A Voyage to Arcturus

e of blazing stars caused the sky to appear like a vast scroll of hieroglyphic symbols. Maskull felt oddly excited; he had a sense that something extr

talman’s expression on fa

Maskull? Maskull is anxious to behold

nctly repelled by the man’s personality, yet side by side with this aversion a savage, living

ist on this sim

te right. That was Crystalman’s face, an

this mysteri

rma

int name. But

is yellow teeth in the

idential subur

pore? . . . Do you mean the star

ting a thick finger toward the brightest star in the south-eastern sk

star, and again at Krag. Then he pul

tivated a new form

muse you, Maskull, if

you — how do y

only came here on your account. As a matte

suspended match. “You

d Nightspore’s. We three ar

pe and puffed away coo

, but I must ass

and gave a scraping laug

ulated Nightspore in a strangled vo

uires that we fo

strangely. It all sounded to

equired to do things by a total stranger

id Nightspore, tur

oo elaborate for

urally you are finding them. Try and simplify your

hard at him and

from now?” demanded

ess. . . . Have you heard of the fa

here i

otland. Curious discoveries ar

the stars. So this Surtur turns out to be

it take you to wind up your affai

fear that I would be hauled away at once. . . . However, I have neither wife, la

Krag’s features became suddenly grave and rigid. “Don’t be a fool, and

ld I listen seriously to such an insane proposition as this? What do I know about you, or your past record? You may be a practical joker, or you may have

ould you consider

y and at the same moment his brain caught fire. A light burst in upon him like the rising of the sun. He

Well, if that journey were a possible one, and I were given the chance of making it, I would be willing never to come back. For twenty-four hours on that Arct

e was speaking, his face graduall

You’re an audacious fellow, Maskull, but this trip will prove a little strenuous, e

lous. Our brains are overexcited by what took p

et with the other. He presently fished out what resembled a small

rovisional sign. It’s the best I can do, unfortunately. I am not a travel

nd then looked at Krag in amazement. The little object weighed at le

f can this

ood friend. That’s wha

ame clearly split into two bright but minute suns, the larger of which was still yellow, while its smaller companion was a beautiful blue. But this was not all. Apparently circulating around the yellow sun was a comparatively small and hardly distinguishable satellite, which seem

scraped Krag, proffering

own. Krag laughed sardonically, and returned the len

le sun. And is that third

re home,

s, and that’s all I can say about it. . . . But I’m satisfied of one thing. There must be very

you. We set o

htspore?” dem

d his friend in indistinct tones, “th

emarkable adventures than this would need to b

e is c

He is coming merely

swelled with grand and painful longings, for which, however, he was unable to account to his own intellect. He felt that his dest

of several minutes, when, alone with Nightspore, did he realise that they

h with us, Nightspore?

ins us at Starkness on the eve

ughtful. “What am I

ightspore wearily, “I have never