fe landing within a short
distance. Because of the increase in power and speed, the device would
save a large amount of gasoline and oil, as well as guarding the motor
from part of the strain on it.

The device is said to be also applicable to ships, the same principle
operating in water as well as air.

Silver Dome

_By Harl Vincent_

[Illustration: _Orris led the way to a great underground city._]

[Sidenote: In her deep-buried kingdom of Theros, Phaestra reveals the
amazing secret of the Silver Dome.]

In a secluded spot among the hills of northern New Jersey stood the
old DeBost mansion, a rambling frame structure of many wings and
gables that was well-nigh hidden from the road by the half-mile or
more of second-growth timber which intervened. High on the hill it
stood, and it was only by virtue of its altitude that an occasional
glimpse might be obtained of weatherbeaten gable or partly
tumbled-down chimney. The place was reputed to be haunted since the
death of old DeBost, some seven years previously, and the path which
had once been a winding driveway was now seldom trod by human foot.

It was now two years since Edwin Leland bought the estate for a song
and took up his residence in the gloomy old house. And it had then
been vacant for five years since DeBost shot himself in the northeast
bedroom. Leland's associates were sure he would repent of his bargain
in a very short time, but he stayed on and on in the place, with no
company save that of his man-servant, an aged hunch-back who was
known to outsiders only as Thomas.

Leland was a scientist of note before he buried himself in the DeBost
place, and had been employed in the New York research laboratory of
one of the large electrical manufacturers, where he was much admired
and not a little envied by his fellow workers. These knew almost
nothing of his habits or of his personal affairs, and were much
surprised when he announced one day that he had come into a sizable
fortune and was leaving the organization to go in for private research
and study. Attempts to dissuade him were of no avail, and the purchase
of the DeBost property followed, after which Leland dropped from sight
for nearly two years.

* * * * *

Then, on a blustery winter day, a strange telephone call was received
at the laboratory where he had previously worked. It was from old
Thomas, out there in the DeBost mansion, and his quavering voice ask