oward their goal in
Vermont.

Less than forty-five minutes since they had left New York, Morey was
dropping the car toward the little mountain lake that offered them a
place for seclusion. Gently, he let the ship glide smoothly into the
shed where the first molecular motion ship had been built. Arcot jumped
out, saying:

"We're here--unload and get going. I think a swim and some sleep is in
order before we start work on this ship. We can begin tomorrow." He
looked approvingly at the clear blue water of the little lake.

Wade climbed out and pushed Arcot to one side. "All right, out of the
way, then, little one, and let a man get going." He headed for the house
with the briefcases.

Arcot was six feet two and weighed close to two hundred, but Wade was
another two inches taller and weighed a good fifty pounds more. His arms
and chest were built on the same general plan as those of a gorilla. He
had good reason to call Arcot little.

Morey, though still taller, was not as heavily formed, and weighed only
a few pounds more than Arcot, while Fuller was a bit smaller than Arcot.

Due to several factors, the size of the average human being had been
steadily increasing for several centuries. Only Wade would have been
considered a "big" man by the average person, for the average man was
over six feet tall.

They relaxed most of the afternoon, swimming and indulging in a few
wrestling matches. At wrestling, Wade consistently proved himself not
only built like a gorilla but muscled like one; but Arcot proved that
skill was not without merit several times, for he had found that if he
could make the match last more than two minutes, Wade's huge muscles
would find an insufficient oxygen supply and tire quickly.

That evening, after dinner, Morey engaged Wade in a fierce battle of
chess, with Fuller as an interested spectator. Arcot, too, was watching,
but he was saying nothing.

After several minutes of uneventful play, Morey stopped suddenly and
glared at the board. "Now why'd I make that move? I intended to move my
queen over there to check your king on the red diagonal."

"Yeah," replied Wade gloomily, "that's what I wanted you to do. I had a
sure checkmate in three moves."

Arcot smiled quietly.

They continued play for several moves, then it was Wade who remarked
that something seemed to be influencing his play.

"I had intended to trade queens. I'm glad I didn't, though; I think this
leaves me in a better posit