Our eyes wandered. About fifteen feet away lay a large shadow.

It was mainly because of its size that I thought it might have been caused by a friend of mine sitting by a window in a nearby building. I became curious; thinking I could attract his attention so he would come and join us, I walked to a point of vantage. There was no one by the window, yet the shadow persisted in remaining!

Upon looking further, being fully aroused, I could find no cause for its existence. There was no possible, or probable source of blocked light. I did not forget the sun, the stars, or the sky itself. I found no flaw; the heavens and all ordinary light were normal. But there was a shadow covering an area of from 100 to 150 square feet.

The others gave it up. We could draw no satisfactory conclusion. I can tell you that it was an eerie feeling I had in observing a disembodied shadow. My mind went riot with thoughts of time travellers, visitors from space, etc.

Since then, I have tried to think of it as being caused by a kink in an otherwise clear atmosphere; but my reason seems to tell me differently. What was it? What strange thing had occurred that evening? Was this planet of ours visited by some half-seen beings from another world?

FAMOUS FANTASY FANS
No. 3 Raymond A. Palmer

An indomitable will and courage has carried Raymond A. Palmer, or Rap as he signs his well-liked column in Fantasy Magazine, through trials and tribulations that would have sapped the strength of ordinary men. It was the organizing genius of Rap that started the Science Correspondence Club, and it was his guiding hand that brought it to a success. When he was confirmed at a sanitarium he was forced to give up his activities, and found the organization run down during his absence, when he returned. It is he who is again building the International Scientific Association to a position it once held.

He is the chairman for the Jules Verne Prize Club, and President of the International Scientific Association and his free hours are filled with the details of managing these two organizations. His working has been confined, by the depression, to writing stories.

Now, at the beginning of his writing career, he is already recognized as an author who will reach the highest pinnacles of the field. His work has been praised by leading science fiction critics as being among the outstanding stories appearing today.