National Library of Australia http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page1019432

FLYING SAUCERS. BERNARD NEWMAN .BOOK ONE

Author of "The Mussolini Murder Plot," "The Spy In The Brown Derby," etc.

PROLOGUE

pAPA PONTIVY tapped his

* newspaper with a lean

fore'finger.

"Now this is interesting!" hesaid.

"What is?" I asked, glancingacross. "That picture of the little

boy rescuing his pet lamb from

a snowdrift?"

"No, idiot!"

"He means the football re-

sults," Drummond suggested."I do not," Pontivy snapped.

"Peste, you arc trying to manu-

facture the fool of me." Peev-

ishly he flung the paper away.

He glared at Drummond. The

two men were strongly con-

trasted. Pontivy, once the leadingoperative of the French DeuxièmeBureau and Surete Generale, one

of the most famous counter-spiesin Europe, insignificant in

appearance, untidy, half-bald,with a drooping moustache-hisimpression was that of an elderlyand unsuccessful clerk. Drum-

mond was, tall and spare; his per-

sonality was strong, and it did not

depend merely on his physical

attractions. His whole demean-

our suggested the reserve and

power of the man of knowledge.It would be an understatement

to say that Drummond was the

best-known scientist of the day.In my book called "Secret

Weapon" 1 have recorded how he

invented a new bomb (it was, in

fact, an atomic bomb, but for

.security reasons I had to suppressthe fact when "Secret Weapon"was published) which promised to

bring the war to an early end.

Instead of handing it over to the

politicians and their military

staffs, however, he insisted on

directing its use himself. This he

did with such devastating effect

that he rocketed to world fame.

I picked up the newspaper fromthe floor and searched for an

item likely to be of special inter-

est to Pontivy. When I failed

to find it, he took the paper fromme abruptly.

"Look!" he said, testily.

1 read out the paragraph: "In

his speech Mr. Eden said that it

seemed to be an unfortunate fact

that the nations of the world

were only really united when

they were facing a common

menace. What we really needed

was an attack by Mars."

"Is not that interesting?" Pon-

tivy queried. "A novel idea.

.."

"No. Interesting, Papa, but

not novel. Mr. Eden did not

claim it as such. It has oftenbeen used previously."

"But it is clever, is it not?

Figure to yourself, here are

Russia, America, England, and

France, squabbling as usual over

some trifle. Then comes a mes-

sage. , The Men in the Moon

have invaded. the Earth. How

petty the arguments of our poli-ticians now seem! What does it

matter who owns 1he local gasworks if we drift towards a thirdworld war? There is no sense of

propoi (ion"

"What you say is sound,"Drummond said slowly

'

I've

often wondered-Newman, youremember that book of yourscalled Armoured Doves'? Whenwas it written?"

'About 1932 It was almosta flop, by the way

"

'

You remember that in it you

suggested a League of Scientists

Your hero i scientist, formed an

international league, which de

dared war on warmongersWhen a new conflict began, the

League of Scientists bl ought all

its resources into action againstboth parties Am 1 right?

'

'

Yes, that was the generalidea

"

"1 ve thought quite a lot aboutthat Nobody can be happy at

the present state of affairsScience offers a new atomicworld with boundless

possibili-ties, and all the politicians can

discuss is who shall control the

atomic bomb"

'Do >ou mean you've con-

sidered .9"

'Wait Relations betweenRussia and USA are at presentstiained If there were a clash

it would be a world disaster

Think of the position of Britain

We should be certain to be

drawn in-there can be no neu

trais in a modern war Theidea of fighting against America

ts revolting-impossible Yet, if

we adopted the American side,Britain might be no more thanan 'unsmkable aircraft carrier'

off a Russian occupied Europe'

On the other hand, Russian

influence is powerful The num-

ber of British Communists is

small, but their 'fellow travel-

lers,' or whatever you like to

call them, arc numerous. Theywould form a Fifth Column

which would be probably enoughto sabotage the British war effort.

Add the lingering effects of the

emotions of the last war-and

even among ordinary people youwould find a great reluctance to

go to war."

"And that applies to the Rus-

sians and Americans as well," I

said.

"And the French," said PapaPontivy. "I'll say all the ordin-

ary people of the world want

peace."

"True," said Drummond. "But

it isn't enough to want some-

thing; you've got to do somethingabout it."

"You will. never secure peace

merely by passing resolutions

condemning war," Pontivy said.

"We're getting on fine," Drum-

mond smiled. "Well, we've gotlo ensure something greater than

the passing of resolutions.""What?"

"The short term objective is to

prevent the tension betweenU.S.A. and Russia from develop-ing into a clash. 1 have the

germ of an idea-a diversion. 1

shall need you two."

"We are here," Pontivy an-

nounced.

"There will be a big securityjob. Secrecy must be absolute.If one word of my plan ever

leaked out, the whole scheme willbe ruined."

'That is my sparrow ... 1

mean my pigeon," said Pontivy.

"And you, Newman-in your

spy stories you have made a

specialty of translating fact intofiction. I may need you to trans-late fiction into fact."

I accepted, my assignment fromDrummond without hesitation.

"Good, when do we begin?""And what is the idea?" Pon-

tivy added."I told you. I've only got the

germ. 1 should estimate that it

will take a year to put it into

action, even when I've worked it

out. Maybe more. Well, I'll gofor a walk-1 want to think."

In such casual fashion was en-

visaged the scries of events which

were to shake the world.

I

HPHE first missile fell inA Leicestershire.

A few miles from the countytown i uns the scries of low hills

called the Charnwood Forest.

The district is exceedingly plea-

sant; it is much used by the local

people, but deserves a wider

fame. Pride of place in its wideand open spaces goes to Brad-

gate Park, once the home ofLady Jane Grey.

On its outskirts, that Whitsunweek-end, was the inevitable col-

lection of campers' tents. As therocket fell at 2 ^a^n., very fewpeople saw it-though observers

as far away as Nottingham andNorthampton reported a fiery

trail through the sky.

The "Leicester Mercury,',' one

of the principal local papers, sent

an enterprising reporter to the

scene. By persistent inquiry he

.traced one of the actual eye-witnesses-a young man who ad-

mitted bashfully that courting in-volved late hours.

"Mr. Thompson was walkingslowly by Bradgate House whenthe meteor fell," the reporterwrote, discreetly not mentioningthat Mr. Thompson had a com-

panion."He saw a bright light

in the sky-'an enormous shoot

THIS NEW NOVEL, WHICH PRESENTS INTERNATIONAL PROBLEMS IN THE

FORM OF MYSTERY FICTION, IS A SUPPLEMENT TO "THE SUNDAY HERALD."

National Library of Australia http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page1019435

ing star,' he described it. Thenhe heard a shrill whistle, which

gradually faded into a kind of

low-pitched moan.

"When the meteorite struckthe earth Mr. Thompson felt a

slight impact. He walked in the

right direction, but in the darkwas unable to» find where the

meteor had fallen. Next morn-

ing, however, he found the spplwithout difficulty. There was a

hole two or three feet in dia-

meter."At an early hour the keen and

energetic Curator of the Leices-

ter Museum was on the spot with

a couple of labourers. A meteor-

ite, of such a size, would be a

treasure worth having. The men

began to dig with skilled pre-

cision. Suddenly a spade madea metallic ring.

"That will be it," said the

Curator. "Dig round it-^-care

fully."He was surprised to find his

quarry so lightly embedded-amere three feet in the earth. Yet

this was nothing to his astonish-

ment a few minutes later, when

the investigating spades revealed

a piece of smooth metal.

The Curator examined it

closely. This was no meteorite,

that was certain. His fingers

probed the loose earth, to get an

idea of the shape of the metal

object. Suddenly he stopped, and

stood up.

"Smith," said the Curator, "goand fetch the police, fletcher,

you stay here with me. We must

keep people away-it may bedangerous."

"What is it?"

"At a guess, some sort ofrocket."

"Gosh!" The two men rapidly

retreated and headed off ap-

proaching campers.

The Curator was right. Some

hours later a squad arrived from

» a bomb disposal unit. With greatcare they excavated about the

hole, until one end of a metal

canister was clearly in view.

"It is a rocket, isn't it?" askedthe Curator.

"I suppose so," said the officer

in charge. "But I never saw one

like it. And where did it come

from? Well, let's see if it's alive."

With one of his men he

crawled towards the hole, carry

ing delicate listening apparatus.'

After many trials, he got veryclose to the canister, testing it

with his instruments.

"It's dead, whatever it is," he

called. "Righto, sergeant. Digit out. Nothing to worry aboutthere."

He was not merely a tech-

nician. Wherever the missile had

come from, it was not British.

The officer was astute enough to

recognise that international com-

plications might be involved.

While his men kept the gatheringcrowd at a distance he went to

the telephone to report the

strange features of the case to

higher authority.

Nothing further could be done

until the cylinder had been com-

pletely excavated. This provedto be a fairly simple task, and

by mid-afternoon it was on a

military lorry, headed^ for an

examination depot. The engineerofficer had made a cursory exam-

ination which had confirmed his

first opinion. The missile was

unlike any previously seen in

England. Its shape was peculiar;about ten feet long, it was nar-

row at one end, widened to nearlythree feet, came in again

to a narrow waist, then widenedagain. The main body of the mis-

sile was undamaged, but there

had been obvious protuberanceswhich had been smashed off when

it struck the earth. The officer

collected from the excavations a

considerable quantity of a strange

material, which looked like green

glass, but was much heavier

and was obviously a metal.

"Don't ask me how the thing

was driven," he said to his com-

manding officer later. "No signof jets-at least, none of any sort

we ever knew. And anotherthing: it must have been fired

from a long distance, which

means a great height. Yet it

came down comparatively slowly-I wondered about that when I

saw the shallow hole.'The earth

in the park is very soft-youwould have anticipated that it

would have gone in ten or twentyfeet."

"No sign of a parachute?""No-and that wouldn't agree

with eye-witness accounts of whatthey saw-and heard."

"It's a mystery. I suppose that

some idiot has been messingabout, inventing a new rocket,

and discharged it quite close by."

The engineer officer was un-

convinced-there would have

been reports about the discharge

if it were local. Prudently, he

had warned his men to keep their

mouths shut.

Thus the inevitable Pressmen

who had joined the little crowd

about the excavation found that

the men of the bomb disposal

squad were not inclined to talk.

Fleet Street has no monopoly of

enterprising journalists, however.

When the squad drove off in

their lorry, leaving the police on

guard in Bradgate Park, the

Leicester man's car followedbehind. He had been in the armyhimself, and knew something of

its habits. Two men, in particu-

lar, he had marked down as his

prospective victims.

His judgment was sound. An

hour after the return to barracks,

one of the men emerged, makinghis way to a hostelry on the out-

skirts of the city. Here he was

evidently a frequent and valued

customer, and an accomplishedperformer at darts to boot. Now

the journalist estimated that his

task was almost routine. There

would be a plying with refresh-

ments and then, at the rightmoment, skilfully directed con-

versation.The elementary scheme worked

perfectly. The soldier told all

that he knew-it was not very

much, but quite enough to make

the journalist realise that he was

on the verge of a considerablescoop. "Folks was saying as a

shooting star made the b

'ole," the convivial bomb dis-

poser remarked. "Well, it

weren't. They, wouldn'/t want us

to get rid of a b-- star ..

.

I said that to Nobby Clark when

he was goin' there. Star my foot!

It was a rocket, and a b

funny rocket as well. I never

seed one like it afore, and I've

seed plenty." *.

"Was it a big one?" asked the

journalist.

"No, not too big, if you under-stand what I mean, but a funnyshape."

"Like what?""Like a woman with a big top

and,bottom, but a narrow waist

and a big 'ead, if you understandwhat 1 mean."

"Like this?" The newsman

hurriedly sketched an outline.

"No, more like this." The sol-

dier was not a skilled draughts-

man, and a child might not have

envied his effort, but to the jour-nalist it was priceless: an artist

would make a lot of it.

"Was it very heavy?" he asked.

"No-not, as heavy as them

- German rocKets was."

"You don't think it was a Ger-man one left over?"

"No, this wasn't no Jerrynuffink like it. And this wasn't

left over-it come down last

night-there was folks what saw

it."

"Perhaps it's one of ours."

"I dunno. All I know is thatthe officer told us to say nuffink

about it."

The journalist perceived that

Bert had no more information of

value. He rushed back to the

newspaper office: a local journaldoes not expect the sole exploita-

tion of a considerable scoop, buthas an arrangement with the

Press agencies. Consequentlythe London dailies next morningfeatured headlines, startling or

restrained according to their type,tersely informing their readers

that a rocket, believed to be for-

eign, had fallen in the very heart

of England.Some took a restrained line:

there was no suggestion of a de-

liberate attack-a Russian rockethad evidently gone astray and

had landed in England. Others

hinted darkly at more serious

apprehensions. A Left-wing paper

remembered that experimentswith long-range rockets wero

being conducted in U.S.A. and

Australia: it went on to suggestthat one of the missiles might have

penetrated to the upper strato-

sphere. There, through some de-

fect in its mechanism, it had

cruised about aimlessly for some

time, finally losing momentum

and falling to earth.

If it bad not been for the fact

that a new Test Match was about

to begin, and that a man oppor-

tunely murdered his wife byattaching her to a high-voltage

electric wire, the Bradgate rocket

story might have retained the

i

headlines for several days. As

it was, however, lacking new de-

velopments, it soon slipped rap-

idly to bottom-column positionsin pages five and six.

II

TEN days after the fall of

the rocket, Parliament,

assembled. The House ofCommons was packed, for the

principal business of the day was

the debate on the control of foot-

ball pools, and all members who

had an pye to re-election realised

that thousands of votes would be

influenced or even decided bytheir conduct on this vital occa-

sion.

Yet as the Speaker took the

chair, he did not call for Ques-tion 1 on the Order Paper: in-

stead, he turned to the Leader ofthe Opposition to open proceed

, ings.

"Mr. Speaker, I should like to

ask the Right Hon. the Prime

Minister if he has any statement

to make on the subject of the

missile which recently fell in

Bradgate Park?"

Members sat up with a jerk.When the Prime Minister ar-

ranged with the Leader of the

Opposition for the asking of a

special question, the matter was

usually important.

"Yes," said the Prime Minister.

'The missile in question has been

thoroughly examined by Armyand R.A.F. technical officers and

by experts of the National Phy-sical Laboratory. They were

able to decide that it was un-

doubtedly some form of self

propelled rocket, but were baffled

as to its details. The method of

propulsion was quite impossibleto ascertain-it may have been

destroyed or detached during the

rocket's flight. There were other

strange and completely novelfeatures about the rocket which

the experts find of unusual in-

terest,but which they cannot

yet explain. Further, the canister

of the rocket is made of metal

so hard that they have to date

been unable to penetrate to its

interior.

"Faced with reports to this

effect, my Right Hon. friend the

Minister of Defence decidedto ask the advice of Professor

Drummond, that great scien-

tist whose services are always atthe disposal of his country. Pro-

fessor Drummond is setting up a

special apparatus which he is con-

fident will cut through the metalcontainer, and I am sure that we

can leave this in his very capablehands.

"In the meantime, however,Professor Drummond has direc-ted a series of experiments on

the materials attached to the ex-

terior of the rocket. His reportreached me this morning, and it

is because of its unusual naturethat I am making this statement.

Were it not that Professor Drum-

mond is a scientist of outstand-

ing world reputation, I shouldhesitate to accept the report, but

he is backed by the Governmentexperts. Without going into

chemical detail, I should ;ay at

once lhat Professor Drummondis of the opinion that some of the

National Library of Australia http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page1019433

materials used in the construction

of the rocket are extra-terres-

trial."

Hansard does not describe the

scene which followed this baldbut sensational announcement

the amazement of the members,their hurried whisperings. It

continues.its calm record:

Rt. Hon. Worton Spender(Leader of the Opposition): "Are

we to understand that Professor

Drummond is of the opinion that

this rocket was not dischargedfrom any part of the earth?"

Rt. Hon. C. Matley (PrimeMinister): "He does not go as far

as that-at present. Scientists

are proverbially reserved in their

forecasts. But I understand that

his staff have already isolated one

metal and one lighter chemicalsubstance which are quite un-

known to science."

Mr. Worton Spender: "In viewof the unprecedented character

of this statement and the fantas-

tic potentialities which it opens,will the Prime Minister arrange

to give the House an opportunityof debating the question at the

earliest possible moment?"

The Prime Minister: "I agree

that the matter should be de-

bated, but suggest- that it' be de-

ferred until further informationis available. 1 have personally

seen Professor Drummond, and

have asked him to take completecharge of the examination. He

has kindly agreed to do so. I

have given instructions that he

is to have full powers and every

priority. I am sure that the

House will approve this action."

("Hear, hear.")

Mr. C. Davis (Lib., Montgom» ery): "Does H.M. Government

propose to hand over the in-

vestigation of this event to the

United Nations?"The Prime Minister: "Not at

this stage."

Mr. Worton Spender: Doubt-less the Prime Minister will

undertake to keep the House

fully informed as to all develop-ments of urgent national import-ance which cuts across all party

lines?"

The Prime Minister: "Of

course."

The Prime Minister and the

Leader of the Opposition left the

House. Many other members

would have followed but for the

vital debate on football pools.

SHORTLYbefore the end of

question time the two

leaders 're-entered the House,

and held a whispered Consulta-

tion with the Speaker before

they resumed their places.

"The Leader of the Opposi-tion," the Speaker announced.

Worton Spender rose: "Has the

Right Hon. the Prime Minister

anything to add to his earlier

statement?"The Prime Minister: "Yes.

Since I made my statement to

the House I have received

another report from Professor

Drummond. It seems to me to be

of considerable importance, and

I feel that the House shouldhear it at once.

\

"On the outside of the metal

cylinder were certain markings,as if made by a chisel. It was at

first assumed that they were made

in the manufacture of the rocket,

but one of Professor Drum

mond's staff called attention to

their regularity, and to the un-

usual and exact recurrence ofcertain of the marks. Accord-ingly, the Professor called in the

Director of the British Museum

and one of his experts. They have

now examined the markings, andhave come to the conclusion that

they are hieroglyphics. Naturally,

they have not yet been able to

decipher them, but are continu-

ing an intense study.

"Photographs of the markingshave 'been sent by radio to the

directors of the Cairo Museum

and the Field Museum of

Chicago, both of whom are ex-

perts in the art of deciphering

hieroglyphics. Their reports are

awaited with interest."

Mr. G. Willigher (Com. E.

Fife): "If and when the secret of

this rocket is revealed, will the

Prime Minister undertake to com-

municate' it to other countries?"

Mr. C. Davis (Lib. Mont-

gomery): "Adding to that ques-

tion, should not the secret of the

device be" handed over to the

control of the United Nations?"The Prime Minister: "I am re-

minded of the recipe for juggedhare which begins 'First catch

your hare.' (Laughter.) At the

moment we have no secret to re-

veal. On the contrary Professor

Drummond is very properlycautious, and emphasises that at

have little practical value. Whatwe need is a basis of fact, andthe moment any conjecture can

if anyone in the world can secure

Ibis, I am confident that Profes-

sor Drummond is that man.''

("Hear,- hear.")

The Speaker called for the

business of the day, but the de-

bate on football pools was

strangely flat and lifeless. In

the corridors of the House mem-

bers stood in little groups dis-

cussing the extraordinary situa-

tion.

In every country of the world,

too, the potentialities of the re-

velation were discussed, withvigour if not with insight. The

newspaper astrologers had an un-

limited field for conjecture, and

made the most of it. Earnest

gentlemen suggested that the

rocket had long been forecasted

by the measurements of the

Pyramid. Others regarded it as a

warning; the world was threat-

ened unless it adopted Social

Credit, or vegetarianism, or

Esperanto.No less interesting theories

were expounded in the village

inns of England as in the clubs

of Pall Mall. Interest had be-

gun to droop a little, since there

seemed to be undue delay in get-

ting the cylinder open, when the

secon'l rocket fell.

m

THE American Indian

walked lithely beside hil

mustang, which was carryinga laden pack-saddle. Behind him

trudged his squaw, her sleepy

papoose strapped to . her back.

The man was the merchant of

his section of the Nevajo tribe

his father was its chief. He had

been to Santa Fe to sell a load'

of blankets, had made a goodbargain, and had bought the sup-

plies which his tribe needed. Now

he was headed for the Reserva-

tion where his people lived.

Cliffs of sandstone, weatheredinto fantastic shapes, bordered

the path: a deep red by day, theywere now black and threatening.

The squaw moved closer to her

man, and the nostrils of the horse

twitched from time to time. The

Indian strode on, impassive.Above the stars shone with that

brilliance peculiar to . desert

country. Looking up, the man

was startled to see a meteor

sweep from the sky. The star was

descending towards them, a

green-yellow pinpoint of light.

The horse whinneyed; the squawclutched his arm. There was a

noise, a shrill scream, gradually

fading to a moan. The light grew

larger and- brighter.

The Indian flung himself to the

ground. His squaw, handicappedby the baby on her back, was not

so agile. She was, however, more

practical, for she cau¿ht the rein

of the frightened horse.

A slight tremor, and the light

was gone. The little group arose

and stood for a moment: then the

Indian recovered his composure,

calmed the horse, and led the

way forward.It was useful that he was an

Indian, and that his sense of

location was uncanny. Next

morning white men came by car

from Santa Fe. They had seen

the flash in the sky, as had men

in more distant cities. A number

of investigation parties had been

formed, and one of these found

its way to the Indian reservation.

To it .the chief presented his son,

who led the way to a cavity in

the hard brown earth borderingthe muddy, rushing waters of the

Rio Grande.

A round flange of metal was

actually visible-the baked

ground had resisted more firmly

than the soft turf of BradgatePark. The cylinder was recovered

with comparative ease, and was

carried by the Indians to the

nearest point where a truck could

be brought.

Now the American Press hada subject worthy of its dramatic

genius. If journalism is the treat-

ment of news so as to make it

appeal to the ordinary man, it is

supreme in America. AIL the

principal dailies had their own

scientific staffs, including

chemists, physicists, and astrono-

mers. These experts convergedon Santa Fe by special planefrom all directions.

A special squad of Federalpolice had to be rushed to Santa

Fe to guard the rocket against

the experts and souvenir hunters

who wanted to get at close quar-

ters. The latter were herdedaway, but newspaper representa-tives were allowed to see the

rocket. It was photographed from

a thousand angles, and expertsexamined its unpromising exteriorwith interest, but without result:

then they rushed to their type-writers to evolve astonishing andingenious theories.

Preliminary examination of the

New Mexico cylinder revealed

one very important feature-the

markings it carried were identical. with those of the first specimen.

As soon as this news was

known, Mars became the fav-

ourite guess for the origin of the

rockets. In Hollywood producershurriedly dropped current pro-ductions, and script writers were

lashed to such energy that withina few days eleven studios had on

the floor pictures featuring life

on Mars, while two favoured the

Moon. Mr. Samuel Silbersteinselected Venus as his background,arguing that it would providebigger opportunities for the neces-

sary love interest.

Hollywood's next shock was

greater than the impact of therocket itself. By an extraordinarylucky fluke, a British film com-

pany had just completed a filmabout Mars, and was about torelease it. The film was flown

across the Atlantic, and cinemaswhich had systematically boy-cotted British pictures now found

themselves, empty, while theirmore enterprising rivals had

queues stretching round theblocks.

The film was almost conven-

tional. It contained only one

really interesting feature, and inview of events it turned out to be

important, whether it was an in-

telligent guess or merely colossalluck. The film suggested that

Mars was inhabited by a peoplehighly advanced in mechanicalinvention, and all of the same

race. There were no jigsaws of

nations, large and small, engagedin continual strife. Mars had

achieved a centralised controlover its entire planet; it knew

only one race-tie Martians.

The next flash to take the head-lines came from London. It

was announced that Professor

Drummond's staff had set up a

mechanism which could broachthe intensely hard shell of the

rocket. Experiments were beingconducted under conditions of

great caution, lest the rocketshould contain explosives, but it

was anticipated that cuts wouldbe made through the casing with-

in a week.

Congressmen indignantly de-

manded whether American tech-

nicians weren't a good as tha

British, and the Federal govern-ment was spurred to supremeefforts. They concentrated on

the opening of the rocket the en-'

tire resources of Americanscience, which are considerable.

Soon the President, in a special

message to Congress, was able toannounce that the problem was

being approached on very promis-ing lines.

National Library of Australia http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page1019429

Every subject but the rockets

was banished from the headlines,

even in the Soviet journals.

"Pravda," accepting the evidence

of the markings as hieroglyphics

and thus the assumption that the

rockets had come from .another

world, pointed out with imperi-

ous delight that the Martians (or

whoever they might be) had selec-

ted the capitalist-imperialist

powers as the proper subject for

their attack. The editor of*

"Isvestia," was more cautious.

He had a shrewd apprehensionthat the Martians might not be

quite so interested in the virtues .

of political ideologies, and that

the next rocket might fall on

Russian soil.It did.

IV

ALEXISGUZOROF walked

back to his cottage in the

content of an early summer

evening. The crops promised well

-not merely those of the collec-

tive farm, but the vegetables of

his own private plot of land.

He had been a collective far-

mer for 25 years, but the in-

herent traditional prideof the

peasant was strong within him.

When Alexis referred to "my

land" he meant his own little

piece of the Ukraine, not the

collective fqrm.He was healthily tired as he

walked through the little gardento the door. He surveyed his

house with legitimate pride, for

he had built it himself. After

the Germans had.destroyed every

house in the vicinity when the

Red Army drove them back to

their own country, he had taken

his axe to the forest, felled trees

and shaped them; then he built

his home, and thatched it with

straw. It was humble enough:

no electricity or running water,

which were town fancies. But

the light of day was good,and

there was a cool well nearby. He

would not give his cottagefor

any of the crowded apartments

of Kiev.Nadia heard her man at the

door, and came to meet him

she wanted Alexis to draw water

from the well. Her movement

of a dozen feet probably saved

her life. Even as Alexis picked

up the bucket both heard a

strange whine. Alexis looked up

into the sky, but saw nothing.

Then, a few seconds later, carne

a great crash. The rear end of

the cottage collapsed. Alexis

dragged Nadia away from the

door; none too soon, for the

beams leaned drunkenly and the

thatch was alight.

"Alexis!" she cried. "The war

has begun again!"

"No, Nadia.""Then what is this? There was

a sound like the shelis, and

look!"Her tears were natural enough.

For the second time in ten years

her home had been destroyed.

Alexis stared in dismay at the

ruins of all his hopes. Then he

roused to action at the sight ofhis neighbours running to his

aid.. The cottage was doomed, but

there might be a chance of sav-

ing some of its contents. The

well worked furiously; neighbours

brought buckets with them anti

attacked the blaze systematically

-it was not their first experience,

and they knew something about

fire-fighting. In half an hour the

flames were under control.

Now there was time to talk.

Several neighbours had heard the

noise-one even claimed that he

had seen a dark object descend-

ing."If you ask me, it's one of

those rockets we've been readingabout," said Alexis. "We oughtnot to disturb it."

There was general agreement.One of the men, who had a

bicycle, was despatched to the

next village, where there was a

telephone. The village Soviet

held an informal meeting on the

spot, and decided to put a guardon the cottage until military en-

gineers could arrive from Kiev.

It was not for another forty

eight hours that the news was

issued to the world by the Tass

agency; the Russians like ampletime to consider news and the

angle from which it should be

piesented. In this case direct

action was agreed. "Pravda"

made no reference to its previouscomment-it is rare for a news-

paper in any country to admititself wrong, and it is almost un-

known in the Russian official

Press. "Pravda" now turned full

force of its considerable invective

against the assailants. Without

doubt the inhabitants of Mars

if they were the people respon-

sible-were Fascists, jealous

of the success of the

people's' republic. Yet the

people would give their

reply-in increased produc-tion, thus adding to the strengtb

of the Soviet state.

"lsvestia" followed substan-

tially the same line. Commentmust be restrained until the

rocket had been opened-therewas a suggestion that with the

greater enthusiasm of the Soviet

worker us compared with the

wage-slaves of the capitalist

states, the Russians would suc-

ceed where the British andAmericans had to date failed.

This ambition was not realised.

The honour went to that willing

home of wage slavery, U.S.A.A dramatic announcement

came from Washington early in

the Saturday evening-the spe-

cial cutting machine was nearly

through the metal covering of

the canister. The tension was

almost unbearable. Cinemasand theatres hurriedly made ar-

rangements to relay the news,

but most people preferred to stay

at home, sitting by the radio.

It was late at night when the

final announcement was rriade.

Yet in a way it was an anti-cli-

max.

. The President himself came to

the microphone. "My friends,

the rocket has been opened. 1

speak to you immediately to

calm any fears or apprehensionswhich you may have had. It

contains no explosives or other

harmful substances. The con-

tents consist pi what is evidently

a message-no more.

"It was at 9.15 p.m. this even-

ing that Professor Ulysses .H.

Gregg, of the University of Min-

nesota, and his team of experts

bored through the extraordinary

hard metal of the canister. Thecontents consisted of some rolls

of thin metallic substance not yet

identified. On this is a con-

siderable inscription, in those

same hieroglyphics which markedthe exterior.

"The preliminary suggestion of

Professor Gregg is that the metalwas used in place of any paper-

like substance, which might havebeen destroyed by the heat of the

discharge or propulsion of the

rocket.

"I need hardly tell you that the

best brains of America will be

brought to bear on the. solution

of this mysterious writing, if

writing it is. Photographs are

being sent at once to experts, and

also, of course, to the news

pi.pers. News will be issued as

available. Good-night, my

friends. You may have the

utmost confidence that what

needs to be done will be done."The editors of the Sunday

newspapers accepted the chal-

lenge. There was not muchtime. No one can ever com-

plainof the speed of American

journalism. Special supplementswere issued, with' illustrations

radioed all over the country.

The photographs of the hiero-

glyphics aroused interest, but the

ordinary man soon gave up any

attempt to decipher them. At

Washington, code experts of the

American F.B.I, worked throughthe night, without success.

Famous Egyptologists, and a man

who had deciphered some ancient

Babylonian inscriptions, also ad-

mitted failure.

Yet on .the Sunday morningWashington received a spate of

telegrams and telephone calls.

They came from professors of

geography and from master

mariners. Immediately the Sec-

retary of State, who was in

charge of the investigations,

called in experts from the NavyOffice.

For on one of,the metal sheets

was a rough drawing. At first

it was not recognised as a map

-the experts were trying to

make a picture out of it. Nowour own ordinary map of the

world is, of course, incorrect

Mercator's projection is no more

than an ingcnius method of

getting a global map on to a con-

veniently flat piece of paper.

Thus, to an observer from far

above, the land and ocean masses

of the world have a different

shape from those so familiar to

us.

The nautical experts decidedwithout hesitation that part ofthe drawing on the metal was

intended to represent the BlackSea. This prompted an obvious

turn of thought-immediatelyconfirmed by a radio message

from London. Drummond had

managed to open the Bradgaterocket, and it also contained a

drawing-immediately identified

as the true shape of the south-

western corner of North America.There was a mark on a spot

where New Mexico would be

at approximately the spot where

the American rocket fell.

Now an intelligent guess was

possible and reasonable. The

British rocket had given warningof that which fell in America:

this in its turn had warned that

one would fall in Russia, northof the Black Sea. Now the cryp

tologists were happy. With such

a clue, they could attack their

problem from a new and more

promising angle.

It was a Chinese professor of

Oriental Literature and Langu-ages who finally succeeded. He

had been on a cultural mission

to London, and was returning

home via U.S.A. His volunteered

services were willingly accepted,

for he was a man of world-

wide reputation.The Chinese professor identi-

fied what proved to be a chart

of the Solar System' with

astronomical data appended, as

well as a series of dots from

which the numerical system ofthe Martians or Moon-Men was

deduced-incidentally, it was a

duodecimal system from which

some students deduced, perhapsrashly, that the Martians (or

whoever they were) must have

six-fingered limbs.

There were other clues, too,

in the shape of diagrams with

hieroglyphic explanations. It was

as if the Martians had anticipatedthat men on the Earth mighthave difficulty in decipheringtheir message, so had providedall the assistance possible.

With endless patience, and longefforts of trial and error,

Professor Lai Kan produced the

report for which the world was

waiting. It was incomplete and

he explained that quite obviously

some of the words engravedon the metal existed in

no earthly language. Sometimesthe context made the missing

words reasonably clear, but at

times the Professor admitted that

his reading was little more than

a guess.

I reproduce his document,which is unique in history. Pro-

fessor Lai Kan could not guar-

antee the faithful translation of

every word, but the substance

was this: "Greetings to the other

globe. It has been revealed (or

ordered) by the Powerful One(or God) that the time has come

for great distances to be con-

quered. He has revealed the

way by which we may reach

the globe, our neighbour in

space.

National Library of Australiahttp://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page1019428

"Our message will arrive, for

the Powerful One has so re-

vealed. It is necessary for us

to know that our message is

understood. For this, if the

people of the other globe can-

not reach us by rocket, send

many tappings such as we some-

times hear from your globe.

Tap . . . many times, power-

fully.

"We shall continue to send

our message until we know that

it is understood. The next

rocket will fall at the spot shownon this map."

The excitement throughout the

world was tinged with relief. The

people of the other globe sent

greetings, not explosives: and

they had a god. This was

excellent. The world seemed

now on the verge of a new age.

V

WHILE Professor Lai Kan

had been active, the otherscientists ol' the world had not

been idle. One peculiar.feature of the rockets was that

their flight had not been traced

by radar.

This complex apparatus is now

in constant use, and is of an

amazing precision. In usual con-

ditions a rocket fired in Russia

and aimed at Britain, or vice

versa, could be traced through-out its flight. Now the Rus-

sians, not to be outdone byBritish and American achieve-

ments, announced that the glass-

like substance attached to the

canisters had some properties,

hitherto unknown, which con-

fused radar reception.Professor Drummond had

already commented on the other

strange feature-the compara-

tively slow fall of the canisters.

He suggested that this was caused

by rockets fired in reverse-at the

time of approaching the earth.

He had to admit, however, that

he had us yet no clue to their

type.There was a general assump-

tion throughout the earth that the

signal acknowledging receipt of

the message from the other'

world, whichever it was, would

be given.But now the whole

question had become interna-

tional, and the Secretary-Generalof United Nations very properlyconvened an emergency meeting

of the Council. From all corners

of the world, delegates flew to

New York.

