"You haff thought, perhaps, I would kill you. But you were wrong, as you many times have been. You haff not appreciated my kindness; you haff not understood that mine iss a heart of gold. "Even I was not sure before we came what it iss best to do. But now I know. I saw oceans and many lands on this world. I saw islands in those oceans. "You so clever are--such a great thinker iss Herr Harkness--and on one of those islands you will haff plenty of time to think--yess! You can think of your goot friend, Schwartzmann and of his kindness to you." "You are going to maroon us on an island?" asked Walt Harkness hoarsely. Plainly his plans for seizing the ship were going awry. "You are going to put the three of us off in some lost corner of this world?" Chet Bullard was silent until he saw the figure of Harkness struggling to throw off his two guards. "Walt," he called loudly, "take it easy! For God's sake, Walt, keep your head!" This, Chet sensed, was no time for resistance. Let Schwartzmann go ahead with his plans; let him think them complacent and unresisting; let Max pilot the ship; then watch for an opening when they could land a blow that would count! He heard Schwartzmann laughing now, laughing as if he were enjoying something more pleasing than the struggles of Walt. * * * * * Chet was standing by the controls. The metal instrument-table was beside him; above it was the control itself, a metal ball that hung suspended in air within a cage of curved bars. It was pure magic, this ball-control, where magnetic fields crossed and recrossed; it was as if the one who held it were a genie who could throw the ship itself where he willed. Glass almost enclosed the cage of bars, and the whole instrument swung with the self-compensating platform that adjusted itself to the "gravitation" of accelerated speed. The pilot, Max, had moved across to the instrument-table, ready for the take-off. Schwartzmann's laughter died to a gurgling chuckle. He wiped his eyes before he replied to Harkness' question. "Leave you," he said, "in one place? _Nein!_ One here, the other there. A thousand miles apart, it might be. And not all three of you. That would be so unkind--" He interrupted himself to call to Kreiss who was opening the port. "No," he ordered; "keep it closed. We are not going outside; we are going up." But Kreiss had the port open. "I want a man to get some fresh water," he said; "he will only be a minute." He shoved at a waiting man to hurry him through the doorway. It was only a gentle push; Chet wondered as he saw the man stagger and grasp at his throat. He was coughing--choking horribly for an instant outside the open port--then fell to the ground, while his legs jerked awkwardly, spasmodically.