full of stardust," he said. "You must
have been off your rocker, prowling around back alleys in the middle of
the night!"

Ken grinned. "Hi, Art. I knew you'd be full of sympathy. What's going on
outside while I've been laid up? Say--I don't even know how long I've
been here! What day is it?"

"Tuesday. Not that it makes any difference any more."

"Tuesday--and it was Saturday when I was working with the spectroscope.
I've been here three days!"

"A week and three days," said Art Matthews. "You were out cold for three
days straight, and they wondered if your bearings were ever going to
turn again."

Ken lay back in astonishment. "Nobody's told me anything. What's
happening outside?"

"It's going to be a rough winter," Art Matthews said, grimly. "Snow's
started heavy, two weeks earlier than usual. I understand Professor
Douglas thinks it's got something to do with the comet dust in the air."

"That figures. What about the fuel supply?"

"In pretty sad shape, too. So far, the stockpile is big enough for about
a week and a half of real cold. They laid off woodcutting for three days
to spend all the time converting oil burners, and making new heaters out
of 50-gallon barrels and anything else they could find. It's going to be
a mighty cold winter--and a hungry one."

Ken nodded, but he seemed to be thinking of something else.

"I've had an idea," he said. "How's your stock of spare parts in the
garage?"

"Good. I always was a fool about stocking up on things I could never
sell."

"Any blocks?"

"About a dozen, why?"

"Could you make a brand-new engine out of spare parts?"

The mechanic considered, then nodded. "I think I could put together a
Ford or Chevy engine. What good would that do? It would run down in a
few days, just like all the rest."

"Do you think it would, if you put it in a sealed room, and supplied
only filtered air to it?"

Art's eyes lighted. "Why the dickens didn't we think of that before? If
we could keep the stardust from getting to the engine, there's no reason
at all why it shouldn't run as long as we wanted it to, is there?"

"If a generator could be assembled in the same way, we could stir up a
little power on an experimental basis, enough to charge our radio
batteries. I wonder how much power could be generated in the whole
country by such means?"

"I know we could get a couple of dozen engines going here in Mayfield,
at least!" said Art.

"Why don't you get started right