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Caether, talked long and earnestly, there within that ruined place Too eager for soer or to think of their lack of clothing

Chairs they had none, nor even so much as a broom to clean the floor with But Stern, first-off, had wrenched a marble slab fro enough to serve, he had scraped all one corner of the office floor free of rubbish This gave thes and discuss whatas the dusk grew deeper, "so then, we'll apparently have toour headquarters for a while

"As nearly as I can figure, this is about what ue or cataclyso

"It may have been an alhly fatalwith such marvelous rapidity that it swept the world clean in a day--doing its work before any resistance could be organized or thought of

"Again, soas may have developed, either from a fissure in the earth's crust, or otherwise Other hypotheses are possible, but of what practical value are they now?

"We only know that here, in this uppermost office of the Tower, you and I have so period of co? God alone knows! That's a query I can't even guess the answer to as yet"

"Well, to judge by all the changes," Beatrice suggested thoughtfully, "it can't have been less than a hundred years Great Heavens!" and she burst into a little satiric laugh "Am I a hundred and twenty-four years old? Think of that!"

"You underestimate," Stern answered "But no matter about the time question for the present; we can't solve it now

"Neither can we solve the other problem about Europe and Asia and all the rest of the world Whether London, Paris, Berlin, Rome, and every other city, every other land, all have shared this fate, we si probability that life, huht here in this room!

"Otherwise, don't you see, ain, back to New York, where all these incalculable treasures seeain, far off, they heard a faint re-echoing roar For a moment they both sat speechless What could it be? So its prey? They could not tell But Stern smiled