high-backed metal chair. After he had been strapped fast, one of the
men placed his hands at the base of the bacteriologist's skull; he
felt a sudden twinge of pain; and his strange paralysis left him
suddenly.

* * * * *

He knew it was useless to struggle; without resisting, he let them
place upon his head a cap-like device that seemed lost in a tangled
maze of machinery. Each meteor-man grasped one of the instruments
resembling old-time radio head-phones that were fastened to
Parkinson's head-gear, and clamped it over his ears.

The bacteriologist heard a steady, humming drone, like a swarm of
angry bees--felt a peculiar, soothing warmth about his head; and then
he slept.

Only a moment or two seemed to have passed when he awoke. The strange
device on his head was removed and put away; and then, to Parkinson's
amazement, one of the three men, evidently the leader, spoke--in
English!

"Now that you have recovered consciousness," he remarked in a cold,
expressionless voice, "you had better realize at the very beginning
that you are completely in our power. Any effort to escape will be
futile, for there is only one way to reach the outside; the opening
through the top; and only one means of travel through that opening:
the sphere. And since you know nothing about the operation of the
machine, any attempt to run it would be disastrous to you.

"If you promise to refrain from violence, we'll release you, and give
you some measure of freedom. We'll do this because you can be of
assistance to us in one of our tasks here on your planet."

Parkinson assented readily; he knew he could gain nothing by rejecting
their offer. "Of course I'll promise. But--but, how did you learn
English?" he asked in bewilderment.

"You taught us," the leader replied. "That device we placed upon your
head created a duplicate of your knowledge in our minds. We knew your
language, your world, indeed, yourself, as well as you do."

Parkinson shook his head in amazement. Another question came to his
mind as the men released him. He was interrupted before he could give
it expression.

* * * * *

"Don't ask," the leader exclaimed. "I'll tell our entire story so that
you'll have no occasion to annoy us with your questions.

"We're Venerians," he began, "inhabitants of the planet you call
Venus. For ages our world has been overcrowded. A short time ago, the
conditions became s