ion of
the asteroid which is the cause of the anomaly. We must look into that.
Let me see? This gentleman's weight is three and one-half times as great
as it ought to be. What element is there whose density exceeds the mean
density of the earth in about that proportion?"

"Gold," exclaimed one of the party.

For a moment we were startled beyond expression. The truth had flashed
upon us.

This must be a golden planet this little asteroid. If it were not
composed internally of gold it could never have made me weight three
times more than I ought to weight.

"But where is the gold?" cried one.

"Covered up, of course," said Lord Kelvin. "Buried in Stardust. This
asteroid could not have continued to travel for millions of years
through legions of space strewn with meteoric particles without becoming
covered with the inevitable dust and grime of such a journey. We must
dig now, and then doubtless we shall find the metal."

This hint was instantly acted upon. Something that would serve as a
spade was seized by one of the men, and in a few minutes a hole had been
dug in the comparatively light soil of the asteroid.

I shall never forget the sight, nor the exclamations of wonder that
broke forth from all of us standing around, when the yellow gleam of the
precious metal appeared under the "star dust." Collected in huge masses
it reflected the light of the sun from its hiding place.

Evidently the planet was not a solid ball of gold, formed like a bullet
run in a mold, but was composed of nuggets of various sizes, which had
come together here under the influence of their mutual gravitation, and
formed a little metallic planet.

Judging by the test of weight which we had already tried, and which had
led to the discovery of the gold, the composition of the asteroid must
be the same to its very center.

In an assemblage of famous scientific men such as this the discovery of
course, immediately led to questions as to the origin of this incredible
phenomenon.

How did these masses of gold come together? How did it chance that, with
the exception of the thin crust of the asteroid nearly all its substance
was composed of the precious metal?

One asserted that it was quite impossible that there should be so much
gold at so great a distance from the sun.

"It is the general law," he said, "that the planets increase in density
towards the sun. There is every reason to think that the inner planets
possess the greater amoun