re hope the fireworks we started back there
keep those birds amused until we get out of sight, because if I use much
more power on these projectors we may not have juice enough left to stop
with."

"You're using enough now to suit me--I'm so heavy I can hardly lift
a finger!"

"You'd better lift 'em! You must watch what's going on back there while
I navigate around this moon."

"All x, chief.... They've got their hands full, apparently. Those rays
are shooting around all over the sky. It looks as though they were
trying to capture four or five things at once with each one."

"Good! Tell me when the moon cuts them off."

* * * * *

At the awful acceleration they were using, which constantly increased
the terrific velocity with which they had been traveling when they made
good their escape, it was not long until they had placed the satellite
between them and the enemy; then Stevens cut down and reversed his
power. Such was their speed, however, that a long detour was necessary
in order to reduce it to a safe landing rate. As soon as this could be
done, Stevens headed for the morning zone and dropped the "Hope" rapidly
toward the surface of that new, strange world. Details could not be
distinguished at first because of an all-enshrouding layer of cloud, but
the rising sun dispelled the mist, and when they had descended to within
a few thousand feet of the surface, their vision was unobstructed.
Immediately below them the terrain was mountainous and heavily wooded;
while far to the east the rays of a small, pale sun glinted upon a vast
body of water. No signs of habitation were visible as far as the eye
could reach.

"Now to pick out a location for our power-plant. We must have a
waterfall for power, a good place to hide our ship from observation, and
I'd like to have a little seam of coal. We can use wood if we have to,
but I think we can find some coal. This is all sedimentary rock--it
looks a lot like the country along the North Fork of the Flathead, in
Montana. There are a lot of coal outcrops, usually, in such topography
as this is."

"We want to hide in a hurry, though, don't we?"

"Not particularly, I think. If they had missed us at all, they would
have had us long ago, and with all the damage we did with those
projectors they won't be surprised at one piece being missing--I imagine
they lost a good many."

"But they'll know that somebody caused all that disturbance. Won't