summer noon
The laboratory roof was only a foot over his head . He whirled around , squashed a dozen tiny creeping things , leaped to a disk that was now not more than a few inches broad . Stooping low , balancing himself precariously , he somehow managed to close the tiny switch . A haze of orange light enveloped him , there came a great vertigo and dizziness and pain , he felt himself falling through bottomless spaces ... * * * * * So exhausted that he could scarcely move , Phobar blinked his eyes open to brilliant daylight in the chill of a November Indian summer noon . The sun shone radiant in the heavens ; off in the distance he heard a pandemonium of bells and whistles . Wearily he noticed that there were no flame-paths in the sky . Staggering weakly , he made his way to the observatory , mounted the steps with tired limbs , and wobbled to the eyepiece of his telescope which he had left focused on the dark star two hours before .