vanished. The powder had turned it to vapor, and the purifying chemicals
had sucked it up. Nothing was left save a heap of smoking, grayish ashes
in the center of the broken glass.

Van Emmon's fingers relaxed their grip. He stirred to action, and turned
briskly to Smith.

"Here! Help me with this thing!"

Between them they got the remains of the cabinet, with its gruesome
load, into the vestibule. As for the doctor, he was bending over
Jackson's still unconscious form. When he saw what the others were
doing, he gave a great sigh of relief.

"Good!" He helped them close the door. "Let's get away from this damned
place!"

The outer door was opened. At the same time Smith started the machinery;
and as the sky-car shot away from the ground he tilted it slightly, so
that the contents of the vestibule was slid into space. Down it fell
like so much lead.

The doctor glanced through a nearby window, and his face brightened as
he made out the distant gleam of another planet. He watched the receding
surface of Mercury with positive delight.

"Nice place to get away from," he commented. "And now, my friends, for
Venus, and then--home!"

But the other's eyes were fixed upon a tiny sparkle in the dust outside