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In the Twilight of Doom ' r B
The world waited ... hushed, fear¬ tion? What happened on that last
fully expectant ... as death blasted terrible day when everybody knew
from the skies, boiled up from the that the hour of doom had struck?!
bowels of the earth. Edwin Balmer and PhilipWylie widf
What did people do they stared mkm
as tell you in the amazing story,
into the relentless face of destruc¬ “WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE.”
Read This First Installment and Follow It Through to the Smashing CltmaJ J*
VfHEN If r 0fi *
COLUDE
Edwin Bake
mi l
PMipWylie
VVNTI Service
CHAPTER I
— 1 —
The secret Itself was still safe. It
*\'is clear that the public could not
yet have learned It. No; the nature
ft tiie tremendous and terrific Discov¬
ery remained locked In the breasts of
the nien who had made It. No one had
broken so badly under the burden of
It that he had let slip any actual de¬
tails of what had been learned.
But the fact that there was a se¬
cret, of Incomparable importance, was
out.
David Ransdell received plenty of
proof of it, as he stood at the Europe's
rail, and the radiograms from shore
were brought to him. He had had sev¬
en, all of the same sort, within the
hour; and here was another.
The first, arriving less than an hour
ago, offered him one thousand dollars
for first and exclusive Information—
to be withheld from all others for
twelve hours—of what he carried in
his black box. It was signed by (be,
most famous n^^paper in New York. fmd
Within ten minutes the offer
Jumped to five thousand dollars, made
by another paper. Plainly, the knowl¬
edge that there was a secret of utmost
Importance had spread swiftly!
The thrilling and all-absorbing fact
•f it was ;hat David Ransdell himself
4id not know what he carried which
could become of such amazing concern.
He was merely the courier who trans¬
ported and guarded the secret. Those
who had entrusted It to him knew that
be would never violate his word. Least
uf all, would he sell out to others.
Moreover (if curiosity tried him be¬
yond his strength) he had Professor
Bronson's word for it that the con¬
tents of the box would be utterly
meaningless to him. Cnly a few, with
very special training, could make out
the meaning.
Cole Hendron in New York—Dr.
Cole Hendron, the physicist—could
mnke It out. Indeed, he could deter¬
mine It more completely than any oth¬
er man alive. That was why Dave
Ransdell, from South Africa, was
bound for New York; he was bringing
the box to Cole Hendron, who, after
be had satisfied himself of the sig¬
nificance of its contents, would take
the courier into his confidence.
Dave gripped the rail with aggravat¬
ed impatience for arrival in the city.
He wondered, but with secondary in¬
terest only, under the circumstances,
what it would be like in America. It
was the native land of his mother; but
David had never so much as seen its
shores before. For he was a South
African—his father, an Englishman
who had once ranched in .Montana, had
married a Montana girl and had taken
her to the Transvaal. Dave had been
born at Pretoria, schooled there, and
had run away from school to go to
war.
He had been summoned at night to
the great mansion of Lord Rhondin.
near Capetown. Lord Rhondin him¬
self, a big, calm, practical-minded man,
received him; and with Lord Rhondin
was a tall, wiry man of forty-odd,
with a quick and nervous manner.
“Professor Bronson," Lord Rhondin
said, introducing Ransdell.
“The astronomer?" Dave asked as
they shook hands.
“Exactly,” said Lord Rhondin.
Bronson did not speak at all then, or
for several minutes. He merely
grasped Dave’s hand with nervous
tightness and stared at him while he
was thinking, patently, of something
else—something, Dave guessed, which
recently had allowed him too little
sleep.
"Sit dowD," Lord Rhondin bade.
They were in a big, secluded room
given to trophies of the hunt. Animal
skins covered the floor; and lion and
hufTalo and elephant heads looked
down from the walls, their glass eyes
glinting in the light which was re¬
flected, also, by festoons of shining
knives and spears.
