thy appointed herself cook and
household manager.

As soon as the Skylark had left Osnome, Crane told DuQuesne that he and
his wife would work in the observation room until four o'clock in the
afternoon, at which time the prearranged system of relief would begin,
and DuQuesne retired to his room.

Crane and Margaret made their way to the darkened room which housed the
instruments and seated themselves, watching intently and making no
effort to conceal their emotion as first the persons beneath them, then
the giant war-vessels, and finally the ruined city itself, were lost to
view. Osnome slowly assumed the proportions of a large moon, grew
smaller, and as it disappeared Crane began to take notes. For a few
hours the seventeen suns of this strange solar system shone upon the
flying space-car, after which they assumed the aspect of a
widely-separated cluster of enormous stars, slowly growing smaller and
smaller and shrinking closer and closer together.

At four o'clock in the afternoon, Washington time, DuQuesne relieved
Crane, who made his way to the engine room.

"It is time to change shifts, Dick. You have not had your sixteen hours,
but everything will be regular from now on. You two had better get some
rest."

"All right," replied Seaton, as he relinquished the controls to Crane,
and after bidding the new helmsman goodnight he and Dorothy went below
to their cabin.

Standing at a window with their arms around each other they stared down
with misty eyes at the very faint green star, which was rapidly
decreasing in brilliance as the Skylark increased its already
inconceivable velocity. Finally, as it disappeared altogether, Seaton
turned to his wife and tenderly, lovingly, took her in his arms.

"Littlest Girl.... Sweetheart...." he whispered, and paused, overcome by
the intensity of his feelings.

"I know, husband mine," she answered, while tears dimmed her glorious
eyes. "It is too deep. With nothing but words, we can't say a single
thing."

CHAPTER XIX

The Return to Earth

DuQuesne's first act upon gaining the privacy of his own cabin was to
open the leather bag presented to him by the Karfedix. He expected to
find it filled with rare metals, with perhaps some jewels, instead of
which the only metal present was a heavily-insulated tube containing a
full pound of metallic radium. The least valuable items in the bag were
scores of diamonds, rubies, and emeralds of enormous size and of
flawless