A man was speaking to him. Did he have anything to say? What could he say? But one should die with a flourish, a purple passage. Oddly none came. He merely wished the business over. He could rest then. Did he have anything to say? "No, but you're wrong." "Stubborn pirate. They all die innocent!" The officer slammed the door. Machinery whirred. It was very dark. Boy! wouldn't the public eat this story up! But in a few moments, before his mind could know it, he would be gone--body and mind--disintegrated into their component elements. He would be a wisp of gas, floating out when the door opened. The humming stopped abruptly. It was dark and silent. It flashed to Rusty that this must be death. Then the door opened. Would he float out? He sat there blinking in the sudden light. "Message for you," said a voice. Rusty stared. A hand reached in, gently helped him out. A paper was thrust into his hand. He took it, read it again and again, but somehow his mind didn't take it in. "You have the apologies of the Interplanetary Patrol!" someone said. Rusty read the message again. "Evidence brought by Mrs. S. K. Russell throws new light. Record just discovered in private papers of "Skipper" Russell. Carter granted full pardon." Signed: THE PRESIDENT. Someone touched his arm. "The Commander requests your company for dinner." Then a blinding light suddenly flashed in Rusty Carter's mind. "Dinner, hell!" he yelled. "Take me to the radio. I've got a story for the New York Tele-news!" End of Project Gutenberg's Exiles of the Three Red Moons, by Carl Selwyn