ed very tightly. "I'll take the helm," he said curtly to
Friday. "Turn on the defensive web, and prepare all ray batteries."

"Yes, suh!" The negro's big, yellow-palmed hands worked dexterously
among the instruments to his right; then, amidships, grew a shrill
whine which keened upward in pitch. A few sparks raced by the _Star
Devil's_ after ports, quickly to disappear after they left the almost
invisible envelope of delicate bluish light that entirely wrapped her
hull.

She was making dangerous speed. The wind screamed as she streaked
through the satellite's atmosphere, and the great friction of her
passage raised her outer shell to a perilous glow. The altitude
dial's finger almost jumped from forty thousand to thirty-five.

"Ready for bow-ray salvo."

"Aye, sir!" replied Harkness, and a moment later repeated crisply:
"All ready for bow-ray salvo, sir!" His voice showed no sign of the
fear within him--fear that the _Star Devil's_ outer hull would reach
the melting point--but his lips fell apart and his face lost its
discipline when the Hawk next spoke and acted.

"Steady," came the low whisper to his ears--and he saw the controlling
space-stick being shoved down as far as it would go.

CHAPTER II

_Pursuit_

That was the Hawk's method, and it had given him the name which he had
made famous. It was characteristic of the man that he preferred to
strike at an enemy ship in a wild, breath-taking swoop, even as the
fierce hawk plummets from high heaven to sink its talons deep into the
flesh of its more sluggish prey. Nerves were uncomfortable things to
have on such occasions, and Harkness had them, and accordingly he felt
his heart hammer and something tight seemed to bind his throat. He
tried to assume the unshakable calmness of the motionless figure at
the stick, but could not, for his body was only flesh and blood--and
Hawk Carse was tempered, frosty, steel. Through staring eyes the
navigator watched the surface of Iapetus rushing into the bow ports,
watched it spread accelerating outward, until he could plainly see the
pirate ship lying there, and the nearby figures of men tugging at the
heavy boxes of horns.

His eyes were on those figures when they broke. First they teetered
hesitantly a moment, glancing wildly around and up at the vision of
death that was coming like a silver comet from the skies, and then
they melted apart. Three scrambled towards the rim of jungle foliage
close at hand, while t