the man peering from the lookout to right and to
left as if he would see all that there was in the last light of day.

"Strange!" he was grumbling to himself. "A strange place! But those
hills--I saw their markings--there will be metals there. I will
explore; later I return: I will mine them. Many ships I must build to
establish a line. The first transportation line of space. Me, Jacob
Schwartzmann--I will do it. I will haff more than anyone else on
Earth; I will make them all come to me crawling on their bellies!"

Chet saw the hard shine of the narrowed eyes. For an instant only, he
dared to consider the chance of leaping upon the big, gloating figure.
One blow and a quick snatch for the pistol!... Then he knew the folly
of such a plan: Schwartzmann's men were armed; he would be downed in
another second, his body a shattered, jellied mass.

Schwartzmann's thoughts had come back to the matter of air; he
motioned Chet and Harkness toward the port.

Diane Delacouer had joined them and she thrust herself quickly between
the two men. And, though Schwartzmann made a movement as if he would
snatch her back, he thought better of it and motioned for the portal
to be swung. Chet felt him close behind as he followed the others out
into the gathering dark.

* * * * *

The air was heavy with the fragrance of night-blooming trees. They
were close to the edge of the lava flow. The rock was black in the
light of a starry sky; it dropped away abruptly to a lower glade. A
stream made silvery sparklings in the night, while beyond it were
waving shadows of strange trees whose trunks were ghostly white.

It was all so familiar.... Chet smiled understandingly as he saw Walt
Harkness' arm go about the trim figure of Diane Delacouer. No mannish
attire could disguise Diane's charms; nor could nerve and cold courage
that any man might envy detract from her femininity. Her dark, curling
hair was blowing back from her upraised face as the scented breezes
played about her; and the soft beauty of that face was enhanced by the
very starlight that revealed it.

It was here that Walt and Diane had learned to love; what wonder that
the fragrant night brought only remembrance, and forgetfulness of
their present plight. But Chet Bullard, while he saw them and smiled
in sympathy, knew suddenly that other eyes were watching, too; he felt
the bulky figure of Herr Schwartzmann beside him grow tense and rigid.

But S