fer, until each of you
has had time to think it out for himself."
"I'm going," the Very Young Man burst out.
His hands were gripping the arms of his chair tightly; his face was very
pale, but his eyes sparkled.
The Doctor turned to him gravely.
"Your life is at stake, my boy," he said, "this is not a matter for
impulse."
"I'm going whether any one else does or not," persisted the Very Young
Man. "You can't stop me, either," he added doggedly. "That letter
said----"
The Doctor smiled at the youth's earnestness. Then abruptly he held out
his hand.
"There is no use my holding back my own decision. I am going to attempt
the trip. And since, as you say, I cannot stop you from going," he added
with a twinkle, "that makes two of us."
They shook hands. The Very Young Man lighted a cigarette, and began
pacing up and down the room, staring hard at the floor.
"I can remember trying to imagine how I would feel," began the Big
Business Man slowly, "if Rogers had asked me to go with him when he
first went into the ring. It is not a new idea to me, for I have thought
about it many times in the abstract, during the past five years. But now
that I am face to face with it in reality, it sort of----" He broke off,
and smiled helplessly around at his companions.
The Very Young Man stopped in his walk. "Aw, come on in," he began,
"the----"
"Shut up," growled the Banker, speaking for the first time in many
minutes.
"I'm sure we would all like to go," said the Doctor. "The point is,
which of us are best fitted for the trip."
"None of us are married," put in the Very Young Man.
"I've been thinking----" began the Banker. "Suppose we get into the
ring--how long would we be gone, do you suppose?"
"Who can say?" answered the Doctor smiling. "Perhaps a month--a
year--many years possibly. That is one of the hazards of the venture."
The Banker went on thoughtfully. "Do you remember that argument we had
with Rogers about time? Time goes twice as fast, didn't he say, in that
other world?"
"Two and a half times faster, if I remember rightly, he estimated,"
replied the Doctor.
The Banker looked at his skinny hands a moment. "I owned up to
sixty-four once," he said quizzically. "Two years and a half in one
year. No, I guess I'll let you young fellows tackle that; I'll stay here
in this world where things don't move so fast."
"Somebody's got to stay," said the Very Young Man. "By golly, you know
if we're all go
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