and I knew from a faint trembling and a low hiss that the
weapon was functioning perfectly, I felt thankful indeed for the
instinct which had made me get the gun on deck. It could be only a
matter of seconds now until a whole section of the metallic cable was
disintegrated completely and until our ship was free.

Breathlessly I watched the greenish atomic stream play along the bright
length of the cable of death, and, as Koto and I steadied the gun
together, I knew he shared my relief. Despite the howling of the wind,
the yells of the Orconites, the continued slow movement of the ship, and
the hideous churning of the waves astern, I laughed to myself.

"Doctor Weeks!"

I saw that Captain Crane had gone aft to watch the effects of our fire.

"All right," I bellowed. "What--"

"Nothing is happening back here! Your gun! What's the matter with it?"

I was too startled to answer otherwise than I did.

"Nothing's the matter with it. What's the matter with _you_?"

But the next instant I knew she was right.

"My God, Doctor!" Koto cried, and I knew he had leaped to the same
conclusion I had.

Suddenly I brushed Koto's hands away from the gun, and myself directed
it so that its ray cut straight across one whole group of the queer
creatures on the beach. Then I cursed.

Instead of being cut down, broken like so many blades of grass, not one
of the creatures showed that the ray had touched them at all. They only
uttered tremendous hoarse sounds that might have been laughter.

I stood up.

"Koto, Leider's found means of protecting both raw materials and living
beings against the atomic gun!"

* * * * *

Captain Crane was beside us now, and I saw that she did not need to be
told of the disaster. As Koto turned away from the gun, I thought of
LeConte below. When the waves closed in on us, he would be caught like a
rat.

The shriek of the wind and the crash of waves grew louder. I felt upon
my face the sting of spray from the aqueous solution of which the
lashing sea at our stern was composed. The cable held, and the ship
continued to move. We were barely a hundred yards away from the shore.

All at once, though, a string of both chemical and physical
formulae--the last thing a man would expect to think of in such a
position--flashed into my mind.

"Here, wait a minute," I thought. "If Leider's done this thing, it
means--it must mean--that he's juggled his atomic struc