At the very beginning the

American representative proposedthat the question should be con-

sidered as a world affair, and not

as that only of the States in which

rockets had fallen. This was

agreed by all countries.

Next the Council discussed the

important question of the reply.

This was a lengthy proceeding,

as each delegate had come with

a set speech and 59 nations were

represented

After three days of speeches in

which it was discovered that all

lepresenlatives were saying the

same thing in different words, the

47 delegates still unheard agreedto take their speeches as read1 hen it was formally proposedthat the signal mentioned in the

hieroglyphics should be sent

simultaneously from all the most

powerful radio stations in the

world The motion was carried

There was an air of anti-climax about the proceedings

general opinion was moving far

ahead of its leaders, and was now

awaiting the next message from

the neighbouring world

The Council, however went on

with its work in an atmosphere of

collaboration which inspired all

its members Professor Lai Kan

was asked to assist in getting

through a more explicit messageSince he had so cleverly de-

ciphered the incoming message,there was just a chance that the

other people would be clever

enough to decipher our morse

code, if it were based on their

own languageThis suggestion entailed a long

discussion on the message to be

sent The United States objectedto the phrase 'the democratic

peoples of the world' since some

of their governments were not

democratic The Russian dele-

gate moved off to a side issue,and asked that, if contributions

of any kind were obtained fromthe other world, the Soviet should

receive 51 per cent, of the total.

The British representative pro-

posed that the members of theCouncil should formally declare

that each and individually theyhad no territorial ambitions on

Mars or the Moon. This was

agreed unanimously, all the dele-

gates knowing that their expertsat home were busily engaged in

surveying such charts of the twobodies as could be obtained.

The air of unreality at the con-

ference was rudely shattered by a

speech made by Professor Drum-

mond at the annual meeting cf

the Royal Society in London.

"Our political leaders in New

York appear to assume the most

benefkent intentions on the partof our neighbours," he said "But

is there any foundation for such

an assumption? We do not yetknow whence the rockets come

"1 should warn our leaders that

we do not know nearly as much

as they assume. Life on Marsor the Moon? Yes, it's not im-

possible, but we cannot pretendto the slightest knowledge of the

form it may take. We shouldalmost certainly be wrong if we

assumed that it was the same

form as on the Earth But what

manner of people might they be?

Do they think as we do? It is

obvious that they have surpassedus in mechanical development,since they have invented an inter-

planetary rocket. It seems certainto me. by examination of the

Bradgate canister, that we are on

the verge of a new knowledgeit may be a new and uncontrol-

lable force.

'Therefore, this is no time for

bickering. Whatever awaits the

world, its people must face the

issue united as never previouslyin their history."

But the effect of Drummond's

speech on the United Nations'Council soon evaporated. Re-

lieved for the moment from the

pressing necessity for a united

decision, the members reverted

to their ancient and familiar pro-cess of wrangling, accusation, andcounter-accusation. Political

chiefs are more often in the rear

of popular thought than in ad-

vance. The imagination of the

world, fanned by the commen-

taries of Press and radio, had

been caught ? by the amazingevents of the last few . weeks.Though there was no hint of

menace in the communications

received, such was the suspenseand supicion of the moment that

nearly everyone assumed it.

There had been no real peace and

trust in the world for so longthat people had forgotten what

they were like.

The. world's radio stations

tapped off an endless series of

dots, hoping that one would

reach its destination-to date,Professor Lai Kan had failed tofit the heiroglyphics to any .adap-

tation of the Morse code. Then

millions of people waited for a

reply.

Military opinion in all coun-

tries was gravely "disturbed.Pressed by their governments foradvice, the generals had to admitthat they had no plans for inter-planetary warfare. The poli-ticians hopefully referred againto the pacific character of the

messages.The reply, when it came, was

a shock for the military experts.

Consulting their scientific ad-visers, they declared that it wouldbe possible to construct rocketsto reach Mars or the Moon. Butthj next canister to arrive came

down in Bradgate Park, within a

mile of the first! Such accuracyover a range of millions of mileswas disconcerting, particularly as

launching ground and targetwere rotating and travellinground the sun at different speeds.

Professor Lai Kan, now inNew York, had gathered a small

team of experts about him. They

studied the original hieroglyphicshour by hour, to such good pur-pose that they were able to trans-late the new message on the verydate that it was transmitted tothem. Again some words were

doubtful, but fortunately they didno*, affect the sense of the com-

munication."Your . . . had been heard,

as the Powerful One had re-

vealed, and our message has beenunderstood by the people of yourglobe.

"Now it is possible to state our

purpose in sending our message,which is the first of many. Thereis on our globe an element. The

lines of its spectrum are-"

(Here was included a sketched

outline of a spectrum with well

defined, lines.)

"On our globe there is little of

this element, but on yours there

is much, for we have seen its

marks in the broken light." (i.e.

the spectrum.)

"The Powerful. One has re-

vealed to our wise men that this

element can be used, with the

substance that eats itself, to cure

the wasting disease. Thus we

need much. We shall need all

this element on your globe.

"Prepare to collect this ele-

ment, and we will notify to your

globe of the way it can be sent

to us. Say that you have re-

ceived this message by tapping

again .. ."

'

Professor Lai Kan handed his

interpretation to a noted Ameri-

can scientist, who studied its

details and spectrum markings.

"Gosh!" he explained. "That's

put the cat among thepigeons!

They want all the gold iu the

world!"

VI

PROFESSORLAI KAN

had the easiest task of any

member of the conspiracy. He

certainly should have been able

to read the hieroglyphics,since

he invented them!

1 had been one of the busiest

members. Indeed, long before

Drummond's plans were completeI was the first to get into action.

My task was to preparethe

minds of the people well in ad-

vance-to make them receptive

to ideas about other planets. To

this end I stimulated articlesin

the popular Press all over the

world. I revived old contro-

versies about canals on Mars

and even the unexplained white

streaks on the Moon. I got

books like Wells's "War of the

Worlds" and the American"scientifiction" pulp magazines

reissued in most countries, includ-

ing Russia. And 1 prompted a

film so that it appeared at exactly

the right moment.

Many people will have noted

that a casual stroke of luck will

-if its timing be opportune

prove as beneficial as weeks of

effort. This was my experience.

My publicity was going quite

well, probably because the world

was satiated with international

animosities, and wearied with the

miscalled ."cold war" between

U.S.A. and U.S.S.R. Then in

Washington, U.S.A., on June 24,

1947, a man reported that he had

seen nine bright objects "as if

nickel plated," about 10,000 feet

up, and moving at 1,200 miles an

hour. Within a few days many'

other-people in other parts of

North America saw these ob

The American Press, with its

genius for dramatisation, labelled

the new phenomenon the "Flying

Saucer," and turned away from

the Russian veto problems with

great relief. Once a story has

been started, it grows like a roll-

ing snowball. Soon "flying

saucers" were.

seen from Den-

mark to Mexico.Naturally, I was very inter«

National Library of Australia http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page1019434

ested in this phenomenon, so

admirably suited to my purpose.

I sought advice from scientific

friends. A professor of physi-

ology at Sydney University car-

ried out some experiments withhis class. The students went in-

to the open and concentratedtheir gaze on a fixed ¿joint in the

sky while standing perfectly still.

When questioned individually,

they declared they 'had seen

bright oval objects, which seemedto be moving rapidly-in effect,

"flying saucers." But th& profes-sor concluded: "They saw anddrew what I expected. The

'objects' seen were due to the

effect of the red blood corpuscles

passing in front of the retina."

Yet, for one person who readof this experiment, a hundredthousand perused

the more sen-

sational accounts of the appear-ance of more "flying saucers."

Several clergymen, mostly Ame-

ricans, announced that the end of

the world was at hand, and one

section of the American Press

hinted darkly at Russian machi-nations. The Russians them-

selves sneered at the whole thing:

such hallucinations were fortu-

nately not possible in a Socialist

Soviet state. However, rumour

again demonstrated its power of

crossing any frontier, and at

length came reports from Soviet

Asia: there "flying saucers" had

not only been seen, but had

caused considerable damage!Scarcely a country of the worldescaped the rumours, many of

which had ample corroborative

detail of the usual circumstantial

kind.

A dozen countries instituted en-

quiries, that in U.S.A. beingespecially keen. All concludedthat the stories were without any

real basis of fact. As always,these disclaimers received onlyone-hundredth part of the origi-

nal publicity in the popularPress. Thereafter, if I needed

?

any distraction, I had only to re-

vive the "flying saucer" yarn, and

immediately hundreds of "wit-

nesses" were available to spreadthe tale.

In more serious circles, my task

of making the people of the

world universe-conscious was

aided by a brilliant young Frenchprofessor, Albert Ducrocq, whotook out an international patentfor an aircraft engine for inter- ,

planetary flight! His "astronof"was no ordinary rocket, but re-

sembled a gigantic spinning topweighing 3,000 tons! It was tobe driven by three gigantic pro

pellants driven by atomic energy,and would carry enough fuel for

a journey to Mars and backagain. His scheme was no fly-

ing saucer fantasy, but a productof the French Academy of

Science, which is no paradise for

the charlatan, but a serious and

practical scientific institution.

Ducrocq was working quite inde-

pendently of Drunvnond's group,but inadvertently he made a veryvaluable contribution to my partof the scheme.

A little later three AustralianGovernment scientists reportedthat they had emitted a powerfulradio signal, and bad received

back "brittle and compact echoes"

from' the moon. This was notm

the first contact with "the moon:'

on January 10th, 1946, U.S.

Army Signal Corps engineers re-

ported echoes from the moon,

and announced new experimentswhereby the moon was to be

used to bounce back television

signals which cannot normally betransmitted long distances be-

tween stations. The Australians

and the .Americans both under-stand publicity, and all these

events worked usefullyinto my

scheme. At home, officials of the

British Interplanetary Society,

which has done a great deal of

valuable preparatory experiment,forecast that guided missiles

would reach the moon by 1950.

This announcement appeared be-

fore the first rocket arrived, and

popular estimates immediatelybecame far more optimistic in

their timing.

Taken by and large, I was

reasonably satisfied. People were

wearied of the interminable

wrangling of the politicians, and

escapist conjectures were a boon.

Keen editors saw this at a very

early stage, making my prepara-

tory task simple. Thereafter my

principal problem was that of

exact timing.

Pontivy,. on the other hand,claimed in the earlier stages that

he had-not enough to do. Drum-

mond was too sure of himself,

he complained, and one day hewould come a cropper. Drum-,mond certainly carried all the

risks. He had to select his. con-

federates-in other lands, and one-

mistake would be fatal to the

whole scheme.

Of course, he had the advan-tage of. his own wide prestige,

and of his intimate knowledge of

his contemporaries. "1 shall let

very few into the secret," he said,

"but the few must be top-rankers,

so that their opinion will be re-

spected."

"We need at least one in eachmajor country,"

"Yes.""What about Russia?" Pontivy

asked.

"There's Bogulov-I've met

him at international conferences..

He's not a politician-he's a

scientist.' And he's so big that

no government dare touch him."

As events progressed, and the

scheme began to take shape,Drummond had to extend his

original plan."We shall have to take in a

few more people," he announced."We still need something to coun-

ter radar, for example. 1 know

that Ronaldson, of Yale, is on

to something. We must get himto give it to us instead of to his

government-or, at least, in ad-

dition to his government.""I don't like* this," said Pon-

tivy. 'Too many people know.""It can't be helped. And I'm

choosing them very carefully.

m

There'll have to be more. I

" need some money.""Ah!" Pontivy was silent for a

moment. Then: "Drummond,1 have faith in this scheme of

ours. I believe that it couldpreserve the peace of the world.

I am not a rich man, but I have

been careful-I am of Gascon

blood, is it not, and the Gasconsare the Scots of France. So my

savings for my old age-well, ? I

do not want an old age. I will

remain active, and die in the

harness. So...

"

"Papa, that's grand of you, andI appreciate it immensely. But

I wouldn't think of it."

"I tell you ...""And the sums I want are big.

'I've already spent a hundredthousand pounds of my own."

"What! A hundred thousand

pounds!""Yes. I've had to work out

some new rockets. The.experi-ments were expensive-and so

were the tests."

"But-suppose someone got to

know ..."'

"They won't. I sent my

laboratory team to Greenland.They won't be disturbed by spies

there! But it did mean fitting out

quite an expedition.""I've got it, Drummond," I

said. "The Munroe expedition

studying meteorology.""That's it-that's mine," he

chuckled. "Well, that's very

nearly cleaned me 'out. And

now 1 want a ship."

"A ship?"'

"Yes. A good-sized one anda stout one, too, with specialworks. You see, these rockets

have to be accurate-I don't want

them dropping in towns. I'maiming at wide and open spaces,

but not too far away frompeople. So I don't want to use

the rockets at extreme range.

I've worked out a recoil appara-

tus-they can be discharged froma ship."

"But.the men . .." Pontivy in-

sisted.

"We can hand-pick them.

TherS are men who can keep a

secret, you know.'

And, for-

tunately, there are plenty of men

who will take a risk for the peaceof the world. No, the ship s the

difficulty. How shall we raise

the cash?""The stock method-a benevo-

lent millionaire?"

"No. He usually wants

publicity."

"Wait!" said Pontivy, dramati-cally. "I have a plan."

"Good. What is it?"

"I do not trust your benevo-lent millionaires. And 1 have

often pondered how 'I would

raise à really large sum of

money. Last week a friend came

over from the. Deuxième Bureau

to consult me. He gave me

an idea-but he does not

know that," ,

"Yes, but what is the idea?"

"It is better' that you shouldnot know."

I knew what that meant-thatPontivy's idea involved something

illegal.His plans were seldom

orthodox, and rules and regula-tions meant little to him

accepted conventions even less.

Pontivy disappeared next dayand we did not hear from him

till a fortnight had passed.Drummond and I were sitting in

my house at Harrow: it was late

in the evening. Drummond was

in a happy mood. The week

before he had made a flying

visit to America to discuss

schemes with confederates there.

He was so full of his success

that he mentioned neither money

nor Pontivy.

Suddenly the old man entered

-I did not even hear him at

the door.

"Here is your money, Drum-mond," he said. "I had to hide

it from the Customs people, but

it is all there."

He opened his rather dis-

reputable bag, and produced his

old-fashioned nightshirt. Hold-

ing it by the shoulders, he shookit gently. Banknotes began to

fall out of it-American dollar

bills of high denomination. Ia

a minute the hearth-rug was

covered.

"Count them," said PapaPontivy. 'There should be half

a million dollars there!"

vn

(Contributed by Papa P.ontivy)

FIGUREto yourself, this

business was like no otherthat I ever knew. I hayecaught spies-it has been said

that 1 have caught more spies

than anybody else in the world.

My cases have led me into

many strange situations: I have

had to pretend to be all sorts

of people. Once I was a Germansoldier-no, twice or three times

I have been a German soldier

sometimes an officer. Once in

England I was an actor-and the

audience liked me, too. Often

I have imagined that I missedmy real vocation.

And now, in this affair, I find

myself involved not in catching

spies, but in deceiving the world.

I have done it before in a small

way, to get my man, but this

was colossal. And, imagine it,

if anything went wrong, there

will be trouble-even I, who am

not afraid of trouble, appreciatedthat.

However. I see everything to

commend Drummond's plan, and

when I have faith I fear nothing.

Drummond is an amazing man.

Some of his traits are not

pleasant-he tries to be too

masterful and gives too many

orders. But there is no doubt

about this-he is the greatestscientist alive to-day. What is

more, he is often very practical,

though sometimes he does not

take my advice.

Now I agreed with his idea

for stopping war-in a way, I

suggested it, with my discovery

National Library of Australia http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page1019436

of Mr. Eden's speech. I do not

like war. Any war in Europeis bound to touch French soil,

and in a modern war the win-

ners also loose. So I appreciated

Drummond's argument, that the

world mush choose the way of

Science or the way of Death.

Assuredly the politicians had

failed. But without scientists,

the politicians could not make

war. Therefore, scientists must

control the politicians. That is

logic, and I am always logical.

War is a. curse and a miseryto all people, especially to the

French, on whose soil the battle

is fought. But there are just a

few who profit by it; sometimesthey are the people of no

country, who are traitors to all.

Now Drummond and 1 pro

poiîd to strike a blow againstwar. Who should finance us

but the people who had made

money out of war?Perhaps the idea came to me

a .few weeks earlier when a

former pupil of mine, Thierry,

came over to consult me on a

case. He is now a big shot at

the Surete Generale, but he

never forgets his old master. I

settled his line of action for him,and then he went on to tell me

of his other recent cases-he had

been specially assigned to the

tracing of collaborators.

One history annoyed me.

There was a man who went bythe name of Alexandre. It was

easy to prove that he hadworked with the Germans,and that he had been well

rewarded. But when Thierryarrested him, Alexandre calmlyannounced that he was an Arme-

nian, a Turkish citizen. My*

blood boiled as I heard the story-and when I heard that Alex-

andre was now living in luxurious

retirement at Monaco.

"Forget the collaboration," I

said. "The courts by this time

are inflicting very light sentences,

anyway. But in this man's career

there must be incidents-singleincidents. Can you not work on

one of these?"

"You are right, Papa," he re-

plied-hecalls me Papa now,

twenty years ago, when I taught

him his job, I was M. Pontivy.

"I thought of that. My men are

still looking at the case from that

angle. The man has been very

clever. If there was dirty work

"There must have been dirty

work.""He let other people do It.

There is only one possibility. I

came across it almost by acci-

dent. I was trying to trace a

known collaborator named Mon

tigny. I failed. Then one morn-

ing he was fished out of the Seine,

though, mark you, he was dead

before he was thrown into it."

"This was when?"

"Only about three months ago.

At first I thought that some

patriot had done our job for us;

but, of course, 1 had to make in-

quiries. They were desultory,

perhaps-until they led to Alex-

andre. Montigny had been a fre-

quent visitor to Alexandre's flat.

Then, only last week, I found an

old women who had been a

domestic of Alexandre's. She re-

membered Montigny very well.

What is more, she said that there

had been quarrels between the

two men, about money-sharingout the spoil, 1 expect."

"My dear Thierry, this is good.Now you can act."

"No, I can't at the moment.

The evidence isn't complete, andthe old woman has gone down

with typhoid fever. However, Iam now hopeful-there is a lot

to prove, but I will do it."

"Good man!"

It is understood, I was encour-

aged to find that my exampleand

training had had such goodeffects. Then I forgot about the

matter, for it is essential to clearthe mind of details which can

enc,umber its workings. Butwhen Drummond said- thathe needed money, figure

'

toyourself the cause and effect.

Who should pay for this cam-

paign against war? Why, natuially, this man Alexandre, who

had enriched himself on war.

That was logical.

Thus I went over to Paris andsaw Thierry, to collect from himall the details about the Alex-andre case. I went to the hos-

pital, where the doctors andnurses tried to keep me awayfrom the domestic who had the

typhoid. While they were en-

quiring, I put on a white jacketand wenc into the ward, and

when they came back to the wait-

ing room to tell me that I mightnot visit the ward, I had alreadybeen in. To satisfy the nurse inthe ward, I felt the domestic's

pulse and carried out other odd-ments of medical foolery; then I

talked quickly, and came out. It

was all very satisfactory.The old woman confirmed

what Thierry said about the

quarrel between Alexandre and

Montigny. I asked when Mon-

tigny was last at Alexandre's flat:

she said that she did not remem-

ber, but that Robert would prob-ably know. So I went to see

Robert, who was the concierge of

the block of flats.

Such people bave, a very goodmemory-it pays them-andRobert was a useful type. Hewas obviously venal, so 1 did notreveal my official status-indeed,I am not sure if I have any, to-

day, in France. So I hinted thatI was a black market operator

with a suggestion of blackmailoh, my word, I judged my man

correctly!Before he agreed to remember,

he wanted to discuss his shareof the spoils. 1 promised himone-third of what 1 got, but he

insisted on a hundred thousandfrancs in advance.

However, 1had come prepared for this. My

man Thierry had recently been

engaged on a forgery case, andshowed me part of his haul.

While he was not looking, I bor

rowed a bundle of notes. These

I used to pay this rascal Robert.

The scheme was clever, was it

not? He would now be arrested

as a forger, and get the prison

he so well deserved-and he

would not daie tell how he had

got the notes.

Robert said that he remem-

bered well hearing the quarielbetween Montigny and Alex-

andre, for he had gone up with

the lift and both men were shout-

ing. But the interesting feature

was this-that Montigny did not

come out immediately. Instead,

he stayed in Alexandre's flat until

after dark. Now that was un-

usual. When a man quarrels, he

usually! leave the place quickly,

while he is still in temper. But

this Montigny, he stayed for

several hours. And when he left

he was drunk!

The concierge described how

Montigny had to be supported tothe car by Alexandre and his

chauffeur. He was flopping

about, like a man completelydrunk. Now I was happy. Com-

paring dates, I found that this

was the last occasion when Mon-

tigny was seen. I was quite cer-

tain that the concierge saw bimdead.

This information was well

worth the hundred thousand

forged francs. Now I took the

train to the south with a gladheart.

I reached Monaco, and verysoon traced my man Alexandre.He offended me, so opulent in

his luxury. However, first I

studied his chauffeur. It was

necessary that I should talk with

him. I did not know the Monaco

police, but in neighbouring Men-tone I found a friend.

Then i( was easily arranged. I

chose Mentone because the chauf-feur had a lady friend there. He

was a good drinker and carried

it easily, but one night he musthave drunk something more

stronger than usual. When he

came to his senses next morninghe found himself in a cell, chargedwith being drunk and disorderly,

and with assaulting a policeofficer. This latter is a serious

crime.I tried to make him talk, but

the conditions were not favour-

able. However, when I mentionedMontigny he was frightened, and

that was good enough for me.

I prepared to whisker the lion

in his den.

Now comes the most amazingpart of my history. 1 sent in a

card with a false name to M.

Alexandre. His secretary said

that he was busy and could notsee me, so then I wrote "Sent

by Robert" on another card. Fiveminutes later I was in Alexandre'sprivate rooms.

Luxury! That is not the word!

I perceived that I should bave

been a gangster, not a policeman.

Undoubtedly I should have been

a success.

However-for Newman tells

me that I have written enough

.-I will continue. I measured

up'my man very rapidly, for I

saw that he was not only sur-

prised, but apprehensive.

"M. Alexandre," I said

boldly, "I know how Monu'gny

died."

"Who is Montigny?""You know. The concierge

at Paris was observant. Andlast night your chauffeur drank

too much and talked too much

-he is now in gaol at Mentone."

"Weil?""You wish mc to denounce

you to the police?""Don't you belong to the poli«

yourself, M. Pontivy?"

I was 'staggered-I admit it;

I have seldom been so surprised.

"You know me?" I said.

"Who does not know the great

M. Pontivy?"-that is what he

called rae. "But this is peculiar

-why haVe you not brought a

. local policeman to arrest me?"

"I have not come to arrest

you," I said. "I have Come to

save you-I no longer hayean

official position in France." ,

'

."What? M. Pontivy is a black-

mailer!""Yes. It will cost you half

a million dollars."

"Quite cheap," he- said-by

this time he had recovered his

calm, and I saw that he was in-

deed a formidable villain. 'But

tell me," he went on, "how do

you find yourself in this racket?

"I do not need the money for

myself," 1 said, with dignity.

"But 1 and some friends have a

project for abolishing war, and

it needsmoney.

You have made

your money from war, so it is

only fair that you should finance

us.", ,

"And if I don't pay?" he asked.

"You know the alternative.

The police would love to offer,

you their hospitality-for a bnet

period."

"Well, I'm caught," he said

I admit to surprise that he capi-

tulated so quickly, before I had

even got my heavy weapons ra

action. "I'll pay, on one con-

dition.

"That is7"

"For some weeks I have been

thinking that the air of France

is not as healthy as it used to be.

Maybe South America would

suit me better. There is an air

service from Marseilles the day

after to-morrow. My condition

is that you remain here until i

arrive-that is, for three day*.

My flat is comfortable, as you

see; my chef is excellent, and my

secretary is young and charming.

You will,of course, give me your

word to say nothing."

This seemed reasonable-and,

after years of English cooking,

three days with a real Frenen

cuisine sounded Very attractive.

"And the money?" i asked.

£That is available. You wrt

clever to talk in dollars,M. ron

tivy.The franc to-day is almo«

worthless, and even the pound»

National Library of Australiahttp://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page1019431

shaky, but the dollar is almost

almighty I am glad that >ou

agree with my judgment-I have

accumulated a considerable re-

serve for emergencies-in dol

lars There should be enoughfor both of us-and, naturally,

1 have other resources abroad

Really1 ought to thank you for

making up my mind'

I tell you, I was surprised It

is understood I have a little ex-

perience of blackmail, from

several angles, but I never met a

man quite so cool He mighthave been expecting me

However, I was to get the

money-ind, as the French

police had no firm chargeagainst him, there was no'legalreason why he should not go to

South America So I agreed to

slay in his flat for three days,and to say nothing

Alexandre paid over half a

million dollars in thousand dol-

lar notes-he did not seem tobe concerned, probably, as hesaid, he had plenty more Then

he commended me to the care

of his chef and his secretary The

man wascivil, I had to admit

M Alexandre," I said "1carne here prepared to dislike

you,for jour actions have not

teen to the benefit of France

I am not a Frenchman, M

Pontivy l owe nothing toFrance

"

Everybody owes something toFrance" I insisted 'However,we will let that pass 1 admit

'hat you have proved more

accommodating than I anticipa-ted"

I was expecting j ou," he

smiled 'Not you, M Pontivy-you least of all But someone

»ilh vour idea It has been a

pleasure to deal with you One

normally expects a more brutal

tvpe with whom it is necessaryto take decisive measures 1

was quite prepared for that Had

>ou been an ordinary black-

mailer, you would not be alive

at this stage of the proceedings^ou are quite different, M Pon-

tivy 's. ou are no common black-

mailer You do not ask the

money for yourself, but for your

pacifist organisation That in

terestcd me at once Had you

come to me directly without any

hints about the unfortunate Mon

tigny, 1 would have subscribed

heavily to your society"

What'" I cried, almost bewil

dered But, M Alexandre-youhave made millions out of war

"

'

Exactly That is why 1 sub

scribe heavily to pacifist or

ganisations They are the best

promoters of war They exist

only m certain countries, where

they weaken the will of the

people. This encourages aggres-

sor countries, and so makes war

inevitable. Your idea seems more

piomising than any I have yet

encountered, M. Pontivy. Should

you need any further subscrip-

tion pray do not fail to let me

know."This shook me! I, Papa Pon-

tivy, confess it. Newman, too,

was disturbed when I told him.But Drummond smiled-he has

an aggravating grin which implieswithout words that he is right and

you arc wrong. Sometimes 1 find

it very annoying."Perhaps your friend is right,"

he said. "But we are not a

pacifist organisation. On the con-

trary, we are going lo lead the

world into a war!"

vin

WE had had considerablediscussion as to the first

demand to be made on. theworld.

By an easy majority, Drum-monds scientist friends agreedthat people could' be more

touched and disturbed by a sug

gestionthat they

must give up. their gold than

by any other ap-

proach. Gold is

not as sacred as

it used to be, but

its prestige is still

very high.Drummond's argument was

emphatic. The two nations most

difficult to arouse and reconcile

were America and Russia. Both

of these were singularly touchyabout gold. U.S.A., by its strange

economic policy of selling abroadbut not buying, had gradually

accumulated more than half the

gold in the world. It was quite

useless-most of it had lain for.

years in the cellars of Fort Knox

-but it was held to be a vital

asset. In the event of a slump,these tons of yellow metal were

-no one knew how-to effect a

magic rescue of America from

economic distress.

The Russians were also very

interested in gold. They, too,

had accumulated considerable

stocks-not as a result of inter-

national -trade,- but from their

own mines. They had published

no production figures since 1926,

but all that time gold to the

value of fifty million pounds was

being mined annually. Verylittle of this' had been put into

circulation. The bulk had been

retained for a major emergency:it was a national reserve, esti-

mated at more than a thousandmillion pounds. Now, to make

good war damage, millions of

poundsin gold were being re-

leased to U.S.A. for the purchaseof essential machinery. Thus the

Russian Government would ob-

ject very strongly to giving up its

precious and long-accumulatedstore.

Britain, though not so deeply

committed, since a great part of

its gold reserve had been sacri-

ficed to the demands of war

most of it lies in Fort Knoxstill valued gold very highly, and

was pathetically anxious to con-

serve its small remaining stocks

.-which weic, in effect, the re-

serve for the whole sterling area.

This applied to almost everyother solvent country

Thus the decision was a goodone. Gold is a universal com-

modity. Nothing else would so

arouse general opposition-orunity-against the people who

demanded it.

Drummond added a clever

touch, too, in suggesting that the

Martians or Moon-Men-we had

deliberately left this issue open

-wanted the gold as a cure for

the "wasting disease"

This

might mean tuberculosis, but a

famous doctor-a friend of ours

-suggested that cancer was more

probably indicated, in view of

the differentatmospheric con

d i t i o n s. This

prompted a new

spate of discus-

sion. If the Mar-

tians or Moon

Men could find a

cure for cancer or tuberculosis

involving the use of gold, whycouldn't we?

So, within a few days of the

arrival of the second Bradgaterocket, the bulk of the people in

most of the leading countries

had been worked up into a stateof righteous indignation at the

suggestion that they should give

up their gold.

1 have not detailed the inter-

vening record of events, and a

brief sketch should be sufficient.

It could begin with Pontivy's re-

turn from France, and the drama-

tic emptying of half a million

dollars from the folds of his

nightshirt.

His story lost nothing in the

telling, and the old man beamed

in our approbation. A few min-utes later Drummond was on the

telephone, dictating a cable.

Twelve hours later a man in

New York reported that he had

quietly bought from the U.S.

Government a light monitor ship,

built for the Normandy invasion.1

It was admirably suited to the

purpose. Already fitted to take

the recoil of a six-inch gun, it

needed little more than a streng-

thening of its decks to be able

to sustain the discharge of Drum-

mond's new projectile. I do not

propose to give technical details

of this: it was powered by roc

kets on a completely new prin-

ciple, and its recoil was quite

moderate. My record has already

indicated the remarkable degreeof accuracy with which it couldbe fired.

1 am no technician, but 1 was

filled with wonder at the ingenuity

of some of the devices which

Drummond and his associates re-

vealed. 1 emphasise"his asso-

ciates." Drummond was not the

actual inventor of more than a

fraction of the mechanisms which

we used throughout our cam-

paign: many of them were pro-duced by foreign scientists who,once they had adopted his idea,

gave of their brains without stint.

Drummond himself was the or-

ganiser and executant of the plan.

Gradually he built up a smallteam of scientists always at hand

to work on new ideas: in diffi-

culty, they would appeal to au-

thorities in most countries of the

world.

1 was much inspired by the

way in which secrecy was main-

tained. Pontivy, of course,claimed the credit, but actuallyhe was only concerned to a minordegree. Drummond, naturally,had chosen his men very care-

fully, for one loose tongue mighthave revealed the entire scheme.

Instead, I used these men

in my own publicity campaign.They wrote articles for the popu-lar Press, commenting astutely on

the rockets-and, of course,

directing the thoughts of the

people in the required direction.

Thus, when we flew over to

New York to attend the speciallyconvened meeting of the General

Council of the United Nations

Drummond had been invited as

scientific adviser-1 was reason-

ably happy and confident. Drum-

mond, however, was unusually

moody.-.

"I've been thinking over that

man of Pontivy's," he said at

length. "A war profiteer-andyet he backs pacifist societies."

"We can beat him."

"We must beat him. We can't

afford to fail. Ordinary peoplearc short-sighted and apathetic,

but men like this are dangerous.They will oppose' us-in their

own way, which can be subtle."

Book Two of Fly

ing Saucers will ap-

pear next week with

The Sunday Herald.

Printed and publlihod by John Fairfax * Som Pty. Limitad at th. r.glit.rtd effie. »I th. Company. 38 Hunt.r Slraaf, Sydn.y.

National Library of Australiahttp://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page1026000

FLYING SAUCERS,

^BERNARD NEWMAN .BOOK TWOAuthor of "The Mussolini Murder Plot," "The Spy In The Brown Derby," etc.

SYNOPSISPROFESSOR DRUMMOND,'

a famous scientist, andhis Mends the author and

Pana Pontivy, a Frenchdetective, believed that the

morid could attain peace onlyii it unüed against a com-

mon threat. Drummond

oraanised other scientists

and a plan to defeat war

ttasdeveloped.

Soon rockets landed in

various parts of the planet

and messages sent with

tUm demanded the ivorld's

nala Frantic nations, un-

aware that they were being

hoaxed, believed implicitly

that the missiles came from11

floney for Drummond's

ulan luas provided by Pontivy

who blackmailed Alexandre,

o war-profiteer. Alexandre

did not know the details of

the plot.

r

IX

'HE Americans know how io

cater for Press and radio

requirements,but every facili

ity was overstrained when the

United Nations representatives

gathered for their fateful meet-

ing. Radio networks were cleared

for special minute to minute

commentaries. _

The preliminarieswere brier,

und very soon the President of

ihc General Council had called

upon the American spokesmanto open the proceedings.

He began by recapitulating the

events of the pastfew weeks;

tlien carne to his main theme

the demand for the world's gold.

"if anyone ever doubted the

serious character of these mes

bigcs,all doubts are now dis-

solved.There are people

who

iiailed with delight the prospects

if communication with another

i/orld. Now its inhabitants aro

uvealcd as gangsters or bank

obbers.

"Gold is not merely a precious

."étal. It is-the life-blood of

i> orld trade, on which human life

ucpends.If this demand were

met, the world would relapse into

some primitiveform of barter, to

the conditions of the Stone Age.i M j

Government is of the opinion

that the demand should be firmly

resisted.

"I understand that we may now

\ be able to open- communication

with these Martians or Moon

Men whoever they may be. Their

language has been deciphered,thanks to the skill of Professor

Lai Kan. They must not be

lightly regarded. Their scientific

achievements are phenomenal.They have solved problems of

inter-planetary communicationwhich have hitherto defied us.

They are not merely clever

scientists, but very intelligentmen.

