want ready cash — a chance to make 113 or more a day startles; at once — and Groorrlai at whole- sale— hut aend me your name and address on the coupon. It coats you nothing to Investigate. Keep your present fob and start In spare lima It you want to. Oscar Stuart, of W. Vlrslnls. reports Jig profit In 2f& hours' spare time. Bo you rce there's everythlna to aaln. Sim- ply mail the, coupon. I will give full detail* of my plan without co-t or oblleailon to you. I'll rive you the -big opportunity you've been waltlnr for. So don't lose a moment. UaU the coupon NOW. IEEE I ALBERT HILLS, pres.. Aaiorleaii Prodocta Cfc. % ■ 5441 Honwouth Ave., Clnelnnatl. Ohio. » | Head me. without cost or obllnMon. all the fad* about yonr I I new proposition that offers a wonderful opportunity to make I quick profits of US or more a day and Groceries ai wholoale. | ' | Name I I I | © A. P. Ca tIMnt or Write Plainly * J Pleate mention Newsstand Group— Men's List, when answering advertisements What's Wrong Wit h This Pictn ttj 8m II Too Can Find the Mistakes ■"" " ~~ ^— — In TMa Picture We atO spend over 1167.000.00 Oils year for the porpaf e of ccftdurlliui free prl» ofTrri to ad»ertl»e and expand our builneii. ThDuundi of rerun are- lolni to receive valuable prtui or nib award* and eompcnu- llom Ihla yfir ifrrotih our offera. Ttm >ky li ibe tlmitl Anjcn* living lo Iha United Slaui outalde of Chlnfo. eicepl employee! of thli company, memben of their famlllei. or our previous aula or flrrt prli* wlnnera. or nufflb«n Vo" X / •ilCoupon. t /. - s ^ - / CARLTON M I LLS"!«> V V° /' 114 FIFTH AVE. NEW YORK. (':'. A JAZZ MUSIC MASTER LearnHow to BOX $2.98 s>mK%'Ks, ta *aur*!iss TraMr. DM quia ifcat u-do»J Uigur and *n«*i *MdMn>«i •TarrUU** to mIvdUOc t»xln*/ from im i ill ii mi«M u> nn* rawaUbls Twanir vaats mala* rm a naiikad. naPoeast nlstdboiu Mm, trad, of IW- [•■I t !■»* man an taafcina; La Iba rial UaUr . Qanlata i— I aa>l h> tu nalliaa Hand B M or " * > — irr*-F ■ — * ©.BP. plui anaa! aaataa-a- Jlmany DeForaet Bomlna; Com* a e Htm Tart cay Radium Is Restoriq Health to Thousiilt No mrdlclnr. droffi or dlctlnff. Jost a Uiat, comfortable Inempenslvr Radlo-AclWe Pad. von back by dar and over the itomaeh at night trial. You can be iurc It U helping boy IL Over 160.000 sold on this plan, written na that It hrak-d them of Nearills, L High Blood PrcMure. Comtlpatlon. Nervous U— ™ Heart. Luitfta, LIvlt, Kidney and Bladder trtaaaa, t No matter what you have tried, -or what roar onlh may be, try Degnen's Radio-Actlve Solar Pal « ar rink. Write today for Trial offer and dfeeriptlra Sa> ture. Radium Appliance Co., 2833 Bradbury p*llf.|i Angclca. Cal. • T*ll» bow up-AaanbS otlian obey Loair ManB babiLi. how to iha thai m, art on Eht at»n. «cc llatpral tman, ninrutltan. uhinia, daaanaaaa aiplt. mtf. Loan at tuwia. OrUj ILU. a# "llynootia Kyo." • new m 'ftn ■■itran ■ V aiamiM or M. (», Jor v*r *l 0. I> . i>lua ina4fai L ttan U*d. Hiicalw Pr«i. n Put n M| New Tat p«Tn HYPNOTIZE Uaauuo llealuif, AVIATION 17 "O ¥7 F Inlornialiun JT J\ Ju I- SmO at year aaaia aaf aaaran far fall laff Avtallon and Alrataia aatlaeam, Flad cat oaaorlanltlH aow aata and bow we prapar* yaa •ava tlaia. to auallfy. Our now book r mitmtmmm Imlmmtry ej M h.) few , AMERICAN aXHOOL OF AVI ATI (H P«°>- ■ , 3601 Mlehlosn