feet. He had learned nothing; perhaps there
was nothing to be learned. A fool's errand! Blake was right. But the
inner urge for some definite knowledge drove him on. His eyes were
serious and his face drawn to a scowl of earnestness as he turned once
more to the waiting man.

"Professor Sykes," he demanded, "just one more question. Could that
have been the flash of a--a rocket? Like the proposed experiments in
Germany. Could it have meant in any way the launching of a
projectile--a ship--to travel Earthward through space?"

* * * * *

Professor Sykes knew what it was to be harassed by the curious mob, to
avoid traps set by ingenious reporters, but he knew, too, when he was
meeting with honest bewilderment and a longing for knowledge. His
fists were placed firmly on the hips of his stocky figure as he stood
looking at the persistent questioner, and his eyes passed from the
intent face to the snug khaki coat and the spread wings that
proclaimed the wearer's work. A ship out of space--a projectile--this
young man had said.

"Lieutenant," he suggested quietly--and again the smile had returned
to his lips as he spoke--"sit down. I'm not as busy as I pretend to
be. Now tell me: what in the devil have you got in your mind?"

And McGuire told him. "Like some of your dope," he said, "this is not
for publication. But I have not been instructed to hush it up, and I
know you will keep it to yourself."

He told the clear-eyed, listening man of the previous night's events.
Of the radio's weird call and the mystery ship.

"Hallucination," suggested the scientist. "You saw the stars very
clearly, and they suggested a ship."

"Tell that to Jim Burgess," said McGuire: "he was the pilot of that
plane." And the scientist nodded as if the answer were what he
expected.

He asked again about the ship's flight. And he, too, bore down heavily
upon the matter of acceleration in the thin upper air. He rose to lay
a friendly hand on McGuire's shoulder.

"We can't know what it means," he said, "but we can form our own
theories, you and I--and anything is possible.

"It is getting late," he added, "and you have had a long drive. Come
over and eat; spend the night here. Perhaps you would like to have a
look at our equipment--see Venus for yourself. I will be observing her
through the sixty-inch refractor to-night. Would you care to?"

"Would I?" McGuire demanded with enthusiasm. "Say, that will be
great!