"I am now informed that the

latest rocket to fall in Englandcontains further clues. In fact,the Martians-for so our Scienti-

fic Commission informs me theyare more likely to be-have

worked out a morse code of

their own. It seems certain thal

they were able to hear the radto

transmissions from some of the

American stations, the most

powerful in the world. Thus,using this code, we can now replyto the Martian challenge con-

tained in their rocket. Our reply,in my opinion, should be

emphatic."The Peruvian representative ad-

vised caution. Maybe there was

no challenge. Maybe the Mar-

tians knew more than we

suspected of world conditions-,it was significant that rockets

had fallen in Europe and North

America, but none in the Repub-lics of South America, where ii

was well known that man lived

in peace, prosperity, and con-

tentment, and where justice for

all prevailed. Was not any in-

ference to be drawn from this'/

Such an argument, if de-

veloped, might prejudice our

scheme; there are always plentyof people only too anxious to be

persuaded to do nothing. I was

not surprised to see Drummond

scribble out a note, which was

passed to me. At the lunch

interval I missed my meal. In-

stead, I rushed to a small but

powerful, radio installation main-tained by one of our members.

In code 1 gave instructions to the

commander of our frigate, lyina

out in the Atlantic.At the afternoon session, the

Russian delegate began along

familiar lines, emphasising the

Soviet Union's loyalty to the

letter and spirit of the UnitedNations Covenant, so often ig-nored by other non-democratic

States. He referred to previousefforts of the capitalist-pluto-cracies to drive the Soviet Union

and its friends out of the UnitedNations. This introduction was

accepted in the spirit in which

it was offered-as a formal and

inevitable preamble.He continued: 'The Soviet

people, by the sweat of their

brows, have accumulated a stockof gold. Many times their

leaders have been tempted to use

it, for it could have alleviated

many of the sufferings of our

people. As it was, not even in

the darkest days of the Fascist

onslaught was the gold reserve

substantially touched. Instead,

by their own efforts and uniquesufferings the Soviet peoples have

hurled back the German andJapanese invaders, thereby in-

curring the gratitude of the

world. Is this gold reserve,maintained against Hitler, to.be

surrendered to a mere rocket?

Rather than submit, the Soviet

peoples would suffer again, as

they alone know how."

The British Foreign Secretary

intervened. He pointed out, with

unusual mildness and under-state

ment, that part of the debate was

beside the point. What delegateshad to consider was the reply to

the Martian demand. "For our

part, we are not much Interested

in gold. Our reserve is small

unlike the Russians, we preferred

to part with our gold rather than

to incur further sufferings for our

people. Our economy no longer

depends upon a precious metal,

but upon something more pre-cious-the industry and skill of

our people.

"Nevertheless, we take this de-

mand very seriously. Whateverour own views, we recognise that

gold is the basis of a wide share

of world economy. This, blasted

by two world wars, is in no con-

dition to withstand another ab-

rupt dislocation.

"Even more important to H.M.Government, is the question of

principle. And it seems to us that

present question is one of prin-ciple. The demand may be

only the first of many. Even if

we met it, what guarantee have

we? None. So our advice to the

Assembly is-no gold.

"At all costs we must be

united. Any division or weaknesswould be fatal. We can learn

from recent history as well as

from ancient. Had the demo-cratic peoples stood firmly side

by side in 1939 there would havebeen no Hitler war." (Loud ap-

plause from all except the Russian

bloc.) "On behalf of H.M. Gov-ernment, I pledge the support ofBritain to any action the Assem-

bly may decide on."

BUTfew other speakers of the

day reached this common

sense viewpoint. The debate

looked like rambling and repeat-ing itseli for weeks. Each dele-

gate carried a bulky manuscript,and was determined to be heard.

One journal succinctly referred

to their activities as "Nero

fiddling while Rome burned."

Drummond had some misgiv-

ings about the action 1 had

ordered on receipt of his note.

They so overpowered him that atlast he went to the radio-tele-

phone, spoke to the frigate, and

substituted new orders. A con-

siderable time would be lost, butthat was unavoidable. Anyway,witb the debate dragging, timedid not seem the essence of the

contract.

BRILLIANT NEW MYSTERY NOVEL FREE WITH "THE SUNDAY HERALD"

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Three more days elapsed.

Public opinion was aghast at

the folly of the little men who

called themselves the leaders of

the peoples. Drummond's own

comment was apt: "This argu-

ment reveals not what we have

done, but how much we have to

do. Where is the frigate?"

"Reported at midday,'

400miles west of Ireland."

"Good. Then the message

about the next rocket shouldcome in during the night."

"Early morning I should say."

"Better still. Order the frigate

to turn about at once-the supplyship can meet her off the

Bahamas to refuel her. We must

force the pace-give these

people no time to think."

"They wouldn't use it, any-

way."

"Maybe not. It is quite obvi-

ous that we shall haVe to shockthem into action. The frigate

should be in position by the time

the vote is taken."

The following day of the

crucial Assembly meeting, at

which it had been assumed, if not

decided, that the Martians were

the activists in the scare, saw a

considerable advance in ideas.

As the President pounded his

gavel, the British Foreign Minis-ter rose.

"Mr. President, before the gen-eral debate is resumed, I have an

announcement of some impor-tance. In the early hours of this

morning a new rocket fell on the

same site in tho centre of Eng-land. With the facilities now

available, it was rapidly opened.I have so far received only a

resume of its message. It em-

phasises that no reply has yetbeen received to its request for

the world's gold. It encloses a

copy, in case the previous com-

munication miscarried, and also

a copy of the code to be used in

reply. There is also an indica-

tion that another and importantrocket will be despatched shortly.

The usual map is enclosed. Ourexperts have provisionally identi-

fied the spot. It appears to beon the eastern shore of Lake

Popacaca, in .Bolivia: if my

memory does not mislead me,

this is not too far from the re-

public of Peru."

All eyes were turned on theunfortunate Peruvian delegate,

who must have cursed "his rash-

ness in making an unqualified

prophesy. I noted that Drum-

mond was surveying the Assem-

bly with some anxiety. He ap-

peared relieved at its reactions.

A rocket in Peru itself mighthave been a little too obvious

poetic justice, but on the other

hand it was logical to expect one

somewhere in South America.

"So far as I know, the special

apparatus for cutting through therocket does not exist in Bolivia,"

the British representative con-

tinued. "May I suggest, there-

fore, Mr. President, that the Boli-

vian Government should be re-

questedto have the rocket de-

spatched here by air immediatelyit has been located."

There was general agreement,and a member of the Bolivian

.delegation hurried out to make

;the necessary arrangements.

The next few days of the

Assembly meeting were almost a

farce. Everybody was waiting

for the Bolivian rocket-it was

significant of ( the force of our

scheme that nobody doubted that. the rocket would arrive. It did.

I was rather amused, in my

background scat. Here were the

great men of the world, jitteryin

their anxiety to know what mes-

sage the rocket contained, while

I knew all the time! 1 had heardDrummond's instructions to our

man on the frigate: "The timehas come to use Pian D." I

knew Plan D very well; I bad

helped to work it out, on the

non-technical side.

A flash from Bolivia: the roc-

ket had arrived, within a mileof the indicated site. Army en-

gineers were standing by: in a

few hours the rocket was ex-

tracted, loaded on an aircraft,

and was speeded to the north.

Drummond and Professor LaiKan awaited its arrival with due

seriousness.

Since neither of them at that

time was an official delegate,scientists not having the same im-portance as politicians, they couldnot report direct to the Assembly.The President thereupon askedthe Secretary-General to read

their report.

"Professor Drummond states

that the rocket is of the same

type as previously used but,

striking a rock on landing, was

more badly damaged. However

its contents were recovered in-

tact-the now familiar thin metalsheets covered with hieroglyphics.

"I will now read ProfessorLai Kan's translation of the mes-

sage."

'No reply has yet been re-

ceived to ourrequest for the yel-

low metal. It is time to send a

reminder. The Earth must sig-

nal its assent before it has com-

pleted six revolutions. Thendirections will be given as to how

the metal can be despatched, as

it appears that the Earth has in-

vented no method of reaching our

world. Full details of spacerockets are available and will fol-

low as soon as assent is re-

ceived."'If this does not come with-

in six Revolutions, a preliminarywarning will be given. A site

is indicated on the enclosed map.We mean to warn, not to kill

this time. If you would see our

power, wait for the seventh Re-

volution. All life should becleared from around the site, for

death will descend upon it.

"'Think, men of the Earth.

Think of what you risk. There is

time-you have six Revolutions.

Otherwise, you will receive a

warning-only a warning-afragment of what will happen.'

"

The Secretary-General halted,

and picked 'up another manu-

script A buzz of excited conver-

sation had to be subdued by the

President's gavel before he

could continue.

"Actually, two maps were en-

closed. One indicates the general

site. The outline of the Baltic

Sea is clearly marked, and the

site is inland, 200 miles to the

south. The second-'map appearsto be on a larger scale. A pro-

fessor of geography from theUniversity of New York has

identified it from the windingsof the River Bug. The warningrocket, or whatever it may be,

is due to fall in or near the Forest

of Bialowieza."

No-v he could make no at-

tempt to continue. I saw a mem-

ber of the Russian delegation

hurrying from Hie hall. The Pre-

sident wisely adjourned the meet-

ing until after lunch.

I hurried round to see the

Dutch representative, an oldfriend of ours. He in turn had a

word with the President, and ar-

ranged to be called upon early

in the afternoon session. Hiscontribution immediately changedthe character of the debate.

"Mr. President, I have been

studying this message with care,"

he said. "One point seemed to me

of tremendous importance-theMartians refer to 'our' requestfor the gold. Not a particular

nation, nor an ideological section,

but 'our.' It would seem there is

only one race of Martians."This is indicated by further

features of this new message. It

assumes that there is only one

people on the «arm. The Martiansknow nothing of our nations, ot

our political differences, of im-

perialism, of blocs and spheresof influence. They assume that

we can speak to them as theyto us-as one. If they are wrong,

Mr. President, our stale is piti-

able. In a war of worlds, the

Earth with all its resources mightwin, but a disunited Earth againsta united Mars-such a conflict

could only have one result.

"The moral is obvious, Mr.President, and I will not insult

the intelligence of the delegates

by pointing it."

This simple speech had a pro-found effect. The representative

of Bielo-Russia, who followed,

completely abandoned his usual

bellicose tone, and spoke in

terms of strict moderation. Hereported that as the site of tho

"warning" rocket-or whateverit was-lay within his country,he was most anxious that the

Assembly should come to a rapid

decision. Fortunately, the area

indicated was only sparsely popu-

lated, and could rapidly be

cleared-Soviet efficiency woulddeal with that problem 'easily.

The Argentine delegate andothers agreed that it was only fair

to the Bielo-Russians that a firm

and early decision should be

given. After more comments, it

was decided that the decision

should be made the followingmorning. I found Drummondvery confident.

"It's working well. Our Dutchfriend did a good job."

"They will reject the demand,of course?"

"Yes. They»can do no other."

"It would be awkward if they

didn't!"

"Very awkward! We should

then be confronted with the prob-lem of shooting golden rockets to

Mars-or, at least, into space.

But that can't , happen. Theywon't give up their gold. No.

Plan D goes forward."

Pontivy had gone ahead of

us, to the suite of rooms, which

served as our New York head

quarters."Things are beginning to hap.

pen!" he "announced on our

arrival.

"I should say that they are," I

agreed. 'The Assembly takes i

final vote to-morrow.""Much more important than

that," exclaimed Papa Pontivy,"Ive caught a burglar in Drummond's room."

X

DRUMMONDhad decided

that Europe, as the most

troublesome continent, neededthe first serious lesson. Americawould probably have to follow,

if only to counter the inertia and

isolationism which werestill

powerful influences there.

Of all European countries, he

judged that Russia would be most

intransigent: thus the warning had

better be consummated on her

territory. The selection of the

site he left to me, as my know-

ledge of European topography is

fairly extensive.

I chose the famous Forest of

Bialowicza for our first experi-

ment in fear for three reasons.

First, it would show the

damage. A bomb in open countryhas negligible visible effects, but

a forest ranks next to acity in

that devastation is very apparent.

Second, there were only about

5,000 people to evacuate, and

there should be no danger of

casualties.

Third, historic Bialowicza wasincluded in the area seized by

Russia from Poland in 1939, and

subsequently incorporated within

the Biclo-Russian republic. The

Poles, in their hearts, will never

agree to the loss of those parts

of the region which werePolish,

and an attack on Bialowieza

would be of major interest to

them as well as to Russians.

Drummond had agreed without

hesitation to my idea. On our

return to our rooms, we bad

planned to study the map in

greater detail-but we were

halted by Pontivy's dramatic

announcement."You have caught a burglar,

here?" Drummond echoed."Yes. I caught him red-footed."

"What was he doing?""He was

'

aiming to look

through your papers. It is a good

thing that you banded most of

them to me. The rest are secure

-he had not yet found the little

t>afs which I inserted bebind the

wardiobe."Drummond walked over to hia

table, and I to mine. A"Nothing touched here." he an

nounccd. "What about you, Neflman?" fl

National Library of Australiahttp://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page1025996

"No-yes, by gosh! My map

of Eastern Poland-1 lefi it here.

It's been moved to the other side

of the table."

Drummond came over to my

.ide: "I don't like this," he said.

1 could understand his con-

cern. The very fact that an in-

truder had entered the room

prompted suspicion. And if the

man found a map of the Bialo

wieza area an hour before it be-

came highly topical, a suspicion

could be encouraged. I couldhave kicked myself for my care-

lessness. The rooms were

guarded. Pontivy had arrangedthis with a friend in the Ameri

can F.B.I. 1 had not thought it

possible for a burglar to get in

by daylight,

"It is serious?" Pontivy asked.

"It could be. Thank goodnessyou caught the man."

"But i didn't."

"What-you said that you did!"

"Yes, 1 caught him-but I let

him go.""But you let him gol" I

shouted.

"Idiot! Do you not know me,

after all these years. This man

is not a burglar-heis really

a spy. Do 1 let spies go?""Then what

.. ."

"1 am telling you. 1 disturbed

him. 1 heard him as 1 openedthe door. 1 actually saw him get-

ting through the window, on to

the fire escape. 1 crossed ihe

room and looked out-and ne

was not there.""What-down the fire escape

in a few Seconds-impossible!"

"Exactly what 1 thought. But

I have some experienceof these

things. 1 know where he is."

"Where?""In your bedroom. No, not

now-" as I moved towards it.

"He got out of this window, and

in at yours. It is an old trick,

and quite clever: but it does not

deceive Papa Pontivy. However,1 have been thinking fast. 1 will

let him escape. 1 rush from the

room, to summon help. I leave

the door open. 1 enter the room

opposite, where you rememberthat astute Sergeant Ryan has his

hide-out and his peep-hole. Sure

enough. Ryan was there, eandalert. He had seen me enter, but

no burglar. Nor bad any alarm

been given. The man must have

entered from the fire escape, cut-

ting the wires of the burglar

alarm. The system in this hotel

cannot be good. I shall see the

manager and tell him. . . ."

"Yes, yes, but go on. Whatabout this man?"

"Oh, the spy? Yes. Throughthe peep-hole we saw him come

out of our suite, and rush for the

lift. Then things happen-this is

one of my ideas, not the hotel's.

As soon as he is in the lift. Ryanrings a bell-and the engineer at

once switches off all the elec-

tricity. It is good, is it not?"

"So the man was stuck in the

lift?""The spy, yes.

But not for

long-that might be suspicious.

Just long enough for the colouredlift attendant to say a rehearsed

pieceabout the lift always break-

ing down these days, sure thing,

and long enough fot Ryan to run

down the stairs. I stay. The spy

may have seen me: he would

know me, anysvay, but he does

not know Ryan.""So Ryan followed him?""Yes. He tails the spy. 1

would be better, but not in New

York. 1 feel overwhelmed and

yet conspicuous. Ryan has plentyof assistance handy. At any

moment we may hear from him.

Ah, what did I tell you . .."

as the telephone bell sounded.

Pontivy's eyes were shiningwith excitement as he replacedthe receiver.

"I was not mistaken," he an-

nounced. "Ryan is good. He

tailed his man. What is more,he recognised him, and has

now arrested him.""But that's a mistake," Drum-

mond said. "We dont' want a

mention of this burglary . .. ."

'There will be none. Happilythe man has committed many

burglaries. This one will be

overlooked. However, that is

not of great importance. The

interesting thing is this: the

man was tailed to a nice apart-

ment-that is a flat, I understand-in West 37th Street. He went

to this apartment, which is

occupied by a lady. When Ryantold me this, 1 thought that it

was the usual story about the

gangster and his gun-doll. But

one phrase changed my opinion.It is clear, is it not, that the spy

went from here to report to

someone?"

"Yes, yes, we're not dunder-

heads! Go on!"

"Happily, neither am 1 a

blunderhead," he announced withdignity. "Thus immediately I

recognised the importance of the

news. When the spy left the

flat, after a stay of a' minute

only, Ryan sent two men after

him, to meet him casually and

arrest him. Ryan stayed behind

to investigate the apartment. He

found-and you would never

guess what I am going to tell

you.""He found that the lady who

occupied the apartment was a

Russian!"

X1

THIS was indeed startling

news, involving grave

potential complications.Suspicion is a Russian failing

or quality according to youroutlook. Therefore, none of us

evinced surprise that the Russiansshould have hired a man to

burgle our flat. Our concern was

deeper: why had they done so?

Our confederates, Professor

Bogulov' was the doyen of Rus-

sian scientists, and naturally we

had calculated that the Russianside of the plan was well covered.

Our anxiety was scarcely re-

lieved when Sergeant Ryan re-

turned to our rooms.

"I've had a glance at this

dame," he said. "Gee, she's

something. Dolled up to the.

nines-and the tens. Her clothes

set some guy back a few grand.

"Good man. Now-whatdoes she do? Where does she

come from? And so on."

"Well, she don't seem to donothing. You understand, I've

only just made a few inquiries,

so far. But she's got plenty ofdough without working it seems.

Where does she come from?

Search me. The janitor said that

she's away a lot. And she has

plenty of visitors when she's at

home. There's something a bit

mysterious about the set-up."

"Don't tell me that she's a

beautiful woman spy," I pleaded."I've ridiculed her so often in

my books, I couldn't face her

now.""And if you tell me that her

name is Olga Povlovska, 1 shall

hit you," Pontivy added.

"It ain't. It's Madame Her

mina. That's all. I told youthat there was something fishyabout this dame-must be, to

have a name like that.""I will come with you," Pon-

tivy announced. "1 agree, there

is something behind this woman."

"Okay. I'll put a man at my

peephole, and we'll go look upMadame Hermina."

"Right. Let's go."1 was very concerned, and sat

back to think it out. Drummond's

confidence revived mine.

"I agree, suspicion is danger-ous," he said. "But, after all,

the Russians have to account for

the rockets. 1 have absolute

confidence in our team-Bogulov especially. Our counter

radar devices are functioning per-

fectly. Neither the Russians nor

anyone else can possibly know

that the rockets are fired fromour ship. And the one to hit

the forest of Bialowieza-well,that will speak for itself. I

wonder-yes.""What?""The President ot the As

sembly is flinging a cocktail

party for the delegates to-night.

I shall go. We'll both go. We

are bound to meet the Russians.

If they have anything on their

minds, he may get a clue. Now

we'll rest and restore our

nervous energy."That night we put on evening

dress and went along to the

reception. Very readily Drum-

mond permitted himself to be

"captured" by the Russians.

They were most friendly:

indeed, they were almost ob-

sequious. Their leader, who

thundered out defiance to the

capitalist world daily, now asked

very mildly for Drummond'sconjectures about the new

rocket. Naturally, my friend

replied in general terms. He

did say, however, that since the

Martians were able to get

rockets to the earth, there was

no reason why some of them

should not contain atomicbombs.

"Anyway, we shall soon see.

You have arranged to clear the

forest, of course?"

"Oh, yes, that will be done,"

the Bielo-Russian representative

replied.

"Then no great harm will be

done-and we shall learn a lot." ?»

"Do you think that the

Martians know that this area is

a forest?"

"From the earthly point of;,

view I should say no. That is

to say, nobody on earth could

identify a forest area on Mars

we don't even know if there are,,any. But it is quite obvious thatthe Martians are far ahead of us

in scientific progress. To droptwo rockets within a few hun-

dred yards of each other, as theydid in England-that suggests a

control of accuracy which we

are only just approaching here,even for short-range missiles."

"If we ever retaliate ...""Ah, that's what I wanted to

know," said the Polish delegate."Can we retaliate?"

"Maybe not immediately. ButI have experiments in hand. I

was just going to say, if I dosucceed in making a suitable

rocket, I will merely undertake

to hit Mars, certainly not any

particular part of it."

"'Of course. That is understood.And about the gold?"

"That is your decision," Drum-

mond smiled, "I have quitoenough on my hands, I assure

you."But even if we had agreed to

give up our gold, how wouldwe get it there?"

"They said that they wouldgive us directions. It might beas well to pretend to agree; and

to ask for their directions. Wemight as well suck their brains,now that we can communicate

..ith them. Having got details

how to send gold to Mars, we

could send atomic bombs in-stead."

"Ah!" Some of the delegateswere visibly impressed.

"On the other hand," Drum-mond went on, "if we did thatthe Martians might be annoyed-with good reason. They mighthit back. Since they appear tobe in advance of us, their blows

might be harder than ours. That

is why I suggest postponing such

plans until after the Bialowieza

rocket. By the way, it would be

an advantage if I could go over

and inspect the damage-if any.""1 was about to suggest that,"

said the Russian. "It is likelythat Professor Bogulov will goas near to the spot as is sate.Would you care to join him?"

"I would like nothing better."

"Good. I will fix up visas and

aircraft. Let's have a drink."

At a suitable moment, Drum-

mond casually joined another

group. I knew that he was satis-

fied with his contact. The Rus-

sians might be good actors, but

suspicion is the hardest thing inthe world to hide.

Not that this encounter cleared

the issue. It is not unknown forMoscow to act direct, quite inde-

pendently of its local representa-tives. As soon as was reason-

able, we went home to get Pon

tivy's news..

Pontivy was waiting for us: 1

could tell at once that he had

news. A man's eyes are difficult

to control.

"I have seen this Madame Her

National Library of Australiahttp://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page1229492

mina," he announced. "Ryanwas right. She is, as Ryan putsit in modern American, an eye-

ful. Her clothes were not

bought in Petticoat Market-ordo I mean Caledonian Lane?"

"Yes, go on, Papa.""One of Ryan's men had been .

very busy. He discovered that

during the war Madame Hermina had a reputation as a for-

tune-teller-such people flourish

in war-time, I believe. So far

as is known, she is not now. in

practice, or whatever the phraseis. Anyway, she has done very

well for herself-if fortune-tell-

ing were her sole source of in-

come. This I wondered. 1 was

not satisfied. So I went to see

Milson, my old friend at the

F.B.I.

"Milson showed me his records.

Madame Hermina is of Russian

origin, but is now an Americancitizen. On her form she said that

she did not intend to blow up

anything or anybody. But she

is Russian-of a sort."

He finished tamely, and I pur-

sued the point. "Of what sort?"

"Well, sne. was bora in Paris.

But a Russian is a Russian.""I see. Go on," said Drum-

mond, quietly.?

"Well, this Madame Hermina

travels. She has just returnedfrom Buenos Aires."

"Well?""Do you not see? Buenos Aires

is in Argentina. And Argentinais in South America."

"Remarkable," I said.

The old man ignored me, and

announced dramatically:

"Listen to me. M. Alexandre,from whom I borrowed half a

million dollars, fled to SouthAmerica."

xn

T HAD experienced a few*

misgivings when Pontivy

had first told the story of his

blackmailing adventure. In his

triumph he had discounted them.

It was a pity that Alexandre had

recognised him, he admitted, but'

he scorned the possibility of

danger. Alexandre would not

talk-Pontivy knew too much

about him. But a murder com-

mitted in France might not

appear too serious to a South

American country: the evidence

against Alexandre was no more

than suggestive-and he had

plenty of money, which talks in

some quarters.

It would not be too difficult

for a man of his resources to

trace the connection between

Pontivy and Drummond. For

that matter, by this time thewhole world might know of it,

for it is impossible to keep a

secret in U.S.A.-the enterprisingPress sees to that. The old man

had told him that the money was

needed for a peace enterprise.

How far would his suspicions go?Yet we were rushing beyond

our facts. All we' knew was that

our burglar-evidently a hired

man-had reported to Madame"Hermina, and that she hadrecently come from Buenos

Aires.And we did not know that

Alexandre was in Buenos Aires;

to Pontivy he had merely in

dicated South America-a con-

siderable area. Yet there was

certainly a prima facie case for

further investigation.

It was beyond our resources,

so I invited Milson, our friend in

the F.B.I., around to our apart-

ment. He was quiet, but com-

petent, rather overawed at meet-

ing Drummond, who soon put

him at ease. I trusted Milson

completely, but did not reveal our

major scheme-he was an official,

with a duty to his Government,and I did not wish to place himin an invidious position. Thus I

talked generally about security

how important it was that the

strictest secrecy should be pre-

served about Drummond's ex-

periments, now being made at the

request of the United Nations.

This was reasonable enoughand our burglar was real enough.Alexandre we explained by a

story that he was an inter-

national criminal who would like

to steal our secrets to sell themto the highest bidder.^ Milson

readily promised the fullest co-

operation.

Drummond and I left Pontivyin New York to watch this un-

expected potential danger whilewe flew over to Europe. Touch-ing down only at Paris, we flew

on to Warsaw. There two Rus-

sian cars awaited us-Drummondhad brought a small technical

staff to assist in the observationof the threatened rocket: several

nationalities were included, andonly one man was party to our

secret.We spent the night in Warsaw

at the Hotel Polonia, one of the

few buildings to escape the gene-

ral devastation. On arrival,

Drummond paid the usual cour-

tesy calls and when he returnedhe reported unusual interest on

the part of the Cabinet Ministers

he had seen. Our first intuition

seemed to be justified-the Poles

were as anxious as the Russians

about the Forest of Bialowieza;

maybe they hoped that one dayit would again become part of

Poland.As we talked, Professor Bogu

lov arrived. He and Drummondwere old friends; they had met

at many scientific congresses.

After warm greetings, Drum-

mond might have plunged into

the business on hand, but a wave

of Bogulov's hand warned him.

We were now in a police State,

where not even friendship is

sacred. I had already examinedthe room carefully. I had not

expected to find anything, as there

had been some confusion aboutour rooms, and some unfortu-

nate official visitors from Yugo-slavia had been turned out to

make room for us.

We went down to dinner. In

the automatic lift, Drummondput his query.

'There is no suspicion?""No, none at all. But in this

part of the world it is best to

trust no one. I ought to know!""I'll take your word!"

'

"I'm almost an expert. I can

smell out their devices. It is so

absurd. I am a scientist, paid bymy country and working for it,

yet they will spy on me.""Habit, I suppose."

"Yes. I think that after dinnerwe will go for a walk. We can

talk then."

When the meal was over, how-

ever, it was raining hard, so we

returned to our sitting-room.

After a moment's casual talk

about weather prospects for the

rocket, Bogulov put his fingers

to hislips.

Then, still chatting

amicably, he scribbled a note.

'The picture above the side-

board has been moved. Talk as

if the rocket were genuine."

Lighting a cigarette-hewas a

chain smoker-he burned the

note, after we had nodded to

show we understood. Even after

he had left us, we did ' not

attempt to look for a microphonebehind the picture, if it were

there as we assumed. In an

atmosphere of suspicion, a pose

of innocence is à useful defence.

Once warned we could play an

easy part.The following morning our

expedition left: Drummond'sstaff occupied two cars. Bogulov'sfive. Throughout the day we

drove to the east, over an end-

less plain. Most of the fields

were under cultivation, but there

were many signs of the scourge

of war.

Next morning came the final

stage of our journey. At Pru

zana we picked up an escort

of high-ranking Russian officers,

who told us that the evacuationof the area was already com-

plete.For the benefit of the Russian

officers, Drummond and Bogu-lov plunged into a discussion as

to whether the Martians knew

that the area designatedfor de-

struction was a forest. They

agreed that it was possible. Weknew hardly the first thing aboutthe surface of Mars, but the

Martians were obviously so far

advanced that their telescopes

might be hundreds of times more

powerful than ours.

We drove to the north of the

forest, to the little town of Hajnowka. Here the final stages of

evacuation were in progress.A Russian general suggested

that we should return to Krzyze,a hamlet in the centre of the

forest. The idea was excellent.

The few houses were the usual

timber constructions, but the Ger-

mans had established a unit here

during their occupation, and some

very substantial concrete con-

structions."This is most useful," Drum-

mond commented. "You remem-

ber that at Hiroshima the major.concrete buildings escaped-theirinteriors were gutted, but the

buildings stood. The most de-

structive effect of the atomicbomb lay in the fact that for

one-fifth of a second it produceda temperature of 3,000 degrees C.

Thus timber disintegrated, butconcrete did not. Let us observe

present conditions carefully-it

will be very interesting to see

what happens to these very solid

constructions."

In little groups we walkedabout. I found myself with an

. American scientist and a Russianofficer. It seemed that the latter

was trying to head us off one

path, so British and pig-headed,1 walked deliberately along it.

At a concrete emplacement I

halted abruptly. It had a very

solid steel door, and in its sides

were narrow slits which had once

sheltered machine guns. Fromone of these I saw a pair of eyes,

staring apprehensively at me.

"There's someone insidel" 1

shouted.

"Yes," the Russian officer

agreed. "A few samples.""Samples?""Yes. We want to know the

effect of the new weapon on life.

We have tethered goats at fixed

spots in the forest."

"But '.hose eyes-that is no

goat, in there!"'

"No. A number of men havevolunteered for the experiment.'

"Volunteered?""Yes. They are criminals. If

they survive, they report on theil

experiences, and then go free. Ii

is a fair deal."

1 reported this sickening deve-

lopment to Drummond as soon

as I could. "It is too late to do

anything," he said. "The ship will

be nearing its position by now

and we could not possibly get a

message to it. 1 think death

might be a release for some of

those prisoners, anyway."

Since the Martians had givenno hint of the time when the

rocket might fall, a constant

watch was maintained. A scien-

tific staff, with Army officers al

hand, was constantly on duty: it

had a remarkable array of

telescopes, recording apparatus,

cameras, spectroscopes, and a

whole variety of devices whichwere mysteries to me.

Many'

of them turned out to

be useless. An hour before dawnthe electric current which workedthem suddenly failed: every light

in Ptuzana went out. A fraction

of a second later we heard fromthe north a noise like thundernot a sudden shock, but a longand sullen roll. Then, immcdi

ately, a hissing wail, rising in

intensity.'

"Supersonic - faster thansound," said Drummond to the

Russian general by his side.

'That's something new-quite un-

like the other rockets they sent.

Let's go."

But this proved impracticable

-all our 'cars were out of action.

Mechanics worked feverishly, but

not a single engine showed signsof life.

"What is it?" Drummond in-

quired of one" driver.

"Batteries," the man replied."Gone dead. The magneto is

right out of action, too."

National Library of Australiahttp://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page1025998

'The electrical part of the en-

gine-that's interesting."

"Maybe, but the damned things

won't go!"

A resourceful Russian captain

produced a dozen bicycles, and

a number of the official observers

set off. Dawn was breaking, but

ahead were gleams of a brighter

light: maybe parts of the forest

were on fire.

A shout from the rear halted

us. I saw a portly Dutch scientist

pedalling hard towards us.

"I halted to test," he panted.

"Something seemed to warn me.

Look!"He carried a leather .case slung

over his shoulder. From it he

produced an instrument-1 am no

scientist or mechanic, and did not

pretend to understand it. The

thing looked like a madman's

compass.The- Dutchman pointed to a

pointer which was jerking furi-

ouslyat its extreme range, as if

striving to burst its limits.

"Ah!" cried Drummond."Electric action-and still very

powerful. Halt, everybody!"He turned to the Russian cap-

tain. "Do you think you could

raise some rubber boots?""I think 1 could."

"We had better return with

you, to get fitted."

"What is it?" asked the Rus-

sian general-he had been riding

in advance, but came back at

Drummond's call.

"I don't know-yet. But this

instrument indicates most power-

ful electric impulses. It wouldnot be safe to go ahead withoutinsulation. We might be all

right while on our bicycles, butonce we got off. . .

."

"I did not know that atomic

energy had such effects."

"It hasn't!"

"Then-oh, I see!"

We pedalled back to the town,

and fitted ourselves with rubberboots. From the quartermaster's

store the captain also producedengineers' rubber gloves. Even

at this range, the Dutchman re-

ported, the influence was still

very active.

Now we rode ahead again. It

was quite light.The suggestion

of forest fires had almost disap-

peared. There were a few wisps

of smoke hanging in the sky, but

nothing to suggest a general con-

flagration.On the crest of a ridge Drum-

mond halted the party.

"From that tree you should be

able to see something," he said to

me. "Could you climb it?"

"Yes, if someone gives me a

leg-up to the first branch."1 managed to get fairly high in

the tree, which commanded a

wide view. With the glasses I

surveyed the scene.

"Quiet, please!"I shouted.

"Listen!"

I did not know if they could

hear'below, but quite distinctly 1

heard the sound of a peculiarcrackling-rather like the con-

tinual breaking of twigs. AgainI brought the glasses into action.

Then 1 shinned down the tree.

"Well?" half a dozen voices

demanded."The Forest of Bialowieza has

disappeared," I reported.

"Disappeared!" echoed the

Russian general.

"Yes. I can't see as much as

a tree-it is just a wide expanseof earth, of a peculiar shade of

dark brown."

"What does that mean?""I don't know. But we can

soon find out. There's somethingstill happening, not half a mile

ahead."Drummond resumed command,

and we rode forward slowly and

cautiously. At the next rise he

halted us suddenly. Now the

crackling sound was unmistak-able. It was so sustained as to

be frightening-like ten thousandelephants marching inexorably

through a jungle.

Practically every man carriedbinoculars.

"Look!" cried the Dutchman,'That spinney!"

We looked. It was eerie, fan-

tastic, incredible. Within a spaceof two minutes, the spinney lit-

erally disappeared before our

eyes. A black cloud seemed tobe absorbed by the earth.

'This is magic!" I heard the

Russian captain mutter-and he,

as I have indicated, was a very

practical man.*

Isolated from the spinney was

a tree of unusual size. Suddenlyit appeared to shudder, as if in

the grip of mighty invisible

forces. Then it began to disin-

tegrate-"as if a thousand rats

were gnawing at it," the Dutch-

man described the scene, after-

wards. A few seconds later .the

tree had disappeared, and the

grass around it. Even the earth

seemed to be disturbed and

transformed. It was as if its

surface had melted and solidified

again.

