Arriving on the next floor he stood still for a moment and listened. There was no sound except for the gentle purring of the gyroscopic machinery. He went from one room to another, then to the last one. The door was open. He entered with a strange feeling of dread. The room was empty. Apparently it had never been used. In terror Ralph ran from one end of the flyer to the other. He looked in every corner, in every closet. He could find neither Alice nor her maid. Where were they hidden? To make sure he went all over the ground again more thoroughly. After the most careful scrutiny of every inch of the machine he fell limply into a chair, and buried his face in his hands. _Alice was not on board the flyer!!_ FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 8: In the outer space the "sky" is dead black; the blue color of the sky as seen from the earth is due to the atmosphere. The real sky is colorless.] [Footnote 9: If a shaft were sunk to the center of the earth, an object placed there would stay suspended in space.] 12 LLYSANORH' STRIKES For some minutes, Ralph stood motionless, completely bewildered. To have spent so much time and effort to no avail, hours--days wasted in a fruitless search! The thought was maddening. Obviously, she was not on board Fernand's space flyer. Where, then, was she? Certainly Fernand himself had had no opportunity to hide her, unless his whole flight into space were a trick to deceive the searchers, and that was more than unlikely. Fernand was cunning--was this some new piece of duplicity? Turning from the empty room he ran down to where Fernand lay, still unconscious. Kneeling by his side Ralph applied a small electrical shocking device to the spine of the insensible man, with the result that in a few minutes Fernand opened his eyes and stared dazedly into those of his captor. "Where is she?" asked Ralph hoarsely. "What have you done with her? Answer me, or by God, I'll blow you into Eternity!" and, aiming his Radioperforer at Fernand's head, he spoke with such ferocity that the other shrank involuntarily. "I don't know," he muttered, weakly. "It's God's truth I don't know. The Martian got her. He took her away and left me drugged." His voice trailed off and he seemed about to collapse. "You're a liar!" growled Ralph, but his tone lacked the conviction of the words. There was that in the other's voice that rang true. Mechanically, he cut the cords that bound Fernand, and the man rolled over helplessly. He was weak and dazed, and altogether too broken in spirit to make any further trouble. His nerve was gone. Ralph propped him up against the wall, but he slumped over on his side limply. Impatient at the delay, Ralph went in search of water, and finding a pitcher of it in Fernand's laboratory, unceremoniously dumped the contents over the prone man's head. This had the desired effect of restoring him somewhat, and in a short time he was able to tell the story in detail.