Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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\ When - Worlds Collide By EDWIN BALMER and PHILIP WYLIE Copyright by Edwin Bnlmor end Philip WylU WNU Sorvlco ■ham* that he assisted tn the take-off the big plane two days later. Ere emerged from the crowd at the~< of the landing .field and walked to Ransdellv and Ton/ saw the light In her eyes which comes to a woman watching a man embark on high ad venture. Tony walked around to the other side of the plane and stayed there until Eve had said good-by to the pilot # Many of the more prominent mem Hers of the colony were shaking hands with Vanderbilt and Eliot James. Van derbilt’s farewells were debonair and light ‘‘We’ll send you postcards pic turing latest developments.” Eliot James was receiving last-minute ad vice from the scientists, who had bur dened him with questions, the answers of which they wished him to discover by observation. Ransdell came around rted It away. After they had pro ceeded silently for soma distance, she id: “It’s strange to think about matters like this flower. To think that there will never be any more flow* era like this again In the universe—un less we take seedr with us I Did David ever, tell you that, in his first conference at Capetown with Lord Rhondln and Professor Bronson, they were excited over realizing there would be no more lions?" "No," said Tony, very quietly. "He never mentioned it to me.” . "Tell me, Tony," she asked quickly, "you aren’t Jealous?” “How. under the conditions laid down oy your father," retorted Tony, “could anybody be ‘Jealous’? fou’re not going to be free to pick or choose your own husband—or mate—or what- ever he’ll be called, on Bronson Beta. CHAPTER VIII—Continued "We observed a few areas which, like our own,- were relatively undis turbed. This district, as you know, is sparsely settled. I will complete my wholly Inadequate report to you by satisfying what must be your major curiosity: we saw in the course of our flying a number of human beings. Some of them wandered over this nude, tumultuous country alone and obviously without resources for their sustenance. Others were gathered to gether in small communities In the aheltered places. They had fires go ing, and they were apparently secure at least for the time being. All of them attempted to attract our attention . to themselves, and It is with regret that I must say that not only is their rescue Inadvisable, from the sheer necessity of our own self-preservation, but that in most cases it would be difficult if not impossible, as we found no place in which we might have ’.mid- ed a plane, if the surface of the water that remains in Lake Superior be ex cepted, and a few other ponds and" lakes.” After the speech, people crowded around James. Peter Vanderbilt, mov ing through the crowd, glimpsed Rnns- dell as he was walking through the ■front doors of the hall. The New Yorker stepped out on the porch be side the pilot; the sophisticated Man hattan dilettante with his smooth, gray ing hair, his worldly-wise and weary eyes, his svelte accent, beside the rugged, tan-faced, blue-eyed, powerful adventurer. "1 wanted to ask you something,” Vanderbilt said. UnnsdeU turned, and as usual he did not speak but simply waited. “Do you think it would be possible to hop around the country during the next few months?” ‘‘With a good ship—an amphibian.” Vanderbilt tapped his cigarette hold er^ against one of the pos$s oil the porch. '“You anTTT are both super numeraries around here, in a sense. I was wondering if It might not be a good idea to make an_ expedition around the country and see for ourselves Just what lias happened.” RirnsdeTT thmighi urarncifiaTeTf bf Eve. He was drawn to her as never ’o any girl before; but, he reckoned, she must remain here. Not only that, but under the discipline which was clamped upon the settlement no rival could claim her while he would be gone. And the adventure that Vanderbilt offered tremendously allured him. "I’d like to try It," I\ahSdeTl replied simply. ‘Then I’ll see Hendron.” Ransdell was struck by' a thought. "Shall we take James, too? He’ll Join, I think.” “Excellent,” Vanderbilt accepted. . “He could write up the trip. It would be Ignominious, if any of us got to Bronson Beta with no record of the real - history of this old earth’s last days.”