Amazing Stories Volume 09 Number 04

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%L%^nMm Swifa of&* Q)wT)mnnrct.Now'yoncaBluioipiiow j"*! 1"to and igiwrajic*...frar...*adseifeIeriiaU {SI'

WHAT EVERY MAN SHOULD KNOW Don't be */** to Ignorance wd fttf,,1 EB t ,, h . (ciVMv Hnjoy the rapturous delight* of the pecifc* Hcbiw Ji-iMi Storvmieii feet physical love:

NtedMi alS*Mm#t* eiam*f w J * ,^^. Lost love . . . scandal . .. drroree ... canftSSSti&m TS.W-SE.5&. too* !>* the ^dir,E worldthe taajtn.,,00 ._. . k(uw bow to eV tfJ^^'?:L^i "esses:come phj^ical mbmating . . . know-to do on yonr wedding night to avoid thetorturing result* of Ignorance.Ettrytbiwg pertaining to sex Is discussed

In daring language. All the things yotihave wanted to know about your sex life,information about which other boobs onlyVaguely hint, is yours at last.> Some will be offended by the amazingfranknesi of this book and its vivid illus-trations, but the world hai no longer anyuse for prudery and raise modesty.

shin of theirunbelievable to the normal mindyet yoashould understand them.Monty beck at once If you are net satisfied J17* DARJNO fACIS

You want to know . . . and you *know etwry/iirfrgabout sex. Sex i* no longera tin ... a mystery ... it b-your greatestpower for happiness-Youowe it to yourself...to the one you love, to tear aside the cur-tain of hypocrisy and learn the nmhtd rrtubJiCmr"ySyo" ATTRACT THE OPPOSITE SIXIKnow bow ft* enjoy the thrilling experi-ence* that are your birthright . . . knowhow to attract the opposite sex . . . bowCO hold lore.There is no longer any need to par tfeemwfui prist for one moment of bliss. Read

the scientific pathological facts told 10bravely by Dr. Rubin. The chapter* onvenereal disease are alone worth die priceof the book.

EpEEl NEW BOOKr K B * * "WRY tllTH CONTROl?"

tlift PUBLISHING CO.

Dec!. 193,1 270 Sixth Am. New York, N.Y.ftease *end re*. "Sex Harmony *o


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Amazing StoriesScience FictionVol. 9 AUGUST, 1934 No. 4

CONTENTSEditorial

Old-Time WritingPapyrus and VellumT. O'Conor Shane, PkJ>. 6

SerialsLife Everlasting David H. Keller, M.D. 10

(Serial in Two PartsConclusion)Measuring a Meridian Jules Verne 42

(Serial in Four PartsConclusion)Stories Complete in This Issue

The Velocity of Escape Joe W. Skidmore 55In the Footsteps of the Wasp Stanton A. Coblentx 91North God's Temple Henry J. Kostkos 99Shot Into Space Isaac R. Natkanson 111Photo Control Bernard Brown, B.Sc. 121

Science Questionnaire. 98Short Article

Otto von Guericke John W. Campbell, Jr. 110Discussions 136

Our Coverillustrates the spirit of Dr Keller's beautiful narration concludedin this issue. We have never published a story with a moreenlightened view of the real needs and longings of human nature.Drawn by Morey

Published Monthly byTECK PUBLICATIONS, INC4600 Diversey Avenue, Chicago, 111.

Executive and Editorial Offices: 222 West 39th Street, New York, N. Y.Lee Ellraaker, Pres. nnd Treas. Abner Gercnann, Sae'y

Copyright, 1934, by Teck Publications, Inc., in United States and Canada. Registered in U. S. PatOffice All rights reserved. Entered as 8cond-elas matter Sept. S, 1933, at the postoffice at Chicago,Illinois, under the Act of March 3, 1879. 25c a copy, $2.50 a year. $J.OO ia Canada. $3.50 in foreigncountries. Subscribers are notified that change of address must reach us five weeks in advance ofthe next date of issue.

""^~ Printed In U.S. A. ' "-^^^_2


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For hundreds of years menand women have talkedwith hushed voices about"STRANGE PEOPLE"-men who are not men-women who are not women.No one has ever dared totalk out in the open aboutTHE THIRD SEX. Is itany wonder that queernicknames are used to de-scribe these people?

THE TRUTH REVEALED!Do you know what really : the i aAoes en among

..... of the Shadow World? Do you know that theirnumber is constantly increasing? The strange power theywield over normal people is almost unbelievable. Dr. Pottereays, "NO MAN ON EARTH HAS A CHANCEAGAINST A WOMAN ONCE SHE HAS SUCCUMBEDTO ANOTHER WOMAN." Actual clinical case* revealthe ahnormal ties and the unnatural desires and actionsof these twilight men and women! There are records thatactually prove that men have been MADE INTO SEX-UAL ABNORMALS. For the first time a Doctor revealsthe facts about abnormalities; what they arehow theymay be correctedinformation of abaorbirif, vital interest.Mast These Subjects be Clothed In Silence Forever?

Fearlessly, openly, the real meaning of many misttnder.=tocdsubjects is daringly revealed. SadismNecrophiliaPhallicWorship Sodomy Pederasty Tribadism SsphismUranismthe norma! man and woman will refuse to believethat such abnormalities exist and are practiced-

FOR MATURE, SOPHISTICATED READERS!This book contains bewilder-ing disclosures and diieever-i*i of * subject that la sel-dom. If ever, discussed, thatmost people Know little ornothing scout. A special edi-tion has been prepared foeADC1TS ONLY, beautifullybound In cloth, prlr.lnJ onfine paperfor the boat loverand collector of we. eso-teric literature. Reserve acopy of this bookat the newreduced price of $1,08bymilling the coupon.Robert Dodsley Co,

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A Baby In Your HomeScientists now state that "Complete unity fa Hie depends onex barmen?" and that the lack of itis the onegreatest causefor unhappy marriage*. Also that every woman. *hasthac*-

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AMAZING STORIEScipher them would have had an insolubleproblem, but in 1799 a stone slab, with athree-language inscription was foundnear the town of Rosetta at the mouthof the Nile, and one of the inscriptionswas in Greek. This is the famous Ro-setta stone, a heavy piece of basalt, andthis ancient monument gave the clew tosome of the ancient Eyptian words. Oneof the inscriptions was in what is calledthe demotic character, which had lostor outlived the pictorial hieroglyphics.Other such monuments have been found,which have helped in the difficult work.A number of students investigated thesubject, among others Thomas Young,one of the most famous physicists of oldtimes, celebrated for his work on the un-dulatory theory of light and on the in-terference of light waves. The develop-ment of Young's work in physics has hada profound influence on modern astron-omy. Yet in his archaeological work heonly discovered four letters.The Egyptians made great use ofseals, These were made out of stone,often in the shape of beetles and thedesign or seal was engraved on the flatbase under the carving of the body ofthe insect. These were hieroglyphs.Rubbed over with coloring matter theywere used as our rubber stamps are to-day. It may be taken as the first print-ing unless the Chinese antedate it withtheir block printing.The Egyptians had another type of

seal which was engraved on the surfaceof a small cylinder one-half inch ormore in diameter and an inch or more inlength and this was used by rolling iton the surface to be inscribed after thecylinder had been coated with a coloringpigment. Here the Egyptians reallyseemed to be ahead of us, as it is fair tosay that this is the first attempt atprinting from a cylinder, and to-day cyl-inder printing presses turn out newspa-pers at the rate of many thousands per

hour from a single complicated machine.It would seem that the cylindrical seal

of the Egyptians could be modified soas to be used for rubber stamps. Therolling motion would be particularly ef-fective as the pressure would be on sucha small element of the cylinder at atime that a very excellent impressioncould be looked for. Rubber stampprinting is relief printingthe old Egyp-tian seals probably may be called in-taglio printers.One of the most characteristic plants

of Egypt is the papyrus. This is a largereed which grows to a height of tenfeet and whose interior consists of avery strong pith. Centuries before itoccurred to anybody to make paper, thispith used to be divided by cutting intovery thin slices, which were placed to-gether, the sides having been cut verytrue, so as to give a very close jointand they were crossed by other stripssimilarly cut, so that the finished productwas two layers thick. How they weremade to adhere is not perfectly clearwhether there was some mucilaginous orother adhesive natural sap in them.which held them together, or whethersome additional adhesive was used, isnot known.The stems as thick as a man's arm at

the base, are triangular with an outershell or bark. Within is the pith. Thisis white and very strong. It can be cutinto slices of various thicknesses as de-sired. So strong is it that boats can bebuilt with it. Moses' mother, Jochebcd,in her despair at the legally imposedslaughter of the male children of theHebrews, put the infant Moses intowhat has been called an "arc of bul-rushes," which was a little box made ofpapyrus, and set the little creature adrifton the Nile. We read of larger papyrus-built craft, but this little vessel carrieda more impressive load than any ofthem.


