APRIL 25?

ALL ABOARD
FOR THE
MOON
by HAROLD M.
SHERMAN
 g re a t book-length n o vels a re a ll sch e d u led fo r the
M a y iss
issues of Z iff-D av is fiction m a g a z in e s. Be sure to re­
se rv e your copies n ow a t y ou r d e a le r. P acke d w ith m ys­
tery, a d v e n tu re , action , a n d susp e n se , they a re A m e ric a ’s
g reatest re a d in g v a lu e — a n d o n ly 25c e a c h .

Desert of the Damned

By Don Wilcox
They were damned, every one of them. Damned to a place
that might have been Hell. O r was it Hell? W hatever it
was, nothing bloomed in it but hate, heat, battle and
death. And it all began with a bare arm that opened a
window in a storm.
A n d oth er g re a t stories

The Tale of the Red Dwarf

By Richard S. Shaver
Down in the cave of wisdom, guarded by two wise old
owls, sat the Red Dwarf. He wrote with the tip of his tale
in a big book. W hat he wrote w as wisdom— if you pre­
ferred his kind of wisdom to that you could obtain in . . .
the Ladysrum !
A n d o th er g re a t sto ries

Shadow for a Lady

By William P. McGivern
W hy would a complete stranger show such interest in
Shirley Royce— an interest that led him to follow her con­
stantly? It was a question that not only worried her; H
worried a young man who had never seen her before in
his lifel
A n d oth er g re a t stories

Loot of Babylon
By Richard S. Shaver
Assur-Nadin held all Babylon in his evil thrall I But he
forgot that his brother, Essar-Haddon, knew how to
handle a bronze sword better than he. And so "the Assyr­
ian came down like a wolf on the fold"— to deliver a
bloody vengeance.
A n d o th er g re a t sto ries
 AMAZING STORIES 3

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TS» neeostM nan DOES today what tba filer* INTENDS

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 Reg. O. 8. Pat. Off. A l l fy e c d u n e l C o m p le t e

WILLIAM B. ZIFF
THE OBSERVATORY
Chairman of the Board
and Publisher By The Editor........................................................................................... 6
B. G. DAVIS A LLER G IES—W H A T THEY REALLY ARE
President
By John McCabe Moore.................................................................. 86
M AXW ELL'S DEMON
V ice Presidents:
By Anthony B. O tt................................................................................. 151
GEORGE BERNER
Sales and Advertising Director S CIEN TIFIC MYSTERIES
By L. Taylor Hansen............................................................................ 152
MICHAEL H. FROELICH
Editorial Director PITY THE NON-CONCEPTION 1ST!
H. I. MORGANROTH By John McCabe Moore................................................................... 155
Production Director
W H A T MAN CAN IM AG IN E . . .
H. G. STRONG
By John McCabe Moore................................................................... 156
Circulation Director
THE STORY OF AN AM A ZIN G BOOK— OAHSPE
By The Editor........................................................................................... 158
Secretary-T reasurer
A . T. PULLEN SPACE SHIPS LIMITED— No. 2
Art Director By Jackson Ross...................................................................................... 159
HERMAN R. BOLLIN
G LU TA M IC A C ID IN HUMAN EFFICIEN CY
By John McCabe Moore................................................................... 160
Editor
RAYMOND A. PALMER AM A ZIN G FACTS
By Vincent H. Gaddis.......................................................................... 162
Managing Editor
HOWARD BROWNE VIGNETTES OF FAMOUS SCIENTISTS
Associate Editors: By Alexander Blade............................................................................... 164
WILLIAM L. HAMLING
HENRY A. BOTT FEVER IN THE SOUTH
By John McCabe Moore................................................................... 165
A rt Editor
MALCOLM SMITH DISCUSSIONS
By The Readers...................................................................................... 168

THE MOON EFFECTS

By A. Morris...................................................... ...................................... 176

Published monthly by ZIFF-D AVIS PUBLISHING COMPANY at 185

North Wabash Are.. Chicago I. 111. New York Office, Empire State Build­
ing. New York 3, N, Y. Washington office, International Building, 1319
F Street, N .W ., Washington 4, I). C. Entered as second class matter
April 11, 1940, at the Post Office, Chicago, Illinois, under the Act of
March 3, 1879. SulKCrtption $2.50 for 12 Issues: Canadn $3.00; Foreign
$4.50. Subscribers should allow at least two weeks for change or address.
All communications about subscriptions should bo addressed to the Director
of Circulation, Ziff-Davis Publishing Company, 185 North Wabash Are.,
Chicago 1, IU.

4
 V O LU M E 21 N U M BER 4

A ll St&UeA. GamInUie.

A LL ABOARD FOR TH E MOON (Novel— 55.000).................................By Harold M. Sherman................... 10

Illustrated by Julian S. Krupa

G il Benson was a playboy; devil-witb-the-women; and rich— and it

all added up to rocket ships! Yes, he wanted to 90 to the Moonl

M IRA CLE MAN (Novelet— 16,800)................................................................... By John & Dorothy de Courcy . 46

Illustrated by Julian S. Krupa

They called him "Miracle Man" because of his surgical marvels on

war-torn Pacific islands. But they didn’t know about the Voice.

I, JO H N C O TTER (Short— 6,000)..................................................................... By Millen Cooke................................... 74

Illustrated by Arnold Kohn

John Cotter looked into a microscope as a child, and from then on

the world of the small was the only world he was interested in . . .

Front cover painting by Julian S. Krupa illustrating

a scene from "All Aboard For The Moon."

Copyright 1*47, ZIFF-DAVIS PU BLISH IN G COMPANY

Member of the Audit Bureau of Circulations
We do not accept responsibility for the return of unsolicited manuscripts or artwork. To facilitate
handling, the euthor should enclose a self-addressed envelope with the requisite postage attached, and
artists should enclose or forward return postage. Accepted meteriai is subject to whatever revision is
necessary to meet requirements. Payment covers all authors', contributors' and contestants* magaiine
rights in the U.S.A. and all other countries In the article and/or Illustrations and for publicity and
promotion In connection therewith and will be made at our currant rates upon acceptance. All photos
end drawings will be considered as part of material purchased. The names of ell characters that are
used in short stories, serials and semi-fiction articles that deal with types ere fictitious. Use of a name
that is the same as that of any living person is coincidental.
 A N Y o f you will no doubt remember the « l JO H N C O T T E R ,” completes the issue and

M novel “ The Green M an” by Harold M .

Sherman in our October 1946 issue.
W ell, Sherman’s back again with another novel,
9 it’s by Millen Cooke. She has an interesting
yarn here, and it has a slightly mystic touch, be­
sides being reminiscent o f “ The Diam ond Lens,”
based on something very much in the news right which is a classic o f its type.
this minute— rocket travel to the m oon. “ All
Aboard For the M o o n ” is a dow n-to-earth (and C O M U C H for the stories in this issue. The ar-
m oon) story with hard, cold facts in it. Yet it ^ tides and features are guaranteed to satisfy
reads like the most amazing o f science fiction ever you readers w ho tell us the features are the first
imagined, with thrills galore, and the same fine thing they read. It really is amazing how our fea­
writing that made ‘ The Green M an” so popular. tures, fact and otherwise, have taken hold. We
W e think you ’ ll enjoy the story, and find it more find them immensely valuable and they’ ll never
than worthwhile. Incidentally, M r. Sherman is leave our pages as long as their present quality
w orking on a sequel novel to “ The Green M an” continues— and with such writers as Gaddis,
which w c predict will be a humdinger— besides M oore, et al, that’ll be never.
being o f especial significance to real thinking peo­
ple o f today. C C A T T E R E D through this issue y o u ’ll find hints
^ that w e’re planning a big special issue devoted
JO H N & D O R O T H Y de C O U R C Y (w h o have
to summing up and presenting p roof available to
just announced the birth o f a son) return again date on the Shaver M ystery, plus an explanation
to our pages with “ Miracle M an,” which we think o f what it’s all about, so that you readers who
is a very fine story. I t ’s an unusual thing, and no have not been able to get back issues can get up
matter how you take its theme, yo u ’ll be forced to date. These back issues, which many o f you
to admit that it stirs something basic inside you, order from us, are just not available. Y ou r only
deep down where “ rightness” counts. hope to get many of them is the second hand mag­
azine dealer. And we understand they are asking
premium prices. Shaver stories are getting $1 and
$2 per copy in many places, and copies are rare.
Thus, if you are really interested, watch these
pages fo r the announcement o f the particular issue
with the answers in it! M r. Shaver has done a
long article completely explaining his position in
the M ystery, presenting what p roof he has, and
explaining many things, such as how to use his
alphabet, just what a dero is, where he can be
found, how he operates, why you can’t be shown
a “ cave” or presented some “ mech” on a gold
platter.

A M O N G the things presented in this special is-

1 * sue will be a story, presented in slightly dif­
ferent fashion so that it will be new and enter­
taining to readers w ho have read “ I Remember
Lem uria!” (which many dem and we reprint)
which will recreate the effect given b y that first
story, and at the same time present the M ystery
( Continued on page 8 )
 AMAZING STORIES 7

ADVICE TO READERS:
who are suffering the miseries of

Stop Worrying Now About

Pimples and Blackheads
and other externally caused skin troubles
JUST FOLLOW SKIN DOCTOR’S
SIMPLE DIRECTIONS

S
QUEEZING pimples or blackheads fo get rid of CLEA R, R O B U ST -L O O K IN G SKIN. Business execu­
them is a nasty, messy business —but that isn’t tives don’ t choose men who have a poor-looking com ­
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cleaner w ay to help you rid your face of ugly, offen­ keep it smooth and clear. Use Viderm Skin Cleanser when
sive, externally caused skin troubles. You merely fol­ you wash your face. Rub the rich lather o f this highly-
low a doctor's simple directions. concentrated soap on your face for just a few seconds and
Good-Looking Skin Is Not fo r Women Only then rinse it off. Then apply a little Viderm Medicated
Skin Cream and that’ s all there is to it Viderm Medicated
You —yes, you—can have the same healthy, normal com­ Skin Cream quickly disappears, leaving your skin nice and
plexion free from externally caused skin smooth. This simple treatment, used after
troubles simply by giving your skin the spe­ shaving, helps heal tiny nicks and cuts, re­
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just about as easy as washing your face. T h t
whole secret consists o / washing your face Give Yoor Fa ce T h is T re a t to r 7 Days
in a way that thoroughly cleanses the p6res
of every last speck of dirt and grime—some­ Stop worrying and being embarrassed over
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In fact, examination after examination for your Viderm Double Treatment this
shows that, usually, it is not a case of “ bad minute, and be confident that you will keep
skin” so much as a case of incomplete or Don’t murder your skin a smooth and clear complexion. Follow the
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wide open to miseries.
acts as an antiseptic. When followed by a It’s far easier, far safer, listen to your friends admire your smooth,
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and disappear, leaving your skin clean,
Street, D e p t 46 * New York City 2, New
clear and free of the specks that often bring
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out pimples, blackheads and other externally-caused skin o f the Viderm formulas, complete with full directions,
troubles.
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I t ’s Foolish to Take Bad Skin fo r G ran ted two dollars plus postage. If you wish, you can save the
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It doesn’t pay to risk marred skin, blotches, blemishes.
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marked with blackheads or pimples. W OM EN ARE
you have any questions to ask concerning abused skin*
A T T R A C T E D T O MEN W H O H A V E SM O O T H , just send them in.
8 AMAZING STORIES

an hallucination that we have ourselves seen the

same weird “ space ships” ot “ rocket ships” or
“ vapor trails” or “ bolides” or “ northern lights” or
“ imaginations” in the sky that hundreds o f read­
ers report sincerely. If you were to read the many
letters from soldiers and sailors, stationed in re­
S d ifo r mote parts o f the world, doing guard duty at
night, who have seen things in the sky that our
( Continued from Page 6)
modern scientist will scoff at, and prove to him
as it was first presented, with all the essential in­ are only meteors, or northern fights, y o u ’d feel
formation that so startled the science fiction differently about it. These things are N O T meteors
world. It will be called “ Form ula From the Un­ or northern lights. Just recently a piece o f “ rocket
derworld.” lining” fell in Oregon on a campus, in full view,
accompanied by a shower o f ice in a fifteen-foot
'T 'H E cover, already painted fo r this special issue radius. The “ scientists” w ho analyzed it said it
A by Robert Gibson Jones, presents a scene in the was “ similar” to “ rocket lining” material. The
caves which is made as accurate as is possible to Arm y and N avy (o r at least the newspapers said
make it. Says Shaver, “ Th at’s how it lo o k s!” so) did not launch that particular rocket from
The cover is not intended to illustrate any story, which the lining came. The papers hinted maybe
although it does illustrate “ Formula From the Un­ the Russians did. If the Russians did, we ought
derworld” (or any other cave story for that mat­ to step up rocket research, because we are cer­
ter), but is intended to create the initial impres­ tainly playing second fid d le! That’s dangerous
sion in the mind of the reader that this is reality, business. Docs it take a fiction magazine like
and not just an “ impression” by an artist. A mazing Stories to stress the importance o f not
taking these “ mysteries” lightly? W hat if the
A / f A N Y hundreds of readers have visited Mr. Shaver M ystery is V IT A L L Y important to our
Shaver, and none have gone away willing to national security, to our very lives, if only on the
say “ that man is a liar.” M any skeptics have vis­ basis that we are misinterpreting it, and it isn’t
ited your editor in his office and asked “ do you dero, or caves, but the Patagonians (o r the Siamese
really believe this stuff printed in A mazing Sto- — if you care to place Russia last in scientific
kies ” and have gone away convinced that wc do. achievement today) ?

A N D there’s w'herc the biggest rub comes in C H A V E R says the cave people always talk about
1 * with most o f the readers w ho demand proof. “ coming up and “ conquering” us. W hat if
They ask. “ W H Y do you believe i t ? ” Do you they did exist, and decided to com e up, and de­
really want to know w h y ? Or do you just want cided the best w ay to strike a “ pearl harbor” blow
to know the degree o f our “ hallucinations.” ? We was to strike first “ through” a proxy, start a war
refuse to answer people w ho ask the question with between surface nations, by giving one or more
that impression in mind. T o them we say, **we nations some terrific weapons? Then they could
have hallucinations— or at least, that's what you, come up with the jo b half-done for them by our­
not having hallucinations, would call them.” It is selves! Oh yes, it’s all poppycock. Just imagina­
tion. Or is it? Y ou readers who can read (which
entails understanding what you read) the papers,
can’t fail to sec that all is not as it should be in
the world. There are too many things that we
ought to have explained, rather than dismissed as
just something “ unexplainable.” When rocket lin­
ing falls in America, and we didn't shoot it, we
ought to find out for sure who did shoot it, rather
than just shrugging our shoulders and forgetting
it, just because it’s another o f those “ silly” For-
tean occurrences.

C H A V E R has presented a fantastic view o f the

^ “ mysteries that happen every day” but at
least he’s no ostrich in the sand, and no “ dogm a­
tist.” He might just be fool enough to stumble
on the truth. H e’s like the radar operator who
said “ enemy planes approaching in force” at Pearl
Harbor and was told to “ quit drinking that stuff.”

D O YOU don’ t believe Shaver. Y ou think it’s all

" A n d whose little boy are y o u ? " ^ a hoax. You're ” nin.; In quit reading, the mag­
 THE OBSERVATORY 9

azine if-w e d on ’t quit insulting your intelligence. day are many pieces o f cavern “ m ech" and the
Okay, throw your “ radar” in the river. M aybe only reason we can’t use them as PR O O F is be­
we are all wet. You take the chance that we are cause their origin is L IE D AB O U T, because
not. You are so “ insulted” that you fail to see W H O ’ D B E L IE V E T H E T R U T H ?
that the stories themselves are V E R Y F IN E . W hy
d on ’t you “ disbelieve” them, hut read them for A N D n ow , to have a little fun with the remain-
entertainment value? They H A V E that value. ing few lines o f this editorial, let’s make a few
Y ou r editor is a fan o f 25 years standing. H E predictions (fo r which A m a z i n g S t o rie s ca n la y
thinks they are dam good stories. H E enjoys top claim to accuracy in this century 1). First,
them. And when he read the first one, he didn't let’s predict that within a few years, we will be
believe it either! But he didn’t write the author, visited from outer space, by a ship that will be
w ho said it was true (the nerve o f h im !) and call seen all over the earth as it circles the planet, but
him dow n for “ insulting” his intelligence. N o, we such a ship as no one could have imagined even
said: “ we think this will make a hit with the read­ in our pages up to now . It will be a ship as much
ers, and w e’ll do our best to put it across with the as tw o hundred miles lo n g ! It will be piloted by
same conviction you show— but do you mind if . . . well, let’s just call them Titans. At least
we call it “ racial m em ory” which seems more logi­ their engineering ability will be titanic!
cal to us, rather than this stuff about “ I saw it
myself in the caves” ? V T E X T , let’s predict that in the next twenty
1 * years there will N O T be a m ajor w ar on this
\ 1 7 E H A D to admit later Shaver was right, and planet. But let’s also predict that there W IL L be
" " we were wrong. It wasn’t racial m em ory. It another m ajor war, which will put an end to all
was something else. W hat else? It was a mys­ this silly business. That one’s easy, because we
tery to us, but not to Shaver. He said it was are now inventing the weapons (o r getting them
“ thought records” which was a mystery' to us. from the caves! heh, h e h !) which will make the
W hat was a thought record? So, we call the war they are used in quite some gory fracas.
whole thing a mystery. I t ’s still a mystery. Some of us are bound to get killed. Along with
that prediction, naturally, we predict that all the
I N C I D E N T A L L Y , as you read this, men are Peace Conferences will fail, as will any real dis­
1 lowering themselves into a cave in Texas. They armament program . Y o u can’t disarm a nation
are taking cameras along. The cave m ay prove today b y throwing away its guns. Guns are out­
something, or it may not. It is a tremendous cave. m oded. W e always throw away the arms we
It has much “ shaver-m ystery” about it. Queer d on ’t intend to use any more, but it fools no one.
things happen in it. B U T , the truth o f the matter The arms o f the next w ar are too secret to throw
is, SO M E o f our readers are S IN C E R E enough away. N o b o d y ’s supposed to know we have them
about A m a z i n g S t o r ie s ’ great “ hoax” to risk their — so when we agree to disarm, we don’t talk about
lives to prove it isn’t a hoax, because T H E Y know them, do w e? But we read about ’em in the pa­
it isn’ t a hoax. As Shaver says, it seems that pers, and they are all explained away the next
“ either you know about it, or you d o n ’t, and day, by an “ authority.”
proving it to those w ho d o n ’t is like proving that Rap
Standard Oil cheats on their income tax.” Of
course they d on ’t, but can y o u prove it? Either
you hear voices, see projections from the caves, or
you don’t. Prove it to those w ho don’t. Actually
produce some o f the “ m ech.” Just as easy as ac­
tually producing some o f the “ gold” buried at
Fort Knox. I t ’s there, but can yo u prove it?

\TE S , there’s proof. Incontrovertible proof, but

A no good fo r those w ho refuse t o accept it.
D rop ite and rocket linings out o f a clear sky in
your back yard, from no visible o r provable
source, and y o u ’ll “ explain” it aw ay, no matter
how . And then proceed to forget about it. Y ou
shrug and say, “ I d on ’t know . . ” Okay, you
d on ’t know . But w e’re trying to tell you. And
that big issue IS going to tell you. W hat it’ll
PR O V E is up to you. W e, the editors, think what
we have will prove to be terrific, a challenge to
the world. Th at’s O U R opinion. In this issue,
for instance, is an article about “ M axw ell’s De­
m on” which describes a “ m ech” that could be "They were sent here from their world by a scientist
from the caves. W e insist that on the surface t o ­ or something named Sinatra."
ALL ABOARD
FOR THE MOON
by HAROLD M.
SHERMAN >-
 Today the V - 2 .. .to m o rro w the Moon
Rocket! Even as you re a d , Man m ay
be m aking the first try at space tra v e l!
12 AMAZING STORIES

ILB U R W ILLIAM S, H ol­ “ Not yet.”

W lywood press agent, had a

problem. She was a gor­
geous red-head who1 wanted to break
“ Well, you’ve got a date now. I
want to give you more time. See what
I can cook up. What you need is to
into pictures. go to dramatic school— learn screen
“ Can you act, Honey?” he asked her. technique— let me give you a publicity
Diana rolled her blue, blue eyes and build-up. But all this takes dough.
Wilbur almost rolled on the floor at Here’s a sordid question— have you got
her feet. any money?”
“ Of course I can act,” she said. “ I ’ve Diana’s eyes stopped rolling.
had two seasons in stock! ” “ N o,” she said.
“ Y ou’re beautiful!” said Wilbur, Wilbur chewed for a moment on his
with conviction. “ I think you’re a cigar.
swell kid. I ’d like to do something for “ Well, that makes things more com­
you, honest I would. But tell me, plicated. Why do you girls always
Baby— who referred you to me?” come to Hollywood on good looks and
Diana’s eyes rolled some more. no money?”
“ W hy everybody says you’re the best Diana shook her head.
publicity man in pictures,” she said. “ How do you think I can afford to
“ And so I naturally came to you !” give you my services? I’m a busy man.
“ It sounds like a line but I like it,” I handle publicity for some of the big­
said Wilbur. “ Stand off there so I can gest stars in the country. The streets
take a gander at y ou !” are filled with good-looking dames
Diana obliged with a professional who’ve got loads more experience. I ’mv
pose, lifting her dress above the knees, sorry, Miss— what’s your last name
as required by every casting office. . . . ?”
(Well, almost every on e!) “ Fenimore.”
“ Hmm! Not bad. MacDonald body, “ Fenimore? Hmm! Diana Feni­
Grable legs. Your eyes seem to be more! Yeah! It slips off the tongue!
original.” It’ll look good in lights, too! . . . Turn
Wilbur stood up to get a better view. around, Babe— let’s see your profile!”
He was short, pudgy and near-sighted. Diana revealed an impish nose and
“ How long have you been in Holly­ a cute, determined chin.
wood?” “ All right— the dinner date stands.
“ A week.” Meet me back here at my office at six.
“ Where did you play in stock?” I can’t promise anything, Baby— but
“ Milwaukee.” I ’m sure as hell gonna try. You’ve got
“ Leads?” something. At least, it gets me . . .
“ I walked on in ‘Room Service’ and and I ’ve been in this racket a long
I walked off in ‘The Man Who Came To while!”
Dinner,’ and I understudied the nurse Diana’s blue eyes clouded up with
in— I forget— oh yes, ‘ I remember appreciation. She reached in the bosom
Mama’ . . .” of her dress, unpinned a cloth purse and
“ I see— quite a variety. But you’re took out a roll of bills.
beautiful, Baby— there’ s no denying “ I was lying to you,” she said. “ I
that. Have you got a date for dinner just wanted to see if you thought
tonight?” enough of my chances to do something
The blue eyes did another roll. for me on your own.”
 ALL ABOARD FOR THE MOON 13

Wilbur choked on his cigar as she stars had given up in outraged despair
placed five hundred in bills on the desk after one night of astronomic indiffer­
before him. ence to their charms. But Gil didn’t
“ I ’ve been around,” she said, “ and seem to mind. He would date another
1 know what it takes to crash Holly­ hopeful the following evening and bob
wood. One good publicity stunt will up at a different night club or private
do it.” party, providing new gossip for colum­
“ Miss Fenimore,” said Wilbur, his nists and candid camera shots for pho­
voice laced with respect, “ you have just tographers who kept reporting him
knocked me for a goal. You are not “ that-a-way’ about “ this-and-that-a-
only beautiful but there is something one” until they realized that the fan­
inside that head of yours which is de­ tastically popular Gil Benson was non­
cidedly not sawdust! D o you mind chalantly “ playing the field.”
telling me how you came by this bank­ “ Something’s happened to America’s
roll?” Leading Lady-Killer,” a Hollywood
Diana’s blue eyes made the complete columnist lamented. “ H e’s not the
circuit. sam e irresponsible, devil-may-care,
“ I earned it,” she said, “ with a flying life-of-the-party Benson and the glam­
circus— making parachute jum ps!" our gals don’t like it. W e saw him at
Wilbur Williams, Hollywood’s great­ a cocktail binge the other night, sur­
est press agent, did a backward flip- rounded by enough beauties to turn the
flop in his swivel chair. head of any responsive male but Gil
actually yawned in their faces and went
rJp H E R E was another man in Holly­ home early. His few intimates say
wood who had a problem. He was they think he must be working on a new
playboy Gilbert Benson, head of the invention— perhaps a new jet propul­
Benson Aircraft Company, famous sion plane— which would partially ac­
round-the-world flier, speed plane build­ count for his weird public conduct. If
er, financier, socialite, sports enthusiast, this is the case, girls, you’ll have to face
night-club frequenter, ladies’ man, and it. Gil is being true to his ‘first love’
everything else he chose to be when the and there just isn’t anything you can do
spirit moved. about it !”
Gil’s problem was not money or girls The man who had elicited this com­
or health or anything material. It was ment, read it in bed in his suite at the
boredom. He was simply and com­ Beverly Hills hotel. The paper had
pletely bored stiff with everything on been served to him with his breakfast,
earth. juicy morsels of gossip to be consumed
“ There must be other planets more with his prune juice.
interesting than this one,” he had taken Gil swore softly. Then he swore
to remarking to all and sundry. loudly. Finally, he threw the paper
But no one seemed interested in Gil’s ' across the room.
speculations, least of all the feminine “ Damn-it-to-hell! D o I have to have
lovelies who sat with him under the a playboy reputation all my life? All
moon and stars. They were interested right— so I ’ve got money! So I like
in just one thing— romance. Each had to have a good time! So I can get any
her matrimonial hook baited to catch girl I want! So I ’m news wherever I
America’s Number One Bachelor. go— whatever I do! Y ou ’d think I
Some of Hollywood’s most beauteous never had a serious idea in my head!
14 AMAZING STORIES

That I ’ve never done a thing worth­ thing to write about! Playboy, eh?
while! Nobody’s fooling me. How . . . I ’ll hand ’em a new title— ‘Space
many friends would I have if I was Traveler’— see how they like that!”
dead broke? How many girls? And, The phone started ringing. Gil took
since I ’m in the dough, how can I ever down the receiver, laid it on the bed and
be sure that a girl really loves me? If spoke into the mouthpiece,
anybody else wants to be Gil Benson, “ Hello! Wait till I light this cig­
I ’ll sell out for ten cents on the dollar! arette!” He struck a match, inhaled,
I ’d give everything I own to get off this and the tip glowed. “ All right. Thanks
earth. If my space rocket works, I ’ll for waiting. Who is it?”
do it, t o o !” “ It’s me, dear,” said a woman’s voice.
He picked up the phone and jiggled “ Be more specific.”
the connection. “ W hy, Gil, darling. D o you have a
“ Hello, Operator. Get me my ranch hang-over?”
in Arizona.” “ Yes, I ’m hanging over the bed to
answer this phone. Is this D oris?”
HE waited for the call, he ex­ “ Dearest, you’re wonderful!”
amined himself in the mirror. Dark “ I thought I recognized you.”
eyes, dark hair, white scar on his fore­ “ You didn’t— it’s R u th!”
head from that plane crash, athletic “ I knew it all the time.”
build, handsome guy. At least every­ “ L ia r!”
body said he was. Nature had given “ What else could I say? What do
him a good body and he’d certainly you mean, calling me before noon?”
used it. Gil liked Ruth Delano. She was
“ Hello,” Gil said into the phone. M .G .M .’s new pin-up sensation. Viva­
“ This is Gil. Connect me with the cious, curvaceous brunette, high strung,
plant and put Jerry on.” He reached demanding, but fun. Could have prac­
for a cigarette. “ Hello, Jerry, How are tically any swain in town— the country,
things coming? . . . Is the rocket set for that matter— but seemed to prefer
up on the launching site yet? . . . him. At least she was giving him the
Great! . . . Have you tested the mo­ rush act.
tors? . . . Y ou ’d better be sure! If “ Haven’t seen you for a week— but
I ’m going to the moon in that damn I notice you’ve been out with six other
thing, I want a chance to get back . . , girls. When are you going to get off the
You don’t think I ’m crazy do you? . . . T-Might-Marry~Go-Round’ a n d let
You do? . . .” Gil laughed. “ Well, I Hollywood settle down?”
don’t exactly blame you! . . . Tell the Gil laughed. “ Have you heard that
boys I ’ll be flying in this week-end . . . old adage— ‘there’s safety in num­
be seeing you. . . ! ” bers’ ? ”
He hung up, talking to himself. “ There’s also confusion, darling. Did
“ Jerry’s the best damn engineer in you ever try to pick one necktie in a
the country. If that rocket doesn’t hundred? No wonder you don’t know
reach the moon, it won’t be his fault.” your own mind Now, if you’d just con­
The cigarette needed lighting. He centrate on m e!”
fumbled for safety matches in his pa­ “ Let’s leave personalities out of
jama pocket. this!”
“ When I ’m ready to take off, I ’ll give “ Gil— did you read Jimmy’s column
these small-minded columnists some­ this morning?”
 ALL ABOARD FOR THE MOON 15

“ Yes— dam-it-to-hell! ” only authentic atmosphere.

“ Why, darling!” But to Sardi’s, on this night, came
“ I ’d like to go out with a girl once two men with problems. They occupied
and not be interviewed or photo­ booths with their respective dinner part­
graphed!” ners across the restaurant floor from
“ But maybe the girl wouldn’t like it one another. And neither, for the time
— especially if she’s a star. You know being, knew that the other was present.
it’s great publicity to be seen with you.” “ Y ou ’re beautiful, Baby,” Wilbur
“ D o you feel the need of some more couldn’t help saying again to Diana.
publicity?” “ Don’t hide your face with that menu.
“ W hy, Gil— are you dating me?” I want to see those eyes.”
“ N o— I ’m threatening you. At least “ I ’m hungry,” said Diana, “ and I
you’re frank about it. Where would need my eyes to pick out my dinner.”
you like to dine?” . “ Well, hurry up and use them so I
“ Ciro’s?” can plunge myself into their blue
“ N o.” depths,” said Wilbur.
“ Earl Carrol’s?” Diana let out a gurgle of laughter,
“ N o.” “ You are a very funny person, Mr.
“ Romanoff’s?” Williams— but I like you a lot
“ I ’ll settle for Sardi’s. A booth for Hollywood’s greatest publicity agent
two, a glass of wine— and you !” was pleased with himself. He seldom
“ Poetic! How touching!” went overboard for a dame. He’d seen
Gil laughed. “ Be beautiful. Anything too many of them come and go— with
in low neck. Hair done the way I like the emphasis on gone. But the red-head
it.” was fresh and new and different. And,
“ How is that?” with all else— a parachute jumper 1 Ye
“ D on’t get technical. But leave off gods!
that perfume. I ’ve got an allergy.” “ I think I ’ll have shrimp cocktail,
“ Gil, darling— you sound like your clam chowder and lobster a la New­
old se lf!” burgh,” said Diana, letting him have
“ That does it! I ’ll pick you up at her blue eyes.
seven and break your neck.” Wilbur gulped. “ You certainly are
“ I ’d love it !” strong for seafood!”
She hung up on him. Gil grinned and “ I used to go with a sailor,” she said.
slammed down the receiver. The phone “ Every once and a while I still carry
instantly rang again. the torch.”
“ Damn-it-to-hell!” He took up the “ That’s very touching,” said Wilbur.
receiver. “ Hello! I’m not in! G oodbye!” “ I pay for your dinner and you sit there
eating, with another man on your
CHAPTER II mind.”
In the private booth across the way,
g A R D I ’S, on Hollywood Boulevard America’s Number One Bachelor was
near Vine, is quiet, respectable, se­ not having too private a time. Diners
cluded. Not so breast-beating a recom­ had sighted him coming in with M tG.
mendation for the goggle-eyed Holly­ M .’s ravishing raven-haired pin-up girl
wood visitor, perhaps— who mistakes and they had gathered about with the
noise, indigestible dinner music and usual autograph requests.
people standing in line for tables as the “ What do you people do with these
16 AMAZING STORIES

autographs after you collect ’em?” Gil “ You can’t land on the moon and you
asked. couldn’t live if you did,” she said. “ Any
“ We trade ’em or sell ’em,” said a schoolboy knows there’s no air up
freckle-faced Bobby-Soxer, frankly. there!”
“ Nice business,” said Gil, “ when you “ All right, madam, have it your own
can get it. What’s my autograph worth way— but when you get back to South
on the open market?” Dakota, you tell the Board of Educa­
“ That depends,” said the Bobby- tion that Gil Benson says they’d better
Soxer. get ready to change their school books.
“ Depends on what?” I’m going to the moon— air or no air!”
“ What you do next. If you should The little old maid school teacher
marry Miss Delano— the price of your backed warily away.
autograph naturally goes u p !” “ I know where you’re going,” she
“ Gil, dear— what an inducement!” said, “ and it’s not the m oon!”
said Ruth. It was about this time that Press
“ This is a frame-up,” charged Gil. Agent Wilbur Williams, looking across
Then, turning to the Bobby-Soxer as all at the departing autograph fans, saw
within hearing laughed, he said: “ How who the celebrities were who were oc­
valuable would my autograph become cupying the booth.
if I should make a rocket trip to the “ Diana, cast your blue orbs over
moon?” there— if you want to see Hollywood’s
leading pin-up— and America’s most
“ J ^ O W you’re making fun of m e!” notorious playboy. That’s Ruth Delano
accused Miss Freckle-Face. “ I and Gil Benson— and Benson’s a client
don’t think that’s n ice!” of m ine!”
“ No, honest,” Gil insisted. “ I really “ A client!" said Diana. “ Oh, Mr.
am planning a trip to the m oon!” Williams, that’s thrilling 1 I know all
Everybody howled. about Gil BenSon. H e’s my hero. What
“ Gil, darling— stop ribbing the poor an aviator! What he’s done for avia­
girl,” scolded Ruth. “ Y ou’ll lose an tion! That flight around the world in
autograph fan.” three days . . . his plane factory . . .
Gil looked at her. “ You think I ’m the new designs he’s invented . . . and
kidding, too?” the way he’s risked his life to test new
“ Of course, silly! And you’d better models . . . ! ”
be careful. Some of these people are apt Wilbur’s lower jaw dropped, reveal­
to talk this around and first thing you ing one hundred ninety-five dollars
know, it’ll get in the papers— ‘ Gil Ben­ worth o f bridgework.
son Renounces Earth— Going to Live “ Say, I ought to hire you to write his
on M oon ! ’ ” life story!”
Gil gave a helpless shrug of the shoul­ Diana’s blue eyes were focused on
ders and handed out his last autograph Benson to the exclusion of all else.
to a little old maid school teacher who “ Oh, this is worth my coming to
told him she hailed from South Dakota. Hollywood just to see him in person!
“ Hang onto that signature,” he ad­ I ’ve read everything I could about him
vised. “ It ought to bring you a thou­ . . . listen to him on the radio . . .
sand bucks when I land on the moon!” seen him in the newsreels . . . and you
• The veteran school “ mom” shook say— he’s your client! Oh, Mr. W il­
her head. liams— do you suppose you could intro-
 ALL ABOARD FOR THE MOON 17

ducem e . . .?” ting cold— and you’re all heated up over

“ Listen, Baby— not so fast— and another guy. I suppose, if Gil Benson
stop staring! That’s never done in H ol­ was Clark Gable or Tyrone Power or
lywood— not much! . . . Be different! Van Johnson, you’d really blow your
W e’ve got to think this thing through. to p !”
Gil Benson’s a very eccentric guy. You “ I wouldn’t give them a tumble,”
rub him the wrong way and it’s all o ff! ” said Diana. “ But aviation’s my meat—
Diana took Wilbur by the arm. and he’s my idol. Mr. Williams— if
“ D on’t you dare let him get out of you don’t take me over and introduce
here without my meeting him! It’s fate! me— I ’m going over and introduce my­
That’s what it is. D id you know he self!”
was coming here tonight?” Wilbur pushed her back in the booth.
Wilbur held his head. “ If you lose your head, I ’ll lose mine,
“ N o, of course not. He usually picks too. You let me handle this. If we
a night-club. He must be extra serious work it right, you may get one of the
over Ruth Delano. See— they’re hold­ greatest publicity breaks of your life.
ing hands— this is a bad night to break Just to be seen and photographed in
in on Gil, even if he is my client . . .!” Gil Benson’s company has started many
“ What have you been doing for an unknown on her career 1”
him?” asked Diana. “ Oh, I don’t care about that, where
“ M e? Y ou ’ll probably think he needs Gil Benson’s concerned!”
a publicity man like I need a haircut.” “ Well, 1 do, young lady! I ’ve taken
Wilbur rubbed his expanding bald spot. you under my wing and Benson’s one of
“ But Benson’s peeved because the press my best bets to give you the right send-
keeps dubbing him a playboy and off. You sit tight, make your eyes be­
doesn’t give him proper credit for his have, and I ’ll go over and give him a
scientific achievements . . . so, he’s build-up!”
hired me to do public relations articles He started out of the booth.
for the slick magazines on his airplane “ Remember,” said Diana. “ I ’m your
factory, his research work in aerody­ client, too! And I ’ve already paid
namics, his test piloting, his theories on you . . . ! ”
stratosphere flying and that stuff. Pret­ Wilbur groaned.
ty technical, if you’d ask me— but it “ Y ou’re forcing my hand on this. I
pleases him and he pays big— so I hope I can put it over— but if Gil Ben­
should k ick !” son kicks me the hell out of Sardi’s—
Diana’s blue eyes came back reluc­ meet me outside on the sidewalk! ”
tantly to the little man at her table. Gil Benson spotted his press agent
“ Mr. Williams,” she said. “ If I were edging between the tables toward him.
you, I ’d feel greatly honored to be con­ “ Here c o m e s ‘ Genius, Incorpo­
nected in any way with Mr. Benson. rated’ ,” he announced to Ruth.
I think he’s one of the greatest men in “ Yes,” said his dinner companion.
America . . . and it’s just a shame “ I know ‘Wee W illy Wilbur’, H e’s been
that nobody really understands him !” hounding me to let him do my pub­
licity.”
FEW minutes ago, you were rav­ “ You could have a worse wolf on
ing about a sailor,” reminded your trail,” said Gil. “ H e’s doing a job
Wilbur. “ Ordering a meal in memory for me.”
of him. Now your clam chowder’s get­ “ For you ?” said Ruth. “ What could
18 AMAZING STORIES

he do for you?” believe it, Gil, that little girl has made
“ Write the kind of stories about me over two hundred parachute jumps!”
that I like to read,” said Gil.
Ruth laughed. “ You take your press ^ J I L BENSON had been listening
comments too seriously, dear. Now me with an expression of annoyance
— I don’t worry no matter what they but Wilbur had played his opening
say— just so I get mentioned!” cards well. He produced the ace at the
Hollywood’s greatest publicity agent right time.
was now within earshot. He had that “ That girl a parachute jum per?!’’
“ you’ve-got-to-be-glad-to-see-me” and said Gil. “ What is this— one of your
“ you-can’t-turn-me-down” look which press gags?”
all successful press agents must wear. “ No, Gil, on the level. She’s traveled
“ Hi, G il!” he hailed, from far enough with Buzz Reynolds’ Flying Circus.”
away so that gawkers and potential “ Then I ’ve seen her make some of her
clients at other tables might see on what jumps,” said Gil. “ She’s all right. Bring
close and familiar terms his friendship her over. What are you waiting for?”
for America’s Number One Playboy Wilbur hadn’t played out his hand.
existed. “ Well, just this, Gil. Miss Fenimore’s
It was now time to throw a bouquet trying to break into movies. I realize
of recognition in the direction of Gil’s this is asking a good deal but you know
dinner partner. how much it means to have a picture
“ Hi, Miss Delano! You look radiant taken with you. Would you mind?”
tonight. Really chicl But I suppose He gave a sidewise glance of appre­
Mr. Benson’s already told you that!” hension at Ruth Delano who, as he sur­
“ He hasn’t, as a matter of fact,” said mised, was coming to a slow boil.
Ruth. “ You wouldn’t mind, would you,
“ Well, he probably hasn’t gotten Miss Delano? It’ll only take a minute.”
around to it yet,” said Wilbur. “ The M .G .M .’s new pin-up girl was toy­
evening’s still young.” ing, agitatedly, with her fork. “ Mind!
With these preliminaries out of the O f course I don’t m ind!” she steamed.
way, Wilbur launched a direct frontal “ It’s all up to Mr. Benson!”
attack. Gil gazed at Ruth in amusement, then
“ Say, Gil, I ’m going to ask you a ter­ turned back to Wilbur. “ I ’m sure Miss
rific favor. You see that red-head I ’ve Delano won’t object to giving a poor
been sitting with?” He pointed across girl a break,” he said. “ She was in the
the floor and saw Diana giving them same boat once herself. Call your red­
her big blue eyes. head ov er!”
Gil looked and was startled as she Hollywood’s greatest press agent
smiled and nodded. “ Who is she?” he could hardly conceal a look of triumph.
asked. “ Does she know me? Have I “ Thanks, Gil, old boy,” he said. “ I ’ll
met her?” get you a special news release for this
“ No, but she’s dying to meet you,” on anything you want. You, too, Miss
said Wilbur. “ In fact, she’ll be dead Delano, even though I don’t handle
any moment, if you don’t. She knows you.”
more about you than the Encyclopedia “ Be careful how you use w ords!”
Brittanica. She worships the air you snapped Ruth. “ I wouldn’t let you
fly in. Not bad to look at, is she? But handle me if you were the last press
she’s got more than looks. Would you agent on earth!”
 ALL ABOARD FOR THE MOON 19

“ Y ou’d love me if I were doing this means the picture, not you,” he hastily
for you,” said Wilbur. “ And some day, added. Then, turning quickly to Gil,
you’ll love me y e ti” he said: “ Mr. Benson— Miss Fenimore
He hurried back across the floor in . . . Miss Fenimore, Mr. Benson 1”
the direction of his booth, with the eyes America’s Number One Playboy
o f many curious diners upon him. stood up and took Diana’s hand. He
Diana’s blue eyes now confronted looked into her big blue eyes and found
him. it quite an experience.
“ W ell?” they asked. If Ruth was boiling before, she was
“ It’s all fixed,” said Wilbur. “ Gil’s sizzling now.
interested. H e’s seen you jump. Baby, “ M r. Benson,” said Diana, as though
if this works out, you’ll be off to the his dinner companion no longer existed.
races— and I don’t mean Agua Cali- “ This is truly the greatest moment of
ente! Come on, Gil Benson’s waiting!” my life. I ’ve followed everything you’ve
He helped a trembling Diana to her done in aviation— and when Mr. W il­
feet. liams told me he knew you . . . well,
“ G osh!” said Diana, “ I feel more I just couldn’t wait . . . I just had to
nervous right now than I do before a get this chance to tell you how much
jump. I wonder what’s the matter?” I admire. . . 1”
“ It’s stage fright,” said Wilbur. Ruth was seized with a sudden cough­
“ That proves you’re an actress! Take ing fit. She pressed a napkin against
my arm, Gorgeous! W e’re going her lips.
places!” “ Did you choke on something, 1
He waltzed her between the tables. hope?” asked Diana.
“ Go right ahead,” invited Ruth, with
IL BENSON, watching, said to tiny icicles in her voice. “ D on’t mind
Ruth: “ I get a kick out of that m e!”
guy. He’ll spend more time trying to Gil Benson was unperturbed. “ Sit
put across an unknown than he will on down,” he said and they all slid into
his own business. You have to have a the half-moon, leather-cushioned seat.
heart of gold to do that . . .” “ You were saying . . . ?” he prompt­
“ Or a girl who has sex appeal,” said ed. smiling at Diana.
Ruth, eyeing Diana. Her blue eyes sparkled.
Wilbur was approaching their booth “ . . . how much I admired you,” she
with his red-head. said, “ for the risks you’ve taken devel­
“ Miss Delano,” he said, “ I ’d like you oping those new model planes. I heard
to meet a little lady who, I think, has you talk on the H obby Lobby program
got what it takes— Miss Diana Feni- when you said the day of space travel­
more.” ing was almost here. You really believe
The two women eyed each other and that, don’t you, Mr. Benson?”
neither one came off second best. “ I certainly do,” said Gil.
“ What does it take to parachute “ So do I,” said Diana, with vibrant
jump?” said Ruth. “ I’ve often won­ enthusiasm. “ I just hope I live to see
dered.” it.”
“ I saw your last picture,” said Diana. Gil smiled. “ You will,” he said.
“ I wouldn’t kid you, Miss Delano— it Ruth laughed. “ You two should
wasn’ t so hot.” write for the comic strips 1”
Wilbur squeezed her arm. “ She “ Gil, old man,” cut in Hollywood’s
20 AMAZING STORIES

greatest press agent, “ I know you’re here!” she commanded.

busy and we don’t want to take up much America’s Number One Bachelor
o f your time— but would you let me held out his hand. “ When am I going
call the camera girl over and get a shot to see you again?” he asked.
of you and Miss Fenimore together? “ N ev er!" said Diana.
It would mean a lot to this little lady.” “ How about this week-end?” said
Diana’s face took on the color of her Gil. “ I ’ve got a ranch in Arizona.”
hair. “ No, no, please, Mr. Williams!” He took out a printed card with the
she protested. state map on it and circled a spot with
“ That’s all right, Baby,” reassured his pencil, handing it to her. “ That’s
Wilbur. “ These things are done'all the my location. Since you’re a parachute
time in Hollywood.” He snapped his jumper, why don’t you drop in on me
fingers and motioned to the roving some time?”
photographer. “ And break your neck!” said Ruth.
“ Mr. Benson,” said Diana, “ I hope Diana gave M .G .M .’s pin-up girl the
you don’t think . . . I want to make eye. “ You should drop dead, your­
good in Hollywood all right . . . but self ! ” she said.
that wasn’t the reason I was anxious to “ Gil, I hope you don’t blame me for
meet you.” this.” apologized Wilbur.. “ I ’m just an
Ruth coughed lightly. “ Of course innocent bystander.”
not, dear— we understand!” Gil Benson laughed. “ This has been
very enjoyable. I wanted to see you
' y H E woman photographer was at anyway. I ’m about ready to break the
their booth. biggest story of my life. You’ll have
“ Okay, Girlie,” said Wilbur. “ I to come to the ranch to get the dope.”
want a couple of shots of Mr. Benson “ That’s swell,” said Wilbur. “ I
here, seated looking into Miss Feni- could stand a few days away from
more’s eyes. You know, the usual cozy Hollywood.”
two-some! ” “ Good! ” said Gil. “ I ’ll fly you to the
The photographer leveled her cam­ ranch this week-end.”
era. “ Not me, you won’t ! ” said Wilbur.
Diana stood up. Her face was flam­ “ I ’m taking the train. I ’m too close to
ing. “ Stop it !” she cried. “ I won’t the stars as it is !” He turned to Diana.
have it! Don’t you dare take my pic­ “ Come on, Miss Fenimore. You’ve
ture . . . don’t you dare!” given me a delightful headache!”
The woman photographer lowered
her camera, uncertainly, while an au­ CHAPTER III
dience of diners looked on.
“ Well, well,” said Ruth, “ quite an ^ “IIL BENSON’S ranch was one of
actress! ” the show-places of Arizona. It
“ I mean it!-” Diana insisted. “ I ’m comprised ten thousand acres. Its great
sorry, Mr. Benson. I ’m terribly sorry!” stone ranch house, with wide veranda
Hollywood’s greatest press agent was and mammoth fireplace, could house
flabbergasted. thirty guests at one time. It had been
“ Take it e a s y , Baby,” he said. built on the brow of a mountain over­
“ Y ou’re kicking yourself in the fa ce!” looking a vast expanse of Arizona foot­
Diana pushed past Gil Benson and hills and desert. Gil Benson raised
grabbed Wilbur’s arm. “ Get me out of prize cattle and horses but, in the last
 ALL ABOARD FOR THE MOON 21

five years, something new had been known you were this far off from any­
added. where, I ’d never have come. I began
Beyond the sight of his ranch house feeling lonely a hundred miles away
and on a level, high plateau, some mod­ and now I ’m actually homesick for dear
ern buildings had gone up. They old Hollywood 1”
h o u s e d newly-designed, mysterious “ Most everyone feels that way when
machinery and a research laboratory. they'first get here,” laughed Gil. He
Half a mile from this stretched row was dressed in usual cowboy style, with
upon row of Quonset huts. In these brimmed hat, bright red shirt, open at
simple dwellings lived skilled workmen the neck; and riding pants. “ But you’ll
and their families, brought to Benson- soon get over it.”
Bar Ranch to work on this secret proj­ “ Not me,” said Wilbur. “ I can’t
ect. There now existed a colony of stand being alone. I ’ve got to be with
over two hundred employees who sel­ people.”
dom left the premises and who were “ I ’m people,” said Gil.
pledged not to speak of their activities “ You’re not enough people,” said
to the outside world. Wilbur. “ And this air out here is too
Rapidly nearing completion was a fresh. It hurts me to breathe it.”
new and odd-shaped building which re­ The station-wagon w a s bouncing
sembled a skyscraper. It was twenty along at fifty miles an hour over the
stories high, built against a steep rock rough desert road.
incline. “ And another thing,” complained
Gil Benson’s ranch was not on any Wilbur. “ I told you I didn’t like fly­
regular air routes and few planes passed ing!” His bag banged around in the
over this area. The private enterprise back and he banged around on the seat.
was fenced off from the rest of his “ I ’m afraid you’re trying to get even
ranch and carefully guarded. Visitors with me.”
might express curiosity but they were “ For what?” asked Gil.
not enlightened beyond the statement “ For introducing you to that red­
that Gil was experimenting with some head,” said Wilbur. “ That was a great
new principles in aviation. Even his mistake and I admit it.”
closest friends could not pry from him Gil dodged a boulder and the car
any specific details. Jerry Torrence, almost left the road. “ How is Miss
Gil’s chief engineer in charge of opera­ Fenimore?” he asked.
tions, was hard-boiled and dependable. “ I hope she’s left Hollywood,” said
The project, now in its final stages, Wilbur. “ I gave her hell. Told her
had run into millions of dollars which to go back to her stunt flying. Can you
Gil had taken from the oil wells, left imagine a dame not wanting to have her
him by his father. All supplies and picture taken with you?”
equipment had been brought to the “ It was quite a novelty. She inter­
ranch by truck from the nearest spur ested me. I hope I see her again.”
railroad, forty miles away. Wilbur almost fell off the seat. “ Cut
It was at this end-of-the-line junction it out, Gil! I can’t take any more! ”
that Hollywood’s greatest press agent “ I ’m not kidding. I mean it! That
arrived, late this Friday afternoon, to girl really had something.”
find his client waiting for him in a sta-
tioii-wagon.
“ Ye gods!” said Wilbur. “ If I ’d
H Oagent
LLYW O O D ’S
groaned.
g r e a t e s t press
“ You tell me that
22 AMAZING STORIES

now. After I ’ve returned her money The figure, growing larger each fraction
to her and told her to get out o f my life. of a second, was falling about a quarter
I guess I must be slipping.” of a mile across the desert.
They were nearing the Benson-Bar “ It’s suicide!” said Wilbur, cover­
Ranch. It had taken a little less than ing his face with his hands. “ I can’t
an hour which was considerably below look !”
par for this highway. As they ap­ “ Pull that rip-cord, you damn fo o l!”
proached the winding mountain road, Gil shouted.
leading up to ranch house, visible above, Almost as he yelled there was the
their attention was called to a low-flying pistol-cracking report of a parachute
plane which was circling around. Gil blossoming out. The figure, clad in
Benson slowed his car and peered out. a blue jumping suit, was jerked to an
“ Wonder who that is?” he said. upright position and swung crazily like
“ I ’ve got the only planes around here a trapeze artist in the sky, at an alti­
and nobody’s supposed to be up.” He tude well under a thousand feet.
stopped his car and got out to watch Wilbur took his hands from his eyes.
the plane’s maneuvers. “ No, it’s no “ Gil,” he said, “ do you suppose. . . ? ”
plane of mine. That’s a four passenger “ That’s who it is !” exclaimed Gil
Stinson. I don’t like that. Someone’s Benson. “ It’s your red-head! Well,
snooping around.” I ’m a son-of-a-gunl She accepted my
Wilbur slid out of the station-wagon invitation!"
on his side and stared skyward.
“ What’s the matter? You got some­ ^ M E R I C A ’S Number One Bachelor
thing out here you don’t want people to *" started running across the desert
see?” toward the spot where the parachute
“ Y ou’re exactly right,” said Gil. “ Not jumper seemed destined to land. He
till I ’m ready. That’s why I brought was followed by the short-legged W il­
you out here— to show you.” bur whose street clothes and shoes were
The plane, after twice circling the hardly a match for the rough terrain.
mountain top, as though making sure They got’ within half a city block of
of its bearings, was now climbing for the chutist when she landed, kicking
altitude. and wrestling with the parachute har­
“ The nerve of that g u y!” raged Gil. ness in an attempt to avoid hitting a
“ I ’ll have to check that plane— see who mammoth cactus plant. There was not
it is I” quite enough altitude left to miss it and
Wilbur looked worried. “ M y gosh, she sprawled on top with the parachute
Gil— what are you making out here— settling over her like a collapsed um­
atom bombs?’’ brella.
“ You’ll see in a few minutes!” “ Hey, Diana! Miss Fenimore!” cried
The Stinson, at about three thousand Wilbur. “ Hang onl W e’re com ing!”
feet, suddenly banked sharply. Its Hollywood’s greatest press agent
cabin door on the earthward side open­ stubbed his toe and made a landing of
ed and out shot a figure which plum­ his own, tearing the knees out of both
meted downward, turning end over end. trouser legs.
“ M y G o d !” cried Gil. “ Look at Gil Benson arrived on the scene and
that!” circled the large cactus.
The plane, having discharged its hu­ “ Greetings to Benson-Bar Ranch,”
man cargo, gunned away to the west. he called. “ Are you all right?”
 ALL ABOARD FOR THE MOON 23

“ Yes,” said a somewhat irritated Guest Room in the ranch house of

voice from beneath the parachute, “ but America’s Number One bachelor. She
I ’m slightly uncomfortable. Get me needed only a few minutes to slip out
down out of here!” of her flying togs and emerge in a stun­
Gil reached up and grabbed the ning pair of green and gold slacks.
silken folds of the parachute, pulling When she reappeared all freshed up,
them off the jumper. Diana was en­ with red hair and blue eyes aglow, she
tangled in the harness which, in turn, evoked whistles from all the wolves on
was caught in the cactus. the ranch.
Gil Benson braced himself, gave a “ Y ou ’re beautiful, Baby,” said W il­
strong tug and she came down into his bur. “ Or have I told you that before?”
arms. He set her on her feet and Diana smiled. “ You are very funny,
helped her slip out of the chute. She Mr. Williams. But— maybe I ’ve told
looked up at him with her big blue eyes. you that before!”
“ You asked me to drop in some “ Well, let’s skip the whole thing,”
time,” she said. said Wilbur. Then he eyed her again.
Gil laughed, “ I sure did,” he replied, “ But you’re beautiful, just the same!”
“ and I ’m glad you’re here.” This apparently was not far from Gil
Wilbur came limping up. “ Ye gods, Benson’s opinion. He immediately ap­
Diana! You jump out of a plane and propriated Diana and left Wilbur trail­
I ’m the one who gets hurt. Look at ing along behind in a borrowed pair of
my knees! You owe me a new pair of pants which would have been four
pants! ” inches too long had he not turned up the
Diana removed her helmet and shook cuffs.
out her red hair. “ There was quite a Gil took them out past the other
wind at two thousand feet,” she said. ranch buildings to a waiting jeep. He
“ I wanted to get down through it before helped Diana in beside him and pushed
I opened up. That wasn’t a very good Wilbur in the back seat.
jump.” “ This isn’t a disguised airplane, is
Gil Benson had rolled up the chute it?” asked Wilbur. “ I ’m suspicious of
and put it under his arm. “ It was a pip, you, Gil. Where are you taking us?”
for my money,” he said. “ And to show “ Just about half a mile. Get ready
my admiration for your nerve, I ’m go­ for a shock!”
ing to let you in on the secret project Hollywood’s greatest publicity agent
of my life. There’s not a soul knows moaned. “ Listen, Gil, I ’m not an ex­
about it but the gang on my ranch.” plorer. I ’m a writer. I don’t know
Diana smiled. “ I ’m all eyes.” what you’re up to but I want no part in
Gil Benson looked at her. “ You can it. You just tell me about it and I ’ll
say that again! ” fix up a story. But, please, include me
They started toward the car, with ou t!”
Wilbur bringing up the rear, as best he Gil laughed, as he spun around a rim
could. of the mountain onto a smooth plateau,
“ I should have stayed in H ollywood,” high above the desert.
he said, “ where everything’s phony. “ I can’t describe the thing,” he said.
I ’m not strong enough to face real life!” “ There’s never been anything like it on
earth. Y ou’ve got to see it !”
V y i L B U R W ILLIA M S’ red-head Wilbur gave a helpless gesture and
r was assigned the Number One subsided.
24 AMAZING STORIES

Diana’s red hair was blowing in the with awe and astonishment to speak.
breeze. She looked very much the out­ “ That’s my Manhattan Propect,” Gil
door girl. announced. “ M y closely guarded secret
Gil Benson drove past long, low — the dream of a life-time, about to
buildings where men were busy at work. come true.”
They hailed him cordially as he went “ A space rock et!” cried Diana. “ Oh,
by and many watched the jeep out of Gil— I mean, Mr. Benson— I think
sight. that’s wonderful! Stupendous! There
“ I ’ve got a great gang here,” said Gil. just aren’t any words for it !”
“ There’s not a man who wouldn’t darn Wilbur cleared his throat. “ There’s
near give his life for m e!” words for it all right! About a billion
“ You’ve got a girl in the front seat,” o f ’em 1 This should be the world’s big­
said Wilbur, “ who darn near gave gest news story! Where are you going to
hers!" shoot this thing?”
Diana laughed. “ A little jump like “ To the moon!” said Gil.
that was nothing. You should try it Hollywood’s greatest press agent was
some time. It’s good for your nerves.” getting more and more excited. “ Boy, I
“ No, thanks,” said Wilbur. “ I ’ll take can think of a million gags! . . . All
pheno-barbital.” aboard for the moon! . . . Week-end
They had now come into view of the excursions in space! . . . Buy your
towering wood structure erected against round-trip tickets now! . . . Get a
the mountain side. Two burly men load of green cheese! . . . Visit the
stood guard at the locked door. man in the moon! . . . Brother, this
“ Howdy, Mr. Benson,” they greeted, is a super-terrific-colossal-natural!”
almost in chorus, eyeing Diana and Wil­ Gil Benson laughed. “ I thought you’d
bur. go for this. What do you say we climb
“ Open up, boys,” said Gil. “ I ’m tak­ up this scaffolding and step-inside?”
ing in my first visitors.” “ Oh, can we, Mr. Benson?” said
“ O kay!” Diana. “ I ’d love to !”
The tallest of the two guards pro­ Gil led the way. They mounted a
duced a key ring and inserted one key circular staircase, built around the
in the lock. The door swung open. Gil mammoth rocket, which was painted
motioned for Diana and Wilbur to step black on one side with a glittering mir­
inside. It was dark and cavernous. ror-like surface on the other.
The door closed behind them as they “ Looks like a huge penguin,” said
both tried to accustom their eyes to the Wilbur. “ What’s the idea of the two
vast shadows. colors?”
“ D on’t be so mysterious,” said Wil­ “ Black absorbs heat and this mir­
bur. “ Give us some light!” rored surface deflects it,” Gil explained.
Gil reached for the light switch. “ The sun would burn us up if we didn’t
“ All right, you two— here it is !” turn our mirrored surface toward it part -
of the time. When we want heat, we
large interior was suddenly roll over on the black side. In this way,
flooded with illumination. Looming we control the ship’s temperature.”
in front of them was a gigantic, unend­ “ Very fascinating,” said Wilbur.
ed, projectile-shaped metal body which “ But where do you get this ‘we’ stuff?
pointed toward the heavens. Wilbur and This isn’t a man-carrying rocket, is it?”
Diana stared up and about, too petrified Gil laughed. “ Of course it is !”
 ALL ABOARD FOR THE MOON 25

“ You mean . . . now hold on, Gil tanks.”

