al
against metal over his head in a rhythmic tempo like the tread of
marching soldiers. Hardly had this ceased before he heard another
sound which he could not identify, and the ramp itself began to move!

It was drawing in toward the ship, very slowly. To stay where he was
would mean the loss of his hiding place; to try to run away would
almost certainly be fatal. And so Enoch acted in the only way left to
him.

By hooking his arms and legs around the girders forming the underside
of the ramp, he was able to lift himself clear of the ground. It meant
being carried into the ship, but even that, he decided, was better
than falling into the hands of Indians.

He clung there like a sloth to a branch. Fortunately the beams were
recessed enough to prevent his being scraped off when he reached the
opening into the hull. When the ramp finally ground to a halt he found
himself in darkness beyond anything in his experience. There was cold
metal under him now and he lowered himself gingerly onto it. When he
tried to crawl into the open, he discovered that the edges of the ramp
were now flush with the floor.

Suddenly a deep humming note tore at his ears, became a shrill whine,
then passed into silence. The floor seemed to press harder and harder
into his back, his lungs fought for air, a sharp burst of light seemed
to explode soundlessly before his bulging eyes and consciousness left
him....

The rasp of metal against metal aroused him. The ramp was moving
again. Once more he attached himself to its girders and was slowly
carried from the spaceship. Sunlight on the grass told him the night
had passed, and the moment the ramp came to a halt, he dropped to the
ground and squirmed into the open. He was close enough to the ship to
keep from being seen by those aboard, and he slipped quickly around
one side before making a break for the shelter of a clump of trees
bordering the clearing.

* * * * *

"And that, Mr. Quinlan," Kramer said, "just about brings you up to
date. At 4:07 this afternoon Mr. Wetzel was found by the crew of an
Army tank twelve miles west of Burdette, Colorado. He told his story
to the colonel in charge of that perimeter of operations, and was then
flown directly to Washington." He paused and allowed himself a
humorless smile. "I assume you have some questions?"

I said, "I'm not going to ask if you take this man's story seriously.
Considering the positions of the men in t