oading the
gold, and anything else that was of more than ordinary value,
aboard the ships.

* * * * *

They were still at it the next morning when President Pedrosan
arrived at the newly conquered capital, announcing his intention of
putting the Stolgonian chief of state and his cabinet on trial as
war criminals. Before sunset, they were back over Eglonsby. The loot
might run as high as a half-billion Excalibur stellars. Boake
Valkanhayn and Garvan Spasso were simply beyond astonishment
and beyond words.

The looting of Eglonsby then began.

They gathered up machinery, and stocks of steel and light-metal
alloys. The city was full of warehouses, and the warehouses were
crammed with valuables. In spite of the socialistic and egalitarian
verbiage behind which the government operated, there seemed to be a
numerous elite class and if gold were not a monetary metal it was
not despised for purposes of ostentation. There were several large
art museums. Vann Larch, their nearest approach to an art
specialist, took charge of culling the best from them.

And there was a vast public library. Into this Otto Harkaman
vanished, with half a dozen men and a contragravity scow. Its
historical section would be much poorer in the future.

President Pedrosan Pedro was on the radio from Stolgonopolis that night.

"Is this how you Space Vikings keep faith?" he demanded indignantly.
"You've abandoned me and my army here in Stolgoland, and you're
sacking Eglonsby. You promised to leave Eglonsby alone if I helped
you get the gold of Stolgoland."

"I promised nothing of the kind. I promised to help you take
Stolgoland. You've taken it," Trask told him. "I promised to avoid
unnecessary damage or violence. I've already hanged a dozen of my
own men for rape, murder and wanton vandalism. Now, we expect to be
out of here in twenty-four hours. You'd better be back here before
then. Your own people are starting to loot. We did not promise to
control them for you."

That was true. What few troops had been left behind, and the police,
were unable to cope with the mobs that were pillaging in the wake of
the Space Vikings. Everybody seemed to be trying to grab what he
could and let the Vikings be blamed for it. He had been able to keep
his own people in order. There had been at least a dozen cases of
rape and wanton murder, and the offenders had been promptly hanged.
None of their shipmates, not even the _Space Sc