. . . you don’t really . . . are you “ I ’m getting dizzy,” said Wilbur,
actually going up in that thing?” “ and it’s not the altitude.” Then a
“ Certainly 1 . . . That’s the whole thought struck him. “ H oly sm oke!" he
idea! And two o f my men have volun­ exclaimed. “ D o you realize . . . of
teered to go with me. That’s why I course you do . . . then you’ ve de­
designed and built it.” veloped atomic power— that same en­
Wilbur gasped. “ Well, this beats me ergy can run ships and trains and ma­
. . . I can’t believe it. Y ou ’ve prob­ chinery— everything! . . . Y e g o d s ,
ably made this rocket of papier-mache G il! Y ou’re spoofing me! This can’t be
or chewing gum wrappers! It’s an ad­ true! This story’s too big for me! It’s
vertising stunt! If you’re really serious, too big for the world! W hy, this is
Gil, this is the most spectacular way to what all science has been aiming a t!”
commit suicide ever invented I” “ I know,” said Gil, quietly, “ and the
“ I don’t think so at all,” said Diana.day we take off for the moon, Professor
“ W hy, a hundred years from now we Crowley and I will make known our
won’t think anything of traveling to process for transforming gasoline into
Mars or Venus or some other planet. energy to the United States govern­
The moon will just be a local stop !” ment.”
They were still climbing. They had reached an elevation near
“ The earth is m y local stop,” said the great nose of the rocket. Gil led
Wilbur. “ How far is the moon, any­ them across a catwalk and flung open
w ay?” a tungsten steel door. They stepped
“ About t w o hundred thirty-nine into a rather spacious circular cabin
thousand miles,” said Gil. which contained bunks for sleeping
Wilbur grabbed hold of the slender built into the walls and soft, reclining
railing and looked down. “ Brother, I ’m seats, firmly fastened to the floor.
close enough to the moon right now! A passageway in the rear o f the cabin
How long do you expect it’ll take to get led to other compartments: a small
there— if you make it?” laboratory, a photographic room and a
Bil smiled. “ Not more than twelve machine shop on one side; and a galley
hours.” and store-room on the other. Behind
these living and working quarters were
T ^ IA N A ’S blue eyes expanded. “ Why the various units necessary for operat­
Mr. Benson— do you mean it?” ing radar, television, radio, air-condi­
Gil nodded. “ I ’ve had Professor tioning, production of oxygen and
Crowley working with me. H e’s an rocket power, all of which were con­
atomic scientist. W e’ve solved the trolled through a great instrument
problem of fuel. Get this, Wilbur— it’s board set up in the forward part of the
the biggest feature of the space rocket cabin.
story. W e’ve found how to extract the “ Say, this is all right,” said Wilbur,
energy from a pound of gasoline! We looking around. “ Just like being in a
can create enormous power— enough to state room on board ship. But what’s
escape easily the earth’s gravitational up and what’s down in this thing?”
pull. That’s why this rocket only needs Gil laughed. “ That’s a problem,” he
to be two hundred feet long. It could said. “ W e’ll have to adjust ourselves in
have been even shorter. Very little of its relation to the position of the rocket at
capacity has to be taken up with fuel different stages of the trip.”
26 AMAZING STORIES

T A IA N A looked up at the glass dome person will need about a gallon of water
of the cabin. per day. If all goes well, I don’t ex­
“ What peculiar looking glass,” she pect to stay on the moon more than two
said. “ It ought to give you wonderful weeks, the first trip.”
visibility.” “ Listen to that guy,” said Wilbur.
“ It will,” said Gil, “ but it’s not glass “ He'sounds like a commuter already!”
— it’s a new kind of transparent plastic “ There won’t be anything to it in a
which resists heat. There’s going to be few years,” predicted Gil. “ I just want
considerable danger out in space from to get the thrill of being the first one
ultra-violet and shorter radiations from there!”
the sun. This plastic is practically “ Well, Brother, you’re welcome to
opaque to the ultra-violet without im­ it! The only thrill I want is writing
peding the necessary light. Of course, this up and saying I knew him when—
we’re apt to run into meteorites which and I F !”
would come crashing through, but then Diana’s attention was drawn to the
— they would pierce the metal walls of large instrument board on the forward
the rocket almost as easily— and this is wall of the cabin, containing a bewilder­
a chance we’ll have to take.” ing array of buttons, levers and gauges.
“ It’s tremendously exciting!" said She walked over to it.
Diana. “ Gosh,” she said, “ this looks more
“ Exciting!” said Wilbur. “ Don’t tell complicated than the gadgets on a Con­
me any more. I ’m scared to death.” stellation!”
“ I want to know all about it,” said Gil Benson came over to her as she
Diana. “ Of course you have to be sealed placed her hand on a lever.
up in this thing. How do you breathe?” “ What’s this?” she asked.
“ W e’ll maintain an atmosphere of “ That, young lady,” said Gil, “ hap­
helium-oxygen,” said Gil. pens to be the starting lever. When this
“ That’s fine,” objected Wilbur, “ but ship is set to go, all I have to do is
let’s say you get to the moon and want pull this lever down, the atomic power
to step out and look around. What process begins— and we take off. It’s
then?” so regulated that a shifting of this lever
For answer, Gil Benson led them into controls the speed. Fortunately, this
the store-room small pantry alcove and power enables us to go as slowly as we
pointed to three large strange looking, desire, or as fast. You know, the fric­
full length heavy metal suits, some­ tion of the air is so great that we could
what resembling a diver’s outfit. easily burn up like a meteor if we tore
“ These space suits will do the trick,” through our atmosphere at too high a
he declared. “ They contain a device speed. We only have to go seven miles
for supplying oxygen and even a minia­ a second to get beyond the gravitational
ture walkie-talkie.” pull of the earth.”
Hollywood’s greatest press agent Wilbur did some figuring with a pen­
shook his head. cil on the back of an envelope. “ Only
“ You seem to have thought of every­ seven miles a second,” he said. “ That’s
thing, all right— but how about food four hundred and twenty miles a min­
and water?” ute— twenty-five thousand) two hun­
“ W e’ll have to take that with us,” dred miles an hour! Let me out of here.
said Gil. “ Most of the foodstuffs can I can’t stand it!”
be dehydrated. I estimate that each “ Oh, yes you could!” said Gil. “ The
 ALL ABOARD FOR THE M OON 27

human body can stand any speed. Per­ good leading man like Van Johnson.
haps you don’t know it— but this earth I ’m tired holding up these newcomers!”
is traveling around the sun at a rate of The arrival of the studio mailman
twenty miles a second— this very min­ with a stack of fan mail did much to
ute— and we don’t even feel it! But sooth Ruth’s temper. She thumbed
what does affect us is a sudden change through the odd-sized envelopes. A
of speed. If an airplane pilot pulls out large and distinguished appearing one,
of a dive or makes a sharp turn, he’s bearing the name “ Benson-Bar Ranch,”
apt to ‘black out.’ And because we’ll caught her attention. She slit it open
have to leave the earth at a constantly and took out a handsomely engraved
increasing speed, the first ten minutes card. She shrieked at what she read.
after our take-off are going to be tough.
But once our top speed is established, G IL BENSON
we should be all right.” * Cordially Invites You
Wilbur shook his head. T o Attend
“ I still want out of here,” he said. A FAR EW ELL B U FFET SUPPER
“ M y body’s affected right n ow !” To Be Held At Benson-Bar Ranch
Gil motioned toward the door. Next Monday
“ Well, you’ve got the main points of On the Occasion of His Departure
the story, anyway.” by Rocket
“ I ’ve got so much my brain is con­ TO T H E M OO N !
gested,” said Wilbur. “ How soon do Arrangements have been made for your
you want to break this story?” conveyance to the Ranch by plane—
Gil smiled as they started their de­ from New York, Chicago or
scent of the scaffolding. Los Angeles
“ Not till I send out my invitations,” Supper at 6 P.M. with
he said. Take-off Scheduled at Midnight
" I n v i t a t i o n s l ” repeated Wilbur. DRESS O PTIO N AL
“ What are they for?” R.S.V.P.
Gil stopped and looked up the stair­
case at Diana and Wilbur who were “ Oh, n o !” screamed Ruth. “ He
following him. must be kidding! As well as I know Gil
“ For my take-off,” he said. “ I ’m
• F o r those that are interested in the technical
throwing a big party and I want you to
aspects o f rocketry a w o rd o f explanation here,
help with arrangements!” may clarify M r. Sherman’s statements, exactly.
The “ seven miles per second” refers to the velocity
required to eject any object, molecule or rocket,
CHAPTER IV
from the Earth’s surface assuming that that object
is given one initial impulse. I f a gun o f some sort
D U TH DELAN O came off the set at were to hurl a projectile upward, the projectile
1 V M .G .M . after finishing a scene in leaving the gun-muzzle with a velocity o f seven
miles per second, it (the projectile) w ould leave
her new picture: “ To Have But Not the Earth. But in a rocket with a self-contained
T o Hold.” She was in a bad mood. pow er system capable o f being easily turned on
Her leading man had flubbed some lines and off, no specific velocity is necessary. The
rocket could take o ff with any speed its operators
and she had been compelled to repeat chose, even as slow ly as one fo o t per second, and
the scene five times before a take. still leave the Earth. Actually such a rocket w ould
“ I don’t know why I always have to use the greatest speed consistent with the distance
to be covered. In addition, low acceleration, to
get such rotten support,” she said. “ It’s avoid injuring the occupants o f the rocket, w ould
about time they were giving me some be required.— E d.
28 AMAZING STORIES

Benson, he never mentioned . . . yes, “ Miss Fenim ore!’’ raged Ruth.

he did, too . . . but I didn’t believe “ This is Miss Delanol . . . If Miss
him! . . . That night in Sardi’s !” Fenimore is on M r. Benson’s line, get
“ What are you raving about?” de­ her off! What’s she mean— holding up
manded Director Don Stevens. the wire this w ay !”
“ Gil Benson!” shouted Ruth, so that “ I ’m sorry, Miss Delano,” said the
all could hear. She waved the engraved operator, “ the line is still bu sy!”
card. "T he damn fool’s going by rocket Ruth Delano slammed up the re­
to the m oon!’’ ceiver, then threw the phone across her
The announcement created a sensa­ dressing room.
tion which was increased when the
studio doorman came in with a news­ AS GIL BENSON had carefully
paper extra. He spread out the paper planned and surmised, the world
for all to see. M .G .M .’s pin-up girl reaction to his announced rocket flight
took a look and let out another scream. to the moon was nothing short of ter­
A copyrighted, exclusive feature article rific. His list of engraved invitations
by— of all persons— that little squirt of numbered a thousand. He was imme­
a publicity agent, “ Wee Willie Wilbur” ! diately besieged, yes— swamped, inun­
“ O h !” cried Ruth. “ This is too dated, submerged by requests from
much! The idea of Gil letting that thousands of others to be permitted to
brassy Wilbur get a break like this! witness this greatest astronomic adven­
W hy didn’t he let me in on this secret? ture in all earth history.
I was just out with him last night!” Gil’s small office staff at the Benson-
She broke away from the excited actors Bar Ranch had to be reinforced. For­
and crew and ran to her dressing room. eign governments made strong repre­
“ Just wait till I get hold of that g u y!” sentations to be allowed to have ob­
she cried. “ Just w ait!” servers present. The F.B.I. immedi­
She grabbed up the telephone. Gil’s ately moved in to protect the Benson-
line at the Beverly Hills was busy. It Bar Ranch against invasion by secret
continued to be busy. Finally Ruth, agents and saboteurs who might wish
exasperated, got the hotel manager on to steal or destroy much of world value
the wire. contained in laboratory, plant and
“ I ’m Ruth Delano,” she identified. rocket.
“ I ’m a very special friend of Mr. Ben­ Gil Benson may have intended this
son’s. I know he probably has lots of project as a private enterprise but its
people trying to reach him this morning scientific importance was too great for
— but I ’ve got to get a call through to it to be kept in this category. Despite
him.” the remoteness of Gil’s location in the
“ I ’ll see what I can do, Miss Delano,” Arizona desert, hundreds of humans
said the hotel manager. “ Hold on ! ” sought to reach his Benson-Bar Ranch
Ruth held on . . . and on . . . and by every means possible and see and
on. She jiggled the connection violent­ learn what they could. It became neces­
ly. The operator at the Beverly Hills sary for the Governor of Arizona to
came on the wire. dispatch a detachment of state militia
“ Get me Gil Benson,” Ruth de­ to draw a cordon around Gil’s ten-
manded. thousand acres and to challenge every
“ I ’m sorry, Miss Fenimore,” said the unwelcome and uninvited visitor.
operator. “ Were you disconnected?” Newspapermen and photographers
 ALL ABOARD FOR THE MOON 29

tried every trick in their experience and “ Would you go with him if he gave
a few new ones, to get on the premises, you a chance?” asked another inter­
but Gil Benson had decreed that no one viewer.
would be permitted to take pictures or “ I should say n o t!” rejoined Ruth.
get information beyond the details giv­ “ D o you think I ’m crazy?”
en out in his official, authorized news The newspapermen laughed.
release, until the night of departure. “ W ho’s this red-head Benson’s been
Wilbur Williams, Gil Benson’s press seen with lately?” fired one of them.
representative, thus became the most “ D o you know her?”
sought after and most important man, Ruth Delano stiffened. “ Has he been
next to his client, in America. He had out with her?” she asked.
to close his office and go into hiding. “ Oh, so you do know her?” shot
He couldn’t even stay in his own another reporter. “ Well, maybe you
apartment. can give us a line on her. We saw them
“ This is hell,” he said, “ but I love at Ciro’s a couple of nights before this
it !” moon story broke and the lady wouldn’t
Ruth Delano, M .G .M .’s pin-up sen­ give out her name or permit any pic­
sation, was going slightly mad herself. tures. She’s a mystery dame.”
Gil Benson had left his Beverly Hills Ruth Delano was furious.
suite and gone into seclusion. The pa­ “ And as far as I ’m concerned,” she
pers had reported that he was under blazed, “ she’s going to remain a mys­
heavy guard for fear he would be kid­ tery. I know nothing about the lady in
napped or attempts made by crackpots question. And, if I did, I wouldn’t tell
and foreign agents on his life. The fact y o u !”
that his announced trip to the moon “ Thanks, Miss Delano. Y ou ’re very
was now only two days away and that kind,” said a reporter. “ W e know we
this event was causing such a tremen­ can always count on you to give us the
dous stir in governmental and scientific low-down.”
circles, let alone the spell-binding effect
on the public mind, had made it impos­ /^AN SU NDAY morning, one day be­
sible for most of Gil’s friends to reach fore Gil Benson’s projected trip to
him in person. the moon, the Hearst papers came out
Reporters, however, had trailed Ruth with an entire section devoted to his
Delano, as they had every glamour girl life story. His dare-devil experiments
Gil had been known to be interested in, and achievements were d e p ic te d ,
with the hope that he would be seeking topped off by the current rocket ven­
one or more of them out and could thus ture— but the most colorful emphasis
be caught and interviewed. was placed upon Gil’s widely varied ro­
“ I know that Gil Benson, if he were mantic interests.
free to do so, would be getting in touch Under the caption: “ The Big Ten in
with me,” Ruth told newspaper men. Gil Benson’s Life,” the paper published
“ Have you accepted his invitation to ten photographs of ten different glam­
see him off to the m oon?” asked a re­ our girls with whom America’s Number
porter. One Bachelor and Playboy had night-
“ I certainly have,” said Ruth, “ but I clubbed.
don’t mind telling the world that I love The question was asked:
Gil and I ’m going to try to dissuade " I j Gil Benson reaches his desti­
him from taking such a risk.” nation and becomes the first real
30 AMAZING STORIES

man in the moon— which oj these Hollywood’s greatest press agent was
Beauties will he choose to live with everywhere in evidence. In other words,
him in Lunar-Land?” he was all over the place. He had to be.
When Ruth Delano saw this story, Gil Benson had depended upon him to
she was pleased to note that her pic­ do the major planning for the event, to
ture was given Number One Position— act as official greeter in welcoming this
and the red-head was nowhere in evi­ excited mob of celebrities, scientists,
dence! government officials and others of un­
Early in the afternoon of the event­ classified importance, in addition to be­
ful day, the first influx of distinguished ing master of ceremonies at the unveil­
engraved card holders and especially ing of the rocket itself.
permitted gate-crashers began arriving “ This is a publicity man’s dream!”
by plane and train and bus and car said Wilbur. “ After this is over, my
at the Benson-Bar Ranch. They were reputation won’t be restricted to Holly­
passed through tightly drawn lines of wood. I ’ll be the world’ s greatest press
state militia-men who examined all cre­ agent! ”
dentials and turned back numerous im­ This afternoon Wilbur Williams was
posters. enjoying his authority. His client had
The desert, round about, was teem­ told him to “ shoot the works” in lining
ing with activity and filled with more up entertainment and stunts which
humans than had ever been within would amuse and beguile this thrill-ex­
miles of this area before. Coming in pectant crowd. He was required to be
by air, many of the curious visitors a diplomat in the handling of various
could glimpse the rocket assembly plant personalities and temperaments, but
and a mammoth canvas covering which his Hollywood training enabled him to
concealed the space ship. They could carry off this function with ease. He
also see signs of something being done could say “ yes” and “ no” at the same
in the open level stretches around this time and mean both. And, if he didn’t
apparent launching site. But, once ar­ mean either, no one could tell the dif­
riving, all comers were carefully shep­ ference until it was too late.
herded to the big ranch house and kept
without the great fenced enclosure. ^“JIL BENSON’S gla m ou r girl
Those who had come early with the friends, as they began arriving,
hope of gaining special favor were gave evidence that each, in her way, had
forced to spend their time playing mini­ sought, through some ingenious design
ature golf, taking a swim in the pool, or quirk of evening dress attire or use
walking about the grounds or sitting on of jewelry or hair-dress to carry out and
the wide veranda overlooking the Ari­ express the moon motif. Then they
zona desert. stood off and jealously compared their
Arrangements had been made with own appearance with that of each new
one of Hollywood’s most celebrated ca­ feminine arrival. This show and com­
terers and a large tent had been erected petition was worth coming miles to see,
near the ranch house from which the if only a minor prelude to the main
buffet supper was to be served. No event.
accommodations were provided for this M .G .M .’s pin-up sensation was the
great crowd over-night, it being taken last of the ten glamour girls to arrive.
for granted that there would be no sleep She had come by late afternoon plane
on such an unusual nocturnal occasion. from Los Angeles, in company with
 ALL ABOARD FOR THE M OON 31

other Hollywood stars. When she saw side of the big ranch house where long
“ Wee W illy Wilbur” greeting guests at tables had been set so that guests could
the entrance to the big ranch house, she find their own places after being served
hurried up to him, her white satin eve­ at the caterer’s tent.
ning gown sweeping the flagstones. She The sun was swiftly sliding beneath
was wearing diamond half-moon ear­ the rim of the western mountains as the
rings and a diamond crescent in her orchestra struck up its first selection
hair. and the diners commenced assembling.
Wilbur saw her coming and spoke Most o f them, entering into the spirit of
first. “ Well, Miss Delano,” he called. the occasion, were gaily wearing eve­
“ You certainly are a delectable looking ning dress. They were looking hopefully
dish 1” for some sign or sight of their host, the
Ruth extended her hand as a peace highly colorful, unpredictable, perhaps
offering and whispered in his ear: “ W il­ slightly insane, at least foolhardy Gil
bur, darling— I ’m depending on you to Benson. But he did not appear, much
get me to Gil Benson right aw ay!” to the particular wonderment and dis­
“ H ow’s that?” said Wilbur, turning tress of his lady friends.
his head. “ T ry the other ear.” Dusk came rushing over the land­
“ You heard what I said, you little scape and, with it, a small airplane
sn ob!” hissed Ruth. “ If you know which swooped low over the desert mul­
what’s good for you, you’ll do what I titude and suddenly flashed, on its un­
sa y !” der side, a bright, white half moon. The
“ Excuse me,” said Wilbur, stepping effect was startling and brought excla­
to one side. “ I think I see Eddie Rick- mations of pleased surprise.
enbacker coming.” “ Maybe that’s Gil Benson!” a guest
Ruth caught his arm. “ You can’t suggested.
brush me off this way. I ’ve got to see “ It could be,” said another. “ You
Gil. I ’ve simply got t o !” can’t tell what he’ll be doing next!”
“ H e’s very busy,” said Wilbur. “ He’s But Wilbur knew it wasn’t Benson or
not seeing anybody— not yet. Last any part o f his planned program. The
minute preparations and all that sort plane circled twice more at a low alti­
of thing!” tude, flashing its luminous moon on and
Ruth was beside herself and then off. Then it turned back to the airfield
some. “ All right, you blackmailer! I ’ll and came in for a landing.
let you handle my publicity. Now get Wilbur dispatched a ranch hand in a
to Mr. Benson!” jeep to see who had arrived. He re­
Wilbur grinned. “ I ’m not taking on turned, bringing a young woman in
any more accounts just at present. If evening dress on the seat beside him.
Mr. Benson gets to the moon, this is As she stepped down to the roadway
going to be a full time job. I ’m sorry, and advanced toward the diners, W il­
Sweetheart, you’re a little bit too late!” bur and all who saw her gasped their
Ruth stamped her foot and broke a instant admiration. The front of the
heel off her sandal. black velvet dress had a phosphorescent
glow which caused the design of a half
'L l AL SPECK and his orchestra, one moon and stars to stand out with stun­
o f Hollywood’s name bands, had ning effect. Flaming red hair fell loose­
been hired to furnish the supper music. ly and softly to the shoulders, banded
They were placed on the lawn by the by a single brilliant star at the fore­
32 AMAZING STORIES

head. Word of this gorgeous creature ■ y^ /T T H completion of the buffet sup­

was passed back to those beyond sight per, the tension of interest in Gil
of her and not a few left their tables to Benson’s moon rocket was rapidly ris­
get a close-up view. ing. Guests impatiently awaited trans­
“ Ye gods, Diana,” said Wilbur, when portation to the launching site, about a
he could get to her. “ What are you mile away on the high plateau on the
trying to do— break up this party?” other side of the mountain. A fleet of
“ I’m awfully sorry to be late,” Diana buses had been chartered for conveying
apologized. “ But there was a dress­ purposes, back and forth. They stood
makers’ strike in Hollywood. I almost lined up on the side of the private road,
didn’t get this dress finished in time.” near the ranch house. Wilbur Williams
“ Well, you’ve just about finished had added a fantastic touch by having
me,” said Wilbur. “ You’re beautiful, banners hung on each bus, with the
Baby. If I ’ve told you that before, I printed words:
say it again I”
Diana glanced quickly about her. She “ TO TH E MOON R O C K E T”
was conscious that she had captured the
attention of all, that she was being This carried the suggestion that each
“ oh’d” and “ ah’d” and “ who-is-she’d ?” visitor was going to make the trip, him­
“ Where’s G il?” she asked in a low self.
voice. At nine p.m. a fanfare of bugles an­
“ You can’t get to him,” said Wilbur, nounced that the moment had arrived
guardedly. “ He’s really installing some for the first bus load of spectators to
last minute equipment— the newest depart for the rocket launching site.
thing in radar loaned to him by the Lines quickly formed and there was
Army. H e’ll be lucky if he gets off on good-natured jostling to be in the first
time.” contingent.
Diana’s blue eyes looked troubled. The sight which met the eyes of all
“ That’s too bad,” she said. “ I was in as they came around the mountain and
hopes he had seen my grand and glori­ looked down upon the plateau, was
ous entrance!” unique on this earth.
“ Y ou’re not alone in that, Baby. Towering skyward, like a shadowy
There’s a lot of disappointed females spectre, its bright black and white nose
here tonight.” He nodded toward sev­ just protruding from its great canvas
eral, including Ruth Delano, seated two encasement, was the moon rocket. Its
tables away. “ I ’d keep away from two hundred foot length was resting,
those dames if I were you. They’ re in a semi-perpendicular position on a
apt to hate y ou !” sleek runway built against the natural
“ I must get to Gil, somehow,” said rock incline. Workmen, beneath, look­
Diana. “ I haven’t gone to all this trou­ ing like pygmies, were arranging the
ble for nothing.” guy ropes fastened to the canvas, pre­
Wilbur shrugged his shoulders. paratory to the unveiling.
“ Wish I could help you but no can do. In the great open space in front of
Let me get you a plate of supper. Better the rocket, an outdoor amphitheatre
get something on your stomach and Gil had been formed with rows of several
Benson off your mind.” thousand folding chairs set up in a
He piloted her toward the caterer’s large semi-circle. There was a speak­
tent, escorted by everyone’s eyes. er’s platform with railing and flag bunt-
 ALL ABOARD FOR THE MOON 33

ing at the base of the rocket and on the stars, but, presently, the rising moon
one side of this stage, Hal Speck’s or­ will appear over the mountain top and
chestra had been placed. Standing be­ very shortly after that moment arrives,
side the rocket was a great metallic you will witness the first take-off from
portable stairway, its circular incline this planet of a man-carrying rocket,
permitting workers and others access bound for earth’s one and only satellite
to any section of the space ship. The — two hundred thirty-eight thousand,
area was illumined by strings of over­ eight hundred fifty-seven miles away!
head lights and great Klieg lights, not “ We are only sorry that the several
yet turned on, were banked on each billion humans on this earth cannot be
side of the aerial monster, ready to re­ spectators with you tonight, but many
veal its every detail when the canvas millions will observe the take-off
shield should be dropped. through television, hear its description
The prevailing atmosphere of excite­ by radio and see the event pictured in
ment took on the nerve-tingling quality the newsreels. If Gil Benson and his
of a championship heavy-weight prize two courageous associates reach their
fight. Spectators to such events were destination and are able to return to
lured by the promise of thrills in man’s earth, they will bring back with them
elemental combat against man. But in information of staggering importance,
this case, interest was immensely not only to us now living but to those
heightened at thought of puny man’s yet unborn!
cosmic battle against the elements of “ The era of inter-planetary travel is
time and space! This was a feast, a just around the corner. Man has
carnival, a state fair, a Hollywood open­ dreamed for centuries of flying to the
ing, a sporting event, a launching and a moon. He first imagined that he mijght
new era exposition— all rolled into one! grow great birds to transport him there.
And Wilbur Williams’ imagination and Then he thought of attaching engines
press agent wizardry had been equal to to these birds to aid in such a journey.
the occasion. How could a good pub­ “ And when man saw that the morning
licity man, given carte blanche and an dew disappeared in the rays of the sun
unlimited bankroll, miss? and seemed to be drawn toward the
Wilbur had arranged a program de­ sky, he even dreamed up the idea of
signed to acquaint his select audience enormous bottles filled with dew— op­
with the nature and purposes of this erating, I suppose, on the theory that
first man-made attempt to escape the all a space traveler had to do was sit on
ball of earth and explore the universe. top of the bottle and he’d eventually be
With the crowd now fully assembled eating green cheese on the moon.”
and sitting in expectant wonder, Holly­ A thunder o f laughter rolled up in
wood’s greatest press agent, as master front of Wilbur.
of ceremonies, mounted the dais and, “ You laugh at this?” he continued.
following an arresting fanfare, with the “ Well, how would you like to try to go
spotlights turned on him, began to to the moon in an iron chariot made of
speak. lodestone, the magnetic properties of
which were calculated to be powerful
“ T ADIES and gentlemen of Tom or­ enough to draw you upward? . . . Still
row,” he said, his voice ringing rather primitive, you say? But give
out over the loud speaker system. Man a chance. He hadn’t been on earth
“ You are gathered here tonight under very long.
34 AMAZING STORIES

“ The first hot air balloons came late A second mighty fanfare brought a
in the Sixteenth Century. When a focusing of lights on the cabin door high
Frenchman introduced hydrogen gas to up on the rocket. It swung open and
give them new lifting power, visionaries the figure of a man in evening dress
cried: ‘Now for the m oon!’ But the appeared. He stepped out upon the
closest approach was two miles above platform of the portable stairway, at
the earth. Even so, this was progress. his elevation, and stood in front of a
“ Next came the lighter than air ship, microphone. Beneath him a great roar
then the flying machine. The moon of sound came involuntarily from the
didn’t seem so far away now. Maybe throats of all assembled. This figure
not, but Astronomy threw a monkey stood quietly, for perhaps two minutes,
wrench into man’s dream machinery. looking down upon the ecstatic sea of
There was no atmosphere on the moon upturned faces. Then he spoke.
— no air or water. You couldn’t “ Greetings! I appreciate, in the name
breathe after you got there. And to get of Science and humanity, your accept­
there, you’d have to escape the earth’s ance of my invitation to be here tonight
gravitational pull. There, Little Man, and the effort you have made to come
what are you going to do about that?! long distances to witness our departure
“ Well, you people all know that Man from earth.
came right back with the answer: “ Jerry Torrence, my chief engineer,
Rockets! Jet propulsion! A new fuel and Professor Crowley, the atomic
— perhaps liquid oxygen and alcohol! scientist, have elected to accompany
Maybe even atomic power— and, with me. We feel that, despite the known
the promise of atomic power— space hazards and hazards yet unknown, we
ships! . . . What Man had dared stand an excellent chance to reach the
dream, Man could one day accomplish! moon and, also, to return. We could
“ Which brings us up to tonight and not be so assured of such a possibility
the perfection of M an’s dream. were it not for the fact that Professor
“ I give you now, the Number One Crowley, in working with us in our
Space Pioneer— the man whom Destiny laboratory, has discovered a method for
has selected to fulfill the dreams of all extracting the energy from a pound of
men in all past time— your host and gasoline . . . ! ”
fellow human— Gil Benson!” A great gasp of surprise went up from
the audience, followed by almost unbe­
' 'H E R E was a roll of drums and a lieving cheers.
mighty fanfare. At its climax, “ Yes,” Gil continued, “ you heard me
workers tugged the guy ropes and the rightly. The age of atomic power is
great canvas covering billowed away here— and we are using it for the first
from the gigantic space ship, as flood­ time in our space rocket tonight. In
lights suddenly beamed on. The smooth, five— ten years, at the most, thanks to
glistening, stream-lined surface, half the genius of Professor Crowley, this
black and half luminous, of this Goliath power will operate the machines of
of the skies, was revealed to awe-in­ earth and bring Mankind complete re­
spiring view. lease from drudgery.
Emblazoned along each side, in mam­ “ Even apart from this, the United
moth letters, was its name— “ GOOD­ States Army is preparing to send un­
BYE, W O R L D !’’— first sight of which manned space rockets to the moon, con­
provoked shrieks of excited laughter. taining recording instruments and pow­
 ALL ABOARD FOR THE MOON 35

ered with liquid oxygen and alcohol as out, in detail, the enormous possibilities
fuel. The advantage we enjoy, through and values to be derived from this moon
use of atomic power, is that we do not trip— if we should be successful.
require enormous weight taken up by “ Control of the moon is more im­
fuel tanks and can carry, instead, more portant than you may think. Could an
scientific equipment, supplies and such unfriendly nation eventually colonize
food and water as we will need on our on the moon, it could destroy any coun­
journey. try on earth by atomic bombardment.
“ I ’m indebted to the United States It will be our plan, upon reaching the
Army for the loan to me of their lat­ moon, to lay claim to it as a possession
est radar devices with which they are of the United States of America. We
even now contacting the moon through are aware that certain foreign powers
high frequency waves which are bounc­ will soon be attempting moon trips of
ing back in something like two and their own. W e naturally hope to be
four-tenths seconds. first.
“ I ’m also indebted to the General “ And now, I know that all of you are
Electric Company of Schenectady for wishing you might be permitted to ex­
permitting me to install a hitherto un­ amine this moon rocket at close range.
tried sending and receiving radio set We still have a little more than two
which beams radio waves of such high hours before take-off time. If you are
frequency that we are confident they willing to climb these portable stairs, I
can penetrate both the Heavyside and will be glad to greet you personally and
Appleton layers which surround the let you pass in and out of the cabin. I
earth, at respective levels o f sixty and must ask you to keep moving and to
two hundred miles, so that we can keep touch nothing. You will stay on the
in constant touch with this planet dur­ right, single file, going and coming. The
ing our travels and while on the moon. guards will assist you.
“ These new instruments, in conjunc­ “ Welcome to ‘Goodbye, W orld! ’ . . ! ”
tion with the television apparatus we Wilbur, in anticipation of t^ie rush to
are carrying, will permit us to scan be among the first on board the space
some of the moon’s surface and project ship, had left the platform while Gil
back to earth the actual scenes as we was speaking and, motioning to Diana
are witnessing them. You know, of to follow him, led her to the portable
course, that television waves travel in a stairway.
straight line and from the vantage point “ This is the best I can do for you,
of the moon they can be beamed direct­ Baby,” he said. “ You can be the first
ly to earth. In fact, could a television one up to see Gil.”
station be established on the moon, we Diana’s blue eyes caressed him. “ I
could then beam all television shows to could almost kiss you,” she said.
the moon and relay them back to earth “ Y ou’re beautiful, Baby,” said Wil­
on a straight line so that they would be bur. “ Remind me to tell you that some
receivable everywhere.” time when there’s not a crowd around.”
“ D o you think Gil will like this get-
'"[''H E R E was a constant murmur of up?” she asked.
excited comment running through­ “ If he doesn’t, he’s crazy,” said Wil­
out the crowd. bur. “ I mean crazier than he is now,
“ I will have to leave it to reporters, if that’s possible.”
photographers and scientists to point “ H e’s not crazy,” said Diana. “ He’s
36 AMAZING STORIES

wonderful!” ded by various guests who sensed what

She started up the steps. was going on, turned to face one
Gil had just finished talking and the another.
rush was on. Ruth Delano was among “ You first,” said M .G .M .’s pin-up
the first ten in line. star, with mock courtesy.
“ I saw you tip her off,” she called to “ No, you first,” insisted Diana.
Hollywood’s greatest press agent. “ I’ll see him last,” said Ruth. “ I ’m
“ That’s no fair, Wilbur, and you know sure Mr. Benson would prefer it that
it l” way.”
Diana turned about on the steps and “ I would regret very much to have to
came down. She walked up to Miss use force,” said Diana. “ But I am see­
Delano in the line. ing him last!”
“ I heard what you said. You can see There was a flurry of shouts and the
Mr. Benson first, if you want to. I’ve two rival women looked around to see
changed my mind. I want to see him almost a dozen other rivals descending
last!” upon them.
M .G .M .’s pin-up sensation stepped “ You see what you started?” accused
out o f line. Ruth.
“ Oh, no you don’t ! ” she cried. “ You “ I started?!” said Diana. “ How
don’t take advantage of me that way! dare you say that?”
Go right ahead, Dearie. I’ll see him She advanced toward Ruth but, be­
last!” fore any damage could be done, the two
The end of the line, still forming, was were surrounded by other glamour girls,
some distance away but Ruth Delano perhaps as pulchritudinous a collection
headed for it, with Wilbur’s red-head of femininity as one seldom sees in any
following. Gil’s other glamour girl compact spot.
friends looked on curiously from their Reporters and photographers, quick
positions in the line, as the two women to appreciate this fact, went to work.
passed. Flash light bulbs popped as the girls
“ What goes on?” one of them called struggled for positions at the end of the
to Wilbur. line.
“ Yes— what’s up?” cried another. “ Girls! Girlsl” shouted Wilbur, run­
“ They’re going to wait and see Mr. ning up. “ Remember— you are all la­
Benson just before he takes o ff!” Wil­ dies— or are you? . . . Calm down!
bur explained. . . . Take it easy! . . . You won’t
“ That’s a good idea!” said another look like anything when Mr. Benson
glamour girl. “ I think I ’ll wait, to o !” gets to see you! . . . Cut it out or I’ll
“ Me, to o !” said another. have the guards keep you off the
The contagion was on and glamour rocket!”
girls began stepping out all up and down This last threat had an effect and the
the line, and trailing to the rear. beauties abandoned their bargain coun­
“ Ye G ods!” said Wilbur, “ I told Gil ter tactics. Ruth and Diana still
it was dangerous to invite all those brought up the extreme end of the line
dames here! If they start fighting over but declared a temporary truce by
him, he’ll be lucky to leave this earth standing side by side.
alive!” “ W e'll see who’s last when the time
Ruth and Diana, reaching the end of comes,” said Ruth.
the line and being good-humoredly kid­ “ And I know who that’s going to b e !”
 ALL ABOARD FOR THE MOON 37

said Diana. m oon!”

“ D o you think you’ll find any girls
EM BERS of the state militia kept up there? If not, why g o?”
the line of distinguished guests “ What’s the matter, old boy— tired
moving rapidly past Gil Benson who of earth?”
stood just inside the cabin door and “ What’re you going to do if the moon
shook each hand. The guest then made doesn’t have any night clubs?”
a quick circuit of the cabin, with much “ If Alaska doesn’t hurry up, you’ll be
of the equipment roped off. There was making the moon the Forty-Ninth State
opportunity for only a good glance in the U nion!”
about and then he was ushered out the “ Pick out a good piece of real estate
same cabin door and directed down the for me up there 1”
steps. “ I know some people I ’d like to send
The time required for the end of the to the moon. Will you take ’em along?”
line to be reached consumed almost two “ The government should have gotten
hours, as was estimated. out a ‘moon stamp’ so we could mail
It had been a fatiguing day for Gil letters to the man in the moon. Can
Benson with all manner of last minute you imagine what those stamps would
details, usual unforeseen happenings have been worth— if you make the re­
and pressure of last earthly demands turn trip?”
which could not be denied. Even now, “ If you run out of fuel— will you
as he was playing host, Professor Crow­ come back on a moon beam?”
ley and Jerry Torrence, his two rocket “ I guess you’ll be able to keep up
associates, were outside making final your spirits— I see you’re taking off
check-ups, to be sure everything was in while the moon is fu ll!”
order. Gil good-naturedly parried such ob­
Everyone had something special they vious wisecracks as these with a smile
wished to say to Gil or some good luck or quip of his own.
charm to leave with him, all of which
ate up additional seconds and energy. As_ THOSE visiting the rocket
But America’s so-called Number One reached the ground again, they re­
Playboy, about to embark on what sumed their seats to await the dramatic
many privately termed “ the greatest moment of its departure, all now ex­
screwball adventure of his career,” was citedly discussing its mechanical mar­
understanding and gracious. Knowing vels and thrilling at the thought that
human society as he did, he realized they had actually been inside a space
that he was still expected to live up to ship which might reach the moon.
the public conception of him. “ I was aboard the ‘Queen M ary’ just
“ Leave it to Gil Benson! . . . Good before she made her maiden voyage—
old Gil! . . . Nonchalant as ever! . . . also the ‘ Graf Zeppelin,’ ” said one.
Acts like he’s preparing to take off on a “ But it never gave me a sensation like
routine coast-to-coast flight in his plane. this!”
. . . Nothing to it, according to him “ And nothing else will,” replied an­
. . .” This was representative of gen­ other. “ When vessels start going to
eral impressions expressed behind Gil’s the moon and other planets, you’ve seen
back— but, outwardly, he was greeted all modes of travel possible in the
by a variety of well-meaning witticisms. universe!”
“ Remember me to the man in the As they had been speaking, from over
38 A M A Z IN G STORIES

the mountain top, could be seen the rim the door. “ You asked for it !”
of the rising full moon. It cast an in­ In came the glamour girl avalanche!
creasing white light upon the nose of the A blonde in the lead gave one cry: “ Oh,
rocket pointed in its direction. Gil, darling! ” and threw her arms about
“ Gives you an eerie feeling to think his neck, kissing him rapturously on the
of shooting toward the moon in that cheek. She was pulled away by a tall
thing, doesn’t it?” remarked another brown-eyed, auburn-haired girl who
guest, and shuddered. kissed him on the other cheek. This
Hollywood’s greatest press agent, his girl was almost instantly replaced by a
collar wilted, his tuxedo wrinkled and short, vivacious brunette who had to
his temper ruffled, pushed his way up jump off the floor to encircle his neck.
the stairs, past the end of the line and She found Gil’s lips, a bit one-sidedly,
Gil Benson’s glamour girls so that he and clung to him, smearing lipstick. But
might reach his client first with a word now the girls were coming by twos in­
of warning. stead of ones and Gil’s face looked
“ How you holding out, Gil, old bruised and battered with all shades of
man?” purple and red imprints.
“ Confidentially,” said Gil, in a low “ H e y !” he called out. “ Not so fast!
aside as he was still meeting people, One at a time! I want to enjoy this!”
“ I ’ll be glad when I can take off! ” There was a jabber of comment.
“ Well, you may be sorry you haven’t “ Oh, Gil— you’re wonderful!”
taken off already,” said Wilbur. “ Your “ M y man in the m oon!”
girl friends are just outside. They’re “ I ’m going to miss you, darling!”
coming in a bunch— and they’ve got “ It’s cold up there, dear. I ’ll give you
blood in their eyes!” a warm reception when you get ba ck !”
“ What do you mean?” asked Gil. “ Be careful, Sweetheart! D on’t take
“ They each want to bid you the last any chances!”
farewell,” said Wilbur. “ It all started “ Don’t forget me, Gil. I ’ll be moon­
with Ruth and Diana— then the rest ing for y o u !”
followed. Boy— get set for a stam­
pede!” * p I N A L L Y , with the initial assault
Gil laughed. “ Wilbur— you just over, only Ruth and Diana remained
haven’t learned how to manage who had not bestowed their affectionate
women!” regards— and each had held the other
“ Not when they’re like that red-head off. The glamour girls shrieked at sight
or Miss Delano,” Wilbur admitted. of their lipstick handiwork as Gil,
“ Leave ’em to m e!” said Gil. “ Are glancing at himself in a wall mirror,
they here now?” gave a helpless gesture and sank down
There was a hubbub of female voices. in a chair.
“ That’s them!” said Wilbur. “ Y ou’ve got me, girls!” he said, not
“ Let ’em in !” ordered Gil. even trying to remove the abundant
The steel door was half shut and the evidence of impetuous osculation. “ I ’m
last guest had been ushered out, with done in! For once in my life, I ’ve got
only the feminine contingent remaining enough kisses to last. . . .” He looked
of the great number who had tramped up and grinned, “ until the next ones
up the stairs, around the cabin and come along!”
down to earth again. This brought the threat o f another
“ Okay,” said Wilbur, swinging open direct frontal attack but he held up a
 ALL ABOARD FOR THE MOON 39

restraining hand. ardent admirers, looked toward them,

“ It’s great to see you all here,” he worriedly.
said. “ You all look gorgeous! I mean “ Come on, you girls, make up your
it— each one of you different and love­ m inds!” Then he turned to the guards
l y !” Some of them laughed. “ Well, standing near the door. “ Okay, sol­
maybe just a little shopworn after that diers,” he said. “ These two are the
wrestling match,” Gil conceded, “ but last ones. You can go now.”
still lovely. . . . I guess you know now The militia men nodded and stepped
that I’ve had a lot on my mind these out.
last few years . . . and you’ve all “ Gil,” said Ruth. “ I ’m afraid you’re
helped me enjoy my spare moments. I going to have to choose between us.
like you all a lot and I ’ve had some This Miss Fenimore has been acting
great times with each one o f you. Let’s like a wild woman. She seems to think
hope we can have some more— when I she has some special claim on y o u !”
get back . . . ! ” “ Oh, no I don’t ! ” denied Diana. “ But
“ You said it, Gil! I ’ll be waiting for you wanted to see Gil first— so I o f­
y o u !” fered you my place in line and said I ’d
“ Remember my phone number 1” see him last— and you didn’t like it !”
“ Call me first, Gil." I haven’t seen “ That’s true, Gil,” testified Wilbur.
you lately 1” "D iana could have been first in. . . .”
“ Y ou’re a great guy, Gil. Y ou’ve “ You keep out of this!” charged
given us all a break! ” Ruth. “ It was all a trick! Miss Feni-
“ M ay the best girl w in!” more’s a little smoothie . . . I ’m sur­
Hollywood’s greatest press agent prised, Gil, that you’d let her . . . 1”
stepped forward. “ That does it !” said Diana.
“ Sorry, girls. Y ou’ve just about W ilbur’s red-head leaped forward,
wrecked Gil now. It’s only half an pinioned a startled Ruth’s arm behind
hour till take-off time . . . so would her back and, applying pressure, ran
you mind . . . I know parting is such her across the cabin to the door.
sweet sorrow— and all that stuff, “ Out you g o !” she said.
but . . . ! ” He began gently pushing “ Gil, are you going to let her get
them. away with this?” shrieked Ruth.
The glamour girls started moving to­ Diana’s action had come so fast that
ward the cabin door but each had to Gil Benson and Wilbur Williams had
shake Gil’s hand and kiss him properly been unable to restrain her.
this time . . . and each one naturally “ H elp !” cried Ruth.
tried to outdo her predecessor in plant­ “ Let go of h er!” Gil shouted.
ing the kiss to be remembered. But Diana, giving a final push,
Ruth and Diana stood by, looking on. shoved M .G .M .’s pin-up girl out onto
“ This is disgusting,” said Ruth. “ I the portable stairway and, before Ruth
wouldn’t make such a scene in public.” could recover her equilibrium, Diana
“ And you’re not going to make one reached out and pulled the heavy door
in private, either,” said Diana. shut, clamping it in place.
“ W e’ll see about that,” said M.G.- “ What do you think you’re doing?”
M .’s pin-up star. an amazed Gil demanded.
Diana wheeled, eyeing the man who
\ X fI L B U R , at last, having herded was about to take off for the moon
everyone out but Gil’s two most and Hollywood’s greatest press agent.
40 AMAZING STORIES

“ I ’m sorry, Gil— but I just couldn’t stairway rolling and careening. It

take any more from her! . . . You swayed dangerously but did not tip
may love her— and all that— b u t . . . ! ” over.
“ Open that door and let her in ! ” At the base were two men who had
“ I won’t ! ’’ she defied. intended to be passengers on this trip
Gil Benson made a grab for Diana. to the moon. They were Gil Benson’ s
She ducked and ran to the front o f the chief engineer, Jerry Torrence, and the
cabin. He followed. atomic scientist, Professor Crowley.
“ I ’m going to have to put you out They had just started their ascent to
of here!” board the rocket when the blast of
“ You’ll have to catch me first! ” atomic power sent it hurtling into space.
Gil lunged. She dodged again but In the split second that followed,
he caught her mass of red hair. Diana everyone was too dumbfounded, horri­
reached out and grabbed hold of the fied and stunned to move or speak.
instrument panel. He yanked to get Then, when the realization of the ap­
her free. Her hand closed over a lever, parent catastrophe had come, humans
pressed it down. . . . once more began to function, many ex­
“ Let go of that!” yelled Gil “ M y citedly and incoherently.
G od!” The radio engineers were frantically
The space ship gave a great lurch. trying to get their networks cleared so
Hollywood’s greatest press agent, that the account of this terrific happen­
America’s Number One Playboy and a ing could go out over the air.
red-head who wanted to crash Holly­ The eye of the television camera,
wood— went crashing to the floor. cheated of its mechanical vision, could
“ Now you’ve done it !” Gil cried. only scan the bare launching site where
“ Done what?” the mighty space ship had been.
“ W e’re off!” he said, “ to the moon!” Photographers were shooting the un­
canny cloud of white vapor which still
CHAPTER V hung in the night air, obscuring the full
moon.
rJ ''H E sudden and unexpected depar­ Newspaper men, at portable type­
ture of Gil Benson’s moon rocket, writers and telegraph keys, were trying
“ Goodbye, W orld!” caught radio an­ to compose a lead which would ade­
nouncers, television operators, newsreel quately describe the unbelievable thing
camera men, photographers, newspaper which had just occurred.
reporters and the audience of invited As for the distinguished guests them­
guests totally by surprise. selves, largely untrained in the meeting
There was a frightening roar, a bril­ and reacting to tragedy, this stupendous
liant flash, a white vaporish cloud— and and unheralded take-off had been all
it was gone! but nerve-shattering.
The closest eye-witness to this dra­ Somewhere in space, only one minute
matic and unscheduled disappearance after its departure, Gil Benson’s “ Good­
was M .G .M .’s pin-up sensation, Ruth bye, W orld!” was tearing through the
Delano, who saw the huge rocket vanish earth’s atmosphere, heading for the
in one great blinding swish, almost from moon, without having waited to say
her grasp. The force of its take-off was goodbye.
largely spent downward but the air re­ “ Ladies and gentlemen of the radio
pelled in its wake sent the portable audience,” an on-the-spot announcer
 ALL ABOARD FOR THE MOON 41

was saying, “ The space rocket has Benson’s two right hand men, Professor
gone! We don’t know yet what hap­ Crowley and Jerry Torence. These two
pened but it left unexpectedly and gentlemen are best qualified to tell us
ahead of schedule. W e don’t even know what took place. As you all know, this
who was on it although we are reason­ space ship left earth ahead of schedule
ably sure Gil Benson was aboard. But and without warning. Professor Crow­
Professor Crowley and Jerry Torrence, ley is the atomic scientist who de­
his two associates, were left behind. veloped the atomic power which was to
“ Even now, we can’t believe it. We be used on this flight. Professor, can
hardly know how to begin to tell you. you hazard a guess as to what hap­
We didn’t expect to go on the air with pened?”
this event until fifteen minutes before The voice of Professor Crowley had
midnight when the space ship was sup­ a noticeable quaver in it.
posed to depart. It is quite obvious “ Someone would have been com­
that something suddenly went wrong. pelled to shift the starting lever. I ’m
“ The last visitors, some girl friends reasonably sure that Mr. Benson would
of Gil Benson’s, had just left the rocket not have done this.”
and one of them— we’re trying to find “ Is it possible, Professor Crowley,”
out who she is— was still up on the stair­ questioned the announcer, “ that Gil
way adjoining the ship when it took off. Benson may have decided, at the last
It’s a miracle she wasn’t killed! moment, he shouldn’t permit you men
“ W e hope, in a few minutes, to bring to take this risk with him— and that he
Gil Benson’s two associates to the radio elected to go off alone?”
and get their possible explanation of “ N o, I doubt that very much,” said
this tremendous mishap . . . Stand by, Professor Crowley.
ladies and gentlemen . . . we’re just “ M r. Torrence, what do you think
being given some special informa­ happened?” asked the announcer.
tion . . . ! ” Gil Benson’s chief engineer was also
The radio announcer’s voice broke off shaken.
and there followed a spine-tingling si­ “ It’s pretty hard to figure,” he said.
lence as listeners throughout the world “ Everything was ready for the take-off.
waited and wondered. I noticed, when we started up to board
the rocket that the cabin door was sud­
A T TH E scene of the rocket launch­ denly slammed shut. I saw a woman
ing site, there was still pandemon­ standing above on the stair landing and
ium. All channels of communication then— woosh! . . . just like that— the
were confused and clogged. Everyone rocket was gone!”
was now trying to talk at once, to give “ Could some form of sabotage be a
his version or conjecture of what had possible explanation?”
happened. A frantic Jerry Torrence “ N o, I don’t think so. Of course, we
and Professor Crowley were being be­ can’t be sure about anything yet. It’s
sieged from all sides to explain, as best a terrible thing.”
they could, what had occurred. They “ Thank you very much, Mr. T or­
were finally dragged in front o f a micro­ rence and Professor Crowley. Ladies
phone. and gentlemen, you have just heard
“ Here you are, ladies and gentle­ from the two men closest to Gil Benson,
men,” said the announcer, coming back who were supposed to make the moon
in the air. “ I have with me now Gil trip with him. They are at a loss to
42 AMAZING STORIES

know how this space ship could have must have struggled with her . . .
taken off prematurely . . . And now, She’s irresponsible . . . she was a para­
ladies and gentlemen, we are bringing chute jumper!”
you the woman who so narrowly es­ “ A parachute jumper!” exclaimed the
caped with her life and who was the announcer. “ What was her name?”
last to leave the ill-fated rocket . . . “ Diana somebody,” said Ruth. “ I
Ladies and gentlemen— this is M.G. don’t know . . . Oh— I can’t talk any
M .’s movie actress, Ruth Delano . . . more. Gil Benson was my dearest
Well, Miss Delano— you’ve just gone friend. Excuse me, please . . . I ’m
through a frightful experience. I don’t feeling faint . . .1”
want to tax you too much, but the whole Ruth Delano permitted willing hands
world is anxious to learn as many de­ to lead her away.
tails about this catastrophe as possible.
D o you have any idea what happened?” J N TH E cabin of Gil Benson’s moon
M .G .M .’s pin-up sensation was trem­ rocket, five seconds after the take­
bling, half from shock and half from off, wild things were happening.
indignation. “ I don’t want to go to the m oon!”
“ Yes, I have!” she said. “ I think a cried Wilbur. “ I don’t want to go any­
woman is behind this!” where! Let me out of here! ”
“ A woman!” said the announcer. “ Lie dow n!” ordered Gil Benson.
“ How could that be?” “ Both of you! Crawl over to those
“ There’s a woman in that rocket!” bunks! Strap yourselves in! Hurry
revealed Ruth. “ A red-head!” She be­ u p !” He dragged himself to the instru­
came hysterical. “ I hate to say this— ment panel, grabbed the starting lever
but we quarreled over Gil Benson— and which also regulated the rocket velocity,
she threw me ou t!” and turned it to a slower speed. “ W e’re
“ Threw you out! You mean— from ascending too fast. Our bodies can’t
the rocket?” stand i t !”
“ Yes— she’s a terrible person— a wild “ I can’t breath!” gasped Diana. “ I
woman! The men couldn’t do a thing feel faint . . . ! ”
with h er!” “ M y head!” moaned Wilbur. “ I ’m
“ Men— what men?” dizzy!”
“ Mr. Benson and Wilbur.” “ O xygen!” said Gil, “ W e’re going to
“ Compose yourself, Miss Delano, if need oxygen . . . I can’t see!”
possible,” soothed the announcer. “ You A gray mist was forming in front of
say there was a woman on the rocket his eyes. The pull of gravity under
and now you mention a man named their terrific initial acceleration was al­
Wilbur. Are you sure . . .? ” most blacking him out. His hand groped
“ Yes, of course I ’m sure! Wilbur toward the instrument panel and
Williams— Mr. Benson’s press agent. pressed a button. There was a whir of
He’s gone, too! All three oj them !” machinery in a rear compartment of the
“ You don’t sa y!” said the announcer. rocket. A mixture of helium-oxygen be­
“ Now we’re beginning to get the pic­ gan flowing into the cabin.
ture. You think this woman . . .?” Wilbur was flat on the floor beside
“ I ’m positive!” cried Ruth. “ She’s his bunk.
caused this, somehow. She pushed me “ M y legs . . . my arm s!” he gasped.
out and shut the door and locked it be­ “ They’re so heavy . . . I— I can’t lift
fore the men could stop her. They them! ”
 ALL ABOARD FOR THE MOON 43

Diana had fallen into a chair, her shining peaks, yawning craters and bar­
back braced against it. Her face was ren rocky deserts became more and
contorted. She was trying to fasten a more distinct. They were traveling now
strap around her but arms fell useless in the bright reflected light of the moon
at her sides. which cast an awesome illumination
Gil was on his knees and clutching over the cabin.
the control lever, making a tremendous Wilbur finally spoke. He turned re­
effort to stay conscious. His eyes were provingly to Diana. “ Baby, this is all
fixed on the instruments, dials and your fau lt!” he said. “ If this is your
gauges. idea of a publicity stunt, you won’t live
“ Let’s go b a ck !” panted Wilbur, to cash in on it.” A dire thought hit
fighting for breath. “ Get us . . . down him. “ M y gosh!” he added, “ And 1
. . . out of here!” won’t either!”
“ Can’t ! ” said Gil. “ W e’re . . . in “ I ’m terribly sorry,” said Diana. “ I
. . . for . . . it . . . now! W e’ve got didn’t mean it! H onest!” She looked
. . . to go . . . the whole w a y !” toward Gil Benson. “ I know, Gil, you’ll
“ Y e . . . g ods!” said Wilbur. never believe me.”
With the speed of take-off reduced “ I ’m afraid I won’t,” said Gil, grim­
to what it should have been, at three ly, his eyes on the instrument panel.
times the pull of gravity instead of the “ It’s very peculiar that you grabbed the
extreme high of six, the physical bodies one lever which could have sent us off—
of the three space passengers began to the lever I identified for you that week­
regain their normal functioning. This end at the ranch 1”
too rapid acceleration had greatly re­ “ I was mad and I was excited,” said
duced blood pressure in the brain and Diana. “ I didn’t know what I was
had threatened possible rupture of doing.”
blood vessels as well as affecting their “ And, because a woman lost her
breathing and momentarily deranging head,” said Gil. “ I ’m about to lose a
their circulation. As the three com­ life’s ambition and the world may lose
menced to emerge from this first har­ the possible benefits of this scientific
rowing crisis, with the rocket now under project.”
control, knifing s t e a d i l y upward “ I said I was sorry,” Diana repeated.
through the earth’s ever thinning at­ “ I dqn’t know what else I can do now.”
mosphere, they stared speechlessly at “ You can jump overboard,” said W il­
one another. bur. “ You can blame me, Gil. I ruined
your rocket trip the day I introduced
| ^POKING up through the great for­ you to this baby.”
ward dome of the cabin, they could Gil Benson, satisfied that the space
see the glowing features o f the moon. ship was operating on automatic pilot,
They had already reached such an alti­ as it should, turned away from the con­
tude, free from lower level dust par­ trols. “ Well, I ’m stuck with you two,”
ticles, that the moon now presented a he said, “ and I ’ve got to put up with it
sight never before beheld by human — but it’s not going to be easy.”
eyes. It was actually frightening to “ W e’ll do anything we can,” said
look upon— a jagged ball of sublime Diana. “ I know something about
desolation— a fantastic pock-marked, mechanics. And I’m not afraid—
ugly, leering, luminous face. Each sec­ much.”
ond, it seemed, its rugged contour of “ I ’m afraid— period!” said Wilbur.
44 AMAZING STORIES

“ I don’t know what I’d be good for on wrong now?”

a trip like this. I guess I’m just going “ Hang o n !” said Gil. “ W e’re out of
along for the ride!” the earth’s atmosphere.”
Gil smiled. “ Well, you’re good for a “ I ’ve turned the power off. There’s
laugh, anyway,” he said. Then he no more gravity. W e’re falling through
glanced at his wrist watch. “ W e’ve been space toward the m oon!”
up exactly six and one half minutes.” As Gil was speaking, their bodies
“ Is that all?” groaned Wilbur. “ Ye were becoming lighter and lighter, till
gods! I ’m ten years older! ” they seemed to have almost no weight
“ If my calculations are right,” said at all.
Gil, “ we’ll be getting beyond the gravi­ “ Oh,— there’s my pocket b o o k !” said
tational pull of the earth— in about Diana. It had lifted from the floor and
three more minutes.” was floating past her.
“ Let’s go back to earth! ” begged Wil­ “ I feel silly,” said Wilbur, “ Like a
bur. “ Where is it, anyway?” run-away baloon!”
Gil pointed to a cabin window. “ You “ Y ou’ll have to get used to it,” said
can see it best on this side,” he said. Gil. “ That’s the way you’re going to
The three space travelers looked out. feel for a long time. I anticipated this
So much had been happening of imme­ condition. That’s why I placed this
diate concern to them that they had railing around the cabin to hang onto.
temporarily forgotten the earth. In just a minute, I ’ll get you something
“ Ye gods!” exclaimed Wilbur. “ It’s that will help.”
enormous! But, my gosh, it looks like Gil, sliding his hand along the rail,
it fills the sky below! Or is it below? half floated to the rear of the cabin
Boy, would I hate to have that fall where he entered the galley which con­
on u s!” tained food and other supplies. He
“ It looks flat,” said Diana, “ No, I presently emerged with three pairs of
can see now, it’s curved around the iron-soled shoes. He handed one pair
edges. But is it dark ? ! ” to Wilbur but let go of them too soon
“ It will be dark,” said Gil, “ until we and they floated toward the ceiling.
get out of the earth’s shadow and c a lf Wilbur released his hold on the bunk
see the sun.” and tried to stand. His body followed
“ How interesting!” said Diana, “ I ’m the shoes. “ This is a fine how-do-you-
beginning to like this! Please forgive d o !” he said.
me, Gil. I ’ll make up to you for what Gil reached up and grabbed him, pull­
I ’ve done. I don’t know how, but I ’ll ing him down with ease. He placed one
do it.” Then she started laughing. of Wilbur’s hands on the rail.
“ Your face,— it’s still covered with lip­ Diana was seated, gripping a chair.
stick. Here, let me wipe it off.” She “ Oh, Wilbur,” she said, “ you looked
looked about on the floor for her bag. so funny up there.” She shifted her
“ I haven’t time for that now,” said position, relinquished her hold and took
Gil. He returned to the instrument off, herself. “ Oh, catch me, som ebody!”
board and studied the dials and gauges. she cried. Her figure rose lazily toward
the ceiling, turning a complete somer­
HE did so, Wilbur cried out: sault.
“ Hey, Gill Something’s happen­ “ Not half so funny as you look right
ing! M y body’s getting light. I feel now,” said Wilbur. “ While you’re up
like a feather. Y e gods, Gil! What’s there, Baby, will you get my shoes?”
 ALL ABOARD FOR THE MOON 45

They were floating along beside her. ' ' ^ 7 ’ILBU R stood up. “ This is swell,”
Diana obligingly extended her hands he said. He lifted one foot from
and retrieved them. Gil worked his way the floor. It floated out in front o f him.
along the railing to a point where he He put it down and it stayed down.
could reach up and grab Diana’s dress, Then he lifted the other foot. He
which was now over her head. looked slightly ridiculous but he could
“ You’re beautiful, Baby,” said W il­ navigate. “ This will take a little prac­
bur. “ I ’ve never noticed it so much tice,” he announced, quite proud of
before.” himself, “ but it’s a great idea, Gil. It’ll
Gil pulled Diana down and rightly w ork! ”
upended her. She handed Wilbur his Diana preferred to remain seated for
shoes. the time being.
“ I ’d slap your face,” she said, “ if I “ Would you be interested to know
weren’t afraid of letting go of this rail.” how many miles we now are from
Hollywood’s greatest press agent earth?” Gil inquired.
clutched his bunk, fastened the strap “ I ’m afraid to ask,” said Wilbur. “ I
around his body and began putting on can’t stand being up high. It took all
the iron-soled shoes. “ I don’t see what the nerve I had to climb those stairs
good these are going to do,” he said. into the rocket.”
“ They float just like everything else.” Gil was looking at his instruments
“ Y ou ’ll find out in a minute,” said calculatingly.
Gil. He handed a pair to Diana. “ Put “ W e’ve been gone from earth about
these on,” he commanded. twenty minutes now and we’re about
“ These clumsy things?” said Diana. nine thousand miles away.”
“ They’re not my style.” “ Nine thousand!’’ said Wilbur. “ Ye
“ Suit yourself,” said Gil, “ but the gods! That’s terrible! ”
next time you go to the ceiling, you’ll Gil smiled. “ If our take-off, the first
stay there.” few seconds had not been faster than
Diana put the shoes on! planned, thanks to Diana, we would not
Gil, slipping on a pair of these spe­ have been quite so far away. W e’re
cially made shoes, himself, returned really running slightly ahead of sched­
along the railing to the instrument ule.”
board and then pressed a button. He “ I’m glad of that,” said Diana. “ I
turned to Wilbur and Diana. hate to be late places.”
“ Now put your feet flat on the floor.” Gil’s face sobered. “ W e’ve been so
They did so, wonderingly. busy thinking abomt ourselves— what do
“ Unstrap yourselves,” he ordered. you suppose the people are thinking
This done, Wilbur and Diana ex­ back on earth— especially Professor
claimed their surprise. They remained Crowley and Jerry Torrence? . . .
seated, apparently fastened to the floor. They must be about out of their
“ There’s an awful pull on my feet,” minds.”
Wilbur reported. Wilbur grinned, foolishly. “ Why
Gil grinned. “ There’s a magnetic don’t we write them a postcard,” he sug­
field on the floor of this rocket,” he said. gested, “ And say, ‘Having wonderful
“ W e figured it would act as a substitute time. Wish you were here’ ? ! ”
for the field of gravity and that any­ Gil turned to his newly installed
thing made of iron, or attached to iron, radio set. “ Well, what have we got all
would feel a downward pull.” (Continued on page 88)
 MIRACLE MAN
by John and Dorothy de Courcy

M iracle Man Morrison heard a Voice, and

the medical world w as startled. W ho could try
to imagine a doctor who never made a mistake!
 HE dining car rocked slightly was not an artist. He was a surgeon.

T as it sped over the middle west­

ern plains. This easy motion
helped to settle the brown-eyed, aes­
He was still wearing the uniform
of a M ajor of the United States Army
Medical Corps. In his mind’s eye, he
thetic young man’s dinner. Philip could feel the sharp softness of the
Morrison was indeed aesthetic, but he tweed suit he would soon wear, hear
48 AMAZING STORIES

the soft voice of Kit, his wife, and feel strange, but in such circumstances
the firm hand grip of Dr. Ezra Potter, men’s minds do not question too deeply,
congratulating him. Ah, life was good! do not philosophise.
The voice of an immaculate waiter Back in the United States, out of
intruded gently on his musing. the maze of quadruplicate forms, one
“ Will theah be anything else, sah?” fact became evident to ‘the powers
“ I could use a little more of this that be.’ Somewhere in the war torn
excellent coffee,” Philip grinned. Pacific theater was a young surgeon,
The beaming, dusky waiter returned only a captain, whose percentage of
in a moment with a gleaming, silver pot cures was nothing short of miraculous.
of coffee. And so it was that shortly before the
Surrounded by the luxury of the end of the war, Captain Philip M orri­
streamlined dining car, memories of son was brought back and after three
four years in the south Pacific weren’t days rest at the Port of Debarcation,
nearly so painful. Philip remembered was transferred to the staff of one of
the shocking transition from the Port the largest Army General Hospitals.
of Embarcation and the more or less
peaceful cruise to the flaming, banging, PH ILIP began to treat returning
mud-soaked hell of his tiny medical veterans, he took no notice of the
unit, so close to the lines that he could unusual interest taken in his work by
occasionally hear the chatter of enemy the other physicians. Now that he had
officers giving commands. The dreary, time to rest and think, he was pri­
endless days and nights, punctuated by marily concerned with The Voice. The
explosions, curses and screams, gradu­ first explanation that occurred to him
ally made his mind sink into a plodding, was that his mind was deranged. Yet
thoughtless, gray monotony. His staff this explanation was unsatisfactory be­
around him changed many times, but cause The Voice told him things that
he had been left as though forgotten. he, himself, could not know. It told
Each day took him a few miles closer him of conditions existing in his pa­
to Tokyo, but each mile robbed such tients that were unsuspected and The
terms as liberty, victory and home of Voice was invariably right. The Voice
any meaning. But one day, it all had never spoken to him directly, but
changed. The surroundings were the had only whispered, like a person mak­
same; he was the same man, doing the ing comments at a play.
same job. But there was someone else One night, a little more than two
there, someone nobody could see and weeks after his arrival, Philip decided
only Philip could hear: The Voice. to try to talk to The Voice. In the
The unexplainable Voice! At first, it quiet of his quarters, Philip asked the
came only occasionally when Philip’s question.
mind would falter and his fingers would “ Can you hear me, Voice? Can you
hesitate in the path of saving lives. hear?”
The Voice would speak issuing terse The answer came immediately. “ I ’m
directives, showing his benumbed fin­ here, Philip.”
gers the way. Dr. Morrison felt a momentary chill.
As time passed, The Voice became “ Who are you?”
more familiar; it was there at every “ A friend,” The Voice answered
surgery, an invisible, invaluable con­ calmly. “ Names don’t matter.”
sultant. T o Philip, it was all very “ What are y ou ?”
 MIRACLE MAN 49

“ Still a friend,” replied The Voice. cases, one hundred, twenty-six cures!
Philip sighed. “ Very well, then. No fatalities! The two who were not
Why are you doing this?” yet pronounced cured were definitely
“ For the same reason that you are improved on the road to recovery.
a physician. I like to help people.”
“ How long are you going to keep ^ ^ N E afternoon, M ajor Morrison was
doing this?” summoned to the office of the
“ For as long as you wish.” Commandante, Colonel Lewis God­
“ I must know who you are!” insisted dard. The Colonel looked up as Philip
Philip. entered.
“ W hy?” “ Come in, Major. Have a chair.”
“ Today is a good example,” Philip Philip sat down. “ Thank you, sir.”
replied. “ M ajor Long asked me whose The Colonel leaned back expan­
technique had I used on that iridectomy sively. “ Have a cigar?”
and I nearly answered it was the He lit it for Philip. “ I ’ve got some­
Voice’s technique.” thing very important I ’d like to discuss
“ You have a point there,” agreed the with you, but I want to discuss it with
Voice. “ If you like, you can refer to you as doctor to doctor, not as Colonel
me as George Spelvin.” to M ajor.”
Philip thought for a moment. The “ All right, sir,” Philip assented.
name was very familiar. Then he “ Up until now you have been con­
had it! sidered essential. However I have been
“ That’s an actor who wishes to re­ communicating with the Surgeon Gen­
main anonymous!” eral. We realize continued military
“ Yes,” The Voice replied, “ but it’s service will be detrimental to your
a name.” career unless you plan to remain in
From that time on Philip carefully the army.
schooled himself in thinking of the “ I have here on my desk, a letter
Voice as George Spelvin or Dr. Spelvin. from the Surgeon General stating that
There were times when the name in view of your record and achieve­
slipped into his conversation with ment, they are offering you the perma­
others, but as George Spelvin had nent rank of Lieutenant Colonel, but
prophesied, it aroused no comment. I 'assure you that you won’t remain a
Soon after that interview, he dis­ Lieutenant Colonel for long. It’s my
covered he could communicate with firm conviction that if you remain in
George by merely thinking a question the service, in a very few years you will
rather than speaking aloud. He found become the next Surgeon General.”
too, that George would supply the an­ “ Now this may sound strange to you,
swer only when Philip could not. but my advice as a fellow physician is
About a week later, he was promoted to decline and go into civil practise for
to the rank of M ajor and became the yourself.”
Assistant Chief Surgeon at the hospital. “ That is a little strange, sir,” Philip
Each night, before an important sur­ said, “ coming from a regular army
gery, Philip would talk with The Voice man.”
and they would carefully plan the fol­ “ I realize that,” the Colonel replied,
lowing day’s work. “ but in my estimation, someday you
In three months, his record was be­ will rank with Lister and the other
yond belief. One hundred twenty-eight medical greats and I feel that to one
50 AMAZING STORIES

as gifted as you, the army has little to would be there too. His boyhood ad­
offer. I ’m going to leave the entire miration for Ezra Potter had not
matter in your hands, though. I have dimmed with the years. Except for
your discharge made out and I have him Philip would today have been a
your permanent commission prepared. civil engineer. The thoughts of home,
Your signature on either of these docu­ family and friends warmed him. All
ments would make it effective.” the misery and horror of four years
faded away. It now seemed no more
PH ILIP rode along on the train, important than a bad dream.
he wondered if he should have ac­ His introspection paused only mo­
cepted the silver oak leaves, but then mentarily as he moved to another seat
another look at his honorable discharge while the porter made up his berth.
made him sure he had made the right Soon he was between cool, crisp sheets,
choice. He folded the discharge and still dreaming the same dreams. The
deposited it in his inside coat pocket. soft rush of incoming air from the air
He left two bills on his check and conditioner added to his detached iso­
strolled out of the diner without wait­ lation. The sound-deadening curtain
ing for the change. prevented intrusion of outside noises.
Philip glowed with pride as he caught The waking dreams became sleeping
the voice of an Air Force sergeant talk­ dreams.
ing to a pretty young girl.
“ Look, Suel There’s M ajor Morri­ CH APTER II
son! They wrote about him in Yank.
He’s the doctor they call Miracle Man T T SEEM ED only minutes until the
M orrison!” gentle hand of the porter shook him
“ Are you sure?” the girl asked. awake. He heard the voice fuzzily.
“ Of course,” the sergeant replied. “ Wake up, General! W e’s cornin’
I ’ve seen lots of his pictures. They into Salt Lake in twenty minutes!”
say he can— ” “ Thank you, porter.”
The voices faded out as the vestibule Philip hurriedly dressed and shaved
door closed behind Philip. As he sank and just eighteen minutes later the
down in his pullman seat again, the porter was giving him a final brushing.
thought of Kit was uppermost in “ Theah General, you all looks just
Philip’s mind. Except for those three like new.”
precious days at the Port of Debarca- Philip smiled and handed him a
tion, he hadn’t seen her in nearly four folded bill.
years. He had decided against her The conductor came through the
coming east with him because housing vestibule of the car calling, “ Union
was so difficult and traveling even Station! Salt Lake City! Union Sta­
worse. But now at last he was going tion! Change trains for San Fran­
home. He could see her standing in cisco and Los Angeles!”
the station, wearing the same frilly Philip reached for his hand grip, but
pink dress she had worn when he last the porter snatched it into the air.
saw her, the sunlight glinting in her “ I’ll carry it for y o ’ all, General.”
taffy colored hair and looking at him Philip was half surprised. “ All right,
with those china blue eyes. It made George.”
his throat feel tight. The porter looked at him appre­
Philip supposed that Dr. Potter hensively. “ Ah— ah was wonderin’ if
 MIRACLE MAN 51

y o’ all would mind givin’ me y o’ auto­ hand and linked arms with K it and
graph? Ah got de book right heah. Ezra pulling them into the station.
Ah likes to get de autograph of all de “ 0 . K. Y o o tw o can wait here while
famous people dat rides in my cah.” I see if I can dig up a cab.”
Philip chuckled and added his name “ N o need to do that,” replied Potter.
to the book as the train drew to a stop. “ I ’ve got my car here.”
“ Are you sure you’ve got the right As soon as they were in the car,
man?” Philip laughed. Philip asked, “ Have you had breakfast
“ Deed ah is, Mr. Miracle Man, deed yet? I didn’t get up in time so I’m
ah is !” starved!”
Philip handed the book back to the “ I thought I ’d wait and have break­
porter as he stepped down from the fast with you,” said Kit.
vestibule and received his bag in ex­ Philip smiled at her and squeezed
change. her arm.
“ Thank you, General, thank y o u !” “ I ’m an early bird as usual,” said
The porter flashed him a brilliant smile. Dr. Potter, “ but I could use a cup of
Philip didn’t see the smile. All he coffee.”
could see was Kit coming across the “ Shall we go home, dearest?’ asked
platform. She was warmly dressed and Kit.
there was no sunshine. In fact, there “ Oh n o !” laughed Thilip. “ I ’m not
was snow on the ground. But aside sharing my wife with any kitchen this
from that, reality was better than the morning.”
dream. He held her close for a mo­ “ Well then, my boy, where to?”
ment, very close, and buried his face asked Ezra.
in the collar of her coat. “ There used to be a little French
Kit began to cry, tears streaming restaurant about three blocks down
down her face. the street from the Hotel Utah. Is it
“ Oh, darling, darling,” she whispered still there?”
hoarsely. “ I ’ve waited so long! Last “ Oh yes, I know the one you mean,”
night was the worst of all.” replied Dr. Potter. “ I had lunch there
Philip kissed her tears away. “ There, yesterday.”
there, dearest. D on’t cry! I ’m home,
home to stay! I ’ll never leave you C O M E time later they were in the
again!” warm, cozy atmosphere of the little
Dr. Potter broke in. “ I realize this restaurant. After a short glance at the
is an impolite thing to do, but I’ve got menu, Philip announced enthusiasti­
to break this up. Come on you two, cally:
let’s get in out of the cold before you “ I think I ’ll have ham and eggs with
catch pneumonia.” lots of fried potatoes!”
“ Dr. E zra!” e x c la im e d Philip. “ M e too,” said Kit.
“ Ezra, you old pill peddler! It’s good “ Oh no you won’t ! ” chuckled Dr.
to see y o u !” He gripped his hand Potter. “ Remember, you’re on a diet,
firmly. young lady.”
“ Here, here now,” protested Ezra “ A diet?” Philip asked, raising his
Potter. “ These old carpals and pha­ eyebrows. “ What for? Is something
langes won’t take such treatment! Ease wrong?”
up there, young m an!” “ Not exactly wrong,” Dr. Potter
Philip laughed and let go of Ezra’s smiled. “ Shall I tell him or do you
52 AMAZING STORIES

want to do the honors, K it?” commanding officer have disclosed that

Kit blushed. “ Well, you see Phil, your nominator, if anything, has under­
the diet isn’t exactly for me. It’s for rated your ability. Speaking for my­
— a— for Philip, Jr.” self, as well as for the other members
Dr. Potter seemed to find something of the society, we would be honored to
intensely interesting to look at on the have you as associate supervisor of our
other side of the room. The waiter had Clinic. Sincerely yours, Dr. Stuart B.
come and gone before Kit and Philip Atherton, President, American Founda­
were fully aware of their surroundings tion for Clinical Medicine.”
again. Philip’s eyes were shining. “ D o you
Afterward, Philip tried to remember know what this means ? It means we’re
if he had gotten his coveted ham and in! N o struggling to start a practice!
eggs but he couldn’t. No worrying about bills! And the
His returning life was a happy glow. baby’s future is assured!”
The third day after his arrival home, Kit was a little overawed. Philip
he was surprised to receive a letter. He grabbed her and kissed her violently,
read it through twice and then a third leaving her more dazed than ever.
time to make sure his eyes didn’t de­ “ Darling, this is the greatest break
ceive him. Then he let out a whoop. that could happen!” Philip continued.
“ K it!” he called. “ Come here and “ Just think! Only five years ago I
see th is!" was an interne, then four years in the
Kit appeared in the doorway. army and n o w 'I’m offered a position
“ What’s the matter, darling? What is like this!”
it?” He stopped suddenly as he saw a
Philip waved the letter in her face. stricken look on K it’s face.
“ It’s from Dr. Stuart Atherton 1 He- “ What’s the matter? Aren’t you
wants me to share his practise with happy?”
him. Not only that, the trustees at the “ Of course I ’m happy for you, dear,”
clinic want to call it the Atherton-Mor- she replied in a small voice, “ but I was
rison Clinic! They want to build a counting on having some time with you
complete new surgical wing and put it before you started working.
under my supervision. Isn’t that great,
honey?” "D H ILIP threw back his head and
A worried frown appeared on K it’s laughed. “ So that’s it! D on’t you
face. “ Are you sure it’s all right, dear? worry about a thing. It’ll be at least
It’s a little unbelievable! ” two months before this is all settled
“ Here! Here! Read what he says and I ’m going to devote every minute
in the last paragraph!” Philip said, ex­ of that time to you.”
citedly pointing. Even as he spoke, a sudden flash of
Kit read aloud. “ We are offering apprehension swept over him. Could
you this position because of the out­ he do it? Was the Voice still with him?
standing, almost miraculous ability Was George Spelvin still ready to tell
which you have demonstrated during him the little, the vital things that
the war. Your name was suggested meant the difference between life and
to us by a prominent member of our death to some of Philip’s patients and
medical society when we sought nom­ success or failure to Philip?”
inations for this position. Our letters Almost before the question formed
to your associates and to your former in his mind, the gentle voice of George
 MIRACLE MAN 53

echoed in his brain. answered. “ We do want an old duffer

“ I ’m still here and anxious to go to like you around. Except for when you
work. But I won’t deny you a vaca­ met me at the train, I haven’t seen you
tion. I think you need it.” for three days. That’s a fine way to
“ Thank G od !” Philip muttered. welcome home a brother sawbones!
“ What did you say?” Kit asked. And your protege at that!”
“ Nothing, Kit. I was just thinking “ That’s where I made my big mis­
out loud.” take,” Ezra said seriously. “ I talked
Kit smiled and snuggled in the hol­ you out of becoming a civil engineer
low of his shoulder. and packed you safely off to medical
“ Sweetheart,” she said questionably, school and what thanks do I get?
“ I forgot to mention it, but I asked Y ou’re in a fair way toward taking all
Ezra over for dinner tonight. D o you my patients away from me. Seriously
mind?” Philip, about the only thing I hear any
“ Certainly not,” Philip chuckled. more in my office is ‘ Would it cost much
“ I ’ve been anxious to see the old quack to have Dr. Morrison consult with £ou?’
again. I want to consult him about Or ‘Y ou ’re a friend of Dr. Morrison;
one of his O.B. patients.” could you get him to have a look at me
Kit frowned in mock anger. “ How sometime?’ ”
dare you say things like that about my “ How did they fund out I was back?”
doctor 1” Philip asked.
“ He may be your doctor but I ’m “ I thought you learned to read before
warning you, if he doesn’t take good you went to medical school!” Potter
care of you, I won’t pay the bill.” teased.
Kit wrinkled her nose. “ F o o l!” she
laughed. “ Well, you can stay here and 'C 'Z R A got up laboriously from the
gloat over your letter if you want to. table and went into the hall. He
I’m going to fix lunch. I ’m hungry!” returned with a folded newspaper in
“ A very important symptom,” Philip his hand.
pronounced gravely, nodding his head. “ I haven’t read this yet,” he re­
He dodged quickly and the dust rag marked, “ but it’s a pretty safe bet your
that K it threw1at him missed by inches. name is in it somewhere.”
Kit was an excellent cook and the He studied the paper for a moment.
dinner proved it. “ Yup! Here it is on the front page!
Dr. Potter heaved a big sigh as he I ’ll read it to you.”
pushed his chair back from the table. “ Miracle Man to Practice Here.”
“ Kit, I ’ve got to learn to cook steaks Philip’s mouth gaped open. “ W ha t!”
like you do! I promise the secret will “ Be quiet, you faith healer! Let me
not reach any other ears but mine.” read the rest,” Ezra muttered. “ An un­
“ Emphatically no, E zra!” Kit confirmed report states that Dr. Philip
laughed. “ The only way I can ever J. (M iracle M an) Morrison will head
get you over here is to promise you a the new surgical division of the Ather­
steak. If I told you the secret, you’d ton Clinic. Dr. Stuart B. Atherton,
never come. Y ou’d cook your ow n !” president of the American Foundation
“ Young people like you don’t want for Clinical Medicine and chairman on
an old duffer like me hanging around the Board of Trustees for the Atherton
all the time,” Dr. Potter protested. Clinic, declined to comment. Other
“ That’s where you’re w rong!” Philip reports say that Dr. Morrison has not
54 AMAZING STORIES

definitely accepted the Foundation’s “ Beast!” Kit called from the door­
offer.” way. “ Your piece of pie will be very
Ezra paused. “ The rest of it is the small! One more word and it will be
same old junk! It says that you won non-existent!”
the Congressional Medal with fifty-five “ There, you see what I mean, Ezra?”
oak leaf clusters, the Croix de Guerre, Philip said conversationally.
the Iron Cross, the Lead Triangle and
the Order of the Bath!” J ^ I T flounced out the door in simu-
“ What are you talking about,” Philip V lated anger. As soon as she was
sputtered. “ I haven’t a single decora­ gone, Philip leaned toward Ezra and
tion and you know it !” asked anxiously, “ Is Kit all right,
“ Well frankly,” Ezra replied, “ I Ezra? I ’ve been wanting to talk to
don’t know what the rest of it does say you about her.”
but it’s all about your glorious past at “ I would say that you are in more of
any rate.” a position to know about that than I
Philip grabbed the paper out of the am,” he answered dryly.
older man’s hands. “ Oh for heaven’s sake; I ’m serious!”
“ Would you like some dessert now, “ Well, if you don’t think I know
Ezra! I baked a nice lemon pie just what I ’m doing, there’s a new chap in
for you.” town named Morrison. You might give
Ezra didn’t get a chance to answer him a try.”
Kit. Philip straightened up from the “ Don’t be silly, E zra!” Philip pro­
paper. “ This is preposterous;” he pro­ tested. “ I trust you more than I trust
tested. “ It even suggests here that I myself when it comes to Kit. It’s just
had something to do with the discovery she means so much to me and I want
of penicillin! I was barely out of knee to be absolutely sure.”
pants when it was discovered! The “ Oh come on now, Philip! There’s
next thing they’ll do is credit me with nothing to worry about! You aren’t
being the father of antiseptic surgery!” going to turn into one of these worrying
Ezra laughed heartily. “ Well, any fathers, are you? Calm down and take
time you get too much of a reputation it easy! You can take my word for it,
you can throw some of it my way if you K it’s as sound as a new dollar. We
want to.” can’t have you worrying all over the
Kit was not to be sidetracked. place. You have important things to
“ Would either of you two mighty med­ do! Remember, I brought one Philip
ical minds like some pie or shall I throw Morrison into the world, and I think I
it out?” can do it again now that I ’ve had the
“ M y dear, I can think of nothing I practice.”
would like better,” said Ezra. Philip smiled. “ I guess you’re right.
Kit’s eyes softened as she looked at I ’ll try to keep the gray hairs down to
Philip. “ How about you, my little a minimum.”
genius?” she asked. “ By the way, Philip, what about that
Philip colored. “ Of course, I would, position with Atherton? Have you de­
Sweetheart. I don’t know where I ’m cided to accept?”
going to put it, but I ’ll try.” “ Yes, I have,” Philip replied. “ I ’m
He turned to Ezra. “ I wish you’d going to send him a letter tomorrow
come over more often. The only time morning and arrange to talk it over with
I get well fed is when you’re here.” him. I ’m curious to find out who nom-
 MIRACLE MAN 55

mated me for the position. I haven’t hands as he walked into the surgeon’s
— ” Philip stared at Ezra Potter. “ I dressing room. Hastily, he stripped off
think I see the light; you are, are you his shirt and white duck trousers and
not, a member of the American Foun­ tossed them into a nearby hamper. A'
dation for Clinical M edicine?” few minutes under the shower restored
“ Well, ah— yes,” Ezra admitted un­ his lagging energy. As he was dressing,
comfortably, “ but— ” Dr. Atherton entered with a glass of
Philip cut him off. “ N o buts,” he tomato juice and a plate of crackers.
said. “ You were the one who put up “ Care for a little bracer, Doctor?
my name, weren’t you? Now admit This always makes me feel better.”
it !” Philip thanked him and sipped the
“ I may have said something to that tomato juice.
effect,” Ezra said slowly as though try­ “ This was your fifth surgery,” con­
ing to remember. tinued Atherton, “ and after watching
Philip put an arm around his shoul­ you work, I ’m becoming convinced that
der. “ You old frau d!” he laughed. you are a Miracle Mam.”
“ Pretending to be surprised when I Philip blushed. “ I ’m beginning to
read the letter to you! You should hate the sound of the word miracle,
know by now that you can’t keep things Dr. Atherton.”
like that from me.” Atherton laughed. “ Frankly Philip,
“ It’s no more than you deserve,” I ’d much rather have the internes call
Ezra insisted. me ‘ Miracle Man Atherton’ than any
Kit re-entered the room. “ You just of the titles I now bear. And you
leave the brute to me. I ’ll see that he must admit that some of your work to­
gets what he deserves,” she said day looks just a little bit like sorcery.
ominously. By the way, how did you know that
Philip turned around. “ I ’ll give you ulcer had perforated? I just glanced at
one guess, darling, as to who nominated the specimen a moment ago and from
me for the post at the Clinic.” its appearances, I would say the gastric
“ Here, here now,” Ezra grumbled, walls were intact up until half an hour
“ go pin your medals on somebody else! ago.”
I merely thought that Philip was just “ Well, it was more of a guess than
the man for the job. The Clinic needs anything else,” Philip admitted.
him as much as he needs the Clinic. “ It was an exceptionally good
More, perhaps! Philip has a great gift guess!” Atherton commented. “ If I
and I think he’ll be able to utilize it.” had been treating that man, I probably
Philip gave Ezra a penetrating stare, wouldn’t have operated until I had tried
but the older man’s face gave no hint further treatment. I might very well
of what he was thinking. Before he have lost him.”
went to sleep that night, Philip puzzled Philip adjusted his tie in the mirror.
over Dr, Potter’s remark but it re­ “ I don’t like to take too much credit,
mained as obscure as when it was first Dr. Atherton, for playing a hunch.”
uttered. “ Can’t we dispense with this Dr.
Atherton, Dr. Morrison relationship?
CHAPTER III You and I are going to be working to­
gether for a long time. At least, I hope
J3H IL IP wearily dropped the scrub v.e are!”
brush into the sink and dried his “ All right, Stuart.”
56 A M A Z IN G STORIES

