"Well, Polly must be ready by now." Orville gave up. Polly was right. Harold was insane. Orville tried to turn on the ladder so that he could climb back down. His foot slipped. He spread his arms to keep from falling through the hole and knocked over the pile of bread. "Watch out!" Harold yelped. "I'm all right." Orville felt a slight tingle. "Yes, but you--" Harold's voice trailed off with dismay. The light in his hand had gone out, but Orville didn't think of what this meant at the time. There was light coming through the door below and Orville climbed down. Darn! He pulled out his handkerchief and tried to brush the dust off his lapels. He'd have to change suits, and that meant changing his socks and tie, and he was supposed to meet those people about that deal on Maplehurst Extension at nine. Well, he'd be late. He leaned out of the door. "Orville!" shouted Harold. "Come back! Don't step out there!" * * * * * A lot of fog was blowing down past the nose of the ship. Orville wondered where it came from. He stuck his foot out, reaching for the ladder. He heard Harold scrambling down from above and he wanted to get away from that madman. He reached farther. Harold grabbed his arm. Then the fog cleared away and Orville swayed dizzily, gaping at where he had almost stepped. They had been going through a cloud. Now he looked down at dazzling clouds in the bright October sun and between them he saw the streets of Parkville, very neat, just like the map hanging in the office. He dropped back inside and lay weakly on the floor. He grabbed one of the pipes and shakily clung to it. "What happened?" he stammered. "Hit the main switch." Harold was reaching out for the door handle. He banged the door shut with a concussion that burst inside Orville's head. "We took off." * * * * * It was dark in there, at first; then Orville saw a dim violet light that filled the inside of the ship. He followed Harold up the ladder into the nose of the ship and sank to the floor. Harold was twiddling with some knobs mounted on the dashboard of the junked car. "Boy!" Orville pulled out his handkerchief again and swabbed his forehead. He tried to wipe the grime from his hands. "And I've never even been in an airplane!" "Me either." Harold pounded on the dashboard. A meter didn't seem to be working. "There ... guess I can open her up a little." "Hey, wait! Take me back!" Harold moved a knob an eighth of a turn. He switched on the scope and waited for it to warm up. He took off his glasses and wiped them, squinting at Orville with that one bad eye. "Turn it around and take me back!" "But I can't, Orville." Harold put on the glasses and looked into the scope. "It's working!" "I demand it! You've made me late for the office as it is!" "Sure looks different from the map," Harold said. "Must be the East Coast. There's Florida sticking out there."