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AMAZING STORIEScific and very beautiful results are at-tained. It might be called paper, butwas never used for writing because thepeople who made it had no written lan-guage. Very interesting ornamentalpatterns were painted upon it, one ofthe many examples of the fondness ofmankind for decoration.

Parchment is made from the skin ofvery young animals, sheep, goats, andcalves. The name vellum applies to thefinest kind of parchment, for some ofthe latter is far from smooth and issomewhat dark in color. The manufac-ture of vellum starts with the skin offine quality and thin. Washing, liming,dehairing, scraping and paring, repeatedas often as necessary in each case, givesthe final product. About the year 200A. D. parchment began to make itself

felt as a rival to papyrus. One greateffort was to make it thin. The colorof the two sides differed, one from theother, so the custom obtained of puttinghair side to hair side and the lighter col-ored, inner sides next to and facingeach other.Here a curious thing may be noted.

Papyrus was a definite width before be-ing made up ; in wide or narrow pieces.Parchment was completely sheeted and insingle pieces from the beginning. Butmodern man when he makes paper firstreduces the material to the finest shreds,almost to dust, wet or dry, and thenfelts it together to an enormous area.Papyrus was made up into rolls also,sometimes of many feet in length, butnever of size to compare with rolls ofpaper of the present time.

EXAMPLES OF CUNEIFORM WRITINGdemotic EGYPTIAN hieroglyphic

APPROX. PRON. & MEAN? FORM HIERATIC ORIGINAL FOAM -+.TRANSCRIPTIONAwf PHARAOH")y&. "father" 4fA

tftfJPM Perro tnk ttt, tub

The gradual transformation of hieroglyphics into simplified characters are shown above,where the name of "Pharaoh" of Egypt end the word "father" are inscribed in the originalalmost pictorial forms (on the right), which were gradually changed to the demotic charactersapproximating to handwriting. The word "demotic" is from the Greek and expresses orsuggests "simplification" or "popular."

The philologist, W. D. Whitney, gives this statement concerning demotic characters:"The demotic has lost all relics of a pictorial character, being composed of a limited, thoughlarge end unwieldy, number of arbitrary signs, chiefly phonetic."

If Rf fel i-!E


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LIFE EVERLASTING 11

On the little steamer chugged between high, precipitous cliffs of Laurentiangranite, till at last, a thousand feet above them, to the left, they saw aMadonna holding in her arms the Christ Child.


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12 AMAZING STORIESters made the average man fear theprocedure. The thought of allowing anunknown drug to be introduced into theveins was a difficult one to face. Biddlehad given the serum to the Presidentand Vice President and no one steppedforward to be the third patient. Sud-denly a little dog walked slowly up tothe table leading a blind man. The dogwas a seeing friend ; the man, Goresome,the sightless leader of Montana."Was there a blind man among those

convicts?" he asked."There was," Biddle answered."What happened to him?""I will answer that," interrupted the

President. "I saw the man. I talkedwith the eye specialist who studied hiscase. He had perfect vision by the endof twenty days."

"That is enough," replied Goresome."This little guide of mine kept urgingme to move. For twelve years he hasguided me and not made one mistake.I was born blind. I would like to seethe sunshine before I die. Give me theneedle.""No man from the West has any

more courage than a New Yorker," ex-claimed a Senator from that State."I have been only half a man sinceI had my stroke. I want to be thenext man after Goresome."

That started a general movement. Atthe end only six men remained untreated.Silent, critical, cool, determined, theyrefused to be swayed by the group move-ment.

"Come back to Washington at the endof thirty days, gentlemen," concludedthe President, "and let us at that timedetermine what is best for the Nation."

"/"\NE minute, Mr. President," shout-^S ed one of the untreated six."What does Mr. Biddle get out of this?""You answer that. Mr. Biddle," whis-

pered the President.

"Nothing!" said Biddle. "If theserum is of any value, I am willing togive it to the nation.""Why are you doing this?"

"I have a sick son.""Have you given him the serum ?

Have you taken it yourself?""The answer to both questions is

NO.""Why?""I do not care to discuss that. It is

personal.""Are you sure you know what the

serum will do?""No.""What do you mean by that?""I mean that I am not sure of all it will

do. I only know a part of its power.""Be honest with us. You say it makes

the blind see, the criminal an honestman, it cures cancer, heart disease, andevery disease man can have. You admitthat. If it can do all that, what elsecan it be asked to do? What other pow-ers do you think it might have?"

"I do not know.""Have you any suspicions?""Yes ; but I will not say what they

are. Anything else?""No. You have said enough.""Just one word more, gentlemen,"

said the President. "If Congress, in thespecial session, passes the legislation Iwill ask for, Mr. Biddle has promisedto address a joint session of the Senateand the House and at that time ex-plain the theory of the serum and givethe formula to a selected group of sci-entists and physicians. He tells me thatit is easily and cheaply made. He as-sures me that he wishes to make a giftof it to the nation. But he feels thatits general use must be safeguarded bywise and effective laws. I want to thankthose of you who have helped me bypersonally giving Mr. Biddle a chanceto demonstrate the merits ofhis serum.I am not in any way blaming the six


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14 AMAZING STORIESbarrel by any manufacturing chemist!The millions invested in our hospitalswill not yield one cent of income ; everydrug company in America will go outof business over night. There will beno more surgical instruments sold. Itlooks bad to me."The other five remained in stolid,

stodgy silence. At last Winston Man-ning almost cracked the spell of quietthinking. He had been Secretary of theTreasury under a former President. Hewas said to be one of the ten richestmen in America.

"I guess that is all true. At least, theconclusions are correct, once the prem-ises are granted. There is another thingthat is disturbing me more than the tot-tering of our universities.

"/"\UR Government is essentially one^S that i3 ruled by the Classes forthe Masses. It is highly political. Eversince it was founded the Common Peo-ple have supported it in taxes and therulers have lived on those taxes. Attimes the farmer, the little laborer, thepoor, white-collar man have had a hardtime to get along, but, so far, they havenot done much, because they have hadno great and outstanding leadership.If they had the right kind of leaders,they would tear the present politicalmachinery to pieces and out of the ruinsthey would build a government that wassympathetic with the under man, theforgotten man. who does little exceptwork like a dog, live as best he can andpay taxes."Keep that in mind. For the time

forget the cases of cancer and blindnessand kidney disease that are said tohave been cured by the Biddle Serum.Think what it has done to the souls ofthe people who have taken that serumthink of the changes it has made intheir personality. Take the case of thetaxi dancer in New York City. Of

course, The Purple Flash did not giveher right name, but I am sure the factsconcerning her are absolutely true. Then,consider the reports of the psychologists,and sociologists who studied those four-teen hundred convicts in Farview Prison.Take the simple statement of the hard-boiled Warden. Take the strong wordshe gave to the press: *I have knownmany of these men for years. Since thegiving of the serum they have changed sofor the better tfiat I would trust any ofthem in any way. I am seriously con-sidering approaching the Governor ofOhio with the suggestion that these MRbe released from prison and given onemore chance to rehabilitate themselves.'Does it not seem that in some way thisserum enables men to think more clearly,to live more cleanly, to follow more ac-curately the teaching of the GoldenRule?"To-day you saw over a hundred of

the leading politicians in the UnitedStates step up and take that serum.I know those men. You know themOutside of Welfare Watkins, who isan emotional, idealistic, asinine sort ofa person, I would not trust one of thatbunch with a five-cent piece. They wouldtake the pennies from a dead man's eyesand rob a starving infant of his bottleof milk. They have had charge of theGovernment Cow for years and theyhave milked that cow dry. They knowevery trick to deceive and rob the public.And in their way they are as criminalas the men of Farview ever dreamedof being, only they were too smart to becaught."They took the serum. The President

was smart. He wants to come up foranother term. He thinks that if hegives the populace free health, they willvote for him. He never said a wordto those men about curing their souls,but he was very anxious to give themhealthy bodies, so they could repay him


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LIFE EVERLASTING 21His message delivered, the President

turned and sat down. Instead of ap-plause there was a buzz of conversa-tion. The Vice President rapped fororder, and said:

"I am going to call on Senator Gore-some of Montana."Down the crowded center aisle walked

a little dog, leading a man. The sight wasa familiar one. For years the blindSenator had been led by his faithfuldog. Reaching the rostrum, the dog satdown and looked up at his master andfriend. The man turned, bent over andpatted the animal on the head. Thedog wagged his tail."Ty lY friends," began the MontanaiVl Senator. "We have all re-ceived printed copies of the legislation,called the Serum Bill, which the Pres-ident asks us to consider and, if we seefit, to make it a law. We have read thebill and approve of it. I have been inconference with the leaders of both Re-publican and Democratic parties, andthey assure me that action will betaken as rapidly as is consistent withthe rules of our respective bodies. Mr.Biddle need have no doubt as to our in-tentions in this matter. Both the Houseand Senate pledge themselves to sup-port this legislation."Now, I wish to say something that is

purely personal. I was born blind. Forthe last twelve years my little dog hasled me through the dangers of thisworld and has led me safely. We havebecome inseparable friends. I think thatif he discovered that he was no longer anecessity in my life, he would die ofgrief. Some weeks ago I received aninjection of the Biddle serum. I re-covered my sight, and now have perfectvision. It may have been a coincidence,but I feel that the serum gave me some-thing I was sure I could never have.But in gaining my sight I saw that I

might cause my little friend much suffer-ing. He is growing old and will soondie. For the little while he lives I amgoing to pretend I am still blind. Justto make a little dog happy."Mr. Biddle, a man who was once

blind but who can now see wishes tothank you for his sight The worldhe now sees appears to be a very beau-tiful one. When I realize that the samegift I received can become the heritageof every blind person in the UnitedStates I am filled with awe and won-der. Sir, you are but a human being,but in your invention of this serum, youhave been inspired by a power that isDivine.

