Transcriber's note:

 No evidence was found to indicate the copyright on this book was renewed. 

THE GIRL IN THE GOLDEN ATOM

by

RAY CUMMINGS

TOMY FRIEND AND MENTORROBERT H. DAVISWITH GRATEFUL ACKNOWLEDGMENT OFHIS ENCOURAGEMENT AND PRACTICALASSISTANCE TO WHICH I OWE MYINITIAL SUCCESS

CONTENTS

 I. A Universe in an Atom

 II. Into the Ring

 III. After Forty-eight Hours

 IV. Lylda

 V. The World in the Ring

 VI. Strategy and Kisses

 VII. A Modern Gulliver

 VIII. "I Must Go Back"

 IX. After Five Years

 X. Testing the Drugs

 XI. The Escape of the Drug

 XII. The Start

 XIII. Perilous Ways

 XIV. Strange Experiences

 XV. The Valley of the Scratch

 XVI. The Pit of Darkness

 XVII. The Welcome of the Master

 XVIII. The Chemist and His Son

 XIX. The City of Arite

 XX. The World of the Ring

 XXI. A Life Worth Living

 XXII. The Trial

 XXIII. Lylda's Plan

 XXIV. Lylda Acts

 XXV. The Escape of Targo

 XXVI. The Abduction

 XXVII. Aura

 XXVIII. The Attack on the Palace

 XXIX. On the Lake

 XXX. Word Music

 XXXI. The Palace of Orlog

 XXXII. An Ant-hill Outraged

 XXXIII. The Rescue of Loto

 XXXIV. The Decision

 XXXV. Good-bye to Arite

 XXXVI. The Fight in the Tunnels

 XXXVII. A Combat of Titans

 XXXVIII. Lost in Size

 XXXIX. A Modern Dinosaur

 XL. The Adventurers' Return

 XLI. The First Christmas

THE GIRL IN THE GOLDEN ATOM

CHAPTER I

A UNIVERSE IN AN ATOM

"Then you mean to say there is no such thing as the _smallest_ particleof matter?" asked the Doctor. 

"You can put it that way if you like, " the Chemist replied. "In otherwords, what I believe is that things can be infinitely small just aswell as they can be infinitely large. Astronomers tell us of theimmensity of space. I have tried to imagine space as finite. It isimpossible. How can you conceive the edge of space? Something must bebeyond--something or nothing, and even that would be more space, wouldn't it?"

"Gosh, " said the Very Young Man, and lighted another cigarette. 

The Chemist resumed, smiling a little. "Now, if it seems probable thatthere is no limit to the immensity of space, why should we make itssmallness finite? How can you say that the atom cannot be divided? As amatter of fact, it already has been. The most powerful microscope willshow you realms of smallness to which you can penetrate no other way. Multiply that power a thousand times, or ten thousand times, and whoshall say what you will see?"

The Chemist paused, and looked at the intent little group around him. 

He was a youngish man, with large features and horn-rimmed glasses, hisrough English-cut clothes hanging loosely over his broad, spare frame. The Banker drained his glass and rang for the waiter. 

"Very interesting, " he remarked. 

"Don't be an ass, George, " said the Big Business Man. "Just because youdon't understand, doesn't mean there is no sense to it. "

"What I don't get clearly"--began the Doctor. 

"None of it's clear to me, " said the Very Young Man. 

The Doctor crossed under the light and took an easier chair. "Youintimated you had discovered something unusual in these realms of theinfinitely small, " he suggested, sinking back luxuriously. "Will youtell us about it?"

"Yes, if you like, " said the Chemist, turning from one to the other. Anod of assent followed his glance, as each settled himself morecomfortably. 

"Well, gentlemen, when you say I have discovered something unusual inanother world--in the world of the infinitely small--you are right in away. I have seen something and lost it. You won't believe me probably, "he glanced at the Banker an instant, "but that is not important. I amgoing to tell you the facts, just as they happened. "

The Big Business Man filled up the glasses all around, and the Chemistresumed:

"It was in 1910, this problem first came to interest me. I had nevergone in for microscopic work very much, but now I let it absorb all myattention. I secured larger, more powerful instruments--I spent most ofmy money, " he smiled ruefully, "but never could I come to the end of thespace into which I was looking. Something was always hiddenbeyond--something I could almost, but not quite, distinguish. 

"Then I realized that I was on the wrong track. My instrument was notmerely of insufficient power, it was not one-thousandth the power Ineeded. 

"So I began to study the laws of optics and lenses. In 1913 I wentabroad, and with one of the most famous lens-makers of Europe I produceda lens of an entirely different quality, a lens that I hoped would giveme what I wanted. So I returned here and fitted up my microscope that Iknew would prove vastly more powerful than any yet constructed. 

"It was finally completed and set up in my laboratory, and one night Iwent in alone to look through it for the first time. It was in the fallof 1914, I remember, just after the first declaration of war. 

"I can recall now my feelings at that moment. I was about to see intoanother world, to behold what no man had ever looked on before. Whatwould I see? What new realms was I, first of all our human race, toenter? With furiously beating heart, I sat down before the hugeinstrument and adjusted the eyepiece. 

"Then I glanced around for some object to examine. On my finger I had aring, my mother's wedding-ring, and I decided to use that. I have ithere. " He took a plain gold band from his little finger and laid it onthe table. 

"You will see a slight mark on the outside. That is the place into whichI looked. "

His friends crowded around the table and examined a scratch on one sideof the band. 

"What did you see?" asked the Very Young Man eagerly. 

"Gentlemen, " resumed the Chemist, "what I saw staggered even my ownimagination. With trembling hands I put the ring in place, lookingdirectly down into that scratch. For a moment I saw nothing. I was likea person coming suddenly out of the sunlight into a darkened room. Iknew there was something visible in my view, but my eyes did not seemable to receive the impressions. I realize now they were not yetadjusted to the new form of light. Gradually, as I looked, objects ofdefinite shape began to emerge from the blackness. 

"Gentlemen, I want to make clear to you now--as clear as I can--thepeculiar aspect of everything that I saw under this microscope. I seemedto be inside an immense cave. One side, near at hand, I could now makeout quite clearly. The walls were extraordinarily rough and indented, with a peculiar phosphorescent light on the projections and blackness inthe hollows. I say phosphorescent light, for that is the nearest word Ican find to describe it--a curious radiation, quite different from thereflected light to which we are accustomed. 

"I said that the hollows inside of the cave were blackness. But notblackness--the absence of light--as we know it. It was a blackness thatseemed also to radiate light, if you can imagine such a condition; ablackness that seemed not empty, but merely withholding its contentsjust beyond my vision. 

"Except for a dim suggestion of roof over the cave, and its floor, Icould distinguish nothing. After a moment this floor became clearer. Itseemed to be--well, perhaps I might call it black marble--smooth, glossy, yet somewhat translucent. In the foreground the floor wasapparently liquid. In no way did it differ in appearance from the solidpart, except that its surface seemed to be in motion. 

"Another curious thing was the outlines of all the shapes in view. Inoticed that no outline held steady when I looked at it directly; itseemed to quiver. You see something like it when looking at an objectthrough water--only, of course, there was no distortion. It was alsolike looking at something with the radiation of heat between. 

"Of the back and other side of the cave, I could see nothing, except inone place, where a narrow effulgence of light drifted out into theimmensity of the distance behind. 

"I do not know how long I sat looking at this scene; it may have beenseveral hours. Although I was obviously in a cave, I never felt shutin--never got the impression of being in a narrow, confined space. 

"On the contrary, after a time I seemed to feel the vast immensity ofthe blackness before me. I think perhaps it may have been that path oflight stretching out into the distance. As I looked it seemed like thereversed tail of a comet, or the dim glow of the Milky Way, andpenetrating to equally remote realms of space. 

"Perhaps I fell asleep, or at least there was an interval of time duringwhich I was so absorbed in my own thoughts I was hardly conscious of thescene before me. 

"Then I became aware of a dim shape in the foreground--a shape mergedwith the outlines surrounding it. And as I looked, it gradually assumedform, and I saw it was the figure of a young girl, sitting beside theliquid pool. Except for the same waviness of outline and phosphorescentglow, she had quite the normal aspect of a human being of our own world. She was beautiful, according to our own standards of beauty; her longbraided hair a glowing black, her face, delicate of feature and winsomein expression. Her lips were a deep red, although I felt rather than sawthe colour. 

"She was dressed only in a short tunic of a substance I might describeas gray opaque glass, and the pearly whiteness of her skin gleamed withiridescence. 

"She seemed to be singing, although I heard no sound. Once she bent overthe pool and plunged her hand into it, laughing gaily. 

"Gentlemen, I cannot make you appreciate my emotions, when all at once Iremembered I was looking through a microscope. I had forgotten entirelymy situation, absorbed in the scene before me. And then, abruptly, agreat realization came upon me--the realization that everything I sawwas inside that ring. I was unnerved for the moment at the importance ofmy discovery. 

"When I looked again, after the few moments my eye took to becomeaccustomed to the new form of light, the scene showed itself as before, except that the girl had gone. 

"For over a week, each night at the same time I watched that cave. Thegirl came always, and sat by the pool as I had first seen her. Once shedanced with the wild grace of a wood nymph, whirling in and out theshadows, and falling at last in a little heap beside the pool. 

"It was on the tenth night after I had first seen her that the accidenthappened. I had been watching, I remember, an unusually long time beforeshe appeared, gliding out of the shadows. She seemed in a differentmood, pensive and sad, as she bent down over the pool, staring into itintently. Suddenly there was a tremendous cracking sound, sharp as anexplosion, and I was thrown backward upon the floor. 

"When I recovered consciousness--I must have struck my head onsomething--I found the microscope in ruins. Upon examination I saw thatits larger lens had exploded--flown into fragments scattered around theroom. Why I was not killed I do not understand. The ring I picked upfrom the floor; it was unharmed and unchanged. 

"Can I make you understand how I felt at this loss? Because of the warin Europe I knew I could never replace my lens--for many years, at anyrate. And then, gentlemen, came the most terrible feeling of all; I knewat last that the scientific achievement I had made and lost counted forlittle with me. It was the girl. I realized then that the only being Iever could care for was living out her life with her world, and, indeed, her whole universe, in an atom of that ring. "

The Chemist stopped talking and looked from one to the other of thetense faces of his companions. 

"It's almost too big an idea to grasp, " murmured the Doctor. 

"What caused the explosion?" asked the Very Young Man. 

"I do not know. " The Chemist addressed his reply to the Doctor, as themost understanding of the group. "I can appreciate, though, that throughthat lens I was magnifying tremendously those peculiar light-radiationsthat I have described. I believe the molecules of the lens wereshattered by them--I had exposed it longer to them that evening than anyof the others. "

The Doctor nodded his comprehension of this theory. 

Impressed in spite of himself, the Banker took another drink and leanedforward in his chair. "Then you really think that there is a girl nowinside the gold of that ring?" he asked. 

"He didn't say that necessarily, " interrupted the Big Business Man. 

"Yes, he did. "

"As a matter of fact, I do believe that to be the case, " said theChemist earnestly. "I believe that every particle of matter in ouruniverse contains within it an equally complex and complete a universe, which to its inhabitants seems as large as ours. I think, also that thewhole realm of our interplanetary space, our solar system and all theremote stars of the heavens are contained within the atom of some otheruniverse as gigantic to us as we are to the universe in that ring. "

"Gosh!" said the Very Young Man. 

"It doesn't make one feel very important in the scheme of things, doesit?" remarked the Big Business Man dryly. 

The Chemist smiled. "The existence of no individual, no nation, noworld, nor any one universe is of the least importance. "

"Then it would be possible, " said the Doctor, "for this giganticuniverse that contains us in one of its atoms, to be itself containedwithin the atom of another universe, still more gigantic, and so on. "

"That is my theory, " said the Chemist. 

"And in each of the atoms of the rocks of that cave there may be otherworlds proportionately minute?"

"I can see no reason to doubt it. "

"Well, there is no proof, anyway, " said the Banker. "We might as wellbelieve it. "

"I intend to get proof, " said the Chemist. 

"Do you believe all these innumerable universes, both larger and smallerthan ours, are inhabited?" asked the Doctor. 

"I should think probably most of them are. The existence of life, Ibelieve, is as fundamental as the existence of matter without life. "

"How do you suppose that girl got in there?" asked the Very Young Man, coming out of a brown study. 

"What puzzled me, " resumed the Chemist, ignoring the question, "is whythe girl should so resemble our own race. I have thought about it a gooddeal, and I have reached the conclusion that the inhabitants of anyuniverse in the next smaller or larger plane to ours probably resembleus fairly closely. That ring, you see, is in the same--shall wesay--environment as ourselves. The same forces control it that controlus. Now, if the ring had been created on Mars, for instance, I believethat the universes within its atoms would be inhabited by beings likethe Martians--if Mars has any inhabitants. Of course, in planes beyondthose next to ours, either smaller or larger, changes would probablyoccur, becoming greater as you go in or out from our own universe. "

"Good Lord! It makes one dizzy to think of it, " said the Big BusinessMan. 

"I wish I knew how that girl got in there, " sighed the Very Young Man, looking at the ring. 

"She probably didn't, " retorted the Doctor. "Very likely she was createdthere, the same as you were here. "

"I think that is probably so, " said the Chemist. "And yet, sometimes Iam not at all sure. She was very human. " The Very Young Man looked athim sympathetically. 

"How are you going to prove your theories?" asked the Banker, in hismost irritatingly practical way. 

The Chemist picked up the ring and put it on his finger. "Gentlemen, " hesaid. "I have tried to tell you facts, not theories. What I saw throughthat ultramicroscope was not an unproven theory, but a fact. My theoriesyou have brought out by your questions. "

"You are quite right, " said the Doctor; "but you did mention yourselfthat you hoped to provide proof. "

The Chemist hesitated a moment, then made his decision. "I will tell youthe rest, " he said. 

"After the destruction of the microscope, I was quite at a loss how toproceed. I thought about the problem for many weeks. Finally I decidedto work along another altogether different line--a theory about which Iam surprised you have not already questioned me. "

He paused, but no one spoke. 

"I am hardly ready with proof to-night, " he resumed after a moment. "Will you all take dinner with me here at the club one week fromto-night?" He read affirmation in the glance of each. 

"Good. That's settled, " he said, rising. "At seven, then. "

"But what was the theory you expected us to question you about?" askedthe Very Young Man. 

The Chemist leaned on the back of his chair. 

"The only solution I could see to the problem, " he said slowly, "was tofind some way of making myself sufficiently small to be able to enterthat other universe. I have found such a way and one week from to-night, gentlemen, with your assistance, I am going to enter the surface of thatring at the point where it is scratched!"

CHAPTER II

INTO THE RING

The cigars were lighted and dinner over before the Doctor broached thesubject uppermost in the minds of every member of the party. 

"A toast, gentlemen, " he said, raising his glass. "To the greatestresearch chemist in the world. May he be successful in his adventureto-night. "

The Chemist bowed his acknowledgment. 

"You have not heard me yet, " he said smiling. 

"But we want to, " said the Very Young Man impulsively. 

"And you shall. " He settled himself more comfortably in his chair. "Gentlemen, I am going to tell you, first, as simply as possible, justwhat I have done in the past two years. You must draw your ownconclusions from the evidence I give you. 

"You will remember that I told you last week of my dilemma after thedestruction of the microscope. Its loss and the impossibility ofreplacing it, led me into still bolder plans than merely the visualexamination of this minute world. I reasoned, as I have told you, thatbecause of its physical proximity, its similar environment, so to speak, this outer world should be capable of supporting life identical with ourown. 

"By no process of reasoning can I find adequate refutation of thistheory. Then, again, I had the evidence of my own eyes to prove that abeing I could not tell from one of my own kind was living there. Thatthis girl, other than in size, differs radically from those of our race, I cannot believe. 

"I saw then but one obstacle standing between me and this otherworld--the discrepancy of size. The distance separating our world fromthis other is infinitely great or infinitely small, according to theviewpoint. In my present size it is only a few feet from here to thering on that plate. But to an inhabitant of that other world, we are asremote as the faintest stars of the heavens, diminished a thousandtimes. "

He paused a moment, signing the waiter to leave the room. 

"This reduction of bodily size, great as it is, involves no deeperprinciple than does a light contraction of tissue, except that it mustbe carried further. The problem, then, was to find a chemical, sufficiently unharmful to life, that would so act upon the body cells asto cause a reduction in bulk, without changing their shape. I had tosecure a uniform and also a proportionate rate of contraction of eachcell, in order not to have the body shape altered. 

"After a comparatively small amount of research work, I encountered anapparently insurmountable obstacle. As you know, gentlemen, our livinghuman bodies are held together by the power of the central intelligencewe call the mind. Every instant during your lifetime your subconsciousmind is commanding and directing the individual life of each cell thatmakes up your body. At death this power is withdrawn; each cell isthrown under its own individual command, and dissolution of the bodytakes place. 

"I found, therefore, that I could not act upon the cells separately, solong as they were under control of the mind. On the other hand, I couldnot withdraw this power of the subconscious mind without causing death. 

"I progressed no further than this for several months. Then came thesolution. I reasoned that after death the body does not immediatelydisintegrate; far more time elapses than I expected to need for thecell-contraction. I devoted my time, then to finding a chemical thatwould temporarily withhold, during the period of cell-contraction, thepower of the subconscious mind, just as the power of the conscious mindis withheld by hypnotism. 

"I am not going to weary you by trying to lead you through the maze ofchemical experiments into which I plunged. Only one of you, " heindicated the Doctor, "has the technical basis of knowledge to followme. No one had been before me along the path I traversed. I pursued themethod of pure theoretical deduction, drawing my conclusions from thepractical results obtained. 

"I worked on rabbits almost exclusively. After a few weeks I succeededin completely suspending animation in one of them for several hours. There was no life apparently existing during that period. It was not atrance or coma, but the complete simulation of death. No harmful resultsfollowed the revivifying of the animal. The contraction of the cells wasfar more difficult to accomplish; I finished my last experiment lessthan six months ago. "

"Then you really have been able to make an animal infinitely small?"asked the Big Business Man. 

The Chemist smiled. "I sent four rabbits into the unknown last week, " hesaid. 

"What did they look like going?" asked the Very Young Man. The Chemistsigned him to be patient. 

"The quantity of diminution to be obtained bothered me considerably. Exactly how small that other universe is, I had no means of knowing, except by the computations I made of the magnifying power of my lens. These figures, I know, must necessarily be very inaccurate. Then, again, I have no means of judging by the visual rate of diminution of theserabbits, whether this contraction is at a uniform rate or accelerated. Nor can I tell how long it is prolonged, for the quantity of drugadministered, as only a fraction of the diminution has taken place whenthe animal passes beyond the range of any microscope I now possess. 

"These questions were overshadowed, however, by a far more seriousproblem that encompassed them all. 

"As I was planning to project myself into this unknown universe and toreach the exact size proportionate to it, I soon realized such a resultcould not be obtained were I in an unconscious state. Only by successivedoses of the drug, or its retardent about which I will tell you later, could I hope to reach the proper size. Another necessity is that I placemyself on the exact spot on that ring where I wish to enter and to climbdown among its atoms when I have become sufficiently small to do so. Obviously, this would be impossible to one not possessing all hisfaculties and physical strength. "

"And did you solve that problem, too?" asked the Banker. 

"I'd like to see it done, " he added, reading his answer in the other'sconfident smile. 

The Chemist produced two small paper packages from his wallet. "Thesedrugs are the result of my research, " he said. "One of them causescontraction, and the other expansion, by an exact reversal of theprocess. Taken together, they produce no effect, and a lesser amount ofone retards the action of the other. " He opened the papers, showing twosmall vials. "I have made them as you see, in the form of tiny pills, each containing a minute quantity of the drug. It is by taking themsuccessively in unequal amounts that I expect to reach the desiredsize. "

"There's one point that you do not mention, " said the Doctor. "Thosevials and their contents will have to change size as you do. How are yougoing to manage that?"

"By experimentation I have found, " answered the Chemist, "that anyobject held in close physical contact with the living body beingcontracted is contracted itself at an equal rate. I believe that myclothes will be affected also. These vials I will carry strapped undermy armpits. "

"Suppose you should die, or be killed, would the contraction cease?"asked the Doctor. 

"Yes, almost immediately, " replied the Chemist. "Apparently, though I amacting through the subconscious mind while its power is held inabeyance, when this power is permanently withdrawn by death, the drug nolonger affects the individual cells. The contraction or expansion ceasesalmost at once. "

The Chemist cleared a space before him on the table. "In a well-managedclub like this, " he said, "there should be no flies, but I see severalaround. Do you suppose we can catch one of them?"

"I can, " said the Very Young Man, and forthwith he did. 

The Chemist moistened a lump of sugar and laid it on the table beforehim. Then, selecting one of the smallest of the pills, he ground it topowder with the back of a spoon and sprinkled this powder on the sugar. 

"Will you give me the fly, please?"

The Very Young Man gingerly did so. The Chemist held the insect by itswings over the sugar. "Will someone lend me one of his shoes?"

The Very Young Man hastily slipped off a dancing pump. 

"Thank you, " said the Chemist, placing it on the table with a quizzicalsmile. 

The rest of the company rose from their chairs and gathered around, watching with interested faces what was about to happen. 

"I hope he is hungry, " remarked the Chemist, and placed the fly gentlydown on the sugar, still holding it by the wings. The insect, after amoment, ate a little. 

Silence fell upon the group as each watched intently. For a few momentsnothing happened. Then, almost imperceptibly at first, the fly becamelarger. In another minute it was the size of a large horse-fly, struggling to release its wings from the Chemist's grasp. A minute moreand it was the size of a beetle. No one spoke. The Banker moistened hislips, drained his glass hurriedly and moved slightly farther away. Stillthe insect grew; now it was the size of a small chicken, the multiplelens of its eyes presenting a most terrifying aspect, while itsferocious droning reverberated through the room. Then suddenly theChemist threw it upon the table, covered it with a napkin, and beat itviolently with the slipper. When all movement had ceased he tossed itsquivering body into a corner of the room. 

"Good God!" ejaculated the Banker, as the white-faced men stared at eachother. The quiet voice of the Chemist brought them back to themselves. "That, gentlemen, you must understand, was only a fraction of the veryfirst stage of growth. As you may have noticed, it was constantlyaccelerated. This acceleration attains a speed of possibly fiftythousand times that you observed. Beyond that, it is my theory, thechange is at a uniform rate. " He looked at the body of the fly, lyinginert on the floor. "You can appreciate now, gentlemen, the importanceof having this growth cease after death. "

"Good Lord, I should say so!" murmured the Big Business Man, mopping hisforehead. The Chemist took the lump of sugar and threw it into the openfire. 

"Gosh!" said the Very Young Man, "suppose when we were not looking, another fly had----"

"Shut up!" growled the Banker. 

"Not so skeptical now, eh, George?" said the Big Business Man. 

"Can you catch me another fly?" asked the Chemist. The Very Young Manhastened to do so. "The second demonstration, gentlemen, " said theChemist, "is less spectacular, but far more pertinent than the one youhave just witnessed. " He took the fly by the wings, and prepared anotherlump of sugar, sprinkling a crushed pill from the other vial upon it. 

"When he is small enough I am going to try to put him on the ring, if hewill stay still, " said the Chemist. 

The Doctor pulled the plate containing the ring forward until it wasdirectly under the light, and every one crowded closer to watch; alreadythe fly was almost too small to be held. The Chemist tried to set it onthe ring, but could not; so with his other hand he brushed it lightlyinto the plate, where it lay, a tiny black speck against the gleamingwhiteness of the china. 

"Watch it carefully, gentlemen, " he said, as they bent closer. 

"It's gone, " said the Big Business Man. 

"No, I can still see it, " said the Doctor. Then he raised the platecloser to his face. "Now it's gone, " he said. 

The Chemist sat down in his chair. "It's probably still there, only toosmall for you to see. In a few minutes, if it took a sufficient amountof the drug, it will be small enough to fall between the molecules ofthe plate. "

"Do you suppose it will find another inhabited universe down there?"asked the Very Young Man. 

"Who knows, " smiled the Chemist. "Very possibly it will. But the one weare interested in is here, " he added, touching the ring. 

"Is it your intention to take this stuff yourself to-night?" asked theBig Business Man. 

"If you will give me your help, I think so, yes. I have made allarrangements. The club has given us this room in absolute privacy forforty-eight hours. Your meals will be served here when you want them, and I am going to ask you, gentlemen, to take turns watching andguarding the ring during that time. Will you do it?"

"I should say we would, " cried the Doctor, and the others nodded assent. 

"It is because I wanted you to be convinced of my entire sincerity thatI have taken you so thoroughly into my confidence. Are those doorslocked?" The Very Young Man locked them. 

"Thank you, " said the Chemist, starting to disrobe. In a moment he stoodbefore them attired in a woolen bathing-suit of pure white. Over hisshoulders was strapped tightly a narrow leather harness, supporting twosilken pockets, one under each armpit. Into each of these he placed oneof the vials, first laying four pills from one of them upon the table. 

At this point the Banker rose from his chair and selected another in thefurther corner of the room. He sank into it a crumpled heap and wipedthe beads of perspiration from his face with a shaking hand. 

"I have every expectation, " said the Chemist, "that this suit andharness will contract in size uniformly with me. If the harness shouldnot, then I shall have to hold the vials in my hand. "

On the table, directly under the light, he spread a large silkhandkerchief, upon which he placed the ring. He then produced ateaspoon, which he handed to the Doctor. 

"Please listen carefully, " he said, "for perhaps the whole success of myadventure, and my life itself, may depend upon your actions during thenext few minutes. You will realize, of course, that when I am stilllarge enough to be visible to you I shall be so small that my voice maybe inaudible. Therefore, I want you to know, now, just what to expect. 

"When I am something under a foot high, I shall step upon thathandkerchief, where you will see my white suit plainly against its blacksurface. When I become less than an inch high, I shall run over to thering and stand beside it. When I have diminished to about a quarter ofan inch, I shall climb upon it, and, as I get smaller, will follow itssurface until I come to the scratch. 

"I want you to watch me very closely. I may miscalculate the time andwait until I am too small to climb upon the ring. Or I may fall off. Ineither case, you will place that spoon beside me and I will climb intoit. You will then do your best to help me get on the ring. Is all thisquite clear?"

The Doctor nodded assent. 

"Very well, watch me as long as I remain visible. If I have an accident, I shall take the other drug and endeavor to return to you at once. Thisyou must expect at any moment during the next forty-eight hours. Underall circumstances, if I am alive, I shall return at the expiration ofthat time. 

"And, gentlemen, let me caution you most solemnly, do not allow thatring to be touched until that length of time has expired. Can I dependon you?"

"Yes, " they answered breathlessly. 

"After I have taken the pills, " the Chemist continued, "I shall notspeak unless it is absolutely necessary. I do not know what mysensations will be, and I want to follow them as closely as possible. "He then turned out all the lights in the room with the exception of thecenter electrolier, that shone down directly on the handkerchief andring. 

The Chemist looked about him. "Good-by, gentlemen, " he said, shakinghands all round. "Wish me luck, " and without hesitation he placed thefour pills in his mouth and washed them down with a swallow of water. 

Silence fell on the group as the Chemist seated himself and covered hisface with his hands. For perhaps two minutes the tenseness of thesilence was unbroken, save by the heavy breathing of the Banker as helay huddled in his chair. 

"Oh, my God! He _is_ growing smaller!" whispered the Big Business Man ina horrified tone to the Doctor. The Chemist raised his head and smiledat them. Then he stood up, steadying himself against a chair. He wasless than four feet high. Steadily he grew smaller before theirhorrified eyes. Once he made, as if to speak, and the Doctor knelt downbeside him. "It's all right, good-by, " he said in a tiny voice. 

Then he stepped upon the handkerchief. The Doctor knelt on the floorbeside it, the wooden spoon ready in his hand, while the others, exceptthe Banker, stood behind him. The figure of the Chemist, standingmotionless near the edge of the handkerchief, seemed now like a littlewhite wooden toy, hardly more than an inch in height. 

Waving his hand and smiling, he suddenly started to walk and then ranswiftly over to the ring. By the time he reached it, somewhat out ofbreath, he was little more than twice as high as the width of its band. Without pausing, he leaped up, and sat astraddle, leaning over andholding to it tightly with his hands. In another moment he was on hisfeet, on the upper edge of the ring, walking carefully along itscircumference towards the scratch. 

The Big Business Man touched the Doctor on the shoulder and tried tosmile. "He's making it, " he whispered. As if in answer the little figureturned and waved its arms. They could just distinguish its white outlineagainst the gold surface underneath. 

"I don't see him, " said the Very Young Man in a scared voice. 

"He's right near the scratch, " answered the Doctor, bending closer. Then, after a moment, "He's gone. " He rose to his feet. "Good Lord! Whyhaven't we a microscope!"

"I never thought of that, " said the Big Business Man, "we could havewatched him for a long time yet. "

"Well, he's gone now, " returned the Doctor, "and there is nothing for usto do but wait. "

"I hope he finds that girl, " sighed the Very Young Man, as he sat chinin hand beside the handkerchief. 

CHAPTER III

AFTER FORTY-EIGHT HOURS

The Banker snored stertorously from his mattress in a corner of theroom. In an easy-chair near by, with his feet on the table, lay the VeryYoung Man, sleeping also. 

The Doctor and the Big Business Man sat by the handkerchief conversingin low tones. 

"How long has it been now?" asked the latter. 

"Just forty hours, " answered the Doctor; "and he said that forty-eighthours was the limit. He should come back at about ten to-night. "

"I wonder if he _will_ come back, " questioned the Big Business Mannervously. "Lord, I wish _he_ wouldn't snore so loud, " he addedirritably, nodding in the direction of the Banker. 

They were silent for a moment, and then he went on: "You'd better try tosleep a little while, Frank. You're worn out. I'll watch here. "

"I suppose I should, " answered the Doctor wearily. "Wake up that kid, he's sleeping most of the time. "

"No, I'll watch, " repeated the Big Business Man. "You lie down overthere. "

The Doctor did so while the other settled himself more comfortably on acushion beside the handkerchief, and prepared for his lonely watching. 

The Doctor apparently dropped off to sleep at once, for he did not speakagain. The Big Business Man sat staring steadily at the ring, bendingnearer to it occasionally. Every ten or fifteen minutes he looked at hiswatch. 

Perhaps an hour passed in this way, when the Very Young Man suddenly satup and yawned. "Haven't they come back yet?" he asked in a sleepy voice. 

The Big Business Man answered in a much lower tone. "What do youmean--they?"

"I dreamed that he brought the girl back with him, " said the Very YoungMan. 

"Well, if he did, they have not arrived. You'd better go back to sleep. We've got six or seven hours yet--maybe more. "

The Very Young Man rose and crossed the room. "No, I'll watch a while, "he said, seating himself on the floor. "What time is it?"

"Quarter to three. "

"He said he'd be back by ten to-night. I'm crazy to see that girl. "

The Big Business Man rose and went over to a dinner-tray, standing nearthe door. "Lord, I'm hungry. I must have forgotten to eat to-day. " Helifted up one of the silver covers. What he saw evidently encouragedhim, for he drew up a chair and began his lunch. 

The Very Young Man lighted a cigarette. "It will be the tragedy of mylife, " he said, "if he never comes back. "

The Big Business Man smiled. "How about _his_ life?" he answered, butthe Very Young Man had fallen into a reverie and did not reply. 

The Big Business Man finished his lunch in silence and was just about tolight a cigar when a sharp exclamation brought him hastily to his feet. 

"Come here, quick, I see something. " The Very Young Man had his faceclose to the ring and was trembling violently. 

The other pushed him back. "Let me see. Where?"

"There, by the scratch; he's lying there; I can see him. "

The Big Business Man looked and then hurriedly woke the Doctor. 

"He's come back, " he said briefly; "you can see him there. " The Doctorbent down over the ring while the others woke up the Banker. 

"He doesn't seem to be getting any bigger, " said the Very Young Man;"he's just lying there. Maybe he's dead. "

"What shall we do?" asked the Big Business Man, and made as if to pickup the ring. The Doctor shoved him away. "Don't do that!" he saidsharply. "Do you want to kill him?"

"He's sitting up, " cried the Very Young Man. "He's all right. "

"He must have fainted, " said the Doctor. "Probably he's taking more ofthe drug now. "

"He's much larger, " said the Very Young Man; "look at him!"

The tiny figure was sitting sideways on the ring, with its feet hangingover the outer edge. It was growing perceptibly larger each instant, andin a moment it slipped down off the ring and sank in a heap on thehandkerchief. 

"Good Heavens! Look at him!" cried the Big Business Man. "He's allcovered with blood. "

The little figure presented a ghastly sight. As it steadily grew largerthey could see and recognize the Chemist's haggard face, his cheek andneck stained with blood, and his white suit covered with dirt. 

"Look at his feet, " whispered the Big Business Man. They were horriblycut and bruised and greatly swollen. 

The Doctor bent over and whispered gently, "What can I do to help you?"The Chemist shook his head. His body, lying prone upon the handkerchief, had torn it apart in growing. When he was about twelve inches in lengthhe raised his head. The Doctor bent closer. "Some brandy, please, " saida wraith of the Chemist's voice. It was barely audible. 

"He wants some brandy, " called the Doctor. The Very Young Man lookedhastily around, then opened the door and dashed madly out of the room. When he returned, the Chemist had grown to nearly four feet. He wassitting on the floor with his back against the Doctor's knees. The BigBusiness Man was wiping the blood off his face with a damp napkin. 

"Here!" cried the Very Young Man, thrusting forth the brandy. TheChemist drank a little of it. Then he sat up, evidently somewhatrevived. 

"I seem to have stopped growing, " he said. "Let's finish it up now. God!how I want to be the right size again, " he added fervently. 

The Doctor helped him extract the vials from under his arm, and theChemist touched one of the pills to his tongue. Then he sank back, closing his eyes. "I think that should be about enough, " he murmured. 

No one spoke for nearly ten minutes. Gradually the Chemist's body grew, the Doctor shifting his position several times as it became larger. Itseemed finally to have stopped growing, and was apparently nearly itsformer size. 

"Is he asleep?" whispered the Very Young Man. 

The Chemist opened his eyes. 

"No, " he answered. "I'm all right now, I think. " He rose to his feet, the Doctor and the Big Business Man supporting him on either side. 

"Sit down and tell us about it, " said the Very Young Man. "Did you findthe girl?"

The Chemist smiled wearily. 

"Gentlemen, I cannot talk now. Let me have a bath and some dinner. ThenI will tell you all about it. "

The Doctor rang for an attendant, and led the Chemist to the door, throwing a blanket around him as he did so. In the doorway the Chemistpaused and looked back with a wan smile over the wreck of the room. 

"Give me an hour, " he said. "And eat something yourselves while I amgone. " Then he left, closing the door after him. 

When he returned, fully dressed in clothes that were ludicrously largefor him, the room had been straightened up, and his four friends werefinishing their meal. He took his place among them quietly and lighted acigar. 

"Well, gentlemen, I suppose that you are interested to hear whathappened to me, " he began. The Very Young Man asked his usual question. 

"Let him alone, " said the Doctor. "You will hear it all soon enough. "

"Was it all as you expected?" asked the Banker. It was his first remarksince the Chemist returned. 

"To a great extent, yes, " answered the Chemist. "But I had better tellyou just what happened. " The Very Young Man nodded his eager agreement. 

"When I took those first four pills, " began the Chemist in a quiet, eventone, "my immediate sensation was a sudden reeling of the senses, combined with an extreme nausea. This latter feeling passed after amoment. 

"You will remember that I seated myself upon the floor and closed myeyes. When I opened them my head had steadied itself somewhat, but I wasoppressed by a curious feeling of drowsiness, impossible to shake off. 

"My first mental impression was one of wonderment when I saw you allbegin to increase in size. I remember standing up beside that chair, which was then half again its normal size, and you"--indicating theDoctor--"towered beside me as a giant of nine or ten feet high. 

"Steadily upward, with a curious crawling motion, grew the room and allits contents. Except for the feeling of sleep that oppressed me, I feltquite my usual self. No change appeared happening to me, but everythingelse seemed growing to gigantic and terrifying proportions. 

"Can you imagine a human being a hundred feet high? That is how youlooked to me as I stepped upon that huge expanse of black silk andshouted my last good-bye to you!

"Over to my left lay the ring, apparently fifteen or twenty feet away. Istarted to walk towards it, but although it grew rapidly larger, thedistance separating me from it seemed to increase rather than lessen. Then I ran, and by the time I arrived it stood higher than my waist--abeautiful, shaggy, golden pit. 

"I jumped upon its rim and clung to it tightly. I could feel it growingbeneath me, as I sat. After a moment I climbed upon its top surface andstarted to walk towards the point where I knew the scratch to be. 

"I found myself now, as I looked about, walking upon a narrow, thoughever broadening, curved path. The ground beneath my feet appeared to bea rough, yellowish quartz. This path grew rougher as I advanced. Belowthe bulging edges of the path, on both sides, lay a shining black plain, ridged and indented, and with a sunlike sheen on the higher portions ofthe ridges. On the one hand this black plain stretched in an unbrokenexpanse to the horizon. On the other, it appeared as a circular valley, enclosed by a shining yellow wall. 

"The way had now become extraordinarily rough. I bore to the left as Iadvanced, keeping close to the outer edge. The other edge of the path Icould not see. I clambered along hastily, and after a few moments wasconfronted by a row of rocks and bowlders lying directly across my lineof progress. I followed their course for a short distance, and finallyfound a space through which I could pass. 

"This transverse ridge was perhaps a hundred feet deep. Behind it andextending in a parallel direction lay a tremendous valley. I knew then Ihad reached my first objective. 

"I sat down upon the brink of the precipice and watched the caverngrowing ever wider and deeper. Then I realized that I must begin mydescent if ever I was to reach the bottom. For perhaps six hours Iclimbed steadily downwards. It was a fairly easy descent after the firstlittle while, for the ground seemed to open up before me as I advanced, changing its contour so constantly that I was never at a loss for aneasy downward path. 

"My feet suffered cruelly from the shaggy, metallic ground, and I soonhad to stop and rig a sort of protection for the soles of them from aportion of the harness over my shoulder. According to the stature I waswhen I reached the bottom, I had descended perhaps twelve thousand feetduring this time. 

"The latter part of the journey found me nearing the bottom of thecaņon. Objects around me no longer seemed to increase in size, as hadbeen constantly the case before, and I reasoned that probably my staturewas remaining constant. 

"I noticed, too, as I advanced, a curious alteration in the form oflight around me. The glare from above (the sky showed only as a narrowdull ribbon of blue) barely penetrated to the depths of the caņon'sfloor. But all about me there was a soft radiance, seeming to emanatefrom the rocks themselves. 

"The sides of the caņon were shaggy and rough, beyond anything I hadever seen. Huge bowlders, hundreds of feet in diameter, were embedded inthem. The bottom also was strewn with similar gigantic rocks. 

"I surveyed this lonely waste for some time in dismay, not knowing inwhat direction lay my goal. I knew that I was at the bottom of thescratch, and by the comparison of its size I realized I was well startedon my journey. 

"I have not told you, gentlemen, that at the time I marked the ring Imade a deeper indentation in one portion of the scratch and focused themicroscope upon that. This indentation I now searched for. Luckily Ifound it, less than half a mile away--an almost circular pit, perhapsfive miles in diameter, with shining walls extending downwards intoblackness. There seemed no possible way of descending into it, so I satdown near its edge to think out my plan of action. 

"I realized now that I was faint and hungry, and whatever I did must bedone quickly. I could turn back to you, or I could go on. I decided torisk the latter course, and took twelve more of the pills--three timesmy original dose. "

The Chemist paused for a moment, but his auditors were much too intentto question him. Then he resumed in his former matter-of-fact tone. 

"After my vertigo had passed somewhat--it was much more severe thistime--I looked up and found my surroundings growing at a far more rapidrate than before. I staggered to the edge of the pit. It was opening upand widening out at an astounding rate. Already its sides were becomingrough and broken, and I saw many places where a descent would bepossible. 

"The feeling of sleep that had formerly merely oppressed me, combinednow with my physical fatigue and the larger dose of the drug I hadtaken, became almost intolerable. I yielded to it for a moment, lyingdown on a crag near the edge of the pit. I must have become almostimmediately unconscious, and remained so for a considerable time. I canremember a horrible sensation of sliding headlong for what seemed likehours. I felt that I was sliding or falling downward. I tried to rousebut could not. Then came absolute oblivion. 

"When I recovered my senses I was lying partly covered by a mass ofsmooth, shining pebbles. I was bruised and battered from head tofoot--in a far worse condition than you first saw me when I returned. 

"I sat up and looked around. Beside me, sloped upward at an apparentlyincreasing angle a tremendous glossy plane. This extended, as far as Icould see, both to the right and left and upward into the blackness ofthe sky overhead. It was this plane that had evidently broken my fall, and I had been sliding down it, bringing with me a considerable mass ofrocks and bowlders. 

