Chapter IV: Part 4

"But the real monetary system is built upon confidence. It could not be otherwise today because we have no more precious metals. When, about 95 years ago, the Frenchman P865 + finished the transmutation of all the precious metals, the death-knell of the old monetary system was sounded. Everybody could make gold and silver for less than iron used to cost in the old days. Consequently, if you had a one hundred dollar bill that said on its face that you could exchange it for one hundred dollars' worth of gold, you could have gone to the treasury and received five twenty dollar gold pieces, which, however, were not worth more, perhaps, than one or two cents. So of what use was the one hundred dollar bill?[6]

"When P865 + made his announcement, it caused neither panic nor confusion. Several centuries prior there would have been panic, but the world had been progressing in knowledge, and understood that commerce and economics are stabilized by confidence.

"There is only one thing in this world that has a real value, and that is man's work. You can replace almost everything else with something else, but you can not replace labor. The modern economic structure is, therefore, reared entirely upon man's work.

"When the check came into use, in the 19th century the monetary system underwent a great change. Instead of people paying what they owed by means of coins or banknotes, they took to paying each other by means of a written piece of paper--the check. Billions upon billions of dollars and cents changed hands, simply by signing a check to some one else, the check clearing through the bank. While one account was credited, another was debited. There was little actual money that changed hands, either between the man who wrote the check and the man who received it, or even between the banks who cleared the checks. In other words, this entire check system was based upon credit. You received a check for one hundred dollars from a man who owed you one hundred dollars. You took this check in good faith because you knew that he must have the one hundred dollars in the bank--otherwise he probably would not make out the check. You sent the check to your bank, which, in turn, collected it from the bank in which your debtor had his account. In all these transactions no real money ever changed hands. It was credit, pure and simple, all the way through.

"So when P865 + demonstrated his synthetic metals, the situation did not change at all. The people appreciated the fact that the government, in one way or another, must be good, and that although the money reserves as figured in metal dollars and cents had become valueless, every one knew that the country was not founded and based upon valueless metals alone. Incidentally, no government, the entire world over, could have redeemed in gold or silver coin all of its outstanding obligations.

"Therefore, when gold and silver became practically valueless, nothing happened, because actual coins were no longer used, and every one used checks, so that even banknotes had become obsolete.

"But, with the devaluation of the so-called 'precious' metals the governments substituted other values. This was done at first by setting fixed values on property, such as real estate, buildings, manufacturing plants, etc. Valuations of these were made several times a year, and whoever owned such properties was given a 'State-value certificate.' A building, valued at $50,000, was appraised by the state three or four times or more, a year, and a certificate was given to you which you took to your bank, the latter immediately crediting you with part of the $50,000. If you wanted to sell your property to a friend for $50,000 or more, you would take his check and then, demand from your bank the return of the original deed, which in turn would be transferred to your friend. In that case your bank would credit you with the $50,000 check of your friend, while he would have the property.

"Of course the illustration which I gave is not exactly accurate, for the reason that you could not get from your bank the exact amount of the valuation of whatever realty changed hands. The bank advanced about seventy percent of the appraised value, with certain exceptions. This also was in no wise different from the way our ancestors were accustomed to do, because in the old days such a transaction would simply have been called a mortgage. The important difference, however, later on, was that the valuation was made by the state and such valuation was final. This tended to stabilize real estate and property valuations.

"Merchandise, today, is bought and sold the same as it was bought and sold centuries ago, and that is by check. So is everything else, including labor. Every workman is, of course, paid by check, which check he can use either in his own bank account or for buying merchandise from his grocer or tailor, getting the difference in a check or otherwise in fractional paper tape coin.

"These government paper tape coins and banknotes--the few that are being used--instead of being covered by gold and silver bullion, are now covered by real estate bonds or other tangible property."

"But," Alice asked, "suppose there were a panic, as described in some of the ancient books, and everybody ran to the bank at once to get his money, what would happen?"

"Nothing," said Ralph. "Absolutely nothing. Suppose there was a 'panic,' as you call it. In the first place, why should there be one? There is no reason for it and no one nowadays would think of running to the bank and getting his or her 'money.' There is no 'money,' as you call it.

"Remember, the banks are all under government control, and if a bank should fail, which no bank has done for the last four hundred years, the government would be obliged to make good the shortage out of its own resources. If everybody ran simultaneously to every bank throughout the country, a bank would simply make out a check for each total balance, and pass out a check for the amount. Then the next morning, as the people could not eat their checks for breakfast, they would have to do one of two things: either take the check back to the bank and redeposit it, or exchange the check for commodities.

"That means that within twenty-four hours all the checks would have found their way back to the banks and things would be just exactly where they had left off before the 'run' on the bank. As banks are no longer under the necessity of paying in coin or banknotes, but under the law can pay by check, there is no reason why any one should wish to make a 'run' on the bank, simply to get a check."

"But," Alice persisted, "suppose you draw out more than you have to your credit? Suppose you write out a check for more than you have in the bank? What happens then?"

