The thefts of the food and pistol were logical enough in view of thefact that the troglodytes had stolen them, but, guided by the man, whyhad they neglected stealing the platinum? Evidently, they were unawareof its presence.
Murky morning suffused the perpetually clouded sky, and once more wepushed on toward our goal, distant Deliphon--so near and yet so far.Much to the relief of everyone, we came out of the jungle into acomparatively open country. High grasses grew about us, but the goingwas much easier than we had experienced while in the jungle. The landbefore us was a bit rolling and hilly. Leafy copses dotted the landscapeas far as the eye might reach. In the open, the danger from lurkingbeasts was at a minimum. Our hopes rose higher.
It was around noon when the space ship from the south cruised into viewabove us. Cragley viewed it in consternation.
"The brigands! Now we're up against it!"
For a moment, pandemonium reigned among the frightened passengers. Allhad plans, each one trying to put his own into force at once. Out of thechaos, Captain Cragley gathered order.
"Head for the bushes!" he cried. "We're all armed! If they come tooclose, let them have it!"
The assurance in Cragley's voice I knew was faked. Like him, I realizedthe desperate odds which confronted us. The ship was high above. We hadplenty of time to scurry for cover before it dropped lower. Cragley andQuentin arranged us to the best advantage, and we waited for theinitiative of the outlaws of Venus.
The ship descended several hundred feet away. Our retreat into thebushes had been carefully watched. Several men left the craft and cameslowly, uncertainly, toward our position.
"Stop where you are!" snapped Cragley from his place of concealment.
"Come across wi' the metal!" shouted one of them in a high pitchedvoice. "An' get outa there--or get riddled!"
Cragley's reply was a blue spurt from the muzzle of his pistol. Thedistance was much too far for accurate firing, but the charge wentdangerously close. The outlaws immediately turned tail and ran for theircraft. We waited for their next act, knowing that the battle had onlycommenced.
The space ship shot skyward, circling our wide clump of bushes. Thesurvivors of the _C-49_ tensed themselves for a destructive bombardmentfrom above. It did not come. Captain Cragley was plainly surprised. Hewas aware that the outlaw ship carried instant death if they chose touse it.
The craft hovered some two hundred feet above us. Cruising slowly in acircle, it suddenly dropped four objects well outside our improvisedstronghold. The projectiles were shaped like torpedoes. The explosionswhich were expected never came. The projectiles stood straight up fromthe ground, their front ends imbedded deeply. It was all a strangeprocedure. Cragley was nonplussed.
"They probably contain explosives," ventured Quentin, answering thequestion he knew stood out in the captain's mind.
"I'm not so sure of that," said Cragley.
Meanwhile, I had been doing some rapid thinking. Anxiously, I watchedthe ship above us, keeping myself partially screened from view of anysniper who might be looking down. I turned to the captain, a wild planoutlined in my mind.
"Let me go out there," I offered. "I can----"
"Not on your life!" he exclaimed, placing a restraining hand upon myarm. "It's death to go out there!"
"It's death to remain," I assured him earnestly.
"But not definitely certain," he maintained. "For some reason or otherthey're holding off from us. We have an advantage of some kind, butdamned if I know what it is."
"Look!" cried Quentin.
He pointed to three of the four projectiles which were visible fromwhere we lay. They were glowing strangely with intense light. A jaggedbeam of electricity leaped out from the airship. Instantly iridescentshafts of light spread from the nearest projectile to the ones on eitherside of it. The shafts made a flashing display, crooked, forked anddarting.
"Lightning bolts!" exclaimed Cragley. "We're surrounded by a fence ofthem!"
"Penned in--like rats in a trap!"
"What will they do now?"
"Hard to tell. Probably pick us off one by one at their leisure. Theyseem to be going to a lot of unnecessary trouble for no reason at all."
Three sharp blasts of sound issued from the outlaw ship. A pause, andthen followed three more. I watched Cragley to see what action, if any,he would take. He seemed undecided. I began to grow uneasy.
"Not a chance of breaking through that screen of electricity," saidQuentin. "They got us right where they want to keep us."
"But why?"
Quentin shook his head. "If it was just the platinum, they could destroyevery one of us, then come in here and take it."