“We sent for you, Ransdell," said
tard Rhondin, “because a very strange
l mt w
DADEr iwi
discovery has been made—a discovery
which, if confirmed In all details. Is
of incomparable consequence. I tell
you that at the outset, Ransdell, be¬
cause I must refrain for the present
from telling you anything else about
It ”
Dave felt his skin prickling with a
strange, excited awe. There was no
doubt that this mdn—Lord Rhondin,
Industrialist, financier and conspicu¬
ous patron of science—thoroughly be¬
lieved what he said; behind the eyes
which looked at Dave Rans
awe at knovvledge which If
not reveal. But Dave asked
“Why?”
“Why can’t I tell you?” Lord Uha
din repeated, and looked at Ilrons"
“Why not tell him?” Bronson ask]
But Rhondin went abruptly to b
ness: “We asked leave for you, Ran'
dell, because I have heard you are a
particularly reliable man. It
tial that material con
discovery be delivere
thc've'irliei
would have
“You Can Kiss Me. I Like to Be Kissed. But Don’t Propose.” “Why Not?
See Here, Eve, Pm Through With Christmas Kisses With You.”
...
you are dependable. If you will take
it, I will put the material In your care ;
and—can you start tonight?”
“Yes. sir. But—what sort of mate¬
rial? I must ask, If I am to fly with
it?"
“Chiefly glass—photographic plates."
“How many of them?”
Lord Rhondin threw back a leopard
skin which had covered a large black
traveling case. “They are packed, care¬
fully. in this. 1 will tell you tins much
more, which you may guess, from Pro¬
fessor Bronson’s presence. They are
photographic plates taken by the
greatest telescopes in South Africa, of
regions of the southern sk.v which are
never visible in the northern hemi¬
sphere. You are to take them to Dr.
Cole Hendron in New York city, and
deliver them personally to him and to
no one else. 1 would tell you more
about this unusual errand, Ransdell,
if the—the Implications of these plates
were absolutely certain.”
At this, Professor Bronson started,
but again checked himself before
speaking, and Lord Rhondin went on.
“The implications, I may say, a re
probably true; si Is
involved that It isas-
trous If even a rumoj re be
lieve we have disci given
out. For that m sthers,
we cannot confide it you;
but we must charge sonally
to convey this box t ndron,
who is the scientific •A the
Universal Electric kora
tion in New York.
dena, but will be f spoil
your arrival. Time reat-
est speed, that is, consist
sonable safety. You should
tor Hendron not later than a
from Monday. You may return,
if you wish. On the other hs
he paused as crowded consit
heaped in his mind, —“yoi
indifferent as to wl
“On the earthf ’rofessor
Bronson.
“Of course—on t Tarth,” Lord
Rhondin accepted.
“I would go myse^ ansdeli, you
understand,” Brons
But my pla ce. for'3
'ttT' g
b4.
g th
per.”
man
bidding
tossed It over
io sent it had
realized that the matter on their
minds completely transcended any
monetary consideration.
The evening In New York was warm
On tlie high terrace of the Hendron
apartment Eve found that her search
for a breath of fresh air was fruit
less. For a moment she gazed Into
tlie mist ai.d monotone that was Man
hattan, and then stared over the city
toward the channels to the sea.
“Suppose those lights are the Eu
ropa7” she askeu Tony.
“It left quarantine before seven;
It's somewhere there,” Tony said pa¬
tiently. “Let’s not go back in."
Eve leaned against the balustrade
and looked down at the lights; and
he, desirous of much more, hern Jeal¬
ously beside her. Tony laid his hand
possessively on Eve s. She turned her
hand, lessening subtly the possessive¬
ness of his, and said, “You can kiss
me. I like to he kissed. But don’t
propose."
“Why not? . . . See here. Eve, I’m
tnrough with Christmas kissea with
you.”
He put his hand
and turned her away lroui^
rama of the city.
