15

That was the end of the genteel jockey-other, or straight back, but the attention was ing for the evening. The stage was all cleared undividedly straight up.

for the fireworks.

A light was up there. It could have been moonlight, except that there was no moon, and that much of a glow couldn’t have Chapter III come from it if it had been there. There was, also, no evidence of a single brightly lighted A SHORT bald man who seemed to be object such as the moon. . . . No sign at all of a sub-chairman stood up and introduced the the source of the brilliance.

Chairman, a Doctor Morand Funk Hodges, “Aurora borealis,” someone said.

president of the Welland Institute of Physical I thought so too. My education had Sciences, distinguished in the field of the gone that far. The aurora borealis was the strontium isotope, and Albert Gross left while two-dollar word for the Northern Lights.

the words were being said.

A gentleman with a trimmed white Gross left unobtrusively, like a polecat beard, standing at my left, snorted forcibly.

leaving the vicinity of a chicken-coop at “Borealis!” he said. “Ridiculous!”

dawn.

He had expressed the general opinion, Doc Savage smoothed down his left it seemed. Nobody who knew anything about eyebrow with a fingertip. I’ll swear that was the Northern Lights would admit the manifes-all he did. But a very wide apish looking man, tation above us bore any resemblance to homelier than a frog, got up from one of the Northern Lights. But no one had another idea tables and sauntered out after Gross.

to offer.

We had about three minutes and forty Doc Savage, his voice plainly identifi-seconds of uninterrupted dish-clattering and able in the stillness, requested, “Will some-lip-smacking. Doctor Morand Funk Hodges one switch off the terrace lights.”

had stood up long enough to say we would The electric lights were doused in a have music by the stringed ensemble. The moment. The glow from above was then music seemed to be slow getting started.

more impressive. It had the shape of a circu-Mac—the shorter one this time—lar patch, fuzzy around the edges, and was a dashed in from the terrace.

rather poisonous looking purplish grey in “For God’s sake, come out here!” he color. It didn’t cover the whole sky. I held said in a loud attention-getting voice. “Come, both hands above my head, the palms about quickly! Look at what is happening to the two feet apart, and that about spanned the sky!”

glow area.

He was stared at, but nobody did or I noticed the thing, whatever it was, said anything. They probably thought it was a shed enough light that we could see each gag, part of the entertainment of the evening.

other distinctly.

“Gentlemen!” he screamed. “Please!

“Savage,” a voice called. “What do you Please, for God’s sake, come and look at say it is?”

this!” He sounded about as unconcerned as There was no answer. While I was lis-a cat with its tail freshly stepped on.

tening for one, a couple of pairs of hands laid Finally one of the scientists did get up hold of me, a pair on each arm, and I was somewhat sheepishly—you could see he told, “We would like to speak with you, son.”

believed he was biting on something—and go outside. He was back with his coattail stretched behind him. He yelled: “Come out IT is unlikely that every individual hair here!”

stood erect on my head, but the one or two Curiosity had bitten every man and that failed to do so didn’t detract from the woman in the room, and now they had the effect. Looking up at that spook light had excuse they wanted. Within a couple of min-done more to me than I had been aware of. I utes, the terrace was packed. I was late get-think my body became as stiff as a post also, ting out there, and I wanted to laugh when I and the two Macs moved me off the terrace saw that every head was thrown back, every by sort of lifting me and skidding me along eye fixed on the sky, as if they had been or-like a piece of statuary. By the time the kinks dered to take that position and hold it. The began to return to my hair, they had me in a heads were held a little to one side or the niche just off the banquet room.