"You probably can answer that just as well as I can," replied Ralph. "To do so is a prison offense, and again, it would do you no good, because following the first offense you would get a warning from the government, and at the second such offense you would get a still stronger warning, and on the third, you would go to jail, because the first two offenses could perhaps be mistakes, but the third could not. On top of this, your account would be withdrawn from all banks and you would not be able to open another account again for ten years, because all checks as you know, are identified with fingerprints in addition to the signature. The fingerprint experts of the government would prevent you from opening another account in any bank anywhere in the country. So no one abuses his checking privilege and writes out checks when there are no funds to his credit."

A few days later Ralph took Alice to one of the great industrial artificial cloth works. They flew to Pennsylvania, where the great artificial silk, cotton, and wool mills were located. Ralph explained that during the 20th century silk had finally been made artificially from wood and chemicals. This was then known as artificial silk. But only during the last century had it been possible to manufacture artificial cotton and artificial wool, synthetically from wood and other chemicals. Moreover, they wore better than real cotton and real wool.

In the enormous plant were immense tanks in which the raw materials were first cooked and then treated by chemicals until the fibers issued in fine microscopic streams from nozzles under hydraulic pressure, the threads were then wound on huge reels. From here the hanks were sent to the spinneries and cloth-weaving mills.

Of particular interest was the new kind of cloth, which was much fighter than wool or cotton, and, at the same time, cooler in summer and warmer in winter. This material was made from cork, which was first pulverized and then afterwards digested by means of chemicals. Under hydraulic pressure, a somewhat thick thread was obtained, which had all the good properties of cork, but none of its poor ones. This cork thread, when woven into cloth, made a texture both light and durable, had a velvety touch to the fingers, and being a poor heat conductor, protected the wearer from heat in the summer and cold in the winter.

A number of combinations were made whereby cork thread and silk thread were spun together, giving an entirely new product, with all the virtues of silk as well as those of cork.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 6: When this was written gold coins were legal tender. Gold payments were outlawed by Congress in 1933.]

8

THE MENACE OF THE INVISIBLE CLOAK

Leaving the Pennsylvania mills the aeroflyer, traveling at high speed landed the party within a very short time on one of the tall landing buildings in New York. Ralph and Alice made their way down to the elevated roadway, where, at Ralph's suggestion they put on their _power skates_, for, as he explained smilingly, it was but a short distance to his home and the exercise would do them both good and give them an appetite for luncheon.

When they were but a little way from their destination Ralph became conscious of a faint hissing sound close behind them. Twice he glanced over his shoulder, but the roadway at that hour--it was just before noon--was deserted.

Yet the sibilant sound persisted, seeming to be getting closer and closer, like some persevering insect about to alight.

Alice apparently heard nothing, or perhaps she thought it merely one of the noises of the street, for she chattered on in the gay animated fashion that was one of her charms, oblivious to the fact that the man at her side was so preoccupied that he scarcely replied to her.

For Ralph had now satisfied himself that there was nothing anywhere around them which could cause that untiring pursuant hiss. Then from what secret invisible source did it emanate--and why?

To the scientist, accustomed to explaining the unexplainable, it was ominous--menacing--

Again he turned to look behind him, along the deserted way, and at that moment he heard a stifled cry from the girl beside him. He whirled to face her, and faced--nothing! He was alone in the empty street!

Unbelieving, doubting the evidence of his eyes, he stared about him, too astounded for the moment, by this mystifying and amazing disappearance to think collectively.

Above him the sun shone in a clear blue sky, before and behind him stretched the still roadway. Then he was aware of the silence, the deadly quiet. For the hissing had receded into nothingness, and with it, Alice.

As the full force of the catastrophe struck him, something akin to panic seized him. Danger to himself he could have faced with the calm courage of a brave man, but this unseen and unexpected blow from an invisible source aimed at the girl so close and dear to his heart smote him with a chill terror that for an instant held him powerless in its grip.

That he should have been careless when she was in danger--but this was no time for self-reproaches. To act, and to act at once--that was vital.

Thoughts of high frequency radio waves--of X-rays--of Fernand--

"Fernand!" he exclaimed aloud, and with the name coherent thought returned. Putting on all possible speed he covered the distance to his home in a few seconds and dashed up to his laboratory, the while his swiftly-working brain attacked the greatest personal problem that it had ever been called upon to solve.

Having experimented with ultra-short waves, he knew that it was possible to create total transparency of any object if the object could be made to vibrate approximately at the same rate as light. He was familiar with the theory, and although he had worked on it at times, he had never seen a practical demonstration of it.[7] He realized a machine was in the hands of someone, intent on kidnapping Alice. He knew, too, that a police description would be flashed within a radius of thousands of miles instantly, it would be necessary for the abductor to keep Alice invisible for some time to come, for fear of some one seeing and recognizing her. All this flashed through his mind as he assembled a detecting apparatus consisting of a portable aerial and a small box containing a few radio instruments and a pair of headphones.