. Together they broached the subject to Hendron. He considered for sev eral minutes without replying, and then said: “You reallzef of course, that such an expeditiqn will be ex tremely hazardous? You could carry fuel and provisions for a long flight, but nothing like what you’d need. You’d have to take pot-luck every where you went; and whenever you set the ship down, you would be a target for any and every person lurk ing in the vicinity. The conditions prevailing, physically, socially and morally,' must be wholly without prece- " dent." ~———■—■; “That,” replied Vanderbilt calfnly, “Is precisely why we cannot be men and fear to study them.” “Exactly,". Jerked Hendron; and be gazed at Ransdell. The gray-blue eyes fixed steadily on Hendron’s, and the scientist abruptly decided: "Very well, Til sanction it.” Ransdell and Vanderbilt knocked on the' door of Eliot James’ room, from which issued the sound of typewrit ing. The poet swung wide the door, they told him the|r plans. “Go?” James repeated, his face alight with excitement "Of course I’ll go. What a record to write— whether or not anyone Uvea to read it!” Tony realized that hla position as Tice to Hendron In command of the cantonment did not leave him free for adventure, yet It was almost with the fuselage of the plane, Eve behind him. He cast one look at the sky, and one at the available half of the landing field. "Let’s go," he said. The plane made a long bumpy nin across the field, rose slowly, circled once over the heads of the waving throng, and gradually disappeared toward the south. Eve signaled Tony. “Aren’t they fine, those three men? Going off Into | nowhere like that. I like Dave Rans dell.” “No one could help liking him,” Tony agreed. “He’s so interested In everything, and yet so aloof,” weht on Eve, still watching. “In spite of all he’s been through with us, freVstilL absolutely terrified of me.” - ''fC “I can understand that,” said Tony grimly. “But you’ve never been that way about me." “I didn’t show it that way ^no. But 1 know—and you know—what It means.” "Y'es, I know,” Eve replied simply. ... The sun, which had been shielded by a cloud, suddenly shone on them, and both glanced toward it Off there to the side of the sun, and hidden by its glare, moved the Bronson Bodies on their paths which would cause them to circle the sun and return— one to pass close to the earth and the other to shatter the world—In little more than seven' months more. “If they* are away only thirty days, we’re not to count them missing,” Eve was saying—of the crew of the air plane, of course. “If they’re not back In thirty—we’re to forget them. Es pecially we’re not to send anyone to search for them." "Who said so?” "David. It’s the last thing he asked.” • • • , • • • • » The thirty day* raced by. Under the circumstances, time could not drag. a.i ITrtr>rlrf>n encampment. spent their waking and sleeping hours under a death-sentence. J'fo/me could be sure of a. place on the Space -Ship. No one, In fact, was positive that the colossal rocket would be able to leave .the earth. behind raced. • The plane touched the grwmd heavily, bounced, touched again fan forward and slowed. It noted over. The propeller on the forward engine bent Tony threw in the dutch ef the car and shot to it With tha doctor and Jack at hla heels, be flung open the cabin door and looktd Into tha canted chamber. Everything ^ that the comfortable cabin had once contained was gone. Two men lay on the floor at the for ward end—Vanderbilt and James, Wise Parent Wifi Get Child’s Point of View Hendron spent most of his time In the rocket’s vast hangar, the labora tories and the machine shop. Under the pressure of Impending doom, the group laboring under him had “liber ated” the amazing energy in the atom Eve/Walked to Ransdell; and Ton/ Saw the Light in Her Eyes Which Cornea to a Woman Watching a Man Embark on High Adventure. —under laboratory coudltlona. They had possessed, therefore, a potential pow er enormously In excess of that ever made available before. They could^ "break up” the atom at will, and set Its almost endless energies to work; but what material could harg^Ss that' energy and direct It Into a driving force for the Space Ship? Hendron and hi; group experiment ed for hour" after desperat?’ hour through their days, with one metal, another alloy and another after an- other. The Space Ship still lacked Its engine. Tony perceived an evidence of Hie Increasing tension In Eve when tjiey walked, late one afternoon, through the nearby woods,. She saw on thh pine-needle carpet 6f the forest a white flower. She plucked it, looked at It, smelled R and car- THE STORY FROM THE BEGINNING * David Ransdell arrives at New York from South Africa, bearing a eohtainlng photographic plates. t6 Dr. Cole Hendron. Tony Drake calls at the Hendrons* apartment. Ransdell arrive# and Eve Hendron, with whom Tony la deeply In love. Introduces Tony to Ransdell. Newspapers publish a statement by Hendron saying that Professor Bronson has discovered two planets, which have been brought under the attraction of the earth’s sun. Ths result of the Inevitable collision must be the end of tho world. Tho approaching bodies ars referred to as Bronson Alpha and Bronson Beta. Bronson Beta will pass, but the othsr will hit the earth and demolish It. To devise means of transferring to Bronson Beta Is what Is occupying tho minds of tho members of ths Lsaaus of ths Last Days. Hendron plans to build a “Space Ship,” with the idea of landing on Bronson Beta. Hs has not boon able to find a metal whlca Vlll withstand the heat and pressure of atomic energy which must bo used In'pro pelling the Space Ship. Earthquakes change the entire surface of th4 earth, bringing death to half the world** population. Tho Hendron settlement mrvlvea tha shocks, Bronson Alpha collides with tho moon a*4 wlpso It out. And If we never get there, certainly I’ll have nothing to be Jealous about.” The strain was telling, too, on Tony, “He may not even return to us here,” Eve reminded. “And we wpuld never know what- happened to the three of them." _ “It would have to be a good deal, to stop them. Each one’s d—n’ resource ful in his own way; and Ransdell Is sure a flyer," Tony granted ungrudg ingly. “Yet If the plane cracked, they’d never get back. This certainly has become a mess of a world; and I suppose the best we cab expect Is gome such state awaiting us,” Tony smiled grimly, “If we get across to Bronson Beta." ‘No. If we get across to Bronson Beta, we’ll find far less damage there." ‘Why?” Tony had not happened to be with the scientists when this had been discussed. -. j' “Because Bronson Beta seems cer tain to be a world a lot like this. It wasn’t the passing of Bronson that tore os up so badly; It was the pass ing of the big one, Bronson Alpha. Now, Bronson Beta has never been nearly so close to Bronson Alpha as we have been. Beta circles Alpha, but never gets within’half a million miles of It So 1f we ever step upon that world, we’ll find It about as It has been” ’ ‘As It has been—for how many years?” Tony asked. “The ages and epochs of travel through space. . . . You ought to talk more with Professor Bronson, Tony. He Just lives there. He’s so sure we’ll get there! Exactly how, he doesn't bother about; he’s passed that on to Father. He .starts with the landing; what may we reasonably ex pect to find there, beyond water and air—and soil? Which of us, who make up the possible crew of the ship, will have most chances to survive under the probable conditions? What Im mediate supplies and implements- food and so on—must we have with us? What ultimate supplies—seeds and seedlings to furnish us with food later? Whitt animals, what birds and Insects and-Crustacea^ should we take along? “You see, that world-must be dead, Tony. It must have been dead, pre served in the frightful, complete cold of absolute tero for millions dT years.’ . .. You’d be surprised at some of the assumptions Professor Brbnson makes. “He assumes, among other things, that bfe can find some edible food- some sort of grain, probably, which absolute zero would have preserved. He assumes that some vegetable life —the vegetation that springs from spores, which mere cold cannot de stroy—will spring to life automat ically. “Tony, yon must see fils lists of most essential things tc take with us. What animals, do you suppose, he?*’figured we must take with us to help us to survive?” * - y . / ___ t - e ; e • . • a e The three explorers had agreed on September 14 as the first possible day for thell* return; but so great was the longing lo learn the state of the out side world that on the twelfth even those who felt no particular concern for the men who ventured tn the air plane began to watch the sky. No one went to bed that night until' long after the usual hour. Tony was in charge of the landing arrangements. At three a. m. he was,sitting on the edge of the field with Eve. Ajt four, nothing had changed. It began to grow light Eve stood up stiffly and stretched.'. “Maybe I’d bet ter leave. I have some work laid out for morning.’’ But she bad not ’walked more than ten steps when she halted. “1 thought I- heard motors,” she said. ‘ Tony nodded, unwilling tg break the stillness. Then the. sound came unmistakably. For a full minute they heard the rise and fall of a churning motor—remote, soft yet unmistakable. "It’s coming 1” Eve said. She rushed to Tony and held his shoulder. Their eyes swept the heavens. Then they saw it simultaneously—a speck in £he dawning atmosphere. The ship was not flying well It lurched and staggered In Its course. ■Tony rushed to the cot where Dodson Atept “They’re coming,” be said, shak ing the doctor. "And they may need you.? The ship was nearer. Those who beheld It now appreciated not only the Irregularity of Its course, but the fact that It was flying slowly. "They’ve only got two motors,” somebody said. - [ The plane made a dizzy line toward them. It flew like a duck mortally wounded. There was no sign of the men in the cabin. The pilot did not wiggle his wings or circle. In a aha bllng slip he dropped toward the ground. ; "She’s going to 1 crash I” some one yelled. Tony, Dodson and Jack Taylor were already In a light truck. Fire appara tus and stretchers were in ths apace "He Made a Landing and Secured Speclmene. He Carefully Carried Back a Sample—Protecting It, In Fadt, With Hia Life.” Ransdell was unconscious over the in strument panel. Vanderbilt looked op at Tony. His face was paper- white; his shirt was blood-soaked. ay MARY STARCK KERR. National Kindergarten Association, New York. The family Was getting an auto fide. Little George was in ths back seat of the machine, where he usually rode. But there was com pany today, and one of the guests was to sit In hia accustomed place. George objected, and as he could not express his objection in words, since he could nut yet talk, he began to -squirm and fret. "Never mlno,” said the visitor who was to sit In his place, as she saw the worried look on the face of his mother, who was going to lift him over onto the front seat “George will be all right; , he will sit on my ap; he Is Just anxious not to be left >ut" “All right, you can try it; perhaps he will,” said his mother. Ths visitor sealed herself, took George on her—lap, and peace reigned. Never was a child more content than little George all during the ride. When the visitors left they were commenting on the good t>ehavlor of the little fellow, and one said, ‘T suppose the trouble we have with children often comes because we don’t understand what they are thinking, and they are too young to tell us. "Yes,” said the one who had held of temper when he was only s few weeks old? The real cause was that too long to give bias his bottle. "When the nnrse left, and his mother had to prepare hia bottle, tbs baby cried while she was preparing It; be did not know she was at work getting ready to satisfy his hanger. I carried him Into the kitchen, where he could see her preparing the bottle, and at once his cries ceased. ' ‘Just imagine how yon would f^el, if you were hungry, and unable to move a step to get food, and the per son In charge of yon had left yob. apparently ignoring year need.” "I suppose we should cry Just as hard as the baby 414, If not harder,” said her companion. "We are always expecting chil dren to understand us,” said the oth er woman, “but we should remember that It is our place to understand them, and lo take their point of view, for then we can do the things that will lead them to have confidence In us, to love us, and obey us,” And jet th e r e »how^ „„ raD Jllst tMr the (.dins light In his eye. . I ^ ^ our pro|)|eij)1| be much simplified; and after all, It la fading light In his eyes a spark of unquenchable, deathless, reckless and almost diabolical glee. His voice was quite distinct. He said: “In ths words of the Immortal Lindbergh, ‘Here we are.’” Then he fainted. James was unconscious. The truck came back toward ths throng very slowly and carefully. In Its bed Dodson looked up from his three charges. He announced briefly as way was made for them: "They’ve been through hell. They’re shot, bruised, half-starved. But so far, I’ve, found nothing surely fatal.” An hour later, with every member of the community who could leave his post assembled, Hendron stepped to the rostrum In the dining hall. • “All three will .live,” be said simply. , Cheering made lt*lmpbsslble for him to continue. He waited for silence. "James has a broken arm and con cussion. Vanderbilt has been shot through^the shoulder. Ransdell brought In the ship with a compound fracture of the left arm, and five machine-gun not hard to see what is In a child's mind, If we Just consider how we would feel If