"Is there some real 1
he inquired gently.
"No; there’s no tro
"Then there’s sonief ^lse
of me—is there? Soinq
in Pasadena?”
“Nobody In Pasadena— 00 anywhT!
else, Tony.”
"Then what
changed you?
“You’re not
now. You’re thinking lns<
“What do you want
“Feel 1”
“Oh, I can do that, too.jfe,
“I know, thinking?” then why do|
stop
“Walt 1 Not that’s now, the Tony^ Eutf^
you suppose
“Why do you care? See|
is there anything In that
s»ry your father and you
drying all afternoon—that someY
unusual is up between all tbe<
tific -leaders?" <
ince,” There’s Eve always evaded. somethlnggpp,
... m
i Sjic doors were flung wide open.
' Sowing room u half dozen
inued to dance. Another
Jhe punch howl. Some
fend asked Eve to
- ^wlth him.
I adered In from
his broad shoul-
-glve me
the marke
JU
, 'Jr-L carrying*t.j - ^
re
'pen down there
us this way? Anot gSWf*
Ml )? A mountain of
ike gold so cheap it wotj
everything?”
“Cheap gold would
dear—not send them do
jected. Tp < v
"Sure; It can’t be t, ■[. ’■Mg M.
could happen tn Sout t* ■ x
Tony returned alone
His senses were swept
thoughts of Eve : A
Gold lights In her
Dark eyes. The sweep of a
behind which. In rare eorofiTnr
woman’s Instincts and tendernesses
dwelt with a mind ordinarily as hon¬
est and unevasive as a man’s. All the
tremendous Insignificances that have
meaning to a man possessed by the
woman he loves.
He stood spellbound, staring through
the night. Anthony Drake was an
athlete—that would have been the
second observation another man would
have made of him. The first, that he
owned that uncounterfei table trait
whk|JWs birth*, Vm breeding, with what and we generations call good
of theiWS£beforfiJilm. thlsff’A^^
With e phy|
ness and the ges
power which are the result
Ing in sports. He had the slender waist
of a boxer, with the shoulders of a
discus thrower. His clothes always
seemed frail In comparison with his
physique.
He also had Intelligence. His uni¬
versity companions considered it a
trivial side Issue when he was gradu¬
ated from Harvard with a magna cum
laude; but the conservative Investment
house with which he afterward be
came atfiliated appreciated the adjunct
of brains to a personality so com¬
pelling. His head was large and
square, and It required his big phy
sique to give that head proportion
He was blue-eyed, sandy-haired. Hs
possessed a remarkably deep voice.
He was entirely normal. His attain
inerts beyond the average were not
unusual. He belonged more or less to
that type of young American business
man upon whom the older generation
places its hope and trust. Eve was
really a much more rsmarkabls hu¬
man being—not on account of her
beauty, but because of her intellectual
brilliance, and her unique training
from her father.
Yet Eve was not the sort who pre
ferred “intellectual" men; Intellectual
ism, as such, Immensely bored her
She liked the outright and vigorous
and “normal.” She liked Tony Drake)
and Tony, knowing this, was mor*
than baffled by her attitude tonight
He believed her when she told him
that her tantalizing abstraction was
not because of another man. Then
what was Its cause?
Tony was drawn from his reverl*
by the appearance of Douglas Bal
com, senior partner of his firm. Hu
presence here surprised Tony. No res
son why old Balcom should not droj
in. If he pleased; but the rest i*f U
guests were much younger.
TO HJS UOMTUTUMS
..'• .%
House m
. Gives
pattern imIM
mm
■ ■ ■„
•M
; 1
*v
rogi
cotton
ieh has been
seems to offer
opportunity for the
T er to receive the
labor and
}m d against le
^strous days of
,ys Harry L.
Sx tension.
pproxi mately
’Oiitracts,
lof 1934,
elective cor
reduction of
e b:ise acrdfcge
with a reduction of
pe^ent which was
in 1934. One-year
985 will also be offc
o did not sign 2 year
one wan fegfimated that.
