m his grasp and examined it hurriedly. It was not
unlike the automatic pistol to which I was accustomed, except that it
apparently fired with a button instead of a trigger. I inserted several
fresh rounds of ammunition into its magazine from my companion's belt,
as rapidly as I could, for I soon heard, near us, the suppressed
conversation of his pursuers.

There followed a series of explosions round about us, but none very
close. They evidently had not spotted our hiding place, and were firing
at random.

I waited tensely, balancing the gun in my hand, to accustom myself to
its weight and probable throw.

Then I saw a movement in the green foliage of a tree not far away, and
the head and face of a man appeared. Like my companion, he was clad
entirely in green, which made his figure difficult to distinguish. But
his face could be seen clearly. It was an evil face, and had murder in
it.

That decided me. I raised the gun and fired. My aim was bad, for there
was no kick in the gun, as I had expected, and I hit the trunk of the
tree several feet below him. It blew him from his perch like a crumpled
bit of paper, and he _floated_ down to the ground, like some limp, dead
thing, gently lowered by an invisible hand. The tree, its trunk blown
apart by the explosion, crashed down.

There followed another series of explosions around us. These guns we
were using made no sound in the firing, and my opponents were evidently
as much at sea as to my position as I was to theirs. So I made no
attempt to reply to their fire, contenting myself with keeping a sharp
lookout in their general direction. And patience had its reward.

Very soon I saw a cautious movement in the top of another tree. Exposing
myself as little as possible, I aimed carefully at the tree trunk and
fired again. A shriek followed the explosion. I heard the tree crash
down; then a groan.

There was silence for a while. Then I heard a faint sound of boughs
swishing. I shot three times in its direction, pressing the button as
rapidly as I could. Branches crashed down where my shells had exploded,
but there was no body.

Then I saw one of them. He was starting one of those amazing leaps from
the bough of one tree to another, about forty feet away.

I threw up my gun impulsively and fired. By now I had gotten the feel of
the weapon, and my aim was good. I hit him. The "bullet" must have
penetrated his body and exploded. For one moment I saw him flying
through the