Now ihe scientific observers

were busy with the instruments

they carried. Occasionally I

heard an exclamation of amaze-

ment, and sometimes of despair,

as the instrument proved to be

inadequate. Drummond was

talking to Professor Bogulov,with the Russian general in close

attendance.

"We must retire," Drummondordered. "Whatever this force, it

is not yet spent. It will certainly

come as far as here. We must

watch its spread carefully

further evacuations may be

necessary."

Two men volunteered to

remain, with strict instructions to

retire at a safe distance before

the advancing force. The rest of

us hurried back to Pruzana. The

impatience of the Russian general

wds obvious, but Drummondmade him wait for an hour while

he consulted the reports of his

assistants.

"Well?" the Russian explodedat the end of that time.

"You understand that our in-

formation is incomplete." Drum

mond said. "All the telephones,are out of order-we have no

reports from the other side of

the forest."

"But what we saw . .."

"Yes. On the basis of what

we saw, I will hazard a guess.A scientist does not like guesses,but Bogulov agrees with myspeculation. We said yesterdaythat the Martians were evidentlyahead of us scientifically. Theyare! Unless I am badly mistaken,they have advanced beyond the

atomic bomb.""Beyond it? Then what was

this?""1 believe that we have just

witnessed the effects of the first

protonic bomb."

"A protonic bomb? What is

that?"

"Well, briefly, the energy libe-

rated by the atomic bomb is, so

to speak, only marginal. One

electron-and one which one

might say is readily detachableand can easily be spared-escapesfrom each atom. In the nucleusof the atom is a closely-packed

aggregate of many electrons andan even larger number of pro-tons; imagine how greater mustbe the energy with them. You

need not imagine what effectscould be produced by even its

partial liberation; we have seen

them produced under our very

eyes."He paused; even the scientists

were listening keenly.

'These effects are, indeed, not

altogether what we should have

expected. There is no devastating

explosion, no flash brighter than

the noonday sun, no sudden blaze

of heat, no overwhelming blast.

The liberated energy works far

more subtly than that.

"It is natural enough that elec-

trical effects should manifest

themselves. We should have ex-

pected some different effect, how-ever; the emission of electric rays,the production of violent induced

currents in metals, the fusing

perhaps of electrical apparatus.We find almost the contrary; the

complete inhibition of electric

currents within a wide radius.

For this reason none of our cars

or lorries will move; some aero-

planes which imprudently tried

to soar over the forest of Bialo

wieza-over what was once the

forest of Bialowieza," he cor-

rected himself, "found their

motors failed. Two were able to

glide to earth outside the affected

area. The others crashed.

'The surface of the earth is

compacted into a resistant mass

in which, it is evident, no form

of vegetation could grow. The

effects are indeed superficial, but

it is enough to destroy the fer-

tility of the soil.

"On metals the effect consists

of a general warping and weaken-

ing. Within an indeterminate

area no machinery will remain

in working order, no ship will

float, no boiler will hold water.Our civilisation, based as it is on

steel and machinery, is struck at

its heart.

"Most far-reaching, however,are the effects on organic matter.The compounds of which vege-tation is formed are reduced to

their elements; the oxygen and

hydrogen are liberated into the

air-this in itself may vary its

composition, and by no means to

our advantage. The carbon sub-

sists as a fine powder, which is at

once absorbed into the earth. Byno stretch of the imagination can

they be regarded as living matter;

nor will they become any part of

living matter-if at all-exceptindirectly and in the distant

future.

"Its effects on animal matter

-including human flesh-thoughless complete, are no less far

reaching. They apparently con-

sist of a slow disintegration ofliving tissue, partial indeed, but

horrible in their final result, and,as I surmise, horribly painful in

their action. We shall see for

ourselves. I do not anticipatethat the sights which await us

will be pleasant."The Russian captain was stand-

ing nearby; 1 think that he was

frightened, and I could not blamehim.

"So this is to be the next

war," he muttered.

"No," said,his general, sharply."This is not war. This could bethe end of the world."

XIII

THE waiting hours seemed

abnormally long. All our

cars were still out of action.

About midday, however, the re-

sourceful captain raided some of

the nearby peasant farms and

'collected" half a dozen wooden

carts, drawn by sturdy ponies. I

wondered what the dignified

plenipotentiaries of the UnitedNations would have thoughtcould they have seen their repre-sentatives jogging along a roughroad in carts which still bore

ample traces of the manure which

they had been carrying whencommandeered.

We cautiously approached the

edge of the devastation. The

crackling noise had died down.Lingering effects of the protonic

forces were still visible; veryoccasionally we saw a tree appar-ently struggling with invisible

attackers. Sometimes it seemed

that the force had exhausted it-

self half-way through the tree

trunk, and the timber exposedwas discoloured and charred.

Our unimposing cavalcade

pressed on. We reached the

boundaries of the forest proper.The scene was eerie, incredible.

The vast expanse of trees had

simply disappeared, leaving a

.brown desert behind. The groundwas hard, cracked as if with in-

tense heat, and occasionally dis-

coloured, as in volcanic districts.

The road of logs had vanished,

but the carts moved easily over

the hard ground. We had local

men with us, but they had diffi-

culty in deciding where the roadhad been. Suddenly one of theo»

called out:

National Library of Australiahttp://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page1229494

'There is the village. Thnt is

where the pond was."

But where was the village? It

no longer existed. A tew calcined

bricks marked its site. WhileDrummond was examining them,I hurried away to seek the fate

of the "volunteer" prisoners: then

I found the Russian general bymy side.

"1 know what you want," he?aid. "I am interested, too."

A French scientist named

Pierrefonds joined us. We ap-

proached what had been the con-

crete bunkers. Now I had seen

Hiroshima, where concrete build-

ings had survived the atomic

bomb-though their interiors

had been completely burn*d out.

Here it was quite different. Slabs

of concrete were twisted into fan-

tastic shapes. The first we en-

countered had completely col-

lapsed,with irregular lumps of

concrete lying as they fell, flecked

with strange colours, and some-

times fused one into the other.

"No one alive there," said the

Russian, and moved on to the

next.

Here, by some freak, one wall

had partially survived, though it

was twisted and warped. The

curved roof had fallen in. but a

small space of the floor was

clear.

Clear, that is, save for a fewtrifles. The.bodies of the "volun-

teers" had vanished completely.

We could find no trace even of

their clothing, save some dis-

torted and discoloured metal

buttons and nails from shoes. On

the ground were patches of dark

powder, almost like a man'sshadow.

Pierrefonds disappeared abrupt-

ly.I imagined that he wanted to

be sick, and was almost inclined

to join him.

The Russian general stared

silently. Then 1 beard a sudden

exclamation."Lookl" ht hissed.

On the twisted wreck of the

wall, close to the ground, were

marks on the concrete. My eyes

were so strained-or maybe my

mind-that 1 did not immediatelyrecognise the markings as letters

in the Cyrillic alphabet: letters

written in blood.

The general knelt uown to get

a better view, and spelled out the

letters." 'Creeping death,'

"

he whis-

pered.My imagination is f: '.y good.

1 could see the agony of those

last moments, as the "volunteer"

victim saw the inexorable

approach or his doom.

"There is more here," I said.

Again my companion knelt

down; this time he remainedsilent.

"What does it say?" 1

demanded."It says, 'Murderers'."

"Yes-go on. There is more

than one word.""It says, 'God will punish'."

\ stared at him. Maybe my

mental disturbance affected him,for to my amazement he crossed

himself, orthodox fashion. Thesurprise restored my sanity. This

,.man prided himself on his tough-

ness. He h:.d not been afraid to

sacrifice these men, but now he

was afraid of God.A search party was organised

to try to find the spot where the

rocket had landed. In view ofits action rr metal-the steel

supports of the concrete were

twisted beyond description-therewas, however, little hope of get-ting useful data. Another con-

tingent of observers had arrived

from Pruzona, with soldiers on

bicycles, while two of Bogulov'sstaff had come in from Hajnowka, on the northern rim ofthe forest. Their reports tallied

exactly with our own observa-

tions. Maybe the rocket had

tallen nearer to Hajnowka thanto Fruzana, for the effects in

the town had been much more

severe. One of the observers hadactually witnessed the disintegra-

tion of a wooden house beyondthe outskirts of the town. Evidently the force, wnatever it was,

had reached almost the (imit of

its power, and the disintegration

was accomplished but slowly.

Thus the observei was able to

make a serie:, of photographsthe latter part being covered bya 16mm. cinematographic film

which promised to be unusuallyinteresting.

Some hours ot daylight re-

mained. Drummond sent a

messenger back to Pruzana to

summon the Press correspondents.

There was a formidable body of

them, fuming und', the strict

Russian Press discipline. Their

arrival was almost a comic relief.

Once released by their Russianguardians, they rushed to the

forest by any method they could

improvise.

A glance was sufficient to con-

firm that the Martian threat had

noi been idle-this was, indeed,

world news. Camera men and

cinematograph operators were

busy. Correspondents clamouredaround Drummond, searching for

a lead.

'Too early," he said. "1 have

to consult all my staff. Have a

good look round, and see whathas happened. Then I'll meet

you all to-night-at the barracksat 9 p.m.-and I'll try to tell

you how it happened."-

Drummond,took Bogulov withhim" to the Press conference.

He outlined the protonic theory-in very simple terms, so that

the correspondents could explainit to their science editors. Thenhe faced a barrage of questions.

"Is there a possibility of a

protonic bomb on U.S.A.?" an

American asked.

"Why not? One continent is

as easy as another. The Martians

have only to select the rightmoment of discharge. I needhardly point out to you that they

have a command of accuracy far

beyond anything we possess."."But we could bit back, Mr.

Drummond?"

"Oh, yes. I told the United'

Nations that. 1 have plans for a

rocket which would certainly

reach Mars. It will take some

time to construct, and I can't

guarantee to hit one particular

spot in Mars, as these folks seem

to be able to do."

Drummond allowed himself to

be led on to more speculation.

He was careful to insist that it

was merely guesswork, but it en-

abled him to suggest several

ideas which he wanted to become

current.

Thf». conference oassed off verj

smoothly. The row began im-mediately afterwards. By this

time Russian army engineers had

run a new telephone line throughfrom Brzesc-nad-Bugiem, and

naturally each correspondentwanted to use it first.

The Russian general restored

order simply, but fairly. Firstthe combined agencies shouldsend off a general account of

the drama; this would, of course,be available to all the newspapersof the world. Then the corres-

pondents would draw lots for

priority in despatching their

individual accounts.

Late that night 1 asked for the

copies of the reports -'foralthough on United Nationsbusiness we were all subject'to

Russian regulations, so that all.

newspaper men had to file copiesof their stories. Drummond and

I read them with interest. Drum

mond's chuckles were continuonsas he read the paragraphs in

which the correspondents gavethe scientific explanation of the

rocket.

"If anybody understands this,

he'll be clever!" he commented."Still, if people are confused,

they are more likely to handover control to people who know

-like us. Hullo, this is better."

He had picked up one of the

last- batch of reports.

"Yes, this man knows his

onions. Why-" as he turned to

the last page-"it's that French-man, Pierrefonds."

"But he's not a newspaperman!"

"No, he's a scientist-one of

the official observers."

"Still, 1 suppose there's noth-

ing against a man making a

private report to his own

government." ¡

"No, (here's nothing against

that. But that isn't what Pierre

fonds has done. His report isn't

addressed to Paris."

"Then where?""To Buenos Aires."

XIV

I WAS startled. Had Pontivy* been with us, I could

imaginehis reactions. "One

coincidence is possible, and can

be explained," he would have

said. 'Two coincidences add up

to suspicion; more, to certainty."

It was peculiar,to say the.

least, that two unusual pointers

should be directed towardsBuenos Aires, i knew that at

first Drummond had discounted.

Pontivy's . suspicions-the cid1

man had a habit of making up

his mind very early in the case,

On the other hand his intui-

tions were famous in a dozen

countries, where few police

chiefs would have jeered at them.

Once Pontivy had our latest news,

he would certainly decide that his

man Alexandre was involved in

some plot, and I could not denythe possibility that he might be

right.

We made no attempt to com-

municate with him while we were

on Russian soil-the fewer peoplewho knew of our fears, the bet-

ter. Instead, Drummond pushedon urgently with the thorough ob-

servation of the damage in the

Forest of Bialowieza. After two

days he left for New York, ac-

companied by Professor Bogulov,but leaving bebind most of his

staff for further examination of

the terrain. In particular, the

rocket itself had not yet beenfound.

1 stayed behind with the team

of scientists, it was important to

keep an eye on the FrenchmanPierrefonds. Drummond would,of course, institute some inquir-

ies from the other end.

Deliberately 1 refrained frommanoeuvring myself into a close

acquaintance with Pierrefonds

such a move, made suddenly,

might have aroused some mis-

givings in his mindiThe limited hotel resources of

the little town of Pruzana were

more than over-strained by the

crowd of scientists, journalists,and Russian officials who hadrushed to the scene. 'Many of

these had to be billeted in local

cottages. Pierrefonds. I discov-

ered, shared a room with a Bel-

gian colleague. As they were at

work in the forest all day, it was

easy to note the time when their

hostess went out for her shop-ping.

On two successive days 1

searched Pierrefonds' case. Wehad all travelled light, andPierrefonds had only a single

suitcase with the-essentials for a

journey.

Everything was most ordinary.

This was not remarkable. Yet.

I must exhaust every possibility.

Happily he gave me the oppor

tunity, when he returned from the

forest before his colleague, and

very dirty. The cottage had no

bath, and he went along to the

public bath hut. I had to takea risk, but I had just time to

go through his clothes.

In one pocket he carried a

considerable sum, in Americandollars, not francs. Yet my sus-

picion was directed to anotherinside pocket: Here was a walletwith a tiny lock: 1 opened it, to.

find more money, and a singleletter. It was written in French,and .was signed, "Your loving

sister, Jeanne."Now a man does not usually

National Library of Australiahttp://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page1026002

L such store on a letter from

L,ssister'

Ks first paragraphs

In oidinary enough-^xhort-i,~M for him to look after his

gi h and so on The next

as almost-innocuousIf vou are able to get a

-iimnse of the Coiot painting,

fffiatedit «ill be very in

fnE to know whether you

on der it genuine or not If°"

,he Kil thing our friend

,|be anxious to buy, but be

not move until he is sure

am uriain that he would piy

¡ouhandsomely

for jour opin

"that evening the scientific staff

meiat the hotel

for dinner Very

Ssualh I gol the Russian gen-

ial Hillingabout Soviet artists

bv suggestingtint the scene at

BÍalowiezishould bç painted as

«II as photographedThe con

itrsation pissed round the table,

"d j listened Soon it was

obviousPierrefcnds might be a

goodscientist but he wis no art

expert

With this knowledge t was all

loo easyto interpret the letter

tom his loving sister-who

might easily be Madame Herm?", who had been bom and

educatedin Pins He may have

been previouslyinvolved, but it

ajs reasonably certain that he

had been bribed to report prtv

akty to someone about the

Bialowiezarocket By this lime

Drummond might have been able

to have the Buenos Aires addrcs

see looked up

I studied Picrrefondss cable

aeainAt le ist there seemed no

dancerin it He had been con-

vinced by «hat he saw-as any

observermust ha\e been Thus

hu cable »as a direct help to us

Neverthelesslike Drummond I

na< concerned at the knowledge

that someone did suspect a fake,

udivas willing to spend rooney

lo proveit

We left two scientists at Pru-

ana to observe belated effects of

lie Martian rocket, and the rest

jf us returned to out bases 1

cached our New York rooms to

¡nd Drummond rather perturbed

[leUnited Nattons lnd reacted

idmirably to his preliminary re-

mit on the piotonic bomb-but

»onlivy had disappeared! Drum

Bond bad found a short note

lam engaged on a mission, andnil return shortly" Milson, the

¡Bl chief, had no idea what

be old man s mission could be

We compared our news-mine

(out Picrrefonds obviously dis

sibed Drummond"It would be fatal if anything

uni wrong at this juncture," he

?id We are near the most deb-

ile stage of our plan Even a

Itecshon

of suspicion might«I the atmosphere we have

tiled 1 wonder whether we

kid let Milson into our

r

"I should say no. The fewerthe better-you have always saidthat."

"Quite, but-"

"Milson is a very good fellow.He will do all he can for us,

even, if he doesn't know why.After jail, you're an importantman-and Milson understandssecurity."

"But can he do anything in

Buenos Aires?"

"Maybe he has agents there.I'd go myself, but that might be

a little too open. Let's wait for

Pontivy. And what of theAssembly?"

"1 am to address a special

meeting to-morrow."

"Good.""Yes. Except for this blasted

Buenos Aires business, things are

going well. Damn Pontivy and

his money-raising schemes!""But the money was useful."

"Yes-but dear at any priceif

this man Alexandre is really after

us."At Lake Success next morning

Drurhmond's personality, backedby his great reputation, domin-

ated the Assembly. People hadlo believe him-no one thoughtof questioning a word.

Drummond was a distinctive

figure in any company. He stoodsix feet five inches, and was

broad in proportion. I would notcall him good looking, but his

features were powerful, and his

very large head was crowned bya mane of long hair. (It was

almost inevitable that one session

of the popular Press shouldenristen him "Bulldog" Drum-mond.) The man's personalitywas astoundingly strong. 1 had

already seen him in the com-

pany of some of the most fam-ous men in the world, and henever suffered in comparison.

"It seems to mc," he said tothem, "we must choose betweentwo alternatives. We could'ac-cept the Martian ultimatum, and

offer to give up our gold. I

understand that there are manyobjections tp this plan-and 1

agree with the argument of theBritish representative that this

demand might be the first of

many."So I can suggest an alterna-

tive. It would need time. Wemight bave to pretend to acceptthe ultimatum-after all, theyhave to send us details of tfie

method they propose to trans'

port the gold to Mars. By usingthis {time We could hit back at

the aggressors."

He was'interrupted by a wav*.

of interested whispering. He sip-

ped a glass of water; then, as he

raised his head again, everyonewas silent. "I am quite confi-

dent that I could construct an

atomic powered rocket whichwould reach Mars."

Again there was a hum of ex-

citement."1 do not claim that it would

be as accurate as theirs," Drum-mond went on. "But we could

warn'them of its coming-Isug-.

gest that the first rockets shouldbe warnings. If they failed, then

we can send rockets with atomic

warheads.""Since we know nothing of the

Martian mind, it is impossible to

make advance calculations Butthere is at least the chance that

when the Martians saw that they

would not escape serious dam-

age, they might reconsider their

demands. The threat of reprisal

can be a potent weapon At least

it could be tried-even if it

failed, we arc no worse off"

This was just the argurpent to

appeal to the harassed men in

the Assembly, not knowing what

to do. The discussion was brief.At the suggestion of the Russian

delegate, the session was ad-

journed until the monow so thatmembers could consult their

Governments'The Russian delegation's re-

ception is to-night," 1 said, when

at last we got clear. "Will you

go?""Yes. At such a moment I

must show myself as much as

possible"

I^IIL-Russians were housed in

the distinguished and expen-sive Plaza Hotel, and their

partieswere bywords for lavish

hospitality

The ballroom had been fitted

up as a I0113 buffet on a sumptu-ous scale. Small tables dotted

the floor, and overflowed into

neighbouring suites Invitations

seemed to have been broadcast

wholesale-I saw leading Press

and radio commentators, authors,and even film stars in addition to

diplomatic personnel Immedi-

ately Drummond was the ccntie

of a gioup: 1 slipped away-hewas more than able to look afterhimself

Sergeant Ryan, resplendent in

evening dress, and looking more

like an ambassador than a

detective, thought so too

"Say, boss." he said "Seen

that bar? Gosh, it's hard-Idon't have to drink on duly, andlook at the champagne! But atleast I'm not going to starve.

'

Adroitly he annexed half a dozen

sandwiches while the waiter was

passing "Say, do you think thatI could let up for a while?"

"You mean Drummond' Oh

yes, he's safe enough He'll be

talking for an hour"

"Good. Then I'm going io

cat. I'll load a plate, and get me

into a corner. I ain't eaten since

noon, and that's a long time tome."

I saw him forcing his way

through the crowd at the buffetwith professional skill. Then an

acquaintance in the Polish Em-

bassy wanted to talk to mc aboutBialowicza.

It could not have been more

than ten minutes later when- I

saw Ryan beside me-without his

plate.He made no attempt to

interrupt our conversation, but

gradually his left fool moved till

it touched mine. Quite gently,

for so powerful a man, he beganto tap my toes-in morse!

"Get clear, quick,"' was the

message.

At the first opportunity I gotclear, and followed Ryan casu-

ally.

"What's wrong?" I asked,

instinctively uneasy about Drum-mond.

"Nothing-maybe," be said."But there's something to sec."

He led me towards one of theoverflow rooms, scattered withsmall tables, separated by palms,flowering shrubs, and othersubstantial decorations. In a

corner he halted, well covered

by a magnificent azalea.

"Look-three tables away, on

your right,"

I gasped in astonishment.There sat Pontivy-but was it

really Pontivy? Was this the

untidy, shabbily dressed littleold man I knew so well? Ho

was arrayed in full evening dress

-he must have borrowed or

hired the suit-which was smartand well-tailored. His personalappearance was even more

striking. His scanty hair was

carefully brushed andpolished,

and his bald pate shone with a

pink glow. His moustache fas-

cinated me; normally it was

scraggy and untidy, but now it

was brilliantly greased, its endsscrewed to considerable points.

The general effect was re-

markable. Pontivy looked atleast ten years younger. Hiseyes, too," were sparkling with

vivacity, gazing, admiringlyacross the table. There sat a

woman; her back was towards

mc, but a first glance showedthat she was exquisitely gowned.

"You see that dame?" asked

Ryan."Who on earth ...""I got a side glimpse. She's

that dame Hermina I told youabout."

In my eagerness I leanedforward through the azaleasand Papa Pontivy saw me.

XV

rPHE second he saw me, he*

jumped to his feet excitedlyand waved me over."

"Scram, but keep handy," Imuttered to Ryan.

Pontivy welcomed me effusive-

ly-in my own name, I noticed."And now I want to introduce

you to one of the most charmingwomen in New York. She does

not really belong to this mad-house-she was horn in Paris,which explains everything. Ma-dame Hermina, may I present

my old friend, Bernard Newman,of England."

It was good to know that we

were all working under our own

names: at least it simplified the

issues in the battle of wits. But

I still had a lot to learn before

I felt confident.

"I have been telling MadameHermina all about your visit to

Russia," Pontivy beamed. "She

is most interested. Figure lo

yourself, Madame is not one ofthose empty-headed moderns who

can discuss nothing but hivingand bittcrjugging, whatever they

National Library of Australiahttp://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page1229498

are. Madame is interested in

affairs-is it not, Madame?""Indeed it is." Her voice was

a low contralto, easy to the ear,

and beautifully controlled. "I

should be most interested to hear

of your impressions-Ihave read

the official reports, of course."

I need hardly say that I was

watching Madame Hcrmina casu-

ally but very carefully. It was

immediately obvious that she was

a very good actress-a successful

fortune-teller usually is. 1 am

not without personal experiencein that art. Thus, while con-

firming Drummond's report, I

added touches of drama to my

description of the scene. I dis-

claimed any scientific knowledge,and could not explain the techni-

cal terms used in the report, but

I could and did give a vivid

description of the fantastic scene

in the Forest of Bialowieza.

From time to time she made

some comment, or gave a shudder

as 1 described the disintegrationot age-old trees. At the right

moment Pontivy led the conver-

sation to the general question of

the- Martian demands. Madame

Hcrmina joined in freely, but

most of her remarks were queries-addressed to me. Not for some

time did I see her real objective.She was subjecting' me to intense

study. Obviously she had set

herself the task of rating myvalue and standing-or maybethe task had been set for her.

"By the way, I promisedMadame Hcrmina that she shouldmeet Professor Drummond. Is

he here?""Yes. He's hi the main hall."

'Then let us proceed, as our

American friends say."Madame Hermina stood up

There was no question about it

-she was a magnificent woman.

She" did not pretend to be young,but her tall figure was beautifully

proportioned. If she wore cor-

sets at all, they were admirablydisguised. Her manners were

perfect; and her jewellery ap-

peared to be gerfuine. If she

had indeed been hired to do a

job, her, customer knew his busi-

ness.

As I anticipated, Drummond

was still the centre of an inter-ested group. He saw us ap-

proach-and I give him credit

for his restraint, if not for his

histrionic powers, for he did not

move an eyelid at the sight of

Pontivy with Madame Herminaon his arm. He read the mes-

sage in my eyes, and vet y quicklybroke off a technical discussion to

say something to the charmingwife of the Mexican ambassador.

1 pushed forward gently throughthe crowd. It was easy to seize

an opportunity to introduceMadame Hermina. With expertfacility he greeted her and drew

her into the general conversation.

"Here is the key to her apart-

ment," I heard Pontivy's whisper.

'The address is on it. You haveon hour-maybe more. It is

only a few blocks away-come

back here occasionally so

Madame Hermina may see you.""What am I looking for?" 1

asked."Her means of communica-

tion."

".What sort-radio, code,what?"

"I don't know. You must

6earch. She gets private infor-

mation to South America.How?'f

There was no chance to go into

detail. Pontivy's informationwas obviously limited. I slipped

away; at my casual glance, the

lurking Ryan followed nie.

"Gosh, that's great", hechuckled. "Fancy Mr. Pontivyin tow with a dame."

"I think that you'll find the

dame is in tow with Mr. Pon-

tivy", I suggested. "Anyway,I'll be able to tease him. When

a lady has a man's latchkey,

that's suggestive. But when a

man has a lady's latchkey, that's

-well.""It's the goods. Come on

here's our car."

We were at Madame Hermina's flat within

a few minutes.

. Ryan made sure

that no one was

at home by ring-

ing up. Then we

entered.Whatever Mad-

ame- Hermina's

*

real profession might be. ithad

yielded its rewards. Her flat

was very nicely furnished, and in

good taste. She had some'

Ukrainian embroidery which ap-

pealed to me, and a fine Egyp-tian applique hanging almost cov-

ered one wall, like a tapestry.

"Well, how do we start?"

Ryan asked."We're looking for communi-

cations," I said. "You take the

walls-1 doubt if there's a con-

cealed radio, but we must be

sure. I'll take her papers. Then

-say, have you à good woman

searcher?"

"Sure, she's great. She was

once the only woman burglar

in Brooklyn.""Ring up and get her here."

'- He handled the telephone care-

fully, and made the call.

"Now, let's get busy."Madame Hermina's boudoir

served a double purpose. * On

one side was a dressing-table

with ample mirrors, on the othera dainty writing desk. Bothwere in Chinese lacquer, of goodquality, gold on black. I

tackled the desk systematically.The drawers were-locked, but

the wires 1 carried were ade-

quate. The first drawer to open

suggested that my task might be

lengthy. First I noted a series

of account books. Apparentlythey related to the days when

Madame Hermina was a fortune-

teller. She did not depend uponthe occult in her accounts, which

were in excellent order.

More interesting was an in-

dexed book with hundreds ofnames and addresses. Most were

of old entry-probably those ofher clients-but the character of

the ink showed that others hadbeen added later.

"Call up again," I said to

Ryan. "Get a photographer,with a Leica or sortie suchcamera. We'll photograph this

page by page.""Sure. O.K."1 went on with my examina-

tion. Two drawers were full ofletters. I could only skim throughthem, but they seemed all to be

from professional clients. The

remaining drawer was. more

troublesome, but at last I gotthe lock turned.

This seemed to be my quarry.

It contained only a few letters,

all of recent date. On top was

an air mail letter dated only two

days previously. I looked at its

post-mark-Buenos Aires!

"Any luck?" I called to Ryan,who was in the adjacent' bed-room.

Nope."Maybe I'm

warm."He looked over

my shoulder at

the letter. It was

innocuous enough*'-apparently a

note from Madame Hermina's brother in

Argentina. Evidently the familytouch was a feature of the con-

spiracy, whatever it was. I held

the letter up to the light: Ryanproduced a magnifying glass, but

all tests were negative."Better take it and put it

bver the infra-red lamp,"' Ryansuggested. ?'

"I'm taking nothing-to-night.This lady has no suspicion of us

-otherwise she wouldn't have

left anything that matters about.

Maybe she hasn't, anyway, butthis does fit into the scheme ofthings."

"Say, hadn't you better get

back for a while, as Mr. Pontivysaid?"

"Yes, I will. While I'm there

I'll see that Madame Hermina

gets an invitation to the UnitedNations Assembly to-morrow."

"Well, that ought to put her to

sleep for a few hours. It'll giveus time to do things."

'That was my idea. Take a

cast of that key, by the way."'That's already been done,

boss," he grinned.

I got back to the Russian re-

ception. Madame Hermina andPontivy were still among the

group of people standing around

Drummond. I detached the oldman casually and he undertook

to invite Madame Hermina for

the morrow.

''She'will come!" he said a»

fidently.^

"You are a naughty old man"I teased.

"Say rather that I am a cleve

man-and not too old," he coi

rected. *it pleases me to us

people who think thatthey ar

using me. Yet she is capabhthis woman. She knows

ht

beetroots."

"What?""Do I mistake the idiom? o

yes, I mean she knowsIK

shallots."

"I'll have a word with her, ja

to let her know that I am here,

"Exactly. It was a good ¡du

was it not?""Fine. How must longer cn

you give us to-night?"

"Probably an hour. Forsafetj

say half an hour. In emergent)I will ring her flat and delay fe

for a few minutes."','Good. Here's her key.""Ah! I must slip it back now.'

"You must have made a coi

quest, for her to give you be

key.""She did not give me her Itei

I work rapidly, but notquite»

fast as that. No, she gave ni

her handbag to hold while si

powdered her nose. That is,

technical process demanding ¡j

tense concentration, so, whjshe was engaged with her mirraI held her bag behind my bjand abstracted her key. I¡¡

quite simple-I will show yahow to do it some time."

"I know the trick."

"AH I have to do now isto

put the key back-that is mo«difficult."

"Right. A word with her ia

I'm off."A few minutes later I was i

Madame Hermina's flat again

Ryan now had company, andi

broad grin covered his face.

"Meet Susan," he said."Sa;

I told you-she's on to son»

thing. Show him, Susan."The ex-lady burglar held m

a wisp of silk.

"What is it?"

"An opera vest. Low-cut, foi

evening dress."

"1 see. Well? You've found

something in it?"

"No. But there's sotnethiu

wrong with the feel of it."

I took it, carefully, for it w»clean and neatly ironed. Tba1 sniffed at it gently.

"You're right, Susan, there^

something wrong with it."

Book III of Flying

Saucers will appear

with The Sunday

Herald next Sunday,

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FLYING SAUCERS. BERNARD NEWMAN . BOOK THREE

Author of "Hie Mussolini Murder Plot." "The Spy In Tbc Brown Derby," etc

SYNOPSISDROFESSOR DRUMMOND,i

a famous scientist, bemed that peace could be

Shd only if the world

"ereunited against a

nrnmon foe. He enlisted the

Tvtces of fellow-scientistsSatsisU by his friends,

the author and Papa Pon

;., a French detective,

imlopeda plan to banish

tor.

Soon the loorld was

,tartkd by the arrival of

Zkets bearing messagesS while staling that the

rocketswere extra-terrest-

rial demanded the xoorld's

notó In public conjecture

liars became the planet of

Zir origin. The United

Mons dallied with debates

o« the demand-and a

mlonic bomb fell on Rus

lianterritory.

m the background, Pontivy

Mi helped provide the

nancy for Drummonds planto blackmailing a war-profl

'tcer Alexandre. Alexandre

¿aidhalf a million dollars to

Uport the pacifist plot,not

Isnowinq its details, then left

¡or South America. It

seemed, however, that he

Mi left spies and a Madame

umina fell under suspicion,/i search was made of her

apartment.

XVI.

IN the popular spy stories a

I common expedient is in-

asible ink It occurs so often

(hat the doubters refuse to be

|,cte in it. They are wrong.

Chemical inks are numerous and

a!t frequentlyused-even by

¡piesIndeed, in so-called peace,

«ben censorships are relaxed,

ita can piovide a reasonably

«fe method of conveying infor-

mation

There is one device, old, bul

»trydifficult to detect unless the

iscr is an object of active sus

icionHe so.iks a handkerchief

r a sock 'ii the colourless ink,

4 leb ii dry. Thus, when he

>«!s a supply of chemical ink,

thas only to soak the garmentiwater.

Susan's very sensitive fingershad traced something slightly ab-

normal in the flimsy silk vest

"as if it were very faintly star-

ched," she explained. An equallyfaint odour confirmed her diag-

nosis. I accepted it, and gave

my orders.

"Madame Hermina will be outall day to-morrow. If there are

any servants . .."

"There's a coloured girl, morn-

ings only."

"Right. Get rid of her some-

how, or wait till she's gonethere'll be time, if you're slick.

First, put the letter from

Buenos Aires over the infra-red

lamp, to see if anything is written

between the lines. Then soak just

a portion of this vest in water

-you must leave some of the

ink for Hermina, understand?""O.K., boss," said Ryan."Then have the vest ironed just

as it is now, and put it back

you see to that, Susan," 1 in-

structed.

"O.K., boss," sbe mimicked."Righi. Now we'll go."I had a careful look round to

ensure that the rooms were

exactly as we found them. The

photographer had finished his

job, and 1 replaced all books and

papers with precision. Ten

minutes later 1 was back at the

reception. Drummond was now

talking with the French and

Scandinavian delegations; 1 found

Pontivy and Madame Herminaat a table willi one of the Rus-

sian hosts. Once he had been

noted as the fiercest of publicprosecutors, but now he revealed

himself as a man of wit-some-times Rabelaisian, but very

amusing.I joined them for a few min-

utes. Then Pontivy said: "It is

lime we got IOrummond home.This business is tiring, alwaystalking. And he has a big dayto-morrow."

"He is a remarkable man,"said the Russian.

"He is the greatest man in the

world," Pontivy declared; then

added, either modestly or diplo-

matically, "in his own line of

country, of course.""It will be a very interesting

Assembly to-morrow," 1 sugges-

ted.

