vaders, using bullets, ordinary
bombs, super-atom bombs and gases."

[Illustration: Illustrator: A. Lake]

"What were those things like, father?"

"Oh, they've passed out of existence long ago. 'Ammunition' they were
called. The humans fought each other with such things."

"And not with ideas, like we do now, father?"

"No, with guns, just like I told you. But the invaders were immune to
the ammunition."

"What does 'immune' mean?"

"Proof against harm. Then the humans tried germs and bacteria against
the star-beings."

"What were those things?"

"Tiny, tiny bugs that the humans tried to inject into the bodies of the
invaders to make them sicken and die. But the bugs had no effect at all
on the star-beings."

"Go on, papa. These beings over-ran all Earth. Go on from there."

"You must know, these newcomers were vastly more intelligent than the
Earth-lings. In fact, the invaders were the greatest mathematicians in
the System."

"What's the System? And what does mathematician mean?"

"The Milky Way. A mathematician is one who is good at figuring,
weighing, measuring, clever with numbers."

"Then, father, the invaders killed off all the Earth-lings?"

"Not all. They killed many, but many others were enslaved. Just as the
humans had used horses and cattle, the newcomers so used the humans.
They made workers out of some, others they slaughtered for food."

"Papa, what sort of language did these Star-beings talk?"

"A very simple language, but the humans were never able to master it.
So, the invaders, being so much smarter, mastered all the languages of
the globe."

"What did the Earth-lings call the invaders, father?"

"'An-vils'. Half angels, half devils."

"Then, papa, everything was peaceful on Earth after the An-vils enslaved
the humans?"

* * * * *

"For a little while. Then, some of the most daring of the humans, led by
a man named Knowall, escaped into the interior of Greenland. This
Knowall was a psychiatrist, the foremost on Earth."

"What's a psychiatrist?"

"A dealer in ideas."

"Then, he was very rich?"

"He'd been the richest human on Earth. After some profound thought,
Knowall figured a way to rid the earth of the An-vils."

"How, papa?"

"He perfected a method, called the Knowall-Hughes, Ilinski technique, of
imbuing these An-vils with human emotions."

"What does 'imbuing' mean?"

"He filled them full of and made them aware of."

Zenia