The aerial, by being rotated, could determine the point from which the waves emanated. In ten minutes Ralph had the apparatus rigged up and began rotating the aerial, until a roaring noise was heard in the telephones. He knew that this must be the apparatus producing the invisibility, and within a few seconds he had dashed from the house on his power skates, carrying the detector in front of him. Two of his assistants accompanied him.

The pursuit was on. As they approached the kidnapper the sounds in the telephones became stronger. They sped along Broadway, while the hastily notified police kept the way open. The rising sound in the 'phones clearly indicated they were headed directly toward the abductor.

They gained steadily on him while the rolling, flying police cleared Ralph's way with their shrieking sirens, while the kidnapper had to pick his way slowly through crowds.

The chase led them into a narrow street on the outskirts of the city.

The sound that came through the telephones was now exceedingly loud, indicating that the quarry was near by. But this very nearness was confusing to Ralph, for the volume of sound prevented him from exactly locating the invisible kidnapper and the girl. In vain he turned the aerial in all directions, seeking one point from which it came louder than another that would determine the course of his pursuit. For the moment he was halted, and, like some hound baffled by the cunning of the fox, he cast about him eagerly, waiting for what he knew must come, the next move of the pursued man.

And then it came--a deepening tone in the telephones, a gradation of sound that to the trained ear of the scientist told him all that he wished to know. With an exultant cry he sprang forward, and dashed through the entrance of a small store.

The proprietor, whose state of mind may best be described by the word "flabbergasted," struggled for some moments in vain for speech while Ralph and his men, with outstretched hands eagerly swept from wall to wall.

"Here, here, you fellows," he finally managed to gasp, "what are you after? What are you trying to do? You'll knock something over in a minute. Hey, look out there--there it goes!"

For Ralph had reached around a tailor's dummy, knocking it over as his hands closed upon something behind it, something invisible and yet warm and firm; something that quivered and shrunk away at his touch.

The proprietor, rushing forward to pick up the dummy, stopped short, gaping. Ralph's hands, at the moment of contact, vanished into thin air. But in an instant they re-appeared, as he drew towards him, out of the influence of the ultra-short waves what he knew must be the bound and gagged form of Alice.

Once away from the influence of the apparatus she became visible again. A sack had been tied over her head and shoulders and her hands were tightly bound to her sides. She was still on her roller skates, and her feet had been left free, the sack being sufficient to render her almost wholly helpless, and unable to make any effective resistance.

As Ralph removed the fastenings and released her, she staggered and clung to him, her head dropping in exhaustion.

"Oh," she gasped faintly, "what is it? Where did you go?"

"Water!" exclaimed Ralph harshly to those about him, and the fat storekeeper, trembling with excitement, but withal displaying an extraordinary energy for one who could never at any time have been a streamline model, made a dive for a vase of flowers on the counter. Grasping the tops of the flowers with one hand he flung them in a corner, and tendered the vase of discolored water to Ralph, panting the while as one who has run his race, and emerged triumphant.

"I said water--not mud," shouted Ralph in exasperation, as he rubbed the girl's cold hands between his own warm ones.

"Well, that's water, ain't it?" said the man, and Ralph glowered at him.

"Please," said Alice, trying to withdraw her hands, "I'm all right, indeed I am. I was just a little dizzy for a minute, but it has all passed now."

The color returned to her pale cheeks with a rush, and she straightened herself, and turned away in some confusion, her hands instinctively going to her hair, the gesture that women have ever used when at a loss for words.

In the meantime, Ralph's two assistants had found the ultra-wave machine by the very simple method of feeling about the spot where the girl had been discovered. When their hands disappeared they knew that they had it, and Ralph ordered some water thrown upon it, which had the twofold result of stopping its activity and of bringing it into view.

Having assured himself that Alice was unharmed and recovering from the shock resulting from her misadventure, the scientist made a minute examination of the instrument. It was a complicated machine and one totally strange to him. As he studied it he felt a growing conviction that this was no earth-made machine, but one conceived and made by a Martian. Undoubtedly it was the work of some master of science, a true mental giant.

Then where, he asked himself, did Fernand--if it was Fernand--secure it, and how? His object, of course, was obvious. He was evidently prepared to go to any lengths to secure the girl for himself. Had he not so threatened her? His method of attack had been ingenious--fiendishly ingenious. Here was no mean antagonist, no petty enemy, but one whose cunning would tax Ralph's resourcefulness to the utmost.

When he finally turned away from his inspection he found Alice quite herself again. She was listening to the store proprietor's version of the affair, a story that, under the stimulus of Alice's dark eyes, lost none in the telling, for where facts failed him, imagination did not.

"--flew open before my very eyes," he was saying when Ralph turned around, "as if by unseen hands. And then this terrible sound--I can't scarcely describe it, more like (his eye fell on the ultra-ray apparatus), more like a great machine than anything else. I says to myself, says I, 'There's something strange about this,' I says, 'I'd better be on the lookout, I might be needed, for it looks to me,' I says, 'as though someone was up to something'."