"As my senses became clearer I saw I was lying on a fairly level floor. I could see perhaps two miles in each direction. Beyond that there wasonly darkness. The sky overhead was unbroken by stars or light of anykind. I should have been in total darkness except, as I have told youbefore, that everything, even the blackness itself, seemed to beself-luminous. 

"The incline down which I had fallen was composed of some smoothsubstance suggesting black marble. The floor underfoot was quitedifferent--more of a metallic quality with a curious corrugation. Beforeme, in the dim distance, I could just make out a tiny range of hills. 

"I rose, after a time, and started weakly to walk towards these hills. Though I was faint and dizzy from my fall and the lack of food, I walkedfor perhaps half an hour, following closely the edge of the incline. Nochange in my visual surroundings occurred, except that I seemedgradually to be approaching the line of hills. My situation at thistime, as I turned it over in my mind, appeared hopelessly desperate, andI admit I neither expected to reach my destination nor to be able toreturn to my own world. 

"A sudden change in the feeling of the ground underfoot brought me tomyself; I bent down and found I was treading on vegetation--a tinyforest extending for quite a distance in front and to the side of me. Afew steps ahead a little silver ribbon threaded its way through thetrees. This I judged to be water. 

"New hope possessed me at this discovery. I sat down at once and took aportion of another of the pills. 

"I must again have fallen asleep. When I awoke, somewhat refreshed, Ifound myself lying beside the huge trunk of a fallen tree. I was in whathad evidently once been a deep forest, but which now was almost utterlydesolated. Only here and there were the trees left standing. For themost part they were lying in a crushed and tangled mass, many of thempartially embedded in the ground. 

"I cannot express adequately to you, gentlemen, what an evidence oftremendous superhuman power this scene presented. No storm, nolightning, nor any attack of the elements could have produced more thana fraction of the destruction I saw all around me. 

"I climbed cautiously upon the fallen tree-trunk, and from thiselevation had a much better view of my surroundings. I appeared to benear one end of the desolated area, which extended in a path about halfa mile wide and several miles deep. In front, a thousand feet away, perhaps, lay the unbroken forest. 

"Descending from the tree-trunk I walked in this direction, reaching theedge of the woods after possibly an hour of the most arduous travelingof my whole journey. 

"During this time almost my only thought was the necessity of obtainingfood. I looked about me as I advanced, and on one of the fallentree-trunks I found a sort of vine growing. This vine bore a profusionof small gray berries, much like our huckleberries. They proved similarin taste, and I sat down and ate a quantity. 

"When I reached the edge of the forest I felt somewhat stronger. I hadseen up to this time no sign of animal life whatever. Now, as I stoodsilent, I could hear around me all the multitudinous tiny voices of thewoods. Insect life stirred underfoot, and in the trees above anoccasional bird flitted to and fro. 

"Perhaps I am giving you a picture of our own world. I do not mean to doso. You must remember that above me there was no sky, just blackness. And yet so much light illuminated the scene that I could not believe itwas other than what we would call daytime. Objects in the forest were aswell lighted--better probably than they would be under similarcircumstances in our own world. 

"The trees were of huge size compared to my present stature; straight, upstanding trunks, with no branches until very near the top. They werebluish-gray in color, and many of them well covered with the berry-vineI have mentioned. The leaves overhead seemed to be blue--in fact thepredominating color of all the vegetation was blue, just as in our worldit is green. The ground was covered with dead leaves, mould, and a sortof gray moss. Fungus of a similar color appeared, but of this I did noteat. 

"I had penetrated perhaps two miles into the forest when I cameunexpectedly to the bank of a broad, smooth-flowing river, its silversurface seeming to radiate waves of the characteristic phosphorescentlight. I found it cold, pure-tasting water, and I drank long and deeply. Then I remember lying down upon the mossy bank, and in a moment, utterlyworn out, I again fell asleep. "

CHAPTER IV

LYLDA

"I was awakened by the feel of soft hands upon my head and face. With astart I sat up abruptly; I rubbed my eyes confusedly for a moment, notknowing where I was. When I collected my wits I found myself staringinto the face of a girl, who was kneeling on the ground before me. Irecognized her at once--she was the girl of the microscope. 

"To say I was startled would be to put it mildly, but I read no fear inher expression, only wonderment at my springing so suddenly into life. She was dressed very much as I had seen her before. Her fragile beautywas the same, and at this closer view infinitely more appealing, but Iwas puzzled to account for her older, more mature look. She seemed tohave aged several years since the last evening I had seen her throughthe microscope. Yet, undeniably, it was the same girl. 

"For some moments we sat looking at each other in wonderment. Then shesmiled and held out her hand, palm up, speaking a few words as she didso. Her voice was soft and musical, and the words of a peculiar qualitythat we generally describe as liquid, for want of a better term. Whatshe said was wholly unintelligible, but whether the words were strangeor the intonation different from anything I had ever heard I could notdetermine. 

"Afterwards, during my stay in this other world, I found that thelanguage of its people resembled English quite closely, so far as thewords themselves went. But the intonation with which they were given, and the gestures accompanying them, differed so widely from our own thatthey conveyed no meaning. 

"The gap separating us, however, was very much less than you wouldimagine. Strangely enough, though, it was not I who learned to speak hertongue, but she who mastered mine. "

The Very Young Man sighed contentedly. 

"We became quite friendly after this greeting, " resumed the Chemist, "and it was apparent from her manner that she had already conceived herown idea of who and what I was. 

"For some time we sat and tried to communicate with each other. My wordsseemed almost as unintelligible to her as hers to me, except thatoccasionally she would divine my meaning, clapping her hands in childishdelight. I made out that she lived at a considerable distance, and thather name was Lylda. Finally she pulled me by the hand and led me awaywith a proprietary air that amused and, I must admit, pleased metremendously. 

"We had progressed through the woods in this way, hardly more than a fewhundred yards, when suddenly I found that she was taking me into themouth of a cave or passageway, sloping downward at an angle of perhapstwenty degrees. I noticed now, more graphically than ever before, atruth that had been gradually forcing itself upon me. Darkness wasimpossible in this new world. We were now shut in between narrow wallsof crystalline rock, with a roof hardly more than fifty feet above. 

"No artificial light of any kind was in evidence, yet the scene waslighted quite brightly. This, I have explained, was caused by thephosphorescent radiation that apparently emanated from every particle ofmineral matter in this universe. 

"As we advanced, many other tunnels crossed the one we were traveling. And now, occasionally, we passed other people, the men dressed similarlyto Lylda, but wearing their hair chopped off just above the shoulderline. 

"Later, I found that the men were generally about five and a half feetin stature: lean, muscular, and with a grayer, harder look to their skinthan the iridescent quality that characterized the women. 

"They were fine-looking chaps these we encountered. All of them staredcuriously at me, and several times we were held up by chattering groups. The intense whiteness of my skin, for it looked in this light the colorof chalk, seemed to both awe and amuse them. But they treated me withgreat deference and respect, which I afterwards learned was because ofLylda herself, and also what she told them about me. 

"At several of the intersections of the tunnels there were wide openspaces. One of these we now approached. It was a vast amphitheater, sobroad its opposite wall was invisible, and it seemed crowded withpeople. At the side, on a rocky niche in the wall, a speaker haranguedthe crowd. 

"We skirted the edge of this crowd and plunged into another passageway, sloping downward still more steeply. I was so much interested in thestrange scenes opening before me that I remarked little of the distancewe traveled. Nor did I question Lylda but seldom. I was absorbed in thecomplete similarity between this and my own world in its generalcharacteristics, and yet its complete strangeness in details. 

"I felt not the slightest fear. Indeed the sincerity and kindliness ofthese people seemed absolutely genuine, and the friendly, naīve, mannerof my little guide put me wholly at my ease. Towards me Lylda's mannerwas one of childish delight at a new-found possession. Towards those ofher own people with whom we talked, I found she preserved a dignity theyprofoundly respected. 

"We had hardly more than entered this last tunnel when I heard the soundof drums and a weird sort of piping music, followed by shouts andcheers. Figures from behind us scurried past, hastening towards thesound. Lylda's clasp on my hand tightened, and she pulled me forwardeagerly. As we advanced the crowd became denser, pushing and shoving usabout and paying little attention to me. 

"In close contact with these people I soon found I was stronger thanthey, and for a time I had no difficulty in shoving them aside andopening a path for us. They took my rough handling in all good part, infact, never have I met a more even-tempered, good-natured people thanthese. 

"After a time the crowd became so dense we could advance no further. Atthis Lylda signed me to bear to the side. As we approached the wall ofthe cavern she suddenly clasped her hands high over her head and shoutedsomething in a clear, commanding voice. Instantly the crowd fell back, and in a moment I found myself being pulled up a narrow flight of stonesteps in the wall and out upon a level space some twenty feet above theheads of the people. 

"Several dignitaries occupied this platform. Lylda greeted them quietly, and they made place for us beside the parapet. I could see now that wewere at the intersection of a transverse passageway, much broader thanthe one we had been traversing. And now I received the greatest surpriseI had had in this new world, for down this latter tunnel was passing abroad line of men who obviously were soldiers. 

"The uniformly straight lines they held; the glint of light on thespears they carried upright before them; the weird, but rhythmic, musicthat passed at intervals, with which they kept step; and, above all, thecheering enthusiasm of the crowd, all seemed like an echo of my owngreat world above. 

"This martial ardor and what it implied came as a distinct shock. All Ihad seen before showed the gentle kindliness of a people whose lifeseemed far removed from the struggle for existence to which our race issubjected. I had come gradually to feel that this new world, at least, had attained the golden age of security, and that fear, hate, andwrongdoing had long since passed away, or had never been born. 

"Yet, here before my very eyes, made wholesome by the fires ofpatriotism, stalked the grim God of War. Knowing nothing yet of themotive that inspired these people, I could feel no enthusiasm, but onlydisillusionment at this discovery of the omnipotence of strife. 

"For some time I must have stood in silence. Lylda, too, seemed todivine my thoughts, for she did not applaud, but pensively watched thecheering throng below. All at once, with an impulsively appealingmovement, she pulled me down towards her, and pressed her pretty cheekto mine. It seemed almost as if she was asking me to help. 

"The line of marching men seemed now to have passed, and the crowdsurged over into the open space and began to disperse. As the men uponthe platform with us prepared to leave, Lylda led me over to one ofthem. He was nearly as tall as I, and dressed in the characteristictunic that seemed universally worn by both sexes. The upper part of hisbody was hung with beads, and across his chest was a thin, slightlyconvex stone plate. 

"After a few words of explanation from Lylda, he laid his hands on myshoulders near the base of the neck, smiling with his words of greeting. Then he held one hand before me, palm up, as Lylda had done, and I laidmine in it, which seemed the correct thing to do. 

"I repeated this performance with two others who joined us, and thenLylda pulled me away. We descended the steps and turned into the broadertunnel, finding near at hand a sort of sleigh, which Lylda signed me toenter. It was constructed evidently of wood, with a pile of leaves, orsimilar dead vegetation, for cushions. It was balanced upon a singlerunner of polished stone, about two feet broad, with a narrow, slightlyshorter outrider on each side. 

"Harnessed to the shaft were two animals, more resembling our reindeersthan anything else, except that they were gray in color and had nohorns. An attendant greeted Lylda respectfully as we approached, andmounted a seat in front of us when we were comfortably settled. 

"We drove in this curious vehicle for over an hour. The floor of thetunnel was quite smooth, and we glided down its incline with littleeffort and at a good rate. Our driver preserved the balance of thesleigh by shifting his body from side to side so that only at rareintervals did the siderunners touch the ground. 

"Finally, we emerged into the open, and I found myself viewing a sceneof almost normal, earthly aspect. We were near the shore of a smooth, shining lake. At the side a broad stretch of rolling country, dottedhere and there with trees, was visible. Near at hand, on the lake shore, I saw a collection of houses, most of them low and flat, with one muchlarger on a promontory near the lake. 

"Overhead arched a gray-blue, cloudless sky, faintly star-studded, andreflected in the lake before me I saw that familiar gleaming trail ofstar-dust, hanging like a huge straightened rainbow overhead, and endingat my feet. "

CHAPTER V

THE WORLD IN THE RING

The Chemist paused and relighted his cigar. "Perhaps you have somequestions, " he suggested. 

The Doctor shifted in his chair. 

"Did you have any theory at this time"--he wanted to know--"about thephysical conformation of this world? What I mean is, when you came outof this tunnel were you on the inside or the outside of the world?"

"Was it the same sky you saw overhead when you were in the forest?"asked the Big Business Man. 

"No, it was what he saw in the microscope, wasn't it?" said the VeryYoung Man. 

"One at a time, gentlemen, " laughed the Chemist. "No, I had noparticular theory at this time--I had too many other things to think of. But I do remember noticing one thing which gave me the clew to a fairlycomplete understanding of this universe. From it I formed a definiteexplanation, which I found was the belief held by the peoplethemselves. "

"What was that?" asked the Very Young Man. 

"I noticed, as I stood looking over this broad expanse of country beforeme, one vital thing that made it different from any similar scene I hadever beheld. If you will stop and think a moment, gentlemen, you willrealize that in our world here the horizon is caused by a curvature ofthe earth below the straight line of vision. We are on a convex surface. But as I gazed over this landscape, and even with no appreciable lightfrom the sky I could see a distance of several miles, I saw at once thatquite the reverse was true. I seemed to be standing in the center of avast shallow bowl. The ground curved upward into the distance. There wasno distant horizon line, only the gradual fading into shadow of thevisual landscape. I was standing obviously on a concave surface, on theinside, not the outside of the world. 

"The situation, as I now understand it, was this: According to thesmallest stature I reached, and calling my height at that time roughlysix feet, I had descended into the ring at the time I met Lylda severalthousand miles, at least. By the way, where is the ring?"

"Here is it, " said the Very Young Man, handing it to him. The Chemistreplaced it on his finger. "It's pretty important to me now, " he said, smiling. 

"You bet!" agreed the Very Young Man. 

"You can readily understand how I descended such a distance, if youconsider the comparative immensity of my stature during the first fewhours I was in the ring. It is my understanding that this countrythrough which I passed is a barren waste--merely the atoms of themineral we call gold. 

"Beyond that I entered the hitherto unexplored regions within the atom. The country at that point where I found the forest, I was told later, ishabitable for several hundred miles. Around it on all sides lies adesert, across which no one has ever penetrated. 

"This surface is the outside of the Oroid world, for so they call theirearth. At this point the shell between the outer and inner surface isonly a few miles in thickness. The two surfaces do not parallel eachother here, so that in descending these tunnels we turned hardly morethan an eighth of a complete circle. 

"At the city of Arite, where Lylda first took me, and where I had myfirst view of the inner surface, the curvature is slightly greater thanthat of our own earth, although, as I have said, in the oppositedirection. "

"And the space within this curvature--the heavens you havementioned--how great do you estimate it to be?" asked the Doctor. 

"Based on the curvature at Arite it would be about six thousand miles indiameter. "

"Has this entire inner surface been explored?" asked the Big BusinessMan. 

"No, only a small portion. The Oroids are not an adventurous people. There are only two nations, less than twelve million people alltogether, on a surface nearly as extensive as our own. "

"How about those stars?" suggested the Very Young Man. 

"I believe they comprise a complete universe similar to our own solarsystem. There is a central sun-star, around which many of the othersrevolve. You must understand, though, that these other worlds areinfinitely tiny compared to the Oroids, and, if inhabited, supportbeings nearly as much smaller than the Oroids, as they are smaller thanyou. "

"Great Caesar!" ejaculated the Banker. "Don't let's go into that anydeeper!"

"Tell us more about Lylda, " prompted the Very Young Man. 

"You are insatiable on that point, " laughed the Chemist. "Well, when weleft the sleigh, Lylda took me directly into the city of Arite. I foundit an orderly collection of low houses, seemingly built of uniformlycut, highly polished gray blocks. As we passed through the streets, someof which were paved with similar blocks, I was reminded of nothing somuch as the old jingles of Spotless Town. Everything was immaculately, inordinately clean. Indeed, the whole city seemed built of some curiousform of opaque glass, newly scrubbed and polished. 

"Children crowded from the doorways as we advanced, but Lylda dispersedthem with a gentle though firm, command. As we approached the sort ofcastle I have mentioned, the reason for Lylda's authoritative mannerdawned upon me. She was, I soon learned, daughter of one of the mostlearned men of the nation and was--handmaiden, do you call it?--to thequeen. "

"So it was a monarchy?" interrupted the Big Business Man. "I shouldnever have thought that. "

"Lylda called their leader a king. In reality he was the president, chosen by the people, for a period of about what we would term twentyyears; I learned something about this republic during my stay, but notas much as I would have liked. Politics was not Lylda's strong point, and I had to get it all from her, you know. 

"For several days I was housed royally in the castle. Food was served meby an attendant who evidently was assigned solely to look after myneeds. At first I was terribly confused by the constant, uniform light, but when I found certain hours set aside for sleep, just as we havethem, when I began to eat regularly, I soon fell into the routine ofthis new life. 

"The food was not greatly different from our own, although I found not asingle article I could identify. It consisted principally of vegetablesand fruits, the latter of an apparently inexhaustible variety. 

"Lylda visited me at intervals, and I learned I was awaiting an audiencewith the king. During these days she made rapid progress with mylanguage--so rapid that I shortly gave up the idea of mastering hers. 

"And now, with the growing intimacy between us and our ability tocommunicate more readily, I learned the simple, tragic story of herrace--new details, of course, but the old, old tale of might againstright, and the tragedy of a trusting, kindly people, blindly thinkingothers as just as themselves. 

"For thousands of years, since the master life-giver had come from oneof the stars to populate the world, the Oroid nation had dwelt in peaceand security. These people cared nothing for adventure. No restlessthirst for knowledge led them to explore deeply the limitless landsurrounding them. Even from the earliest times no struggle forexistence, no doctrine of the survival of the fittest, hung over them aswith us. No wild animals harassed them; no savages menaced them. Afertile boundless land, a perfect climate, nurtured them tenderly. 

"Under such conditions they developed only the softer, gentler qualitiesof nature. Many laws among them were unnecessary, for life was sosimple, so pleasant to live, and the attainment of all the commonlyaccepted standards of wealth so easy, that the incentive to wrongdoingwas almost non-existent. 

"Strangely enough, and fortunately, too, no individuals rose among themwith the desire for power. Those in command were respected and loved astrue workers for the people, and they accepted their authority in thesame spirit with which it was given. Indolence, in its highest sense thewonderful art of doing nothing gracefully, played the greatest part intheir life. 

"Then, after centuries of ease and peaceful security, came theawakening. Almost without warning another nation had come out of theunknown to attack them. 

"With the hurt feeling that comes to a child unjustly treated, they allbut succumbed to this first onslaught. The abduction of numbers of theirwomen, for such seemed the principal purpose of the invaders, arousedthem sufficiently to repel this first crude attack. Their manhoodchallenged, their anger as a nation awakened for the first time, theysprang as one man into the horror we call war. 

"With the defeat of the Malites came another period of ease andsecurity. They had learned no lesson, but went their indolent way, playing through life like the kindly children they were. During thislast period some intercourse between them and the Malites took place. The latter people, whose origin was probably nearly opposite them on theinner surface, had by degrees pushed their frontiers closer and closerto the Oroids. Trade between the two was carried on to some extent, butthe character of the Malites, their instinctive desire for power, forits own sake, their consideration for themselves as superior beings, caused them to be distrusted and feared by their more simple-mindedcompanion nation. 

"You can almost guess the rest, gentlemen. Lylda told me little aboutthe Malites, but the loathing disgust of her manner, her hesitancy, evento bring herself to mention them, spoke more eloquently than words. 

"Four years ago, as they measure time, came the second attack, and now, in a huge arc, only a few hundred miles from Arite, hung the opposingarmies. "

The Chemist paused. "That's the condition I found, gentlemen, " he said. "Not a strikingly original or unfamiliar situation, was it?"

"By Jove!" remarked the Doctor thoughtfully, "what a curious thing thatthe environment of our earth should so affect that world inside thering. It does make you stop and think, doesn't it, to realize how thoseinfinitesimal creatures are actuated now by the identical motives thatinspire us?"

"Yet it does seem very reasonable, I should say, " the Big Business Manput in. 

"Let's have another round of drinks, " suggested the Banker--"this is drywork!"

"As a scientist you'd make a magnificent plumber, George!" retorted theBig Business Man. "You're about as helpful in this little gathering asan oyster!"

The Very Young Man rang for a waiter. 

"I've been thinking----" began the Banker, and stopped at the smile ofhis companion. "Shut up!"--he finished--"that's cheap wit, you know!"

"Go on, George, " encouraged the other, "you've been thinking----"

"I've been tremendously interested in this extraordinary story"--headdressed himself to the Chemist--"but there's one point I don't get atall. How many days were you in that ring do you make out?"

"I believe about seven, all told, " returned the Chemist. 

"But you were only away from us some forty hours. I ought to know, I'vebeen right here. " He looked at his crumpled clothes somewhat ruefully. 

"The change of time-progress was one of the surprises of my adventure, "said the Chemist. "It is easily explained in a general way, although Icannot even attempt a scientific theory of its cause. But I must confessthat before I started the possibility of such a thing never evenoccurred to me. "

"To get a conception of this change you must analyze definitely whattime is. We measure and mark it by years, months, and so forth, down tominutes and seconds, all based upon the movements of our earth aroundits sun. But that is the measurement of time, not time itself. How wouldyou describe time?"

The Big Business Man smiled. "Time, " he said, "is what keeps everythingfrom happening at once. "

"Very clever, " laughed the Chemist. 

The Doctor leaned forward earnestly. "I should say, " he began, "thattime is the rate at which we live--the speed at which we successivelypass through our existence from birth to death. It's very hard to putintelligibly, but I think I know what I mean, " he finished somewhatlamely. 

"Exactly so. Time is a rate of life-progress, different for everyindividual and only made standard because we take the time-duration ofthe earth's revolution around the sun, which is constant, andarbitrarily say: 'That is thirty-one million five hundred thousand oddseconds. '"

"Is time different for every individual?" asked the Bankerargumentatively. 

"Think a moment, " returned the Chemist. "Suppose your brain were to worktwice as fast as mine. Suppose your heart beat twice as fast, and allthe functions of your body were accelerated in a like manner. What wecall a second would certainly seem to you twice as long. Further thanthat, it actually would be twice as long, so far as you were concerned. Your digestion, instead of taking perhaps four hours, would take two. You would eat twice as often. The desire for sleep would overtake youevery twelve hours instead of twenty-four, and you would be satisfiedwith four hours of unconsciousness instead of eight. In short, you wouldsoon be living a cycle of two days every twenty-four hours. Time then, as we measure it, for you at least would have doubled--you would beprogressing through life at twice the rate that I am through mine. "

"That may be theoretically true, " the Big Business Man put in. "Practically, though, it has never happened to any one. "

"Of course not, to such a great degree as the instance I put. No one, except in disease, has ever doubled our average rate of life-progress, and lived it out as a balanced, otherwise normal existence. But there isno question that to some much smaller degree we all of us differ onefrom the other. The difference, however, is so comparatively slight, that we can each one reconcile it to the standard measurement of time. And so, outwardly, time is the same for all of us. But inwardly, why, wenone of us conceive a minute or an hour to be the same! How do you knowhow long a minute is to me? More than that, time is not constant even inthe same individual. How many hours are shorter to you than others? Howmany days have been almost interminable? No, instead of being constant, there is nothing more inconstant than time. "

"Haven't you confused two different issues?" suggested the Big BusinessMan. "Granted what you say about the slightly different rate at whichdifferent individuals live, isn't it quite another thing, how long timeseems to you. A day when you have nothing to do seems long, or, on theother hand, if you are very busy it seems short. But mind, it only_seems_ short or long, according to the preoccupation of your mind. Thathas nothing to do with the speed of your progress through life. "

"Ah, but I think it has, " cried the Chemist. "You forget that we none ofus have all of the one thing to the exclusion of the other. Time seemsshort; it seems long, and in the end it all averages up, and makes ourrate of progress what it is. Now if any of us were to go through life ina calm, deliberate way, making time seem as long as possible, he wouldlive more years, as we measure them, than if he rushed headlong throughthe days, accomplishing always as much as possible. I mean in neithercase to go to the extremes, but only so far as would be consistent withthe maintenance of a normal standard of health. How about it?" He turnedto the Doctor. "You ought to have an opinion on that. "

"I rather think you are right, " said the latter thoughtfully, "althoughI doubt very much if the man who took it easy would do as much duringhis longer life as the other with his energy would accomplish in thelesser time allotted to him. "

"Probably he wouldn't, " smiled the Chemist; "but that does not alter thepoint we are discussing. "

"How does this apply to the world in the ring?" ventured the Very YoungMan. 

"I believe there is a very close relationship between the dimensions oflength, breadth, and thickness, and time. Just what connection with themit has, I have no idea. Yet, when size changes, time-rate changes; youhave only to look at our own universe to discover that. "

"How do you mean?" asked the Very Young Man. 

"Why, all life on our earth, in a general way, illustrates thefundamental fact that the larger a thing is, the slower itstime-progress is. An elephant, for example, lives more years than wehumans. Yet how quickly a fly is born, matured, and aged! There areexceptions, of course; but in a majority of cases it is true. 

"So I believe that as I diminished in stature, my time-progress becamefaster and faster. I am seven days older than when I left you day beforeyesterday. I have lived those seven days, gentlemen, there is no gettingaround that fact. "

"This is all tremendously interesting, " sighed the Big Business Man;"but not very comprehensible. "

CHAPTER VI

STRATEGY AND KISSES

"It was the morning of my third day in the castle, " began the Chemistagain, "that I was taken by Lylda before the king. We found him seatedalone in a little anteroom, overlooking a large courtyard, which wecould see was crowded with an expectant, waiting throng. I must explainto you now, that I was considered by Lylda somewhat in the light of aMessiah, come to save her nation from the destruction that threatenedit. 

"She believed me a supernatural being, which, indeed, if you come tothink of it, gentlemen, is exactly what I was. I tried to tell hersomething of myself and the world I had come from, but the difficultiesof language and her smiling insistence and faith in her own conceptionof me, soon caused me to desist. Thereafter I let her have her own way, and did not attempt any explanation again for some time. 

"For several weeks before Lylda found me sleeping by the river's edge, she had made almost a daily pilgrimage to that vicinity. A maidenlypremonition, a feeling that had first come to her several years before, told her of my coming, and her father's knowledge and scientific beliefshad led her to the outer surface of the world as the direction in whichto look. A curious circumstance, gentlemen, lies in the fact that Lyldaclearly remembered the occasion when this first premonition came to her. And in the telling, she described graphically the scene in the cave, where I saw her through the microscope. " The Chemist paused an instantand then resumed. 

"When we entered the presence of the king, he greeted me quietly, andmade me sit by his side, while Lylda knelt on the floor at our feet. Theking impressed me as a man about fifty years of age. He wassmooth-shaven, with black, wavy hair, reaching his shoulders. He wasdressed in the usual tunic, the upper part of his body covered by aquite similar garment, ornamented with a variety of metal objects. Hisfeet were protected with a sort of buskin; at his side hung acrude-looking metal spear. 

"The conversation that followed my entrance, lasted perhaps fifteenminutes. Lylda interpreted for us as well as she could, though I mustconfess we were all three at times completely at a loss. But Lylda'sbright, intelligent little face, and the resourcefulness of hergestures, always managed somehow to convey her meaning. The charm andgrace of her manner, all during the talk, her winsomeness, and thealmost spiritual kindness and tenderness that characterized her, made mefeel that she embodied all those qualities with which we of this earthidealize our own womanhood. 

"I found myself falling steadily under the spell of her beauty, until--well, gentlemen, it's childish for me to enlarge upon this sideof my adventure, you know; but--Lylda means everything to me now, andI'm going back for her just as soon as I possibly can. "

"Bully for you!" cried the Very Young Man. "Why didn't you bring herwith you this time?"

"Let him tell it his own way, " remonstrated the Doctor. The Very YoungMan subsided with a sigh. 

"During our talk, " resumed the Chemist, "I learned from the king thatLylda had promised him my assistance in overcoming the enemies thatthreatened his country. He smilingly told me that our charming littleinterpreter had assured him I would be able to do this. Lylda's blushingface, as she conveyed this meaning to me, was so thoroughly captivating, that before I knew it, and quite without meaning to, I pulled her uptowards me and kissed her. 

"The king was more surprised by far than Lylda, at this extraordinarybehavior. Obviously neither of them had understood what a kiss meant, although Lylda, by her manner evidently comprehended pretty thoroughly. 

"I told them then, as simply as possible to enable Lylda to get mymeaning, that I could, and would gladly aid in their war. I explainedthen, that I had the power to change my stature, and could make myselfgrow very large or very small in a short space of time. 

"This, as Lylda evidently told it to him, seemed quite beyond the king'sunderstanding. He comprehended finally, or at least he agreed to believemy statement. 

"This led to the consideration of practical questions of how I was toproceed in their war. I had not considered any details before, but nowthey appeared of the utmost simplicity. All I had to do was to makemyself a hundred or two hundred feet high, walk out to the battle-lines, and scatter the opposing army like a set of small boys' playthings. "

"What a quaint idea!" said the Banker. "A modern 'Gulliver. '"

The Chemist did not heed this interruption. 

"Then like three children we plunged into a discussion of exactly how Iwas to perform these wonders, the king laughing heartily as we picturedthe attack on my tiny enemies. 

"He then asked me how I expected to accomplish this change of size, andI very briefly told him of our larger world, and the manner in which Ihad come from it into his. Then I showed the drugs that I still carriedcarefully strapped to me. This seemed definitely to convince the king ofmy sincerity. He rose abruptly to his feet, and strode through a doorwayon to a small balcony overlooking the courtyard below. 

"As he stepped out into the view of the people, a great cheer arose. Hewaited quietly for them to stop, and then raised his hand and beganspeaking. Lylda and I stood hand in hand in the shadow of the doorway, out of sight of the crowd, but with it and the entire courtyard plainlyin our view. 

"It was a quadrangular enclosure, formed by the four sides of thepalace, perhaps three hundred feet across, packed solidly now withpeople of both sexes, the gleaming whiteness of the upper parts of theirbodies, and their upturned faces, making a striking picture. 

"For perhaps ten minutes the king spoke steadily, save when he wasinterrupted by applause. Then he stopped abruptly and, turning, pulledLylda and me out upon the balcony. The enthusiasm of the crowd doubledat our appearance. I was pushed forward to the balcony rail, where Ibowed to the cheering throng. 

"Just after I left the king's balcony, I met Lylda's father. He was akindly-faced old gentleman, and took a great interest in me and mystory. He it was who told me about the physical conformation of hisworld, and he seemed to comprehend my explanation of mine. 

"That night it rained--a heavy, torrential downpour, such as we have inthe tropics. Lylda and I had been talking for some time, and, I mustconfess, I had been making love to her ardently. I broached now theprincipal object of my entrance into her world, and, with an eloquence Idid not believe I possessed, I pictured the wonders of our own greatearth above, begging her to come back with me and live out her life withmine. 

"Much of what I said, she probably did not understand, but the mainfacts were intelligible without question. She listened quietly. When Ihad finished, and waited for her decision, she reached slowly out andclutched my shoulders, awkwardly making as if to kiss me. In an instantshe was in my arms, with a low, happy little cry. "

CHAPTER VII

A MODERN GULLIVER

"The clattering fall of rain brought us to ourselves. Rising to herfeet, Lylda pulled me over to the window-opening, and together we stoodand looked out into the night. The scene before us was beautiful, with aweirdness almost impossible to describe. It was as bright as I had everseen this world, for even though heavy clouds hung overhead, the lightfrom the stars was never more than a negligible quantity. 

"We were facing the lake--a shining expanse of silver radiation, itssurface shifting and crawling, as though a great undulating blanket ofsilver mist lay upon it. And coming down to meet it from the sky wereinnumerable lines of silver--a vast curtain of silver cords that brokeapart into great strings of pearls when I followed their downwardcourse. 

"And then, as I turned to Lylda, I was struck with the extraordinaryweirdness of her beauty as never before. The reflected light from therain had something the quality of our moonlight. Shining on Lylda'sbody, it tremendously enhanced the iridescence of her skin. And herface, upturned to mine, bore an expression of radiant happiness andpeace such as I had never seen before on a woman's countenance. "

The Chemist paused, his voice dying away into silence as he sat lost inthought. Then he pulled himself together with a start. "It was a sight, gentlemen, the memory of which I shall cherish all my life. 

"The next day was that set for my entrance into the war. Lylda and I hadtalked nearly all night, and had decided that she was to return with meto my world. By morning the rain had stopped, and we sat together in thewindow-opening, silenced with the thrill of the wonderful new joy thathad come into our hearts. 

"The country before us, under the cloudless, starry sky, stretchedgray-blue and beautiful into the quivering obscurity of the distance. Atour feet lay the city, just awakening into life. Beyond, over therolling meadows and fields, wound the road that led out to thebattle-front, and coming back over it now, we could see an endless lineof vehicles. These, as they passed through the street beneath ourwindow, I found were loaded with soldiers, wounded and dying. Ishuddered at the sight of one cart in particular, and Lylda pressedclose to me, pleading with her eyes for my help for her stricken people. 

"My exit from the castle was made quite a ceremony. A band of music anda guard of several hundred soldiers ushered me forth, walking beside theking, with Lylda a few paces behind. As we passed through the streets ofthe city, heading for the open country beyond, we were cheeredcontinually by the people who thronged the streets and crowded upon thehousetops to watch us pass. 

"Outside Arite I was taken perhaps a mile, where a wide stretch ofcountry gave me the necessary space for my growth. We were standing upona slight hill, below which, in a vast semicircle, fully a hundredthousand people were watching. 

"And now, for the first time, fear overcame me. I realized mysituation--saw myself in a detached sort of way--a stranger in thisextraordinary world, and only the power of my drug to raise me out ofit. This drug you must remember, I had not as yet taken. Suppose it werenot to act? Or were to act wrongly?

"I glanced around. The king stood before me, quietly waiting mypleasure. Then I turned to Lylda. One glance at her proud, happy littleface, and my fear left me as suddenly as it had come. I took her in myarms and kissed her, there before that multitude. Then I set her down, and signified to the king I was ready. 

"I took a minute quantity of one of the drugs, and as I had done before, sat down with my eyes covered. My sensations were fairly similar tothose I have already described. When I looked up after a moment, I foundthe landscape dwindling to tiny proportions in quite as astonishing away as it had grown before. The king and Lylda stood now hardly above myankle. 

"A great cry arose from the people--a cry wherein horror, fear, andapplause seemed equally mixed. I looked down and saw thousands of themrunning away in terror. 

"Still smaller grew everything within my vision, and then, after amoment, the landscape seemed at rest. I kneeled now upon the ground, carefully, to avoid treading on any of the people around me. I locatedLylda and the king after a moment; tiny little creatures less than aninch in height. I was then, I estimated, from their viewpoint, aboutfour hundred feet tall. 

"I put my hand flat upon the ground near Lylda, and after a moment sheclimbed into it, two soldiers lifting her up the side of my thumb as itlay upon the ground. In the hollow of my palm, she lay quite securely, and very carefully I raised her up towards my face. Then, seeing thatshe was frightened, I set her down again. 

"At my feet, hardly more than a few steps away, lay the tiny city ofArite and the lake. I could see all around the latter now, and couldmake out clearly a line of hills on the other side. Off to the left theroad wound up out of sight in the distance. As far as I could see, aline of soldiers was passing out along this road--marching four abreast, with carts at intervals, loaded evidently with supplies; onlyoccasionally, now, vehicles passed in the other direction. Can I make itplain to you, gentlemen, my sensations in changing stature? I felt atfirst as though I were tremendously high in the air, looking down asfrom a balloon upon the familiar territory beneath me. That feelingpassed after a few moments, and I found that my point of view hadchanged. I no longer felt that I was looking down from a balloon, butfelt as a normal person feels. And again I conceived myself but six feettall, standing above a dainty little toy world. It is all in theviewpoint, of course, and never, during all my changes, was I for morethan a moment able to feel of a different stature than I am at thispresent instant. It was always everything else that changed. 

"According to the directions I had received from the king, I started nowto follow the course of the road. I found it difficult walking, for thecountry was dotted with houses, trees, and cultivated fields, and eachfootstep was a separate problem. 

"I progressed in this manner perhaps two miles, covering what the daybefore I would have called about a hundred and thirty or forty miles. The country became wilder as I advanced, and now was in places crowdedwith separate collections of troops. 

"I have not mentioned the commotion I made in this walk over thecountry. My coming must have been told widely by couriers the nightbefore, to soldiers and peasantry alike, or the sight of me would havecaused utter demoralization. As it was, I must have been terrifying to atremendous degree. I think the careful way in which I picked my course, stepping in the open as much as possible, helped to reassure the people. Behind me, whenever I turned, they seemed rather more curious thanfearful, and once or twice when I stopped for a few moments theyapproached my feet closely. One athletic young soldier caught the looseend of the string of one of my buskins, as it hung over my instep closeto the ground and pulled himself up hand over hand, amid theenthusiastic cheers of his comrades. 

"I had walked nearly another mile, when almost in front of me, andperhaps a hundred yards away, I saw a remarkable sight that I did not atfirst understand. The country here was crossed by a winding riverrunning in a general way at right angles to my line of progress. At theright, near at hand, and on the nearer bank of the river, lay a littlecity, perhaps half the size of Arite, with its back up against a hill. 

"What first attracted my attention was that from a dark patch across theriver which seemed to be woods, pebbles appeared to pop up at intervals, traversing a little arc perhaps as high as my knees, and falling intothe city. I watched for a moment and then I understood. There was asiege in progress, and the catapults of the Malites were bombarding thecity with rocks. 

"I went up a few steps closer, and the pebbles stopped coming. I stoodnow beside the city, and as I bent over it, I could see by the batteredhouses the havoc the bombardment had caused. Inert little figures lay inthe streets, and I bent lower and inserted my thumb and forefingerbetween a row of houses and picked one up. It was the body of a woman, partly mashed. I set it down again hastily. 

"Then as I stood up, I felt a sting on my leg. A pebble had hit me onthe shin and dropped at my feet. I picked it up. It was the size of asmall walnut--a huge bowlder six feet or more in diameter it would havebeen in Lylda's eyes. At the thought of her I was struck with a suddenfit of anger. I flung the pebble violently down into the wooded patchand leaped over the river in one bound, landing squarely on both feet inthe woods. It was like jumping into a patch of ferns. 

"I stamped about me for a moment until a large part of the woods wascrushed down. Then I bent over and poked around with my finger. Underneath the tangled wreckage of tiny-tree trunks, lay numbers of theMalites. I must have trodden upon a thousand or more, as one would stampupon insects. 

"The sight sickened me at first, for after all, I could not look uponthem as other than men, even though they were only the length of mythumb-nail. I walked a few steps forward, and in all directions I couldsee swarms of the little creatures running. Then the memory of my comingdeparture from this world with Lylda, and my promise to the king to ridhis land once for all from these people, made me feel again that they, like vermin, were to be destroyed. 

"Without looking directly down, I spent the next two hours stamping overthis entire vicinity. Then I ran two or three miles directly toward thecountry of the Malites, and returning I stamped along the course of theriver for a mile or so in both directions. Then I walked back to Arite, again picking my way carefully among crowds of Oroids, who now feared meso little that I had difficulty in moving without stepping upon them. 

"When I had regained my former size, which needed two successive dosesof the drug, I found myself surrounded by a crowd of the Oroids, pushingand shoving each other in an effort to get closer to me. The news of mysuccess over their enemy have been divined by them, evidently. Lordknows it must have been obvious enough what I was going to do, when theysaw me stride away, a being four hundred feet tall. 

"Their enthusiasm and thankfulness now were so mixed with awe andreverent worship of me as a divine being, that when I advanced towardsArite they opened a path immediately. The king, accompanied by Lylda, met me at the edge of the city. The latter threw herself into my arms atonce, crying with relief to find me the proper size once more. 

"I need not go into details of the ceremonies of rejoicing that tookplace this afternoon. These people seemed little given to pomp andpublic demonstration. The king made a speech from his balcony, tellingthem all I had done, and the city was given over to festivities andpreparations to receive the returning soldiers. "

The Chemist pushed his chair back from the table, and moistened his drylips with a swallow of water. "I tell you, gentlemen, " he continued, "Ifelt pretty happy that day. It's a wonderful feeling to find yourselfthe savior of a nation. "

At that the Doctor jumped to his feet, overturning his chair, andstriking the table a blow with his fist that made the glasses dance. 

"By God!" he fairly shouted, "that's just what you can be here to us. "

The Banker looked startled, while the Very Young Man pulled the Chemistby the coat in his eagerness to be heard. "A few of those pills, " hesaid in a voice that quivered with excitement, "when you are standing inFrance, and you can walk over to Berlin and kick the houses apart withthe toe of your boot. "

"Why not?" said the Big Business Man, and silence fell on the group asthey stared at each other, awed by the possibilities that opened upbefore them. 

