The sound of her feet fluttered through the stone house.

Outside, the immense blue Martian sky was hot and still as a warm deep sea water. The Martian desert lay broiling like a prehistoric mud pot, waves of heat rising and shimmering. There was a small rocket ship reclining upon a hilltop nearby. Large footprints came from the rocket to the door of this stone house.

Now there was a sound of quarreling voices upstairs. The men within the door stared at one another, shifting on their boots, twiddling their fingers, and holding onto their hip belts. A man"s voice shouted upstairs. The woman"s voice replied. After fifteen minutes the Earth men began walking in and out the kitchen door, with nothing to do.

"Cigarette?" said one of the men.

Somebody got out a pack and they lit up. They puffed slow streams of pale white smoke. They adjusted their uniforms, fixed their collars. The voices upstairs continued to mutter and chant. The leader of the men looked at his watch.

"Twenty-five minutes," he said. "I wonder what they"re up to up there." He went to a window and looked out.

"Hot day," said one of the men.

"Yeah," said someone else in the slow warm time of early afternoon. The voices had faded to a murmur and were now silent. There was not a sound in the house. All the men could hear was their own breathing.

An hour of silence pa.s.sed. "I hope we didn"t cause any trouble," said the captain. He went and peered into the living room.

Mrs. Ttt was there, watering some flowers that grew in the center of the room.

"I knew I had forgotten something," she said when she saw the captain. She walked out to the kitchen. "I"m sorry." She handed him a slip of paper. "Mr. Ttt is much too busy." She turned to her cooking. "Anyway, it"s not Mr. Ttt you want to see; it"s Mr. Aaa. Take that paper over to the next farm, by the blue ca.n.a.l, and Mr. Aaa"ll advise you about whatever it is you want to know."

"We don"t want to know anything," objected the captain, pouting out his thick lips. "We already know know it." it."

"You have the paper, what more do you want?" she asked him straight off. And she would say no more.

"Well," said the captain, reluctant to go. He stood as if waiting for something. He looked like a child staring at an empty Christmas tree. "Well," he said again. "Come on, men."

The four men stepped out into the hot silent day.

Half an hour. later, Mr. Aaa, seated in his library sipping a bit of electric fire from a metal cup, heard the voices outside in the stone causeway. He leaned over the window sill and gazed at the four uniformed men who squinted up at him.

"Are you Mr. Aaa?" they called.

"I am."

"Mr. Ttt sent us to see you!" shouted the captain.

"Why did he do that?" asked Mr. Aaa.

"He was busy!"

"Well, that"s a shame," said Mr. a.s.s sarcastically. "Does he think I have nothing else to do but entertain people he"s too busy to bother with?"

"That"s not the important thing, sir," shouted the captain.

"Well, it is to me. I have much reading to do. Mr. Ttt is inconsiderate. This is not the first time he has been this thoughtless of me. Stop waving your hands, sir, until I finish. And pay attention. People usually listen to me when I talk. And you"ll listen courteously or I won"t talk at all."

Uneasily the four men in the court shifted and opened their mouths, and once the captain, the veins on his face bulging, showed a few little tears in his eyes.

"Now," lectured Mr. Aaa, "do you think it fair of Mr. Ttt to be so ill-mannered?"

The four men gazed up through the heat. The captain said, "We"re from Earth!"

"I think it very ungentlemanly of him," brooded Mr. Aaa.

"A rocket rocket ship. We came in it. Over there!" ship. We came in it. Over there!"

"Not the first time Ttt"s been unreasonable, you know."

"All the way from Earth."

"Why, for half a mind, I"d call him up and tell him off."

"Just the four of us; myself and these three men, my crew."

"I"ll call him up, yes, that"s what I"ll do!"

"Earth. Rocket. Men. Trip. s.p.a.ce."

"Call him and give him a good lashing!" cried Mr. Aaa. He vanished like a puppet from a stage. For a minute there were angry voices back and forth over some weird mechanism or other. Below, the captain and his crew glanced longingly back at their pretty rocket ship lying on the hillside, so sweet and lovely and fine.

Mr. Aaa jerked up in the window, wildly triumphant "Challenged him to a duel, by the G.o.ds! A duel!"

"Mr. Aaa-" the captain started all over again, quietly.

"I"ll shoot him dead, do you hear!"

"Mr. Aaa, I"d like to tell tell you. We came sixty million miles." you. We came sixty million miles."

Mr. Aaa regarded the captain for the first time. "Where"d you say you were from?"

