ly this morning.

"From Las Vegas comes word that one of the huge generators at Hoover Dam
has been taken out of service because of mechanical failure. Three other
large municipalities have had similar service interruptions. These are
Rochester, New York, Clinton, Missouri, and Bakersfield, California.

"Attempts have been made to find some authoritative comment on the
situation from scientists and Government officials. So far, no one has
been willing to commit himself to an opinion as to the cause of this
unexplained and dangerously growing phenomenon.

"Yesterday it was jokingly whispered that the comet was responsible.
Today, although no authority can be found to verify it, the rumor
persists that leading scientists are seriously considering the
possibility that the comet may actually have something to do with the
breakdowns."

Ken turned off the radio and lay back with his hands beneath his head,
staring at the ceiling. His first impulse was to ridicule again this
fantastic idea about the comet. Yet, there had to be _some_ explanation.

He had seen enough of the engines in Art's garage last night to know
they had suffered no ordinary mechanical disorder. Something had
happened to them that had never happened to engines before, as far as he
knew. The crankshafts were immovable in their bearings. The pistons had
been frozen tight in the cylinders when they tried to remove some of
them. Every moving part was welded to its mating piece as solidly as if
the whole engine had been heated to the very edge of melting and then
allowed to cool.

Apparently something similar was happening to engines in every part of
the world. It could only mean that some common factor was at work in
London, and Paris, and Cairo, and Mayfield. The only such factor newly
invading the environment of every city on the globe was the comet.

It would almost require a belief in witchcraft to admit the comet might
be responsible!

Ken arose and dressed slowly. By the time he was finished he heard his
father's call to breakfast from downstairs.

Professor Maddox was already seated when Ken entered the dining room. He
was a tall, spare man with an appearance of intense absorption in
everything about him.

He glanced up and nodded a pleasant good morning as Ken approached. "I
hear you worked overtime as an auto mechanic last night," he said.
"Isn't that a bit rough, along with the load you're carrying at school?"

"Art asked us to do him a f