"Well, about three fur suits apiece, with cotton in our ears, ought to kill any wave propagated through air."
The fur suits were donned forthwith, Seaton whispering in Crane's ear:
"I've found out something else, too. The repellers repel even the air. I'm going to shoot enough juice through them to set up a perfect vacuum outside. That'll kill those air-waves."
Scarcely were they back within range of the fleet when DuQuesne, reaching for his gun to fire the first shot, leaped backward with a yell.
"Beat it!"
Once more at a safe distance, DuQuesne explained.
"It's lucky I'm so used to handling hot stuff that from force of habit I never make close contact with anything at the first touch. That gun carried thousands of volts, with lots of amperage behind them, and if I had had a good hold on it I couldn't have let go. We'll block that game quick enough, though. Thick, dry gloves covered with rubber are all that is necessary. It's a good thing for all of us that you have those fancy condensite handles on your levers, Seaton."
"That was how they got Dunark, undoubtedly," said Crane, as he sent a brief message to the girls, assuring them that all was well, as he had been doing at every respite. "But why were we not overcome at the same time?"
"They must have had the current tuned to iridium, and had to experiment until they found the right wave for steel," Seaton explained.
"I should think our bar would have exploded, with all that current. They must have hit the copper range, too?"