e of the thing and
a kind of fear spread through my mind. The magic of the strange smells
was gone and here, at close quarters, the smell was raw and
uninviting.

* * * * *

Max led me to a group of men and they talked for a few minutes. I
didn't pay much attention to what they said until one of them, a big
man with a lot of stars on his shoulder, reached down and patted my
back. "Better get him loaded," said the Starman. "Only ten minutes
till blast-off."

Max led me to a kind of open-air elevator and started up the side of
the gleaming monster. At the top Max put me into a padded cage inside
the cigar, fastened the straps, and patted me. Then he was gone and a
large door slid into place, leaving me in vile smelling, pitch
darkness. I lay there quietly, but the uneasy feeling kept getting
worse. A sudden hissing noise nearly scared me to death; then I
remembered my training. The hissing was only air, the same as had been
in the cage at home, and wouldn't hurt me. Even so, I struggled
against the straps, trying to reach them with my teeth. Nothing doing
and again I lay quiet--waiting.

I must have dozed off because the next thing I knew my cage was
trembling violently and a powerful roaring dinned in my ears. This
lasted only a second, then something crushed my body flat in the cage.
My legs grew heavy and a racking, tearing pain ripped at my muscles. A
black film blotted out the lighter blackness of my cage.

I don't know what happened in the interval, but when I came to the
roar was gone and my body felt like it was floating in the air. My
head felt swollen and I experienced some difficulty in swallowing. I
couldn't hear a thing except the hiss of air and I was suddenly
overcome by the feeling that I was a long way from home.

Slowly I became aware that my body was regaining its weight. The cage
was becoming quite warm now and I licked my nose, wishing for a cold
drink of water. Suddenly I was jerked against the straps and I forgot
all about my other troubles. The jerks didn't hurt me as much as they
scared me. I had experienced somewhat the same thing when Max hit the
car brakes hard, but he wasn't here to pat me reassuringly.

The cage was getting real hot now and the jerks were coming with
increasing frequency. The air had stopped too and I desperately wanted
a drink. The last thing I remember before the crash was wishing that
Max would open the door and let me out like he al