he observational instruments in the
turret. When I had us upon our new course, with the attractive and
repulsive plates in the _Planetara's_ hull set in their altered
combinations, I went to the bridge again.

The asteroid hung over our bow quarter. No more than twenty or thirty
thousand miles away. A giant ball now, filling all that quadrant of
the heavens. The configurations of its mountains, its land and water
areas, were plainly visible.

"Perfectly habitable," Blackstone said. "But I've searched all over
the hemisphere with the glass. No sign of human life--certainly
nothing civilized--nothing in the fashion of cities."

A fair little world, by the look of it. A tiny globe, come from the
region beyond Neptune. We swept past the asteroid. The passengers were
all gathered to view the passing little world. I saw, not far from me,
Anita, standing with her brother; and the giant figure of Miko with
them. Half an hour since this wandering little world had showed
itself, it swiftly passed, began to dwindle behind us. A huge half
moon. A thinner, smaller quadrant. A tiny crescent, like a silver
barpin to adorn some lady's breast. And then it was a dot, a point of
light indistinguishable among the myriad others hovering in this great
black void.

The incident of the passing of the asteroid was over. I turned from
the deck window. My heart leaped. The moment for which all day I had
been subconsciously longing was at hand. Anita was sitting in a deck
chair, momentarily alone. Her gaze was on me as I glanced her way, and
she smiled an invitation for me to join her.

VII

"But, Miss Prince, why are you and your brother going to Ferrok-Shahn?
His business--"

Even as I voiced it, I hated myself for such a question. So nimble in
the humble mind that mingled with my rhapsodies of love, was my need
for information of George Prince.

"Oh," she said. "This is pleasure, not business, for George." It
seemed to me that a shadow crossed her face. But it was gone in an
instant, and she smiled. "We have always wanted to travel. We are
alone in the world, you know--our parents died when we were children."

I filled in her pause. "You will like Mars. So many interesting things
to see."

She nodded. "Yes, I understand so. Our Earth is so much the same all
over, cast all in one mould."

"But a hundred or more years ago, it was not, Miss Prince. I have read
how the picturesque Orient, differing from ... well, Greater New