CHAPTER VIII

"I MUST GO BACK"

The tremendous plan for the salvation of their own suffering worldthrough the Chemist's discovery occupied the five friends for some time. Then laying aside this subject, that now had become of the most vitalimportance to them all, the Chemist resumed his narrative. 

"My last evening in the world of the ring, I spent with Lylda, discussing our future, and making plans for the journey. I must tell younow, gentlemen, that never for a moment during my stay in Arite was Ionce free from an awful dread of this return trip. I tried to conceivewhat it would be like, and the more I thought about it, the morehazardous it seemed. 

"You must realize, when I was growing smaller, coming in, I was able toclimb down, or fall or slide down, into the spaces as they opened up. Going back, I could only imagine the world as closing in upon me, crushing me to death unless I could find a larger space immediatelyabove into which I could climb. 

"And as I talked with Lylda about this and tried to make her understandwhat I hardly understood myself, I gradually was brought to realize thefull gravity of the danger confronting us. If only I had made the tripout once before, I could have ventured it with her. But as I looked ather fragile little body, to expose it to the terrible possibilities ofsuch a journey was unthinkable. 

"There was another question, too, that troubled me. I had been gone fromyou nearly a week, and you were only to wait for me two days. I believedfirmly that I was living at a faster rate, and that probably my timewith you had not expired. But I did not know. And suppose, when I hadcome out on to the surface of the ring, one of you had had it on hisfinger walking along the street? No, I did not want Lylda with me inthat event. 

"And so I told her--made her understand--that she must stay behind, andthat I would come back for her. She did not protest. She saidnothing--just looked up into my face with wide, staring eyes and alittle quiver of her lips. Then she clutched my hand and fell into alow, sobbing cry. 

"I held her in my arms for a few moments, so little, so delicate, sohuman in her sorrow, and yet almost superhuman in her radiant beauty. Soon she stopped crying and smiled up at me bravely. 

"Next morning I left. Lylda took me through the tunnels and back intothe forest by the river's edge where I had first met her. There weparted. I can see, now, her pathetic, drooping little figure as shetrudged back to the tunnel. 

"When she had disappeared, I sat down to plan out my journey. I resolvednow to reverse as nearly as possible the steps I had taken coming in. Acting on this decision, I started back to that portion of the forestwhere I had trampled it down. 

"I found the place without difficulty, stopping once on the way to eat afew berries, and some of the food I carried with me. Then I took a smallamount of one of the drugs, and in a few moments the forest trees haddwindled into tiny twigs beneath my feet. 

"I started now to find the huge incline down which I had fallen, andwhen I reached it, after some hours of wandering, I followed its bottomedge to where a pile of rocks and dirt marked my former landing-place. The rocks were much larger than I remembered them, and so I knew I wasnot so large, now, as when I was here before. 

"Remembering the amount of the drug I had taken coming down, I took nowtwelve of the pills. Then, in a sudden panic, I hastily took two of theothers. The result made my head swim most horribly. I sat or lay down, Iforget which. When I looked up I saw the hills beyond the river andforest coming towards me, yet dwindling away beneath my feet as theyapproached. The incline seemed folding up upon itself, like a telescope. As I watched, its upper edge came into view, a curved, luminous lineagainst the blackness above. Every instant it crawled down closer, moresharply curved, and its inclined surface grew steeper. 

"All this time, as I stood still, the ground beneath my feet seemed tobe moving. It was crawling towards me, and folding up underneath where Iwas standing. Frequently I had to move to avoid rocks that came at meand passed under my feet into nothingness. 

"Then, all at once, I realized that I had been stepping constantlybackward, to avoid the inclined wall as it shoved itself towards me. Iturned to see what was behind, and horror made my flesh creep at what Isaw. A black, forbidding wall, much like the incline in front, entirelyencircled me. It was hardly more than half a mile away, and towered fouror five thousand feet overhead. 

"And as I stared in terror, I could see it closing in, the line of itsupper edge coming steadily closer and lower. I looked wildly around withan overpowering impulse to run. In every direction towered this rockywall, inexorably swaying in to crush me. 

"I think I fainted. When I came to myself the scene had not greatlychanged. I was lying at the bottom and against one wall of a circularpit, now about a thousand feet in diameter and nearly twice as deep. Thewall all around I could see was almost perpendicular, and it seemedimpossible to ascend its smooth, shining sides. The action of the drughad evidently worn off, for everything was quite still. 

"My fear had now left me, for I remembered this circular pit quite well. I walked over to its center, and looking around and up to its top Iestimated distances carefully. Then I took two more of the pills. 

"Immediately the familiar, sickening, crawling sensation began again. Asthe walls closed in upon me, I kept carefully in the center of the pit. Steadily they crept in. Now only a few hundred feet away! Now only a fewpaces--and then I reached out and touched both sides at once with myhands. 

"I tell you, gentlemen, it was a terrifying sensation to stand in thatwell (as it now seemed), and feel its walls closing up with irresistibleforce. But now the upper edge was within reach of my fingers. I leapedupward and hung for a moment, then pulled myself up and scrabbled out, tumbling in a heap on the ground above. As I recovered myself, I lookedagain at the hole out of which I had escaped; it was hardly big enoughto contain my fist. 

"I knew, now, I was at the bottom of the scratch. But how different itlooked than before. It seemed this time a long, narrow caņon, hardlymore than sixty feet across. I glanced up and saw the blue sky overhead, flooded with light, that I knew was the space of this room above thering. 

"The problem now was quite a different one than getting out of the pit, for I saw that the scratch was so deep in proportion to its width thatif I let myself get too big, I would be crushed by its walls before Icould jump out. It would be necessary, therefore, to stay comparativelysmall and climb up its side. 

"I selected what appeared to be an especially rough section, and took aportion of another of the pills. Then I started to climb. After an hourthe buskins on my feet were torn to fragments, and I was bruised andbattered as you saw me. I see, now, how I could have made both thedescent into the ring, and my journey back with comparatively littleeffort, but I did the best I knew at the time. 

"When the caņon was about ten feet in width, and I had been climbingarduously for several hours, I found myself hardly more than fifteen ortwenty feet above its bottom. And I was still almost that far from thetop. With the stature I had then attained, I could have climbed theremaining distance easily, but for the fact that the wall above hadgrown too smooth to afford a foothold. The effects of the drug had againworn off, and I sat down and prepared to take another dose. I didso--the smallest amount I could--and held ready in my hand a pill of theother kind in case of emergency. Steadily the walls closed in. 

"A terrible feeling of dizziness now came over me. I clutched the rockbeside which I was sitting, and it seemed to melt like ice beneath mygrasp. Then I remembered seeing the edge of the caņon within reach abovemy head, and with my last remaining strength, I pulled myself up, andfell upon the surface of the ring. You know the rest. I took anotherdose of the powder, and in a few minutes was back among you. "

The Chemist stopped speaking, and looked at his friends. "Well, " hesaid, "you've heard it all. What do you think of it?"

"It is a terrible thing to me, " sighed the Very Young Man, "that you didnot bring Llyda with you. "

"It would have been a terrible thing if I had brought her. But I amgoing back for her. "

"When do you plan to go back?" asked the Doctor after a moment. 

"As soon as I can--in a day or two, " answered the Chemist. 

"Before you do your work here? You must not, " remonstrated the BigBusiness Man. "Our war here needs you, our nation, the whole cause ofliberty and freedom needs you. You cannot go. "

"Lylda needs me, too, " returned the Chemist. "I have an obligationtowards her now, you know, quite apart from my own feelings. Understandme, gentlemen, " he continued earnestly, "I do not place myself and minebefore the great fight for democracy and justice being waged in thisworld. That would be absurd. But it is not quite that way, actually; Ican go back for Lylda and return here in a week. That week will makelittle difference to the war. On the other hand, if I go to Francefirst, it may take me a good many months to complete my task, and duringthat time Lylda will be using up her life several times faster than I. No, gentlemen, I am going to her first. "

"That week you propose to take, " said the Banker slowly, "will cost thisworld thousands of lives that you could save. Have you thought of that?"

The Chemist flushed. "I can recognize the salvation of a nation or acause, " he returned hotly, "but if I must choose between the lives of athousand men who are not dependent on me, and the life or welfare of onewoman who is, I shall choose the woman. "

"He's right, you know, " said the Doctor, and the Very Young Man agreedwith him fervently. 

Two days later the company met again in the privacy of the clubroom. When they had finished dinner, the Chemist began in his usual quiet way:

"I am going to ask you this time, gentlemen, to give me a full week. There are four of you--six hours a day of watching for each. It need notbe too great a hardship. You see, " he continued, as they nodded inagreement, "I want to spend a longer period in the ring world this time. I may never go back, and I want to learn, in the interest of science, asmuch about it as I can. I was there such a short time before, and it wasall so strange and remarkable, I confess I learned practically nothing. 

"I told you all I could of its history. But of its arts, its science, and all its sociological and economic questions, I got hardly more thana glimpse. It is a world and a people far less advanced than ours, yetwith something we have not, and probably never will have--theuniversally distributed milk of human kindness. Yes, gentlemen, it is aworld well worth studying. "

The Banker came out of a brown study. "How about your formulas for thesedrugs?" he asked abruptly; "where are they?" The Chemist tapped hisforehead smilingly. "Well, hadn't you better leave them with us?" theBanker pursued. "The hazards of your trip--you can't tell----"

"Don't misunderstand me, gentlemen, " broke in the Chemist. "I wouldn'tgive you those formulas if my life and even Lylda's depended on it. There again you do not differentiate between the individual and therace. I know you four very well. You are my friends, with all the bondthat friendship implies. I believe in your integrity--each of you Itrust implicitly. With these formulas you could crush Germany, or youcould, any one of you, rule the world, with all its treasures for yourown. These drugs are the most powerful thing for good in the worldto-day. But they are equally as powerful for evil. I would stake my lifeon what you would do, but I will not stake the life of a nation. "

"I know what I'd do if I had the formulas, " began the Very Young Man. 

"Yes, but I don't know what you'd do, " laughed the Chemist. "Don't yousee I'm right?" They admitted they did, though the Banker acquiescedvery grudgingly. 

"The time of my departure is at hand. Is there anything else, gentlemen, before I leave you?" asked the Chemist, beginning to disrobe. 

"Please tell Lylda I want very much to meet her, " said the Very YoungMan earnestly, and they all laughed. 

When the room was cleared, and the handkerchief and ring in place oncemore, the Chemist turned to them again. "Good-by, my friends, " he said, holding out his hands. "One week from to-night, at most. " Then he tookthe pills. 

No unusual incident marked his departure. The last they saw of him hewas calmly sitting on the ring near the scratch. 

Then passed the slow days of watching, each taking his turn for theallotted six hours. 

By the fifth day, they began to hourly expect the Chemist, but it passedthrough its weary length, and he did not come. The sixth day dragged by, and then came the last--the day he had promised would end theirwatching. Still he did not come, and in the evening they gathered, andall four watched together, each unwilling to miss the return of theadventurer and his woman from another world. 

But the minutes lengthened into hours, and midnight found thewhite-faced little group, hopeful yet hopeless, with fear tugging attheir hearts. A second week passed, and still they watched, explainingwith an optimism they could none of them feel, the non-appearance oftheir friend. At the end of the second week they met again to talk thesituation over, a dull feeling of fear and horror possessing them. TheDoctor was the first to voice what now each of them was forced tobelieve. "I guess it's all useless, " he said. "He's not coming back. "

"I don't hardly dare give him up, " said the Big Business Man. 

"Me, too, " agreed the Very Young Man sadly. 

The Doctor sat for some time in silence, thoughtfully regarding thering. "My friends, " he began finally, "this is too big a thing to dealwith in any but the most careful way. I can't imagine what is going oninside that ring, but I do know what is happening in our world, and whatour friend's return means to civilization here. Under the circumstances, therefore, I cannot, I will not give him up. 

"I am going to put that ring in a museum and pay for having it watchedindefinitely. Will you join me?" He turned to the Big Business Man as hespoke. 

"Make it a threesome, " said the Banker gruffly. "What do you take mefor?" and the Very Young Man sighed with the tragedy of youth. 

CHAPTER IX

AFTER FIVE YEARS

Four men sat in the clubroom, at their ease in the luxurious leatherchairs, smoking and talking earnestly. Near the center of the room stooda huge mahogany table. On its top, directly in the glare of light froman electrolier overhead, was spread a large black silk handkerchief. Inthe center of this handkerchief lay a heavy gold band--a woman'swedding-ring. 

An old-fashioned valise stood near a corner of the table. Its sides wereperforated with small brass-rimmed holes; near the top on one side was asmall square aperture covered with a wire mesh through which one mightlook into the interior. Altogether, from the outside, the bag lookedmuch like those used for carrying small animals. 

As it lay on the table now its top was partly open. The inside wasbrightly lighted by a small storage battery and electric globe, fastenedto the side. Near the bottom of the bag was a tiny wire rack, heldsuspended about an inch from the bottom by transverse wires to thesides. The inside of the bag was lined with black plush. 

On an arm of the Doctor's chair lay two white tin boxes three or fourinches square. In his hand he held an opened envelope and several letterpages. 

"A little more than five years ago to-night, my friends, " he beganslowly, "we sat in this room with that"--he indicated the ring--"undervery different circumstances. " After a moment, he went on:

"I think I am right when I say that for five years the thought uppermostin our minds has always been that ring and what is going on within oneof its atoms. "

"You bet, " said the Very Young Man. 

"For five years now we have had the ring watched, " continued the Doctor, "but Rogers has never returned. "

"You asked us here to-night because you had something special to tellus, " began the Very Young Man, with a questioning look at the valise andthe ring. 

The Doctor smiled. "I'm sorry, " he said, "I don't mean to beaggravating. "

"Go ahead in your own way, Frank, " the Big Business Man put in. "We'llwait if we have to. "

The Doctor glanced at the papers in his hand; he had just taken themfrom the envelope. "You are consumed with curiosity, naturally, to knowwhat I have to say--why I have brought the ring here to-night. Gentlemen, you have had to restrain that curiosity less than fiveminutes; I have had a far greater curiosity to endure--and restrain--forover five years. 

"When Rogers left us on his last journey into the ring, he gave into mykeeping, unknown to you, this envelope. " The Doctor held it up. 

"He made me swear I would keep its existence secret from every livingbeing, until the date marked upon it, at which time, in the event of hisnot having returned, it was to be opened. Look at it. " The Doctor laidthe envelope on the table. 

"It is inscribed, as you see, 'To be opened by Dr. Frank Adams at8 P. M. On September 4th, 1923. ' For five years, gentlemen, I kept thatenvelope, knowing nothing of its contents and waiting for the momentwhen I might, with honor, open it. The struggle has been a hard one. Many times I have almost been able to persuade myself, in justice to ourfriend's safety--his very life, probably--that it would be best todisregard his instructions. But I did not; I waited until the date setand then, a little more than a month ago, alone in my office, I openedthe envelope. "

The Doctor leaned forward in his chair and shuffled the papers he heldin his hand. His three friends sat tense, waiting. 

"The envelope contained these papers. Among them is a letter in which Iam directed to explain everything to you as soon as I succeed in doingcertain other things. Those things I have now accomplished. So I havesent for you. I'll read you the letter first. "

No one spoke when the Doctor paused. The Banker drew a long breath. Thenhe bit the end off a fresh cigar and lit it with a shaking hand. TheDoctor shifted his chair closer to the table under the light. 

"The letter is dated September 14th, 1918. It begins: 'This will be readat 8 P. M. On September 4th, 1923, by Dr. Frank Adams with no one elsepresent. If the envelope has been opened by him previous to that date Irequest him to read no further. If it has fallen into other hands thanhis I can only hope that the reader will immediately destroy itunread. '" The Doctor paused an instant, then went on. 

"Gentlemen, we are approaching the most important events of our lives. An extraordinary duty--a tremendous responsibility, rests with us, ofall the millions of people on this earth. I ask that you listen mostcarefully. "

His admonition was quite unnecessary, for no one could have been moreintent than the three men silently facing him. 

The Doctor continued reading: "'From Dr. Frank Adams, I exact thefollowing oath, before he reads further. You, Dr. Adams, will divulge tono one, for a period of thirty days, the formulas set down in thesepapers; you will follow implicitly the directions given you; you will donothing that is not expressly stated here. Should you be unable to carryout these directions, you will destroy this letter and the formulas, andtell no one of their ever having been in existence. I must have youroath, Dr. Adams, before you proceed further. '"

The Doctor's voice died away, and he laid the papers on the table. 

"Gentlemen, " he went on, "later on in the letter I am directed toconsult with you three, setting before you this whole matter. But beforeI do so I must exact a similar oath from each of you. I must have yourword of honor, gentlemen, that you will not attempt to transgress theinstructions given us, and that you will never, by word or action, allowa suggestion of what passes between us here in this room to-night, toreach any other person. Have I your promise?"

Each of his three hearers found voice to agree. The Banker's face wasvery red, and he mopped his forehead nervously with his handkerchief. 

The Doctor picked up the papers. "The letter goes on: 'I am about toventure back into the unknown world of the ring. What will befall methere I cannot foretell. If by September 4th, 1923, I have not returned, or no other mortal has come out of the ring, it is my desire that youand the three gentlemen with you at the time of my departure, use thisdiscovery of mine for the benefit of humanity in your world, or theworld in the ring, exactly as I myself would have used it were I there. 

"'Should the European war be in progress at that time, I direct that youfour throw your power on the side of the United States for the defeat ofthe Central Powers. That you will be able to accomplish that defeat Icannot doubt. 

"'If, on September 4th, 1923, the United States is formally at peacewith the powers of the world, you are forbidden to use these chemicalsfor any purpose other than joining me in the world of the ring. If anyamong you wish to make the venture, which I hope may be the case, Irequest that you do so. 

"'Among these pages you will find a list of fourteen chemicals to beused by Dr. Frank Adams during the month following September 4, 1923, for the compounding of my powders. Seven of these chemicals (marked A), are employed in the drug used to diminish bodily size. Those sevenmarked B are for the drug of opposite action. 

"'You will find here a separate description of each chemical. Nine arewell known and fairly common. Dr. Adams will be able to purchase each ofthem separately without difficulty. Three others will have to beespecially compounded and I have so stated in the directions for each ofthem. Dr. Adams can have them prepared by any large chemicalmanufacturer; I suggest that he have not more than one of themcompounded by the same company. 

"'The two remaining chemicals must be prepared by Dr. Adams personally. Their preparation, while intricate, demands no complicated or extensiveapparatus. I have tried to explain thoroughly the making of these twochemicals, and I believe no insurmountable obstacle will be met incompleting them. 

"'When Dr. Adams has the specified quantities of each of these fourteenchemicals in his possession, he will proceed according to my furtherdirections to compound the two drugs. If he is successful in makingthese drugs, I direct that he make known to the three other men referredto, the contents of this letter, after first exacting an oath from eachthat its provisions will be carried out. 

"'I think it probable that Dr. Adams will succeed in compounding thesetwo drugs. It also seems probable that at that time the United States nolonger will be at war. I make the additional assumption that one or moreof you gentlemen will desire to join me in the ring. Therefore, you willfind herewith memoranda of my first journey into the ring which I havealready described to you; I give also the quantities of each drug to betaken at various stages of the trip. These notes will refresh yourmemory and will assist you in your journey. 

"'I intend to suggest to Dr. Adams to-day when I hand him this letter, that in the event of my failure to return within a week, he make someadequate provision for guarding the ring in safety. And I must cautionyou now, before starting to join me, if you conclude to do so, that youcontinue this provision, so as to make possible your safe return to yourown world. 

"'If our country is at war at the time you read this, your duty isplain. I have no fears regarding your course of action. But if not, I donot care to influence unduly your decision about venturing into thisunknown other world. The danger into which I personally may have fallenmust count for little with you, in a decision to hazard your own lives. I may point out, however, that such a journey successfully accomplishedcannot fail but be the greatest contribution to science that has everbeen made. Nor can I doubt but that your coming may prove of tremendousbenefit to the humanity of this other equally important, though, in oureyes, infinitesimal world. 

"'I therefore suggest, gentlemen, that you start your journey into thering at 8 P. M. On the evening of November 4, 1923. You will do yourbest to find your way direct to the city of Arite, where, if I am alive, I will be awaiting you. '"

CHAPTER X

TESTING THE DRUGS

The Doctor laid his papers on the table and looked up into the whitefaces of the three men facing him. "That's all, gentlemen, " he said. 

For a moment no one spoke, and on the face of each was plainly writtenthe evidence of an emotion too deep for words. The Doctor sorted out thepapers in silence, glanced over them for a moment, and then reached fora large metal ash tray that stood near him on the table. Taking a matchfrom his pocket he calmly lighted a corner of the papers and droppedthem burning into the metal bowl. His friends watched him in awedsilence; only the Very Young Man found words to protest. 

"Say now, wait, " he began, "why----"

The Doctor looked at him. "The letter requests me to do that, " he said. 

"But I say, the formulas----" persisted the Very Young Man, lookingwildly at the burning papers. 

The Doctor held up one of the white tin boxes lying on the arm of hischair. 

"In these tins, " he said, "I have vials containing the specifiedquantity of each drug. It is ample for our purpose. I have done my bestto memorize the formulas. But in any event, I was directed to burn themat the time of reading you the letter. I have done so. "

The Big Business Man came out of a brown study. 

"Just three weeks from to-night, " he murmured, "three weeks fromto-night. It's too big to realize. "

The Doctor put the two boxes on the table, turned his chair back towardthe others, and lighted a cigar. 

"Gentlemen, let us go over this matter thoroughly, " he began. "We have amomentous decision to make. Either we destroy those boxes and theircontents, or three weeks from to-night some or all of us start ourjourney into the ring. I have had a month to think this matter over; Ihave made my decision. 

"I know there is much for you to consider, before you can each of youchoose your course of action. It is not my desire or intention toinfluence you one way or the other. But we can, if you wish, discuss thematter here to-night; or we can wait, if you prefer, until each of youhas had time to think it out for himself. "

"I'm going, " the Very Young Man burst out. 

His hands were gripping the arms of his chair tightly; his face was verypale, but his eyes sparkled. 

The Doctor turned to him gravely. 

"Your life is at stake, my boy, " he said, "this is not a matter forimpulse. "

"I'm going whether any one else does or not, " persisted the Very YoungMan. "You can't stop me, either, " he added doggedly. "That lettersaid----"

The Doctor smiled at the youth's earnestness. Then abruptly he held outhis hand. 

"There is no use my holding back my own decision. I am going to attemptthe trip. And since, as you say, I cannot stop you from going, " he addedwith a twinkle, "that makes two of us. "

They shook hands. The Very Young Man lighted a cigarette, and beganpacing up and down the room, staring hard at the floor. 

"I can remember trying to imagine how I would feel, " began the BigBusiness Man slowly, "if Rogers had asked me to go with him when hefirst went into the ring. It is not a new idea to me, for I have thoughtabout it many times in the abstract, during the past five years. But nowthat I am face to face with it in reality, it sort of----" He broke off, and smiled helplessly around at his companions. 

The Very Young Man stopped in his walk. "Aw, come on in, " he began, "the----"

"Shut up, " growled the Banker, speaking for the first time in manyminutes. 

"I'm sure we would all like to go, " said the Doctor. "The point is, which of us are best fitted for the trip. "

"None of us are married, " put in the Very Young Man. 

"I've been thinking----" began the Banker. "Suppose we get into thering--how long would we be gone, do you suppose?"

"Who can say?" answered the Doctor smiling. "Perhaps a month--ayear--many years possibly. That is one of the hazards of the venture. "

The Banker went on thoughtfully. "Do you remember that argument we hadwith Rogers about time? Time goes twice as fast, didn't he say, in thatother world?"

"Two and a half times faster, if I remember rightly, he estimated, "replied the Doctor. 

The Banker looked at his skinny hands a moment. "I owned up tosixty-four once, " he said quizzically. "Two years and a half in oneyear. No, I guess I'll let you young fellows tackle that; I'll stay herein this world where things don't move so fast. "

"Somebody's got to stay, " said the Very Young Man. "By golly, you knowif we're all going into that ring it would be pretty sad to haveanything happen to it while we were gone. "

"That's so, " said the Banker, looking relieved. "I never thought ofthat. "

"One of us should stay at least, " said the Doctor. "We cannot take anyoutsider into our confidence. One of us must watch the others go, andthen take the ring back to its place in the Museum. We will be gone toolong a time for one person to watch it here. "

The Very Young Man suddenly went to one of the doors and locked it. 

"We don't want any one coming in, " he explained as he crossed the roomand locked the others. 

"And another thing, " he went on, coming back to the table. "When I sawthe ring at the Biological Society the other day, I happened to think, suppose Rogers was to come out on the underneath side? It was lyingflat, you know, just as it is now. " He pointed to where the ring lay onthe handkerchief before them. "I meant to speak to you about it, " headded. 

"I thought of that, " said the Doctor. "When I had that case built tobring the ring here, you notice I raised it above the bottom a little, holding it suspended in that wire frame. "

"We'd better fix up something like that at the Museum, too, " said theVery Young Man, and went back to his walk. 

The Big Business Man had been busily jotting down figures on the back ofan envelope. "I can be in shape to go in three weeks, " he said suddenly. 

"Bully for you, " said the Very Young Man. "Then it's all settled. " TheBig Business Man went back to his notes. 

"I knew what your answer would be, " said the Doctor. "My patients can goto the devil. This is too big a thing. "

The Very Young Man picked up one of the tin boxes. "Tell us how you madethe powders, " he suggested. 

The Doctor took the two boxes and opened them. Inside each were a numberof tiny glass vials. Those in one box were of blue glass; those in theother were red. 

"These vials, " said the Doctor, "contain tiny pellets of the completeddrug. That for diminishing size I have put in the red vials; those ofblue are the other drug. 

"I had rather a difficult time making them--that is, compared to what Ianticipated. Most of the chemicals I bought without difficulty. But whenI came to compound those two myself"--the Doctor smiled--"I used tothink I was a fair chemist in my student days. But now--well, at least Igot the results, but only because I have been working almost night andday for the past month. And I found myself with a remarkably completeexperimental laboratory when I finished, " he added. "That was yesterday;I spent nearly all last night destroying the apparatus, as soon as Ifound that the drugs had been properly made. "

"They do work?" said the Very Young Man anxiously. 

"They work, " answered the Doctor. "I tried them both very carefully. "

"On yourself?" said the Big Business Man. 

"No, I didn't think that necessary. I used several insects. "

"Let's try them now, " suggested the Very Young Man eagerly. 

"Not the big one, " said the Banker. "Once was enough for that. "

"All right, " the Doctor laughed. "We'll try the other if you like. "

The Big Business Man looked around the room. "There's a few flies aroundhere if we can catch one, " he suggested. 

"I'll bet there's a cockroach in the kitchen, " said the Very Young Man, jumping up. 

The Doctor took a brass check from his pocket. "I thought probably you'dwant to try them out. Will you get that box from the check-room?" Hehanded the check to the Very Young Man, who hurried out of the room. Hereturned in a moment, gingerly carrying a cardboard box with holesperforated in the top. The Doctor took the box and lifted the lidcarefully. Inside, the box was partitioned into two compartments. In onecompartment were three little lizards about four inches long; in theother were two brown sparrows. The Doctor took out one of the sparrowsand replaced the cover. 

"Fine, " said the Very Young Man with enthusiasm. 

The Doctor reached for the boxes of chemicals. 

"Not the big one, " said the Banker again, apprehensively. 

"Hold him, will you, " the Doctor said. 

The Very Young Man took the sparrow in his hands. 

"Now, " continued the Doctor, "what we need is a plate and a littlewater. "

"There's a tray, " said the Very Young Man, pointing with his handsholding the sparrow. 

The Doctor took a spoon from the tray and put a little water in it. Thenhe took one of the tiny pellets from a red vial and crushing it in hisfingers, sprinkled a few grains into that water. 

"Hold that a moment, please. " The Big Business Man took the profferedspoon. 

Then the Doctor produced from his pocket a magnifying glass and a tinypair of silver callipers such as are used by jewelers for handling smallobjects. 

"What's the idea?" the Very Young Man wanted to know. 

"I thought I'd try and put him on the ring, " explained the Doctor. "Now, then hold open his beak. "

The Very Young Man did so, and the Doctor poured the water down thebird's throat. Most of it spilled; the sparrow twisted its headviolently, but evidently some of the liquid had gone down the bird'sthroat. 

Silence followed, broken after a moment by the scared voice of the VeryYoung Man. "He's getting smaller, I can feel him. He's getting smaller. "

"Hold on to him, " cautioned the Doctor. "Bring him over here. " They wentover to the table by the ring, the Banker and the Big Business Manstanding close beside them. 

"Suppose he tries to fly when we let go of him, " suggested the VeryYoung Man almost in a whisper. 

"He'll probably be too confused, " answered the Doctor. "Have you gothim?" The sparrow was hardly bigger than a large horse-fly now, and theVery Young Man was holding it between his thumb and forefinger. 

"Better give him to me, " said the Doctor. "Set him down. "

"He might fly away, " remonstrated the Very Young Man. 

"No, he won't. "

The Very Young Man put the sparrow on the handkerchief beside the ringand the Doctor immediately picked it up with the callipers. 

"Don't squeeze him, " cautioned the Very Young Man. 

The sparrow grew steadily smaller, and in a moment the Doctor set itcarefully on the rim of the ring. 

"Get him up by the scratch, " whispered the Very Young Man. 

The men bent closer over the table, as the Doctor looking through hismagnifying glass shoved the sparrow slowly along the top of the ring. 

"I can't see him, " said the Banker. 

"I can, " said the Very Young Man, "right by the scratch. " Then after amoment, "he's gone. "

"I've got him right over the scratch, " said the Doctor, leaning fartherdown. Then he raised his head and laid the magnifying glass and thecallipers on the table. "He's gone now. "

"Gosh, " said the Very Young Man, drawing a long breath. 

The Banker flung himself into a chair as though exhausted from a greatphysical effort. 

"Well, it certainly does work, " said the Big Business Man, "there's noquestion about that. "

The Very Young Man was shaking the cardboard box in his hands andlifting its cover cautiously to see inside. "Let's try a lizard, " hesuggested. 

"Oh, what's the use, " the Banker protested wearily, "we know it works. "

"Well, it can't hurt anything to try it, can it?" the Very Young Manurged. "Besides, the more we try it, the more sure we are it will workwith us when the time comes. You don't want to try it on yourself, now, do you?" he added with a grin. 

"No, thank you, " retorted the Banker with emphasis. 

"I think we might as well try it again, " said the Big Business Man. 

The Very Young Man took one of the tiny lizards from the box, and in amoment they had dropped some water containing the drug down its throat. "Try to put him on the scratch, too, " said the Very Young Man. 

When the lizard was small enough the Doctor held it with the callipersand then laid it on the ring. 

"Look at him walk; look at him walk, " whispered the Very Young Manexcitedly. The lizard, hardly more than an eighth of an inch long now, but still plainly visible, was wriggling along the top of the ring. "Shove him up by the scratch, " he added. 

In a moment more the reptile was too small for any but the Doctor withhis glass to see. "I guess he got there, " he said finally with a smile, as he straightened up. "He was going fast. "

"Well, _that's_ all right, " said the Very Young Man with a sigh ofrelief. 

The four men again seated themselves; the Big Business Man went back tohis figures. 

"When do you start?" asked the Banker after a moment. 

"November 4th--8 P. M. , " answered the Doctor. "Three weeks fromto-night. "

"We've a lot to do, " said the Banker. 

"What will this cost, do you figure?" asked the Big Business Man, looking up from his notes. 

The Doctor considered a moment. 

"We can't take much with us, you know, " he said slowly. Then hetook a sheet of memoranda from his pockets. "I have already spentfor apparatus and chemicals to prepare the drugs"--he consulted hisfigures--"seventeen hundred and forty dollars, total. What we have stillto spend will be very little, I should think. I propose we divide itthree ways as we have been doing with the Museum?"

"Four ways, " said the Very Young Man. "I'm no kid any more. I got a goodjob--that is, " he added with a rueful air, "I had a good job. To-morrowI quit. "

"Four ways, " the Doctor corrected himself gravely. "I guess we canmanage that. "

"What can we take with us, do you think?" asked the Big Business Man. 

"I think we should try strapping a belt around our waists, with pouchesin it, " said the Doctor. "I doubt if it would contract with our bodies, but still it might. If it didn't there would be no harm done; we couldleave it behind. "

"You want food and water, " said the Banker. "Remember that barrencountry you are going through. "

"And something on our feet, " the Big Business Man put in. 

"I'd like to take a revolver, too, " said the Very Young Man. "It mightcome in awful handy. "

"As I remember Rogers's description, " said the Doctor thoughtfully, "thetrip out is more difficult than going down. We mustn't overlookpreparations for that; it is most imperative we should be careful. "

"Say, talking about getting back, " burst out the Very Young Man. "I'dlike to see that other drug work first. It would be pretty rotten to getin there and have it go back on us, wouldn't it? Oh, golly!" The VeryYoung Man sank back in his chair overcome by the picture he had conjuredup. 

"I tried it, " said the Doctor. "It works. "

"I'd like to see it again with something different, " said the BigBusiness Man. "It can't do any harm. " The Banker looked his protest, butsaid nothing. 

"What shall we try, a lizard?" suggested the Very Young Man. The Doctorshrugged his shoulders. 

"What'll we kill it with? Oh, I know. " The Very Young Man picked up aheavy metal paper-weight from the desk. "This'll do the trick, fine, " headded. 

Then, laying the paper-weight carefully aside, he dipped up a spoonfulof water and offered it to the Doctor. 

"Not that water this time, " said the Doctor, shaking his head with asmile. 

The Very Young Man looked blank. 

"Organisms in it, " the Doctor explained briefly. "All right for them toget small from the other chemical, but we don't want them to get largeand come out at us, do we?"

"Holy Smoke, I should say not, " said the Very Young Man, gasping; andthe Banker growled:

"Something's going to happen to us, playing with fire like this. "

The Doctor produced a little bottle. "I boiled this water, " he said. "Wecan use this. "

It took but a moment to give the other drug to one of the remaininglizards, although they spilled more of the water than went down itsthroat. 

"Don't forget to hit him, and don't you wait very long, " said the Bankerwarningly, moving nearer the door. 

"Oh, I'll hit him all right, don't worry, " said the Very Young Man, brandishing the paper-weight. 

The Doctor knelt down, and held the reptile pinned to the floor; theVery Young Man knelt beside him. Slowly the lizard began to increase insize. 

"He's growing, " said the Banker. "Hit him, boy, what's the use ofwaiting; he's growing. "

The lizard was nearly a foot long now, and struggling violently betweenthe Doctor's fingers. 

"You'd better kill him, " said the Doctor, "he might get away from me. "The Very Young Man obediently brought his weapon down with a thump uponthe reptile's head. 

"Keep on, " said the Banker. "Be sure he's dead. "

The Very Young Man pounded the quivering body for a moment. The BigBusiness Man handed him a napkin from the tray and the Very Young Manwrapped up the lizard and threw it into the waste-basket. 

Then he rose to his feet and tossed the paper-weight on to the desk witha crash. 

"Well, gentlemen, " he said, turning back to them with flushed face, "those drugs sure do work. We're going into the ring all right, threeweeks from to-night, and nothing on earth can stop us. "

CHAPTER XI

THE ESCAPE OF THE DRUG

For the next hour the four friends busily planned their preparations forthe journey. When they began to discuss the details of the trip, andfound themselves face to face with so hazardous an adventure, eachdiscovered a hundred things in his private life that needed attention. 

The Doctor's phrase, "My patients can go to the devil, " seemed torelieve his mind of all further responsibility towards his personalaffairs. 

"That's all very well for you, " said the Big Business Man, "I've toomany irons in the fire just to drop everything--there are too many otherpeople concerned. And I've got to plan as though I were never comingback, you know. "

"Your troubles are easy, " said the Very Young Man. "I've got a girl. Iwonder what she'll say. Oh, gosh, I can't tell her where I'm going, canI? I never thought of that. " He scratched his head with a perplexed air. "That's tough on her. Well, I'm glad I'm an orphan, anyway. "

The actual necessities of the trip needed a little discussion, for whatthey could take with them amounted to practically nothing. 

"As I understand it, " said the Banker, "all I have to do is watch youstart, and then take the ring back to the Museum. "

"Take it carefully, " continued the Very Young Man. "Remember what it'sgot in it. "

"You will give us about two hours to get well started down, " said theDoctor. "After that it will be quite safe to move the ring. You can takeit back to the Society in that case I brought it here in. "

"Be sure you take it yourself, " put in the Very Young Man. "Don't trustit to anybody else. And how about having that wire rack fixed for it atthe Museum, " he added. "Don't forget that. "

"I'll have that done myself this week, " said the Doctor. 

They had been talking for perhaps an hour when the Banker got up fromhis chair to get a fresh cigar from a box that lay upon the desk. Hehappened to glance across the room and on the floor in the corner by theclosed door he saw a long, flat object that had not been there before. It was out of the circle of light and being brown against the polishedhardwood floor, he could not make it out clearly. But something about itfrightened him. 

"What's that over there?" he asked, standing still and pointing. 

The Big Business Man rose from his seat and took a few steps in thedirection of the Banker's outstretched hand. Then with a muttered oathhe jumped to the desk in a panic and picking up the heavy paper-weightflung it violently across the room. It struck the panelled wall with acrash and bounded back towards him. At the same instant there came ascuttling sound from the floor, and a brown shape slid down the edge ofthe room and stopped in the other corner. 

All four men were on their feet in an instant, white-faced andtrembling. 

"Good God, " said the Big Business Man huskily, "that thing overthere--that----"

"Turn on the side lights--the side lights!" shouted the Doctor, runningacross the room. 

In the glare of the unshaded globes on the wall the room was brightlylighted. On the floor in the corner the horrified men saw a cockroachnearly eighteen inches in length, with its head facing the angle ofwall, and scratching with its legs against the base board as thoughabout to climb up. For a moment the men stood silent with surprise andterror. Then, as they stared they saw the cockroach was getting larger. The Big Business Man laid his hand on the Doctor's arm with a grip thatmade the Doctor wince. 

"Good God, man, look at it--it's growing, " he said in a voice hardlyabove a whisper. 

"It's growing, " echoed the Very Young Man; "_it's growing_!"

And then the truth dawned upon them, and brought with it confusion, almost panic. The cockroach, fully two feet long now, had raised thefront end of its body a foot above the floor, and was reaching up thewall with its legs. 

The Banker made a dash for the opposite door. "Let's get out of here. Come on!" he shouted. 

The Doctor stopped him. Of the four men, he was the only one who hadretained his self-possession. 

"Listen to me, " he said. His voice trembled a little in spite of hisefforts to control it. "Listen to me. That--that--thing cannot harm usyet. " He looked from one to the other of them and spoke swiftly. "It'sgruesome and--and loathsome, but it is not dangerous--yet. But we cannotrun from it. We must kill it--here, now, before it gets any larger. "

The Banker tore himself loose and started again towards the door. 

"You fool!" said the Doctor, with a withering look. "Don't you see, it'slife or death later. That--that thing will be as big as this house inhalf an hour. Don't you know that? As big as this house. We've got tokill it now--now. "

The Big Business Man ran towards the paper-weight. "I'll hit it withthis, " he said. 

"You can't, " said the Doctor, "you might miss. We haven't time. Look atit, " he added. 

The cockroach was noticeably larger now--considerably over two feet; ithad turned away from the wall to face them. 

The Very Young Man had said nothing; only stood and stared withbloodless face and wide-open eyes. Then suddenly he stooped, and pickingup a small rug from the floor--a rug some six feet long and half aswide--advanced slowly towards the cockroach. 

"That's the idea, " encouraged the Doctor. "Get it under that. Here, giveme part of it. " He grasped a corner of the rug. "You two go up the othersides"--he pointed with his free hand--"and head it off if it runs. "

Slowly the four men crept forward. The cockroach, three feet long now, was a hideous, horrible object as it stood backed into the corner of theroom, the front part of its body swaying slowly from side to side. 

"We'd better make a dash for it, " whispered the Very Young Man; andjerking the rug loose from the Doctor's grasp, he leaped forward andflung himself headlong upon the floor, with the rug completely underhim. 

"I've got the damned thing. I've got it!" he shouted. "Help--you. Help!"

The three men leaped with him upon the rug, holding it pinned to thefloor. The Very Young Man, as he lay, could feel the curve of the greatbody underneath, and could hear the scratch of its many legs upon thefloor. 

"Hold down the edges of the rug!" he cried. "Don't let it out. Don't letit get out. I'll smash it. " He raised himself on his hands and knees, and came down heavily. The rug gave under his thrust as the insectflattened out; then they could hear again the muffled scratching of itslegs upon the floor as it raised the rug up under the Very Young Man'sweight. 

"We can't kill it, " panted the Big Business Man. "Oh, we can't kill it. Good God, how big it is!"

