We entered the wireless house and Jim sat down with the receivers clamped to his ears. He began to take down a message which was coming in and when he had finished, handed it to me. BULLETIN: Tidal wave in the Pacific overwhelmed many low-lying islands with great loss of life. All communications with Hawaii cut off. Smithsonian announces that tidal waves following course of moon will within the next twenty-four hours sweep far inland. Jim was taking down another message. I read it over his shoulder. BULLETIN: There is possibility that life near the poles may survive. It will probably be possible to use airplanes for the next twenty-four hours; after that, constantly increasing gales reaching hitherto unheard of force, will make travel of any kind impossible. Any survivors of the catastrophe should endeavor to preserve a record of the phenomena that occur immediately before the impact of the moon and immediately thereafter. CHAPTER II A Start for Safety Everyone knows now how that group of scientists scattered over the world, knowing there was no escape for them, calmly continued their observations and calculations and announced them over the radio. They were undoubtedly the real heroes of the catastrophe. Our new world honors their memory as scientists were never honored in those days. Jim watched me as I read the last bulletin. When I had finished he asked, "Well, what do we do? Stay here and take what's coming, or make a try for the north?" I thought for a few minutes. "In the first place, I don't believe it is worth while alarming the natives," I said. "They can't do anything for themselves, and we can't do anything for them. As for us, I think we'd better load as much gasoline and food in the plane as she can carry, and make for the interior." "Not go farther north? We might be safer on the ice than on land." "How long do you suppose the ice will last? Even if we survive the collision, the heat generated will melt all ice, even up here." Jim looked at me a little helplessly. "Don't forget that Labrador has water on three sides. If we go into the interior, I don't believe we'll escape the tidal waves they're predicting." "Probably not," I rejoined cheerfully, "but the chances are a thousand to one we'll be snuffed out one way or another before the collision occurs, so what difference does it make?" There was another message coming in and Jim turned to take it. "Don't waste time doing that," I said. "Hear that wind rising now? Let's load up and start." Doing that was quite simple. The hangar contained all the fuel we could carry. When we rolled the machine out I looked over the little village, rather conscience-stricken for a moment at leaving them in ignorance of what was coming. They couldn't reach the interior in time, I reflected, even if we did tell them, and they might as well remain happy as long as they could.