As a matter of fact, he had thought the opening of the door due to a passing wind, and the hissing of the machine, which has already been likened to the buzz of an insect, the humming of a bee, let in by the same agency.

"And then that black man, he gave me a fright for fair," he went on.

"What about him? What was he like?" asked Ralph sharply.

"Ah," said the proprietor, swelling with importance, "that's just what I've been asking myself. Strange we should hit on the same thoughts ain't it?"

"Very," commented the scientist, with wasted irony. "Can't you give any description of him? When and how did you see him, anyway?"

The proprietor put his hands into his pockets and swayed backward and forward on the balls of his feet. He surveyed each member of his little audience with glances of poignant meaning, as one who had much of consequence to tell--all in good time.

Finally he spoke. "He was black," he said, "black all over."

"Yes, yes," exclaimed Ralph impatiently, "you told us that before. Can't you give us something definite to go by? His face, for instance. What was that like?"

The other leaned forward and tapped him on the chest impressively.

"Ay, that was black too," he said.

"Black!" cried Ralph.

"Black it was--all covered with a black cloth," said the none-too-intelligent shopkeeper smugly. "He come right out of the air before my very eyes, all black, with a black cloth on his face, and rolled out of my store like a cyclone."

"You should have tried to hold him," said Ralph.

"Well, I gave him a look, I can tell you. He won't forget it in a hurry. I just stood there and looked at him--like this."

He screwed up his face in so alarming a manner that one of Ralph's assistants was moved to remark that it was a wonder he didn't drop dead with a face like that.

"What d'ye mean?" demanded the owner of the countenance in question.

"I said," repeated the assistant, "it was a wonder he didn't drop dead. I would have. It's all I can do to look at you right now."

Alice, unable to control her laughter any longer, hastily murmured something about "fresh air" and went to the door.

Ralph, keeping his own face straight by a valiant effort, ordered his men to lift the ultra-ray machine and take it back to the laboratory to give it a more minute inspection at his leisure.

The girl and the man were very silent on their way back to Ralph's home. A tragedy had been narrowly averted and each felt that this first attempt might by no means be the last.

Only once did Alice voice her fears.

"You know," she said, "I am certain it was Fernand." She hesitated for a brief moment and then held out her hand. In the palm lay a small heart-shaped object of a curious translucent green, delicately carved. It was pierced for a chain, and indeed, a part of the chain still hung there, but it had been broken off short, and only a few links remained.

"What's that?" asked Ralph.

"A charm that Fernand always carries. He showed it to me once. He's very superstitious about it, he told me--and I found it back there in the store when I went to the door."

Ralph looked very thoughtful.

"Then he must have brought that machine from Mars," he said with decision. "And with such resources at his command, I wonder what his next move will be."

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 7: In 1925 John L. Reinartz, working with ultra-short radio waves, actually made it possible to look through solid metal plates with the naked eye.]

9

THE CONQUEST OF GRAVITATION

Alice and her father had been invited, the next day, to Ralph's laboratory, as he wished to show them some of his latest discoveries. They found him sitting in front of his desk while he was engaged in dictating scientific data to thin air.

"Ah!" said Alice, as she entered, "you are evidently using some of the methods of my kidnapper, since you seem to be dictating to an invisible secretary!"

"Nothing so complicated," said Ralph.

Ralph, who then welcomed them, denied the charge, and went on to explain to his party his new invention.

"The evolution of letter-writing has been a slow and painful one. Our remote ancestors, many thousands of years ago, carved their letters in stone slabs. Later on, the more civilized Egyptians wrote their letters upon papyrus. Still later, upon the invention of paper and ink, communications and letters could be written much better and faster in that improved manner. Later still, the typewriter came into use.

"All of these methods had one great drawback. It was possible to easily falsify such records. While there had been handwriting experts, it happened very frequently in olden times--too frequently, in fact--that a signature on such an important document as, for instance, a will, was forged, and it became a question for handwriting experts to decide whether the signature was genuine. But even the handwriting experts were not always right.

"It has often occurred to me that it should be possible to use the human voice as its own document so that it could be preserved in a different manner than the phonographic method discovered in the 20th century. Of course, under that method it was possible for one to speak one's last will and testament, but it was a clumsy way and was rarely used on account of its high cost. Furthermore it was difficult to make copies of a talk. Then, too, the disc or cylinder upon which the phonographic records were made were very fragile, and could be broken, either accidentally or purposely.

"The method you see me using is phonetic, and it is practically impossible to falsify such a record. Watch how the machine works."

Ralph reseated himself at his desk and started to talk. Facing him on the desk was a machine of about the shape of an old-fashioned typewriter, except that there were no keys. There were a few dials and knobs and from the top of the cabinet a white sheet of paper slowly emerged as Ralph dictated. When he had finished, he pressed a button and the entire sheet was ejected. It was covered with queer-looking wave lines, similar to the lines made by a seismograph when recording earthquakes--queer little parallel lines with humps at the tops that increased from very short wave-like scrolls to long ones. The entire sheet was covered with these lines in indelible ink. Ralph showed Alice the page and went on explaining:

"The page which you see here is an exact record of my voice, but just as no two fingerprints are alike in this world, no two voices are alike either. Each has certain characteristics produced by certain overtones in the voices of the various individuals. The pronunciation of individuals varies, so does the intonation, so does the speed of talking, so does the timbre of the voice, and a hundred other differences that to an expert are observable immediately.