“ That’s better Philip. Now suppose and I should not be surprised to see
when you get through, you drop up to him restored also.”
my office. I want to show you some It was even rumored that in New
plans for our proposed new wing.” York City book makers were giving
“ Has the architect finished them al­ high odds as to when Philip would lose
ready? I ’ll be right up to see them.” a case.
Atherton summed it all up one day,
T N TH E succeeding weeks, the foun­ while talking to Philip.
dations for the new wing were “ M y boy, you’re becoming as big a
poured and it began to take shape. In craze as chain letters or jazz. In this'
it would be all the facilities that Philip case, however, I think it’s a very bene­
could desire. Philip’s reputation grew ficial craze.”
apace with the new wing. By the time With Philip, the burden of his knowl­
the wing was completed and ready for edge about his own successes was be­
use, the fame of ‘Miracle Man M or­ coming very difficult to bear in silence.
rison’ had spread to every corner of the Three publishing companies had offered
nation. By then, Philip had treated % him large sums to write a textbook on
total of two hundred and twelve cases surgery. Daily there were letters from
without a fatality! Some surgeons in universities and schools asking and
other sections of the country had pleading with him to lecture. T o all
stated that in their opinion, Morrison these, Philip could only reply in the
was having a remarkable run of luck. negative since the real secret of his suc­
Those who had seen Philip work, how­ cess could not be imparted to others.
ever, had roundly denounced the dis­ Philip did qualify his refusals by stat­
senting voices, saying that anyone who ing he was yet unprepared to disclose
had watched ‘The Miracle M an’ at his diagnostic and surgical methods, but
work, could see that he was a genius that he would do so when they had
and that even his simplest cases were been perfected.
nothing short of phenomenol. Each day silence became more diffi­
The opinion that Philip was just cult as his techniques strayed further
lucky seemed to have no effect on the from the accepted ones. Philip did not
people. They flocked to be treated by allow his new knowledge and skill to
him and his patients regarded him as slip away from him. He would care­
something akin to religious awe. The fully study each patient until he was
percentage of pronounced incurables certain of the diagnosis, using all of
who left the Atherton-Morrison Clinic the bits of knowledge that The Voice
whole, stunned the medical profession. imparted. O f late, only rarely would
Some were completely cured, the ma­ The Voice fail to confirm his diagnosis.
jority vastly improved and as one Throughout the operation, it was now
eminent diagnostician said, “ Of over infrequent that The Voice would speak
fifty cases pronounced incurable by except to say, “ Good! ” or “ Well done! ”
their own physicians, who have been Or to voice some other approbation.
treated by Dr. Morrison, I can find only
one whose condition was not so mark­ TH E occasions when The Voice
edly improved as to be regarded as a would suggest new things, Philip
veritable miracle. Even this com­ would carefully make notes of it after­
parison is unfair since that one case is ward and that night would study these
yet undergoing treatment at the Clinic notes until he understood the reason for
 MIRACLE MAN 57

the suggestion or the departure from His moodiness was interrupted by a

usual procedure. smartly dressed woman who carried
Yet, throughout all this blaze of suc­ a camera.
cess, there rose and fell a flicker of “ Good m orning!” she said cheerily.
doubt. Somehow Philip couldn’t under­ “ I ’m Miss Miller.”
stand the reason why The Voice was “ What can I do for you, Miss
helping him, and not helping other doc­ M iller?” Philip asked.
tors. Even though there was no valid “ I ’m from Life magazine,” she an­
reason for Philip’s doubts, they would nounced, “ and we would like very much
not be denied. Always in the back of to do an article about you.”
his mind was the feeling that there “ Oh really n ow !” Philip protested.
was something wrong. Time and time “ I admit I’m a good physician, but this
again he thrust these nagging doubts Miracle Man business is getting a little
down, only to have them return. Often bit out of common sense, don’t you
he had the urge to talk it over with think?”
Kit, yet he did not want her to be un­ “ Our readers don’t think so, doctor,”
necessarily worried until after the baby she replied. “ W e’ve had more requests
was born. There was no one else he to run some pictures of you than any
could talk to since try as he might, he other topic.”
could find no valid explanation for The “ It looks as though I’m degenerating
Voice. Not even old Ezra Potter would from a physician to a phenomenon,
understand the presence of George doesn’t it?”
Spelvin, M. D. “ Not exactly a spectacle, Doctor.
Philip’s associates noticed little lines More of a national institution,” Miss
about his eyes and mouth and advised Miller replied.
him to take it easier. Some even ad­ “ All right, Miss Miller, you win,”
vised him to take a few days off but Philip admitted. “ Where would you
somehow Philip couldn’t. Daily the like to start?”
feeling grew on him that something was “ I thought I would start with some
terribly wrong. Each morning he pictures of the Clinic, if it would be
awoke with a foreboding of some dis­ possible?”
aster. This only made him apply him­
self harder, learning, studying, work­ JH^URING the ensuing hour, Philip
ing. Somewhere in his mind, lurked forgot his misgivings and regained
the knowledge that The Voice would some of his usual good humor while
disappear, and if it should, Philip showing Miss Miller the Clinic. She
wanted to be ready. was tactful and witty, and as they
One morning, Philip wakened with passed a nurse, Philip overheard the re­
the sense of foreboding stronger than mark, “ Look! Dr. Morrison’s smiling!
usual. When he reached his office, That woman must be good medicine.”
nothing seemed amiss, yet the feeling Then Philip remembered his unex­
grew stronger as the morning pro­ plainable depression. Even as he talked
gressed. At ten o ’clock, Philip put to Miss Miller he puzzled about it
aside the notes he had been making further. Finally, he dismissed the idea.
and tried to read, but it was no use. As they were completing their tour
He put the book away and started of the nearly complete new wing, the
working a puzzle in a newspaper, but annunciator system summoned Philip.
that too was beyond him. He excused himself and stepped to the
58 AMAZING STORIES

nearest instrument. say I didn’t warn you. You go right

“ Morrison speaking,” he said crisply. through that door over there. That’s
“ What is it?” the ampitheater and you can watch
“ Emergency, Doctor. He’s in your from there.”
examining room.”
“ What does it look like, Clara?” A M O M EN T later, Philip was scrub­
“ I think it’s a ruptured appendix, bing his hands vigorously. He
Doctor. The laboratory is making a hadn’t stopped to change clothes. He
blood count now.” dropped the brush and ran the pointed
“ I ’ll be right down,” Philip replied, end of an orange stick under his al­
switching off the control button. ready immaculate nails. The anes­
“ M ay I come too?” Miss Miller in­ thetist was beginning induction of anes­
terjected eagerly. thesia. Philip watched the patient care­
“ Why, yes,” Philip replied. “ Y ou’ll fully through the open door o f the scrub
have to wait in my office while I make room. His breathing was deep and
the examination, though.” even. Philip’s foot found the treadle o f
When Philip reached the examining the alcohol dispenser. A warm stream
room he found a man unconscious on of alcohol poured into his cupped
the table. An interne was taking his hands and turned cold as he rubbed it
pulse. As Philip completed his over the palms and backs.
examination, Clara entered with the lab The nurse entered holding a sterile
report and he studied it for a moment. gown. Swiftly, Philip slipped his arms
“ White count thirty-five thousand,” in while the nurse gingerly tied the
he mumbled. “ I ’m afraid it’s ruptured. strings. Another sprinkled talcum on
Take him to surgery at once.” his hands. Philip rubbed it in, watch­
As the man was trundled down the ing the patient carefully all the while.
hall, Philip had a moment alone. A masked nurse held out Philip’s gloves
“ Well Dr. Spelvin,” he whispered, as he entered the surgery. With a deft,
“ you heard my diagnosis. What do you practiced motion, Philip slid his hands
think?” into the rubber gloves and flexed his
“ Just what I would have said,” The fingers several times. He wasn’t sure,
Voice replied. but the patient’s respiration didn’t look
“ Is that all?” Philip asked. as it should.
“ That’s all,” The Voice answered. As he bent over the patient, another
Philip felt reassured as he walked nurse fastened a mask over his face.
down the hall toward the surgery. Sud­ Philip’s finger touched the patient’s
denly, he felt a light touch on his sleeve skin delicately. It was as taut as a drum.
and turned to see Miss Miller. “ This is going to be close,” he
“ You said I could go along,” she re­ thought.
minded him. As he made an incision, he heard a
“ Oh really!” Philip exclaimed. “ I slight moan from the gallery. His eyes
didn’t mean— ” He paused and darted up. Miss Miller was gripping
shrugged his shoulders. “ It’s up to you, the rail in front of her seat and her
Miss Miller. This is apt to be a little face was ashen.
messy though.” “ She’ll get over it in a minute,” one
“ That’ all right,” she smiled. “ I’m of the internes mumbled. “ I was that
going to be watching you anyway.” way too the first time.”
“ Okay,” Philip replied, “ but don’t T o Philip, none of these words meant
 MIRACLE MAN 59

anything. Except for himself, the anes­ Even as he watched, another drop gath­
thetist and the instrument nurse, no ered on the ear and joined the ever
one existed. Now that he was working, widening spot. The cold hand of hor­
the nervousness, the tension was gone. ror closed around his heart. The tiny
Although his fingers seemed to fly like nick on the patient’s ear where the lab­
parts of a high speed machine, he was oratory sample had been taken wa^ still
working carefully, accurately. As the bleeding! The patient was a haemo-
work progressed, the mumbled voices of pheliac, a bleeder!
the internes and nurses died and the
silence was absolute except for an occa­ J5 H IL IP shouted and nurses scurried.
sional “ sponge” or “ haemostat.” A syringe wa» placed in Philip’s
Miss Miller, was seated now, but her hands filled with a coagulant. Through
hands still clutched the rail in front of the doorway, a nurse and interne were
her. Hardened as she was to scenes of bringing a plasma infusion outfit. Even
death and destruction, watching this as Philip prepared to plunge the needle
battle between men and the spectre of home, the man on the table gave a long
death was almost unbearable. Each shuddering breath and breathed no
time the ratchets on an instrument more.
clicked, she winced as though they had Swiftly, Philip felt for the corotid
been applied to her own body. She artery but there was no pulse. He
imagined the sound of the ventilating looked like an old man as he wearily
fan to be the voice of Death, humming laid the syringe on the instrument ta­
idly, watching his chance to take over. ble, unused.
She kept her eyes on Philip, watch­ The internes filed out of surgery with
ing his swift hands, trying hard not to shocked, unbelieving looks on their
see that on which the hands worked. faces. Most of them had been con­
Once she thought she was going to vinced that Philip couldn’t lose a case.
faint, but a shifting white figure ob­ Philip felt an arm thrown around his
scured the field of the operation in time. shoulder and a voice spoke softly in
Her lips moved silently mouthing, “ M il­ his ear.
ler, you’re a fool! Brace up! ! D on’t “ Buck up, Philip! He didn’t have a
make an ass out of yourself!” Chinaman’s chance. There’s a limit to
The patient’s breathing was irregular what even you can do.”
now and the anethetist’s face bore a Philip looked into Dr. Atherton’s
worried look. face. The older man was smiling.
P h i l i p unconsciously murmured, “ Thanks Stuart,” he sighed. “ I ’m
“ Cheyne Stoke’s breathing! That’s afraid my luck had to run out some­
bad.” time.”
Philip was closing up now. The “ You’re taking this too much to
stitching instrument was moving almost heart, Philip,” Atherton said. “ I tell
too fast to follow with the human eye. you what you can do! Come on down
Occasionally, he glanced at the clock. to my office when you’re finished here.
“ Fifty-one minutes! That’s long! I ’ve got a bottle of genuine Napoleon
Much too long.” brandy my nephew gave me for Christ­
He was almost finished. Suddenly, mas. I think you could use a little! ”
his hands paused as something caught “ N o, thanks just the same,” Philip
his eye. Below the lobe of the patient’s declined. “ I ’ve only had two drinks in
left ear was a widening spot of red. my life and both times I felt worse
60 AMAZING STORIES

afterward than I did before.” me think that everything would be all

“ AH right,” Atherton smiled. “ Sup­ right. I don’t say that I could have
pose I have them send you a pot of saved him, but if I hadn’t trusted you,
coffee from the kitchen?” depended on you, maybe I would have
“ I think I could use it,” Philip said. made tests before I operated.
“ I’m. very tired.” The invisible George’s reply was an­
guished. “ I ’m sorry, Philip. Sorry for
CHAPTER IV you, but believe me, I couldn’t do any­
thing else! He had to die! He wasn’t
W A C K in his office, Philip sipped his truly a man! He was a thing! An
coffee and looked out of his win­ evil creature! If he had been conscious,
dow. The office nurse had made out he would never have come to you in
the death certificate and left it on his the first place”
desk. As Philip affixed his signature, “ What do you mean, he wasn’t hu­
the door opened and Miss Miller came man?” Philip demanded. “ D on’t you
in,'Camera slung over her shoulder. think I can see or feel? He was as
“ I want to thank you again, Dr. human as I am !”
Morrison,” she said. “ You were very “ Philip, believe me,” George Spelvin
kind to show me around.” replied, “ he was not human! There
“ That’s perfectly all right, Miss M il­ are creatures inhabiting the earth that
ler,” Philip replied. “ I only wish you are enemies of all humanity. If you
had come a day sooner. Now it looks believe that I exist, you must believe
as though you’ll have to change that that they exist!”
article a little bit.” “ Even granting that you’re right,”
Miss Miller opened the door again. Philip said wearily, “ it makes no dif­
“ When I write the article, I ’m going ference. I took an oath to save lives
to pretend I did come a day earlier,” when I became a physician and a life
she said softly. “ Y ou ’re a legend that is a life, be it human or otherwise. I
a lot of unfortunate people want to won’t try to say whether you’re right
believe in with all their hearts. I ’m or wrong, George. All I know is that
not going to destroy that legend be— ” you’ve let me down. I can't trust you -
she paused and bit her lip “ — because I any more, I can’t depend on you.”
believe in it too. Goodbye, Dr. M or­ “ D o you mean you don’t want me to
rison.” help you any more?” George asked.
As the door closed behind her, Philip “ I ’m afraid not,” Philip sighed.
dropped his head on his arms. Some “ Heavens knows I don’t want it this
minutes later, he straightened up and way, but I have no choice. Hereafter,
looked at the ceiling. I ’ll have to depend entirely on my own
“ Are you here, George?” he asked. judgment. I can’t afford to take any
“ I ’m here,” The Voice replied. more chances.”
W hy did you let that man die?” “ Very well, Philip,” George replied,
“ Because it’s better for you and the “ but if you ever change your mind or
world that he not live,” The Voice said. need me, just call. I ’ll be there.”
“ Then you did deliberately let him Philip didn’t answer but dropped his
die?” head on his arms again.
“ Yes,” The Voice admitted, “ I did.”
“ You said you’d help me,” Philip T T WAS late in the afternoon when he
accused, “ yet you misled me. You let rose from his desk and put on his
 MIRACLE MAN 61

hat and coat. At the door he paused we haven’t got too much tim e!”
and spoke to his office nurse. Kit’s eyes were puzzled. “ N o he
“ I ’m going now, Clara. Take care didn’t come.” She paused. “ What’s
of things for me, will you? If there wrong Philip?” she asked simply.
are any calls, I’ll be at home.” Philip shrugged his shoulders. “ I
Clara was slightly surprised. “ Why never have been able to keep anything
— yes, doctor, I will. Aren’t you feel­ from you I Let’s go inside.”
ing well?” He helped her up the stairs and they
“ I’m all right. I ’m just a little tired, walked into the house. Inside, Philip
that’s all.” sank into his favorite armchair. Kit
The cool air blowing in through the settled herself on the end of the couch,
window of his car helped to clear the one foot tucked under her.
cobwebs out of his brain. When Philip “ Did something happen at the Clin­
dispassionately looked at the problem, ic?” K it asked.
his personal infallibility seemed just a Philip sighed. “ I lost my first case,
little ridiculous. As the photographer today.”
from Life had intimated, “ it was a “ Oh no! Oh sweetheart, I ’m so
beautiful legend,” while it lasted. sorry! But it happens to every doctor
Kit was sitting on the porch steps sometimes. Some cases are just hope­
when Philip drew up in front o f the less!”
house. At the sight of her, his heart “ I know,” he replied. “ This one was
felt heavy. almost hopeless, but if I had been on
“ What will I tell K it?” he thought. my toes, I could have saved him !”
He wanted desperately to talk to some “ But darling, you can’t expect to save
one, but who besides Kit could he talk all those hopeless cases!”
to. “ I know I can’t save them all, Kit,
“ I won’t tell her anything,” he de­ but this was only an appendectomy. It
cided. “ I just can’t have her worried was a tough one, true, but I think I
about m e!” could have saved him if hadn’t been
As Philip came up the walk, his face misled! ”
was stern. “ See here, young lady! What “ T h ere!” she said triumphantly. “ I
are you doing outside without a coat?” knew it wasn’t your fault! If someone
“ Oh Philip, it’s not cold! It’s the misled you darling, how can you blame
first nice day we’ve had and I just yourself?”
couldn’t stay inside. Besides, Dr. Pot­ “ But no one did mislead me? That
ter said fresh air was good for me.” is— oh well, let it g o !”
“ I suppose if he said that lots of “ That isn’t reasonable, Philip! First
water was good for you, you’d gone for you say you were misled and now you
a swim in the la k e!” say no one misled youl What do you
They laughed, then K it looked at him mean?”
sharply. “ Kit, you wouldn’t believe me if I
“ Darling, you look tired. D id you told you! Y ou’d think I was cra zy!”
have a hard day?” “ Philip, you’re not making sense!
“ N o more so than usual, honey.” Start at the beginning and tell me the
Philip tried to change the subject. “ By whole thing,” Kit commanded.
the way, sweetheart, did the man come
to look over the spare room? If we’re y ^ G A IN Philip shrugged his shoul-
going to make it over into a nursery, *" ders, settled deeper in his chair and
 62 AMAZING STORIES

began to talk. His narrative took them Philip bit his lip momentarily, then
back to a little bit o f coral jutting out resumed his dinner in silence.
in the huge Pacific ocean. Omitting no
details, he brought the story up to the CHAPTER V
present. When he was finished, Kit
was silent. rJ ''H E next day at the hospital, Philip’s
“ You see,” Philip said, “ I knew you associates watched him closely, he
wouldn’t believe it. That’s why I thought. Fortunately, there was noth­
haven’t told you before!” ing too difficult to be done and what
K it’s face was solemn as she got up. work there was, Philip had already
“ I believe you, darling,” she replied, carefully outlined in his mind several
“ only— it seems so unreal, so strange. days previously. As the day wore on
Let’s go out in the kitchen. We can his calm, easy manner reasserted itself.
talk about it while I get dinner.” His confidence in himself was restored.
Out in the kitchen, Kit busied herself Atherton spoke to him several times in
preparing dinner. Philip sat on a chair his bluff hearty manner and each time,
beside the stove watching her and an­ Philip felt reassured.
swering her questions apathetically. That night, he reported his victory
Kit set the last dish on the table and to Kit.
then looked squarely at Philip. “ Things went just like clockw ork!”
“ If you ask me, I think you’re better he exclaimed. “ I didn’t have a bit of
off without The Voice! Y ou’re a good trouble all day.”
doctor, better than most, and you don’t “ See! What did I tell you?” Kit
need The Voice! Let’s forget all about smiled.
it and have a nice supper!” “ In fact, Mrs. Morrison,” Philip con­
Philip smiled wanly. “ Maybe you’re tinued, “ I think I ’ll take you out to din­
right, honey.” ner tonight, just to celebrate.”
About half-way through the meal, “ Why Dr. M orrison!” she replied.
Philip laid down his fork. “ I didn’t know you cared! ”
“ Darling, I ’m convinced you’re Philip returned that night in a warm
right! When you look at the whole glow o f self confidence which lasted and
thing logically, The Voice must have grew during the next day. It wasn’t
some ulterior, maybe sinister motive in until the day was over that Philip real­
helping me.” ized he had made no plans for the next
“ What for instance?” Kit asked. day. Until now, his treatments were
Philip weighed his words before re­ based entirely on what he and George
plying. “ Well, it’s hard to say. Maybe Spelvin had discussed more than a week
something melodramatic like acquiring previously.
my soul,” Philip laughed. He frowned and then shrugged his
Kit shuddered slightly. “ That’s an shoulders. After all, there wasn’t any­
awful thing to say, Philip!” thing too complicated. He’d examine
“ Oh Kit! You don’t believe for a them carefully, then continue the treat­
minute that anything like that could ments if necessary. He opened the case
happen, do you?” history files and paused. No, he was too
“ I wouldn’t have believed about The tired tonight. Tomorrow would be soon
Voice if I hadn’t heard it from youl enough.
I’m beginning to think that anything is The following afternoon at five
possible! ” o ’clock, Philip wearily unhooked his
 MIRACLE MAN 63

stethoscope from behind his neck. gested.

“ Oh L o rd !” he groaned. He sur­ “ I could use a little more help,”
veyed the desk in front of him. The Philip admitted.
pile of untouched records seemed as “ Fine,” Atherton replied. “ I ’ll send
large as it had been that morning. He them over to you as soon as they get
pressed the buzzer on his desk. Clara here.”
entered almost immediately. The older man rose. “ Well, I ’ve got
“ Yes doctor?” she said in a business­ to be running along, Philip. I ’ll see
like voice. you tomorrow.”
“ I ’m going to knock off for about an
hour,” Philip said, “ then I ’ll come back L IT T L E later, Philip returned to
and finish this work. I wonder if you’d his desk. The case histories seemed
file away today’s records sometime to­ to have grown since he left them. Re­
morrow. I want to look at them to­ signedly, he set to work. Little by lit­
night. Just leave them here on my desk tle, the pile shrank. He glanced up at
when you go.” the clock.
Clara’s eyebrows rose slightly. “ But “ Nine o ’clock! I should be finished
doctor, what about Mrs. Tate? She’s by eleven,” he thought. He removed
been waiting for nearly an hour.” his glasses and rubbed his eyes. Wear­
Philip rubbed his chin. “ Oh yes,” he ily, he laid his head on his arm.
muttered. “ I ’d forgotten all about her. From somewhere a long way off, a
You’d better have her come in.” telephone jangled. Philip raised his
Mrs. Tate required very little atten­ head with a start and looked at the
tion so Philip was able to have his usual clock.
coffee in the dining room with Dr. Ath­ “ Twelve ten,” he muttered groggily.
erton. Atherton was reading when “ I must have fallen asleep.”
Philip sat down across the table from The telephone shrilled again insist­
him. He looked up from his book. ently. He picked up the instrument.
“ Hmm, you’re late today, Philip.” “ Hello,” he said, yawning.
“ Yes, I had a little more to do than Kit was on the other end. “ Darling,
usual,” Philip explained. He picked up I ’ve been worried about you,” she said.
the coffee pot from the table. “ Would “ Is something wrong?” ,
you care for some more, Stuart?” “ N o dear,” Philip answered. “I
Atherton glanced at his cup. “ Yes, meant to call you earlier but I fell
I believe I could use a little.” asleep. I ’ve been working on some case
Atherton frowned as he noticed Phil­ histories.”
ip’s hand trembling. He studied Phil­ “ Sweetheart,” K it said anxiously,
ip’s face. “ you’re too tired! Y ou ’d better come
“ You look tired, m y boy,” he said. home and do them tomorrow.”
“ Don’t you let that staff o f yours do “ Maybe you’re right,” Philip agreed.
any of the w ork?” “ I ’ll be. home right away. Goodbye
Philip smiled. “ Yes, they’re busy dear.”
enough most of the time. I ’ve been “ Goodbye.”
trying to bring the case histories up to Philip rose and stretched. He looked
date.” back at the desk. The pile'seemed as
“ W e’ve got two new internes coming large as ever.
next week. You can have them in your “ Oh well,” he muttered, “ never do to­
department, if you wish,” Atherton sug­ day what you can put off until tomor­
64 AMAZING STORIES

row !” protested. “ You’re the best man there

He jammed his hat on disgustedly is in your field.”
and left. “ Your tense is wrong, Stuart. I was
The week drew to a close and left the best man in my field.”
Philip with a mountain of work. There Atherton shook his head and smiled.
seemed no possibility of ever getting it “ Sometimes, you’re as tempermental as
all done. Thursday, Friday and Satur­ an opera singer! I think some rest,
day, he was the first one to arrive and though, would do you a world of good.
the last one to leave at night. I hate to say it, but right now your
His work in surgery was going down face looks like an unmade bed !”
hill too. Philip overheard an interne Philip laughed in spite of himself.
saying, “ it took Morrison longer than “ Spare me the details. I looked in a
usual, didn’t it?” as he left the surgery. mirror this morning. I didn’t want to
Philip too, noticed his hand shaking. come down but I thought I could finish
At first, only when he was under stress, up this work today.”
but toward the end of the week there “ Why don’t you let it go until to­
was always a slight tremor. Twice, morrow, boy? Then you’ll have more
when seconds were precious, he had help!”
been unable to make a decision. Both “ T o be quite candid, I planned on
guesses had been right, but Philip was giving you my resignation tomorrow.”
afraid his next guess might be wrong. Atherton was shocked. “ You don’t
T o him, it was obvious that he was mean that, Philip! Surely you’re
finished. He lived in dread of his first joking!”
fatal blunder. He was convinced he Philip sighed. “ No, I ’m in dead
couldn’t go on much longer. earnest. It’s the only thing I can do.”
Saturday night, he and Kit had an “ But Philip! Can’t you see what a
argument. A moment after it started, hole you’ll be leaving us in?”
Philip could have bitten off his tongue. Philip Morrison shrugged. “ Frankly,
He pacified her and assured her that I think I ’m doing you a favor. There
tomorrow would be the last day he are other and better men for the job.”
would work late. He was gratified to Atherton looked downcast. “ Well,
see relief in Kit’s face. At that in­ if that’s the way you feel Philip. If
stant, he decided he wouldn’t tell her you’ve had a better offer— ”
what he was going to do. “ No I That isn’t it at all I You don’t
get what I’m driving at. I mean I ’m
g U N D A Y morning found him again retiring from practise!”
at his office. He had just settled Atherton was incensed. “ That’s the
down to work when the door opened most ridiculous thing I ever heard in
and Dr/Atherton entered. Philip looked my life! Here you are the most bril­
up. liant surgeon in the world, right at the
“ Hello Stuart! What brings you very beginning of your career, and you
here?” want to retire!”
“ I want to have a little talk with Philip groaned. “ Stuart don’t you
v'ou,” Atherton replied. see yet that I ’m at the end of my career,
“ If it’s about my work, I know what not the beginning!”
you’re going to say. I ’m slipping and “ I don’t see anything of the k in d!”
I know it.” Atherton replied, his voice rising.
“ I wouldn’t say that!” Atherton “ All right! Have it your way,”
 MIRACLE MAN 65

Philip answered, “ but I know better!” chance to test yourself. What does it
Dr. Atherton leaned back in his chair matter to the world if a doctor can re­
and lit a cigarette before replying. cite Sahli’s Diagnostic Methods word
“ Philip, if this were anyone else but for word? Given time, a parrot could
you, it would be laughable, but since do that. What does it mean to a pa­
this is you, it’s tragic!” tient to know that his doctor was the
Philip didn’t reply and Atherton went most brilliant in medical school, if that
on. patient dies? It is not what a man
“ There’s nothing too uncommon knows, but what he can do! I am not
about a brilliant man deciding he’s all telling you that you are great I am
washed up just before he becomes a only saying that you owe it to the world
success, but it is rather rare to find one to give yourself a chance. Have the
that feels that he is finished after he courage to say as Hippocrates once
becomes successful. I ’m supposed to said, I don’t know why you'are ill, but
be a pretty big name in medicine, but I ’ll try to find out.’
to me, Stuart Atherton is just a big “ What he said, I took to heart. With
bluff. I think I ’ve made as many mis­ every patient that came in I said to
takes as anyone has, but there’s one myself, I don’t know what is wrong with
mistake I haven’t made. I don’t feel you, but I ’ll try to find out. I kept say­
I ’m useless just because I don’t, know ing that to myself day after day and all
all there is to know. You and I both of a sudden, I found people referring
know that you don’t know all there is to me as the famous Dr. Atherton. At
to know, but is that any reason to first, it frightened me but then I de­
quit, give up?” cided to keep going just the way I had
“ N o that isn’t— ” Philip began. been. You don’t think you ’re great, but
“ Exactly,” Atherton interrupted. why not let the world be the judge of
“ Don’t you think that a lot of the fel­ that? I ’ll make you a proposition.
lows that you put back together on the Take a month off. Relax and rest. En­
battlefield thought they were all washed joy your home. Then come back and
up? I know it’s different with a pro­ work for a while and if you’re not satis­
fessional man, but I know another fied with yourself then, I ’ll agree to
physician who summed it all up. You accept your resignation.”
never met Lorenz did you ?” Philip was too tired to argue. Again
“ The bloodless surgeon?” Philip he shrugged his shoulders. “ All right,
asked. “ N o I haven’t.” Stuart,” he replied. “ I think we’re just
“ Well, I did,” Atherton continued. prolonging the inevitable, but we’ll do
“ I studied in Europe, you know. Once it your way.”
I was about ready to give up medicine “ F in e!” Atherton exclaimed. “ Now
because I seemed hopelessly dull com­ here! Put on your hat and coat and
pared to my fellow students. How let’s go out and have some coffee. Just
Lorenz found out, I don’t know, but he leave the work right where it is. If
approached me and had me come to there’s anything we can’t dope out in
his office. What he had to say wasn’t the next month, we’ll call you. From
too clear at the time but I think I know now on you’re on your vacation.”
what he meant. I remember his exact He led Philip unresistingly out of his
words. office.
“ ‘Atherton, you are yet a boy. You Still Phillip had the feeling that all
have not practised nor have you had a was not quite right.
66 AMAZING STORIES

CHAPTER VI have to be made before he could help

him. Eventually, he disengaged him­
'y X / ’H ILE Philip and Dr. Atherton self and went on to the show. The pic­
were together, Philip was much ture was not particularly inspiring but
more cheerful but after Atherton had it did distract his mind somewhat. He
gone, Philip sat in the restaurant, slow­ was rather glad when it was over,
ly slipping back into his depression. He though.
went for a walk in the park but it didn’t All the way home in his car, he care­
help. He found too much time to think. fully rehearsed what he was going to
He wanted to go home but he didn’t say to Kit in the morning. As he drew
know what to say to Kit. How could to a stop in front of the house, he was
he possibly explain. Now above all, he puzzled. All the windows were wide
must do everything to keep her from open.
worrying. “ A little late in the day to be airing
At noon, Philip stopped and had the house,” he thought. “ That’s strange.
lunch at the same restaurant. He de­ Why would she air out the house and
cided he wouldn’t tell Kit tonight. T o­ leave the front door closed?”
morrow would be time enough and he He felt vaguely uneasy and he hur­
knew it would be much better to talk to ried up the walk not bothering to put
her when he, himself was feeling more the car in the garage. For no reason
cheerful. That morning he had told a sense of dread crept over him. In­
Kit he would be home about five so he side the door, he paused and listened.
would wait and arrive home about then. The house was silent.
That way, she wouldn’t ask any ques­ “ K it!” he called. “ Where are you?”
tions. There was no answer.
Idly his eyes strayed over the news­ “ Maybe she’s asleep,” he thought.
paper lying next to him. It was opened He hurried up the stairs to the bed­
to the theater ads. room. It was empty. The bed was
' “ That’s an idea,” Philip thought. I ’ll made. Frantically, he dashed down­
go to a show. It’ll kill time and take stairs and went through the house like
my mind off of things.” a whirlwind. Kit was gone!
He selected one at random. At the “ Kit! Kit, where are you?”
door he paid his check and then strode He turned and was on the point of
out into the warm, spring air. In the dashing out the door when the phone
doorway a man remarked, “ Looks like rang. Impatiently, he snatched up the
we’re ■going to have good weather from receiver.
now on.” “ H ello!”
Philip nodded. “ One moment please.”
“ Say!” the man said, suddenly. Philip recognized the voice of the
“ Ain’t you Miracle Man— I mean ah— switchboard operator at the Clinic. He
Dr. Morrison from the Clinic?” bit his lip and waited.
Philip admitted that he was. “ Hello Philip! Is that y o u !”
“ That’s what I thought. Say doc, “ Yes Stuart. What is it?”
I’ve been having some trouble with my “ Kit’s over here. She had a fall. It
back. I was wondering if you could looks pretty bad. Get over here right
tell me what to do.” away.”
It took Philip some time to convince “ Where’s Dr. Potter?” Philip asked.
the man that an examination would “ He’s in Ogden. W e’re trying to get
 MIRACLE MAN 67

hold o f him now.” “ Yes, we’ve done that already. Yes.

“ Oh my G od !” Philip groaned. “ I ’ll Yes, he’s here. I ’ll let you talk to him.”
be right ov er!” Atherton passed the phone to Philip.
“ Hello Philip 1”
J -J E SLAM M ED the receiver back on “ Yes Ezra.”
x its hook and tore out the door. “ Listen! There isn’t much time for
He leaped into his car and slewed a lot of talking. I ’ve only got a gen­
around in the middle o f the block. He eral idea of Kit’s condition, but I want
raced through the stop sign on the cor­ you and Atherton to go ahead and do
ner, the car heeling dangerously as it what you think you should. I ’ll get
took the turn. Grimly, Philip’s hands there as quickly as I can but don’t, for
gripped the wheel. His foot pressed the love of God, wait for m e !”
the accelerator to the floor. The speed­ “ But Ezra,” Philip protested, “ I
ometer climbed up to sixty, sixty-five, haven’t done any O.B. work for years!”
seventy. He jumped slightly in his seat “ That doesn’t m atter!” Ezra re­
as he heard the low moan of a siren torted. “ You know the case! I wouldn’t
beside him. The motor cycle policeman trust anyone else besides you and Ath­
glanced briefly at the insignia on his erton. Now stop this talking and get
license plates and yelled, “ Emergency to work! I ’m on my way 1”
doc?” The receiver clicked in Philip’s ear.
Philip nodded his head vigorously He hung up the phone appalled. “ He
and screamed. “ Atherton C linic!” wants us to start without him! H e’ll
The policeman nodded preemptorily be here as soon as he can make it !”
and snapped on the red light on the “ I ’m afraid that’s what we’ll have to
front of his motor cycle. He swung in do,” Atherton answered. “ There isn’t
front o f Philip’s car and his siren be­ time for anything else:”
gan a long, keening wail. On the way, Atherton crossed the room and
two more motor cycles joined the pro­ opened a closet He tossed Philip a
cession and added their mournful voices set of whites. “ Here Philip. You can
to the clamor. In spite of the speed, it change into these. The instruments are
seemed to Philip that it took twice as in the sterilizer so I’ll go ahead and get
long to reach the Clinic as usual. things set up.”
At last, they arrived and slid into the The door closed behind him as Philip
ambulance driveway with a squealing began stripping off his clothes. Per­
of tires, the sirens on the motorcycles spiration trickled down his armpits. As
dying away into low mournful groans. he pulled on the white trousers, he
A nurse held the door open as Philip looked at the laboratory reports on Kit
dashed through. He ran down the hall lying on Atherton’s desk and groaned
and burst into Atherton’s office. in despair.
“ Stuart! How— ” “ I can’t do it! I just can’t do it !”
“ Quiet! ” Atherton commanded. “ Og­ “ Oh yes you can! ” a voice replied.
den is calling.” Philip glanced around the room. It
Dr. Atherton listened intently to the was empty.
phone for a moment then said, “ Hello. “ George! George Spelvinl!”
Dr. Potter? This is Stuart Atherton. “ I told you I ’d be back if you ever
Mrs. Morrison had a bad fall.” He needed me,” The Voice in Philip’s head
paused listening, then said, “ Yes, it did. replied.
She’s in surgery now.” Another pause. “ W ill you help me? I ’ll do anything,
68 AMAZING STORIES

anything you ask 1 Only please help me The anesthetist nodded his head and
save K it!” George began to work. Even Atherton
“ All right, all right!” George was surprised. Certainly the technique
answered incisively. “ I'll help you but was unorthodox, but just as certainly
you’ve got to cooperate with me! ” skillful, as though it had been practiced
“ I ’ll do whatever you ask!” Philip hundreds of times. The psuedo Philip’s
said desperately. fingers moved almost too rapidly to fol­
“ Sit down in that chair!” George low with the eye. The same miraculous
commanded “ Lean back and close ability to foresee what was coming was
your eyes!” exhibited, but now seemed more miracu­
lous than ever. An instant before a
,<rp H I S is it !” Philip thought. “ H e’s need was apparent to the others, George
got me. Only a week ago I laughed Spelvin had already taken care of it.
at this possibility. If he’ll only save Except for occasional gasps at some
Kit! Anything is worth it if he’ll only radical departure from the orthodox
save Kit. I wonder what he’s going to technique, the silence was absolute.
do and if it’ll hurt very much.” Only once did George glance at the
“ Stop thinking! Just relax and double clocks on the wall.
listen to me,” The Voice demanded.
Relax. Relax. Let your whole body sag. j g Z R A P O T T E R entered the room
You’re tired. Y ou’re very tired. Y ou’re breathlessly, slipping his scrubbed
sinking onto a black, velvet bed. So hands into the gloves the nurse offered
soft. Soft. Sleep. Sleep.” him. Potter watched the magic fingers
On and on The Voice went, mo­ o f George Spelvin for a moment and
notonously soothing, pacifying. Philip’s smiling shook his head as the nurse o f­
heart seemed to beat in rhythm to the fered him the sterile cap and mask.
words. Slower and slower, his mind Slowly, Ezra walked to the other end
sank down and down into a black fun­ o f the room and steod and watched.
nel, like a dark whirlpool. Then— Three times thus far a nurse had
nothing. mopped perspiration from Atherton’s
Philip rose from his chair but it brow, but George’s remained dry and
wasn’t Philip. The face was smooth unfurrowed. Not quite an hour elapsed
and impassive. The step and move­ when Philip’s enchanted hands swiftly,
ments decisive. Quickly, the figure of delicately laid the tiny body of Philip
Philip marched to the surgical scrub Jr. on the sterile, cloth-covered table
room. T o all outward appearances, it to his right. Without an instant’s hesi­
was Philip, the old Philip, but inside tation the Miracle Man plunged a hypo­
it was George Spelvin, M. D., a physi­ dermic into the indigo-blue infant’s
cian from nowhere. chest. There was a whispered comment
With the same careful haste that from the assistants.
characterized Philip, he scrubbed, dried “ Why that baby’s dead! What can
and slipped into the sterile gown and he d o?”
gloves. He bent and a nurse quickly For a space of minutes that seemed
fitted cap and mask. Brisquely, he like eternities Philip’s famous hands
walked to the operating table. Ather­ massaged the tiny body. Then swiftly
ton looked up and smiled beneath his he held it upward in his hands, rocking
gauze mask. This was obviously the it slowly, first head downward, then,
old Miracle Man Morrison! feet downward. Quickly, he returned
 MIRACLE MAN 69

the infant to the table and called, “ Give the infant’s first breath! Philip re­
the baby oxygen and carbon dioxide.” membered these, however, not as things
He turned his back on the infant and he had done but as things he had
immediately began to work with forceps dreamed or seen in a play.
and stitching instruments. Behind him, Suddenly he asked Ezra, “ K it’s all
an interne lowered a hissing mask over right, isn’t she? And the baby too?”
the infant’s face. The interne’s face “ Of course they are! You ought to
showed how hopeless he thought his know more about that than I d o !”
task. An instant later, he paled slightly “ I suppose so,” Philip replied hesi­
as he withdrew the mask a little and tantly, “ but it all seems rather hazy
the baby’s tiny chest heaved a shudder­ now.”
ing gasp. His fingers almost let the Atherton broke in. “ You must be
mask slip to the floor. just about done in, Philip. W hy don’t
“ He’s— he’s alive!” the interne you go up and see your wife and then
croaked. take one of the private rooms. You
A whisper of a chuckle ran around might as well stay here tonight. You
the room, then the tenseness returned. need the rest and you can be near Kit
George laid down the stitching instru­ at the same time.”
ment and turned to the anesthetist. “ That’s a good idea. I think I will.”
“ Coramine,” he muttered. Philip rose and started for the door.
The anesthetist injected the stimu­ “ Wait a minute! ” Ezra called. “ You
lant and George continued his precise aren’t going upstairs in that getup, are
sutures. Seconds later, he lay down y ou ?”
the stitching instrument for the last Philip had forgotten his surgical
time. He glanced at Kit. Her breath­ clothing.
ing was deep. She was beginning to stir “ You go ahead and change here,”
from the effects of the coramine. He Atherton said. “ Just throw that stuff
applied a neat dressing and without a in the hamper in the corner. W e’ll go
word, walked out of the room. He upstairs and stay with Kit.”
hurried down the hall and into Ather­ Foggily, Philip started to change his
ton’s office and there slumped into a clothes. Then he heard The Voice
chair unconscious. George Spelvin was within his brain.
gone and Philip Morrison slept peace­ “ Did you approve of my w ork?”
fully. George asked.
“ Approve! It was perfect! ”
CHAPTER VII “ Thank you,” George Spelvin re­
plied. “ D o you suppose we could work
g H O R T L Y the door opened. Ezra together from now on ?”
Potter and Stuart Atherton came “ W ork with you? You mean you’re
in. not— that is— ”
“ So this is where you disappeared “ Positively not! I have no designs
t o !” on you whatever.”
Philip didn’t stir. Dr. Potter shook “ But— what is your motive?”
him gently. Philip’s eyes opened. He “ By believing that I was trying to
massaged his forehead and cheeks with steal your soul you were admitting the
his hands. For an instant his memory existence of being who would do such
failed him and then— it all flooded a thing.”
back. In the scrub room, the surgery, “ W hy— why I guess so,” Philip re­
TO AMAZIN© STORIES

plied wonderingly. on us.”

“ Then is it so strange,” George Spel- Philip grinned sheepishly. “ I ’m sorry
vin asked, “ that there should exist those I took so long.”
whose purpose is to help humanity? Dr. Potter laughed. “ That’s all right,
We have as much incentive as the ‘evil Philip.” He turned. “ K it’s in there.
ones.’ ” I just gave her a hypo but she’ll be
“ Then there definitely are ‘evil ones’ awake for a few minutes.”
as you put it?” Philip softly entered Kit’s room and
“ Definitely!” George replied. “ Some walked up to the head of the bed. Kit
even in human form.” looked at him for a moment.
“ Then— then that man that died! He “ Philip dear,” she said softly.
was one o f those?” A big lump formed in his throat.
“ He was.” He clasped her hands in his.
“ Will I have to let any more die?” “ Ezra says the baby’s fine,” she said
Philip questioned. weakly. “ Does he look like you?”
“ I doubt if there will be any more,” Philip shook his head. “ He looks
George answered. “ You see, he like both of us.”
wouldn’t have come to you under any He held her hands a few minutes
circumstances. He would have sensed more in silence. K it’s eyelids began to
my presence. Since he died, I assure droop.
you that any others will be sure to She sighed. “ I ’m so glad I married
stay away from you.” a Miracle Man.” Her eyes closed.
Philip heaved a sigh of relief. “ Pm Tears trickled down Philip’s face.
glad. It’s hard to lose a case when He drew both her hands to his lips,
you don’t have to. It doesn’t matter kissed them and covered them with the
what they are. W hy didn’t you tell blanket. Very quietly he left the room.
me this before?” In the private room next door, Philip
“ I did,” George said, “ but you were sat a long time on the edge of his bed.
too prone to believe that I was the An old line he had once heard popped
one that was evil!” into his mind. There are no atheists in
Philip nodded his head. “ Yes, I fox holes.
guess you’re right. I don’t know how “ That applies to a lot more than
I can ever repay you for what you’ve just fox holes,” he thought, a half smile
done for me, epeciaily in view of the on his lips.
injustices I’ve done you.” There was a knock on the door.
“ It’s a simple debt to repay. Just go “ Come in,” Philip called.
on being a good physician. Pass on Dr. Atherton entered the room.
what you learn to others and I ’ll con­ “ How do you feel now, Philip?”
sider the debt more than paid. Now “ Pretty groggy,” Philip admitted.
go see Kit and don’t worry! She’ll “ By the way, would you like to change
be all right.” that agreement of ours a little?”
“ I was just going to ask you the
"p H IL IP walked up the ramp, his coat same question. You can have the
A slung over his arm. At the head of month’s vacation if you want it but no
the ramp he met Ezra and Dr. Ather­ resignation! I wouldn’t take your resig­
ton. nation now even at the point of a gun!”
“ Ah, here you are!” said Ezra. “ I “ Sounds fair enough,” Philip replied.
thought you had gone back to sleep “ There’s another thing too,” Ather­
 MIRACLE MAN 71

ton continued. “ Miss Becker, my was called upon to perform one of his
nurse, kept notes on your work tonight, famous surgical miracles and un­
I wonder if you would mind doing a failingly he did.
paper on it for The Journal. I ’d be His name was truly a legend among
glad to help you with it. The new his colleagues and certainly no medical
techniques that you used would be a school was complete without his books.
boon to other physicians.” In these medical schools, you had but
Philip remembered his conversation to open one of these texts and you
with George Spelvin. would invariably find penned in below,
“ I think I ’d like very much to do a his name, Miracle Man.
thesis on it. I ’ve already promised Philip had yet to give a lecture in
someone else I would.” a medical school without having the
“ Oh, is that so? W ho?” auditorium filled and seats placed in the
“ Dr. Spelvin,” Philip answered. aisles. Even then there would be some
“ Dr. George Spelvin.” standing.
Atherton’s brow furrowed. “ Spel­ The team Spelvin and Morrison was
vin? I don’t believe I know him. Why indeed a successful one. At first, it had
don’t you have him play a round of been more Spelvin than Morrison, but
golf with us some day?” now except for a very occasional sug­
“ I’ll ask him,” Philip promised with gestion, the invisible George Spelvin,
a wry smile, “ but I don’t think he’ll M . D ., was limited to minor comments,
accept. He doesn’t play very well.” approval or plain conversation.
“ Fine,” Atherton grunted. “ Well I ’d The Clinic had grown too. Now it
better go now and let you get some stood twenty-four stories high. At the
rest.” request of Philip, it had been renamed
Soon Philip was in bed. He didn’t Atherton Memorial Hospital. People
think he would be able to sleep but he going there, however, invariably asked
was wrong. When Dr. Potter opened to be taken to Morrison’s Clinic. The
the door ten minute later, he smiled. third floor was devoted to charity alone
“ M y, my! Philip, you are without a and a bronze plaque faced the elevator
doubt the sleepingest man I ever saw !” bearing the words, “ The facilities of
Somewhere in the room a silent voice this floor are dedicated to the memory
chuckled. of George Spelvin, M . D .”
“ Indeed he is, Dr. Potter, indeed he No one in the hospital knew exactly
is l” who George Spelvin, M. D. was, but
rumor had it that he had been a col­
CHAPTER VIII league and co-worker of Dr. Morrison
during the second world war. This
A T F IF T Y years of age, Philip M or­ floor, like the others, was always filled.
rison looked remarkably young. In his spacious offices, Philip looked
True he was graying at the temples, up from his desk. His secretary
but his figure was still thin and aes­ entered.
thetic. For ten years he had been with­ “ Yes, Miss Lewis?” Philip asked.
out the benefit o f the wise council of “ Dr. Winston is outside and would
Stuart Atherton. Philip’s practice was like to see you.”
more limited now since the younger “ Winston?” Philip frowned. “ Ob
members of his staff handled the more yes I H e’s that interne that’s been
routine cases. Occasionally though, he doing such good work in the neuro­
72 AMAZIN© STORIES

psychiatric division! Send him in.” know, sir,” he whispered, “ I’m losing
Young Dr. Winston came through my mind! I ’m going insane 1”
the door, nervously. “ W hat!” Philip exclaimed. “ What
“ Come in Winston. Sit down,” in the world makes you think so?”
Philip invited. “ It’s no use, sir. I ’ve been studying
The young man hesitantly complied. psycho-pathology all my life, ever since
Philip waited for him to speak, but I was a boy, and I couldn’t be w rong!”
Winston seemed to have trouble finding Winston’s eyes were wet. “ All my life
the right words. Philip smiled, trying I ’ve wanted to be a psychiatrist and
to put him at his ease. now I can’t. How can one lunatic
“ What can I do for you, Dr. treat another? It’s nothing obscure
Winston?” Philip always used the title either! I ’m just a plain garden variety
when speaking to one of his internes. of paranoid!”
“ Dr. Morrison, I— ” he hesitated, Philip raised one eyebrow. “ Oh? D o
then blurted, “ I want to resign!” you have homicidal impulses?”
The boy covered his eyes with his
p H I L I P pursed his lips. “ Oh? Is hand. “ No, not yet, but I hear voices
that so? D o you, ah— have a bet­ or rather a voice.”
ter offer?” “ A voice, eh?” Philip asked. “ What
“ Dr. Morrison, you know there isn’t does the voice say?”
any such thing as a better offer. It’s “ That’s the only unusual feature,”
the greatest honor in the world to be Winston went on, diagnosing his own
allowed to work with you,” Winston case. “ It talks to me about my
said in an agonized voice. patients! It makes suggestions about
“ Maybe so,” Philip admitted, “ but the treatments!”
if that’s true, why do you want to “ What about these suggestions,”
leave? If you’ve had some misunder­ Philip asked. “ Are they good ones?
standing, I ’m sure we can straighten Are the diagnoses correct?”
it out. W e’d like very much to have “ By a coincidence, so far they have
you complete your interneship here been! All of them!” Winston replied.
rather than somewhere else.” “ D o you ever hear the voice at other
The younger man stared at the floor. times?”
“ That isn’t it at all! I ’m not going to “ Only when I consciously try to talk
practise. I ’m going to give up medi­ to it.”
cine— forever!” “ Hmm,” Philip muttered, “ somehow,
Philip smiled slightly. “ This situa­ I have a hunch that you’re not insane.
tion has a somewhat familiar ring. May Nor do I think you’re going insane.”
I know why you want to give up your “ No sir! ‘ Not even you can change
career?” my mind,” the young man said miser­
“ I— I ’m afraid I can’t tell you,” ably. “ I f you’re thinking it’s my own
Winston muttered. mind answering me, you’re wrong! The
“ Oh come n ow !” Philip insisted. “ I’ll voice answers me like another person
have to say something to your medical and I don’t know what the answers are
school. If I don’t, they’ll think it was going to be. It doesn’t even use the
something that I did. You wouldn’t same words that I would use!”
want to leave me in a spot like that
would you?” J )H IL IP considered this for a moment
Winston bit his lip. “ If you must then snapped the switch on the com­
 MIRACLE MAN 73

municator box. muttering, “ Morrison too! If that isn’t

“ Miss Clark?” he asked. “ Can you the damndest thing I ever heard. Still,
tell me quickly the number of cases I think I ’m sane. He certainly is !” He
that Dr. Winston has handled? Also, frowned, a determined frown. “ I ’d bet­
how many correct diagnoses he has ter get to w ork! ”
made and how many of the cases under It was rather late that afterioon
his personal care have been pronounced when Miss Lewis entered Philip’s office,
complete recoveries?” a troubled look on her face. She ex­
There was a short pause. Miss tended a typewritten sheet.
Clark’s voice came back metalically. “ Dr. Morrison, haven’t you made a
“ The records for the last three months slight error? According to this,
show that he has diagnosed thirty-six you’ve appointed Dr. Frederick W in­
cases correctly. There were two dis­ ston to fill the vacancy as Assistant
agreements with the attending physi­ Chief of Neuro-Psychiatric D ivision!”
cian’s diagnosis, but Dr. Winston “ I don’t think I made a mistake,”
proved to be correct. He has handled Philip smiled.
nine cases personally, six of which “ But— but— ” the woman sputtered,
were completely cured. The other “ he’s only an interne! That’s the one
three are still under treatment. Prog­ you were talking to this morning!”
nosis in these three cases by the resi­ “ That’s all right,” Philip chuckled.
dent psychiatrist is extremely favor­ “ He completes his interneship next
able. Shall I look up the records for week. The appointments don’t take ef­
the preceding three months?” fect until the first of next month. That
“ Just a moment please,” Philip re­ gives him two weeks off. That should
quested. He snapped off the switch be enough don’t you think?”
and turned to Winston. “ I— I— suppose so,” she responded
“ How long has this voice business weakly. She turned and faced him
been going on ?” he asked. again. “ I ’m going down to the kitchen,
“ Not quite three months,” Winston doctor. Would you like me to bring
answered apathetically. you anything? Some coffee m aybe?”
Philip snapped the instrument on “ N o thanks, Miss Lewis. I think
again. “ That’s all I need, Miss Clark. I ’ll take the rest of the afternoon off.
Thank you.” Philip grinned broadly I ’m goi#g out with an old friend, Dr.
at Winston. “ M y boy, since you were Spelvin.”
going to resign anyway, you probably “ W h o !” Miss Lewis gasped.
have enough time to sit and listen to “ Dr. George Spelvin,” Philip replied.
this story. “ Oh— ah— of course.” Miss Lewis
Winston looked at him blankly and went through the door a trifle unstead­
nodded his head. ily.
“ Relax,” Philip went on. “ Have a When Philip passed her a few min­
cigarette I This may take some time. utes later, she had a thermometer
We have to go all the way back to the tucked in one corner o f her mouth.
start of the second world war.” With her left hand, she was taking her
Quite some time later, Dr. Winston own pulse so diligently that she didn’t
emerged from Philip’s office. His even see Philip as he went out the door.
shoulders were square now and he She only absently noted the loud burst
looked happy although a little dazed. of laughter that drifted in through the
He shook his head slightly and kept open window that faced the street.
I, JOHN COTTER
b y MILLEN COOKE
HE story of my strange expe­ became suddenly unfamiliar, offering a

T riences begins on a Christmas

morning when I was ten and a
half years old. Among the contents of a
limitless field of discovery and a knowl­
edge of life that it was worse than death
tc do without.
bulging Christmas stocking I found a I spent that entire day going from
pocket magnifier. There were three room to room in the house, examining
neat and shiny lenses that folded into a the minute details of everything I had
hard black case that was marked on the accepted as comfortably ordinary. Now
sides with crossed lines, like the body nothing was usual, or ordinary, or even
of a fish. But it was far more wonder­ comfortable to have about until it had
ful than any fish. Under its lenses been seen again with these new magic
things grew. Things so tiny they were “ eyes.” All the other gifts lay neglect­
nothing more than a blur to the eye be­ ed and ignored, much to the disgust and
came very clear and near, and revealed bewilderment of those doting relatives
their mysteries. Every familiar object who had bestowed them upon me with

T h e w o rld o f the small had been

a b o y h o o d fa scin a tio n . N o w , as a
m an , he w ent into that w eird w orld