we were In his place. It becomes second nature when we are with children much, to under stand their thoughts and feelings.” As her companion agreed to this statement, she asked, "Do you re member little Charles, and how the nurse accused him of crying because ‘‘Bohemians” to Hor A New York woman who numbers goth the great and nea'-great among her acquaintances gave a function one day which was attended by Mrs. Wlllihm Astor, then the dowager of the Astor family. A few days later Mrs. Astor met her hostess and re marked casualty: “I am having a Bohemian party, also.” "And whom have yqu invited to give it the bohemian atmosphere?” In hla rlyht thigh. They Vih I Bhe was aske<1 > to whloh 8he re P lled doubtedly have traveled for some time ‘ in that state. Ransdell’s feat Is one of distinguished heroism.” Again cheering broke tumultuously through the hall Again Hendron .8tood_flnletly_.u0tU iLjuballed.. “This evening we will meet again. At that time I shall read to you from the diary which James kept during the past thirty days. I have skimmed some of Its pages. It is a remarkable document. I must prepare you by saying, my friends, that those of our fellow human beings who have not perished fiave reverted to savagery, al most witfiout notable exception.” When Hendron stepped from tbs platform, he went over to his daughter. He seemed excited. “Eve,” he said, “I want you and D/ake to come to the office right away.” Bronson and Dodrfon were already there when they arrived. A dozen other men joined them; and last to appeal was Hendron himself.. It was easy tu perceive his excitement now.. He com menced to speak Immediately.' “My friends, the word I have to add to my announcement In the hall Ur of stupendous Importance! “When we took off Ransdell’s clothes, we found belted to hla body, and heavily wrapped, a note, a map, and a chunk of metatr " You wHl re member, doubtlesa, that RansdtoU was oncte a miner and a prospector. His main Interest had always been dia monds. And bis knowledge of geology and metallurgy Is self-taught and of the practical sort” Bronson, unable to control bimself, .burst into speech. ‘‘Good G—d, Hen dron ! He found It 1” The scientist continued Impassively: "The eruptions caused by the passage of the Bodlea^Were of so intense a nature that they brought to earth hdt only modern rock, but, cast quantities of the Internal substance of the earth —which, as you know, Is presumably of metal, as the earth’s total density Is slightly greater than that of Iron. Ransdell noticed on the edge of such a flow a quantity of solid unmelted material Realizing that the heat so*- rounding It had been enormous, be made aT landing and secured speci mens. He found the substance to be a metal or natural alloy, hard but ma chinable. Remembering oar dilemma here In the matter of lining for the power tubes for the Space Ship, be carefully carried back a sample—pro tecting it, in fact, with his life. “ "My friends,”—Hendron'a voice to gan to tremble—"for the past seventy^ .five minutes thli metal has withstood not only the heat of an atomic blast, but the ltnmeasurably greater heat nf Professor Kane’s recently ’ developed atomic furnace. We are at the end |.of the quest!” • Suddenly, to the astonishment of his hearers, Hendron bowed hla bead In bln arms and cried like a woman. • • « e e e • Hendron stood before an audience of nearly a thousand personq. It was a feverish audience. He bowed to the applause. TO B1 with emphasis: “J. P. Morgan and ton.”—Boston Globe. Edith Whar- Uackanged by Time The Galapagos ha^e been recently In the public eye as a result of a aeries of extraordiiutri’) bizarre epi sodes connected with ibe lives of sev eral unusnal characters who had fled from Europe to escape the conven tional life. It was here that Charles Darwin, the celebrated English scientist, made his observations that con vinced him of the soundness of hia theory of evolution and prompted the writing of that monumental work, the Origin of Species, early In the Nineteenth century. The islands have undergone no change since Darwin came. Keep Well—Don't Suffer Needlessly If yon suffer with headaches, can’t sleep, feel blue, have attacks of dizziness^—no doubt constipa tion is tha causa of your troubles. SARGON Soft Mass Pitts Tha Laxative that acts so gently and to naturally will relieve yon. Many caeee of chronic conetipa- tion nave ocen renevea with %nuy a faw doses. Get a bottle to-day. For sale by all good drug stores. 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