Avo. Chnrmlae; — Captlwatlaia — lereeli DE8IR D', Tals aotLo parfumo foot att waa* jt jj bamrt llho L'upld's airowt. Ua ownfj mVuio aroma thrllla and diUshtt yaaaaa oid. Triple atranrb f»0 aba rtal prspaid or 11.31 C. O. D. pfea on an a* DlrooUana fraa. Oaa lattfe If you order three vials. lUOHpi Bos II. V trick Bis,, hew TosX Dept. NHO-2. Please mention Newsstand Group — Men's List, when answering advertisements yntqoodPayinq Business We start you in the shoe and hosiery business. Inexperienced workers earn Big Money yearly. Direct-to-VVearer plan. Just show Tinners Famous Line of Footwear. We tell how ami where lo rill. lVifeU It through Patented System. Collect your Hy dally We furnish JtO.OO Sample Out- fit of RCtual shoes ami hosiery SC styles Send* for free book "Gelline Ahead" fall Mrticul.irs. No obligation _ TANNEKS SHOE CO. ' eos C Street, Boston, Mass. l'lay the Hawaiian Guitar like tne Hawaiiaiis/ . opvd In playing this faaelnatlriaj Inatro* 0« uUt« Hawaiian inatrurtoru teach 'you lo ttfwqakkJr. PkcUirra ahow how. tttri j«k*»jBaaTMoer ' I«T iMitat iHjajM tka to** Kim If laudon't !•«• a\WAHAH OUITAh, C err; attWAHAI I VMtT HAWAIIAN CONSI I SB Haw, wa o*»a H h BM«. Pift I — , M— rvl- af— ow Wat Id BM*. PHt. 3« SECLIFF.SHIRTSI ///V/X< SAac/i/f/iomy IhwIh («•■'■ Shirts 1ms, Unmrwasr brings yoa Mfl csah ._ _._ ._ On* Y«sr Guarmnbao. Monbatituttou. Frso silk Initials, afdnaehulvs Rassellff features m- Mash leadership. Writs for your FRO Outfit N0W1 " uimirr tun mi) 1»7 Iraadway, N. V. rouK OWN ■HIRTS and TIES Oui/iQr GOV'T, POSITIONS 35 TO 75 WEEKLY ) Mr. Hit) Hot* P. 0. Laborer ' )E.r D. Carrier ) Bpaelal Aaenl ( limit liat or) iciiy Mill run «t Meal ln«r* t*. B. Tinnier Patrol I ) Chauffeur -Carrier I > Witrhtaan 1 ) HMiini Laborer . ) Po* I milter I ( > Tjpln ■VM "1," hluln u£ erNT rmia. iftFREE! ;Jp Body Chart you will mail the coupon below, this Anatomical and Physiological Chart will be mailed Lo you wiihout one cent of ex* pen sc. It shows the local ion of the Or- gans. Bones of the Body, Muscle* of the Body, Head and Vertebra Column and tells you how the nerves radiate from your spinal cord to all organs of the body. This chart abuuid be in every home. Where Is That PAIN? J It mar be In tba mack, back. Llpa. itnmartj. Uvar. lags or arm*. Wherever It la, lb* chart JvlH halp to ahow v " lof ronr allrnaat. Ifeflp T ■Hunan ■people bad |©7*ei r butane*, tfcla chart will nntfomi oppaodUt palna, might bars boon eared If a tba location and ebaractav ' ra c e r e ad pro) Stop fh&rMm By RtUmoing iht Com with Violet Ray — Vibration Ozone - Medical Electricity Thm Fomr Gnat—I Carmtism Pawn CeuwreCssT *y 7* to Great New Invention! Eleo HeaJUi Generators st lass ■astir for youl II you tut i lieaJUi— greater power Xo «b- Uie p lew urn been prepsrHl. It wlU 6s s T tou wltfioul ease H Mil : ov EIoo HesJUi Osnsrsun ■ Bontluaauwi o. .... Hcra'i Whtl Bco Umii S17— St? n Ek'L-Irit. Hv.Ulli fUctrt* liiM In kaM m tuir o«a n-ilt* po»tr ** laiUil (0 wli aw raaii ■Baa llauib U«ui>i^l ui D*>J(ir*lr I*' oalr ImipmbmU vKlib tu f It* jou ia om c.lfii |-J^*iL-li r . Vi lit K« J — • Vihrallaa ««d fjimir— lb* fu-.r irni«i (uniiri Kail, SuJ lb* toupoa talo*. 0«l Uf rrvaltouk NOWI MAIL COUPON for FREE BOOK Do ruiS put this paper down without WDdlnjr tliocviipoD. 