The Very Young Man got to his feet and stood on the bulge of the rug. Then he jumped into the air and landed solidly on his heels. There was asharp crack as the shell of the insect broke under the sharpness of hisblow. 

"That did it; that'll do it!" he shouted. Then he leaped again. 

"Let me, " said the Big Business Man. "I'm heavier"; and he, too, stampedupon the rug with his heels. 

They could hear the huge shell of the insect's back smash under hisweight, and when he jumped again, the squash of its body as he mashed itdown. 

"Wait, " said the Doctor. "We've killed it. "

They eased upon the rug a little, but there was no movement frombeneath. 

"Jump on it harder, " said the Very Young Man. "Don't let's take achance. Mash it good. "

The Big Business Man continued stamping violently upon the rug; joinednow by the Very Young Man. The Doctor sat on the floor beside it, breathing heavily; the Banker lay in a heap at its foot in uttercollapse. 

As they stamped, the rug continued to flatten down; it sank under theirtread with a horrible, sickening, squashing sound. 

"Let's look, " suggested the Very Young Man. "It must be dead"; and hethrew back a corner of the rug. The men turned sick and faint at whatthey saw. 

Underneath the rug, mashed against the floor, lay a great, noisome, semi-liquid mass of brown and white. It covered nearly the entireunder-surface of the rug--a hundred pounds, perhaps, of loathsome pulpand shell, from which a stench arose that stopped their breathing. 

With a muttered imprecation the Doctor flung back the rug to cover it, and sprang to his feet, steadying himself against a chair. 

"We killed it in time, thank God, " he murmured and dropped into thechair, burying his face in his hands. 

For a time silence fell upon the room, broken only by the laboredbreathing of the four men. Then the Big Business Man sat up suddenly. "Oh, my God, what an experience!" he groaned, and got unsteadily to hisfeet. 

The Very Young Man helped the Banker up and led him to a seat by thewindow, which he opened, letting in the fresh, cool air of the night. 

"How did the drug get loose, do you suppose?" asked the Very Young Man, coming back to the center of the room. He had recovered his composuresomewhat, though he was still very pale. He lighted a cigarette and satdown beside the Doctor. 

The Doctor raised his head wearily. "I suppose we must have spilled someof it on the floor, " he said, "and the cockroach----" He stoppedabruptly and sprang to his feet. 

"Good God!" he cried. "Suppose another one----"

On the bare floor beside the table they came upon a few drops of water. 

"That must be it, " said the Doctor. He pulled his handkerchief from hispocket; then he stopped in thought. "No, that won't do. What shall we dowith it?" he added. "We must destroy it absolutely. Good Lord, if thatdrug ever gets loose upon the world----"

The Big Business Man joined them. 

"We must destroy it absolutely, " repeated the Doctor. "We can't justwipe it up. "

"Some acid, " suggested the Big Business Man. 

"Suppose something else has got at it already, " the Very Young Man saidin a scared voice, and began hastily looking around the floor of theroom. 

"You're right, " agreed the Doctor. "We mustn't take any chance; we mustlook thoroughly. "

Joined by the Banker, the four men began carefully going over the room. 

"You'd better watch that nothing gets at it, " the Very Young Man thoughtsuddenly to say. The Banker obediently sat down by the little pool ofwater on the floor. 

"And I'll close the window, " added the Very Young Man; "something mightget out. "

They searched the room thoroughly, carefully scanning its walls andceiling, but could see nothing out of the ordinary. 

"We'll never be quite sure, " said the Doctor finally, "but I guess we'resafe. It's the best we can do now, at any rate. "

He joined the Banker by the table. "I'll get some nitric acid, " headded. "I don't know what else----"

"We'll have to get that out of here, too, " said the Big Business Man, pointing to the rug. "God knows how we'll explain it. "

The Doctor picked up one of the tin boxes of drugs and held it in hishand meditatively. Then he looked over towards the rug. From under oneside a brownish liquid was oozing; the Doctor shuddered. 

"My friends, " he said, holding up the box before them, "we can realizenow something of the terrible power we have created and imprisoned here. We must guard it carefully, gentlemen, for if it escapes--it willdestroy the world. "

CHAPTER XII

THE START

On the evening of November 4th, 1923, the four friends again assembledat the Scientific Club for the start of their momentous adventure. TheDoctor was the last to arrive, and found the other three anxiouslyawaiting him. He brought with him the valise containing the ring and asuitcase with the drugs and equipment necessary for the journey. Hegreeted his friends gravely. 

"The time has come, gentlemen, " he said, putting the suitcase on thetable. 

The Big Business Man took out the ring and held it in his handthoughtfully. 

"The scene of our new life, " he said with emotion. "What does it hold instore for us?"

"What time is it?" asked the Very Young Man. "We've got to hurry. Wewant to get started on time--we mustn't be late. "

"Everything's ready, isn't it?" asked the Banker. "Who has the belts?"

"They're in my suitcase, " answered the Very Young Man. "There it is. "

The Doctor laid the ring and handkerchief on the floor under the lightand began unpacking from his bag the drugs and the few small articlesthey had decided to try and take with them. "You have the food andwater, " he said. 

The Big Business Man produced three small flasks of water and six flat, square tins containing compressed food. The Very Young Man opened one ofthem. "Chocolate soldiers we are, " he said, and laughed. 

The Banker was visibly nervous and just a little frightened. "Are yousure you haven't forgotten something?" he asked, quaveringly. 

"It wouldn't make a great deal of difference if we had, " said theDoctor, with a smile. "The belts may not contract with us at all; we mayhave to leave them behind. "

"Rogers didn't take anything, " put in the Very Young Man. "Come on;let's get undressed. "

The Banker locked the doors and sat down to watch the men make theirlast preparations. They spoke little while they were disrobing; thesolemnity of what they were about to do both awed and frightened them. Only the Very Young Man seemed exhilarated by the excitement of thecoming adventure. 

In a few moments the three men were dressed in their white woolenbathing suits. The Very Young Man was the first to be fully equipped. 

"I'm ready, " he announced. "All but the chemicals. Where are they?"

Around his waist he had strapped a broad cloth belt, with a number ofpockets fastened to it. On his feet were felt-lined cloth shoes, withhard rubber soles; he wore a wrist watch. Under each armpit was fastenedthe pouch for carrying the drugs. 

"Left arm for red vials, " said the Doctor. "Be sure of that--we mustn'tget them mixed. Take two of each color. " He handed the Very Young Manthe tin boxes. 

All the men were ready in a moment more. 

"Five minutes of eight, " said the Very Young Man, looking at his watch. "We're right on time; let's get started. "

The Banker stood up among them. "Tell me what I've got to do, " he saidhelplessly. "You're going all but me; I'll be left behind alone. "

The Big Business Man laid his hand on the Banker's shoulderaffectionately. "Don't look so sad, George, " he said, with an attempt atlevity. "We're not leaving you forever--we're coming back. "

The Banker pressed his friend's hand. His usual crusty manner was quitegone now; he seemed years older. 

The Doctor produced the same spoon he had used when the Chemist made hisdeparture into the ring. "I've kept it all this time, " he said, smiling. "Perhaps it will bring us luck. " He handed it to the Banker. 

"What you have to do is this, " he continued seriously. "We shall alltake an equal amount of the drug at the same instant. I hope it will actupon each of us at the same rate, so that we may diminish uniformly insize, and thus keep together. "

"Gosh!" said the Very Young Man. "I never thought of that. Suppose itdoesn't?"

"Then we shall have to adjust the difference by taking other smalleramounts of the drug. But I think probably it will. 

"You must be ready, " he went on to the Banker, "to help us on to thering if necessary. "

"Or put us back if we fall off, " said the Very Young Man. "I'm going tosit still until I'm pretty small. Gracious, it's going to feel funny. "

"After we have disappeared, " continued the Doctor, "you will wait, say, until eleven o'clock. Watch the ring carefully--some of us may have tocome back before that time. At eleven o'clock pack up everything"--helooked around the littered room with a smile--"and take the ring back tothe Biological Society. "

"Keep your eye on it on the way back, " warned the Very Young Man. "Suppose we decide to come out some time later to-night--you can'ttell. "

"I'll watch it all night to-night, here and at the Museum, " said theBanker, mopping his forehead. 

"Good scheme, " said the Very Young Man approvingly. "Anything mighthappen. "

"Well, gentlemen, " said the Doctor, "I believe we're all ready. Come on, Will. "

The Big Business Man was standing by the window, looking out intently. He evidently did not hear the remark addressed to him, for he paid noattention. The Doctor joined him. 

Through the window they could see the street below, crowded now withscurrying automobiles. The sidewalks were thronged withpeople--theater-goers, hurrying forward, seeking eagerly their evening'spleasure. It had been raining, and the wet pavements shone with long, blurred yellow glints from the thousands of lights above. Down thestreet they could see a huge blazing theater sign, with the name of apopular actress spelt in letters of fire. 

The Big Business Man threw up the window sash and took a deep breath ofthe moist, cool air of the night. 

"Good-by, old world, " he murmured with emotion. "Shall I see you again, I wonder?" He stood a moment longer, silently staring at the scenebefore him. Then abruptly he closed the window, pulled down the shade, and turned back to the room. 

"Come on, " said the Very Young Man impatiently. "It's five minutes aftereight. Let's get started. "

"Just one thing before we start, " said the Doctor, as they gathered inthe center of the room. "We must understand, gentlemen, from the momentwe first take the drug, until we reach our final smallest size, it isimperative, or at least highly desirable, that we keep together. Westart by taking four of the pellets each, according to the memorandaRogers left. By Jove!" he interrupted himself, "that's one thingimportant we did nearly forget. "

He went to his coat, and from his wallet took several typewritten sheetsof paper. 

"I made three copies, " he said, handing them to his companions. "Putthem away carefully; the front pocket will be most convenient, probably. 

"It may not be hard for us to keep together, " continued the Doctor. "Onthe other hand, we may find it extremely difficult, if not quiteimpossible. In the latter event we will meet at the city of Arite. 

"There are two things we must consider. First, we shall be constantlychanging size with relation to our surroundings. In proportion to eachother, we must remain normal in size if we can. Secondly we shall betraveling--changing position in our surroundings. So far as that aspectof the trip is concerned, it will not be more difficult for us to keeptogether, probably, than during any adventurous journey here in thisworld. 

"If through accident or any unforeseen circumstance we are separated insize, the one being smallest shall wait for the others. That can beaccomplished by taking a very small quantity of the other drug--probablymerely by touching one of the pellets to the tongue. Do I make myselfclear?" His friends nodded assent. 

"If any great separation in relative size occurs, " the Doctor went on, "a discrepancy sufficient to make the smallest of us invisible for atime to the others, then another problem presents itself. We must bevery careful, in that event, not to change our position in space--not tokeep on traveling, in other words--or else, when we become the same sizeonce more, we will be out of sight of one another. Geographicallyseparated, so to speak, " the Doctor finished with a smile. 

"I am so explicit on this point of keeping together, " he continued, "because--well, I personally do not want to undertake even part of thisjourney alone. "

"You're darn right--me neither, " agreed the Very Young Man emphatically. "Let's get going. "

"I guess that's all, " said the Doctor, with a last glance around, andfinally facing the Banker. "Good-by, George. "

The Banker was quite overcome, and without a word he shook hands witheach of his friends. 

The three men sat beside each other on the floor, close to thehandkerchief and ring; the Banker sat in his chair on the other side, facing them, spoon in hand. In silence they each took four of thepellets. Then the Banker saw them close their eyes; he saw the BigBusiness Man put his hands suddenly on the floor as though to steadyhimself. 

The Banker gripped the arms of his chair firmly. He knew exactly what toexpect, yet now when his friends began slowly to diminish in size he wasfilled with surprise and horror. For several minutes no one spoke. Thenthe Very Young Man opened his eyes, looked around dizzily for aninstant, and began feeling with his hands the belt at his waist, hisshoes, wrist-watch, and the pouches under his armpits. 

"It's all right, " he said with an enthusiasm that contrasted strangelywith the tremor in his voice. "The belt's getting smaller, too. We'regoing to be able to take everything with us. "

Again silence fell on the room, broken only by the sound of the threemen on the floor continually shifting their positions as they grewsmaller. In another moment the Doctor clambered unsteadily to his feetand, taking a step backward, leaned up against the cylindrical mahoganyleg of the center-table, flinging his arms around it. His head did notreach the table-top. 

The Very Young Man and the Big Business Man were on their feet now, too, standing at the edge of the handkerchief, and clinging to one anotherfor support. The Banker looked down at them and tried to smile. The VeryYoung Man waved his hand, and the Banker found voice to say: "Good-by, my boy. "

"Good-by, sir, " echoed the Very Young Man. "We're making it. "

Steadily they grew smaller. By this time the Doctor had become far toosmall for his arms to encircle the leg of the table. The Banker lookeddown to the floor, and saw him standing beside the table leg, leaningone hand against it as one would lean against the great stone column ofsome huge building. 

"Good-by, Frank, " said the Banker. But the Doctor did not answer; heseemed lost in thought. 

Several minutes more passed in silence. The three men had diminished insize now until they were not more than three inches high. Suddenly theVery Young Man let go of the Big Business Man's arm and looked around towhere the Doctor was still leaning pensively against the table leg. TheBanker saw him speak swiftly to the Big Business Man, but in so small avoice he could not catch the words. Then both little figures turnedtowards the table, and the Banker saw the Very Young Man put his handsto his mouth and shout. And upward to him came the shrillest, tiniestlittle voice he had ever heard, yet a voice still embodying thecharacteristic intonation of the Very Young Man. 

"Hey, Doctor!" came the words. "You'll never get here if you don't comenow. "

The Doctor looked up abruptly; he evidently heard the words and realizedhis situation. (He was by this time not more than an inch and a half inheight. ) He hesitated only a moment, and then, as the other two littlefigures waved their arms wildly, he began running towards them. For morethan a minute he ran. The Very Young Man started towards him, but theDoctor waved him back, redoubling his efforts. 

When he arrived at the edge of the handkerchief, evidently he was nearlywinded, for he stopped beside his friends, and stood breathing heavily. The Banker leaned forwards, and could see the three little figures (theywere not as big as the joint of his little finger) talking earnestly;the Very Young Man was gesticulating wildly, pointing towards the ring. One of them made a start, but the others called him back. 

Then they began waving their arms, and all at once the Banker realizedthey were waving at him. He leaned down, and by their motions knew thatsomething was wrong--that they wanted him to do something. 

Trembling with fright, the Banker left his chair and knelt upon thefloor. The Very Young Man made a funnel of his hands and shouted up:"It's too far away. We can't make it--we're too small!"

The Banker looked his bewilderment. Then he thought suddenly of thespoon that he still held in his hand, and he put it down towards them. The three little figures ducked and scattered as the spoon in theBanker's trembling fingers neared them. 

"Not that--the ring. Bring it closer. Hurry--Hurry!" shouted the VeryYoung Man. The Banker, leaning closer, could just hear the words. Comprehending at last, he picked up the ring and laid it near the edgeof the handkerchief. Immediately the little figures ran over to it andbegan climbing up. 

The Very Young Man was the first to reach it; the Banker could see himvault upwards and land astraddle upon its top. The Doctor was up in amoment more, and the two were reaching down their hands to help up theBig Business Man. The Banker slid the spoon carefully along the floortowards the ring, but the Big Business Man waved it away. The Bankerlaid the spoon aside, and when he looked at the ring again the BigBusiness Man was up beside his companions, standing upright with themupon the top of the ring. 

The Banker stared so long and intently, his vision blurred. He closedhis eyes for a moment, and when he opened them again the little figureson the top of the ring had disappeared. 

The Banker felt suddenly sick and faint in the closeness of the room. Rising to his feet, he hurried to a window and threw up the sash. A gustof rain and wind beat against his face as he stood leaning on the sill. He felt much better after a few moments; and remembering his friends, heclosed the window and turned back towards the ring. At first he thoughthe could just make them out, but when he got down on the floor closebeside the ring, he saw nothing. 

Almost unnerved, he sat down heavily upon the floor beside thehandkerchief, leaning on one elbow. A corner of the handkerchief wasturned back, and one side was ruffled where the wind from the openedwindow had blown it up. He smoothed out the handkerchief carefully. 

For some time the Banker sat quiet, reclining uncomfortably upon thehard floor. The room was very still--its silence oppressed him. Hestared stolidly at the ring, his head in a turmoil. The ring lookedoddly out of place, lying over near one edge of the handkerchief; he hadalways seen it in the center before. Abruptly he put out his hand andpicked it up. Then remembrance of the Doctor's warning flooded over him. In sudden panic he put the ring down again, almost in the same place atthe edge of the handkerchief. 

Trembling all over, he looked at his watch; it was a quarter to nine. Herose stiffly to his feet and sank into his chair. After a moment helighted a cigar. The handkerchief lay at his feet; he could just see thering over the edge of his knees. For a long time he sat staring. 

The striking of a church clock nearby roused him. He shook himselftogether and blinked at the empty room. In his hand he held an unlightedcigar; mechanically he raised it to his lips. The sound of the churchbells died away; the silence of the room and the loneliness of it madehim shiver. He looked at his watch again. Ten o'clock! Still anotherhour to wait and watch, and then he could take the ring back to theMuseum. He glanced down at the ring; it was still lying by the edge ofthe handkerchief. 

Again the Banker fell into a stupor as he stared at the glistening goldband lying on the floor at his feet. How lonely he felt! Yet he was notalone, he told himself. His three friends were still there, hardly twofeet from the toe of his shoe. He wondered how they were making out. Would they come back any moment? Would they ever come back?

And then the Banker found himself worrying because the ring was not inthe center of the handkerchief. 

He felt frightened, and he wondered why. Again he looked at his watch. They had been gone more than two hours now. Swiftly he stooped, andlifting the ring, gazed at it searchingly, holding it very close to hiseyes. Then he carefully put it down in the center of the handkerchief, and lay back in his chair with a long sigh of relief. It was all rightnow; just a little while to wait, and then he could take it back to theMuseum. In a moment his eyes blinked, closed, and soon he was fastasleep, lying sprawled out in the big leather chair and breathingheavily. 

CHAPTER XIII

PERILOUS WAYS

The Very Young Man sat on the floor, between his two friends at the edgeof the handkerchief, and put the first pellets of the drug to histongue. His heart was beating furiously; his forehead was damp with thesweat of excitement and of fear. The pellets tasted sweet, and yet alittle acrid. He crushed them in his mouth and swallowed them hastily. 

In the silence of the room, the ticking of his watch suddenly soundedvery loud. He raised his arm and looked at its face; it was just tenminutes past eight. He continued to stare at its dial, wondering whynothing was happening to him. Then all at once the figures on the watchbecame very sharp and vivid; he could see them with microscopicclearness. A buzzing sounded in his ears. 

He remembered having felt the same way just before he fainted. He drew adeep breath and looked around the room; it swam before his gaze. Heclosed his eyes and waited, wondering if he would faint. The buzzing inhis head grew louder; a feeling of nausea possessed him. 

After a moment his head cleared; he felt better. Then all at once herealized that the floor upon which he sat was moving. It seemed to beshifting out from under him in all directions. He sat with his feet flatupon the floor, his knees drawn close against his chin. And the floorseemed to be carrying his feet farther out; he constantly had to bepulling them back against him. He put one hand down beside him, andcould feel his fingers dragging very slowly as the polished surfacemoved past. The noise in his head was almost gone now. He opened hiseyes. 

Before him, across the handkerchief the Banker sat in his chair. He hadgrown enormously in size, and as the Very Young Man looked he could seehim and the chair growing steadily larger. He met the Banker's anxiousglance, and smiled up at him. Then he looked at his two friends, sittingon the floor beside him. They alone, of everything within his range ofvision, had grown no larger. 

The Very Young Man thought of the belt around his waist. He put his handto it, and found it tight as before. So, after all, they would not haveto leave anything behind, he thought. 

The Doctor rose to his feet and turned away, back under the huge tablethat loomed up behind him. The Very Young Man got up, too, and stoodbeside the Big Business Man, holding to him for support. His head feltstrangely confused; his legs were weak and shaky. 

Steadily larger grew the room and everything in it. The Very Young Manturned his eyes up to the light high overhead. Its great electric bulbsdazzled him with their brilliancy; its powerful glare made objectsaround as bright as though in daylight. After a moment the Big BusinessMan's grip on his arm tightened. 

"God, it's weird!" he said in a tense whisper. "Look!"

Before them spread a great, level, shining expanse of black, with thering in its center--a huge golden circle. Beyond the farther edge of theblack they could see the feet of the banker, and the lower part of hislegs stretching into the air far above them. 

The Very Young Man looked up still higher, and saw the Banker staringdown at him, "Good-by, my boy, " said the Banker. His voice came from faraway in a great roar to the Very Young Man's ears. 

"Good-by, sir, " said the Very Young Man, and waved his hand. 

Several minutes passed, and still the Very Young Man stood holding tohis companion, and watching the expanse of handkerchief widening out andthe gleaming ring growing larger. Then he thought of the Doctor, andturned suddenly to look behind him. Across the wide, glistening surfaceof the floor stood the Doctor, leaning against the tremendous columnthat the Very Young Man knew was the leg of the center-table. And as theVery Young Man stood staring, he could see this distance between themgrowing steadily greater. A sudden fear possessed him, and he shouted tohis friend. 

"Good Lord, suppose he can't make it!" said the Big Business Manfearfully. 

"He's coming, " answered the Very Young Man. "He's got to make it. "

The Doctor was running towards them now, and in a few moments he wasbeside them, breathing heavily. 

"Close call, Frank, " said the Big Business Man, shaking his head. "Youwere the one said we must keep together. " The Doctor was too much out ofbreath to answer. 

"This is worse, " said the Very Young Man. "Look where the ring is. "

More than two hundred yards away across the black expanse of silkhandkerchief lay the ring. 

"It's almost as high as our waist now, and look how far it is!" addedthe Very Young Man excitedly. 

"It's getting farther every minute, " said the Big Business Man. "Comeon, " and he started to run towards the ring. 

"I can't make it. It's too far!" shouted the Doctor after him. 

The Big Business Man stopped short. "What'll we do?" he asked. "We'vegot to get there. "

"That ring will be a mile away in a few minutes, at the rate it'sgoing, " said the Very Young Man. 

"We'll have to get him to move it over here, " decided the Doctor, looking up into the air, and pointing. 

"Gee, I never thought of that!" said the Very Young Man. "Oh, greatScott, look at him!"

Out across the broad expanse of handkerchief they could see the hugewhite face of their friend looming four or five hundred feet in the airabove them. It was the most astounding sight their eyes had ever beheld;yet so confused were they by the flood of new impressions to which theywere being subjected that this colossal figure added little to theirsurprise. 

"We must make him move the ring over here, " repeated the Doctor. 

"You'll never make him hear you, " said the Big Business Man, as the VeryYoung Man began shouting at the top of his voice. 

"We've got to, " said the Very Young Man breathlessly. "Look at thatring. We can't get to it now. We're stranded here. Good Lord! What's thematter with him--can't he see us?" he added, and began shouting again. 

"He's getting up, " said the Doctor. They could see the figure of theBanker towering in the air a thousand feet above the ring, and then witha swoop of his enormous face come down to them as he knelt upon thefloor. 

With his hands to his mouth, the Very Young Man shouted up: "It's toofar away. We can't make it--we're too small. " They waited. Suddenly, without warning, a great wooden oval bowl fifteen or twenty feet acrosscame at them with tremendous speed. They scattered hastily in terror. 

"Not that--the ring!" shouted the Very Young Man, as he realized it wasthe spoon in the Banker's hand that had frightened them. 

A moment more and the ring was before them, lying at the edge of thehandkerchief--a circular pit of rough yellow rock breast high. They ranover to it and climbed upon its top. 

Another minute and the ring had grown until its top became a narrowcurving path upon which they could stand. They got upon their feet andlooked around curiously. 

"Well, we're here, " remarked the Very Young Man. "Everything's O. K. Sofar. Let's get right around after that scratch. "

"Keep together, " cautioned the Doctor, and they started off along thepath, following its inner edge. 

As they progressed, the top of the ring steadily became broader; thesurface underfoot became rougher. The Big Business Man, walking nearestthe edge, pulled his companion towards him. "Look there!" he said. Theystood cautiously at the edge and looked down. 

Beneath them the ring bulged out. Over the bulge they could see theblack of the handkerchief--a sheer hundred-feet drop. The ring curvedsharply to the left; they could follow its wall all the way around; itformed a circular pit some two hundred and fifty feet in diameter. 

A gentle breeze fanned their faces as they walked. The Very Young Manlooked up into the gray of the distance overhead. A little behind, overhis shoulder he saw above him in the sky a great, gleaming light manytimes bigger than the sun. It cast on the ground before him an opaqueshadow, blurred about the edges. 

"Pretty good day, at that, " remarked the Very Young Man, throwing outhis chest. 

The Doctor laughed. "It's half-past eight at night, " he said. "And ifyou'll remember half an hour ago, it's a very stormy night, too. "

The Big Business Man stopped short in his walk. "Just think, " he saidpointing up into the gray of the sky, with a note of awe in his voice, "over there, not more than fifteen feet away, is a window, looking downtowards the Gaiety Theater and Broadway. "

The Very Young. Man looked bewildered. "That window's a hundred milesaway, " he said positively. 

"Fifteen feet, " said the Big Business Man. "Just beyond the table. "

"It's all in the viewpoint" said the Doctor, and laughed again. 

They had recovered their spirits by now, the Very Young Man especiallyseeming imbued with the enthusiasm of adventure. 

The path became constantly rougher as they advanced. 

The ground underfoot--a shaggy, yellow, metallic ore--was strewn nowwith pebbles. These pebbles grew larger farther on, becoming huge rocksand bowlders that greatly impeded their progress. 

They soon found it difficult to follow the brink of the precipice. Thepath had broadened now so that its other edge was out of sight, for theycould see only a short distance amid the bowlders that everywheretumbled about, and after a time they found themselves wandering along, lost in the barren waste. 

"How far is the scratch, do you suppose?" the Very Young Man wanted toknow. 

They stopped and consulted a moment; then the Very Young Man clamberedup to the top of a rock. "There's a range of hills over there prettyclose, " he called down to them. "That must be the way. "

They had just started again in the direction of the hills when, almostwithout warning, and with a great whistle and roar, a gale of wind sweptdown upon them. They stood still and looked at each other with startledfaces, bracing with their feet against its pressure. 

"Oh, golly, what's this?" cried the Very Young Man, and sat downsuddenly upon the ground to keep from being blown forward. 

The wind increased rapidly in violence until, in a moment, all three ofthe men were crouching upon the ground for shelter. 

"Great Scott, this is a tornado!" ejaculated the Big Business Man. Hiswords were almost lost amid the howling of the blast as it swept acrossthe barren waste of rocks. 

"Rogers never told us anything about this. It's getting worse everyminute. I----" A shower of pebbles and a great cloud of metallic dustswept past, leaving them choking and gasping for breath. 

The Very Young Man got upon his hands and knees. 

"I'm going over there, " he panted. "It's better. "

CHAPTER XIV

STRANGE EXPERIENCES

Led by the Very Young Man, the three crawled a few yards to where acluster of bowlders promised better shelter. Huddled behind this mass ofrock, they found themselves protected in a measure from the violence ofthe storm. Lying there, they could see yellowish-gray clouds of sand gosweeping by, with occasionally a hail of tiny pebbles, blowing almosthorizontal. Overhead, the sky was unchanged. Not a vestige of cloud wasvisible, only the gray-blue of an immense distance, with the hugegleaming light, like an enormous sun, hung in its center. 

The Very Young Man put his hand on the Doctor's arm. "It's going down, "he said. Hardly were the words out of his mouth before, with even lesswarning than it began, the gale abruptly ceased. There remained only thepleasantly gentle breeze of a summer afternoon blowing against theirfaces. And this came from almost an opposite direction to the storm. 

The three men looked at one another in amazement. 

"Well, I'll be----" ejaculated the Very Young Man. "What next?"

They waited for some time, afraid to venture out from the rocks amongwhich they had taken refuge. Then, deciding that the storm, howeverunexplainable, was over for the time at least, they climbed to theirfeet and resumed their journey with bruised knees, but otherwise nonethe worse for the danger through which they had passed. 

After walking a short distance, they came up a little incline, andbefore them, hardly more than a quarter of a mile away, they could see arange of hills. 

"The scratch must be behind those hills, " said the Very Young Man, pointing. 

"It's a long distance, " said the Big Business Man thoughtfully. "We'restill growing smaller--look. "

Their minds had been so occupied that for some time they had forgottenthe effect of the drug upon their stature. As they looked about them nowthey could see the rocks around them still increasing steadily in size, and could feel the ground shifting under their feet when they stoodstill. 

"You're right; we're getting smaller, " observed the Very Young Man. "Howlong before we'll stop, do you suppose?"

The Doctor drew the Chemist's memoranda from the pouch of his belt. "Itsays about five or six hours for the first four pellets, " he read. 

The Very Young Man looked at his watch. "Quarter to nine. We've beenless than an hour yet. Come on, let's keep going, " and he startedwalking rapidly forward. 

They walked for a time in silence. The line of hills before them grewvisibly in size, and they seemed slowly to be nearing it. 

"I've been thinking, " began the Doctor thoughtfully as he glanced up atthe hills. "There's one theory of Rogers's that was a fallacy. Youremember he was quite positive that this change of stature becamesteadily more rapid, until it reached its maximum rate and then remainedconstant. If that were so we should probably be diminishing in size morerapidly now than when we first climbed on to the ring. If we had so muchtrouble getting to the ring then"--he smiled at the remembrance of theirdifficulty--"I don't see how we could ever get to those hills now. "

"Gee, that's so, " said the Very Young Man. "We'd never be able to getanywhere, would we?"

"How do you figure it works?" asked the Big Business Man. 

The Doctor folded up the paper and replaced it in his belt. "I don'tknow, " he answered. "I think probably it proceeds in cycles, like thenormal rate of growth--times of rapid progress succeeded by periods ofcomparative inactivity. "

"I never knew people grew that way, " observed the Very Young Man. 

"They do, " said the Doctor. "And if these drugs produce the same effectwe----" He got no further, for suddenly the earth seemed to rise swiftlyunder them, and they were thrown violently to the ground. 

The Very Young Man, as he lay prone, looked upward, and saw the sunlikelight above fall swiftly down across the sky and disappear below thehorizon, plunging the world about them into the gloom of asemi-twilight. A wind, fiercer than before, swept over them with a roar. 

"The end of the world, " murmured the Very Young Man to himself. And hewondered why he was not frightened. 

Then came the feeling of an extraordinary lightness of body, as thoughthe ground were dropping away from under him. The wind abruptly ceasedblowing. He saw the ball of light rise swiftly from the horizon andmount upward in a great, gleaming arc to the zenith, where again it hungmotionless. 

The three men lay quiet, their heads reeling. Then the Very Young Mansat up dizzily and began feeling himself all over. "There's nothingwrong with me, " he said lugubriously, meeting the eyes of his friendswho apparently were also more surprised than hurt. "But--oh, my gosh, the whole universe went nutty!" he added to himself in awe. 

"What did that?" asked the Big Business Man. He climbed unsteadily tohis feet and sat upon a rock, holding his head in his hands. 

The Doctor was up in a moment beside him. "We're not hurt, " he said, looking at his companions. "Don't let's waste any more time--let's getinto that valley. " The Very Young Man could see by his manner that heknew or guessed what had happened. 

"But say; what----" began the Very Young Man. 

"Come on, " interrupted the Doctor, and started walking ahead swiftly. 

There was nothing for his two friends to do but to follow. They walkedin silence, in single file, picking their way among the rocks. For aquarter of an hour or more they kept going, until finally they came tothe ridge of hills, finding them enormous rocks, several hundred feethigh, strewn closely together. 

"The valley must be right beyond, " said the Doctor. "Come on. "

The spaces between these huge rocks were, some of them, fifty feet ormore in width. Inside the hills the travelers found the ground evenrougher than before, and it was nearly half an hour before they emergedon the other side. 

Instead of the shallow valley they expected to find, they came upon aprecipice--a sheer drop into a tremendous caņon, half as wide possiblyas it was deep. They could see down to its bottom from where theystood--the same rocky, barren waste as that through which they had beentraveling. Across the caņon, on the farther side, lay another line ofhills. 

"It's the scratch all right, " said the Very Young Man, as they stoppednear the brink of the precipice, "but, holy smoke! Isn't it big?"

"That's two thousand feet down there, " said the Big Business Man, stepping cautiously nearer to the edge. "Rogers didn't say it was sodeep. "

"That's because we've been so much longer getting here, " explained theDoctor. 

"How are we going to get down?" asked the Very Young Man as he stoodbeside the Big Business Man within a few feet of the brink. "It'sgetting deeper every minute, don't forget that. "

The Big Business Man knelt down and carefully approached to the veryedge of the precipice. Then, as he looked over, he got upon his feetwith a laugh of relief. "Come here, " he said. 

They joined him at the edge and, looking over, could see that the jaggedroughness of the wall made the descent, though difficult, notexceptionally hazardous. Below them, not more than twenty feet, a wideledge jutted out, and beyond that they could see other similar ledgesand crevices that would afford a foothold. 

"We can get down that, " said the Very Young Man. "There's an easyplace, " and he pointed farther along the brink, to where a break in theedge seemed to offer a means of descent to the ledge just below. 

"It's going to be a mighty long climb down, " said the Big Business Man. "Especially as we're getting smaller all the time. I wonder, " he addedthoughtfully, "how would it be if we made ourselves larger before westarted. We could get big enough, you know, so that it would only be afew hundred feet down there. Then, after we got down, we could get smallagain. "

"That's a thought, " said the Very Young Man. 

The Doctor sat down somewhat wearily, and again took the papers from hisbelt. "The idea is a good one, " he said. "But there's one thing youoverlook. The larger we get, the smoother the wall is going to be. Look, can't you see it changing every moment?"

It was true. Even in the short time since they had first looked down, new crevices had opened up. The descent, though longer, was momentarilybecoming less dangerous. 

"You see, " continued the Doctor, "if the valley were only a few hundredfeet deep, the precipice might then be so sheer we could not trustourselves to it at all. "

"You're right, " observed the Big Business Man. 

"Well, it's not very hard to get down now, " said the Very Young Man. "Let's get going before it gets any deeper. Say, " he added, "how aboutstopping our size where it is? How would that work?"

The Doctor was reading the papers he held in his hand. "I think, " hesaid, "it would be our wisest course to follow as closely as possiblewhat Rogers tells us to do. It may be harder, but I think we will avoidtrouble in the end. "

"We could get lost in size just as easily as in space, couldn't we?" theBig Business Man put in. "That's a curious idea, isn't it?"

"It's true, " agreed the Doctor. "It is something we must guard againstvery carefully. "

"Well, come on then, let's get going, " said the Very Young Man, pullingthe Doctor to his feet. 

The Big Business Man glanced at his watch. "Twenty to ten, " he said. Then he looked up into the sky. "One hour and a half ago, " he addedsentimentally, "we were up there. What will another hour bring--Iwonder?"

"Nothing at all, " said the Very Young Man, "if we don't ever getstarted. Come on. "

He walked towards the place he had selected, followed by his companions. And thus the three adventurers began their descent into the ring. 

CHAPTER XV

THE VALLEY OF THE SACRIFICE

For the first half-hour of their climb down into the valley of thescratch, the three friends were too preoccupied with their own safety totalk more than an occasional sentence. They came upon many places thatat first glance appeared impassable, or at least sufficiently hazardousto cause them to hesitate, but in each instance the changing contour ofthe precipice offered some other means of descent. 

After thirty minutes of arduous effort, the Big Business Man sat downsuddenly upon a rock and began to unlace his shoes. 

"I've got to rest a while, " he groaned. "My feet are in terrible shape. "

His two companions were glad of the opportunity to sit with him for amoment. 

"Gosh, I'm all in, too!" said the Very Young Man with a sigh. 

They were sitting upon a ledge about twenty feet wide, with the walldown which they had come at their back. 

"I'll swear that's as far down there as it ever was, " said the BigBusiness Man, with a wave of his hand towards the valley below them. 

"Further, " remarked the Very Young Man. "I've known that right along. "

"That's to be expected, " said the Doctor. "But we're a third the waydown, just the same; that's the main thing. " He glanced up the rocky, precipitous wall behind them. "We've come down a thousand feet, atleast. The valley must be three thousand feet deep or more now. "

"Say, how deep does it get before it stops?" inquired the Very YoungMan. 

The Doctor smiled at him quietly. "Rogers's note put it about twelvethousand, " he answered. "It should reach that depth and stop about"--hehesitated a moment, calculating--"about two o'clock, " he finished. 

"Some climb, " commented the Very Young Man. "We could do this a lotbetter than we're doing it, I think. "

For some time they sat in silence. From where they sat the valley hadall the appearance of a rocky, barren caņon of their own world above, asit might have looked on the late afternoon of a cloudless summer day. Agentle breeze was blowing, and in the sky overhead they could still seethe huge light that for them was the sun. 

"The weather is certainly great down here anyway, " observed the VeryYoung Man, "that's one consolation. "

The Big Business Man had replaced his shoes, taken a swallow of water, and risen to his feet, preparing to start downward again, when suddenlythey all noticed a curious swaying motion, as though the earth weremoving under them. 

"Now what?" ejaculated the Very Young Man, standing up abruptly, withhis feet spread wide apart. 

The ground seemed pressing against his feet as if he were weighted downwith a heavy load. And he felt a little also as though in a moving trainwith a side thrust to guard against. The sun was no longer visible, andthe valley was plunged in the semidarkness of twilight. A strong windsprang up, sweeping down upon them from above. 

The Very Young Man and the Big Business Man looked puzzled; the Doctoralone of the three seemed to understand what was happening. 

"He's moving the ring, " he explained, with a note of apprehension in hisvoice. 

"Oh, " ejaculated the Big Business Man, comprehending at last, "so that'sthe----"

The Very Young Man standing with his back to the wall and his legsspread wide looked hastily at his watch. "Moving the ring? Why, damnit----" he began impetuously. 

The Big Business Man interrupted him. "Look there, look!" he almostwhispered, awestruck. 

The sky above the valley suddenly had become suffused with red. As theywatched it seemed to take form, appearing no longer space, but filledwith some enormous body of reddish color. In one place they could see itbroken into a line of gray, and underneath the gray, two circular holesof light gleamed down at them. 

The Doctor shuddered and closed his eyes; his two friends stared upward, fascinated into immobility. 

"What--is--that?" the Very Young Man whispered. 

Before he could be answered, the earth swayed under them more violentlythan before. The red faded back out of the sky, and the sun appearedsweeping up into the zenith, where it hung swaying a moment and thenpoised motionless. The valley was flooded again with light; the groundsteadied under them and became quiet. The wind died rapidly away, and inanother moment it was as though nothing unusual had occurred. 

For a time the three friends stood silent, too astonished for words atthis extraordinary experience. The Doctor was the first to recoverhimself. "He moved the ring, " he said hurriedly. "That's twice. We musthurry. "

"It's only quarter past ten. We told him not till eleven, " protested theVery Young Man. 

"Even that is too soon for safety, " said the Doctor back over hisshoulder, for already he had started downward. 

It was nearly twelve o'clock when they stopped again for rest. At thistime the valley appeared about seven or eight thousand feet deep: theyestimated themselves to be slightly more than half-way down. From elevenuntil twelve they had momentarily expected some disturbing phenomenaattendant upon the removal of the ring by the Banker from the clubroomto its place in the Museum. But nothing unusual had occurred. 

"He probably decided to leave it alone for a while, " commented the BigBusiness Man, as they were discussing the matter. "Glad he showed thatmuch sense. "

"It would not bother us much now, " the Doctor replied. "We're too fardown. See how the light is changing. "

The sky showed now only as a narrow ribbon of blue between the edges ofthe caņon's walls. The sun was behind the wall down which they wereclimbing, out of sight, and throwing their side of the valley intoshadow. And already they could begin to see a dim phosphorescenceglowing from the rocks near at hand. 

The Very Young Man, sitting beside the Doctor, suddenly gripped hisfriend by the arm. "A bird, " he said, pointing down the valley. "See itthere?"

From far off they could see a bird coming up the center of the valley ata height apparently almost level with their own position, and flyingtowards them. They watched it in silence as it rapidly approached. 

"Great Scott, it's big!" muttered the Big Business Man in an undertone. 

As the bird came closer they saw it was fully fifty feet across thewings. It was flying straight down the valley at tremendous speed. Whenit was nearly opposite them they heard a familiar "cheep, cheep, " comeechoing across the valley. 

"The sparrow, " whispered the Very Young Man. "Oh, my gosh, look how bigit is!"

In another moment it had passed them; they watched in silence until itdisappeared in the distance. 

"Well, " said the Very Young Man, "if that had ever seen us----" He drewa long breath, leaving the rest to the imagination of his hearers. 

