"I'm not sure," Fred said, a little unhappily. "Mr. Mason told us you were from Venus."
"I told them about you, Mr. Steariot," Mr. Mason said. "Naturally, they don't believe it any more than anybody else."
"No reason why they should," Mr. Steariot said amiably. "No reason in the world, if I may coin a phrase. Dr. Phelps at the Institute didn't believe it either."
Mr. Mason said, "Mr. Steariot here had a long interview with Dr. Phelps of the Geophysical Institute at Princeton when he first arrived here on Earth with us."
"Oh," Fred said. He gazed uncomfortably at Mr. Steariot. "We didn't mean to interrupt you."
"I was only doing the crossword puzzle," Mr. Steariot said. "Do you know a two-letter word for sun-god?"
Alice said, "Is this your first trip here?"
"You mean here to the hotel," Mr. Steariot said, "or to Earth?"
"Earth," Fred said, dismally.
"My second," Mr. Steariot said. "First trip I wound up near Leningrad. Terrible time. I thought they'd talk English, but they don't, and they thought I was an American, and two of their officials got into the saucer with me, and the only way I could save myself was to take off with them. They're on Venus now."