his
broad shoulders, "and perhaps it is just as well."

"You bet it is!" agreed Tommy enthusiastically, "and I'm in favor of
making it good and snappy." He completed his toilet as rapidly as
possible and then turned to face the down-hearted Frank.

"How do we go? The way we came?" he asked.

* * * * *

"No, Tommy. They have closed off the shaft that led from the cavern of
the silver dome. They are taking no more chances. It seems that the
shaft down which we floated was constructed by the Theronians; not by
Leland. They had used it and the gravity disc to transport casual
visitors to the surface, who occasionally mixed with our people in
order to learn the languages of the upper world and to actually touch
and handle the things they were otherwise able to see only through the
medium of Silver Dome and the crystal spheres. Further visits to the
surface are now forbidden, and we are to be returned by a remarkable
process of beam transmission of our disintegrated bodies."

"Disintegrated?"

"Yes. It seems they have learned to dissociate the atoms of which the
human body is composed and to transmit them to any desired point over
a beam of etheric vibrations, then to reassemble them in the original
living condition."

"What? You mean to say we are to be shot to the surface through the
intervening rock and earth? Disintegrated and reintegrated? And we'll
not even be bent, let alone busted?"

* * * * *

This time he was rewarded by a laugh. "That's right. And I have gone
through the calculations with one of the Theronian engineers and can
find no flaw in the scheme. We're safe in their hands."

"If you say so, Frank, it's okay with me. Let's go!"

Reluctantly his friend lifted his athletic bulk from the chair. In
silence he led the way to the transmitting room of the Theronian
scientists.

Here they were greeted by two savants with whom Frank was already
acquainted, Clarux and Rhonus by name. A bewildering array of complex
mechanisms was crowded into the high-ceilinged chamber and, prominent
among them, was one of the crystal spheres, this one of somewhat
smaller size than the one in the palace of Phaestra.

"Where do you wish to arrive?" asked Clarux.

"As near to my automobile as possible," replied Frank, taking sudden
interest in the proceedings. "It is parked in the lane between
Leland's house and the road."

Tommy looked quickly in his direc