0°a'l hood as you are with pales and w!.u aim cm no life and energy. You owe LUj i',:mU Is Ut a bMlar run or »)nni Tou »•»• put n (a tit. of oat. lu*t la drw Ihieujk ll- Bo do not r»t uixl.ir tlir uin rem r»ur r<»M on Iba »Hiii 1 ho ■baU iloj of U*n mU ■*« lar.nMUtnt. Ua ll lod»»— now. Unditrom A Co. fJ^X 1 2112 la^isas Av«a«S Dest. IB -S3 rira 1 * sr ;id me your free book, "Health— Power— Beauty" and lull iojoroaUop of youn^o-da? I roe Trial Oiler. Please mention Newsstand Group— Men's List, when answering advertisements Wtfo Wants an Auto FREE? STUD E BARER— BUICK— NASH! To ur c hoUtf OR 92000.00 CASH Tfaoffanda of doOara La new anion tad and Erfan will paBtiwlr fa* cm free to MdrvtiM and make new frkada far ray fcm. Qma of ^hnWhahw or Buick far Nath new Vdoor aBdan deUvcnd fate, or O0D00D caafa. Abo Olds- ™»*mu Pootiac. Chavrolet, Forda^ dianaood a. other Ana paaea and eaah will be grvwa free. No probleraa to do. No fine writing .equated. No wpnla to make. No flfuraa to add. Bank fwrantnaa all praam. Pick Your Lucky Start AJIthatrtara ta Ihtditb araouetrj alflta tutpt «u. Tbat star la dlffnrt to aB oftaara and It au b> a lock? itar for pw, Caa ra pWk tt eat? If job au. nam m mf arant atsr ud and tha cb-cla km « onao akma- w hh i wr aaaa* aad aAtttaaa . A " sat apravr w atari r U a musculu fnluai In lb« ajtdninlaal wall.— Do not tw K»ll*flod wllb marelr btaclnf tbe-ae aoafcrntvt man- Irs. wllh your condition probably growing woria otary dart — Sirika ai the real cauao of tha iroubje. and Sba weakened moaclca rwro their nnrtgtb and. ebuihcltr. and— The unslabilj, unnatural protruiian dlaappanja. and — You r«mw your vim. tin* aod vitality.— rour atrraflh and merry,— and jou look anil fori Mtar In c*err way/— and jour trbrodi notico I lie difference.— una- You'll know jour rupture U lone, and You'll kaow whj for almost a iiuarter of a eoalurr miroarouj >mn siatrmmn report rom plate raoomr and flood am from uncDOifurtabla mccnantcal support*, wllnou dalar from, work. SEND NO MONEY A Tort nf tha arluUAo ael/-lr&aUnant maauoned In roc poo below U now araJlabla to you, wbathar nn aro rouni or eld. man or woman. It ooau jwj nothlna to mafca this low — Vot four own auod maU lbs coupon NOW— TODAY. FREE TEST COUPON PUai* Labonlorloa, 692 Sluart, Bldaj., St. Louia, Mo. Send id* « Vn* 10-dar lest r-upplj of Lba remedial factor l'lai*o and *K-p»ae lUiuuaUMl book on Ilupture; no charga for lb)* now or later. Namo Addroii . JNBW iND SIMPLft D1SCOVKBY CLEARS-THE-SKIN Wa gran II to too FRBB.-SBND NO MONET. Write lodoT lor PROOF and/lull deulli ol oar liberal prepaid FULL SIZE TRIAL VACKAUR. aUARAPTRBD FOB AliL SKIN TROUBLES Uuitk.iv coda Pimples. Blacbbeade, Whiteheada. Cokrca Pores. Wriobles, OUr'Sblot Sklo. freckles. Cbronle Bcrenia. Stubborn Psoriasis. Scales. Croila. Poslulca Barbers Itch. 1 tenia* Sklo. Scabblra, aolteoi aod wblleoa a)M akin. Jut a*. J ae roar aoaao end aealroaa. . aHOBB a CU, 7SI B. IZaJ St.. Sail. 77. Chica*. HAyE YOU READ! "ONE WOMAN'S WAR" B> Hahaa Reraold. Mofau "BROADWAY'S CHILDREN" By Arbtnsd Abdullah aad Faith BaUhHe "THE LOST DREAM" By Heetor Haa-lon "THE LIFE HE STOLB" By Rar Vl.aar. "FOOLISH FIRE" Br Viral al* Swala "LIFE'S COMEBACKS" By Jaa Crwaa "THE WHIRL OF YOUTH" Br E.alra Ca_pb.il "FLAME OF FIRE WEED" Bj Jaaaei Fnach Dorranea "A PRAIRIE PRINCESS" By Frank C. RotMnaaa