"Yes, but in tow of the Sun. Not at our own sweet will, like gipsies in a caravan. Independent, free of rent and taxes, these hollow planetoids would serve for schools, hotels, dwelling-houses--" "And lunatic asylums." "They would relieve the surplus population of the globe," continued Gazen, warming to his theme. "It is an idea of the first political importance--especially to British statesmen. The Empire is only in its infancy. With a fleet of ethereal gunboats we might colonise the solar system, and annex the stars. What a stroke of business!" "Another illusion gone," I observed "Think of Manchester cotton in the Pleiades! Of Scotch whiskey in Orion! However, I am afraid your policy would lead to international complications. The French would set up a claim for 'Ancient Lights.' The Germans would discover a nebulous Hinterland under their protection. The Americans would protest in the name of the Monroe Doctrine. It is necessary to be modest. Let us return to our muttons." "Everybody will be able to pick a world that suits him," pursued Gazen, still on the trail of his thought. "If he grows tired of one he can look round for a better. Criminals will be weeded out and sent to Coventry, I mean transplanted into a worse. When a planet is dying of old age, the inhabitants will flit to another." "Seriously, if Carmichael's machine turns out all right, will you join me in a trip?" "Thanks, no. I believe I shall wait and see how you get on first." "And where would you advise me to go, Mars or Venus?" The professor smiled, but I was quite in earnest. "Well," he replied, "Mars is evidently inhabited; but so is Venus, probably, and of the two I think you will find her the more hospitable and the nearest. When do you propose to start?" "Perhaps within six months." "We must consider their relative distances from the earth. By the way, I don't think you have seen my new electrical orrery." "An electrical orrery," I exclaimed. "Surely that is something new!" "So far as I am aware; but you never know in these days. There is nothing new under the sun, or even above it." So saying, he opened a small door in the side of the observatory, and, ushering me into a very dark apartment, closed it behind us. "Follow me, there is no danger," said he, taking me by the arm, and guiding me for several paces into the darkness. At length we halted, and I looked all around me, but was unable to perceive a single object. "Where are we?" I enquired; "in the realms of Chaos and Old Night?" "You are now in the centre of the Universe," replied Gazen; "or, to speak more correctly, at a point in space overlooking the solar system." "Well, I can't see it," said I. "Have you got such a thing as a match about you?"