"Suppose, then, during my life I have recorded a great many documents similar to this one. The waves traced on this piece of paper have certain characteristics, which are entirely individual. Here are two sheets of paper, both containing the Lord's Prayer, but spoken by two different individuals in my office. Both of these individuals have voices that are very nearly alike, yet, you can see how great a difference there is between the lines. On one sheet the lines are much heavier and swing in quite an apparently different manner.

"By reference to authentic documents of this character, it will be impossible to falsify any record by having some one else make such a spoken record. A will, or any other important document, will, in the future, be made by this machine and will do away with many court cases and much business squabble, and much shirking of responsibility.

"Furthermore, by my method it is possible with the same machine to make as many as twenty-five copies at one time, while the original is being made. This is done by a chemical process in the machine itself, the copies being simply thin chemical papers which are being developed at the same time as the voice-writing is being made.

"Reading these pages is not as difficult as you might think. It would be necessary, however, to know the _phonolphabet_. The phonolphabet is not very much different from the alphabet that you now know. Every syllable and every consonant used by you makes a certain impression in my machine, and while it may vary, as explained before, still it remains roughly the same, exactly as handwriting by different persons may vary, but still you can read because the characteristics are the same. The same is true of my machine. By studying the characters of the phonolphabet, it is possible, within a few weeks, to learn how to read a phonetic letter, with the same ease that you read a handwritten or typewritten letter.

"I expect that in the schools of the future children will be taught the phonolphabet so that every one will be able to read phonetic records.

"Another feature of my invention is that if you do not wish to read the letter you can listen to it." Saying so, Ralph inserted the letter into an odd-shaped cabinet, which had a slot at the top. Two grippers slowly began to draw the paper into the inside of the machine. Ralph turned two knobs and pushed a button, and within a few seconds his own voice was heard with unmistakable clarity repeating what he had said fifteen minutes before.

"This machine, likewise, is very simple," said Ralph. "The ink tracing on the paper record is opaque, while the paper itself is more or less transparent under a strong light. A light-sensitive cell on the other side slowly moves from left to right, taking off the entire phonetic record, as it were. This light-sensitive cell moves in the same ratio and with the same speed that I originally dictated, and the words are reproduced exactly as I spoke them, by means of a loud-speaking telephone coupled to an amplifier.

"Thus it is now possible to have a double record; an audible and a written one, and with the two it is practically impossible to falsify records.

"As you know, there have been some big embezzlement scandals recently and it was not always possible to convict those suspected due to the clever methods which these swindlers used.

"One great advantage of the new system is that it is done entirely by machine and does away with the human element. I do not require my real secretary when I dictate. I sit alone in my study or office and simply talk."

* * * * *

"There is one unique place, I am sure you will be interested in." Ralph led the way to the elevator and they quickly shot up to the roof, where they boarded one of Ralph's flyers and within a few minutes were heading north. The machine rose until they were up about 20,000 feet. The cold made it necessary to turn on the heat in the enclosed cab. In the distance, just ahead there shortly appeared a brilliant spot of light suspended in the dark sky, which quickly increased in size as they approached. From a distance it appeared like an enormous hemisphere with the flat side facing the earth below. As they drew close, they could see that it was a great city suspended in the air apparently covered with a transparent substance, just as if a toy city had been built on a dinner plate and covered with a bell-shaped globe.

They alighted on the rim, at a landing stage outside the transparent covering. They were soon walking along a warm, beautifully laid out street. Here was neither bustle nor noise. The deepest calm prevailed. There were small houses of an old-fashioned design. There were shops in great profusion. There were playgrounds, neatly-laid-out parks, but without looking at the humans that were walking around, the visitors felt as if they had gone back many centuries.

There were no power roller skates, no automatic vehicles. There were no aeroflyers beneath the glass ceiling. Instead a serene calm prevailed, while people with happy expressions on their faces were leisurely walking to and fro.

Very much puzzled, Alice wanted to know what this mysterious glass-encased city was.

"This," explained Ralph, "is one of our many vacation cities that I hope will soon dot every part of the world. People are living entirely too intensely nowadays and with the many functions that they have to perform, with all the labor-saving devices they have, their lives are speeded up to the breaking point. The businessman or executive must leave his work every month for a few days, if he is not to become a wreck. Heretofore we have sent him to the mountain tops or to the seashore; there he found no rest. The noise, even on top of the mountains, due to aeroflyers and other vehicles, did not give a man a real rest. On our floating city there is absolute rest. There is no noise, no excitement, not even a radio telephone.

