young Space Cadet. "Boot that screwy ball
with everything you've got!"

The three cadets of the _Polaris_ unit raced down the Academy field
toward the mercuryball, a plastic sphere with a vial of mercury inside.
At the opposite end of the field, three members of the _Arcturus_ unit
ran headlong in a desperate effort to reach the ball first.

Astro, the giant Space Cadet from Venus, charged toward the ball like a
blazing rocket, while his two unit mates flanked him, ready to block out
their opponents and give Astro a clear shot at the ball.

On the left wing, Tom Corbett, curly-haired and snub-nosed, ran lightly
down the field, while on the opposite wing, Roger Manning, his blond
hair cut crew style, kept pace with him easily. The two teams closed.
Roger threw a perfect block on his opposing wingman and the two boys
went down in a heap. Tom side-stepped the _Arcturus_ cadet on his side
and sent him sprawling to the ground. He quickly cut across the field
and threw his body headlong at the last remaining member of the
opposition. Astro was free to kick the ball perfectly for a fifty-yard
goal.

Jogging back toward their own goal line, the three _Polaris_ cadets
congratulated each other. Astro's kick had tied the score, two-all.

"That was some feint you pulled on Richards, Tom," said Roger. "You
sucked him in beautifully. I thought he was going to tear up the field
with his nose!"

Tom grinned. Compliments from Roger were few and far between.

Astro clapped his hands together and roared, "All right, fellas, let's
see if we can't take these space bums again! Another shot at the
goal--that's all I need!"

[Illustration]

Lining up at the end of the field again, the cadets kept their eyes on
the cadet referee on the side lines. They saw him hold up his hand and
then drop it suddenly. Once again the teams raced toward the ball in the
middle of the field. When they met, Roger tried to duplicate Tom's feat
and feint his opponent, but the other cadet was ready for the maneuver
and stopped dead in his tracks. Roger was forced to break stride just
long enough for the _Arcturus_ cadet to dump him to the ground and then
race for Astro. Tom, covering Astro on the left wing, saw the cadet
sweeping in and lunged in a desperate attempt to stop him. But he
missed, leaving Astro unprotected against the three members of the
_Arcturus_ unit. With his defense gone, Astro kicked at the ball
frantically but just grazed the side of i