The captain flashed a white smile. Aside to his men he whispered, "_Now_ we"re getting someplace!" To Mr. Aaa he called, "We traveled sixty million miles. From Earth!"

Mr. Aaa yawned. "That"s only fifty fifty million miles this time of year." He picked up a frightful-looking weapon. "Well, I have to go now. Just take that silly note, though I don"t know what good it"ll do you, and go over that hill into the little town of Iopr and tell Mr. Iii all about it. million miles this time of year." He picked up a frightful-looking weapon. "Well, I have to go now. Just take that silly note, though I don"t know what good it"ll do you, and go over that hill into the little town of Iopr and tell Mr. Iii all about it. He"s He"s the man you want to see. Not Mr. Ttt, he"s an idiot; I"m going to kill him. Not me, because you"re not in my line of work." the man you want to see. Not Mr. Ttt, he"s an idiot; I"m going to kill him. Not me, because you"re not in my line of work."

"Line of work, line of work!" bleated the captain. "Do you have to be in a certain line of work to welcome Earth men!"

"Don"t be silly, everyone knows that! that!" Mr. Aaa rushed downstairs. "Good-by!" And down the causeway he raced, like a pair of wild calipers.

The four travelers stood shocked. Finally the captain said, "We"ll find someone yet who"ll listen to us."

"Maybe we could go out and come in again," said one of the men in a dreary voice. "Maybe we should take off and land again. Give them time to organize a party."

"That might be a good idea," murmured the tired captain.

The little town was full of people drifting in and out of doors, saying h.e.l.lo to one another, wearing golden masks and blue masks and crimson masks for pleasant variety, masks with silver lips and bronze eyebrows, masks that smiled or masks that frowned, according to the owners" dispositions.

The four men, wet from their long walk, paused and asked a little girl where Mr. Iii"s house was.

"There." The child nodded her head.

The captain got eagerly, carefully down on one knee, looking into her sweet young face. "Little girl, I want to talk to you."

He seated her on his knee and folded her small brown hands neatly in his own big ones, as if ready for a bed-time story which he was shaping in his mind slowly and with a great patient happiness in details.

"Well, here"s how it is, little girl. Six months ago another rocket came to Mars. There was a man named York in it, and his a.s.sistant. Whatever happened to them, we don"t know. Maybe they crashed. They came in a rocket. So did we. You should see it! A big big rocket! So we"re the rocket! So we"re the Second Second Expedition, following up the First! And we came all the way from Earth ..." Expedition, following up the First! And we came all the way from Earth ..."

The little girl disengaged one hand without thinking about it, and clapped an expressionless golden mask over her face, Then she pulled forth a golden spider toy and dropped it to the ground while the captain talked on. The toy spider climbed back up to her knee obediently, while she speculated upon it coolly through the slits of her emotionless mask and the captain shook her gently and urged his story upon her.

"We"re Earth Men," he said. "Do you believe me?"

"Yes." The little girl peeped at the way she was wiggling her toes in the dust.

"Fine." The captain pinched her arm, a little bit with joviality, a little bit with meanness to get her to look at him. "We built our own rocket ship. Do you believe that? that?"

The little girl dug in her nose with a finger. "Yes."

"And-take your finger out of your nose, little girl--_I_ am the captain, and-"

"Never before in history has anybody come across s.p.a.ce in a big rocket ship," recited the little creature, eyes shut.

"Wonderful! How did you know?"

"Oh, telepathy." She wiped a casual finger on her knee.

"Well, aren"t you just ever ever so excited?" cried the captain. "Aren"t you glad?" so excited?" cried the captain. "Aren"t you glad?"

"You just better go see Mr. Iii right away." She dropped her toy to the ground. "Mr. Iii will like talking to you." She ran off, with the toy spider scuttling obediently after her.

The captain squatted there looking after her with his hand out. His eyes were watery in his head. He looked at his empty hands. His mouth hung open: The other three men stood with their shadows under them. They spat on the stone street ...

Mr. Iii answered his door. He was on his way to a lecture, but he had a minute, if they would hurry inside and tell him what they desired ...

"A little attention," said the captain, red-eyed and tired. "We"re from Earth, we have a rocket, there are four of us, crew and captain, we"re exhausted, we"re hungry, we"d like a place to sleep. We"d like someone to give us the key to the city or something like that, and we"d like somebody to shake our hands and say "Hooray" and say "Congratulations, old man!" That about sums it up."