74
76 AMAZING STORIES

so much affectionate concern. bined to furnish me with an excellent

The next day and the day following livelihood. At the same time, it left
were spent in the same rambling sur­ me comparatively free to pursue my
vey o f the house and its contents. M y own investigations, and I worked night
parents became alarmed at this intense and day, completely absorbed in the
concentration upon the world of small, world of little things.
and threatened to take away the magni­ Thus my life proceeded for some
fier if I continued to do nothing but years, during which I lived very hap­
prowl about with it. At this point my pily at the mines, spending most of my
grandfather intervened. Instead of for­ time more alone than in company. The
bidding me the glorious occupation, he other men at the mine knew me for a
began to teach me some of the possibili­ quiet man, something of a “ nut,” but
ties of my treasure. “ all right.” For me, it was a placid,
Together we explored not only the and on the whole peaceful, existence. I
house and its contents, but ranged the wished for nothing that I did not have
garden— and the world— as well. The or could not obtain.
old man sent away to far-off places for
specimens and strange substances for j y j Y B IR T H D A Y falls on July twen-
me to look at. We made a pact, pro­ A ty-ninth. When it came along
viding that the collection would be last year, I declared a private holiday
constantly enlarged as long as I should for myself, locked up my microscope,
spend no more than two hours each day packed a lunch and set out for a certain
examining things. Unfamiliar knowl­ working about five miles from the main
edge, Grandfather insisted, must be ab­ camp. This was no sudden reversal of
sorbed as food is, regularly, but in di­ my character, nor was it any abandon­
gestible quanties. ment of my favorite pursuits. It was
On my twelfth birthday'he gave me to be a typical “ postman’s holiday.”
a real microscope. I learned very read­ The object of my journey was to ob­
ily how to prepare slides for it, and as tain a sample o f ore from the depths of
my researches progressed, my interest a newly opened shaft. Curious tales
shifted more and more away from the were being told in the camps about that
organic world. I lost interest in the shaft and its contents. Very curious
myriad lives below the sensitivity level tales. There was something in it that
of the human eye. The states and com­ was different. Something neither ordi­
pounds of metals and other minerals nary nor comfortable, for the stories
absorbed an increasing amount of my told by the men who had gone into the
time, and occupied a growing space in hole had grown out of all proportion to
my library of slides and notes. By the common sense. They spoke, for one
time I was twenty all my organic speci­ thing, of glowing veins of ore. Others
mens had been discarded in favor of told of lights that moved inside the
literally thousands of examples of the rocks. Some spoke of the unnatural
so-called lifeless materials, in their pure heaviness of the ore, and when they did,
state and in combination with one an­ there were as many men to contradict
other. them, saying the ores became feather-
At the age of twenty-two I went to light, seemed to be of no known sub­
work for a mining company, where my stance, and then broke to powder at
knowledge of minerals and exceptional the slightest touch.
competence with a microscope com­ All these things were obviously the
 I. JO H N COTTER 77

weird and wonderful imaginations of I sat down in the partial shade of a

adventurous (and monotony - weary) large boulder and ate one o f the oranges
minds. Nevertheless, I have always from my knapsack. As I peeled the
believed that all rumor, however wild, fruit, I tossed the bits of rind down the
has some natural foundation in fact, hillside past my feet. There was a
and I hoped to discover for myself the steep slope on the shaded side of the
peculiarity that had given rise to those boulder, and I watched idly as the
fantastic reports. Somewhere in that pieces of golden peeling tumbled down
shaft, if my theory held good, there the sand screes, starting miniature ava­
was something odd, something out of lanches as they went. Suddenly I was
the usual, something not to be found amazed to see a faint trail of light flick­
in other mines. In reporting it, the er along one of the little slides. It dis­
men had simply let their fancies em­ appeared almost instantly, but I was
broider what was probably only an in­ certain I had seen it. The sand had
teresting detail. been skidding down through the shad­
However, for many years my life had ow of the rock behind the rolling chunk
been made up of interesting details. of orange skin. The little light had
As I trudged along through the increas­ flickered along behind it— slower than
ing heat o f that late July morning, I lightning, and a little quicker than a
speculated upon the various possibili­ snake’ would move. And it had disap­
ties. Radioactivity of some sort? Phos­ peared before it quite reached the shad­
phorescence? Improbable, but not al­ ow’s edge.
together impossible. There was, I
knew, galena in the hole, and that T N T R IG U E D , and a little apprehen­
meant lead, and lead meant, to me, a sive, I picked up a small shard of
variety of possible events not accepta­ stone and rolled it carefully along the
ble to other scientific minds. Events slope where I thought I had seen the
that verged upon Alchemy and the an­ light. It clattered down into the brush
cient, forbidden knowledge of an older below, followed by quite a large sand-
time. There was room in my world for avalanche. N o light appeared. Disap­
these things, for to me the minerals, pointed, and again beginning to believe
although they do not breathe, and move I had experienced an hallucination, I
only slowly and under strange condi­ tried again. Still nothing. Then, rea­
tions, have life. And I have always soning that the orange peel had brought
loved that life. out the light in the first instance, I
All that lay, however, in the world ripped off a largish chunk of it, folded
of my belief. From what I knew, the it together so it would roll better, and
phenomena reported by the men could started it down the hill.
not reasonably be due to any such con­ Immediately, the light leapt out of
dition. The reports were far too spec­ the sand behind it and followed it down
tacular to be true at all. But why did the slope, leaping and twisting along,
my mind return again and again to half in and half out of the sliding sand.
those wild tales as though they were Filled with sudden excitement and a
true in substance as well as inspira­ dreadful delight, I slapped my hand
tion? It was, from a practical point down hard into the light, going a little
of view, most unreasonable. Possibly ahead of it to make sure I would hit it
the unaccustomed exertion of climbing at all. I did. It spread out all around
a mountain was proving too tiring. the edges of my hand, and welled Over
IS AMAZING STORIES

it, curling, glowing feebly in the shad­ my sensations. I realized that the rest
ow, like a faintly luminous mist, color­ of the fear that had seized me had been
less— and unutterably cold! the perception of all my bodily com­
Then, as suddenly as it had come, it ponents as separate, and antagonistic
disappeared. It did not melt or fade toward one another. M y bones had re­
away. It vanished all at once. It was volted against the muscles that moved
there, lapping about my hand, cold, ter­ them. Skin and organs warred with
rible, and frightening— and it was gone, one another. From one being, I was
leaving behind it a great numbness that in the process of becoming many, and in
crept along my arm, spreading like a that operation, mind and emotion were
sick chill of dissolution throughout my being driven apart. I had been disinte­
whole trembling body. grating, as though from within myself
I leaned back against the boulder and — and the light, or something in the
chafed my hand and arm to get the light, had been responsible for it.
blood going again. I was shaking all Well, sunlight was certainly the cure.
over, like a man with an ague. I felt, In less than an hour I felt completely
dully, that I had been rudely awakened normal again, and I could not restrain
from some wild nightmare of walking my curiosity. More than ever, I wanted
along an unfamiliar mountain trail, to see that mine. It was scarcely half a
where I had abruptly come to a brink of mile further up the mountain, so I slung
an awful and unsuspected precipice. I my knapsack over my shoulder and re­
knew, at the same time, that I had not sumed my climb.
been dreaming. M y mind raced des­ About two o ’clock in the afternoon
perately trying to put together brain I reached the working. I had eaten
impressions from the past that would nothing but the orange since early
resemble and account for the experience morning, but in my excitement I forgot
of the moment before— and I knew that to be hungry. One desire motivated
there was no solution for it there. M y my every action: I must solve the tan­
whole being was convulsed in terrible talizing mystery of the strange cold
revolt against this thing I had uncov­ light.
ered. I wanted to flee down the hill­ The digging was a level tunnel run
side, but the panic I felt was not suf­ straight into the mountainside. It was
ficiently strong to force my shuddering furnished with a narrow track and
muscles to lift the aching body of which small push-car. No other equipment
they were a part. They, too, were had been left there, since the main pur­
frightened, in their own blind way, and pose of the shaft had been to locate
could not move except to try to shake the upper portion of a vein. So when
away this coldness I had forced upon I arrived the tunnel was deserted, and
them. it looked very narrow and very dark as
I stood peering into it. For a moment
^ F T E R a litle while I crept out into I felt a touch of the fear that had swept
the sunlight and lay there prone over me when I had put my hand in the
upon the warm earth until the welcome light.
heat of the sun penetrated into the mar­ Curiosity, however, is greater than
row of my bones, and I felt well and fear. I shook off my apprehension and
one again. As my body grew warmer walked into the tunnel. M y flashlight
and its responses became more normal, cut a smaller tunnel of light within the
the fear left me. I began to analyze heavy darkness, and as I advanced, I
 I. JO H N COTTER 79

became increasingly confident. Every­ numbing pain of a disintegrating or­

thing was as it should be. The shaft ganism. In that instant there was only
was bare and dry. I took mental note the yearning, the unconquerable long­
of the formation as I penetrated far­ ing to look again upon something re­
ther into the mountainside. It did no,t membered as an incredible loveliness.
differ materially from t h a t farther After a while I remembered the or­
down. Everything was, indeed, as it anges. Outside, it had followed the or­
should be. ange peel down the slope. There the
Reassured, I switched off the flash­ light had spread over my hand. The
light as I waited. The tunnel entrance thought of it brought back a faint mem­
was a patch of light three hundred feet ory of all that had happened, and I
behind me. Ahead, not ten feet away, was unwilling to undergo that torment
was the end o f the tunnel. M any min­ a second time. So I peeled an orange
utes passed before I realized fully what and tossed the bits of rind against the
I was doing. What in the world was I tunnel wall.
waiting for? Was it possible that I ac­ Nothing happened.
tually credited those wild stories, after I peeled another, and still another,
all? What had come over me to make with no result whatever. When the
me stand perfectly still in the dark end oranges were all gone, I tried the other
of a tunnel and wait for an indefinite food I had brought with me. With every
length of time for an equally indefinite new thing I tried, my wild desire to see
something— for I had not been thinking the light again mounted and increased
of the light, or of anything else, for that within me until, my foodstuff exhausted,
matter. It was simply an empty wait­ I rushed to the wall and passionately
ing . . . pressed my hands against the rock. Fin­
Embarrassment made me glad no­ ally I beat my hands against the rough
body was with me. Chuckling at my tunnel wall until they were raw and
own foolishness, I turned back toward bleeding, reddening the dark rocks
the entrance, switching on the flashlight about the spot where the light had dis­
as I moved. appeared.
But nothing at all happened. Ex­
T CAUGHT a glimpse of it then, out hausted, I sat down upon the floor of
of the corner of my eye. Light. the tunnel, and stared at the blank dark­
Light in the dark end of the tunnel. ness, nursing my bleeding hands. Slowly
Light, that moved and twisted just at my senses returned. M y mind took up
the edge of the beam cast by the flash. its normal pattern of thought and I mar­
Instantly, I snapped off the flashlight. veled at my own behavior. Apparently
Nothing. Again I waited, this time the light aroused in me the most ele­
knowingly deliberately and willingly I mental passions. Fear, desire, all raw
waited, staring at the blank expanse of emotion, unbidden by and unattached
darkness where I had seen the fleeting to any mental influence. Apparently it
trail of brilliance. pulled mind and feeling apart, leaving
What could I do to bring it back only that intense desire for— or fear of
again? — the elusive light.
A great yearning filled my whole be­ Or had I got too much sun coming up
ing. If only I might see again that lu­ the mountain? Was that the explana­
minous motion! There was no memory tion? Was all this the product of some
of the coldness, or of the fear, or of the wild delirium induced by over-exertion,
80 AMAZING STORIES

bright light, and July heat? The doc­ things. I found myself unable to look
tor, I decided, could tell me that when at anything else in the room. Yes, ap­
I got back to camp. I resolved to sub­ parently, there was nothing at all un­
mit to a thorough examination the min­ common or out of the ordinary about
ute I got home! that bit of mineral. It looked exactly
Pulling myself to my feet, this time like hundreds of similar chunks I had
with definite effort, I turned on the seen. But somehow, something about
flashlight once more and started toward this chunk was different.
the tunnel entrance. Had I walked out It was as though— and my mind re­
of the tunnel, then, at that moment, jected this thought with all its powers,
nothing more might have happened to frantically piling up evidence, against
set the story of John Cotter apart from its possibility— it was as though the
the stories of thousands of other men mineral had desires of its own. After
who have looked for a moment beyond a while, and against my own judgment,
the narrow and confining pattern of I became convinced of that fact. It
space and time through which mankind did have desires. It did want some­
pursues his happiness. thing, that dark stuff, and out of it
But I, John Cotter, did not walk out poured great waves of longing and Of
of the tunnel. I turned back. Moved need.
by a strange and fateful curiosity— and Or was I simply translating my own
by who knows what other influences desires to the object of them? M y
beyond myself— I took my hammer and mind suggested this. Was it I who de­
knocked off a jutting chunk of dark sired something from the stone? I re­
crystalline ore from the area where I solved to see!
had seen the light. It was a smallish Methodically I began to break up the
piece, no bigger than my fist, showing specimen.
the satiny cubes of galena and little else. Something possessed me then, as it
I thrust it into my knapsack and left had in the tunnel, and on the moun­
the tunnel, trudged down the hill and tainside. Something possessed me, and
went straight to the doctor’s office. moved my hands and feelings, over­
ruled my mind, and I began to do, not
J T WAS late in the day, by that time, what I wanted to do, but whatever the
and the doctor was not in. I decided “ something” in the stone would have
to find something to eat before hunting me do.
up the doctor at his home, and another First I broke the chunk in two pieces,
unbreakable link was forged in the the larger of which I threw away. Then,
c h a i n of my extraordinary circum­ from the broken edge of the smaller
stances. piece, with great care and infinite pa­
I felt a great deal better after I had tience, I extracted one tiny, perfectly
eaten. The visit to the doctor, I de­ cubical crystal. When I had succeeded
cided, could wait until morning. In­ in getting it safely detached from its
stead of going to his house, therefore, neighbors, an overpowering sensation
I went home, and took the sample of of great joy surged through my whole
rocky ore out of my knapsack. It pos­ consciousness, and I shouted aloud for
sessed, I discovered, a most unreason­ sheer relief and exultation.
able and powerful fascination, which This crystal I prized so highly and
drew my attention in spite of every ef­ so without reason was less than one six­
fort I could make to think of other teenth of an inch in height, and it was
 I, JO H N COTTER 81

with extreme caution that I carried it and the field went dark, I saw . . . IT ,
carefully to my microscope. I placed and I nearly went mad with excitement.
it gingerly upon a glass slide, and ad­ The violet cube was almost invisible
justed stage and lamps and lenses. As against the darkened field, but there,
I maneuvered the little crystal into full in the heart of the crystal, leaping,
view, I said to myself, “ Now you shall flickering, coiling like a living thing, lay
see an absolutely perfect crystal of ga­ a tiny replica of the flame. It moved
lena.” Slowly as I turned the fine ad­ about inside the cube, a lovely minia­
justment, the crystal’s smooth rectangu­ ture of the light that had enveloped my
lar planes came sharply into focus. I hand. Up, down, around, within the
gasped in astonishment, so sheer, so diminutive cube it “ swam,” for all the
smooth and featureless were the sides world, I said to myself, like a goldfish
of this miniature cube. (Even at 200x in a bowl. The ridiculous simile made
they show not a trace o f line or me laugh, and in my laughter I relaxed,
scratches.) Patiently I examined all and forgot time, myself and all things
six sides of the crystal. N o disfiguring other than that living light.
pit marred their beautiful, surfaces. There is no way to know or tell how
Every angle was exact and perfect. long I watched the tiny flame. Many
But it was the color that impressed minutes, certainly, perhaps many hours
me most of all. Under the microscope went by while I stared in uncontrollable
(and to the naked e y e ), galena is softly fascination, following ecstatically each
metallic, like oxidized silver rubbed to undulation of the imprisoned flame.
a satin-soft lustre. This crystal was And as I watched, I became ever more
colored like the most deeply violet ame­ acutely aware of the fact of its desire.
thyst imaginable. Nowhere did it show It wanted something, and that want­
the slightest trace o f metallic lustre. ing was a deep, unthinking, unreason­
Amethystine and mysterious it lay, ing, naked desire. I could feel the al­
faintly translucent at the upper angles, most irresistible tug of that uncanny
shading from a rich spectrum color to a craving, that elemental hunger. The
dark opacity that was almost black. pull was alien, but, at the same time,
It was, however, no amethyst. It overwhelmingly alluring. It thrilled
was a perfect cube. along by nerves like hungry lightning,
ar.d gnawed at my feelings like the first
J SET the analyzer over the eyepiece of need of life. It became a cry in my ears,
my microscope, and turned the prism and my pulses answered with a longing
slowly around. Immediately a sym­ for which I knew there could be no ex­
phony of rainbows leapt out of the isting satisfaction.
depths of the violet cube. Bewildered Then, suddenly, out of the depths of
and very much confused I watched the this realization, came the full knowl­
colors shift and change. Was this after edge of what it was the flame so ardent­
all some strange freak of quartz? What ly desired. It wanted me, John Cot­
did I have there? I forced my tired ter. The instant that blinding thought
brain to seek an answer in its wide became clearly focused in my mind, an
knowledge, but my mind could not agony of disruption like that I had felt
identify this stranger from any of its on the mountain engulfed me. This
experience. time, however, there was no fear in it.
I continued to rotate the analyzer, There was only an exquisite longing of
and at the instant the Nichols crossed all my elements to leave their combina­
82 AMAZING STORIES

tions and to become— as what? mist, I saw the flame approaching—

With shocking certainty I knew, and and I thought! Words moved in the
the knowledge was terrifying. But depths of my feeling. “ The Flam e!” ,
through the terror an all-encompassing I cried. The words burned across my
wonder welled up and overflowed body senses like hot fire, bitter taste, white
and feeling in a flood of happiness that and searching light. There was a crash
swept all sense before it. T o become like thunder, and abruptly I awoke,
like the flame! T o be that stable in­ frantic, and afraid. An aroma like that
stability it represented. T o be that of burning benzoin hung all around the
c o l d , intangible, infinitely desirable room.
fire! The next day, and for many days
That night my reason ‘saved’ me. At thereafter, I spent my every spare mo­
the ultimate moment of surrender, it ment watching for the, flame in the tiny
drew me back into myself— pulled me crystal. Sometimes my flame was ab­
back into my combinations, and with sent for hours together. During those
the hazy thought that I was unbearably times I would become almost wild with
tired, I covered the microscope, turned worry and fear that it might never re­
out the lamps, and fell exhausted across turn. Then, when it would appear
my unopened bed. again, my relief and joy would bring
me close to tears.
| ^ U R IN G the heavy sleep that came And that next night, and every night
over me, I had the first of the for weeks thereafter, I had a dream.
many dreams which were to engross Often it would involve no more than
me more and more completely until, at a consciousness of the beautiful haze,
last, they became more important to me the pleasantness. Often the flame would
than the life through which I moved so appear. After s e v e r a l disastrous
happily until the day the crystal was thoughts resulting in experiences like
discovered. that of the first night, I learned to ac­
In the dream I seemed to be stand­ cept the presence of the flame without
ing, quite alone, in a soft haze of dimly thinking about it. Then it would dance
violet light. There was no sound, no around me, executing its beautiful and
stir of any wind against my naked flesh, enticing movements within the field of
and I felt neither warm nor cold. Never my emotions, lifting me to rapturous
had I been so comfortable, so much at exaltations of delight. Its nearness
ease, or felt so perfectly secure. I did brought another pleasure, keener and
not think. That is, no formulated more desirable than the pleasantness of
speech troubled the smiling surface of the haze.
my emotional calm. There was no
name for anything. I felt, and what I jP*OR some time my life continued in
felt was good, although I did not call this fashion without great change.
it that. M y sole response to the pleas­ August passed by, and September fol­
antness about me was a blind and lowed it away. October brought the
greedy reaching out for more of the first snow to that high region, and there
pleasantness. There was no desire to was less work to do, althought some of
move. All I wanted then or forever the men always stayed on at the mines,
was to stand, as I was standing, and even during the “ closed” months in the
feel what I was feeling at that moment. middle of t£e winter. I stayed on,
After a while, through the violet usually, because I loved the mountains
 I, JO H N COTTER 83

in their winter state, and there was no­ had called out it must have been in
where I would rather be. passing, and that the shout, if any, had
But this Autumn I hardly noticed not been intended for me. Having set­
the snow. I did whatever work was tled the matter to my satisfaction, I
required of me during the day, and at crawled, shivering, back into bed.
night, as soon as I could manage it, This time, almost as soon as my eyes
I would draw my curtains and give my­ were closed, I began to dream in what
self up to my invariable delight— was, by that time, familiar fashion.
watching the flame moving within the There was a brief period of the pleas­
crystal. The minute I was reasonably antness as the violet haze gathered
tired, I would hurry to bed, jealous of around me. Then the flame appeared,
any moments not spent in sleep, where dancing, now near, now farther off,
I was free to explore the violet paradise emanating its own sweet pleasure as it
of those recurring dreams. moved.
On the twenty-ninth of October the Then I sensed the word. The flame
flame spoke to me. The date impressed became very still after it had spoken,
me, because it was just three months and I felt the word moving into my
after my birthday. Three months after consciousness like some tangible thing,
the day I discovered the light and felt it like a cool, thin bubble moving
found the stone. through the body of my emotions, a
That night I brought out the slide to bubble of ecstasy, radiating love.
which I had fastened the crystal with “ Bat-heel”
a bit of resin. It was my intention to So I translated it into the language
watch the flame for a little while be­ of the outer world. Later, I learned
fore going to bed. I had, however, its meaning, but at that time I had no
scarcely brought the tiny cube into idea of it. I felt only the infinite, rev­
focus, when an irresistible drowsiness erential adoration it conveyed. And I
made it almost impossible to keep my awoke.
eyes open. Half disappointed, I cov­
ered the instrument and went to bed. 'y 'H E next twenty-one days were
At once I fell asleep, and the sleep was passed in fantasy beyond belief.
dreamless, for I woke up again, sud­ Again hnd again the flame spoke to me.
denly, about midnight, sure that some­ After a while I began to attempt some
body had called out to me. There was sort of response. This was immediate­
no memory of the violet world of my ly heralded by greatly increased activ­
dreams. More disappointed than ever, ity on the part of the flame, who spoke
and a little angry at an intrusion, I got much more, pouring out a great va­
up and opened the door. It was a per­ riety of words.
fectly clear night. The light snow that After a few more days, or nights,
had fallen late in the afternoon lay un­ rather, I began to comprehend some of
broken all around that part of the house the meanings that lay behind the words.
as far as the road, and the sharp wind This was the result o f no mental action
that had carried the clouds away had of my own, no process of reason
dropped off to a small, but most un­ brought about this knowledge. It was
gentle, breeze. There were no foot­ simply a slow-growing connection of
prints in my path— the light from my the feeling aroused by the words, to my
open doorway showed it all, clear to accumulated knowledge. I did not
the road. I concluded that if anybody translate the words into English and
84 A M A Z IN G STORIES

then attach their meanings to my flame stood utterly still for a very long
knowledge. The words, themselves, ac­ time before me, and I, John Cotter,
cording to w h a t e v e r feeling they stood still. T o r a long time the two
aroused, became my words for what I of us looked at one another, face to
know. M y reasoning mind took no part face, and in that moment I felt like a
in the affair. It was as though I had god, indeed, for the worshipping lo v »
no reasoning mind. The flame spoke, that emanated from that delicious crea­
and I knew. That was all. ture before me was nothing short of
The first word I understood was ecstatic.
“ Bat-hee” . It meant Lord, and it car­ “ D o not touch m e!” implored the
ried also the connotations of Master, flame. “ D o not destroy me with your
and Saviour. I was flattered, but defi­ love. But return to me, or I shall die! ”
nitely bewildered by this idea. How­ “ I shall return to you, my Beloved,”
ever, under the sweet influence of the I replied. “ Many times shall I return
flame, I accepted its naturalness when to you, and give you freely of my
applied to myself, and reveled in the knowledge, if only you will dance again
beautiful sensations that acceptance in my presence.”
produced. With that, the flame began to move
Next I understood the concept “ to once more, ever so slowly at first, then
give.” And a little later “ knowledge.” with increasingly rapid and joyous
Then the flame’s speech became for leaps, until the power of its dancing
me a prayer, addressed to me, John overcame me, and I awoke.
Cotter, and saying “ Lord, give me your
knowledge; Lord, give me your knowl­ PLO R D E R to have more time with
edge; Lord, give me your knowledge.” the flame, I began to come home
Thus prayed to by such an irresistible early from work, and to go to sleep for
creature, how could any human being a while in the afternoon. I had come
refuse to obey? to grudge every waking moment that
So I tried my best to give the flame kept me away from that loveliest of
the knowledge it desired. I learned creatures. So, two or three days later,
many more of its words. I spent much during one of these afternoon siestas,
more time with it. Indeed, I spent so the flame appeared and approached me
many hours, awake and asleep, con­ very quietly. I felt from it an emana­
centrating my attention upon the flame, tion of diffidence, of apology that had
that its voice became almost audible never been present before.
to me during my waking hours, speak­ “ Why are you troubled?” I inquired.
ing to my emotions with the soft, im­ “ I do not come alone, Lord,” replied
pelling voice of supplication: “ Lord, the flame.
Lord, give your servant of your most At that, I felt stab of the most ter­
precious knowledge of life.” rible jealousy. “ Not alone.” I had
During the night of the seventeenth not realized until that instant how
of November, the flame saw me. It much of my happiness had depended
hadn’t really seen me before. It had upon the fact that the flame and its
sensed my presence, and it had begun delights were mine, and mine alone.
to hear my “ voice” and to understand “ Not alone!” I was almost angry. But
my words a little, but until that night I felt the flame imploring and beseech­
I’m sure it hadn’t any clear idea of ing me to be kind. Shamed, I listened,
my bodily form, For the first time the then, to what it had to say.
 I, JO H N COTTER 85

“ I brought these others of my peo­ new found power opened up, and I
ple to this place, Lord, because it was watched quietly and happily as the
here that I saw you. W e want to build flames danced. I heard them sing and
a temple here, but first, Master, can shout together, as though from some
you show yourself to these others, my great distance, and their singing sound­
friends, as you showed yourself to me? ed like psalms in my ears, for they
Can you do this, Master, in order that continually repeated poetic phrases ex­
they too may know who only now be­ tolling my love and wisdom, and glori­
lieve?” fying my miraculous powers.
This frightened me a little. It is That was the real beginning of all I,
one thing to feel like a god— and an­ John Cotter, shall become.
other to find yourself actually becom­
ing one. But my love for the first M\ FLAM E continued to bring
flame overcame that little fear, and I other flames to the crystal until
tried hard to see the others it said it there are now hundreds whom I know
had brought along. The flame seemed and who know me. I have learned the
to stand aside a little, and there they names of many of them, but I shall not
were. I counted eight. All were love­ write them here. When I go into their
ly, all unbelievably beautiful, and all world, I want nothing left behind that
of them looked very much like my can ever call me back again into this
own dearly beloved. As I continued to one. I am jealous at the thought of
look at them, however, certain differ­ still other human beings following me
ences became noticeable. One was very there. I believe I have found the secret
crooked, compared to the other. One of the ages, the key that unlocks the
was dimmer, and another colored pathway into those half-legendary re­
strangely. I asked my flame, “ Why gions of the earth men have so long
are these others not as beautiful as and so mistakenly ( I truly believe)
yourself?” called hell. For me it is not a region
Waves of shame and apology swept of torment, unless torment is an ecstasy
around me from my visitors. None of almost beyond endurance. But I have
them offered any reply, and I found found it, in a sense, a region of burn­
myself wishing they could all be lovely ing, for the creatures who inhabit its
and perfect, as my own dearly beloved violet spaces are like, in substance, cold
was lovely and perfect. As I formed fire and flame.
the wish, there was a commotion among I have learned, at last, how to become
the flames, and they began to cry out as one of them. They desire my knowl­
to one another. When they became edge, and it will be my great delight
quiet again, I saw to my great surprise, to walk among them, as one of them,
that all those imperfections I had found and impart that knowledge to those
so deplorable had completely disap­ who will adore and reverence me. I
peared. Before me stood nine lovely love them better than I have ever been
creatures, all so beautiful I could hard­ able to love any creature of my own
ly distinguish one from another any kind. And here, among humanity, I,
more. And then they danced for me John Cotter, am not a god.
and praised me. I had wrought a mir­ The flames have built me a temple,
acle with a wish, and I was fully as according to their promises. In it they
delighted with it as they were. As yet have placed the crystal that has been
I dared not face the possibilities my constantly under my microscope. There
86 A M A Z IN G STORIES

they come to worship it as the gateway And what will I be giving up for all
into Heaven— and I will never tell them of this? In the middle ages people
the truth about this world from which would have said “ a soul.” But those
I come. It may be that I can help to whom I go possess souls. How else
them more in another way. could they have prayed to me, and
I know what I must do in order to loved me? And they have minds, or
pass from this world into theirs, per­ why should they have need of knowl­
manently. When the moon is dark again, edge? Among them I, no longer John
I shall take the tiny crystal back to the Cotter, will have whatever mind they
place in the tunnel where I found it. have, and whatever soul is theirs, how­
The exact spot may be hard to find, ever alien and however strange and un­
but I shall be patient. Because I took speakable its combinations will delight
away the rock in which the crystal was me forever. That is now infinitely
imbedded, the cube will be in my hand more desirable to me than any soul I
at the moment it makes contact with may be said to have “ lost.” For when
the axes of its original position. Al­ I go to them, I shall go only in my
though the tunnel and my work-bench knowledge and out of my own, and
are separated in this space, by several their, desire. I cannot reason with my­
miles, there has only been a slight self about the right or wrong, the de­
stress produced in the world of the sirability or the undesirability, of this
flames by the removal of the crystal— thing I am abou) to do. I desire it,
and that is due only to the fact that therefore it is right. And that, my own
this, my fabulous crystal, is rare indeed knowledge tells me, is not reason.
in both its properties and substance. I Therefore, I, John Cotter, shall be­
shall say no more on this subject. The come a flame. Perhaps some miner,
alchemists knew— some of them, at deep within a shaft, will see me moving
least. Let those who would follow me through the rocks of this hot, harsh
go to them for that same information world. Perhaps he will even touch me,
I possess, I prefer to go alone. as that being who was John Cotter
When I return the crystal to the t o u c h e d the flame-creature on the
wall of the mine, when I bring it back mountain side. If he is so foolish he
to that exact spot from which it came, will be struck cold with the fear of
the stress that now exists between their more than death. I shall not care, nor
world and this will be relieved. I know, will I ever again desire to be aware of
from their knowledge and mine, that what I have left behind. And surely,
when this happens I shall be drawn no one will ever be mad enough, or
through the diminishing distance, I willing enough to give up his precious
shall be somehow changed, and appear and ephemeral soul, to seek and dis­
among them— as a flame, among flames. cover a crystal such as I have found.

A LLER G IES — W H A T T H E Y R E A LLY A R E

★ ★
Jo h n M c C a b e M o o re
H E N E V E R the human body absorbs a through the skin, there is a greater or less ten­

W foreign substance (i.e. a substance not

normal to the chemical systems o f the
b od y) whether through the alimentary canal or
dency for the organism to erect a specialized de­
fense system, consisting o f substances similar to
antibodies. If the substances form ed by the body
 ALLERGIES— WHAT THEY REALLY ARE 87

to com bat the chemical invader are manufactured alimentary canal. Thus the appearance o f allergy
in considerable amounts in response to high ab­ in the highly em otional is virtually to be expected.
sorption o f the specific invader, the “ anti-bodies” So far there is little indication that medicine is
themselves disturb the enzymatic system o f the going to com e forw ard with a m ethod o f correcting
individual and the socalled allergy appears. the endocrine balance o f the over-excitable person.
The above facts pertain whether the sensitivity Strict mental and physical hygiene, however,
(or allergy) o f the person is resultant o f exposure should militate against allergy appearance even in
to metal, feathers, pollen, impalpable dust or foods. such individuals.
In the case that the disturbing influence, for ex­ The eight-m onth infant (!.e. a month prema­
ample, is the protein matter com posing w ool, in­ ture) is likely to be very hard to adjust to diet
halation o f microscopic bits o f w ool causes the because the final preparations o f his digestive sys­
cells irritated to become unbalanced osmotically tem for the handling o f fo o d has not occurred.
(which means a prior disturbance in their enzyme H owever it is so difficult to identify a baby as be­
balance). The cells then tend to swell and exude ing a month premature that the trial and error
mucus and moisture. The cells o f a non-sensitive m ethod must be patiently em ployed in order to
person, on. the other hand, more or less ignore the find suitable a diet for such babies allergic to
pieces of w ool. Because the particles are not cap­ their food.
able of upsetting the enzyraatics o f normal cells, Some individuals even have their enzymatics
the latter d o not attempt to weep the invader disturbed by to o much vitamin o f one variety or
away. another (e.g. vitamin C ) . In such case it may
Perhaps a more fundamental question is the well be that the person’s manufacture o f vitamin
manner in which allergies or sensitivities arise. C is extraordinarily good, and the additional ab­
The lack o f certain important nutritives, such as sorption from C-rich foods may disturb the en­
vitamins and amino acids and essential minerals, zymatics.
causes fundamental disturbances in the sum-total Both bacteria and viruses, and less com m only,
of the cell’s metabolism. Massive doses o f vitamin colds, bring about the allergic manifestations ac­
C sometimes stops allergies. Sometimes amino add com panying enzymatic imbalance. This corres­
preparations stop them. Sometimes caldum cor­ ponds closely with the intestinal sensitization for
rects the conditions. H owever, sometimes the poisons form ed by germs there.
cause is somewhat deeper than lack o f a certain M igraine headaches may be caused either by
food-substance such as are mentioned. Sometimes malnutrition or by enzymatic disturbances o f ex­
the slowing o f alimentary passage o f fo o d -su b ­ trinsic nature. In either case they m ay be mani­
stances is a very important factor. This is because festations o f allergy. H ay fever, affecting the nasal
the retention o f already digested substance in­ and sinus areas, is essentially a matter o f allergy.
creases the exposure of the membranes o f the canal W hen the bronchial tubes are affected with the
to the products o f putrefaction presented by the condition called asthma, another type o f allergy
bacteria always present in the area. Thus certain is manifest. Allergy m ay underlie almost any
proteins absorbed there must be em ployed by body type o f digestive disturbance. Cold-sores, hives
cells. If these proteins are poisonous their use by and genuine eczema affect the m outh and skin
the cell becomes more difficult as the amount of areas. From this it is easily realized that the very
absorption increases. This sometimes goes so far specialization o f different tissues, im plying func­
as to make it difficult for the system to em ploy tional and chemical differences, makes one or
such wholesome foods as malt, milk, eggs, or another area more liable to upset by a certain
chocolate. sort o f allergy.
As to the inheritance o f allergy— that is impos­
M ore simply stated, intestinal inactivity directly
sible. But the tendencies for the same weaknesses
occasions allergies in a good many cases by over­
to be passed along from parents to children cause
loading the enzymatic system o f the body. But, in
the children to be disposed toward the environ­
the light o f the fact that sub-nutrition affects al­
ment, chemically speaking, much as the parents
most exactly the same number o f people as does
are. Thus the predisposition to allergy is often
constipation, it is an open question as to whether
definitely inherited.
the latter condition is not likely to be a reflection
Ethylene disulfonate is a remarkable substance
o f hidden hunger, whether simple or complex, in
which has been carefully shushed in the press.
the m ajority o f cases. This remarkable substance has the pow er to re­
G oing on from this point, it is postulated that align the w hopper-jaw ed enzyme system o f the
the achievement o f a com pletely satisfactory diet, human body. There is thus a m ethod o f giving
by the means o f fo o d substances themselves or the allergic person, regardless o f the nature o f
through supplementary concentrates, should strike the allergy, a sort o f new lease upon health. The
the m ajority o f allergies at the roots. substance could not effect a permanent cure, but
There is a disposition o f people o f the over­ it causes long-tim e relinquishment o f allergic proc­
tense type toward allergies. H ow ever the excite­ esses, so that dietary readjustment could get in
ment state itself upsets the enzymatic processes, preventive w ork before the effects o f the disul­
as well as gravely disturbing the function o f the fonate vanish.
88 AMAZING STORIES

ALL ABOARD FOR THE MOON

( Continued from page 45)

this equipment for? Might as well find two fellow space travelers listened,
out right now whether these high-fre­ breathlessly.
quency waves can get through to us or “ This is Station M -O-O-N . . .
to earth. The experimental station at Space ship, ‘ Goodbye, W orld!’ . . .
Schenectady was set up to keep in touch Rough start, but all O.K. . . . How
with this ship. They may be trying to are you getting me?”
make contact this minute 1”
Gil adjusted the dials for reception T“ answer came hurtling back.
and listened. There was a low hum­ “ Coming in clear . . . Army radar
ming sound and a slight crackling. In station in New Mexico has picked up
the comparative quiet of the silently your space ship . . . is following you
plunging space ship, a voice suddenly . . . Whole planet excited . . . Any
boomed out. message?”
“ Calling Station M -O-O -N! . . . Wilbur touched Gil's arm. “ Tell
Calling station M -O-O-N 1 . . . Space someone to pick up my shirts at the
ship, “ Goodbye, World I” . . . Come laundry,” he said.
on in . . .1” “ Shut u p !” said Gil. Then, into the
Gil gave a great shout of exultation. transmitter, “ This is Station M-O-O-N
“ Thank GodI They’ve done it! They’ve . . . Gil Benson . . . Message: Get
beamed their waves through the ionic word to Professor Crowley and Jerry
shield! This means there are no longer Torrence. Tell them start of flight ac­
any space limits to communication!” cidental. One of guests touched start­
Wilbur and Diana, equally excited, ing lever . . . Tw o passengers aboard
got up and walked exaggeratedly to­ — Miss Diana Fenimore and Wilbur
ward Gil. He had now turned on his Williams . .
high-frequency transmitter. “ There’s your publicity break,
“ This is Station M -O-O-N,” he spoke Baby,” said Wilbur. "Y our name will
into a microphone. “ Calling Experi­ go all over the world! If I was only on
mental Station G.E. Schenectady . . . earth I could fix it for you fine. ‘Beauti­
Space ship, “ Goodbye, W orld!” . . . ful Red-Head Takes Off to See Man in
This is Gil Benson . . . Come in, Moon. Object: M atrim ony!” ’
please . . . ! ” “ You must think I ’m awfully hard
He shifted over to receiving and wait­ u p !” said Diana.
ed, anxiously. The booming voice from earth again:
The booming voice again: “ This is “ Message being relayed . . . Ques­
Experimental Station G.E. acknowledg­ tion: When do you estimate arrival on
ing . . . Greetings! Carl Mack speak­ moon?”
ing. This is great, Benson! . . . Every Gil Benson consulted the time and his
top man in G.E. is standing by . . . instruments.
W e’re all thrilled! . . . A rey ou O .K .? “ At present rate of acceleration, we
. . . O ver!” should arrive in vicinity of moon in
Gil Benson’s attention was now cen­ about nine and one-half hours from
tered on sending and receiving. He starting time . . . Will keep you ad­
worked the dials back and forth as his vised of progress. This is Gil Benson
 ALL ABOARD FOR THE MOON 89 .

. . . Station M oon . . . Space ship, could now be maintained throughout

‘ Goodbye, W orld !’ now signing the entire journey and that, hour by
off . . . ! ” hour progress of the rocket, “ Goodbye,
Gil cut off the power in his radio set W orld!” could be reported through
and wheeled joyously about. He seized radio and news bulletins, as issued from
Diana and lifted her lightly over his Schenectady. Plans were being rushed
head. It required only the slightest with the hope that radio and television
exertion to do this since her body had could bring to the people of the earth a
no appreciable weight. first-hand account of actual vision of
“ You crazy red-head!” he cried. “ D o the pioneer landing of a human being on
you realize that you are seeing history earth’s barren satellite.
made? That you’ve just heard a man Gil Benson’s time of arrival was esti­
in space, traveling over twenty-five mated as taking place about twelve
thousand miles an hour, talking to noon, New York time, or nine in the
someone on earth?” morning, Los Angeles time. Peoples
“ I know something more wonderful throughout the world were busy com­
than that,” said Diana. puting his moment of arrival as it per­
“ What’s that?” asked Gil. tained to their own time, so that they
“ I ’m out here in space, talking to would have the unparalleled thrill of
that very man! ” she said. seeing and hearing this event, did such
“ Y e g od s!” said Wilbur. “ What a a spectacle prove to be possible.
time to get romantic!” An enterprising television producer
hit upon the plan of later bringing all
CHAPTER VI Gil’s glamour girl friends to the studio
and projecting their alluring images to
'M 'O T since Charles Lindbergh’s his­ the moon, with the query: “ D on’t you
toric flight from New York to wish you were back?” As a stunt, this
Paris in 1927, had there been such idea received feature space in papers
world interest in a space adventure as with pictures o f the beauties Gil Benson
there now was in Gil Benson’s spectac­ had left behind.
ular rocket attempt to reach the moon. But Diana Fenimore, the mysterious
It had taken Lindbergh something over red-head, the dark horse in the field of
thirty-three hours to cover a distance of feminine heart-beats, who had actually
approximately 3,600 miles in flying accompanied Gil Benson on his moon
from Roosevelt airport, Long Island, to adventure, usurped the limelight. She
LeBourget field, just outside of Paris. sent news-hounds sniffing in all direc­
Whereas, Gil Benson, thanks to the stu­ tions for information concerning her
pendous advance of science, would and their trail finally led to Buzz Rey­
reach the moon, a distance of 238,857 nolds, head of the Buzz Reynolds’ Fly­
miles, if all went well, in a little over ing Circus.
nine hours! This was incredible but When interviewed concerning his for­
startlingly true. mer parachute jumper, Buzz said she
It was front page news in smashing was the greatest, natural dare-devil
black headlines that radio operators on show-woman he had ever met and that
earth had actually talked with Gil Ben­ she would do anything for a thrill.
son from thousands of miles out in “ I can well believe,” declared Buzz,
space. It was immensely thrilling to “ as Miss Delano has suggested, that the
contemplate that radio communication red-head deliberately planned and exe­
90 AMAZING STORIES

cuted this take-off in the rocket so she In the moon rocket, 51,000 miles out
might make the trip. It sounds just in space, it was 1:30 a.m. Arizona time,
like her. I don’t envy Gil Benson. T o by Gil Benson’s wrist watch. Each
have that red-head with him is as dan­ moment was increasing the tension on
gerous as the moon trip itself!” board. The newness of the experience,
Rival press agents, however, were which had brought about temporary
not sorry to learn that Wilbur Williams exultation, was now giving way to real­
had left earth with his wealthiest and ization of the growing perils, known and
most notorious client. Competition unknown of such a voyage.
would be a little less steep now in Gil, compelled to press his unskilled
Hollywood’s make-believe and big passengers into service, had assigned
build-up alleys. Diana to keep the log of the trip under
“ If dear Wilbur doesn’t return,” said his dictation, and Wilbur had been
one of his most caustic rivals, “ we’ll shown how to carry on radio communi­
hold a memorial service and shoot a cation.
rocket to the moon with a wreath in it! ” “ It’s sure going to be tough without
Ruth Delano had been compelled to Jerry and Professor Crowley,” he said.
absorb considerable ribbing for her dra­ “ Y ou’ve both got to be ready for all
matic relation to the moon rocket’s de­ emergencies. We can’t tell what may
parture. She had added a new version happen any minute!”
to the age-old role of “ the girl who had The sky had long since changed its
been left behind.” color from blue to black. In thi3
Pictures of M .G .M .’s pin-up star strange, dark firmament, the stars
clinging piteously to the towering port­ shone out with a fierce brilliance. The
able stair rail and staring bewilderedly pitted face of the moon became more
into space had been published in all the and more clearly etched each passing
early morning papers. One caption minute, its crazy quilt of craters and
writer had titled the photograph: jagged peaks standing out like the
three-dimensional pictures in a stereo­
D AR IN G RE D H EAD SNATCHES scope.
M AN IN TO SK Y FROM U N D ER The Army radar set had been placed
V E R Y NOSE OF R IV AL! in operation to scan space in all direc­
tions, to detect any possible meteors
Ruth Delano tore this paper into which might be flashing across their
shreds when she saw it and it is well she path.
was not playing a dramatic scene at the But now a new and startling effect
time for she most certainly would have began to manifest itself. The earth,
bitten her leading man. directly behind them, was an immense
dark ball, around which an increasing
J 'O T H IN K this would have to hap­ bead-like corona of sun’s rays had been
pen to me,” she raged. “ Something observed for some time.
like this could actually ruin my career! These rays suddenly flared into gi­
If I could get hold of that red-head, gantic bright tongues of flame, leaping
I ’d scratch her eyes ou t!” thousands of miles out into space. The
But Ruth Delano’s chances of gain­ earth became a huge black spot against
ing such satisfaction were diminishing the much larger body of the sun, the
at the rate of four hundred and twenty light from which was now so dazzling
miles every minute! that their eyes could not stand the sight.
 ALL ABOARD FOR THE MOON 91

Gil, almost blinded, fumblingly reflect light, you can’t see the sun’s rays
opened a panel in the cabin wall and until they hit something . . . Of course
took out some dark-lensed glasses which they’re hitting the moon and I ’m get­
he put into the hands of Diana and ting an eyeful of it . . . but all around
Wilbur. the moon and everywhere else— it’s
"P ut these o n !” he ordered. “ W e’re inky black, except for the stars and,
passing out o f the shadow of the earth Boys and Girls, there’s billions of ’em
and the sun’s going to be terrific! I ’ll . . . what am I saying? . . . Tril­
have to turn the bright side of the lions! . . . Decillions! . . . Septil-
rocket toward the sun to deflect the lions! . . . I can’t count ’eml . . .
light and heat or we’ll be cooked in And are they bright?!”
here!” Wilbur’s running commentary was
He switched on the atomic power and broken into by Gil who cried out: “ Ra­
grabbed the directional lever. The ship dar! It’s picked up something!”
responded and all gasped their relief. An object was appearing on the radar
screen.
A X /'IL B U R spoke into the micro­ “ It must be a meteor,” said Gil. “ It’s
phone: “ Hello, Earth! . . . The some thousands of miles away and it’s
sun just hit us and, for a few seconds, I coming at us from the sun side. That
thought we’d lose our eyesight! Boy, means we won’t be able to see it till it
you can certainly see the sun’s rays out passes us— but it could cross our path! ”
here! There isn’t any atmosphere to He explored the object with his radar
stop them and they come shooting at beam. “ It’s size is enormous!” he an­
you like liquid fire. I can’t see the nounced, “ and it’s traveling thirty-five
earth now at all. I don’t even dare miles a minute! W e may have to change
look in that direction. Y ou ’d think half our course to keep it from hitting u s! ”
the sky was on fire. If there’s a cold “ Y e g od s!” said Wilbur. “ If it isn’t
spot on the moon, I want to get to it! one thing, it’s another, out here!” He
. . . Gil Benson has just shifted the spoke into the microphone. “ Hello,
bright side o f our ship toward the sun Earth! . . . A meteor is going to pass
and this helps plenty. I thought you us— 1 hope! . . . Gil Benson says it’s
were going to hear our flesh frying for a big one! H e’s checking it on the ra­
a moment but we’re okay now! . . . dar. W e’re watching for it but we can’t
Stand by, please!” look in the direction it’s coming on ac­
Diana, at Gil’s bidding, was record­ count of the sun. If it shoots between
ing: “ Traveling in a vacuum . . . no the sun and us, we’ll never see it, but
resistance to our movement . . . ship if it passes on our other side, we might
in free fall, can be held on course catch a glimpse . . . oh, M Y GOSH! ”
whether head-on or side-wise . . . pow­ Gil Benson and Diana cried out in
er needed only to change position . . . horror at the same time. Flashing into
has been turned off now . . . ” view on the side of the ship away from
Wilbur resumed his broadcast: “ Here the sun, but caught in its rays and glow­
I am again! . . . I ’m looking off to­ ing brilliantly with reflected light, a
ward the moon. With my back turned monstrous object of fantastic irregu­
to the sun’s side of the ship, I can take larity filled the sky in front of them,
off my dark glasses . . . Gil wants me blotting out the moon and stars 1 For
to explain that since there is no air an awful moment it seemed as though
where we are, and no dust particles to they were running head-on into it. They
92 A M A Z IN G STORIES

ducked instinctively, expecting obliv­ it had eased somewhat through their

ion, but in the same split second, this having become more accustomed to the
wild roamer of the black void went conditions and hazards they were re­
tearing on beyond and to their left. quired to face.
Wilbur had even been able to assume
T T WAS thousands of miles away from a fatalistic point of view. “ Oh, well,”
them, yet too dose for comfort. Gil he philosophized, “ if a person has to
switched on his atomic power motors die, I suppose it doesn’t make any dif­
and veered hard to the right. “ W e’re ference whether you die on earth, in
in danger!” he said. “ If we hit any of space or on the moon. You’re just as
those fragments, we’re goners!” dead one place as the other.”
“ What do you think, Gil, are we go­ “ That’s a cheerful thought,” said
ing to miss them?” asked Diana. Diana. “ I wonder if something hap­
“ I ’m playing safe,” said Gil. “ I ’m pened to us all inside this space ship
making a ten thousand mile detour and it missed the moon, would it keep
around that baby! Better get on the on going in space forever?”
radio, Wilbur, and tell them we’re still “ It certainly would,” said Gil,
here!” “ unless and until it should come within
Hollywood’s greatest press agent re­ the gravitational pull of some planet,
turned to the microphone. He was still in which case it would probably become
mightily shaken and when he tried to a minor meteor and burn up through
speak he was too weak to make a sound. friction in the upper atmosphere o f that
“ Hello, Earth,” he finally managed body! Of course, if the planet was like
to whisper. “ This is ‘Goodbye, W orld’ the moon and had no atmosphere, the
and, brother, it was almost goodbye ship would crash on it— and that would
for good! . . . A big meteor just be that!”
missed us! . . . Stand by . . . I can’t “ Let’s get off this subject,” said W il­
talk yet . . . I swallowed my voice bur. “ I ’m sorry I ever started it.” He
. . .!” put his hand to his stomach. “ Say,” he
At seven o ’clock in the morning, Ari­ said. “ I feel funny down here. I guess
zona time, Gil Benson, after careful I must be hungry!”
computing, announced that they were “ Me, to o !” said Diana. “ I ’m glad
now on what he termed their “ last lap” you mentioned it. How about it, Gil?
toward the moon. They had traversed Isn’t it time for breakfast?”
about 200,000 miles from earth and, Gil Benson grinned. “ How do you
within two more hours, barring neces­ think we’ re going to eat out here?”
sity for another detour to evade possible he asked.
meteors, they should be over the moon’s “ I don’t know,” said Wilbur, “ but
surface, preparing for a landing. we’ve got to do it. I ’d like a cup of
Most of the journey had been made coffee and spme ham and eggs.”
with the instruments set at automatic “ Which you’re not going to get. You
pilot. Even so, it had been a nerve- watch these instruments and I ’ll bring
trying night, if one could refer to time you something.”
in space as “ night,” but it helped the Gil left the control board and walked
three travelers from earth to keep their across the cabin with his steel shoes
minds fixed on time as it existed in the clinging to the magnetized floor. He
part of the universe from which they entered the galley and came back car­
had come. The tension was still on but rying three large sized tubes as well as
 ALL ABOARD FOR THE MOON 93

three strange appearing collapsible rub­ At contact, the surface tension of the
ber liquid containers. Wilbur eyed water was broken. It spread out in
them, unappetizingly. squashy fashion and crawled wetly over
“ N o tooth paste for me,” he said, her hand and arm.
wryly. “ I ’m not that hungry. And I Diana shrieked. “ Oh, how awful 1”
don’t need a hot water bottle, either I” she said.
“ Then you’re not going to eat,” said Gil laughed. “ You see how difficult it
Gil. “ This is the only way it can be would be to pour drinks? Food
done properly where there is no grav­ wouldn’t stay on plates and water
ity.” He handed Wilbur a tube and a wouldn’t stay in a glass. At the least
container and did likewise to Diana. touch they would go elsewhere.”
“ W ell,” said Wilbur, placing the
“ \ y H A T 'S in these things?” Wilbur liquid container to his mouth and taking
asked. several swallows, “ if I have to return
“ Y ou’ve got a preparation of choco­ to my baby days, I guess I can do it !”
late fondant in the tube and some of Diana and Gil followed suit and all
Arizona’s finest water in the rubber three soon finished their light breakfast
bag,” said Gil. “ And if you’re smart, in outer space.
you’ll put the end of that tube in your Then Diana stood up. “ All right,
mouth and squirt its contents into boys,” she said. “ Give me your ‘dirty
you.” dishes’. I want to be the first steward­
Wilbur and Diana looked at one an­ ess on a space ship. I ’ll take these to
other, then commenced unscrewing the the galley.”
caps on their tubes. They placed the “ Put them in drawer number ten,”
ends, as instructed, in their mouths and said Gil, handing her his empty tube
squeezed the tubes. Their cheeks and deflated liquid container.
bulged. They chewed and swallowed. Wilbur did likewise. “ D on’t drop
“ Tastes pretty good,” Wilbur ad­ these,” he warned.
mitted. “ How can I ? ” smiled Diana.
“ It’s nourishing,” Gil replied. “ And Clutching containers and tubes so
that’s what counts on a trip like this.” they wouldn’t get away from her, she
“ What would happen if I poured crossed the cabin floor with elaborate
some of this water out?” asked Wilbur, steps, and disappeared into the pantry.
removing the cap from the liquid con­ “ What a w om anl” said Wilbur. “ Can
tainer. you imagine the big offers she’ll get if
“ Try it and see,” said Gil. we make it back to earth?”
Wilbur squeezed the sides of the rub­ “ D on’t look so far ahead,” said Gil.
ber bag and a round globule of water “ We could easily crash on the moon.”
oozed from the funnel-like opening, Wilbur paled. “ Well, it was just a
floating toward the ceiling, under im­ passing thought,” he said. “ Y e gods,
petus of the squeeze. Gil, you tell me that just when I’m com­
“ Good gosh!” he said. “ Is that fun­ mencing to feel relaxed! ”
n y?” He tried it again, like a small boy, “ Can’t help it. W e’ll soon be entering
pointing the mouth of the container the gravitational field of the moon.
toward Diana. Another round globule Then I ’ll have to start the atomic
of water emerged and headed toward motors to keep from approaching the
her. moon surface too fast. Fortunately,
She put up her hand to ward it off. we can cruise with this space ship at
94 AMAZING STORIES

slow speed but this is still a mighty big sided. Then he pushed the drawer
piece of metal to get down out of the shut.
sky, especially since I ’ve never had any
experience in doing it before!” “C t IVE me gravitation,” said Diana.
Wilbur moistened his lips, nervously. “ This is an all-fired nuisance.”
“ Maybe we’d better not try to land,” She looked up at Gil. “ Your face,
he suggested. “ Maybe we can just fly young man! That lipstick! I can’t
close to the moon, take some pictures, stand it another minute . . . the thought
and beat it back to earth!” of all those other women kissing y ou ! ”
Gil flashed a smile. Then, seriously: she added.
“ That wouldn’t help us any. It’s going Gil grinned. “ They gave me a ter­
to be even tougher landing on earth. rific send-off,” he said.
W e’ll have to dip in and out of the Diana slipped the strap of her
earth’s atmosphere a number of times, pocket-book from her arm. She care­
circling the earth while doing it, and fully opened the bag, rubbed her hand­
slowing up our velocity so we won’t kerchief over a stick of cold cream, and
bum up like a meteor. I ’d rather get turned to Gil.
my first practice in right here!” “ Hold still, now,” she directed. “ I ’m
Hollywood’s greatest press agent going to clean you up. If you should
picked a raveling off his coat, released land this way, you might give the man
it and watched it stand idljy n space. in the moon a lot of wrong ideas!”
“ Oh, well,” he said, after a moment, America’s Number One Playboy sub­
“ it was nice knowing you. I suppose mitted good-naturedly to a vigorous
all things must end some time— includ­ facial massage.
ing m e!” “ It’s hard to get off,” said Diana.
Gil stood up and looked toward the “ You’d think they’d branded y ou !”
galley. “ I wonder what’s keeping “ Please leave my skin on,” said Gil.
Diana?” he said. “ This is the only face I ’ve got.”
As he spoke he heard her exclaim and Diana critically surveyed the result
two of the liquid containers came float­ of her labors. “ There, I guess that will
ing through the doorway. do,” she said. “ But isn’t this all slightly
“ She’s probably made a mistake and ridiculous? We three people from earth
put herself in the drawer,” said Wilbur. going to the moon in evening dress?”
Gil grabbed the containers out of the “ D o you put on your old clothes to
air and took them with him into the go visiting?” asked Gil. “ I think you
galley. He saw Diana frantically push­ have exactly the right attire. That’s
ing the various contents of drawer num­ a stunning design, by the way— the
ber ten back in as all were trying to moon and those stars. Are you sure you
bob out. didn’t have it designed purposely for
“ These darn things!” she said, “ I this trip?”
can’t do anything with theml” Diana’s blue eyes had not lost their
“ Take it easy!” laughed Gil. “ The ability to speak for themselves. “ Why,
harder you push them in, the faster Gil,” she said, with just the right re­
they’ll come out. D o it gently— like proof in her voice. “ How could you?
this . . . ! ” You know that was all an accident—
He blocked the articles with his although, I’ll admit, I stowed away on
hands and fitted them quietly back into a trans-oceanic plane once . . . ! ”
the drawer where they gradually sub­ Gil tried to translate the meaning in
 ALL ABOARD FOR THE MOON 95

her eyes and gave up. “ I can’t figure looking off on the sun side through my
you out,” he said. “ What kind of a dark glasses . . . there’s something out
woman are you?” there . . . it’s tremendous!”
Diana smiled. “ I ’m just a woman
who’s been cheated,” she said. “ T E T ’S have a look,” said Gil, lead­
Gil frowned, wonderingly. "Cheat­ ing the way into the cabin, fol­
ed?” he repeated. lowed by Diana and Wilbur. All ad­
“ Yes,” said the girl with the red hair justed their dark glasses and stared out.
and blue eyes. “ I didn’t get a chance “ M y, y e s !” said Diana. “ There it
to kiss you goodbye. D o you suppose I isl A big crescent! Funny we never
could welcome you to the moon?” saw that before!”
Her face was upturned to his and her “ That’s not another moon,” said Gil.
lips were suddenly alluring. Gil Benson “ That’s our earth!”
was a man of action. While there was “ The earthl” said Wilbur. “ What’s
no gravitation, there was certainly it doing off there?”
attraction! They clung to each other “ Our angle of flight has changed and
as though they were conscious of their we’ve gotten far enough out,” said Gil,
fall through space— and when the “ so we can see the ball of our earth
clinch was broken, Diana whispered: away from the sun. When we get to
“ Shall I record this in the log, Mr. the moon, we’ll see the earth go through
Benson?” different phases— quarter, half and full
“ N o,” said Gil, “ this is our own — just as the moon does.”
private scientific experiment.” “ Well, what do you k n ow ?!” said
“ Then let’s continue our research,” Wilbur. “ Remind me to study astron­
said Diana. omy some tim e!”
They kissed again and, as they did “ It’s past sunrise in Arizona right
so, Hollywood’s greatest press agent now,” Gil continued. “ Our earth has
appeared in the doorway, calling, “ Hey, been turning right along and you can
Gil, come qu ick !” He was excited to begin to see the outlines of our con­
begin with but he was even more excited tinent in that crescent! Wait till we
when he saw this. “ H oly smoke! . . . see our earth like a jull moon! That
Excuse me! . . . What goes on h ere?!” will be like getting a close-up look at a
“ We just wanted to see how it would great illuminated globular m ap!”
feel,” said Diana, “ to kiss in space.” “ W on’t that be something!” said
W i l b u r advanced toward her. Diana. “ I can hardly w ait!”
“ That’s a great idea !” he said. “ Let’s Gil turned away from the earth side
try it !” windows, removed his dark glasses and
For once, the girl with the blue eyes looked toward the moon.
was taken aback— but she was game. “ W e’ll be coming in for a landing in
Wilbur gave her a resounding smack. a little over an hour,” he said. “ W e’ve
“ How did it feel to you?” she asked. got a lot to do to get ready. I ’ve al­
“ Terrific 1” said Wilbur. “ Let’s try ready set the automatic cameras to take
it again!” pictures of the lunar landscape as we
Gil tapped Wilbur’s shoulder. “ W e’ve approach. Wilbur, you’ll have to stand
fooled around enough,” he said. by the television and radio and keep
“ Oh, say, G il!” exclaimed Wilbur. them both in operation. If possible we
“ I was coming in to tell you. I think want to televise our landing back to
I ’ve discovered a new moon! I was earth.”
 96 AMAZING STORIES

“ Great stuff!” said Wilbur, “ If we the direction we’re falling so as to slow

can do it . . . ! I suppose you want up our speed.” He motioned to Gil.
every kind of a record you can get?” “ I ’ll let him explain this.”
“ Yes, our wire recorder has been Gil, having completed the operation,
making a record of everything we’ve stepped before the microphone.
said here,” revealed Gil. “ It can be “ Hello, Mack . . . are you still with
transcribed later.” us?”
“ Ye gods!” said Wilbur. “ Why “ You bet, Benson, and it didn’t take
didn’t you tell me? What have I said?” any black coffee to keep me awake,
.“ You’ll find out eventually,” said Gil, either. Everybody’s sticking until you
“ if all goes well. If it doesn’t, perhaps report a safe landing.”
the next man who lands on the moon “ Everything’s under control so far.
may salvage some of our equipment and The moon, as you know, has a velocity
play off this wire recorder— and get a of attraction of two miles a second.
clue as to what happened.” We’ve overcome that now with our
“ Don’t talk so pessimistic!” said motors and are falling toward the moon
Wilbur. “ You’ll give me high blood at a reduced speed. I ’ll gradually keep
pressure.” lowering this speed to almost zero.
Gil smiled. “ W e’ll have Diana’s writ­ I ’m looking for a landing site now.”
ten record in our log and your radio M ack’s booming voice came back
reports back to earth as other means of from earth.
preserving the events of this trip.” “ Good boy, Benson! W e’ve arranged
“ Well,” said Diana. “ I ’m ready for a re-broadcast of your moon arrival on
anything! Bring on the m oon!” every network . . . biggest hook-up in
Gil switched on the atomic power world history. It’s getting close to noon
motors. our time and you never saw more ex­
“ Now what?” said Wilbur. citement . . . I u n d ersta n d T im e s
“ W e’re coming under the moon’s Square, New York, is jammed with
gravitational influence,” said Gil. “ And people. The New York Times has
we’ve got to do something about it. Get rigged up a big television screen on the
Schenectady!” side of the Times Building. If recep­
Wilbur opened his transmitter and tion is good, you can imagine what a
began sending. thrill your fellow humans are going to
“ This is station M -O-O-N. Space get down here on earth!”
ship ‘Goodbye, W orld!’ calling Experi­
mental Station G. E. Schenectady . . . “ T ’M SORRY I ’m not going to be
This is Wilbur Williams . . . Come in, there to see it,” cut in Wilbur. “ Gil
please! ” had to get back on the job. He’s slow­
There was a moment of silence and ing up the ship more and more. W e’re
then a booming voice. so close to the moon now that it fills
“ This is Experimental Station G.E. the sky below us. It scares me to look
Schenectady acknowledging . . . Hel­ at it. It is the damnedest sight— pardon
lo, Williams . . . What’s new out me—-I ever saw! W e’ve got our dark
there?” glasses on because it’s plenty bright. If
“ Plenty! W e’ve just entered the there was a man on the moon, I could
moon’s field of gravity,” Wilbur report­ see him now— but there’s not a sign of
ed. “ Gil Benson’s started up the mo­ any kind of life. It’s the roughest, wild­
tors and is turning the ship around in est, rockiest looking landscape you can
 ALL ABOARD FOR THE M OON 97

possibly picture! Gil says we’re only got your hands full but try to keep us
eight thousand miles away! It won’t advised . . . whole world standing on
be long now . . . Here— maybe we can end! . . . W e’re pulling for you to
pick this scene up by television . . . make it . . . Come in, please . . .
it’s worth trying . . , tell me if it O ver!”
comes through . . Wilbur started Wilbur opened up his transmitter.
the television apparatus in operation. “ Hello, Earth! . . . Glad you’re see­
He looked anxiously at Gil Benson who ing part of what we’re seeing! . . . Of
was at the ship’s controls. “ Everything course it’s not like being here— not
going okay?” much! . . . D o you begin to notice
Gil nodded, his eyes searching the that strange coloring on the moon? . . .
surface of the moon. Diana stood be­ All those dark brown and black
side him, holding in her hands a large stretches? Those seem to be rocks
relief map of the moon, especially pre­ . . ••and those tremendous light streaks,
pared for this trip. It contained all the fanning out from different centers
prominent mountains, craters, deep val­ . . . I can’t tell, from here, what they
leys, ridges, walls, rills, cracks, great are or what causes them . . . Wait
dark areas, strange ray formations and till I ask Gil . . . ! ”
other surface markings discovered and Wilbur laughed. “ Gil says he doesn’t
identified by earth’s astronomers dur­ know— that no one on earth does, either
ing the history of man’s telescopic study . . . so I guess I’m not so dumb . . .
of this solitary satellite. but, Brother, if we land okay, we’re sure
“ I wouldn’t know where to land,” as hell— I mean— we’re certainly going
said Diana, bewildered and somewhat to find o u t!” He turned to look at Gil
terrified. who was further decreasing the space
Gil put his finger on the map above ship’s velocity of approach. “ How dose
and a little left of center. “ This is the are we now?” he asked. “ M y body feels
section I intend to aim at,” he said. a lot heavier than it did."
“ It’s below the great Tycho crater and “ Mine, too,” said Diana. “ It’s a
above that tremendous mountain range strange sensation after feeling like you
called the ‘Apennines.’ There seems to almost didn’t have any weight at a ll!”
be a big level plains area in that vicinity “ This is about how you’ll feel while
which should be ideal for landing. Let’s you are on the mqon,” said Gil. “ W e’re
see if we can locate this spot from our within a thousand miles of it now. I
present position.” hope we’re getting some good photo­
Diana looked with Gil at the rugged graphs. That view is absolutely
features o f the moonscape. As they did stupendous ! ”
so, a familiar voice from earth boomed
out. “ ■VTEVER mind the photographs,”
“ Calling Station M -O-O-N . . . Space ' said Wilbur. “ You just get us
rocket, ‘ Goodbye, W orld’ . . . This is down all right! Those are the wicked­
Experimental Station G.E. Schenectady est looking mountain peaks I ever saw.
. . . Carl M ack speaking . . . W e’re I ’d hate to get hung up on on e!”
getting you . . . the television images The moon had been so well charted
are coming through! . . . What a pan­ from earth that it was like following a
orama! . , . What a thrill! . , . W e’re road map in an automobile to pick out
cutting in the networks, radio and tele­ its lunar landmarks as the space ship,
vision . . . we know you’ve probably now descending almost like a huge ele­
98 AMAZING STORIES

vator, dropped down, down, down, be­ ing gear. It dropped noiselessly into
ing braked at different altitudes by place for there was no external air and
application of atomic power motors, un­ thus no sound waves to report its opera­
til it was only ten miles above the in­ tion.
describably scarred and wrinkled sur­ Diana and Wilbur could only look
face. on, helplessly and prayerfully, hoping
The zero hour for the three earth that Gill might select the right moment
passengers on their pioneer voyage and the right spot to bring the great
through space had now arrived and ship in.
they shuddered at the thought of set­ “ W e’re skimming the surface now,”
tling on so barren and forbidding a Wilbur managed in the microphone.
terrain. “ W e’re going to make contact any
“ I f there’s a man in the moon, he’s second . . . It looks awfully rough
crazy!” said Wilbur. He spoke into . . . we’re almost touching . . . here
the microphone: “ Hello, Earth! Well, we go . . . ! ”
this is our big moment. Gil Benson is There was a jarring impact and a
taking us down for an attempted land­ sliding sensation. The landscape reeled
ing. I ’m watching the altimeter . . . crazily. There was a ripping, rending
W e’re down to five . . . four . . . three sound in the cabin, then the steel mon­
. . . two miles! I can see T ycho crater ster rocked to a standstill.
from here and it’s enormous! There are “ W e’re dow n!” reported Wilbur, ex­
craters of all sizes all over the place— citedly. “ W e made it! . . . Just a min­
but there’s a big stretch of what looks ute! . . . Something’s happened! . . .
like smooth volcanic rock beneath us I think we’ve been damaged . . .
and that’s what Gil’s heading for. something’s wrong . . . it looks like—
We’ve passed over the Apennines yes, a window’s broken . . . ! ”
mountain range . . . the s h a r p e s t “ Our oxygen!” cried Gil. “ It’s escap­
peaks I ever saw— they looked like up­ ing! . . . Quick— I need help!”
ended ice-picks! . . . Now we’re down
to less than a mile and we’re settling CHAPTER VII
very slowly. The power in these motors
is certainly wonderful! . . . Oh, boy! r jp H E human creatures on planet
There’re some awful cracks in that sur­ Earth had palpitation of the heart.
face! W e just cleared one that looked The sudden cessation of broadcasting
like the Grand Canyon . . . Hold from the space rocket, “ Goodbye,
everything, folks . . . This is it! . . . W orld!” immediately after the crash
Gil’s putting us dow n!” landing on the moon left everyone,
America’s Number One Playboy was everywhere, in a state of agonized sus­
anything but a playboy now. He leveled pense. Those witnessing the space
off the two hundred foot space ship, in­ ship’s approach to the moon and actual
clined its nose slightly toward the descent on the screens of their television
moon’s surface and cruised slowly sets were even more excited. Whatever
downward, keeping his eyes on the ter­ the damage sustained in landing, the
rain ahead. There were ridges and television equipment had not been put
walls of dark evil-looking rock which of commission.
would mean disaster if he should land An enormous and enthralled crowd
and skid into them. He pressed a but­ in Times Square, New York, and other
ton and lowered his retractable land­ big centers of population throughout
 ALL ABOARD FOR THE MOON 99

the world where mammoth outdoor tele­ on the moon, Gil Benson and his two
vision screens had been set up, stood unexpected passengers should be pre­
speechless with awe and fear. Before vented, by this accident, from exploring
them, on the television screen, was the the moon and bringing back to us on
image of a great, jagged wall of rock earth their first-hand account.
which seemed to be but a short distance “ I ’m hoping and praying, as I know
from the now motionless rocket ship. you all are, that radio communication
A 'radio announcer’s voice broke in. will soon be restored and we will learn
“ Ladies and gentlemen, as you know, that they have surmounted this great
we have temporarily lost contact with danger as they have all others thus far.”
the first space travelers to the moon but All work had stopped at M .G .M .’s
we’re switching you to Los Angeles studio. The stars and executives were
where Professor Crowley, who was to gathered around their own radio and
have accompanied Gil Benson on his television sets. Ruth Delano was among
flight, is standing by in our studios to them.
comment on the progress made. Pro­ “ What do you think?” her director,
fessor Crowley will tell us what he Don Stevens, asked her
thinks has happened . . . Professor Ruth shook her head, “ I don’t know.
Crowley . . . ! ” Gil’s luck’s bound to run out some time.
“ Ladies and gentlemen,” spoke the If he only had his two skilled men with
Professor’s voice. “ If a window in the him! That red-head and' ‘Wee Willie
space ship has been broken, this is ex­ Wilbur’ are worse than no one at all! ’ ’
tremely serious. The oxygen in the “ Wilbur’s not been doing so badly
cabin, depending on how big an opening for an amateur broadcaster,” said D i­
has been made, would naturally escape rector Stevens:
and since there is no atmosphere on the “ Anybody would sound good in a
moon, Gil Benson and his two passen­ situation like that,” said M .G .M .’s pin­
gers could not long survive. up star. “ He’s in such a dramatic spot,
“ Their salvation would depend upon he could recite the alphabet and sound
the speed with which they can effect re­ terrific!”
pairs. I doubt very much if they were “ You sound slightly prejudiced
wearing the space suits on board when against him,” kidded her director.
they landed as they are cumbersome “ I know ‘Wee Willie Wilbur’,” said
and designed primarily for use on the Ruth, “ and just because he’s gone to
moon, outside the rocket. the moon doesn’t make him a bigger
“ These space suits carry their own shot in my eyes!”
oxygen supply. They may be electri­ Director Don Stevens laughed. “ How
cally heated to withstand the cold of about Miss Fenimore?” he asked,
the lunar night and they are lead-coated “ D on’t mention h er!” said Ruth.
to repulse the destructive cosmic and “ Gil wouldn’t be in the spot he is now if
other rays which would be fata! to hu­ it wasn’t for that dame!”
man life. Their outer covering is shim­ “ You’re just jealous,” teased her di­
mering bright to deflect the sun’s rays rector. “ Y ou ’d like to be up there your
during the lunar day which would self.”
otherwise produce unbearable heat.
“ It would be the greatest possible “ C U T it o u t!” said Ruth. “ I never got
tragedy if, after having made such a a chance to beg Gil not to make
magnificent journey and landing alive this trip. I had a premonition he’d
100 A M A Z IN G STORIES

never get back . . . and I couldn’t rushing out the cabin window.
even reach the poor guy. But that red­ The three took firm hold of the rub­
head managed somehow. She worked berized sheeting and spread it over the
on Wilbur Williams to do it. If they gaping aperture. It took dangerously
should make it back, I ’ve got a score to vital minutes to get it properly in place.
settle with h er!” When they did, the pressure of the out-
At Schenectady, New York, radio rushing air held the patch in position
operator Carl M ack of Experimental but the loss of helium-oxygen had, even
Station G.E., tried desperately to raise so, been extensive.
Station M -O-O-N on space rocket, All three occupants of the space ship
“ Goodbye, W orld!” . He was having were gasping for breath. The air pres­
no success. sure had dropped to almost half of
“ Their transmitter still seems to be normal.
open and functioning,” he reported to “ W e’re in for it !” said Gil, his head
anxious G.E. executives and scientists. reeling.
“ I can hear occasional noises as though The drop in air pressure had decom­
there is some sort of struggle going on pressed them too quickly, and a violent
in the cabin. I ’m almost certain there’s reaction set in. Diana and Wilbur were
still life there but they must be having equally affected as they slumped to the
a harrowing tim e!” floor, twisting and turning in agony.
“ It’s pretty weird sitting here, look­ Gil fought his way back to the instru­
ing at that stationary television image,” ment board and turned the dial control­
said one of the executives, “ and feeling ling the production and supply of
that you’re almost there on the moon helium-oxygen, on "full.” As he did so,
yourself— and yet not able to help those he doubled up himself. There was noth­
poor devils in the ship.” ing that any of them could do for each
“ It’s twenty minutes now since our other. They had to lie there and sweat
last word,” said Carl Mack. “ I ’m sure it out, not knowing whether any of
they’d get back on the air as .soon as them would survive the ordeal.
they could. They know we must be “ How long . . . is this . . . apt to
just about dying down here, too. It be­ last?” moaned Wilbur.
gins to look very serious.” “ Sometimes . . . four . . . or five
G.E.’s high frequency operator began hours,” Gil managed. " Hang on !”
sending again.
“ Calling station M -O-O-N! . . . * * *

Space rocket, ‘ Goodbye, W orld!’ . . .

