he source of this rosy light; that, I believe,
will explain a great deal." He led the way down one of the narrow
pathways between the low, domed houses--if they could be called
houses, for they were little larger than kennels. At the six-foot wall
that surrounded this plateau he paused. "Would you like to look over
the wall?" he asked.

For the space of a breath we hesitated. Was this a trap? Through my
mind flashed the words of the man who had guided us to Fraser. "You
are two thousand feet above the earth," he had said. Was that true?
And if it were, might not Fraser push us over the wall? But instantly
logic came to my rescue. Fraser had brought us here, and he could have
brought us for but one thing: to question us. Would he be apt to do us
harm before those questions were asked? And besides, would Fraser's
brilliantly subtle mind stoop so low as to destroy enemies by pushing
them over a wall?

"Thank you," we murmured simultaneously. "This whole achievement is of
tremendous interest to us," Foulet added.

Fraser chuckled. "It will be of greater interest--later," he said, and
his blank, glittering eyes rested on first one of us, then another
with a cold, satisfied gleam. Then he lifted his hand and opened a
square door in the wall about the size of a port-hole. To my surprise
the little door swung back as lightly as a feather and made scarcely a
sound as it slammed against the wall itself. Again Fraser answered my
unspoken thought.

"It has only substance," he said with his vain smirk. "No weight
whatever. This entire platform together with its huts is lighter than
air. If I should tear loose this little door it would float out of my
hands instantly and go straight up to the stars. The substance--I have
called it Fleotite--is not only lighter than air but lighter than
ether."

"But we are not floating," said Brice; "we are stationary. Is the
lightness of your Fleotite counteracted by the weight of the men and
machines?"

Fraser shook his head. "Not entirely," he said. "But first look
through this little window. Then I will explain."

* * * * *

Eagerly we pressed forward. Our danger was almost forgotten in our
interest. This was amazing--stupendous! Together, shoulder to
shoulder, we gazed through the aperture. We were suspended in space!
Above us shone the blue-black Arabian night, and beneath us--far, far
beneath--lay the sands of the desert looking rosy and warm in that