distrusting his newly found
supreme happiness, he must needs stay out of those enchanted waters or
plunge again. And he was afraid to plunge--diffident, still deeming
himself unworthy of the miracle of this wonder-girl's love--even though
every fiber of his being shrieked its demand to feel again that slender
body in his clasping arms. He did not consciously think those thoughts.
He acted them without thinking; they were inherent in his personality.

"I do remember, and I still think it's a sound idea, even though I am
too far gone now to let you put it into effect," he assured her, half
seriously. He kissed her, tenderly and reverently, then studied her
carefully. "But you look as though you'd been on a Martian picnic. When
did you eat last?"

"I don't remember, exactly. This morning, I think."

"Or maybe last night, or yesterday morning? I thought so! Bradley and I
can eat anything that's chewable, and drink anything that will pour, but
you can't. I'll scout around and see if I can't fix up something that
you'll be able to eat."

He rummaged through the store-rooms, emerging with sundry viands from
which he prepared a highly satisfactory meal.

"Think you can sleep now, sweetheart?" After supper, once more within
the circle of Costigan's arms, Clio nodded her head against his
shoulder.

"Of course I can, dear. Now that you are with me, out here alone, I'm
not a bit afraid any more. You will get us back to the earth some way,
sometime; I just know that you will. Good-night, Conway."

"Good-night, Clio ... little sweetheart," he whispered, and went back to
Bradley's side.

In due time the captain recovered consciousness, and slept. Then for
days the speedster flashed on toward our distant solar system; days
during which her wide-flung detector screens remained cold.

"I don't know whether I'm afraid they'll hit something or afraid that
they won't," Costigan remarked more than once, but finally those tenuous
sentinels did in fact encounter an interfering vibration. Along the
detector line a visibeam sped, and Costigan's face hardened as he saw
the unmistakable outline of Nerado's interstellar cruiser, far behind
them.

"Well, a stern chase always was a long one," Costigan said finally. "He
can't catch us for plenty of days yet ... now what?" for the alarms of
the detectors had broken out anew. There was still another point of
interference to be investigated. Costigan traced it; and there, almost
dead ahead