looked okay."

"Can't always tell by looks," was the calm reply. "'Course us guys
mostly pick out some guy with a swell atomic-mobile if we're goin' to
pull a stick-up. When we see a old heap like this one there's usually
not enough dough to make it pay."

Marden felt his jaw drop.

"Say, you sound, like you go in for that sort of thing! I'm telling you
right now, I haven't enough cash on me to make it worth your while. I'm
just a salesman, trying to get along."

"You got nothin' to worry about," his passenger assured him. "Stick-ups
ain't my racket."

An audible sigh of relief escaped Marden.

"I'm certainly glad to hear that! What is your--er--racket, anyway?"

The blue eyes frosted over.

"Look, chum, sometimes it ain't exactly healthy to ask questions like
that."

"Pardon me," Marden said hastily. "I didn't mean anything. It's none of
my business, of course."

* * * * *

The calm eyes flicked over his contrite expression.

"Skip it, pal. You look like a right guy. I'll put you next to
somethin'. Only keep your lip buttoned, see?"

"Oh, absolutely."

"I'm Mike Eagen--head of the Strato Rovers."

"No!" Marden was plainly awed. "The Strato Rovers, eh? I've heard of
them, all right."

The other nodded complacently.

"Yeah. We're about the toughest mob this side of Mars. We don't bother
honest people, though. We get ours from the crooks and racketeers. They
can't squeal to the Interplanetary Police."

"There's a lot in what you say," agreed Marden. "And of course that puts
your ... mob in the Robin Hood class."

"Robin Hood--nuts! That guy was a dope! Runnin' around with bows and
arrows. Why, we got a mystery ray that paralyzes anybody that starts up
with us. They're all right when it wears off, but by that time we get
away."

Marden was properly impressed.

"A mystery ray! With a weapon like that, you should be able to walk into
a bank and clean it out without any trouble."

His passenger's lips curled.

"I told you, we don't bother honest people. We even help the S.P.
sometimes. Right now we're workin' with the Earth-Mars G-men in roundin'
up a gang of fifth-columnists that are plannin' on takin' over the
gov'ment. They're led by the Black Hornet. This Black Hornet goes around
pretendin' like he's a big business man, but he's really a internatural
spy."

"A--what?"

"A internatural spy," repeated Marden's companion, shortly. "The E-M
G-men say he's the