The Solar Magnet Page 7

risen to his feet and was running up the ravinewith his gun under his arm.

  "Good head!" cried Dr. Bird, "Clever work! Watch the fun now."

  He ceased firing his gun. The Russians wavered and then rushed the pointfrom which McCready had fired. The lieutenant allowed them to get towithin a short distance and then crumpled the attack with another burstof fire from the flank. With cries of alarm, the Russians turned andfled toward their trucks. McCready ran along the ravine until he waswithin fifty yards of the standing machines. As the Russians approached,one of them stepped to the truck crank. McCready's pistol spoke and hedropped. A second shared his fate. With cries of despair, the Russiansclimbed into the remaining truck whose motor was running. Rapidly itdrove away across the plain. McCready rose from the ravine and rantoward the standing truck. He started the motor and headed for theknoll.

  "He's got a truck," cried Carnes. "We can get away in it."

  "Where to?" demanded Dr. Bird. "Archangel is between us and the_Denver_."

  The truck came up.

  "Come on, Doctor," cried McCready. "Hurry up. We'll take the battery outof this truck and get our plane going."

  "Oh, clever!" cried Dr. Bird admiringly. "Load that gun while I getFeodrovna, Carnesy. We'll get away safely yet."

  * * * * *

  The truck rolled up to the plane and stopped. While Carnes transferredthe prisoner and the guns to the plane, the lieutenant and Dr. Birdripped up the floor boards of the truck and exposed the battery. It wasa matter of moments to detach it and carry it to the plane. It would notfit in place but they anchored it in place with wire.

  "You'd better hurry," cried Carnes. "Here come a couple more trucks overthe plain."

  "That'll do, Doctor," said McCready. "Get on the prop and we'll see ifthe old puddle jumper will take off."

  Dr. Bird ran to the propeller.

  "Ready!" he cried.

  "Contact!" snapped McCready.

  The plane motor roared into life. The ship moved slowly forward as Dr.Bird climbed on board. Toward the oncoming trucks they rushed across theplain. A crash seemed imminent. In the nick of time McCready pulled backon his joystick and the plane rose gracefully into the air, clearing theleading truck by inches. The truck halted and hastily mounted a machinegun.

  "Too late!" laughed the lieutenant. "Now it's our turn for some fun."

  He tapped the key of his radio transmitter. In a few seconds he receivedan answer.

  "They have reduced Fort Novadwinskaja," he reported to the rear cockpit,"but they don't know what to fire at next. Their largest guns will reachthe factory easily. Shall I start some fireworks?"

  "You may fire when ready, Gridly," chuckled Dr. Bird.

  Again the lieutenant depressed his key. From their altitude of fourthousand feet, they could see the _Denver_. From its forward turretcame a puff of smoke. There were a few moments of pause and then a cloudof black rose from the plain below them, half a mile from the factory.McCready reported the position of the burst to the ship. A second shellburst beyond the factory and the third just in front of it.

  "It's a clear bracket," said McCready. "Now watch the gun. I'll givethem a salvo."

  * * * * *

  From the side of the _Denver_ came a cloud of black smoke as all of herturret guns fired in unison. The aim was perfect. For a few moments allwas quiet and then the factory disappeared in a smother of bursting highexplosive shells.

  Hardly had the shells landed than a terrific sheet of lightning rippedacross the sky. The thunderclap which seemed to come simultaneously,rocked the plane like a feather. Sheet after sheet of lightningilluminated the sky while the roar of thunder was continuous. Rain fellin solid sheets. Even as they watched, it began to turn into snow. Theair grew bitterly cold.

  "The solar magnet is wrecked," shouted the doctor, "and these storms arethe efforts of nature to return to normal."

  "If they get any worse, we're doomed."

  "But in a good cause."

  Through the storm the plane raced. Suddenly the motor died withsickening suddenness.

  "Our haywire battery connections are gone," shouted McCready. "Say yourprayers."

  The wind tossed the plane about like a feather. Rapidly it lostaltitude. A building loomed up before them. As a crash seemed imminent,a gust of wind caught the plane and tossed it up into the air again. Forseveral minutes the ground could not be seen through the rain. Suddenlythe plane hit an airpocket and dropped like a stone. With a splash itfell into the sea. A rift came for a moment in the curtain of rain.

  "Look!" cried Carnes.

  A hundred yards away, the _Denver_ rode at anchor.

  "I'm only sorry about one thing," said Carnes ten minutes later as theychanged to dry clothes aboard the battle cruiser, "and that is thatSaranoff wasn't in the factory when that salvo fell on it."

  "I'm glad he was away," replied Dr. Bird. "With him absent, we succeededin destroying it. If he had been there, our task would have been moredifficult and perhaps impossible. I am an enemy of Saranoff's, but Idon't underrate his colossal genius."