"What a wonderful thing!" said the Big Business Man, with a note of awein his voice. "Just think--that sparrow when we last saw it wasinfinitesimally small. "

The Doctor laughed. "It's far smaller now than it was then, " he said. "Only since we last saw it we have changed size to a much greater extentthan it has. "

"Foolish of us to have sent it in here, " remarked the Big Business Mancasually. "Suppose that----" He stopped abruptly. 

The Very Young Man started hastily to his feet. 

"Oh, golly!" he exclaimed as the same thought occurred to him. "Thatlizard----" He looked about him wildly. 

"It was foolish perhaps. " The Doctor spoke quietly. "But we can't helpit now. The sparrow has gone. That lizard may be right here at ourfeet"--The Very Young Man jumped involuntarily--"and so small we can'tsee it, " the Doctor finished with a smile. "Or it may be a hundred milesaway and big as a dinosaur. " The Very Young Man shuddered. 

"It was senseless of us to let them get in here anyway, " said the BigBusiness Man. "That sparrow evidently has stopped getting smaller. Doyou realize how big it will be to us, after we've diminished a fewhundred more times?"

"We needn't worry over it, " said the Doctor. "Even if we knew the lizardgot into the valley the chances of our seeing it here are one in amillion. But we don't even know that. If you'll remember it was stillsome distance away from the scratch when it became invisible; I doubtvery much if it even got there. No, I think probably we'll never see itagain. "

"I hope not, " declared the Very Young Man emphatically. 

For another hour they climbed steadily downward, making more rapidprogress than before, for the descent became constantly less difficult. During this time they spoke little, but it was evident that the VeryYoung Man, from the frequent glances he threw around, never for a momentforgot the possibility of encountering the lizard. The sparrow did notreturn, although for that, too, they were constantly on the look-out. 

It was nearly half-past one when the Big Business Man threw himself uponthe ground exhausted. The valley at this time had reached a depth ofover ten thousand feet. It was still growing deeper, but the travelershad made good progress and were not more than fifteen hundred feet aboveits bottom. 

They had been under tremendous physical exertion for over five hours, too absorbed in their strange experiences to think of eating, and nowall three agreed it was foolish to attempt to travel farther withoutfood and rest. 

"We had better wait here an hour or two, " the Doctor decided. "Our sizewill soon remain constant and it won't take us long to get down afterwe've rested. "

"I'm hungry, " suggested the Very Young Man, "how about you?"

They ate and drank sparingly of the little store they had brought withthem. The Doctor would not let them have much, both because he wanted toconserve their supply, and because he knew in their exhausted conditionit would be bad for them to eat heartily. 

It was about two o'clock when they noticed that objects around them nolonger were increasing in size. They had finished their meal and feltgreatly refreshed. 

"Things have stopped growing, " observed the Very Young Man. "We've donefour pills' worth of the journey anyway, " he added facetiously. He roseto his feet, stretching. He felt sore and bruised all over, but with themeal and a little rest, not particularly tired. 

"I move we go on down now, " he suggested, walking to the edge of thehuge crevice in which they were sitting. "It's only a couple of thousandfeet. "

"Perhaps we might as well, " agreed the Doctor, rising also. "When we getto the floor of the valley, we can find a good spot and turn in for thenight. "

The incongruity of his last words with the scene around made the Doctorsmile. Overhead the sky still showed a narrow ribbon of blue. Across thevalley the sunlight sparkled on the yellowish crags of the rocky wall. In the shadow, on the side down which they were climbing, the rocks nowshone distinctly phosphorescent, with a peculiar waviness of outline. 

"Not much like either night or day, is it?" added the Doctor. "We'llhave to get used to that. "

They started off again, and in another two hours found themselves goingdown a gentle rocky slope and out upon the floor of the valley. 

"We're here at last, " said the Big Business Man wearily. 

The Very Young Man looked up the great, jagged precipice down which theyhad come, to where, far above, its edge against the strip of blue markedthe surface of the ring. 

"Some trip, " he remarked. "I wouldn't want to tackle that every day. "

"Four o'clock, " said the Doctor, "the light up there looks just thesame. I wonder what's happened to George. "

Neither of his companions answered him. The Big Business Man laystretched full length upon the ground near by, and the Very Young Manstill stood looking up the precipice, lost in thought. 

"What a nice climb going back, " he suddenly remarked. 

The Doctor laughed. "Don't let's worry about that, Jack. If you rememberhow Rogers described it, getting back is easier than getting in. But themain point now, " he added seriously, "is for us to make sure of gettingdown to Arite as speedily as possible. "

The Very Young Man surveyed the barren waste around them in dismay. Thefloor of the valley was strewn with even larger rocks and bowlders thanthose on the surface above, and looked utterly pathless and desolate. "What do we do first?" he asked dubiously. 

"First, " said the Doctor, smiling at the Big Business Man, who lay uponhis back staring up into the sky and paying no attention to themwhatever, "I think first we had better settle ourselves for a good longrest here. "

"If we stop at all, let's sleep a while, " said the Very Young Man. "Alittle rest only gets you stiff. It's a pretty exposed place out herethough, isn't it, to sleep?" he added, thinking of the sparrow and thelizard. 

"One of us will stay awake and watch, " answered the Doctor. 

CHAPTER XVI

THE PIT OF DARKNESS

At the suggestion of the Very Young Man they located without muchdifficulty a sort of cave amid the rocks, which offered shelter fortheir rest. Taking turns watching, they passed eight hours in faircomfort, and by noon next day, after another frugal meal they feltthoroughly refreshed and eager to continue the journey. 

"We sure are doing this classy, " observed the Very Young Man. "Think ofRogers--all he could do was fall asleep when he couldn't stay awake anymore. Gosh, what chances he took!"

"We're playing it safe, " agreed the Big Business Man. 

"But we mustn't take it too easy, " added the Doctor. 

The Very Young Man stretched himself luxuriously and buckled his belt ontighter. "Well, I'm ready for anything, " he announced. "What's next?"

The Doctor consulted his papers. "We find the circular pit Rogers madein the scratch and we descend into it. We take twelve more pills at theedge of the pit, " he said. 

The Very Young Man leaped to the top of a rock and looked out over thedesolate waste helplessly. "How are we going to find the pit?" he askeddubiously. "It's not in sight, that's sure. "

"It's down there--about five miles, " said the Doctor. "I saw ityesterday as we came down. "

"That's easy, " said the Very Young Man, and he started offenthusiastically, followed by the others. 

In less than two hours they found themselves at the edge of the pit. Itappeared almost circular in form, apparently about five miles across, and its smooth, shining walls extended almost perpendicularly down intoblackness. Somewhat awed by the task confronting them in getting downinto this abyss, the three friends sat down near its brink to discusstheir plan of action. 

"We take twelve pills here, " said the Doctor. "That ought to make ussmall enough to climb down into that. "

"Do you think we need so many?" asked the Big Business Man thoughtfully. "You know, Frank, we're making an awful lot of work for ourselves, playing this thing so absolutely safe. Think of what a distance downthat will be after we have got as small as twelve pills will make us. Itmight take us days to get to the bottom. "

"How did Rogers get down?" the Very Young Man wanted to know. 

"He took the twelve pills here, " the Doctor answered. 

"But as I understand it, he fell most of the way down while he was stillbig, and then got small afterwards at the bottom. " This from the BigBusiness Man. 

"I don't know how about you, " said the Very Young Man drily, "but I'dmuch rather take three days to walk down than fall down in one day. "

The Doctor smiled. "I still think, " he said, "that we had better stickto the directions Rogers left us. Then at least there is no danger ofour getting lost in size. But I agree with you, Jack. I'd rather notfall down, even if it takes longer to walk. "

"I wonder----" began the Big Business Man. "You know I've beenthinking--it does seem an awful waste of energy for us to let ourselvesget smaller than absolutely necessary in climbing down these places. Maybe you don't realize it. "

"I do, " said the Very Young Man, looking sorrowfully at the ragged shoeson his feet and the cuts and bruises on his legs. 

"What I mean is----" persisted the Big Business Man. 

"How far do you suppose we have actually traveled since we started lastnight?"

"That's pretty hard to estimate, " said the doctor. "We have walkedperhaps fifteen miles altogether, besides the climb down. I suppose weactually came down five or six thousand feet. "

"And at the size we are now it would have been twelve thousand feetdown, wouldn't it?"

"Yes, " answered the Doctor, "it would. "

"And just think, " went on the Big Business Man, "right now, based on thesize we were when we began, we've only gone some six feet altogetherfrom the place we started. "

"And a sixteenth of an inch or less since we left the surface of thering, " said the Doctor smiling. 

"Gee, that's a weird thought, " the Very Young Man said, as he gazed inawe at the lofty heights about them. 

"I've been thinking, " continued the Big Business Man. "You say we mustbe careful not to get lost in size. Well, suppose instead of takingtwelve pills here, we only take six. That should be enough to get usstarted--possibly enough to get us all the way down. Then before wemoved at all we could take the other six. That would keep it straight, wouldn't it?"

"Great idea, " said the Very Young Man. "I'm in favor of that. "

"It sounds feasible--certainly if we can get all the way down with sixpills we will save a lot of climbing. "

"If six aren't enough, we can easily take more, " added the Big BusinessMan. 

And so they decided to take only six pills of the drug and to get downto the bottom of the pit, if possible, without taking more. The pit, asthey stood looking down into it now, seemed quite impossible of descent, for its almost perpendicular wall was smooth and shining as polishedbrass. 

They took the drug, standing close together at the edge of the pit. Immediately began again the same crawling sensation underfoot, much morerapid this time, while all around them the rocks began very rapidlyincreasing in size. 

The pit now seemed widening out at an astounding rate. In a few minutesit had broadened so that its opposite side could not be seen. The wallat the brink of which they stood had before curved in a great sweepingarc to enclose the circular hole; now it stretched in a nearly straight, unbroken line to the right and left as far as they could see. Beneaththem lay only blackness; it was as though they were at the edge of theworld. 

"Good God, what a place to go down into, " gasped the Big Business Man, after they had been standing nearly half an hour in silence, appalled atthe tremendous changes taking place around them. 

For some time past the wall before them had become sufficiently indentedand broken to make possible their descent. It was the Doctor who firstrealized the time--or perhaps it should be said, the size--they werelosing by their inactivity; and when with a few crisp words he broughtthem to themselves, they immediately started downward. 

For another six hours they traveled downward steadily, stopping onlyonce to eat. The descent during this time was not unlike that down theside of the valley, although towards the last it began rapidly to growless precipitous. 

They now found themselves confronted frequently with gentle slopesdownward, half a mile or more in extent, and sometimes by almost levelplaces, succeeded by another sharp descent. 

During this part of the trip they made more rapid progress than at anytime since starting, the Very Young Man in his enthusiasm at timesrunning forward and then sitting down to wait for the others to overtakehim. 

The light overhead gradually faded into the characteristic luminousblackness the Chemist had described. As it did so, the phosphorescentquality of the rocks greatly increased, or at least became morenoticeable, so that the light illuminating the landscape became hardlyless in volume, although totally different in quality. 

The ground underfoot and the rocks themselves had been steadilychanging. They had lost now almost entirely the yellowishness, metallook, and seemed to have more the quality of a gray opaque glass, ormarble. They appeared rather smoother, too, than before, although thehuge bowlders and loosely strewn rocks and pebbles still remained thecharacteristic feature of the landscape. 

The three men were still diminishing in size; in fact, at this time thelast dose of the drug seemed to have attained its maximum power, forobjects around them appeared to be growing larger at a dizzying rate. They were getting used to this effect, however, to a great extent, andwere no longer confused by the change as they had been before. 

It was the Big Business Man who first showed signs of weakening, and atthe end of six hours or more of steady--and, towards the end, extremelyrapid--traveling he finally threw himself down and declared he could gono farther. At this point they rested again several hours, taking turnsat watch, and each of them getting some measure of sleep. Of the three, the Very Young Man appeared in the best condition, although possibly itwas his enthusiasm that kept him from admitting even to himself anyserious physical distress. 

It was perhaps ten or twelve hours after they had taken the six pillsthat they were again ready to start downward. Before starting the threeadventurers discussed earnestly the advisability of taking the other sixpills. The action of the drug had ceased some time before. They decidednot to, since apparently there was no difficulty facing them at thispart of the journey, and decreasing their stature would onlyimmeasurably lengthen the distance they had to go. 

They had been traveling downward, through a barren land that now showedlittle change of aspect, for hardly more than another hour, whensuddenly, without warning, they came upon the tremendous glossy inclinethat they had been expecting to reach for some time. The rocks andbowlders stopped abruptly, and they found at their feet, slopingdownward at an angle of nearly forty-five degrees, a great, smoothplane. It extended as far as they could see both to the right and leftand downward, at a slightly lessening angle, into the luminous darknessthat now bounded their entire range of vision in every direction. 

This plane seemed distinctly of a different substance than anything theyhad hitherto encountered. It was, as the Chemist had described it, apparently like a smooth black marble. Yet it was not so smooth to themnow as he had pictured it, for its surface was sufficiently indented andridged to afford foothold. 

They started down this plane gingerly, yet with an assumed boldness theywere all of them far from feeling. It was slow work at first, andoccasionally one or the other of them would slide headlong a score offeet, until a break in the smoothness brought him to a stop. Theirrubber-soled shoes stood them in good stead here, for without the aidgiven by them this part of the journey would have been impossible. 

For several hours they continued this form of descent. The incline grewconstantly less steep, until finally they were able to walk down itquite comfortably. They stopped again to eat, and after traveling whatseemed to them some fifteen miles from the top of the incline theyfinally reached its bottom. 

They seemed now to be upon a level floor--a ground of somewhat metallicquality such as they had become familiar with above. Only now there wereno rocks or bowlders, and the ground was smoother and with a peculiarcorrugation. On one side lay the incline down which they had come. Therewas nothing but darkness to be seen in any other direction. Here theystopped again to rest and recuperate, and then they discussed earnestlytheir next movements. 

The Doctor, seated wearily upon the ground, consulted his memorandaearnestly. The Very Young Man sat close beside him. As usual the BigBusiness Man lay prone upon his back nearby, waiting for their decision. 

"Rogers wasn't far from a forest when he got here, " said the Very YoungMan, looking sidewise at the papers in the Doctor's hand. "And he speaksof a tiny range of hills; but we can't see anything from here. "

"We may not be within many miles of where Rogers landed, " answered theDoctor. 

"No reason why we should be, at that, is there? Do you think we'll everfind Arite?"

"Don't overlook the fact we've got six more pills to take here, " calledthe Big Business Man. 

"That's just what I was considering, " said the Doctor thoughtfully. "There's no use our doing anything until we have attained the rightsize. Those hills and the forest and river we are looking for might behere right at our feet and we couldn't see them while we are as big asthis. "

"We'd better take the pills and stay right here until their action wearsoff. I'm going to take a sleep, " said the Big Business Man. 

"I think we might as well all sleep, " said the Doctor. "There could notpossibly be anything here to harm us. "

They each took the six additional pills without further words. Physically exhausted as they were, and with the artificial drowsinessproduced by the drug, they were all three in a few moments fast asleep. 

CHAPTER XVII

THE WELCOME OF THE MASTER

It was nearly twelve hours later, as their watches showed them, that thefirst of the weary adventurers awoke. The Very Young Man it was whofirst opened his eyes with a confused sense of feeling that he was inbed at home, and that this was the momentous day he was to start hisjourney into the ring. He sat up and rubbed his eyes vigorously to seemore clearly his surroundings. 

Beside him lay his two friends, fast asleep. With returningconsciousness came the memory of the events of the day and night before. The Very Young Man sprang to his feet and vigorously awoke hiscompanions. 

The action of the drug again had ceased, and at first glance the sceneseemed to have changed very little. The incline now was some distanceaway, although still visible, stretching up in a great arc and fadingaway into the blackness above. The ground beneath their feet still ofits metallic quality, appeared far rougher than before. The Very YoungMan bent down and put his hand upon it. There was some form ofvegetation there, and, leaning closer, he could see what appeared to bethe ruins of a tiny forest, bent and trampled, the tree-trunks no largerthan slender twigs that he could have snapped asunder easily between hisfingers. 

"Look at this, " he exclaimed. "The woods--we're here. "

The others knelt down with him. 

"Be careful, " cautioned the Doctor. "Don't move around. We must getsmaller. " He drew the papers from his pocket. 

"Rogers was in doubt about this quantity to take, " he added. "We shouldbe now somewhere at the edge or in the forest he mentions. Yet we may bevery far from the point at which he reached the bottom of that incline. I think, too, that we are somewhat larger than he was. Probably thestrength of our drug differs from his to some extent. "

"How much should we take next, I wonder?" said the Big Business Man ashe looked at his companions. 

The Doctor took a pill and crushed it in his hand. "Let us take somuch, " he said, indicating a small portion of the powder. The otherseach crushed one of the pills and endeavored to take as nearly aspossible an equal amount. 

"I'm hungry, " said the Very Young Man. "Can we eat right after thepowder?"

"I don't think that should make any difference, " the Doctor answered, and so accustomed to the drug were they now that, quite nonchalantly, they sat down and ate. 

After a few moments it became evident that in spite of their care theamounts of the drug they had taken were far from equal. 

Before they had half finished eating, the Very Young Man was hardly morethan a third the size of the Doctor, with the Big Business Man abouthalf-way between. This predicament suddenly struck them as funny, andall three laughed heartily at the effect of the drug. 

"Hey, you, hurry up, or you'll never catch me, " shouted the Very YoungMan gleefully. "Gosh, but you're big!" He reached up and tried to touchthe Doctor's shoulder. Then, seeing the huge piece of chocolate in hisfriend's hand and comparing it with the little one in his own, he added:"Trade you chocolate. That's a regular meal you got there. "

"That's a real idea, " said the Big Business Man, ceasing his laughterabruptly. "Do you know, if we ever get really low on food, all we haveto do is one of us stay big and his food would last the other two amonth. "

"Fine; but how about the big one?" asked the Very Young Man, grinning. "He'd starve to death on that plan, wouldn't he?"

"Well, then he could get much smaller than the other two, and they couldfeed him. It's rather involved, I'll admit, but you know what I mean, "the Big Business Man finished somewhat lamely. 

"I've got a much better scheme than that, " said the Very Young Man. "Youlet the food stay large and you get small. How about that?" he addedtriumphantly. Then he laid carefully on the ground beside him a bit ofchocolate and a few of the hard crackers they were eating. "Stay there, little friends, when you grow up, I'll take you back, " he added in agleeful tone of voice. 

"Strange that should never have occurred to us, " said the Doctor. "It'sa perfect way of replenishing our food supply, " and quite seriously bothhe and the Big Business Man laid aside some of their food. 

"Thank me for that brilliant idea, " said the Very Young Man. Then, asanother thought occurred to him, he scratched his head lugubriously. "Wouldn't work very well if we were getting bigger, would it? Don'tlet's ever get separated from any food coming out. "

The Doctor was gigantic now in proportion to the other two, and both heand the Big Business Man took a very small quantity more of the drug inan effort to equalize their rate of bodily reduction. They evidently hitit about right, for no further change in their relative size occurred. 

All this time the vegetation underneath them had been growing steadilylarger. From tiny broken twigs it grew to sticks bigger than theirfingers, then to the thickness of their arms. They moved slightly fromtime to time, letting it spread out from under them, or brushing itaside and clearing a space in which they could sit more comfortably. Still larger it grew until the tree-trunks, thick now almost as theirbodies, were lying broken and twisted, all about them. Over to one sidethey could see, half a mile away, a place where the trees were stillstanding--slender saplings, they seemed, growing densely together. 

In half an hour more the Very Young Man announced he had stopped gettingsmaller. The action of the drug ceased in the others a few minuteslater. They were still not quite in their relative sizes, but a fewgrains of the powder quickly adjusted that. 

They now found themselves near the edge of what once was a great forest. Huge trees, whose trunks measured six feet or more in diameter, layscattered about upon the ground; not a single one was left standing. Inthe distance they could see, some miles away, where the untrodden forestbegan. 

They had replaced the food in their belts some time before, and nowagain they were ready to start. Suddenly the Very Young Man spied ahuge, round, whitish-brown object lying beside a tree-trunk near by. Hewent over and stood beside it. Then he called his friends excitedly. Itwas irregularly spherical in shape and stood higher than his knees--agreat jagged ball. The Very Young Man bent down, broke off a piece ofthe ball, and, stuffing it into his mouth, began chewing withenthusiasm. 

"Now, what do you think of that?" he remarked with a grin. "A crackercrumb I must have dropped when we first began lunch!"

They decided now to make for the nearest part of the unbroken forest. Itwas two hours before they reached it, for among the tangled mass ofbroken, fallen trees their progress was extremely difficult and slow. Once inside, among the standing trees, they felt more lost than ever. They had followed implicitly the Chemist's directions, and in generalhad encountered the sort of country they expected. Nevertheless, theyall three realized that it was probable the route they had followedcoming in was quite different from that taken by the Chemist; and inwhat direction lay their destination, and how far, they had not even thevaguest idea, but they were determined to go on. 

"If ever we find this city of Arite, it'll be a miracle sure, " the VeryYoung Man remarked as they were walking along in silence. 

They had gone only a short distance farther when the Big Business Man, who was walking in front, stopped abruptly. 

"What's that?" he asked in a startled undertone. 

They followed the direction of his hand, and saw, standing rigid againsta tree-trunk ahead, the figure of a man little more than half as tall asthemselves, his grayish body very nearly the color of the blue-gray treebehind him. 

The three adventurers stood motionless, staring in amazement. 

As the Big Business Man spoke, the little figure, which had evidentlybeen watching them for some time, turned irresolutely as though about torun. Then with gathering courage it began walking slowly towards them, holding out its arms with the palm up. 

"He's friendly, " whispered the Very Young Man; and they waited, silent, as the man approached. 

As he came closer, they could see he was hardly more than a boy, perhapstwenty years of age. His lean, gray body was nearly naked. Around hiswaist he wore a drab-colored tunic, of a substance they could notidentify. His feet and legs were bare. On his chest were strapped a thinstone plate, slightly convex. His thick, wavy, black hair, cut at thebase of his neck, hung close about his ears. His head was uncovered. Hisfeatures were regular and pleasing; his smile showed an even row of verywhite teeth. 

The three men did not speak or move until, in a moment, more, he stooddirectly before them, still holding out his hands palm up. Then abruptlyhe spoke. 

"The Master welcomes his friends, " he said in a soft musical voice. Hegave the words a most curious accent and inflexion, yet they were quiteunderstandable to his listeners. 

"The Master welcomes his friends, " he repeated, dropping his arms to hissides and smiling in a most friendly manner. 

The Very Young Man caught his breath. "He's been sent to meet us; he'sfrom Rogers. What do you think of that? We're all right now!" heexclaimed excitedly. 

The Doctor held out his hand, and the Oroid, hesitating a moment indoubt, finally reached up and grasped it. 

"Are you from Rogers?" asked the Doctor. 

The Oroid looked puzzled. Then he turned and flung out his arm in asweeping gesture towards the deeper woods before them. "Rogers--Master, "he said. 

"You were waiting for us?" persisted the Doctor; but the other onlyshook his head and smiled his lack of comprehension. 

"He only knows the first words he said, " the Big Business Man suggested. 

"He must be from Rogers, " the Very Young Man put in. "See, he wants usto go with him. "

The Oroid was motioning them forward, holding out his hand as though tolead them. 

The Very Young Man started forward, but the Big Business Man held himback. 

"Wait a moment, " he said. "I don't think we ought to go among thesepeople as large as we are. Rogers is evidently alive and waiting for us. Why wouldn't it be better to be about his size, instead of ten-footgiants as we would look now?"

"How do you know how big Rogers is?" asked the Very Young Man. 

"I think that a good idea, " agreed the Doctor. "Rogers described theseOroid men as being some six inches shorter than himself, on theaverage. "

"This one might be a pygmy, for all we know, " said the Very Young Man. 

"We might chance it that he's of normal size, " said the Doctor, smiling. "I think we should make ourselves smaller. "

The Oroid stood patiently by and watched them with interested eyes aseach took a tiny pellet from a vial under his arm and touched it to histongue. When they began to decrease in size his eyes widened with frightand his legs shook under him. But he stood his ground, evidently assuredby their smiles and friendly gestures. 

In a few minutes the action of the drug was over, and they foundthemselves not more than a head taller than the Oroid. In this size heseemed to like them better, or at least he stood in far less awe ofthem, for now he seized them by the arms and pulled them forwardvigorously. 

They laughingly yielded, and, led by this strange being of anotherworld, they turned from the open places they had been following andplunged into the depths of the forest. 

CHAPTER XVIII

THE CHEMIST AND HIS SON

For an hour or more the three adventurers followed their strange guidein silence through the dense, trackless woods. He walked very rapidly, looking neither to the right nor to the left, finding his way apparentlyby an intuitive sense of direction. Occasionally he glanced back overhis shoulder and smiled. 

Walking through the woods here was not difficult, and the party maderapid progress. The huge, upstanding tree-trunks were devoid of limbsfor a hundred feet or more above the ground. On some of them a luxuriantvine was growing--a vine that bore a profusion of little gray berries. In the branches high overhead a few birds flew to and fro, calling outat times with a soft, cooing note. The ground--a gray, finely powderedsandy loam--was carpeted with bluish fallen leaves, sometimes with aspecies of blue moss, and occasional ferns of a like color. 

The forest was dense, deep, and silent; the tree branches overheadlocked together in a solid canopy, shutting out the black sky above. Yeteven in this seclusion the scene remained as light as it had beenoutside the woods in the open. Darkness indeed was impossible in thisland; under all circumstances the light seemed the same--neither toobright nor too dim--a comfortable, steady glow, restful, almost hypnoticin its sameness. 

They had traveled perhaps six miles from the point where they met theirOroid guide when suddenly the Very Young Man became aware that otherOroids were with them. Looking to one side, he saw two more of thesestrange gray men, silently stalking along, keeping pace with them. Turning, he made out still another, following a short distance behind. The Very Young Man was startled, and hurriedly pointed them out to hiscompanions. 

"Wait, " called the Doctor to their youthful guide, and abruptly theparty came to a halt. 

By these signs they made their guide understand that they wanted theseother men to come closer. The Oroid shouted to them in his own quainttongue, words of a soft, liquid quality with a wistful sound--wordswholly unintelligible to the adventurers. 

The men came forward diffidently, six of them, for three others appearedout of the shadows of the forest, and stood in a group, talking amongthemselves a little and smiling at their visitors. They were all dressedsimilarly to Lao--for such was the young Oroid's name--and all of themolder than he, and of nearly the same height. 

"Do any of you speak English?" asked the Doctor, addressing themdirectly. 

Evidently they did not, for they answered only by shaking their headsand by more smiles. 

Then one of them spoke. "The Master welcomes his friends, " he said. Andall the others repeated it after him, like children in school repeatingproudly a lesson newly learned. 

The Doctor and his two friends laughed heartily, and, completelyreassured by this exhibition of their friendliness, they signified toLao that they were ready again to go forward. 

As they walked onward through the apparently endless and unchangingforest, surrounded by what the Very Young Man called their "guard ofhonor, " they were joined from time to time by other Oroid men, all ofwhom seemed to know who they were and where they were going, and whofell silently into line with them. Within an hour their party numberedtwenty or more. 

Seeing one of the natives stop a moment and snatch some berries from oneof the vines with which many of the trees were encumbered, the VeryYoung Man did the same. He found the berries sweet and palatable, and heate a quantity. Then discovering he was hungry, he took some crackersfrom his belt and ate them walking along. The Doctor and the BigBusiness Man ate also, for although they had not realized it, all threewere actually famished. 

Shortly after this the party came to a broad, smooth-flowing river, itsbanks lined with rushes, with here and there a little spot of gray, sandy beach. It was apparent from Lao's signs that they must wait atthis point for a boat to take them across. This they were glad enough todo, for all three had gone nearly to the limit of their strength. Theydrank deep of the pure river water, laved their aching limbs in itgratefully, and lay down, caring not a bit how long they were forced towait. 

In perhaps another hour the boat appeared. It came from down the river, propelled close inshore by two members of their own party who had goneto fetch it. At first the travelers thought it a long, oblong raft. Thenas it came closer they could see it was constructed of three canoes, each about thirty feet long, hollowed out of tree-trunks. Over these waslaid a platform of small trees hewn roughly into boards. The boat waspropelled by long, slender poles in the hands of the two men, who, oneon each side, dug them into the bed of the river and walked with themthe length of the platform. 

On to this boat the entire party crowded and they were soon well out onthe shallow river, headed for its opposite bank. The Very Young Man, seated at the front end of the platform with his legs dangling over andhis feet only a few inches above the silver phosphorescence of therippling water underneath, sighed luxuriously. 

"This beats anything we've done yet, " he murmured. "Gee, it's nicehere!"

When they landed on the farther bank another group of natives waswaiting for them. The party, thus strengthened to nearly forty, startedoff immediately into the forest, which on this side of the riverappeared equally dense and trackless. 

They appeared now to be paralleling the course of the river a fewhundred yards back from its bank. After half an hour of this travelingthey came abruptly to what at first appeared to be the mouth of a largecave, but which afterwards proved to be a tunnel-like passageway. Intothis opening the party unhesitatingly plunged. 

Within this tunnel, which sloped downward at a considerable angle, theymade even more rapid progress than in the forest above. The tunnel wallshere were perhaps twenty feet apart--walls of a glistening, radiant, crystalline rock. The roof of the passageway was fully twice as high asits width; its rocky floor was smooth and even. 

After a time this tunnel was crossed by another somewhat broader andhigher, but in general of similar aspect. It, too, sloped downward, moreabruptly from the intersection. Into this latter passageway the partyturned, still taking the downward course. 

As they progressed, many other passageways were crossed, theintersections of which were wide at the open spaces. Occasionally thetravelers encountered other natives, all of them men, most of whomturned and followed them. 

The Big Business Man, after over an hour of this rapid walking downward, was again near the limit of his endurance, when the party, aftercrossing a broad, open square, came upon a sort of sleigh, with twoanimals harnessed to it. It was standing at the intersection of a stillbroader, evidently more traveled passageway, and in it was an attendant, apparently fast asleep. 

Into this sleigh climbed the three travelers with their guide Lao; and, driven by the attendant, they started down the broader tunnel at a rapidpace. The sleigh was balanced upon a broad single runner of polishedstone, with a narrow, slightly shorter outrider on each side; it slidsmoothly and easily on this runner over the equally smooth, metallicrock of the ground. 

The reindeer-like animals were harnessed by their heads to a singleshaft. They were guided by a short, pointed pole in the hands of thedriver, who, as occasion demanded, dug it vigorously into their flanks. 

In this manner the travelers rode perhaps half an hour more. Thepassageway sloped steeply downward, and they made good speed. Finallywithout warning, except by a sudden freshening of the air, they emergedinto the open, and found themselves facing a broad, rolling stretch ofcountry, dotted here and there with trees--the country of the Oroids atlast. 

For the first time since leaving their own world the adventurers foundthemselves amid surroundings that at least held some semblance of anaspect of familiarity. The scene they faced now might have been one oftheir own land viewed on an abnormally bright though moonless evening. 

For some miles they could see a rolling, open country, curving slightlyupward into the dimness of the distance. At their right, close by, lay abroad lake, its surface wrinkled under a gentle breeze and gleamingbright as a great sheet of polished silver. 

Overhead hung a gray-blue, cloudless sky, studded with a myriad offaint, twinkling, golden-silver stars. On the lake shore lay acollection of houses, close together, at the water's edge and spreadingback thinly into the hills behind. This they knew to be Arite--the cityof their destination. 

At the end of the tunnel they left the sleigh, and, turning down thegentle sloping hillside, leisurely approached the city. They were partway across an open field separating them from the nearest houses, whenthey saw a group of figures coming across the field towards them. Thisgroup stopped when still a few hundred yards away, only two of thefigures continuing to come forward. They came onward steadily, the tallfigure of a man clothed in white, and by his side a slender, gracefulboy. 

In a moment more Lao, walking in front of the Doctor and his twocompanions, stopped suddenly and, turning to face them, said quietly, "The Master. "

The three travelers, with their hearts pounding, paused an instant. Thenwith a shout the Very Young Man dashed forward, followed by his twocompanions. 

"It's Rogers--it's Rogers!" he called; and in a moment more the threemen were beside the Chemist, shaking his hand and pouring at himexcitedly their words of greeting. 

The Chemist welcomed them heartily, but with a quiet, curious air ofdignity that they did not remember he possessed before. He seemed tohave aged considerably since they had last seen him. The lines in hisface had deepened; the hair on his temples was white. He seemed also tobe rather taller than they remembered him, and certainly he was stouter. 

He was dressed in a long, flowing robe of white cloth, gathered in atthe waist by a girdle, from which hung a short sword, apparently of goldor of beaten brass. His legs were bare; on his feet he wore a form ofsandal with leather thongs crossing his insteps. His hair grew long overhis ears and was cut off at the shoulder line in the fashion of thenatives. 

When the first words of greeting were over, the Chemist turned to theboy, who was standing apart, watching them with big, interested eyes. 

"My friends, " he said quietly, yet with a little underlying note ofpride in his voice, "this is my son. "

The boy approached deferentially. He was apparently about ten or elevenyears of age, tall as his father's shoulder nearly, extremely slight ofbuild, yet with a body perfectly proportioned. He was dressed in a whiterobe similar to his father's, only shorter, ending at his knees. Hisskin was of a curious, smooth, milky whiteness, lacking the gray, harderlook of that of the native men, and with just a touch of the iridescentquality possessed by the women. His features were cast in a delicatemold, pretty enough almost to be called girlish, yet with a firmsquareness of chin distinctly masculine. 

His eyes were blue; his thick, wavy hair, falling to his shoulders, wasa chestnut brown. His demeanor was graceful and dignified, yet with atouch of ingenuousness that marked him for the care-free child he reallywas. He held out his hands palms up as he approached. 

"My name is Loto, " he said in a sweet, soft voice, with perfectself-possession. "I'm glad to meet my father's friends. " He spokeEnglish with just a trace of the liquid quality that characterized hismother's tongue. 

"You are late getting here, " remarked the Chemist with a smile, as thethree travelers, completely surprised by this sudden introduction, gravely shook hands with the boy. 

During this time the young Oroid who had guided them down from theforest above the tunnels, had been standing respectfully behind them, afew feet away. A short distance farther on several small groups ofnatives were gathered, watching the strangers. With a few swift wordsLoto now dismissed their guide, who bowed low with his hands to hisforehead and left them. 

Led by the Chemist, they continued on down into the city, talkingearnestly, telling him the details of their trip. The natives followedthem as they moved forward, and as they entered the city others lookedat them curiously and, the Very Young Man thought, with a littlehostility, yet always from a respectful distance. Evidently it wasnight, or at least the time of sleep at this hour, for the streets theypassed through were nearly deserted. 

CHAPTER XIX

THE CITY OF ARITE

The city of Arite, as it looked to them now, was strange beyond anythingthey had ever seen, but still by no means as extraordinary as they hadexpected it would be. The streets through which they walked were broadand straight, and were crossed by others at regular intervals of two orthree hundred feet. These streets paralleled each other withmathematical regularity. The city thus was laid out most orderly, butwith one peculiarity; the streets did not run in two directions crossingeach other at right angles, but in three, each inclined to an equaldegree with the others. The blocks of houses between them, therefore, were cut into diamond-shaped sections and into triangles, never intosquares or oblongs. 

Most of the streets seemed paved with large, flat gray blocks of asubstance resembling highly polished stone, or a form of opaque glass. There were no sidewalks, but close up before the more pretentious of thehouses, were small trees growing. 

The houses themselves were generally triangular or diamond-shaped, following the slope of the streets. They were, most of them, but twostories in height, with flat roofs on some of which flowers andtrellised vines were growing. They were built principally of the samesmooth, gray blocks with which the streets were paved. Their windowswere large and numerous, without window-panes, but closed now, nearlyall of them by shining, silvery curtains that looked as though theymight have been woven from the metal itself. The doors were of heavymetal, suggesting brass or gold. On some of the houses tiny low-railedbalconies hung from the upper windows out over the street. 

The party proceeded quietly through this now deserted city, crossing alarge tree-lined square, or park, that by the confluence of many streetsseemed to mark its center, and turned finally into another diagonalstreet that dropped swiftly down towards the lake front. At the edge ofa promontory this street abruptly terminated in a broad flight of stepsleading down to a little beach on the lake shore perhaps a hundred feetbelow. 

The Chemist turned sharp to the right at the head of these steps, and, passing through the opened gateway of an arch in a low gray wall, ledhis friends into a garden in which were growing a profusion of flowers. These flowers, they noticed, were most of them blue or gray, or of apale silvery whiteness, lending to the scene a peculiarly wan, wistfulappearance, yet one of extraordinary, quite unearthly beauty. 

Through the garden a little gray-pebbled path wound back to where ahouse stood, nearly hidden in a grove of trees, upon a bluff directlyoverlooking the lake. 

"My home, gentlemen, " said the Chemist, with a wave of his hand. 

As they approached the house they heard, coming from within, the mellowvoice of a woman singing--an odd little minor theme, with a quaint, lilting rhythm, and words they could not distinguish. Accompanying thevoice were the delicate tones of some stringed instrument suggesting aharp. 

"We are expected, " remarked the Chemist with a smile. "Lylda is stillup, waiting for us. " The Very Young Man's heart gave a leap at themention of the name. 

From the outside, the Chemist's house resembled many of the larger onesthey had seen as they came through the city. It was considerably morepretentious than any they had yet noticed, diamond-shaped--that is tosay, a flattened oblong--two stories in height and built of large blocksof the gray polished stone. 

Unlike the other houses, its sides were not bare, but were partlycovered by a luxuriant growth of vines and trellised flowers. There wereno balconies under its windows, except on the lake side. There, at theheight of the second story, a covered balcony broad enough almost to becalled a veranda, stretched the full width of the house. 

A broad door of brass, fronting the garden, stood partly open, and theChemist pushed it wide and ushered in his friends. They found themselvesnow in a triangular hallway, or lobby, with an open arch in both itsother sides giving passage into rooms beyond. Through one of thesearchways the Chemist led them, into what evidently was the mainliving-room of the dwelling. 

It was a high-ceilinged room nearly triangular in shape, thirty feetpossibly at its greatest width. In one wall were set severalsilvery-curtained windows, opening out on to the lake. On the other sidewas a broad fireplace and hearth with another archway beside it leadingfarther into the house. The walls of the room were lined with small graytiles; the floor also was tiled with gray and white, set in design. 

On the floor were spread several large rugs, apparently made of grass orfibre. The walls were bare, except between the windows, where two long, narrow, heavily embroidered strips of golden cloth were hanging. 

In the center of the room stood a circular stone table, its top a highlypolished black slab of stone. This table was set now for a meal, withgolden metal dishes, huge metal goblets of a like color, and beautifullywrought table utensils, also of gold. Around the table were severalsmall chairs, made of wicker. In the seat of each lay a padded fibercushion, and over the back was hung a small piece of embroidered cloth. 

With the exception of these chairs and table, the room was practicallydevoid of furniture. Against one wall was a smaller table of stone, witha few miscellaneous objects on its top, and under each window stood asmall white stone bench. 

A fire glowed in the fireplace grate--a fire that burned without flame. On the hearth before it, reclining on large silvery cushions, was awoman holding in her hands a small stringed instrument like a tiny harpor lyre. When the men entered the room she laid her instrument aside androse to her feet. 

As she stood there for an instant, expectant, with the light of welcomein her eyes, the three strangers beheld what to them seemed the mostperfect vision of feminine loveliness they had ever seen. 

The woman's age was at first glance indeterminate. By her face, herlong, slender, yet well-rounded neck, and the slim curves of her girlishfigure, she might have been hardly more than twenty. Yet in her bearingthere was that indefinable poise and dignity that bespoke the moremature, older woman. 

She was about five feet tall, with a slender, almost fragile, yetperfectly rounded body. Her dress consisted of a single flowing garmentof light-blue silk, reaching from the shoulders to just above her knees. It was girdled at the waist by a thick golden cord that hung with goldentasseled pendants at her side. 

A narrower golden cord crossed her breast and shoulders. Her arms, legs, and shoulders were bare. Her skin was smooth as satin, milky white, andsuffused with the delicate tints of many colors. Her hair was thick andvery black; it was twisted into two tresses that fell forward over eachshoulder nearly to her waist and ended with a little silver ribbon andtassel tied near the bottom. 

Her face was a delicate oval. Her lips were full and of a color forwhich in English there is no name. It would have been red doubtless bysunlight in the world above, but here in this silver light ofphosphorescence, the color red, as we see it, was impossible. 

Her nose was small, of Grecian type. Her slate-gray eyes were ratherlarge, very slightly upturned at the corners, giving just a touch of thelook of our women of the Orient. Her lashes were long and very black. Inconversation she lowered them at times with a charming combination offeminine humility and a touch of coquetry. Her gaze from under them hadoften a peculiar look of melting softness, yet always it was direct andhonest. 

