ke that rumbling carriage without
horses, this jointed iron man came walking toward me. And it spoke! A
most horrible hollow voice--but it seemed almost human. And what it
said I do not know, for I fainted. I remember falling as it came
walking toward me, with stiff-jointed legs.

"When I came to my senses I was in the cage. Everything was humming and
glowing. There was a glow outside the bars like a moonlit mist. The iron
monster was sitting at a table, with peculiar things--mechanical things--"

"The controls of the cage-mechanisms," said Alten. "How long were you
in the cage?"

"I don't know. Time seemed to stop. Everything was silent except the
humming noises. They were everywhere. I guess I was only half
conscious. The monster sat motionless. In front of him were big round
clock faces with whirling hands. Oh, I suppose you don't find this
strange; but to me--!"

* * * * *

"Could you see anything outside the cage?" Alten persisted. "No. Just
a fog. But it was crawling and shifting. Yes!--I remember now--I could
not see anything out there, but I had the thought, the feeling, that
there were tremendous things to see! The monster spoke again and told
me to be careful; that we were going to stop. Its iron hands pulled at
levers. Then the humming grew fainter; died away; and I felt a shock.

"I thought I had fainted again. I could just remember being pulled
through the cage door. The monster left me on the ground. It said,
'Lie there, for I will return very soon.'

"The cage vanished. I saw a great cliff of stone near me; it had
yellow-lighted openings, high up in the air. And big stone fences
hemmed me in. Then I realized I was in an open space between a lot of
stone houses. One towered like a cliff, or the side of a pyramid--"

"The back yard of that house on Patton Place!" Larry exclaimed. He
looked at me. "Has it any back yard, George?"

"How should I know?" I retorted. "Probably has."

"Go on," Alten was prompting.

"That is nearly all. I found a doorway leading to a dark room. I
crawled through it toward a glow of light. I passed through another
room. I thought I was in a nightmare, and that this was my home. I
remembered that the cage had not moved. It had hardly lurched. Just
trembled; vibrated.

"But this was not my home. The rooms were small and dark. Then I
peered through a window on a strange stone street. And saw these
strange-looking young men. And that is all-