their suits in the sky-car, was the exultant voice of Smith. He was too
excited to notice anything out of the way in their manner; he was almost
dancing in front of his bench, where the unknown machine, now
reconstructed, stood belted to a small electric-motor.

"It runs!" he was shouting. "You got here just in time!" He began to
fumble with a switch.

"What of it?" remarked the doctor in the bland tone which he kept for
occasions when Smith needed calming. "What will it do if it does run?"

The engineer looked blank. "Why--" Then he remembered, and picked up one
of the reels at random. "There's a clamp here just the right size to
hold one of these," he explained, fitting the ribbon into place and
threading its free end into a loop on a spool which looked as though
made for it. But his excitement had passed; he now cautiously set a
small anvil between himself and the apparatus, and then, with the aid of
a long stick, he threw on the current.

For a moment nothing happened, save the hum of the motor. Then a
strange, leafy rustling sounded from the mechanism, and next, without
any warning, a high-pitched voice, nasal and plaintive but distinctly
human, spoke from the big metal disk.

The words were unintelligible. The language was totally unlike anything
ever heard on the earth. And yet, deliberately if somewhat cringingly,
the voice proceeded with what was apparently a recitation. There were
modulations, pauses, sentences; but seemingly the paragraphs were all
short and to the point.