Such was the woman who quietly stood beside her hearth, waiting towelcome these strange guests from another world. 

As the men entered through the archway, the boy Loto pushed quickly pastthem in his eagerness to get ahead, and, rushing across the room, threwhimself into the woman's arms crying happily, "_Mita, mita. _"

The woman kissed him affectionately. Then, before she had time to speak, the boy pulled her forward, holding her tightly by one hand. 

"This is my mother, " he said with a pretty little gesture. "Her name isLylda. "

The woman loosened herself from his grasp with a smile of amusement, and, native fashion, bowed low with her hands to her forehead. 

"My husband's friends are welcome, " she said simply. Her voice was softand musical. She spoke English perfectly, with an intonation of whichthe most cultured woman might be proud, but with a foreign accent muchmore noticeable than that of her son. 

"A very long time we have been waiting for you, " she added; and then, asan afterthought, she impulsively offered them her hand in their ownmanner. 

The Chemist kissed his wife quietly. In spite of the presence ofstrangers, for a moment she dropped her reserve, her arms went up aroundhis neck, and she clung to him an instant. Gently putting her down, theChemist turned to his friends. 

"I think Lylda has supper waiting, " he said. Then as he looked at theirtorn, woolen suits that once were white, and the ragged shoes upon theirfeet, he added with a smile, "But I think I can make you much morecomfortable first. "

He led them up a broad, curving flight of stone steps to a room above, where they found a shallow pool of water, sunk below the level of thefloor. Here he left them to bathe, getting them meanwhile robes similarto his own, with which to replace their own soiled garments. In a littlewhile, much refreshed, they descended to the room below, where Lylda hadsupper ready upon the table waiting for them. 

"Only a little while ago my father and Aura left, " said Lylda, as theysat down to eat. 

"Lylda's younger sister, " the Chemist explained. "She lives with herfather here in Arite. "

The Very Young Man parted his lips to speak. Then, with heightened colorin his cheeks, he closed them again. 

They were deftly served at supper by a little native girl who wasdressed in a short tunic reaching from waist to knees, with circulardiscs of gold covering her breasts. There was cooked meat for the meal, a white starchy form of vegetable somewhat resembling a potato, a numberof delicious fruits of unfamiliar variety, and for drink the juice of afruit that tasted more like cider than anything they could name. 

At the table Loto perched himself beside the Very Young Man, for whom heseemed to have taken a sudden fancy. 

"I like you, " he said suddenly, during a lull in the talk. 

"I like you, too, " answered the Very Young Man. 

"Aura is very beautiful; you'll like her. "

"I'm sure I will, " the Very Young Man agreed soberly. 

"What's your name?" persisted the boy. 

"My name's Jack. And I'm glad you like me. I think we're friends, don'tyou?"

And so they became firm friends, and, as far as circumstances wouldpermit, inseparable companions. 

Lylda presided over the supper with the charming grace of a competenthostess. She spoke seldom, yet when the conversation turned to the greatworld above in which her husband was born, she questioned intelligentlyand with eager interest. Evidently she had a considerable knowledge ofthe subject, but with an almost childish insatiable curiosity she soughtfrom her guests more intimate details of the world they lived in. 

When in lighter vein their talk ran into comments upon the social lifeof their own world, Lylda's ready wit, combined with her ingenuoussimplicity, put to them many questions which made the giving of anunderstandable answer sometimes amusingly difficult. 

When the meal was over the three travelers found themselves very sleepy, and all of them were glad when the Chemist suggested that they retirealmost immediately. He led them again to the upper story into thebedroom they were to occupy. There, on the low bedsteads, soft with manyquilted coverings, they passed the remainder of the time of sleep indreamless slumber, utterly worn out by their journey, nor guessing whatthe morning would bring forth. 

CHAPTER XX

THE WORLD OF THE RING

Next morning after breakfast the four men sat upon the balconyoverlooking the lake, and prepared to hear the Chemist's narrative ofwhat had happened since he left them five years before. They had alreadytold him of events in their world, the making of the chemicals and theirjourney down into the ring, and now they were ready to hear his story. 

At their ease here upon the balcony, reclining in long wicker chairs ofthe Chemist's own design, as he proudly admitted, they felt at peacewith themselves and the world. Below them lay the shining lake, abovespread a clear, star-studded sky. Against their faces blew the coolbreath of a gentle summer's breeze. 

As they sat silent for a moment, enjoying almost with awe the beautiesof the scene, and listening to the soft voice of Lylda singing toherself in the garden, the Very Young Man suddenly thought of the onething lacking to make his enjoyment perfect. 

"I wish I had a cigarette, " he remarked wistfully. 

The Chemist with a smile produced cigars of a leaf that proved a verygood substitute for tobacco. They lighted them with a tiny metal lighterof the flint-and-steel variety, filled with a fluffy inflammable wick--acontrivance of the Chemist's own making--and then he started hisnarrative. 

"There is much to tell you, my friends, " he began thoughtfully. "Muchthat will interest you, shall we say from a socialistic standpoint? Ishall make it brief, for we have no time to sit idly talking. 

"I must tell you now, gentlemen, of what I think you have so far noteven had a hint. You have found me living here, " he hesitated andsmiled, "well at least under pleasant and happy circumstances. Yet as amatter of fact, your coming was of vital importance, not only to me andmy family, but probably to the future welfare of the entire Oroidnation. 

"We are approaching a crisis here with which I must confess I have feltmyself unable to cope. With your help, more especially with the power ofthe chemicals you have brought with you, it may be possible for us todeal successfully with the conditions facing us. "

"What are they?" asked the Very Young Man eagerly. 

"Perhaps it would be better for me to tell you chronologically theevents as they have occurred. As you remember when I left you twelveyears ago----"

"Five years, " interrupted the Very Young Man. 

"Five or twelve, as you please, " said the Chemist smiling. "It was myintention then, as you know, to come back to you after a comparativelyshort stay here. "

"And bring Mrs. --er--Lylda, with you, " put in the Very Young Man, hesitating in confusion over the Christian name. 

"And bring Lylda with me, " finished the Chemist. "I got back herewithout much difficulty, and in a very much shorter time and with lesseffort than on my first trip. I tried an entirely different method; Istayed as large as possible while descending, and diminished my sizematerially only after I had reached the bottom. "

"I told you----" said the Big Business Man. 

"It was a dangerous method of procedure, but I made it successfullywithout mishap. 

"Lylda and I were married in native fashion shortly after I reachedArite. "

"How was that; what fashion?" the Very Young Man wanted to know, but theChemist went on. 

"It was my intention to stay here only a few weeks and then return withLylda. She was willing to follow me anywhere I might take her, because--well, perhaps you would hardly understand, but--women here aredifferent in many ways than you know them. 

"I stayed several months, still planning to leave almost at any time. Ifound this world an intensely interesting study. Then, when--Loto wasexpected, I again postponed my departure. 

"I had been here over a year before I finally gave up my intention ofever returning to you. I have no close relatives above, you know, no onewho cares much for me or for whom I care, and my life seemed thoroughlyestablished here. 

"I am afraid gentlemen, I am offering excuses for myself--for mydesertion of my own country in its time of need. I have no defense. Asevents turned out I could not have helped probably, very much, butstill--that is no excuse. I can only say that your world up there seemedso very--very--far away. Events up there had become to me only vaguememories as of a dream. And Lylda and my little son were so near, soreal and vital to me. Well, at any rate I stayed, deciding definitely tomake my home and to end my days here. "

"What did you do about the drugs?" asked the Doctor. 

"I kept them hidden carefully for nearly a year, " the Chemist replied. "Then fearing lest they should in some way get loose, I destroyed them. They possess a diabolical power, gentlemen; I am afraid of it. "

"They called you the Master, " suggested the Very Young Man, after apause. "Why was that?"

The Chemist smiled. "They do call me the Master. That has been forseveral years. I suppose I am the most important individual in thenation to-day. "

"I should think you would be, " said the Very Young Man quickly. "Whatyou did, and with the knowledge you have. "

The Chemist went on. "Lylda and I lived with her father and Aura--hermother is dead you know--until after Loto was born. Then we had a housefurther up in the city. Later, about eight years ago, I built this housewe now occupy and Lylda laid out its garden which she is tremendouslyproud of, and which I think is the finest in Arite. 

"Because of what I had done in the Malite war, I became naturally theKing's adviser. Every one felt me the savior of the nation, which, in away, I suppose I was. I never used the drugs again and, as only a veryfew of the people ever understood them, or in fact ever knew of them orbelieved in their existence, my extraordinary change in stature wasascribed to some supernatural power. I have always since been creditedwith being able to exert that power at will, although I never used itbut that once. "

"You have it again now, " said the Doctor smiling. 

"Yes, I have, thank God, " answered the Chemist fervently, "though I hopeI never shall have to use it. "

"Aren't you planning to go back with us, " asked the Very Young Man, "even for a visit?"

The Chemist shook his head. "My way lies here, " he said quietly, yetwith deep feeling. 

A silence followed; finally the Chemist roused himself from his reverie, and went on. "Although I never again changed my stature, there were athousand different ways in which I continued to make myself--well, famous throughout the land. I have taught these people many things, gentlemen--like this for instance. " He indicated his cigar, and thechair in which he was sitting. "You cannot imagine what a variety ofthings one knows beyond the knowledge of so primitive a race as this. 

"And so gradually, I became known as the Master. I have no officialposition, but everywhere I am known by that name. As a matter of fact, for the past year at least, it has been rather too descriptive atitle----" the Chemist smiled somewhat ruefully--"for I have had inreality, and have now, the destiny of the country on my shoulders. "

"You're not threatened with another war?" asked the Very Young Man. 

"No, not exactly that. But I had better go on with my story first. Thisis a very different world now, gentlemen, from that I first enteredtwelve years ago. I think first I should tell you about it as it wasthen. "

His three friends nodded their agreement and the Chemist continued. 

"I must make it clear to you gentlemen, the one great fundamentaldifference between this world and yours. In the evolution of this racethere has been no cause for strife--the survival of the fittest alwayshas been an unknown doctrine--a non-existent problem. 

"In extent this Inner Surface upon which we are now living is nearly asgreat as the surface of your own earth. From the earliest known times ithas been endowed with a perfect climate--a climate such as you are nowenjoying. "

The Very Young Man expanded his chest and looked his appreciation. 

"The climate, the rainfall, everything is ideal for crops and for livingconditions. In the matter of food, one needs in fact do practicallynothing. Fruits of a variety ample to sustain life, grow wild inabundance. Vegetables planted are harvested seemingly without blight orhazard of any kind. No destructive insects have ever impededagriculture; no wild animals have ever existed to harass humanity. Nature in fact, offers every help and no obstacle towards making asimple, primitive life easy to live. 

"Under such conditions the race developed only so far as was necessaryto ensure a healthful pleasant existence. Civilization here is what youwould call primitive: wants are few and easily supplied--too easily, probably, for without strife these people have become--well shall I sayeffeminate? They are not exactly that--it is not a good word. "

"I should think that such an unchanging, unrigorous climate would make arace deteriorate in physique rapidly, " observed the Doctor. 

"How about disease down here?" asked the Big Business Man. 

"It is a curious thing, " replied the Chemist. "Cleanliness seems to be atrait inborn with every individual in this race. It is more thangodliness; it is the one great cardinal virtue. You must have noticedit, just in coming through Arite. Personal cleanliness of the people, and cleanliness of houses, streets--of everything. It is trulyextraordinary to what extent they go to make everything inordinately, immaculately clean. Possibly for that reason, and because there seemsnever to have been any serious disease germs existing here, sickness asyou know it, does not exist. "

"Guess you better not go into business here, " said the Very Young Manwith a grin at the Doctor. 

"There is practically no illness worthy of the name, " went on theChemist. "The people live out their lives and, barring accident, diepeacefully of old age. "

"How old do they live to be?" asked the Big Business Man. 

"About the same as with you, " answered the Chemist. "Only of course aswe measure time. "

"Say how about that?" the Very Young Man asked. "My watch is stillgoing--is it ticking out the old time or the new time down here?"

"I should say probably--certainly--it was giving time of your own world, just as it always did, " the Chemist replied. 

"Well, there's no way of telling, is there?" said the Big Business Man. 

"What is the exact difference in time?" the Doctor asked. 

"That is something I have had no means of determining. It was rather acurious thing; when I left that letter for you, " the Chemist turned tothe Doctor--"it never occurred to me that although I had told you tostart down here on a certain day, I would be quite at a loss tocalculate when that day had arrived. It was my estimation after my firsttrip here that time in this world passed at a rate about two andtwo-fifth times faster than it does in your world. That is as near as Iever came to it. We can calculate it more closely now, since we haveonly the interval of your journey down as an indeterminate quantity. "

"How near right did you hit it? When did you expect us?" asked theDoctor. 

"About thirty days ago; I have been waiting since then. I sent nearly ahundred men through the tunnels into the forest to guide you in. "

"You taught them pretty good English, " said the Very Young Man. "Theywere tickled to death that they knew it, too, " he added with areminiscent grin. 

"You say about thirty days; how do you measure time down here?" askedthe Big Business Man. 

"I call a day, one complete cycle of sleeping and eating, " the Chemistreplied. "I suppose that is the best translation of the Oroid word; wehave a word that means about the same thing. "

"How long is a day?" inquired the Very Young Man. 

"It seems in the living about the same as your twenty-four hours; itoccupies probably about the interval of time of ten hours in your world. 

"You see, " the Chemist went on, "we ordinarily eat twice between eachtime of sleep--once after rising--and once a few hours before bedtime. Workers at severe muscular labor sometimes eat a light meal in between, but the custom is not general. Time is generally spoken of as so manymeals, rather than days. "

"But what is the arbitrary standard?" asked the Doctor. "Do you have anequivalent for weeks, or months or years?"

"Yes, " answered the Chemist, "based on astronomy the same as in yourworld. But I would rather not explain that now. I want to take you, later to-day, to see Lylda's father. You will like him. He is--well, what we might call a scientist. He talks English fairly well. We candiscuss astronomy with him; you will find him very interesting. "

"How can you tell time?" the Very Young Man wanted to know. "There is nosun to go by. You have no clocks, have you?"

"There is one downstairs, " answered the Chemist, "but you didn't noticeit. Lylda's father has a very fine one; he will show it to you. "

"It seems to me, " began the Doctor thoughtfully after a pause, revertingto their previous topic, "that without sickness, under such ideal livingconditions as you say exist here, in a very short time this world wouldbe over-populated. "

"Nature seems to have taken care of that, " the Chemist answered, "and asa matter of fact quite the reverse is true. Women mature in life at anage you would call about sixteen. But early marriages are not the rule;seldom is a woman married before she is twenty--frequently she is mucholder. Her period of child-bearing, too, is comparativelyshort--frequently less than ten years. The result is few children, whoserate of mortality is exceedingly slow. "

"How about the marriages?" the Very Young Man suggested. "You were goingto tell us. "

"Marriages are by mutual consent, " answered the Chemist, "solemnized bya simple, social ceremony. They are for a stated period of time, and arerenewed later if both parties desire. When a marriage is dissolvedchildren are cared for by the mother generally, and her maintenance ifnecessary is provided for by the government. The state becomes theguardian also of all illegitimate children and children of unknownparentage. But of both these latter classes there are very few. Theywork for the government, as do many other people, until they are of age, when they become free to act as they please. "

"You spoke about women being different than we knew them; how are theydifferent?" the Very Young Man asked. "If they're all like Lylda I thinkthey're great, " he added enthusiastically, flushing a little at his owntemerity. 

The Chemist smiled his acknowledgment of the compliment. "The status ofwomen--and their character--is I think one of the most remarkable thingsabout this race. You will remember, when I returned from here the firsttime, that I was much impressed by the kindliness of these people. Because of their history and their government they seem to have becomeimbued with the milk of human kindness to a degree approaching theUtopian. 

"Crime here is practically non-existent; there is nothing over whichcontention can arise. What crimes are committed are punished with aseverity seemingly out of all proportion to what you would call justice. A persistent offender even of fairly trivial wrongdoing is put to deathwithout compunction. There is no imprisonment, except for those awaitingtrial. Punishment is a reprimand with the threat of death if the offenseis committed again, or death itself immediately. Probably this veryseverity and the swiftness with which punishment is meted out, to alarge extent discourages wrongdoing. But, fundamentally, the capacityfor doing wrong is lacking in these people. 

"I have said practically nothing exists over which contention can arise. That is not strictly true. No race of people can develop without someindividual contention over the possession of their women. The passionsof love, hate and jealousy, centering around sex and its problems, areas necessarily present in human beings as life itself. 

"Love here is deep, strong and generally lasting; it lacks fire, intensity--perhaps. I should say it is rather of a placid quality. Hatred seldom exists; jealousy is rare, because both sexes, in theiractions towards the other, are guided by a spirit of honesty andfairness that is really extraordinary. This is true particularly of thewomen; they are absolutely honest--square, through and through. 

"Crimes against women are few, yet in general they are the mostprevalent type we have. They are punishable by death--even those thatyou would characterize as comparatively slight offenses. It issignificant too, that, in judging these crimes, but little evidence isrequired. A slight chain of proven circumstances and the word of thewoman is all that is required. 

"This you will say, places a tremendous power in the hands of women. Itdoes; yet they realize it thoroughly, and justify it. Although they knowthat almost at their word a man will be put to death, practically never, I am convinced, is this power abused. With extreme infrequency, a femaleis proven guilty of lying. The penalty is death, for there is no placehere for such a woman!

"The result is that women are accorded a freedom of movement far beyondanything possible in your world. They are safe from harm. Their moralsare, according to the standard here, practically one hundred per centperfect. With short-term marriages, dissolvable at will, there is noreason why they should be otherwise. Curiously enough too, marriages arerenewed frequently--more than that, I should say, generally--forlife-long periods. Polygamy with the consent of all parties ispermitted, but seldom practiced. Polyandry is unlawful, and but fewcases of it ever appear. 

"You may think all this a curious system, gentlemen, but it works. "

"That's the answer, " muttered the Very Young Man. It was obvious he wasstill thinking of Lylda and her sister and with a heightened admirationand respect. 

CHAPTER XXI

A LIFE WORTH LIVING

The appearance of Lylda at one of the long windows of the balcony, interrupted the men for a moment. She was dressed in a tunic of silver, of curious texture, like flexible woven metal, reaching to her knees. Onher feet were little fiber sandals. Her hair was twisted in coils, piledupon her head, with a knot low at the back of the neck. From her head ingraceful folds hung a thin scarf of gold. 

She stood waiting in the window a moment for them to notice her; thenshe said quietly, "I am going for a time to the court. " She hesitated aninstant over the words. The Chemist inclined his head in agreement, andwith a smile at her guests, and a little bow, she withdrew. 

The visitors looked inquiringly at their host. 

"I must tell you about our government, " said the Chemist. "Lylda playsquite an important part in it. " He smiled at their obvious surprise. 

"The head of the government is the king. In reality he is more like thepresident of a republic; he is chosen by the people to serve for aperiod of about twenty years. The present king is now in--well let ussay about the fifteenth year of his service. This translation of timeperiods into English is confusing, " he interjected somewhatapologetically. "We shall see the king to-morrow; you will find him amost intelligent, likeable man. 

"As a sort of congress, the king has one hundred and fifty advisers, half of them women, who meet about once a month. Lylda is one of thesewomen. He also has an inner circle of closer, more intimate counselorsconsisting of four men and four women. One of these women is the queen;another is Lylda. I am one of the men. 

"The capital of the nation is Arite. Each of the other cities governsitself in so far as its own local problems are concerned according to asomewhat similar system, but all are under the central control of theArite government. "

"How about the country in between, the--the rural population?" asked theBig Business Man. 

"It is all apportioned off to the nearest city, " answered the Chemist. "Each city controls a certain amount of the land around it. 

"This congress of one hundred and fifty is the law-making body. Thejudiciary is composed of one court in each city. There is a leader ofthe court, or judge, and a jury of forty--twenty men and twenty women. The juries are chosen for continuous service for a period of five years. Lylda is at present serving in the Arite court. They meet veryinfrequently and irregularly, called as occasion demands. A two-thirdsvote is necessary for a decision; there is no appeal. "

"Are there any lawyers?" asked the Big Business Man. 

"There is no one who makes that his profession, no. Generally theaccused talks for himself or has some relative, or possibly some friendto plead his case. "

"You have police?" the Doctor asked. 

"A very efficient police force, both for the cities and in the country. Really they are more like detectives than police; they are the men Isent up into the forest to meet you. We also have an army, which atpresent consists almost entirely of this same police force. After theMalite war it was of course very much larger, but of late years it hasbeen disbanded almost completely. 

"How about money?" the Very Young Man wanted to know. 

"There is none!" answered the Chemist with a smile. 

"Great Scott, how can you manage that?" ejaculated the Big Business Man. 

"Our industrial system undoubtedly is peculiar, " the Chemist replied, "but I can only say again, it works. We have no money, and, so far, noneapparently is needed. Everything is bought and sold as an exchange. Forinstance, suppose I wish to make a living as a farmer. I have myland----"

"How did you get it?" interrupted the Very Young Man quickly. 

"All the land is divided up _pro rata_ and given by each city to itscitizens. At the death of its owner it reverts to the government, andeach citizen coming of age receives his share from the surplus alwaysremaining. "

"What about women? Can they own land too?" asked the Very Young Man. 

"They have identical rights with men in everything, " the Chemistanswered. 

"But women surely cannot cultivate their own land?" the Doctor said. Evidently he was thinking of Lylda's fragile little body, and certainlyif most of the Oroid women were like her, labour in the fields would befor them quite impossible. 

"A few women, by choice, do some of the lighter forms of manuallabor--but they are very few. Nearly every woman marries within a fewyears after she receives her land; if it is to be cultivated, herhusband then takes charge of it. "

"Is the cultivation of land compulsory?" asked the Big Business Man. 

"Only when in a city's district a shortage of food is threatened. Thenthe government decides the amount and kind of food needed, and thecitizens, drawn by lot, are ordered to produce it. The governmentwatches very carefully its food supply. In the case of overproduction, certain citizens, those less skillful, are ordered to work at somethingelse. 

"This supervision over supply and demand is exercised by the governmentnot only in the question of food but in manufactures, in fact, in allindustrial activities. A very nice balance is obtained, so thatpractically no unnecessary work is done throughout the nation. 

"And gentlemen, do you know, as a matter of fact, I think that is thesecret of a race of people being able to live without having to workmost of its waking hours? If your civilization could eliminate all itsunnecessary work, there would be far less work to do. "

"I wonder--isn't this balance of supply and demand very difficult tomaintain?" asked the Big Business Man thoughtfully. 

"Not nearly so difficult as you would think, " the Chemist answered. "Inthe case of land cultivation, the government has a large reserve, thecultivation of which it adjusts to maintain this balance. Thus, in somedistricts, the citizens do as they please and are never interfered with. 

"The same is true of manufactures. There is no organized business in thenation--not even so much as the smallest factory--except that conductedby the government. Each city has its own factories, whose production iscarefully planned exactly to equal the demand. "

"Suppose a woman marries and her land is far away from her husband's?That would be sort of awkward, wouldn't it?" suggested the Very YoungMan. 

"Each year at a stated time, " the Chemist answered, "transfers of landare made. There are generally enough people who want to move to makesatisfactory changes of location practical. And then of course, thegovernment always stands ready to take up any two widely separate piecesof land, and give others in exchange out of its reserve. "

"Suppose you don't like the new land as well?" objected the Very YoungMan. 

"Almost all land is of equal value, " answered the Chemist. "And ofcourse, its state of cultivation is always considered. "

"You were speaking about not having money, " prompted the Very Young Man. 

"The idea is simply this: Suppose I wish to cultivate nothing except, let us say, certain vegetables. I register with the government myintention and the extent to which I propose to go. I receive thegovernment's consent. I then take my crops as I harvest them andexchange them for every other article I need. "

"With whom do you exchange them?" asked the Doctor. 

"Any one I please--or with the government. Ninety per cent of everythingproduced is turned in to the government and other articles are takenfrom its stores. "

"How is the rate of exchange established?" asked the Big Business Man. 

"It is computed by the government. Private exchanges are supposed to bemade at the same rate. It is against the law to cut under the governmentrate. But it is done, although apparently not with sufficient frequencyto cause any trouble. "

"I should think it would be tremendously complicated and annoying tomake all these exchanges, " observed the Big Business Man. 

"Not at all, " answered the Chemist, "because of the governmental systemof credits. The financial standing of every individual is carefully kepton record. "

"Without any money? I don't get you, " said the Very Young Man with afrown of bewilderment. 

The Chemist smiled. "Well, I don't blame you for that. But I think I canmake myself clear. Let us take the case of Loto, for instance, as anindividual. When he comes of age he will be allotted his section ofland. We will assume him to be without family at that time, entirelydependent on his own resources. "

"Would he never have worked before coming of age?" the Very Young Manasked. 

"Children with parents generally devote their entire minority to gettingan education, and to building their bodies properly. Without parents, they are supported by the government and live in public homes. Suchchildren, during their adolescence, work for the government a smallportion of their time. 

"Now when Loto comes of age and gets his land, located approximatelywhere he desires it, he will make his choice as to his vocation. Supposehe wishes not to cultivate his land but to work for the government. Heis given some congenial, suitable employment at which he worksapproximately five hours a day. No matter what he elects to do at thetime he comes of age the government opens an account with him. He iscredited with a certain standard unit for his work, which he takes fromthe government in supplies at his own convenience. "

"What is the unit?" asked the Big Business Man. 

"It is the average work produced by the average worker in oneday--purely an arbitrary figure. "

"Like our word horse-power?" put in the Doctor. 

"Exactly. And all merchandise, food and labor is valued in terms of it. 

"Thus you see, every individual has his financial standing--all inrelation to the government. He can let his balance pile up if he isable, or he can keep it low. "

"Suppose he goes into debt?" suggested the Very Young Man. 

"In the case of obvious, verified necessity, the government will allowhim a limited credit. Persistent--shall I say willful--debt is a crime. "

"I thought at first, " said the Big Business Man, "that everybody in thisnation was on the same financial footing--that there was no premium putupon skill or industriousness. Now I see that one can accumulate, if notmoney, at least an inordinate amount of the world's goods. "

"Not such an inordinate amount, " said the Chemist smiling. "Becausethere is no inheritance. A man and woman, combining their worldlywealth, may by industry acquire more than others, but they are welcometo enjoy it. And they cannot, in one lifetime, get such a preponderanceof wealth as to cause much envy from those lacking it. "

"What happens to this house when you and Lylda die, if Loto cannot haveit?" the Big Business Man asked. 

"It is kept in repair by the government and held until some one with asufficiently large balance wants to buy it. "

"Are all workers paid at the same rate?" asked the Doctor. 

"No, but their wages are much nearer equal than in your world. "

"You have to hire people to work for you, how do you pay them?" theDoctor inquired. 

"The rate is determined by governmental standard. I pay them by havingthe amount deducted from my balance and added to theirs. "

"When you built this house, how did you go about doing it?" asked theBig Business Man. 

"I simply went to the government, and they built it for me according tomy own ideas and wishes, deducting its cost from my balance. "

"What about the public work to be done?" asked the Big Business Man. "Caring for the city streets, the making of roads and all that. Do youhave taxes?"

"No, " answered the Chemist smiling, "we do not have taxes. Quite thereverse, we sometimes have dividends. 

"The government, you must understand, not only conducts a businessaccount with each of its citizens, but one with itself also. The valueof articles produced is computed with a profit allowance, so that by asuccessful business administration, the government is enabled not onlyto meet its public obligations, but to acquire a surplus to its owncredit in the form of accumulated merchandise. This surplus is dividedamong the people every five years--a sort of dividend. "

"I should think some cities might have much more than others, " said theBig Business Man. "That would cause discontent, wouldn't it?"

"It would probably cause a rush of people to the more successful cities. But it doesn't happen, because each city reports to the Nationalgovernment and the whole thing is averaged up. You see it is all quitesimple, " the Chemist finished. "And it makes life here very easy tolive, and very worth the living. "

Unnoticed by the four interested men, a small compact-looking gray cloudhad come sweeping down from the horizon above the lake and was scuddingacross the sky toward Arite. A sudden sharp crack of thunder interruptedtheir conversation. 

"Hello, a storm!" exclaimed the Chemist, looking out over the lake. "You've never seen one, have you? Come upstairs. "

They followed him into the house and upstairs to its flat roof. Fromthis point of vantage they saw that the house was built with an interiorcourtyard or _patio_. Looking down into this courtyard from the roofthey could see a little, splashing fountain in its center, with flowerbeds, a narrow gray path, and several small white benches. 

The roof, which was guarded with a breast-high parapet around both itsinner and outer edges, was beautifully laid out with a variety offlowers and with trellised flower-bearing vines. In one corner weregrowing a number of small trees with great fan-shaped leaves of blue andbearing a large bell-shaped silver blossom. 

One end of the roof on the lake side was partially enclosed. Towardsthis roofed enclosure the Chemist led his friends. Within it a largefiber hammock hung between two stone posts. At one side a depression inthe floor perhaps eight feet square was filled with what might have beenblue pine needles, and a fluffy bluish moss. This rustic couch wascovered at one end by a canopy of vines bearing a little white flower. 

As they entered the enclosure, it began to rain, and the Chemist slidforward several panels, closing them in completely. There were shutteredwindows in these walls, through which they could look at the sceneoutside--a scene that with the coming storm was weird and beautifulbeyond anything they had ever beheld. 

The cloud had spread sufficiently now to blot out the stars from nearlyhalf of the sky. It was a thick cloud, absolutely opaque, and yet itcaused no appreciable darkness, for the starlight it cut off wasnegligible and the silver radiation from the lake had more than doubledin intensity. 

Under the strong wind that had sprung up the lake assumed now anextraordinary aspect. Its surface was raised into long, sweeping wavesthat curved sharply and broke upon themselves. In their tops the silverphosphorescence glowed and whirled until the whole surface of the lakeseemed filled with a dancing white fire, twisting, turning and seemingto leap out of the water high into the air. 

Several small sailboats, square, flat little catamarans, they looked, showed black against the water as they scudded for shore, trailing linesof silver out behind them. 

The wind increased in force. Below, on the beach, a huge rock lay in thewater, against which the surf was breaking. Columns of water at timesshot into the air before the face of the rock, and were blown away bythe wind in great clouds of glistening silver. Occasionally it thunderedwith a very sharp intense crack accompanied by a jagged bolt of bluishlightning that zigzagged down from the low-hanging cloud. 

Then came the rain in earnest, a solid, heavy torrent, that bent downthe wind and smoothed the surface of the lake. The rain fell almostvertically, as though it were a tremendous curtain of silver strings. And each of these strings broke apart into great shining pearls as theeye followed downward the course of the raindrops. 

For perhaps ten minutes the silver torrent poured down. Then suddenly itceased. The wind had died away; in the air there was the fresh warmsmell of wet and steaming earth. From the lake rolled up a shimmeringtranslucent cloud of mist, like an enormous silver fire mounting intothe sky. And then, as the gray cloud swept back behind them, beyond thecity, and the stars gleamed overhead, they saw again that great trail ofstar-dust which the Chemist first had seen through his microscope, hanging in an ever broadening arc across the sky, and ending vaguely attheir feet. 

CHAPTER XXII

THE TRIAL

In a few moments more the storm had passed completely; only the wet citystreets, the mist over the lake, and the moist warmth of the airremained. For some time the three visitors to this extraordinary worldstood silent at the latticed windows, awed by what they had seen. Thenoise of the panels as the Chemist slid them back brought them tothemselves. 

"A curious land, gentlemen, " he remarked quietly. 

"It's--it's weird, " the Very Young Man ejaculated. 

The Chemist led them out across the roof to its other side facing thecity. The street upon which the house stood sloped upwards over the hillbehind. It was wet with the rain and gleamed like a sheet of burnishedsilver. And down its sides now ran two little streams of liquid silverfire. 

The street, deserted during the storm, was beginning to fill again withpeople returning to their tasks. At the intersection with the next roadabove, they could see a line of sleighs passing. Beneath them, beforethe wall of the garden a little group of men stood talking; on aroof-top nearby a woman appeared with a tiny naked infant which she satdown to nurse in a corner of her garden. 

"A city at work, " said the Chemist with a wave of his hand. "Shall we godown and see it?"

His three friends assented readily, the Very Young Man suggestingpromptly that they first visit Lylda's father and Aura. 

"He is teaching Loto this morning, " said the Chemist smiling. 

"Why not go to the court?" suggested the Big Business Man. 

"Is the public admitted?" asked the Doctor. 

"Nothing is secret here, " the Chemist answered. "By all means, we willgo to the court first, if you wish; Lylda should be through veryshortly. "

The court of Arite stood about a mile away near the lake shore. As theyleft the house and passed through the city streets the respect accordedthe Chemist became increasingly apparent. The three strangers with himattracted considerable attention, for, although they wore theconventional robes in which the more prominent citizens were generallyattired, their short hair and the pallid whiteness of their skins madethem objects of curiosity. No crowd gathered; those they passed stared alittle, raised their hands to their foreheads and went their way, yetunderneath these signs of respect there was with some an air ofsullenness, of hostility, that the visitors could not fail to notice. 

The Oroid men, in street garb, were dressed generally in a shortmetallic-looking tunic of drab, with a brighter-colored girdle. Thewomen, most of them, wore only a sort of skirt, reaching from waist toknees; a few had circular discs covering their breasts. There werehardly any children to be seen, except occasionally a little facestaring at them from a window, or peering down from a roof-top. Once ortwice they passed a woman with an infant slung across her back in a sortof hammock. 

The most common vehicle was the curious form of sleigh in which they hadridden down through the tunnels. They saw also a few little two-wheeledcarts, with wheels that appeared to be a solid segment of tree-trunk. All the vehicles were drawn by meek-looking little gray animals like asmall deer without horns. 

The court-house of Arite, though a larger building, from the outside washardly different than most others in the city. It was distinct, however, in having on either side of the broad doorway that served as its mainentrance, a large square stone column. 

As they entered, passing a guard who saluted them respectfully, thevisitors turned from a hallway and ascended a flight of steps. At thetop they found themselves on a balcony overlooking the one large roomthat occupied almost the entire building. The balcony ran around allthree sides (the room was triangular in shape) and was railed with a lowstone parapet. On it were perhaps fifty people, sitting quietly on stonebenches that lay close up behind the parapet. An attendant stood at eachof the corners of the balcony; the one nearest bowed low as the Chemistand his companions entered silently and took their seats. 

From the balcony the entire room below was in plain view. At the apex ofits triangle sat the judge, on a raised dais of white stone with agolden canopy over it. He was a man about fifty--this leader of thecourt--garbed in a long loose robe of white. His hair, that fell on hisshoulders, was snowy white, and around his forehead was a narrow whiteband. He held in his hand a sort of scepter of gold with a heavy goldentriangle at its end. 

In six raised tiers of unequal length, like a triangular flight ofstairs across the angle of the room, and directly in front of the judge, was the jury--twenty men and twenty women, seated in alternate rows. Themen wore loose robes of gray; the women robes of blue. On a seat raisedslightly above the others sat a man who evidently was speaker for themen of the jury. On a similar elevated seat was the woman speaker; thislatter was Lylda. 

Near the center of the room, facing the judge and jury were twotriangular spaces about twenty feet across, enclosed with a breast-highwall of stone. Within each of these enclosures were perhaps ten ortwelve people seated on small stone benches. Directly facing the membersof the jury and between them and the two enclosures, was a smallplatform raised about four feet above the floor, with several stepsleading up to it from behind. 

A number of attendants dressed in the characteristic short tunics, withbreastplates and a short sword hanging from the waist, stood near theenclosures, and along the sides of the room. 

The Chemist leaned over and whispered to his friends: "Those twoenclosed places in the center are for the witnesses. Over there arethose testifying for the accused; the others are witnesses for thegovernment. The platform is where the accused stands when----"

He broke off suddenly. An expectant hush seemed to run over the room. Adoor at the side opened, and preceded and followed by two attendants aman entered, who walked slowly across the floor and stood alone upon theraised platform facing the jury. 

He was a man of extraordinarily striking look and demeanor. He stoodconsiderably over six feet in height, with a remarkably powerful yetlean body. He was naked except for a cloth breech clout girdled abouthis loins. His appearance was not that of an Oroid, for beside hisgreater height, and more muscular physique, his skin was distinctly of amore brownish hue. His hair was cut at the base of the neck in Oroidfashion; it was black, with streaks of silver running through it. Hisfeatures were large and cast in a rugged mold. His mouth was cruel, andwore now a sardonic smile. He stood erect with head thrown back and armsfolded across his breast, calmly facing the men and women who were tojudge him. 

The Very Young Man gripped the Chemist by the arm. "Who is that?" hewhispered. 

The Chemist's lips were pressed together; he seemed deeply affected. "Idid not know they caught him, " he answered softly. "It must have beenjust this morning. "

The Very Young Man looked at Lylda. Her face was placid, but her breastwas rising and falling more rapidly than normal, and her hands in herlap were tightly clenched. 

The judge began speaking quietly, amid a deathlike silence. For overfive minutes he spoke; once he was interrupted by a cheer, instantlystifled, and once by a murmur of dissent from several spectators on thebalcony that called forth instant rebuke from the attendant stationedthere. 

The judge finished his speech, and raised his golden scepter slowlybefore him. As his voice died away, Lylda rose to her feet and facingthe judge bowed low, with hands to her forehead. Then she spoke a fewwords, evidently addressing the women before her. Each of them raisedher hands and answered in a monosyllable, as though affirming an oath. This performance was repeated by the men. 

The accused still stood silent, smiling sardonically. Suddenly his voicerasped out with a short, ugly intonation and he threw his arms straightout before him. A murmur rose from the spectators, and severalattendants leaned forward towards the platform. But the man only lookedaround at them contemptuously and again folded his arms. 

From one of the enclosures a woman came, and mounted the platform besidethe man. The Chemist whispered, "His wife; she is going to speak forhim. " But with a muttered exclamation and wave of his arm, the man swepther back, and without a word she descended the steps and reentered therailed enclosure. 

Then the man turned and raising his arms spoke angrily to those seatedin the enclosure. Then he appealed to the judge. 

The Chemist whispered in explanation: "He refuses any witnesses. "

At a sign from the judge the enclosure was opened and its occupants leftthe floor, most of them taking seats upon the balcony. 

"Who is he?" the Very Young Man wanted to know, but the Chemist ignoredhis question. 

For perhaps ten minutes the man spoke, obviously in his own defence. Hisvoice was deep and powerful, yet he spoke now seemingly without anger;and without an air of pleading. In fact his whole attitude seemed one ofirony and defiance. Abruptly he stopped speaking and silence again fellover the room. A man and a woman left the other enclosure and mountedthe platform beside the accused. They seemed very small and fragile, ashe towered over them, looking down at them sneeringly. 

The man and woman conferred a moment in whispers. Then the woman spoke. She talked only a few minutes, interrupted twice by the judge, once by aquestion from Lylda, and once by the accused himself. 

Then for perhaps ten minutes more her companion addressed the court. Hewas a man considerably over middle age, and evidently, from his dressand bearing, a man of prominence in the nation. At one point in hisspeech it became obvious that his meaning was not clearly understood bythe jury. Several of the women whispered together, and one rose andspoke to Lylda. She interrupted the witness with a quiet question. Laterthe accused himself questioned the speaker until silenced by the judge. 

Following this witness came two others. Then the judge rose, and lookingup to the balcony where the Chemist and his companions were sitting, motioned to the Chemist to descend to the floor below. 

The Very Young Man tried once again with his whispered question "What isit?" but the Chemist only smiled, and rising quietly left them. 

There was a stir in the court-room as the Chemist crossed the mainfloor. He did not ascend the platform with the prisoner, but stoodbeside it. He spoke to the jury quietly, yet with a suppressed power inhis voice that must have been convincing. He spoke only a moment, morewith the impartial attitude of one who gives advice than as a witness. When he finished, he bowed to the court and left the floor, returning atonce to his friends upon the balcony. 

Following the Chemist, after a moment of silence, the judge brieflyaddressed the prisoner, who stolidly maintained his attitude of ironicdefiance. 

"He is going to ask the jury to give its verdict now, " said the Chemistin a low voice. 

Lylda and her companion leader rose and faced their subordinates, andwith a verbal monosyllable from each member of the jury the verdict wasunhesitatingly given. As the last juryman's voice died away, there camea cry from the back of the room, a woman tore herself loose from theattendants holding her, and running swiftly across the room leaped uponthe platform. She was a slight little woman, almost a child inappearance beside the man's gigantic stature. She stood looking at him amoment with heaving breast and great sorrowful eyes from which the tearswere welling out and flowing down her cheeks unheeded. 

The man's face softened. He put his hands gently upon the sides of herneck. Then, as she began sobbing, he folded her in his great arms. Foran instant she clung to him. Then he pushed her away. Still cryingsoftly, she descended from the platform, and walked slowly back acrossthe room. 

