Eyer knew, all right. The papers had broken the story of the return in flaming scareheads. Then the thing had come to a full stop. It was significant that no real satisfactory explanation had been offered by any one. The papers had, on their own initiative, tried to communicate with Sitsumi, and the three Chinese scientists, and had failed all around. Sitsumi did not answer, denied himself to representatives of the American press in Japan, and crawled into an impenetrable Oriental shell. The three Chinese could not answer, according to advices from Peking, because they could not be located. Jeter called the publisher of the leading newspaper for a conference. "Strange that you should have called just now," said the publisher, "for I was on the point of calling you and Eyer and inviting you to a conference to be held this evening at my office in Manhattan." "What's the purpose of your conference? Who will attend?" "I--I--well, let us say I had hoped to make you and Eyer available to all interviewers on the eve of your flight into the stratosphere." Jeter hesitated, realizing that the publisher did not wish to tell everything over the telephone. "We'll be right along, sir," he said. * * * * * It took an hour for them to reach the publisher's office. Wires had plainly been pulled, too, for a motorcycle escort joined them at the Queensboro Bridge and led them, sirens screaming, to their meeting with George Hadley, the publisher. They looked at each other in surprise when they were admitted to the meeting. Hadley's huge offices were packed. The mayor was there, the police commissioner, the assistant to the head of Federal Secret Service. The State Governor had sent a representative. All the newspapers had their most famous men sitting in. Right in this one big room was represented almost the entire public opinion of the United States. American representatives of foreign newspapers were there. And there wasn't a smile on a single face. It was beginning to be borne in upon everybody that the Western Hemisphere was in the grip of a strange unearthly malady--almost an _other_-earthly malady, but what was it? Hadley nodded to the two scientists and they took the seats he indicated. Hadley cleared his throat and spoke. "We have here people who represent the press of the world," he said. "We have men who control billions in money. I don't know how many of you have thought along the same lines as I have, but I feel that after I have finished speaking most of you will. First, there are certain news stories which, for reasons of policy, never reach the pages of our papers. I shall now tell you some of them...." The whole crowd shifted slightly in its chairs. There was a strained leaning forward. Grave faces went whiter as they anticipated gripping announcements.