-brained, wild-eyed fanatic."

"It's hard for the layman to conceive of a great scientific
achievement," I said soothingly. "All great inventions and inventors
have been laughed at by the populace at large."

"True. True." Harbauer nodded his head solemnly. "But just the same--"
He broke off suddenly, and forced a smile. I found myself wishing that
he had completed that broken sentence, however; I felt that he had
almost revealed something that would have been most enlightening.

"But enough of that fool and his babblings," he continued. "I am here
as living proof that my experiment is a success, and I have a
tremendous curiosity about the world in which I find myself. This, I
take it, is a ship for navigating space?"

"Right! The _Ertak_, of the Special Patrol Service. Would you care to
look around a bit?"

"I would, indeed." There was a tremendous eagerness in the man's
voice.

"You're not too tired?"

"No; I am quite recovered from my experience." Harbauer leaped to his
feet, those abnormally long, slitted eyes of his glowing. "I am a
scientist, and I am most curious to see what my fellows have created
since--since my own era."

I picked up my dressing gown and tossed it to him.

"Slip this on, then, to cover your clothing. You would be an object of
too much curiosity to those men who are on duty," I suggested.

I was taller than he, and the garment came within a few inches of the
floor. He knotted the cincture around his middle and thrust his hands
into the pockets, turning to me for approval. I nodded, and motioned
for him to precede me through the door.

* * * * *

As an officer of the Special Patrol Service, it has often been my duty
to show parties and individuals through my ship. Most of these parties
are composed of females, who have only exclamations to make instead of
intelligent comment, and who possess an unbounded capacity for asking
utterly asinine questions. It was, therefore, a real pleasure to show
Harbauer through the ship.

He was a keen, eager listener. When he asked a question, and he asked
many of them, he showed an amazing grasp of the principles involved.
My knowledge of our equipment was, of course, only practical, save for
the rudimentary theoretical knowledge that everyone has of present-day
inventions and devices.

The ethon tubes which lighted the ship, interested him but little. The
atomic generators, the gravity pads, their generators, and