Hardly had she disappeared when there arose from the street outside afaint, confused murmur, as of an angry crowd gathering. The judge hadleft his seat now and the jury was filing out of the room. 

The Chemist turned to his friends. "Shall we go?" he asked. 

"This trial--" began the Big Business Man. "You haven't told us itssignificance. This man--good God what a figure of power and hate andevil. Who is he?"

"It must have been evident to you, gentlemen, " the Chemist said quietly, "that you have been witnessing an event of the utmost importance to usall. I have to tell you of the crisis facing us; this trial is itslatest development. That man--"

The insistent murmur from the street grew louder. Shouts arose and thena loud pounding from the side of the building. 

The Chemist broke off abruptly and rose to his feet. "Come outside, " hesaid. 

They followed him through a doorway on to a balcony, overlooking thestreet. Gathered before the court-house was a crowd of several hundredmen and women. They surged up against its entrance angrily, and wereheld in check there by the armed attendants on guard. A smaller crowdwas pounding violently upon a side door of the building. Several peopleran shouting down the street, spreading the excitement through the city. 

The Chemist and his companions stood in the doorway of the balcony aninstant, silently regarding this ominous scene. The Chemist was justabout to step forward, when, upon another balcony, nearer the corner ofthe building a woman appeared. She stepped close to the edge of theparapet and raised her arms commandingly. 

It was Lylda. She had laid aside her court robe and stood now in herglistening silver tunic. Her hair was uncoiled, and fell in dark massesover her white shoulders, blowing out behind her in the wind. 

The crowd hesitated at the sight of her, and quieted a little. She stoodrigid as a statue for a moment, holding her arms outstretched. Then, dropping them with a gesture of appeal she began to speak. 

At the sound of her voice, clear and vibrant, yet soft, gentle andwomanly, there came silence from below, and after a moment every facewas upturned to hers. Gradually her voice rose in pitch. Its gentle tonewas gone now--it became forceful, commanding. Then again she flung outher arms with a dramatic gesture and stood rigid, every line of her bodydenoting power--almost imperious command. Abruptly she ceased speaking, and, as she stood motionless, slowly at first, the crowd silentlydispersed. 

The street below was soon clear. Even those onlookers at a distanceturned the corner and disappeared. Another moment passed, and then Lyldaswayed and sank upon the floor of the balcony, with her head on her armsagainst its low stone railing--just a tired, gentle, frightened littlewoman. 

"She did it--how wonderfully she did it, " the Very Young Man murmured inadmiration. 

"We can handle them now, " answered the Chemist. "But each time--it isharder. Let us get Lylda and go home, gentlemen. I want to tell you allabout it. " He turned to leave the balcony. 

"Who was the man? What was he tried for?" the Very Young Man demanded. 

"That trial was the first of its kind ever held, " the Chemist answered. "The man was condemned to death. It was a new crime--the gravest we haveever had to face--the crime of treason. "

CHAPTER XXIII

LYLDA'S PLAN

Back home, comfortably seated upon the broad balcony overlooking thelake, the three men sat waiting to hear their host's explanation of thestrange events they had witnessed. Lylda busied herself preparing alight noonday meal, which she served charmingly on the balcony whilethey talked. 

"My friends, " the Chemist began. "I tried to give you this morning, apicture of this world and the life I have been leading here. I think youunderstand, although I did not specifically say so, that all I saidrelated to the time when I first came here. That you would call thislife Utopia, because of the way I outlined it, I do not doubt; or atleast you would call it a state of affairs as near Utopian as any humanbeings can approach. 

"All that is true; it was Utopia. But gentlemen, it is so no longer. Things have been changing of recent years, until now--well you saw whathappened this morning. 

"I cannot account for the first cause of this trouble. Perhaps theMalite war, with its disillusionment to our people--I do not know. Faithin human kindness was broken: the Oroids could no longer trustimplicitly in each other. A gradual distrust arose--a growing unrest--adissatisfaction, which made no demands at first, nor seemed indeed tohave any definite grievances of any sort. From it there sprang leaders, who by their greater intelligence created desires that fed and nourishedtheir dissatisfaction--gave it a seemingly tangible goal that made itfar more dangerous than it ever had been before. 

"About a year ago there first came into prominence the man whom you sawthis morning condemned to death. His name is Targo--he is aMalite--full-blooded I believe, although he says not. For twenty yearsor more he has lived in Orlog, a city some fifty miles from Arite. Hiswife is an Oroid. 

"Targo, by his eloquence, and the power and force of his personality, won a large following in Orlog, and to a lesser degree in many othercities. Twice, some months ago, he was arrested and reprimanded; thelast time with a warning that a third offence would mean his death. "

"What is he after?" asked the Very Young Man. 

"The Targos, as they are called, demand principally a different divisionof the land. Under the present system, approximately one-third of allthe land is in the hands of the government. Of that, generally more thanhalf lies idle most of the time. The Targos wish to have this landdivided among the citizens. They claim also that most of the cityorganizations do not produce as large a dividend as the Targos couldshow under their own management. They have many other grievances thatthere is no reason for me to detail. "

"Why not let them try out their theories in some city?" suggested theBig Business Man. 

"They are trying them, " the Chemist answered. "There was a revolution inOrlog about six months ago. Several of its officials wereassassinated--almost the first murders we have ever had. The Targos tookpossession of the government--a brother of this man you saw this morningbecame leader of the city. Orlog withdrew from the Oroid government andis now handling its affairs as a separate nation. "

"I wonder----" began the Big Business Man thoughtfully. "Well, why notlet them run it that way, if they want to?"

"No reason, if they were sincere. But they are not sincere nor honestfundamentally. Their leaders are for the most part Malites, or Oroidswith Malite blood. And they are fooling the people. Their followers areall the more unintelligent, more gullible individuals, or those in whomthere lies a latent criminal streak. 

"The thing doesn't work. Sexual license is growing in Orlog. Crimesagainst women are becoming more and more frequent. Offences committed bythose prominent, or in authority, go unpunished. Women's testimony isdiscredited, often by concerted lying on the part of men witnesses. 

"Many families are leaving Orlog--leaving their land and their homesdeserted. In other cities where the Targos threaten to gain control thesame thing is happening. Most of these refugees come to Arite. We cannottake care of them; there is not enough land here. "

"Why not take your army and clean them up?" suggested the Very YoungMan. 

They were seated around a little table, at which Lylda was servinglunch. At the question she stopped in the act of pouring a steamingliquid from a little metal kettle into their dainty golden drinking cupsand looked at the Very Young Man gravely. 

"Very easy it would be to do that perhaps, " she said quietly. "But theseTargos, except a few--they are our own people. And they too are armed. We cannot fight them; we cannot kill them--our own people. "

"We may have to, " said the Chemist. "But you see, I did not realize, Icould not believe the extent to which this Targo could sway the people. Nor did I at first realize what evils would result if his ideas werecarried out. He has many followers right here in Arite. You saw thatthis morning. "

"How did you catch him?" interrupted the Very Young Man. 

"Yesterday he came to Arite, " said Lylda. "He came to speak. With himcame fifty others. With them too came his wife to speak here, to ourwomen. He thought we would do nothing; he defied us. There was afight--this morning--and many were killed. And we brought him to thecourt--you saw. "

"It is a serious situation, " said the Doctor. "I had no idea----"

"We can handle it--we must handle it, " said the Chemist. "But as Lyldasays, we cannot kill our own people--only as a last desperate measure. "

"Suppose you wait too long, " suggested the Big Business Man. "You saythese Targos are gaining strength every day. You might have a very badcivil war. "

"That was the problem, " answered the Chemist. 

"But now you come, " said Lylda. "You change it all when you come down tous out of the great beyond. Our people, they call you genii of theMaster, they----"

"Oh gee, I never thought of that, " murmured the Very Young Man. "What_do_ you think of us?"

"They think you are supernatural beings of course, " the Chemist saidsmiling. "Yet they accept you without fear and they look to you and tome for help. "

"This morning, there at the court, " said Lylda, "I heard them say thatTargo spoke against you. Devils, he said, from the Great Blue Star, comehere with evil for us all. And they believe him, some of them. It wasfor that perhaps they acted as they did before the court. In Arite now, many believe in Targo. And it is bad, very bad. "

"The truth is, " added the Chemist, "your coming, while it gives usunlimited possibilities for commanding the course of events, at the sametime has precipitated the crisis. Naturally no one can understand who orwhat you are. And as Lylda says, the Targos undoubtedly are telling thepeople you come to ally yourself with me for evil. There will bethousands who will listen to them and fear and hate you--especially insome of the other cities. "

"What does the king say?" asked the Doctor. 

"We will see him to-morrow. He has been anxiously waiting for you. Butyou must not forget, " the Chemist added with a smile, "the king has hadlittle experience facing strife or evil-doing of any kind. It was almostunknown until recently. It is I, and you, gentlemen, who are facing theproblem of saving this nation. "

The Very Young Man's face was flushed, and his eyes sparkled withexcitement. "We can do anything we like, " he said. "We have the power. "

"Ay, that is it, " said Lylda. "The power we have. But my friend, wecannot use it. Not for strife, for death; we cannot. "

"The execution of Targo will cause more trouble, " said the Chemistthoughtfully. "It is bound to make----"

"When will you put him to death?" asked the Big Business Man. 

"To-morrow he dies, " Lylda answered. "To-morrow, before the time ofsleep. "

"There will be trouble, " said the Chemist again. "We are in no personaldanger of course, but, for the people who now believe in Targo, I amafraid----"

"A plan I have made, " said Lylda. She sat forward tensely in her chair, brushing her hair back from her face with a swift gesture. "A plan Ihave made. It is the only way--I now think--that may be there comes noharm to our people. It is that we want to do, if we can. " She spokeeagerly, and without waiting for them to answer, went swiftly on. 

"This drug that you have brought, I shall take it. And I shall get big. Oh, not so very big, but big enough to be the height of a man it may beten times. Then shall I talk to the people--I, Lylda--woman of theMaster, and then shall I tell them that this power, this magic, is forgood, not for evil, if only they will give up Targo and all who are withhim. "

"I will take it with you, " said the Chemist. "Together we----"

"No, no, my husband. Alone I must do this. Ah, do you not know they saythese stranger devils with their magic come for evil? And you too, mustyou not forget, once were a stranger just as they. That the peopleknow--that they remember. 

"But I--I--Lylda--a woman of the Oroids I am--full-blooded Oroid, nostranger. And they will believe me--a woman--for they know I cannot lie. 

"I shall tell them I am for good, for kindness, for all we had, thattime before the Malite war, when every one was happy. And if they willnot believe, if as I say they will not do, then shall my power be indeedfor evil, and all who will obey me not shall die. But they willbelieve--no need will there be to threaten. 

"To many cities I will go. And in them, all of those who want to live byTargo's law will I send to Orlog. And all in Orlog who believe him not, will I tell to leave, and to the other cities go to make their homes. Then Orlog shall be Targo's city. And to-morrow he will not die, but gothere into Orlog and become their king. For I shall say it may be thereare some who like his rule of evil. Or it may be he is good in differentfashion, and in time can make us see that his law too, is just and kind. 

"Then shall live in Orlog all who wish to stay, and we shall watch theirrule, but never shall we let them pass beyond their borders. For if theydo, then shall we kill them. 

"All this I can do, my husband, if you but will let me try. For me theywill believe, a woman, Oroid all of blood--for they know women do notlie. " She stopped and the fire in her eyes changed to a look of gentlepleading. "If you will but let me try, " she finished. "Myhusband--please. "

The Chemist glanced at his friends who sat astonished by this flow ofeager, impassioned words. Then he turned again to Lylda's intent, pleading face, regarding her tenderly. "You are very fine, little motherof my son, " he said gently, lapsing for a moment into her own style ofspeech. "It could do no harm, " he added thoughtfully "and perhaps----"

"Let her try it, " said the Doctor. "No harm could come to her. "

"No harm to me could come, " said Lylda quickly. "And I shall make thembelieve. I can, because I am a woman, and they will know I tell thetruth. Ah, you will let me try, my husband--please?"

The Chemist appealed to the others. "They will believe her, many ofthem, " he said. "They will leave Orlog as she directs. But those inother cities will still hold to Targo, they will simply remain silentfor a time. What their feelings will be or are we cannot tell. Some willleave and go to Orlog of course, for Lylda will offer freedom of theirleader and to secure that they will seem to agree to anything. 

"But after all, they are nothing but children at heart, most of them. To-day, they might believe in Lylda; to-morrow Targo could win themagain. "

"He won't get a chance, " put in the Very Young Man quickly. "If she sayswe kill anybody who talks for Targo outside of Orlog, that goes. It'sthe only way, isn't it?"

"And she might really convince them--or most of them, " added the Doctor. 

"You will let me try?" asked Lylda softly. The Chemist nodded. 

Lylda sprang to her feet. Her frail little body was trembling withemotion; on her face was a look almost of exaltation. 

"You _will_ let me try, " she cried. "Then I shall make them believe. Here, now, this very hour, I shall make them know the truth. And they, my own people, shall I save from sorrow, misery and death. "

She turned to the Chemist and spoke rapidly. 

"My husband, will you send Oteo now, up into the city. Him will you tellto have others spread the news. All who desire an end to Targo's rule, shall come here at once. And all too, who in him believe, and who forhim want freedom, they shall come too. Let Oteo tell them magic shall beperformed and Lylda will speak with them. 

"Make haste, my husband, for now I go to change my dress. Not as theMaster's woman will I speak, but as Lylda--Oroid woman--woman of thepeople. " And with a flashing glance, she turned and swiftly left thebalcony. 

CHAPTER XXIV

LYLDA ACTS

"She'll do it, " the Very Young Man murmured, staring at the doorwaythrough which Lylda had disappeared. "She can do anything. "

The Chemist rose to his feet. "I'll send Oteo. Will you wait heregentlemen? And will you have some of the drugs ready for Lylda? You havethem with you?" The men nodded. 

"How about Lylda carrying the drugs?" asked the Very Young Man. "Andwhat about her clothes?"

"I have already made a belt for Lylda and for myself--some time ago, "the Chemist answered. "During the first year I was here I made severalexperiments with the drugs. I found that almost anything within theimmediate--shall I say influence of the body, will contract with it. Almost any garment, even a loose robe will change size. You found thatto be so to some extent. Those belts you wore down--"

"That's true, " agreed the Doctor, "there seems to be considerablelatitude----"

"I decided, " the Chemist went on, "that immediately after your arrivalwe should all wear the drugs constantly. You can use the armpit pouchesif you wish; Lylda and I will wear these belts I have made. "

Oteo, the Chemist's personal servant, a slim youth with a bright, intelligent face, listened carefully to his master's directions and thenleft the house hurriedly, running up the street towards the center ofthe city. Once or twice he stopped and spoke to passers-by for a moment, gathering a crowd around him each time. 

The Chemist rejoined his friends on the balcony. "There will be athousand people here in half an hour, " he said quietly. "I have sent amessage to the men in charge of the government workshops; they will havetheir people cease work to come here. "

Lylda appeared in a few moments more. She was dressed as the Chemist hadseen her first through the microscope--in a short, grey skirt reachingfrom waist to knees. Only now she wore also two circular metal discsstrapped over her breasts. Her hair was unbound and fell in massesforward over her shoulders. Around her waist was a broad girdle ofgolden cloth with small pouches for holding the chemicals. She took herplace among the men quietly. 

"See, I am ready, " she said with a smile. "Oteo, you have sent him?" TheChemist nodded. 

Lylda turned to the Doctor. "You will tell me, what is to do with thedrugs?"

They explained in a few words. By now a considerable crowd had gatheredbefore the house, and up the street many others were hurrying down. Directly across from the entrance to Lylda's garden, back of the bluffat the lake front, was a large open space with a fringe of trees at itsback. In this open space the crowd was collecting. 

The Chemist rose after a moment and from the roof-top spoke a few wordsto the people in the street below. They answered him with shouts ofapplause mingled with a hum of murmured anger underneath. The Chemistwent back to his friends, his face set and serious. 

As he dropped in his chair Lylda knelt on the floor before him, layingher arms on his knees. "I go to do for our people the best I can, " shesaid softly, looking up into his face. "Now I go, but to you I will comeback soon. " The Chemist tenderly put his hand upon the glossy smoothnessof her hair. 

"I go--now, " she repeated, and reached for one of the vials under herarm. Holding it in her hand, she stared at it a moment, silently, inawe. Then she shuddered like a frightened child and buried her face inthe Chemist's lap, huddling her little body up close against his legs asif for protection. 

The Chemist did not move nor speak, but sat quiet with his hand gentlystroking her hair. In a moment she again raised her face to his. Herlong lashes were wet with tears, but her lips were smiling. 

"I am ready--now, " she said gently. She brushed her tears from her eyesand rose to her feet. Drawing herself to her full height, she tossedback her head and flung out her arms before her. 

"No one can know I am afraid--but you, " she said. "And I--shall forget. "She dropped her arms and stood passive. 

"I go now to take the drug--there in the little garden behind, where noone can notice. You will come down?"

The Big Business Man cleared his throat. When he spoke his voice wastremulous with emotion. 

"How long will you be gone--Lylda?" he asked. 

The woman turned to him with a smile. "Soon will I return, so Ibelieve, " she answered. "I go to Orlog, to Raito, and to Tele. But nevershall I wait, nor speak long, and fast will I walk.... Before the timeof sleep has descended upon us, I shall be here. "

In the little garden behind the house, out of sight of the crowd on theother side, Lylda prepared to take the drug. She was standing there, with the four men, when Loto burst upon them, throwing himself into hismother's arms. 

"Oh, _mamita_, _mamita_, " he cried, clinging to her. "There in thestreet outside, they say such terrible things----of you _mamita_. 'Themaster's woman' I heard one say, 'She has the evil magic. ' And anotherspoke of Targo. And they say he must not die, or there will be death forthose who kill him. "

Lylda held the boy close as he poured out his breathless frightenedwords. 

"No matter, little son, " she said tenderly. "To _mamita_ no harm cancome--you shall see. Did my father teach you well to-day?"

"But _mamita_, one man who saw me standing, called me an evil name andspoke of you, my mother Lylda. And a woman looked with a look I neversaw before. I am afraid, _mamita_. "

With quivering lips that smiled, Lylda kissed the little boy tenderlyand gently loosening his hold pushed him towards his father. 

"The Master's son, Loto, never can he be afraid, " she said with gentlereproof. "That must you remember--always. "

The little group in the garden close up against the house stood silentas Lylda took a few grains of the drug. The noise and shouts of thecrowd in front were now plainly audible. One voice was raised above theothers, as though someone were making a speech. 

Loto stood beside his father, and the Chemist laid his arm across theboy's shoulder. As Lylda began visibly to increase in size, the boyuttered a startled cry. Meeting his mother's steady gaze he shut hislips tight, and stood rigid, watching her with wide, horrified eyes. 

Lylda had grown nearly twice her normal size before she spoke. Then, smiling down at the men, she said evenly, "From the roof, perhaps, youwill watch. "

"You know what to do if you grow too large, " the Doctor said huskily. 

"I know, my friend. I thank you all. And good-bye. " She met theChemist's glance an instant. Then abruptly she faced about and walkingclose to the house, stood at its further corner facing the lake. 

After a moment's hesitation the Chemist led his friends to the roof. Asthey appeared at the edge of the parapet a great shout rolled up fromthe crowd below. Nearly a thousand people had gathered. The street wascrowded and in the open space beyond they stood in little groups. On aslight eminence near the lake bluff, a man stood haranguing those aroundhim. He was a short, very thickset little man, with very long arms--asquat, apelike figure. He talked loudly and indignantly; around himperhaps a hundred people stood listening, applauding at intervals. 

When the Chemist appeared this man stopped with a final phrase ofvituperation and a wave of his fist towards the house. 

The Chemist stood silent, looking out over the throng. "How large is shenow?" he asked the Very Young Man softly. The Very Young Man ran acrossthe roof to its farther corner and was back in an instant. 

"They'll see her soon--look there. " His friends turned at his words. Atthe corner of the house they could just see the top of Lylda's headabove the edge of the parapet. As they watched she grew still taller andin another moment her forehead appeared. She turned her head, and hergreat eyes smiled softly at them across the roof-top. In a few momentsmore (she had evidently stopped growing) with a farewell glance at herhusband, she stepped around the corner of the house into full view ofthe crowd--a woman over sixty feet tall, standing quietly in the gardenwith one hand resting upon the roof of the house behind her. 

A cry of terror rose from the people as she appeared. Most of those inthe street ran in fright back into the field behind. Then, seeing herstanding motionless with a gentle smile on her face, they stopped, irresolute. A few held their ground, frankly curious and unafraid. Others stood sullen and defiant. 

When the people had quieted a little Lylda raised her arms in greetingand spoke, softly, yet with a voice that carried far away over thefield. As she talked the people seemed to recover their composurerapidly. Her tremendous size no longer seemed to horrify them. Those whoobviously at first were friendly appeared now quite at ease; the others, with their lessening terror, were visibly more hostile. 

Once Lylda mentioned the name of Targo. A scattered shout came up fromthe crowd; the apelike man shouted out something to those near him, andthen, leaving his knoll disappeared. 

As Lylda continued, the hostile element in the crowd grew moreinsistent. They did not listen to her now but shouted back, in derisionand defiance. Then suddenly a stone was thrown; it struck Lylda on thebreast, hitting her metal breastplate with a thud and dropping at herfeet. 

As though at a signal a hail of stones flew up from the crowd, most ofthem striking Lylda like tiny pebbles, a few of the larger ones boundingagainst the house, or landing on its roof. 

At this attack Lylda abruptly stopped speaking and took a step forwardmenacingly. The hail of stones continued. Then she turned towards theroof-top, where the men and the little boy stood behind the parapet, sheltering themselves from the flying stones. 

"Only one way there is, " said Lylda sadly, in a soft whisper that theyplainly heard above the noise of the crowd. "I am sorry, my husband--butI must. "

A stone struck her shoulder. She faced the crowd again; a gentle look ofsorrow was in her eyes, but her mouth was stern. In the street below atthe edge of the field the squat little man had reappeared. It was fromhere that most of the stones seemed to come. 

"That man there--by the road----" The Chemist pointed. "One ofTargo's----"

In three swift steps Lylda was across the garden, with one foot over thewall into the street. Reaching down she caught the man between her hugefingers, and held him high over her head an instant so that all mightsee. 

The big crowd was silent with terror; the man high in the air over theirheads screamed horribly. Lylda hesitated only a moment more; then shethrew back her arm and, with a great great sweep, flung her screamingvictim far out into the lake. 

CHAPTER XXV

THE ESCAPE OF TARGO

"I am very much afraid it was a wrong move, " said the Chemist gravely. 

They were sitting in a corner of the roof, talking over the situation. Lylda had left the city; the last they had seen of her, she was stridingrapidly away, over the country towards Orlog. The street and fieldbefore the house now was nearly deserted. 

"She had to do it, of course, " the Chemist continued, "but to killTargo's brother----"

"I wonder, " began the Big Business Man thoughtfully. "It seems to methis disturbance is becoming far more serious than we think. It isn't somuch a political issue now between your government and the followers ofTargo, as it is a struggle against those of us who have this magic, asthey call it. "

"That's just the point, " put in the Doctor quickly. "They are making thepeople believe that our power of changing size is a menace that----"

"If I had only realized, " said the Chemist. "I thought your coming wouldhelp. Apparently it was the very worst thing that could have happened. "

"Not for you personally, " interjected the Very Young Man. "We'reperfectly safe--and Lylda, and Loto. " He put his arm affectionatelyaround the boy who sat close beside him. "You are not afraid, are you, Loto?"

"Now I am not, " answered the boy seriously. "But this morning, when Ileft my grandfather, coming home----"

"You were afraid for your mother. That was it, wasn't it?" finished theVery Young Man. "Does your grandfather teach you?"

"Yes--he, and father, and mother. "

"I want you to see Lylda's father, " said the Chemist. "There is nothingwe can do now until Lylda returns. Shall we walk up there?" They allagreed readily. 

"I may go, too?" Loto asked, looking at his father. 

"You have your lessons, " said the Chemist. 

"But, my father, it is so very lonely without mother, " protested theboy. 

The Chemist smiled gently. "Afraid, little son, to stay with Oteo?"

"He's not afraid, " said the Very Young Man stoutly. 

The little boy looked from one to the other of them a moment silently. Then, calling Oteo's name, he ran across the roof and down into thehouse. 

"Five years ago, " said the Chemist, as the child disappeared, "there washardly such an emotion in this world as fear or hate or anger. Now thependulum is swinging to the other extreme. I suppose that's natural, but----" He ended with a sigh, and, breaking his train of thought, roseto his feet. "Shall we start?"

Lylda's father greeted them gravely, with a dignity, and yet obviouscordiality that was quite in accord with his appearance. He was a manover sixty. His still luxuriant white hair fell to his shoulders. Hisface was hairless, for in this land all men's faces were as devoid ofhair as those of the women. He was dressed in a long, flowing robesimilar to those his visitors were wearing. 

"Because--you come--I am glad, " he said with a smile, as he shook handsin their own manner. He spoke slowly, with frequent pauses, as thoughcarefully picking his words. "But--an old man--I know not the languageof you. "

He led them into a room that evidently was his study, for in it they sawmany strange instruments, and on a table a number of loosely boundsheets of parchment that were his books. They took the seats he offeredand looked around them curiously. 

"There is the clock we spoke of, " said the Chemist, indicating one ofthe larger instruments that stood on a pedestal in a corner of the room. "Reoh will explain it to you. "

Their host addressed the Chemist. "From Oteo I hear--the news to-day isbad?" he asked with evident concern. 

"I am afraid it is, " the Chemist answered seriously. 

"And Lylda?"

The Chemist recounted briefly the events of the day. "We can only waituntil Lylda returns, " he finished. "To-morrow we will talk with theking. "

"Bad it is, " said the old man slowly; "very bad. But--we shall see----"

The Very Young Man had risen to his feet and was standing beside theclock. 

"How does it work?" he asked. "What time is it now?"

Reoh appealed to his son-in-law. "To tell of it--the words I know not. "

The Chemist smiled. "You are too modest, my father. But I will help youout, if you insist. " He turned to the others, who were gathered aroundhim, looking at the clock. 

"Our measurement of our time here, " he began, "like yours, is basedon----"

"Excuse me, " interrupted the Very Young Man. "I just want to know firstwhat time it is now?"

"It is in the fourth eclipse, " said the Chemist with a twinkle. 

The Very Young Man was too surprised by this unexpected answer toquestion further, and the Chemist went on. 

"We measure time by the astronomical movements, just as you do in yourworld. One of the larger stars has a satellite which revolves around itwith extreme rapidity. Here at Arite, this satellite passes nearlyalways directly behind its controlling star. In other words, it iseclipsed. Ten of these eclipses measure the passage of our day. We risegenerally at the first eclipse or about that time. It is now the fourtheclipse; you would call it late afternoon. Do you see?"

"How is the time gauged here?" asked the Big Business Man, indicatingthe clock. 

The instrument stood upon a low stone pedestal. It consisted of atransparent cylinder about twelve inches in diameter and some four feethigh, surmounted by a large circular bowl. The cylinder was separatedfrom the bowl by a broad disc of porous stone; a similar stone sectiondivided the cylinder horizontally into halves. From the bowl a fluid wasdropping in a tiny stream through the top stone segment into the uppercompartment, which was now about half full. This in turn filteredthrough the second stone into the lower compartment. This lower sectionwas marked in front with a large number of fine horizontal lines, anequal distance apart, but of unequal length. In it the fluid stood nowjust above one of the longer lines-the fourth from the bottom. On thetop of this fluid floated a circular disc almost the size of the insidediameter of the cylinder. 

The Chemist explained. "It really is very much like the old hour-glasswe used to have in your world. This filters liquid instead of sand. Youwill notice the water filters twice. " He indicated the two compartments. "That is because it is necessary to have a liquid that is absolutelypure in order that the rate at which it filters through this other stonemay remain constant. The clock is carefully tested, so that for eacheclipse the water will rise in this lower part of the cylinder, just thedistance from here to here. "

The Chemist put his fingers on two of the longer marks. 

"Very ingenious, " remarked the Doctor. "Is it accurate?"

"Not so accurate as your watches, of course, " the Chemist answered. "Butstill, it serves the purpose. These ten longer lines, you see, mark theten eclipses that constitute one of our days. The shorter lines betweenindicate halves and quarter intervals. "

"Then it is only good for one day?" asked the Very Young Man. "How doyou set it?"

"It resets automatically each day, at the beginning of the firsteclipse. This disc, " the Chemist pointed to the disc floating on thewater in the lower compartment. "This disc rises with the water on whichit is floating. When it reaches the top of it, it comes in contact witha simple mechanism--you'll see it up there--which opens a gate below anddrains out the water in a moment. So that every morning it is emptiedand starts filling up again. All that is needed is to keep this bowlfull of water. "

"It certainly seems very practical, " observed the Big Business Man. "Arethere many in use?"

"Quite a number, yes. This clock was invented by Reoh, some thirty yearsago. He is the greatest scientist and scholar we have. " The old mansmiled deprecatingly at this compliment. 

"Are these books?" asked the Very Young Man; he had wandered over to thetable and was fingering one of the bound sheets of parchment. 

"They are Reoh's chronicles, " the Chemist answered. "The only ones oftheir kind in Arite. "

"What's this?" The Very Young Man pointed to another instrument. 

"That is an astronomical instrument, something like a sextant--also aninvention of Reoh's. Here is a small telescope and----" The Chemistpaused and went over to another table standing at the side of the room. 

"That reminds me, gentlemen, " he continued; "I have something here inwhich you will be greatly interested. "

"What you--will see, " said Reoh softly, as they gathered around theChemist, "you only, of all people, can understand. Each day I look, andI wonder; but never can I quite believe. "

"I made this myself, nearly ten years ago, " said the Chemist, lifting upthe instrument; "a microscope. It is not very large, you see; nor is itvery powerful. But I want you to look through it. " With hiscigar-lighter he ignited a short length of wire that burned slowly witha brilliant blue spot of light. In his hand he held a small piece ofstone. 

"I made this microscope hoping that I might prove with it still moreconclusively my original theory of the infinite smallness of human life. For many months I searched into various objects, but without success. Finally I came upon this bit of rock. " The Chemist adjusted it carefullyunder the microscope with the light shining brilliantly upon it. 

"You see I have marked one place; I am going to let you look into itthere. "

The Doctor stepped forward. As he looked they heard his quick intake ofbreath. After a moment he raised his head. On his face was an expressionof awe too deep for words. He made place for the others, and stoodsilent. 

When the Very Young Man's turn came he looked into the eyepieceawkwardly. His heart was beating fast; for some reason he feltfrightened. 

At first he saw nothing. "Keep the other eye open, " said the Chemist. 

The Very Young Man did as he was directed. After a moment there appearedbefore him a vast stretch of open country. As from a great height hestared down at the scene spread out below him. Gradually it becameclearer. He saw water, with the sunlight--his own kind of sunlight itseemed--shining upon it. He stared for a moment more, dazzled by thelight. Then, nearer to him, he saw a grassy slope, that seemed to be ona mountain-side above the water. On this slope he saw animals grazing, and beside them a man, formed like himself. 

The Chemist's voice came to him from far away. "We are all of us here ina world that only occupies a portion of one little atom of the gold of awedding-ring. Yet what you see there in that stone----"

The Very Young Man raised his head. Before him stood the microscope, with its fragment of stone gleaming in the blue light of the burningwire. He wanted to say something to show them how he felt, but no wordscame. He looked up into the Chemist's smiling face, and smiled back alittle foolishly. 

"Every day I look, " said Reoh, breaking the silence. "And Isee--wonderful things. But never really--can I believe. "

At this moment there came a violent rapping upon the outer door. As Reohleft the room to open it, the Very Young Man picked up the bit of stonethat the Chemist had just taken from the microscope. 

"I wish--may I keep it?" he asked impulsively. 

The Chemist smiled and nodded, and the Very Young Man was about to slipit into the pocket of his robe when Reoh hastily reentered the room, followed by Oteo. The youth was breathing heavily, as though he had beenrunning, and on his face was a frightened look. 

"Bad; very bad, " said the old man, in a tone of deep concern, as theycame through the doorway. 

"What is it, Oteo?" asked the Chemist quickly. The boy answered him witha flood of words in his native tongue. 

The Chemist listened quietly. Then he turned to his companions. 

"Targo has escaped, " he said briefly. "They sent word to me at home, andOteo ran here to tell me. A crowd broke into the court-house andreleased him. Oteo says they went away by water, and that no one isfollowing them. "

The youth, who evidently understood English, added something else in hisown language. 

"He says Targo vowed death to all who have the magic power. He spoke inthe city just now, and promised them deliverance from the giants. "

"Good Lord, " murmured the Very Young Man. 

"He has gone to Orlog probably, " the Chemist continued. "We have nothingto fear for the moment. But that he could speak, in the centre of Arite, after this morning, and that the people would listen--"

"It seems to me things are getting worse every minute, " said the BigBusiness Man. 

Oteo spoke again. The Chemist translated. "The police did nothing. Theysimply stood and listened, but took no part. "

"Bad; very bad, " repeated the old man, shaking his head. 

"What we should do I confess I cannot tell, " said the Chemist soberly. "But that we should do something drastic is obvious. "

"We can't do anything until Lylda gets back, " declared the Very YoungMan. "We'll see what she has done. We might have had to let Targo goanyway. "

The Chemist started towards the door. "To-night, by the time of sleep, Reoh, " he said to the old man, "I expect Lylda will have returned. Youhad better come to us then with Aura. I do not think you should stayhere alone to sleep to-night. "

"In a moment--Aura comes, " Reoh answered. "We shall be with you--verysoon. "

The Chemist motioned to his companions, and with obvious reluctance onthe part of the Very Young Man they left, followed by Oteo. 

On the way back the city seemed quiet--abnormally so. The streets werenearly deserted; what few pedestrians they met avoided them, or passedthem sullenly. They were perhaps half-way back to the Chemist's housewhen the Very Young Man stopped short. 

"I forgot that piece of stone, " he explained, looking at them queerly. "Go on. I'll be there by the time you are, " and disregarding theChemist's admonition that he might get lost he left them abruptly andwalked swiftly back over the way they had come. 

Without difficulty, for they had made few turns, the Very Young Manlocated Reoh's house. As he approached he noticed the figure of a manlounging against a further corner of the building; the figuredisappeared almost as soon as he saw it. 

It was a trivial incident, but, somehow, to the Very Young Man, it heldsomething in it of impending danger. He did not knock on the outer door, but finding it partly open, he slowly pushed it wider and steppedquietly into the hallway beyond. He was hardly inside when there camefrom within the house a girl's scream--a cry of horror, abruptlystifled. 

For an instant, the Very Young Man stood hesitating. Then he dashedforward through an open doorway in the direction from which the cry hadseemed to come. 

The room into which he burst was Reoh's study; the room he had left onlya few moments before. On the floor, almost across his path, lay the oldman, with the short blade of a sword buried to the hilt in his breast. In a corner of the room a young Oroid girl stood with her back againstthe wall. Her hands were pressed against her mouth; her eyes were widewith terror. Bending over the body on the floor with a hand at itsarmpit, knelt the huge, gray figure of a man. At the sound of theintruder's entrance he looked up quickly and sprang to his feet. 

The Very Young Man saw it was Targo!

CHAPTER XXVI

THE ABDUCTION

When the Very Young Man left them so unceremoniously the Chemist and hiscompanions continued on their way home, talking earnestly over theserious turn affairs had taken. Of the three, the Big Business Manappeared the most perturbed. 

"Lylda isn't going to accomplish anything, " he said. "It won't work. Thething has gone too far. It isn't politics any longer; it's a struggleagainst us--a hatred and fear of our supernatural powers. "

"If we had never come----" began the Doctor. 

"It probably would have worked out all right, " finished the Big BusinessMan. "But since we're here----"

"We could leave, " the Doctor suggested. 

"It has gone too far; I agree with you, " the Chemist said. "Your goingwould not help. They would never believe I did not still possess themagic. And now, without the drugs I might not be able to cope withaffairs. It is a very serious situation. "

"And getting worse all the time, " added the Big Business Man. 

When they arrived at the Chemist's home Loto did not run out to meetthem as the Chemist expected. They called his name, but there was noanswer. Inside the house they perceived at once that something waswrong. The living-room was in disorder; some of the pieces of furniturehad been overturned, and many of the smaller articles were scatteredabout the floor. Even the wall-hangings had been torn down. 

In sudden fear the Chemist ran through the building, calling to Loto. Everywhere he saw evidence of intruders, who had ransacked the rooms, asthough making a hasty search. In one of the rooms, crouched on thefloor, he came upon Eena, Lylda's little serving-maid. The girl wasstricken dumb with terror. At the sight of her master she sobbed withrelief, and after a few moments told him what had happened. 

When the Chemist rejoined his friends in the lower room his face was setand white. The girl followed him closely, evidently afraid to be leftalone. The Chemist spoke quietly, controlling his emotion with obviousdifficulty. 

"Loto has been stolen!" he said. "Targo and four of his men were heresoon after we left. Eena saw them and hid. They searched the house----"

"For the drugs, " muttered the Doctor under his breath. 

"----and then left, taking Loto with them. "

"Which way did they go?" asked the Big Business Man. "Good God, what athing!"

"They went by water, in a large boat that was waiting for them here, "answered the Chemist. 

"How long ago?" asked the Doctor quickly. "We have not been gone verylong. "

"An hour probably, not much more. " Eena said something to her master andbegan to cry softly. 

"She says they left a little while ago. Three of the men took Loto awayin the boat. She watched them from the window upstairs. "

"_Targo aliá_, " said the girl. 

"One of the men was Targo, " said the Chemist. He went to one of thewindows overlooking the lake; the Doctor stood beside him. There was noboat in sight. 

"They cannot have got very far, " said the Doctor. "Those islandsthere----"

"They would take him to Orlog, " said the Chemist. "About fifty miles. "

The Doctor turned back to the room. "We can get them. You forget--thesedrugs--the power they give us. Oh, Will. " He called the Big Business Manover to them; he spoke hurriedly, with growing excitement. "What do youthink, Will? That boat--they've got Loto--it can't be very far. We canmake ourselves so large in half an hour we can wade all over the lake. We can get it. What do you think?"

The Chemist dropped into a chair with his head in his hands. "Let methink--just a moment, Frank. I know the power we have; I know we can doalmost anything. That little boy of mine--they've got him. Let methink--just a moment. "

He sat motionless. The Doctor continued talking in a lower tone to theBig Business Man by the window. In the doorway Oteo stood like a statue, motionless, except for his big, soft eyes that roved unceasingly overthe scene before him. After a moment Eena ceased her sobbing and kneltbeside the Chemist, looking up at him sorrowfully. 

"I cannot believe, " said the Chemist finally, raising his head, "thatthe safest way to rescue Loto is by the plan you have suggested. " Hespoke with his usual calm, judicial manner, having regained control ofhimself completely. "I understand now, thoroughly, and for the firsttime, the situation we are facing. It is, as you say, a political issueno longer. Targo and his closest followers have convinced a very largeproportion of our entire nation, I am certain, that myself, and myfamily, and you, the strangers, are possessed of a diabolical power thatmust be annihilated. Targo will never rest until he has the drugs. Thatis why he searched this house. 

"He has abducted Loto for the same purpose. He will--not hurt Loto--I amconvinced of that. Probably he will send someone to-morrow to demand thedrugs as the price of Loto's life. But don't you understand? Targo andhis advisers, and even the most ignorant of the people, realize whatpower we have. Lylda showed them that when she flung Targo's brother outinto the lake to-day. But we cannot use this power openly. For, while itmakes us invincible, it makes them correspondingly desperate. They are apeculiar people. Throughout the whole history of the race they have beenkindly, thoughtless children. Now they are aroused. The pendulum hasswung to the other extreme. They care little for their lives. They arestill children--children who will go to their death unreasoning, fighting against invincibility. 

"That is something we must never overlook, for it is a fact. We cannotrun amuck as giants over this world and hope to conquer it. We couldconquer it, yes; but only when the last of its inhabitants had beenkilled; stamped out like ants defending their hill from the attacks ofan elephant. Don't you see I am right?"

"Then Lylda----" began the Doctor, as the Chemist paused. 

"Lylda will fail. Her venture to-day will make matters immeasurablyworse. "

"You're right, " agreed the Big Business Man. "We should have realized. "

"So you see we cannot make ourselves large and recapture Loto by force. They would anticipate us and kill him. "

"Then what shall we do?" demanded the Doctor. "We must do something. "

"That we must decide carefully, for we must make no more mistakes. Butwe can do nothing at this moment. The lives of all of us are threatened. We must not allow ourselves to become separated. We must wait here forLylda. Reoh and Aura must stay with us. Then we can decide how to rescueLoto and what to do after that. But we must keep together. "

"Jack ought to be here by now, " said the Big Business Man. "I hope Reohand Aura come with him. "

For over an hour they waited, and still the Very Young Man did not come. They had just decided to send Oteo to see what had become of him and tobring down Reoh and his daughter, when Lylda unexpectedly returned. Itwas Eena, standing at one of the side windows, who first saw hermistress. A cry from the girl brought them all to the window. Far awaybeyond the city they could see the gigantic figure of Lylda, toweringseveral hundred feet in the air. 

