Page:Amazing Stories Volume 16 Number 12.djvu/149

man who insisted on defying God and the elements by exposing great circular trays of molten glass on top of the highest tower in all Paris during the worst electrical storm in years, until finally one of them was struck by lightning?"

Mark stared open-mouthed. Again he and the bewildered Elaine exchanged glances. And instinctively their hands reached out across the aisle, to join in love's tender clasp. The happiness of utter confidence and peace glowed in their eyes.

Then, still holding the girl's hand, Mark turned back to the professor. His brows knitted with incredulity.

"My God!" he exclaimed half to himself. "Could it be possible? Could I have done such a thing?"

Abruptly, he halted.

"No!" he clipped decisively. "There are other angles to be considered. Vance, for instance. You say he went with me through the time mirror—"

"Yes." The savant nodded slowly. "That, Mark, is the final proof. The evidence beyond contradiction. The thing that convinces me—"

"Proof? Evidence? I don't get it."

"You will recall, Mark, that Jerbette's memoirs said Baron Morriere was killed in that final battle with Jacques Rombeau?"

"Yes. Of course. What's that got to do with it?"

The scientist leveled a trembling finger at the window across the room, through which the sunlight still streamed. Never had he been more impressive. Solemn conviction gleamed in his blue eyes.

"Not five minutes before you and Elaine aroused from your state of suspended animation," he said, "Adrian Vance—still in a coma—sprang from his bed to that window and hurled himself to his death!"

Horror widened the two young people's eyes. Elaine's face was pale.

But understanding now was flooding through Mark. He nodded slowly.

"You can't change history!" he said.

Whether or not the moon was ever joined to earth has been a subject of controversy for scientists for hundreds of years. It has never been fully answered.

Recently, Dr. Earl W. Rufus, of the astronomy department at the University of Michigan, gave his theory to prove the two were joined. His theory is based on the discovery of many small, glassy objects called tektites, along the south-western shores of the Pacific Ocean.

Scientists have tried to determine the origin of these tektites without success, but Dr. Rufus maintains that they are particles formed when the moon was violently torn away from the earth.

Sir George Darwin first propounded this "fission" theory of the moon's formation which states that a powerful tidal force tore the moon from the earth in its semi-molten stage and the point of rupture formed the depression that is now the Pacific Ocean.

Naturally when the moon was torn away there must have been many small particles carried into space with it which revolved for a time until some floated back to earth and some drifted out into space. Dr. Rufus says that those particles which floated back to the earth are the tektites which are found in the Pacific area.

These glassy particles are believed to have been formed from the inner layers of the earth which also is in keeping with various theories concerning the structure of the earth at the time of the moon’s fission.

Further evidence in support of Dr. Rufus' theory is to be found in the series of trenches on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean near the region where the tektites are found. These trenches are thought to have been formed when the millions of particles of tektites were torn from the glossy interior of the earth at the time of the fission.