He shook himself. And with that small gesture he shrugged from his shoulders an ermine that had lain there all too briefly. Quietly he said the words that stripped him of his sceptre, that swept away his empire of the stars. "Press it, Sparks!" he said. * * * * * "A remarkably ingenious device, sir," said Captain Allengrove approvingly. "And you made use of it in the nick of time. We were just about to abandon the search when the snowy waste beneath us blossomed suddenly with that signal. I'm sorry we couldn't get here sooner, sir. But--" And he glanced about the cavern appreciatively. "But you appear to have had matters under control." J. Foster Andrews said, "Well--er--Captain, as a matter of fact, it wasn't--hrrumph!--altogether my doing. Greg, here--" Captain Allengrove dismissed Malcolm with a glance. "Yes, yes, I quite understand. One couldn't expect you to take care of all the minor details. But I must say, Mr. Andrews, you are a fortunate man. Inasmuch as you established residence on Titan, the Federation will be forced to acknowledge your priority claim to the heretofore unknown ore deposit near your cave." "The--er--ore deposit?" Andrews looked blank. Sparks hollered, "Oh, my sainted tonsils! The swamp! Of course! Pitchblende! That's why there was so much static interference! Radium!" The cruiser's commander frowned on him. "Exactly. Of course, Mr. Andrews, you cannot file a full claim to the property. That requires a full year's residence. And a man as important as yourself--" Greg Malcolm started. He had said nothing up till now. He had been given an opportunity to say nothing. The captain had addressed himself solely to the one "important" man in their party, the man for whom, primarily, the search had been made, the man to whose "genius" was attributed the existence of the castaways. Now he spoke up. He said, "But _I_ am establishing residence, Captain Allengrove." Allengrove permitted himself the luxury of a small smile. "You, Malcolm? But really, my dear fellow, only a spaceman could undertake such a task. A _secretary_--" Aunt Maud waddled forward belligerently. She said, "Secretary--pah! Fiddle-faddle, Captain! You don't know what you're talking about! And as for you, Brother Jonathan, I'm ashamed of you! Taking credit for all this--arragh!" She turned to Greg. "Gregory, I'm an old woman, and perhaps I'm an old fool, as well. But I've had more fun and excitement in the past month than I've had in the previous forty years. Be--be _damned_ if I'll go back to Earth and piddle away my remaining years at operas and pink teas. I'm staying here with you!" Enid Andrews, into whose shoulders had so quickly come the grace and ease of authority that was her charm, looked shocked. "Maud!" she exclaimed. Sparks Hannigan breathed a sigh of relief. "Then that makes three of us," he said. "Any more takers?"