Thoaa can ft tat a aiovala, ■ eaeh oaa a alary af aaaai »l fi.1 fiiaa tit, aiw aow IfraiBf oEarod to jaa ai Ai aaatfJ priea of 25 cents each or five for $1.00, postpaid THE READERS' GUILDf BO LAFAYETTE STREET, 12 in FLOOA, NEW YOU CITY ftPrfbi ■■NO MO MOMBTI All Ma I I ' I Maalililll ill wt\\ aid r i ln li fc a< \ w»mi ai— Vwt-r iOm la Ml alai. Oa «v 4|n*H»* ^^•bbaKaW a9 aataraatiorMl TwaorKar Bac h. GiCifeS*_ WKfS MaTCHH TO ANY SUIT-ffJ i Doarr nrfaao mm tfm, OLD Bun. Waar tba coat aad. e. BtaffiiBavpysKnRb^ ~w* ia.009 MOm to aataa tromm caa , Please mention Newsstand Qroup— Men's List, when answering advertisement! QUIT TOBACCO rSaTtry to b» n i.h unaided KA ^bdotoba^ofcaaupon ><^.AOR X> U* thou**ndj of invtUr- ^H ZTtataMO n«n that baT» tt au J toqui t with too ud o KEELEY bletfaeMpf--- try to unaided 1 -old tobacco baa upon you. J tb«taouwndl of invttcr-^ ~m tobW'-O a«n thmt hlTO ' w^—m E B- jtta*ajtoa,uitwiththoaldof thaKoeloy Treatment. I ~ Treatment For TobaccoHabit \ Successful For Over 50 Year* 0*kIfb»nUb«»llcr*rinff for tob««n. Write totUjr | Em* Book tailing h.iw t^quickiy <■ ymir .self from | tnttebaeeo habit and our Money Hack Cua/antco. THE KEELEY INSTITUTE twit. E-211 PwlaVht. Illi nois I I VKr ml ■•Iticc thli aomblaad tin*. VBtH tha beat U UK n ■ 1 | ,lUfL-d On jijilt ctvauu- TIES6 SHIRTS PAY BIG MAKE STEADY MONEY Pablle S«r*tc<. . SvtandiJ HfU» A»a. StT PUBLIC SEHVICI MILLS. Inc. 517-J Thirtieth Str««t. North Oor K .n, N. t. p..^.- Offic*. 110 LKomIm m .. 1, . I ■-.'.».-. .. Caaadia MONEY FOR YOU i* ipare time at home making display caids Light, pleasant work. No c&nvunnf. We i— tract you and supply you with work Writ* to-day for full particulars. Tb* MENHENITT COMPANY Limited Mi Dominion BIdg. .Toronto, Can. - wrrt DIRECT FHOM feOVIELAKD UTY P0TCHOLOQT ' LOVE DROPS piauryu~ A N.w Cr- 8KCUTT EXTRACT taaafal *laoa for wUnJO* u>d hoi WoaiCo., Dept. N-15 THR1UINC LOVE LETTER 5^ B«i 1250. rWrrwooi Utf. itac-J* and C. P, A. 'a aara tt.ono to (10.000 a raar. i*n«4U>ra Oolr *.000 CarttM Public Aecoaot- rum. Wi train rou ttwrolf at horn* in apua Una I - I Stataa. Wa irmin rod t: I i * *.**," -*■ aiafciaaUuna er tnntn »fe*vuoUo* [maH.ooa. I*ra>l«u 4i > Wa>llB« iwtttfft of th» Am.ri.-an lintUnu t>f A rrfunUota. ■ite.l 0tt r,,-l wk . ■ Accouniaoer.Uia ProfaaaloD that Pare " "Mount Birds iM Horn* by Malt to meant Bird* Proa) Book— ^ Dnwsi lean— talj, 14 OaW Toau ltd a Drainer Table-All it ' to mj U«ae Trauiii Cam EMPLOYMENT In Thtjc and Other Great Industries Automobile -ElectridtT— Motor Bu«— Aviation— Build- ing Co ii i true do Q. There are jobs for Draftsmen in all ol these industriet and in hundreds of others. Aviation is expanding to enormous proportions. Electricity is getting bigRer every day. Motor Bus building is becoming a leading world industry. Building of stores, homes, factories and office buildings is going on all the time. No structure can be erected without plans drawn by a draftsman. No machinery can be built without plans drawn by a draftsman. I train you at home, in Drafting. Keep the job you have now while learning. Earn As Yon Learn I tell you bow to start earning extra money ■ few weeks after beginning my training. I will train you in drafting right where you are in your spare time. I have trained men who are making C.500.00 to $9,000.00 a year. Get started now toward a better posi- tion, paying a good v straight salary, the year around. Comfortable aurrounBings. Inside work. Employment Service After training you I help you to get a job without charg- ing you a cent for this service. Employers of Draftsmen come to me for men. Employers know they are not taking chances on men trained by me. No Experience Necessary You do not need to be a college man nor high school graduate to learn by this method. No previous expe- rience necessary. I make a po3itive money back guar- antee with you before I begin to train you. If you are now earning less than *70? a WEEK ' Write For My FREE "Pay.Raising Plan" Mall thta eoapon at once. Got "Mr Pav-fUtotng Flan". It certainly potnta the war to auecf aa. You owe It to yooraclf to aend for thla book, rind oat hot* 1 help too. And blgopportanitlea In practically all big fniluatrlea. The book will eotoo to juu peat / from you paid and FKEE. Hall too ccopoa for It todaj. •Engineer Dobe< t«ft Lawrence Ave, Dlv.lS-tX Cfcloago ■ Send me Preo of all coat. "My Pay-Ralalng Plan". Alao plan I to earn money whi:a Irarnfnt: to bo a dratutnao and proof of | big money paying poaibuna in great loduatrloa. I ■ AW Ant ■ | Addrtf : Pert OSiee Stats... Please mention Newsstand Group— Men's List, when answering advertisements Gear-Tone Clears (be Skin Clear- Tone is a penetrating, purifying lotion* used at night with astounding racdbss to clear the skin of pimples, blotches, black-heads and other annoying, unsightly skin irritations due to ez- tsraal causes. More than one-half million per- sons have cleared their skins with Clear-Tone in the last 12 yean. "Complexion Tragedies with Happy Endings", filled with facts supplied by Clear-Tone users sent Free on request. Clear- Tone can be had at your druggist — or direct from us. G1VENS CHEMICAL CO., 2557 Southwest Boulevard, Kansas City, Mo. An opportunity to make $12 a day from the start, selling famous I Pioneer taUored-to-measure, ] oil -wool suimat $25. Comnus- Mtt paid iraMvance. Csaaas r as cssBW at aa cast. [liking Dig* Outfit of over, 100 large Snatches furnished free— other equally remarkable values I at 930 and $35. We Irani the Inexperi- enced. Men willing to work for success will write for this big money -making opportunity, today. PIOWKCX TAIUNHNa CO. ssssj Tsa u ap atay pjgC rjJRCjscaaa Ruptured? tto Comfortable- Three million of these comfortable sanitary appliances sold. No ob- noxious springs or pads. Automatic Air Cushion gently assists nature in drawing together the broken parts. Durable. Cheap. Senl on 10-day trial to prove Us worth. Beware ol imitation*. Every appli- ance made lo individual measurements, and »ent direct from Marshall. Full information and itupturc booklet ■eat free in plain, sealed 'cut elope. Write for all the lull today. tffUiUC CH, 173-1 Start* Itrttt. Hankall. Hi(L ORRECT Your NOSE Tliiianiili nan nsad\in* Anita Nan Adhutar to Unptvre their ■ppearsnca. SbiM* Bean and eartUare of the non ■afely. nalnlsuly. while yoa tlaep. Itsultj ars JutiEif . Doctors ep- . Uonar back gatraotw. Gold atadal _ WrU» for M-Dty TRIAL OFFER and FREE BOOKLET. IMIirUia. 