The Space Visitors By Edmond Hamilton [Illustration: EDMOND HAMILTON] _Illustration by Paul_ _Just as we look upon fish as inhabitants of the ocean, so some beings from outer space may look upon us as being inhabitants at the bottom of an atmospheric ocean._ _Such beings, possibly gigantic in size and power, coming in the vicinity of our earth, may, for purposes of curiosity or exploration, decide to discover what we queer beings are, and what this little planet is that we inhabit._ _That such beings may have actually come near the earth, is asserted forcibly by Charles Fort in his amazing book, "The Book of the Damned," in which he brings forward evidence to show that over a period of the past 150 years there has been evidence of strange extra-terrestrial activity, presumably from sentient beings._ _As Mr. Hamilton so truthfully points out, we beings of the earth are not at all isolated. Any day we may have plunged upon us an enemy from space that would have no more regard for our civilization than we have for those of the ants and other insects._ _How we may combat such enemies, Mr. Hamilton shows in quite a remarkable story._ [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from Air Wonder Stories March 1930. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] Because Dr. Howard has asked me to prepare a concise account of the coming of the space-visitors, I, Stanley Ransome, have tried to write a simple record of my own contacts with them. Such a record will necessarily have errors enough; but it seems to me that the facts can be most clearly presented in such a fashion. It was late in June that I first learned of the affair, through Dr. Howard himself. Dr. Jason Howard was holder of the chair of Aeronautical Science in Gotham University, and his contributions to the progress of aerial navigation had made him renowned in both scientific and commercial circles. For two years I had been an instructor and assistant in his department of the university. Toward the end of that particular June afternoon he came into the laboratory where I was testing the tensile strength of a new alloy, and handed me a folded newspaper. "You haven't seen this, Ransome?" he questioned. "They're shouting them all over the city." "I hope you haven't ruined a completely good test to call my attention to the latest murder," I jested, as I unfolded the paper. But when my eyes took in the import of its black headlines my smile vanished. They shrieked their message in the tallest available type: HUNDREDS SLAIN IN IOWA VILLAGE BY CATACLYSM! MANNLERTOWN SCENE OF MYSTERIOUS HORROR!