m the electrical disintegrator and had fallen upon it and
instantaneously shattered it into atoms.

"That fixes them," said Mr. Edison, turning to me with a smile.

And indeed it did fix them. We had most effectually spiked their gun. It
would deal no more death blows.

The doings of the flagship had been closely watched throughout the
squadron. The effect of its blow had been evident to all, and a moment
later we saw, on some of the nearer ships, men dressed in their air suits,
appearing upon the deck, swinging their arms and sending forth noiseless
cheers into empty space.

A Telling Stroke.

The stroke that we had dealt was taken by several of the electrical
ships as a signal for a common assault, and we saw two of the Martians
fall beside the ruin of their engine, their heads having been blown from
their bodies.

"Signal them to stop firing," commanded Mr. Edison. "We have got them
down, and we are not going to murder them without necessity."

"Besides," he added, "I want to capture some of them alive."

The signal was given as he had ordered. The flagship then alone dropped
slowly toward the place on the asteroid where the prostrate Martians were.

A Terrible Scene.

As we got near them a terrible scene unfolded itself to our eyes. There
had evidently been not more than half a dozen of the monsters in the
beginning. Two of these were stretched headless upon the ground. Three
others had suffered horrible injuries where the invisible vibratory
beams from the disintegrators had grazed them, and they could not long
survive. One only remained apparently uninjured.

The Gigantic Martian.

It is impossible for me to describe the appearance of this creature
in terms that would be readily understood. Was he like a man? Yes and
no. He possessed many human characteristics, but they were exaggerated and
monstrous in scale and in detail. His head was of enormous size, and his
huge projecting eyes gleamed with a strange fire of intelligence. His face
was like a caricature, but not one to make the beholder laugh. Drawing
himself up, he towered to a height of at least fifteen feet.

But let the reader not suppose from this inadequate description that the
Martians stirred in the beholder precisely the sensation that would be
caused by the sight of a gorilla, or other repulsive inhabitant of one
of our terrestrial jungles, suddenly confronting him in its native wilds.

With all his horrible characteristics, and