ssel, turned on the
current actuating them. The karlon was hurled backward to the point of
equilibrium of the two forces, where it struggled demoniacally.

Seaton carried his captive back to the smelter, where finally, by
judicious pushing and pulling, he succeeded in turning the monster flat
upon its back and pinning it to the ground in spite of its struggles to
escape.

Soon the scientists arrived and studied the animal thoroughly, at as
close a range as its flailing arms permitted.

"I wish we could kill him without blowing him to bits," wirelessed
Dunark. "Do you know any way of doing it?"

"We could if we had a few barrels of ether, or some of our own poison
gases, but they are all unknown here and it would take a long time to
build the apparatus to make them. I'll see if I can't tire him out and
get him that way as soon as you've studied him enough. We may be able to
find out where he lives, too."

The scientists having finished their observations, Seaton jerked the
animal a few miles into the air and shut off the forces acting upon it.
There was a sudden crash, and the karlon, knowing that this apparently
insignificant vessel was its master, turned in headlong flight.

"Have you any idea what caused the noise just then, Dick?" asked Crane;
who, with characteristic imperturbability, had taken out his notebook
and was making exact notes of all that transpired.

"I imagine we cracked a few of his plates," replied Seaton with a laugh,
as he held the Skylark in place a few hundred feet above the fleeing
animal.

Pitted for the first time in its life against an antagonist, who could
both outfly and outfight it, the karlon redoubled its efforts and fled
in a panic of fear. It flew back over the city of Kondalek, over the
outlying country, and out over the ocean, still followed easily by the
Skylark. As they neared the Mardonalian border, a fleet of warships rose
to contest the entry of the monster. Seaton, not wishing to let the foe
see the rejuvenated Skylark, jerked his captive high into the thin air.
As soon as it was released, it headed for the ocean in an almost
perpendicular dive, while Seaton focused an object-compass upon it.

"Go to it, old top," he addressed the plunging monster. "We'll follow
you clear to the bottom of the ocean if you go that far!"

There was a mighty double splash as the karlon struck the water, closely
followed by the Skylark. The girls gasped as the vessel plunged below
the su