Where
on earth did they come from, do you suppose, Mr. Thurston?"

* * * * *

They were walking to their hotel. Thurston raised his eyes to the summer
heavens. Faint stars were beginning to twinkle; there was one that
glowed steadily.

"Nowhere on earth," Thurston stated softly, "nowhere on earth."

"Maybe so," said the pilot, "maybe so. We've thought about it and talked
about it ... and they've gone ahead and done it." He called to a
newsboy; they took the latest editions to their room.

The papers were ablaze with speculation. There were dispatches from all
corners of the earth, interviews with scientists and near scientists.
The machines 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 flyer....

And through it all Thurston read an ill-concealed fear, a reflection of
panic that was gripping the nation--the whole world. These great
machines were sinister. Wherever they appeared came the sense of being
watched, of a menace being calmly withheld. And at thought of the
obscene monsters inside those spheres, Thurston's lips were compressed
and his eyes hardened. He threw the papers aside.

"They are here," he said, "and that's all that we know. I hope the
Secretary 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 come,
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!
Remember that cold. How much of it can they lay over a city?"

The question was unanswered, unless the quick ringing of the phone was a
reply.

"War Department," said a voice. "Hold the wire." The voice of the
Secretary of War came on immediately.

"Thurston?" he asked. "Come over at once on the jump, old man. Hell's
popping."

* * * * *

The windows of the War Department Building were all alight as they
approached. Cars were coming and going; men in uniform, as the Secretary
had said, "on the jump." Soldiers with bayonets stopped them, then
passed Thurston and his companion on. Bells were ringing from all sides.
But in the Secretary's office was perfect quiet.

General Lozier was there, T