Part 10

A minute later Robert heard a muffled cry behind him. He turned just in time to see Taggert fall and slip from view in the blinding snow. Robert took a quick step to the reporter’s aid. The next instant his feet shot from under him and he tobogganed down the slippery incline of ice toward the sea.

One thought reassured him as he felt the smooth surface racing past him: the level, unbroken expanse of ice over the sea would surely stop him when he reached it. But, hard on the heels of this thought, came the realization that, with all sense of direction lost out on the expanse of ice in a blinding snow, he might blunder farther and farther away from the _Sphere_. He earnestly hoped that the end of his slide would at least bring him close to Taggert.

Presently he reached the bottom of the incline and shot out over the smooth, frozen surface of the sea. Here his momentum was quickly checked. As soon as he could regain his feet he stood up and peered round him. But only the driving snow, which all but obscured his hand before him, rewarded his gaze. He shouted several times, listening intently after each call. The snow seemed to muffle his cries in the making. Nothing was visible round him but a mil of snowflakes. His ears tingled with the bitter cold even under the fur cap he wore. He shouted again, removing his cap to listen afterward.

A faint answering cry floated back to him; but whether this was simply the rebound of his own cry from the dense wall of snow he did not know. As he continued to listen the same faint cry again came to him, this time a bit stronger, seemingly from away to his left. He clapped his cap on and strode off in that direction.

Several times he called out again, stopping to listen each time. Again that faint echo mocked him, but this time it seemed to come from behind. The well-known difficulty of determining the direction from which a sound comes in a fog came to Robert’s mind, and he despaired as he realized the same difficulty in attempting to find a distant call in the falling snow.

Just then the cry sounded again, and this time it was undeniably plainer. Robert shouted in reply and was overjoyed to hear it once more increased in volume. He hurried toward it, shouting and listening alternately.

A moment later Taggert strode from out of the white veil.

“The wandering echo found at last,” Robert greeted him, while they pounded each other on the back in joyous relief.

“Where in Sam Hill are we?” Taggert wanted to know.

“Question is, in which direction is the _Sphere_?” cried Robert.

“Well put. What’s the answer?”

“Have you any idea from what direction you slid out here?”

“Nope. Have you?”

They stared at each other blankly. Then the ridiculousness of their cross-questioning struck them and they laughed together. For the moment the seriousness of their plight was forgotten. The white flakes swirled about them, settling upon their heads and shoulders till they looked like snow-men.

An idea suddenly occurred to Robert.

“This storm arrived from ahead of us when we were on our way back to the _Sphere_, didn’t it?” he asked.

“Believe it did,” agreed Taggert.

“Well, then, unless the direction of the wind has changed, we have only to push on at right angles to it, with it blowing on our left, to eventually come upon the shore which we left.”

“Right you are!” exclaimed Taggert, after a moment’s reflection.

So they pushed ahead in the direction indicated for several minutes, making fair progress in spite of the rapidly increasing wind which swept the smooth ice clean, leaving a difficult footing. Each minute they expected to come upon the slope up the shore, where they hoped to find a crevice in the raised cakes which would offer sufficient footing to scramble up the slick incline to the ground beyond. Still the blank wall of driven white revealed nothing but the level floor of ice, ever stretching a few feet ahead of them as they shuffled along.

“Seems as if we should have raised something by this time,” said Taggert presently.

“The wind must have shifted,” said Robert. “If it hasn’t changed much, though, we should reach the shore anyway soon.”

So they continued onward, half blinded by the snow, the bitter wind whipping round their bodies. With each step the hope of reaching the _Sphere_ became weaker. The princess’ anxiety recurred to Robert as he plodded doggedly on ahead of Taggert. He wondered dully whether he should ever see her again. Well, at any rate, she was once more safely within her own country. He was thankful for that much. His reflections were cut short suddenly as he sprawled forward upon the ice, tripping up Taggert, who was following him closely. Caught unawares, Robert fell on all fours, knocking the breath out of him.

“’T’ell!” spluttered Taggert, scrambling up.

As Robert also struggled to his knees he saw that he had tripped over a crevice in the ice. It was the edge of a slightly higher block which sloped upward. The realization came to him suddenly that they had finally reached their first goal!

After some difficulty they managed to clamber up one of the perpendicular cracks between the slippery blocks.

Upon reaching the ground, where the snow had now collected several inches deep, they looked about eagerly but in vain for some sign of the _Sphere_, or of their erstwhile companions.

“There is nothing for us to do but to plod on against the wind until we reach the point where we left the _Sphere_,” said Robert. “We should be near where we slipped down before.”

“Lead on,” said Taggert.

* * * * *

Once more they plodded ahead, keeping close to the ice blocks on their left. The now fine snow drove directly into their faces with stinging force, making it almost impossible to keep their eyes open enough to see.