"In your future you will receive duepraise for your work. Your name willgo down in the history of the Nation asone of its greatest benefactors. But Icannot wait for the future. I wish totake this opportunity of voicing thethought of a Nation that has not yetawakened to the gift you have giventhem. In the name of every man, womanand child, every one who is sick orafflicted, I thank you. If, at any futuretime, a grateful Nation can do anythingfor you, Mr. Biddle, all you have to dois to come to this chamber and ask itfor help. Again a blind man who cansee thanks you for the blessing of thatsight."He turned to walk back to his seat,

the little dog leading him. There mayhave been an uneasy murmur when thePresident finished his message, but nowthere was wild applause. The legisla-tures, the audience, the press rose andgave to an individual the greatest per-sonal tribute that the Senate Chamberhad ever seen. Goresome and his littledog and his simple speech had touchedthe human heart more than any flight oforatory- could ever have done. The au-dience was cheering Biddle, the inven-tor of the serum, but they were also


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LIFE EVERLASTING 25Maine rather than to New York, shesimply smiled and said she felt that thechildren of Maine needed it.At the head of the schood she placed

a man who for years had worked withthe abnormal child. For twenty yearshe had studied them, cared for them,laughed and cried with them, and hadtried to make them happy. He was agreat man, who, in his simplicity, be-lieved that after another twenty yearsof study he would begin to understandhow to care for the unusual child.

Dr. Bonchield's motto for the entireschool was, "Happiness First." He be-lieved that if the children were happy.the other essentials of life would besupplied them easily, provided, ofcourse, there was money and intelli-gence.

Slowly fifteen hundred children wereadmitted to this school. They were allmentally deficient, of all grades, fromthe lowest idiot to the highest moron.But each child, irrespective of his in-tellectual quotient, was to be given anopportunity to advance to the limit ofhis ability. They were to be given aca-demic education, occupational therapy,moral instruction, athletic diversion andemotional outlet.When Biddle left Washington he went

directly to this school. There he met,by appointment. Mary Gregory and Dr.Bonchield. Both of them knew him,as he made occasional visits to theschool. Mary Gregory was growingold, but was still alert mentally.

"It appears," she said as she greetedBiddle, "that you have become a per-sonage of international renown."The scientist smiled."It seems that way; and that was

the last thing I wanted ; but certainthings had to be done and in my doingthem people had to find out who I was.Now that it is all over, I want nothingmore than to sink back into obscurity.

I have a little work to do here andthen I intend to go to Canada. I havea little country place up there that Ibelieve is safe from reporters.""Up here in Maine," interrupted Dr.

Bonchield," we are very much in thebackwaters of life. Of course, we read,the newspapers; Miss Gregory and Ihave been talking about it, trying todecide what it all means. Is it yourthought that the serum will actuallychange our civilization? Or is that justthe dream of the newspapers?"

"I do not believe that anyone knowsjust what it will do," was the scien-tist's serious reply. "We are too closeto it. I feel that it will take twenty-fiveyears at least before the final resultscan be analyzed. But there is no doubtthat it will improve the health of the na-tion, lower the tax rate, and, I hope, in-crease the happiness of the individual."Mary Gregory sighed,"We received your letter and wehave given it serious thought. Of

course, we are going to help you to giveour children the serum. It is impossiblefor us to refuse; but we feel that weknow more about these children thanyou do, and we feel that we shouldwarn you not to be overconfident ofthe results. You explain how we lookat it, Doctor Bonchield."'

' TT seems to us," said the Doctor,1 taking up the thread of the conver-sation, "that you should realize thatmental deficiency is not a disease, buta condition ; not a unity, but a scrap-basket. It arises from many causes.Some cases are hereditary, but feeble-mindedness can occur as a symptom ofa number of other diseases and surgi-cal conditions. In many instances thebrain is so damaged that the intelligenceis completely destroyed. We feel thatthere may be an improvement in thegeneral health of the children, follow-


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26 AMAZING STORIESing the injection of your serum, butthere will not be any noticeable changein their deficiency. They will remainfeeble minded.""You may be right," admitted the

scientist. "You certainly know a greatdeal more about it than I do. Mental de-fect was something I could not ex-periment with in the lower forms o flife. Some of the convicts were ratherlow, but there were not enough of themto make any definite conclusion pos-sible. All we can do is to give the serumand wait thirty days. I know that themaximum results will be reached in thattime. I feel sure your own physicianswill be able to do the work. There hasbeen so much notoriety that I hesitatedasking you to secure additional help.Of course, there was another reason.""You mean the boy ?" asked Mary

Gregory."Yes. You see, I have been con-

siderably worried about him. The en-tire work was done with him in mind. Ihave tried to keep him in the backgroundas much as possible. Now, that I canbe a little selfish and devote some timeto my personal problems, I do not wantthe matter a subject of world gos-sip. How is the boy ?""As well as can be expected. You

know how those Mongolian cases are?iow vitality, poor resistance to infection,always getting scratches and colds.""You have no idea of the cause of

Mongolianisra ?""No. Nothing new. It just hap-

pens."Biddle stood up, placed a suitcase

on the desk and opened it."I brought the serum along with me.Some of my own make ; I wanted to be

sure of it. If you are ready, supposeyou call in the staff, explain matters tothem and start with the injections.""May I watch?" asked Mary Gregory.

"Certainly ! You should be very muchinterested."

"I am. Fifteen million dollars worth.You realize what this will do to theSchool if it is successful? I shall haveto find some other use for it. Of course,some of the children will have to becared for anyway; they have no families.But if these children are given normalminds by your serum, the Mary GregorySchool for Unusual Children will besimply a historical memory.""And I," added Dr. Bonchield, "will

be a man without a job.""I will take care of you," said MaryGregory, "if you will let me do it. Are

you going to give us the serum, Mr.Biddle ?"

"If you want me to. I thought wemight as well give it to you and thestaff, so they can observe my exact tech-nique.""Do you want to take care of your

little boy yourself?""No. I have rather definite plans

for him. I want yoa to give all of yourpatients the serum. Then wait thirtydays. If, at the end of that time, youfeel that it is curative, if you arepleased with the results, then give theregular dose to my boy. I am goingup to Canada to rest and think. Insixty days I will be back for the boy.I am thinking of a trip to Europe withhim. If he is well, he will enjoy that.How old is he now, Doctor?""Nearly twelve.""Just right to be a dandy companion

on a walking trip through the BlackForest. Let's get started. You knowmy plan. Just wait thirty days andthen, if the other little boys and girlsare helped as much as I hope they willbe, give him his serum.""Why not give it now, Mr. Biddle?"asked the Doctor.

"Because he is my son. I have to besure. All this work was done to restore


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LIFE EVERLASTING 29one received a living wage for doing itand all had lots of time for recreation.

Before the end of eighteen monthsthe President was able to announce thatover ninety-nine percent of the populacehad been injected. Then began a con-certed drive to force the remaining onepercent to fall into line and to receivetheir serum. The work now was con-siderably slower, but, at the end of thesecond year, it was thought that every-one in the United States had been pro-tected against disease.

THE Biddle Serum Bill provided fora Committee of Scientists who wereto make constant observations on theefficacy of the new drug and from timeto time were to report to the Presidentof the United States and his Cabinetconcerning the changes resulting in thesocial, economic, and hygienic life of thepeople. It was provided in the billthat the first report be made one yearafter the serum had been given to every-one. Thus, the first report was madethree years following the giving of thefirst serum after the passage of thebill.

