But on the night of the 7th the terror struck again. This time it was with small loss of life, but the psychological effects were far greater. It was upon upper Malaysia that the giant, glittering trawl descended, flashing down to rip a great trench of destruction through the jungle and along the edge of a native village, then flashing up again, leaving untold panic behind it. The First Globe As best they could, the governments of earth sought to dissipate the panic, pointing out that few lives had been lost, and urging greater efforts in the production of the air-mines. Already the first great steelite globes were rolling out of the big factories, and were quickly being fitted with the charge of explosives. It was early on the morning of the 12th that the first air-mine was finished and released. Dr. Howard and I superintended the process, which took place outside one of the great Pittsburgh _steelite_ works that was turning out the globes. Anchored securely to the ground, the globe was slowly exhausted of its air by the giant air-pump that had been equipped for the task. The pump was disconnected. Then the globe was removed to a large open field near-by and reanchored. We could see clearly that the mighty globe, of incredible lightness, was straining upward with such force against the anchoring chains that held it that it seemed they must part. Dr. Howard reached forth and turned the lever that held the great globe anchored. There was a whizzing sound, a puff of air in our faces, and the great air-mine had vanished, rushing upward at such tremendous speed that it had seemed to disappear before our eyes. We all gazed up after it, as though to follow its course upward until it floated at last on the surface of earth's atmosphere. I think that the same thought held us all. This air-mine, this single globe we had released--it seemed such a puny weapon to use against beings who from mighty ships had let down the colossal trawl upon us. Was there actually any hope for us in this method? Perhaps this doubt was felt by many then, but there was no cessation of the work, which after all held our only chance of striking back at the great space invaders above. By the next day, here and there over earth's surface, scores of the air-mines were being released, to rush upward. In Germany and the English midlands, in Russia and Pennsylvania and Indiana--everywhere on earth's surface where the air-mines could be made and assembled--they were being released in groups. The great industrial leaders of the world had gathered, under Dr. Howard's heading, to devise plans for the quantity production of the air-mines with the greatest possible speed. Already great factories were being hastily equipped with special machinery, and the explosive factories of the world as well as those producing the repelling devices were working night and day to manufacture the needed materials.