34S aama aWaalaa, ttt iti. SL A, sHEfi,.. MMKHoMthlt 20 Ever Get Nervous When You're Reading? ^You might see a doctor, —But if you are a girl, arid wise, 1 — You'll try reading MISS 1930 instead ^ITS A TONIC •—A Chance To See your picture in a magazhm —Real laughs. i — Choosing a Career —The Fate.oF Your Nans —Youthful Sty|es < — And the Best Fiction many ■ MAGAZINE FOR THE MODERN GIRL P MISS 1930 80 Lafayette Street, New York CIlT 2Sc. AT YOUR NEWSDEALER SUBSCRIPTION $3.00 PER YEA! Please mention NeWsstanu Group — Men's List, when answering advertisements .„ THOUSANDS OF MEN ' obacco Habit Banished! Let Us Help YOU Stop craving tobacco in any form. To- bacco Redeemer in most cases relieve* alleminirforitlnafcwdays'lime. Don't try to quit the tobaccohabitunaidef). It's often* loainft fight njrainat heavy odd 3, nr. J Buylncanadiatreflsmsiihock to the nervous systrm. Lot Tobacco Redeemer help -tho ktbittoquityou. TobaccouserBUBuallycan depend upon thia help by simply using lebaceo Redeemer according" r,plug,finecutorsnurT. Inmost casea Tobacco Redeemer removes al t cravirur for tobacco in any form In a very few days. And remember, it la ottered! with a poeitivo a»»M7-back guarantee. Write today for our freo . booklet ahowlng the Injurious affect of tobacco ■men the human eyi-trm nntj ronrtneing evldenea uStOBACC'O ItKDKKMKKdocaquiciiyraUsvs I tbe erartng for tobacco to moat cases. NEWELL PHARMACAL COMPANY Dept. 793 CUytea Statisa SL lank. Me. 10 Inches Off Waistline In 35 Days*^ ■I reduced from 48 inches to 38 laches in 35 days/' says R. E. Johnson, of Akron, O., "just by wiring a Director Belt. Stom- 6 bow firm, doesn't sag and I fine" ^ 1 «ue Director Belt gets at the cau.'f of fat and quickly it by its gentle, kneading, ■ssnsitsj action en tl.e abdo- &wbieh ram^s the fat to bs ted and HMStC Thou- -"bhareproved itt.n'1 distort rslwayi ercises t> Try Uus^^y^ywl t us prove our claims. I] lend a Director for trial. & WARNER St., Chicago. IIU M & Warner, Dept. C-7), 332 3. USalle. Chicago rtlsmen: Without com or obll»tlon on my part l Mod me deia;ls of jour trial offer. $1,000 Reward! In a dirty, forelorn shack by the river's edge they found the mutilated body of Genevieve Martin. Her pretty. face was swollen and distorted. Marks on the slender thrnat showed that she been brutally choked to death. Who had committed this ghastly crime? Crimes like this are being; solved everyday by Finger Print Expert!. We read in thu paperi of thrir exploit*, bear of the myttrrfee they aolre, the rewards tbey win. Finger friot Experts are tne heroes of the hour. More Trained Men Needed The demand for trained men by governments, states, cities, detective agencies, corporations, and private bureaus is becoming greater every day. Here is a real opportunity for YOUTCan you imagine a more fasci- nating line of work than this ? Oftenlife and death de- pend on finger print evidence — and big rewards go to the expert. Many experts earn regularly from *3,G0Q to $10,000 per year. V Learn At Home In Spare Time Now, through this amazing new, simple course, you can learn the secrets of this science easily and quickly at home in you spare time. Any man with common school education and average ability can become a Fin- ger Print Detective in surprisingly short time. FREE— The Confidential Re- ports No. 38 Made to Bis Chief! IF YOU ACT QUICK-Ws will eend you free and with do obligation w!ut».