Gil Benson . . . Come in if you can It was four hours since any word had
. . . Gil Benson!” been heard from Gil Benson’s moon
rocket. Newspapers were out with
* * *
great streaming headlines, declaring
that America’s intrepid pioneer explorer
Gil Benson’s first move, in this direst of space and his two companions were
emergency was toward the store-room feared lost. It was conjectured that the
which contained the rocket supplies. damage sustained in landing had quick­
He came hurrying back with strips of ly exhausted their oxygen supply and
rubberized sheeting and called on Diana all had succumbed.
and Wilbur to help him. Editorial writers bemoaned the un­
The pressurized air in the cabin was timely end of such an amazingly sue-
 ALL ABOARD FOR THE MOON 101

cessful moon voyage and confidently son! For God’s sake— are you all
predicted that Gil Benson had blazed a right?”
trail which would soon be followed by “ Just coming out o f it . . . we lost
establishment o f regular scheduled a lot o f air. It was pretty bad for a
space routes to the moon. while . . .”
Ironically enough, the television re­ “ How about the damage?”
ceiver still carried the continuously “ Broken window,” Gil reported.
broadcast image of the lunar landscape “ Bad oxygen leak. Temporarily re­
which quite possibly had now become paired. There may be other damage
Gil Benson’s last resting place. Since but I haven’t been able to look around
all equipment on board was operated by the ship. I think we’re pretty well
atomic power it was likely that this banged up outside. I can’t tell about
image would remain visible for an in­ that until we can get out and have a
definite period of time. look.”
“ Thank heaven you’re still there!”
* # *
boomed M ack’s voice. “ That’s great
news back here on earth! Keep in
Gil Benson was first to recover suf­ touch, old man, if you possibly can . . .
ficiently to be able to drag himself to I don’t want to put through another
the others. He removed their heavy siege like this . . . 1”
steel-soled shoes and helped them crawl “ Sorry, M ack,” Gil repeated. “ I ’ll
to bunks where they could make them­ try to do better in the future. Got
selves more comfortable. to get some rest . . . Goodbye n ow !”
“ The worst is over,” he said, putting Gil turned and eyed his own bunk
forth a great effort to reassure them. across the cabin'. He calculated care­
“ Y ou’ll be all right in a little while.” fully and took a short step, landing
Diana and Wilbur watched soberly right beside it.
as Gil, gaining more strength, took a “ Good going,” said Wilbur, weakly.
step toward the control board. He had “ Oh, b o y l” said Gil, and stretched
removed his own shoes and was in his himself out. “ So we’re on the moon!
stocking feet. His lightness of weight . . . Well, to hell with it l”
and the weakness of gravity on the He dropped off to sleep.
moon combined to carry him, in this
one step, to the very front of the cabin. CHAPTER VIII
In fact, Gil bumped against it as his
feet again touched the floor. J T WAS six o ’clock in the evening,
Diana and Wilbur, following him Arizona time, when Gil Benson
with their eyes, were astounded. awoke with a start. Wilbur was stand­
“ Y ou’ll have to be careful when you ing beside his bunk, shaking him. He
move around,” Gil cautioned. “ Y ou’ll looked up, dazedly.
travel six times as far every step you “ Where am I ? ” he asked.
take. I should have remembered that.” “ Y ou ’re on the moon, you darn fool! ”
He shuffled himself over, very care­ said Wilbur. “ But you were yelling for
fully, in front of the microphone. help. What was the idea?”
“ This is Gil Benson,” he said. “ Hello, Gil Benson grinned. “ I was being
M ack . . . are you there?” He switched chased!” he said.
on the receiver and waited. “ What b y ? ” asked Wilbur.
In came a booming voice. “ Yes, Ben­ “ Beautiful women,” said Gil. “ There
102 A M A Z IN G STORIES

were hundreds of them— and they all can jump the highest!”
wanted to kiss m e!” He went into the store-room, pres­
“ But they didn’t catch you,” called ently passing out a card table and fold­
Diana, from her bunk across the cabin. ing chairs for them to set up in the
“ I don’t see any lipstick.” cabin. Then he produced a variety of
“ I risked my life getting over to you,” canned foods— the usual well adver­
said Wilbur. “ I was asleep when you tised brands.
yelled, forgot where I was, jumped up, “ Ye G ods!” said Wilbur. “ What
and hit the ceiling!” have you got here? Don’t tell me— oh,
Gil laughed as he stood up. “ W e’ll no! Is that Spam?”
have to get used to walking around “ That’s Spam,” said Gil, handing the
here. Since our bodies only weigh one- cans to Diana who made a half step,
sixth of what they did on earth, it re­ landed in the center of the cabin, and
quires very little exertion to lift them.” set them on the table.
He looked at his wrist watch. “ Here’s “ Well, how do you like that?” griped
something funny I The sun will be set­ Wilbur. “ I come all the way to the
ting in Arizona in an hour or so, but moon to get Spam! I might as well have
we’ll have about six more earth days of re-enlisted in the A rm y!”
sunlight here— and it’s a good thing. “ You’re going to think you did!” said
It will give us a chance to get around Gil, handing him three Army plates,
and explore the moon’s surface to see cups, knives, forks, spoons and a can
whether or not it really is a dead opener. “ Give these to Diana.”
planet.”
“ It’s not any more,” quipped Wilbur. / " ''I L then turned to the water tank
“ W e’re here!” and drew a pitcher full of the
Diana sat up. “ Yes, and if you two cooled liquid which ran out with exces­
feel like / do, we’re good and hungry!” sive slowness. Seated around the table,
Gil smiled. “ Well, we ought to be able the three pioneer space travelers eyed
to enjoy a real meal this time. Our one another and laughed.
first dinner on the moon! And we “ This could be a picnic in the coun­
should eat it in style.” He looked to­ try,” said Diana. “ But not one pre­
ward the pantry entrance, then took a pared by a woman! Every man, if left
step. His body left the floor and he to his own devices, always eats out of
landed easily within a foot of the door- cans.”
way. Gil was applying the can opener to
“ Come on, you tw o!” he said. “ It’s good effect, opening up sweet potatoes,
sport! You might as well get accus­ spinach, beets, peaches— and Wilbur’s
tomed to it.” delectable dish “ Spam” !
Diana and Wilbur followed him. “ Even the man in the moon ought to
They looked like young birds trying go for this,” said Gil. “ All right, Diana,
their wings. Both piled up against the how about serving us?”
wall of the cabin. As they picked “ Delighted!” said Wilbur’s red-head.
themselves off the floor, the energy ex­ The three of them made a picture,
erted shot them into the air. Gil, watch­ two men still in evening dress, some­
ing from the doorway, laughed at their what ruffled, and the girl in evening
acrobatics. gown with the bright red hair and big
“ Wait till we get outside,” he said. blue eyes, doling out equal portions of
“ W e’ll have a track meet and see who food to them. The trio ate with relish
 ALL ABOARD FOR THE MOON 103

and fell into an excited discussion of the strates how fast the image travels be­
events experienced on what now seemed tween the moon and the earth!”
to have been a dream trip through “ You must have gotten tired of that
space. scene,” said Wilbur. “ W e’ll try to get
“ It just doesn’t seem possible we’re you some new ones a little later.”
actually here,” said Wilbur, looking out “ We have a message here for Gil
the windows at the dark lunar rocks Benson,” said Fred Denny. “ Professor
which loomed not far from the ship. Crowley wants to know the extent of
“ Good gosh,” he said. “ I guess that damage— w h e t h e r you’ve carried
television set has been operating all enough plastic glass for replacement of
this tim e!” windows broken.”
“ It won’t hurt anything,” said Gil. “ How about that, Gil?” asked Wil­
“ We fortunately have ample power— bur.
but I ’m wondering if they’re still get­ Gil judged his distance and stepped
ting the image on earth?” lightly to the microphone. “ Better let
“ I’ll find out,” said Wilbur. He got me answer! . . . This is Gil Benson
up from the table, took a step and sailed . . . Tell Professor Crowley I haven’t
against the instrument board. “ If I ’m made real survey of damage as yet. I ’ll
not careful,” he said, “ I ’ll knock myself give him a complete report later. Ask
ou t!” him to check with Army rocket head­
Diana and Gil laughed. Wilbur quarters at White Sands, New Mexico,
turned to the transmitter. and find out if they are far enough along
“ This is Station M -O-O -N calling with their experiments to attempt
Experimental Station G.E. Schenectady shooting us a radar-controlled rocket
. . . Wilbur Williams speaking . . . containing repair parts, if we need
Come in! . . . O ver!” them.”
He switched on the receiver. A new “ Y e g ods!” said Wilbur. “ I hope we
voice boomed out. don’t ! ”
“ This is Experimental Station G.E. “ Okay, Benson,” said Fred Denny’s
Schenectady . . . Fred Denny speak­ voice from earth. “ Will d o !”
ing . . . I ’m relieving Carl M ack . . . “ Thanks, old man,” replied Gil. “ It’s
How are things up there?” just possible that we might contact such
“ Swell!” said Wilbur. “ W e’ve just a rocket with our own Army radar
had our first meal on the moon . . . equipment and take over its control
Spam never tasted so good . . . Every­ when it enters the moon’s gravitational
body’s rested*'. . . feeling fine. We field. Have Professor Crowley get me
haven’t been outside yet so we haven’t the dope on this, just in case. That’s all
seen any more than you’re seeing now, for now.”
if you’re still getting our television “ Right you are,” said Denny. “ I ’ll
image,” have the information for you next time
“ W e’re still getting it,” reported the you contact. Good luck 1”
G.E. operator.
Wilbur snapped off the television set. IL switched off the radio.
“ Well, you’re not getting it now,” he “ Good night!” said Wilbur.
said. “ There’s not any doubt about our get­
“ N o,” laughed Fred Denny. “ It just ting back okay, is there?”
disappeared from the screen. That’s “ On a trip of this kind,” said Gil,
pretty quick work. Certainly demon­ “ there’s always plenty of doubt until
104 AMAZING STORIES

you get b a ck !” ternal . . . Here’s the cooling and

Diana smiled. “ That doesn’t worry heating equipment . . . this is the
me,” she said. “ Now that I’ve got some­ radio and radar apparatus . . . Here’s
thing on my stomach.” She busied her­ the place your food is stored for long
self with clearing the table, making exploration trips . . . These motors
cautious steps to and from the galley. and controls are to help move arms and
Wilbur knocked the table down and fingers . . . I ’ll have to show you how
folded the chairs. He made a grotesque to work all these gadgets . . . 1”
figure, loping through the air. “ I ’ll say you w ill!” said Wilbur.
“ I don’t think I ’ll ever get the hang “ That suit looks too complicated for
of this,” he said. me. I ’m afraid to get in the dam thing
Gil, who had been studying the small without a can openerl”
area of lunar landscape which could be
seen through the windows, now turned J ^ R E S S E D to step out upon the sur­
to his two companions. face of the moon, earth’s three
“ Well, we might as well know the space travelers made a strange appear­
worst," he said. “ It’s time we were ing sight. Before clamping down their
getting outside and seeing what hap­ head-pieces and starting the flow of
pened to our rocket. Come on. Take liquid oxygen which they were to
off your evening clothes, put on these breathe while encased in this little air
slacks and I ’ll help you into your space world of their own, Gil produced an
suit.” American flag on a pointed metal staff
He crossed over to the store-room and said: “ Our first act, when we get
alcove where the moon suits were hang­ out on the moon will be to lay claim
ing and dragged them out carefully, to it in the name of the United States of
laying them side by side on the cabin America.”
floor. They were heavy and contained “ That’s a thrill,” said Wilbur. “ This
much equipment. ought to make pikers out of the dis­
“ Here’s what you need to know about coverers of the North and South poles.
these suits,” said Gil. “ They weighed But, say, Gil— how about leaving me
around six hundred pounds on earth. the cheese concessionf”
I couldn’t even lift one of them there. “ Shut u p !” said Gil. “ This is a
But they’re only one sixth as heavy solemn occasion. Listen while I give
here. Y ou’ll be able to navigate in them you two a few instructions. The weight
easily.” of our suits is so great that they’ll hold
“ Navigate sounds like the right us down so we can walk about, almost
word,” said Diana, eyeing the suits ap­ as we do on earth. Remember, there’s
prehensively. no atmosphere on the moon, so don’t
“ They carry their own power plant expect to hear any sounds. W e can talk
and electric generator,” Gil pointed out. to each other, of course, by walkie
“ It operates on sun power in the day­ talkie . . . I guess that’s all— except
time and storage battery during the we’ll have to leave the ship through
lunar night. Here it is here . . . and this special air lock compartment, so
this is the air conditioning plant. It the oxygen supply in the cabin won’t be
reprocesses the air you breathe and puts affected as we go in and out . . . Now
it back into circulation after mixing it — which one of you wants the honor of
with fresh oxygen. This is the suit’s being the first to actually set foot on the
lighting system, both internal and ex­ moon?”
 ALL ABOARD FOR THE MOON 105

Diana and Wilbur looked at one an­ retractable landing gear smashed, its
other. under belly sunk deep in this fine
“ That’s a real honor,” said Holly­ pumice or volcanic dust which heavily
wood’s greatest press agent. “ The one coated everything within sight. It
who does that will go down in history!” looked as though it had lain undis­
“ And that honor belongs to one per­ turbed for ages. Beneath it was blank,
son,” said Diana. “ Gil B enson!” wrinkled, rugged rock which appeared
“ You said it !” echoed Wilbur. “ The to have been formed originally by lava.
only honor / want is to be the first to This same rock rose above the volcanic
set foot on earth again!” ash in fantastic walls and jagged peaks
Gil laughed. “ T oo bad we can’t cover which cast the blackest of black
this by television,” he said, “ but we shadows and gave an uncanny effect to
don’t have enough skilled hands to the whole weird landscape.
maneuver the equipment. W e’ll just
have to take motion pictures!” 'J 'H E space ship looked strangely real
“ And I ’ll do the shooting!” volun­ and life-like against this dead back­
teered Wilbur. “ I ’m the best picture- ground, resembling a great wounded
taker of bathing beauties in Holly­ bird which had fallen in flight. Its
w ood !” dark side was tilted toward the moon’s
“ Well, you’ll snap some forms here surface with the bright side exposed to
never seen before,” said Gil, handing the merciless rays of the sun which
Wilbur the compact movie camera. beat down through airless space with
“ Boy, I’ve got a great idea!” said unrestrained fury. Had not the care­
Wilbur. “ W e’ll make Diana the first fully designed bright-coated suits of
pin-up girl on the m oon!” the space travelers been conditioned
“ You stick to the flag-raising cere­ against this relentless heat, they could
mony and forget Diana,” advised the not have survived even momentary ex­
red-head. “ Gil is the star of this event!” posure.
They stepped into the air lock com­ At a gesture from Gil, all dropped the
partment and closed the inner door be­ shield of dark glass across the window
hind them. Gil slid the heavy metal in their headgear and looked toward the
outer door open and shoved out a metal sun. It was a frightening spectacle—
ladder, making contact with the ground, gigantic shafts of flame in a state of
about ten feet below. unimaginable gaseous violent turbu­
He turned and backed out in his lence, shining out from a jet black
cumbersome space suit, feeling one foot heaven!
at a time for each rung of the ladder Directing their gaze away from this
beneath him. Diana followed as soon mighty furnace in the sky, they now be­
as Gil was clear of the doorway. Wilbur held the earth from which they had de­
then swung onto the ladder, tripped, parted about nineteen hours ago.
and and almost fell on her. “ Just look at that!” Wilbur ex­
“ Look out below !” he called. “ If I claimed, his voice being heard by Diana
land on you with all this plumbing, it’ll and Gil on their walkie-talkie sets.
be ‘ Goodbye, Baby’ ! ” The planet of their birth was a tre­
Reaching the moon’s surface, the mendous half-mean, eighty times more
three stood in a little group and looked luminous than the satellite they were
around. on and four times its size. Even as they
The “ Goodbye, W orld !” lay with its gazed at it, earth’s continents seemed
106 AMAZING STORIES

to be swimming slowly across its face, “ That’s swell,” he said. “ Just right.
from left to right, in the direction of its Sorry we can’t get this in sound but you
rotation. Cloud formations, hovering say whatever you think is appropriate
over parts of the earth, appeared as and we’ll dub in your voice later.”
bright spots and bodies of water shone “ Okay,” said Gil, “ Are you ready?”
with dazzling brilliance. “ Just a minute!” directed Wilbur.
“ What a sight!” cried Diana. “ I “ W e’ve got to make this dramatic!”
guess you have to be off the old earth
to really appreciate it !” “ V V 7 'E ’RE on the moon,” said Diana.
“ When it gets full,” said Gil, “ it “ Isn’t that dramatic enough?”
should give us a complete geography “ N o,” said Wilbur. “ W e’ve got to
lesson. It’s still hard to realize that get the proper sequence. Gil, you step
we’re looking at the real globe of the off to one side and let me, try to get a
w orld!” shot at the earth, spinning away, up
It was fascinating and, at the same there. I think it’s plenty bright enough
time startling, to contemplate these new to photograph. Then I ’ll pan down
perspectives and new points of view here on this gorgeously desolate moon
growing out of them. Here was a unique landscape and come in on a shot of the
place of vantage which afforded un­ rocket, lying there like a great, fallen
rivaled observation of the universe, albatross. This sets the stage for the
with sun and stars simultaneously vis­ entrance of the hero— the first man on
ible in the black corridors of space, and the moon! . . . T oo bad we don’t have
shining with indescribable brightness some ‘Pomp and Circumstance’ music
because there were no dust particles to blending in with the ‘Stars and Stripes
deflect or absorb light. Forever!’ . . . Don’t forget this when
“ The moon will be headquarters for we. dub in the sound . . . It’ll be ter­
the astronomers of the future,” said rific! . . . Then you come marching in!
Gil. “ All scientists and research men . . . Plant the flag, make your spiel,
will want to conduct their tests from take a bow and stand at attention as we
here. I can just imagine how Professor finish with the ‘Star Spangled Banner’
Crowley would be raving if he were . . . Brother, that’s drama!”
with u s!” “ All right,” said Gil, “ let’s get it over
“ Please don’t bring that up,” said with! ”
Diana. “ It makes me feel miserable.” Diana took her stand beside Wilbur
Gil looked about him, then turned to to watch this unique movie shot. He
Wilbur. raised the camera in position, pointed it
“ Where do you think we should hold at the luminous half moon of earth and
this little ceremony?” he asked. started shooting. When it came time for
“ Well,” said Wilbur, “ we might as Gil Benson’s big moment, Wilbur called
well apply Hollywood technique and out: “ Okay, Gil— do your stuff!”
look for the best camera angle. I think America’s Number One Playboy, un­
you should walk out here far enough so recognizable now in this new and spec­
we can get your whole space ship in the tacular role, lumbered Into camera
background.” range and jabbed the American flag in
“ About here?” asked Gil. a rock crevice. Its folds hung limp be­
W ilb u r sig h te d p r o fe s s io n a lly cause, with no air on the moon there
through the finder of his movie camera, was, of course, no breeze— and Gil, to
held at the level of his eyes. show the flag, took hold of its upper
 ALL ABOARD FOR THE MOON 107

com er, spreading it momentarily to said Wilbur. “ How long will our food
view. supply last?”
As he did so, he said: “ I, Gil Benson, Gil laughed. “ About two months,
from the planet, Earth, of the State of witji rationing.”
Arizona, the United States o f America, “ W ell,” said Wilbur, “ someone else
on this day, as the first man from my is bound to be up from earth eventually.
planet to set foot on our satellite, do M aybe we can hitch-hike a ride back
hereby Jay claim to the moon and all with them !”
its possessions in the narrfe of my sov­ “ You get some of the cutest ideas!”
ereign country!” said Diana.
“ Bravo! ” cried Diana. “ I got here alive,” said Wilbur, “ and
“ That was great, Gil, old b o y !” said I don’t want to go back dead!"
Wilbur. “ Hollywood will love this!”
Gil left the flag in place and came to­ ^JJIL’S attention was now being di­
ward them. “ Of course this little cere­ rected to the lunar landscape.
mony is just for the record,” he said. “ How about a little overland jaunt?”
“ I ’ll have to file an official claim when he proposed. “ I ’d like to see some of
we get back to earth. But it gives you this moon country.”
quite a thrill, at that, to think of plant­ “ It all looks the same to me,” said
ing Old Glory up here?” Wilbur. “ It would sure make one ter­
“ Cut it o u t!” said Wilbur, “ you’re rific golf course! What hazards! Oh,
making me homesick I” b o y !”
Gil turned and looked toward their He pointed to a succession of craters,
space ship. big and small, inter-locking one another
“ Speaking of home,” he said. “ W e’d with prodigious rock walls and ridges
better see what our chances are of and cracks in the moon’s surface in and
getting hom e!” around them.
He led the way in an encirclement of They started walking over and about
the rocket, examining such damage as some of the peculiar formations, look­
had been done with minute care, and ing back at intervals to keep their bear­
satisfying himself that the shell of the ings and glimpse their glittering space
rocket was intact. In addition to the ship.
crushed landing gear, he found that “ I think we’ve done all the exploring
another section o f the plastic glass win­ we should do, our first time out,” Gil
dows was badly cracked, necessitating decided, after a half hour’s slow going.
replacement. It was not a comfortable “ I ’m not sure, even with these pro­
feeling to think that breakage of any tective suits, that we should risk being
of these windows while shooting exposed to the sun much longer, till we
through space might quickly destroy know whether or not there’ll be any
the oxygen content of the cabin and re­ effect. So I ’m for returning to the
sult in their annihilation. rocket and starting out again tomorrow
“ I can see now,” said Gil, “ that I morning, Arizona tim e!”
slipped up in not bringing enough win­ “ Y ou ’re the boss!” said Wilbur.
dow replacements with me. I ’d hate to The trio turned back toward the lo­
have to attempt the return journey with cation of their space ship.
that badly cracked and weakened win­ “ Besides,” said Gil, “ we should never
dow surface.” all of us get out of sight of our rocket
“ Maybe we’d better stay on here,” home. On any long trip, either you or
108 AMAZING STORIES

Diana will have to stay with the ship to fuel fully applied, it took off with a
guide me back, if I lose my bearings.” great SWOOSH! in a cloud of dust,
“ If you lose your bearings,” said Wil­ smoke and flame, giving forth a thun­
bur, “ I ’ll lose my mind; Don’t talk derous noise.
like that!” ‘ ‘There she goes!” cried Professor
Crowley. “ She’s on the way, G il!”
CHAPTER IX “ I could hear it leave!” Gil reported
from the moon. “ That’s great! I ’ll be
AT„ITS base on the White Sands looking for it !”
Proving Ground, in the desert of “ It’s a wonderful sight from here,”
New Mexico, the United States Army’s continued Professor Crowley. “ It’s ac­
moon rocket was poised for its take-off. celerating at a tremendous rate, trailing
Gil Benson’s voice was coming in by a long tail of white flame and smoke.
high frequency radio. Captain Elder tells me it’s up nineteen
“ When do you estimate your rocket miles already . . . thirty . . . sixty
will reach the field of the moon’s in­ . . . while I ’m talking! . . . It’s
fluence?” he was asking. making a speed of eight thousand, four
“ Around forty-three hours and hundred feet per second . . . now it’s
twelve minutes after take-off,” replied being stepped up . . . all I can see is a
Captain Bruce Elder, Army engineer. white vapor trail . . . it’s thinning out
“ Then we should be prepared to take and disappearing . . . the rocket’s
over control about that time?” reached the stratosphere . . . it’s hit­
“ Right. W e’ll follow the rocket’s ting a velocity of three miles a second
flight and keep you advised. The plastic . . . that’s not good enough as you
glass is carefully packed. It should know . . . can’t get away from the
come through unless the rocket is badly earth'on that . . . here’s the third step
damaged.” . . . let’s see what happens . . . four
“ Okay. Thanks very much. W e’re — five— yes, it’s jumped to seven! . . .
standing by.” Gil— it’s out there in space— it’s beyond
With all in readiness for the launch­ the earth’s gravitational pull . . . it’s
ing, Professor Crowley withdrew from a free projectile now . . . they’re cut­
the rocket site to the radio car where he ting off the motors . . . it’s coasting
could watch the take-off and communi­ toward you . . . if they can keep it on
cate with the “ man on the target.” course, it should make it! . . . Here’s
“ Check your watch, Gil,” .said the hoping!”
Professor. “ It’s Wednesday, two-fif- “ You said it !” came Gil’s' voice, from
teen here. Ten seconds. Count them the moon. “ Nothing for us to do now
o ff!” but wait. I think I’ll go out and see
Lt. Col. Harvey had alerted his men what I can of our surroundings, while
assigned to starting the rocket motors I ’m putting in time.”
and sending the jet-propelled missile on Professor Crowley laughed, excited­
its emergency mission into space. ly. “ Wish to hell I was with y o u !”
At a signal from him, the switch was “ I wish to hell you were, to o !” said
thrown igniting the fuel of liquid oxy­ Gil. “ I may be an explorer, but I ’m no
gen and alcohol. The Army rocket rose scientist!”
slowly from its base as though pulled
upward by invisible wires. Then, as it ■ y ^ I T H the Army’s relief rocket on
seemed to hang heavily in air— with the the way to them, the three moon
 ALL ABOARD FOR THE MOON 109

occupants could now relax and give arms to wave Wilbur “ goodbye” and
their attention to other matters of ab­ stepped inside, closing the door. Holly­
sorbing interest close at hand. wood’s greatest press agent watched
“ Wilbur,” said Gil, “ I ’m sorry, but them depart through the window and
you’re elected to stay here and keep in then returned to keep vigil by the radio
touch with earth by radio— and also set.
with us on the walkie-talkie, in case we “ I didn’t do myself so much good
need to make contact. Diana and I are when I introduced her to Gil,” he said
going on a little cross country hike.” to himself. “ She’s giving me about as
“ That’s du ck y!” said Wilbur. “ I much attention as an agent usually gets
come all the way to the moon and I — ten per cen t!’’
don’t see anything but Diana and you
* * *
and the space ship!”
“ Why, Wilbur 1” said Diana. “ Are
you tired of looking at m e?” As nearly as Gil could determine, he
“ Y ou’re still beautiful, Baby,” said and Diana were about ten miles from
Wilbur, “ but now that I ’m on the moon, their “ home base” in a westerly direc­
I don’t feel so romantic.” tion, figured from the sun’s position.
“ You can see all the sights next trip,” They had traveled up steep inclines and
said Gil. down into deep recesses, keeping in the
“ There isn’t going to be any next black shadow of walls and ridges as
trip,” said Wilbur. “ If I once get back much as possible, to escape the almost
to the earth I ’m going to chain myself blinding sunlight. But now they found
to it l” themselves within a mile of a great
Diana and Gil laughed as they crater. Gazing up the rough rock slope
climbed into their heavy moon suits. which extended to the crater’s rim, Gil
Once inside, they continued the con­ cried out in excitement:
versation b y walkie-talkie. “ Look, Diana— see these bright
“ Goodbye, Wilbur,” said Gil. “ D on’t streaks in the ground? . . . Running
look so lonely and deserted. W e’ll give down the sides of this slope, from the
you a running description o f what we’ re crater’s edge?”
seeing and you can pass it on to Earth! ” “ Yes,” said Diana. “ It hurts my eyes
“ Okay,” said Wilbur. “ But I think to look at them. What are they?”
this is just a frame-up to get you and “ They’re one of astronomy’s myster­
Diana off b y yourselves.” He shook a ies I” said Gil. “ As seen from earth they
warning finger at them. “ I don’t want extend in straight lines of great bril­
any more of this kissingl” liance, in all directions from hundreds
Diana and Gil looked at one another of different centers— like spokes in a
through the glass windows of their wheell”
bright metal helmets, with their funny “ They look like a lot of quicksilver
rubberized oxygen noses attached to a that’s been heated and run out from
tank in front. Then they both howled. one spot— and frozen all ov er!” said
“ We don’t need a chaperone in these Diana.
things,” said Gil. “ It’s not that,” said Gil. “ And it’s
“ A girl could die an old maid in not a stain on the under rock surface.
here,” said Diana. It’s a substance o f some sort! . . .
They crossed the cabin to the air Just see how these lines extend! . . .
lock compartment, lifted ponderous They aren’t broken by any of the land­
110 AMAZING STORIES

scape! Our astronomers call these sible enemy force on our planet! . . .
streaks ‘ rays’ ! . . . Some think they And we can’t waste any time doing it! ”
were caused by gases produced by vol­ “ Shall I pass this news on to
canoes. Others think they were brought Schenectady?” asked Wilbur.
about by action of meteors. It looks to “ I should say n o t!” said Gil. “ Not
me like they resulted from a white hot a word to Earth about this! It’s too
explosion as meteors hit the moon’s sur­ hot to broadcast! . . . W e’ll have to
face and formed these craters. wait and trust to luck on our getting
“ Could b e !” said Diana. “ They’re back— so I can personally put this
sure splattered in every direction! ” knowledge in the proper hands!”
Gil knelt and examined a raised vein “ Ye gods!” said Wilbur. “ What
o f bright material which was fused into next?”
the rock surface beneath. Several frag­ “ D inner!” said Gil. “ W e’ll be back
ments were lying loose. These he re­ in two and a half hours. Have the
trieved to take back to earth as samples. table set and the food laid ou t!”
“ You know what, Diana! I know just “ Okay,” said Wilbur, “ but you hand
enough about minerals to hazard a guess me a few more shockers like this— and
. . . this stuff is what Earth scientists you’ll find me laid o u t!”
would give their right eye for— it’s
U R A N IU M !” rJ ''H E Army radar-guided rocket dis­
“ Uranium!” Diana repeated. patched from earth forty-three
“ Yes . . . I ’m sure of it !” said Gil. hours ago, was now nearing the moon’s
“ I ’ve seen pieces of uranium before. gravitational field. In the space ship,
This nickel-white metal you see on all “ Goodbye, W orld!” the atmosphere
sides is the material that atomic sci­ was once more tense. Gil Benson, in­
entists have been using to explode their tent on operation of his Army radar set,
atomic bombs— it’s what’s needed to sat alert and expectant. Diana and
create new power for h^at, light and in­ Wilbur held their breaths.
dustry. And, if all these streaks are “ Have you made contact?” asked
composed of the same material, then Captain Elder’s voice from earth.
the moon is loaded with it. Absolutely “ Y e s!” said Gil.
loaded!” “ Are you ready to take over con­
“ H ey! ” cut in Wilbur, from the space trol?”
ship. “ Are you kidding?” “ R eady!”
“ I ’ll say I ’m not kidding!” replied “ Count off and take over on ten!”
Gil. “ This moon’s a gold mine! It’s so The count started. At “ ten,” Gil set
fabulous I don’t dare think of it! Here’s his dials and watched the radar screen.
all the power the earth will ever need— A look of exultation crossed his face.
Iorever! But, say— if the wrong people “ W e’ve got it !” he announced.
get up here and get hold of it— it would “ G ood!” said Captain Elder’s voice.
be just too bad! . . . They could build “ Here’s hoping you bring her in okay!
their own reacting atomic ‘piles’ on the W e’re all pulling for y o u !”
moon— put them in rockets and bom­ “ Thanks,” said Gil, grimly.
bard any country on earth! . . . The It would be almost five hours yet
United States Army had better get up before the rocket would arrive and this
here quick— and take over! . . . time must be spent in exacting concen­
W e’ve got to gain control of the moon tration.
for our own protection from any pos­ “ D on’t lose that Baby n ow !” said
 ALL ABOARD FOR THE M OON 111

Wilbur. “ I want to get back to earth 1” could be jet propelled after it. The
intimations for the future of interspa-
* * * cial travel, with the moon established
as a taking off point for other planets,
“ It won’t be long now,” Gil an­ were exciting beyond description. In a
nounced at 3:05 p.m. Friday, Arizona few years, it was freely predicted, hu­
time, forty-eight hours and forty min­ mans would be colonizing on the moon
utes after the Army rocket had left and going there on week-end excur­
earth. sions!
“ I ’m going to try to bring her in for Even M .G .M .’s pin-up sensation in­
a landing this trip I" dicated that she might make such a trip
He had twice caused the rocket to in company, of course, with Gil Benson.
circle a prescribed area at the height of “ I wouldn’t trust myself with anyone
about a mile overhead, as a test of his else,” she said, which was her way of
control. paying tribute.
“ D on’t bring it in on top o f u s !” On Sunday night, Arizona time, with
warned Wilbur. “ Pick a nice soft spot the three space travelers about to round
about a mile aw ay!” out their first full week on the moon,
“ Show me a soft spot on the whole Gil Benson reported, through G.E.’s
m oon!” said Gil. “ Let’s hope she Experimental Station at Schenectady,
comes in at an angle so she’s not too that he had completed all possible re­
badly broken u p !” pairs. The new plastic glass windows
“ I ’m praying!” said Wilbur, “ but were in place and the crushed landing
don’t count on it I” gear had been stripped from the ship.
Diana stood near the temporary “ When we get back to earth,” said
rubberized covering of the broken win­ Gil, “ we’ll have to come in for a belly
dow. landing— but I think we can make it.”
“ I ’m too numb to pray,” she said. M onday .morning, Arizona time, an
“ But I ’ve got my fingers and toes earthly event stole the front page head­
crossed!” lines, for the first time, from Gil Ben­
“ Here she com es!” Gil cried. son’s moon adventure. The peoples of
They watched the radar screen in the world had their minds forcibly
anxious fascination. brought back from inter-stellar space to
“ She’s dow n!” he said. “ About a face the shocking and imminent pos­
half mile from here! . . . Stand by sibility of a Third World W ar! They
the radio, Wilbur . . . Diana and I stared in horror and dismay at these
are going out to see what’s happened!” smashing lines:

CHAPTER X W A R WITH RUSSIA INEVITABLE!

M a y Coma At Any Moment
T T WAS tremendous news on earth All Countries Prepared ta Meet
Devastating Undeclared Attack!
when word came through from the
moon that the Army’s radar controlled Fiery opening paragraphs set forth
rocket had landed safely. The peoples the explosive situation.
R e la tio n s b e tw e e n G r e a t B r ita in a n d tire
of the world were thrilled at the thought U n ite d S ta te s a n d R u s sia h a v e r e a c h e d th e
that it was not only possible for a man­ b re a k in g p o in t.
carrying space ship to reach the moon E u rdpe is a b la z e w ith h a tre d , re v o lt, in ­
trigu e a n d co u n tle s s v io le n t b o r d e r in cid e n ts.
but that also a cargo of repair parts T h e t in d e r -b o x o t th e B a lk a n s n e e d s o n ly o n e
112 AMAZING STORIES

A n a l sp a rk to t o u c h o f f a w a r f o r w h ic h th e the moon and have had a look at the

n ew a lig n m e n ts o f E aste rn a n d W e s te r n p o w ­
ers h a v e b een fev er is h ly a n d o p e n ly p re p a r­ other side.”
ing. “ Ye G ods!” said Wilbur. “ You don’t
T h e r e Is n o lo n g e r a n y q u e s tio n th a t th is
w a r c a n b e a verted . T h e o n ly q u e stio n Is— really mean it, Gill Isn’t this side
a t w h a t m o m e n t Will It c o m e ? enough for the first trip? Have a
A sta te o f n a tio n a l e m e rg e n cy h a s b e e n d e ­
cla red In co u n trie s th r o u g h o u t t h e w o rld , a n d heart!”
in E n g la n d a n d th e U n ite d S ta te s p la n s a re “ I second the motion!” said Diana.
b ein g ru sh e d f o r e v a c u a tio n o f b ig c e n te r s o f
p o p u la tio n in a n tic ip a tio n o f a ra in o f d e a th Gil smiled. “ Oh, I don’t intend to
fr o m th e skies. land but we’ll stick it out here till the
T h is co n flic t, w h ic h , a d m itte d ly , m a y b rin g
th e a bsolu te e n d o f c iv ilisa tio n , Is b e in g p r e ­ other side of the moon is lit up and then
cip ita te d th r o u g h th e u tte r fa ilu r e o f th e we’ll fly around the moon on the way
w o r ld 's d ip lo m a ts a n d t h e d elega tes o f th e
U n ited N a tio n s O r g a n iz a tio n t o e ffe c t a home. I want to take as many pictures
p e a c e fu l s ettlem en t a n d a d ju s tm e n t o f p o w e r­ as we can of its entire surface. W e’ve
fu l n a tio n a l d iffe r e n c e s In e c o n o m y a n d
Ideology. already got some swell close-ups of the
T h e C on gress o f th e U n ite d S ta te s Is m e e t­ lines of uranium and the formations
in g In sp ecia l session to d r a ft le g is la tio n n e c ­
essary to p u ttin g th e c o u n t r y o n a n Im m e­ around us.”
d ia te o v e r n ig h t, f u ll w a r -t im e fo o tin g . “ Gil,” said Wilbur, soberly, “ as your
I t Is u n d erstood th a t th e A rm y a n d N avy
a ir fo r c e s a re s ta n d in g b y w ith th e ir lo n g radio man, photographer, master of
ra n g e b om b ers a n d ro c k e ts p re p a re d to ceremonies and general all-around
la u n ch a n a to m b o m b a tta ck a t th e first real
ou tb re a k o f h ostilities. . . . flunky, I ’m about to stage the first
strike on the moon!”
D AD IO Operator Carl Mack, in con­ “ And I ’ll walk out with him !”
tact with Gil Benson on the moon, threatened Diana.
read him these headlines and said: Gil grinned. “ Go ahead,” he said.
“ Better stay up there, old man— it’s “ Take a walk. If you don’t want to go
soon going to be hell on earth!” with me, I ’ll pick you up my next trip.”
“ Good night!” moaned Hollywood’s “ The strike is over!” said Wilbur.
greatest press agent, “ and just after me At Gil’s suggestion, Diana and Wil­
thinking what a nice safe place the old bur donned their spacesuits and left the
earth w as!” rocket to watch the sun as it slowly
The end of the lunar day was ap­ descended beneath the moon’s saw­
proaching. In a few more hours of earth toothed horizon. It shone with all the
time the sun would begin to cjip below splendor of noonday until its lower
the western horizon. It would be the edges began to disappear. Then its
first sunset that these pioneer space light commenced to grow dimmer but
travelers would see from the moon and the blackness of the sky remained.
it would take about thirty times as long
as it had on earth for the upper edge of r J''H E three earth visitors could not
the sun to disappear for, as Gil had help but contrast this strange sun­
explained, the sun from the moon seems set with the settings of this same sun
to move only about one-thirtieth as which they had witnessed so many times
fast. on their own planet and which had
“ This is going to be an interesting been attended by a magnificent blaze
spectacle to watch,” said Gil. “ I ’m of heavenly reds and golds.
anxious to get back to earth with this “ They wouldn’t even give this sunset
knowledge of extensive uranium de­ one star in Hollywood,” said Wilbur.
posits but I don’t want to leave here un­ “ I agree,” said Diana. “ It’s kind of
til we’ve experienced part of a night on dismal, if you’d ask me.”
 A L L ABO ARD FOR THE M O O N 113

There being no air to catch the sun­ recorded the sound. The surface of
light, with the last upper edge of the the moon shook under their feet.
sun now slipping below the horizon, “ It must have been a m eteor!” cried
there was no twilight. The instant the Gil. “ That was a mighty close ca ll!”
sun vanished from view, they were “ Ye g od s!” said Wilbur. “ Let’s get
plunged into darkness. And now it was out of here!”
only the mammoth half-luminous body “ N o,” said Gil, “ let’s investigate. I
of their own earth above them which want to see where it h it!”
cast any light upon the doubly desolate He turned on his suit’s searchlight
surface of the moon. As they looked and pointed it in the direction of the
upward at their home planet a strange fallen body. “ Come on,” he said. “ Fol­
and inexplainable nostalgia seized them. low m e!”
It seemed so near and yet so far away. Aided by the bright rays o f their
“ Just an overnight sleeper jump,” searchlights, the three moved away
said Gil, “ five years from now.” from the vicinity of their space ship,
“ Put me to sleep and take me back,” continuing for about a mile in and
said Wilbur. “ I don’t care if there is around and over the rough and uneven
another world war! I ’d even re-enlist terrain. They finally came to a spot
again. What choice have I got? It’s giving evidence of new devastation. A
certainly better than this, unless you thin vapor was rising from a newly
can find another planet where every­ formed crater where the huge heavenly
thing is sweetness and light and every­ cannon ball had landed. It had crushed
body loves everybody else and they the moon surface about it into pow­
haven’t invented gun powder and atom­ dered rock and now, under the glare of
ic bombs yet.” their searchlights, they could see thou­
“ The moon’s got you,” said Diana. sands of meteor fragments spread out
“ Y ou’ve gone loony I” in all directions from its awesome point
“ If you haven’t turned on your heat­ of contact.
ing units,” warned Gil, “ you’d better Gil stooped and picked up a piece of
do it in a hurry. The temperature’s the meteor in one hand. It was black
taking a nose dive right now and in a and jagged, large enough to have
few hours it will be at least two hun­ weighed a hundred pounds on earth.
dred degrees below zero, Centigrade!”
“ What a place!” said Wilbur. “ It « e -p H lS is iron,” he said. “ Perhaps
beats the cool nights in California. I alloyed with a little nickel. It’s
thought I ’d freeze there, every time the terrifically hard. If this meteor had
sun dropped behind the mountains!” been falling toward our earth, the fric­
“ You and me both,” said Diana. tion of our atmosphere would have
“ But I ’ll never complain after this.” caused it to bum up in space, but here
“ L ook !” Gil suddenly exclaimed. He on the moon these shooting stars, with
pointed in a direction away from the no air to check them, hit the surface.
rocket. “ I saw something hit the I can see right now that a lot of these
m oon!” craters we’ve been wondering about
Even as he spoke, their heavy have been made by meteors just like
metal suits were sprayed with a rain of this one. Lucky it didn’t hit the ship! ”
rock particles. They hit with such force “ W e’d better get away from here be­
as to dent the suits in several places fore one does,” said Wilbur. “ It’s even
and the air inside their mobile houses worse at night— you can’t see them in
114 AMAZ1N© STORIES

time to dodge!” moon above them as the first three hu­

“ D odge!” said Diana. “ How can mans to reach the moon prepared for
you dodge when they’re going a mil­ their take-off. They could see it
lion miles a second!” through the plastic glass windows with
“ Not quite that fast,” laughed Gil. the outline of the continents standing
“ But they must be falling somewhere out as though sculptured in space. The
on the moon all the time. If anyone oceans were brilliant flashing gems and
was going to stay up here, he’d have to the white glistening polar caps sparkled
live in a cave or build underground.” with dancing rainbow halos. It was a
“ We might as well go back to Earth sight far more transcendent than the
and start dodging atom bombs,” said moon had ever looked from earth.
Wilbur. “ I can darn near see the lights of
Gil looked down at the large frag­ Broadway,” said Wilbur. “ With a good
ment of the meteor he was holding. telescope, I ’ll bet we could even read
“ I ’m going to take this back to Earth the electric signs and see what pictures
as a specimen,” he said. “ No doubt were playing!”
many of these craters were also caused “ I wouldn’t want to look,” said
by volcanoes now extinct but the sur­ Diana. “ If I saw Ruth Delano’s name
face of the moon has certainly been in lights, it would spoil my trip." _
peppered by ages of meteoric bombard­ Gil laughed. “ You girls certainly
ment.” love each other, don’t you?”
“ It makes me feel like ducking my “ Like sisters,” said Diana.
head all the time,” said Diana. “ I don’t “ Never mind,” soothed Wilbur. “ If
think I ’m exactly going to enjoy the you get back to Earth, you’ll be bigger
rest of my time on the m oon!” than Ruth Delano ever thought of be­
Gil smiled. “ Think of all the count­ ing. They’ll wrap up Hollywood and
less thunderstorms on earth and how give it to you ! ”
few people are ever struck by light­ “ I don’t want H ollyw ood!” said
ning.” Diana— and looked sidewise at Gil.
“ But think of the ones who are!”
said Wilbur. “ Come on, Gil. W e’ve “ ^ U T out that double-talk,” said W il­
stayed long enough. Let’s go hom e!” bur. “ You hired me to put you
Gil shook his head. “ It will take over once and I ’m going to do it this
more than a meteor to chase me off this time. I can’t miss. I can see your
moon till I finish up what I want to billing already— ‘Diana Fenimore, En­
do,” he said. “ Let’s go back to the trancing Queen of the Moon, the Orig­
rocket and get something to eat.” inal Rocket Girl, the Woman Who Put
They turned about and their search­ Sex in Space— the Sweetheart of the
light beams, unrestricted on the airless Man in the M oon ! ’ ”
moon, struck the glittering surface of Diana looked at herself in the cabin
a portion of the space ship which was mirror.
visible. “ You still think I should wear this
“ Hello, “Goodbye, W orld’ ! ” said Wil­ evening dress back?” she asked.
bur. “ I ’m going to change your name. “ Sure thing!” said Wilbur. “ It’s a
It’s soon going to be ‘ Goodbye, M oon’ ! ” terrific gag. We all return to Earth
* * * exactly as we left— in evening dress.
It will make this moon trip seem just
The earth was a magnificent full like another premiere.”
 ALL ABOARD FOR THE MOON 115

Gil Benson stepped before the in­ Wilbur passed on this information.
strument board and placed his hand on Gil’s hand pressed the starting lever
the starting lever. down and the atomic power motors
“ Better get on the radio,” he said to hummed inside the cabin. Momentar­
Wilbur, “ and get ready to report our ily, the huge ship trembled like a great
trip.” He looked at his wrist watch. bird coming to life. The moon’s sur­
“ W e’re leaving here, just two weeks to face commenced to fall away, looking
the day that we departed from Earth. weird under the reflected light from the
It’s Monday at nine a.m. Arizona time ball of earth. Gil then pointed the
. . . have you got Schenectady?” rocket in a westerly direction, follow­
“ Yes,” reported Wilbur. “ It’s just ing the course taken by the sun in its
coming in now.” setting of just an earth week ago.
“ Hello, up there!” sounded Carl “ W e’re making a speed of about fif­
M ack’s voice from earth. “ Is this the teen hundred miles an hour,” said Gil.
day?” “ In a little over an hour, we’ll be com­
“ It’s the day and the minute!” in­ ing into sunlight on the other side of
formed Wilbur. “ W e’re just taking off the moon. Then I ’m going to slow us
now but Gil wants me to tell you we’re down considerably so we can really see
not coming straight home. W e’re going what it looks like. This is going to be
around what you call the dark side of the most exciting part o f the. trip to
the moon first! Only it’s light over me.”
there now.” “ I can predict right now,” said W il­
“ That’s great!” said Carl Mack. bur, “ that the other side will look like
“ The scientists at G.E. have been hop­ a second showing of the same picture.
ing Gil would do that.” But I ’m reconciled. It will only take us
“ And his two passengers have been a few more hours at the most.”
hoping he wouldn’t l ” said Wilbur. He turned back to the radio and
“ But you know G il! ” spoke into the microphone.
Carl M ack laughed. “ Y ou’re sunk, “ Say, M ack— how’s the third world
Williams. Might as well sit back and war coming, down there?"
enjoy it.”
“ I ’ll sit back,” said Wilbur, “ but I rJ ''H E voice from Earth reached him
won’t enjoy it !” almost instantly. “ Swell! W e’re
Gil motioned to Diana and Wilbur. getting closer to it every day! Begin­
“ I ’m starting the atomic rocket mo­ ning next week, they are starting to
tors now,” he said. “ I ’m going to raise evacuate every big industrial and coast
this ship horizontally off the moon’s city. But that may not be soon enough.
surface and ascend to a height of about The war’s apt to be on before you get
ten miles, from which altitude I hope to ba ck !”
cruise around the moon. This will give “ That’s lo v ely!’’ said Wilbur. Then
us a chance to get excellent photographs turning aside: “ Gil, did you hear that?
and fine observation. Tell M ack I ’m . . . Just look up there at that earth
not sure how good our radio reception of ours! Can you picture those little
will be on the other side and if he can’t insignificant human ants getting ready
get us, not to worry— we’ll pick him up to kill each other again? . . . If they
again as soon as we come around on could only see what a wonderful planet
the earth-side, once more, and head they’re living on ! . . . How terrific the
toward our own planet.” universe really is! . . . I wonder if it
 116 AMAZING STORIES

wouldn’t change their whole attitude— right this minute that no earth-bound
or would they just get more greedy than man ever has seen or can see! So keep
ever— and want to grab off a few extra your eyes peeled and spot everything
planets for themselves?” you ca n !”
“ You’re a member of the human He turned on the automatic cameras
race,” said Gil. “ You answer that which started making a photographic
one I” record.
“ Well,” said Wilbur, “ aren’t we al­ “ It’s just as I figured,” said Wilbur.
ready trying to grab off the moon? . . . “ Nothing new or different!”
And when we get that, do you think Traveling at a greatly reduced rate
we’ll stop there? W e’ll be shooting of five hundred miles per hour, excel­
through space, establishing trade routes lent observation was possible. The
all over the place!” lunar landscape did have a similarity
“ Which wouldn’t be a bad idea!” at first but it soon became apparent
said Diana. “ And I’d be the first inter­ that it was much more rough and moun­
planetary saleslady!” tainous than the other side. It was
“ You should settle down,” said W il­ still honeycombed with craters of vari­
bur, “ and marry— and stay on one ous sizes but these were broken by
earth— and have children!” gigantic towering peaks, many of them
Diana’s blue eyes went into action looking from the air like the pointed
for the first time in a long while. steeples of deserted stone cathedrals.
“ I may marry,” she said. “ But, after Diana, surveying this scene, ex­
this, I refuse to stay on one earth and claimed: “ Talk about the Bad-lands on
my children will just have to be born Earth! They’re not in it with this!
wherever I am at the tim e!” I ’d hate to have to parachute down
“ That’s bad,” said Wilbur. “ The from herel”
poor kids won’t know where they are— “ I ’d hate to have you,” said Gil.
and they’ll be citizens of no place.” “ Since there’s no air, the parachute
“ They’ll be citizens of the universe,” wouldn’t open!”
Diana rejoined. “ Which ought to be Wilbur, keeping up a running fire
good enough for anybody!” conversation with Carl Mack on earth,
Wilbur eyed her. “ W ho’s loony said: “ Thank God for radio! If it
now?” he asked. wasn’t for hearing your voice, I ’d think
our planet and everything on it had
CHAPTER XI vanished for good. It’s the queerest
feeling to be completely out of sight of
TH E space ship sped over the it !”
rough-fringed curvature of the “ Well, we’re still here all right,”
moon, the sun burst upon it, almost laughed M ack. “ But if they begin
without warning. Emerging from dark­ dropping atomic bombs, you may not
ness into daylight was a momentary have any earth to come back t o !"
shock but not half the shock which was “ Oh, Brother!” said Wilbur, “ don’t
occasioned by Wilbur’s discovery that even suggest that! ” He glanced through
the earth was no longer in the sky. the side windows of the space ship and
“ H e y !” he cried. “ Our earth! Where a sudden strange flash caught his eye.
has it gone?” What he saw all but paralyzed him.
“ It’s on the other side of the moon,” “ G il!” he cried. “ Oh, my goshl . . .
said Gil. “ W e’re seeing a panorama L ook !”
 ALL ABOARD FOR THE MOON 117

Almost simultaneously there was a g od s!” he exclaimed. “ Oh, this is ter­

similar bright flash on the other side of rific! . . . There’s an absolutely tre­
the ship and Diana, seeing it, cried out: mendous hole in the moon . . . and—
“ Ohl For heaven’s sake! Oh, G ill” holy smoke! . . . Oh, M ack! . . . Oh,
Startled, Gil Benson, at the rocket’s my gosh! . . . There’s a big moon city
controls, looked right and left. down inside that crater!”
Carl M ack’s excited, incredulous
“ C P A C E ships!” he exclaimed, un- voice came booming in. “ Cut it oat!
*“* believingly. “ Mammoth ones!” What are you drinking up there?”
There was a third brilliant flash “ N o, n o !” insisted Wilbur. “ Listen,
through the windows in the sky dome M ack— listen carefully! . . . This Is on
above them. the level! . . . We may not be able to
“ Three at least!” cried Wilbur. “ At broadcast much longer. These space
each side and above us! W e’re hemmed ships are as big as the Queen M ary!
in! . . . Y e gods, Gil— it looks like . . . They’re bringing us dewn for a
we’re being taken captive!” forced landing . . . 1 W e’re only about
These enormous aerial vessels, look­ two miles above the moon now . . . I
ing like great pointed silver pencils in can see great round shining buildings
flight, were possibly a thousand feet . . . some look like tremendous Quon-
long. Gil realized, in that blood-chill­ set huts! . . . They’re all connected by
ing moment, that he was being forced big, long silver tubes— some kind of
to proceed on a course determined for metal . . . and they’re laid out around
him by his space captors. the inside walls of this stupendous
“ Can’t you put on a burst of speed crater . . . ! ”
and try to get away from them?” asked Carl M ack cut in, highly aroused,
Wilbur. “ W e’re recording this, Williams! . . .
“ I could if they weren’t so close,” Keep going as long as you can! Can
said Gil. “ But we’d be apt to crash you tell where these space ships came
into one of them and that would be our from? . . . D o you see any forms of
finish.” life?”
“ Where do you suppose they are tak­ “ I can see them now,” Wilbur re­
ing us?” ported. “ They’re right alongside and
“ I haven’t any idea,” said Gil. “ But we’re looking through our windows
it’s some place-on the moon. W e’re be­ at each other. I don’t know where
ing forced down. Get word o f this back they came from— but they’re not hu­
to Earth!” man . . . ! They’re lined up against
Wilbur turned excitedly to the micro­ the windows of their ships, staring at
phone. us. They’re reddish skinned and their
“ Hello, M a ck !” he cried. “ Are you heads are about twice the size of ours,
there?” with extra large noses and big eyes . . .
“ Right with you,” said Carl M ack’s I can’t see the rest o f them but if they’re
voice. as big as their heads, they’re enor­
“ M a ck !” cried Wilbur. “ This isn’t m ous!”
a gag. This is serious! W e’re sur­ “ What do you suppose they’re doing
rounded by space ships— big ones! on the moon?” cried Carl Mack.
There’s someone on the m oon!” Wil­ “ That’s a mystery, to o !” said Wil­
bur paused to look out and down, at bur. “ Though I don’t think it’s any­
outcries from Diana and Gil. “ Ye thing good as far as we’re concerned!
118 AMAZING STORIES

. . . W e’re down below a mile now and was inhabited. But, more stunning still
we’re being directed toward some tre­ was the sensational knowledge that Gil
mendous runways in the center of this Benson and his two space travelers had
deep crater which extends as far as I fallen into the hands of the strange,
can see. W e’re heading toward what unknown moon dwellers who appeared
looks like a big shiny metal hangar . . . to be strongly entrenched on the dark
M y gosh! I guess they intend us to go side of the satellite.
right down inside that thing 1” Wilbur Frantic efforts were being made and
turned, excitedly, to Gil. “ What do utmost vigilance maintained to reestab­
you think? Isn’t that what they are lish communication with the now
directing us to d o?” ' grounded space ship but the Goodbye,
Gil nodded, grimly. “ Apparently,” World’s radio was dead and indications
he said. “ That hangar looks like a tre­ were that it might remain so. The
mendous train shed. It must be half Earth had quite possibly heard the last
a mile high and five miles long . . . yes of Gil Benson and his crew of one man
— the whole end of it is opening up. and a girl but, at least, they had man­
W e’re expected to fly right into it.” aged to forewarn the world that poten­
Wilbur got back on the radio. “ I tial danger to Humanity existed on the
was right,” he cried. “ W e’re coming in Moon.
now and this could be an enormous Ruth Delano was so upset that she
wind tunnel we’re going in to .. . . Looks walked off M .G .M .’s lot, refusing to do
like it was made o f aluminum. . . . any more work before the cameras until
There are figures running around in she had some definite word as to Gil
metal suits, something like ours! . . . Benson’s fate.
These space ships are flying right in “ A relief expedition should be organ­
with us. Oh, my gosh I There’s lots of ized and sent up to rescue him,” she
them in here— all lined up like ships at said.
a dock! . . . I ’m sorry, Mack— I ’ve got But Professor Crowley, when asked
to sign off . . . I” if this might be possible, declared that
A square of red lights lit up in the no other space ships were available.
space in front of Gil Benson’s descend­ The Army and Navy could be expected
ing rocket. By manipulation of con­ to be of aid in time. However, it would
trols he set his ship down on the spot require some months to go into manu­
indicated. It came to rest with only facture of the atomic rocket motors as
a slight jar and rocking motion. As he designed by Crowley and Benson. The
completed the landing, Gil could see present jet rockets, operating on liquid
the three great aerial vessels gliding be­ oxygen and alcohol, generated sufficient
yond to designated plots of their own. power to project their missiles to the
The end of the cavernous hangar had moon but not to lift the additional
closed behind them. weight of fuel and supplies necessary
Diana, Wilbur and Gil looked tensely for the successful launching of man­
at one another. They were prisoners carrying projectiles.
on the moon! “ Gil Benson and his two companions
will have to extricate themselves if
H P H E peoples of Earth, terrified at there is any hope of their escaping from
the momentary prospects of another the moon under whatever circumstances
world warf were given a second major they may now be facing,” said an edi­
fright on receipt of news that the Moon torial comment. “ This has usually been
 ALL ABOARD FOR THE MOON 119

the price that pioneers in exploration Gil looked at her. “ Y ou ’re all right,”
have had to pay for their courage and he said, admiringly. “ I ’m glad you
daring. brought yourself along!”
“ Unfortunately, we on earth have “ I wouldn’t miss this jor anything on
vast problems of our own to meet and earth!” said Diana. “ How do I look,
can only give passing thought to this Gil? Maybe those funny eggs out there
tremendous drama in the sky which, in will go for sex appeal/ ”
peaceful times, would have engaged the “ Good gosh !” moaned Wilbur. “ Go
complete and enthralled attention of easy, Babyl You don’t know what you
every human on this planet. may be getting yourself in fo r !”
“ As for possible dwellers on the Diana looked at the big-headed row
moon, accepting this statement as true, of curious red faces staring in through
since we have heard nothing from them, the windows. She smiled at them and
we should not view their residence there waved. They looked startled and then
as constituting any threat to us. Quite some of them grinned and waved back,
naturally, Gil Benson’s appearance on revealing large white teeth.
the moon might have been regarded by “ Seel” said Diana. “ They’re not so
these beings as an invasion, just as we bad. I think they’re almost human!
would probably look upon the arrival They can laugh!” She smiled and
from space of some strange creatures waved again.
in a similar projectile. But we should There was an immediate pounding on
control our fears and our imaginations the side o f the ship.
until and if we receive more detailed “ Y ou’ve made a hit,” said Wilbur,
information upon which to judge.” “ but I can’t tell what kind yet.”
“ W e’ll know as soon as we open the
* * *
door,” said Gil. He crossed the cabin.
“ I suppose we might as well face it.”
Hardly had Gil Benson landed his Then a warning thought struck him. “ I
space ship in the immense hangar into wonder about the atmosphere inside
which it had been forced, than it was their buildings,” he said. “ They ob­
surrounded by a small army of short, viously require oxygen but their nostrils
big-headed, barrel-chested, two-legged, and lungs are so large, I ’m guessing
reddish-hued beings. They clambered they’re not native to the moon and that
up the sides df the rocket, peered they’ve'com e from some planet where
grotesquely in the windows and rapped the air is much thinner than on earth.
on the door for entrance. If that’s the case, maybe it will be too
“ Ye gods!” said Wilbur. “ Maybe rare for us to breathe.”
we’d better shoot ourselves right now “ I ’ll find out for y o u !” volunteered
and get it over w ith!” Diana.
“ They won’t take any beauty prizes She motioned to her big-headed au­
according to our standards,” said Gil, dience, caught their attention, pointed
“ But they’ve got to be plenty intelligent to her nose and then drew a deep, exag­
or they couldn’t have a set-up like gerated breath, accompanying it with a
this.” questioning gesture. The row of big
“ They look like a bunch of Mummers heads grinned and nodded reassurance.
I saw in the Mummers’ parade at Phil­ • “ There you are!” said Diana, tri­
adelphia last year,” said Diana. “ I ’m umphantly. “ The sign language is uni­
not afraid of them.” versal. We understand each other.”
120 A M A Z IN G STORIES

“ I don’t get it,” said Gil, thought­ the earthly equivalent of an admiring
fully. “ How do they know we can cheer.
breathe out there? They’ve never seen “ Apparently,” said Gil, “ judging
humans before!” from their appearance, hair is a scarce
The rappings on the space ship be­ commodity with them— red hair, es­
came more insistent. pecially!”
“ Well, there’s only one way to tell,” “ That’s fine,” said Diana. “ I ’ve al­
said Gil. ways hoped my red hair would be good
Reaching out, he lifted the lock arm for something some day.”
from the door and swung it open. He It, was too high above the composition
looked down into the upturned features floor of the immense hangar for them to
of these strange beings who regarded descend without some steps, but when
him with their enormous black eyes. Gil became convinced that they could
They were all dressed the same in what breathe in this vast interior, he put
appeared to be loose-fitting work uni­ down the extension ladder. It was
forms of some closely woven bright grabbed on both sides by their captors
material. The shape of their big-chest­ who waited expectantly for their exit
ed bodies required loose apparel, from the ship.
“ Look at their hands!” said Wilbur.
“ Q R E E T IN G S 1 ” said Gil, and “ How wide they are across! Each one
smiled. is as big as two of mine together.”
There was an answering chorus of “ And their legs," said Diana. “ How
sounds which the three voyagers from thin and spindly! . . . What funny
Earth interpreted as a salutation. shapes! . . . Piano legs, narrow hips,
“ They seem to be friendly,” said beer barrel chests and big heads! . . .
Wilbur. “ But I’d hate to meet any of I ’d say Nature gave them a raw deal!”
’em in a bad dream!” “ Maybe that’s what they needed
“ The trick is not to let them see that where they came from,” speculated
you’re afraid of them,” counseled D i­ Wilbur.
ana. She stepped in the rocket’s door­ Diana prepared to be the first one
way beside Gil and turned her blue eyes out of the ship. She turned her back,
on their captors. “ Hello, boys,” she wrapped her evening gown carefully
said. “ W e’re glad to see you! . . . about her, and stepped on the first rung
Does anybody speak English?” Then, of the ladder. Wilbur and Gil watched
aside to Gil, she said: “ I might as well her descend, not without considerable
ask that as anything. You never can apprehension.
tell.” “ They ought to go for her legs, too,”
There was a jabber of sounds and said Wilbur, “ if they know a good pair
many of the weird looking beings point­ when they see ’em !”
ed to their large, round, bald heads— But the interest of the moon dwellers
and then at Diana. appeared to be concentrated upon the
“ They’ve gone for you in a big w ay! ” other end of her anatomy. Large red
said Gil. hands reached out from all sides, at the
“ It’s your red hair!” said Wilbur. first opportunity, to touch or stroke her
“ That’s what they’re raving about! ” red hair. These beings were treating
“ Is it?” asked Diana, pleased. She Diana as though she were some mirac­
ran fingers through her long bob of ulous live doll. She accepted their
rich, red tresses, and her audience gave pawing good-naturedly, and when she
 ALL ABOARD FOt' THE MOON 121

reached the floor, motioned to the two men and took their arms.
remaining occupants of the ship to join “ H e’s not so susceptible,” she whis­
her. pered. “ But I ’ll go to work on him first
“ I wonder what theyTl do to me,” chance I get!”
said Wilbur, as he started down. The leader fell in behind them and
the whole party moved off. They walked
L J I S tuxedo was badly in need of at a good swinging gait for perhaps a
pressing but Hollywood’s greatest mile down a long center ramp, passing
publicity agent was not the least con­ great space ships on both sides with
cerned about that. Gil followed him their crews busy at work around them.
closely and the two reached the floor, Each moon dweller looked up and
unmolested. They were surrounded by stared at Diana as though entranced.
easily half a hundred of these strange Her red hair was proving an object of
beings whose main interest was still instantaneous attraction everywhere.
centered in Diana. At a command from the leader, his
“ You seem to be their Number One guards made a left turn and escorted
Pin-up girl,” said Wilbur. “ I guess you the three captive space travelers toward
really said something when you figured the side of the tremendous hangar, with
they might go for sex appeal.” its high, arched duraluminum roof, half
“ W e’d better watch our step just the a mile above them!
same,” warned Gil. “ I ’m getting a “ This building is unbelievable,” Gil
damned uncomfortable feeling that remarked to Wilbur. “ It dwarfs any­
they’re just playing with us. There thing we’ve got on Earth. I ’d like to
doesn’t seem to be any authority here.” see the system that manufactures oxy­
But, as Gil spoke, a new group of gen for this place! And this is only one
these strange beings, in much smarter of the structures. You have to hand it
bright attire and carrying peculiar look­ to these round heads. They’re damned
ing weapons which looked as though smart!”
they might be a form of ray gun, came “ Where do you think they’re taking
marching up. The leader was a being us?” asked Wilbur.
about a half-head taller than the usual “ Probably to meet some high mogul,”
run of these creatures, and they fell said Gil.
back respectfully as he motioned to They were entering a tunnel-like en­
Diana, Gil and Wilbur to “ fall in” and closure with guards stationed at regular
accompany the squad of guards. intervals, each armed with this strange
Some of the moon dwellers now began weapon which had a funnel opening at
to mount the ladder leading into the the end of a gun barrel. Again they
space ship. seemed to have walked about a mile,
“ Get down from there 1” ordered Gil, passing many intersections which led to
gesturing. H e turned to the leader and other buildings along the way. The
appealed to him, by voice and signs, to three humans from Earth began to
keep his fellow being out of the rocket. notice a little shortness of breath. They
The leader understood and soberly felt as they had when high in the moun­
assigned a guard to stand at the foot of tains on Earth.
the ladder. He then said something “ It’s just as I thought,” said Gil.
totally incomprehensible, giving Wilbur “ The oxygen content is thinner here per
and Gil a push forward. Diana, for cubic inch because these beings don’t
protection, slipped in between the two require as rich a mixture. W e can get
122 AMAZING STORIES

along if we don’t exert ourselves too Diana, standing between Wilbur and
much.” Gil, noting again that she was the center
The wonder of this great moon city of attention, ventured a smile but it
began to grow upon the space travelers, brought no answering response here.
so much so that they temporarily lost The ruler spoke to his associates in a
concern for themselves and their own succession of sounds which were en­
safety. tirely unfamiliar. Several of them
“ This is a simply colossal engineering gravely replied.
feat,” admired Gil. “ It must have tak­ “ They’re deciding what to do to us,”
en years and years for them to have guessed Wilbur, in a low voice, “ and the
accomplished this! I ’m wondering if decision is not going to be good I”
these metals were mined on the moon or “ I wish I could understand their
whether they had to be brought from language,” said Gil. “ It would help a
some other planet?” lot.”
“ Probably dug them up here,” said “ That will not be necessary,” said
Wdlbur. “ I can’t imagine carrying such the ruler, “ I will speak your language.”
a tremendous amount of material on a N o more thunderstruck and com­
long haul through space 1” pletely dumbfounded humans ever ex­
isted than these three voyagers, now so
C 'lN A L L Y , the guards turned up a far from Earth. They even doubted
metal stairway and into the lobby their own senses.
of an administrative-looking building. “ What did you say?” ventured Gil.
Two guards stood in front of a great The red face of the ruler was impas­
steel door. They saluted the leader by sive. “ I said, I would speak your lan­
extending the right arm in front of guage,” he repeated. “ You may tell us
them, at an angle over their heads. now what you are doing here on the
Then they stepped back and the large moon.”
door slid noiselessly open, revealing a All three space travelers, astounded
magnificent circular room containing and unnerved, started talking at once.
bright chromium plated furniture and “ It was only a pleasure trip,” said
a large semi-circular council table at Wilbur.
which sat eleven high officials of what­ “ I just came by accident,” said
ever government this represented. In Diana.
the center, flanked five on a side, was “ I wanted to see if it could be done,”
seated the ruler. These beings were at­ said Gil.
tired in loose robes of greenish-blue. “ Who is in command of your party?”
Diana, Wilbur and Gil were marched asked the ruler.
across and left standing, facing the “ I am,” Gil declared, taking a step
ruler. The leader saluted, bowed, turned forward.
on his heel and led his guards out. The Eleven pairs of big black eyes fo­
great door closed behind them. cused upon him.
It was an uncomfortable moment for “ So that you may not have occasion
the three humans from Earth. They to lie to me,” said the ruler. “ I should
looked up and down the formidable row inform you that we probably know as
of large, red faces with the big black much or more about your planet and
eyes and distended nostrils. Every what is taking place there, than you
head was bald and almost pumpkin­ do.”
shaped. “ I can believe that,” Gil replied.
 ALL ABOARD FOR THE MOON 123

