not at all."

Hilary did not try to argue. He would have replied himself in exactly
the same terms. He looked longingly at the abandoned flier of the
gray-faced Mercutian, lying cold and still within the house.

"If only we could operate the ship," he said.

Then, characteristically, he dismissed the vain longing and bent to
the business in hand. "That means we'll have to make it on foot, and
keep under cover all the way. Come on."

As the three men moved rapidly over the great lawn toward the nearest
covert, a little wood a quarter of a mile away, the horizon that was
Great New York showed silhouetted against the westering sun numerous
little black dots. The Mercutians were coming.

CHAPTER V

_Outlaws of Earth_

Three days later three footsore, weary, hungry men skulked in the edge
of the woods near a little clearing in the Ramapos. For three days
they had ducked and dodged and literally burrowed into the ground by
day, traveling only at night. Above and around them the noise of
pursuit rolled. The Mercutians were persistent.

Speedy one-man fliers patrolled the airways, their search beams
casting invisible rays in wide sweeping arcs over the uneven terrain.
Wherever they touched, the ground sprang into vivid illumination,
crystal clear to depths of ten to fifteen feet. Several times the
crystal swath swept breathlessly close to the place where the
fugitives crouched in covert. The conveyors carried back and forth
armed companies of guards. The Mercutians were making a mighty effort
to capture their prey.

But somehow the Earthmen had won through, and eager eyes searched the
little glade. Hilary exhaled sharply. The _Vagabond_, stanch and
faithful companion of all his travels, rested immovably on the deep
green grass. It had escaped the questing eyes of the Mercutians. The
travel lanes did not touch this secluded spot.

"So that's your space ship, eh?" said Grim, surveying the tarnished,
pitted spheroid with something of awe.

"Yes," said Hilary lovingly as he unlocked the outer port side. A
hasty glance around inside showed that nothing had been touched.
Everything was orderly, methodical, just as he had left it.

Grim and Wat examined with interest the banked controls, the
polarization apparatus that set up repulsion waves and literally
kicked the ship out into space away from the planet against which it
had been set.

"Time enough to inspect," Hilary warned them. "Never can tell when
those