"It will be historic," said

Madame Herniinn-her tone was

exactly right, and her comment

sounded quite sincere. "I can't

tell yon how 1 look- forward to

it."

"You are coming?" 1 asked.

"Yes. M. Pontivy has' been

kind enough to promise .to gelme a ticket."

"That's fine."

"There will be a'crowd," said

Pontivy. "Even our Americandetective wants to go with us."

"You have a detective?" asked

,

Madame Hermina."The F.B.I, detail a man to

guard Drummond's papers. Buthe shall get his thrill to-morrow,and come with us, for once. Asyou say, Madame, we shall be

present at the making of history."

, "Well, as I've gol to help, to

make it, 1 think that I'll, go Jobed," the Russian smiled..

A little desultory conversation,and our little party broke up. We

dropped Madame'

Hermina out-

side her apartment - before , we

turned homewards.

"What was the idea, advertisingto her that our place would be

empty to-morrow?" 1 asked.

"We burgled her flat to-night,

she shall burgle ours to-morrow,'Pontivy said cheerfully. "That is

fair. She will not do it herself,of course-she is too much of a

lady. Andthough

the good Ryanwill be ostentatiously in attend-

ance on Drummond, doubtless

our friend Milson has another

detective in his shop."In the morning he went off to

make his arrangement-he did

not pretend to trust the Americantelephone. It might be efficient-it is-but for bis purposes it

was not secret.We usually had meals in our

own sitting room-Drummondattracted too much attention to

make public appearances com-

fortable. Ryan himself had vetted

the staff deputed to our service,and had proclaimed them "as

harmless as a bunch of Baptist

deacons-maybe more so," Our

personal waiter certainly fitted

this description. Stately, a^ col-

oured man, with crisp grey''hair

crowning his well-shaped bead,he was a model of friendly dig-

nity. Pontivy was soon on very

friendly terms with him. He ad-

mitted' to the usual appelation,George, but Pontivy preferredUncle Tom. Pontivy had already

finished his breakfast when I ap-peared for mine.

.

-

"See you at Lake Success," he

said. "Í have things lo do."

"Don't forget Madame Her-

mina,',' I teased as he went

,I

t waited'

and had my oreak

fast with Drummond, This was

the decisive day for his plan.If the United Nations at the last

moment funked the issue, and

decided to give up their gold to

the Martians, we should be in a

fix. I could just imagine us

shooting off rockets of gold into

the stratosphere!The atmosphere in the Hall of

Assembly was again tense when

we arrived. Drummond took his

place with the British delegation,amid a hum of comment. I

went to the staff benches, wheiea beaming Pontivy was entertain-

ing Madame Hermina.

Almost immediately the Pre-

sident entered. There were to

be no frittering preliminaries or

sparlings. At once the Russiandelegate mounted the rostrum.

"This is a critical day in the

annals of the United Nations ofthe world," he announced. "It

is fittingthat the Soviet Union

should be called upon first. Fromthe outset, the Soviet Union,with its principles of true demo

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cracy, has backed the United Na-tions with its full resources.

There have been times whenother countries have attempted to

drive the Soviet Union out of the

United Nations. We have re-

sisted these attempts. We stand

by the Charter and the Covenant.We have been and always will be

the champions of liberty-trueliberty, not the sham which pass-

es as freedom in so-called 'liberal'

States. r For .this reason iii is* for

the Soviet Uhion to give a lead

to the world;"A vile attack cn the earth has

been made by the Martian Fas-

cists. The character of these

people can be appreciated whenit is realised that they chose his-

toric Russian territory as the

scene of their first onslaught.

They may know something of

rockets and protonic .bombs, but

they are ignorant of the spirit of

the Soviet peoples."While representatives talked

here yesterday, the peoples of the

Soviet Union were acting. Thou-

sands of protest meetings were

held. And\the resolutions of all

speak with1

one voice. Russia's

answer is-defiance to the

Martian Fascists from the free

peoples of the world."He was interrupted by a rising

volume of applause. He beamedat the Assembly: this for him was

an unusual experience.

"We call upon the peoples of

the world to fight with us againstthe common enemy," he went on.

"With unity of purpose and en-

deavour, victory must be ours.

Then the Martian Fascists shall

pay for their criminal folly. Since

their first net of aggression was

committed on Russian territory,

it follows that the Soviet Unionwill have a fir-rt claim on any

reparationswhich may be

exacted. And now, to the battle!

Freedom is in peril-we must de-

fend it with all our might. We

must fight in the plains, on the

oceans, in the sky. We will

never give in."The president called upon the

representative of Haiti. NoboJylistened to the poor man as he

pledged the resources of his

country to the common cause: the

hall for the moment housed a

hundred whispering groups. The

President was a clever man: prob-

ably his procedure was deliberate.

Certainly he made no mistakein his next move. He called on

Drummond. The Assembly was

hushed as my friend mounted the

rostrum.

"This is'a unique occasion," hebegan quietly. "No vote has

been taken, wyet it seems to me

that there is an atmospnerc of

unanimity such as this Assemblyhas seldom, if ever, known."

The delegates made it clear

that they agreed.

"I take it that you wint from

mc a technical footnote before

your final and vital decision. 1

must report to you that I know

of no way of preventing the

Martian rockets from reachingthe eaith. Nor do 1 know-as

ve»-of any counter to the effects

of thepi ¿tonic bomb, though

this problem can be tackled im-

mediately and energetically. If

I may be so bold, I suggest *

technical committee under Pio

fcsssor Bogulov."I also strongly recommend

that we appear to treat with the

Martians, so as to gain lime. It

will be recalled that the Martiansproposed to send us details of

how the world's gold could be

sent to their planet. 1 needhardly point out that this vital

information could be used in

other ways!"In the" meantime, as I have

previously reported,I have

worked out plans of a rocketwhich I am quite confident can

reach Mars. The rocket can carry

an atomic charge, which might be

even more effective on Mars than

on the earth. Or, in the first

instance, it might be as well to

send only a message. This would

indicate to the Martians that we

can reach their planet, so could

reply to any threat or d^cd.

"That is for you to decide. 1

will undertake to get cither your

message or your bomb to Mars.

Your task is a double one: first,.

to gain time for mc to construct

my rocket; second, to supportme with all the essentials whichthe manufacture of the rockets

will need-including Uranium235, enriched."

His speech was short and

simple, but its effect was extra-

ordinary. One after the other

th& delegates pledged the sup-

port of their governments, and

all their resources, lo the defence

of the earth. Only one incident

interrupted the irripressivc con-

tinuity. The Russian delegate,

again assuring the Assembly of

Soviet backing, followed the

American leader in offering an

agreed proportion of Soviet re-

sources of uranium.

"If I may intervene, Mr. Pre-

sident," said Drummond, "I ought1"

perhaps to have made this pointclearer. It is understood that, 1

must prepare not one rocket, but

many, in case interplanetary con-

flict results. Thus 1 must warn

delegates that 1 shall need, not

agreed proportions, but all the

Uranium 235 in the world,

wherever it is held."

For a moment the effect of

this pronouncement was sober-

ing. ('That is clever," Papa Pon-

tivy whispered. "You see it, bien?

If Drummond gets all their

uranium, they cannot makeatomic bombs to blow each other

up.")

The American delegate, after

hasty consultations with his col-

leagues, promptly announced that

U.S.A., which held probably the

largest store of Uranium 235 in

the world, would place it all at

Drummond's disposal. The Can-

adian representative followed.

The Russian would have to con-

sult his government, he said, but

he gave an unusually strong hint

that its decision would be favour-

able.

"Then I propose to adjourn the

Session until to-morrow morn-

ing," the President said. "The

general feeling' of the Assemblyis quite obvious, but the occasion

is so important that 1 feel that

the Steering Committee shoulddraw up a special resolution, cm

bodying the inflexible resolve of

ali members to devote all their

energies and resources to the fight

against Martian aggression. 1 he

interval will enable those delega-

tions which find it necessary to

consult their Government to do

so. Is that agreed?""One moment, Mr. President!"

The Dutch delegate was on his

feet. "Reference has been madein the debate to the fact that the

Martians arc obviously one body,under a single leadership. 1 be-

lieve that we shall be at a great

disadvantage if we do not enter

the battle as one world, under a

leader with supreme authority."

There was a murmur of agree-

ment: 1 saw eyes turned in the

direction of Drummond."From the technical point of

view, our choice is obvious," he

went on. "Professor Drummond'sunique qualifications are beyond

challenge. Yet, while he perfectshis appliances which are to save

us, we need a man who will co-

ordinate our activities, and who

above all will rouse and sustain'

the peoples of the world in these

new hours of strain, trial, anddanger. There is one man emi-

nently suited to this great task.

He has done it before, when the

Nazi-Fascist menace threatened

to engulf the world. 1 refer, ot

course,'to the man who was then

British Prime Minister-MrWorton Spender."

He was interrupted by a storm

of applause. The Russian and

satellite delegates could scarcely

join in it, since for months they

had been branding Worton

Spender as a war-monger. He

shared this distinction with almostevery non-Communist public

figure in the world."We cannot conduct a war

directed by an Assembly of this

size," the Dutch delegate was

saying. "It would be absurd.

Often vital and urgent questions

must be answered at once. 1

propose the smallest sub-commit-tee with the widest powers, andwith Mr. Worton Spender as its

inspired leader."The President announced that

two resolutions would he pre-

pared for the morrow. This was

an astute move. The first, guar-

anteeing all efforts, would cer-

tainly bepassed^tnanimously;

the

second might encounter Russian

opposition.Now the President

adjourned the session.

As we left the Chamber,Drummond whispered to me: "A

good day. Incidentally, your

Flying Saucer is getting aggres-

sive-a Mexican air pilot has re-

ported that, when he tried to

follow one, it turned and attacked

him."Mindful of what would be hap-

peningin Madame Hcrmina's flat,

Pontivy and I gave her the

longest lunch which the res-

taurant could offer. A fortunate

breakdown on the way back to

New York made it late afternoonbefore we reached Madame Her

mina's apartment. 1 was quitecertain that Ryan and Susanwould have completed their

task.Back at our own rooms, Pon-

tivy rushed to the writing desk."Good! The notes have gone,"

he said, opening the top draper.He rang the bell. To my$ur

prise, Milson himself appeared.

"They've gone!" Pontivy an-

nounced."Sure they have!" Milson

agreed."Your man-he saw?"

"Oh,-he saw all right. But it

wasn't quite what you thought,Mr. Pontivy."

"What wasn't."

"Well, wasn't it your idea thatMadame Hermina would sendanother man to steal the rocket

plans, and then we could traceher communications throughthem?"

"What? My dearfriend, oi

what do you speak?""Why, 1 understood from Ryan

that you deliberately let out infront of Madame Hermina thal

your rooms would be empty."

"Quite right. But what the

good Ryan omitted to tell youwas that the Russian delegate waa

a|so present at the time," said

Pontivy."So you aren't surprised?'

"No.""Surprised at what?" 1 put ¡n.

"The man who burgled youirooms was trailed to a down-town cafe. There he handed over

the notes to the Russian Assistant

Military Attache."

"Of course."

"You expected this?"

"Naturally. These suspiciouspeople want the rocket for them-selves--after the Martians havebeen disposed of. Or maybe, to

tell the Martians where to sendtheir next protonic bomb. I donot trust this

unanimity of

purpose business," saidPontivy,

bitterly.

"Well, 1*11 be damned!" Milson

ejaculated. "I don't need to ask

you if these notes were faked."

"No, you do not, my friend.*

"What would happen if some-

body built a rocket along their

lines?"

"Drummond took a good dealof trouble over the business. Therocket would go up-but it would

not reach Mars, or anywhere else.It would explode."

The telephone bell rang: 1

took up the receiver.

"Professor Drummond?""Yes," I answered. It was cus-

tomary for me to take his calls

in the first instance, to head off

importunate journalists or host-

esses.

"Do not do this thing, Mr.Drummond!"

"What?"

"Do not do this thing. If youdo, you will call down uponyourself the, wrath of God!"

*

XVII

"A/flLSON, trace this call

*?**?quickly!" I said, as I

heard the final click of the in-

strument at the other end of the'

line."What h it?" Pontivy dt-

j

manded."A threat to Drummond." /

National Library of Australiahttp://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page1026206

«Another!There have been

pl'"Ye's"but this sounded serious.

The voice seemed familiar.

"Whose wasii?"

"

.That'swhat 1 can t say.

«idiot'" Pontivy looked at me

? H!«PIISI "You cannot recog-

ía voice-afterall these

)ei can recognise the voice-it's

,eövnervvhc.eludesme.foMbe

ff had now hung up the tele-.

pb°No good,"he said. "You've

had no call from outside in the

last few minutes. It must have

ten somebodyin the hotel- he

bfernal telephoneis automatic,

o can't be traced.".

»Ill think of it," I promiseduiih more confidence m my voice

hnfnmymind. Then, to divert

Pnntivv's attention and to arrest

his muttered grumblings: "Go on

about the Russians, Milson.

»There'snothing else to say.

They've gotthese notes, which 1

uessedwere phoney, so I didn t

do anything.Since the Canadian

cnv case,it's dynamite to arrest

a Russian military attache."

»Ouite right,Milson. You

mUbinot think of such a thing.

Drummond agreed. 'The notes

»¡II keep them busy. They are

not quite as complete as Pontivy

Muw'ted. They do not provide

he complete plans of my rocket.

Thev only record some experi-

ments-some.I emphasise."

..Good. Well. Mr. Drummond,

whatline do you suggest?"

"The theft must be announced.

We do not want the Russians to

comehere again to get more

iheymight get something that

"V was interrupted by the

shrill callof the telephone. I

lookit.

"Ryan!" ..

.,

»yes, I'm coming over. 1 vc

gotsomething queer."

"Right!We re all here. Milson.

t0°»Good. I'll be seeing you."

Now we abandoned any

attempt todiscuss the United

Nations,or Russian suspicions, or

politicalleaders. Ryan sounded

«cited and "something queer"sas intriguing. .

Ryan was with us 20 minutes

later. Almost instinctively he

sent to open the doors of our

adjoiningbedrooms before he

"This may be hot," he said.

"Well, Mr. Newman, you were

right,sure thing."

"What do you mean-New-

man was right?" Pontivy de-

manded.

"Well, he was. And Susan.

Hey both said that there was in

risibleink soaked into that little

lût, and there sure was. Oh,KI we onlv soaked a little but

Ite's plenty left for the dame.

Our folks at the laboratory are

mighty interested in that ink.

They say that if you write with

i ball-pointed pen, which makes

«o scratch on the paper, our

infra-red lamp can't force it out.

Only fe-what was that word?".Mordant," I suggested.

! That's it-though what the

j

tel itmeans. . ."

"Re-agent, antidota, Some-

body writes to Madame Herminain chemical ink, shall we say. In

some garments, she cairies the

moidant-the re-agent which will

bring out the invisible ink. She

carries a supoly of the ink itself

in her vesi. Maybe the mordantis in her brassiere."

"We will continue the fashion

parade later." said Pontivy,

coldly. "In the meantime. Ser-

geant Ryan has news."

"1 sure have. I'm telling it you.We worked cut this mordani

stuff once we'd analysed the ink.and our guys latMed the letter

again-they'd been working on

it for an hour with lamps and

heat. Now it worked. This is

when they got excited about the

stuff-the hidden message came

out; but as soon as the mordant

dried, it disappeared again. Youcould only get it out again byputting more mordant on. Those

laboratory guys say that it's

something .ew-that if youhaven't got the mordant, youcan't get at the ink. This is a

photograph of the message-1put the letter back where it carne

from, just like Mr. Newman

said."

He produced a print from an

envelope. We gathered round

eagerly. The text of the letter

dominated the print, but in the

top left-hand corner, opposite

the address, was a jumble of

block letters, faintly visible.

"Write this c'^wn," Pontivy

ordered, and dictated: "EKJSA

ESZNSNSCEQ. So that is the

message.""That's it," said Ryan cheer-

fully."But what does it mean?"

"The cryptolo: isis haven't got

through it yet. They say that

it's short."

It was. The longer the mess-

age, the easier it is to decipher.

"Well, I want to know now,"said Pontivy. "I will do it my-

self.""I doubt that," 1 said. 1 studied

the jumble carefully. "1 should

say that it's quite a simple code."

"That's what our boys said,"

Ryan replied. "They figured that

with such a good ink only a

simple code would be necessary

-in fact, they were surprisedthat the folks bothered to use a

code at all."

"So am I. That's why I thinkit's simple."

"The boys were betting :>n a

code word as key.""That's probably right. What

did they try?"

"Buenos Aires; then New

York. When 1 left they were

working on Hermina."

"How much do they know?"

"Oh, nothing. 1 had orders

to say nothing."

"Quite right. So they don't

know the name of the man who

sent the letter?""No. It's just signed 'A'."

"Right." I sat down to attack

the jumble of letters.

"Mind if I look on?" Ryanasked. "I'm just a dick-this is

off my limits."

"Of course." I wrote down on

a paper the letters ALEXNDR."Say, is that how they spell

Alexandre in Russia?"

"No. I miss out letters

which have been previouslyused-the second A, for ex-

ample. Then 1 add all the rest

of the unused letters of the

alphabet. Next I put an ordinaryalphabet beneath the code one

-like this."

ALEXNDRBCFGabcdefgbijkHI JKMOPQS1'mnopqrstu

'UVWYZv w x y z

"Now you see the idea? It

you want to write your name in

code, look at R in the real alpha-

bet, and write down P, the letter

above it in the code. And so

on. To decode you just workthe other way round-find the

letter in the code, and write the

one from the .rue alphabet be-

neath it. Where's that message?Read it out, and I'll decode."

"E first."

"Good. E is C."

"It's working!" Ryan shoutea

a few moments later. "EKJAES-that makes a word-'Contact'!"

"That's grand. -Now we know

that we're right. Carry on."

"This ain't so good," Ryansaid, as I read out the letters.

"What is it? Let me see,"

cried Pontivy, with ill-concealed

impatience."

'Contact zetetics'!"

he read out. "That does not

make sense. My d»_r Newman,your tode must be wrong. Let

me do it."

He sat down again, scowlingat the jumble. I carried my sorlution into Drummond's room,but could not find him. * I hur-

ried into the detectives' room

opposite."It's all right-Mr. Drum-

mond wanted a breath of air,"

saiù Ryan's deputy. "He finds

it a bit warm in here. One of

my men has gone with him. He'll

be O.K."

I did not doubt that. 1

wanted to know what zetetics

were. 1 believed that my solu-

tion was right-it would be an

amazing coincidence if the code-word produced a perfectly goodword like "contact" and then a

mere jumble of letters. Further,

I found the word "zetetics"

vaguely familiar.

"It could be a science-or a

society," 1 said to Milson whon

I returned."A society!" Pontivy mused.

'That could be. Newman, that

friend of yours who was an ex-

pert on freak societies-an Irish-

man named O'Evans, was henot?"

"No. You mean I. O. Evans

and he's a Welshman.""Ring him up.""What? It costs five pounds a

minute!""What of that, if we gain

knowledge? Is not that worth five

pounds a minute? We have spe-cial facilities-we are official."

Special facilities were naturally

at our disposal. Milson cleared

all lines; 1 put in a personal call,

and within 20 minutes had con-

tacted Evans at the London Geo-

logical Museum.

'Tell mc, quickly, what are

zetetics?" 1 said.

"Zetetics? Oh, yes, Jhat's the

fancy title adopted by the, peoplewho believe that the earth is flat.'

"What?" <¿. ,S

"You've heard rjf ;t|em, of

course." t'-s-'V'

"I remember Kipling's" storyBut I thought that it* was a fan-

tasy." ' »;

"No. They're a serious- organi-sation, with a very strong re-

ligious basis-a sort of Funda-

mentalist. I could send you

some of their literature-out youcould get it in America. Theyhave a small following there

stronger in the southern States,I believe. I seem to remember

a Negro pastor-. . .".

"Never mind. This costs five

pounds a minute. You've told me

all I need'to" know.1 Very manythanks." .

"<"?>'\"Well?" Pontivy demanded, as

I hung up. ,

"It's getting clear.""It is as clear as mud to me.

You talk about Kipling's stones

-at five pounds a minute. What

are these Zetetics, or who are

they?"

"They believe that the earth

is flat." \

"They what?" . -

"They believe that the,earth is

flat. They are a sincere religiousgroup,- of Fundamentalist per-suasion. Over, heie '-(ney are

stiong in the Sauthern_7.-States.Which reminds me, I'have*identi-fied the voice which' threatened

Drummond with the wrath ofGod."

Pontivy waved his hands ex-

pressively. '.'Either I go crazy or

you do. 1 suspect that it is you.- What is this rubbish?

*

You talk

to Evans about people who think

that the earth is flat and becauseof that you recognise your mys-terious voice."

"Ev-ans mentioned that the secthad adherents among the.Negoes.That touched off an idea in mymind. Allowing for the distor-

tion of the telephone, 1 knowwho gave that warning."

"Who was it? I demand to

know!""Our floor waiter-Uncle

Tom."

XVIII

"\/OU are sure?"*

"Quite sure-now.""Very well." Pontivy re-

sumed command. I often pokedfun at him, but no one in the

world was quicker at sizing up a

situation-and acting on it,

"Milson, your voluminous re-

cords must have some note ofthese Zetetics-they may operatehere under another name. Let

me know all,if you please.

Ryan, you will look after Uncle

Tom. But, both of you, nota hint of suspicion."-1 r

"These freak sects have some

strange ideas," 1 said. "Maybethey think it wicked to send a

rocket to Mars.""Well, those guys sent rockets

National Library of Australiahttp://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page1026207

here first, didn't they?" Ryan de-

manded, with some indignation.

"That is no argument to fan-

atics," said Pontivy. 'The point

is, Madame Hermina is instruc-

ted to contact these Zetetics

and Madame Hermina is workingfor a man who wants to harm

Drummond. That is goodenough for tis. The Zetetics go

on io our list of suspects-maybeonly a few of them, but that we

must find out."

"You're'quite right, Mr. Pon-

tivy," Milson agreed. "I know

these fanatics. They can be

much more dangerous than crim-

inals because they don't take a

normal course. Well, I must be

going. There's a lot to be done

See you later."

"Yes. Er ...1 shall be oui

till late this evening," Pontivysaid.

"Hullo, Papa," I teased.

"Hermina again!"

"Well, yes. I promised to

take her to the theatre. Sheis a very intelligent

and discern-

ing Wo'mani" She looked throughthe "liit to find n French

play .-. ."

"That was just to please you."

"I told you that she was n dis-

cerning woman. ApparentlyNew York has not yet ascended

to French plays, however, so she

chose Shakespeare ns the next

best thing. 'Macbeth.' Peste!

I have forgotten to book the

seats, and it is late."

"1 can fix that for you, Papa,"I said., "It's Maurice Evans'

production, and he happens to be

a cousin of mine-or. to be pre-

cise, of my wife."

"Really, my dear Newman,you are extraordinary," Pontivybeamed. "Your friends and

relatives pop up most unexpec-

tedly and are very useful." -

Milson and Ryan bustled off.

I sat down to think over the

new potentialities. I agreed with

Milson-the new threat must be

taken seriously, for men with

fixed ideas can be very danger-ous. Assuredly we must know

more about those ideas.

"Are you going to tell Drum-

mond?" I asked.

"No. He has enough on his

mind. This is our businlss."

That was true. Drummondhad enough to do in watchingthe Assembly. He did not need

to be worried by threats from

some freak "society. This Jby it-

self might not have concernedme: The American method of

protest is wordy but innocuous.But if Alexandre were to put

new ideas into fanatically 7eal

ous minds : . .It was at least

good that we had ample warn-

ing."I have an idea, Newman. 1

will bring Madame Hermina here

for coffee and sandwiches after

the show. She will seize any op-

portunityof meeting Drummond.

Do you arrange that Uncle Tom

remains on duty. It will be in-

teresting to see him and Her-

mina in the same room, bein?"

"I've got it, Papa. Of course,

we don't know if he's one of the

particular Zetetics she's got to

contact."

"Ho, but we shall sec"

I got on the telephone to

Maurice Evans to fix the tickets

-an actor-manager would be

sure to have a few in reserve.

Maurice greeted me warmly, andI arranged to sec his productionmyself on a later occasion.

Later, when Pontivy had left

in his hired dress lo meet Mad-ame Hermina, 1 rang MauriceEvans again and asked him if

he would invite the couple back-

stage. 1 knew that the old man

would be delighted, and anythingthat left him on the best of terms

with Madame Hermina might be

useful.

While Drummond worked

quietly at his papers, I began to

think out the implications.Had

Madame Hermina already con-

tacted the Zetetics? Was Uncle

Tom's warning about the wrathof God part of her plan? True,it did not appear to resemblethe methods of a gang whose

objective was to destroy a man-

oeuvre for world peace.

The more I thoughtof it, the

more I appreciated Alexandre'scleverness. If he could persuadethese enthusiastic world-is-flnt

zealots to drastic action, he mightattain his objective without ap-

pearing in the open or taking a

risk.

I agreed with Pontivy-Alex-andre was the enemy. The Rus-

sians might steal plans of rockets

for future use, but were as deter-

mined to resist the Martianthreat as anyone. Further, I did

not believe that they had the

slightest suspicion of our scheme.

The Bialawieza rocket wouldhave convinced anyone.

Drummond worked on solidly.

My presence did not disturb himin the slightest. He was one ofthose fortunate men who can

drop a curtain in front of their

minds, cutting themselves off

from the world at will. It must

have been two hours before he lit

a cigarette-a sure sign that he

had completed his task.

"All 'ready for to-morrow?" I

asked.

"Oh, I'm not worrying about

to-morrow. That's easy,"

"What about Worton Spen-der?" v

"He would be useful, with his

drive and imagination, but I

doubt if the Russians are readyfor him-yet. We must not try

to rush events."

"I wonder you don't control

everything yourself."

"In dealing with fifty or sixty

nations it is best to direct from

the rear. Later, maybe. You're

going to be busy, Newman. 1

want you to keep the world nervy

or jumpy for a few weeks. I've

got to go into a huddle with my

scientists preparing my rocket."

"That shouldn't be difficult.

My flying saucers are popping up

again. You know, what 1 really

need is a man from Mars."

"That's an idea," he smiled.

"With one man-or even a bit

of him-1 could have every

tongue in the svorld jabbering."

"I wonder how Pontivy is get-

ting on?" Drummond switched

the conversation abruptly.

"It's very amusing. This

woman thinks that she's playinghim, and he's playing her all the

,

while.""He feels responsible. He

dragged this Alexandre fellow

into our business."

"Yes, that was a mistake,"

Drummond agreed."But we all

made it. And the money was in-

valuable. I'm like Pontivy. Just

as he uses his Madame Hermina,so I delight in using a war-

monger's money to stop war.

Strangel The Russians are always

branding people as warmongers,

but they never mention men like

Alexandre. Our affair has shown

already how dangerous such folks

can be. Well, I'm going to bed."

"Oh! Not yet. Drummond.

Papa is bringing Madame Her-

mina home.""Ah!" he smiled. "Well, if it

will help his plot-I'll play you

at chess."

The game was unfinished when

Pontivy returned. Again I had to

restrain my . admiration of

Madame Hermina. She was

perfectly turned out. Drummondgreeted her in friendliest fashion,

as if she were Pontivy's amorata.

She discussed the show keenlyand sensibly. Maurice Evanshad taken them behind the scenes

and had presented them to the

leading players."I could do Shakespeare,"

Pontivy. declared.

'¿Forget it. We haven't time

to launch you in a new pro-

duction."

"No, you must be more than

busy," said Hermina, seriously.

"Yes, there is plenty to do,"

Drummond agreed.

"You think that everythingwill go ahead, as you have

planned?""I think so."

"You are a very great man,

Mr. Drummond."She said it so sincerely that he

blushed. Certainly the woman

was a most competent actress.

I began to wonder if it would

be possible to detach her to our

side.

Pontivy rang the bell. "I'm

hungry," he announced. "Your

cousin's production was magnifi-

cent, my dear Newman. 1 have

been sitting with my mouth wide

open. Hence, I'm hungry."Uncle Tom appeared, and we

ordered sandwiches and drinks.

So far as I could see,- Madame

Hermina showed not the faintest

sign of recognition when Tomentered Ihe room: nor did he.

True, she was a competentactress, but the old negro was

not.

Leaving Madame Hermina te«

the legitimate glances of her

escort, Pontivy,I watched Uncle

Tom casually but carefully when

he returned with the sandwiches.

There was not the faintest glim-

mer of recognition as he stood

before our guests.

If Hermina had already con

tncted the Zetetics, it appearedUncle Tom was unaware of herYet how could we explain his

dramatic waining? Or the fact

that he was here at all? Alex-andre's curt instruction impliedthat preliminary work had alreadybeen done. It could be

inferredthat Uncle Tom had been

deliberately planted as one ofour waiters.

At this moment all thelights

went out. Ryan's man camerushing in from his hide-out on

the other side of the corridor"All O.K. here?" he asked,

shining his torch.

"Yes. What is it?"

"Breakdown, "I guess." Hewent to the window, where 1

joined him. Our building andits neighbours were in completedarkness, but others far

awaywere lit as usual.

"District breakdown," Ryan'sman announced. "They'll soonswitch over. This don't happenoften these days, but most ofthe stations are overloaded."

Uncle Tom appeared withcandles, but before they could

be fixed the current was restored

and the lights shone again.

"So!" Pontivy beamed to Ma-dame Hermina. "That is over.The only casualty is the clockthat's the worst of electric clocks;

they needelectricity. Now it is

two minutes slow, which annoysme."

"1*11 get it fixed to-rnorrow,Mr. Pontivy," Uncle Tom assuredhim.

"Good,"

A pleasant half-hourpassed.

Drummond gave of his best in

entertaining Madame Hermina,and Pontivy was positively witty.

But, as he rose to escort the lady

home, he whispered, "Don't touchthe programme."

"What's wrong with the pro

gramme?" 1 asked, on his return.

"Nothing-I hope. You observethat it'is printed on nice,

shinyart paper-admirable for finger-

prints.""1 see. But what ..."

"I have an instinct that we mayneed to know more about Her-mina. You will recall that she

once lived in Paris. She mayhave a dossier-we shall see,

And now to bed. It is abig

day to-morrow, is it not?"

As a matter of fact, it was

almost an anti-climax-not in its

significance, but in its quietness.

Everybody seemed to recognise

that the moment for argumentwas over.

The Australian representative,'

on behalf of the Steering Com-'

millee, presented theexpected'1

resolution. It was firmly worded1in its defiance of the Martian'

threat, and pledged all the United'

Nations to give to the limit of:

their resources in the battle,

against the common enemy. This I

was passed unanimously.<

National Library of Australiahttp://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page1026208

?" IS i" Drummond had

Len Sve behind the scenes;

iLnew that he wished to avoid

1w mblancc of disunity at the

anyscnmDia-?ne Russian formally

loosed thatthe Security Coun

pÄd "main in permanent

12. «o «ive Seneral direction

io the campaign.1

/watchedthe Dutchman who

u i yesterday proposed Worton

¿d for this task A casual

fe rr0npfàce?ndYehsgSÍnd had bcePn active.

WThere were one or two ques

»ne Tin. Russian confirmed

¡,"hont quihficntionthat the

hncal side of the campaign

t ""der the sole control

of ProfessorDrummond

The American delegate ac-

cept ed ti« R»«'an ldea'A ííe

Mid one point it seemed to

£ ,h"°tone of the Assembly's

Kisions needed special alién-

ât referred to the necessity

r playingvviih the Martians

fn,,plhe world was ready for

¿onThis was a job tor

er politiciansHe proposed

Vnecial Political Sub-Committee

io délai the Martians by eyasivc

uies and skilful manipulation

St Sas He coupled with his

proposalthe suggestion

that the

Russian delegate should be the

chairmanof the Sub-Committee.

Allthese proposals were

adopted.(The American Press,

need hardly say, promptly

christenedthe new Political

Subcommittee "the Stalling

Committee.")

Subsequent proceedingswere

an anti-climax,but Drummond

had a long conference with the

Security Council before he could

set away.» j

I left him, with an escort, and

returned to New York.

"No excitement to-day?" This

»as Pontivy'susual greeting to

Ryan,who had been on guard

alour apartments.

"None. The coloured girl

»em in todo your beds this

morning, and Uncle Tom took

in the supper things an hour ago.

Aparthorn that, only the

electrician to fix the clock, I

lookhim in myself."

"Good."

Ryan went to his room, and

Pontivy and I sat down rather

tavily-the day had been tiring.

just before eight o'clock, 1 got

up to switch on the radio for a

Kwsbulletin. Pontivy ostenta

ifaisly compared its time signal

tjiihhis walch and the electric

ttóon the wall.

'.Exactly right!" he . com-

muted,nodding his head: it was

totcitar whether he referred

»tilt time signal,the clock, or

6 Mich. "I am glad that they

tat corrected that clock-it

)iB0)tdme,even if it was only

s

two minutes slow. I always say

"Sh!" 1 hissed, for the

announcer was giving a resume'

Of Drummond's speech to the

Assembly. Pontivy glared for a

moment, then settled down to

listen.

The radio account was ve-y

satisfactory. A commentator

followed. In the usual Americanstyle, he gave the suggestion of

inside knowledge-one would

have thought that he had him-

self given the idea of poolingsecrets to Drummond.

When he had finished I

switched the radio off, then

rang the bell for supper. That

was Uncle Tom's word for the

meal. Pontivy called it dinner,and he was nearer to a true

description. It was a very

substantial meal.I noticed that Pontivy was

restless. A dozen times he

jumped up from his chair to go

to the window.

"What's the matter. Papa?"I asked. "Pining for Hermina?"

"Rubbish. I have an instinct

The old man's "instincts," or

hunches, had been famous in his

Paris days, and I had learned

that it was dangerous to ignore

them."But why? Everything seems

normal.""It is too quiet.""Too quiet?"

"Yes. The silence is unnatural.Listen to it."

We were silent. Certainly the

room was quiet-bul it often was.

We were too far up to be dis-_

turbed by the traffic.

"Morbleu! Son of a thousanddogs!" Pontivy shouted suddenly.

"What's wrong?""Keep quiet. What do you

hear?""1 can't hear anything-except

the clock ticking."

"Precisely, espèce d'idiot! But

the only clock in the room is

electric-and it does not tick!"

XIX

"T^HE tick comes from* here!" shouted the old

man.

