rnt off, stung his eyes as he traced them to where they vanished in
torn-up earth. He took them in his bare hands. The tingling sting of a
low-voltage current made his heart leap. Then he smiled grimly. He
touched them to each other. Dot-dot-dot--dash-dash-dash--dot-dot-dot.
S O S! If there was anybody in the laboratory, that would tell them.

His hands stung sharply. Someone was there, ringing the phone! Evelyn
came toward him, her face resolutely cheerful.

"No hope, Tommy?" she asked. "I just saw the telephone, all battered
up. I guess we're pretty badly off."

"Get it!" said Tommy feverishly. "For Heaven's sake, get it! The phone
wires weren't broken. If we can make it work...."

* * * * *

The instrument was a wreck. It was crumpled and torn and apparently
useless. The diaphragm of the receiver was punctured. The transmitter
seemed to have been crushed. But Tommy worked desperately over them,
and twisted the earth-wires into place.

"Hello, hello, hello!"

The voice that answered was Smithers', strained and fearful:

"Mr. Reames! Thank Gawd! What's happened? Is Miss Evelyn all right?"

"So far," said Tommy. "Listen!" He told curtly just what had happened.
"Now, what's happened on Earth?"

"Hell!" panted Smithers bitterly. "Hell's been poppin'! The Death
Mist's two miles across an' still growin an' movin'. Four townships
under martial law an' movin' out the people. It got thirty of 'em this
morning. An' they think the professor's crazy an' nobody'll listen to
him!"

"Damn!" said Tommy. He considered, grimly. "Look here, Von Holtz ought
to convince them."

"He caved in, outa his head, before I got to Albany. He's in hospital
now, ravin'. He's got some kinda fever the doctors don't know nothin'
about. Sick as hell!"

Tommy compressed his lips. Matters were more desperate even than he
had believed. He informed his helper measuredly:

"Evelyn and I can't stay around here, Smithers. The Ragged Men may
come back, and it'll be weeks before you and the professor can get
another Tube through. I'm going to make for the Golden City and work
on them there to cut off the Death Mist."

There was an inarticulate sound from Smithers.

"Tell the professor. If he can find Jacaro's Tube, he'll work out some
way to communicate through it. We've got to stop that Death Mist
somehow. And we don't know what else they may try."

Smithers tried to speak, and could not. He merely made grief-