both structures darted away at such a pace that in a few
minutes they had disappeared in the black depths of space.

"Well--that, as I may have remarked before, is indisputably and
conclusively that." Brandon broke the surprised, almost stunned, silence
that followed the unceremonious departure of the visitors. "I don't know
whether to feel relieved at the knowledge that they won't bother us, or
whether to get mad because they won't have anything to do with us."

He sent the "All x" signal to the pilot and the _Sirius_, once more at
the acceleration of Terrestrial gravity, again bored on through space.

CHAPTER XIII

Spacehounds Triumphant

Now that the hexan threat that had so long oppressed the humanity of the
_Sirius_ was lifted, that dull gray football of armor steel was filled
with relief and rejoicing as the pilot laid his course for Europa.
Lounges and saloons resounded with noise as police, passengers, and such
of the crew as were at liberty made merry. The control room, in which
were grouped the leaders of the expedition and the scientists, was
orderly enough, but a noticeable undertone of gladness had replaced the
tense air it had known so long.

"Hi, men!" Nadia Stevens and Verna Pickering, arms around each other's
waists, entered the room and saluted the group gaily before they became
a part of it.

"'Smatter, girls--tired of dancing already?" asked Brandon.

"Oh, no--we could dance from now on," Verna assured him. "But you see,
Nadia hadn't seen that husband of hers for fifteen minutes, and was
getting lonesome. Being afraid of all you men, she wanted me to come
along for moral support. The real reason I came, though," and she
narrowed her expressive eyes and lowered her voice mysteriously, "is
that you two physicists are here. I want to study my chosen victims a
little longer before I decide over which of you to cast the spell of
my fatal charm."

"But you can't do that," he objected, vigorously. "Quince and I are
going to settle that ourselves some day--by shooting dice, or maybe each
other, or...." he broke off, listening to an animated conversation going
on behind them.

"... just simply outrageous!" Nadia was exclaiming. "Here we saved his
life, and I fed him a lot of my candy, and we went to all the trouble of
bringing their ship back here almost to Jupiter for them, and then they
simply dashed off without a word of thanks or anything! And he always
acted as though he never wanted