for me. But you, you big lummox--it's the G-ray
for you as long as we're here."

"Uh-huh. You get all the breaks, don't you?"

Carr laughed. He was becoming anxious to land. "What sort of a
reception do you suppose we'll get?" he said.

"Not bad, from the tone of that last message. And here they come,
Carr. Look--a dozen of them. A royal reception, so far."

Suddenly they were in the midst of a flock of great birds; birds that
flapped their golden wings to rise, then soared and circled like the
gulls of the terrestrial oceans. And these mechanical birds were fast.
Carr and Mado watched in fascination as they strung out in V formation
and led the way in the direction of the setting sun. Six, seven
hundred miles an hour the _Nomad's_ indicator showed, as they swung in
behind these ships of Europa.

* * * * *

They crossed a large body of water, a lake of fully five hundred miles
in width. More country then, hardly populated now and with but few of
the gleaming roadways. The sun had set, but there was scarcely any
diminution of the light for the great ball that was Jupiter reflected
a brilliance of far greater intensity than that of the full Moon on a
clear Terrestrial night. A marvelous sight the gigantic body
presented, with its alternate belts of gray-blue and red and dazzling
white. And it hung so low and huge in the heavens that it seemed one
had but to stretch forth a hand to touch its bright surface.

Another mountain range loomed close and was gone. On its far side
there stretched the desolate wastes of a desert, a barren plain that
extended in all directions to the horizon. Wind-swept, it was and
menacing beneath them. Europa was not all as they had first seen it.

A glimmer of brightness appeared at the horizon. The fleet was
reducing speed and soon they saw that their journey was nearly over.
At the far edge of the desert the bright spot resolved itself into the
outlines of a city, the city of golden domes. Cones they looked like,
rather, with rounded tops and fluted walls. The mental message had
conveyed the most fitting description possible without words or
picture.

The landing was over so quickly that they had but confused impressions
of their reception. A great square in the heart of the city, crowded
with people. Swooping maneuvers of hundreds of the bird-like ships. An
open space for their arrival. The platform where a committee awaited
them. The king, or at least