Argosy All-Story Weekly, August 9, 1924 — page 144: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

294 barges close inshore! One of them, already at the beach, was disgorging its men and brutes! CHAPTER XXVIII. A NIGHT OF CONFUSION. NCE again, Toroh’s trickery was dis- closed. To Fahn, the tactics of the Noths in the battle off Anglese City were now understandable. This Noth at- tack, at which Fahn had hurled all his armed forces, had been no more than a ruse to cover up Toroh’s main offensive at Or- leen. Toroh’s orders, doubtless, had been to prolong the engagement, until, under cover of night, his main forces could effect their landing at the other end of the island. This small barge with the magnet, had perhaps been ordered to slip by—hugging the north shore of the channel—and proceed to Or- leen. But its commander had, at what he must have considered a decisive moment, used it against the remnant of the little aerial army. Toroh’s landing at Orleen was taking place; the channel expedition had served its purpose. The two remaining barges off Anglese City were in full retreat toward the open sea. The smaller barge, with its screaming magnet, was heading swiftly down the channel toward Orleen. The figures in the air were struggling against its pull. Some were losing, being hurled forward with control of themselves lost; others were forcing their way down to the water.level where the attraction seemed less. Still others had succeeded in escaping upward beyond range. High overhead they circled, seeking some way of helping their unfor- tunate comrades. The double disaster was more than Fahn could cope with, or even watch closely in the two mirrors. Orleen lay on a peninsula some ten miles broad—water on three sides of it. The Noths were landing, spreading around the shores; across the land from shore to shore they were massed, but as yet they had not entered the city. Thou- sands of Arans were there—the king and his royal family—penned like rats in a ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY. trap. And there was only the small cavern with its meagre garrison of Scientists to defend them. Georgie found himself near the outer edge of the magnetic attraction. He could see the figures in the air nearer the barge, struggling to escape from it. He did not know where Loto was; or Azeela or Dee. He saw Mogruud, with fifteen or twenty of the Bas about him. They were passing swiftly below. Georgie wondered what he should do. The two larger barges were withdrawing. Some of ihe aerial figures were following them. Georgie started that way, uncertain- ly. The figures were attacking the barges, from low, near the surface of the water. Mogruud and his men were there now. Georgie hastened. This last attack of the Anglese was one of desperate fury. Georgie could see the flash of the bolts, close to the water. One of the barges must have fired through its own darkness and struck its mate. As the blackness cleared, Georgie saw that both the Noth vessels were blazing. One of them sank a moment later; from the flames or the other, figures were plunging into the water. The Anglese—one of them mounting— cast loose a light-bomb. In the brilliant glare, the aerial figures were darting about over the surface of the water, seeking out the Noth men and dogs who were swimming toward the island—striking them with the little thunderbolts, or with spurts of yellow red flame at closer range. Georgie arrived to join them. It was ghastly, but neces- sary work. He used his weapons until they were exhausted. The battle was won—all but the giant magnet. In the distance its blood-curdling scream still sounded. And then Georgie saw Dee. She had been several thousand feet up, flying with another girl, when the magnet was first put into operation. They were not close enough to feel its pull. A whirling knife had ap- proached them; it struck the other girl— killed her. It was spent, but a corner of it had knocked Dee’s motor-cylinder from her hand. She had begun floating down. COMICLOO ‘« SS (C@) nn