cloud of girls were swooping
down to the attack. Now that we were out of the action, I had opportunity
to watch what was going on more closely.

This last engagement seemed to last less than a minute. The girls darted
fearlessly downward among the rays that swung up from the boat. Scores of
them were hit; I could see their forms illuminated for an instant by the
lurid red and green light. Some passed through it safely; many fell. But
those who got within range hit the boat without difficulty. Its lights
went out suddenly and a moment later it sank. The girls' lights flashed
off, and they rose again into the air--tiny black shapes circling about
Mercer's platform.

The scene now seemed suddenly very dark, peaceful and still. A great
weight lifted from my heart, though it still remained heavy with what I
had seen. I turned to Miela; her face was white and drawn.

"We have won, my girl," I said.

She smiled wanly.

"We have won. But, oh, Alan, that women should have to do such deeds!"

Her eyes shone with the light of a soul in sorrow.

"Pray to your God now, my husband, that this war may be the last, for all
time, in all the universe."

CHAPTER XXVII.

THE SIEGE OF THE LONE CITY.

Our losses totaled nearly a hundred and fifty girls. We brought back with
us on the platforms but six wounded. I shall never forget that hour we
spent searching among the wreckage--those blackened, twisted forms of what
had once been men and women. I shall not describe it.

Of all the boats which Tao had dispatched on this ill-fated expedition,
only one escaped to return with news of the disaster. I was glad now that
one, at least, had survived, for the report it would give would, I felt
sure, dissuade Tao from making any other similar attempt at invasion.

Our broken little army made its way slowly back to the Great City. We
went, not in triumph, but indeed with all the aspect of defeat. The people
received us in a frenzy of joy and gratitude to the girls for what they
had done.

This first battle took place, as I have said, just after we four had
returned from our tour of the Light Country, and before the recruiting of
the young men was fairly under way. To this recruiting it proved an
extraordinary stimulus. The girls, having been in successful action,
stirred the young men of the nation as probably nothing else could, and
all over the country they came forward faster than they could be enrolled.

It was two or three