y Arcot exclaimed, "We
_must_ capture a ship. We'll try again--we'll either destroy or capture
it--and either way we're ahead!"

* * * * *

Aimlessly they continued their leisurely course across a vast plain.
There were no great mountains on Venus, for this world had known no such
violent upheaval as the making of a moon. The men were lost in thought,
each intent on his own ideas. At length Wade stood up, and walked slowly
back to the power room.

Suddenly the men in the control room heard his call:

"Arcot--quick--the microphone--and rise a mile!"

The _Solarite_ gave a violent lurch as it shot vertically aloft at
tremendous acceleration. Arcot reached over swiftly and snapped the
switch of the microphone. There burst in upon them the familiar roaring
drone of a hundred huge propellers. No slightest hum of motor, only the
vast whining roar of the mighty props.

"Another one! They must have been following the first by a few minutes.
We'll get this one!" Arcot worked swiftly at his switches. "Wade--strap
yourself in the seat where you are--don't take time to come up here."

They followed the same plan which had worked so well before. Suddenly
invisible, the _Solarite_ flashed ahead of the great plane. The titanic
wave of rushing sound engulfed them--then again came the little hiss of
the gas. Now there were no hills in sight, as far as the eye could see.
In the dim light that seemed always to filter through these gray clouds
they could see the distant, level horizon.

Several dragging minutes passed before there was any evident effect; the
men from Earth were waiting for that great ship to waver, to wobble from
its course. Suddenly Arcot gave a cry of surprise. Startled amazement
was written all over his face, as his companions turned in wonderment to
see that he was partially visible! The _Solarite_, too, had become a
misty ghost ship about them; they were becoming visible! Then in an
instant it was gone--and they saw that the huge black bulk behind them
was wavering, turning; the thunderous roar of the propellers fell to a
whistling whine; the ship was losing speed! It dipped, and shot down a
bit--gained speed, then step by step it glided down--down--down to the
surface below. The engines were idling now, the plane running more and
more slowly.

They were near the ground now--and the watchers scarcely breathed. Would
this ship, too, crash? It glided to within a half mile of the