Professor Maddox looked as if he could scarcely believe Ken was not joking. "That would certainly be a strange set of coincidences," he said finally, "provided the reports are true, of course."
"It's true, all right," said Ken. "It's not a matter of coincidence. Something is causing it to happen!"
"What could that possibly be?"
"There's talk about the comet having something to do with it."
Professor Maddox almost choked on his spoonful of cereal. "Ken," he laughed finally, "I thought you were such a stickler for rigid, scientific methods and hypotheses! What's happened to all your rigor?"
Ken looked down at the tablecloth. "I know it sounds ridiculous, like something out of the dim past, when they blamed comets for corns, and broken legs, and lost battles. Maybe this time it isn't so crazy when you stop to think about it, and it's absolutely the only new factor which could have some worldwide effect."
"How could it have any effect at all—worldwide or otherwise?" Professor Maddox demanded.
"The whole world is immersed in its tail."
"And that tail is so tenuous that our senses do not even detect the fact!"
"That doesn't mean it couldn't have some kind of effect."