Biddle was supposed to be a memberof that committee, but Biddle had dis-appeared. No one had the remotest ideaof where he was. Certain questionswould have been asked him had it beenpossible to do so. The thinkers of thenation were beginning to wonder. Otherfactors were forcing their way into themental life of the nation, results of theserum, that no one had foreseen clearlyduring the months when the nation hadbecome free from disease. These prob-lems had to be faced.

In the first place, the death rate haddropped to a vanishing point. Exceptin cases of destructive accident peoplehad ceased to die. The senile had re-juvenated to a healthy middle age, theyoung appeared to grow no older and

the infants and adolescents simply con-tinued to make the normal growth fortheir age. But no one died.That fact, in itself, was not a cause

for instant alarm. It was consideredthat finally the effect of the serum wouldwear out and that death again wouldappear as a friendly enemy of thehuman race. Perhaps old age could bedeferred by repeated doses of the serum,but eventually the human organismwould wear out and man would die,maybe of no special disease, but simplyfrom a weariness of life.But the thing that was startling and

a little difficult to explain was the factthat the birth rate was as rapidlydiminishing as was the death rate. Fora while after the giving of the serumbabies had been born, but as the monthspassed there were fewer of them andfrom the thirty-third to the thirty-sixthmonth of the experiment there was nota single birth reported in the entireUnited States. There were still lots oflittle children, growing up, beautifullittle bronzed darlings, learning to walkand talk and do things, but there wereno additional babies.What did it mean? Was the cessation

of death to be compensated for by thecessation of new life? Had Biddleknown this?The third factor that was causing in-

terest was the increasing efforts of thehuman race to entertain itself. Thelong hours of leisure had to be filled insome way. Healthy, vigorous, activemen refused to become idlers simplybecause they were not driven to effortby the spur of necessity. The dominanceof production by machine power wasbeginning to pall. Mankind began touse their hands.

SOCIAL life became fuller and physi-cally richer. With the increase of

health and wealth and leisure there came


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36 AMAZING STORIES"I do. That was just his way of saying

they were both dead."

HIRAM SMITH started the millionsof Mary Gregory to work. He

gave the new idea considerable space inThe Rosey Dawn. The novelty spreadlike wildfire. Women discarded their petsand their fantastic dolls and put in theirapplication for a robot baby. Factorieswere opened, thousands of men put towork. That was an odd thing. Everyinvention making the robot babies possi-ble, every minute of work done on themin the factories was masculine. Men al-most fought for the right to work inthose factories. Women were turnedaway in disdain. This work, said themen of the nation, was a purely mascu-line one.

Meantime, the series of lectures wasbeing prepared. Only the greatest ex-perts were employed. Experiences wereexchanged, old books were read, elderlywomen were consulted, and at last twohundred lectures were written, coveringevery possible situation up to the age ofsix years. Then men and women werecarefully tested for their ability to broad-cast those lectures. At the end of a yeareverything was ready for the start of asix hour daily programme. By that timesix million women had infant robots andmore were being fabricated at the rate ofa hundred thousand a week.And from the station the lectures went

to the waiting women in America. Theseven o'clock bedtime lecture was in-stantly popular.Women once again learned how to carefor babies. But, cleverly built as theywere, they were, at their best, simplywell designed machines. They could becared for, but they could not respond tothat care; they could be loved, but theycould not love. More than ever thewomen of America realized that theirlives were empty and would remain empty

till once again they were able to holdlittle children, real little children, pitiful,lovable, needful, helpless babies, in theirarms.Mary Gregory, she who had never

known what it was to be a mother, recog-nized the need more and more clearly.She told Smith so."You have to find out whether Biddle

can and will do something to help us,"she demanded. "He knows more aboutthe serum than any other living man. Heought to know what it can do and whatit cannot do. If he will only tell us thatin twenty-five, fifty years from now theAmerican women can have children, wewill be satisfied. It seems that we areall going to live a long time and we canwait if there is hope during the waitingand babies at the other end of the longyears. You have to see him and tell himhow we feel. See if he cannot help usin some way. More women in Americanow know how to take intelligent care ofbabies than ever before in the history ofthe world. What good is that knowledgeif there are no babies? What good isliving without babies! See him. If youcannot convince him of the need let metake a number of representative womenup to Canada and state our case to him."

"I'll go," agreed Smith. "But I amafraid that he will not see this the wayyou see it.""He will have to see it our way," ex-

claimed Mary Gregory.CHAPTER XIX

The Women DecideMARY GREGORY led a companyof women into Canada.At the last moment Hiram

Smith refused to undertake the negotia-tions with Biddle, the inventor. He felt,somehow, that it was none of his busi-ness. He was not sure that he wantedto tell where the scientist had his house


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40 AMAZING STORIESchildren come to visit us, they will havethe old fashioned kind of grandparents,just nice, old, white-haired people, whocan try to live their youth again in theirchildren's children."

"So, you sacrificed everything, not forthe love of a child, but for the love of agrandchild ?"

"That's it. You would think it wassacrifice if you had seen me with an at-tack of rheumatism this last week."

Biddle laughed, a friendly, sympathetictearful laugh.

"Just an old fool, you were, Smith, justan old fool. By the way. Where are myold friends, Harry Wild ,and SallyFanning ?""They are married. He is back at the

old news stand, and they have a littleapartment close to where they both livedbefore you met them. Makes me worryabout the boy, seeing Harry nowadays.""Give me the address.""Sure; but I do not think I would go

and see them. You remember how theywere the time you saw them on the lawnin front of my home? Well, when youremember them, just think of them theway they were then."

"I shall have to see them the way theyare now," replied Biddle. "I have tofind out something."He called at the little apartment late

that night. Harry Wild answered hisknock on the door.

"It's Ackerman! Sally, it's Ackerman,our old friend, and more than welcome.Come right in, and sit down. Let me haveyour hat, Sir. This is an honor to haveyou come and see us."

"It is, indeed," echoed Sally."And how are all the mice?" asked

Biddle."You should see them," replied Sally.

Dozens of them, into everything, but Iwill say this, that the Baby is fond ofthem. Keeps quiet for an hour at a time

when I am too busy to amuse her, justwatching them play around the floor."

"So, there is a baby?""Finest girl you ever saw," said the

newsboy. "Looks just like her Mother.Glad it was a girl, we should not haveknown what to do with a boy.""We are telling her that, so she won'tthink we were disappointed," explainedSally. "We are saying it now, before sheknows the meaning of words, so we shallbe sure to say it when she learns to talk.We want her to be sure we loved her."They insisted that he come and see the

baby, They made him say that he hadnever seen a finer baby ; and they fed himcoffee and sandwiches, and made himpromise he would come often to see them.When he left, Harry went down to thefront door with him.

AS they stood in the doorway, Biddlelooked at the little man curiously."You are lame, Harry," he said. "Have

you hurt yourself?""No. But my old trouble came back,my bad leg is short again and my back isslowly growing crooked."

"Well, well ! That is too bad. But youkeep on smiling?"

"Sure. J have everything to live fornow. Fine wife, sweet baby, good busi-ness. Why shouldn't I be happy."

"That is fine, Harry. Keep on smil-ing."

"I will, Mr. Biddle. Bye the way, doyou know of a good remedy for asthma ?Sally has had some real bad spells sincethe baby came and I do wish someoneknew what to do for her."

"I am sorry. I'll send her some stra-monium leaves. Burn them and inhale thesmoke. That will help her. Asthma is adifficult thing to cure. Well, good night,Harry, my boy. I am glad about thebaby.""Good night, Mr. Biddle, and thanks

for looking us up. Send me your address.


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MEASURING A MERIDIAN 45approaching Sir John. "When you haveplayed your tune, let me play mine."But there was no need for Sir John

to be relieved; the mitrailleuse was soonsilent. The Makololos were struck withconsternation, and had sought shelterfrom the torrent of bullets, having re-tired under the flanks of the fort, leav-ing the plateau strewn with numbers oftheir dead.

In this instant of respite the Coloneland Strux regained the donjon, andthere, collecting themselves in compos-ure as complete as if they were underthe dome of an observatory, they . kepta constant eye upon their telescope, andscanned the peak of Volquiria. When,after a short period of rest, the yells ofthe Makalolos made them aware thatthe combat was renewed, they only per-severed in their determination, and re-solved that they would alternately re-main to guard their invaluable instru-ment.The combat, in truth, had been re-

newed. The range of the mitrailleusewas inadequate to reach all the natives,who, uttering their cries of mortal ven-geance, rallied again, and swarmed upevery opening. The besieged, protectedby their firearms, defended the breachesfoot by foot; they had only received afew scratches from the points of the as-segais, and were able to continue thefight for half an hour with unabatedardor.Toward half-past eleven, while the

Colonel was in the thick of the fray, inthe middle of an angry fusillade, Mat-thew Strux appeared at his side. Hiseye was wild and radiant ; an arrow hadjust pierced his hat and quivered abovehis head."The signal! the signal!" he cried.The colonel was incredulous, but as-

certaining the correctness of the welcomeannouncement, discharged his rifle forthe last time, and with an exuberant

shout of rejoicing, rushed toward thedonjon, followed by the intrepid col-league. There, kneeling down, he puthis eye to the telescope, and perceivedwith the utmost delight the signal, solong delayed and yet so patiently ex-pected.

