ed, too, but not especially unhappy. For the first
time in almost twenty years, he was free of worry about the bulls, the
law. He only wished he knew what had happened to his loot.

"The planet," said Cal, "whatever its name is, must have the same
gravity and atmosphere as Earth. Same water, too."

"That's right. So it's produced a race of critters with plenty of human
characteristics," said Watkins.

"Have they done this before?" asked Mrs. Full. "I mean do you think
we're the first to be snatched up?"

"No, I don't," said Watkins, surprised that she was talking directly to
him. "People disappear all the time. Look at the famous ones: Judge
Crater, Ambrose Bierce--"

"Somebody mention the _Marie Celeste_," growled Summersby.

* * * * *

The wall began to open.

"Here's the plan, quick," said Watkins. "I've got to get out and find
the machine, and see if I can gimmick it so it'll work backward, send us
home. The rest of you create a diversion, keep the kids' minds off me."

"What kind of a diversion?" asked Villa. His abstracted face showed
plainly that he was thinking of his chili stand and what he would say to
the idiot relief man about conditions he would doubtless find therein.

"If you were a kid with pets, intelligent ones, what would you watch
them do for hours? Something unordinary--something you'd never imagine
they'd do." He looked at his chronograph. "It's just ten. I never saw
the gadget I couldn't figure out in two hours; if I'm not back by noon,
you'd better come out, Summersby."

"What if it's four-dimensional?" asked Adam.

"It's possible I can cook up a way to reverse its action anyway. There
are some principles of electricity and mechanics that must be
universal."

"Shall we run the machines for them?" asked Mrs. Full. "To distract the
children?"

"They're used to that," said Watkins. "They bore easy. Suppose you're a
kid with a normal regard for pets. You've had cats and dogs and rabbits
and now you have monkeys. The monkeys are a lot smarter and more
versatile, but they have their limits too. You get jaded with 'em. But
one day they--" he snapped his fingers--"they start playing soldiers!
They drill, stage mock battles, die and come to life, scrimmage--hell,
you go nuts! You can't take your eyes off 'em!"

"That's it," said Villa promptly. "The children have gorillas, cows,
they have never seen anything like war."

"Maybe they don't know what war is,