His voice broke off. Then, "Good luck to you and--Ruth, Kay," he
whispered, absent inaudibly. "Don't let--her--look at me."

Kay led Ruth gently away. "Did you hear that?" she whispered, sobbing.
"He died to save us Kay."

* * * * *

It was like a return from the grave for the amazed boys and girls
who--since the onset of the monsters had destroyed the electric
lines--poured out of the plain of Golgotha to life and freedom.

Many of them had gone mad, a few had died of fright, but the rest
would come back to normal, and the world was saved.

Hunger was their greatest problem, for, despite Kay's hurried flight
to the nearest occupied post, it was difficult to convince the
Federation officials that the devils were really gone, buried beneath
a mile of crumbled earth. And Kay had to be back to mop up other,
smaller bands that had spread through the forests.

It was six months before the last of the monsters had been
obliterated, and then Kay, now one of the highest officials in the
Federation's service, was granted a lunarian's leave of absence
pending his taking command of an Antarctic expedition for the purpose
of destroying the remaining monsters in their lair.

He took this opportunity to be married to Ruth, in the church in his
native town, which was _en fete_ for the occasion.

"Thinking of Cliff?" Kay asked his bride, as she settled in his plane
preparatory to their starting for the honeymoon in the Adirondacks. "I
think he would be happy if he knew. He saved the world, dear; he gave
his best. And that was all he wanted."

* * * * *

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The Pirate Planet

BEGINNING A FOUR-PART NOVEL

_By Charles W. Diffin_

[Illustration: Like rats in a cage, the planes of the 91st Squadron
were darting and whirling.]

[Sidenote: A strange light blinks on Venus, and over old Earth hovers
a mysterious visitant--dread harbinger of interplanetary war.]

CHAPTER I

Lieutenant McGuire threw open his coat with its winged insignia of the
air force and leaned back in his chair to read more comfortably the
newspaper article.

He glanced at Captain Blake across the table. The captain was deep in
a game of solitaire, but he looked up at McGuire's audible chuckle.

"Gay old girl!" said Lieutenant McGuire and smoothed the paper across
his knees. "She's getting flirtatious."

The captain swore softly as he gathered up his cards. "Not
i