It was truly a marvelous sight to seethese two astronomers work during thetumult of the conflict. The natives hadby their numbers forced the enclosure,and Sir John and the bushman werecontending for every step. The Euro-peans fought with their balls and hatch-ets, while the Makololos responded withtheir arrows and assegais.

Meanwhile the Colonel and Strux in-tently continued their observations, andPalander, equally composed, noted downtheir oft repeated readings. More thanonce an arrow grazed their head, andbroke against the inner wall of the don-jon. But their eye was ever fixed on thesignal, and reading the indications of thevernier, they incessantly verified eachother's calculations."Only once more," said Strux, slid-

ing the telescope along the graduatedscale. An instant later, and it wouldhave been too late for any observations,but the direction of the light was cal-culated to the minutest fraction of asecond ; and at that very instant an enor-mous stone, hurled by a native, sent theregister flying from Palander's hands,and smashed the repeating circle.They must now fly in order to save

the result which they obtained at thecost of such continuous labor. The na-tives had already penetrated the ease-mate, and might be at any moment ap-pear in the donjon. The Colonel andhis colleagues caught up their guns, andPalander his precious register, and allescaped through one of the breaches.Their several companions, some slightlywounded, were ready to cover their re-treat, but just as they were about to de-


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MEASURING A MERIDIAN 47to the Commission, was safe. The youngastronomers and their companions werereceived with joyous congratulations.In a few words they related that theirjourney had not been devoid of diffi-culty. For two days they had lost theirway in the forests that skirted the moun-tainous district, and with only the vagueindication of the compass they wouldnever have reached Mount Volquiria,if it had not been for the shrewd in-telligence of the pioneer. The ascentof the mountain was rough, and the de-lay had caused the young astronomersas much impatience as it had their col-leagues on Mount Scorzef. They hadcarefully, by barometrical observations,calculated that the summit of Volquiriawas 3,200 feet above the level of the sea.The light, increased by a strong reflector,was first lighted on the night of the4th ; thus the observers on MountScorzef had perceived it as soon as itappeared. Emery and Zorn had easilydiscerned the intense fire caused by theburning fortress, and with the theodolitehad completed the measurement of thetriangle."And did you determine the latitude

of the peak?" said the Colonel to Emery."Yes, most accurately," replied Em-

ery; "we found it to be 19 37' 35.337V*"Well, gentlemen," said the Colonel,

"we may say that our task is ended. Wehave measured, by means of sixty-threetriangles, an arc of more than eightdegrees in length; and when we haverigidly corrected our results, we shallknow the exact value of the degree, andconsequently of the meter in this partof the globe."A cheer of satisfaction could not berepressed amongst the others."And now," added the Colonel, "wehave only to descend the Zambesi inorder to reach the Indian Ocean; is itnot so, Mr. Strux?"

"It is," answered Strux, "but I think

we ought still to adopt some means oftesting our previous operations. Let uscontinue our triangles until we find aplace suitable for the direct measure-ment of a base. The agreement betweenthe lengths of the base, obtainind by thecalculations and by the direct measure-ment, will alone tell what degree of ac-curacy we ought to attribute to ourobservations."

Strux's proposition was unanimousl>adopted. It was agreed to construct aseries of subsidiary triangles until a sitecould be measured with the measuringrods. The steamboat, descending the af-fluents of the Zambesi, was to await thetravelers below the celebrated VictoriaFalls. Everything being arranged the,little troop, with the exception of foursailors on board the Queen and Csar,started the next day at sunrise. Somestations had been chosen to the eastand the angles measured, and, alongthis favorable country, they hoped easilyto accomplish their auxiliary series. Thebushman had adroitly caught a quagga,of which, willing or unwilling, he madea beast of burden to carry the theodolite,the measuring-rods, and some other lug-gage of the caravan.The journey proceeded rapidly. The

undulating country afforded many pointsof sight for the small accessory triangles.The weather was fine, and it was notneedful to have recourse to nocturnalobservations. The travelers could near-ly always find shelter in the woods, and,besides, the heat was not insufferable,since some vapors arose from the poolsand streams which tempered the sun'srays. Every want was supplied by thehunters, and there was no longer any-thing to be feared from the natives, whoseemed to be more to the south of LakeNgami.Matthew Strux and the Colonel

seemed to have forgotten all their per-sonal rivalry, and although there was


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MEASURING A MERIDIAN 51ing dose to himself, lest bis unguard-edness should betray him into somefresh folly. The worthy astronomer wasalmost beside himself in consternation athis loss, and evidently thought it a ques-tion of life or death.

After marching with the frequenthalts which the policy of being unob-served suggested, and continuing to di-verge for half an hour, the bushmanconsidered that they might now fall back.He and his companions, each abouttwenty paces apart, advanced like atroop of Pawnees on a war-trail, withouta word or gesture, avoiding even theleast rustling in the branches. Suddenlythe bushman stopped; the rest instantlyfollowed his example, and standing withtheir fingers on the triggers of theirguns, were ready to raise them to theirshoulder. The band of chacmas wasin sight, they were already sensible ofsome danger, and seemed on the look-out. The great animal which had stolenthe registers had, to their fancy, anappearance of being especially agitated.It had been already recognized by Pal-ander, who muttered something like animprecation between his teeth.The chacma looked as if it was mak-

ing signs to its companions; some fe-males, with their young ones on theirshoulders, had collected in a group, andthe males went to and fro around them.The hunters still drew on, one and allkeeping a steady eye direct toward theostensible thief. All at once, by an in-voluntary movement, Palander's gunwent off in its hands. Sir John brokeout into an exclamation of disgust, andinstantly afterward fired. Ten reportsfollowed, three chacmas lay dead on theground, and the rest, with a prodigiousbound, passed over the hunters' heads.The robber babooij alone remained;

it darted at the trunk of a sycamore,which it climbed with amazing agility,and disappeared among the branches.

The bushman, having keenly surveyedthe spot, asserted that the registers werethere concealed, and fearing lest thechacma should escape across the trees,he calmly aimed and fired. The animal,wounded in the leg, fell from branchto branch.

In one of its fore-claws it was seento clutch the registers, which it had takenfrom the fork of the tree.At the sight, Palander, with a leap

like that of a chamois, darted at thechacma, and a tremendous struggle en-sued. The cries of both man and beastmingled in harsh and discordant strain,and the hunters dared not take aim atthe chacma for fear of wounding theircomrade. Strux, beside himself withrage, shouted agam and again that theyshould fire, and in his furious agitationhe would probably have done so, if ithad not been that he was accidentallywithout a cartridge for his gun, whichhad been already discharged.The combat continued ; sometimes Pal-ander, sometimes the chacma, was up-

permost. The astronomer, bis shoulderslacerated by the creature's claws, triedto strangle his adversary. At last thebushman, seizing a favorable moment,made a sudden dash, and killed the apewith one blow of his hatchet.Nicholas Palander, bleeding, exhausted

and insensible, was picked up by hiscolleagues; in his last effort he had recap-tured his registers, which he was foundunconsciously grasping to his bosom.The carcass of the chacma was con-

veyed with glee to the camp. At theevening repast it furnished a deliciousmeal to the hunters. To all of them,but especially to Palander, not only hadthe excitement of the chase quickenedtheir appetite for the palatable dish, butthe relish was heightened by the grati-fying knowledge that vengeance was sat-isfied and the records saved.The work was nearly ended.