"The city, 20,000 feet above the ground, is floating in perfectly clean and uncontaminated air. This air, while less dense than that further down, is renewed automatically every few hours. It is invigorating, just the same as mountain air with all its benefits.

"The roof is made of steel lattice work, thick glass panes being fitted in between the steel frames. The shape is in the form of a huge dome covering the entire city, which measures about a little over a mile in circumference. The height of the center of the dome from the floor of the city is about 200 feet. At night the city is illuminated by cold light from high frequency wires running below the dome, similar to the system now used to light up our cities.

"The floor upon which the entire city rests is steelonium, and the city is held up by means of anti-gravitational impulse. By neutralizing the gravity for the area below the floating city and a little beyond it, it is possible to keep the floating city at any distance from the earth. In other words, we use a gravitational 'screen,' and then build a city on top of this screen.

"By charging the gravitational screen at a very high potential, we nullify gravity and as the city no longer has any weight it can be placed on any level and remain there practically indefinitely. A few air propellers keep the city from being blown away by storms or wind.

"Although it was very cold in our aeroflyer as we came up, it is nice and warm on the streets here. Nor is there any artificial heating during the daytime. There is perpetual sunshine during the day at this level, at which practically no clouds ever form.

"The city being entirely roofed over by the glass dome, and the interior being filled with air, the sun quickly heats up the atmosphere. Within two hours after the sun rises the air is balmy, and it would become stifling hot if the air was not renewed from time to time. Air is a poor conductor of heat, and if the air were not renewed, it would soon be 150 degrees in the shade. Cold air, however, from the outside, is continually drawn in so that an even temperature is maintained. Only at night is the city heated artificially, as without the sunlight at this altitude it soon becomes exceedingly cold.

"All the heating is done by electricity, and a uniform temperature is maintained during the night, which is somewhat less than the temperature during the day.

"There is nothing that a man or woman can do up here except rest, and that is precisely what they do. One week's rest up here is equivalent to a month's rest down below."

Ralph, with Alice and her father strolled through the suspended city in which the simple life was the keynote. There were recreation parks, gymnasiums, baths of various kinds, such as hydrotherapy, electrotherapy, and others. There were sun parlors and sun baking parks. The din of the city, the curse of man's own handiwork, was absent. Everyone wore either felt or rubber shoes. The entire atmosphere was delightful and restful.

It was with genuine regret that Alice and her father returned to the aeroflyer and back to New York.

That night after dinner Ralph took his guests to a new entertainment that had just become popular. They entered a big building on which, in big fiery letters, was inscribed

GRAVITATIONAL CIRCUS

Ralph explained to his guests that with the invention of the nullifying of gravitation, many new and wonderful effects had come about. Gravity, he explained, was an electromagnetic manifestation, in the ether, the same as light, radio waves, etc. It had always been the dream of scientists for hundreds of years to nullify the effect of gravitation. "In other words," Ralph continued, "if you pick up a stone and open your hand, the stone will fall to the ground. Why does it fall? First, because the earth attracts the stone, and second because the stone attracts the earth. There is a definite gravitational pull between the two. The effect of the stone in pulling up the earth is, however, inconsequential, and while the stone does exert a certain amount of pull towards the earth, the latter is so tremendously larger that the effect on the earth is not felt at all.

"'If,' scientists had argued for hundreds of years, 'you could interpose between the stone and the earth a screen which nullified gravitation, the stone would not fall down when let go, but would remain suspended just exactly where you left it.'

"Scientists also argued that if gravitation was an electromagnetic manifestation of the ether, it should be possible to overcome and nullify it by electrical means.

"It took hundreds of years, however, before the correct solution was found. It was known that certain high frequency currents would set up an interference with the gravitational waves, for it had been found in the first part of our century that gravitation was indeed a wave form, the same as light waves, or radio waves. When this interference between the two waves, namely, the gravitational waves and the electrical waves was discovered, it was found that a metallic screen charged by electric high frequency waves would indeed nullify gravitation to a certain extent. If you charged a metal netting in this fashion and you weighed yourself on a spring scale on top of the screen, insulated of course from the screen itself, your weight would be roughly diminished one-half.

"In other words, about half of the gravitation had been nullified, the other half still remaining. Thus things stood until about two years ago, when I began to occupy myself with the problem. I reasoned that while we had achieved much, still much more remained to be done. Our anti-gravitational screen still let through some of the gravitational waves, or fifty percent of the energy, which we could not seem to counteract. I felt that it was not so much the effect of the current as the material of the screen which seemed to be at fault. Experimental work along this line convinced me that I was on the right track and that if ever gravitation was to be annulled in its entirety a screen of a special material would have to be evolved in order to obtain the desired results.

"I finally found that only the densest material known, namely thoro-iridium, would completely stop the gravitational waves, providing that the metal screen was uninterruptedly bombarded with alpha rays which are continually emitted by radium.

"The screen finally evolved was expensive to make at first, but quantity production now has very considerably lowered the price."

