one of the finest instruments the
world has ever known, she was lifted out of herself by relief from the
dread of the Fenachrone invasion and that splendid violin expressed
every subtle nuance of her thought.

She played rhapsodies and paeans, and solos by the great masters. She
played vivacious dances, then "Traumerei" and "Liebestraum." At last she
swept into the immortal "Meditation," and as the last note died away
Seaton held out his arms.

"You're a blinding flash and a deafening report, Dottie Dimple, and I
love you," he declared--and his eyes and his arms spoke volumes that his
light utterance had left unsaid.

* * * * *

Norlamin close enough so that its image almost filled number six
visiplate, the four wanderers studied it with interest. Partially
obscured by clouds and with its polar regions two glaring caps of
snow--they would be green in a few months, when the planet would swing
inside the orbit of its sun around the vast central luminary of that
complex solar system--it made a magnificent picture. They saw sparkling
blue oceans and huge green continents of unfamiliar outlines. So
terrific was the velocity of the space-cruiser, that the image grew
larger as they watched it, and soon the field of vision could not
contain the image of the whole disk.

"Well, I expect Orlon'll be showing up pretty quick now," remarked
Seaton; and it was not long until the projection appeared in the air of
the control room.

"Hail, Terrestrials!" he greeted them. "With your permission, I shall
direct your flight."

Permission granted, the figure floated across the room to the board and
the rays of force centered the visiplate, changed the direction of the
bar a trifle, decreased slightly their negative acceleration, and
directed a stream of force upon the steering mechanism.

"We shall alight upon the grounds of my observatory upon Norlamin in
seven thousand four hundred twenty-eight seconds," he announced
presently. "The observatory will be upon the dark side of Norlamin when
we arrive, but I have a force operating upon the steering mechanism
which will guide the vessel along the required curved path. I shall
remain with you until we land, and we may converse upon any topic of
most interest to you."

"We've got a topic of interest, all right. That's what we came out here
for. But it would take too long to tell you about it--I'll show you!"

He brought out the magnetic brain record, t