At fifty thousand miles they had lost all thought of danger. They spoke of space and the unseen medium that must be there. After forming the only logical conclusion about the nature of this, they passed on to matters of relativity and the nature of time and of life itself, understanding each in its turn.
They became so absorbed in conversation they did not even notice when they stopped talking and conversed in pure thought. Not even did they realize that a golden glow had come to their faces and bodies that was not simple light. And they were content in knowing they would never return to earth, knowing also that they would not die.
The rocket carried them one hundred thousand miles through space before it happened.
"There is someone behind us," Jones said, simply.
[Illustration: As he looked through the glassite hull of the space ship at the surface of the Moon a strange thing happened. A shimmering figure appeared in a halo of light.]
They looked, and beheld a man standing in space. He was hardly a man anymore, as men are called, but one like themselves. A golden glow seemed to blend with him. He smiled.
"We have been expecting you," said Moore, smiling in return. "Your voice, your thoughts reached us. We know you are one of those who came out in a rocket before us. But your name is not clear."
The being seemed mildly surprised. Then he laughed; a thing that was as the tinkle of small bells, as the dew of a cool meadow before the rising sun or the joyous song of a nightingale.
"I am one of them," he said, "and all of them. We who have overcome the chains of gravity, who have become one in thought and find it impossible to do otherwise, have no need for individuality."
"But you have a body," said Jones. "Surely that gives you some sort of individuality."
"Yes, if one's mind is bound, controlled by matter. But the mind working without resistance is a perfect machine. It is able to control matter in every respect. We take this form or that form as a matter of expedience."
"We have reasoned that all this is due to release from gravity," Moore reflected. "But we do not understand completely. Will you tell us?"
"Even those on Earth know that gravity hampers the mind," the being said. "This they have learned through observation of mental factors in relation to the gravitational pull of the sun and moon. But look into my mind and you will see more clearly."