The proprietor put his hands into his pockets and swayed backward and forward on the balls of his feet. He surveyed each member of his little audience with glances of poignant meaning, as one who had much of consequence to tell--all in good time. Finally he spoke. "He was black," he said, "black all over." "Yes, yes," exclaimed Ralph impatiently, "you told us that before. Can't you give us something definite to go by? His face, for instance. What was that like?" The other leaned forward and tapped him on the chest impressively. "Ay, that was black too," he said. "Black!" cried Ralph. "Black it was--all covered with a black cloth," said the none-too-intelligent shopkeeper smugly. "He come right out of the air before my very eyes, all black, with a black cloth on his face, and rolled out of my store like a cyclone." "You should have tried to hold him," said Ralph. "Well, I gave him a look, I can tell you. He won't forget it in a hurry. I just stood there and looked at him--like this." He screwed up his face in so alarming a manner that one of Ralph's assistants was moved to remark that it was a wonder he didn't drop dead with a face like that. "What d'ye mean?" demanded the owner of the countenance in question. "I said," repeated the assistant, "it was a wonder he didn't drop dead. I would have. It's all I can do to look at you right now." Alice, unable to control her laughter any longer, hastily murmured something about "fresh air" and went to the door. Ralph, keeping his own face straight by a valiant effort, ordered his men to lift the ultra-ray machine and take it back to the laboratory to give it a more minute inspection at his leisure. The girl and the man were very silent on their way back to Ralph's home. A tragedy had been narrowly averted and each felt that this first attempt might by no means be the last. Only once did Alice voice her fears. "You know," she said, "I am certain it was Fernand." She hesitated for a brief moment and then held out her hand. In the palm lay a small heart-shaped object of a curious translucent green, delicately carved. It was pierced for a chain, and indeed, a part of the chain still hung there, but it had been broken off short, and only a few links remained. "What's that?" asked Ralph. "A charm that Fernand always carries. He showed it to me once. He's very superstitious about it, he told me--and I found it back there in the store when I went to the door." Ralph looked very thoughtful. "Then he must have brought that machine from Mars," he said with decision. "And with such resources at his command, I wonder what his next move will be." FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 7: In 1925 John L. Reinartz, working with ultra-short radio waves, actually made it possible to look through solid metal plates with the naked eye.] 9 THE CONQUEST OF GRAVITATION