and for an instant the craft became uncomfortably cold.

This discomfort lasted only a few minutes, however, for the craft soon began to strike the first atoms of the atmosphere and its sides began to glow with heat. The space ship was fast becoming a meteor flashing into the atmosphere of the earth.

There was a sudden jerk. Once more Bonnet twisted the valve, nosing the streamlined craft downward slightly to allow these atoms of air to strike the sides less forcefully. There was danger of a blackout if the deceleration were too fast.

The ship dived forward and Bonnet used more precious fuel to turn it broadside again. The craft slowed, this time not so violently.

The atoms of the atmosphere were audible now as whistling screams as the ship spiraled one thousand miles above the earth.

Captain Bonnet watched the air speed indicator. For a long time it stood at twenty miles a second—the highest speed it would register. Then it began to slow: nineteen, fifteen, twelve, nine, seven miles a second.

Instead of decreasing the speed further, he nosed the craft down. The speed increased slightly, and then, like an airplane in flight, he brought the craft slowly broadside by degrees. The effect of the slow turn was to catch the atoms on the flat bottom so that the downward rush was transformed into a horizontal rush. The craft was speeding in an orbit parallel to the surface of the earth. Captain Bonnet had brought the space ship out of a tail spin.

Instantly he shut off the fuel valves, leaving the remainder of the fuel available for the cooling apparatus.

Lieutenant Riley looked wide-eyed at the hemisphere beneath the craft.

"Well, we're here and we've less than a gallon of fuel," he said. "What next?"

"Unless there's an accident, we're going to land on an ounce or two," Captain Bonnet replied. "A meteor doesn't use any fuel, but it has accidents. That tiny bit of fuel is going to keep us from having an accident—I hope."

"That fuel is mighty potent," the lieutenant admitted. "It's the most powerful explosive known. But old Terra's gravity is a pretty big thing, too."

"For every action there must be a reaction," Captain Bonnet said. "Strangely, no one ever considered this principle in respect 

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