"No-to your left."

Here was a metal container. I

had always assumed that it held

the controls of one of the many

gadgets which embellish an

American apartment. The cover

slipped easily from its position.

"It's some sort of connection

with the clock," I announced."This is where the electricity is

taken off-Hell!""Yes, hell!" Pontivy agreed,

grimly. Behind the orderly bat-

tery of wires was a metal box

-which ticked..

"Don't touch it!" Pontivyordered.

"But it may go off. We must

see the time it's set for."

I lifted the bomb, or whatever

it was, gingerly, I admit. The

tiny clock face was hidden by a

small metal shield, which slippedto one side under pressure.

"Nine o'clock!" 1 announced.

"Oh!" Pontivy consulted his'

watch-and the electric clock foi

greater security. "We have over

half an hour. Er. . .

are these

things accurate?"

'That depends upon the maker,t don't feel very secure, 1 can

tell you."

"Very well. I will get Ryan."I had already summoned Ryan

by bell. With half an hour to

upare, Pontivy could scarcely

resist an obvious temptation.

"Ah, my dear Ryan! This

clock man, when he came-whatdid he do?"

"I've told you-he put the

clock right."

,

"He went only lo the clock?"

"Yes-no, he switched off at

the control point, there, while he

altered the hands.""I see. And you watched

him?"

"Sure I did. But why .. .?"

"You watched him put this inthe control box?" said Pontivy,producing the bomb.

"Well, I'll be damned, this is

a licker!" Ryan shouted. "Why,when 1 get my fist on that guy,

I'll put his face where his feet

ought to be!"

In the meantime, however, he

proved himself a very practicalman. Using his penknife as a

screwdriver, he removed the back

of the bomb."1 know this sort," he mut-

tered. "Yes-I guess that's O.K.."

"You're sure?"

"Sure, I'm sure. I've cut the

wires. The thing's harmless. I'll

sit on it at nine, if you like."

"No. Put itback."

"What?""Put it back."

Grumbling about madmen,Ryan replaced the back of the

bomb and I put it back where I

had found it.

"Now we can consider the

case," Pontivy announced, like a

barrister making his opening

speech for the prosecution.

"Obviously, we must know more

about this clock man. Ryan,that is your job."

"Sure. Wait till I get hold of

that guy."

"Now, at the other end of the

case. . . Who knew that our

clock needed attention?"

"Madame Hermina,"' I said

promptly. "You pointedit out

to her yourself."

"And Uncle Tom," he added,avoiding the issue.

"No one else."

"You are wrong. All electric

clocks in the district must have

been wrong. But no one else

knew how I dislike an inaccurate

clock. Er ... 1 am going to

invite Madame Hermina round

for drinks. If she comes. . . ."

He was interrupted by the tele-

phone bell. "For you," 1 said,

as 1 took it.

"Yes, ah . . . well, no ... I

regret, it is quite impossible to-

night ...it is understood, to-

morrow Drummond goes away.

There is much to do. You will

excuse? I shall see you to

moirow . . . enchante."He looked hard ut the tele-

phone as he hung up. 'That was

extraordinary," he said. "MadamoHermina invited us round fordrinks."

"When?""Now."

"Oh, so it doesn't look as i£

"No. Well4-we will try the

other suspect. Uncle Tom is to

be in this room-at nine o'clock.""1 got it, Mr. Pontivy. It's

cute," Ryan exclaimed."Indeed it is," Pontivy agreed.

"He is not a good actor. If he

is to be blown up with us, hawill show the signs."

Imagination can play tricks

with emotions. I knew that the

time-bomb was immobilised, yet1 felt a sense of strain and

suspense as nine o'clock ap-proached. The least concerned

person in the room was UncleTom. He moved around, in hisslow, deliberate way, servingcoffee. Certainly he knew nothingof the bomb.

Ryan slipped away, only tooanxious to be on the trail ofthe electric-clock man who had

fooled him. Pontivy and I sat

with our coffee, when the old

man startled me.

"Tom," he said quietly, "whydid you telephone to Mr. Drum-mond that warning about thewrath of God?"

"Because I meant it, Mr. Pon-

tivy." Tom's voice was quite

even, his tone serious but conver-

sational. "I esteem Mr. Drum-

mond mighty highly, but he

should not interfere with the

works of God."

"But he doesn't."

"He's going to. This rocket tobe fired at Mars, it's all wrong.The whole idea is wrong."

"Why? The Martians fired

first."'

"No, Mr. Pontivy. There's

something wrong there. Some-

body is deceiving Mr. Drum-

mond. Those rockets never

came from Mars."

I listened with astonishment.

Here was the first open avowalof .suspicion of our scheme-andit .ame ,from a humble Negrowaiter.

"But the messages-that last

bomb . .." Pontivy insisted.

'There's lots of things which I

don't understand, Mr. Pontivy,but 1 know that it ain't possible.If those rockets had come from

Mars the world would have ended

by now. Maybe you believe that

the world is round?""Yes, of course."

"Well, it isn't. No, don't quotescientists to me. 1 believe the

Holy Word above all the scien-

tists in the world. 'O give thanks'

unto Jehovah; to Him thaf bywisdom made the heavens; to

Him that stretched out the earth

above the waters.' That's plain

enough, Mr. Pontivy. 'He hathfounded the earth on the seas,and established it on the floods.'

That's plain enough, too. The

earth is no little ball rollinground the sun. It is flat, spreadupon the waters."

"Here is the world, Mr. Poa«

National Library of Australiahttp://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page1026209

tivy-*' Uncle Tom picked up the

plate. "It is'flat, the land andoceans surrounded by ice.

Below it are the waters. Above

it is the air, the atmosphere: and

above that, the heavens. Everyfeature of the earth is contained."

"Contained?""Yes, sir, Job said. 'God hath

compassed the waters withbounds unto the confines of light

and" darkness.' The air also is

compassed. Picture it like this,

Mr. . Pontivy-like a balloon

fastened on to the plate. Nowyou are Mars. You fire a rocket

-it bursts the balloon-the at-

mosphere escapes from the earth?-and the world comes to an

end.""Yes, 1 see what you mean,

but". .."

"So that's why I don't believe

in the Martian rockets, because

the earth has not come to an

end.""Then where do they come

from?""I don't know sir. Somebody's

sending them. But now Mr.

Drummond wants to try the other

way-and Mr. Drummond is a

powerful clever man. So I'm

scared."

"You think that his rocket may

burst the balloon?""Sure I

do. Mark it, Mr. Pon-

tivy. I'm not scared to die. 1

have my faith. But I'm scared

for the world, with millions con-

demned to eternity in hell if the

world comes to ah end now. And

what's more important-this is

all against the will of Cod. WhenHe wants the world to end. He

will fix it Himself. That's why I

warned Mr. Drummond. I know

that I am only his servant, but

1 am a servant of God as well,

and that's even more important."

"And suppose Mr. Drummondgoes ahead with his rocket?"

"Then I shall get my Bible and

my wife and prepare for the End.

1 ain't afraid, Mr, Pontivy-butthis is a powerful wicked world

I will plead with Mr. Drummond,if 1 get a chance, but no more

I'm apacifist,

Mr. Pontivy-that'sGod's will, I am assured.

"And your friends? Do they

hol¿' the same view?""Yes, sir. Leastways, there's

a few hotheads who want to do

things, but we argue them down.

We must accept the guidance of

God."Uncle Tom now collected our

cupst and moved towards the

doort

"l,can let you have one or two

bookSi if you like, Mr. Pontivy,"

be said, turning at the door.

"I should be most interested

to ISÊe them. Many thanks.

Good-night."The door closed quietly. For

a moment no word was spoken.

".Well, what did you think of

that?" Papa Pontivy demanded.

"I agree with you-more than

interesting; and in these days it

is refreshing to meet a man.whohas ..a. genuine faith."

"Yes, the fire itself would not

move~Uncle Tom. Tom is in-

nocuous, but the others-those

who want to do something. 1

tell you that I would rather fight

a whole army of spies than a

dozen zealots with a faith like

Tom's. Drummond must alter

his arrangements at once."

XX

pONTIVY paced up and*? down the room, rehears-

ing the speech he would makewhen Drummond returned. He

took the bomb from its hiding

place ready for the occasion.

Then he rather spoiled his own

dramatic effect. Instead of pro-

ducing the time-bomb at the right

moment, he forgot it and left it>

lying on the table. Drummondpounced on it immediately he

entered the room, and the story

was out in a dozen rapid phrases.

I noticed that he was more

interested in Uncle Tom's conver-

sation than in the bomb plot. He

reacted seriously to the Negro'sopen suspicion of the Martian

rockets, and he agreed when Pon

tiv,y said that such zealots mightbe dangerous opponents.

"So you see you must changeyour plans whatever they were,"

Pontivy insisted. "These Zetetics

may use bombs."

"That could be done," Drum-

mond admitted, rather to my sur-

prise. "We cannot risk anyfailure at this stage. The Cana-

dian Government has put its

plant at Chalk River at our dis-

posal. I could go there first."

"Excellent. One moment."Pontivy got on the 'phone to

Milson, asking him to come

round.

"What can you do about the

Zetetic suspicions, Drummond?'I asked.

"Very little, 1 fear. Then

ideas may seem absurd io us,but

they are firmly held. Fortunately,

these people are only a tiny sect.

They could only become dan-

gerousif'someone used them."

. "Right," Pontivy said. "To-

morrow you're supposed to be

going to that factory in Tennes-

see. Well, you're not going."

"Well, that's not a bad start

Variety upsets most plans."

"Exactly. You'll go to Canada

instead. But it is a pity to dis-

appoint people. I propose that

you go to Tennessee as well."

"But he can't. He isn't a bird

-he can't be in two places at

once," Milson said.

"No. 1 will explain. 1 want

to borrow a man-the nearest

man you have to Drummond.

Preferably, a man who will not

grumble if he is shot at. We will

arrange such details'as the col-

our of his hair, he can wear

Drummond's clothes, travel byDrummond's aircraft, with

Drummond's escort-me. Thus,to anyone who does not know

'

him, he will be Drummond.""I got you, Mr. Pontivy. Lend

me your 'phone.""You will not say anything-I

do not trust ypur telephones."

"Neither do I. But you can

trust me.""1 leave it to you. Have your

man around early to-morrow

morning too so that he can be

shortened."

"He can be what?"

"Papa means briefed," 1 sug-

gested."Of course. And naturally I

want to hear much more aboutthese Zetetics. Uncle Tom here

is quite harmless-but he couldbe used by men who aren't. Ex-

cellent. Gradually the matter be-

comes clear."

Some aspects were plain

enough. Pontivy was almost cer-

tainly right in directing his sus-

picions on the man Alexandre.Here lay our real danger-theonly man who objected to the

fundamental basis of our schemeHe was clever, too, in thinking

of the Zetetics. In the hands of

an unscrupulous man such en-

thusiasts could be a powerfulweapon.

But the details puzzled me.

Where did Madame Hermina

come in? She had been orderedto contact the Zetetics, and our

time-bomb had duly appeared.

Yet, Hermina was not an un-

attractive character; somehow 1

could not associate her with cold-

blooded assassination.

"The Stalling Committee looks

like having an all-night sitting,"

Drummond announced suddenly"Why?1"Another rocket has arrived in

Leicestershire. The Martians are

beginning to show their teeth

they demand an immediate an-

swer to their requestfor all the

gold in the world . .."

He was interrupted by the tele-

phone. 1 took the message.

"Speak of the devil," 1 said.

'The Stalling Committee want to

consult you, urgently."

"1 rather expected that. Saythat I'll come along. You

needn't wait up for me.""I shall wait up for you," Pon

tivy announced, graodly. "In fact,

your escort has had a long dayI will come with you."

In the early hours of the morn-

ing Drummond and Pontivy re-

turned. The Stalling Committeehad agreed on their message to

Mars, ingeniously worded bythe Russian chairman. Whetherthe Martians would understandthe subtlety of its phi ases

was quite another matter

In effect, the message ap-

peared to accept the ulti-

matum, and invited the Mar

tians to send details of how the

gold was to be transported.

Early in the morning Milsonarrived, with Drummond's stand

in. The man was of similar build,

but the facial resemblance was

not noticeable. However, 1 am

not without experience in disguise

-in my youth 1 had'a thoroughstage training. Ryan, a versatile

man, attended to the man's hair

-Drummond was grey at the

temples, and his hair was slightly

longer than that of his substitute.

Ryan created the necessary effect

by combing the hair so as to

make it unruly.Pontivy and the stand-in set

off. Drummond was to leave

quietly, later in the day. 1 wasto stay on in New York, keepingup the campaign of nerves.

|

. noticed with approval thatflying

saucers had been reported fromFinland and Siam.

Uncle Tom carne in lo clear

the breakfast things away, l

noticed that he glanced at the

newspapers, which lay on the

table unopened-he did not knowwhat a busy morning we had had.Evidently he had not seen thestand-in leave, for he did not ap-pear surprised to see Drummondstill at home.

As if Uncle Tom's glance hadreminded him, Drummond picked

up the newspaper when he had

gone. He glanced at the sensa-

tional accounts of the previousday's Assembly, and smiled

atthe boxed and heavy-typed an-

nouncement of the Stalling Com-mittee's message. Then he be-

came immersed in the other

pages.I finished the notes I had been

preparing.

"Well, you'd better begetting

ready," I suggested. "The car

will be round within an hour.You're going to have a busy time,

I guess.",

"So are you," he smiled."What? Why?"He passed over the newspaper.

A full-page advertisement had a

startling display:

"Stop the rocket. It is contraryto the will of God. It will

bringabout the end of the world. Be-

ware, before it is too late."

More modest types developedsome of the Zeletic argumentswhich Uncle Tom had advancedthe previous day.-Then:

"Who is behind this project?

Whence comes the deceit? Be-

ware! Beware! Do not tamperwith the laws of God."

"Goshl This is serious!" 1

cried."It could be. It will

certainly

attract attention. You must com-

bat it: Revive your old friend

the flying saucer-that's your best

effort to date."

"I doubt if it's enough," I said,,

I was turning over the pages of:

the other newspapers. "It's here,,1

as well! You're right, thiswill,

attract attention. But, Drum.'

mond, I'm puzzled. It isn't

cheap to run a full-page adver-

tisement in all American news-

papers. Yet these Zetetics are just

a small sect 1 understand-simplepeople like Uncle Tom. How can

they afford this?" <

"They can't-but our friend

Alexandre could."

"Ah! So you think ..." .

"He ordered Madame Hermina

to contact the Zetetics, didn't he?

You assumed that this referred lo

the attempt to eliminate us. Now

you have another idea. You

might call on Hermina, andstudy

her reactions to this advertise«

ment."

I

National Library of Australiahttp://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page1026210

Drummond,we've got to take

.h.« veo seriously," I warned

'nccausc things have gone our

"If Te mustnt assume that

',*nHv really agrees with us.

everybodyrcany »

Ttannce . a genera.t.on ahead of

S ««been able to scare

E Rut we ve got no margin of

Eiland the world is satu

"SÏwith suspicion, to beginn

h Further there are always*!lh,/nf oeople who will do any

Í t £$ ac,,on Th'S ,dea

"1 lapped the newspaper

-offers an excuse for doing noth

., d0; he said. "Very well

HI playone of my trump cards.

-And that is?"

»lil send you a Man from

Mars'"

XXI

N0sooner were those words

spoken than Milson, who

had accompanied Pontivy to

S? airfield,returned for

Drummond. .

The newspapermen who in

Jtd the hotel had dispersed.

Nevertheless.Milson took every

.;,ion. Drummond was

%Sout by the goods en

Se and whisked away to a

2& ."fielddistant from New

Yod. .,. ,,_

I rang the bell for Uncle Tom.

nt lust been reading this ad-

joint' 1 began."Did your

«opie payfor"

.. .

^Yes-lcastways, they raised

te money for it I don tknow

£^h a page costs-two hun-

ted dollars, maybe

Five thousand,more likely.

«Five thousand dollars'" Uncle

rom s eyeswere rolling "For one

faPYes And this advertisement

Jars inall the New York

Sers Just a minute I got

ES on the telephone to F.B I.

St, alters "Yes, it's in the

ncipalnewspapers from coast

"oastYou can think in terms

X wo or three hundred thousand

?Threehundred thousand dol-

lars'" he echoed.

»probablymore.

'

.

"But Mr. Newman, that isn t

InsnUe. Al.of us put together

pn't"¡se three hundred

Lsand dollars,not if wc sold

hmihing we had.

I 'Thai's what 1 thought. 1 om.

un do you meet your

Thtres a meeting of the el-

im to-night-totalk about this."

.GoodNow listen. Some

Wts using J ou Find out where

it Edneycarne from.

.Suit I will. Three hundred

[tend- . .

"

, , , "

.Anddon't let anybody know."

.1 fat it, Mr. Newman. Yes,(si something queer going on

to All right."There was a

new tone of determination in his

voice. I guessed that Uncle Tom

could be very tough when neces-

sary.I telephoned Madame Herm-

ina. Yes, she was free, andwould be very glad to lunch with

me.

I met her in the lobby. She,looked anxious.

"I've only just heard . . ." She

waved a newspaper. "You

haven't sent for me-bad news?""No-why?"She indicated a brief note in

the stop-press news. "Unsuccess-

ful attempt on the life of Pro-

fessor Drummond. Assailant

captured.""It doesn't say anything about

Mr. Pontivy," she said.

"Come up to my room."I did not need to ring Milson

-the telephone bell was callingas I entered the suite. '

"Sorry I'm late-I've' been

out," he explained. "My assis-

tant didn't act very promptly.I've no details. An attack was

made on-Drummond as he ar-

rived at the airfield in Tennes-

see. He's all right."

"And Pontivy?""Oh, he's all right, too.

They've got the man.""Good. So we may get at

something.""Yes, if my man and Pontivy

together can't get something out

of the guy, I'm sorry for him.

I'll let you know as news comes

through."

1 reassured Madame Hermina:

then reversed my order and hadlunch in our room instead, Nat-

urally I was watching Madame

Hermina very closely. By the

end of the lunch I was quiteconvinced that Madame Herminaknew nothing about the two at-

tempts at murder-she did not

know anything of the time bomb.

But I was also convinced that

she knew quite a lot about the

advertisement. On this point she

made a slip. Early in the con-

versation she referred to it-she

had just glanced at it casually,what a joke it was, how could

people believe such things, and

so on: later she quoted from one

of the paragraphs in detail, and

accurately.

In passing, 1 would say that

Pontivy was a better actor than

1 had credited. Madame Her-

mina was quite convinced that he

was fond of her.

An hour after she had gone,Milson called in. He had now

received a report on the Tennes-

see affair. Naturally, the arrival

of Drummond could not be keptsecret-Pontivy scarcely exag-

gerated when he said that it is

impossible to keep a secret in

U.S.A.-and local Pressmen and

photographers had gathered to

greet the famous scientists.

"No comment, boys." the

F.B.I, man announced, in a fair

imitation of Drummond's voice.

"Well, a photograph, then, Mr.

Drummond."

"Sure-a picture."

He posed himself cleverly on

the landing steps of the aircraft,

so that his hat shaded his face.

The cameramen rushed to get

the best angles, and to add more

to the thousands of photographsof Drummond already available.

One man was kneeling' downto make an exposure. He changedthe angle slightly for another.

Then came the moment ofdrama.

"Old Pontivy is cute, there's

no doubt about that," said Mil-

son, wagging his head. "We grinat him a bit, but by gosh he

knows his stuff. He was watch-

ing the camera men while myman Lacey posed. This particu-

lar guy was one of half a dozen,but Pontivy got him. He noticed

that the fellow took a picture.Then he didn't click on the film

or put in a new plate-he pre-sented the camera right away.Two pictures on one plate didn'tseem good business for a

Press pbotographeiy so Pontivywatched. He saw a length ofblack steel alongside the camera,

so he jumped. The guy's shot

went wide. Before he could try

again Lacey was beside Pontivy.

Lacey was once police cruiser

weight champion. The guy's still

unconscious, but maybe he'll talk

when he wakes up."

Pontivy could look after him-self. I was more concerned with

the advertising campaign. With

the co-operation of the vast and

efficient Gallup Poll organisation,1 watched results. They appearedto be small. Indeed, the scheme

was not as clever as appeared at

first sight. A campaign againstthe Martian rocket was one thing,but a campaign launched bypeople who believed that the

earth was flat was quite different.

Nothing kills an idea so de-

cisively as derision. I added my

quota to the campaign, after a

trans-Atlantic telephone conver-

sation wilh a London literary

agent. In a dozen different coun-

tries magazines reprinted Kip-ling's famous story, "The Village

that voted the Earth was flat."

Radio networks took it up. The

results of the campaign were very

satisfactory.

Then came the new rocket,

providing a fresh sensation. The

Martians had, as might have beenexpected, read the Stalling Com-mittee's message as agreement to

their plan. They expressed their

pleasure, and assured the peopleof the Earth that they bore them

nothing but goodwill.

Next followed the startling

paragraph-by this time Pro-

fessor Lai Kan was able to in-

terpret the messages almost 1ÜÜ

per cent. "The operation ot

conveying the gold from the

Earth to our planet is consider-able and difficult. It would best

be tackled by personal contact.

While our rockets have arrived

safely, we arc still unfamiliar

with local atmospheric condi-

tions on the Earth. However,we have evolved an experimental

man-carrying rocket, and one of

our technicians will travel in it

to the Earth. Signal to us wh.ere

the rocket should be dropped,and we will proceed with the ex-

periment. Our envoy shouldarrive three turns of the Earthafter receipt of your reply/'

Enclosed with the message

were thin sheets of metal in

which the land masses of "the

earth had been stamped ouf in

relief. An ingenious series ofdots numbered the different -sec-

tions. The men of the Earthcould have the Martian envoy

dropped where they liked, appar-

ently.

The decision of the Security

Council was automatic; ..'they

chose the section immediatelyto the west of New York. 1-re-

turned to the apartment well sat-

isfied-Drummond's new idea

had banished any effects of the

Zetetic advertisement.

That evening Pontivy came

through on the telephone.

"Our man has recovered con-

sciousness," he said.

"Has he said anything?""Yes. He was rather reticent

at first, but he was-er-per-

suaded. He docs not know much,but he has said all he knows

-a man can do no more. 1 will

let you have details, but I 'can-

not speak on this detestable- in-

strument. It is enough to say

that we know who inspired the

deed. I need not mention' 'the

name. Think of a bone-timeband."

He rang off abruptly. A bone

time band! happily, I knew

something of Pontivy's verbal

transformations. A rag-time

band! So our suspicions were

correct, and Alexandre was our

enemy.

XXII

JOHN P. MARQUIS would"

have been feeling sour

but for one relieving detail.

He was young, and eager. When

the war called him into the armyhe had been a cub reporter on a

Missouii newspaper. He had

done well in battle, had become a

captain, with a medal for gal-

lantry and a citation to his credit.

When he returned to his home

town the band played, the mayor

made a speech, and the citizens

cheered. The editor published

his picture in his own paper,then, after the usual period of

rejoicing, suggested that it' was

time that he got back to work

-at his old job.

Somehow the kick had ¿one

out of it. A cub reporter of

nineteen and one of twenty-five

are two very different men-es-

pecially when the latter has car-

ried the responsibility of life and

death. John P. Marquis soon

tired of writing "A pi etty wed-

ding was solemnised at Holv

Trinity .. ." or "the mayor

appealed to Lions and Elks io

buy bonds till they bust."

It semed a move up when he

got on the staff of a Kansas City

paper. The pay was greater, but

so were the expenses, and the

work was much the same. Pro-

gress was slow, and there were

National Library of Australiahttp://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page1026211

reasons why John P. MarquisWanted to get on.

Marquis hud been so busy

learning his two trades of icurn

alism and war that he hadn't hadmuch time for girls.

Then one

day he went out into a village to

get background for a farm

tragedy. A farmer had been goredto death by a bull, and when the

editor heard that the guilty ani-

mal was an Aberdeen Angus he

saw a chance of pleasing his pro-

prietor, who was a fervid isola-

tionist. Here was a good oppor-tunity for an "America first

keep the foreigner out" protest,

and Marquis was to root out the

necessary detail. The star repor-

ter was going to write it up, curse

him! At the last minute a photo-grapher was detailed to accom-

pany him; a girl, Betty Hoffman.

Betty was a good photographer-Marquis noticed the originalityof her shots. He also noticed

Betty. She was a bonny girl. Herface was frank and her hair natu-

rally fair. A week later they hadalready begun to discuss the old

fallacy, devised by some states-

man who needed a high birthrate,that two might be able to live as

cheaply as one.

Now.

time seemed both longand short. The hours with Bettypassed like minutes, but the weeksdragged because his break did notcome.

It may have been that Mar-quis was just an ordinary re-

porter; or more probably, becausehe was in an overcrowded profes-sion.

But now the vast publicity or-

ganisations swung into their own.The arrival of a Man from Mars

was obviously the news of the

century, and must be covered ac-

cordingly. He might arrive at anypoint over an area'of several hun-dred square miles, so that the re-

ception arrangements must be

wide.The news agencies undertook

the task, with the co-operation ofall the leading papers from coast

to coast. Every State provideddozens of reporters and photo-graphers. They were allocated bythe agencies to stations in the re-

ception area. The organisationwas as thorough as that of a mili-

tary operation.When John P. Marquis was de-

signated by his paper as one ofthe journalists on loan his delightwas boundless, especially when hediscovered that Betty Hoffman

was to accompany him as photo-grapher. This was the moment

for the expected break to come

-exactly the moment which the

unerring sense of Hollywoodpsychology would have chosen.

Judge then, his chagrin when

he found himself allocated to the

little town of Fairfield, almoston the edge-of the reception area.

He was not lacking in profes-

sional instinct. The atmosphere ofthe little town, and the expect

ancy of its people, suggested a

Mory While Betty snapped types,he gathered in reactions of ordin-

ary people lo the strange eventsof the day I must confess thatI found his human account,when published later, far more

interesting and stimulating thanthe high-powered and over-dram-atic stones which flooded the

popular Press

The other journalist allocated

to I airfield, a brawny Texan,found solace in a saloon wherethe rye WHS noted for ils fierce

quality Marquis and Betty re-

mained patiently on Main Street,

within a few yards of the postoffice and the police station

Their editor had lent them hisown car, and it would move

The war had taught Matquisone thing-how to cope with a

sleepless night Betty dozed in

the car but he maintained hia

\igil Bitterly disappointed in theluck of his allocation, his batt i

lion experience prompted as keena watch as if he were in the heailof the combit aiea

In the morning Betty took over

while he snatched a shaveBreakfast was provided by an

enterprising vendor of hot dogsThe journalists in their car, the

police in theirs, prepared for

another long spellof waiting.

On the pave-ment nearby two

women were en-

gaged in that

pleasant and in-

vigorating occu-

pation, gossip.Two small children clung im-

patiently to their mother's hands.'

What's that, mummy9" a

little gul asked.

"Oh, just an aeroplane, dear,"

said the woman, after a casual

glanceAlmost instinctively, Betty fol-

lowed the direction of the child's

gaye Yes, it might be an aeio

planc, but its coloui-she had

never seen an airciaft of such a

green-yellow colour And therewas something queer . .

She nudged Matquis' Per-

haps this is it, John," she whis-

pered "We can get a start on

the police and that big Texan.Dme gently out of town, eastDon t look 111 keep my eye on

the thing"

The big car moved gently down

Main Street No one took<anynotice

"Now let her go'" cried Betty"I'll describe it to you

"

She threw open the sun roofand stood up

"This is it, John, I'm sure'"

she cued "It looks like one of

those rockets they showed in the

reconstructed pictures. There's

smoke coming from one endthe bottom end "

"That'll be the reverse rockets,

to slow up its descent "

'There's something at the top,

too. I can't see. Go steady for a

minute, while I get the glasseson it. Yes, it's a sort of para-

chute, made of glass, I should

think. It's not quite roundoctagonal, maybe. It's shining

in the sun, but it looks like glass.'

The rocket, or space-ship, or

whatever it was, appeared likely

to strike earth two or three miles

ahead, in the middle of culti-

vated fields bordered by low

hills. Betty kept her glasses

firmly focused on it.

"John! Something's happened!"she cried, suddenly.

"What?""Keep on-don't stop! The

parachute's broken - somethinglike that. The rocket's falling

oh, it's too fast-I've lost it."

"Keep the direction. We'll getit."

"It's not far ahead. Oh.John, what's gone wrong?"

"My guess is that the para-chute was to open automaticallywhen it got within the earth's

atmosphere, and something went

wrong. Maybe it wasn't strongenough-our pressure is muchheavier than

theirs, I think.""But it crashed, John! The

mun in it!"

"Ah!"

He was now driving furiously:ahead, a lane to

the left showeditself. He turn-ed abruptly,bumping over the

uneven surface.

"Look, here's

somebody."A man with a

sheepdog stood by the roadside.

"Say, what's goin' on here?"he demanded, as the car skidded

to an abrupt halt.

"Seen anything?""Seen anything? No, but I

heard something. Like a bigwhizz. 1 reckon something fell

over by them rocks."

"I can see it, John," said

Betty. "Drive on."

"Say, it wouldn't be that there

. . .," but the remainder of the

rustic's inquiry was lost.

Fiom the edge of a cornfield

a little hill raised itself abruptly,its grey rocks contrasting pictuicsquely with the soothing agri-cultural hues about it. Just over

its ci est were unmistakable signsof a thin, rising cloud of dust.

Marquis halted the car, and he

and Betty ran towards the rockymound. Its slopes weic gentle

and. within a minute, they had

reached its fringe.

"There!" cried Betty, pointing.

Marquis reached the spot first.

Maybe it was just as well, for the

sight was not pretty. When a

metal object falls from a great

height and strikes rocky groundthe metal is smashed. And flesh

is only fractional in its resistance

as compared with metal.

"Don't come, Betty," j0|,nshouted.

"What? Of course I'm coming."

She stood beside him, camerain hand.

"You can see what happened "

he said. "It hit that rocksmashed, and bounced on to thatone,"

She took a'series of picturesrapidly and competently, shemade several exposures of the

long metal container, now smashed and twisted into

fantasicshapes. At the upper end wasone pathetic strut of what hadbeen a parachute support. Mar-quis made rapid notes.

The roar of the approachespolice car could be heard.

"We've got as much as wecan. Betty," Marquis said. "Thepolice know no more than \*e

do. Let's get back and filethe

story. We've got a world scooo""Right."

*'

Suddenly she saw a spot whertthe rocket had burst open: minterior was daubed with a wet

clinging mass.

"What's that, John?""That was the Man from

Mars."

As the police ai rivedBetty

was being sick Before the Texan journalist reached the

sceneJohn and Betty were on then

way back Newsreel and radiocars passed a few moments Ulcr

then a miscellaneous swarmBut Marquis's instinct

waslight Until the scientists arrivedno one could see much more

thanhe had seen The first and \na|course was to spill the neusThere would doubtless be

plentyof detail to follow, but here wasdi ama enough the Man from

Mais had arrived-dead'

Well, we've done it, after all

John"

"Yes I say, Betty"

"Yes?""While you were taking pic

tures I had a close look at that

-stuff. The blood, or whateverit was, had a blue tinge. There

was some bone-like material

among it."

"His bones?""1 don't think so. Outer covet

- like a tortoise's shell. Andthere was skin over it."

"Yes?"

"Well, Betty, I don't know ho»

we're going to make folks bulieve this-but the Martian's skin

was coloured green!"'

«:n:=iiHi:iiiiH-==!:=i:mi:imHii=H:i:H====:iiii.:|

The last instalment I

of Flying Saucer»

will appear willi The

Sunday Herald nexl

Sunday.«iiiiilii:iiili:i»:iiii:::iii::i::::!i::!;i!ii!i"i':;

Printed and published by John Fairfax & Som Pty. Limited at (ha registered office of the Company, 36 Hunter Street, Sydney,

National Library of Australiahttp://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page1026388

FLYING SAUCERS?BERNARD NEWMAN ?BOOK FOUR

Author of "Thc Mussolini Murder Plot," "Thc Spy In The. Brown Derby," etc.

SYNOPSISWITH the United Nat

perpetuallywrangl

frofessorDrummond,

famousscientist, prepare

planfor peace. He ;

assistedby feUoio-scienti

j the author and Papa Pi

j fyty,a French detective.

The plan consisted of fo

j

¡nginternational unity

presentingIke world loitl

I threatof invasion fn

Um. Powerful new missii

I invented by the league

jj¡dentists,

landed on Ear

I carrying7>iessages which c

I mnàed the world's go

I jfonfcirKfwas complett

I towed into believing th

I |ic rockets and b07iibs we

I (ttra-tcrrcstrial.

, Papa Pontivy helped pr

irife funds for the plan Î

I Wnkmailinga war-profits

'

mined Alexandre. Whe

Saandre began io ph

¡¡¡instthe scheme fro¡

SwiftAmerica, Drummom

¡aassure the world Vu

¡U hoax was. reality, fake

I

ik death of a supposed mes

icnqer from Mars.

XXIII

"THE Man (rom Mars - wa

'certainly

thc happiest o

jjDrummond's inspirations.

1

I mit my task supremely easy

r|

fte pioicslsof the Zctctics wen

*' »longereven a joke. They wen

I (¡oplciclyforgotten.

I The pressof thc world let it

§¡¡11

po.In thc three prcviou;

ii\s hundredsof journalists

hat

Joniover from all available

« twines.The area where tne

t Kielfell «'as sealed off under

Ii

taiy guard, but anyone with

.t tteitimalcreason could get a

fialo enter. Parts of thc rocket

«ff removed for expert exnmi

!ßW.So nore the mashed rc

'íásoíthcMartian visitor.

Iii technical report was is

iijfirst. Drummond reported

t* thc rocket was a variation

of those previously used, but

larger. Unfortunately, it had

descended with such force as to

be almost completely destroyed. I

There were wrecked metal con-

tainers which .presumably had|

held the passenger's air-supplies.

There were traces of a gelatinous

fabric which may have been"an

atmosphere mask, to sustain the

passenger when he first encoun-

tered thc Earth's air pressure.There were levers which suggest-ed that he could control the back-

firing rockets which would slowup his space-ship when approach-ing the Earth, as well as the para-chute which would make possiblethc actual landing.

