st a minute," put in Crane. "What are they going to do next, Dick?"

"Search me. I'm not used to my new Osnomian mind yet. I recognize things
all right after they happen, but I can't seem to figure ahead--it's like
a dimly-remembered something that flashes up as soon as mentioned. I get
too many and too new ideas at once. I know, though, that the Osnomians
have defenses against all these things except this last stunt of the
charged guns. That must be the new one that Mardonale stole from Kondal.
The defenses are, however, purely Osnomian in character and material. As
we haven't got the stuff to set them up as the Osnomians do, we'll have
to do it our own way. We may be able to dope out the next one, though.
Let's see, what have they given us so far?"

"We've got to hand it to them," responded DuQuesne, admiringly. "They're
giving us the whole range of wave-lengths, one at a time. They've given
us light, both ultra-violet and visible, sound, infra-sound, and
electricity--I don't know what's left unless they give us a new kind of
X-rays, or Hertzian, or infra-red heat waves, or...."

"That's it, heat!" exclaimed Seaton. "They produce heat by means of
powerful wave-generators and by setting up heavy induced currents in the
armor. They can melt arenak that way."

"Do you suppose we can handle the heat with our refrigerators?" asked
Crane.

"Probably. We have a lot of power, and the new arenak cylinders of our
compressors will stand anything. The only trouble will be in cooling the
condensers. We'll run as long as we have any water in our tanks, then go
dive into the ocean to cool off. We'll try it a whirl, anyway."

* * * * *

Soon the Skylark was again dealing out death and destruction in the
thick of the enemy vessels, who again turned from the devastation of the
helpless city to destroy this troublesome antagonist. But in spite of
the utmost efforts of light-waves, sound-waves, and high-tension
electricity, the space-car continued to take its terrible toll. As
Seaton had foretold, the armor of the Skylark began to grow hot, and he
turned on the full power of the refrigerating system. In spite of the
cooling apparatus, however, the outer walls finally began to glow redly,
and, although the interior was comfortably cool, the ends of the
rifle-barrels, which were set flush with the surface of the revolving
arenak globes which held them, softened, rendering the guns useless. The
copper r