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52 AMAZING STORIESCHAPTER XXIII

The Task AccomplishedPALANDER'S wounds were not

serious; the bushman dressed thecontused timbs with herbs and the

worthy astronomer, sustained by histriumph, was soon able to travel. Anyexuberance on his part, however, wasof short duration, and he quickly becameagain engrossed in his world of figures.He only now retained one of the reg-isters, because it had been thoughtprudent that Emery should take posses-sion of the other. Under the circum-stances, Palander made the surrenderwith entire good humor.The operation of seeking a plain suit-

able for a base was now resumed. Onthe 1st of April, the march was some-what retarded by wide marshes ; to thesesucceeded numerous pools, whose watersspread a pestilential odor; but, by form-ing larger triangles, Colonel Everest andhis companions soon escaped the un-healthy region.The whole party were in excellent

spirits. Zarn and Emery often con-gratulated themselves on the apparentconcord that existed between their chiefs.Zorn one day expressed his hope to hisfriend that when they returned to Eu-rope they would find that peace had beenconcluded between England and Russia,so that they might remain as goodfriends as they had been in Africa.Emery replied that he acquiesced en-

tirely in the hope; in days when waris seldom long protracted they mighthope all would be terminated by the dateof their return.Zorn had already understood from

Emery that it was not his intention toreturn immediately to the Cape, andexpressed his hope that he might intro-duce him to the observatory at Kiew.This proposal Emery expressed his de-

sire to embrace, and added that he shouldindulge the expectation that Zorn wouldat some future time visit the Cape.With these mutual agreements they

made their plans for future astronomicalresearches, ever reiterating their hopesthat the war would be at an end."Anyhow," observed Emery, "Russia

and England will be at peace beforethe Colonel and Strux; I have no trustin any reconciliation of theirs."For themselves, they could only re-

peat their pledges of mutual good-will.Eleven days after the adventure with

the chacmas, the little troop, not farfrom the Zambesi Falls, arrived at alevel plain several miles in extent, andperfectly adapted for the establishmentof a base. On the edge of the plain rosea native village, composed of a few hutscontaining a small number of inhab-itants, who received the Europeanskindly. Colonel Everest found the prox-imity of the natives very opportune, sincethe measurement of the base would oc-cupy a month, and being without wagons,or any material for an encampment, hewould have had no resource but to passthe time in the open air, with no othershelter than that afforded by the foliage.The astronomers took up their abode

in the huts, which were quickly appro-priated for the use of their new occu-pants. Their requirements were butsmall; their one thought was directedtowards verifying their calculations bymeasuring the last side of their lasttriangle.The astronomers at once proceeded to

their work. The trestles and measuringrods were arranged with all the carethat had been applied to the earliest base.Nothing was neglected ; all the conditionsof the atmosphere, and the readings ofthe thermometer, were taken into ac-count, and the Commission, without flag-ging, brought.every energy to bear upontheir final operation.


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MEASURING A MERIDIANThe work, which lasted for five weeks,

was completed on the 15th of May.When the lengths obtained had beenestimated and reduced to the mean levelof the sea at the temperature of 61Fahrenheit, Palander and Emery pre-sented to their colleague the followingnumbers

Toises.New bases actually measured . . 5075 . 25The same base deduced trigo-

nometrically from the entireseries 5075.11

Difference between the calcula-tion and the observation ,14

Thus there was only a difference ofless than 1-6 of a toise, that is to say,leas than ten inches ; yet the first baseand the last were six hundred milesapart.When the meridian of France was

measured from Dunkirk to Perpignan,the difference between the base at Melunand that at Perpignan was eleven inches.The agreement obtained by the Anglo-Russian Commission was still more re-markable, and thus made the workaccomplished in the deserts of Africa,amid dangers of every kind, more per-fect than any previous geodetic operation.The accuracy of this unprecedented

result was greeted by the astronomerswith repeated cheers.According to Palander's reductions,

the value of a degree in this part ofthe world was 57,037 toises. This waswithin a toise, the same as was found byLacaille at the Cape in 1752 ; thus, withthe interval of a century, the Frenchastronomer and the members of theAnglo-Russian Commission had arrivedat almost exactly the same result. Todeduce the value of the mfaer, theywould have to wait the issue of the op-erations which were to be afterward

undertaken in the northern hemisphere.The value was to be the 1/10,000,000 ofthe quadrant of the terrestrial meridian.According to previous calculations thequadrant, taking the depression of theearth into account, comprised 10,000,856meters. Whether this was correct thesubsequent labors of the Commissionwould have to decide.*****The astronomers had now entirely fin-

ished their task, and it only remainedfor them to reach the north of theZambesi, by following inversely the routeafterward taken by Dr. Livingstone inhis second voyage from 1358 to 1864.On the 25th of May, after a some-

what laborious journey across a countryintersected with rivers, they reached theVictoria Falls. These fine cataracts fullyjustified their native name, which sig-nifies "sounding smoke." Sheets ofwater a mile wide, crowned with adouble rainbow, rushed from a heighttwice that of Niagara. Across thedeep basalt chasm the enormous torrentproduced a roar like peal after peal ofthunder.

Below the cataract, where the riverregained its calmness, the steamboat.which had arrived a fortnight previouslyby an inferior affluent of the Zambesi,awaited the astronomers, who soon tooktheir places on board.There were two to be left behind.Mokoum and the pioneer stood on thebank. In Mokoum the English wereleaving, not only a devoted guide, butone whom they might call a friend.Sir John was especially sorry to partfrom him, and had offered to take Himto Europe, and there entertain him aslong as he pleased to remain. ButMokoum had previous engagements; infact, he was to accompany Livingstoneon the second voyage which the bravetraveler was about to undertake up theZambesi, and Mokoum was not a man


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54 AMAZING STORIESto depart from his word. He was pre-sented with a substantial recompense,and, what he prized still more, the kindassurances of regard of the Europeans,who acknowledged how much they owedto him. As the steamer left the shoreto take the current in the middle of theriver, Sir John's last gesture was towave an adieu to his associate.The descent of the great river, whose

banks were dotted with numerous vil-lages, was soon accomplished. The na-tives, regarding with superstitious admir-ation the smoking vessel as it moved bymysterious mechanism, made no attemptto obstruct its progress.On the 15th of June the Colonel andhis companions arrived at Quilimane,one of the principal towns at the mouthof the Zambesi. Their first thought wasto ask for news of the war. They foundthat it had not yet come to a termina-tion, and that Sebastopol was still hold-ing out against the allied armies. Thiswas a disappointment to the Europeans,now so united in one scientific object;but they received the intelligence in si-lence, and prepared to start. An Aus-trian merchant-vessel, La Novara, wasjust setting out for Suez; in that theyresolved to take their passage.Three days after, as they were on the

point of embarking, the Colonel assem-bled his colleagues, and in a calm voicereminded them how in the first eighteen

months they had together experiencedmany trials, and how they had been re-warded by accomplishing a work whichwould call forth the admiration of allscientific Europe. He could not refrainfrom giving expression to his trust thatthey would feel themselves bound inthe common fellowship of a true alli-ance.

Strux bowed slightly, but did not in-terrupt the Colonel, who proceeded todeplore the tidings of the continuationof warfare. When he referred to theexpected capitulation of Sebastopol,Strux indignantly rejected the possibilityof such an event, which no union ofFrance and England, he maintained,could ever effect.

There was, however, it was admittedon all hands, a propriety in the Rus-sians and English submitting to thenational status of hostility. The neces-sities of their position were thus clearlydefined, and imder these conditions theyembarked in company on board LaNovara.

In a few days they arrived at Suez.At the moment of separation Emerygrasped Zorn's hand, and said"We are always friends, Michael!"

"Always and everywhere, William !"ejaculated Zorn; and with this senti-ment of mutual devotion they parted.The Commission was dissolved. The

great work was complete.

The toise is a French unit of length no longer in general use, being sup-planted by the meter. Its length is 2J315 yards, or 63948 feet, or 1S49 meter.

The End


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THE VELOCITY OF ESCAPE 57Verensky is his name ; a wealthy Russianscientist. He is tall, incredibly strong, butof an aesthetic typea dreamer. Someten years ago, in nineteen hundred andeighty-one, to be correct, he came to thiscountry with a great plan for new labora-tories and scientific development. Atthat time he was an altruist, but the mas-sive brain contained within his herculeanbody became overworked. He had troublewith our own Internal Revenue Depart-ment, that made a heavy income tax Henagainst the Russian, Verensky. The taxassessment developed into a battle thatlingered in our supreme courts. To makethe story short, Verensky lost. Stub-bornly he refused to pay the amount in-volved, and the Revenue Department fileda lien against his immense holdings.Finally a part of the Russian's brainsnapped. He became a maniac, obsessedwith the idea of overthrowing all formsof government; wedded to the idea of de-stroying all organized society. He disap-peared. For the last ten years no onehas known of his whereabouts, but hisevil influence and machinations have beenfelt. You know full well his handiworkin the poison fogs that spread over Eu-rope some years ago. I had a part inovercoming that terror. You will remem-ber that the United States air forces co-operated with me in finding his planes,that were spreading the deadly fogs.

yERENSKY, or the Falcon, as he* smugly calls himself, is a menace to

the world. His distorted brain will neverstop working until he has destroyed theworld, or has been destroyed himself.You, Gentlemen, remember, too, the greatpanic of nineteen hundred and eighty-five, when the clever Falcon devised apowerful machine that set up peculiar,powerful vibrations to destroy the atomicstructure of gold. He built many ofthese machines and placed them in thegreat financial centers of the world. You

recall the horrible panics when the mone-tary value of gold went to nothing, be-cause the gold stored in vaults, banks andjewelry stores dissolved into a gray pow-der when it came within the influence ofthe disintegrating vibrations. Each ma-chine that Verensky made had an effec-tive radius of ten miles."You perhaps recollect that I was in-

strumental in locating these machines anddestroying them. At that time I waswounded in a duel with the Falcon. Hewas in his fast monoplane. We had quitea dog fight at twenty thousand feet. Heshot me in the shoulder and brought medown. About twice a year I receive amessage signed 'The Falcon.' Here, letme read this one that came only a weekago."

