"Ah, well," commented Mrs. Kinney provokingly, "you'll have to be
humored, I suppose." She cogitated unnecessarily long, then left the
room to get a folio of newspapers and magazines. One of these she
selected with great deliberation, and opened it at the leading
article. Even then she would not hand it over right away. "You
remember that sky-car idea of the doctor's, don't you?"

"His machine to explore space? He couldn't talk of anything else
when I--you don't mean to say"--incredulously--"that he made a
success of that!"

"He certainly did. Took a three weeks' tour of the planets, month
before last!"

Hill stared in amazement, then leaned forward suddenly and whisked
the magazine out of Mrs. Kinney's fingers. He held the paper with
hands that trembled in excitement; and this is what he read, in the
matter-of-fact black-and-white of The Scientific New Zealander:

STAR EXPLORERS RETURN

Dr. Kinney and Party Visit Venus and Mercury

Bringing proofs which will satisfy the most skeptical, Dr. William
G. Kinney, G. Van Emmon, E. Williams Jackson, and John W. Smith, who
left the earth on December 9 in a powerful sky-car of the doctor's
design, returned on the 23rd, after having explored the two planets
which lie between the earth and the sun.