Immediately the word ran up and down the line, so that within a few minutes Klow was facing a roaring crowd of half-mad terrors.  I myself set the example by charging the nearest group of the enemy, all of whom were mounted within the rather small and perfectly circular chariots which they preferred.  They were quick, but slippery.  Also, they could not stand before a determined rush, as several of them learned after vainly trying to slip some balls through my windows and, failing in that, striving to get away from me.

But I ran them down, and toppled them over, and dropped suffocation bombs into their little cages with such vigor and disregard of their volleys that my men could not resist the example.  We charged all along that vast circular line, and we cheered mightily when the whole front broke, turned tail, and ran before us.

But scarce had they got away before a queer thing happened.  A flock of those great air-creatures, some eight altogether, rose up from the middle of the city.  It was now fairly light, and we could see well.  One of them had some sort of engine trouble, so that it had to return at once; but the other seven came out to the battle-line and began to circle the city.

As they did so they dropped odd, misshapen parcels, totally unlike materials of war; but when they struck they gave off prodigious puffs of a greenish smoke, of so terribly pungent a nature that my men dropped before it like apples from a shaken tree.  ’Twas a fearful sight; lucky for us that the louts had had no practice, else few of us should be alive to tell the tale.

And so they swept around the great circle, many triangles in area; and everywhere the unthinkable things smote the hearts of my men with a fear they had never known.  Only one of the devices suffered; it was brought down by a chance fling of a poison shell.  The rest, after loosing their burdens, returned to the city for more.

I am no fool.  I saw that we could do nothing against such weapons, but must use all our wits if we escaped even.

“Return!” I commanded, and instantly my staff whistled the code.  The men obeyed with alacrity, making off at top speed with the men of Klow in hot pursuit, although able to do little damage.

Aye, it were a sorrowful thing, that retreat.  The best I could do was to remain till the very last, having to deal with a number of persistent louts who all but suffocated me, at that.  But I managed to empty my slinger into some of them and to topple the rest.  I was mainly angry that Klow had not showed himself.

By the time I had reached the seashore, most of my men were in their boats.  Again I stayed till the last, although I could see the enemy’s fleet bearing down hard upon us from the north.  In truth we would have all been lost, had we come in the manner of former campaigns, all together in big transports.  But because we could scatter every which way, the fleet harmed us little; and four-fifths of us got safely back.