commissioner of the exposition and
advised of the conveniences provided for the participants of the fair.
Then, finally, as a last worker finished the installation of a
photoelectric cell across the entrance port to count visitors to the
ship, Tom, Roger, and Astro began the dirty job of washing down the
giant titanium hull with a special cleaning fluid, while all around them
the activity of the fair buzzed with nervous excitement.

Suddenly the three cadets heard the unmistakable roar of jets in the
sky. Automatically, they looked up and saw a spaceship, nose up,
decelerating as it came in for a touchdown on a clearing across one of
the wide spacious streets of the fairgrounds.

"Well, blast my jets!" exclaimed Astro, his eyes clinging to the flaming
exhausts as the ship lowered itself to the ground.

"That craft must be at least fifty years old!"

"I've got a rocket-blasting good idea, Tom," said Roger.

The exit port of the spaceship opened, and the three cadets watched Gus
Wallace and Luther Simms climb down the ladder.

"Hey," yelled Roger, "better be careful with that broken-down old
boiler. It might blow up!"

The two men glared at the grinning Roger but didn't answer.

"Take it easy, Roger," cautioned Tom. "We don't want to start anything
that might cause us and Captain Strong trouble before the fair even
opens. So let's leave them alone."

"What are you afraid of?" drawled Roger, a mischievous gleam in his
eyes. "Just a little fun with those guys won't hurt." He stepped to the
side of the clearing and leaned over the fence separating the two areas.

"Tell me something, spaceman," he yelled to Wallace, who was busy with
some gear at the base of the ship, "you don't expect people to pay to
ride that thing, do you?" He smiled derisively and added, "Got insurance
to cover the families?"

"Listen, punk!" sneered Wallace, "get back over to your Solar Guard
space toy and keep your trap shut!"

"Now--now--" jeered Roger, "mustn't get nasty. Remember, we're going to
be neighbors. Never can tell when you might want to borrow some baling
wire or chewing gum to keep your craft together!"

"Look, wise guy, one more crack out of you, and I'll send you out of
this world without a spaceship!" snarled Wallace through grating teeth.

"Any time you'd like to try that, you know where I am," Roger snapped
back.

"Okay, punk! You asked for it," yelled Wallace. He had been holding a
length of chain and now he swung