e doubled his fists, and crouched in
readiness for the expected attack.

* * * * *

They were almost upon him when he leaped into action. A crushing left
to his stomach sent the first one to the meteor-top, where he lay
doubled up in pain. But that was the only blow that Parkinson struck;
in a moment he found himself lying prone upon his back, utterly
helpless, his body completely paralyzed. What they had done to him, he
did not know; all that he could remember was two thin bodies twining
themselves around him--a sharp twinge of pain at the base of his
skull; then absolute helplessness.

One of the tall beings grasped Parkinson about the waist, and with
surprising strength, threw him over his shoulder. The other assisted
his groaning fellow. When the latter had recovered to some extent, the
three ascended the ladder that led into the metal sphere.

The interior of the strange vehicle, as far as Parkinson could see,
was as simple as its exterior. There was no intricate machinery of any
sort in the square room; probably what machinery there was lay between
the interior and exterior walls of the sphere. As for controls, these
consisted of several hundred little buttons that studded one of the
walls.

When they entered the vehicle, Parkinson was literally, and none too
gently, dumped upon the floor. The man who had carried him stepped
over to the controls. Like those of a skilled typist, his long, thin
fingers darted over the buttons. In a moment the sphere was in motion.

There were no more thrills for Parkinson in that ride than he would
have derived from a similar ride in an elevator. They sank very slowly
for some minutes, it seemed to him; then they stopped with a barely
noticeable jar.

The door of the car was thrust aside by one of the three, and
Parkinson was borne from the sphere. A bright, coppery light flooded
the interior of the meteor, seeming to radiate from its walls. In his
helpless state, and in the awkward position in which he was carried,
with his head close to the floor, he could see little of the room
through which they passed, in spite of the light. Later, however, he
learned that it was circular in shape, and about twice the diameter of
the cylindrical tube that led into it. The wall that bound this
chamber was broken at regular intervals by tall, narrow, doorways,
each leading into a different room.

Parkinson was carried into one of these, and was placed in a