Drummond examined the

parachute in detail, lt had evi-

dently been constructed of thin

strips of a glass-like substance,not unlike some of our plastic

materials. Thc strips had been

most ingeniously held in posi-tion while the rocket was* in

flight,and on application of thc

lever had assumed their correct

place. Unfortunately the para-chute had been weakened, pre-sumably by the humidity of our

atmosphere,, which thc Martians

had apparently not realised.

This was interesting so far as

it went, but what of the Manfrom Mars? Thc first announce

. ment from the Security Councilread that Dr. Aygard Rossiter,the famous American anthropolo-gist, had been appointed head of

. a small professional com'mittcewhich svould examine the re-

mains.'

A second announcement

followed abruptly, lt was dis-

covered that the remains were

decomposing very rapidly, and

that ordinary measures of preser-vation had so far failed.

Of the nine men delegated to

the investigation, only two were

members of our group. One of

them, however, was Dr. AygardRossiter, and, as he was thc man

who had assembled the mess, it

was fairly easy for him to mis-

lead his colleagues. 1 'need

hardly add that it was no more

than a mess even 'before thc

parachute failed to act.

The rapid disintegration of thc

remains was a last-minute impro

visation, added at Drummond'ssuggestion. Scientists are notor-

iously suspicious-that is part of

their trade. Some man might bc

clever enough to see thc fake

it was doubtful but possible. For

a few days even a scientist mightbe infected by. thc atmosphere of

excitement surrounding the inci-

dent: thus jt would be as well to

confine the' practical examinationto such a short period..

Thc medical report, when il

was issued, was a model of mis-

leading information, lt beganvery cautiously, pointing.out-thatthe remains had been* battered

out of all shape by the terrible

fall. Further, we knew very little

about life on Mars. It must hotbe assumed that the creatures

bore any resemblance to men of

thc Earth. The difference in at-

mospheric pressure alone would

have considerable effects.

lt had been possible lo examinethe actual flesh ifi some detail.

Its type was difficult to determine

-it was neither anthropoid, in-

sect; fish, fowl, nor sea-urchin

.something quite inhuman. Thc

blood, of an unusual thinness,

had a bluish tinge. Its composi-tion was not based on iron, but

on copper.The bones were a disappoint-

ment, for most of them were

smashed almost to a pulp, lt

had been hoped to reconstruct

thc shape of the Martian, but all

attempts had failed. Only the

vaguest of outlines could bc

given.

Part of a rib suggested a

powerful chest. Another bone

had obviously formed, part of the

cranium, lt was almost human

in thc shape it suggested, with

a very large braincasc. An in-

teresting feature was that thc

bone was of a slightly different

composition from that of thc rib.

There was enough evidence to

suggest that the Martian was

two-legged-a feature which, the

report stressed, could not other-

wise bc assumed.

The next paragraph^ was of

special interest. Marquis. in that

first dramatic report which hadmade him thc -most enviedjournalist in thc'' world, had

stressed his hunch or impressionthat the Martian's

'

skin was

thick, like that of a tortoise, and

was green. The professional

committee confirmed both these

points.

The protective shield was ofintense interest. The twö-leggcdMartian walked, upright,'but the

anthropologist's suggestion was

that his chest, stomach, and backwere covered by a hard bone-like

layer-not nearly as thick as the

shell of a tortoise, but nofasbrittle. At intervals-maybe at

the sides-were stretches of very

thick but flexible skin-like

material.

The legs may have been

^covered with this same leathery

skin, while the rather small feet

or hooves were divided into

"toes" of an even tougher. sub-

stance. There was ho suggestion

that the Martian wore clothing

of any kind-presumably his

outer . covering was protective

against all weathers.'

The anthropologist's general. picture was that of an upright or

stooping figure, probably shorter

than that of the average human:

a powerful chest, encased in this

tough coverage; short but sturdy

legs, with very flexible joints; a

large head-quite hairless, ap-

parently-indeed, there was no

trace of hair among the remains.The arms were

.

completelycrushed, but there was a sugges

/ BRILLIANT NEW MYSTERY NOVEL FREE WITH "THE SUNDAY HERALD"

National Library of Australiahttp://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page1026389

.ion that they might be short but

Wong.flic scientists were careful to

Cnjphasi.se that their picture con-'

joined

'

more guesswork than

j-leascd them. Although the

.Martian probably walked up-

right, this could not bc certain.

'rhe theory was supported by thc

«an s fingers, which were not

hard, as they would be if used

as fore-paws. On thc contrary,

they appeared to consist of small

b«t powerful suckers, distantly

alun to those of an octopus. -In

occlusion," the public was

warned that, if anything, thc

Martian was less rather "thanmore like a human being "than

ibo jreport suggested, and in par

ti.rsjlar his brain might differ in

ricntia'I details.

Beyond this Dr. Aygard Rossi-

ter and his colleagues would not

commit themselves. But it was

snough. The, newspaper, illustra

tionists let themselves go; some

of their efforts were frightening,and all were fantastic.- The con-

fusion of ideas deepened from

day to day. .

"Well, that's that," said Rossi-

ter, as he awaited Drummond in

our apartment..;-:,:

"Congratulations," I exclaimedsincerely. "You've done a grandjob."

"It's been amusing," he ad-

mitted. "I felt like adding a foot-

note to the. Report-'Special ack-

nowledgment is given to thc

gorilla, the two chimpanzees, the

five gibbons, the whale, the octo-

pus, the Chinaman, the Egyptian,and the Malay, tb say nothing of

the Galapagos tortoise, whose

bodies, suitably dissected,, went to

provide, thc remains of the Man

from Mars!'"

I chuckled, but he added more

seriously: "I hope that Drum-

mond won't need another one. It

would be a big job to reproducethis exactly."

"One should be enough," 1

said. "And your colleagues

they are happy?" .

"Oh, yes. We didn't have to

do a great deal of direction, lt's

always a thrill to. be the first to

tackle ,a job. After all, my col-

leagues are famous men, now.

Even their wives have to listen

to them. That's something, iii

this country-and even, I gather,

in Russia. And, I think I can say,

our stuff was well done-you'veno idea how long it took to get

that tortoise shell into layers of

the right thickness."

"And the skin?""Oh, that was easy."

"Dye? Will it last?"

"Not dyc. 'We took bits of skin

off a dead Chinaman,' and treated

it with infra-red lamps. The bits

.will stay green-they're the onlythings which won't decompose.Well, now we'd see if it's worthit-you can guess that, my repu-

tation's jess than mud if this ever

comes.'-out.""Don't worry, it won't. Or

when it does, you'll be an inter-

national, hero.""Let's hope it does what Drum-

mond wants, anyway.""It will. Look at thc last few

days. To-day thc Assembly passeda new resolution setting up a

Commission to settle the Balkan

squabble-unanimously.""lt did?"

"Ves-and thc Kuomintangand Communists have proclaimedan armistice-they're going to get

together."

"But will they?""if America and Russia say so,

they will. There's lots of other

things, too-thc Assembly has

done more in thc last two daysthan in thc previous two years."

"Well, that's fine. I knew that

I could trust Drummond-there'sno doubt-he's a great man."

I can pass over the next few

weeks in a paragraph. Fbr'us, it

.was an easy time. The Martian

provided a story such as . the

world had never known, and the

many sources of comment did

not need my prodding.The only

major event was the decision of

the Security Council to report to

the Martians that their messenger

had been killed. No reply was

received, but in the general ex-

citement some time passed before

this was remarked by thc popularobservers. '.

Thus it was nearly , a monthafter the

. Fairfield drama that

Drummond suggested a stocktak-

ing. Again his timing was right

the world was ready for the next

act of the drama.

"You're"

satisfied with your

field?" Drummond asked of me.

"Yes.. I'm almost out of a job.

The world is flooded with news,

opinions and rumours-some

serious, some fantastic. Practi-

cally every clement of doubt has

disappeared - your Martian

scheme was a masterpiece. Even

Uncle Tom is shaken. 'You can

fake a rocket, but you can't fake

a man,', he argues, mournfully.I've watchedx the Russian group'with especial.care, for they live in

suspicion. But your technical pre-cautions killed it. The fact that

you are using devices hitherto un-

known on earth has had its

effects."

"Well, you've certainly got the .

world's nerves on edge. And I

think you're right about the lack

of suspicion-I've kept in touch

.with the U.N. delegates as well as

their scientific advisers, and 1 can

see no trace of it. Now, what?

about you, Pontivy? Are you

satisfied?"

"No. I am not.'This man Alex-

andre has insulted me. He mat-

ches me-me, mind you-againsthis hired thugs-a man -whoplants" a time bomb in a room

where the clock does not tick,

and a man who tries to shoot-.

oh, you should have seen that G

man, Lacey. He is a master. The

blow begins slowly-it gives you

warning; instinctively you raise

your chin, out of the way. , Then

thc crash conies, with,your neck

already extended, lt is colos-

sal ...""Yes, Papa," J broke in. "But

this hired thug-his method

sounds clumsy.""lt was!"

"How did he expect to get

away with it?"

"He told us that, after'a little

persuasion-after all, he was un-

conscious for more than two

days, so that he did-not wish to

face another upper-cut. He

thought that his camera would

hide the revolver-he held it

underneath-and that in the con-

fusion he would escape. Yes,

and these. arc. the types set

against mc!" ?

"Anyway you've done your job,

Pontivy," Drummond mollified

him. "Our security has been first

class."

"I arti still uneasy about Alex-

andre," the old man confessed.

"Maybe 1 had better go to Buenos

Aires. Maybe I coiild arrange for

him to cat something which did

not agree with him."

"What about -Madame Her-

mina?" 1 asked.

"Ah, now that was different!"he ? exclaimed enthusiastically.

"Now, it was a pleasure to work

against such ?'? a woman. All

women are born conspirators, but

she is in the top class. I am glad

to say that she was not implicated

in either, of the attempts at mur-

der-thc two would-be assassins

never heard of her. It is my. opinion that her major task was

to spy on us, and to get whatever

she could out of us. Thc plans of

your rocket, Drummond, would

command a pretty price in some

countries."

"They would!""Then she was instructed to

wôrk this Zetetic business, whichwas a blob."

"A flop."

"Yes, a blob or a flop."

"lt could have been serious,"

Drummond said. "The idea was

good-the timing was bad. May-be this Alexandre is too far from

the centre of things."

"But you, Drummond-what'syour report? Are you getting

the Uranium 235?''

"Yes, without question. Myexperiments have never, moved so

quickly. I can call on thc brains

and resources of the world. Verysoon I shall be able to present

to the world a fairly simplemethod of controlling atomic

energy. You know what that

means."

"A new era, thc journalists

would say.". "And they; wouldn't bc far

wrong.- But until it comes, I

have one major concern. I

have been watching the stock

exchanges very carefully ...""Well?"

.

"I'm not happy. Our plan has

achieved its first objective-it has

brought the statesmen of thc

world together. But the fright

which did this has had unfor-

tunate effects on industry, which

needs security. Because men are

scared, "they cannot see ahead

they are unwilling to take risks."

"That's understandable."¡I

"Yes. But thcresult ¡s

jj

deplorable. Although thcpros- 1

peels for world peace are better Jthan they have been for

years,there is already unemploymentand economic distress. Nowthese could cancel out thc gains

we have made. Political ambi-tions and suspicions can cause

strife, but so can economicdiscontent."

"True enough.""My atomic energy

processought to get all wheels

turning-even in the backward coun- i

tries. But that will take time.In the meantime, wc must'stimulate world industry."

1

"How?"

"I,have an idea. But Ishall

need a' lot more money.""Ah!" Ponlivy exclaimed.

"That is good! Now 1 can kill

one bird with two stones.""You mean twp birds with

one stone."

"I do not. I mean what Isay

-Í always do. I have twostones, but only one

bird-myfriend Alexandre,"

j

XXIV\

WE both stared at Pontivy,j

"Don't you sec?" he!

cried, "lt is so obvious. Wej

want money, and wc want I

Alexandre. Wc can get theroJboth at once." ;

"What-you propose toinvite;

him to New York?"i

"Precisely." í.

"And you think that he williwalk right into the spider's web,!oh your invitation?".

"Not on- minc-on Madame;Hermina's. She is a more attrac-5

live spider. Can't you see-we \

have everything. Wc have her,chemical ink, wc know

herí

pathetic little code. Alexandre?knows already that his plots have/

miscarried-an invitation to come?and take charge is

natural,"enough. Is it not so?"

i-,

"Right. You get him here.?

What next?"j;

"I relieve him of money-partíof his ill-begotten hoard-all of:

it, if I can.">:

"How?" I

"That is a detail which I have",

not yet considered.1. only had;

Drummond's request three min-!

utes ago. My mind worksquickly,^

but not quite as quickly asthat.";

"Well, and when you've got his

money? He's dangerous, we've

agreed, ls he going to cat some-

thing which does not agree wiltf

him?" ;

"That should not be necessary,'

I shall have him arrested.";

"Why?"J

"On thc application of the

French Surete, for thc murder of

Montigny." s

"I thought that you had under-

taken not to go to thepolice

when he gave you thc first half

million." j

"Peste! You English, you are

so squeamish. That is why your

criminals flourish. Besides, we

have now spent thc half million;

Very well, to satisfy your con-

science you shall give the infor-

mation to the French. If this'

National Library of Australiahttp://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page1026390

-man once loosed his story,

I'wouldbe sunk. Milson will I

Tell him thatAlexandre is

manwho 'ried to assassinat.

'

-he knows. the name aire

Then argue that publicityal

Drummondis undesirable,

that the nian should be e.\

rjited loFrance very quickly

"And there?"

"You will provide further

! dence about the murder of M

Í tigny.There will be little s;

pathyfor a man like Alexnn

-once his money has gone."

Pontivy'sscheme soun

effective,as usual. The old n

.

¡jad few rivals as a schemer,

?

peciallywhere rapid action y

\concerned.

¡ "Well, now, Drummond,"'

said, comfortably, "that's

settled. So, tell us, what is y<

planlo beat the economic depr

sion? If you keep the peace

the world and show it how

cure a slump, then you will b(

greatman. You are sure thi

j¡¡ no French blood in you?"

"Quitesure," Drummo

smiled.

..Ah, pity!Well, the plan?"

"No. lil think it out in inc

demitfirst. At the moment, i

tn idea rather than a plan.

I shall need a few actors, I thinl

I "You must be careful that th

I; are not Communists," Ponti'

ft urned. "They'll take everythii

?j ¡iraightto Moscow-the Co;

9!gress

Committee says so."

fl; i thinkthat one or tv.

fl camouflage experts will be usefi

fl too," Drummond went on. "W

fl must selectthem with the grea

fl est care, for we shall have to li

fl theminto the secret."

fl "I know a really good ilim

? ¡onist-yourscheme sounds as i

jflhe might

be useful."

? "He probably would. But sa

? nothing to anyone until we'r

?J fartheradvanced. The mone;

?J first, Pontivy-I'm going to neei

Jflcuite a lot of aircraft, I think.

¡flI know Drummond wei

BJ enough not to press him for fur

fl} tber details. Pontivy threw ou

flt exploratoryhints, which were no

flt taken up.

BJFortunately,

the old man hac?

plentyto do. He called in Mil

9¡on,

and demanded the services

fl of a first-class forger. It takes

fl: more thansuch a request to stag

? g¡rthe F.B.I.

fl While he resumed his-acquaint

? ance withMadame Mermina, I

?Jreturned to the Assembly to

jflmingle

with the delegates in their

H off hours. The Stalling Com

flj millee, was somewhat concerned

BJ -no further communication had

WI ten received from Mars. On

BJ the other hand, Drummond re

?J portedlhat his rocket was rapidly

BJ tiling practicalshape. Very

BJ soon he would require to know if

BJ ¡I «ere lo carry a message or an

HJtiplosivecharge.

flt "1 don't want to come into this

Bf it all,"he said to me. "See if

BJ, )0» can put ideas into people's

?K Ns. _Itwill suit my plan best

mM 'Good enough."Om Ia such aa atmosphere it was

very easy , to infiltrateideas. whyuse a rocket to' send a message !

when we could do that already byradio? Why not adopt the Mar-

tian's own Bialowieza pattern

let them have an earnest of what

the Earth could do?'

\

Within a day the lobbies were

buzzing with such opinions. Verysoon 1 had little doubt about the

eventual decision.

One of Drummond's own ideas

had, I discovered, influenced the

minds of many delegates. He

had suggested in a previous

speech that the atomic bomb and

all subsequent discoveries should

be presented to the small nations.

As these outnumber the great

powers by ten to one, their com-

bined influence was great, and

they unanimously welcomed the

idea.'

!In private . conversation

,

Drummond let. it be known that

when he had finally mastered the

secret of atomic controlarte pro-

posed tb present the idea to the

world, without troubling the

Security Council for its opinion.. The implications

-

were' vast.. :

The stock analogy was that if

Belgium had atomic weapons, no

Germany would ever dare to ,

attack- but' plenty of other pos-sibilities were in the minds of

men who argued on the basis

of this. "The Great Leveller"

was a popular theme. Almost

unconsciously, it- seemed, the

great posvers were treating the

small nations with more respect.'

With Drummond's approval, 1

did my best to cash in on the

new atmosphere, by hint and sug-

gestion. As the weeks passed,there could be no question about'

it-the United Nations were rap-

idly becoming a co-operative

assembly.'

Pontivy, naturally, had been

considerably more active. Mil

son's Susan turned out to be a

very clever young lady, compe-

tent with her hands in many dir-

ections, and a highly skilled,

forger as well as an experiencedlady burglar. By a happy chance, .Madame Hermina played into our

hands. She wrote one of the

chatty letters to Alexandre, and

in her chemical ink added "Situa-tion deteriorating"-in the cir- '

cumstances something of an

understatement. Susan added, in

a carefully rehearsed forgery,

"Can you come here? More fin-

ance essential."

It was'not certain what Alex-

andre's reactions Would be, but

it must have been obvious to him

that his plot was in serious dan-

ger of failure. The attemptedassassination, of ;"Drummond"had been soft-pedalled, and the

brief official report referred to it

as a madman's trick. In view of

the greater interests available atthe time, this was accepted with-

out comment. Thus Alexandre

would be at least ignorant that

he was know^-fo be concerned in

the crime.

Yet he presumably knew thatMadame Hermina had contacted

Pontivy. Thus, if he did come toNew York,'he would be more

than careful in his movements

even an accidental meeting, with

Pontivy would be fatal.' '

One morning the old man tooka telephone call .from Milson, and

J guessed from his broad grin that

things were about to happen."Thè biter has bitten! . He's

coming!" Pontivy announced."He will be" here on Wednesday.The letter will be delivered to'

'?

Hermina this afternoon-1 must

call her this evening. In the

meantime there is some ordinarydetective work to be done."

"What sort?"

"Alexandre must stay some-

where. A conspirator could' make

a dramatic plot out of il, but

Hermina is clever. 1 suggest that

she will just telephone a hotel

and make a reservation for him.The simplest method is often thebest. 1 must tell Ryan."

The old man's reasoning was

sound, - up to a point. Ryancame in late in the afternoon.

"You,, win again, boss," he

chuckled. "You know a lot

about that dame,, eh? .Just how

her mind works. We've'had her

'phone tapped, of' course, ever

since' this case broke, r So wVlistened. Sure enough, within an

hour T)f getting the letter she

made a call."

To a hotel, doubtless?"

"No. All she said was, 'Expecthim Wednesday.' So 1 knesv that

she wasn't making u hotel reser-

vation.""Then where was she calling?"

"Well, it was on.the automatic

line. . .

" '

:'..?

"Name of a thousand names, 1

tell you that these automatic tele-

phones were invented; to aid the

criminal. Here I am, on the vergeof triumph, and you defeat me

with your infernal ..."

"Just a minute, Mr, Pontivy.You aren't defeated yet. The

voice at the other end-a

woman's-said: "Are you cominground?" And the dame said

"yes."

"Ah, that is magnificent,,

Ryan," Pontivy beamed. "Now

I see it. Alexandre is rich enoughto have an apartment in every

city. He has one in'New York.

There is a housekeeper in charge

-or maybe another Hermina

"Maybe not," Ryan inter-

rupted. 'The . woman sounded

coloured to me.".

"Plain or coloured, what-does

it matter? Hermina tells her

to expect the owner. She herself

will go round, to make sure that

everything is in rhubarb-pie

order. That is hoWT thought.","You said a hotel reservation,

boss."

"This is. better. If she made a

hotel reservation, she would have

to let>Alexandre know where it

was. Yes, this is neater. 1 will

perhaps forgive him for those

two incompetents he sets againstme. So now

.

a]l we haye to do

is to follow Madame Hermina."'That's it, Mr. Pontivy."

"Well-let's go."

"She's gone.""What?""Oh", I've taken care of that.

She's well tailed. They'll call me

here." .".,

. -;,/ :;. .. ./;?

I knew what'Pontivy wanted:he had set his heart on relieving

Alexandre of his substantial, and

illicit fortune. He was. scarcely

listening to Ryan's detailed ac-

count of. the detective organisa-tion he had set in motion.

:It was efficient enough. With-in half an hour the first call came

through: "The dame's gone up to

an apartment at 1217 Broadway.""Watch both ends!" Ryan re-

placed the receiver. .'

"You want to go, Mr. Pon-

tivy?" ...

"No.' Your men are good.This is What I 'want:. Madame

Hermina will not be there, for

very long. Then you will in-

veigle this other woman,;! col-oured or colourless; oúf of the

apartment . .

"I got you. And we go in.""Your perception

"

is remark-

able, my dear Ryan. That is justwhat I was about to say."

;

Again the 'phone bell 'rang.'The dame's left in a taxi-goinghome."

"Right." Ryan gave some rapidorders about the identification of

the housekeeper, or. whatever she

was; lt spoke ..well for his Com-

petency that the old man cheer-

fully left the details to him.Late that, afternoon, Pontivy

and Susan were- inside Alex-

andre's apartment, with Ryanmounting ah apparently: casual

guard outside.

"Figure to yourself, we have

chosen the wrong profession," the

old man declared to me, later.

"The luxury! There were arm-

chairs-you just sank down into

them-and this.

in America,where they do not understand

armchairs,, since they do not sit

down for more than live minutes

at a time. And this is only one

of Alexandre's apartments. You

see, is it: not? The money the

mah must haye!" :

"This Susan, she.is the piece.

What-oh, yes, the goods.. There

was a large desk in the lounge-'?and she had the drawers open be-

fore you could say Jack and Jill.

So I went through Alexandre's

papers at my ease, confident that

the good Ryan would keep out

intruders.

"Susan said: 'What are you

after, Papa?' She is .a friendly

girl, and calls me Papa already.1 told her. 1 do not expectAlexandre to leave his state

secrets about, but 1 want some

hint,

of his financial habits."

"And did you find it?" . .

"Maybe-V do not know. I did

not , expect to find . details of

where his wealth was .sugared.""Salted."

"Sugar or salt, I mean where

he keeps his hoard. But maybeI have a hint-1 do not know,yet. Certainly 1 have a hint , as

National Library of Australiahttp://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page1026391

to some of the man's foibles

.how strange is the mind of mar

An adventurer, yet he is afraid c

things. 1 must 'phone Milsor

When Alexandre arrives, at th

airport, J want him to have n

more than a casual Custom

search.""1 get you.

If he's cnrryin

anything, you want to get it fo

yourself." .<

".Precisely. Are. you going ou

to Lake Success?"...-...'.'..¿'tfc'

"Yes." ~ .-i t:4$\¿'$&S."Er-L ma^'Joe

'

late'-5 bàçk,

am going "but Ito dinner; \witl

Madame Hermina." - -t^--rX>"At her flat?"' -, "¿v;;?.;.

"Yes.".''

.'O'CiV' \

"Be careful.""I know my beetroots'. Anc

now,, leave me alone. I havf

to think." ;, .

When I'returned from a meet

îng of the Security Council, Pon

tivy was not yet back.;; He rollec

in a little before . .''midnight

Drummond and I were playint

chess.-' ;;The ,pld ..man's, check:

were flushed', -and his"

eyes were

unnaturally bfiglit;"'''-*,: ';

"Aha! Take his .queen with the

king of the castle!" he announcedcheerfully, still at the other side

of 'the room.

1 looked at him in amazement.

"Papa, I believe that you've

been'drinking!" 1. said.

"So 1 have."

"With Madame Hermina?""Yes. Bul I drank much more

than she did. What is more, I

talked in my. tups."

"Whai?" ."Yes,: a sad lapse, is it not?

Papa- Pontivy, the model of dis-

cretion, known among police and

crimináis all over the world as

a strong, silent man, and now he

plays Samson to Hermina's De-

lilah. Yes, it is indeed sad."

"And what.did you reveal in

your cups?" Drummond asked,

much amused."1 hinted at dark secrets, con-

cerning your rocket."

"The devil you did!"

"I did. What is more, I hinted

at darker secrets about the Mar-

tian rockets."

"Oh! Was that wise?""I hope so-for I went on to

suggest that in certain circum-

stances I might be persuaded to

give away my secrets,' and with

the very considerable sum of

money this realised I could go

away with a charming lady

friend, and we could live a life

of ease in some secluded corner

of the world, such as Florida or

Monaco.""Gosh, Papa, but you've been

skating on thin ice!"

"Maybe. 1 have often done so.

But I do not fall in-I am not a

heavyweight.""But-1 can see your idea, but

are you sure that you didn't, give

away more than you intended?""Nd. My dear Newman, you

are not very observant. SherlockHolmes could identify dozens of

varie'ties of tobacco ash. I can-

not-I admit it. Birt I can tell

the difference between a real

drunk and a fake. There arc little

capsules which a man can swal-

low. His cheeks flush and his eyes

dilate. But his head is perfectly

clear. The.wine I drank-bah!

It was French, and lo me was like

mother's milk. You think I am

squozzled. Look!" He picked up

a sheet of paper and held it out

in front of him. Jt showed no

trace of a tremor.

Drummond, very interested,

stood up and stared into' Pon

. tivy's eyes."Excellent!" he said. "And

what's your next move?""1 shall not make it. It will

come from the other side. An

invitation. Well, Í will go to bed.

1 doubt if 1 shall sleep, lt is a

nervous moment."

I didn't sleep very well my-

self. Intent on my own problems,1 had paid little attention to Pon

tivy's side of the plan-some of

his efforts had been rather'amus

ing. But now his sense of strain,

of approaching climax, was per-

haps contagious.

Pontivy was irritable next day-a natural state for him when

waiting for news. Nothing jamethrough until late afternoon.

Then Milson arrived.

"Well, your bird's here," hesaid. "Landed at La Guardia an

hour ago, and has just gone to his

fat.""And the Customs' examina-

tion?":

"J watched it myself. Theyhad a good look, but gently, then

passed him easily."

"Anything?""No wad of money, that's cer-

tain.""No firearms?"

"No.". ."What luggage?""Only two suitcases. The air

limit is 651b."

"He is a millionaire. He could

pay excess. And in the cases?"

"Clothes-toilet things-theusual."

'.What clothes."

"Shirts and underwear.""And suits?"

"Yes, one city suit, one

formal." .?

"How many pairs of shoes?"Pontivy asked suddenly.

"Ah! 1 wondered if there was

anything unusual. Five pairsone evening, foiir day.',',

"Good!" The old man ap-

peared to bc very gratified. "Two

suits-r-five pairs of shoes. And

yet he has at least a dozen pairs

of shoes in his apartment. Yes,

This could be very interesting.

However, I shall soon know.

Stand by, Newman. Ryan is

handy, too. Things will soon

begin lo happen."Here, however, he was quite

wrong-to his intense annoy-

ance. Thc evening passed with-

out so much as a tinkle on the

telephone bell.

"It is good that I can control

myself,", said Pontivy, who bythis time was furious. "They do

these things to annoy me."However, his anger was ap

pcnsed when Ryan came to le!

him that Madame Hermina ha.

gone round to Alexandre's apart

ment.

"Good! Now things will hap

pen."He had to wait until the fol

lowing morning for the invitatioi

he anticipated, but then it came

Madame Hermina wanted hin

for lunch-a friend of her

wished to meet him.

Feverishly thc old man checkei

over all the arrangements he ha<

made. He could add nothing t<

them; ns usual, his planning wa

remarkably complete.I would have loved to witnes:

the subsequent scene, but it wa

not practicable.For my record

I must rely on Pontivy's account

In its details it is accurate

enough, but any opinions ex

pressed are his own.

"Hermina chatted brightly ai

wc drove off," he said. "1 askec

her casually about her friend, ai

whose flat we were to lunchbut she evaded the question.

"Alexandre does not tell hi;

subordinates everything. She did

not know that we had met pre-

viously, in peculiar circumstances,

So she introduced us very charm-

ingly. 1 will say that Alexandreis a good actor-nearly as goodas 1 am. Neither of us showed

by a dither of an eyelid that wc

were old acquaintances.'"We ate lunch-a magnificent

meal-and we talked about every-

thing but the things that mattered.

Then Hermina slipped out of the

room, and I knew that my

r oment was at hand.

"Alexandre waited for. a mo-

ment, ^then smiled, 'Well, M.

Pontivy, we meet again,' he said."

'Assuredly we do. I con-

gratulate myself on maintainingmy composure. Madame Her-

mina omitted to mention the

name of the friend 1 was to

meet.'"

'Well, you have used the

money I gave you very well," he

went on."

'1 have not had so much ns

a dollar of it,' I complained. 'A

complete waste, most of it.'

"

'Yet your friend Drummondis a very clever man. He has

fooled the world.'"

'Yes, that is true-though you

and 1 are the only two men who

know it, M. Alexandre. But it

cannot continue. The situation is

becoming impossible. One daythere will be an outcry-and all

of us will be flung in gaol.'" 'And you do not relish the

idea?'

",'I am better at flinging than

being flung,' I said."

'Yes, I gatheredfrom

Madame Hermina that you were

thinking bf-retiring.'" 'M. ..Alexandre, by force of

circumstances known to us both,

I can talk to you frankly. I am

tired "Of the whole business. I

.think that it is futile. We shall

never stop nations from going to

war. Once the Mars business

flops, then all the old'tensions

will be revived." ^

,"'Exactly.my idea, M. Pontivy.

Have another cigar.'"It is understood that 1 do not

pretend to recall every word of

our conversation. But you per-

ceive how 1 was leading him on?

I admitted without argument thai

the Mars business was a fake,

and that 1 knew it.

"He began to prod me-no, to

probe me, to make sure that 1

knew all Drummond's secrets. 1

was able to convince him of that ,

very rapidly." 'M. Pontivy, you are wise' lo i

retire. This affair has been very

fatiguing. You have earned a

rest. And surely you are a spycatcher-this foolery is not ia

your gallery.'

"'Ah, there you areright!' I i

exclaimed-with somefeeling."

'1 have a pleasant villa in the

Bahamas - Madame Herminaknows it well. The climate is

perfect. I should be most happyto place the villa at your dis-

posal.'" 'That's good of you. But a :

villa by itself. . .' >

" 'There is a great advantage :

in dealing with a man of the ?

world like you, M. Pontivy. Wej

can talk without reserve. I need \

two things. 1 want the truth;

abolit the Martian business, and !

1 want the details of Drummond's;

protonic bomb und his new roc- 3

ket-especially his method of ?

atomic control.' 1"'The truth about Mars I can !.

tell you now,' I said. The plans i

ol'; the other-1 can get them.' j

" 'Good. So all that remains;?

to be settled is-the price.'f

"I nodded. Things were going I

so well that I. scarcely ventured

to speak." 'We are dealing in big things,

:

M. Pontivy,' said Alexandre. 'I

have done what I have done by

paying well for service, lt is

shameful that you got no share

of my previous present to you.

This time we must make it more

personal.'"Now I knew that I had won." 'You will, of course, under-

stand that currency is difficult in

these absurd times,' he went on. .

'I have ample capital in many

countries-enough for both you ,

and me-but it is difficult to get .

it over these fantastic frontiers..

A cheque might be inconvenient;

to both of us. However, 1 have I

come prepared. To mc the maller .

is urgent."

From a pocket he produced a?

small velvet bag. He poured ¡ts ?

contents on the table. 1 do not1

know much about precious

stones, but 1 did know that these-

were precious.*'

'Even allowing for the diffl- ?

. culty of disposing of these, youcould not fail to realise less tuan;

150.000 dollars," he said."

'And you suggest that that is*

a fee. .

.'

"For the Martian information,:

only. 1 might not even use it.'

lt is so certain to end in disaster

that 1 might hold my hand. 1,

like to know things, that is all/

National Library of Australiahttp://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page1026392

J do know thtft lhere is a

fake inthis Martian business,

but Í want to know how and

.. That is easy,' I said.

"So I thought. Hence the mod-

est [ee J suggested. But, J con-

fess to you,1 am much more in-

terestedin the technical secrets.

For these I am really prepared to

pay-' ..

"'Also in precious stones?' 1

asked." 'Ves. if you prefer cash down,

so to speak. Of course, I can

easilyarrange a substantial draft

in any country you may care to

" 'What about Africa?'

" 'I have a very good friend

Cairo,He is not very keen <

businessformalities. A mere no

from me . . .'

"'Write the note, I said,

"'Von are a man after rr

own heart,' he said.

"He sat at his desk and wro:

dis letter, put it in an envelopi

and addressed il.

."1 have made it the same t

before,

'

M. Pontivy,' he sail

'Half ¡1 million dollars is a nie

roundsum. 1 will put this not

j¡n my

drawer until . ..'

"ii willbe mine,' J assure

him. 'You are right, M. Alex

I andre.It is a pleasure to di

I businesswith you.'

. '"And with you. You are ¡

'

man of honour, M. Pontivy. .

,

noticethat you have not ever

mentionedthc case of that un

fortunateman who died in Paris.

"'Oh,that man. Let me see

what was his name7'

"Montigny,"said Ryan, step-

pingin from the next room: J

was close behind him. We had

heard only the last few sentences

_vve had been busy in making

quiet

arrests of Madame Hermina

andthe coloured housekeeper.

What we heard convinced us that

the moment was ripe for inter-

vention.

Alexandre played back grandly"What is this?" be shouted. "How

dare yo» come into my apart-

ment."

"I am an officer of the F.B.I.,"

Ryan announced. "I hold a war-

rantfor your arrest." ,

"What? On what charge?""Murder.""Murder! How absurd! Do 1

look like a murderer?"

"No.Not many of 'em do.

Anyway,thal ain't my business.

What 1 . .."

"just a minute. Who am 1

supposedto have murdered?"