Mr. Iii was a tall, vaporous, thin man with thick blind blue crystals over his yellowish eyes. He bent over his desk and brooded upon some papers, glancing now and again with extreme penetration at his guests.

"Well, I haven"t the forms with me here, I don"t think think." He rummaged through the desk drawers. "Now, where did did I put the forms?" He mused. "Somewhere. Somewhere. Oh, I put the forms?" He mused. "Somewhere. Somewhere. Oh, here here we are! Now!" He handed the papers over crisply. "You"ll have to sign these papers, of course." we are! Now!" He handed the papers over crisply. "You"ll have to sign these papers, of course."

"Do we have to go through all this rigmarole?"

Mr. Iii gave him a thick gla.s.sy look. "You say you"re from Earth, don"t you? Well, then there"s nothing for it but you sign."

The captain wrote his name. "Do you want my crew to sign also?"

Mr. Iii looked at the captain, looked at the three others, and burst into a shout of derision. "_Them_ sign! Ho! How marvelous! Them, oh, them them sign!" Tears sprang from his eyes. He slapped his knee and bent to let his laughter jerk out of his gaping mouth. He held himself up with the desk. "_Them_ sign!" sign!" Tears sprang from his eyes. He slapped his knee and bent to let his laughter jerk out of his gaping mouth. He held himself up with the desk. "_Them_ sign!"

The four men scowled. "What"s funny?"

"Them sign!" sighed Mr. Iii, weak with hilarity. "So very funny. I"ll have to tell Mr. x.x.x about this!" He examined the filled-out form, still laughing. "Everything seems to be in order." He nodded. "Even the agreement for euthanasia if final decision on such a step is necessary." He chuckled.

"Agreement for what? what?"

"Don"t talk. I have something for you. Here. Take this key."

The captain flushed. "It"s a great honor."

"Not the key to the city, you fool!" snapped Mr. Iii. "Just a key to the House. Go down that corridor, unlock the big door, and go inside and shut the door tight. You can spend the night there. In the morning I"ll send Mr. x.x.x to see you."

Dubiously the captain took the key in hand. He stood looking at the floor. His men did not move. They seemed to be emptied of all their blood and their rocket fever. They were drained dry.

"What is it? What"s wrong?" inquired Mr. Iii. "What are you waiting for? What do you want?" He came and peered up into the captain"s face, stooping. "Out with it, you!"

"I don"t suppose you could even-" suggested the captain. "I mean, that is, try to, or think about ... " He hesitated. "We"ve worked hard, we"ve come a long way, and maybe you could just shake our hands and say "Well done!" do you-think?" His voice faded.

Mr. Iii stuck out his hand stiffly. "Congratulations!" He smiled a cold smile. "Congratulations." He turned away. "I must go now. Use that key."

Without noticing them again, as if they had melted down through the floor, Mr. Iii moved about the room packing a little ma.n.u.script case with papers. He was in the room another five minutes but never again addressed the solemn quartet that stood with heads down, their heavy legs sagging, the light dwindling from their eyes. When Mr. Iii went out the door he was busy looking at his fingernails ...

They straggled along the corridor in the dull, silent afternoon light. They came to a large burnished silver door, and the silver key opened it. They entered, shut the door, and turned.

They were in a vast sunlit hall. Men and woman sat at tables and stood in conversing groups. At the sound of the door they regarded the four uniformed men.

One Martian stepped forward, bowing. "I am Mr. Uuu," he said.

"And I am Captain Jonathan Williams, of New York City, on Earth," said the captain without emphasis.

Immediately the hall exploded!

The rafters trembled with shouts and cries. The people, rushing forward, waved and shrieked happily, knocking down tables, swarming, rollicking, seizing the four Earth Men, lifting them swiftly to their shoulders. They charged about the hall six times, six times making a full and wonderful circuit of the room, jumping, bounding, singing.

The Earth Men were so stunned that they rode the toppling shoulders for a full minute before they began to laugh and shout at each other: "Hey! This is more like like it!" it!"

"This is the life! Boy! Yay! Yow! Whoopee!"

They winked tremendously at each other. They flung up their hands to clap the air. "Hey!"

"Hooray!" said the crowd.

They set the Earth Men on a table. The shouting died.

The captain almost broke into tears. "Thank you. It"s good, it"s good."

"Tell us about yourselves," suggested Mr. Uuu.

The captain cleared his throat.

The audience oh"ed and ah"ed as the captain talked. He introduced his crew; each made a small speech and was embarra.s.sed by the thunderous applause.