ty?"

* * * * *

"Partly. It is as I expected. The walls of the ship are double, the
inner one of metal and the outer one of vitrolene or some similar
perfectly transparent substance. The space between the walls is filled
with some substance which will bend both visible and ultra-violet rays
along a path around the ship and then lets them go in their original
direction. The reason why we can see through the walls and see the
protective coating of that ship coming is that they are generating some
sort of a ray here which acts as a carrier for the visible light rays. I
don't know what sort of a ray it is, but when I get a good look at their
generators, I may be able to tell. Are you beginning to itch and burn?"

"Yes, I believe that I am, although I hadn't noticed it until you
spoke."

"I have been noticing it for some time. From its effects on the skin, I
am inclined to believe it to be a ray of very short wave-length,
possibly something like our X-ray, or even shorter."

"Have you found out what they intend to do with us?"

"I don't think they have decided yet. Possibly they are going to take us
up to the leader of their fleet and let him decide. The cuss that is in
command of this ship seems surprised to death to find out that I can
comprehend the principles of his ship. He seems to think that I am a
sort of a rara avis, a freak of nature. He intimated that he would
recommend that we be used for vivisection."

"Good Lord!"

"It's not much more worse than the fate they design for the rest of
their captives, at that."

"What is that?"

"It's a long story that I'll have to tell you later. I want to watch
this meeting."

* * * * *

The other ship had approached to within a few yards and floated
stationary, while some sort of communication was exchanged between the
two. I could not fathom the method used, but the commander of our craft
clamped what looked like a pair of headphones against his body and
plugged the end of a wire leading from them into his instrument board.
From time to time various colored lights glowed on the board before
him. After a time he uncoupled his device from the board, and one of the
long rods shot out from our ship to the other. It returned in a moment
clamped around the body of a young girl. As the came on board, she was
lowered onto the deck beside the other children. Like them, she was
stiff and motionless. I gave an