sengers. Is it not so? I will give them the
necessities of life. They will be able to signal. And in a month or
so, when we are perfectly safe and finished with our adventure, a
police ship no doubt will rescue them."

"And then, from the asteroid," I suggested, "we are going--"

"To the Moon, Haljan. What a clever guesser you are! Coniston and Hahn
are calculating our course. But I have no great confidence in them.
And so I want you."

"You have me."

"Yes. I have you. I would have killed you long ago--I am an impulsive
fellow--but my sister restrained me."

He gazed at me slyly. "Moa seems strangely to like you, Haljan."

"Thanks," I said. "I'm flattered."

"She still hopes I may really win you to join us," he went on. "Gold
leaf is a wonderful thing; there would be plenty for you in this
affair. And to be rich, and have the love of a woman like Moa...."

He paused. I was trying cautiously to gauge him, to get from him all
the information I could. I said, with another smile, "That is
premature, to talk of Moa. I will help you chart your course. But this
venture, as you call it, is dangerous. A police ship--"

"There are not many," he declared. "The chances of our encountering
one are very slim." He grinned at me. "You know that as well as I do.
And we now have those code passwords--I forced Dean to tell me where
he had hidden them. If we should be challenged, our password answer
will relieve suspicion."

"The _Planetara_," I objected, "being overdue at Ferrok-Shahn, will
cause alarm. You'll have a covey of patrol ships after you."

"That will be two weeks from now," he smiled. "I have a ship of my own
in Ferrok-Shahn. It lies there waiting now, manned and armed. I am
hoping that, with Dean's help, we may be able to flash them a signal.
It will join us on the Moon. Fear not for the danger, Haljan. I have
great interests allied with me in this thing. Plenty of money. We have
planned carefully."

He was idly fingering his cylinder; he gazed at me as I sat docile on
my bunk. "Did you think George Prince was a leader of this? A mere
boy. I engaged him a year ago--his knowledge of science is valuable to
us."

My heart was pounding but I strove not to show it. He went on calmly.

"I told you I am impulsive. Half a dozen times I have nearly killed
George Prince, and he knows it." He frowned. "I wish I had killed him
instead of his sister. That was an error."

There was a note of real concern in his voice. H