ly. Reynolds rode after that, then the Kuzaks. Like most of
them, Frank Nelsen took the scooter up alone, from the start. He was a
bit scared at first, but if you couldn't do a relatively simple stunt
like this, how could you get along in space? He became surer, then
gleeful, even when the centrifugal force made his head giddy, pushed his
buttocks hard against the scooter's seat, and his insides down against
his pelvis.

Storey, Hollins and Tiflin all accomplished it. Even Gimp Hines rode
behind Ramos in some very wild gyrations, though he didn't attempt to
guide the scooter, himself.

Then it was David Lester's turn. It was a foregone conclusion that he
couldn't take the scooter up, alone. Palefaced, he rode double. Ramos
was careful this time. But on the downward curve before coming to rest,
the change of direction made Lester grab Ramos' arm at a critical
instant. The scooter wavered, and they landed hard, even at reduced
speed. Agile Ramos skipped clear, landing on his feet. Lester flopped
heavily, and skidded across the bottom of the 'drome.

When the guys got to him, he was covered with friction burns, and with
blood from a scalp gash. Ramos, Storey and Frank worked on him to get
him cleaned up and patched up. Part of the time he was sobbing bitterly,
more from failure, it seemed, than from his physical hurt. By luck there
didn't seem to be any bones broken.

"Darn!" he choked in some infinite protest, beating the ground with his
fists. "Damn--that's the end of it for me...! So soon... Pop..."

"I'll drive you to Doc Miller's, Les," Charlie Reynolds said briskly.
"Then home. You other people better stay here..."

Charlie had a baffled, subdued look, when he returned an hour later. "I
thought his mother would chew my ear, sure," he said. "She didn't. She
was just polite. That was worse. She's small--not much color. Of course
she was scared, and mad clean through. Know her?"

"I guess we've all seen her around," Nelsen answered. "Widow. Les was in
one of my classes during my first high school year. He was a senior,
then. They haven't been in Jarviston more than a few years. I never
heard where they came from..."

Warily, back at the shop, the Bunch told Paul what had happened.

For once his pale eyes flashed. "You Bright Boys," he said. "Especially
you, Ramos...! Well, I'm most to blame. I let him hang around, because
he was so doggone interested. And _driven_--somehow. Lucky nothing too
bad happened. Last