"Thirty seconds more," he whispered, and fell silent. Presently, after
what seemed half an hour: "Fifteen!"

Another long wait. The Master breathed:

"In just five seconds the first capsule will burst there!" He pointed
with assurance. "In two--in one--"




CHAPTER VI


THE SILENT ATTACK

At the exact instant when the second hand notched to the minute's
edge, and in precisely the spot indicated, a slight, luminous spot
became dimly visible above the trees. The spot took uncertain form
high above the ghost-glow rising from the unseen stockade. For an
instant it hung suspended, pale-greenish, evanescent.

Then, as a faint plop! drifted to the watchers--a sound no louder
than a feeble clack of the tongue--this indefinite luminosity began to
sink, to fade, falling slowly, gradually dissipating itself in the dim
light over the stockade.

The Master nodded, smiling, with never any hint of praise or
approbation. The fulfilment of his order was to him no other than it
is to you, when you drop a pebble into water, to hear the splash of