to learn Japanese while we're at it, Mart? I'm going to."

"Yes, please. I tried to learn it while I was in Japan, but it was
altogether too difficult to be worth while."

Seaton threw in a switch, opened it, depressed two more, opened them,
and threw off the power.

"All set," he reported crisply, and barked a series of explosive
syllables at Shiro, ending upon a rising note.

"Yes, sir," answered the Japanese. "You speak Nipponese as though you
had never spoken any other tongue. I am very grateful to you, sir, that
I may now discard my dictionary."

"How about you two girls--anything you want to learn in a hurry?"

"Not me!" declared Dorothy emphatically. "That machine is too darn weird
to suit me. Besides, if I knew as much about science as you do, we'd
probably fight about it."

"I do not believe I care to...." began Margaret.

She was interrupted by the penetrating sound of an alarm bell.

"That's a new note!" exclaimed Seaton, "I never heard that note before."

He stood in surprise at the board, where a brilliant purple light was
flashing slowly. "Great Cat! That's a purely Osnomian war-gadget--kind
of a battleship detector--shows that there's a boatload of bad news
around here somewhere. Grab the visiplates quick, folks," as he rang
Shiro's bell. "I'll take visiplate area one, dead ahead. Mart, take
number two. Dot, three; Peg, four; Shiro, five. Look sharp!... Nothing
in front. See anything, any of you?"

* * * * *

None of them could discover anything amiss, but the purple light
continued to flash, and the bell to ring. Seaton cut off the bell.

"We're almost to 'X'," he thought aloud. "Can't be more than a million
miles or so, and we're almost stopped. Wonder if somebody's there ahead
of us? Maybe Dunark is doing this, though. I'll call him and see." He
threw in a switch and said one word--"Dunark!"

"Here!" came the voice of the Kofedix from the speaker. "Are you
generating?"

"No--just called to see if you were. What do you make of it?"

"Nothing as yet. Better close up?"

"Yes, edge over this way and I'll come over to meet you. Leave your
negative as it is--we'll be stopped directly. Whatever it is, it's dead
ahead. It's a long ways off yet, but we'd better get organized. Wouldn't
talk much, either--they may intercept our wave, narrow as it is."

"Better yet, shut off your radio entirely. When we get close enough
together, we'll use the hand-language. You