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the earth would become its satellite.
It would either be scorched by fire or
drawn away from the protecting sun
into the cold regions of space, to be
come a frozen moon. Which of these
things would happen Prof. Joram
could not foresee. But it was certain
that it was heading direct for earth.
The news was confirmed from the
European observatories. And soon
the monster began to be visible in the
sky, a hundred thousand million
miles away, like a little moon.
All over the land prayers went up
to heaven. The rich prayed to be per
mitted to live, to enjoy their wealth.
The- poor forgot their misery and
prayed to live a little longer.. But a
few men like Hagan were utterly
careless.
".For the first time all human be
ings will be equal in thfe world,
Mary," he said,tas he sat at his wife's
bedside. "It will not matter to us."
Mary Hagan answered nothing, but
she, too, prayed. She prayed that
And the splendid object In the kiea
waxed in size continually. It was
Visible by day, now, as well as Jay
night, a huge moon, larger than the
sun, and of a silvery whiteness. r
"When it -gets within a thtfflhd
million miles of us, at the begfimmg
of December, the heat will be cjpfsld
rably increased," wrote Prof. jjBr&xxL.
"Therefore it is safe to say that? we
shall never have another winterr$Ve
shall have a milder summer, a second
summer in spring, and next snnffiier
will mean the beginning of the 'Slid."
Following which he laid in his win"
ter coal supply. .a(
It was not that the professor am not
believe in the celestial visitor. Noth
ing could be more certain, as afi 'the
asrqnomers agreed then thafi the
earth must inevitably be cpnsu&ed.
But the human mind cannot quickly
adjust itself. j
The crowds Btood staring uplr Og
nightly. They measured it; 3jiey
looked through telescopes to seJ'he
man in Oe." Meanwhile MarrHa-
ing swiftly. It was a
Question whether she woind live1 to
see the end of all things. AntfJner
husband's desperate plea for afew
hundred Increase was vetoed fjSrfhe
same reason that had been given'ta
Prof. Joram. He was also wdkmg
overtime because the factoryQwaBf
supplying large quantities of Jrepy
overcoats for the forthcoming woa-
99H
somehow they might find mercy she
and John and every living? soul upon kean was fading swiftly. It
ine pianet. ,
By the beginning of the summer of
2205 the star had visibly increased in
magnitude. There- were two moons
in the heavens now. Tie monster,
who :was, named Og, after the fabu
lous king of Bashan, was no more
than forty thousand million miles
away. And still it was heading to
ward earth. Nothing could save the
world, said Prof. Joram. He indited
these words after making an applica
tion for an increase of salary to take
effect on the first day of the succeed
ing January. The directors refused
his application on the ground that
after that date he would, by his own
calculations, have no need for an in
crease of salary. Prof. Joram, who
was struggling to make both ends
meet on a pittance of $25,000, was
deeply chagrined. He even made a
private application for a better-paying
position in the University of
Buda-Pesth. Such are the inconsis
tencies of the human mind.
ter.
"John, dear," said his wife, are"
you noticed that the human mm? re
fuses to believe what the profeSsor
says? Don't you think, dearVJfhat
perhaps the mind of the peopldrttlay
be more truly guided by Instincfixhah'
the minds of the savants ? I f eerahat
h& calamity will never happen?
"It must happen," saM Johtf, B,It
must. There Is no possible escap,&"
And in his heart he added?-" ''Let
Mary die before that terror tomes'
upon lis." evi
Terror reigned unmistakably in
September. The monster Og was
now three times as large as the sun
