nk.

After dinner, Ken went out again to check. The horse was lying down in
the stall and the food remained untouched.

Ken returned to the house and said to his father, "Dave's horse slipped
today, and I'm afraid something serious is wrong with him. He doesn't
seem to have any broken bones, but he won't eat or get up. I think I
should go for the vet."

His father agreed. "We can't afford to risk a single horse, considering
how precious they are now. You stay in the house and I'll go to Dr.
Smithers' place myself."

Ken protested. He hated to see his father go out again on such a cold
night.

Dr. Smithers grumbled when Professor Maddox reached his house and
explained what he wanted. As one of the town's two veterinarians, he had
been heavily overworked since the disaster struck. The slightest sign
of injury or illness in an animal caused the Mayor's livestock committee
to call for help.

"Probably nothing but a strained ligament," Smithers said. "You could
have taken care of it by wrapping it yourself."

"We think you ought to come."

When the veterinarian finally reached the side of the animal, he
inspected him carefully by the light of a gasoline lantern. The horse
was lying on his side in a bed of hay; he was breathing heavily and his
eyes were bright and glassy.

Dr. Smithers sucked his breath in sharply and bent closer. Finally, he
got to his feet and stared out over the expanse of snow. "It couldn't
be," he muttered. "We just don't deserve that. We don't deserve it at
all."

"What is it?" Ken asked anxiously. "Is it something very serious?"

"I don't know for sure. It looks like--it could be anthrax. I'm just
afraid that it is."

Dr. Smithers' eyes met and held Professor Maddox's. Ken did not
understand. "I've heard that name, but I don't know what it is."

"One of the most deadly diseases of warm-blooded animals. Spreads like
wildfire when it gets a start. It can infect human beings, too. How
could it happen here? There hasn't been a case of anthrax in the valley
for years!"

"I remember Dave Whitaker saying his uncle got two new horses from a
farmer near Britton just a week before the comet," said Ken. "Maybe it
could have come from there."

"Perhaps," said Smithers.

"What can we do?" asked Professor Maddox. "Can't we start a program of
vaccination to keep it from spreading?"

"How much anthrax vaccine do you suppose there is in the whole town?
Before we decide anything I want to get Har