thematician."

He paused, frowning, weighing the situation. "But you men should know
how to get out of scrapes just that much better. Certainly there are few
men on Earth who would not be willing to back such a group of men--or
any one of you, for that matter! I'll back your trip!" His words became
more facetious. "I know that Arcot and you, Bob, can handle a gun fairly
well, I don't know so much about Wade and Fuller. What experience have
you two had?"

Fuller shook his head. "I think I'll fit best in the galley on the trip,
Mr. Morey. I've done the cooking on a number of camping trips, and food
is an important factor in the success of any expedition. I can shoot a
bit, too."

Wade spoke rather hesitantly. "I come from the west, and have had a good
bit of fun with a gun in the Rockies; there are still some mountain
lions and some deer there, you know. I also have a sneaking acquaintance
with the new gun, which Arcot developed in connection with his molecular
motion. But there is so little you know about me--and most of it bad--I
don't see how I really get in on this opportunity--but," he added
hastily, "I certainly don't intend to keep the old boy knocking--I'm
with you, since I'm invited!"

Arcot smiled. "Then you'll definitely support us?"

"Yes, I will," replied Morey, Senior, seriously, "for I think it's worth
doing."

The four young men climbed into the ship, to start for their apartment.
Arcot was piloting, and under his sure touch the ship sped out into the
cold night air, then up through the atmosphere, till they hung poised at
a height of fifty miles on the upper edge of the airy blanket. They
looked out in silent thought at the magnificent blazing stars of space.
Here, where the dust-laden air could no longer mask their true colors,
the stars shone unwinkingly, steadily, and in a glory that earth-bound
men had never seen before. They shone in a wonderous riot of color, as
varied and as beautiful as the display of colored floodlights in some
great city. They were tiny pinpoints of radiance, red, green, orange,
and yellow, shining with intense brilliance.

Slowly Arcot let the machine settle to the blazing city miles below.

"I love to come out here and look at those cold, pinpoint lights; they
seem to draw me--the lure of other worlds. I've always had a sense of
unfulfilled longing--the desire to go out there--and it's always been so
hopeless. Now--I'll be out there by next spring!" Arcot paused and