Avon Fantasy Reader No. 13 — page 64: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

In the gathering dusk Professor Eddinger locked carefully the door of his office. He crossed beyond his desk and fumbled with his one hand for his keys. There was a cabinet to be opened, and he stared long in the dim light at the object he withdrew. He looked approvingly at the exquisite workman- ship of an instrument where a generator of the cathode ray and an intri¢ cate maze. of tubing surmounted electro-magnets and a round lead bulb. There were terminals for attaching heavy cables; it was a beautiful thing . His useless arm moved to bring an imaginary hand before the win- dow of quartz in the lead sphere. “Power,” he whispered and repeated Avery’s words; “power to build a city—or destroy a civilization . . . and I hold it in one hand.” He replaced the apparatus in the safety of its case. “The saviors of man- ~ kind!” he said, and his tone was harsh and bitter. But a smile, whimsical, kindly, crinkled his tired eyes as he turned to: his Desk aad its usual litter of examination papers. “Tt is something, Avery,” he whispered to that diskaat man, “to belong in so distinguished a group.” Ks a (E(0) : EoOnnicboo