u're scared, Hugh, why did you
leave your nice safe office on Earth and come along with us?"

The chubby youth called Robbie laughed loudly. "We all know why Hugh
Murdock came along. It's not thrills he wants--it's you, Gloria."

They were all ignoring Kenniston now. He felt that he had been
dismissed but he was desperately reluctant to lose his last hope of
getting a ship. Somehow he _must_ get that cruiser!

A stratagem occurred to him. If these spoiled scions wouldn't give up
their ship, at least he might induce them to go where he wanted.

Kenniston hesitated. It would mean leading them all into the deadliest
kind of peril. But a man's life depended on it. A man who was worth
all these rich young wastrels put together. He decided to try it.

"Miss Loring, if it's thrills you're after, maybe I can furnish them,"
Kenniston said. "Maybe we can team up on this. How would you like to
go on a voyage after the biggest treasure in the System?"

"Treasure?" exclaimed the heiress surprisedly. "Where is it?"

They were all leaning forward, with quick interest. Kenniston saw that
his bait had caught them.

"You've heard of John Dark, the notorious space-pirate?" he asked.

Gloria nodded. "Of course. The telenews was full of his exploits until
the Patrol caught and destroyed his ship a few weeks ago."

Kenniston corrected her. "The Patrol caught up to John Dark's ship in
the asteroid, but didn't completely destroy it. They gunned the pirate
craft to a wreck in a running fight. But Dark's wrecked ship drifted
into a dangerous zone of meteor swarms where they couldn't follow."

"I remember now--that's what the telenews said," conceded the heiress.
"But Dark and his crew were undoubtedly killed, they said."

"John Dark," Kenniston went on, "looted scores of ships during his
career. He amassed a hoard of jewels and precious metals. And he kept
it right with him in his ship. That treasure's still in that lost
wreck."

"How do you know?" asked Hugh Murdock bluntly.

"Because I found the lost wreck of Dark's ship myself," Kenniston
answered. He hated to lie like this, but knew that he had no choice.

* * * * *

He plunged on. "I'm a meteor-miner by profession. Two weeks ago my
Jovian partner and I were prospecting in the outer asteroid zone in
our little rocket. Our air-tanks got low and to replenish them, we
landed on the asteroid Vesta. That's the big asteroid they call the
World with