Donald Millstein had spoken franklywithout any hint of boastfulness. Thegroup knew that Millstein was speakingonly the simple truth. They waitedeagerly for him to continue. Millsteinglanced around the assembly as he un-folded a paper and read."To my enemy, Donald Millstein.

Thrice you have thwarted me in my at-tempt to remove a cruel government fromthe earth. The Falcon is swooping again.Beware!"

"Millstein, where do you think the Fal-con keeps in hiding ?"

"I have a theory, Gentlemen, that theFalcon lives in a giant spaGe car far outbeyond the stratascope. There his evilmind plans his schemes of revenge, andhe must have a marvelous laboratory andtrained assistants""But all space ships have been searched.

Each one is numbered and well known,"broke in the stubborn voice again.

"Quite true," agreed Donald, "but re-member the Falcon is a resourcefulgenius. Then, too, perhaps he lives insome vast cavern of the earth. Lately Ihave been conducting some experimentswith my radio apparatus to see if I can


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THE VELOCITY OF ESCAPE 61protons in the nucleus. For instance, goldhas one hundred and ninety-seven ofthem. Now the number of free electronsis represented by the atomic number, inthis case of gold, seventy-nine. The nu-cleus, therefore, consists of one hundredand ninety-seven protons. Of the elec-trons within an atom of gold, seventy-nine would be free or orbital electrons,while one hundred and eighteen would bebound electrons."

Trained assistants at Millstein's direc-tion next placed an atom of oxygen sothat it could be bombarded with high volt-age. This device, called an "Alpha Ray"machine, projected charges of severalmillion volts of potential directly into thelittle solar system of the oxygen nucleus.

Millstein, worn and tired, sighed at theresult.

"It's no use. It's not electricity that isspeeding up the atoms. See. That littlesolar system was exploded in a normalmanner, and we know for certain thatit's not a rise of temperature that'saffecting their speed. Let*s try a mag-netic influence."

It took hours to make this test, but itrevealed nothing. The orbital electronsof the oxygen atoms performed normally,except that they continued to rotate attheir mad, unusual speed."Do you suppose," from Cromwell ina studied tone, "that the positive and

negative charges of the electrons havebeen reversed by some means ?"

"I thought of that," replied Millstein."It's my theory that if charges were re-versed, the atoms would not have actedas they did under the test of the voltagebombardment. Noit's not that."

Just then there was an interruptionfrom a trusted assistant."Mr. Millstein, here is a very impor-

tant message that just came from govern-ment headquarters.""Bad news, Chief?" asked Jack anx-

iously.

"Yes, it is." Millstein's face wasslightly pale. "This message from thegovernment states that thousands aredying in the regions of high altitudes.Urges me to speed up investigation. Themessage is more of a prayer than a com-mand. I tell you, Jack, things are des-perate. I'm certain now that the Falconis back of all of this. By the way, Jack,when his message came in on the radio,do you think the sending station wasclose or far?"

"It must have been from a great dis-tance, for the reception wavered, and wasvery faint until I amplified it, and it hada great deal of static."For a moment Millstein remained si-

lent. Then a light broke over his face."Do you know, Jack, I believe that if

we could find the Falcon and net him,this problem might be solved. By Jove!I'm sure he's sending those messagesfrom space. Ill bet he has a space car ofimmense size and practically lives in it.That's why the best brains in the worldhave been unable to find him."

"Great Cosmos!" shot out Cromwell,"Do you mean to say that one scientificcrook can lick the whole world V*

Millstein sprang erect with an excitedexclamation as Cromwell spoke,

COSMOS. Why do you say 'Cos-mos'? Don't you get it? Cosmicrays!" Millstein's voice rose to a high,excited pitch as he went on. "Cosmicrays are considered by some scientists tobe the signals sent out through the ether,announcing the continuous creation of theheavier metals out of the lighter. Manyyears ago it was thought that cosmic raysoriginated from the fierce energy of thesun, generated in that mighty globe ofgas by the exploding atoms that provideits boundless energy. Later it was found,however, when machines called electro-scopes were lowered into deep lakes, thatthe cosmic rays still had their effect. This


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62 AMAZING STORIESmachine was originally designed by thefamous Dr. Robert A. Millikan. His ap-paratus was composed of delicate quartzfibers so arranged that when the fiberswere charged with one kind of electricity,they would repel and remain apart, butas soon as the cosmic rays influencedthem, penetrating the shell of the electro-scope, the electrical charge of the fiberswas knocked off in proportion to theeffect of the rays, causing the quartzfibers to come close together. Then, bymeasuring the rate of the collapse of thefibers and the discharge of the electricityfrom them, the great Millikan was ableto prove the strength of cosmic rays atany moment . He made the astoundingdiscovery that these rays have the sameeffect at night as in the daytime, thusproving that the rays do not originatefrom the mighty energy of the sun.

"Millikan also found out in his experi-ments that some rays were more pene-trating than others, which proved thatcosmic rays had different characteristics.Tests showed that some of these rayscould pass through seventeen feet oflead. Owing to the research of the mag-nificent scientist, it was decided that cos-mic rays came from interstellar space.Later, with Millikan still laboring at hisdevices, it was discovered that the cosmicrays are divided very distinctly into sev-eral distinct bands or groups of the spec-trum. Then it was proven that each ofthe spectrum bands of the cosmic rayscorresponds to the production of a par-ticular kind of atom, as when the atomsof helium gas are being built in sky spacethere is released a definite band of cosmicrays, called the helium cosmic ray bands.Again, when an oxygen atom is beingmade, another sort of cosmic ray is dis-charged. The generation of silicon andiron atoms causes the emission of verydifferent and distinct ray bands."Now nitrogen and carbon are so close

to oxygen in their atomic pattern, the

structure of their electrons within each oftheir atoms, that the cosmic rays, due totheir atom building, are included in theoxygen cosmic rays. So you see, Crom-well, it may be that the study of nitrogenand carbon wfll help us to solve the secretmystery.

"TXTE must look into an atom of hy-* drogen. Hydrogen atoms are the

fundamental bricks of the physical uni-verse. They are the lightest of any atomand the simplest in construction. Thesimplest of all elements is hydrogen gas,in which one electron revolves around anucleus of one proton. Let us comparethis atom of hydrogen gas to a solar sys-tem, that consisted of just the Sun andMercury.They would be approximately the same

as to their relative sizes, distances apart,rotations and orbits.

"But to make this short, you know thatscientists found only a few years ago thatthe cosmic rays are "photons," such aslight and X-rays, rather than electrons,and that the cosmic rays are not gen-erated in the local astronomical com-plexesthe solar system and the MilkyWaybut are born from atomic disturb-ances in the unknown space regions, mil-lions of light years away."

Cromwell had been gazing at MiDstemin adoration during the technical dis-course.He suddenly spoke."Chief, I believe you've got it."The Falcon is fooling with die cosmic

rays.""Yes," muttered Millstein, his mind

filled with a thousand details. "We'regoing to fly back to Washington at once.Then we're taking my space ship, 'Ne-mesis,' out into space. We're going tolook for the Falcon.

"He's doing something to the cosmicdays, and that is causing all of thetrouble that is over us."


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64 AMAZING STORIESvelocity of five thousand miles per hour.Then well proceed outward to an addi-tional one thousand miles from the sur-face of the earth and circle the globeagain. Next time we'll run the speed upto ten thousand miles per hour. Don'tyou see, Jack, that if we keep circlingthe globe and gradually work outward,increasing the velocity of our flight, Ifigure that in twenty hours well havereached a point where the Falcon mightbe located? This way we cannot misshim. Provide the men in the forwardlookouts with the high-powered tele-scopes, and tell them to search the heav-ens at all times. Keep our best men atthe radio detectors to see if they can lo-cate any ship. We'll investigate everyship we meet. I have full governmentauthority, and the government has askedthe other planets to cooperate in our need.Venus has agreed to have her space craftinvestigated."

"Chief, it's a big job to search thewhole universe."

"That fiend is some place in our ownplanetary system," insisted Millstein reso-lutely, "and I'm going to find him."

HOURS passed, and the "Nemesis"was many thousand miles from the

earth, which now glowed like a moon.Both Jack and Millstein had obtained aneeded rest, leaving the control of theship to efficient officers.

"Cromwell, are the two governmentships keeping in close contact with us?"

