Oh, I think some one did
mention it."

Thornton fumbled for a cigarette and Bennie handed him a match. They
seemed to have extraordinarily little to say for men who hadn't seen
each other for twenty-six years.

"I suppose," went on the astronomer, "you think it's deuced funny my
dropping in casually this way after all this time, but the fact is I
came on purpose. I want to get some information from you straight."

"Go ahead!" said Bennie. "What's it about?"

"Well, in a word," answered Thornton, "the earth's nearly a quarter of
an hour behind time."

Hooker received this announcement with a polite interest but no
astonishment.

"That's a how-de-do!" he remarked. "What's done it?"

"That's what I want you to tell _me_," said Thornton sternly. "What
_could_ do it?"

Hooker unlaced his legs and strolled over to the mantel.

"Have a cracker?" he asked, helping himself. Then he picked up a piece
of wood and began whittling. "I suppose there's the devil to pay?" he
suggested. "Things upset and so on? Atmospheric changes? When did it
happen?"

"About three weeks ago. Then there's this Sahara business."

"What Sahara business?"

"Haven't you heard?"

"No," answered Hooker rather impatiently. "I haven't heard anything. I
haven't any time to read the papers; I'm too busy. My thermic inductor
transformers melted last week and I'm all in the air. What was it?"

"Oh, never mind now," said Thornton hurriedly, perceiving that Hooker's
ignorance was an added asset. He'd get his science pure, uncontaminated
by disturbing questions of fact. "How about the earth's losing that
quarter of an hour?"

"Of course she's off her orbit," remarked Hooker in a detached way. "And
you want to know what's done it? Don't blame you. I suppose you've gone
into the possibilities of stellar attraction."

"Discount that!" ordered Thornton. "What I want to know is whether it
could happen from the inside?"

"Why not?" inquired Hooker. "A general shift in the mass would do it. So
would the mere application of force at the proper point."

"It never happened before."

"Of course not. Neither had seedless oranges until Burbank came along,"
said Hooker.

"Do you regard it as possible by any human agency?" inquired Thornton.

"Why not?" repeated Hooker. "All you need is the energy. And it's lying
all round if you could only get at it. That's just what I'm working at
now. Radium, uranium, thorium, actinium--all the radioactive
elements--