as a chorus of nods.

"He probably told the exact truth, as far as he knew it. But it isn't
only in Arizona that it has been seen--those columns I mean. Only there
is just one column--not five. It has since been reported in Nepal and
Bhutan, in Egypt and Morocco and a dozen other places. But in the cases
of such stories emanating from foreign countries, a congress of
publishers has withheld the facts, not because of their strangeness but
because of the effect they might have on the public sanity. In Nepal,
for example, the column of light rested for a moment on an ancient
temple, and when the light vanished the temple also had vanished, with
everybody in it at the time for worship! Rumor had it that some of the
worshipers were later found and identified. They appear to have been
scattered over half of Nepal--and every last one was smashed almost to a
pulp, as though the body had been dropped from an enormous height."

A concerted gasp raced around the assemblage. Then silence again, while
the pale-faced Hadley went on with his unbelievable story.

* * * * *

"A mad story comes from the heart of the _terai_, in India. I don't know
what importance to give this story since the only witnesses to the
phenomenon were ignorant natives. But the column of light played into
the _terai_--and tigers, huge snakes, buffalo and even elephants rose
bodily over the treetops and vanished. They started up slowly--then
disappeared with the speed of light."

"Were crushed animals later found in the jungle?" asked Jeter quietly.

Hadley turned his somber eyes on the questioner. Every white face, every
fearful eye, also turned toward Jeter.

And Hadley nodded.

"It's too much to be coincidence," he said. "The crushed and broken
bodies in Nepal and India--of course they aren't so far apart but that
natives in either place might have heard the story from the other--but I
am inclined to believe in the inner truth of the stories in each case."

Hadley turned to the two scientists. There were other scientists
present, but the fact that Jeter and Eyer, who were so soon to follow
Kress into the stratosphere--and eternity?--held the places of honor
near the desk of the spokesman, was significant.

"What do you gentlemen think?" asked Hadley quietly.

"There is undoubtedly some connection between the two happenings," said
Jeter. "I think Eyer and myself will be able to make some report on the
matter soon. We