If standing water has not a uniform level, let our astronomers build a tank, several miles long, such as the watering channels used by the railroads. Would the level of this standing water be higher at one end than at the other? Or was Copernicus wrong as well as all other astronomers who blindly believe in him, like they blindly followed the theory of gravity until another came along and told us we were all wrong? We believed, for years, that we could locate a star in a fixed position. Now we are told by Einstein that it cannot be done because the rays of the stars are bent when passing through the gravitational field of the sun. These are but a few of the seemingly contradictory theories of our universe, which speculative science would have the unsophisticated public believe. I often ask myself, is the universe a huge Fata Morgana, covered by a veil no mortal shall ever lift? Truly the guesses of one generation are but the amusements of another. If it were possible to cruise the distant heavens some startling facts would no doubt be revealed. As yet it is all a dream. * * * * * Finishing the article, Carl folded it and put it away. To himself, half aloud he muttered, “Whew! That sets one to thinking. This is something I have been looking for for a long time--the universe in a nutshell. Too bad he didn’t live to finish and publish it. It would have given the world something to talk about.” Once more his thoughts went to his beloved. “Poor Sana,” he murmured, “I miss you so. Just when my hopes were highest, just when the future looked its rosiest, you had to be taken away from me. Two days of happiness and then all is misery. Like a vision you came and went.” His head bowed, he rode on in silence. Sana had been very dear to him and the hurt was great. Suddenly, shots ringing clear in the desert air, roused him from his dreams. From behind a large sand hill rode a band of Arabs, shaking their rifles and crying loudly. The caravan halted, and the travelers made haste to return the fire of the bandits. Unslinging his automatic Carl accounted for two of the attackers, while some of the others fell before the rifles of the guides and the army officers. It was all over in a few minutes. The bandits, outnumbered two to one, rode off leaving half their number behind, dead or badly wounded. Fortunately the caravan suffered little. One of the camels had been killed, while one of the travelers, an elderly Englishman, suffered a slight wound in the arm. This was immediately treated by one of the guides, and after the excitement had died down, the caravan again set out across the desert. CHAPTER X THE LOVER’S DREAM Day after day the caravan moved slowly on, under the blazing sun of the desert. One day was much like the other, just sand and sun, sun and sand. Days of intense heat, nights of extreme cold!