I watched with horror as his spacesuit turned cherry red and actually melted in front of my eyes.
Then I fired.
The explosive shell blasted two Martians in the line. I fired again, splitting one half of the broken line into quarters. A third shot split the other half. One great thing about these explosive bullets, you didn't have to hit a target dead center. The fourth shot didn't even hit a Martian, but the ground at his feet, and he went the way of all cyanogenic plant men.
The Martians at the causeway were now getting ready to give me some of the medicine that had ended the career of Warner Joel. But I swung my gun in their direction and blasted again.
Before I could fire once more, Axel, who apparently had stopped to reload his rifle, began to bombard them from the rear.
The Martians couldn't stand being blasted from two directions at once. The line broke and they dashed to the north.
My car swept to the entrance of the causeway and across. Axel's helmeted figure rose from behind his barricade of rocks. He didn't even take time to wave, but I saw his eyes, full of deep appreciation because I'd arrived at a most critical time.
Then he dashed to the spot where the remains of Warner Joel lay steaming.
The Martians who had killed Joel were pouring across the moat at the rear of the spaceship.
"Watch the front, Bill!" Axel cried as he leveled his rifle.