"I'm sure we would all like to go," said the Doctor. "The point is, which of us are best fitted for the trip."
"None of us are married," put in the Very Young Man.
"I've been thinking——" began the Banker. "Suppose we get into the ring—how long would we be gone, do you suppose?"
"Who can say?" answered the Doctor smiling. "Perhaps a month—a year—many years possibly. That is one of the hazards of the venture."
The Banker went on thoughtfully. "Do you remember that argument we had with Rogers about time? Time goes twice as fast, didn't he say, in that other world?"
"Two and a half times faster, if I remember rightly, he estimated," replied the Doctor.
The Banker looked at his skinny hands a moment. "I owned up to sixty-four once," he said quizzically. "Two years and a half in one year. No, I guess I'll let you young fellows tackle that; I'll stay here in this world where things don't move so fast."
"Somebody's got to stay," said the Very Young Man. "By golly, you know if we're all going into that ring it would be pretty sad to have anything happen to it while we were gone."
"That's so," said the Banker, looking relieved. "I never thought of that."
"One of us should stay at least," said the Doctor. "We cannot take any outsider into our confidence. One of us must watch the others go, and then take the ring back to its place in the Museum. We will be gone too long a time for one person to watch it here."