Hanlt—I In.
tTKficed,
cuss
Medders his cows
without eussin’?—I
Tim§s-Union.
BEYOND HIM
LA
think I’il wear a cross¬
dance.
Kiw you hotter than
Aiiyoijg -and 1 can’t solve you.
Redoubled Effort
“What do you think lias been the
result of cutting the value of the
dollar in half?"
"It has stimulated our energies,”
answered Senator Sorghum. “Every¬
body seems to feel that tie'll have to
hustle twice as hard to
results.”
Something Wrong
Guest—Do you operate a bus
tween the hotel and the railroad sta
tion?
I^ltzy Hotel—No, sir!
' .A 1 *
'fW-w my
get me com-
First
Gardener— this your ball In the
garden here?
Boy—Are there any windows
broken?
Gardener—No, s«nny.
Boy—Oh, that’ll he my ball, then
—Pearson’s Weekly.
You Can Start Small
Doctor (ecstatically)—Sir, yours Is
a case which will enrich medical sci¬
ence!
Patient—Oh, dear, and I thought I
wouldn’t have to pay more than five
or ten dollars.—Boston Evening
Transcript.
Blown Up?
Man—I understand that Bill was
the victim of a powder blast.
Friend—Yes, his wife was furious¬
ly Jealous when she found the evi¬
dence on his coat.—Chelsea Record.
Painting Collector
“I am told that you have paid $f)0-
000 for a painting.”
“Yes,” answered Mr. Dustin Stax.
“The make-up of a stage beauty has
cost me even more than that”
WHIG LEY S
<5i m >■-
pro ('8 - Decem ber 2
date set by thehiji
the farm¬ best contracts the laiy^Wt tVJ
returns and one of th m.
a
and tory of the st^^
of 30 coh tracts, tOtJ^hg
1931 and Between will he^jntirely of federj
Di 3,500 and
men will be emploj
1,004,000 various projects.
in tin Six of the largest contrjg
have for two flew <!> Is J iu
1935, prp ■' 4 £ vM 8 h of
* e.
c I >■"'? fei,
am ^
Wm ' U d f -:
^$4 s* A
•
it
Sell will -v. m.
It
figurd i
frontl
mer looking
the paneled skirt Is excel lent j
the neat flat sleeves, wlioth
have them long or short, are
right for you. The scallops
their' smart pretense of but
down, make them very cldc,
a gay cotton print.
I’attorn 1033 Is avallal:
34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 44, 40, aS
36 takes 3 % yards 36-lni
Illustrated step-by-step a •v '.
structlons Included. m t* 1
SEND FIFTEEN rl ' ; NT&BB prc^^L.
coins or stamps (coins
for Hits pattern. Write plainly nmG
address and style number. JJ
TO STATE SIZE.
Address orders.
Pattern Depar
enteenth Street,
SLIGHT MI5
“I Just congratulate
on marrying one his]
he seemed quite unng
“Thnt lsn]t^^^^ '#
idiot. Thuf r
Uliul^ttApcJ If A
a:
“A lot of
how many
ballot boxes after*
The Old Que ti-
“They say every .Jacjfl
"Yes, but 1 bet som ' ' i
'
rather make n pint, u ■,
Evening Bulletin. '',.'4
■
A TICK IN
A * .H
A ,-^Ko/e-V i
. ’*<**
t;
Bug Sleuth A'l
ered the mj' 0 .
ance of A jff* K
wj • <
In that A" A - >
■
l ./•' • ' i
Ac A
»
Mistress*** 1 Ji ;V 4
frock In soak S -
“Yes, It!”—l’di mum, J
?2 on 'K
How She
Husband—R is a stfljs foj]
true, that the biggest
most beautiful wives.
Wife (pleased)—Oh, m
terer you are, darling.