emispherical helmet, the front section of
which was of transparent ultron reaching down to the chin, completed his
equipment.

* * * * *

The Susquannas also had a long-gun unit in the field.

One company of my Wyomings I had equipped with a weapon which I designed
myself. It was a long-gun which I had adapted for bayonet tactics such
as American troops used in the First World War, in the Twentieth
Century. It was about the length of the ancient rifle, and was fitted
with a short knife bayonet. The stock, however, was replaced by a narrow
ax-blade and a spike. It had two hand-guards also. It was fired from the
waist position.

In hand-to-hand work one lunged with the bayonet in a vicious, swinging
up-thrust, following through with an up-thrust of the ax-blade as one
rushed in on one's opponent, and then a down-thrust of the butt-spike,
developing into a down-slice of the bayonet, and a final upward jerk of
the bayonet at the throat and chin with a shortened grip on the barrel,
which had been allowed to slide through the hands at the completion of
the down-slice.

I almost regretted that we would not find ourselves opposed to the
Delaware ax-men in this campaign, so curious was I to compare the
efficiency of the two bodies.

But both the Delawares and my own men were elated at the news that the
Hans intended to fight it out on the ground at last, and the prospect
that we might in consequence come to close quarters with them.

Many of the Gang Bosses were dubious about our Wyoming policy of
providing our fighters with no inertron armor as protection against the
disintegrator ray of the Hans. Some of them even questioned the value of
all weapons intended for hand-to-hand fighting.

As Warn, of the Sandsnipers put it: "You should be in a better position
than anyone, Rogers, with your memories of the Twentieth Century, to
appreciate that between the superdeadliness of the rocket gun and of the
disintegrator ray there will never be any opportunity for hand-to-hand
work. Long before the opposing forces could come to grips, one or the
other will be wiped out."

But I only smiled, for I remembered how much of this same talk there was
five centuries ago, and that it was even predicted in 1914 that no war
could last more than six months.

* * * * *

That there would be hand-to-hand work before we were through, and in
plenty, I was convinced, and so every a