upon an ever clarifying panorama. Mountains
began to unfold, plains, and suddenly beneath me appeared a mighty
city. I was too far away to see it distinctly, but it was no city such
as we have on earth. And yet it was magnificent; it was like gazing at
a strange civilization.

"Dimly I could see great machines laboring and sending forth glowing
streamers of light. Strange buildings rose. It was all bizarre,
bewildering, unbelievably weird. What creatures dwelt in this place? I
strained my eyes, strove to press forward, and in that very moment the
things at which I gazed seemed to rise swiftly to meet my descending
head. The illusion was that of plunging earthward at breakneck speed.
With a stifled cry, I recoiled, rubbed my blinking eyes, and found
myself staring stupidly into the face of Professor Reubens. He shut off
the machine and regarded me thoughtfully.

"'In that atomic universe, on a planet swinging round a sub-atomic sun,
the all of which lies somewhere in a speck of our matter, intelligent
creatures dwell and have created a great machine civilization. And
Baxter,' he leaned forward and fixed me with eyes that gleamed from
under heavy brows, 'not only has my super-atomic-microscope revealed
somewhat of that world and its marvels to human vision, but it has
opened up another, a more wonderful possibility.'

"He did not tell me what this wonderful possibility was, and a few
minutes later I left the laboratory, intending to return after a late
class. But a telegram from Phoenix was at my rooms, calling me home. My
father was seriously ill. It was June before he recovered his health.
Consequently I had to forego college until the next season.

"'Old Reubens is going dotty,' said one of my classmates to me. Rather
disturbed, I sought him out. I saw that there were dark circles of
sleeplessness under his eyes and that his face had grown thinner.
Somewhat diffidently I questioned him about his experiments. He
answered slowly:

"'You will recollect my telling you that the super-atomic-microscope
had opened up another wonderful possibility?'

"I nodded, sharply curious now.

"'Look.'

"He led the way into his workshop. The super-atomic-microscope, I
noticed, had been altered almost out of recognition. It is hopeless for
me to attempt describing those changes, but midway along one side of
its length projected a flat surface like a desk, with a large
funnel-shaped device resting on it. The big end of this fun