By this time the party had found their seats in the amphitheater, and they had seated themselves. Seats were all around a ring, which did not look much different from the old-fashioned circus ring, except that it was, perhaps, a little larger. The gravitational screen, Ralph explained, was located below and could not be actually seen. The machinery, too, was located in the basement. A fine wire netting surrounded the entire arena, from top to bottom, the purpose of which became apparent later.

It was an old-fashioned horse and bareback rider act. Suddenly the gravitation was cut off, and the horse rose, beating the air with his hoofs, while the rider, in a sitting position hung onto the horse with his legs. The horse and rider no longer having any weight, they could not of course entirely control their movements. Both horse and rider at times hung with their heads downwards, then sideways, until finally, by jerking, they arrived in the center of the arena.

The horse had been well trained and ceased pawing the air, and his legs hung limp.

The rider mounted on the back of the horse, and with a slight jump reached the ceiling of the arena, some hundred feet up. Having no weight left, he bounced by the least muscular effort. Pushing against the ceiling with one of his fingers, he bounded down to the floor of the arena, only to rebound again to the ceiling. He kept this up for a few minutes, and then repeated the same thing sideways, where he hit against the wire netting, stretched from top to bottom of the arena to keep the performer from falling into the audience.

The gravitational field extended only vertically, but was not in evidence immediately beyond the sides of the arena. Had there been no screen, the performer, when passing outside the gravitational boundary, would have immediately regained his full weight and would have fallen.

The performer could jerk himself around anywhere in the arena, and being a good acrobat, he had no difficulty in reaching his horse. Much care had to be exercised, however, because the slightest kick against the horse would have sent the horse to the opposite side.

Slowly the gravitation was turned on, and both horse and rider sank gracefully toward the ground, where with the full gravitation restored, the horse and rider made their exit.

The next act was one that even Ralph had not seen. Two experts at juggling bounded into the arena and after the gravitation was cut off one of them placed a billiard cue on his forehead, and an old-fashioned hand lamp on top of the cue. The juggler then took the cue away and withdrew jerkily. The lamp remained in the same position, until brought down by one of the performers.

The tricks aroused great enthusiasm among the audience. An acrobat, using one of the billiard cues as a standing trapeze, revolved around the trapeze as if it were held securely in place. By jerking around the billiard cue, it was made to appear as if he was actually swinging around under his full "weight."

A beautiful effect was obtained when the jugglers brought several colored glass pitchers, filled with different-colored liquids. When the pitchers were inverted, nothing happened, because the liquid, having no weight, could not flow out. However, by turning the pitcher upside down and suddenly jerking it away the colored liquid, due to its own lag or inertia, stayed behind.

Due to the surface tension of liquids, it did not retain the shape of the pitcher, but formed itself immediately into a globe. The jugglers emptied a number of pitchers all in a row, leaving behind the globular liquid balls, formed of water and fruit juices.

The jugglers approached the balls and began to drink, simply by placing their lips against them. They then demonstrated the mobility of the water balls by pushing their fingers into them and cutting the balls in two, the halves immediately becoming new and smaller balls. Then by carefully giving each of the balls a slight push, the water balls would gravitate up to the ceiling of the arena and still having enough momentum left they would rebound and come back, only to be pushed up again by flat tennis racquets.

This had to be done carefully because the slightest false motion spread out the water balls into a flat sheet. The surface tension of the liquid always reasserted itself and the water balls came down sometimes in an elliptical shape. Every time the flat tennis racquet hit the balls, they lost their shape momentarily, but soon were globular again.

The two jugglers finally managed to push the liquid spheres one into another, until finally all balls had been joined into one. This, of course, amalgamated the various colors, but the colors had been made in such a way that the ball became a somewhat dirty-looking white, all the colors having recombined, making one color, just as all the hues of the rainbow, if combined together, make white.

The final act was where a huge water ball, about twenty-five feet in diameter, was pushed to the center of the arena, while a number of pretty girls entered the liquid itself and swam within the ball. The ball was lit up by strong searchlights, and the entire arena darkened, as the girls swam within the clear crystal water ball. When the swimmers needed air, all they had to do was to push their heads out of the sphere, breathe, and then resume "swimming," or jerking themselves around within the weightless water.

10

TWO LETTERS

During September Alice and her father had remained Ralph's guests, extending their stay at his urgent request. James 212B 422 made a most satisfactory chaperon. If they visited one of the great historical museums he always managed to disappear in search of some exhibit, leaving the other two to sit on a bench to wait his return, which was often delayed purposely.

But to his daughter and the scientist time had become of little importance and though the engineer was sometimes gone an hour, when he returned he would find them still sitting on the bench, sometimes deep in conversation, sometimes absorbed in a silence that meant more than any words could express.

Together they were blissfully happy, apart they were wretchedly lonely.

Ralph, it appeared, had completely forgotten numerous of his lectures in which he had labeled love as "nothing but a perfumed animal instinct." No lover more abject than he now, none more humble in the presence of his divinity. During those weeks they had arrived at a mutual understanding.

