th Guru to lead them and point out passages through the swamp, they
made speedy time in the boat. Meanwhile, clearly audible but out of
sight, the sky was filled with the thunder of guns.

"The ack-ack will knock those planes out of the sky," one of the sailors
said.

"I wish I thought so," Craig answered.

"What do you mean?" Michaelson questioned.

"The Ogrum must know we have anti-aircraft defenses," the big man said
uneasily. "We shot one of their planes down when they attacked our
scouting flier. They know we can and will fight. If they attack us under
those circumstances, it means one of two things--either they're crazy or
they think they can take us in spite of our ack-ack. For all I know,
they may be crazy, but I'm betting they think they can take us. Sh--"
Craig listened.

The anti-aircraft barrage was thinning out. The guns were not firing as
furiously as they had at first. Uneasiness showing on their faces, the
sailors listened.

"Something's going wrong," one of them muttered.

"Get moving!" Craig barked. He knew too well that something was going
wrong. And, as they shoved the boat through the swamp, the guns from the
ship began to sound slower and slower until at last only occasional
blasts showed they were still being manned.

Then the gun-fire ceased altogether.

"Perhaps we have driven them off," Michaelson suggested.

"Perhaps we haven't!" Craig answered bitterly. "Look."

They were nearing the river. Through open spaces, the harbor was
visible. They caught a glimpse of the Idaho.

The planes of the Ogrum were still circling above it.

The Ogrum had not been driven off.

They had won a victory!

CHAPTER VI

The City of the Ogrum

Hidden on the shore, Craig and his men watched the looting of the Idaho.
The planes of the Ogrum were still wheeling overhead. Dozens had
alighted on the water around the doomed ship and the Ogrum were climbing
aboard. Craig saw how the ship had been taken. Gas! Trails of thin white
mist still floated around the vessel. The diving planes had sprayed some
kind of gas on the ship. It was obviously some kind of vapor different
from any known in the far-off Twentieth Century but equally obviously it
was devilishly effective. Guru verified the fact that gas had been used.

"White cloud makes sleep, Guru says," Michaelson supplied.

Before the sleep had come, the guns of the Idaho had taken a toll of the
attackers, as wrecked planes on the water testif