«'\ r. • ropy of tho gripping, f&arfnaUng. eiKifi.it ntial n-port Reeret Rrrvlco Operator No. 3D made to Hie Chief. Mali coupon NOW! Write quickly for fully llluatrntH free book on Finger Prints which explains thia wonderful training in detail. Don't wait. You may n this nnr.onnevment agnlnl You aaaume DO obligation. Mall coupon NOW— while this offer lutel Institute of Applied Sciente Dept. 15-63 1920 Saanyslde Avenac, Chicago Please mention Newsstand Grol'p — Mi s'- DMIHtffV OF APPLIED SCIENCE,, - M Dept. 18-8 J 1920S«JiByslde Avenoe.CWcaajO.Dl. Gentlemen: Without mot obligation whatever, send mo roor new, fully Illustrated. FRKK book on Finger Prints and the free ropy of tl.e Lou tide at i»| Hcporta of Operator No. 38 made to Hia CW. "•~ ) Addrtt* . , . A - v ~A0» - I. ist, when answc.ing advertisements Muscles 5* apiece/ W. shoulders? Thenourricb friends with money to buy them, sure would be socking us all owrtfc OULDNT it^be great if we could buy muscles by the bag- hen our rich frieflds with don't come that easy, fellows lazy fellow never can 'o#re lazy'and ad- better quit This talk was never meant for. A lots. But th the reason why tl hope to be strong. So if y< don't want to work-r-you h; right here " you. take them home and paste fhemoaom sure would be socking us all overt). If you want muscle you have to work for it'Tatfj I WANT LIVE ONES I've been making big men out. of little ones •for over fifteen years. I've made pretty near as many strong men as > Heiu* has made pickles. My system never fails. That's why I guarjuUcc my works to do the trick. That's why tlies gave me the name of "The Muscle Builder." I have the surest bet that you ever heard of. Eugcn Sandow Himself said that my system is the shortest and surest that Amer- ica ever had to offers Follow me closely now and I'll tell you a few things I'm going to do for you. HERE'S WHAT 1 GUARANTEE In just 30 days I'm going to increase your arm one full inch. Yes, and add two inches to your chest in the same length of time. But that's noth- ing. I've only started; get this — I'm going to put knobs of muscles on your shoulders like' baseballs. I'm going to deepen your chest so that you will double your lung capacity. Each breath y»u take will flood every crevice of your pulmonary cavity with oxygen. This will load your blood with red corpuscles, shooting life and vitality throughout >GW entire system. I'm going to give you arras aed legs like pillars. I'm going to work on every inner muscle as well, toning up your liver, your heart, etc. You'll have a -snap to your step and a flash to your eye. You'll feel the real pep shoot- 1 ing up and down your old backbone. You'll stretch out your big brawny arms, and crave for a chance to crush everything before you. You'll just bubble over with vim and animation. .Sounds pretty good, what? : You can bet your old ukulele it's good. If*s wonderful. And don't forget, fellow — I'm not just promising all this— I guarantee It. Well, let's get busy, I want action — So do you. , EARLE LIEDERMAN, The Muscle Bailee? . Author of "Mtuete Building." "Science of WratUng mi * JW "Secret* of Strength," "HereTa Health, "EnamTmCm. pEARI.K LIEDERMAN , 1 Dr|.i. 1702, 305 Broadw« r , New York CUy , Dear Sir:— Please send me without any obli. I cation on my part whatever, a copy of youi I latest book "Muscular Development.' 1