"The guy you were just talking

about. The French Govèrn

Mt has applied for your extra-

dition."

Alexandre turned to Pontivy.

: His easy assurance had vanished:

JR (ace exhibited hatred, minglednilli fear. He glared at Pontivy.

"I see!" he said. "This is

roar method of forcing up tho

!

price.Very well-I daresay it

'

tan bf arranged."

"No it can't," Ryan snapped."You're coming with me."? "I'm not!" At our first ent-

rance Alexandre had retreated to

his desk: in his agitation he had

leaned on it, his hands behind

him. Now. suddenly, a drawer

slid open,"and Alexandre held

an automatic.

"Stand still!" he warned, "I

am tempted to shoot, for this is

inconvenient, However, 1 can

work from abroad-M. Pon tivy

has told me a lot."

"Come off it, Mr. Alexandre.You can't get away!" Ryan warn-

ed.

"I cnn." His assurance was

now returning: this was not the

first awkward moment of his

life. "A little precaution maybe useful. 1 have always been

nervous of fire, and had a special

escape fitted. I can slide down

its chute far more quickly than

you can use the lift. Stand still!"

He moved towards the window,facing us the while.

"M. Pontivy, 1 am tempted to

risk everything for the pleasure

of shooting you."

"Not with that gun. M. Alex-andre," said Pontivy calmly. "1

look thc precaution of removingthe cartridges yesterday."

Alexandre's face was now

ashen. . "Ah! So the trap is set.

Well-I shall have to leave these,

jewels, bul . . ."

With remarkable agility he

threw open the window and, ns

Ryan rushed across the room,

scrambled through it. A coupleof steps on an iron platform

took

him lo the steel chute. Even

as Ryan reached the window, Al-

exandre disappeared.

"He's gone! said Ryan. "Did

you mean that, Mr. Pontivy?"

Then we heard a scream, terri-

fying in its fear.

"Let that be a lesson to you,

my dear Ryan," Pontivy mur-

mured. "Before you slide down

a fire escape, make sure that the

workmen have not been repair-

ing it, and have temporarily re-

moved one of its sections. How-

ever, it is just as well. Your

coroner, or whoever he is, mighthave asked some inconvenient

questions? This man had to die.

What does it matter. New Yorkor Paris? In Paris he might have

got off, as he had too much

money," he added, illogically.

"And now, let us move. Release

that poor coloured woman, ,whois doubtless terrified. These jewels

are mine-he gove them to me.

And that letter in his desk. Ah,here is his suitcase-yes, five

pairs of shoes. I will take it

no, Newman, you take it with

you-quickly before the cops

arrive.""And you?""1 had better take the poor

Hermina home," said Papa Pon

"r~pHE poor woman was most

* upset," he said, an hour

later. "J do not think that she

knows what she has been

doing. And now-my shoes!"He picked up one of Alex-

andre's, shoes and examined it

critically.

"Yes, 1 thjnk so. A man of

that type always banks in jewel-

lery-it is so readily negotiable.1 got a hint of his preference i

from his papers.""And the chute?*'

"Oh, yes. There was some

correspondence with the owners

of the block of flats. So I looked

at it. As I told you, he was an

adventurer, but he was afraid of

things-of fire, for example. I

saw about this special fire escape

of his, and examined it. Now,'

do not regard me like that. I

did not make him escape from

justice, lt was the best way out.

1 have no pity for him, the man

who would cheerfully plunge the? world into war. Now, these

shoes. Have you a knife? 1

must cut off the heels."

Pontivy sawed away at the

leather of the heel. "He made one

tactical, error,";

he said. "He.

should not have carried five pairs

of shoes. Peste, this knife is

blunt!"

1 went to a bag in my-bedroomand selected a thin chisel and a

.

pair of pliers. 1 tackled the shoe.

"You're right, Papa!" 1 an-

nounced, a minute later, as 1

wrenched off the first heel. I

revealed' a clever and compactopening, stuffed with cotton wool.:

Gently 1 forced it out of the

cavity, to, spread on the table a

variety of cut stones.

"Ah!" said Pontivy, "1 am. not

an authority on precious stones,

but these are worth something.,

Quick-attack the other heels."

Half an hour later the task was

completed. 1 have never seen such

an assortment of gems at'close

quarters. I could make no csti- i

mate oí their value, but it must i

have been enormous.,

Pontivy selected two consider- i

able diamonds, and tucked them

into a waistcoat pocket.

"They shall be my share of the¡

spoil," he said. "I shall give them

to, Madame Hermina. The poor'

woman will now be without'

means. Now, the problem is, how!

do we dispose of these?" 1

"Why not sell them openly?""A few of them-but there are ,

loo many. Remember, if they]

were traced back lo Alexandre, ,

some officious policeman might|

look more closely into his sud-

den death.

"And the chute."

"Precisely. Thus, much as I

dislike black-market transactions,

I shall have to resort to a fence.

Ah, 1 hear ¡Drummond at the

door-give me the jewels. It is

best that he should not know.

.

He bundled the gems into his

coat pocket, and greeted Drum-

mond- while I cleared away the <

shoes.

"Well, the Stalling Committeehas spoken!" Drummond an- i

nounced. i"And it said?"

"It has decided to fight it out

with Mars. I have assured tüo

members that my rocket is nearlyeady, and that it will reach Mars.

They appear to have confidence ia

mc . . .

"

"Well ...""So they have decided to »end

a bomb to Mars instead of a

message. At the same time we

shall send a signal by radio,

pointing out that two can playat thc war game. We shall in-.

vite them to stop their protonic

displays and to try again to send

a representative here so-- that

peaceful talks can begin.""When will this come off?"

"I; shall be ready within a few

weeks."

"And what will the Martiansdo in retaliation?" Pontivy asked.

"Flow should I know?"

"On the contrary; you are the

only man who does know."."Well, my guess is that the

Martians will be annoyed-andwill retaliate."

"More bombs?""No. It might look suspicious

if they hit another forest, andsve can't let them hit a town.

Suppose they invaded the Earth?""What? Ah-so that is the new

scheme?"

"Yes." H

"And that is why you needmore money?"

"Yes, it will cost a lot."

"It is a brilliant idea, my dear

Drummond. I, Pontivy, say so.

Very well, you shall have your

money. Look!"

He plunged his hand into his

pocket, and brought out a fist-

ful of diamonds.

"My goodness!" Drummond

exclaimed. "Where did you getthese?"

"A friend of mine let me have

them-he had no further use forthem himself."

Drummond looked at the old

man keenly. "1 see," he said.

"Well, I've no sympathy with a

crook who tries to plunge the

world into war. He deserves tolose his wealth. And we needit."

He paused, then continued,

"By the way, we've been discus-

sing one of Newman's ideas this

morning. Twenty years ago he

wrote a book called 'ArmouredDoves'."

"What? 1 do not rememberthat one."

"No. You don't appear in it,

Pontivy. Well, in it he sugges-

ted that the peace of the world

was too vital to be left to the

politicians, who used the scient-

ists as their instruments. So

he'

proposed a League of

Scientists, world-wide, who wouldcontrol their own inventions and

make sure that they were

applied to peaceful purposes."

"Ah, that was a good idea!"

"Yes, so nobody took anynotice

_

of it. But it il still a

good idea."

"And you're reviving it?" I

said."Yes. A small group of us

discussed il this morning. 1 told

you that I was determined to givethe principle of atomic control

to all countries-there will be

much opposition, especially fromRussia and U.S.A."

"1 can understand that. Potenr

National Library of Australiahttp://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page1026393

tinily, Mexico .will be ns power-ful ns the United States."

"Yes-and Poland as Russia.

At least, we must qualify that.

The advantage will still be with

the highly-industrialised coun-

tries with access to supplies of

pitchblende, but the small States

will no longer be powerless.

Anyway, the scientists are goingto establish their own inter-

national Security Council."

"Excellent, excellent," said

Pontivy. "Well, 1 will now goand see a man about a diamond."

"Are you safe, with that lot

on you?""1 am always safe. But I

will take Ryan with me."As the old man went out,

Drummond chuckled at the idea

of using a G-man as escort while

you went to dispose of diamondsin illicit fashion.

"You don't do shorthand, do

you?" he asked suddenly.

"No-very little. But I can

write very quickly.""That will do. 1 only want

notes'."

"How?;1"I want to think aloud. Just

ideas-no order, Jus£ jot down

the headlines, and then we'll sort

them out."

For two hours Drummondpaced up and down the room,

thinking, occasionally uttering a

fesv sentences. Their purport was

so fantastic that 1 was startled.

"Right. Now let's sort out

these ideas," he said. "First, the

timing. We've got to turn Pon

tivy's money-if he gets it-into

aircraft and other things. We can

buy them second-hand, if we're

discreet. I've got new engines to

fit them."

"Oh, something special?"

"Yes, fitted willi silencers."

"Gosh, that's revolutionary!"

"lt could, be. Well, let's cal-

culate our times. We'll send the

rocket to Mars in, say, six weeks.

There won't be any occasion to

raise a'ballyhoo-the newshawks

won't need any prompting!The

"Martians could send a threat a

fortnight later. Then-say an-

other six weeks. All told, you'vegot about three months."

"I have?"

"Yes. I think that you had

better take charge of the African

section of the plan."

XXVI

HPHE District Officer had

finished his rounds in the

region of Oona, where theSudan shades off into the Bel-

gian Congo. Cool for the first

time during the day, he sat smok-

ing a pipe, while waiting for his

evening meal. The moment of

relaxation was blissful, so his

surprise was not pleasant as he

saw his native assistant approach-ing hurriedly.

The District Officer gazed in

astonishment. Abdul Sayid never

hurried-was often aggravating

in.his deliberations. But now

he was almost running throughthe long grass from the direction

of the village. What is more, he

was sweating furiously.

"Sir, there is a man you should

see.""To-morrow morning, at the

council."

"No sir, now. Tt is urgent. He'

has come all the wny from Tum

pali."

"Tumpali-why, that's a hun-

dred miles away.""Yes, sir."

t'But-oh, very well, bring himalong."

Abdul gave a piercing whistle.

The headman of the village ap-

proached, escorting the visitor,

The latter was a tall man, of

sturdy physique. Yet he.showedno signs of distress, indicative of

a hurried journey. There was a

strange light in his eyes-a light

of fear.

He made the usual salutations.

The District Officer did not un-

derstand the man's tribal langu-

age, but Abdul Sayid was able to

make an approximate interpreta-

tion.

"He say that four day ago he

hunt in the forest near Tumpali.He wound a buck, with his spear,and follow it for many hour.

Then he catch up and kill it. It

nearly dark, so he light fire and

sleep. In morning he carry buck.

Then he see something."At first he think it big mon-

key, but then he see it like man

-but like no man he see. If wear

no clothes, but like~"*a crocodile

skin. Except on face-that like

man. But face, sir, face green!"

"QOMK strange reports comingO in from the north," said the

Belgian administrator of the

Congo service to his assistant.

"Stories of humming sounds all

night, in the sky. You'd better

have them looked into. Send a

signal to all the residents in the

area."

A week later he considered the

reports. "This is queer," he

mused. "A sound of swishing, or

humming, high up, at night

many reports. And here's a native

who says that he saw what seems

to be a tower-an iron tree, he

calls it. H'm! -Better have it

looked into-some fool in Brus-

sels is bound to hear about it.

Might send out a scout aircraft."The. choice felf on Lieutenant

Rochefort, a pilot of long experi-

ence in Central Africa. His brief-

ing . of his crew was scanty."We're going north," he said.

"We don't know where we're go-

ing, and we don't know what

we're looking for. But if any of

yon sèe an iron tree, that's it."

Tlie aircraft made good timingon the journey north. Then

Rochefort, a conscientious officer,

brought her low-sometimes

skimming the tops of the jungle

trees. For two hours he cruised.

Nothing is more deceiving than

a jungle. An observer sat in the

co-pilot's seat. More than once

he drew attention to some un-

usual object-which on closer in-

vestigation proved to be an over-

grown tree.. Once, when -flyingover open country, clear of the

forest, he pointed out dark specks

near the horizon: they proved tc

be a herd of elephants.The observer himself wearied

of his absurd task. . SuddenlyRochefort called him to action.

"What's that-south south-

west?"

The observer focused his

glasses. A look of amazement

crossed his face.

"The devil!" he cried. "It's not

unlike a wireless mast-but of a

queer shape, lt's built up with

struts, but its shape-here, there's

something flashing from the top."

"We'll get nearer," said Roche

fort.

But a moment later the aircraft

began to misbehave. One enginewent right out, and controls were

haphazard. It was well that

Rochefort was a pilot of unusualskill. For a while he handled the

aircraft almost as a glider. Themoment was anxious-he had no

height to spare.

Now he had almost forgotten

his quarry, intent on saving the

lives of his crew. ? As he turnedaway from the area, many of

his controls returned to their

normal functions."That's very queer," he said.

"We'll come again to-morrow

with another aircraft."

They did-with a squadron.The weird experiences were re-

peated. A dozen men saw the

strange pylon-one took a tele-

scopic photographof it. But

every aircraft was in distress

one had to make a forced land-

ing."That settles it," Rochefort

reported. "There is something

there-and it's not earthly."

ALREADYraised to a highly

emotional, almost hysterical

state, the people of the world

needed no promptingin their de-

cision. The Martians had fulfilled

their threat, and had invaded the

Earth.

The first suggestion was one of

panic. Our modern civilisation

showed its shallow foundations.

In a dozen countries people took

to the roads, as one rumour after

another brought the Martiansnearer. The refugees «lid not

know where they were going, butobeyed an elementary urge to

flee. There were scenes in Pitts-

burgh and Kharkov in which

troops as well as police were

involved when helpless mobs gotout of hand.

The Security Council this timedid not belie its name. The

Belgian Congo reports were sug-

gestive, but not conclusive: A

Mixed Commission was immedi-ately despatched to the scene. I

went with it, as Drummond's re-

presentative. No one knew that

1 had spent the last month in

Africa-ostensibly I had been on

holiday in England.lt had been interesting-and

sometimes amusing-setting the

scene. Greatest difficulty was the

erection of the "iron trees."

These represented another of

Drummond's inventions, and myanxiety was to get them in posi-

tion before some prying aircraft

came their way. Once in opera-

tion, I was content.

MARTIANS FIND THE'

RAY! screamed the headlines on

the Belgian report. Their ac

. counts vvére usually sensational,and often

'

exaggerated. Drum-mond's apparatus . here repre-sented no new idea, but the de-

velopment'of an old one. Foryears scientists have known howto stop an engine by interferencewith its electrical'processes, by ?

means of the emission of a

charge or ray. The difficulty wasthat a huge and complicated I

apparatus was necessary, andthat

its range was short; thus, much

simpler methods of stopping an <

engine were available-putting a¡bullet through it, for example.

Now, Drummond had much sim-

plified the apparatus and had im- I

proved its power. According to

atmospheric conditions, it was

effective at from ten to twenty j

miles range..

|

The component parts had been 1

smuggled in by your fleet of§

second-hand Dakotas, their en- |gines fitted with the new silencers Iwhich Drummond had promised,

j.

Instead of the normal roar, they 1

moved with no more than the $humming sound which the natives ?had reported. |

Naturally, I made no mention }

of this as the giant aircraft bore í

the party of observers across Ithe Atlantic. We landed at Dakar '?

-some to fly to the Belgian .

Congo, others to the Sudan. I

Hew with the second party.

At Juba we picked up afamous big-game fainter from *fl

Kenya, an old friend of mine, f

though I did not mention this, ?<

either. From Juba we trekked ':

south-west in safari waggons.Our radio kept us in touch .?

with the outside world.

"The aerial survey of CentralJ

Africa has failed," it announced :

one night. "A composite squad- -

ron of British, Russian, American'

and French aircraft, with Lieu

tenant Rochefort of theBelgian

Air Force as guide, approached ,

the area where the mysterious'iron trees' had been reported. ?

Every aircraft developed trouble,

exactly as Rochefort had previ-

ously reported. Two crashed,but it is not yet known ii there

were any casualties.

"General Kiviev, in charge ot

the squadron, has considered all .

the reports and has decided

against further attempts. Special I

recording devices were carried on 1some ot die aircraft. Professor 1Bogulov, who is with the squad- Jron, has examined these, and Areports evidence of an electro- fMmagrietic ray of such intensity fmthat no normal engine could |9function in its vicinity. . *J

"Several observers caught a' WÈglimpse of the towers they were- flBseeking, and moré telescopic SBphotographs at long range were; MBtaken. These are being flown to. «BJNew York immediately for ex-, HHamination by Professor Urum-'.BJJmond and his staff. aBJ

"Any prospect of securing posl- WMtive information about the pre- IIB]

National Library of Australiahttp://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page1026394

sumed Martian landing can now

come only from the land parties,

which arc approachingthe area.

"A last-minute report states

that anotherrocket has just fal

1

lenon the original sile in Leices-

tershire,England. Details will

bc givenas soon as available."

. Wc were sitting around in

camp when this

'

bulletin came

through.Our company was

mixed-officialobservers (mostly

. army officers) and journalists.

"Gosh, this is getting hot," re-

marked Walter Wordcll. a famous

I

columnist of wide influence in

j:

USA."By the way, what hap

"cns io our (nicks if they corni

up againstthis ray, whatever i

is?"

"I expect thatwc get out anc

walk," I grinned. ;

"Hell!Africa s big!

Wordcll'ssuggestion was' pro

phclicLate in (he following

i afternoonour convoy of safar;

I «aggoni.trucks, and jeeps was

windingils way across a trackless

plain.

Downe, the big-game

humer, proposed an carly halt.

Thc native guides had indicated

vast forestsahead, and the going

would bc tough.

"We'll camp by. that nullah,"'

saidDowne, pointing ahead.

I He was wrong. We camped

! almost where wc were. First the

engine of a truck spluttered and'

faded;then that of a jeep. With-

in ¡ive minutes the entire convoy

iwas

halted.

"Thisis uncanny!" one man

said, "My jeep's in perfect order.

Thc only trouble is that it won't

"It looks as if we're on the

tdec of lin's ray," Wordell com-

mented."I hope that it doesn't

affect men as well as machines.

My belly's delicate enough as it

i¡. with dining out three times a

night

for years."

"A dose of ray might cure

rou." 1 comforted.

"Wc can test if it is really a

ray which hulls us," said a voice .

tilh a strong foreign accent.

[ turned to Colonel Kolovsky,the Russian official observer. He

vas a noticeable figure, for, while

lie rest of us sweated in shorts

wi shirts,he retained his uni-

form,He was easily the most

dignifiedfigure among us, but he

must have been very uncomfort

"Whafs your idea, colonel?" I

"All thc breakdowns have oc

cuned over thc last mile. If Mr.

Well is right, and we arc at

Iheedge of Hie ray's power, let

lie men push a jeep outside the

rafe,and then see whether it

?Say, that's a good scheme,"

laidthe driver. "Come oh, boys,

ptmc a hand. If she goes, I'll

ist her back and see what hap

a dozen men pushed the

pjoverthe rough turf: we fol

¡W them with the glasses.

"You're on, colonel!" Wordell

cried, "She's moving!"The jeep came towards us.

Then, half a mile away, a series

of backfires began. Within a few

hundred yards thc engine was

dead.

"Yes, this is it," said Wordell."Well; where do wc go from

here?"

"We can't give up as tamely as

this," I suggested."No. To-morrow wc will try

to go forward-on foot," Kolovsky said.

Next morning I made up the

exploration parties with care.

Downe advised in favour ofvery

small detachments, in view of thcdifficult country. He had. two

assistants with him, so 1 made up

three parties. The remainder of

the observers were to stay in

camp-which some of them were

quite Willing to do.

My own party was thc most

important. 1 accompanied Downe,and selected Wordell and Colonel

Kolovsky as my companions.U.S.A. and U.S.S.R. were still

thc countries which must bc satis-

fied at every cost.'

Three native trackers moved

before us. Ahead we saw the dark

outline of the tropical forest. At

first the going was only heavy and

tedious, but from the moment we

entered the forest our difficulties

began. The place was primeval,untouched by man. Trees had

fallen to rot, covered over byweeds and' parasites.

A dozen

times 1 was startled as strange

animals passed us by. Wordell

was even more alarmed, but Kol-

ovsky displayed a solid calm,whatever he felt.

Our progress became very slow.

lt seemed as if the three Dongatribesmen were nervous-they

were in new territory. They kept

close together, and often shouted,

muttering to each other.

"What's wrong?" Wordellasked.

"They're on the edge of panic,"Downe explained. "They're scared

about something." He refrained

from mentioning a rumour he

had started on its rounds amongthc camp bearers thc previous

evening-that there were devils in

the forest.

"1 don't wonder-1 feel almost

scared myself," said Wordell.

"Let us go on," Colonel Kolov-

sky remarked.

We resumed our march, climb-

ing over dead trees, hacking our

way through the vicious under-

growth.Suddenly a scream from the

leading Donga startled us. He

turned abruptly in his tracks, al-,

most knocking me over. Downe

caught him and held him."What's wrong now?"

"He says that he's seen a

devil," Downe interpreted."Well, that's going a bit too

far," said Wordell. "At this time

of day-and without a drink.

Snakes-yes. I've seen them my-

self, but they're real. But devils

-oh, no. You might'as well

bell's bells! Look!"His eyes stared as he pointed

ahead. A figure was crossing a

tiny clearing. His shape was ap-

proximately that of a crouchingman, but his upper part was en

tirely encased in some kind of

bony sheaf. His walk was pecu-

liar-with each step he lifted his

foot until his heel almost touchedthe back of his thigh-his walk

-

was like a slow-motion'

pictureof a runner.

"My God-it's right-a Mar-

tian!" Wordell whispered.The Donga screamed. again.

Thc Martian turned towards us.

Now we saw his eyes-queer. eyes, flashing like tiny neon

lamps. Over where his nose

would be was some kind of metal

contraption, presumably to cor-

rect the atmospheric pressure.Yet part of his face was visible

-and his skin was a pale green!

1 glanced at my companions..Wordell was pale; this experienceWas totally unlike his nightly

parties. Kolovsky was gazing in-

tently, appraising the fantastic

situation. Downe, correctly, held

his rifle at the ready.I had to judge thc moment; it

should be as long as possible,but not too long.

"My head! He's doing somei

thing to us!" I yelled, as the Mar-tian produced a luminous tube.

"There's something wrong-can'tyou feel it?"

"Hell, 1 cnn!" said Wordell.

"He's killing us-say, Downe,why don't you shoot?"

This was as I wanted it to

happen: better for me not to givethe order.

Downe fired-both barrels.

Thc Martian staggered. His

enormous hands, with their tent-

acles, were clasped to his shell

covered chest. Then he recov-

ered, turned, and moved awaywith his rhythmic dancing move-

ment. Before Downe could re-

load, he was lost in the dense

undergrowth."Here, what's this?" Downe

whispered. "Two rounds from

an elephant gun, and he's, alive!

It can't bc!"

Maybe we were as near to .

panic as the Dongas, now gibber-

ing nervously. . Man is not at his

best in the presence of the un

.known.

Colonel Kolovsky recovered

first. Asking Downe to accom-

pany him, he walked forward to

the clearing. After a moment'shesitation, Wordell and 1 fol-

lowed.

. Kolovsky pointed to marks in

a patch of soft ground."It was no hallucination," he

said. "The Martian was here."

"Hallucination my foot!" Wor-

dell cried. "Of course he was

herc-1 saw him."'

"Look!"'

Downe bent down to examinethc footprints.

"He's got some sort of a hoof,with toes," he said.

We all got very close. Kolov-sky began to make measurements.

"No, it would be better to cut

out the piece of ground and take

it with us," he said.

He and Downe set io work

with their jack-knives, carefully

raising a considerable clod.

"Just a minute-what's this?"

Kovolsky exclaimed.He exhibited a sliver of shell

like material, about,an inch long.

Turning it over, he revealed its

outside surface. It was green.

"It's a bit of his shield," said

Wordell, hoarsely. "Where

Downe hit. him.""Thhf is mâdness," Downe him-

self added. "I hit him with a .5

shell, and all it does is to crack

off a fragment of bone. Whatsort of man is this?"

"A Martian!"Now 1 was happy. Downe

had. been great-and his shoot-

ing first-class-he had to miss,while giving every impression of

a hit; nor had our'Martian'givena bad performance. He had, of

course, dropped thc sliver of bone

when Downe had fired.

"Well, what happens next?"Downe asked.

"Let's get back to camp," Wor?dell suggested promptly.

We all agreed. On the way

Wordell and I discussed the painsin the head which we had felt

when the Martian faced us. lt

was a triumph of suggestion.Soon Kolovsky was convinced

that he had felt something, too.The natives, maybe on a..hint

from Downe, were quite certain

that they were very ill, holdingtheir heads as if their skulls were

bursting. .'

"Well, this is it,'" Wordell ex-

claimed, as we. regained the

stretch of open veldt. "I'm goingto tell the hundred millionreaders of my column that the

Martians have landed, and that

I've seen them.""There is no question of that,"

Kolovsky added, more controlled.

"I was convinced last night,

when(allthe cars stopped, includ-

ing the diesels. No power known

on earth could have done that."

Thc people in camp crowded

round us, clamouring for news.

Then someone switched on the

radio. Wc heard that the new

rocket contained threats to take

the world's gold by force: that

preliminary expeditions had

already established themselves.

The'announcer went on to quotea report, as yet unconfirmed, that

s the Martians had landed in the

north of Greenland!

THE Assembly gathered in an

emergency meeting at Lake

Success. The Security Councilsubmitted its report: the Martianshad landed in Central Africa and

in Greenland. All normal

methods of attack had beenshown to be useless.

"New weapons will be needed,"said- the Russian representativewho submitted thc report. "The

entire scientific resources of thc

world must bc mobilised to coun-

ter this threat to our very exis-

tence. More than that, the

peoplesof thc world must march

against this monster. An effort

without parallel in world historyis necessary-vital. An inter-national army, equipped with theniost. modern devices, must de-

liver the world from its threat-

ened doom.

"This is no lime for quibbling

National Library of Australiahttp://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page1026395

-

on details. Tbe United Nations

organisation, with its discussion

and vetoes, is too slow and cum-

brous for such a situation. We

need an authority which can

make instantaneous decisions;

can rally the peoples of thc worldas one.

"Fortunately, the world has

such a man available. On behalfof the Soviet Union, 1 propose

that full and sole authority over

the joint efforts of thc peoples of

the world should be allocated to

the British statesman, Mr. Wor-

ten Spender."

XXVII

"\Ä7E are?matched with tho» »nour; Often we have

used the phrase, 'the end ofthe world.' It seemed fanciful,

fantastic. But now it is revealed

as a frightening possibility.

Everything which we hold dear

is endangered-love, life, and

thc pursuit of happiness.

"Had we failed to meet this

challenge' there would have been

an end of all things. Wc face a

new tyranny, before which all

earthly dictators in history

appear as miserable puppets. Yet

this overwhelming threat must

bc. can bc, defeated.

"I call upon the peoples ofthe worlds Every man and

every woman to the battle! The

Martians must be not merelyrepelled, but annihilated, so

that never again will they

attempt to dominate the world

-our world, with all its faults

and follies, but with all its

glorious traditions and »immensepotentialities.

"We will fight in the forests

of Africa or the snows of Green-

land, and wherever else these

monsters may strike. Since old

weapons will not suffice, we will

,invent new ones. Our effort,

must i bc gigantic. Great high-

ways must be built lo the heart

of tropical Africa and throughthe northern Wastes, to supportand supply the gallant men who

will grapple with the fiends who

have invaded our world. As

once before in history, I can

promise nothing more than blood

. and (oil, tears and sweat. Aye,but 1 Would add, 1 can promiseone thing more-victory.

"It is a united world whichfaces the Martians. Germans

and Japs will march beside

Russians, Americans, French,and British. Thc small nations

will contribute thc best from

among their sons. These men

will die, not lo destroy each

other, as of old, but 'to outdo

each olhcr in valorous onslaughton thc common enemy.

,

"Let us gird ourselves for the

combat. There may bc setbacks,

even shocks, for we are mortal,and know not thc mind or ways

of our foes. But this is certain,

that . if .we;;'are united, we can

rid?

our earth of this dread

menace.> To thc battle-all of

us!"

Six months had elapsed since

Worton Spender's voice in the

world had rallied its peoples.The

response was emphatic.Thc

Assembly of the United Nationswas no longer a debate of senior

wranglers, but a practical com-

mittee of ways and means. Each

nation was alloted a contingent,

and a material contribution to

the general cause. Everythingwas thrown into thc scale. The

highways forecasted in Worton

Spender's broadcast were blazed

across Africa and Greenland.The Dark Continent was finally

opened up, and the White Con-

tinent revealed unsuspected mine-ral wealth. Significant of the new

atmosphere, there was no argu-

ment about its distribution. A

Greenland Development Com-pany, under U.N. control, pro-

mised fair shares to all races.

. Armies were assembled in thefour corners of Africa, training

with the new weupons which

Drummond's genius supplied lo

face the novel menace. In the

factories men and women toiled

to make the necessities of the

campaign. Yet

Drummond and

Worton Spenderlooked ahead. At

such a moment

no one consideredmoney; thus, the

undisputed lead-

ers of thc worldseized the opportunity to raise

standards of life in its backwardcorners. A colossal system of

lend-lease started such a flow of

mutual trade as had never been

known.Thc Martians contented them-

selves with minor diversions,

which served to rouse the spiritof the Earth's peoples. Threat-ening messages . were counteredby thc'despatch,

of more rockets.

Two further prötonicbombs fell,

fortunately in desolate areas..

Any man who could recall the

atmosphere of suspicion in earlier

years would have been amazednow.

Drummond's League of Scicn

.

lists had jcomc-mto existence, and.

within a few weeks had recruited

hundreds of thousands of mem-

bers from all countries of the

world. When two South Ameri-can nations,- comfortably aloof

from the conflict, revived un

ancient quarrel, Drummond'sLeague showed its hand. It simplyinstructed all scientists and tech-

nicians in both countries to with-

draw their services-and in

twenty-four hours thc local poli-

ticians were on their knees. Far-

sighted men took keen note of

this new development.By a dozen subtle methods,

Worton Spender ensured that the

economic boon engendered by

the war should continue in thc

peace. The new standards of

living in thc backward countries

alone were to have a tremendous

influence. At an opportune

moment, thc Martians landed

another expedition on the fringe

of the Gobi Desert. This

gave to Worlon Spender the ex-

cuse to pour, supplies into China,and so contribute to thc recovery

of that stricken land.

"/^VN one point I am uneasy,"V_y said Pontivy, a few weeks

later. "These international armies

marching on Central Africawhat happens when they get

there?"

"They chase the Martians off

thc earth."

"But they will discover that thc

whole business is faked."

"Oh, no. At first they will be

held up from far off-I have

greatly strengthened my intercep-

tor ray, and have lengthened its

range. There- will be a halt

while I invent more mechanismsto overcome this. At the final

advance, thc Martians will panic.

They will blow up their instal-

lations, and go back to Mars.""But can they?"

"Well, at least

our Martians can

go back lo the

place where theycame from,"Drummond smil-

ed. "There will

be a few mysteri-

ous explosions-.maybe a protonic bomb or-two

in thc African forest.""I see the idea. But-the Mar-

tians wanted gold. Will they give

up or try again?",

"We; Martians have our pride.

We shall explain that we retired

according to plan. Maybe we

shall hint that wo have found

another cure for the 'wasting

disease.' But alwaysthere will

be the threat overhanging the

world-that if its nations quar-

rel, the Martians may return,"

"I sec. Yes, it could bc. And

then?""Then I shall invent our inter-

ceptor ray, like that of the Mar-

tians. Maybe they will leave-one.

or two bits and pieces of their

apparatus behind, as a guide to

my experiments. My ray will be

thï property of the League of

Scientists, which will distribute it

lo all States-the small countries

having first priority. Once they

lose their fear of the great

powers, the cause of world peaceadvances. 1 would like it to ad-

vance on moral grounds: until this

happy state arrives, 1 will'secure

it by physical methods.""I have been wondering,

Drummond," said Ponlivy. "May-be you were born in thc wrong

agc. In 1789-what a revolu-

tionary you would have made!"

"I am arevolutionary,'" j

Drummond agreed. "Not ia the

ordinary political sense. Asa !

scientist, I sec so many things inj

thc world which are out ofdate i

-nationalism, ideologies, eco-

nomics-even thc very basis of

industrialism, the theorv thatsome men should hire labour andothers sell it. Wc have been

try.mg to adjust ideas by slow dc

grées, and it merely prolongs thc

anguish. Any swimmer wouldrather plunge into cold water thanadvance inch by inch."

"Of course, I always plungemyself."

."And theover-riding considera-

tion is that of peace andwar,'1

Drummond continued. "Compared with this, everything is

trivial. A thousand ideas andslogans will have to be

sacrificed

to thc common good. li

was obvious that peace couldnever be preserved by prepara-tions for war. lt is .equally ob-

vious that it will never bc pre-served by pious resolutions con-

demning war. Very well. Nowwe will try. We are

attemptinga revolution in ideas and prac-

tices-obviously we must use

revolutionary methods.""Well, it's been grand while

ii

lasted," 1 said. "That's my onefear-will it last?"

"It can. If it lasts long enoughto set the world on a

peaceful

course, and to let our League of

Scientists gather its power-thenit could last for a very long time.

We are not played out, notby

any means. Think of it this way,

The Mardan invasion was only areconnaisancc force. They retire,

under our pressure, send a few

more bombs, and weretaliate

that would keep a nervous world

at our mercy. Then I make a

new invention. 1 cannotstop

the Martian rockets, but I can

divert them, I announce. SoI

send a number of atomic orpro.

tonic bombs to thc Polar regions.:

You can imagine their effects.

Among other things, they woulj-interfere with weather conditions

all over the world-and whatmore popular subject of

conver-

sation.'than the weather?"

"Right. I'll leave it to you,"I smiled.

"Any further news from

Africa?" Pontivy asked.

"Yes," said Drummond. "The

International Armies continuetheir advance, There have

been

some complaints aboutRussian

looting, and there was a clashbetween small groups of Ameri-

cans and Australians about

local women. But these arc in-

evitable details. In general, our

scheme moves smoothly. Oh,

Newman, this will interest youboth thc Italian and Brazilian

contingents report that they have

seen the Flying Saucer over their

areas!"

THE END.