For half an hour they pursued their way painfully. Only the exertion kept them from freezing in the increasing cold. The fierce wind whined about them hungrily, pitilessly, as if eager to make an end of them, while the eddies and drifts of snow round each depression or rock grew steadily deeper and more nearly impossible for them to plow through as their strength waned.

Robert realized that ere this they should certainly have reached the vicinity of the _Sphere_, but the snow restricted their view to a radius of less than ten feet. Unless they were fortunate enough to run right up on the _Sphere_, their chances of sighting it were remote. Even now they had lost touch with the border of ice, and, but for the uniform slope of the ground, and the general direction of the wind, would not have known whether they were still following the shore in the original direction or not. They shouted together many times but got no response. The snowfall and howling wind so muffled their cries that they despaired of being heard. Having continued on for some minutes longer they decided finally to go no farther, as they were convinced that they had already passed the point where they had left, the _Sphere_. A convenient rock, some ten feet high and of about the same breadth, offered temporary shelter.

“If Professor Palmer fired a shot we should hear it here,” Taggert suggested.

“I doubt it,” replied Robert. “This hubbub and the muffling effect of the snowfall might drown a report within a hundred yards.”

Here a startling thought occurred to Robert. What if the Martians took advantage of Professor Palmer’s isolation and made off with the _Sphere_?

“Why the silence and corrugated brow?” queried Taggert “An idea?”

“An idea, but no good,” Robert responded, forcing a grin.

“Well, you needn’t grin about it. I don’t see anything comical about the prospect of being buried under several tons of snow,” chided Taggert.

The wind had fashioned a sheltered hollow in the lee of the rock where they had taken refuge. The intense cold which prevailed in spite of the heavy snowfall, however, made it imperative that they keep in motion to avoid being frozen. Already Robert recognized a warning feeling of drowziness. He shook himself alert with an effort.

“Can’t sit here,” he said, suiting the action to the word by rising and stamping his feet. Stabbings as of a thousand needles seemed to run through them at first. If only there were some fuel! Matches they had in plenty.

Taggert struck a listening attitude. A familiar humming was faintly audible above the whine of the blizzard!

Together they listened with bated breath as the humming grew plainer. Alas, a few moments later it passed away, and with it went their hopes.

“Missed us,” ejaculated Taggert, with an involuntary oath.

The realization that the _Sphere_ had just passed them by in a vain search for them brought their already drooping spirits to zero for a while. Here had been safety and comfort within perhaps a few rods, and they had been unable to make their presence known. Robert pictured Professor Palmer’s anxious gaze as he peered downward into the veil of flying snow.

“Cheer up, Tag,” Robert admonished, with an attempt at enthusiasm which his feelings belied. “The professor will be doubling back trying to find us. He’ll run up on us yet.”

“Maybe he will--if he doesn’t bounce the old ball into the lake,” replied Taggert, doubtfully. “Say, I wish one of us had brought a ‘gat’ along so that we could signal him if he gets near us again.”

For several minutes they stamped about their cramped shelter, beating their arms round their bodies in an effort to keep up their circulation. As the time slipped by without further sound of the _Sphere_ their hopes dropped still lower. The situation was becoming desperate.

Their dismal reflections were abruptly interrupted by a resumption of the humming sound, heralding the approach of the _Sphere_ again. Both men stiffened, listening intently, the spark of revived hope burning again within their breasts as the fleeting moments passed. Would the _Sphere_ come close enough in this game of blind man’s buff to discover them? Or would it pass them by again, leaving them finally to their doom?

The prospect of freezing to death in the arctic region of a strange planet seemed a dreadful thing. In the heat of battle a man may find death in the midst of wild enthusiasm and patriotism. But here, hemmed in by a wall of beautiful, but deadly, flying flakes, there was no excitement to mask the death awaiting them--only a fearful realization of their fate, millions of miles away from their countrymen--alone! Yet in those fateful moments Robert’s thoughts were mainly of Zola. Would he ever see her again?

With leaping heart he realized that the _Sphere_ was coming closer--closer than before. He strained his eyes as he endeavored to pierce the intangible walls of their vast prison. Ah, what was that dark blur hurtling through the white froth? It was passing them by again. He joined with Taggert in his shouts. Fools, to think their muffled cries could rise above the tumult of the gale and the whir of the _Sphere’s_ machinery, piercing its thick, metal walls!

The fast-fading blur seemed to pause in its flight a moment. But even as they dared to hope, it passed out of sight again. Then quite abruptly it appeared again, this time moving toward them slowly, less than a dozen feet above the ground. The _Sphere’s_ bulging walls plowed through the snow as it swooped down, sending up a great flurry of the fine flakes. Robert caught himself idly likening it to a cannon ball fired into a great bin of flour.