“ From the little I have seen here.” and then Gil burst out: “ Are you trying
“ Then you may be interested to to tell us that you are responsible for
know,” the ruler continued, “ that your these disappearances?”
arrival on the moon has saved us an The ruler nodded in affirmation.
expedition to your earth to kidnap some “ You peoples of earth have occasion­
of your men of science who possess your ally caught a glimpse of us,” he said.
atomic power secret. W e expect to ob­ “ But you had difficulty believing your
tain such information from you and own eyes. Our space ship maneuvers
your associates and from a study of the were witnessed the night of February
atomic motors in your space ship.” 9th, 1913, and reported by your Earth
Gil’s amazement was growing. astronomer, Professor Chant of Toron­
“ You speak of an expedition to our to. His findings were published in the
Earth. Are you implying that you pos­ ‘Journal of the Royal Astronomical So­
sibly have been there before?” ciety of Canada,’ as collected from
The impassive face of the ruler re­ observers in many points of your north­
laxed in the suggestion o f a smile. “ We ern United States and Canada.”
have been there many times,” he said, Gil was listening with fascinated in­
“ in the last two hundred years.” terest. He broke in: “ I remember
“ I don’t believe it I” said Wilbur, im­ reading of this phenomenon. It was
pulsively. never explained.”
“ I ’m giving you the explanation
“ ''JpH E N let me remind you of several now,” said the ruler. He pressed a but­
mysterious d is a p p e a ra n ce s on ton and a drawer in the large semi­
Earth,” said the ruler. “ I will select circular table slid open. From it, he
three of a number that have happened took a sheaf of papers and thumbed
in more recent times which should be through them. “ Here is a statement
within your memory or knowledge. On made by your own Earth periodicals
March 4, 1918, your time, a United concerning the happening,” he contin­
States ship of nineteen thousand three ued. “ It says that ‘a strange procession
hundred tons displacement, left the of unknown forms moved across the
Barbados, West Indies, with three hun­ sky on the night of February 9th. Early
dred and nine on board— and has never in the evening, a luminous body was
been heard from since.” seen near the horizon, traveling straight
“ That’s right!” identified Gil, with a across the heavens. Observers noted
feeling o f sudden horror. “ That was that the body was composed of three or
the U.S.S. CyclopsI” four parts with a tail to each part. This
The ruler nodded. “ You have an ex­ complex structure moved with a pe­
cellent memory,” he said. “ On July culiar, majestic deliberation. When it
13th, in 1923, the Mallory liner ‘Swift- disappeared in the distance, another
star,’ left the Gulf end of the Panama group emerged from its place o f origin.
canal. It was never heard from again. Still a third group followed.’ Accord­
There were thirty-three aboard. And, ing to one watcher, ‘there were probably
five years later, in December of 1928, thirty or thirty-two such bodies. The
the Danish Cadet Auxiliary ship, ‘K o- most peculiar thing about them was that
benhavn,’ left Montivedeo, Uruguay, they moved in fours, threes and twos,
bound for Australia. There were sixty abreast of one another. So perfect was
aboard. It never arrived.” this line-up that it seemed almost as if
There was a moment of tense silence an aerial fleet were maneuvering after
124 AMAZING STORIES

rigid drilling.’ . . . The strange heav­ ‘Erakea’— but you Earth people call it
enly bodies were observed for almost ‘Mars’ !”
an hour. Meteors do not move slowly “ M ars!” exclaimed Wilbur. “ Ye
and horizontally across the sky nor in G ods!”
orderly fashion. Careful checks re­ “ You have-often wondered if Mars
vealed that no human airships had been were inhabited,” said the ruler. “ Now
aloft that night. What things not oj you know.”
this Earth these were, God only “ But what are you Martians— excuse
knows. ” me— Erakeans— doing on the moon?”
exploded Gil.
ruler put down the paper and The ruler eyed his associates, all of
looked at Gil. whom turned their heads in his direc­
“ You have seen us at other times as tion, before he replied. “ We are pre­
well. Once on August 27th, 188S, over paring to move our population to an­
Bermuda . . . another occasion in April other planet,” he announced.
of 1912, over Chisburg, England . . . “ You mean you are going to transfer
where it was reported that, ‘These all your Erakeans to the moon?” asked
strange triangular shapes, moving as Gil.
might a modern autogyro, remained sta­ The ruler shook his head. “ N o,” he
tionary as cloud after cloud passed by answered. “ W e are going to take over
them. They finally ascended and the Earth.”
moved out to sea, as if intelligently “ But you can’t do that!” protested
directed.’ . . . These incidents should Wilbur, impulsively. “ We won’t let
be enough to convince you.” y o u l”
“ Then this possibly explains some­ The ruler and his ten high official
thing else,” said Gil. “ Through radar, associates smiled in unison, as though
quite recently, contact has been made amused.
with mysterious objects of great size, “ We do not expect you Earth peo­
moving through space on apparently ples to surrender peacefully— but you
pre-determined courses. Could they cannot help yourselves. We will over­
have been . . . ? ” whelm and annihilate you.”
The ruler nodded. “ With your scien­ This declaration was made as sim­
tific development, we have had to be ple statement of fact but it almost froze
increasingly careful. We have not the blood in the veins of the three hu­
wanted you to know of our existence or mans from Earth.
our plans until you were incapable of “ But why pick on us?” spoke up Dia­
protecting yourselves. But we have na. “ Why don’t you go to some other
also needed to study the human race. planet that isn’t inhabited?”
Whenever we have required subjects, The ruler’s black eyes fixed upon her.
we have landed on your oceans near the “ You will make a fine citizen of Era­
selected vessels, taken all on board cap­ kea,” he said. “ W e have been trying
tive, destroyed all trace of the ships, for years to breed offspring with red
and transported the human cargo direct hair. It is a symbol of E rak ea n
to the moon or our planet.” strength and beauty.”
“ What is your planet?” demanded “ Oh, I ’m not staying here!” said
Gil. Diana, quickly. “ I ’ve got a date back
The ruler smiled. “ Our name for it on Earth!”
would sound, in your language, like “ You are all staying here,” an­
 ALL ABOARD FOR THE MOON 125

nounced the ruler, quietly. “ Y ou are compelled to abandon Erakea. Despite

joining our little colony from Earth.” all our scientific efforts, we have been
The stunning force of these words losing our atmosphere, oxygen and wa­
hammered against their consciousness. ter. W e have built an elaborate system
They had been kept standing, at almost of canals to tap the remaining water
attention, before these seated officials from our fast diminishing polar caps.
who were amiable enough in a reserved W e’ve tried to encourage vegetation,
way. but who extended no hum an rich in iron, which gives off oxygen—
courtesy. but the red surface of our planet has
“ You don’t intend to mix your spe­ rightly indicated to your Earth observ­
cies with ours, do you?” Wilbur blurted ers that an oxidation process is taking
out. place and we are losing oxygen much
The ruler smiled and nodded. “ That faster than we can replenish it.
experiment is now being conducted. “ The situation is now critical. In an­
It may be found desirable to preserve other hundred years, no life such as
a remnant of your best human speci­ ours will be possible. The complete
mens to combine with ours in order that transition must be effected within that
our future generations may be provided period.”
with a more suitable physical organism The three travelers from Earth stood
to live on your Earth!” silent and momentarily speechless. The
The frankness of this ruler was ap­ ruler, perceiving this, continued. '
palling. “ So, you see,” he quietly explained,
“ You didn’t answer Miss Fenimore’s “ it is either our extinction or yours—
question,” persisted Gil. “ W hy did you and we prefer it to be you rsl”
not select an uninhabited planet to oc­ It was difficult to defy such an atti­
cupy?” tude. There was no outward belliger­
The ruler’s reply was direct and ency, no external war-like gesture.
startling. “ W e have scouted every “ Your planning has been very thor­
planet within a radius of two hundred ough,” Gil finally observed.
million miles of Erakea and your Earth The ruler nodded in agreement. “ It
is the one with atmospheric and living has been going on for centuries. Our
conditions most nearly approximating study of your human race has shown
ours!” us that we had but to wait and you
would ultimately almost destroy your­
( 'I I L 'S mind now began to encompass selves. W e have seen the great wars
^ the diabolical reason for the Mar­ rage over the Earth’s surface, time and
tian’s colonization on the moon. This again, in your short modern history.
tremendous organization was being set W e have been vastly amused that you
up here as a jumping off base for the should have named our planet ‘ Mars’
launching o f a devastating attack upon after the ‘God of W ar,’ because of its
Earth. It looked to Gil as though the bright red color, when we have wit­
time for this assault was fast approach­ nessed your carnage on Earth. But,
ing. now, we have not much longer to wait.
“ But why are you Erakeans leaving Your Third World War, almost within
your planet?” Gil asked. one generation, is about to break out.
“ It is not a matter of choice,” re­ This will so weaken you peoples of
plied the ruler. “ We have known for Earth that our job of conquest will be
centuries that we would one day be made easy. You will be incapable of
126 AMAZING STORIES

offering any worthy resistance and you from Earth broadcasts, is equipped
will have lost not merely a war— but a with atomic motors.”
planetI” Wilbur started to reply again in an
Gil found it difficult to keep his feel­ antagonistic mood but Gil squeezed his
ings under control. He was humiliated, arm.
as a human, to have to concede that “ Perhaps,” he suggested, “ if the sci­
these beings from another planet were entists of our two planets could be
justified, because of Man’s inhumanity brought together, we might help you
to man, in standing by and awaiting solve your problems on Mars— I mean,
until Man’s own greed and hate and Erakea— so that your population could
lust for earthly power should accom­ remain there.”
plish his destruction. The ruler shook his head. “ That has
“ I ’m afraid,” he was compelled to all been considered,” he said. “ It is too
admit, “ that you Erakeans understand late. We must go ahead with our plan
us better than we understand ourselves. of evacuation. The eleventh hour is al­
It would be useless for me to contend ready here.”
that your plan of conquest is wrong. I “ What is the approximate population
agree, knowing what I do now, that if on your planet?” asked Gil.
we have another war on Earth, we can­ “ Our population is not what it once
not resist you.” was,” said the ruler. “ We have had to
The ruler smiled and nodded. “ We control our birth rate because o f the
are counting on that war,’ ’ he Said. scarcity of oxygen and water. We now
“ D on’t be too sure!” broke out Wil­ have about two hundred million.”
bur, in a gesture of defiance. “ W e won’t “ W hy we could stick that number in
be any push-overs at thatl Wait until a corner of Russia!” proposed Wilbur.
you run into a few of our atomic “ What’s the use of going to war? Come
bom bs!” on down and make yourselves at
The black eyes of the ruler and his hom e!”
ten official associates brightened with The ruler smiled, “ The Russians
interest. might not welcome our residence,” he
“ By the time we go to war with said. “ We have observed the difficulty
Earth, we will have the atomic bomb that even a comparatively small num­
secret,” said the ruler. “ And your en­ ber of Jews are having, to find a place
tire world will be a helpless target from to peacefully reside. If you Earth peo­
the moon.” ples are that unfriendly toward one an­
other, we could hardly expect you to
L well knew that this would be no permit immigration from a neighboring
idle threat. planet. It will be much easier and sim­
“ You mean to say— with all your de­ pler to clear the Earth of most humans
velopment, you still don’t have . . . ? ” and take it over for ourselves.”
he started to ask. Diana had been restraining herself
The ruler held up hjs large red hand. with remarkable composure, consider­
“ W e have advanced far beyond your ing her temperament. “ You don’t be­
Earth scientists in the use of gases for lieve in living and let live, do you?” she
fuel and power but we tiave not yet suc­ challenged. “ You talk of our killing
ceeded in splitting the atom. That is each other— but is that any worse than
why we are so happy to welcome you what you are planning to do to lis?”
and your space ship, which we learn Her blue eyes had a red glint in them.
 ALL ABOARD FOR THE MOON 127 i

“ I should think you’d be ashamed of fears.

yourself 1” “ You may have a contempt for the
The ruler and his ten official asso­ human race,” said Gil. “ But if you are
ciates appeared to enjoy this outburst, expecting us to sell it out, you are badly
exceedingly. Their smug composure mistaken!”
was maddening. A hard look came into the black eyes
“ M ay I ask,” pressed the ruler, in of the ruler. “ W e will see about that!”
accents directed particularly toward he said. “ You three will step into that
Diana, “ what you would do if you were side room, please, and remain until your
running out of water and oxygen on presence is requested.”
your planet?” The ruler pointed to his left and, as
Diana was nonplused for reply. She he did so, a door, hitherto invisible,
started to speak, thought better of it, opened in the circular wall. A guard
bit her Up, and then stammered: “ Well, stepped through and stood at attention.
I don’t know— I ’d probably start look­ The dismissal had an authority about
ing around . . Her face was red­ it which could not be denied. Without
dening. “ I mean . . . 1” she added, another word, the three humans from
and then gave up entirely. Earth took their leave of the Erakean
“ Precisely,” said the ruler. "Y ou council and marched out of the cham­
would be compelled to do exactly what ber.
we have done. And if you found an­
other world similar to Earth, which CHAPTER XII
would sustain your Ufe, you would be­
gin laying plans to occupy it, even IL BENSON put a finger to his lips
though it was populated. So— why the instant the door of the side
should you blame us?" room was closed and they found them­
selves apparently alone. He indicated
'y 'H E R E seemed no answer, in the by his expression that there was prob­
larger cosmic sense, to this kind of ably a mechanism similar to Earth’s
“ survival of the fittest” logic. Diana, dictaphone concealed in the walls, ceil­
Wilbur and Gil were being reduced to ing or floor. The three also had the
a state of mental and physical helpless­ unpleasant feeling that they were being
ness. They were now weary of stand­ watched b y invisible eyes.
ing before this strange tribunal and There were inviting reclining couches
\
growing more and more apprehensive and chairs, upholstered in a greenish
as to what fate awaited them. blue material which matched the color
“ Then, I guess there’s nothing more of the robes worn by Erakean officials.
to say,” Diana finally repUed. “ But I This room appeared to be a place of
would be interested to know what you waiting for those who desired confer­
intend doing with us.” ence with the ruler or members of his
The ruler smiled. “ You will be very executive staff. On the walls hung
useful,” he said. “ You will be preserved chromium-framed, oil painted portraits
in appreciation for your services to us. of Erakeans, with a strange-worded let­
And we will permit you to witness our terings and markings, which seemed to
conquest of your Earth at the end of be the dates, under them. The big red
your atomic war.” heads of these peculiar, important-look­
Diana looked questioningly toward ing beings, with their abnormally large
Gil, whose face did not betray his own black eyes, gave the travelers from
128 A M A Z IN G STORIES

Earth a feeling that they were impris­ “ Y ou’d better be careful,” warned
oned in some fantastic rogues’ gallery. Diana. “ Maybe they understand Eng­
“ I suppose these gentlemen, if you lish!”
can call them that,” said Diana, “ are “ I ’ll try ’em out,” said Wilbur. He
the George Washingtons, Abraham Lin­ advanced toward them with friendly
colns, Thomas Edisons and what-have- gestures. “ You’re beautiful, Babies!”
you’s of different countries on their own he said.
planet. But just looking at them gives “ H e y !” cried Diana. “ I don’t like
me tjie creeps!” that!”
“ I’ll bet we’re supposed to see these The two Erakean women looked up
mugs for some reason,” said Wilbur. at Hollywood’s greatest press agent and
“ Maybe they think it will impress us.” gave out sounds which resembled hu­
“ You mean depress us,” said Gil, in man giggles.
a guarded tone. “ These men of Mars “ They may not understand,” said
may be nice people, by themselves, but Wilbur, “ but they get the general idea.”
I ’ve had my fill of them right now. I He then became more expansive as they
wonder what their women are like?” stared at him in apparent wonderment.
“ You would!" said Diana. “ You’ve “ I ’m mad about you! Y ou’ve got the
got enough glamour girls on Earth. I skin I ’d love not to touch; the lips I ’d
have my doubts if you’d like the Era- thrill not to kiss; the waist I ’d prefer
kean variety.” not to hug, and the legs I ’d rather not
As she spoke, almost as though timed look at! . . . All in all, Babies, you’re
to the remark, an inner door opened a frightfully delightful mess!”
and a serving table was wheeled out by The two Erakean maids bowed po­
two Erakean maids. They were not litely as though complimented. Wilbur
bald like the men but had black hair bowed in return.
which matched their eyes and which “ You like that, don’t you? I thought
they wore in a top knot on their beads. you w ould!”
The effect was anything but beautiful The maids bowed again. They then
as judged by Earth standards. indicated that the places were set and
“ Your doubts are confirmed,” Gil the food was ready for eating. Wilbur
whispered to Diana. motioned to Diana and Gil who had
The Erakean maids, dressed alike in been standing back, amused at his an­
loose fitting lavender gowns, pushed the tics, despite the serious situation they
serving table to a position in front of all faced.
chairs and arranged the food it con­ “ Come on,” he said. “ This stuff
tained on silver-colored plates. They looks g ood !”
had not as yet looked directly at those
they had come to serve. 'J 'H E Y took their seats around the
“ I f we could get them back to table. The two Erakean maids, now
Earth,” said Wilbur, “ I could sell them ready to leave, smiled and bowed. The
to Bamurn & Bailey’s side show to re­ one nearest Wilbur touched him on the
place their Ubangis! Boy! Could I shoulder.
make a clean-up! . . . ‘Women from “ If you want something, just call us,"
Mars! . . . Step right up, men, and she said.
have a look ! Guaranteed to make you Hollywood’s greatest press agent, in
love all girls on Earth— or your money the act of sampling a drink, let it come
ba ck !” ’ out his nose and ears.
 ALL ABOARD FOR THE MOON 129

The two Erakean maids departed now,” said Wilbur. “ But if we could
with a burst of giggling sounds. ever get back, we’d make their hair
“ I told you to be careful!” scolded stand on en d!”
Diana. “ W e’ve got to get b a ck !” said Gil.
“ These Martians are amazing peo­ “ If we don’t, its really going to be
ple,” said Gil. “ I wouldn’t be surprised 'Goodbye, World/’ ”
to learn that English is a required lan­ Wilbur looked glum. “ What chance
guage study on Mars in preparation for do we have of escaping if the ones
their invasion. This ought to teach you they’ve kidnapped have never been able
not to be so funny 1” to get away?”
Wilbur was still nursing his wind­ “ That’s different,” said Gil. “ They
pipe and trying to catch his breath. didn’t have any means of getting back.
“ Ye godsl” he said. “ It’s a good But we’ve still got our space ship.”
thing they had a sense o f humor or I ’d “ W e’ll be lucky if we ever get inside
probably be on my way to the firing it again,” said Wilbur. “ W e may have
squad!” what looks like a certain amount of
“ What makes you think you won’t be freedom, but I ’ll guarantee they’re cov­
yet?” said Diana. ering every move we make. If we get
The food set before them seemed to away from this crowd, it’ll be a work
be on the order of a vegetable plate and of genius 1”
the drink, a new type o f fruit juice. Gil nodded, thoughtfully. “ W e’ve got
The vegetables were not o f any recog­ to stick together,” he said. “ If we let
nizable variety but were surprisingly them separate us, we’re finished!”
appetizing in flavor. “ I agree,” said Diana. “ W e’ll have
“ They must raise these on the moon,” to use our wits to keep them from do­
Gil speculated. “ Probably in some sort ing it.”
of hot houses. Not bad.” “ We can’t use force, that’s certain,”
“ N o meat,” said Wilbur. “ Maybe said Gil. “ I never felt as helpless in
that’s a good sign. I was afraid, with my life. But I ’m glad of one thing.”
their big mouths and big teeth, they “ What’s that?” asked Diana.
might be cannibalistic I” “ I ’m glad,” said Gill, “ that it turned
Diana nudged Gil’s knee under the out the way it did and Professor Crow­
table. ley didn’t come with me. His knowl­
“ We can’t keep up thjs kidding,” she edge of atomic fission would be invalu­
said, in a low voice. “ What are we go­ able to these Martians. They can’t get
ing to d o?” too much from me.”
“ I ’m trying to think,” said Gil, al­
most under his breath. “ W e’re in a ter­ “ TDUT they can get plenty from the
rifically tough spot!” study of those atomic power mo­
“ It’s all your fault,” accused Wilbur. tors,” said Wilbur.
“ Diana and I wanted to go straight “ That’s true,” Gil admitted, “ and
back to Earth— but, no— you had to we’ll have to find some way to stop
have a look at this side of the m oon! ” , that.”
“ I ’m mighty glad I did,” said Gil. Diana had a sudden thought. “ Gil,”
“ If I hadn’t, no one on Earth would she said. “ If I could fix it so you and
have had any warning of the danger Wilbur could make a get-away, would
they are facing.” you shoot back to Earth and leave me
“ They don’t know very much, even here?”
130 AMAZING STORIES

“ I should say n ot!” Gil declared. won’t get us anywhere.”

“ But wait a minute!” persisted Gil remonstrated but to no avail.
Diana. “ Just think what it means to Two other guards appeared. Their
Earth for you to get back with a real round pumpkin faces had deep-fur-
report I It can be the saving of our rowed scowls. They looked savage and
planet. I seem to be quite an attrac­ threatening as they flanked Diana and
tion here. I might be able to wangle made it clear that Wilbur and Gil were
It so I could get you and Wilbur back to remain where they were. Despite
in the ispace ship, under some pretext their resolution to stay together, what­
— maybe for a demonstration of some ever the circumstances, they were be­
sort . . . and you could manage to es­ ing torn apart with ridiculous ease.
cape.” “ If you get any chance to make a
Gil considered the proposal and break for it,” Diana called. “ Don’t
shook his head. mind me. I can take care of myself.”
“ Even if you could,” he said, “ the The door closed, shutting her from
space ship is indoors, under cover. view.
They certainly would never let us get “ Damn-it-to-hell!” said Gil.
it outside unless it was manned by their He took to pacing about the room
own engineers and we had guns at our like an animal caged, and trying fran­
backs. Besides, after what I heard the tically to find a way out.
Big Chief say about experiments they Wilbur sank down in a chair with his
are conducting, I don’t like the thought head in his hands. “ She’s a game kid! ”
of what would happen to you.” he said. “ She’s got more nerve than I
“ D on’t worry about me,” said Diana. have!”
“ I ’m going to remain the only red-head “ If we could only fight back,” raged
on the m oon!” Gil. “ That’s what makes it tough.”
“ W e’re living one hell of a movie Wilbur groaned. “ If they take over
plot,” said Wilbur. “ And we can’t do the Earth as easily as they’ve taken us,
anything about it !” there won’t be anything to it.”
The door to the official chamber sud­ “ And they’ll do it, too,” said Gil, “ un­
denly opened and a guard stepped in. less the Earth is warned and prepared.
He pointed to Diana, motioning for her They’ve spent centuries in figuring out
to accompany him. every little move. Before they attack
“ Just what I ’ve been expecting,” said our planet they intend to know just how
Gil. “ W e’re going with you.” much resistance we can offer and ex­
He took one of Diana’s arms and actly how to counteract it.”
Wilbur the other, as they walked, three "And here we sit,” said Wilbur, “ like
abreast, to the door. Another guard a couple of stumble-bums, twiddling
stepped in. He said something in Era- our thumbs.”
kean and both guards separated Diana “ Damn-it-to-hell!” said Gil.
from her two fellow human escorts.
“ We go where she goes!” Wilbur in­ rJ''H E girl from Earth with the blue,
sisted. blue eyes and the bright red hair,
A blast of Erakean language silenced was led across the now vacant Admin­
him. istrative Chamber, through a duralu­
“ I think they’re swearing at us,” he minum tunnel and into a residential
said. type of structure, cylindrical in shape.
“ Better not resist,” Diana urged. “ It She was left by herself in a luxuri­
 ALL ABOARD FOR THE MOON 131

ously appointed living room which con­ “ When the blue of the night, meets
tained more of the chromium-plated the gold of the day . . . boo-boop-a-doo!
furniture, having the appearance of . . . Someone . . . waits . . . for . . . I”
some of Earth’s most ultra-futuristic The face of the singer was now clear­
designs. There was a large oil painting ly visible.
portrait on the wall which she instantly “ Bing C rosby!” cried Diana.
recognized as a likeness of the ruler. The sensation of seeing and hearing
There were no windows in the room— him, so close and yet so far away was
no windows in any of the buildings— too much. She burst into tears.
yet a soft, evenly distributed light “ This is your Old Groaner, Bing
seemed to radiate from the walls, them­ Crosby,” said the voice. “ Coming at
selves. you from the golden hills of Hollywood,
But there was one object which where one little pull is worth a thousand
caught Diana’s particular attention. It pushes— or, as I ’ve often said to aspir­
stood almost head high from the floor ing boys and girls, ‘where there’s life,
and was about the size and shape of an there’s H ope’ . . . Hiya, Bob! . . .
automatic refrigerator. It contained a Are you listenin’ . . . ? ”
white screened panel, about two feet Diana, fighting to gain control of her­
square, set in its upper half and beneath self, suddenly felt a presence in the
it, what appeared to be a sound box, room. She reached out to push off the
then two rows of push buttons. button as a large hand stroked her hair.
Since she was alone and there was no Whirling, Diana found herself caught
one to prevent her experimenting, in the arms of the ruler of Erakean
Diana pressed a button which, because forces on the moon.
of its separate position, she judged must “ ¥ 0 0 * 6 beautiful!” he said, in ex­
start the operating mechanism. There cellent English, as he held her.
was a low whirring hum which died “ I ’ve heard that line before,” said
away as the white screen lighted up. Diana. “ Let me go! ”
“ Let’s see,” mused Diana. “ What “ We have waited a long time for
next?” someone like you,” said the ruler. His
She pressed a button on the first row, big hands had grasped her shoulders in
and waited. Presently an image began a vice-like grip. He held her powerless
to form on the screen and the face of at arms’ length as his large black eyes
an Erakean appeared. There was the enjoyed the sight of her.
sound of strange music and the lips of “ I suppose I should be flattered,”
this being were moving. Diana said. “ But I ’m n otl”
“ M y gosh I” exclaimed Diana. “ I ’ve The ruler seemed stung by this re­
tuned in on the Frank Sinatra of mark.
Mars/” “ We are the more advanced race,” he
She listened for a moment to what said, “ If we offer a few of you humans
sounded like the melancholy wail of a survival, you should be honored to
heart-broken lover. blend your race with ou rs!”
“ I can’t take it,” she said, and “ Are you kidding?” said Diana. She
pressed a button on the second row. threw back her red head and exploded
The scene immediately vanished and with laughter.
another image slowly faded in. A voice The ruler stared at her with an ex­
was singing which sounded strangely pression o f outraged pride and bewil­
familiar. derment.
132 AMAZING STORIES

“ Excuse me,” laughed Diana. “ I certain Earth types, such as you repre­
haven’t heard anything so funny for sent, to greatly shorten the time when
years . . Blend our race with yours? we might acquire the stature desired.
. . . Why, we’ve got monkeys on Earth “ You are the first woman from Earth,
that are better looking than you are!” in our possession, who has reacted in
The ruler shook her savagely. “ Stop this manner. But perhaps, after you
it l” he commanded. “ You can’t make have been with us for a few years, and
fun of me! I won’t permit it !” when we have taken over the Earth, you
Diana kept on laughing. “ You’re a will change your attitude.”
scream,” she cried. “ You should be a Diana had listened quietly. “ You’ve
comedian.” got a problem,” she said. “ But you’re
Angrily, the man from Mars drew her not going to solve it through the human
to him and kissed her. “ D o you think race without a terrible fight. You might
that’s funny?” he demanded. as well annihilate us all to begin w ith!”
Held tight in his embrace, Diana The ruler looked at her as though he
still managed to feign amusement. respected her counsel.
“ F unny!" she repeated. “ You’re get­ “ We may have to do that,” he said.
ting funnier all the tim e!” “ But your red hair is beautiful. And,
since this color is a heritage of our
C H E laughed in his face and this kind species, I was hoping that a new race
of treatment, whether on Earth or . . . ! ” He j)roke off and gave a shrug
on Mars or on the Moon, would have of the shoulders, “ Oh, well— in that
been too much for any romantically in­ case, we must be prepared to eliminate
clined human or other type of being. you Earth peoples quickly. Only one
A torrent of choice Erakean epithets step remains. We must acquaint our­
burst from the mouth of the chagrined selves with your method of creating
ruler as he shoved Diana from him. She atomic power.”
sat down suddenly in a half reclining Diana sat upright. “ How do you
chair and lay looking up at him, still propose to do that?” she asked.
convulsed. Her conduct posed a psy­ “ You and your associates have that
chological problem of major significance knowledge between you,” said the ruler.
to the man from Mars. There was no “ You will reveal it to us.”
humor in this situation for him. “ W e will die first!” Diana declared.
“ We know we are not a handsome “ You will not die,” said the ruler.
race,” he finally admitted, as he paced “ We will see to that. But we have a
up and down. “ That is because of the serum, similar to yours on Earth, which,
changing environment on our planet. when injected, causes one to talk freely
A million years ago, our ancestors were and speak the truth. When the time
great seven foot red men. They did not comes, we will assemble our scientists,
need the lung capacity nor the air place them aboard your space ship and
chambers we require in the brain today, have you three explain its workings. It
in order to live. will be very simple.”
“ Nature demands that all life adapt Diana laughed to cover up her own
itself to the changing conditions she fears.
imposes. W e expect to regain, in time, “ I ’d like to see you try it,” she chal­
much of our past physical glory, by lenged. “ I don’t think you’ve got such
residence on your Earth. We had hoped, a serum— and, if you have, I ’ll bet it
through experimentation, by blending wouldn’t work on us.”
 ALL ABOARD FOR THE MOON 133

“ It’s worked on other humans,” said You should have seen his snazzy hang­
the ruler. “ W e’ve always obtained out . . . it was some dump— complete
what we wanted to know.” with a Martian version of radio-televi­
He watched her reaction, closely. sion . . . They’re getting all our Earth
Diana’s blue eyes met his black ones. broadcasts'. . , I pushed a button and
“ But you’ve not always gotten what got Mars, myself. Then I tuned in on,
you wanted!” she said. guess who— Bing Crosby t”
The ruler stepped to the door and “ Ye gods!” said Wilbur. “ That
opened it. A guard stood outside. He means there’s soap operas on the moon!
snapped an order in Erakean. You can’t even get away from them up
“ We have ways of getting that, too,” here!”
he said, pointedly, to Diana. “ We wijl “ Cut out the gags!” said Gil, impa­
see. Go with h im !” tiently. “ I want the low-down. Why
Diana advanced toward him, pulling did the Big Chief send for you?”
a long strand of red hair from her hair. Diana smiled and rolled her blue
She handed it to the amazed ruler. eyes.
“ Here, your Majesty,” she said. “ It seems he had a crush on me,” she
“ Keep this to remember me b y !” With said, “ but I laughed it out of him. That
this, she walked out the door and fell in made him mad so he’s decided to de­
alongside the guard as a completely stroy the entire human race.”
baffled man from Mars gnashed the “ Good going!” said Wilbur. “ I sup­
finest set of teeth on the Moon. pose that includes m e?”
Diana smiled. “ Y ou’re human, aren’t
CHAPTER XIII you?”
Wilbur groaned. “ I don’t know what
T X /'H E N the door opened and Diana I am any more.”
Fenimore, fo r m e r p a ra ch u te Gil wasn’t in a humorous mood. “ So
jumper with Buzz Reynolds Flying Cir­ what’s he going to d o?” he asked.
cus, walked in on Wilbur Williams and “ You’ll like this,” said Diana. “ H e’s
Gil Benson, it was cause for a joyous going to shoot us full of truth-serum
reunion. She had not been away from and take us aboard your space ship
them very long but every minute had with a bunch of scientists and have us
seemed a small eternity to the two men spill all we know.”
so vitally interested in her personal “ That won’t take me five minutes,”
safety. said Wilbur.
“ I ’ve made a meal of my fingernails “ He says the stuff is sure fire,” Diana
since you’ve been gone,” said Wilbur, continued. “ That it will make us talk
exhibiting his hand. “ What happened?” like sixty and we’ll have to give out
“ I ’m still the only red-head on the with whatever information he wants.”
moon,” said Diana. Gil did not conceal his grave concern.
Both men exclaimed their relief. “ If that scheme works,” he said, “ we’re
“ If they’d have touched you, I’d have cooked— and so is everyone else on
killed somebody,” declared Gil. “ I just Earth. I ’d sooner kill ourselves right
about went mad in here, waiting and now than . . . ! ”
wondering. Where did they take you?” He didn’t finish. The door swung
“ T o see the ruler . . . the King open and a line of guards filed in fol­
. . . his Nibs . . . Baldy . . . you lowed by the burly leader who had first
know— the Round-Headed Ringleader. escorted them from the space ship ter­
134 AMAZING STORIES

minal to this administration center. “ I will take the lady first,” said this
“ Hello! ” said Wilbur. “ This is where dignitary in perfect English. His hands
we came in.” were encased in Earth’s equivalent of
“ And this is where we go out,” said rubber gloves.
G iL Gil stepped forward. “Ts this abso­
The leader motioned to them to ac­ lutely necessary?” he protested. “ This
company the guards and they left the young woman has no information of
side room, re-entering the large cham­ value to you. W hy make her go through
ber. The council of eleven Erakeans this?”
had re-convened and seated beside the The ruler smiled, showing his set of
ruler were five new and important ap­ large white teeth. “ This serum will not
pearing men from Mars, attired in blu­ permanently affect the mind,” he re­
ish green, light-fitting uniforms with red assured. “ It does not put you to sleep
stripes over their shoulders. or make you semi-conscious as your
Diana, Wilbur and Gil were required Earth formula does. You simply will
to face the ruler as before but, this time, feel like talking and telling what you
the guards lined up behind them and know.”
stood at attention. The two assistants stepped to the
side of Diana, took her left arm and
“ T T IS the decision of the court of dabbed a medicated piece o f gauze-like
1 Erakea, on the moon,” pronounced material on the inside of the arm, below
the ruler, “ that your lives will be spared the elbow. Diana turned her head
so long as you co-operate with us. Word away as the doctor deftly inserted the
has just been received from Earth that needle and injected the serum. He
war is a certainty within the next twen­ handed the empty syringe to one of his
ty-four hours. This means that we must assistants, took a loaded one in ex­
proceed at once with our own plans of change, and turned to Wilbur.
conquest and it is necessary that we “ Y ou’re next,” he said.
obtain, without delay, the atomic “ W hy don’t you have me swear on a
knowledge you possess. Bible?” said Wilbur. “ I ’ll tell the truth
“ You are being returned to your just as quickly that way.”
space ship, accompanied by our five “ Give me your arm !” ordered the
greatest scientists and myself. T o make doctor.
certain you will give us the desired in­ “ Y ou’re wasting a shot on me,” Wil­
formation, you will now each submit to bur continued. “ I ’m a press agent—
an injection of truth serum which, by and we never tell the truth 1” He got
the time you reach the space depot, will jabbed just the same. “ Okay,” he said.
have taken effect.” “ You’ve stuck the needle in— but you’re
So speaking, the ruler pressed a but­ not going to like what I play back to
ton, a door opened, and out walked two y ou !”
Erakeans pushing a portable medical The doctor, with an annoyed gesture,
cabinet. They were followed by a dis­ took up his third and last hypodermic
tinguished looking man of Mars whom syringe and looked at Gil Benson.
the ruler introduced as the medical chief “ How long does this effect last?” Gil
o f staff. His two assistants prepared asked.
the syringes and handed him number “ About an hour of your time,” said
one. All Erakeans were watching this the doctor.
ceremony with great and tense interest. Gil held out his arm. “ Shoot,” he
 ALL ABOARD FOR THE MOON 135

said, “ and get it over w ith!” to mount the ladder and enter the
With the injections completed, D i­ rocket.
ana, Wilbur and Gil were marched Diana was again the center of atten­
quickly outside where a large bus-like tion with Erakeans crowding close to
vehicle, six wheels on a side, was wait­ her and some boldly reaching out to
ing with a driver. There were wide touch her red hair. She suddenly turned
running boards upon which the guards to the ruler and with her blue, blue eyes
stood after the three Earth captives, registering profound admiration, cried
the five scientists, the ruler and his ten out:
official associates had been placed “ I ’ve got to say it! I ’ve been think­
aboard. They were then whisked noise­ ing over what you said to me. I see
lessly and speedily, by a different tun­ now it’s the only way out for your race
neled highway route, to the great space and ours, too. After this next war, the
terminal. atomic bombs won’t leave enough of us
alive to make a real human race. W e’re
T T WAS a welcome sight to catch a going to need new blood, new stock,
A glimpse, once again, of the only ob­ new vitality . . . ! ”
ject on the M oon which was familiar The large black eyes of the ruler
and which had a tie with Earth. were expanding with delight and ex­
They dismounted from the motor ve­ citement.
hicle, under guard, and advanced to­ “ D ian a!” Gil broke in. “ Have you
ward the space ship, followed by the gone . . . ? ”
group of notables. A large crowd of “ N o, G il!” she cried. “ Y ou ’ll see it,
curious Erakeans, who had evidently too, in time. These Martians have a
learned of their forthcoming appear­ lot to give us. They can save our hu­
ance, surrounded the rocket. The man race from extinction! I, for one,
guards made a lane for the official party will be glad to offer myself as a co­
and the three captives from Earth. creator of the coming new race! Oh!
They all drew up at the foot of the I ’m thrilled at the thought and I ’m sure
extension ladder leading into the space other Earth women will be, too— when
ship. The ruler then addressed Diana, the time com es!”
Wilbur and Gil. There was a stir among high Erakean
“ In a short time you will be ready officials who could understand English.
to respond to the questionings of our “ B abe!” exclaimed Wilbur. “ You
scientists. You will be unable to refuse don’t mean it! . . . It’s this se­
any request we may make for informa­ rum . . .!”
tion on any subject with which you are The ruler smiled and shook his head.
familiar. We desire a demonstration of “ The serum does not persuade against
the operation of your atomic power one’s will,” he said. “ It just releases
motor and an explanation of its working the truth and real convictions o f the
principles. While we are waiting for individual. This fair creature from
the serum to take effect, my ten asso­ your Earth has simply awakened, as I
ciates are going to make a tour of the had hoped, to the cosmic point of
interior.” view !”
The guard, who had been on duty, “ That’s i t !” cried Diana, with a rap­
protecting the entrance to the space turous enthusiasm. She impulsively
ship, stepped aside to allow the long threw her arms around the ruler’s neck
robed figures of the stately Erakeans -—and kissed him on the cheek.
136 AMAZING STORIES

There was a chorus of ecstatic sounds just outside the entrance to the ship.
from the lips of the assembled Era- Wilbur, trailing her, let loose a blast of
keans, similar in nature to the reaction feeling, in a low voice.
of an Earth movie audience during a “ You’re a hell of a human, you are!”
romantic clinch. The ruler, his red face “ Get in there and shut u p !” hissed
flushed a brighter red, was immensely Diana.
pleased. He said something in Erakean Gil, next, was equally furious.
to his fellow beings, referring intimately “ Damn y o u !” he said. “ I ’ll never . . . 1”
tc the feminine object of their admira­ “ Get inside!” Diana ordered.
tion, and all big heads nodded in warm Gil gave her a curious, uncompre­
approval. hending glance as he entered the space
“ You will never regret your great de­ ship. The ruler of all Erakean forces
cision,” he declared to Diana. on the Moon had now reached the little
The ten official associates, having landing opposite the doorway. Beneath
completed their inspection of the rock­ him, on different rungs of the ladder,
et’s interior, were now descending the were two of his planet’s finest scientists
ladder and making way for the ruler and three waiting on the ground level
and Erakean scientists to take over pro­ to ascend.
ceedings. The ruler turned to a stunned “ Greetings to ‘Goodbye, W orld!’ ”
and glowering Gil Benson, and said: said Diana.
“ M y associates and I will now precede The ruler paused and bowed. He
you into your ship.” liked the little ceremony she was mak­
“ Very well,” said Gil. ing of this occasion. But he didn’t like
“ Oh, n o! ” protested Diana. “ On our what she did next. She gave him an un­
Earth, it’s a common courtesy for ladies expected tremendous push which top­
to be first. . . .” pled him from the ladder and caused
The ruler laughed affably and made him to land on the scientist under him,
a gracious gesture. “ It shall be so breaking his grip so that the two of
here,” he said. them fell upon the second scientist and
Diana pulled up her evening gown all three bounced upon the three wait­
above her knees, revealing the prettiest ing below!
legs ever seen on the Moon, or on Mars, Above them, a red-head from Earth,
for that matter, and started up the lad­ galvanized into action, stepped into the
der. doorway, then reached out and pulled
“ Come on, Gil . . . Come on, W il­ the steel door of the space ship shut.
bur!” she called. There was consternation and pandemo­
Wonderingly, her two fellow humans nium among the Erakeans.
began to ascend after her. Inside the space ship, Diana cried
“ W a it!” called the ruler. out: “ Give it the power, Gill Quick 1
Diana turned at the top of the ladder Get us out of herel”
and looked down, smilingly. “ That’s Gil hesitated. “ But the roof . . . 1”
all right,” she directed. “ You’re next he said.
. . . come on u p !” “ To hell with the roof— let’s got”
cried Diana.
r J''H E ruler motioned to the five Era­ Gil jumped for the starting lever and
kean scientists who lined up behind shoved it down.' The atomic motors
him. He followed on the footsteps of came on with a roar. The sjiip lifted
Gil Diana stood on the little platform horizontally, slowly, at first.
 ALL ABOARD FOR THE MOON 137

Diana looked anxiously out the win­ “ What do you think of their
dows. “ Hurry, Gil! They’re running chances?” asked Diana.
to their own space ships. They’re go­ “ W e’ve got more power,” said Gil.
ing to chase us I” “ We should be able to keep ahead of
“ I can’t help it,” said Gil. “ I ’ve got them till we get to the Earth’s upper
to get the nose up.” He worked the atmosphere. W e’ll have to slow up then
elevating levers. “ N o telling w hat. . . ! ” and take our time getting down to avoid
The half mile high ceiling of the friction which could burn us up.”
space ship terminal was needed for Gil “ Then they might catch up to us on
to maneuver his rocket into position. the last lap?” said Diana.
He passed over scores of Martian aerial “ It’s possible,” said Gil. “ They’ve
vessels, docked below. Beneath him all probably had a great deal of experience
was wild commotion. slipping in and out of the Earth’s at­
“ Well, here goes!” he said, grimly, mosphere— and there’s where I ’m
and turned the power full on. handicapped.”
There was a blinding flash and the “ Oh, well,” Diana. “ W e’ve gone
terminal disappeared. Their rocket had through so much now— I ’m not goipg
cut through the duraluminum roof as a to worry till it happens!”
sharp knife slitting through tin foil. Gil looked at her, admiringly. “ I
They were out in space above the could go for you,” he said, “ in a terrific
M oon, rising perpendicularly and hang­ w a y !”
ing on to hand grips near the instru­ “ You cou ld !” said Wilbur. “ Well,
ment board as their light-weight bodies, what do you know— so could I I ’’
removed from the pressurized air bal­ Diana looked both pleased and star­
ance of the Martian’s moon city, now tled.
had a tendency to float about the cabin. “ Y ou’re both kidding,” she said.
“ California, here I com e!” shouted “ Not me,” declared Wilbur. “ If you
Wilbur, excitedly. “ Diana, you’re won­ want to know the truth, I lit a torch for
derful! . . . M arvelous!” you the first time I saw you. I said to
Gil, busy at the controls, gave vent myself, ‘Wilbur, old man, she’s your
to his own appreciation. “ Y ou’re the dish.’ . . . So you might as well know
damnedest woman I ever m et!” it, I ’m head over heels, Baby. Y ou ’ve
“ Thanks!” said Diana. got me on the hook and I don’t want
“ How did you ever think of this?” o ff!”
Gil asked. “ But I wasn’t even fishingl” Diana
“ That was easy,” Diana laughed. “ I protested.
rehearsed for the part before we left “ Your eyes were doing something,”
Earth. D on’t you remember what hap­ said Wilbur. “ And so were your red
pened to Ruth Delano?” .hair . . . and your figure . . . and
“ Y ou ’re a great actress, Baby,” com­ your legs, if you don’t m ind!”
plimented Wilbur. “ And you’ll never “ W hy, W ilbur!” said Diana.
play a greater role than you did just “ Okay,” rejoined Gil. “ If you’re tell­
now. You had Gil and me fooled— and ing her how you feel, then I have the
what you did to those Martians, they’ll same right. I thought you were cute
never get ov er!” and amusing the first time I met you—
“ You can bet on that,” said Gil. but when you made that parachute
“ And, if they catch us again, I hate to jump on my ranch, I put you down in
think what they’ll do to us.” my book in the Number One Spot.
138 AMAZING STORIES

Y ou’ve been there ever since!” They looked like small silver bullets at

oH G IL !” cried Diana, impul­

sively.
their distance.
“ The case is on,” said Gil. “ And
they’re making greater speed than I
“ That’s just a line,” accused Wilbur. thought they could! They’ll be able to
“ He’s handed that out to at least a hear our broadcasts but since they’re
dozen of his glamour girls. How do you on our trail, it won’t make any differ­
suppose he keeps them all dangling? ence. Get on the radio, Wilbur! Make
They all think they’re i t !" contact with Earth and tell them what’s
“ That may be your opinion,” said happened!”
Gil. “ But it’s not true. I haven’t played All personal feelings were swallowed
any favorites up to now.” up in the common emergency.
Hollywood’s greatest press agent
was getting more and more aroused. CHAPTER XIV
“ Y ou ’re not going to take my girl away
from m e!” he cried. r J~'IME is only the measuring stick be­
Diana’s blue eyes flashed. “ I ’m not tween events whether they occur on
your girl!” she declared. Earth, on the moon, or in the vast
“ W e’ll settle this right now,” said Gil. reaches of space.
“ Diana, do you or do you not love In the seven hours since no word had
W ilbur?” been received from Gil Benson and his
“ You don’t have to answer that two companions, much had happened
here!” Wilbur warned. on Mankind’s spinning planet. Sporadic
Diana hesitated. “ I ’ve got to answer fighting had broken out in Korea and
it,” she said. “ I ’m sorry, Wilbur . . . Alaska. It was unofficial, as yet, but
I ’m very f o n d of you— but I battle-scarred Earth was reeling under
don’t . . . ! ” the initial impact of another world war.
“ There you arel” Gil persisted. Diplomats, who had exchanged mil­
“ That’s your answer! One more ques­ lions of words of charges and counter­
tion, Diana— how do you feel toward charges, now abandoned their oratory,
m e?” grabbed up their brief cases containing
“ I ’m crazy about you and you know worthless copies of peace documents,
it !” Diana replied at once. and rushed for cover. They had failed,
Gil turned from the controls, grabbed utterly, to reconcile the antagonistic
her in his arms and kissed her. differences of age-old economic inter­
Wilbur moved away, forlorn and ests and savage racial prejudices.
heart-sick. Man’s only way of winning an argu­
“ It’s that damn truth serum,” he said. ment with finality was to resort to brute
“ But I ’m not giving her up yet. When force. His whole bloody evolution could
Gil gets back to Earth and sees Ruth be traced through his weapons of de­
Delano, he’ll probably feel differently.” struction from his bare fists, to a rock,
Looking glumly out the windows, to a club, to a sling-shot, to a bow-and-
Wilbur suddenly sighted something. arrow, to a lance, to a sword, to gun­
“ Y e gods!” he cried. “ Here they powder, to a blunder-buss, to a cannon,
cornel’’ to a rifle, to a machine gun, to poison
He pointed and Diana and Gil saw, gas, to a rocket, and— finally— to the
glistening in the sunlight, a great fleet atomic bomb. But atomic warfare had
of aerial vessels, flying in formation. not actually, as yet, been tried. Power-
 ALL ABOARD FOR THE MOON 139

lustful leaders believed that now, at ‘‘N o t . . . That can’t be! . . . We

last, Man possessed the destructive mustn’t fight 1 D o what I tell you,
means for a merciless aggressor to con­ M ackl Let me talk to those war-
quer the entire human race and forever makers! Unless they call off this war,
enslave the world. the Earth is doom ed!”
This was the bright, happy picture “ I ’ll do the best I can,” Carl prom­
confronting all humans as contact was ised. “ But I ’m afraid it’s too late . . .
again made, through Schenectady’s I ’ll report b a ck !”
high frequency station, with three dis­ “ Good boyl Hurry it up! W e can’t
tant travelers from Earth. tell how long we’ll be here!”
“ Hello, up there! ” greeted Radio Op­
erator Carl M ack, “ Are we glad to hear rJ ''H E leaders in the different countries
from you! . . . Where are you? . . . of Earth were quite annoyed and
What happened?” disturbed at the emergency summons
“ Plenty!” Wilbur reported. “ We and urgent pleas from radio stations in
made a lucky escape, but they’re hot the United States to listen in on the
on our trail!” special broadcast emanating from the
“ W ho’s on your trail?” Earth’s first space ship, now returning
“ M artians!” from the M oon and pursued, according
“ MartiansI D on’t give us that Orson to fantastic reports, by a rocket fleet of
Welles’ stuff 1” war-minded Martians 1
“ On the level! Here— Gil wants to Enemies of the United States were
talk to y o u !” disposed to consider this communica­
Gil’s voice came through the loud tion as an ingenious ruse of some sort
speaker. “ Hello, M ack! . . . I ’ve got but when the same plea was issued
to talk fast. Get this— our planet’s in through diplomatic channels, a more
danger! W e’re going to lose it, sure as sober view was taken of the matter.
hell, if we’re not careful! . . . These Within an hour after Gil Benson’s ur­
Martians are out to take us over . . . gent request had reached Earth, the
We know too much and they’re trying world’s greatest radio audience awaited
their damndest to keep us from getting his message.
back to Earth alive . . . If we don’t “ Okay, G il!” reported Carl Mack.
make it, I want the World to know ‘‘ The world is yours!”
what it’s up against!” “ Thanks, old man,” said Gil.
“ Okay,” said Carl’s voice. “ So what The scene on the space ship was
do you want me to d o?” tense. All three occupants were keyed
“ Get on the short wave and line up to a high state of excitement.
the leaders of all the countries! Have “ Hello, Earth! ” said the man known
them listen in . . . give us the net­ best to the world as ‘America’s Number
works . . . get everybody on the radio One Playboy.’ “ This is Gil Benson
. . . notify th e newspapers . . . speaking to you from space ship ‘ Good­
W e’ve got a message that will rock the bye, W orld,’ enroute back to Earth
world!” from the Moon.
Carl’s voice came back from Earth. “ I have requested this chance to talk
“ The world’s rocked enough now! to you, my fellow humans, so that I
W e’re in a terrible turmoil here! . . . could warn you of a very terrible and a
•The war’s on !” very real danger. The armed forces of
Gil’s voice came in like a pistol shot. another planet— the planet you’ve
140 AMAZING STORIES

known as Mars— are organized and may be left of ordinary humanity and
ready to attack the Earth! decency and love of whatever freedom
“ This is no hoax. This is not another you possess, to rise up and see to it that
‘War of the Worlds’ broadcast— this is there shall be no more war!
the real thing/ “ These words I speak to you are be­
“ The Martians have been preparing ing heard simultaneously by Martians
to take over our planet for the past two through their own type of radio equip­
hundred years. They have the most ment, both on the M oon and on Mars.
modern weapons and they are thor­ They know that I am returning to
oughly entrenched on the other side of Earth with information of the utmost
the Moon. importance and they will do everything
“ There is only one thing that is hold­ possible to prevent my arrival.
ing them up. W e have the atomic bomb “ M y space ship is unarmed while
and they haven’t! their huge, man-carrying rockets are
“ They are waiting for us to destroy heavily gunned. This may, therefore,
ourselves with it— and if you humans by my one and only message to you, so
are damned fools enough not to stop I beg you to heed it. This is Gil Ben­
fighting at once and unite to face this son, now signing off from space ship,
common enemy from space—we’ll lose ‘ Goodbye, W orld!’ . .
our planet to the Martians!
“ As I ’m speaking to you, I can look JLJIS voice had scarcely died out of
through the windows of my space ship the ether than the repercussion of
and see a fleet of at least fifty Martian what he had said began to be felt every­
aerial dreadnoughts following me! So where on Earth. Millions o f excited hu­
far, thanks to atomic power, I ’ve been mans all over the world scanned the
able to stay ahead of them. I frankly skies with the hope of glimpsing the re­
don’t know what will happen when I turning space ship and terrorized at the
have to feel my way down through the prospects of seeing an invading Martian
Earth’s atmosphere. fleet.
“ I appeal to you world leaders, to the Carl Mack, contacting Gil from
heads of the Army and Navy and Air Schenectady, asked: “ Have you any
Forces of every country, no matter how idea where you’re going to land?”
opposed, to call off this war at once, “ I ’m aiming for the Eastern sea­
adjust your differences, forget your board,” Gil replied. “ Want to get to
grievances— and pool all resources to­ Washington right away and report my
ward meeting the greatest crisis in all findings. Better alert all the airports—
of Earth’s history. Boston, Philadelphia, New York and
“ It is not too late to save yourselves Washington. I ’ll come down at the one
if you will. The greatest immediate most handy, if it’s at all possible!”
blow you can deal the Martians is to put On board the “ Goodbye, W orld!” the
an end to this war— and stop destroying situation was desperate. Approaching,
yourselves! as it was, the Earth’s atmosphere, the
“ What can any aggressor nation or Martian aerial dreadnoughts dived to
nations hope to gain if, by conquering the attack.
the world, they lose a planet? And if “ This is it !” Gil cried. “ Hang on!
you leaders are unmoved by my warn­ Get yourselves set! I ’ve got to slow us
ing and my plea, then I appeal to you, up! If we hit the Earth’s atmosphere
m y fellow humans, in the name of what at this speed, we’re goners!”
 ALL ABOARD FOR THE MOON 141

Diana and Wilbur groped their way began to fall, half out of control.
to their bunks and strapped themselves “ I can’t make any airport,” Gil cried.
in. Gil buckled himself to the control “ I ’ll have to set her down wherever I
board. ca n !”
“ This may black you o u t!” he “ D on’t land in the ocean!” cried
warned. “ But I ’ve got to do it !” Wilbur, “ I can’t swim !”
Then he pushed the starting lever. “ Oh, for a parachute!” said Diana.
The atomic power came on and the
ship’s downward plunge was checked n p H E Martian aerial vessel which had
with a jolt. Blood drained from the A scored the lucky hit, circled and
heads of all three occupants and, mo­ nosed down for a second attack. As
mentarily, they lost consciousness. As it did so, three high altitude United
they came to, they heard Gil shouting. States Army jet-propulsion pursuit
“ Look! . . . Look, quick! . . . Look planes flashed through its searchlight
at thatl” He pointed out the window beams, firing point-blank.
just as a great flaming mass shot past. Diana, Wilbur and Gil gave a yell
“ What’s that?” gasped Wilbur. of delight.
“ It’s one of their ships!” exclaimed “ W ho says they can take our
Gil. “ Here comes another!’ ’ planet!” said Wilbur.
A second flying meteor-like object There was a great flaming explosion
went by the window— and yet another ! and the Martian dreadnought of the
“ That’s what might have happened skies went plummeting down past the
to us,” Gil cried, “ if we hadn’t slowed “ Goodbye, W orld !” to plunge into the
up just in time. But there’s plenty ocean, five miles off Rockaway Beach!
more coming and they’re wise. They The joy of the three space travelers
won’t make the same mistake!” was unbounded.
Martian aerial dreadnoughts loomed “ They’ve had enough!” cried Diana.
up through the Earth’s moonless night, “ They’re turning back to the M oon !”
their jet-style motors shooting out a In almost no time, the Martian
blaze of illumination behind them. Gil aerial fleet reached an altitude beyond
switched off the lights in his ship in an the capacity of Army planes to follow.
attempt to avoid detection, also rapidly But they were then fired upon by coast­
reducing the velocity as they entered al defense rocket guns, radar operated. ■
denser and denser atmosphere. One of these salvos found its target and
They were down now to a ten mile a second Martian aerial battlewagon
height above the Earth’s surface. In burst into flames and dived, miles fur­
the distance, Diana caught sight of a ther out, into the sea.
large area dotted with lights. Gil Benson, meanwhile was strug­
“ What’s that down there?” she gling with his damaged ship. They
asked. passed dangerously close above New
“ That,” recognized Wilbur, “ is little Y ork’s towering sky-scrapers with Gil
old New Y o rk !” unable to control its direction, and
Suddenly, criss-crossing Martian settled low over the Hudson, skimming
searchlights which fanned the skies, the Palisades, missing rooftops and
caught them in their full glare. They sliding finally down into the flat swamp­
were immediately struck by a shell land of New Jersey.
which hit amidships beneath the cabin “ W e made it !” said Gil. “ W e’re
floor, shaking the rocket violently. It back again on good old M other Earth!”
 142 AMAZING STORIES

“ ‘Home, Sweet, Home’ ! ” said Wil­ “ How did you escape?”

bur. “ Sorry, boys,” said Gil, “ but you’ll
“ And one sweet landing!" said Di­ have to wait till I give my official re­
ana. port to Washington. However, I can
But Gil did not hear her. He had say that we own our lives to Miss Feni-
slumped, exhausted, at the controls. more.”
“ No, no, G il!” protested Diana.
CHAPTER XV '•Please!”
“ How come?” queried reporters.
^ ^ E W S P A P E R headlines, in morning Gil shook his head. “ Guess that
extras, piled sensation on sensa­ will have to wait till later, too.”
tion in telling the incredible but true “ Gil’s dead on his feet,” explained
story of the first human adventure in Wilbur. “ He’s got to get some sleep
space. Great black type fairly shouted: and get on to Washington. W e’re all
of us all in. Let us go, boys, till we
GIL BENSON’S SPACE SHIP
freshen up. We can’t think straight.”
LANDS IN JERSEY MEADOWS
Three worn-out space travelers
THREE OCCUPANTS SHAKEN; walked, glassy-eyed, to the elevator
UNHURT AFTER MOON VOYAGE and got off at their floor.
“ I ’m almost afraid to go to sleep,”
ARMY PLANES FIGHT OFF
MARTIAN SPACE ARMADA said Wilbur. “ I might dream I was
back on the m oon!”
WORLD W AR OFF! Diana stopped at her door. “ Good­
bye, boys,” she said. “ It was nice
EARTH PEOPLES PREPARE TO
knowing you.”
REPEL SPACE INVASION!
“ Be seeing you after my nightmare,”
Diana, Wilbur and Gil, rescued from called Wilbur.
the swamp by excited residents of New “ M aybe,” said Diana, stepping in­
Jersey and then rescued from the ad­ side and closing the door.
miring residents by the police, were Wilbur looked at Gil. “ What did
taken into New York and put up at she mean by that?”
the Waldorf-Astoria. Gil laughed, wearily, as he entered
America’s Number One Playboy was his own room. “ I don’t know and I
photographed as he entered America’s don’t care. Let’s get to b ed !”
Number One Hotel. He and his two
companions, one a stunning red-head, J ^ Y LATE afternoon, when Gil Ben­
all attired in evening dress, looked as son had left word that he might be
though they were getting in from a “ disturbed,” the lobby of the Waldorf-
dizzy night’s round of New York hot Astoria was filled with a crowd of
spots. The photographers who met newspaper reporters, photographers,
them chortled in high glee and fired scientists, government officials, radio
away. Then the reporters took over executives, theatrical managers, motion
and did some firing of their own. picture producers, booking agents,
“ Tell us about the Martians!” autograph seekers, hero-worshippers,
“ What do they look like?” the idly curious— and Ruth Delano,
“ When are they going to attack us?” M .G .M .’s pin-up sensation, who had
“ How did they capture you?” just arrived by special chartered plane
“ What did they do to you?” from Hollywood, to see “ her man from
 ALL ABOARD FOR THE MOON 143

the moon” ! hottest glamour girl on Earth and you

“ Are you and Mr. Benson engaged?” know it! You can have the world
asked an enterprising reporter. with two fences around it and we can
“ I prefer to let Mr. Benson answer help you get it. So just give, girlie—
that question,” Miss Delano replied. with the intimate details of your trip
She was stunning in a smart travel­ to the M oon— and we’ll plaster it on
ing suit, extremely figure-revealing; the front pages!”
while her vivid black hair was caught Diana, looking greatly distressed and
up in a new and exciting coiffure. a little panicky, sought a way o f escape.
“ You look very photogenic today,” “ This is your first experience with a
said one of the camera men. crowd of admirers, isn’t it, dearie?”
“ I hope so,” said Ruth. “ I was said M .G .M .’s pin-up star. “ Maybe
afraid you boys wouldn’t look at a girl you’d like to have me handle your press
unless she’d been to the m oon!” conference?”
There was a sudden stir in the lobby. Two daggers appeared in Diana’s
A young woman with bright red hair, blue eyes. “ I ’d like to have you mind
attired in a black-as-night evening your own business!” she said.
gown with half moon and stars design,
had just emerged from an elevator. HOW L of delight went up from
“ There’s the Moon-girl n ow !” cried the newspaper men. If they
someone. couldn’t get one story, they’d get an­
There was a rush in her direction other.
and Ruth Delano was pushed along “ Well, w ell!” cracked an old-timer.
with the crowd. The two women came “ Gil Benson’s two flames are getting
face to face. hot! Would you ladies like to put on
“ Well,” greeted Ruth, “ if it doesn’t boxing gloves?”
sound , like an old bromide— fancy Ruth Delano relished the scene she
meeting you here! ” had made for herself. “ Miss Fenimore
“ You’ve saved me from making the is extremely ungrateful,” she purred.
same original remark,” said Diana. “ I realize she is under a strain and I
Newspaper men pushed in as photog­ only meant to help her.”
raphers sighted their cameras. “ Let me out of here, please,” said
“ Listen, Miss Fenimore— Kling Fea­ Diana. “ I have an appointment.
tures wants your life story,” called a There’s nothing I can say. Y ou’ll have
syndicate man. “ Don’t talk! W e’ll to see Mr. Benson.”
give you fifty thousand for it !” “ Oh, no! W e’ve heard that one be­
A booking agent elbowed in, his fore!” came a chorus of protests. “ Ben­
glasses hanging over one ear. “ Hold son said you saved his life. We want
everything, Miss Fenimore, till you see the story. How’d you do it?”
me! Whatever they offer, I ’ll get you Ruth Delano laughed. “ She saved
doublet” Gil’s life? D on’t you believe it! Gil’s
“ Business seems to be pretty rush­ a perfect gentleman. H e’s just made
ing,” remarked Ruth,'icily. up a yarn to save that red-head’s face.
“ I have nothing to say,” declined I haven’t forgotten how she threw me
Diana, to those pressing her. “ I ’m not out of the rocket, slammed the door as
interested.” I tried to get back in— and then the
“ Not so fast, girlie. You can’t high thing took off! If you want a real
hat u s!” said a reporter. “ Y ou ’re the story, boys, let her explain how that
144 AMAZING STORIES

happened!” “ This is me,” he said. “ Who are

“ Yeah, Miss Delano, you’ve got you?”
something there!” replied a reporter. “ Wilbur, dear!" said a feminine
“ You mean— the whole thing was pre­ voice. “ How are you, darling!”
meditated?" Wilbur was waking up. “ D o my
Ruth eyed Diana. " Could be," she eyes deceive me or is this Miss Delano
said. “ I’ve thought so from the start. of M .G .M .? And when did you get in
And Buzz Reynolds— he’s the head of — and what could possibly have
that Flying Circus that she used to be brought you to New Y ork?”
with— he says it would be just like her The voice on the wire was syrupy.
to pull a stunt like that.” “ Now, Wilbur, don’t be so naive, which
It is said that a red-head can take you’re not. There are ten thousand
only so'much without blowing its top. people down here in the lobby, more or
Diana blew hers. less, waiting to see Gil. The best I
“ All right!” she raged. “ So I de­ could do was get the management to _
liberately started the rocket! So I let me put through the first phone call.
risked Gil Benson’s life and Wilbur’s I must see him right aw ay!”
and my own! So I did it just to make “ Excuse me a minute,” said Wilbur.
a name for myself! So we got to the “ The valet’s just here with some new
M oon and back again alive, anyway! clothes for Gil and me. I don’t think
So you’re jealous and trying to make Gil’s awake yet. Give me ten minutes
me look bad! . . . So what are you and come up to the reception room on
going to do about it?” this floor. I ’ll get you in to see him.”
Ruth Delano had reached the climax “ W ilbur!” cried Ruth. “ Y ou’re an
of her scene. angel!”
“ I don’t have to do anything about “ N o,” said Hollywood’s greatest
it, dearie,” she soothed. “ You’ve just press agent. “ I ’m a devil— and I wish
done it to yourself!” you lu ck !”
Diana made a desperate break for it Five minutes later, Gil Benson was
and fought her way through the crowd, awakened by a rap on his door.
calling on the aid of two house-detec­ “ Who’s there?” he called.
tives to get her to the street and a taxi “ The Other Man from the M oon1”
cab. She was followed by a string of said a voice.
photographers who photographed her Gil looked around the hotel room to
in flight, but she left newspapermen get his bearings. Then he got up
and all at the curb, wildly entreating drunkenly and opened the door. W il­
her to “ make a statement for the bur came in, completely outfitted in his
press.” new street clothes, a dapper gray suit,
blue shirt and red tie. He handed a
* * * suit to Gil.
“ Pretty good fit for ordering over the
Wilbur Williams awakened with his phone,” he said. “ I hope we got the
telephone bell tickling. He reached right sizes for you.”
over sleepily and took the receiver off Gil broke the box open and laid out
the hook. He had arranged, after four the clothes.
p.m. to have all calls for Gil Benson or “ I feel like I ’m about half here,” he
Diana routed to him, as their represen­ said. “ It’s hard to believe we’ve really
tative. been to the M oon— and that Martians
 ALL ABOARD FOR THE MOON 145

are more than a bad dream. Did you I ’d let her sleep for awhile. The poor
get me a Pullman for Washington to­ kid was more beat up than we were.”
night?” Gil looked at his wrist watch. “ Y ou’ll
“ Yeah, I got it,” said Wilbur. “ How have to get her up. Didn’t you date
long do you expect to be there?” Saks to send over some new clothes for
“ I ’ll fly back tomorrow night. Jerry her to select from, at four-thirty?”
Torrence ought to be here by that time “ O h l” said Wilbur. “ Oh, yes! . . .
to take charge of digging our ship out Don’t worry about that, Gil. I ’ll take
of that swamp. Say— don’t forget to care o f it . . . I ’ll send in Miss D e­
pick up our M oon photographs. Are lano right away.”
they going to have them developed and Hollywood’s greatest press agent
printed so I can take them to Wash­ hurried out as Gil turned toward the
ington with m e?” full length mirror and put on his tie.
“ That’s what the studio said,” W il­ M .G .M .’s pin-up sensation was pac­
bur reported. “ They put all their other ing impatiently up and down the small
orders aside and have the whole force reception room, just off the elevator
working on it.” bays.
Gil stepped into his new trousers. “ That’s a pretty long ten minutes,”
“ I guess these are going to be all right,” she said to Wilbur, when he appeared.
he said. “ The way I feel now, I ’m “ I had to wait until Gil got dressed,”
through with formal clothes for life! ” he said. “ A fter all . . . ! ” Wilbur
“ M e, too,” said Wilbur. “ I wouldn’t straightened a fancy handkerchief in
even be buried in evening dress!” his suit coat pocket. “ W e’ve both got
There was the sound of a telephone on new outfits. How do you think I
bell ringing and ringing, down the hall. look?”
“ Y ou’re getting lots of calls,” said “ That’s beside the point,” said Ruth.
Wilbur. “ But I ’m not there to answer “ How do you think 1 look?”
them.” Wilbur gave her the critical once­
Gil laughed. “ That’s okay,” he said. over.
“ There are very few people I want to “ I could kiss you myself,” he said,
see, anyway.” “ if I had the time. N o kidding, Miss
Wilbur had been waiting for this Delano— I think you’re just what Gil
opening. “ There’s one person I imag­ Benson ordered 1”
ine you’d like to see,” he suggested, “ if “ That’s all I wanted to hear,” said
you could !” Ruth. “ Where is he?”
“ W ho’s that?” Gil asked. Wilbur pointed down the hall. “ He’s
“ Ruth Delano, she’s in the recep­ in Twenty-seven-eleven.”
tion room, on this floor, right now.” “ What a number!” said Ruth.
“ He sure is!” said Wilbur.
r M L ’S face lighted. “ She is?” He M .G .M .’s pin-up sensation took her
stuffed his shirt inside his trousers. perfect figure in Gil’s direction. Wilbur
“ Well, bring her in! What are you followed, admiring her rear view.
waiting for?” “ If she only had red hair,” he said to
“ For you to get your pants o n !” himself. “ But, I guess there’s only one
Wilbur grinned. D iana!”
“ W a it!" called Gil, as Wilbur went * * *
for the door. “ Did you wake Diana?”
“ Not yet,” said Wilbur. “ I thought There was a lady-like tap on Gil Ben­
146 AMAZING STORIES

son’s door. “ No, of course not,” said Gil. “ We

“ Come in I” he said. should have a make-up man here to fix
The door swung open and, framed in your lips after each kiss . . . and a
it, was the life-sized, flesh-and-blood hair-dresser to comb your hair . . .
picture of Hollywood’s most glamorous and a dressmaker to be sure I haven’t
pin-up girl. She stood there for a mo­ wrinkled your dress every time I put
ment to let her one-man-audience ogle my arm around you. I don’t think I
her form. like that kind of romance!”
“ R uth!” said Gil. “ It’s wonderful to “ Now, Gil, darling!” pleaded Ruth.
see y ou l” “ I didn’t mean it the way it sounded.
“ Oh, Gil, my darling!” She pushed If you don’t mind the way I look in
the door shut behind her and rushed public, why just forget my hair, my
into his arms. lips— everything!”
They kissed and she clung to him. She offered herself to be kissed.
“ I ’ve been so worried about you. I ’ve Gil took her in his arms and placed
lost five pounds!” a hand on her hair. She shuddered and
Gil laughed. “ I had to go to the drew back.
M oon to get you to do that? Y ou’re “ You see?” he said. “ It’s no good.
better looking than ever!” It would never work. Y ou’re absolutely
“ You mean, you don’t miss the five right— you can’t forget your public!”
pounds, Darling?” Ruth burst into tears. “ Gil! Y ou’re
Gil encircled her waist. “ Just a being cruel! Now look what you’re
trifle,” he said. “ I believe I can hug making me do! . . . You say I don’t
you a little tighter!” love you . . . that I ’m just after pub­
She kissed him again and left a nice licity . . . How can you say that after
smudge of lipstick. Gil stroked her the way that red-head has acted? She’ s
hair. the one who’s come between us . . . Of
“ Oh, oh! Don’t touch! I can’t put all the shameless, cheap, brazen things
that up myself— and if we’re photo­ for a girl to do! . . . I’ ve got a reputa­
graphed together . . . ! ” tion— my name means something. Our
Gil eyed her. “ Are you acting or do marriage would be the talk of the coun­
you really mean it?” try . . . I do love you, Gil . . . I do,
“ Why, of course I mean it! D o you I d o . . .1”
think I ’d have flown clear across the
country just to see you . . . stopped / ^ I L looked at her, unmoved. “ You
production and everything . . . if I love the idea of the publicity our
didn’t love you. . . ?” amalgamation would bring— but, for us,
Gil spoke slowly. “ Y es," he said. “ I it wouldn’t be a marriage— it would be
believe you would!” a business p r o p o s i t i o n •
Ruth sat down on the arm of a chair, There was a sudden excited rap on
her face registering pain. the door. Ruth nervously ran to the
“ Why, Gil! How can you say that? mirror and commenced to dab at her
I naturally want to look my best when face.
I ’m with you, dear . . . but I still have “ Who is it?” asked GiL
my public . . . I can’t forget that . . . The door opened, “ It’s me,” said
and since you’re so much in the lime­ Wilbur. He had a sealed envelope in
light at present . . . we mustn’t be his hand. “ The people from Saks are
caught off guard.” here but Diana’s not in her room! I
 ALL ABOARD FOR THE MOON 147

found this envelope addressed to you.” periences on the M oon, substantiated

Wilbur sighted Ruth wiping the tear by remarkable aerial photographs, par­
stains from her face. “ Excuse me, Miss ticularly of the Martians’ Moon City,
Delano— but I thought this might be profoundly impressed his hearers and
something important 1” produced immediate action toward set­
“ D on’t mind m e!” snapped Ruth. ting up every possible defense against
“ Especially if it has anything to do with attack from space.
Miss Fenimoret” “ I recommend,” Gil Benson had told
Gil slit the envelope open and took them, “ the establishment of terminal
out a note. stations in space at a height of above
“ Damn-it-to-hell!” he said. five hundred miles above the Earth,
Ruth stared at him, wonderingly. where a state of equilibrium exists, en­
“ What’s the matter?” asked Wilbur, abling such great floating islands to re­
“ anything wrong?” volve perpetually around our planet.
“ There’s plenty w rong!” said Gil, re­ These great platforms will act as tiny
straining his feelings with difficulty. Earth-bound satellites.
“ I ’m going to read you this, Ruth, be­ “ If we place these in space at equal
cause it makes you eat your own words distances around the Earth, each plat­
about a certain party.” He fixed his form or terminal possibly three miles
eyes on the note and continued. “ ‘Dear in diameter, we can use them to dock
Gil:— This is your show. 1 butted in on our huge space ships in the coming traf­
it at the start and now I ’m running out fic between the Moon and other plan­
on it at the end. This wasn’t a circus ets. We can also store atomic bomb
stunt— it was a real scientific achieve­ rockets there, as launching sites for re­
ment. I hope I haven’ t spoiled it for pelling any attempted space invasion.
you . . . Diana.’ ” “ These terminals would circle indefi­
There was a moment of painful si­ nitely in frictionless, weightless and air­
lence. less space. Once established, it is going
Ruth stood up. “ If I had her wrong, to be necessary for the united people of
Gil, I ’m terribly sorry. Of course, that our world to invade our side of the
could be a grandstand play . . .” Moon and either make friends with the
Gil’s jaws tighted. “ Goodbye, Ruth,” Martians or drive them off. Otherwise,
he said. “ Your public is waiting!” because of their own desperate situa­
M .G .M .’s pin-up sensation went out tion, they will prove an increasing
the door. menace.
“ Wilbur,” said Gil. “ You find Diana “ This will be particularly true, if and
for me or I ’ll break every bone in your when they learn how to create atomic
head!” power, because of the great quantity of
Wilbur looked at Gil, disconsolately. Uranium on the Moon. We must get
“ I ’ve only got one,” he said, “ and it’s there before they gain this knowledge
one solid piece!” and control the M oon and its Uranium
deposits for ourselves. If we don’t,
r " IL BENSON flew back from Wash­ gentlemen, with no pun intended, it will
ington after a day closeted with be ‘Goodbye, W orld !’ ”
the President, the cabinet, high military
officials, scientists and representatives g C IE N T IS T S who had already been
of all foreign countries. The confi­ planning and designing such termi­
dential report he gave them of his ex­ nal stations, highly approved of Gil
148 - AMAZING STORIES •

