Lamoureux stopped abruptly. He, too, had thought he felt a drop of rain.
Haskell held out a hairy paw. "I thought I felt another one." His eyes fell on the brown rocks. "Say, here's a big drop that splashed."
The brown rocks were being slowly spotted with black. And, as Lamoureux stared, he felt his head grow wet. There was no doubt about it. It was raining.
His mouth dropped open. "But it doesn't rain on Mercury!"
The sky was a dull gray now, and the patter of rain drowned out his words. He realized suddenly that he was becoming soaked.
Haskell was running for the ship. Lamoureux followed him and slammed the door shut. The men who had not been sent to search for Kalinoff were already inside. The rain rattled on the hull of the Astrolight, and on the parched ground.
Lamoureux stared through the side port and repeated blankly, "But it doesn't rain on Mercury!"
Fortunately, the noise of the rain was so loud that no one heard him say it.
II