.

* * * * *

At the last Jud stood at the telescope and directed us in. After
circling about ten thousand miles up until Puget Sound was directly
below us, Tillie dipped down in obedience to his unspoken command.

The whistling sound of atmosphere on the shell was the sweetest music
ever played by gods or men!

We landed on Puget Sound opposite the campus. The minute we touched
shore I took a wrench and unscrewed the framework that held the
tellecarbon in place in the center tube. I could feel a rapid, excited
vibration as it waited--I mean she.

No sooner was the last bolt loosened than she darted away. She almost
reached the open porthole where Mallory had taken his first breath of
fresh air when she stopped and returned.

Tillie, the silvery blob of matter, came back and touched my cheek
softly. Then she did the same to Lahoma.

We wasted no time in climbing out of the ship to the shore. There we
looked up. Far over our heads were two silver flashes of brilliance that
zoomed in ever-widening spirals.

I felt someone beside me and glanced down. Lahoma was standing there.
Cautiously I put my arm around her waist.

With a starry look in her bright eyes as she glanced at me, she twined
her arm around me. Then we looked up again.

Far above we saw a wonderful sight. The two silver flashes seemed to
come together. There was a blinding light as from a tremendous
explosion; but unlike an explosion it remained bright. It was like a
morning star--a sun, far, far away. It grew smaller and smaller until at
last it seemed just another star twinkling in the heavens.

There was an aftermath. We sold the space ship to a Ferry Boat company
and they transformed it into a streamlined excursion boat with a
conventional motor to drive it. But that isn't what I'm talking about.

Lahoma and I got married shortly after. I had sense enough to capitalize
on the romance of the tellecarbons and proposed right then and there.
She accepted, of course.

But it was two years later when our first child was born--little William
Lawrence. One Sunday we were down at the beach strolling along, pushing
the go-cart in the twilight.

A full moon beamed down upon us and a million stars twinkled in the
clear sky. The waves washed with sleepy sounds against the sandy shore
and now and then a sea gull came close enough so we could hear the
swishing of its wings.

Into this pleasant scene came a sound--at first