his end. In three days he died. We buried him beside his wrecked ether ship. Over his grave we planted a cross with the words:
ZIN OF ZAR
Astronomer and Star Rover
CHAPTER NINE
"'THE Great Zin had told me enough of his story to furnish me with thought for a lifetime. Henceforth the comet had new meaning. My theory had been confirmed.
"'I watched the path that led up the mountain; at its end lay the secret of all things. I longed to go up and throw the lever that would destroy the comet's cohesion. It would then be an ion gone mad!
"'What would happen? What would be the end!
"'And there was another who also thought.
"' "Are all men astronomers?" she asked. "Do all men just dream of the stars; and spend all of their time trying to find out what they are; and how to go through them?"
"' "Why do you ask?"
"' "Because, my father was an astronomer. He was the only man I knew before you came. Now you are here, and you, too, think all the time of the stars. Oh, what are they like!"
"' "What?"
"' "The Stars? They must be wonderful! How I would like to see them! I would like to be on Zar, or on the Earth. Just think! Zar is a hundred thousand miles around, and you say that your Earth is thousands of miles across. And I've got to stay on this old comet. I just hate it. All it's got is that terrible rim, and that horrid old coma. What are the stars like?"
"'I tried to tell her. While I described the heavens, she sat still, dreaming; her eyes were full of wonder, and I could see that her imagination was wandering into fairyland.
"'I left her and entered the house. I wished to look at the cometary clock. I had been keeping an exact tab on its movement. Next to Sora's eyes, it was the most fascinating thing upon the nucleus. I liked to watch it as it registered the comet's course out into Infinity. Sora was outside. After a bit, I picked up a parchment written in the script of Zar and tried to decipher it.
"'And then—
"'It came suddenly. A quiver, a moan and a rumble. The building rocked! I was thrown from my feet and lurched headlong into the side wall! A roar of terrific and almost continuous explosions!
"'Then silence. A silence like death!
"'It was the lake. The heart of the nucleus had broken into the rim! It could be nothing else. I thought of Sora, and I rushed outside.
"'She was leaping down the mountain side, her golden hair streaming, her little beautiful form like that of a fleeting nymph. The mountain rocked, and huge crags came toppling down about her. She dodged them, and ran in and out and leaped over bowlders, down, down, down!
"'I rushed to meet her. When she reached the level I caught her in my arms.
"' "Sora! Sora! What have you done!"
"'She threw her arms about my neck; with the other hand she pointed at the crest of the mountain.
"' "Oh, Alvas," she spoke, "I have done what my father said. He lived all his life without doing what he dreamed of doing. All because of me. And you are an astronomer like Zin, my father. Love is sacrifice. I love you. You wish to solve the stars! I want to see them! I hate this old comet! Let us go into the house and do as father said. Let us take the vials!"
"'It was a lurid moment.
"'The nucleus had become a solid wall of crimson. The coma above us was as thick as blood. We were in the center of a thing that had never been in the memory of man. The comet was running mad. We were riding a thing as swift as thought, There was no time to lose.
"'Together, we rushed into the house. We seized the vials and brought them to the open light. I have a dim recollection of the great clock and of the indicator rushing over the wall as if it had suddenly gone wild. I remember Sora holding up the vial and my doing the same. We were clasped in each other's arms.
"'And then—
"'I have no idea of the lapse of time, nor what happened after that. The first I knew was Sora in my arms, her frightened face looking up into mine, and her finger held aloft. She was pointing at the sky—or at least, where a sky should be.
"'We were under an immense roof of semi-transparent material, a roof that was curved like a bow, and which projected from immense cliffs of pinkish material that rose to meet it. The ground under our feet was the same substance as the cliffs. As I looked, the roof seemed to drop, to sway, and to come down to meet us. I turned about.
"'In front of us was a vast open space like a gulf. The pink floor at our feet ran out to the rim of this abyss. When I looked again at the roof it was almost upon our heads. Either it was coming down or we were growing up to meet it.
"'Sora screamed. I acted upon impulse. With the maiden in my arms, I ran to the rim of the abyss. The ground under my feet was pink and furrowed, and yet as smooth as glass. It was the strangest substance I had ever encountered. At the very rim I stopped and looked back. The roof sank down, lower, lower, until it lay under our feet and, in stead of being a roof, became a floor that ran out like a vast plateau.
"I looked down into the gulf where we had stopped. I shuddered; it was like gazing down into chaos! Rover that I was, and adventurer, it gave me a chill that I shall never forget. I felt Sora's arm tighten about my neck. We were growing.
"'There was nothing to do but seek the plateau of flat substance. I was afraid of the rim. I planted my feet upon the smooth surface and ran for the center.
"'But even that did not save us. Everything appeared to be diminishing. The strange semi-transparent material that had appeared to be a roof when we were under it, and a plateau when we were beside it, began, as soon as we were upon it, to grow smaller and smaller. At least, that was the feeling.
"'But I knew that it was not so. We were growing at an incredible rate. In a moment the plateau had shrunken to a spot upon which I could scarcely balance. On all sides, about us, were vast unguessable depths. To save ourselves from falling I had to slip down and hold myself astraddle of the support that held us. I placed Sora in front of me, and held her against my breast. I tried to see and to discover what was going on about us. Again Sora screamed. She pointed up, and called:
"' "Oh, Alvas, look; What can it be?"
"'We were gazing up into two of the most beautiful things I had ever seen—two shining circles of wonderful glowing color. And then I looked again. I felt Sora's fingers close upon my arm. I heard her gasp. The wonderful lights were eyes! The eyes of a human being! I could see the face.
"'Then I heard a wonderful sound. The air was pierced by thunder—super-laughter! Next minute we were being borne across the depths. I was hard put
(Continued on page 84)
