you to build another catapult for him. But I warn
you, if I find another gun on you I'll thrash you."

Von Holtz's pallor changed subtly from the pallor of fear to the awful
lividness of rage.

"You--Gott! You dare threaten--" He choked upon his own fury.

"I do," said Tommy. "And I'll carry out the threat."

Smithers moved forward once more.

"Mr. Von Holtz," he said in a very terrible steadiness, "I aim to kill
you some time. I ain't done it yet because Mr. Reames says he needs
you a while. But I know you got Miss Evelyn marooned off in them
fern-woods on purpose! And--God knows she wouldn't ever look at me,
but--I aim to kill you some time!"

His eyes were flames. His hands closed and unclosed horribly. Von
Holtz gaped at him, shocked out of his fury into fear again. He went
unsteadily back to his lean-to. And Smithers went back to the
dimensoscope. It was his turn to watch that other world for signs of
Denham and Evelyn, and for any sign of danger to them.

* * * * *

Tommy adjusted the screen before the bench on which he was working, so
Von Holtz could not see his task, and went back to work. It was a
rather intricate task he had undertaken, and before the events of the
past few days he would have said it was insane. But now he was taking
it quite casually.

Presently he said:

"Smithers."

Smithers did not look away from the brass tube.

"Yeah?"

"You're thinking more about Miss Denham than her father."

Smithers did not reply for a moment. Then he said:

"Well? What if I am?"

"I am, too," said Tommy quietly. "I've never spoken to her, and I
daresay she's never even heard of me, and she certainly has never seen
me, but--"

Smithers said with a vast calmness:

"She'll never look at me, Mr. Reames. I know it. She talks to me, an'
laughs with me, but she's never sure-'nough looked at me. An' she
never will. But I got the right to love her."

Tommy nodded very gravely.

"Yes. You have. So have I. And so, when that globe comes, we both get
into it with what arms and ammunition we can pack in, and go where she
is, to help her. I intended to have you work the switch and send me
off. But you can come, too."

Smithers was silent. But he took his eyes from the dimensoscope
eye-piece and regarded Tommy soberly. Then he nodded and turned back.
And it was a compact between the two men that they should serve
Evelyn, without any rivalry at all.

* *