audio apparatus incorporated in the set, had
wired the screen for sound.

"Let's put this to practical use," suggested Greg. "There's a show at
the New Mercury Theater in New York I've been wanting to see. Let's
knock off work and take in that show."

"Now," said Russ, "you really have an idea. The ticket scalpers are
charging a fortune, and it won't cost us a cent to get in!"

_CHAPTER FIVE_

Pine roots burned brightly in the fireplace, snapping and sizzling as
the blaze caught and flamed on the resin. Deep in an easy chair, Greg
Manning stretched his long legs out toward the fire and lifted his
glass, squinting at the flames through the amber drink.

"There's something that's been worrying me a little," he said. "I hadn't
told you about it because I figured it wasn't as serious as it looked.
Maybe it isn't, but it looks funny."

"What's that?" asked Russ.

"The stock market," replied Greg. "There's something devilish funny
going on there. I've lost about a billion dollars in the last two
weeks."

"A _billion_ dollars?" gasped Russ.

Greg swirled the whiskey in his glass. "Don't sound so horrified. The
loss is all on paper. My stocks have gone down. Most of them cut in
half. Some even less than that. Martian Irrigation is down to 75. I paid
185 for it. It's worth 200."

"You mean something has happened to the market?"

"Not to the market. If that was it, I wouldn't worry. I've seen the
market go up and down. That's nothing to worry about. But the market,
except for a slight depression, has behaved normally in these past two
weeks. It almost looks as if somebody was out to get me."

"Who'd want to and why?"

Greg sighed. "I wish I knew. I haven't really lost a cent, of course. My
shares can't stay down for very long. The thing is that right now I
can't sell them even for what I paid for them. If I sold now I'd lose
that billion. But as long as I don't have to sell, the loss is merely on
paper."

He sipped at the drink and stared into the fire.

"If you don't have to, what are you worrying about?" asked Russ.

"Couple of things. I put that stock up as collateral to get the cash to
build the spaceship. At present prices, it will take more securities
than I thought. If the prices continue to go down, I'll have the bulk of
my holdings tied up in the spaceship. I might even be forced to
liquidate some of it and that would mean an actual loss."

He hunched forward in the chair, stared at Russ.