wer-bars, she was ready for a
voyage. The Kondalian vessel was complete, even to the cushions, but was
without instruments.

After a brief conversation with the officer in charge, Dunark turned to
Seaton.

"Didn't you find that your springs couldn't stand up under the
acceleration?"

"Yes, they flattened out dead."

"The Kolanix Felan, in charge of the work, thought so, and substituted
our compound-compensated type, made of real spring metal, for them.
They'll hold you through any acceleration you can live through."

"Thanks, that's fine. What's next, instruments?"

"Yes. I have sent a crew of men to gather up what copper they can
find--you know that we use practically no metallic copper, as platinum,
gold, and silver are so much better for ordinary purposes--and another
to erect a copper-smelter near one of the mines which supply the city
with the copper sulphate used upon our tables. While they are at work I
think I will work on the instruments, if you two will be kind enough to
help me."

Seaton and Crane offered to supply him with instruments from their
reserve stock, but the Kofedix refused to accept them, saying that he
would rather have their help in making them, so that he would thoroughly
understand their functions. The electric furnaces were rapidly made
ready and they set to work; Crane taking great delight in working that
hitherto rare and very refractory metal, iridium, of which all the
Kondalian instruments were to be made.

"They have a lot of our rare metals here, Dick."

"They sure have. I'd like to set up a laboratory and live here a few
years--I'd learn something about my specialty or burst. They use gold
and silver where we use copper, and platinum and its alloys where we use
iron and soft steel. All their weapons are made of iridium, and all
their most highly-tempered tools, such as their knives, razors, and so
on, are made of opaque arenak. I suppose you've noticed the edge on your
razor?"

"How could I help it? It is hard to realize that a metal can be so hard
that it requires forty years on a diamond-dust abrasive machine to hone
a razor--or that once honed, it shaves generation after generation of
men without losing in any degree its keenness."

"I can't understand it, either--I only know that it's so. They have all
our heavy metals in great abundance, and a lot more that we don't know
anything about on Earth, but they apparently haven't any light metals at
all. It must be that Os