* * * *

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 screamed and cursed and flung up their arms despairingly. A
penguin, attracted by their cries, waddled solemnly over to them and
regarded them with manlike curiosity.

"Stranded in the coldest spot on earth!" groaned the scientist.

"Why did it start itself, Dr. Mundson!" Northwood narrowed his eyes as
he spoke.

"It didn't!" The scientist's huge face, red from cold, quivered with
helpless rage. "Human hands started it."

"What! Whose hands?"

"_Ach!_ Do I know?" His Teutonic accent grew more pronounced, as it
always did when he was under emotional stress. "Somebody whose brain is
better than mine. Somebody who found a way to hide away from our eyes.
_Ach, Gott!_ Don't let me think!"

His great head sank between his shoulders, giving him, in his fur suit,
the grotesque appearance of a friendly brown bear.

"Doctor Mundson," said Northwood suddenly, "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 our feet?"

"Wait!" The huge round head jerked up. "How do you know about Adam? You
have not seen him, won't see him until we arrive at our destination."

"But I have seen him. He was sitting 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 nervously. "It sounds foolish, but I saw him vanish
like that." He snapped his fingers.

"_Ach, Gott!_" All the ruddy color drained from the scientist's face. As
though talking to himself, he continued:

"Then it is true, as he said. He has crossed the bridge. He has reached
the Light. And now he comes to see the world he will conquer--came
unseen when I refused my permission."

He was silent for a long time, pondering. Then he turned passionately to
Northwood.

"John Northwood, kill me! 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!" He bowed his great, shaggy head.

"What do you mean, Dr. Mundson: that this Adam has arrived at a point in
evolution beyond this age?"