All the world knew and rejoiced in their happiness. Ralph had always been extremely popular with the people. Even the Planet Governor himself had been moved to privately express his approval. Many times had the scientist worried him. Ralph had so often been restive under the restraints which must of necessity be imposed upon one so important to the Earth's progress. And now, with this new influence to hold him, the Governor felt that the task of keeping Ralph contented had been lifted from the official's already over-burdened shoulders.

All the world rejoiced--all but two, and for them the knowledge of the two lovers' happiness was gall and wormwood.

One was roused to fury, the other plunged in despair.

To Fernand the scientist was one hitherto unforeseen obstacle to be removed from his path in his conquest of Alice. To the Martian, knowing beforehand that his passion was hopeless, the knowledge that she loved another was, nevertheless, a bitter blow. Before, at least, she had been heartfree. Wretched as he had been, bitter as he had been against the laws that made such a union impossible, there had been the barren comfort of the fact that she belonged to no one else. Now, even that was taken from him, and he felt that he could bear no more.

In his desperation he made up his mind to leave Earth, and immediately booked his passage to Mars. But on the very eve of his departure he found himself unable to make the decision that would separate him from her forever, and the next inter-planetary liner, which left Earth for Mars, carried, not himself, but this code letter to his best friend on his distant planet.

New York, September 20, 2660.

To Rrananolh AK 42,

Although I am booked on the _Terrestrial_ which departs tomorrow, I
have cancelled my reservation and consequently will not arrive on
Mars November 31st as planned. I do not know whether I shall take
passage on the next transport or not. In fact, I don't know what I
shall do. I am mad with despair and anguish. A thousand times over
have I wished that I had never come to this planet!

I have not told you before, but as perhaps you have guessed from my
previous letters, I am in love with a Terrestrial woman. Never mind
her name. I loved her from the first moment I saw her. You, who have
never visited the Earth, can hardly understand. It does not matter.

I have tried in every way to free myself from this mad infatuation,
but it is hopeless. Chemicals and Radio-treatments seem but to
accentuate my longing for that which is forever beyond my reach. I
thought at first that I could conquer myself, but I know now that I
cannot, and the knowledge is driving me to madness.

She has never known, and I think no one else here does. I have told
none but you, my friend. Always I feared that in some way I might
betray myself to her. There are times now when I wish that I had.

And yet--to have her suffer as I am suffering--I could not have borne
that.

I will, I suppose, go the way of all Martians who have had the
misfortune to care for a Terrestrial. A little _Listadinide_ injected
under the skin will free me from an existence which has become a
daily torture unless I find a way to evade the harsh laws.

Please hand the enclosed documents to my Second. If I do not see you
again do not grieve for me, but remember our friendship, and think
sometimes of your unhappy friend.

Llysanorh'

Long after his missive had gone, he sat rigid, motionless, by the window with unseeing eyes fixed on the city below him. At last he rose with a sigh and left the room. Was there no way out of such misery? Was there no straw he could grasp?

Of a very different caliber was an epistle sent by Fernand 60O 10 to his friend Paul 9B 1261.

New York, Sept. 28th, 2660.

Dear Paul:

You have heard the gossip, but don't fear my having a broken heart.
I am not easily downed, and I have a card or two yet to play in this
game.

Fact is, Alice is as hard to conquer as a steelonium wall is to
break through. That, however, is to my liking, my dear Paul. I love
obstacles, particularly when the goal is as pretty as Alice. I have
never wanted her more than now that she has thrown me down. Perhaps
if she had ever encouraged me I would not have cared a rap for her.
But--this opposition inflames me! Now I will have her. I _will_ have
her, and she shall love me, mark my words.

I have mentioned to you before the ridiculous Martian, Llysanorh',
I believe. It is very amusing to see him staring at Alice with
adoration in those enormous eyes of his. I really believe he is in
love with her, but these Martians are so self-controlled it is hard
to tell anything about them.

If Alice had fallen in love with this lanky, seven-foot Llysanorh'
she would have been lost to me, and to all the rest of the world.
That fellow certainly can be sugary when he wants to. However, she
really imagines that she's in love with this crazy scientist, and
right now I'm decidedly _de trop_. That worries me very little, I
assure you. She will soon learn to love me once I can get her away
from him. And I am going to provide for that.

Everything has been arranged, and I am only awaiting my opportunity.
If I am successful, I will take her out into space for a few months.
My machine is in readiness. It is the latest type, and the finest
I have ever seen. Provisions, books, reels for the Hypnobioscope,
instruments, etc., in fact, everything you can think of is on board.
I have even provided a well trained maid. I can assure you Alice
won't find it lonesome. Besides, I flatter myself that I can be very
entertaining.

Before I close I must ask you to attend to several matters for me,
as per enclosed rolls. You will understand everything better after
you read the instructions. I do not expect to be away more than three
months at the latest, and you will see from the gray document that I
empower you to take charge of my affairs. I will send you a message
from on board the machine if all goes well.

Until then,

Fernand.