e, then suddenly huge cascades of water shot into the air as if
ejected by subterraneous pressure. As they stared in silent astonishment
the commotion suddenly ceased and the surface of the lake became as
tranquil as before.

"There is volcanic action out there," said Omega fearfully. "At any time
the ground may open and engulf the lake in a pit of fire. But no, that
cannot be," he added, staring at Thalma with an odd light in his eyes.
For he suddenly recalled that no volcanic action or earth tremor had
disturbed the surface crust for ages.

"What is it, Omega?" she whispered in accents of awe.

"Nothing to fear, my dear, I am sure," he replied, averting his eyes.
"Likely some fissure in the rock has suddenly opened."

And then he embraced her in the joy of new-found life. For long ages
mind had communicated with mind by telepathic waves, speech being used
for its cheer and companionship.

"We will make ready for Alpha," said Omega joyfully. "In very truth he
may be able to carry on. Moisture may return to earth, and it is more
likely to return here than elsewhere. Remember what the Mirror showed
last week over the Sahara plains--the makings of a cloud!"

They cheered each other by this remembrance how, just before they had
consumed the last of the water in their recent home and buried the last
of their neighbors and friends, the reflecting Mirror had brought a view
of a few stray wisps of vapor above the Great Sahara which once had been
reclaimed by man, where teeming millions in by-gone ages had lived their
lives.

"The inclination of the earth's axis is changing as we know," he went on
hopefully as they turned back toward the ship. "The moisture may come
back."

His was the voice of hope but not of conviction. Hope, planted in man's
soul in the beginning, still burned brightly in these last stout
hearts.

Alpha was still unborn. Omega and Thalma had willed a male child. In him
was to be the beginning of a new race which they hoped with the aid of
science would repeople the earth. Hence his name, the first letter of
the Greek alphabet, of which "omega" is the last.

"I am afraid, my love," said Thalma, looking back over her shoulder at
the placid lake. "I wonder what heaved the water about that way."

"Don't worry about it, my dear," he said as they paused beneath the ship
and he put his arm protectingly about her. "As I have said, it probably
was the shifting of a rock on the bed of the lake. It is noth