His next recollection was of stumbling up the short flight of metal stairs into the comfortable warmth of the _Sphere’s_ main chamber, aided by Professor Palmer.

The Martians seemed genuinely concerned over their plight, and offered a confusion of advice. Fortunately, neither Robert nor Taggert had suffered any serious damage from their severe buffeting in the elements and were soon quite comfortable.

Robert, unable to shake off a strange feeling that the princess was in danger, and anxious to return to her in all haste, insisted on operating the _Sphere_ again. The big metal ball fairly quivered as he utilized its maximum power to reduce the distance between them and the capital as rapidly as possible.

Exerting the full power of the disk, Robert shot the _Sphere_ upward. Suddenly they emerged from the gray twilight of flying flakes into the sunshine. Beneath them the turbulent mists boiled and tumbled as if with anger over the escape of their prey.

A few minutes later Robert checked the _Sphere’s_ upward flight, darting southward toward the metropolis and his princess at a terrific speed.

Darkness came on quickly after leaving the pole as they passed into the night which had long since enveloped that part of the planet toward which they were headed. Like a cannon ball the _Sphere_ roared southward, the dim topography of the planet swaying dizzily below.

Prevailed upon by Robert, the others had decided to snatch some rest after a light repast. But he felt no fatigue in his anxiety to reach the princess.

The sun’s edge was peeping over the horizon once more as they neared Svergad. The others woke up and watched their approach interestedly. Soon the spires and domes of the northern metropolis appeared in the distance. A few minutes later they were drifting preparatory to landing.

Suddenly one of the Martians gasped.

“The enemy!” he cried, pointing.

All eyes followed his outstretched arm. Thousands of tents dotted the level plain beyond the city’s distant boundary, extending in all directions and partly encircling the city!

19

Upon their arrival in the palace, Robert and his companions found the royal household in an uproar. The emperor’s army, vastly superior in numbers and weapons, had already fought its way round two sides of the city and was fast surrounding it. Striking with unexpected promptness, and transported swiftly the greater part of the distance by rail, the advance forces had appeared before the city shortly after the _Sphere’s_ departure for the pole. Thus did the emperor elect to reply to Hakon’s ultimatum. In another day the Svergadians expected to be in a state of absolute siege.

It must not be supposed that the Martians had done away with arms and soldiers, even though they enjoyed one universal government. Rebellions were not unknown, and the central government had its hands full keeping all factions quiet. Emperor Kharnov, himself a usurper, maintained a strong army, ostensibly for policing and preserving order, but in reality to protect himself against the aspirations of his numerous enemies.

With but some seventy hours of food supply within the city boundaries, the situation seemed desperate. So far, Kharnov had made no specific demands, but it was expected that the conditions which he would dictate after encircling the city would hinge upon the possession of Zola.

It was in this hour of impending disaster that Robert had greatness thrust upon him. With implicit confidence in Robert’s ability, Hakon begged him to take charge of his forces to resist the invader. Zola’s trustful belief in him and her urging decided Robert. He became chief commander of the besieged forces.

Immediately upon his appointment Robert in turn appointed Taggert as his aid and placed Professor Palmer in charge of the palace defenses. His next step was to organize an immediate surprize counter-attack upon the invaders. Though he had not slept in many hours, during which time he had endured much, Robert felt no desire for sleep. The excitement and emergency confronting him buoyed him up for the time. He refused to rest until forced to.

Another hasty ascent in the _Sphere_ revealed to them the exact situation. The emperor’s main army had pushed northward along the fertile region of one of the two great parallel canals. It had stopped south of the metropolis, sending out smaller contingents in either direction to begin the encircling movement. This movement had already made considerable progress, encountering little resistance in the nearly deserted, small outlying towns whose loyal defenders had all rallied to Hakon’s main forces in Svergad. The right spur of the invaders had made the most progress, having succeeded in pushing more than half-way round the metropolis.

It was at this right spur that Robert decided to strike first, in an attempt to take it by surprize, cutting it off from the main army, with the hope of defeating it before the main army could come to its aid. He also planned to launch an attack simultaneously upon the main army in an effort to divert its attention from the spur.

A brief council of war with Hakon and his leaders followed, in which the exact point of attacks were determined upon. Also, orders were wired to all loyal pumping stations situated near the southern edge of the regions loyal to Hakon to shut off the water supply. This would deprive Kharnov’s supporters in the region of the equator of all water supplied by ducts leading from the northern polar cap; thus the emperor’s armies and his present supporters would soon be confronted with the difficult problem of existing without water in many regions. An ultimatum, demanding the immediate withdrawal of his forces and informing him of the discontinuance of the water supply until his retreat was well under way, was dispatched to Kharnov at once.

