31

She saw me, and said, “Oh, hello, Mr.

down in brilliance, exactly, but they changed Wales. I’m glad Mr. Gross didn’t do much the effect, gave it a different coloring, a kind harm to you.”

of bluish quality that seemed to get in your “It’s all right with me now,” I said. “I eyes and stay there, as if you’d been looking should have made it more clear that I wasn’t too long and too close at a cop’s uniform.

Mr. Wales the moon expert when I came to Spatny came over, stood beside me.

see you at your hotel.”

He seemed to be twice as tall as I was.

“I’m sorry Mr. Gross was nasty,” she Spatny said: “What is this?”

said. “It was uncalled for. I’m going to tell him “You tell me,” I said, and put my face so, too.”

close to the window glass in order to see how “That will be a hard—”

it looked coming through the clouds.

Doc Savage, cutting ahead of me be-

“Better not look directly at it. There fore I could give anything away, said, “Did might be emanations harmful to the eyes.”

you leave the banquet with Mr. Gross, Miss This was Savage. There was plenty of alarm, Fenisong?”

of the kind you feel when you’re lying in a She shook her head. “No. Mr. Brooks shellhole and know a tank is going to run can tell you that.”

over it, back of his calmness.

“And you haven’t seen or heard of Mr.

I didn’t want to look at it any longer Gross since?”

anyway. There was something coming

“No.”

across the lawn that I wanted to look at a lot “And

Mr.

McGraff

and

Mr.

more. It was thirty or forty feet in diameter McCutcheon—what about them?”

and as black as the original bad luck cat.

She hesitated. We could see she had Monk Mayfair, probably intrigued by decided not to tell us anything.

our petrified stances, came over and took a Ham Brooks said: “I think she was look.

waiting here for Gross, McGraff and “A visitor,” he said.

McCutcheon.”

He sounded as if his head had moved about six feet from his body to make the statement.

THEY were building Miss Fenisong up to a shock when she found out Gross was dead. It was all right with me; I didn’t think SAVAGE said: “Get to the car! Every-she would feel too badly; it was my idea that body! Quick!”

she hadn’t thought too much of Gross. Still, I picked up Miss Fenisong. I was think-the guy had been at home in her room at the ing about Gross in her hotel room, but I hotel, and he’d ordered her around as if he picked her up anyway. I beat Monk Mayfair to had certain rights. . . .

it by a yard.

When Savage had her set up, and had Monk said: “Let a strong man carry her, given her a chance to be coöperative and panty-waist.”

she wouldn’t, he gave her the Gross death.

“If you’re so strong,” I said, “go out and She fooled me and probably all of us.

fight that thing in the yard!”

She fainted.

Monk showed how upset he was by I was trying to think of one single nice bellowing at me, “What is that thing?”

thing to think about what had probably been I didn’t take the trouble to tell him I her relationship with Gross when Ham didn’t know. I started walking out of the room Brooks looked at the window, and said, “Say, with the girl. She didn’t weigh a thing in my it’s getting daylight in a hurry, isn’t it?”

arms. I didn’t weigh an ounce myself. I was Savage went to the window, went fast, so scared I floated in the air.

and said, “It’s not dawn—unless the sun is Spatny went with us. The old giant was coming up straight overhead.” He sounded active, or he couldn’t have managed that—shocked.

we passed through the rooms like antelope.

It was that light again. Not quite the The old man’s right foot made a little more way it had been earlier that night, when we noise than his left foot hitting the floor, be-saw it from the hotel terrace, thirty or so sto-cause of his limp; I remember thinking it must ries above the street, and with no clouds be a genuine limp, or he would have forgot-above that. The clouds didn’t seem to cut it ten about it now. Awfully genuine.