Benson’s recommendations, as did those press agent. “ I should say n otl”

engaged in atomic research. “ Let’s not kid each other,” said Gil.
But Gil, with the world clamoring for “ You love her, too!”
an opportunity to honor him, had but “ I don’t need any truth serums to ad­
one thought in mind, once he had left mit that,” said Wilbur.
Washington. Arriving back at the Wal­ There followed an awkward moment.
dorf, he went immediately to the room “ Well,” said Gil, where do we go
of Wilbur Williams, whom he found from here?”
with three telephones installed and talk­ Wilbur shrugged his shoulders, help­
ing on two of them at once. lessly.
“ Hello, G il!” g r e e t e d Wilbur. The phones were making strange,
“ How’d you make out. . . . ? Just a protesting noises with the receivers still
minute!” Then into one of the phones: on the floor. He reached down and
“ No, Mr. Benson wouldn’t be interest­ picked two of them up, placing one to
ed. H e’s not endorsing anything.” He each ear.
looked up at Gil. “ It’s been this way “ State your business!” he said.
ever since you’ve been gone. You “ What’s the matter? W hy don’t you
could make millions and I have to answer your phone?” said an angry
turn it all down I” He spoke into the voice.
other phone. “ No, it’s not enough— I ’ll “ Hollywood calling,” said an oper­
only let Miss Fenimore make one ator.
‘M oon Picture’— and she’s got to get “ I ’ll take Hollywood,” said Wibur,
ten thousand a week . . . 1” and dropped the other receiver. “ W ho’s
Gil broke in. “ Get off that damn calling?”
phonel” he shouted. “ Listen to me! “ Ruth Delano— calling Gil Benson,”
Have you located Diana?” said the operator.
Wilbur hung up and all three phones “ Tell her I ’m not here,” said Gil.
started ringing. He took all receivers “ I’m going out and look for Diana my­
off and dropped them on the floor. self.”
“ No, Gil— I ’m sick. I ’ve got Burns Wilbur held up his hand. “ Take it
and Pinkerton both trying to trace her. easy!” he warned. “ You’ll get yourself
They turned up the cab driver who took a lot of publicity you don’t want. I told
her from the hotel. He said he let her the papers Diana had a nervous break­
out at M acy’s . . . and a girl in the down and is in a private sanitarium for
Women’s Ready-to-Wear said she wait­ a few days.” He spoke into the phone.
ed on her, sold her a gray suit and she “ Put Miss Delano o n !”
changed right there. The dick said, “ I won’t talk to her,” Gil insisted.
since she appears to be hiding out, that “ Hello, Gil?” said Ruth’s voice.
she may have dyed her hairl” “ N o,” replied Wilbur, “ it’s m et”
“ If she’s dyed her hair, I ’ll kill her,” “ Oh, hello, Willie! I ’ve got to speak
said Gil. to Gil right away. It’s very important!”
“ I wouldn’t like it, either,” said Wil­ Wilbur looked at Gil who shook his
bur. head. “ He’s very busy right now. He
The two men looked at each other. wants to know— can I take the mes­
Gil eyed Wilbur with sudden suspicion. sage?”
“ See here!” he said. “ You’re not, by “ N o,” said Ruth. “ But tell him I ’ve
any chance, behind Diana’s run-out?” got some information about that red­
“ M e?” said Hollywood’s greatest head!”
 ALL ABOARD FOR THE MOON 149

“ 'Y 'O U ’VE what cried Wil­ off into space. “ She doesn’t have red
bur. He put his hand over the hair” he said, “ But then, I guess a guy
mouthpiece. “ She says she knows some­ like me can’t' have everything!” He
thing about Diana. Y ou’d better get looked around. “ Hey, G il!” he called.
on the ljne.” “ Well, I ’ll be damned! . . . H e’s
“ She’s kidding,” said Gil, “ just to get g on e!"
to talk to me.” But he took the re­ \

ceiver. “ Hello,” he said. * * *

“ Hello— hello, Gil. Are you still sore

at m e?” Buzz Reynolds had a wife and two
“ You calling long distance to find kids and a summer place on a bluff over­
that out?” looking Lake Michigan. He also had
There was a pause— and a sob on the his own private airfield.
phone. “ N o, Gil— I was just calling to It was early morning when he heard
find out if you knew the whereabouts the motor o f a high speed plane circling
of Miss Fenimore. . . . ?” overhead and coming in for a landing.
Gil drew in a deep breath. “ Not yet,” Buzz kicked his feet into some slippers,
he said. pulled a sweater over his pajamas and
“ Well, / d o ! ” Ruth replied. “ I ran went outside.
into her at the airport when I was tak­ “ Must be some airman in trouble,”
ing off. She was with Buzz Reynolds. he said to his wife.
They were flying somewhere in his Walking out back, Reynolds saw a
plane.” handsome appearing man in a new suit
Gil had held the receiver from his ear of clothes striding toward him.
so that Wilbur could get this same in­ “ Hello, Reynolds!” he greeted. “ I
formation. know she’s here, so don’t try to cover
“ Well, I ’m a son-of-a-gun!” said W il­ up. Trot her o u t!”
bur. “ What do you know about that?! ” “ Who are you talking about?” stalled
“ Ruth, I don’t know how to thank Reynolds.
you,” said Gil. “ Y ou ’re swell!” “ Your red-head parachute jum per!”
“ W a it!” cried Wilbur. “ D on’t let her said Gil Benson. “ I might have sus­
hang up! I want to speak to h er!” pected you’d be after h erl”
Gil handed over the receiver. Buzz Reynolds was short and stocky.
“ Say, R u th l” said Hollywood’s He buttoned his sweater around him to
greatest press agent. “ You told me, keep out the cool morning breeze.
some time ago, you’d let me do your “ I didn’t go after her,” he protested.
publicity . . . I ’d like to see you when “ She phoned me long distance; begged
I get back to Hollywood. How about me to come and get her. She was crying
dinner at Sardi’s . . . just us tw o?” . . . she’s a swell kid . . . what else
“ Why, Wilbur— I think that would could I d o?”
be n ice!” said Ruth. “ That’s okay,” said Gil. “ But I want
“ After all,” said Wilbur. “ I want to to talk to her.”
impress you that you’re going out with “ She’s not up yet,” said Reynolds.
somebody important. I was the second “ And you’re not going to take her away
man on the M oon !” ’ from me now. She’s going back with me
Ruth laughed. “ I can hardly wait,” next season . . . She’s cooked up one
she said, “ and I mean it !” of the most sensational parachute jump­
She hung up and Wilbur sat looking ing stunts ever pulled I . . . W e’re go­
150 AMAZING STORIES

ing to have a rocket built and shoot her chilly out here.”
up in it to a height of ten miles . . . The first man and woman from Earth
Then it breaks open and she makes a to land on the Moon walked slowly
parachute drop— In a space suit!” down the path into the woods. Nature
Gil laughed. “ That was her idea?” was just waking up. The birds of the
he asked. forest were singing their morning songs.
“ Honest to God I” swore Reynolds. “ I ’ve always liked red hair,” Gil said,
“ I wouldn’t let her do a thing that as the blue eyes looked up at him. “ And,
dangerous,” said Gil. while I ’m not a Martian, I ’d greatly ap­
“ And just what have you got to say preciate your aid in conducting a little
about it?” said a voice. experiment.”
Gil Benson looked around into a pair Diana smiled. “ What kind?” she
of blue, blue eyes. asked.
“ Thank God! ” he exclaimed. “ I need a wife and a home,” Gil pro­
“ For what?” asked Diana. posed. “ And I ’d like to see if, in time,
“ That you didn’t dye that red hair!” there might be some little red-heads to
“ I thought you weren’t up yet,” said go with it !”
Reynolds. There was the light of the morning
“ I can’t ever stay in bed when I hear sun in Diana’s blue eyes.
a plane,” said Diana. “ I think, Mr. Benson, that I could
“ If you don’t mind,” said Gil, point­ devote myself to that experiment with
edly. “ Miss Fenimore and I are going great enthusiasm!”
to take a nice morning walk in your The Moon and the Martians seemed
woods.” very far away in that moment— and
Reynolds grinned. “ And if you don’t the Earth seemed very sweet.
mind,” he replied. “ I ’m going to get America’s Number One Bachelor had
back under the covers. It’s damned surrendered his title.

M A X W E L L 'S D E M O N
★ By ANTHONY B. OTT *

AM E S C L E R K M A X W E L L , form ulator of average amount o f energy possessed by the slowly

J radio's famed M axw ell’s equations, outstand­

ing thermodynamicist, and superb British
physicist, gave to physics an ingenious concept—
and rapidly m oving molecules.
It was particularly important to note that in a
gas at a given temperature, the molecules were not
M axwell's demon. It was only a concept— never all m oving at the same speed. As they collided
a reality— but something has come up recently with each other and with the walls o f their con ­
that makes it appear as if the little “ devil” is here tainer, they did so with speeds ranging from that
to stay. That “ something” is known as the Hilsch o f a rifle bullet to practically motionlessness.
tube. Nevertheless the energy content o f the gas could
M axwell pointed out that temperature is ac­ be accurately described b y considering the average,
tually the measure of the quantity o f energy of the mean, o f all these speeds, and calling it the
motion— the average energy, that is— that a gas temperature.
m ay possess. In his day, it was realized that a In order to make these ideas very clear, M ax­
gas consisted o f billions o f molecules, somewhat well used a graphic little picture, purely a mental
like hard little spheres, all m oving at random, with image, that showed that it was conceivable to
varying velocities ranging from high to low. En­ separate the molecules o f varying velocities. In
ergy added to the gas in the form o f heat sped up practice he knew that this could never be done,
the molecules; energy subtracted from the gas b y but it clarified the idea o f average energy to many.
refrigeration slowed dow n the molecules. Tem ­ Suppose (M axwell w rote) that we had a cham­
perature was merely a number describing the ber divided into tw o sections, one o f which con­
 MAXWELL'S DEMON 151

tained a gas— any gas— at some temperature, the — the wider one— begins to heat u p ! The other—
other o f which contained nothing—a vacuum. In the narrow er one— begins to cool 1
the section containing the gas, the molecules are N ote that there is nothing else Involved except
m oving around at random , som e at U gh speed, a pum p to force air through the single arm. The
some at low , colliding with each other and with compressed air strikes a steel spiral near the jet
the walls o f the chamber. This is the normal state and apparently, like M axw ell’s hypothetical de­
o f any ga*. m on, separates the gas into high and low-speed
molecules. This can be done with any gas, rang­
^O W suppose there is a hole in the wall dividing ing from compressed air to hydrogen 1
the vessel into tw o chambers but that there The temperature o f the co ld arm goes dow n to
is a door, a minute d oor covering it. Stationed at — 56° Fahrenheit; the hot arm goes up to plus
this d oor is a little “ dem on.” Every time the 350° Fahrenheit.
dem on sees a high-speed molecule headed for the Every scientist that has seen the gadget imme­
door, he opens it and permits the molecule to pass diately tried to explain it. The Bureau o f Stand­
into the vacuum -cham ber; every times he sees a ards has evolved a long, elaborate mathematical
low-speed molecule headed fo r the door, he shuts explanation; individual technicians hava various
it and prevents it from entering the vacuum- explanations— unfortunately n o b o d y is quite sure
chamber. After some time and a few billion yet what the real explanation is.
operations, enough high-speed molecules will have Regardless o f h o w the device functions, its Im­
entered the vacuum -cham ber so that no longer can plications are terrific. Can you imagine an ap­
it be called a vacuum . Instead we will n ow have paratus w hich delivers either heat o r refrigeration
tw o chambers, one with all the low-speed m ole­ or both at the touch o f a button with no other
cules, the other with all the high-speed molecules. equipment but a pum p driven b y an electric
In other w ords w e will have separated the gas m otor?
into tw o gases differing extremely in temperature. Naturally every manufacturer o f beating and
Because the temperature is the measure o f the refrigerating equipment is interested. Already we
average kinetic energy o f the m oving molecules, hear com ments to the effect that it is “ Impractical”
and because we have on one hand low-kinetic and that it is “ inefficient” and that it w ill be un­
energy molecules, on the other, high kinetic-energy able to replace conventional unit. This, o f course,
molecules, we have effectively, decreased and in­ is natural, but if the device is at all w orth-w hile,
creased the temperature o f our tw o portions o f in spite o f the natural hesitancy o f the average
gas. industrialist, we are likely to see the thing in
This is a fine idea. In fact it is beautiful, but operation.
there is one catch.
It couldn’t possibly w o rk ! W here could such a A SID E from the uses o f HUsch’a tube, which is
nice little dem on be gotten? W ho could possibly the only name given it so far, the most inter­
devise anything to open and close that little door esting aspects o f it, are these— how and w hy does
rapidly enough? All that M axw ell's dem on ever it w ork ?
served to do, was to make the concept o f average W e can’t consider the mathematical explana­
kinetic energy a little clearer to a multitude o f tions which involve discussions o f vortexes and
students. centrifugal force, etc. One explanation maintains
Then— that the steel spiral hurls the high speed molecules
Out o f a clear sky, Fortune magazine announced to its rim leaving the slower speed molecules to
a few months ago that M axw ell’s demon, o r some­ furnish the low temperature, which is siphoned
thing very akin to it had been found I off into one arm o f the tube.
W hen the teams o f U. S. scientists scoured Ger­ Someday, regardless o f whether the gadget la
many fo r technical talent and ideas developed adequately explained o r not, It is conceivable that
during the war, Dr. M ilton o f Johns H opkins, one we may have in our homes, a special form o f the
of the members o f the team, brought back to the Hilsch tube, w hich will provide all our heating
United States a clever little gadget, a gadget that and refrigeration. A flkk o f a button, the whine
may have a great deal o f significance, a device that o f an electric m otor, the throb o f a rotary pum p
may revolutionize heating and refrigeration, not — and presto, w e have ice-cubes fo r the drink to
to mention any num ber o f other technical fields. toast D r. Hilsch. Or the same sequence o f events,
and we have a hot grille fo r that sizzling steak.
'T 'H E gadget is called a “ Hilsch” tube after the Like so many things that have appeared abso­
name o f the Inventor, a German physicist, D r. lutely impossible, the Hilsch tube is making many
Hilsch. a scientist think twice before he says anything Is
In appearance it is quite simple. I t is merely a impossible.
metal tube about twenty inches long, about a half Almost any technician w ould have laughed at
inch in diameter, and spit into a pair o f arms o f the thought o f a practical and real “ M axw ell’s
unequal diameter by a small right-angle jet to one D em on,” just as he w ould have laughed a few
side o f the center o f the tube. years ago at the thought o f a m oon ro c k e t
Compressed air Is fed to the jet. Within a few Strangely enough, the laughter la considerably
seconds, things begin to happen. One o f the arms subdued these days.
 Tiahuanaco, high In the Andes, is one of the most interesting
ruins in the world. Was it the site of legendary "first sun"
from whom the Incas claim to have descended. They have
claimed to have been driven out by a foreign power, then
many ages later, returned to the ruins, and agreeing that this
was the place "the sun first appeared." What did they mean?

The hoary antiquity of Tiahuanaco super­

sedes even that of Egypt. Yet no expedition
has been sent to the site to uncover its
secrets. Poznansky, greatest living authority
on the ancient ruin, claims that it was
abandoned in 9,550 B.C. If correct, then
Tiahuanaco must have flourished many cen­
turies before that time, being incredibly old.

What is most amazing about this great city is the

fact (as claimed by Poznansky) that it was a sea­
port! Imagine, if you can, a seaport located 13,000
feet above sea level, If Tiahuanaco was a seaport,
at sea level, as indicated by the great canals in it,
then the mountains in which it now rests were not
mountains 12,000 years ago. What havoc that
plays with geologists who have claimed ages of
millions of years for the Andes! We would have to
revise our whole scientific concept of the earth if
so. Is that why science hesitates to explore this city?

152
 T H E S U N -M O O N W A R
By L TAYLO R H AN SEN

The le g e n d o f a g r e a t w a r b e tw e e n th e tu n an d th e m oon 1c t o p e r­
s is te n t in a n c ie n t In d ian lo re t h a t It p re s e n ts a b a fflin g m y s te ry .

RO U ND the campfire on cold nights, from us carry our investigations into South America

A the Lodges o f the Blackfeet to the Kivas

* o f the Pueblos, when the story-teller starts
to weave his magic o f “ long-ago and afar-off,”
and see what we can learn which might clarify
the dark corners, and throw a few searching beams
o f light upon the long corridors o f the past.
many a legend begins— “ Once, long before the In the first place, South America seems to hold
memories of our grandfathers, the Sun and M oon three racial types, although all are in a stage of
clashed in battle— a war which lasted for gener­ deep inter-mixture. Some o f this inter-mixture
ations. . . is caused b y the laws o f the jungle which deem
The first time one hears the story it is a it a disgrace to m arry in your ow n tribe. There­
childish myth. The second time, one hears it as fore, it Is etiquette to steal your w ife from a
a garbled repetition o f w hat one has listened to neighbor tribe, even though that tribe is your
before. The third, fourth and fifth times, one hereditary enemy, and your people dwell In a
begins to cast about for an explanation o f the state o f constant war with them. Since strong
similarities. I f these stories had varied endings, patrilinear systems are also the order o f the day
one might be justified in regarding them as the in M atto Grosso, this goes a long w ay toward
fanciful embroideries o f Am erind imagination making a happy hom e since one -dispenses with
nurtured by a fitful fire, and an attentive audi­ his in-law problem at its inception.
ence. Yet there can be but one ending fo r this Nevertheless, in general, South America is a
never-to-be-forgotten struggle. Every tribe will continent o f round-heads, m any o f w hom carry
assure you that the m oon w on. Then it is a strong Pacific culture. It is only w ay back in
that the legend begins to take on the qualities the jungles that one finds some tribes o f long­
o f a race-m em ory— the last vestjges o f some ti­ heads, and the strong taboo upon marrying them,
tanic conflict which echoes dow n the ages in the or in fact, having any intercourse with them
form o f this allegory from a long-forgotten past. other than to make slaves o f them, seems to
Possibly related to this story in some, as yet, point to an ancient conquest. T h ey are to be
unknown manner, and certainly as widely dis­ found far up on the headwaters o f the rivers,
tributed, are the persistent connections o f the where apparently they have been driven b y suc­
m oon with The Spider, and sometimes with The ceeding waves o f invasion up the waters o f The
W o lf; or again, that strange legend o f the vast, Am azon. These people, w ho call themselves the
underground caverns through which the people “ M aki” apparently to connect themselves with
wandered when the nations came out into the Chan-Chan which is on a river b y a similar name.
upper world. This latter story, centering in The This claim seems to be strengthened by their
Pueblos, is spread through many tribes, even spill­ name o f “ Pogsa” given to them by surrounding
ing into Algonquin legend, where it has lost all tribes, which in the Quichua tongue o f the Incan
o f its vividness. Empire, meant “ M o o n .” 1*
It is tow ard the south that the stories take on The third type o f South Am erican Indian is
an added realism. The w ar becom es a true clash the red-skinned disbarm onlc w ith long bead and
o f the calendars, while m any ruins teem with wide, high cheekbones. T he type is islanded in
tales o f caverns and underground passageways. the very high Andes, a distinctly refugee loca­
The spade o f the excavator, will in time, doubt­ tion. They carry many AJgonkin characteristics.
less, settle the location o f this ancient war. Y et The other location o f the red-skinned disharmonic
in the meantime, with the probable sites still is, o f course, the northeast shoulder o f the conti­
com pletely unexplored, w e shall have to depend nent where evidently w ave after w ave has rip­
for what knowledge we m ay glean o f the loca­ pled out from the Caribbean.
tions, upon the more uncertain clues o f racial Originally, the disharmonic o f South America
type, language and legend. Also having discov­
ered what we have o f the close affinity between 1 The Pogsas are confined to the territory be­
North America, M exico and Central America, let tw een the R io N egro and the R io Japura.
154 AMAZING STORIES

probably came from the northern reservoir o f One fact seems definitely to counter the theory
the type, but the migration may have been as that Titicaca, or The Andes were ever lower than
lot)g ago as the ice age when larger tracts o f de- their present height. That is that the glacial
siratye land for settlement were available in the moraines o f the Pleistocene were somewhat lower
Caribbean. That the reverse migration dates from than they are at present. T o get around this,
the dessication o f these island-benches when the Poznansky postulates that Tiahuanaco dates from
water once locked up in the ice-sheets was re­ the last interglacial. This w ould certainly give it
turned to the oceans, raising the level, and dis­ the crown o f earth’s oldest city, making it con ­
turbing the delicate Iand-and-water balance is temporary with such regions o f legendary an­
possible. A t any rate the similarities o f the tiquity as Plato’s Atlantis, and the lost civiliza­
cultures which have seemed to invade both the tions which once existed upon Africa’s sunken
Mississippi and the M atto Grosso from this direc­ rim. The Bolivian savant probably knows more
tion, has caused some interesting discussions.2 about the subject o f Tiahuanaco than any living
Apparently a few geological changes have taken man, but his ideas are too “ rom antic” for the
place since that time, which in order correctly to average archaeologist o f North America. Yet
dress our stage for the succeeding migrations, we they cannot challenge his views because as yet,
must attempt to understand. In the first place, Tiahuanaco is an unexplored site.
both Central and South America once lay lower T w o facts lead one to suspect that this might
in the water, and this is not only evident in have been the site o f the legendary “ First Sun.”
Yucatan and Guatemala where every inch o f the One is that the Incas who called themselves “ Chil­
higher ground is terraced for oiltivation and c o v ­ dren o f The Sun,” claim to have been driven out
ered with ruined cities, but from the reports of by a foreign power. They farther declare that
the Indians the same is true in the Jungles of after wandering for many ages first toward the
Brazil, or rather, beyond the jungles. On both south and then in the forests o f the north, their
continents therefore, we find either a sparcity o f wise men brought them back to their legendary
ruins in what are now the lowlands, or else, ruins homeland. After a consultation at the Lake of
o f a com paratively recent (relatively speaking) Titicaca, their sages agreed that this was the
date. The ruins which we do find in the lowlands place * where the Sun first appeared.” They then
suggest that they were once built in a marshy led the Incas a trifle further to the N orth where
country, thus necessitating the raising o f the tem­ they built their capital at Cuzco, another ruined
ples and pyramids upon platforms to get them out city o f the ancients, and began their march to
o f the water. Possibly the houses may have been power.
built o f w ood upon stilts and the travel, as in One o f the unsolved mysteries connected with
Tenochtftlan (M exico C ity) o f a thousand years the hoary antiquity o f Tiahuanaco, is the relation
later, took place largely upon lagoons in canoes. o f the islanded Aruakians with its site. A dialect
Although the lowland cities are problematical, o f Aruakian is spoken in the immediate environs
and the question as to whether a great arm of o f the mysterious capital, although the main body
the sea once reached Lake Peten in Guatemala, o f these red-skinned disharmonies are located in
making o f it and its splendid ruins a desirable the high Andes, hundreds o f miles away.
land-locked harbor which would be cherished by N or are these all the facts surrounding this
a maritime people, is a debatable subject, yet the fascinating people which claim the attention. We
high Andes seem to offer additional argument for have the strange feeling as we m ove among these
geological change since the first occupation by rapidly disappearing people, o f being with the
civilized man. haughty Algonkins o f our Northern Forests. W e
meet Algonkin traits on every hand— particular
T A K E T IT IC A C A once apparently supported interest in bird decorations, babies in cradle-
^ many cities— or perhaps just one— the giant boards, laced up with buckskin, exposure o f dead
m etropolis o f Tiahuanaco, and yet today, it is at follow ed by secondary burial, a similar costum­
too high an altitude to grow either fruit or grain. ing and tobacco in stone pipes. Even the Al­
Furthermore, judging by the ruins, the lake was gonkin method o f mixing their tobacco with the
once much larger and extended some tw o miles shavings o f certain sacred w oods and their cere­
beyond its present borders. I f this was the site monial manner o f puffing the smoke to the four
o f the first Sun Empire, then apparently its hinter­ directions are present.8
land was dessicated by cold as badly as the island- Was this the site o f the legendary “ first king­
benches in the Caribbean were dessicated by a dom ” from which “ The Tw ins” were dispelled by
continual shrinkage o f the surface left above the the invasion o f a foreign pow er? If so, there
water. must have been an earlier war than the Sun-M oon
War, for Spider-Grandmother, or as some tribe*
9 See Southern Contacts o f the Indians North have it, The M oon, raised, “ Thp Tw ins” and took
i f the G ulf o f M exico, Intem at. Congr. American- care o f them until adulthood when they set about 9
s‘ is* R io de Janeiro 1922 20:53-59, 1924 by J. R.
Swanton. Also P. R ivet, L ’ orfevrerie precolom - 9 The Aruakian trait o f plucking out the hair
bienne des Antilles, Jour. Soc. Americanistes de o f the eyebrow s is duplicated among the Iro­
Paris. quois, especially The Senecas o f our east coast.
 SCIENTIFIC MYSTERIES 155

a belated revenge. the star, which was a pole star in 9,550 B.C. then
Could this earlier enem y pow er have been one Poznansky has a strong scientific argument in
o f old Pacific M alayan affinities, or the Votanic favor o f his theory that this was the date of
Invasion from The A tlantic? O r was the Sun- Tiahuanaco’s final abandonm ent, and n o t its con­
M oon W ar fought between the Sun o r Eldest struction.
Tw in and the M o o n -W o lf allied In a battle which Such a hoary antiquity, beyond anything which
lasted for generations and whose original align­ Egypt can offer, makes us w onder w hy our uni­
ment was forgotten by the later and more dom ­ versities have never sent an archaeological expedi­
inating D ragon invasion from the Atlantic, when tion to uncover its untouched mounds, and lay
The Dragon became the enemy o f all three ? bare its traces o f great canals, constructed at the
Or was the M oon -pow er a late entrant into the time when, as Poznansky insists, it was on e o f the
arena o f the Americas, and the real Sun-M oon w orld’s mightiest ports. A port thirteen thousand
War o f another global location the echoes o f which fee t high? Is such a thing possible? Y e t until
reached the Americas, and only became w ide­ we have more facts upon which to base our be­
spread after the M oon -pow er o f The Spider Totem liefs either pro or con upon the subject o f Ancient
had begun to m ove toward many conquests upon Tiahuanaco, we must suspend our judgment.
the southern continent o f The Am ericas?
Like the antiquity o f Tiahuanaco, The Sacred REFERENCES
Lake o f old Titicaca, where it is said that the J o y c e : South Am erican Archaeology.
“ Sun was first seen” and “ Corn was first grow n,” B a n cro ft: N ative Races Vol. 4 Antiquities.
yet where today, n o corn grows except a curious W orks o f Arthur Poznansky in Spanish:
little berry-variety because o f the great 13,000 Prehistoric M onum ents o f Tiahuanaco.
feet elevation, must also remain one o f the Ancient Tiahuanaco.
strangest mysteries o f science. The Great Tem ple o f the Sun in The Andes.
I f Potsdam University was correct in its find­ (D r . Poznansky, Bolivia’s greatest savant, is
ing that the sun-temple o f Tiahuanaco, which, still alive and is living in her capital c ity .)
for some unaccountable reason was abandoned in C. D. G ow er article— N orthern and So. Affilia­
the midst o f its construction, was intended to act tions o f Antillean Culture, Am . Anthrop. Assoc.
as a great sidierial clock, and was constructed for M em . N o. 35, 1927.

PITY T H E N O N -C O N C E P T IO N IS T !
T SEEM S only a couple o f days ago that I It takes a man like M ajor P. de Seversky to

I furtively darted in to Burmeister’s D rug Store

and innocently scanned the magazine rack for
the latest copy o f Amazing Stories. W hen I was
get the credit from the average person fo r artificial
gravity in space vessels. W hen I first hid a sci­
ence-fiction magazine from m y mother, I under­
anxious enough to ask where it was, or was it out stood such necessities. Doubtless most people w ho
yet, the clerk couldn’t be expected to know . That read this understood them long ago. O f course,
was all a number o f years ago when men were M ajor, it is very necessary to keep on telling
m ostly too “ serious-minded” to think. Space people about things like this, because if air-m ind­
ships, said the average person and especially the edness doesn’t get you , space-consciousness should l
average scientist, and m ost especially the average M y m other found that first science-fiction mag
scientific magazine, are fundamentally and literally dow n in the basement. She was about as regular
impossible. I f you indiscreetly used those two a fellow as y o u ’d like, but I distinctly recall the
short words together, it was expected that you look on her face when she told m y father and
must have been a “ salt-picker” escaped from Ring- asked him w hat was going to becom e o f me. Well,
ling Brothers, or at least a candidate fo r the tur­ I guess this is it, but what worries me more than it
nip diet in a b oob y hatch. Isn’t it simply mar­ ought to is w hat in the name o f reason is going
velous to be able to behold the stolidity with to become o f the many w ho can never see a m illi­
which the average “ w orld-beater” accepts the ful­ meter in front o f them ?
fillment o f the dreams of the men w ho develop There is probably no man more to be pitied
the concepts? than the man with a closed mind, unless it is the
I shall never forget the objections o f fuel-weight man w ho is com pletely devoid o f conceptions o f
to the operation o f such a vehicle as the space the things about him. It is really too bad to fee]
ship. The type o f person w ho raised that objec­ that way about some o f our ow n kind, but it
tion was the same type that raised a questioning might not be so necessary if they could keep their
eye-brow at R obert Fulton, and vow ed that sky­ lips buttoned about w ho the really g o o fy ones are.
scrapers w ould fall dow n o f their ow n weight, and In ancient Persia (Iran ) a loose-jow led philoso­
swore at the W right Brothers’ experiments with pher once remarked, “ A wise m an believes any­
envious and hateful oaths. And then there was thing until it is disproved. Only a fool refuses to
the space radiation objection, and the meteor accept anything until it is demonstrated.” As the
objection, and the question o f whether the body Chinese put it, “ H e w ho refuses belief to honest
could stand the conditions o f space navigation possibility waters his flow er-bed from a sieve.” —
in general. John M cC abe M oore.
WHAT MAN A R E R ICKETSIAL
BODIES N E C E S S A R Y ?
A N ’S great friend, the dog, is only rarely

M affected by rickets, in the consideration

o f the acute condition. Even street dogs,
who receive only the crumbs from m an’s table,
rarely suffer from acute Vitamin D deficiency.
Few o f this class o f animals are ever the wary
hunters that can procure enough fresh game or
other natural sources o f the vitamin. Y et the
human being, who considers himself most blessed
o f all creatures as to diet, suffers from this defi­
ciency to some extent unless his diet is adequately
reinforced with some calciferrous com pound such
as Vitamin D.
These facts have rather interesting implications.
The first and possibly most interesting o f the im ­
plications is that the dog must have an endocrine
attunement immensely superior to the human's.
The dog does not avail itself o f any such mecha­
nism as sun-tanning in order to store up vitamin
D. It therefore appears that the accumulation
o f calciferrous compounds in the lungs, especially
at such times as the atmosphere contains large
amounts o f ozone, or a wonderful efficiency o f the
parathyroid glands (foun d in the neck in close
association with the thyroid), either one or both
account for the near-immunity o f the dog to
acute ricketsial condition.
The dog’s lung is a marvel o f efficiency. It it
called upon to do most o f the w ork in connection
with perspiration, as the animal has sweat-glands
only upon its abdomen. It is therefore not un­
believable that the lung is much more perfectly
adapted to life energy flows than is the human
organ.
It is likewise to be remarked that the dog
seldom suffers from goiter as does the human. The
close association o f the thyroid and parathyroid
glands indicates a definite relationship between
the tw o in connection with calcium phosphorous
and iodine metabolism. It is beyond the scope
o f this article to go into the technicalities in con­
nection wjth such metabolisms, but papers to be
printed later will take up such items in detail.
The important fact remains that the systemic
balance o f the essential minerals is much more
efficiently maintained by the canine than by the
human. The reasons for this circumstance are
several— dietary, hereditary, and psycho-somatic.
Am ong the dietary reasons for the superiority o f
the dog must be listed the adaptation to low cal­
cium high phosphate diet (the dog usually depends
more upon protein foods than others, but cannot
156
CAN IMAGINE
If you will im a g in e it, p e r h a p s
someone will be inspired to do
it. This department is for your
ideas, no matter how "wild" they
may seem; who knows, they may
be the spur to some man's think­
ing and thereby change our des­
tiny! Tell us your thoughts.

usually stand a high milk diet). Dogs usually

refuse high-starch or high-sugar diets, which in
the case of the human, especially with disaccha­
rides, militate against the endocrine utilization of
insulin (it is em ployed for example in the diges­
tion o f white sugar; and its output must be in­
creased by the pancreas in order to bring about
through metabolism o f any high-sugar diet)
which is important not only in the maintenance the chemical aspects o f arthritis will be forth -com ­
o f systemic tone, but in the condition o f such ex­ ing in the future.
treme mechanisms as the fighter groups o f the The condition called rickets could be quite com ­
blood and perfection o f liver function, not to men­ pletely controlled by our race if A ) attention were
tion its direct impact upon the other endocrine devoted to the source o f most foods (the soil) in
glands? respect to trace mineral content, B ) foods were not
Hereditary reasons include the tendency to ex­ vitiated by the discarding o f these same trace
clude the weaker strains of canine, because o f early minerals in peeling and other wasteful and wanton
death of those animals which are not definitely practices such as prolonged boiling, over-salting,
complete in the endocrine sense or not o f sufficient and discarding o f vegetable juices, and C ) if psy­
strength as regards their chemical mechanisms to chological m ethodology could find greater favor
survive o f themselves. Also the m ajority o f ca­ and more fearless employment. Governmental re­
nines are not likely to be as in-bred as are humans, inforcement o f foods with calciferrous com pounds
although even among the pure-bred strains the appears at best a palliative method. The indica­
endocrine weaknesses of humans seldom rise rec­ tions are that man needs to reestablish the king­
ognizably. ship o f his higher mentality by attaining, if not
Psycho-som atic reasons why the dog is more equilibrium, at least more equanimity. The most
regular in his endocrine disposition than is the logical w ay to effect this is by the solution o f the
human might be summed up in the statement that problem o f the lack o f the dire essentials, the
it is not usual for the animal to w orry. In other minerals, and particularly the trace m inerals.
words the influencing of the balance o f hormones There is a very large question o f whether a
by the adrenaJly over-weighted sympathetic truly healthy parathyroid developm ent might not
nervous system has much more to do with the circumvent the disease o f rickets almost entirely
endocrine disorders than the most erudite o f en­ without the use of irradiated foods or cakiferrous
docrinologists w ould be ready to admit. materials (as found in fish liver oil etc.). En­
A disease in some respects related to rickets docrinology has not been blessed with the govern­
(arthritis) has been shown to arise occasionally mental reinforcement that has sanctified the
from critical emotional periods in human lives. atom ic bom b. M ust mankind worship the D e­
Great grief, anger, hate and fear are all potential stroyer forever?
sources o f this awful disturbance o f calcium han­ The vast evidence that the body requires a
dling by the body. M ore detailed discussion of certain delicate balance o f basic minerals has been
1">7
158 AMAZING STORIES

largely swallowed up b y the fashionable vitamin bring to men some o f the knowledge which they
trends and the dramatic tendencies o f expensive have long felt it w^s their right to have. H o w
surgery. Truly we are the victims o f a vaster long must w e w ait fo r the dissemination o f light
marvel-mongering than all the annals o f fiction to the masses? They are not all children. They
record in all the ages o f man. The radio, the can take it!
newspaper and the m oving picture screen might 1 — John M cC abe M oore

THE STORY O F A N A M A Z IN G BO O K
"O A H S P E"
O M E time ago we mentioned in these pages invisible, located in nearby and distant space.

S that w e’d read a very amazing book that

w ould prove o f interest to any science fiction
fan, as well as prove very startling to any think­
It is this portion o f the book that should prove
o f great interest to the science fiction fan, w ho is
interested in stories o f this type. This “ history”
ing reader in still other ways. M any o f our read­ is detailed in vivid action which sometimes grows
ers got the book, and since then we have received quite vociferous. Especially interesting are his­
a variety o f opinions and expressions o f interest tories o f such characters already familiar to the
that have proven our tip to be correct. Actually, reader as mythological entities, such as Thor,
we think, taken from a science fiction viewpoint, Apollo, Osiris, etc., w ho are not dealt with as they
Oahspe is a book that should not be missed by a are jn legend, but as visitors from space w ho ar­
real “ fan.” Since many o f our readers have re­ rive in gigantic space ships, armed with such
quested that we give them more inform ation about scientific marvels as have seldom been imagined
it, we are going to depart from our usual policy, even in the most ambitious o f interplanetary tales.
and review a book in our pages. H. G. Wells’ “ W ar o f the W orlds” fades to insig­
For the moment, let’s take the book as strictly nificance beside the wars fought by these charac­
a w ork o f fiction, ignoring any other claims that ters, w ho are depicted as actual human beings,
m ay be made for it. T o begin with, the author many o f w hom actually were b o m and lived on
is John Ballou Newbrough. He was b o m on a this planet.
farm near Springfield, Ohio, June 5, 1828. C ol­ The sinking o f the continent o f Pan (misnamed
lege education, specializing in medicine and den­ Lemuri^ in popular term inology) by a titanic
tistry. He was a big man, and the call o f the being from space named Aph is a study o f sheer
Australian gold fields drew him to adventure. Re­ drama.
turning, he became a dentist in N ew Y ork, mar­ The visit o f A pollo to Earth for the purpose o f
ried and had a son and a daughter. He had im proving the physical appearance o f mankind is
another daughter b y a second wife. He died in another dramatic story, replete with delights for
Donna Ana, N ew M exico, April 23, 1891. He is the avid science fiction fan.
buried in the M asonic Burial Grounds at Los Although the story is written with a flair to ­
Cruces, N ew M exico. ward a “ biblical” type o f presentation, which
H e wrote Oahspe (he says in a letter) in 1881 sometimes makes fo r slow reading, your editor
in one year, b y working fifteen minutes each regards the lyrical beauty and literary excellence
morning about a half-hour before sunrise. He o f many passages to be unsurpassed by even the
used one o f the first typewriters invented, which greatest literature o f the Bible, or o f Shakespeare,
had its keys arranged in a semi-circle around its or o f any other writer.
front in a single line. He wrote in total darkness! T o the reader who is interested in more than
The book has approximately 700,000 words, and simple entertainment, ie., ancient history, m yth­
was written in approximately 5,300 minutes— ology, etc., Oahspe presents what we might call
which figures out to 130-plus words per minute. a “ brow n study.” All o f the m ythology o f the
Y ou r editor has seen a typewriter o f exactly the w orld has been fitted into a com posite and chrono­
same make as the one N ewbrough used, and, logical whole that is entirely related. One can­
brother, that’s ty p in g ! But not impossible. M any not help but feel that here is either the truth
authors, by attaining such complete mental de­ about the origin o f our modern and classical
tachment as is indicated by N ewbrough’s state­ myths, or M r. N ewbrough has devised a com m on
ment that he wrote in darkness, can do similar “ denominator” which in itself is a tremendous
feats o f writing today. Y ou r editor has done 90 feat. Y ou r editor himself has decided, after two
w ords per minute on a single manuscript under years o f study, that until a better explanation o f
slightly similar circumstances. m ythology comes along, he will accept this one
The author claims the book to be a “ history” as the only plausible working basis, no matter
o f the Earth (insofar as human habitation is con­ what other connotations the “ history” may have.
cerned) for 79,000 years; including a history o f T o the anthropologist, to the student o f ancient
the same period in an invisible counterpart o f the races and civilizations, to those w ho delve into
Earth’s surface located in the atmosphere. It the earth and study ancient artifacts and ruins
also includes snatches o f related history o f the to uncover the m ystery o f the migrations and
same period on other planets, both visible and origins o f peoples, Oahspe can and does present a
 THE STORY OF AN AMAZING BOOK "OAHSPE1 159

great deal o f fo o d fo r thought. Scientific discov­ triguing one. I f you have any ideas about life
eries made since 1881 in these fields (which will after death, about “ heaven” o r ‘ 71611,” here is a
be well know n to those w ho are interested, and book that has as m uch claim to greatness as does
instantly applied to the b o o k ) have either proved M ilton’s Paradise L ost and Paradise Regained.
to be incredibly lucky coincidences, or they w ould T o the metaphysicist, Oahspe presents a chal­
tend to indicate that Oahspe's “ history” is just lenge. Its concepts along these lines are absorb­
that. The inferences to be drawn from such a ingly interesting. I t provides fuel for mental
line o f thought are tremendous, and should not calisthenics which can lead to unknown heights.
be entertained by the casual reader. And finally, to the philosopher, here is another
“ com plete” picture o f things as they might really
'T 'O the scientist, the chemist, physicist and be. Or, as might better be said, as close to reality
A astronomer especially, s e v e r a l sections o f as any concept can be. Reality is that elusive
Oahspe present a challenge— but a challenge that, thing which is impossible to reach. W e conceive
based on the light o f present-day scientific re­ o f no ultimate reality, o f no ultimate Creator, o f
search, will be taken to be no challenge at all. no ultimate truth— and in that sense, Oahspe will
T o say that Oahspe's science is at variance with be as eminently acceptable to the philosopher as
accepted concepts w ould be putting it m ildly. Per­ any philosophy yet devised; and w h o can say to
haps the interest o f the scientist w ould be in the what degree it is "reality approached” ?
broadly comprehensive and “ logical” w ay in which Because ybur editor has been a science fiction
the book builds up a scientific concept which, fan fo r 25 years, and has found this b o o k o f ab­
taken as a whole, is quite satisfactory and w ork­ sorbing interest viewed in the light o f his hobby,
able. W e have read science fiction stories o f it w ould seem “ well put” to recomm end this b o o k
other planets where the civilization follow ed a to others like himself.
line o f development which differed radically from Oahspe calls itself a “ N ew Bible” but d o n ’t
that taken b y humanity on Earth, and it can let that influence you one w a y o r another. The
truly be said that Oahspe's “ try” in this direction book is (1 ) entertaining; (2 ) thought-provoking;
is a masterful one. There is no need to accept it, (3 ) well in line with the interests o f A m a z i n g
nor any need to becom e vociferous in rejecting it. S t o r i e s ’ content; (4 ) inextricably linked with the
Any scientifically minded reader w ho w ould go most amazing m ystery ever to be presented in any
out o f his w ay to “ disprove” the science o f Oahspe science fiction magazine, the Shaver M ystery. M r.
w ould only be admitting, in his ow n mind, the Shaver himself, while rejecting all o f the philos­
weakness o f his ow n fundamental concepts. ophy and mysticism o f the b ook , recognizes that
One o f the most amazing features o f Oahspe is it is a fine “ thought record” o f the past, and in
a series o f language charts which purport to carry his w ords, Is “ probably true in an historical sense.”
language developm ent on Earth up from the first But don’t take our w ord fo r it. I f yo u w ant to
written language (Panic) to m odem tongues. A l­ check us, the b o o k can be procured from Kosm on
though your editor has spent many hours study­ Pub. Co., 2210-A W . U th St., L os Angeles, Calif.,
ing these charts for inconsistencies, he has yet to and its cost is $5.00. I f yo u happen to be a
find one. T ruly here is one o f the mysterious student of the Shaver M ystery, here’s just one
things that make Oahspe w orthw hile from the o f the facets o f this m ystery which m ay serve to
same standpoint that makes a crossw ord puzzle convince you it is no hoax.
book worthwhile. M any readers w ould find great Is Oahspe the w ork o f John Ballou Newbrough,
fascination in “ solving” the puzzles presented by o r is it the w ork o f “ spirits” as he claims, o r is
these charts. it, perhaps, the w ork o f Shaver’s cave people, and
I f you should happen to have a mystical streak drawn from his “ thought records” ? O r are all
in your makeup, Oahspe ought to prove a gold o f them talking about the same thing?
mine o f interest to you. The subject o f religion, Y ou r editor has his ow n ideas— which have
as related to history {Oahspe's history) is an in­ served to entertain him mightily.

S P A C E SHIPS LIMITED
No. 2— P o w e r Plants
By JACKSON ROSS
N T IL the uranium atom was split, fo r all oretically it was and is possible to build a rocket

U practical purposes it was physically im­

possible to escape from the earth. The
pull o f gravity cannot be overcam e except b y ex­
ship to reach the m oon o r any other heavenly body
in toward the sun. Technically it w ould barely
have been possible, but when we com e to describe
tremely high speeds or constant accelerations or this ship the reader will understand the diffi­
both. N o engine was know n which could have culties involved. They are great enough, I think,
carried man or even itself far enough from the to warrant the statements made above.
earth’s gravity pull to be dom inated b y the grav­ The primary difficulty, o f eourse, is fuel. The
itation field o f any other celestial body. calculations have all been worked out by G od­
B u t note I say “ fo r all practical purposes.” The­ dard and others and there is nothing mysterious
160 AMAZING STORIES

or even difficult about them. T h e basic problem to say nothing o f 95,000 miles per hour. So the
o f interspadal flight is but an extension o f any only possible w ay that we could attain the velod ty
rocket flight problem — but greatly magnified. o f escape is by a succession o f step rockets. Of
The first fuel limitation is quantity. If we course, a rocket can fly faster than the speed o f
could carry enough fuel so that we could ac­ its ow n jet, but to d o so uses m ore fuel than if
celerate constantly, we w ould n o t have to worry it is boosted by successively stepped charges. For
about starting speed. But with any fuel know n the greatest econom y, therefore, w e have to de­
(until the atom was split) we could never car­ vise a step rocket
ry enough. It is simply too heavy. Therefore N ow just what is a step rocket? I t is simply a
all serious conceptions o f interspadal pow er plants multiple rocket. First o f all there must be a
have been based upon the idea o f attaining enough payload. Then a number o f rockets are joined
initial v e lod ty to overcom e the pull o f the earth’s together and fired in series. B y continuing the
gravity. This necessary speed has been know n as acceleration, each successive firing gives added
the “ velod ty o f escape” (from gravity). After hav­ speed to the part that remains. As each fuel
ing left the earth’s atmosphere and most o f the pull charge is fired and exhausts itself, its bum t-out
o f gravity (it w ould diminish as the square o f m otor is dropped and the new charge gives even
the distance but w ould never be entirely over­ more speed to the smaller part remaining.
com e), IN ew ton’s Theory— E d.] and having at­ W ith today’s fuels, at least six steps w ould be
tained the velodty o f escape, our rocket motors necessary to attain suffident speed to escape from
w ould be shut off. From that point onward our the earth. Suppose we were going to start out
rocket craft w ould coast freely through space, with a minimum payload. Let’s even suppose we
where there is no friction to stop it. might be able to design a one-m an ship with a
N ow this escape velocity has been calculated total final weight, induding passenger, equipment
quite accurately. It is a speed o f about 25,000 and car, o f only 500 pounds. W ith jet velodties
miles per hour in the direction o f the sun and o f 6,000 to 7,000 feet per second, our complete
about 95,000 miles per hour in directions away rocket ship, b y the time all the steps were built
from the sun. It is m ore away from the sun onto it, w ould weigh about 45,000 tons!
than tow ard the sun because when a rocket ship Theoretically, o f course, we could build such a
is m oving toward the sun, the sun’s gravity attrac­ craft. But w e have, as yet, not made any pro­
tion is helping to pull it away from earth, while vision fo r getting our passenger back to Earth. If
when the ship is m oving away from the sun, the we did that, the size o f our craft rises to impossible
gravity attraction of both the earth and the sun figures.
com bine to w ork against it. N ow what is the w ay o u t? W e may be able to
In tow ard the sun w e might fly to the M oon, find better conventional fuels. I f w e could double
Venus, or M ercury. Aw ay from the sun we could our jet velodty, which is theoretically possible if
head toward Mars, the outer planets, or even we used m ost o f the potential energy in an oxygen-
goals outside the solar system. gasoline fuel com bination, w e might be able to cut
W ith conventional fuels, it is generally assumed the size o f this ship to as little as 50 tons 1 I f we
that an efficient rocket can be accelerated to a added an additional fuel load permitting our ex­
speed as fast as its ow n jet velocity before the plorer to get back to earth, it w ould weigh sev­
fuels are consumed. But today we have no rocket eral times as much but w ould still be quite feas­
capable o f jet velocities o f 25,000 miles per hour, ible. (C ontinued on page 174)

G L U T A M I C A C I D IN T H E A U G M E N T A T IO N
O F H U M A N E FF IC IE N C Y
H E A T has been the greatest o f the markedly, but soy beans are defident in methio­

W grasses to the white race. For long-un­

rolling centuries it has furnished most o f
the ocddentals with the staff o f life. It has truly
nine content, the latter being so important that
its lack cannot be overlooked as far as general
diet is concerned. It is not furnished in signifi­
been much-abused by refinement and the art o f cant amounts by rice, so, in the light o f further
cooking, but it has probably contributed more discussion, it will be understood that the brown
than any other dietary factor to the vaunted su­ race, and large parts o f the yellow race, have
premacy o f the whites. There are specific chemical been fighting quite an uphill drag.
reasons for this fa c t W hen the diet is reinforced with this chemical,
The kernel o f wheat contains an important sup­ called glutamic ad d , or when large amounts o f
plementary substance, which is manufactured to it are available from the diet itself (in easily re­
some extent, depending upon general health o f the coverable fo rm ), nervous effidency and its corol­
organism and upon the specific health o f the liver, lary “ morale” rise considerably. The rise is so
within the human body. Although it is present marked that subjective realization o f benefit is un­
to some extent in practically all proteins, this deniable. Overuse o f the pure substance, however,
substance is most effectively obtained by the body gives rise to head-aches and nervousness, and a
from the wheat. It is furnished b y soy beans tendency to constipation, the latter particularly
 GLUTAMIC ACID IN HUMAN EFFICIENCY 161

when certain inorganic minerals are over-used in age) and assimilation, that the b od y m ay be de­
supplement. Proper calcium and protein balance nied its needs. Alcohol, coffee and alkaloids are
imm ediately offsets the over-ingestion o f glutamic the chief offenders in this regard.
a d d , how ever, if the latter has n ot been to o great.
M ore than five grains per day m ay increase hem ­ 'T 'H E general acclimatization o f the white man
orrhage likelihood, if the cystein and caldum o f A to richer, if softer, dietary items makes his
the b lood (either one or b oth ) are insuffident, group much m ore subject to the effects o f starva­
and this effect can be dangerous if those blood tion. T he Japanese, accustomed to centuries o f
elementals are very low , especially where there has diet deficient, or very nearly so, in im portant basic
been a previous history o f brain hemorrhage, or substance, has indubitably created a group which
a prior weakness o f capillary walls. is better able to subsist on seriously questionable
The benefits o f sufficient glutam ic a d d extend diet, although the general tendendes o f the N ip­
m uch farther, in a purely chemical manner, than pon race to be neurotic, m yopic (short-sighted)
those to the central nervous system and the other and o f dim inutive stature demonstrate well the
nerve processes. W hile the brain and nerve bene­ price they have paid fo r subsisting on such diet.
fits are truly dramatic in cases o f epilepsy that are The white captives in the Japanese prison camps
caused by sub normal liver function, the other tis­ in the Philippines, expected to flourish on the sort
sues also respond to glutamic a d d replenishment. o f diet that kills even Chinese coolies long before
Greater health o f skin and hair is noticeable, their time, are am ple dem onstration o f w hat differ­
even the rate o f hair grow th being slightly in­ ence lies between the brow n race and the white In
creased. The same general type o f benefit occurs the w ay o f fundamental dietary requirements.
in the m usde tissues, attributable to im proved Although the yellow race does not furnish the
tone in the tissue as well as m ore effective m etabo­ same type o f com pact, definitive example as do the
lism o f proteins and carbohydrates. Japanese, the low er class groups o f yellow people,
T he most remarkable reason fo r this concat­ as found in m etropolitan areas, show the same
enation o f benefits is that glutamic acid tends dietary hardihood as the Japanese soldier.
to restore the balance between the voluntary and The chief function o f glutam ic a d d is that o f a
autonom ic nervous system. Such balance is dis­ carrier agent in the tissue-oxidation o f carbohy­
turbed by practically every type o f negative in­ drates. Its raising o f energy level is identified
fluence figuring in psychosomatics. In other words, with its important reactions in such oxidation. The
everything from glandular abnorm ality to n on- carrier mechanism o f the human body is probably
hygienic habit, and everything from severe em o­ the m ost abused m odus operand! in the chemique,
tional experience to over-w ork and w o r iy has its but since that is part o f another vaster story, the
very direct chemical im pact upon the nervous point w ill be passed over, w ith t^e single addition
system as a whole. T he psychological tendency o f the fact that this particular carrier agent is
predominant In all effective people is to take too effective in the optically dextro-rotatory form , the
much into their ow n hands their bodily disposi­ laevo-rotatory isomer being unnatural, and to a
tions, trying to govern consdously the energistics degree poisonous, to the higher animals and man.
o f peristalsis, the need for rest, and the essential The structures o f m ost proteins in the animal
demands o f the b o d y for nourishment, without b od y require this am ino a d d in order to be com ­
having sufficient time nor regularity to control plete. It is therefore but a step to the realization
such phenomena. Finally the autonom ic nervous o f the reason fo r the im provem ent in skin and h»*r
system gets so tired o f being pushed around, by health and its influence upon most o f the struc­
not having any attention paid to its findings and tures in the body. The fact that it is a constitu­
its prescriptions, that in certain im portant respects ent o f insulin makes it obvious that a dire defi-
it almost entirely ceases to fulfill its normal duties. d e n cy in this simple com pound m ay becom e one
Laxatives, drugs and tonics, and sometimes dire o f far m ore serious implications (diabetes) if there
emergency measures are substituted fo r proper has been liver damage w hich incaparitates the
habit and considerations. m anufacturing process. In fact it is indicated by
Until com paratively recently science has paid this fact that the supplementing o f the diet o f
little attention to any o f the life-essential pro­ some considerable number o f diabetics with glu­
tein constituents (am ino acids) except those which tamic a d d m ay correct (in a m ore reasonable and
it had classed as “ essential” because it appeared far safer m anner) the disease fo r which insulin is
that the b od y could n ot manufacture them. The n ow used. A s the liver ages, its ability to produce
growing realization that substances such as glu­ those am ino a d d s not usually called essential de­
tamic a d d , which does not dassify as an essential creases markedly, and general loss o f tone o f the
amino a d d in this sense, m ay be defirient in the body tissues further reduces the supply o f these
animal and human bodies because o f dysfunction body elementals (b y impairing appetite as well as
o f the organs, or serious dietary insuffidendes (o r by impairing digestive and assimilative processes)
varying com binations o f b o th ), makes it apparent so that the b lo o d balance o f certain o f them at last
that these substances deserve sharp scrutiny. Even falls to the point where the pancreas can no longer
when basic protein substance is induded in large obtain aQ the building blodts o f insulin. When
am ount In the diet, drugs or beverages, o r both, even one o f the building blocks is left out o f the
may be militate against protein digestion (d e a v - pancreatic hormone, it is n ot the horm one at all,
162 AMAZING STORIES

but a totally different substance which may do over-ingestion o f the substance. Such effect dis­
more harm than good, perhaps even undermining appears with discontinuation o f the com pound.
the health o f the diabetic while he em ploys insulin. The total effect o f dietary reinforcement o f
It is definite that a diabetic under the most care­ glutamic acid upon an entire people would be diffi­
ful management o f insulin medication and blood cult to estimate. W hat influence it might exert
sugar level has neither the health nor the life ex­ upon criminal minds, to the increase in shrewdness
pectancy o f a normal person. o f criminality, would be immediately overborne
It is thus demonstrable, both by consideration by its normalizing effects upon the mentalities in
o f the facts and by experiment, that this simple danger o f launching themselves into criminal en­
(and harmless on circumspect use) com pound is deavors on account o f low morale, not to mention
one of the very important substances capable of the tremendous reduction in insanity which would
functioning to broaden the horizons o f man. be realized shortly.
Its remarkable effects upon the central nervous It is to be realized that this substance is only
system result from its improvement o f cellular one o f many whose varying degrees o f deficiencies
energy levels. It improves memory and renders (o r combinations o f deficiencies) must be con­
thought processes simpler. It eases nervous ten­ sidered in any comprehensive rationale o f the hu­
sion, and in some cases promotes a remarkable man organism. It is definitely not a cure-all, but
calmness. B y its central nervous system effects it is certainly a powerful tool, and when used
it promotes the coordination o f the entire orga­ with legitimacy and medical com m on sense, it
nism, reducing simultaneously the synaptic resist­ should w ork to the vast betterment o f society.
ance of both the autonom ic and the voluntary — John M cCabe M oore
nerve processes. Its effects upon the body are in
no way unnatural or truly stimulating, morale and P.S. As an afterthought, although it should
energy levels returning to their ordinary stages hardly be necessary to point out the connection,
when dietary reinforcement is withdrawn. it is quite obvious that glutamic a d d plays a large
Continuous indiscreet over-em ploym ent o f the role in the relationship o f the liver to carbohy­
substance has some effect upon the eyeballs simi­ drate metabolism, which has been (and still is)
lar to xerophthalmia. This fact alone should be regarded as one o f the more sublime o f the clinical
powerful enough to dissuade anyone from the mysteries.

TR EASU R E O F T A N T A L U S
FF the coast o f N ova Scotia, washed by a half, but the enemy o f successive treasure hunt­

O the waters o f Mahoni Bay, lies Oak Island,

site of a tremendous treasure estimated to
be of great value. The exact location o f this great
ers has not been murder or mutiny, but water.
T od ay this golden link with the violent days
o f the Spanish Main lies beyond our grasp be­
wealth is known. Repeated attempts have been cause o f an engineering problem. Water from the
made to obtain the gold as salvage com pany ex­ sea floods all shafts in the area, but the water in
perts matched wits with college professors. But the shafts does not return to the sea. Apparently
tw o centuries ago a group o f pirates devised a there is a concealed shut-off valve which acts to
tunnel system o f protection that has baffled the hold the water back from the sea. If the location
best engineers o f m odem times. o f this valve can be determined, Oak Island will
The story o f Oak Island is a dark and almost surrender its secret.
incredible mystery. N o one knows who placed The long saga o f failure and frustration began
the treasure there, but a small army o f workers in 1795 when three young men came to the island
must have been employed in constructing the on a picnic. While wandering about they came
tw o-hundred-foot shaft and the tunnel to the sea. to a clearing which overlooked a small cove at
Apparently no attempt was ever made by mem­ the extreme end o f the bay. In the center o f this
bers o f the original group to reclaim the wealth. clearing the men noticed a large oak tree from
The location has been know n for a century and which a limb had been sawed, while the trunk
 AMAZING FACTS 163

exhibited marks indicating that the tree had served taneously in order to drain the water from the
as a derrick fo r a block and tackle. original pit where the treasure likely lay. Once,
Puzzled, the men looked around and noticed a as the w ork progressed, they struck soft metal.
hollow in the soil resembling an old filled-in well. The metal failed to d in g to the bore bits, but
Nearby was a m oss-covered stone bearing a rusty they were certain it was gold. H ow ever, their
ring-bolt and an old boatswain’s whistle. Further drainage system failed. W ater flowed from a lim­
search in the surrounding turf was rewarded by itless source into all their shafts. Oak Island had
the discovery of a coin dated 1713. w on again.
Treasure 1 The men started digging. They soon From N ew Y ork, in 1910, came the Bath
found that the hollow was the top o f a circular W recking and Salvage Association. Their engi­
sh aft The marks o f pick and spade were still neers surveyed the scene, and their workmen
visible. Soft soil allowed them to make rapid started drilling. D ow n, deeper and deeper, into
progress. Suddenly, at ten feet, they struck som e­ the original shaft the drills made their w ay, pass­
thing solid. It was a heavy floor o f oak planks. ing through successive obstructions until they
W ith increasing excitement they removed the struck what apparently was a solid mass o f con ­
planking, only to find more soil beneath. But the crete. But the bits conquered the cement and
shaft continued on, deep into the earth. finally reached the astonishing depth o f one hun­
At twenty feet another level o f w ooden plank­ dred and seventy feet. Still the shaft continued!
ing was found and removed. M ore dirt. The But then the water came, rising relentless and
shaft continued. Finally, at thirty feet, the tired unconquerable, faster than the pumps could handle
men reached a layer o f flooring so solid and heavy it, and the struggle was given up.
that they failed to m ove it. They abandoned their Three years later Prof. Welling, o f the Univer­
w ork and returned to their homes on the main­ sity o f Wisconsin, arrived at the site. H e made a
land. long and careful scientific study o f the problem .
The three men kept their secret, but they did The original builders, he discovered, had bored a
not forget. Six years later, in 1801, they told a tunnel from the nearby cove on the shore to the
D r. Lynds, o f Truro, N ova Scotia, about their pit, and he proved that there was a connection
discovery, and an excavating com pany was formed. between the shaft and the sea.
Again the soil o f Oak Island was attacked, and Continuing his investigation, Prof. W elling dis­
from the thirty-foot level the depth o f the shaft solved a red dye In the water o f the original
was increased to ninety-five feet. shaft, but this water remained in the shaft and
As they labored deeper into the earth, the w ork­ did not pass out to sea through the tunnel. Puz­
men became m ore and m ore astonished. At every zled, he decided that somewhere in the tunnel
ten feet some form o f obstruction was found. The there was a shut-off valve which caused the water
barriers o f w ooden planking changed to layers of to remain in the pit. Quite likely a secret m ethod
cocoanut matting and then yellow putty. Finally, o f releasing this valve had been devised b y the
at ninety feet, a stone bearing a mysterious in­ group which concealed the treasure, and this ac­
scription was revealed. Shortly afterward tiie tion w ould allow the water to drain out o f the
stone was lost and has never been found since. pit and out to sea.
N o copy of the writing was ever made. The nature o f this valve, h o w it works, and
H aving penetrated to ninety-five feet where an­ where it is located, if it exists, are still mysteries.
other layer o f planking form ed a barrier, the dig­ On the other hand, it has been suggested that one
gers decided to call it a day. Darkness was rapidly o r more subterranean wells m ay have becom e ac­
aproaching, and they were tired. But while they tive below and around the treasure cache between
slept the enemy seeped in from the depths below, the time it was placed there and first penetrated
and they awakened the next morning to find sev­ by diggers.
enty feet o f water in the shaft. Another suggested that has been made by stu­
The workman decided to dig another shaft, but dents o f the problem is that the original valve
the follow ing night it, too, was flooded. Again device, located at the mouth o f the tunnel where
they tried— and failed. The struggle was hopeless. it enters the sea, has been destroyed by storms or
It was impossible to reach the treasure with one heavy sea action.
d a y ’s w ork, and the water always came in the One thing is certain: o f all the treasure stories
night. Baffled, disappointed, they left the island the m ystery o f Oak Island best illustrates the
never to return, and for almost a century Oak agony o f Tantalus. And it seems certain that the
Island lay undisturbed with its wealth locked in wealth here concealed must be o f fabulous value
its water-clad heart. considering the astonishing efforts that were made
to hide and protect it. Someday we shall know
n p H E N , in 1896, treasure hunters came again. fo r the Ingenuity o f engineering skill will yet solve
A They arrived with pow er-driven bores and the puzzle created tw o centuries ago off N ova
with the idea of sinking several shafts simul­ Scotia.

PROOF ON THE SHAVER MYSTERY— COMING!

