"Thinking of Cliff?" Kay asked his bride, as she settled in his plane preparatory to their starting for the honeymoon in the Adirondacks. "I think he would be happy if he knew. He saved the world, dear; he gave his best. And that was all he wanted." * * * * * [Advertisement: ] The Pirate Planet BEGINNING A FOUR-PART NOVEL _By Charles W. Diffin_ [Illustration: Like rats in a cage, the planes of the 91st Squadron were darting and whirling.] [Sidenote: A strange light blinks on Venus, and over old Earth hovers a mysterious visitant--dread harbinger of interplanetary war.] CHAPTER I Lieutenant McGuire threw open his coat with its winged insignia of the air force and leaned back in his chair to read more comfortably the newspaper article. He glanced at Captain Blake across the table. The captain was deep in a game of solitaire, but he looked up at McGuire's audible chuckle. "Gay old girl!" said Lieutenant McGuire and smoothed the paper across his knees. "She's getting flirtatious." The captain swore softly as he gathered up his cards. "Not interested," he announced; "too hot to-night. Keep her away." "Oh, she's far enough away," McGuire responded; "about seventy million miles. Don't get excited." "What are you talking about?" The captain shuffled his cards irritably. "Venus. She's winking at us, the old reprobate. One of these star-gazers up on Mount Lawson saw the flashes a week or so ago. If you'll cut out your solitaire and listen, I'll read you something to improve your mind." He ignored the other's disrespectful remark and held the paper closer to see the paragraphs. "Is Venus Signalling?" inquired the caption which Lieutenant McGuire read. "Professor Sykes of Mt. Lawson Observatory Reports Flashes. "The planet Venus, now a brilliant spectacle in the evening sky, is behaving strangely according to a report from the local observatory on Mount Lawson. This sister star, most like Earth of all the planets, is now at its eastern elongation, showing like a half-moon in the big telescopes on Mt. Lawson. Shrouded in impenetrable clouds, its surface has never been seen, but something is happening there. Professor Sykes reports seeing a distinct flash of light upon the terminator, or margin of light. It lasted for several seconds and was not repeated. "No explanation of the phenomenon is offered by scientists, as conditions on the planet's surface are unknown. Is there life there? Are the people of Venus trying to communicate? One guess is as good as another. But it is interesting to recall that our scientists recently proposed to send a similar signal from Earth to Mars by firing a tremendous flare of magnesium.