"That's what I said," groaned the skipper. "Now be a good boy, Lanse.
Go 'way and let me suffer in peace."
"Why," grinned Biggs, "I don't believe there's any reason to suffer,
Captain. Because, you see, that strange new substance I mentioned--the
one out of which I constructed my telekaleidoscope--is polarium! There
are tremendous deposits of it here on Jupiter. Why not? This is the
mother planet of Europa--"
* * * * *
So--there you are! That's Lancelot Biggs for you. Screwball, genius,
wizard and luck-box extraordinary. Toss him in a mud puddle and he'll
come up clutching a diamond every time. Not once in a while. Every time.
And I guess it was just about now that the Old Man slipped me the
high-sign to drag hips out of there.
"Look, Sparks," he suggested, "how about you and me take a little walk
and explore this here new planet?"