"Yes, Chief. They're directly in ourrear. Number seven-H-five is a hundredmiles to our right, and Number seven-H-six is two hundred miles in the rear tothe left. We are at all times in constantcommunication with them. They reportthat their ships are operating in wonder-ful shape, but say they're running at fullpower of their atomic tubes to keep upwith us. We can't increase our speed un-less we want to leave the ships behind."

"Do you know, Cromwell," there wasa mysterious light in Millstein's eyes, "Ilove my 'Nemesis.' I believe she is thefastest thing that was ever built by man.Some day I'm going to build a projec-tile that will fly at toe speed of light."

"But no one will ever be able to flyat the speed of light, for you know thatEinstein, that great scientist who livedmany years ago, was the first to discoverthat if an object were to travel at thespeed of light, it would cease to exist.""How can anything cease to exist?"

argued Millstein. "There's no limit tothe smallness of things, as there is nolimit to the largeness of things. You andI know we're now traveling at a velocitythat in a slight degree reduces our sizethat we possessed on earth. We don'tfeel any discomfort, and I believe thatwhen man comes to travel at the speed oflight, he will continue to diminish in sizehut will suffer no ill effect, and not realizethe difference ; his surroundings would beproportionately decreased in mass."

"You're talking too deep for me,Chief. But say, there's one thing I dowant to know. You've been working formonths on this ship, secretly installingsome new weapons. Tell me about them.This craft already had the most pow-erful armament in the universe."

"I'm glad you mentioned that, Crom-well. Here's a little device that's goingto spring a surprise on the Falcon. Ithas sights like the turret guns of the old,obsolete battleships. When these leversare moved, a tube is thrust from the noseof our ship and can be pointed at anyother space ship or object in space bymerely aligning the pointer on thissmoked glass against the reflected object.""Vyy ingenious," agreed Cromwell,

"but what good does it do i""Well, it's connected to powerful

motors and transformers in the enginerooms of our ship. When you pull thislever," Millstein indicated a small lever


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THE VELOCITY OF ESCAPE 67have proven that the difference betweenviolet and red color is in the number ofmicroscopic waves of light, which enteryour eyes in a second of time. If sevenhundred and fifty-six millions of millionsenter your eyes in a second, your nervesare affected in such a way that you callthe sensation violet. These waves cannotbe seen in a microscope. For your edifi-cation, my embryo scientist, the numberof waves per inch in each color in therainbow has been counted. Fifty-fivethousand waves to the inch give us thesensation of blue. Forty-eight thousandvibrations, green ; forty-four thousand,yellow ; thirty-eight thousand, red. Whenthe waves become so long that less thanabout thirty-three thousand occur, wewould be unable to see them. For exam-ple, alcohol flame does not send out wavesthat can make any but a minute impres-sion on the nerves of the eyes. Invisiblelight also comes at the other extreme, theultra-violet, where the waves are so shortand crowded together they don't give oureyes any sensation at all. You can com-pare this to the piercing shrieks of somelaboratory apparatus, or some insects thatproduce vibrations so shrill that theydon't affect our eardrums at all. If thewaves of color are so short it takes oversixty-six thousand of them to make aninch, they are totally invisible to our eyes,and are called ultra-violet."Thus it has been that scientists,

searching the void with their telescopes,have been able to tell from the variouscolors of the spectrum out in space justhow the cosmic rays are vibrating, andwhat particular element is being bom inthe cold spaces. Temperatures of the sunmd stars are thus readily determined,for many colors invisible to the nakedeye can be detected and classified in thelaboratory."

It is doubtful whether Cromwell hadbeen listening to this technical discourse.Suddenly his body stiffened.

GREAT SCOTT, Millstein! Whatis that great, white mass to the

right ? It looks like someone had poureda gob of sour milk in a bowl of thickchocolate and then stirred it violently."

Millstein did not reply for some time.Finally he spoke with a chuckle in hisvoice."That group of stars, Jack, is the great

Nebula of Andromeda. It's barely visi-ble from the earth, and considering ourown planetary system, it's incomprehen-sibly prodigious in size. That Nebula isforty-five thousand light years in diam-eter and a million light years from theearth. Scientists believe that the nebulasof the sky, such as the Nebula of Andro-meda and the great Whirlpool of CanisVenatici, are vast whirlpools or mael-stroms of stars, planets, moons and sunsof uncountable numbers. Perhaps somenear celestial collision distorted them tothe spiral shapes ; but unlike a whirlpool,the stars are not moving toward the cen-ter. Observations of many years indicatethat they are travelling out from the cen-ter, as the entire group revolves aroundits nucleus. Nebulas are one of the un-solved mysteries of the universe."A phone buzzed at Millstein's elbow,and for a moment he listened intently;his eyes took on a keen glitter."Wrell, Jack, I guess your wish hascome true. Lookout Number seven, inthe port bow, states he has sighted animmense object about five hundred milesstraight ahead on our course. Let's goback to the control room. Number sevensays that the object is apparently a spaceship because of its cylindrical shape, butthat it's nearly a mile in length. That'sjust the sort of a craft the Falcon wouldhave."They repaired quickly to the compli-

cated control room with its thousands ofreflectoscopes, gauges and instruments,and seated themselves at their respectivecontrols. This room was the heart of the


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68 AMAZING STORIESswift little space fighter. Millstein wasalways in direct communication with everypart of the ship. Cromwell, always effi-cient, adjusted one of the reflectoscopesso that the area of the newly discoveredspace ship showed on the screen in frontof him. He started back in surprise asthe image of a mighty space vessel wasreflected on the glass.

"I'll say it's a mile long, Chief. It mustbe the Falcon. Who ever heard of a shipso vast in proportions?"

Millstein did not hear, or at least hedid not heed, for he was phoning to theradio room,"Send a message to the strange ship.Give the customary salute. Ask theirname and from what planet, and theirdestination. Make it plain that we are ongovernment duty and mean business."

All the while the 'Nemesis' was slip-ping through space with incredible speed.Pressing a button, Millstein spoke intoanother receiver. This time he was con-nected with the power rooms of the ship.Here were located the apparatus thatbroke up atoms of mercury, transform-ing the energy of whirling electrons intoenormous power. Converted electronswere discharged through the impellanttubes in the rear and nose of the fighter.The converted electrons roared out intospace through the tubes with vast en-ergy, forcing the space ship in any de-sired direction. At least they would haveroared had there been any atmosphere toconvey the vibrations of sound. But inspace all is silence.

"Slow down the ship to barely cruisingspeed. Circle the stranger at five hundredmiles distance. Radio the two govern-ment scouts of our discovery. Tell themto keep circling till further orders. Wait.Here's something, Cromwell."With agile fingers Millstein arranged

levers and his phone connection so thathe was receiving direct a message comingfrom the ether. A taut but amused grin

spread over his countenance. Cromwellstared with wondering eyes; he knew hischief was receiving some highly impor-tant news. Finally an impetuous naturecould restrain itself no longer.

" HAT is {t' Chie - ? What ^ you** getting?""Oh, nothing much/' chuckled Mill-

stein. "Just a friendly little message fromthe Falcon. The strange space ship isthe 'Avenger,' so the Falcon calls it. Hesighted us and is warning me to stayaway.""What does he say ?" burst out Crom-

well."Wait a minute," snapped Millstein.

Then into the mouthpiece of the phone,"Turn on all protective rays full power.We may be subject to attack at any mo-ment." Then turning to Cromwell, "TheFalcon says about as follows : 'I've lo-cated you, Millstein, and your three ships.I'D give you just five minutes to leavethis part of space, or I'll blast you out ofexistence. I've some new weapons to tryout.'

"Yes, and we've got some new weaponsto try out also," broke in Cromwell, nowready for fight.

Just then the 'Nemesis' shudderedthrough its tough, steel frame. The airvibrated, and there was the faint odor ofshort-circuited electrical current.

"Treachery ! Just as I thought !"snapped Millstein. "He is trying outsome sort of a deadly ray on us. Didn'teven give us the five minutes, but ourprotective screen rays are working fine.""Look !" shouted Cromwell, pointing to

the screen in front of them. "Look atthe government scout ship."

Like a tragedy unfolded on a motionpicture screen, a horrible catastrophe wasdisclosed to the two. The leading gov-ernment space fighter that was next tothe 'Nemesis' had suddenly explodedwith fearful force. Its millions of frag-


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70 AMAZING STORIESphones connected to the power room,"Bill, throw on every atom of poweryou've got on all protective screens.We're being bombarded."Then to Cromwell's supreme disgust

Millstein ordered the ship into a man-euver that flung it away from the sceneof conflict a full five hundred miles; atsuch a speed the acceleration was verypainful.

-'Say, what the "Cromwell's voice was cut off as he

gasped for breath, for Millstein hadstopped the ship so suddenly t

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Amazing Stories Volume 09 Number 04

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