Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1934-11-09
CHAPTER v

deed, one ceased to resemble a star
at all and appeared, instead, as a
small full NOM which grew balefully
each night; and now the other also
showed disc even to the naked eye.
Each night. also. they altered posi-
ton slightly. relatively to each other.
For the gravltatlonal control Of the
larger-Bronson Alpha - swung the
smaller Bronson Beta, about it in an
orbit like that If the moon about the
earth.
Their plain approach paralyzed en-
terprise on the earth. Throughout the
civilized world two professions above
all others adhered most universally to
their calling: day and night. in the
face Of famine. blood. fire, disaster and
every conceivable form Of human an
guish. doctors and surgeons chung
steadfast TO their high calling; and
day and night amid the weltering
change Of conditions and In the glut
Of fabulous alarms and reports, the
men who gathered news and printed
It, labored to fulfill their purposes.
Tony saw more Of the worlds activi.
ties than most of Its citizens at this
time. He had scarcely returned from
his first tour of the eastern cities when
he was sent out again. this time to the
Middle and Far West That journey
was arduous because Of the increasing
difficulties Of travel The railroads
were moving the Pacific and the At
lantic civilizations inland. and pas
senger trains ran on uneasy schedules.
He saw the vast accumulation OF
freight In the mid-western depOts. He
saw the horizon-filling settlements be
ing prepared. He saw the breath-rak-
ing reaches Of prairie which had been
put under cultivation to feed the new
horde in the high fat country north
and west Of Kansas.
Along the Pacific coast he observed
the preparations being made for the
withdrawal from the western ocean.
Seattle, Tacoma. Portland. San Fran
cisco. Los Angeles. San Diego, were
digging up their roots. Alillionaires
drove eastward In great limousines
with their most priceless treasures
lieaped around them. .
Tony's work was varied. He con
tlnued to send back by ones and twos
those scientists whose counsel HerR
don desired, and the flower Of the
young men and women who might be
useful in the event of great eata
clysm.
Hendron's own Ideas were still un.
crystallzed: he felt with increasing In
tensity the need for gathering together
the best brains. the healthiest bodies
and the stanchest hearts that could be
found. He had variety of plans. He
had founded two STATIONS in the United
States. and was in the process of equip
ping them for all emergencies. Under
the best conditions. the personality Of
bis group might divide into two parts
and move to those stations, there to
remain until the first crisis passed so
that afterward they could emerge a.
leaders In the final effort against doom.
Under the pressure Of the lmpend-
ing destruction, his scientists had
pushed their experiments In obtaining
power from atomic disintegration to a
point where the power of the atom
could be utilized. within limits, as a
propulsive force.
Hendron had thereupon succeeded
in bombardlng the surface Of the moon
with a projectlle that was, In its es-
sentials, small rocket. he had set
tied the problems of hull composition,
Insulation and aeration. which would
arise in such vessel, II made In a
size to be occupied by men. He had
devised rockets which could be d.
rected He had constructed rocket
with vents at both ends SO that dis
charge in the opposite direction would
break its fall. Several such rockets
be actually dispatched under remote
control. HURTING many miles into the
air. turning, descending part way IN
der full force OF their stern ''engines."
and checking their fall by forward dis
charges at the end of their flight, SO
that their actual landing had not de-
stroyed even the delicate Instruments
they contained.
The chief problem that remained I'M
solved was a metal sufficiently re-
sistant to the awful force Hendron en-
ployed. Even the experimental rockets
often failed In their flight because the
heat generated by the atomic combus.
ton within them melted and blew
away the walls intended to retain It.
SO, at the Hendron laboratories, the
worlds metalIurglsts concentrated
their forces upon finding an alloy cap
able of withstandIng the temperatures
and pressures involved in employing
atomic energy as driving force.
Tony visited both of Hendron's sta
lions. One was in Michigan and one
In New Mexico. He brought back re-
ports on the progress being made there
in the construction of laboratories, ma
chine shops and dormitories.
He found Hendron sleepless and
icily calm In the midst Of his uultitu-
dlnous enterprises
But Eve showed the strain more
than her father. and during the first
evening. which they spent together.
she expressed her fear: Fathers
greatest hope was that his ship would
be successful There Is more informa.
ton than has been given out about the
Bronson bodies We admit that they
will come very close. Terribly close
We do not admit yet precisely hf