l he's
engaged to--which would be a hard job. Cleopatra herself couldn't swing
that order."

"Engaged? That makes it simple as A B C."

"Simple? In the devil's name, how?"

"Easy as falling off a log. You have enough of the dope to build a
space-car from those plans, haven't you?"

"Yes. What has that to do with the case?"

"It has everything to do with it. I would suggest that we build such a
car and use it to carry off the girl. After we have her safe we could
tell Seaton that she is marooned on some distant planet, and that she
will be returned to earth only after all the solution, all notes, plans,
and everything pertaining to the new metal are surrendered. That will
bring him, and Crane will consent. Then, afterward, Dr. Seaton may go
away indefinitely, and if desirable, Mr. Crane may accompany him."

"But suppose they try to fight?" asked Brookings.

Perkins slid down into his chair in deep thought, his pale eyes under
half-closed lids darting here and there, his stubby fingers worrying his
watch-chain restlessly.

"Who is the girl?" he asked at last.

"Dorothy Vaneman, the daughter of the lawyer. She's that auburn-haired
beauty that the papers were so full of when she came out last year."

"Vaneman is a director in the Seaton-Crane Company. That makes it still
better. If they show fight and follow us, that beautiful car we are
making for them will collapse and they will be out of the way. Vaneman,
as Seaton's prospective father-in-law and a member of his company,
probably knows something about the secret. Maybe all of it. With his
daughter in a space-car, supposedly out in space, and Seaton and Crane
out of the way, Vaneman would listen to reason and let go of the
solution, particularly as nobody knows much about it except Seaton and
Crane."

"That strikes me as a perfectly feasible plan," said Brookings. "But you
wouldn't really take her to another planet, would you? Why not use an
automobile or an airplane, and tell Seaton that it was a space-car?"

"I wouldn't advise that. He might not believe it, and they might make a
lot of trouble. It must be a real space-car even if we don't take her
out of the city. To make it more impressive, you should take her in
plain sight of Seaton--no, that would be too dangerous, as I have found
out from the police that Seaton has a permit to carry arms, and I know
that he is one of the fastest men with a pistol in the whole country. Do
it in plain sight of her folk