“At the same time, my dear,” remembering that he had a daughter of his own, nearly the builder’s age, “we men have come to think of women primarily as potential mothers, and secondarily as people of affairs.  And considering that motherhood is something that is denied to us lords of the earth—­”

“For which we can thank a merciful Providence,” interjected the girl solemnly.

“Considering this—­excuse my seriousness—­really amazing fact, you can’t blame us for expecting women to fulfil this vital function before taking up other matters.”

“Yes?” remarked the girl, watching the peaches with anxious eye as Van Emmon helped himself.  “Funny; but I always understood that the first function of man was to father the race; yet, invariably the young fellows try to make names for themselves before, not after, they marry!”

“Scalped!” chuckled Van Emmon, as the doctor hid his discomfiture behind a large piece of cake.  “You may know a lot about Venus, doc, but you don’t know much about women!”

“Speaking about Venus,” Smith was reminded, “we may learn something bearing upon the very point we have been discussing if Kinney’s right about the inhabitants.”

The doctor nodded eagerly.  “You see, if there’s people still alive on the planet, they’re probably further advanced than we on the earth.  Other things being equal, of course.  Being a smaller planet than ours, she cooled off sooner, and thus became fit for life earlier.  And having been made from the same ‘batch,’ to use Van’s expression, that Mercury and all the rest were, why, in all likelihood evolution has taken place there much the same as with us, only sooner.

“I should expect,” he elaborated largely, “that we shall find the inhabitants much the same as we humans, only extremely civilized.  It may be that they are as far above us as we are above monkeys.”

Smith broke in by quoting an astronomer who contended that Venus kept only one face toward the sun.  “Maybe she always did, Kinney.”

The doctor shook his head.  “See how perfectly round she is?  No oblateness whatever.  It proves that she once revolved, otherwise she’d be pear-shaped, from the sun’s pull.”

There was a short silence, during which Billie concluded that the only scraps left would be the coffee-grounds.  Then Van Emmon pushed away from the table, got to his feet, stretched a little to relieve his nerves, and said: 

“Well, whatever we find on Venus, I hope the women do the cooking!”

III

THE FIRST VENUSIAN

When the sky-car was within a thousand miles of the surface, Smith adjusted the currents so that the floor was directed downward.  The four changed from the window to the deadlight, and watched the approaching disk with every bit of the excitement and interest they had felt when nearing Mercury.

The doctor had warned them that the heavy atmosphere which Venus was known to possess would prevent seeing as clearly as in the case of the smaller planet.  All were much disappointed, however, to find that they were still unable to make out a single definite detail.  The great half-shining, half-black world showed nothing but that vaguely streaked, ice-like haze.