Serial #2
Chapter One continued:
"Well, by George," said Dr. Topman, "I'll bet Mr. Bass has vanished by now. Because there is no such street as Thallo Street in this town. After all the calls I've made, I think I ought to know. Sounds made up to me."
An adventure and a chance to do a good deed await the one who builds the finest ship!
"Oh, Father," burst out David, "what kind of an adventure, do you suppose?"
But Dr. Topman only muttered to himself something about its being a crime to lead children on like that, and about there being a catch to it somewhere. Then he tossed aside the page containing the mysterious little notice and buried himself in the rest of the paper.
David looked at his mother. She winked at him and held out her scissors, and in a minute David had the notice all cut out and neatly folded up in his pocket.
Tomorrow morning, he said to himself, he'd begin working on his design for the ship -- or he'd begin hunting around to see how much material he could find to build it. And maybe Chuck Masterson could dig out a lot of old boards and stuff nobody wanted any more, over in his grandfather's boathouse. But then all at once he thought: why not begin drawing the plans right away? So he got some paper and a pencil and started to work.
"Father!" exclaimed David as he drew his first lines.
"Yes, David," answered his father patiently, putting down his newspaper.
"What would the earth look like from way out in the sky, thousands of miles away?"
"We-e-ll," replied Dr. Topman, seeming to consider, "I can't imagine. But one thing I know: all around us stretches the absolute black of space, even with the sun burning and flaming away out there like a huge furnace -- space that is almost empty inside and around our solar system, but that beyond is crowded with stars even in the daytime. Because, as a matter of fact, you see, there is no daytime out there -- no wind, no sound, nothing but blackness and the eternal movements of those little points of light."
"Well, by George," said Dr. Topman, "I'll bet Mr. Bass has vanished by now. Because there is no such street as Thallo Street in this town. After all the calls I've made, I think I ought to know. Sounds made up to me."
An adventure and a chance to do a good deed await the one who builds the finest ship!
"Oh, Father," burst out David, "what kind of an adventure, do you suppose?"
But Dr. Topman only muttered to himself something about its being a crime to lead children on like that, and about there being a catch to it somewhere. Then he tossed aside the page containing the mysterious little notice and buried himself in the rest of the paper.
David looked at his mother. She winked at him and held out her scissors, and in a minute David had the notice all cut out and neatly folded up in his pocket.
Tomorrow morning, he said to himself, he'd begin working on his design for the ship -- or he'd begin hunting around to see how much material he could find to build it. And maybe Chuck Masterson could dig out a lot of old boards and stuff nobody wanted any more, over in his grandfather's boathouse. But then all at once he thought: why not begin drawing the plans right away? So he got some paper and a pencil and started to work.
"Father!" exclaimed David as he drew his first lines.
"Yes, David," answered his father patiently, putting down his newspaper.
"What would the earth look like from way out in the sky, thousands of miles away?"
"We-e-ll," replied Dr. Topman, seeming to consider, "I can't imagine. But one thing I know: all around us stretches the absolute black of space, even with the sun burning and flaming away out there like a huge furnace -- space that is almost empty inside and around our solar system, but that beyond is crowded with stars even in the daytime. Because, as a matter of fact, you see, there is no daytime out there -- no wind, no sound, nothing but blackness and the eternal movements of those little points of light."