 O F R S C I E N T I S T S
■y A LEX A N D ER I L A D I

In stin ct o r rea so n ? This scien tist's most im portant

contribution to knowledge lies in this argum ent

H E French entomologist, Jean Henri Fabre, offered the professorship of physics, mathematics

T was born at St. Leons in Aveyron on De­

cember 21, 1823. He was the son o f a small
land owner with a family so large and an income
and chemistry at the Lyceum at A ja cd o , on the
island o f Sardinia. While serving here he had
the good fortune to meet the botanist, M oquin-
so meager from his little patch o f earth, that Tandon, and to be able to assist him in his work
it became necessary at a very early age to send of collection in the wonderful flora of that island.
him to his grandparents in the neighboring village Between them a strong and lasting friendship de­
of Malaval where, by tending the geese and ducks veloped. Meanwhile he had discovered that his
he could at least earn his keep. life-w ork was to be the study o f the life-history,
When Fabre was seven years old conditions at habits and instincts o f insects.
home improved slightly and he was brought back In 1852, in consequence o f an attack o f the
and sent to the local primary school. In 1833 the malarial fever prevalent on the island in certain
family left their little farm and moved to the seasons 6 f the year, Fabre decided to return to
tow n o f Rodez, where his father opened a cafe France, and through the aid o f M oquin-Tandon
and the boy was able to attend school, where he was appointed to the professorship in physics and
made good progress. B y this time he was so in­ chemistry at the Avignon lyceum where formerly
terested in the study o f natural history that the he had been a student. There, in a region throng­
Latin he was forced unwillingly to study became ing with insect and bird life he passed several
a fascinating task as soon as he had advanced comparatively happy years, devoting his leisure
far enough to encounter the “ Bucolics” o f Virgil. hours to investigations in natural history and
Four years later the family m oved again, to chemistry.
Toulouse, and in the following year to M ontpel­
lier. Fabre was now a sturdy lad o f fifteen, and D Y TH IS time he had become so well known
felt under obligations to leave his home and earn u among scientists b y his frequent small publica­
his living wherever he could find employment. tions and contributions to current periodicals that
Being a friendly b oy he made friends everywhere, he was elected a member o f the Legion o f Honor.
and the outdoor life o f a laborer brought him In 1858 be w on his degree as licentiate in natural
continually in contact with the nature he loved. history, and a little later the coveted doctor’s de­
W orking conscientiously at every employment he gree, which he hoped w ould open to him a call
secured, living simply, and saving his surplus earn­ to a university position. This did not come
ings; when in his wanderings he reached the city through, because, as he learned afterwards through
of Avignon, and learned that there was to be held a friend, o f his limited means, he began the in­
an examination fo r a bursary at its normal school, vestigation o f the coloring matter alizarin, with
he boldly entered the race and easily won it. the intent o f undertaking the business o f dyeing
This good fortune enabled him to abandon manual as a means o f making money. But just as he
labor and take the full course that the institution was getting well started the era o f synthetic dyes
provided. When he passed bis final examinations began, with which he was unable to contend. Thus
in 1843 with credit and before he had attained his at last Fabre was compelled to take to his writing
m ajority, he was offered the position o f teacher seriously as a means of support. He had already
at the primary school connected with the college published a few school text books, but they added
in the town of Carpentras. little to his income.
There he taught with such success, while at In 1870 he m oved to a house in the suburbs
the same time grasping every opportunity to in­ o f Orange where, surrounded by his devoted fam ­
crease his ow n stock of knowledge, that he was ily, and far away from the world o f strife, he spent
 VIGNETTES OF FAMOUS SCIENTISTS 165

nine happy years studying and describing the culture. This great w ork was crowned b y the
abundant insect life o f the region, and easily find­ Institute o f France. In its com position he studi­
ing a market fo r his w ork at fair remuneration. ously avoided w hat he called the “ official jargon’
Here he lived an extremely secluded life, absorbed o f science, adopting in its stead, and w ithout the
in his study. He took no account o f books, and least sacrifice o f accuracy, a style so charming as
all his w ork was based on, direct observation. to bring his descriptions within the mental grasp
Although the ways o f all insects interested him, o f anyone w ho can read. N o writer in his field
his attention was given chiefly to the hym en- since the far-off day o f Virgil— w ho described so
optera, coleoptera, orthoptera, as well as to delightfully the life and doings o f the bee, the
spiders. O f the first, the wasps, with their skill grasshopper and the crow — has been able to con ­
in stinging their prey in the region o f the nervous vey to the masses so m uch, and so truthfully o f
ganglia so as to paralyze it and preserve it living the wonders o f the w orld o f small animate nature,
as fo o d fo r their young, seemed to Fabre to show in w hich he says he found a knowledge o f Deity.
an intelligence irreconcilable with the theory o f Fabre, w ho was not w hat is called b y theologians
fixed habits. Other researches led him to oppose a religious m an, w as asked in his o ld age if he
the theory o f evolution. These monographs were believed in G od. His reply was, “ I can’t say I
written in a style at once so simple, and yet so believe in H im ; I see H im . W ithout Him I under­
delightful, as to win for him a large circle o f read­ stand nothing. Y o u could take m y skin from me
ers not only in France but throughout Europe and more easily than m y faith in G od.” Fabre died on
in America. Before he could fairly appreciate the October 11, 1915.
fact he had becom e one o f the most noted o f The most im portant strictly scientific result
naturalists. that was reached b y his life studies was undoubt­
edly the light that he threw upon the nature o f
A F T E R the death o f his eldest son Jules in the faculty o f instinct, as contrasted with that
* * 1879— which Fabre took very hard— he human one called reason. In his ow n words he
m oved to a still more secluded residence near the regarded the form er as proving, in the case o f
little village o f Serignan, where he spent the bal­ each individual studied “ perfect wisdom , com ­
ance o f his long life. There he planned and ex­ parable with and even superior to human wisdom,
ecuted his great ten-volum e w ork w hich made his within the custom ary conditions o f their lives; and
name famous. I t was published under the title o f incredible stupidity outside o f them.” This Is
“ Souvenirs Entom ologiques.” In it is detailed his perhaps the most correct definition o f the charac­
incomparable observations, his deductions, con ­ ter and nature o f instinct as a phenomenon that
cerning the relation between the animal and the has been put into words.
human mind, and between entom ology and agri­ The End

FEVER IN T H E S O U T H — A N D N O D O C T O R !
N U M B E R o f m onths ago, in the annals o f affair because it m ay be dependent upon a great

A A. S. (Am azing Science, pardon the pun)

a writer brought up the subject o f the
colon as a possible chief causative factor in dis­
many different factors o r upon one o f m any.
The fever mechanism o f the body, with which
it meets any m ajor invasion b y foreign m icro­
ease processes and death. I t was probably viewed organisms, is also tremendously influenced b y the
askance by a great many readers, but there is a colon. Repeated enemas o f temperature above
great deal o f evidence to bolster the culpability o f that o f the blood, will invariably reduce body
that body area in connection with m any diseases. temperature to nearer normal. This sounds very
As a first example let us view the condition paradoxical, by reason o f the fact that raising the
which might be misnamed “ the disease o f Am er­ temperature o f any portion o f the b od y w ould
ica,” namely hypertension, or high blo o d pressure. be expected to cause a m inor increase In the gen­
In m ore than ninety per cent o f the cases o f ab­ eral temperature. H ow ever, when this mechanism
normally high blood pressure, the failure o f the is viewed from the toxin stance, the result becomes
intestinal elimination to proceed norm ally is re­ entirely rational. T he tfuth is that when the alien
marked. This means that toxins reabsorbed into poisons o f the germ causing an infection are added
the blood and lym ph are militating against the to the poisons to which the b od y is already some­
ability o f those fluid-tissues to maintain themselves what acclimated b y habit (those absorbed in the
as completely effective nutritive agencies (the colon co lo n ), the b o d y elevates its temperature in an
is not an area intended for chemical absorption, endeavor to consume the poison load by fire. If
it is true, but the giving o f nutritive substance by the poisons from the colon are rem oved so that
that route is often routine when fo o d cannot be their further absorption is rendered impossible,
taken by m outh, e.g. whole eggs). It means also the amount o f extra beat energy required in burn­
that a certain percentage o f poisonous materials ing the m icro-organisms’ alien toxins is readily fur­
must sooner or later be accepted by tissues' other nished b y a temperature nearer normal thus serv­
than the blood and lym ph. Naturally the reme­ ing the thyroid and total b od y energy. T he bodily
dying o f the underlying condition is not a simple return to norm al temperature depends from this
166 AMAZING STORIES

point on the organism’s ability to destroy the in­ found in the colon, or not normally found there,
vaders and their poisons b y the fever m ethod. In­ m ay well be open to question. Alkaloids embrace
sidious diseases which either fail to cause fever at the deadly narcotics, such as cocaine, et a!, n o t to
all or which d o not cause it until too late for e f­ mention substances like strychnine. It is not much
fective body response to be possible, are usually o f a stretch o f the imagination, therefore, to real­
much more to be feared than the diseases which ize that poisons capable o f functioning against
cause fever at their onset and are marked by the action o f separate organs like the heart may
fever throughout their entire courses. well derive from the colon.
It is laughing-stock in many hospital circles that A research man has brought out the fact that
depressed patients often request repeated cathar­ it is not only possible to rear animals w ho are
tics, but that there is a very solid basis for the bacteria-free, but that they are far more healthy
desires o f some patients fo r im proved elimination as successive generations are bred than ordinary
is n ot to be denied. Hypersensitive individuals animals. From his w ork it appears that (regard­
almost invariably blame stasis, when it is present, less o f the medical opinionation that certain bac­
for circumstances ranging all the w ay from de­ teria are “ friendly” when found in the colon ) the
pressed or nervous states to acute infections. There friendship is only a matter o f the lesser o f a mul­
are a good many reasons to believe that much tiplicity o f evils. In the relationship o f the colon
so-called “ nervous temperament” results from bacillus, long considered to be a “ friend” worth
stasis. For example, it m ay one day be dem on­ harboring, we find the bacillus o f typhoid and
strated unequivocally that delayed elimination is typhus. N or are these great enemies o f man very
often responsible for damage to the parathyroid distant relatives o f the colon bacillus.
glands, which by failure to maintain the blood A number o f years ago a N ew Y o rk physician
calcium at sufficient concentration, interferes with came out very enthusiastically championing the
the calmness necessary to proper rest and tissue utilization o f the lactobadllus acidophilus (sour-
nutrition. The theory that the parathyroids ac­ railk germ ) instead o f the colon bacillus, claiming
tually do destroy certain foreign toxins, which that the substitute germ is practically capable o f
w ould be positive evidence o f the above cycle if supplying the body with its requirements o f the
it were proved correct, leads directly to the pos­ vitamin B com plex. Strangely enough, this like
sibility o f thus throwing the entire system out o f many another medical achievement has not re­
balance. In connection with this it is worth re­ ceived any publicity either am ong the profes­
marking that children whose colons fail to func­ sionals or the laymen. O f course the Bulgarian
tion regularly are subject to insomnia and walk­ yogurt, which is essentially a continuous culture
ing and talking during sleep much more than o f a similar germ, is still em ployed by the Bul­
com pletely normal children. garians and a few others in the maintenance o f
Heart action, it is now realized, is influenced health. The longevity and hardihood o f the Bul­
by a great many substances, both medicinal and garians w ho follow the milk-transplantation o f
otherwise. I f therefore the toxins from the colon yogurt throughout their lives, are very outstand­
do affect the level o f blood calcium directly, the ing characteristics. They seldom grey early, their
action o f the pump is directly influenced b y the physical strength is usually great, they are dynamic
consequent alteration o f calcium, potassium-so­ and usually practical and successful people.
dium ratios. M any substances foreign to the These few statements should constitute enough
animal body have been em ployed as heart stimu­ argument to the general lay mind that there are
lants, and even as rat poison, (red squill, a relative reasons to question the condition o f the colon in
to the medicinal digitalis). Little, if any, w ork any disease. A druggist friend o f the writer’s once
has ever been done experimentally with the o r­ made the sarcastic rejoinder to a nonsensical query,
ganic poisons manufactured in the colon, although “ Y ou surely don’t have to ask your doctor wheth­
it is w ell-known that germs putrefying fo o d out­ er yo u need castor o il!” Although this answer
side the body may produce fatal poisoning. The seemed a bit extreme, both to the customer ad­
ptomaines, often very poisonous, may be form ed in dressed and to the writer, it was certainly a bur­
some degree in the colon. Any alkaloid or any lesque o f same peoples’ knowledge o f rudimentary
ptomaine manufactured by bacteria normally hygienics. J. M . M oore

The ANSWERS To Your QUESTIONS

Proofl That's what you ask. Well, we'll give you a complete summary
in this magazine soon— including what proofs we already have, plus a
complete history to bring you up to date. It's sensationall

The SHAVER MYSTERY-EXPOUNDED!

AMAZING STORIES 167

Z A e S ecw b o f

MENTAL CREATING
F y o u ju s t like t o d ream , read n o further. There

I com es a tim e when yo u r fancies must be brought

in to lig h t— and stand the test o f e v e ry -d a y , hard
realities. A re y o u on e o f the thousand s— perhaps
m illion s— w hose thoughts never get b e y o n d the
stage o f w istful w ishing? D o yo u often com e to
from a dayd ream w ith the sigh, “ I f on ly I could
bring it a b o u t— ma^e it r e a l? "
A il things begin w ith th o u g h t— it is w hat fo l­
low s that m a y take yo u r life o u t o f the class o f
those w h o h ope and dream . T h o u g h t energy, like
an yth in g else, can be dissipated— o r it can be m ade
to p rod u ce actual effects. I f yo u know how to place
your thoughts y o u can stim ulate the creative p r o c ­
esses w ithin yo u r m ind — through them yo u can
assem ble things and con d ition s o f you r w orld into
a h a p p y life o f accom plishm ent. M en tal creating
does n o t depend upon a m agical process. I t c o n ­
sists o f know ing how t o m arshal you r thoughts in to
a pow er th at draw s, com pels and organizes your
experiences in to a w orth-w hile design o f living.

ACCEPT THIS T u t BOOK

L e t the R osicrucian s tell y o u how y o u m a y ac­
com plish these things. T h e R osicrucians (n o t a
religious o rgan ization ), a w orld-w ide philosophical
fraternity, have preserved fo r centuries the ancients’
m asterful know ledge o f the functioning o f the inner
m ind o f m an. T h e y have taught m en and w om en
how to use this know ledge to recreate their lives.
T h e y offer y o u a free c o p y o f the fascinating b ook ,
“ T h e M astery o f L ife .” I t tells h ow y o u m ay re­
ceive this inform ation fo r stu d y and use. Use
cou p on opposite.

R o s ic r u c ia n s
( A MO B C )
SA N JOSE CALIFORNIA
 D IS C U SSIO N S
★ A Storhs will publish in each issue a selection of letters from readers.
m a z in g
Everybody is welcome to contribute. Bouquets and brickbats will have
an equal chance. Inter-reader correspondence and controversy will be encour­
aged through this department. Get in with the gang and have your say.

MORE MYSTERIES! to turn out his stories like sausages and keep this
Sirs: thing up forever.)
Y ou mentioned that a rumbling (in the ground) 1. H ow do we know Shaver even exists? Per­
such as that o f machinery was distinctly heard. sonally I believe he exists only as one o f your
I ’ve been puzzled by the same sort o f sound a aliases.
few years ago. I live on a farm, forty miles from 2. H o w do we know if he is sane? W hy not
the nearest town. The sound consisted o f heavy let a mental doctor examine him ? A fter all,
rumblings, like heavy coastal guns in action, he says it all comes from his head.
except it was a steady rumble. 3. In *T Remember Lem uria!” he claimed some
About six months ago I was coming up through Elders grew to over 200 feet tall; according to
the Red Sea, about four miles off the Arabian the laws o f physics, this is impossible. Roughly
Coast, on watch at 11:30, when I spotted a light. saying, this Is twenty times as great as a human.
It appeared to be a ball o f fog or mist about fifty But if the area increases twenty times the weight
feet in diameter. It was all lit up, glowing all over. will increase forty times. The Elders’ bones would
It drifted on into the shore, left no wake. I've have to be made o f three inch steel.
yet to see fo g on the Red Sea at 102°. 4. Where do the deros get air? Tremendous
G ordon C. Wetmore, ventilators w ould be needed.
Low er Kars Kings Co., 5. Where do the deros get fo o d ? (All foods
N. B., Canada. need vitamin A — sunshine).
All over the world, m ystery upon m ystery I— Ed. 6. W hy is it that the deros, w ho get no detri­
mental sunlight, are more detrimental than we,
INVESTIGATION COMPLETE!
who d o ?
Sirs:
7. W hy w ould the Atlans build cities in caves?
After nearly a year o f fooling thousands o f
Caves are dangerous, dam p, cold, and unnatural.
your readers and making complete fools out o f
you and your staff, I have decided to come clean They are in constant danger o f being flooded,
hit by earthquakes, (o r as Shaver said they were
about that fantastic drivel (V. G. finding rocket
ten miles dow n it w ould be very h o t). Surely
in Gulf o f M exico) which has so greatly amused
me and tny friends. it w ould have been easier to build sun p roof
I have never been there, never knew Professor cities.
Lindsley, and am not a commercial diver. So 8. Where did the Atlans get helicopters? They
were only invented ten years ago.
w hat? Considering the hoax you are trying to
put over, m y conscience bothers me but little. 9. Out o f all the caves, diggings, legends and
Luckily, most of your readers are either hill­ history there is no mention o f deros. Surely
they couldn’t suppress all o f these completely.
billies or are safely confined. (I have no doubts
10. And most important o f all, where is your
that you, too, should be put in a strait jacket,
especially since you admitted that a rumor to p ro o f? W hat about those 10,000 letters you have?
that effect was flying about. I suppose, however, M ost are hoaxes. The rest, n o doubt, were written
b y your staff. But no solid proof. W hat about
the authorities let you go, considering what a
that egomaniac, R. P. Graham ? He has loads o f
great morale builder A . S. is for the inmates).
But enough o f the brine coated words. The p roof that he know s the secret o f hydrodynamics.
Where is it? W hat about Hefferlin’s radio?
important thing is this: I f the general public be­
gins to believe Shaver, oh, oh 1 That’s all, brother. Row land’s diagram ? Those weird diagrams?
Photos? This has gone far enough.
Visions o f people killing each other* because they
were deros in disguise, or the president ordering Vaughn Greene,
the army to invade all caverns and destroy all 223S 17th S t,
deros on sight, float across my eyes with horror. San Francisco, Calif.
T o stop this, I have prepared 10 questions Several o f our readers, M r. Hehr, M r. Grubb,
which I challenge you to answer correctly, which and others, have gone to the trouble o f investi­
if they can be answered, will bring this Shaverism gating; Professor Lindsley, o f Chabot Observatory
business to a head. (Since Shaver seems to want (Continued on page 170)
168
 AMAZING STORIES 169

— How Do You Know----

Y o u C a n ’t W r it e ?
Have you ever tried?
Have you ever attempted even the least bit o f training, under com­
petent guidance?
O r have you been sitting back, as it is so easy to do, waiting for the
day to come when you will awaken, all o f a sudden, to the discovery
" I am a writer” ?
If the latter course is the one o f your choosing, you probably never
will writ*. Lawyers must be law clerks. Doctors must be internes.
Engineers must be draftsmen. W e all know that, in our time, the egg
does come before the chicken.
It is seldom that anyone becomes a writer until he (o r she) has been
writing for some time. That is why so many authors and writers spring
Had Never Writ­ up out o f the newspaper business. The day-to-day necessity o f writing
ten a Line — o f gathering material about which to write— develops their talent,
Sells Article Be­ their insight, their background and their confidence as nothing else could.
fore Completing That is why the Newspaper Institute o f America bases its writing
Course instruction on journalism— continuous writing— the training that has
“ Be]ore completing the produced so many successful authors.
N.l.A. course, I sold a
feature t o Screenland
Magazine for fSO. That Learn to w rite b y writing
resulted tn an immediate
EW SPAPER Institute training is based on the N ew York Copy Desk

N
assignment to do another
for the same magazine. Method. It starts and keeps you writing in your own home, on
After gaining confidence
with successive feature your own time. W eek by week you receive actual assignments, just as
stories, l am tune work­ if you were right at work on a great metropolitan daily. Your writing
ing into the fiction field. is individually corrected and constructively criticized. Thoroughly ex­
Previous to enrolling
N.l.A., I had never perienced, practical, active writers are responsible for this instruction.
written a line for publi­ Under such sympathetic guidance, you w ill find that (instead o f vainly
cation. nor senousty ex­ trying to copy someone else's writing tricks), you are rapidly develop­
pected to do so."—Gene
E, Levant, 116 West ing your own distinctive, self-flavored style— undergoing an experience
Ave. 28, Los Angeles. that has a thrill to it, and which at the same time develops in you the
Cal. power to make your feelings articulate.
Many people who should be writing become awestruck by fabulous
stories about millionaire authors and, therefore, give little thought to the
$23, $50 and $100 or more that can often be earned for material that
takes little time to write— stories, articles on business, hobbies, travel,
homemaking, human interest stories, sports, local god club events, etc.
— things that can easily be turned out in leisure hours, and often on the
impulse o f the moment.

A cha nce to test you rself

VETERANS O u r u n iq u e W r itin g A p titu d e T eat tells w h eth er
y o u possess th e fu n d a m e n ta l q u a litie s n ecessa ry to
T h is c o u rs e a p ­ su cce ssfu l w ritin g — a c u te ob s e rv a tio n , d ra m a tic in ­
p rov ed fo r V e te r­ stin c t, cre a tiv e im a g in a tion , e tc . Y o u ’ ll e n jo y ta k­
a n s ’ T r a in in g . ing this test. T h e c o u p o n w ill brin g it, w ith ou t
o b lig a tio n . N e w sp a p e r I n s t itu te o f A m e rica . O ne
Park A v e n u e , N e w Y o r k 16, N . Y . (F o u n d e d 19 25 )

Wins Writing
Success after
Two Months’
Training Newspaper Institute of America
"After only two months One Park Avenue, New York 16, N. Y.
of N.l.A. training, /
became a reporter on Sen d m e, w ith o u t c o s t or o b lig a tio n , y o u r free Writing Aptitude Test
the Columbus Enquirer. and further in fo rm a tio n ab o u t w ritin g fo r p rofit.
In four months I have
had two raises. Also I
have over 75 ‘by-lines'
to my credit, and the
prospects of becoming Miss )
City Editor look very
promising.."— Marion M. Address .
B lon d el. Columbus. h#ck b a n If you ar* •HtcTbl* und«r U>« G.I. Bill at HlerhU.
Georgia. (All corr»*|ir.ndenc* conflilnitial. No •alymnan will call on you. 1

Copyright. 1W47 suWKiuip«r ruvuiui* >I anteriM

 170 AMAZING STORIES

( Continued from page 168)

M E R E S R M E W R/VP was visited, and w rote us a letter o f denial,
which w e published, and now , finally, Mr. Greene
l/ / E S I B M S / M E S S /
conies forth with his confession. W e DO check up
on all leads. W e go to an enorm ous amount
o f trouble to check them-. U nfortunately there
are VGs to make “ fo o ls " out o f us, and waste
our time. W e accept this hardship, and so do
our readers who are as sincere as we about the
Shaver M ystery. Let this be proof that we are
sincere. IF I T IS POSSIBLE TO G E T PROOF,
W E ’ L L G E T IT.
M r. Greene, did your visions o f horror float
across your eyes when you did your best to make
our readers believe in the Shaver M ystery, with
Offers Big Money—Independence your rocket-ship hoax? D id y ou r conscience
I f y ou ar* m ech a n ica lly in clin ed — can h old and use
toola — it w ill pa y y ou to learn e le c t r ic a l a p p lia n ce re­ bother yo u when yo u considered people slaying
p a irin g . O perate fr o m y our g arag e, basem ent, etc. one another because they might be dero? Or
W ork a s m any hours as y ou w ish— the a p p lia n ce re-
talisman ia hi* ow n boa*. On m any ty p e s o f rep airs it when y o u pictured the president sending the
? a u sual f o r a repairm an t o ch a rg e on the b asis o f army into the caves? M ay w e lay any “ slayings"
#6 .0 0 to $ 6 .0 0 an hourl
at YOUR door, M r. G reene? A fter all, YOU
No Previous Experience Needed A R E TH E O N E W H O IS A H O A X E R , N O T US.
P ro fu s e ly illu stra ted , our n ew cou rse sh ow s you in
sim ple, sa sy t o u nderstand la n gu a ge plu s draw ings N ow to answer your questions:
a n d p h otog rap h s, h ow to m ake ea ch rep air on r e fr ig ­ 1. M r. Shaver lives at Lily Lake, Illinois. You,
era tors . v acuum clean ers, w ashing m achines, m otors,
fa n s, iron s, e tc ., e tc. E xplain s and arives you a w ork ­ o r anyone else, m ay prove he exists by hiring an
in g k n ow ledg e o f e le c t r ic ity , w eld ing, n iokel plating, investigator to ascertain the fact.
e tc. Show s you how t o bu ild the p ow er to o ls you need
and h ow to s o lic it and keep b usin ess com in g to you. 2. H e is sane. Are y o u ?
N o t a th eory co u r se but an noneat to good n ess p r a c ti­ 3. W e fail to find this information anywhere
c a l co u r se w ritten b y and used b y repairm en the
cou n try ov er. P rice o f co u r se is s o low that th e sa v ­ tn the laws o f physics. Aren’t yo u misinformed?
in g s on y ou r ow n h ou seh old a p p lia n ces w ill pa y fo r it. 4. There are ventilators.
A c t n ow l Bend to d a y fo r FREE litera tu re. C h risty
S u p p ly C o ., M S B N. C e n tra l A v e., Dept. D -2 S2, 5. F o o d is both grown there and shipped in from
C h icag o $ 4, Illin o is. the surface. In addition they eat each other.
6. The dero, viewing the sun over their rays,
which augment anything coming over them ter­
rifically, make the mistake o f allowing surface
sunlight to com e down to them, thus getting

Borrow *SO to $30!I» a concentrated effe c t; also, their machines, ex­

fa B i
N eed m on ey? N o m a tter w h ere posed to this, accumulate detriment and still
you live you can borrow B Y further augment it ( fo r instance, the ben rays,
M A IL $60.00 to $300.00 this
easy quick confidential way. instead o f being beneficial, are made detrimental,
IT I S E A S Y TO NO E N D O R S E R S n eed ed
and the deros spend much time bathing in the
BO RRO W E m p l o y e d m e n and w om en o f good rays).
cha ra cter can solve th e ir m oney p ro b ­
BY M A IL! lems quickly and in p riv a c y with loan s 7. Shaver has already explained, many times,
Completely con­ MADE B Y MAIL. No endorsers o r co ­
s ig n e rs. W e dd not contact em ployers, w hy the Allans built cities in caves. If yo u built
fidential and frien d* or relative*.C on ven ien t m onth­
private. ly p ay m en t!. Send us y o u r nam e and one beside a tropic river, you’ d be in danger
ad d re** and w e w ill meU application o f floods, earthquakes, and it would be very
blank a n d c o m p le te details F R E E In
p la in en velop e. T h e re is doo bligation . hot. Take your choice. D o yo u know an easier
STATE FINANCE CO. w ay to make sun p roof cities; to the extent o f
303 Morins Bid*, Dept. G-*4, New Oriaons 1 2, La. excluding all daylight and all radioactives in air,
soil, water, fo o d ?
8. W here did the Atlans get space ships? They
S K IN SUFFERERS aren’t invented Y E T I Are w e the only inventors
F or itching-burning o f ECZEMA, PSORIASIS. ATHLETE’S in the universet
FOOT, PIMPLES. RASH externally caused. Users highly
praise fast acting LUMCO, many say they are no more 9. You are misinformed. There are countless
embarrassed by Itchy blotchy akin. Rub LUMCO on at
night, look for big improvement next morning, over 30 mentions. A visit to your library would convince
year* success. Large jar $1.26. Special Double Strength yo u o f that.
for severe cases, quickens healing, large iar 82. Money
refunded If not delighted. Bent p-pald or COD plus postage. 10: YOUR letter was a hoax, so was Rowland’s.
LUMCO PRODUCTS Dept. 401 KIMBALL, NEBB. There are m ore hoaxes. W e are very patient with
such as you. Y ou are few in number. M ost
Write for full informa­ people have m ore strength o f character. As to

PATENTS
> a— a a a w
tion on what steps an
inventor should take to
secure a Patent.
tANOOLPH A BEAVERS, 920 Columbian Bldg, Waihingion 1,D.C.
where the letters are, your editor has them in a
steel file, w here anyone could read them. N one
( Continued on page 172)
 AMAZING STORIES 171

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R e g u l a t i o n o f o o lt o a in m a r r ia g e . s e c u r e a c o p y o f “ M A R R I E D L O V E ” a t th is r e m a r k a b ly lo w p r i c e o f o n ly
2 5 c. Y o u m u s t r e a d th is v a l u a b le b o o k t o u n d e r s t a n d w h y o v e r 1 ,00 0,1 )00
W h a t a w i f e m u s t d o to b r in g h e r
c o p ie s h a v e b e e n s o ld in E u r o p e a n d A m e r i c a .
h n a b a n d ’ a s e x u a l d e o lre a in t o
h a r m o n y w it h h e r o w n . T h e s a le o f t h is b o o k is r e s t r ic t e d t o p e r s o n s e it h e r m a r r ie d o r c o n t e m p la t ­
in g m a r r ia g e . C L IP T H E COUPON AND M A IL IT T O G E T H E R
C h a rt* a h o w l n g p e r io d ic it y o f W IT H Y O U R R E M IT T A N C E T O D A Y !
n a t u r a l d e s ir e l a w o m e n .
P r o p e r p o s it i o n s f o e c o it u s .
T h e m a r it a l r i g h t s s f t h e h u s ­
band.
P r o b le m # o f e h lld le a a u n io n s .
T h e t n t lm n t e p h y s ic a l c o n t a c t s o f
lo v e in m a r r ia g e .
S u re s t w a y t o p r e p a r e w if e f o r
c o it u s .
C a u s e s f o r u n h a p p in e s s la m a r ­
r ia g e .
T h e p r o b le m o f t h e s t r o n g - s e x e d
h u s b a n d a n d ta n w e a k - s e x e d
w if e .
F r e q u e n c y e f c o n j u g a l r e la t io n s .
S le e p le ss n e s s f r o m u n s a t is fie d s e x
n eeds.
P r e g n a n c y an d c o n ju g a l r e la ­
t io n s .
T h e a r t o f lo v e .
 172 AMAZING STORIES

( Continued from page 170)

* O K A W fo rM O N E Y o f them w ere written by our staff. W h y do yo u

BE AN ARTIST! a sk t M r. Graham's hydrodynam icst W e have

his com plete manuscript. Are yo u mentally
eqtdpped to evaluate it? P h o to s? Yes, w e have
U f Yowr Spar• Tim* to Proper* for some. One o f a ray, coming through M r. Shaver's
a ProStabto Art Career! bed, another o f a weird shadow on a landscape,
another showing a strange shape in a dark room.
______ _ _________ teach you *t»D
N one o f them prove anything. Tw o com e from
t-hundrada hava profited by our prac- readers, w ho could have faked them. The other
•iOd. TWO AHT OUTFITS FU8-
„ _______ C olorful nUEE BOOK. "A rt for
PIm su t * O P ro fit''-te ll* aU about our eourw , w e cannot explain. W e make no attem pt to
aarrioa. ttfcat our eraduatea any—and com-
meroial ooportunltlaa for you la Art. explain. But w e w onder about it.
There you are, M r. Greene. Answers you can
FREE BOOK gives details! file away with your imaginary space skip. But
the rocket fragment that landed on an Oregon
WASHINGTON SCHOOL OP ART campus was N O T imaginary. Strange that your
hoax should have so m uch truth in HI Actually,
2 W - *t«dl«» ea**H . 1 1 » » »Bth M.W.. Waah. 0 . D. 0.
■ fluid r o u t f m book and fu ll particular*.
we thank you fo r your prank, as it did stir up
much interest, and was v ery helpful. A nd n ow it
has helped to prove that we are sincere, and
that w e can take even such dcro activities as
.Zona State. ,
yours with no hard feelings. G ood luck.— Ed.
D I am antUlad to training uniter G.I. Blit

TO O B A D IT D IS A P P E A R E D !
Sirs:
W hile coming hom e on the bus a few weeks ago,
I got an idea fo r an F M receiver. Although I
thought there must be something w rong with the
idea, because it only took two tubes and used no
Bitter w in d s . . . sn ow , s lu lh ... inductions, I decided to build it as soon as I got
•rnfiy, overheated b o u s e s. . . n o home. I used one type 1S4 and one type 1S5
w on d er w in ter usually spells
a-g-O-n-y fo r the asthmatic w ho
tube, with a flashlight battery and a 45 volt Ever-
has n ot yet tried D r. R . Schiff- ready M inimax. The tuning was by a poten­
mtr.n'i A s t h m a o o k I Take All OTHS* tiometer. There was only one trouble with the
p ity o n the p o o r iuffcr*r...eeli thing— It worked. It not only tuned nearby sta­
h im h ow A s t h m a d o r 's rich,
tion W M IT , but WQ^CQ, N ew York. The output
a r o m a tic fu m e s c u t r ig h t
through congestion, le t in life- went into the phone input on my radio amplifier.
g iv in g air, h elp reduce th e se­ I was delighted, but I had other things to do,
verity o f the attack. Tell h im so I put off making a diagram fo r an a c-
t o ignite A s t h m a d o r p ow d er
operated unit and list o f parts. I did continue
■when he's to o scuffed u p to
sleep, o r sm oke an A s t h m a -
to listen to it as long as F M came in— abou t two
d o r c ig a r e tte a n y tim e , an y­ more hours— until midnight. In the morning, I
where. N o costly sprays t o buy AT au made the mistake o f switching the thing on. (I
— noth in g to take internally — SIORtSS think I might still have it if I hadn’t ) . It cut
just w elcom e re lie f the time-
in on a tw o-w ay conversation o f Shaver double-
tested A s t h m a d o r way. T h e
leading inhalant — sold talk I The voices had the clear, flat tone o f airline
a m oney-back guarantee. control-towers, or hospital pagers, but they just
didn’t make sense, and I almost switched it off
when one o f them said clearly “ dero mech” right

WAS DEAFene*
NOW HEARS CLOCK TICK
in the middle o f a sentence. I listened some more,
and heard more Shaver words. Examples: stim,
stim-ray, ray-mech. Also Chicago and Denver.
Although I can say for sure that the language
A . M . B eetch en on , Newark, N. J .. w rite*:
“ B efore using Orotune Ear Orops. I was so deafened that I could in general was not English, French, German or
n ot hear th e clock tick. A fter using Orotune, I can now hear the
d o c k tick with both e a r s ." Th ou sands now h a rd -o f-h e a rin g would Russian, that’s all.
hear clearly and d istin ctly again, and also get relief from bu zz­ Like a stupid Idiot, I shoved the thing in a
in g . rin gin g head noises, clogged up feelin g in ears, i f im pacted
wax that block s ear can als an d presses o n sensitive ear drum s drawer, dashed over to the ptomaine kitchen for
were removed. T ry Orotune B ar D rops as directed . They are
sa fe an d o on taln an Ingredient esp ecially recom m ended fo r this breakfast, and off to the lab. W hen I got back,
purpose. SE N D N O M O N E T . P a y p ostm an { 2 plu s postage and
C. O. D . charges. I f you enclose |2 with order, we p a y all poat- the tuner was gone, and l had com pletely fo r ­
age. H A R V IN CO., 117 W est 48th 8 t „ Dept. 840, New York IS. W. Y .
gotten the vital details.
MAGIC VANISHING CARD F or heaven’s sake, don’t stick this in your
magazine I I hope, In time, to get a Ph.D . in
T h r o w It in t o t h e a ir . I t c o m p le t e ly d isa p p e a r * . R e p ro d u c e
It la te r fr o m s p e c t a t o r 's p o c k e t. I t arau e e s a n d c o n fu s e s a ll. physics and be a sober, dow n-to-earth scientist.
E asy t o d o . 28c w it h c a ta lo g o f 300 A m a x in g M a g ic T r ic k s.
T h e M a g ic ia n , D e p t. 10, 2483 K e n s in g to n A va., P h ils. 25, Pa. The electronics boys w ould laugh me into a nerv-
 DISCUSSIONS 173

ous wreck if this g ot out. I d o think the Shaver

crow d may have something, although I ’d want to
see some o f his gadgets built and w ork, or some­
thing like that, and I ’d rather have it all be just
LOANSMAIL
a good gag.
$50 to $ 3 0 0 IN -A H U R R Y
The reason I am writing you is a simple and
CONFIDENTIAL
com pletely selfish thing. I want that circuit.
Salaried poopls, m *n or wom an, m a»rl*d or single loans
I f any o f the other people w h o write in send
on your own signature, or your own security. NO personal
you a diagram o f a circuit with a pentode input
Interview . . . NO co sig n ers needed. NO w age assign­
and a diode-pentode output, with one potenti­
ments. You m ail the application to us . . . we m ail the
ometer (I can’t even remember the resistance)
money to you.
as the only control, except for, probably, a
switch, I w ant a copy. I promise I ’ll turn it off ro t » Y O U C A N R E P A Y M O N TH LY
when these joes start talking their jabber imme­ M It »* * M •
diately. I l l forget anything I hearl Just ask any o _,. FaYMfMTl P4YMINT* FAYMMS
$ 5.03 $ 6.43 $ 9.24
electronics man how far he’d go about getting ** 8.40 10.07 12.87 18.48
F M from here, p erfectly, for over tw o hours, and 150 12.60 15.10 19 JO 27.73
200 16.75 20.09 25.68 36.91
y o u ’ll know w hat I mean.
Believe me, I am not looking fo r publicity, 250 20.85 25.02 32.02 46.05
300 24.93 29.94 38.33 *5.17
and this is not a hoax. I love music, and I ’m
hoping this thing will pop up elsewhere, so that Th« abov* paywiMl, wad* at regular monthly InlsrvoJi will repay th« anttra
loan end all atiergei in the time Indicated. Chetgs, are bated a* th*
I can listen to F M cheaply. I ’m a dow n-to-earth monthly rote at three par cdM an unpaid principal balance* to $1 30,00
end two and one-half bar cent on that portion of unpaid bo lance, la
guy and the last thing I want is to start hearing excel, of $130.00 but not exceeding $300.00. ''Leon, by Moil” moy be
repaid In larger amount,,' more frequent payment, of repaid ta full ^
spooks. further taving, to you.
N othing else was stolen with the tuner, al­ CONVENIENT
though it was in a drawer with some fairly Just w rite us how much money you need and how you
valuable stuff. w ish to re p a y. . . there’s no charge or obligation. W hat­
(address deleted) ever your needs for cash now or In the future, w rite for
your “ Loans by M a il" p la n , today.
T oo bad. Well, w e haven't any diagram such
as yo u m ention, but w e’ll hope, as y o u do, that
there is one, and w e publish your letter against
MERCHANTS INVESTMENT CO.
8 1 9 -R 1st Not’l B ld g ., O m aha, N ebr.
you r wishes, so that m aybe som e reader will Without obligation, rush complete detail* end oil paper*
fulfill our h ope! W e held out y ou r name and necettory for a loon of * to be repaid
address, and even the m ention in your letter o f of St on the dov of each month.

you r tow n, so as to keep you from being em ­

barrassed, as you request. H ow ever, fo r the in­
form ation o f our readers, your gadget received
F M from many hundreds o f miles away. I f you aty-----
should ever get that idea again, fo r P ete’s sake, | Occupod,
patent it, and send us a diagram. W e W A N T to
listen in on “ those joes.” — Ed.

M O R E S T R A N G E T H IN G S ! I N V E N T O R S
Sirs: P aten t law s e n co u ra g e the d ev elop m en t o f in ven tion s.
This Shaver M ystery has caused m y grey mat­ O ur Arm is re g iste re d to p r a c tic e b e fo r e the U . S.
P aten t O ffice. W rite fo r fu rth er p a rticu la r s a s t o p a t­
ter to perform a few memory tricks. I recall ent p r o t e c t io n a n d p r o ce d u re and “ In v en tion R e c o r d "
fo r m a t o n ce . N o o b lig a tio n .
reading an article in “ Popular M echanics M ag­
azine” dated in the late 20s or early 30s concern­ McMORROW. BERMAN & DAVIDSON
Registered Potent Attorneys
ing a hill in Latin America which was completely
186-F Victor Betiding Washington 1, D. C .
surrounded by an invisible wall o f force. Arche­
ologists in that area tried unsuccessfully to pene­
trate it or find its maximum altitude. ILLUSTRATED BOOKLETS
I pause here to chuckle at those people w ho Sell our ILL U ST RA TE D COMIC BOOKLETS and
make claims w ithout p roof. I f m y statement other NOVELTIES. Each booklet size 4t4x2%. Ten
different sample booklets sent fo r 50c o r 25 assorted
can be verified (I don’t imagine it should prove for $1.00 o r 100 assorted fo r $2.00. Shipped prepaid.
too difficult) then Shaver should have one more W holesale novelty price list sent with order only.
N o orders sent C.O.D. Send Cash or M oney Order.
instance to prove his statements. M aybe it ties
in ? I make no claims outside m y ability to REPSAC SALES CO.
t W M 11th I t . . D ep t. 4 0 -C N .w Y o rk I I , N . Y .
prove m y point. I know the inform ation is there!
P fc Coulter James W ilson,
R A 42194439, B E A DT RE TECTIVE
408th M M Ordnance Co., W ORK HOME or A V E L . Experience unnecessary.
APO 828, c / o PJM.— N.O.L.A D E T E C T I V E Particulars F R E E W rite to
Can anybody dig this info u p ?— Ed. GEO. Z. D. WAGNER, 125 W. 86th $ !„ N. Y-
 174 AMAZING STORIES

S P A C E SHIPS
W hen Y o u A re in H a v a n a
V IS IT
LIMITED
N o . 2— P o w o r P la n t s

EL PATIO By JA C K S O N RO SS

S a n R a f a e l S t r a a f N o . SR
Perfumes • Novelties • Cigers • Liquors (Continued from page 160)
M AN UFACTURERSOP A LLIG A TO R ARTICLES But please note that we do not have any such
rocket m otors at the present time. W e do not
Specie/ A tte n tio n to M o il O r d tr s
have any metals capable o f withstanding such
ISAAC HABIF, Prop.i MORRIS KESELMAR, Dir. heat out o f which to build the rocket m otors. Even
if we did, this seems to be the absolute limit
using any conventional fuels known. But with
GET NO MONEY
THIS FINE SUIT TO PAY !
such efficient m otors, interspacial travel does be­
come barely possible.
B IG C A SH E A R N IN G S , T O O 1 Scientists have observed a special kind o f hydro­
Ityroar* wlthoat p *jin §
B ig n «w s ! Ttiie line ta ilored salt
one c*ot—usd b lf r u b aarnina*. toolI U --------- —Jaat taia * fa *
Iftmmrl gen, called “ m onatom ic hydrogren” which might
order. Born up to 110 in orlop usd get4 Tornewaman
ra m ta H Mu«E tr«W-
. ----------
mu. rVr*en» ofrieh new fabrtoa. aopar&T Ru lorad Id lot—t etrtaa. be an idea! rocket fuel. So far its use is only
at low priraa prodore orders an *i*ht. Htmoy-bock foon otao.
free samples ! theoretical, however. We don’t even know how
to manufacture it. Hydrogen atoms ordinarily
cling together in pairs. M onatom ic hydrogen is
WHY WEAR form ed when these pairs are separated by electri­

DIAMONDS city. When the pairs again unite, they give off
enormous amounts o f heat. If hydrogen could be
liquefied in its m onatom ic state and then be
burned in a rocket m otor, an enormous amount
o f pow er w ould result— enough to make space
flight quite practical if m otors were developed in
which the fuel could be used.
But let me repeat that these calculations are
only theoretical. W e d o n ’t know whether we could
produce it, or having produced it whether we
could liquefy it, or having liquefied it whether
' Send 35c for Hxndy
we could control it. If we could, it is so powerful
Ounemltli Manual and Late* l that we w ould need no step rockets to fly in
G an t Catalogue.
HEW YORK COMPANY, 10600-10710 We.t toward the sun at least, and the weight o f a
Ridqwoy B lo ck Ridgwoy Pennaylvcnla solar space craft might begin to approach that of
a conventional airplane.
ILLUSTRATED COMIC
N ow what about atomic pow er? We have
BOOKLETS enormous energies in the atom. Though we have
THE K I N O M fM LI KE!
I V E S T P O C K E T S IZ E ) only split a few fissionable materials and have
T h e y a r e l o a d e d w ii h r a r e c a r not begun to use its whole energy*, it has given
l o o n s . Pull of Kun a n d H u n v o r.
2 0 D IFF J E f f C M T b o o k I n i . v m us the power to take a space ship out beyond the
p r e p a id f o r $1 m p la in w r a p p e r stars.
GRA YKO . Dapt. AB- 952
Box 5 2 0 . G . P . O . Naw York I But w ho wants to sit on an atomic pile? E x­
posure to atomic rays for a fraction o f a second
l earn I’mlil.ible IV/ifi'ssion means death. The walls o f an atomic rocket
in <JO days sit llnme motor, therefore, would be many feet thick. Per­
Many Swedish Maasaae gnuluataa m a ie $50, $T5, haps by the time our craft were built it would
jt even more per week. Large fu ll tim e kuxume
from doctor*. hoapitalB, aanitortuma, clu bs or prl- weigh so much that the amount o f fissionable
*“■ vate practice, Ottare make good money In
ipare tim e. You can win imlependano# and materials contained in it would not have sufficient
ircpare fo r future aecurily by treblin g at power to fly us into space. I don’t think so,
jOme and qu alifyin g fo r d iplom a. Anatomy
Chart* and 82 page Illustrated Book F R E E myself. I believe that some day we could build
—NowI Tha Collage of Swedish Massage
O e p t ;# 3 -D . 100 E. Ohio 8 t „ C h icago II an atomic rocket m otor capable o f flying to the
SnTDY AT HOME for Pereooal Buceeaa and planets— or beyond. But there is a great objection
LARGER EARNINGS. 88 years expert Instruc­ to such power which I shall discuss a little later.
tion— orer 108,000 stndrats snmUad. LL.B. First o f all we must face the fact that today we
Degree awarded. All text material furnished. have no idea how such a machine could be built.
Das; payment plan. Send for FRIT BOOK— We only know how to make the atom w ork for
W Law and Executive Guidance”— NOW us in two ways— by explosion and by heating
AMERICAN EXTENSION SCHOOL OF LAW water which may be used to power heavy steam
Dwpt. 75-R 644 N. Michigan Ava. Chicago 11. IH. plants. W e cannot control it. We have no means
 AMAZING STORIES 175

o f using it to pow er rockets at present nor are we AUTHENTIC WESTER

likely to have in the near future.
But here is m y big reason for feeling that we
cannot use such m otors even if we could develop
s *0D L|ff/# 6
CAD U IU I P U if
them, and even if they could be manipulated in
absolute safety by rocket engineers and pilots.
That big reason is the by-products o f fissioning—
the poisons, the gases, the deadly rays.
As this is written, only five atom ic bom bs have
ever been fired in the earth’s history. But already
there is a measurable increase in radioactivity in
the atmosphere. It has fogged film. N o one
safely can be within miles of an atom ic explosion.
Alter the explosion, the radioactive elements are
dispersed over the globe. First time at anywhere near this low price! Au­
Some one has said that a few hundred atomic thentic replica of romantic western saddle. Hand­
somely formed from solid Sterling Silver by Nav­
bombs might so fill the atmosphere with radioac­ ajo Indian craftsmen. Massive style for men,
tivity that human life on earth w ould be impos­ dainty style for women. A gift of distinction. A
pleasure to wear. Sent on approval.
sible. W hat does it matter if it is a few thou­
sand? Or even a few hundreds o f thousand? SEND NO MONEY! * *
The fact is that any considerable number o f your name and address. Pay postman only $4.95
plus few cents postage on arrival; or send cash
atom ic pow er plants, relying on fission for their and we pay postage. Wear this sensational ring
energy, w ould be extremely dangerous to any one for 10 days. If not delighted, return for full re­
fund. O rder N o w ! Use C o u p o n B elow !
in the vicinity.
The blast o f the rocket m otors w ould pollute 10 DAY TRIAL ORDER COUPON
hundreds o f cubic miles o f air. The radioactive A riiona C raftsmim R o o m 6156
1904 Pa r h a m S t. O m a h a 2, N eir aska
rays w ould be dangerous to the horizon. The net S EN D S te rlin g S a d d le R in g as I have in d ic a te d b elo w .
result o f atom rocket motors in increasing radio­ Q 'C .O .D . Q G ash E n clo se d , Sond Po stp aid
activity w ould be similar to the net result o f
atomic bom b explosions. Som ebody is bound to
get hurt. Enough such activity and everyone is
likely to get hurt. Life on earth might com e to ^ □ M en’ s j“ 1 W o m e n 's P *r

be impossible. But long before that, radiation

w ould so have affected the genes o f human seed
that we w ould be breeding only a race o f m on­

aedroploie*
sters.
There may be a solution even to this. In some
future age, the m oon might becom e an outpost
ot earth lor the sole purpose o f basing atom ic-
powered space ships. The m oon w ould have to be
reached first by some non-radiating rocket fuels. Invent10^
The ships from earth to the m oon w ould have
to land on specially-built bases, housed in special­ 41 a
^ b u BRUSH
ly-sheathed underground storage vaults. All repair
would have to be done in carefully-protected un­ Easy to Plate CHROMIUM
derground repair bases. GOLD, SILVER, NICKEL. COPPER
The surface o f the m oon itself w ould be boiling
W . . . For Pleasure and P rofitI
I f y o u h a v e a w o r k s h o p — a t h o m e o r in b u si­
with radioactivity from the rocket m otors. Only n ess— y o u n eed th is n e w W a rn e r E le ctro ­
p la ter. A t th e str o k e o f a n ele c trifie d bru sh ,
the underground hangars, hotels and operations o f y o u c a n e le c tro p la te m o d e ls a n d p r o je c t s —
y o u c a n r ep la te w orn a r tic le s , fa u cets, to o ls ,
the space ships w ould be free from the lethal radi­ fixtu res, s ilv e r w a re , e t c . w ith a d u ra b le,
sp a r k lin g c o a t o f m eta l . . . G o ld , S ilv e r,
ation. Operations under such conditions w ould be C h ro m iu m . N ic k e l, C o p p e r o r C a d m iu m .
inordinately difficult. All oxygen w ould have to M e th o d ia e a s y , aim p le, q u ick . E v e r y th in *
.■ '-3 * r / fu rn ish ed — e q u ip m e n t c o m p le te , rea d y fo r
he flown from earth or manufactured on the u se. By doing a bit of work for others. your ma­
chine can pay for itself within a week. So
m oon. So w ould construction materials, food, \ - m a k e y o u r ah op c o m p le te b y g e ttin g a
W a rn er E le ct ro p la te r rig h t a w a y . S en d
tools, everything needed by such an undertaking. f o r F R E E S A M P L E a n d illu stra ted
lite ra tu re . A C T A T O N C E ! Mail Coupon.
Until, in some advanced age, we could set up ? 0 r i ' WARNER ELECTRIC C O - D E P T . *1-21
such an elaborate base, atom ic-pow ered space 1 1 1 2 J a r v is A v e n u e , C h ic a g o 2 6 , IJL.

craft seem to be too dangerous for use. Before we

ever have them, we must first build a m otor capa­
FREE D e ta ils & S a m p le !
ble o f flying 25,000 miles an hour. We have to I WARNER ELECTRIC CO., 1 5 1 2 Jarvt* A ven ue, Cttlcn*o 2 6 . D ept. fH-XL I
| G e n tle m e n : Sen d F r e e S a m p le a n d D e ta ils t o :
find the fuels to pow er it. W e have to build a
ship and send it to the m oon. W e have to send
it with enough fuel to get it back to earth. Wc
are a long way from any of these accomplishments. ImZOZmm
 176 AMAZING STORIES

M E N -Stu/M/r li'Ao/csn/tr Ko/r/c TH E M O O N E FF E C T S

intoaBis Pay Business ★ By

A. MORRIS ★
w
We Help You Establish o Steady C IE N TISTS are beginning to moderate their
Route of Dealer Customer*
Make good weekly earoinge Belling stores cmr
B IG line of 200 products— all daily neceseitiee.
8 how merchants In your locality a sensational
S scorn o f the idea that the m oon may exert a
considerable influence upon many phenome­
na with which they are familiar. Their change
line of self-selling counter goods. Retail at 60 o f attitude arises because o f many different facts.
and 10c. You make up t o 112% commission.
N o large capital required. Easy to Start. During the action in the South Pacific it was a
A fortune spent for National Advertising has fortunate thing that medical officers were able to
made our products known from ooaat to coast. discount the psychotic influence o f the m oon by
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Wholesale Business of Your Own." It's FREE virtue o f the fact that Japanese planeraids were
-—no obligation. W R IT E T O D A Y I almost invariably made on moonlight nights. It
WORLD’S PRODUCTS C0„ d*jL28-l,Spmmt, i.t is a fortunate thing, however, only in the sense
that it enabled those officers to maintain a stand-
pat attitude against the fact that the m oon could
C LA S S IF IE D A DVERTISIN G be a potent influence upon the central nervous
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M cN eil. M aster at M usic, 510 Z D South A lexan d ria A re .. Los
association o f raids and moonlight brought about
Angeles 8. C alif. ______ ________ _ a conditioned reflex which was activated by m oon­
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your name and address. Banner M usic Publishers, B ox 848. never studied the subjective reactions o f mental
Grand Central A nnex. New York IT. N. Y. patients. If they had they would not take the
polarized reflections o f the moon so lightly.
M iscellan eo u s At one time the writer had a friend w ho was an
M A G A Z IN E S (h ack d a te d )— foreign, dom estic, arts. Books, book­ attendant finale nurse, that is) at a sanitarium
lets. subscription*, pin-upa. eto. Catalog 10r (re fu n d e d ). C ice­
rone's Center, 863 First A ve.. New Y o rk 17, N. Y.________________ where mental patients were treated exclusively.
PtM P t.K R , Acne disappear. Clear your com plexion . Write today. This attendant was a remarkable student o f hu­
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man nature as well as a psychologist o f consider­
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guaranteed. Cash paid for used course*. Complete inform ation following observations about the patients with
an d 100-page Illustrated bargain cata log F re e ! W rite Nelson Co.. respect to the lunar cycle. A certain woman,
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6 C IB N T 1 F IC T IO N , weird, fan tastic; boohs, magaalnea. W erewolf whenever the moon was aloft, this w om an’s hys­
B ookshop. 621A M aryland. Pittsburgh 6, Pa.________________________ terical complaints became almost uncontrollable,
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flUee are lim ited in quantity, B argain B uy* regularly! Our spe­
cial Free services from " Y o u r B ook Store by M a il" will appeal to
her in restraint (polite name for strait-jacket) to
protect her from self-damage. He also noted that
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our lists Now and be eligible for our B argain Buys as we Mock at no time when the moon had set was her con­
them. W rite Now T o : C heney's Book Service, 11!) E. San F e r­
nando Street- San lone 21. C alif o r n i a ______ dition such as to necessitate restraint. In fact, at
SE L L IN G U rge stock Fantasy M agarlore W rite Fred Ol&aesen, such times she deplored her ow n complaints and
Poet Office. Stow, Ohio.
expressed hope that the pain could som ehow be
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portun ities! $1.00 brings official Government map and 1047 co p y ­ permanently alleviated, although even then she
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FYshlna. M in in g. Fur Farm ing. Prospecting, A viation Tim ber. insisted that she was in continuous torture. The
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H om estead L a n d s Alaska Opportunist. 6417 H om ewood Ave., friend’s idea was that glandular changes or mal­
D ept. Z Z . H olly w ood 28, C a l i f . _______________________________ nutrition, or generally unsettled chemical condi­
S P E C IA L IS T S In field of science and weird fiction, occu lt, magic,
theosophy, spiritualism . C atalogue issued, send stamp. Stephen'* tions in the body, or some combination o f these
Book Service, 121 Freeman S t.. B rooklyn 12. N . Y . causes had so sensitized the nerves in the eye
IN T E R E S T E D In Latin A m erica A Foreign employment f $1 bring*
1U47 Foreign Service D irectory listin g O il. A viation, M ining. region that even the effects o f the moonlight itself,
Tran sportation . M anufacturing. C onstruction concern s with foreign
interests and tips for im m ediate application . G lob al Reports. not to mention the tidal and other effects exerted
6417 H om ew ood A ve., Dept. Z Z , H ollyw ood 28. Calif. by that body, became apparent to her in sensations
A T HOME— Your own m anu factu rin g bu siness; making popular
>1.00 novelties. Coat you 3c to 15c. Everything m p p lie d . W rits arising in the damaged nerve tissues. A one-time
S o -L o W orks. Dept. T -84 3, Jxiveland, Ohio. __________________ lawyer (supposed to have been a very brilliant
I N T E R N A T IO N A L Correspondence, H obby-E xch an ge, Don-matrl-
m onial. Yotu listin g . 2i>o. Sample copy. 10c. " F o r a frien dlier one) was a victim o f manic depressans, wherein
w o r ld ." Garnet B u lletin . 4315 First S t,, S .B ., W ashington 20, D .C . the patient has alternating periods o f uncontrolla-
 THE MOON EFFECTS 177

blc energy and very marked lack o f energy. This

man ordinarily left the other patients strictly alone,
preferring to mumble to himself, and seldom say­
ing anything intelligible at all. A bout every S C IE N T IF IC C R IM E D ETECTIO N
twenty days, however, this patient w ould become FOUM ft fs Easy to Loom I
extraordinarily excitable, so that neither attendants IWS MAN
I wQI tea ch y on th is fo s d n a tfn g
scien ce d u rin g tout opart Unto at
nor patients dared pay any attention to him with­ homt. I t p a y * t o b e o n e x p e r t to
out his flying into a dangerous rage. Oddly F in g e r P r in tin g , F irea rm s Identifi­
c a tio n , P o lic a P h o t o g r a p h y a n d
enough, these manic occasions were always and C rim in al Investigation
inal Investigation.. I1 ___________
h a v e tra in -
e d h u n d red s o f m en an d w om en n ow
only manifest when the m oon was up. (Perhaps su ocea sfu lly s a r r in g in Identification
bureaus th rou g h ou t A m erica . Y ou ,
many o f our psychiatrists are under the impres­ to o . m a y qu ickly p rep a re y o u rse lf to
b ecom e a w e ll-p a id v a lu ed officer
sion that the m oon comes up only at night. Or o f th e la w , o f t e n sharing in th e
perhaps they have their noses so hard upon the gen erou s rew a rd s offered f o r wanted
p | p p p | p criminals.
grindstone that they do not have time to look
up to check on whether it still rises and sets. Or
F**BLUfi
R EBOOK
E! 5 3 PER CENT
o f all Id en tifica tion B ureau* in th e
perhaps the whole business is just too much
o f c r im e ” s ^ r n iY S s s C o ra S ;
trouble— a complicating factor, so to speak, which T h is b o o k I s f a l l o f e x r itfn g m en o r e heads o f B ureaus, lia n v o f
Inform ation o n scien tific th em k n ew n oth in g ab ou t crim e
might endanger some of the fashionable psychiat­ crim e d etection I tw ille h ow detection b e fo r e tra in in g w ith m e.
h ow Y o u c o n g e t sta rte d in N o w th ey h a v e stea d y l o b e , good
ric theories.) Another case was one o f socalled ____ _______ salaries a n d a fin e fu tu re . W r ite b
fixation, a woman whose mind had been de­ am azin g ly k>w o o st. C lip d a y f o r f u ll p articu lars an d f n
coup on N o w .. .M oil itto d a y . b ook . G iv e a g e .
ranged, possibly by a terrible em otional experi­
ence. This woman never spoke but four words,
INSTITUTE OF APPLIED SCIENCE
1 0 2 0 S u n n y s id o A v e ., D e p t 4 9 2 4 C h i c a g o 4 0 , ItL
including the first name o f a man, the interjec­
IN S T IT U T E O F A P P U E D S C IE N C E
tion o h !, m y, and G od. Only in the passage o f 1 * 2 0 S u n n y s id o A v e ., D e p t . 4 9 2 4 , C h ic a g o 4 0
Gentlem en] W ith o u t an y ob lig a tio n o n m y p a rt,
the m oon across the sky did she ever speak. “ B lu e B o o k o f C rim e .” an d com p lete liet
.......................................... . o f Identification B a­
The evidence, how ever, does not cease with re su e em pliley! n g y o u r s tu d en ts o r g ra d a ste e . to g e th e r w ith y o u r
lo w p rices a n d E asy T o n n e O ffer. (L itera tu re w ill b e s e n t O N L Y
these facts. N ot only did the attendant notice to persons sta tin g th e ir a g e .)

increased irritability in many patients while the N a m e ..........................................................................

m oon was in the sky, but he became interested A d d re ss....................................................................

in discovering whether substantially “ normal” peo­ HKD o r Z o n e ......................... .................S t a te ..

ple were affected. Over a period o f four or five

years he claimed to have found that about one-
third o f the people he knew com plained bitterly
of sleeplessness occasionally, m ost particularly fail­
ing to rest on m oonlit nights. In addition to this,
he said that only one or tw o o f the complainers
connected their disturbance with the m oon.
-i - - ^ Unredeemed loan P*
b ig b u y in g p o w e r e n a b le u
F I " * D ia m o n d * a t W e s * fa r l e s s t h a n
------
^ original c o s t . S e n t y o u F R E E ^ I N S P E C ­
Because there is something a bit m orbid about T I O N A N D A P P R A IS A L . W r ite fo r FREE U e t .
moonlight and loneliness, it might be advanced, in PR U D EN TIA L LOAN A SS O C IA T IO N
US N. Clark Street Dept. c-(7 Chicago 2, Illinois
true Freudian fashion, that psychiatrists fear the
possibility that the m oon may exert some effect
upon their ow n minds, and so they deny it.
High School Course
at Home Many Finish is 2 Ye
D E C A U S E banana-growers are not inclined to ------------------in t s ch ool w o r k —
___e x am s. S tan d ard H . 8 . te x t* supj
^ be as peculiar as they are practical, they do for H. 8. subjects already completed. ‘
_ —. t. High echool education Is eery Important tor aoiMoemai
not discount the effects o f the m oon so readily. It I In biuineos and Industry and socially. Don’t be handicapped a
root life. Be a High School graduate. Start year training noe
is claimed that these men can definitely distin­ R e e Bulletin ao request. No obligation.
A m erican S ch o o l, D ® p t h -4 82 Oraxol a t 5 8 t h , C h ica go 37
guish between bananas maturing in different
phases o f the lunar cycle by the size o f the fruit 00 YOU C “ 1
WANT TO ^ 1
OPTOBACCO?]
and its curvature. From such evidence, the in ­
Banish the era ring for tobacco aa
fluencing o f form and size through the chemical thousand* have with Tobacco
Redeemer. Write for free booklet
mechanisms o f the plant seems sort o f necessary. telling o f injurious effect o f tobeoeo
and o f a treatment whiohjias raUev-
In the light o f such implications, not to mention
the other aspects o f m oon-influence, the grievous U*e o n ly as dir acted. FREE
20 Veers to Business gnnw
and cynical debunkers of the ages-long experiences THE NEWELL COMPANY ----------
of the com m on, practical dirt-farm er ow e the 234 Clayton Sta., St. l o o k 5, Mo.
latter a big string o f apologies.
W hat truly great chemical engineer w ould deny
moonlight (o r changes in gravitational flux arising S e n d t o d a y f o r “ D e ta ile d P a te n t I n fo r m a t io n ” o u t ­
from the m oon’s “ attraction” ) and effect upon lin in g p r e lim in a r y s te p s t o b e ta k e n t o w a r d P a te n t
chemical change unless he had first conclusively P r o t e c t io n , a ls o c o n v e n ie n t “ E v id e n c e o f I n v e n ­
tio n " fo r m .
demonstrated that such an effect were impossible ?
Y et the small-minded debunker, with his efffete V IC T O R J. E V A N S A CO.
2 2 4 -D M e rlin B u ild in g W a sh in g to n 4 . D . C.
blindness, beats his dish pan like a boy Hitler, and
 178 AMAZING STORIES

screams imprecations at those who only believe in

their methods because they work.
ftl H W t lean matte When variations in many organic chemical proc­
esses (some at best yield paltry amounts o f end-
product), so important to the attainment o f en­
vironmental control, appear, at unexpected times
- " " ^ 4 with conditions apparently ideal, the myriad, ever­
present forces o f nature shuttle back and forth
unverified as to their aiding or interfering in­
fluences.
The m oon draws up the tides o f the sea. Many
do not realize that it also draws up tides in the
land surfaces o f the earth. All that man is and
m 'z has, in the physical world, is com posed o f solids,
liquids and gases. There is indubitably atm os­
ViinI/f/CMESof pheric tide as well as the other two types. W hat
physiological chemist finds himself in the position
w /t m /c /w sc le
to assert that the cycles o f the human body are
***"'• ARMS,LEM,
B A C K , CHEST, totally unaffected by the m oon ’s reflections or by
axd s h o u l d e r s its tidal effects? W ould a logical man agree that
the greater fluidity o f the blood w ould result in
a greater tendency for it to reply to the call o f
Q eo su je. f y . fjtu u e tt the m oon than fo r solid tissue to respond— in the
WORLD’S GREATEST same manner as the greater fluidity o f the oceans
makes their tides much more appreciable than
BODY BUILDER
those o f the land areas? If so, w ould that man
. . 0 * IT WOTT COST YOU A CENT! also agree that the super-sensitive nerve-cells of
L *t m o prove to YOU that yon c* n put inches o f
dynam ic m uscles on y ou r r.rnw! Add inches to man might have their body-fluids affected in like
your chest! Broaden you r shoulders and power-
pack the rest o f y ou r body, I can d o fo r you manner?
what I 'v e done fo r thousands the w orld over,
in rlu dln * many officers and men now In the A fellow on the street the other day said, “ What
U. S. and British A rm ed Forceal
time is i t ? ” His friend answered that it was
daytime. The first boy said, “ No, P al! Y o u ’re
GIVE ME 10 MINUTES A DAY! W R O N G ! W e live in the age o f cycles, and the
inner man tells me its dinnertim e!”
M an is just finding out that he is living in a
complex o f cyclical change which was formerly
beyond his wildest imaginings. Individuals have
daily cycles, weekly or two-w eekly, three-weekly
or monthly cycles governing their activities. There
is also a pronounced annual cycle o f activity for
every individual, modified by nutrition and health
and emotional cycles. Not to mention the longer
PROVE TO YOURSELF Jew ett Institute o f Physical sun-spot cycles.
Culture
' IN ONE NIQHTI BSO Fifth Avenue Animals have reproductive cycles', so that one
Dept. ZD-74
Widny. f e t u s ' ’ ssra
the •Ton In* U arrive*—le a m from
New York 1. N. V. year may see a regular plague o f predatory wild­
exp erience the thrUI y o u can r lv # cats or fur-bearing animals and two years later
your tnuaeleal
SEND FOR THESE FIVE FAMOUS
the numbers o f the same species may drop off
COURSES IN BOOK FORM alarmingly. M any animals appear to wax and
ONLY 2 S c EACH wane in numbers with factors such as the degree
or ALL 8 for * 1 . 0 0 o f sun-spot activity, with amount o f atmospheric
WITH PHOTOS Of FAMOUS STRONG Mid ozone present, with amount o f rainfall, etc., etc.,
__ m ail coupon now FREE etc. At any rate every wild creature studied by

§
Jow ett Institute o f Ptiyaiea
* 3 0 Fifth Avenue, Dept. 3 cyclists (not a pun) has its definite population
O eorffe T . Jow ett! Tou r p rop osition look * r o o d t o m *. Bend
by return m all, prep aid , the course* checked be lo w , fo r cycles, its mating cycles, its activity cycles.
w hich I e n close ( ) . Inclu de FREE book o f PHOTOS.
A noted astronomer remarked in the early nine­
□ A ll 0 co urses fo e . . . . SI □ M oldta* M ighty L eys 2Se teen-forties that the stars appear to influence the
n « » siss sf Q M old Inc A M ighty A n a 8 Be □ M olding * M ighty Grip 3Sc
cyclical changes in the sun, and that there are
Chenrises Q M o ld ln c A M ighty Back 3 8 c 0 Molding a Mighty Chest lie
probably vast concom itant effects o f all the
0 Band All B C.OuD, (* 1 p lu s p o s ta g e .) No orders less
Than B1 se a t C .o .D . heavenly bodies upon each other.
H ow devastatingly strange that animals are v ic­
■ A M I ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A g e. timized by the total cyclical changes, and by in­
(P le a se p rin t p la in ly , In c lu d e Z o n e N u m b er.)
dividual cyclical changes, in the environment, and
A D D R IS a ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- that man should not be influenced at all by the
closest o f the heavenly bodies.
PR IN TE D IN U S A.
 How to Avoid
Saving Money
by DAWN/ KAYe

To avoid saving money, the first thing

is to cut off all your pockets. Thus
you will have to carry your money
in your hand. Which will insure
that you—1. spend it, 2. lose it,
3. get it taken from you—quicker!

Also avoid piggy banks. The kiddies in

particular are victimized by such devices,
often saving quite a bale of moolah. And
be sure to avoid budgets or, before you
know it, you’ll be in the black!
It is best to draw your pay and walk
down Main Street buying anything you
don’t particularly hate.

Above all, don’t buy any U. S. Savings

Bonds—or it’s impossible not to save .
money! These pay fat interest—4 dollars
for 3 after only 10 years! There is even
an insidious Payroll Savings Plan which
is automatic. With it, you may even find
yourself embarrassed by a regular
income! Get-gat-gittle!

^ SAVE THE EASY WAY...

BUY YOUR BONDS THROUGH PAYROLL SAVINGS

C on tribu ted b y this m agazine in co -op era tion

with the M a g a z in e Publishers o f A m erica a s a pu b lic serv ice.
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