A system of signals from the _Sphere_ was decided upon. It was agreed that, as a weapon of destruction and direction, the _Sphere_ was their most powerful aid. The greatest concern was over the dwindling supply of petrol in its tanks, and the extreme difficulty which Hakon’s best chemists were having in obtaining enough of the planet’s meager supply of mineral oils to produce any quantity of this fuel. Robert was facing the alternative of either remaining to help defend Zola and her people with the possibility of never being able to return to the Earth, or of returning at once with the now barely sufficient supply of petrol to make the trip. He felt that he owed his companions the chance to decide, though he himself was determined to stand by the princess in any event.

“Old man, I’m with you to the finish. Aren’t we all partners in this adventure anyway?” was Taggert’s reply when Robert told him of their quandary.

And Professor Palmer echoed him.

Without further delay the attacks were launched. Lacking any means of observation from above, the invaders were at a disadvantage in spite of their superior numbers. The separation of the spur from the main body was accomplished as planned, and a second body of Hakon’s men striking at the head of the column of invaders completed their rout, killing many and taking the rest prisoners.

The arms captured were a welcome acquisition; but the problem of feeding several thousand prisoners was a difficult one. Fortunately, a small food supply train was captured with them. They were immediately put to work throwing up earthworks and conveying heavy equipment about.

One general and several other high officers were captured. A special guard was set over these valuable hostages, for their possession would be of advantage to Hakon when terms came to be considered.

During the attack Robert had directed his forces by means of a simple smoke tube apparatus with which the _Sphere_ was equipped, and by means of which long or short puffs of dense black smoke were ejected by manipulation of a plunger. The smoke was produced in a small oven chamber from ignited briquettes.

As the attack progressed perfectly, Robert did not utilize the terrible destructive force of the Norrensen Tube. Owing to the small reserve of petrol and consequently of electric energy depending upon it, he decided to withhold all knowledge of this weapon from their enemies until a particularly opportune time for its use presented itself. The enemy was not so considerate of him, however. Several times projectiles fired by their artillery screamed uncomfortably close past the _Sphere_. Fortunately these had no means of bursting, there being no explosives available on the planet.

The immediate effect of their successful attack upon the invaders was the latters’ withdrawal of their left encircling spur, and an evident preparation for a concentrated frontal attack.

Having looked to all important details of preparation to resist such an attack, Robert snatched a few hours of sleep. He lay down with his clothes on, exacting the promise that he would be wakened upon the first signs of an actual attack. Pickets were posted so that the enemy could not approach closer without their knowledge. The _Sphere_ had been brought down again and Robert and his companions rested in their quarters within the palace.

It was not till close upon dawn that Robert was aroused by Taggert’s shaking him vigorously.

“Hate to do it, Bob,” he was saying, as Robert sat up suddenly, “but those Wops are getting ready to raise hell again. Old Kharnov has sent a note of defiance, stating that as he will shortly be in possession of Svergad the temporary shutting off of the water supply doesn’t matter.”

Robert was on his feet in a moment and was striding through the doorway when he became aware of a hesitant restraining hand upon his arm. He turned to see Zola at his side. She crept into his arms.

“Darling!”

“Ah, my Robert, they would not let me come to you because Zola’s love does not matter when everyone is so busy fighting. But I couldn’t let you go away again without seeing you.”

“Little ghost! You come and go like a dream. How did you get here at this time?”

“Taggert, he helped me. No one else knows but my maid.”

“Good old Tag! But now I must hurry, dear, to help fight for you.”

“Take me with you, Ro-bert.”

“Not now, sweetheart. Stay here in safety till I return, and then you shall go back home with me if you wish,”

“And be with you always, my Robert?”

“Always!”

Here Taggert appeared suddenly, as from nowhere.

“Sorry to interrupt your tête-à-tête, people, but we must be getting on.”

A hurried leave-taking followed. Zola placed in Robert’s hands a small package, which he did not have time to examine then.

A thick haze hung over the dark landscape, which was just visible in the dim starlight. A tense quiet prevailed.

The _Sphere’s_ stall was readied quickly. All was well, and a few minutes later Robert and Taggert were rising rapidly in it above the sleeping city. The package given Robert by Zola was discovered to contain a small bottle of excellent wine and some _lana_, a nutritious cake, both of which were quite welcome, as he had not eaten anything for several hours.

Rising to a height of about four thousand feet, Robert allowed the _Sphere_ to drift slowly over the enemy’s lines. With the ports open, the sound of activity below came to them with startling clearness. It was plain that preparations were being made for an attack on the city.

Robert had reduced the speed of the gyrostats to a minimum in order that the invaders might not be aware of its proximity. Every light in the _Sphere_ was extinguished. It hung above the busy Martians--a great, dark globe of unsuspected menace.

Suddenly a sharp command rang out below. Immediately there followed a series of flashes accompanied by a corresponding series of dull thuds--sounds of the curious Martian electric artillery in action. Robert’s heart sank as he thought of Zola’s danger.