of their ports."
Grinning broadly now, Keller took his place at the space-radio dual controls, and with Dawson working in conjunction with him, the apparatus was crackling forth on a communication band in the next few minutes.
Working from the code book, Keller rapidly transmitted the message.
Moments of anxious silence passed, then, while they waited for reply. It came crackling back to them in the same code some two minutes later.
"Orders received. We are proceeding to designated lanes immediately. Congratulations."
"Thank God for the unquestioning obedience of the Venusian forces," Dawson grinned. Keller joined his laughter . . .
HOURS later, after the Astera resumed the originally charted course, somewhere off in the void there came the faint thunder of what quite conceivably could have been the explosion of a Venusian cruiser barging unwittingly into the death trap of a Federation mine field.
And hours after that, a scant two days before the Astera arrived safely at Earth Port, Harlan Dawson, Captain of the vessel, and Dana Selwin stood quietly together in the semi-darkness of a deserted after deck.
"Keller told me that you insisted on taking part in the mopping up," Dawson told the girl. "For a General's daughter, you ought also to have been able to obey orders. I told you to stay in the stateroom."
Dana Selwin smiled. "But even a General's daughter is a woman. Women are very undisciplined." She paused. "And I've a further confession to make. I peeked into those papers."
Dawson grinned. "And you found out that they informed Earth Federation authorities that there was a fortune in gold bullion hidden in the Astera's hold, eh? The bullion carted out of Farisha before the Venusians could get it."
Dana Selwin nodded. "That's a precious cargo to carry."
Dawson shrugged. "The Astera's carrying an even greater treasure than that."
"Where?" the girl asked wide-eyed. "What?"
"Here," Dawson explained, taking her in his arms. "You."
FISHING WITH LEAVES
THE art of catching fish with nothing more than leaves or plants for bait and a net or one's own hands to pick up the fish is known to people throughout the world.
The plant or some part of it acts upon the fish just as an anaesthetic works on a human. The fish lose control of their movements and buoyancy when these plants are placed in the water. Some of the plants also cause the fish to rise to the surface for fresh air, but a form of paralysis sets in and they cannot submerge again. The fisherman then has only to pack the fish up or use a net if he wants a lot of fish.
After a while the effects of the plant wear off and the fish that were not taken are revived. The fish act a little "dopey" when they first come out of their stupor, but are soon normal and swim away.
Plants used for fishing vary from one place to another. The most common example are the leaves of the soap-plant and the turkey mullen plant used by the California Indians.
People in our southeastern states break the seeds of the red buckeye plant into small pieces which are thrown into the water to stupiefy the fish. The sweet smell of the muchanyoko trees are used by the tribes of Central Africa to lure and catch fish. The natives of Guana use the leaves of the mazetta tree.
So the next time you are in the neighborhood of any of these places and you want to catch a fish for dinner in a hurry, try using a plant. Of course, it's not as much fun as catching a fighting fish on the end of your line and struggling to land him, but it's a lot less work.