As she came closer she seemed to stop, near the outskirts of the city, and then they saw her dwindling in size until she disappeared, hiddenfrom their view by the houses near at hand. 

In perhaps half an hour more she reappeared, picking her way carefullydown the deserted street towards them. She was at this time about fortyfeet tall. At the corner, a hundred yards away from them a little groupof people ran out, and, with shouts of anger, threw something at her asshe passed. 

She stooped down towards them, and immediately they scurried for safetyout of her reach. 

Once inside of her own garden, where the Chemist and his companions werewaiting, Lylda lost no time in becoming her normal size again. As shegrew smaller, she sat down with her back against a little tree. Her facewas white and drawn; her eyes were full of tears as she looked at herhusband and his friends. 

When the drug had ceased to act, the Chemist sat beside her. She hadstarted out only a few hours before a crusader, dominant, forceful; shecame back now, a tired, discouraged little woman. The Chemist put hisarm around her protectingly, drawing her drooping body towards him. "Very bad news, Lylda, we know, " he said gently. 

"Oh, my husband, " she cried brokenly. "So sorry I am--so very sorry. Thebest I knew I did. And it was all so very bad--so very bad----" shebroke off abruptly, looking at him with her great, sorrowful eyes. 

"Tell us Lylda, " he said softly. 

"To many cities I went, " she answered. "And I told the people all Imeant to say. Some of them believed. But they were not many, and of theothers who did not believe, they were afraid, and so kept they silent. Then into Orlog I went, and in the public square I spoke--for very long, because, for some reason I know not, at first they listened. 

"But no one there believed. And then, my husband, at last I knew why Icould not hope to gain my way. It is not because they want Targo's rulethat they oppose us. It was, but it is so no longer. It is because theyhave been made to fear these drugs we have. For now, in Orlog, they areshouting death to all the giants. Forgotten are all their cries forland--the things that Targo promised, and we in Arite would not give. Itis death to all the giants they are shouting now: death to you, to me, to us all, because we have these drugs. "

"Did they attack you?" asked the Big Business Man. 

"Many things they threw, " Lylda answered. "But I was so big, " she smileda little sad, twisted smile. "What they could do was as nothing. Andbecause of that they fear and hate us so; yet never have I seen suchfearless things as those they did. Death to the giants was their onlycry. And I could have killed them--hundreds, thousands--yet never couldI have made them stop while yet they were alive. 

"I told them Targo I would free. And in Orlog they laughed. For theysaid that he would free himself before I had returned. "

"He did, " muttered the Big Business Man. 

"Targo escaped this afternoon, " the Chemist explained. "He went to Orlogby boat and took----" He stopped abruptly. "Come into the house, Lylda, "he added gently; "there are other things, my wife, of which we mustspeak. " He rose to his feet, pulling her up with him. 

"Where is Jack, " she asked, looking at the Big Business Man, who stoodwatching her gravely. "And where is Loto? Does he not want to see hismother who tried so----" She put her arms around the Chemist's neck. "Sovery hard I tried, " she finished softly. "So very hard, because--Ithought----"

The Chemist led her gently into the house. The Doctor started to follow, but the Big Business Man held him back. "It is better not, " he said inan undertone, "don't you think?" Oteo was standing near them, and theBig Business Man motioned to him. "Besides, " he added, "I'm worriedabout Jack. I think we ought to go up after him. I don't think it oughtto take us very long. "

"With Oteo--he knows the way, " agreed the Doctor. "It's devilish strangewhat's keeping that boy. "

They found that although Oteo spoke only a few words of English, heunderstood nearly everything they said, and waiting only a moment more, they started up into the city towards Reoh's home. 

In the living-room of the house, the Chemist sat Lylda gently down on acushion in front of the hearth. Sitting beside her, he laid his hand onhers that rested on her knee. 

"For twelve years, Lylda, we have lived together, " he began slowly. "Andno sorrow has come to us; no danger has threatened us or those weloved. " He met his wife's questioning gaze unflinchingly and went on:

"You have proved yourself a wonderful woman, my wife. You neverknew--nor those before you--the conflict of human passions. No dangerbefore has ever threatened you or those you loved. " He saw her eyes growwider. 

"Very strange you talk, my husband. There is something----"

"There is something, Lylda. To-day you have seen strife, anger, hateand--and death. You have met them all calmly; you have fought them alljustly, like a woman--a brave, honest Oroid woman, who can wrong no one. There is something now that I must tell you. " He saw the growing fear inher eyes and hurried on. 

"Loto, to-day--this afternoon----"

The woman gave a little, low cry of anguish, instantly repressed. Herhand gripped his tightly. 

"No, no, Lylda, not that, " he said quickly, "but this afternoon while wewere all away--Loto was here alone with Eena--Targo with his men came. They did not hurt Loto; they took him away in a boat to Orlog. " Hestopped abruptly. Lylda's eyes never left his face. Her breath camefast; she put a hand to her mouth and stifled the cry that rose to herlips. 

"They will not hurt him, Lylda; that I know. And soon we will have himback. "

For a moment more her searching eyes stared steadily into his. He heardthe whispered words, "My little son--with Targo, " come slowly from herlips; then with a low, sobbing cry she dropped senseless into his arms. 

CHAPTER XXVII

AURA

The Very Young Man involuntarily took a step backward as he met Targo'seyes, glaring at him across the old man's body. The girl in the cornergave another cry--a cry of fright and horror, yet with a note of relief. The Very Young Man found himself wondering who she was; then he knew. 

His first impulse was to leap across the room towards her. He thought ofthe chemicals and instinctively his hand went to his armpit. But he knewthere was no time for that. He hesitated one brief instant. As he stoodrigid Targo stooped swiftly and grasped the dagger in his victim'sbreast. 

The girl screamed again, louder this time, and like a mask the VeryYoung Man's indecision fell from him. He stood alert, clear-headed. Herewas an enemy threatening him--an enemy he must fight and overcome. 

In the second that Targo bent down the Very Young Man bounded forward, and with a leap that his football days had taught him so well how tomake, he landed squarely upon the bare, broad back of his antagonist. The impact of his weight forced Targo down upon the floor, and losinghis balance he fell, with the Very Young Man on top of him. They hit theleg of the table as they rolled over, and something dropped from it tothe floor, striking the stone surface with a thud. 

The knife still stuck in the dead man's body. The Very Young Man thoughthe could reach it, but his opponent's great arms were around him now andheld him too tightly. He tried to pull himself loose, but could not. Then he rolled partly over again, and met Targo's eyes above, leeringtriumphantly down at him. He looked away and wrenched his right armfree. Across the room he could see the girl still crouching in thecorner. His right hand sweeping along the floor struck something heavylying there. His fingers closed over it; he raised it up, and hardlyknowing what he did, crashed it against his enemy's head. 

He felt the tense muscles of the man relax, and then the weight of hisinert body as it pressed down upon him. He wriggled free, and sprang tohis feet. As he stood weak and trembling, looking down at theunconscious form of Targo lying upon the floor, the girl suddenly ranover and stood beside him. Her slim little body came only a little abovehis shoulder; instinctively he put his arm about her. 

A voice, calling from outside the room, made the girl look up into hisface with new terror. 

"Others are coming, " she whispered tensely and huddled up against him. 

The Very Young Man saw that the room had two doors--the one throughwhich he had entered, and another in one of its other walls. There wereno windows. He pulled the girl now towards the further door, but sheheld him back. 

"They come that way, " she whispered. 

Another voice sounded behind him and the Very Young Man knew that a manwas coming up along the passageway from the front entrance. Targo's men!He remembered now the skulking figure he had seen outside the house. There were more than two, for now he heard other voices, and some onecalling Targo's name. 

He held the girl closer and stood motionless. Like rats in a trap, hethought. He felt the fingers of his right hand holding something heavy. It was a piece of stone--the stone he had looked at through themicroscope--the stone with which he had struck Targo. He smiled tohimself, and slipped it into his pocket. 

The girl had slowly pulled him over to the inner wall of the room. Thefootsteps came closer. They would be here in a moment. The Very YoungMan wondered how he should fight them all; then he thought of the knifethat was still in the murdered man's body. He thought he ought to get itnow while there was still time. He heard a click and the wall againstwhich he and the girl were leaning yielded with their weight. A doorswung open--a door the Very Young Man had not seen before. The girlpulled him through the doorway, and swung the door softly closed behindthem. 

The Very Young Man found himself now in a long, narrow room with a veryhigh ceiling. It had, apparently, no other door, and no windows. It wasevidently a storeroom--piled high with what looked like boxes, and withbales of silks and other fabrics. 

The Very Young Man looked around him hastily. Then he let go of thegirl, and, since locks were unknown in this world, began piling as manyheavy objects as possible against the door. The girl tried to help him, but he pushed her away. Once he put his ear to the door and listened. Heheard voices outside in the strange Oroid tongue. 

The girl stood beside him. "They are lifting Targo up. He speaks; he isnot dead, " she whispered. 

For several minutes they stood there listening. The voices continued ina low murmur. "They'll know we are in here, " said the Very Young Manfinally, in an undertone. "Is there any other way out of this room?"

The girl shook her head. The Very Young Man forgot the import of heranswer, and suddenly found himself thinking she was the prettiest girlhe had ever seen. She was hardly more than sixteen, with a slender, notyet matured, yet perfectly rounded little body. She wore, like Lylda, ashort blue silk tunic, with a golden cord crossing her breast andencircling her waist. Her raven black hair hung in two twisted locksnearly to her knees. Her skin was very white and, even more thanLylda's, gleamed with iridescent color. 

"Only this one door, " said the girl. The words brought the Very YoungMan to himself with a start. 

No other way out of the room! He knew that Targo and his men would forcetheir way in very soon. He could not prevent them. But it would taketime. The Very Young Man remembered that now he had time to take thechemicals. He put his hand to his armpit and felt the pouch that heldthe drug. He wondered which to take. The ceiling was very high; but tofight in the narrow confines of such a room----

He led the girl over to a pile of cushions and sat down beside her. 

"Listen, " he said briefly. "We are going to take a medicine; it willmake us very small. Then we will hide from Targo and his men till theyare gone. This is not magic; it is science. Do you understand?"

"I understand, " the girl answered readily. "One of the strangers youare--my brother's friend. "

"You will not be afraid to take the drug?"

"No. " But though she spoke confidently, she drew closer to him andshivered a little. 

The Very Young Man handed her one of the tiny pellets. "Just touch it tothe tip of your tongue as I do, " he said warningly. 

They took the drug. When it had ceased to act, they found themselvesstanding on the rough uneven stone surface that was the floor of theroom. Far overhead in the dim luminous blackness they could just makeout the great arching ceiling, stretching away out of sight down thelength of the room. Beside them stood a tremendous shaggy pile ofcoarsely woven objects that were the silk pillows on which they had beensitting a moment before--pillows that seemed forty or fifty feet squarenow and loomed high above their heads. 

The Very Young Man took the frightened girl by the hand and led heralong the tremendous length of a pile of boxes, blocks long it seemed. These boxes, from their size, might have been rectangular, windowlesshouses, jammed closely together, and piled one upon the other up intothe air almost out of sight. 

Finally they came to a broad passageway between the boxes--a mere crackit would have been before. They turned into it, and, a few feet beyond, came to a larger square space with a box making a roof over it sometwenty feet above their heads. 

From this retreat they could see the lower part of the door leading intothe other room and could hear from beyond it a muffled roar--the voicesof Targo and his men. Hardly were they hidden when the door opened alittle. It struck against the bales the Very Young Man had piled againstit. For a moment it held, but with the united efforts of the men pushingfrom the other side, it slowly yielded and swung open. 

Targo stepped into the room. To the Very Young Man he seemed nearly ahundred feet high. Only his feet and ankles were visible at first, fromwhere the Very Young Man was watching. Three other men came with him. They stamped back and forth for a time, moving some of the bales andboxes. Luckily they left undisturbed those nearest the fugitives; aftera moment they left, leaving the door open. 

The Very Young Man breathed a long sigh of relief. "Gosh, I'm gladthat's over. " He spoke in a low tone, although the men in the other roomseemed so far away they would hardly have heard him if he had shouted atthe top of his voice. 

Alone with the girl now in this great silent room, the Very Young Manfelt suddenly embarrassed. "I am one of your brother's friends, " hesaid. "My name's Jack; is yours Aura?"

"Lylda's sister I am, " she answered quietly. "My father told me aboutyou----" Then with a rush came the memory of her father's death, whichthe startling experiences of the past half-hour had made her forget. Herbig, soft eyes filled with tears and her lips quivered. Involuntarilythe Very Young Man put his arm about her again and held her close tohim. She was so little and frail--so pathetic and so wholly adorable. For a long time they sat in silence; then the girl gently drew away. 

At the doorway they stood and listened; Targo and his followers werestill in the adjoining room, talking earnestly. "Loto they havecaptured, " Aura whispered suddenly. "Others of Targo's men have takenhim--in a boat--to Orlog. To-morrow they send a messenger to my brotherto demand he give up these drugs--or Loto they will kill. "

The Very Young Man waited, breathless. Suddenly he heard Targo laugh--acruel, cynical laugh. Aura shuddered. 

"And when he has the drug, all of us will he kill. And all in the landtoo who will not do as he bids. "

The men were rising, evidently in preparation to leave. Aura continued:"They go--now--to Orlog--all but Targo. A little way from here, up thelake shore, a boat is waiting. It will take them there fast. "

With a last look around, Targo and his followers disappeared through theback door of the room. An outer door clanged noisily, and the Very YoungMan and Aura were left alone in the house. 

Reoh murdered, Loto stolen! The Very Young Man thought of Lylda andwondered if anything could have happened to her. "Did they speak of yoursister?" he asked. 

"Targo said--he--he would put her to death, " Aura answered with ashudder. "He said--she killed his brother to-day. " She turned to theVery Young Man impulsively, putting her little hands up on hisshoulders. "Oh, my friend, " she exclaimed. "You can do something to savemy family? Targo is so strong, so cruel. My father----" She stopped, andchoked back a sob. 

"Did they say where Lylda was now?"

"They did not know. She grew very big and went away. "

"Where is your brother and my two friends?"

"Targo said they were here when he--he took Loto. Now they have gonehome. He was afraid of them--now--because they have the drugs. "

"To-morrow they are going to send a messenger from Orlog to demand thedrugs?"

"He said to-morrow. Oh, you will do something for us? You can saveLoto?"

The Very Young Man was beginning to formulate a plan. "And to-night, " heasked, "from what they said--are you sure they will not hurt Loto?"

"They said no. But he is so little--so----" The girl burst into tears, and at every sob the Very Young Man's heart leaped in his breast. Hewanted to comfort her, but he could think of no word to say; he wantedto help her--to do the best thing in what he saw was a grave crisis. What he should have done was to have taken her back to the Chemist andhis friends, and then with them planned the rescue of Loto. But with thegirl's hands upon his shoulders, and her sorrowful little tear-stainedface looking up to his, he did not think of that. He thought only of herand her pathetic appeal. "You will do something, my friend? You can saveLoto?" He could save Loto! With the power of the drugs he could doanything!

The Very Young Man made a sudden decision. "I don't know the way toOrlog; you do?" he asked abruptly. 

"Oh yes, I know it well. "

"We will go to Orlog, you and I--now, and rescue Loto. You will not beafraid?"

The girl's eyes looked into his with a clear, steady gaze. The VeryYoung Man stared down into their depths with his heart pounding. "Ishall not be afraid--with you, " said the girl softly. 

The Very Young Man drew a long breath. He knew he must think it all outcarefully. The drug would make them very large, and in a short time theycould walk to Orlog. No harm could come to them. Once in Orlog theywould find Loto--probably in Targo's palace--and bring him back withthem. The Very Young Man pictured the surprise and gratification of theChemist and his friends. Lylda would be back by then; no sooner wouldshe have heard of Loto's loss than he would bring him back to her. Orperhaps they would meet Lylda and she would join them. 

The Very Young Man produced the drug and was about to give Aura one ofthe pellets when another thought occurred to him. Targo would not harmLoto now because he was valuable as a hostage. But suppose he saw thesetwo giants coming to the rescue? The Very Young Man knew that probablythe boy would be killed before he could save him. That way would not do. He would have to get to Orlog unseen--rescue Loto by a sudden rush, before they could harm him. 

But first it would be necessary for him and Aura to get out of Aritequietly without causing any excitement. Once in the open country theycould grow larger and travel rapidly to Orlog. The Very Young Manthought it would be best to be normal size while leaving Arite. Heexplained his plan to Aura briefly. 

It took several successive tastes of the different drugs before thisresult was accomplished, but in perhaps half an hour they were ready toleave the house. To the Very Young Man this change of size was no longereven startling. Aura, this time, with him beside her, seemed quiteunafraid. 

"Now we're ready, " said the Very Young Man, in a matter-of-fact tonethat was far from indicating his true feeling. "Take the way where weare least likely to be noticed--towards Orlog. When we get in the opencountry we can get bigger. "

He led the girl across Reoh's study. She kept her face averted as theypassed the body lying on the floor, and in a moment they were outsidethe house. They walked rapidly, keeping close to the walls of thehouses. The streets were nearly deserted and no one seemed to noticethem. 

The Very Young Man was calculating the time. "Probably they are justgetting to Orlog with Loto, " he said. "Once we get out of Arite we'lltravel fast; we'll have him back in two or three hours. "

Aura said nothing, but walked beside him. Once or twice she looked backover her shoulder. 

They were in the outskirts of the city, when suddenly the girl grippedher companion by the arm. 

"Some one--behind us, " she whispered. The Very Young Man resisted animpulse to look around. They had come to a cross street; the Very YoungMan abruptly turned the corner, and clutching Aura by the hand ranswiftly forward a short distance. When they had slowed down to a walkagain the Very Young Man looked cautiously back over his shoulder. As hedid so he caught a glimpse of three men who had just reached the corner, and who darted hastily back out of sight as he turned his head. 

CHAPTER XXVIII

THE ATTACK ON THE PALACE

Oteo led the two men swiftly through the city towards Reoh's house. There were few pedestrians about and no one seemed particularly tonotice them. Yet somehow, the Big Business Man thought, there hung aboutthe city an ominous air of unrest. Perhaps it was the abnormalquiet--that solemn sinister look of deserted streets; or perhaps it wasan occasional face peering at them from a window, or a figure lurking ina doorway disappearing at their approach. The Big Business Man found hisheart beating fast. He suddenly felt very much alone. The realizationcame to him that he was in a strange world, surrounded by beings ofanother race, most of whom, he knew now, hated and feared him and thosewho had come with him. 

Then his thoughts took another turn. He looked up at the brilliantgalaxy of stars overhead. New, unexplored worlds! Thousands, millions ofthem! In one tiny, little atom of a woman's wedding-ring! Then hethought of his friend the Banker. Perhaps the ring had not been movedfrom its place in the clubroom. Then--he looked at the sky again--thenBroadway--only thirty feet away from him this moment! He smiled a littleat this conception, and drew a long breath--awed by his thoughts. 

Oteo was plucking at his sleeve and pointing. Across the street stoodReoh's house. The Doctor knocked upon its partially open front door, and, receiving no answer, they entered silently, with the dread sense ofimpending evil hanging over them. The Doctor led the way into the oldman's study. At the threshold he stopped, shocked into immobility. Uponthe floor, with the knife still in it, lay Reoh's body. The Doctor madea hasty examination, although the presence of the knife obviously madeit unnecessary. 

A hurried search of the house convinced them that Aura and the VeryYoung Man were not there. The two men, confused by this double disaster, were at a loss to know what to do. 

"They've got him, " said the Big Business Man with conviction. "And thegirl too, probably. He must have come back just as they were killingReoh. "

"There wasn't much time, " the Doctor said. "He was back here in tenminutes. But they've got him--you're right--or he would have been backwith us before this. "

"They'll take him and the girl to Orlog. They won't hurt them becausethey----" The Big Business Man stopped abruptly; his face went white. "Good God, Frank, do you realize? They've got the drugs now!"

Targo had the drugs! The Big Business Man shuddered with fear at thethought. Their situation would be desperate, indeed, if that were so. 

The Doctor reasoned it out more calmly. "I hadn't thought of that, " hesaid slowly. "And it makes me think perhaps they have not captured Jack. If they had the drugs they would lose no time in using them. Theyhaven't used them yet--that's evident. "

The Big Business Man was about to reply when there came a shouting fromthe street outside, and the sound of many feet rushing past the house. They hurried to the door. A mob swept by--a mob of nearly a thousandpersons. Most of them were men. Some were armed with swords; othersbrandished huge stones or lengths of beaten gold implements, perhapswith which they had been working, and which now they held as weapons. 

The mob ran swiftly, with vainglorious shouts from its leaders. Itturned a corner nearby and disappeared. 

From every house now people appeared, and soon the streets were full ofscurrying pedestrians. Most of them followed the direction taken by themob. The listeners in the doorway could hear now, from far away, thesound of shouts and cheering. And from all around them came the buzz andhum of busy streets. The city was thoroughly awake--alert and expectant. 

The Big Business Man flung the door wide. "I'm going to follow thatcrowd. See what's going on. We can't stay here in the midst of this. "

The Doctor and Oteo followed him out into the street, and they mingledwith the hastening crowd. In their excitement they walked freely amongthe people. No one appeared to notice them, for the crowd was as excitedas they, hurrying along, heedless of its immediate surroundings. As theyadvanced, the street became more congested. 

Down another street they saw fighting going on--a weaponless crowdswaying and struggling aimlessly. A number of armed men charged thiscrowd--men who by their breastplates and swords the Big Business Manrecognized as the police. The crowd ceased struggling and dispersed, only to gather again in another place. 

The city was in a turmoil of excitement without apparent reason, ordefinite object. Yet there was a steady tide in the direction the firstarmed mob had gone, and with that tide went the Big Business Man and histwo companions. 

After a time they came to an open park, beyond which, on a prominence, with the lake behind, stood a large building that the Chemist hadalready pointed out to them as the king's palace. 

Oteo led them swiftly into a side street to avoid the dense crowd aroundthe park. Making a slight detour they came back to it again--much nearerthe palace now--and approached from behind a house that fronted the openspace near the palace. 

"Friend of the Master--his house!" Oteo explained as he knockedperemptorily at a side door. 

They waited a moment, but no one came. Oteo pushed the door and led themwithin. The house was deserted, and following Oteo, they went to theroof. Here they could see perfectly what was going on around the palace, and in the park below them. 

This park was nearly triangular in shape--a thousand feet possibly oneach side. At the base of the triangle, on a bluff with the lake behindit, stood the palace. Its main entrance, two huge golden doors, stood atthe top of a broad flight of stone steps. On these steps a fight was inprogress. A mob surged up them, repulsed at the top by a score or moreof men armed with swords, who were defending the doorway. 

The square was thronged with people watching the palace steps andshouting almost continuously. The fight before the palace evidently hadbeen in progress for some time. Many dead were lying in the doorway andon the steps below it. The few defenders had so far resistedsuccessfully against tremendous odds, for the invaders, pressed upwardby those behind, could not retreat, and were being killed at the topfrom lack of space in which to fight. 

"Look there, " cried the Big Business Man suddenly. Coming down a crossstreet, marching in orderly array with its commander in front, was acompany of soldier police. It came to a halt almost directly beneath thewatchers on the roof-tops, and its leader brandishing his sword after amoment of hesitation, ordered his men to charge the crowd. They did notmove at the order, but stood sullenly in their places. Again he orderedthem forward, and, as they refused to obey, made a threatening movetowards them. 

In sudden frenzy, those nearest leaped upon him, and in an instant helay dead upon the ground, with half a dozen swords run through his body. Then the men stood, in formation still, apathetically watching theevents that were going on around them. 

Meanwhile the fight on the palace steps raged more furiously than ever. The defenders were reduced now to a mere handful. 

"A moment more--they'll be in, " said the Doctor breathlessly. Hardly hadhe spoken when, with a sudden, irresistible rush, the last of the guardswere swept away, and the invaders surged through the doorway into thepalace. 

A great cry went up from the crowd in the park as the palace wastaken--a cry of applause mingled with awe, for they were a littlefrightened at what they were seeing. 

Perhaps a hundred people crowded through the doorway into the palace;the others stood outside--on the steps and on the terracebelow--waiting. Hardly more than five minutes went by when a manappeared on the palace roof. He advanced to the parapet with severalothers standing respectfully behind him. 

"Targo!" murmured Oteo. 

It was Targo--Targo triumphantly standing with uplifted arms before thepeople he was to rule. When the din that was raised at his appearancehad subsided a little he spoke; one short sentence, and then he paused. There was a moment of indecision in the crowd before it broke intotumultuous cheers. 

"The king--he killed, " Oteo said softly, looking at his master's friendswith big, frightened eyes. 

The Big Business Man stared out over the waving, cheering throng, withthe huge, dominant, triumphant figure of Targo above and muttered tohimself, "The king is dead; long live the king. "

When he could make himself heard, Targo spoke again. The Doctor and theBig Business Man were leaning over the parapet watching the scene, whensuddenly a stone flew up from the crowd beneath, and struck the railingwithin a few feet of where they were standing. They glanced down insurprise, and realized, from the faces that were upturned, that theywere recognized. A murmur ran over the crowd directly below, and thensomeone raised a shout. Four words it seemed to be, repeated over andover. Gradually the shout spread--"Death to the Giants, " the BigBusiness Man knew it was--"Death to the Giants, " until the whole mass ofpeople were calling it rhythmically--drowning out Targo's voicecompletely. A thousand faces now stared up at the men on the roof-topand a rain of stones began falling around them. 

The Doctor clutched his friend by the arm and pulled him back from theparapet. "They know us--good God, don't you see?" he said tensely. "Comeon. We must get out of this. There'll be trouble. " He started across theroof towards the opening that led down into the house. 

The Big Business Man jerked himself free from the grasp that held him. 

"I do see, " he cried a little wildly. "I do see we've been damn fools. There'll be trouble. You're right--there will be trouble; but it won'tbe ours. I'm through--through with this miserable little atom and itsswarm of insects. " He gripped the Doctor by both shoulders. "My God, Frank, can't you understand? We're men, you and I--men! Thesecreatures"--he waved his arm back towards the city--"nothing butinsects--infinitesimal--smaller than the smallest thing we ever dreamedof. And we take them seriously. Don't you understand? Seriously! God, man, that's funny, not tragic. "

He fumbled at the neck of his robe, and tearing it away, brought out avial of the drugs. 

"Here, " he exclaimed, and offered one of the pellets. 

"Not too much, " warned the Doctor vehemently, "only touch it to yourtongue. "

Oteo, with pleading eyes, watched them taking the drug, and the Doctorhanded him a pellet, showing him how to take it. 

As they stood together upon the roof-top, clinging to one another, thecity dwindled away rapidly beneath them. By the time the drug had ceasedto act there was hardly room for them to stand on the roof, and thehouse, had it not been built solidly of stone, would have been crushedunder their weight. At first they felt a little dizzy, as though theywere hanging in mid-air, or were in a balloon, looking down at the city. Then gradually, they seemed to be of normal size again, balancingthemselves awkwardly upon a little toy-house whose top was hardly biggerthan their feet. 

The park, only a step now beneath the house-top, swarmed with tinyfigures less than two inches in height. Targo still stood upon thepalace roof; they could have reached down and picked him up betweenthumb and forefinger. The whole city lay within a radius of a fewhundred feet around them. 

When they had stopped increasing in size, they leaped in turn over thepalace, landing upon the broad beach of the lake. Then they beganwalking along it. There was only room for one on the sand, and the othertwo, for they walked abreast, waded ankle-deep in the water. From thelittle city below them they could hear the hum of a myriad of tinyvoices--thin, shrill and faint. Suddenly the Big Business Man laughed. There was no hysteria in his voice now--just amusement and relief. 

"And we took that seriously, " he said. "Funny, isn't it?"

CHAPTER XXIX

ON THE LAKE

"You're right--we are being followed, " the Very Young Man said soberly. He had pulled the girl over close against the wall of a house. "Did yousee that?"

"Three, they are, " Aura answered. "I saw them before--in the streetbelow--Targo's men. "

Evidently the three men had been watching the house from which they hadcome and had followed them from there. If they were Targo's men, asseemed very probable, the Very Young Man could not understand why theyhad not already attacked him. Perhaps they intended to as soon as he andAura had reached a more secluded part of the city. They must know he hadthe drugs, and to gain possession of those certainly was what they werestriving for. The Very Young Man realized he must take no chances; tolose the drugs would be fatal to them all. 

"Are we near the edge of the city?" he asked. 

"Yes, very near. "

"Then we shall get large here. If we make a run for it we will be in thecountry before we are big enough to attract too much attention. Understand, Aura?"

"I understand. "

"We mustn't stir up the city if we can help it; with giants runningaround, the people would get worked up to a frenzy. You could see thatwith Lylda this afternoon. Not that you can blame them altogether, butwe want to get Loto back before we start anything here in Arite. " Hetook the pellets out as he spoke, and they each touched one of them tothe tip of their tongues. 

"Now, then, come on--not too fast, we want to keep going, " said the VeryYoung Man, taking the girl by the hand again. 

As they started off, running slowly down the street, the Very Young Manlooked back. The three men were running after them--not fast, seemingcontent merely to keep their distance. The Very Young Man laughed. "Waittill they see us get big. Fine chance they've got. "

Aura, her lithe, young body in perfect condition, ran lightly and easilyas a fawn. She made a pretty picture as she ran, with her long, blackhair streaming out behind her, and the short silk tunic flapping abouther lean, round thighs. She still held the Very Young Man by the hand, running just in advance of him, guiding him through the streets, whichin this part of the city were more broken up and irregular. 

They had not gone more than a hundred yards when the pavement began tomove unsteadily under them, as the deck of a plunging ship feels to onewho runs its length, and the houses they were swiftly passing beganvisibly to decrease in size. The Very Young Man felt the girl falter inher stride. He dropped her hand and slipped his arm about her waist, holding her other hand against it. She smiled up into his eyes, and thusthey ran on, side by side. 

A few moments more and they were in the open country, running on a roadthat wound through the hills, between cultivated fields dotted here andthere with houses. The landscape dwindled beneath them steadily, untilthey seemed to be running along a narrow, curving path, bordered bylittle patches of different-colored ground, like a checkerboard. Thehouses they passed now hardly reached as high as their knees. Sometimespeasants stood in the doorways of these houses watching them in terror. Occasionally they passed a farmer ploughing his field, who stopped hiswork, stricken dumb, and stared at them as they went swiftly by. 

When they were well out into the country, perhaps a quarter of the wayto Orlog--for to beings so huge as they the distance was not great--theVery Young Man slowed down to a walk. 

"How far have we gone?" he asked. 

Aura stopped abruptly and looked around her. They seemed now to be atthe bottom of a huge, circular, shallow bowl. In every direction fromwhere they stood the land curved upward towards the rim of the bowl thatwas the horizon--a line, not sharp and well defined, but dim and hazy, melting away into the blackness of the star-studded sky. Behind them, hardly more than a mile away, according to their present stature--theyhad stopped growing entirely now--lay the city of Arite. They could seecompletely across it and out into the country beyond. 

The lake, with whose shore they had been running parallel, was muchcloser to them. Ahead, up near the rim of the horizon, lay a blacksmudge. Aura pointed. "Orlog is there, " she said. "You see it?"

To the Very Young Man suddenly came the realization that already he wasfacing the problem of how to get into Orlog unheralded. If they remainedin their present size they could easily walk there in an hour or less. But long before that they would be seen and recognized. 

The Very Young Man feared for Loto's safety if he allowed that tohappen. He seemed to be able to make out the city of Orlog now. It wassmaller than Arite, and lay partially behind a hill, with most of itshouses strung along the lake shore. If only they were not so tall theycould not be seen so readily. But if they became smaller it would takethem much longer to get there. And eventually they would have to becomenormal Oroid size, or even smaller, in order to get into the cityunnoticed. The Very Young Man thought of the lake. Perhaps that would bethe best way. 

"Can you swim?" he asked. And Aura, with her ready smile, answered thatshe could. "If we are in the water, " she added, seeming to have followedhis thoughts, "they would not see us. I can swim very far--can you?"

The Very Young Man nodded. 

"If we could get near to Orlog in the water, " he said, "we might get aboat. And then when we were small, we could sail up. They wouldn't seeus then. "

"There are many boats, " answered the girl in agreement. "Look!"

There were, indeed, on the lake, within sight of them now, severalboats. "We must get the one nearest Orlog, " the Very Young Man said. "Orelse it will beat us in and carry the news. "

In a few minutes more they were at the lake shore. The Very Young Manwore, underneath his robe, a close-fitting knitted garment very muchlike a bathing-suit. He took off his robe now, and rolling it up, tiedit across his back with the cord he had worn around his waist. Aura'stunic was too short to impede her swimming and when the Very Young Manwas ready, they waded out into the water together. They found the lakeno deeper than to Aura's shoulders, but as it was easier to swim than towade, they began swimming--away from shore towards the farthest boatthat evidently was headed for Orlog. 

The Very Young Man thought with satisfaction that, with only their headsvisible, huge as they would appear, they could probably reach this boatwithout being seen by any one in Orlog. The boat was perhaps a quarterof a mile from them--a tiny little toy vessel, it seemed, that theynever would have seen except for its sail. 

They came up to it rapidly, for they were swimming very much faster thanit could sail, passing close to one of the others and nearly swamping itby the waves they made. As they neared the boat they were pursuing--itwas different from any the Very Young Man had seen so far, a single, canoe-shaped hull, with out-riders on both sides--they could see it heldbut a single occupant, a man who sat in its stern--a figure about aslong as one of the Very Young Man's fingers. 

The Very Young Man and Aura were swimming side by side, now. The waterwas perfect in temperature--neither too hot nor too cold; they had notbeen swimming fast, and were not winded. 

"We've got him, what'll we do with him, " the Very Young Man wanted toknow in dismay, as the thought occurred to him. He might have been morepuzzled at how to take the drug to make them smaller while they wereswimming, but Aura's answer solved both problems. 

"There is an island, " she said flinging an arm up out of the water. "Wecan push the boat to it, and him we can leave there. Is that not thething to do?"

"You bet your life, " the Very Young Man agreed, enthusiastically. "That's just the thing to do. "

As they came within reach of the boat the Very Young Man stoppedswimming and found that the water was not much deeper than his waist. The man in the boat appeared now about to throw himself into the lakefrom fright. 

"Tell him, Aura, " the Very Young Man said. "We won't hurt him. "

Wading through the water, they pushed the boat with its terrifiedoccupant carefully in front of them towards the island, which was notmore than two or three hundred yards away. The Very Young Man found thisrather slow work; becoming impatient, he seized the boat in his hand, pinning the man against its seat with his forefinger so he would notfall out. Then raising the boat out of the water over his head he wadedforward much more rapidly. 

The island, which they reached in a few moments more, was circular inshape, and about fifty feet in diameter. It had a beach entirely aroundit; a hill perhaps ten feet high rose near its center, and at one end itwas heavily wooded. There were no houses to be seen. 

The Very Young Man set the boat back on the water, and they pushed it upon the beach. When it grounded the tiny man leaped out and ran swiftlyalong the sand. The Very Young Man and Aura laughed heartily as theystood ankle-deep in the water beside the boat, watching him. For nearlyfive minutes he ran; then suddenly he ducked inland and disappeared inthe woods. 

When they were left alone they lost no time in becoming normal Oroidsize. The boat now appeared about twenty-five feet long--a narrow, canoe-shaped hull hollowed out of a tree-trunk. They climbed into it, and with a long pole they found lying in its bottom, the Very Young Manshoved it off the beach. 

CHAPTER XXX

WORD MUSIC

The boat had a mast stepped near the bow, and a triangular cloth sail. The Very Young Man sat in the stern, steering with a short, broad-bladedpaddle; Aura lay on a pile of rushes in the bottom of the boat, lookingup at him. 

For about half a mile the Very Young Man sailed along parallel with thebeach, looking for the man they had marooned. He was nowhere in sight, and they finally headed out into the lake towards Orlog, which theycould just see dimly on the further shore. 

The breeze was fresh, and they made good time. The boat steered easily, and the Very Young Man, reclining on one elbow, with Aura at his feet, felt at peace with himself and with the world. Again he thought thisgirl the prettiest he had ever seen. There was something, too, of aspiritual quality in the delicate smallness of her features--a sweetnessof expression in her quick, understanding smile, and an honest clearnessin her steady gaze that somehow he seemed never to have seen in a girl'sface before. 

He felt again, now that he had time to think more of her, that same olddiffidence that had come to him before when they were alone in thestoreroom of her home. That she did not share this feeling was obviousfrom the frankness and ease of her manner. 

For some time after leaving the island neither spoke. The Very Young Manfelt the girl's eyes fixed almost constantly upon him--a calm gaze thatheld in it a great curiosity and wonderment. He steered steadily onwardtowards Orlog. There was, for the moment, nothing to discuss concerningtheir adventure, and he wondered what he should say to this girl whostared at him so frankly. Then he met her eyes, and again she smiledwith that perfect sense of comradeship he had so seldom felt with womenof his own race. 

"You're very beautiful, " said the Very Young Man abruptly. 

The girl's eyes widened a little, but she did not drop her lashes. "Iwant to be beautiful; if you think it is so, I am very glad. "

"I do. I think you're the prettiest girl I ever saw. " He blurted out thewords impetuously. He was very earnest, very sincere, and very young. 

A trace of coquetry came into the girl's manner. "Prettier than thegirls of your world? Are they not pretty?"

"Oh, yes--of course; but----"

"What?" she asked when he paused. 

The Very Young Man considered a moment. "You're--you're different, " hesaid finally. She waited. "You--you don't know how to flirt, for onething. "

The girl turned her head away and looked at him a little sidewisethrough lowered lashes. 

"How do you know that?" she asked demurely; and the Very Young Manadmitted to himself with a shock of surprise that he certainly wastotally wrong in that deduction at least. 

"Tell me of the girls in your world, " she went on after a moment'ssilence. "My sister's husband many times he has told me of the wonderfulthings up there in that great land. But more I would like to hear. "

He told her, with an eloquence and enthusiasm born of youth, about hisown life and those of his people. She questioned eagerly and with anintelligence that surprised him, for she knew far more of the subjectthan he realized. 

"These girls of your country, " she interrupted him once. "They, too, arevery beautiful; they wear fine clothes--I know--my brother he has toldme. "

"Yes, " said the Very Young Man. 

"And are they very learned--very clever--do they work and govern, likethe men?"

"Some are very learned. And they are beginning to govern, like the men;but not so much as you do here. "

The girl's forehead wrinkled. "My brother he once told me, " she saidslowly, "that in your world many women are bad. Is that so?"

"Some are, of course. And some men think that most are. But I don't; Ithink women are splendid. "

"If that is so, then better I can understand what I have heard, " thegirl answered thoughtfully. "If Oroid women were as I have heard mybrother talk of some of yours, this world of ours would soon be full ofevil. "

"You are different, " the Very Young Man said quickly. "You--and Lylda. "

"The women here, they have kept the evil out of life, " the girl went on. "It is their duty--their responsibility to their race. Your goodwomen--they have not always governed as we have. Why is that?"

"I do not know, " the Very Young Man admitted. "Except because the menwould not let them. "

"Why not, if they are just as learned as the men?" The girl wassmiling--a little roguish, twisted smile. 

"There are very clever girls, " the Very Young Man went on hastily; hefound himself a little on the defensive, and he did not know just why. "They are able to do things in the world. But--many men do not likethem. "

Aura was smiling openly now, and her eyes twinkled with mischief. "Perhaps it is the men are jealous. Could that not be so?"

The Very Young Man did not answer, and the girl went on more seriously. "The women of my race, they are very just. Perhaps you know that, Jack. Often has my brother told us of his own great world and of its problems. And the many things he has told us--Lylda and I--we have often wondered. For every question has its other side, and we cannot judge--from himalone. "

The Very Young Man, surprised at the turn their conversation had taken, and confused a little by this calm logic from a girl--particularly fromso young and pretty a girl--was at a loss how to go on. 

"You cannot understand, Aura, " he finally said seriously. "Women may beall kinds; some are bad--some are good. Down here I know it is not thatway. Sometimes when a girl is smart she thinks she is smarter than anyliving man. You would not like that sort of girl would you?"

"My brother never said it just that way, " she answered with equalseriousness. "No, that would be bad--very bad. In our land women areonly different from men. They know they are not better or worse--onlydifferent. "

The Very Young Man was thinking of a girl he once knew. "I hate clevergirls, " he blurted out. 

Aura's eyes were teasing him again. "I am so sorry, " she said sadly. 

The Very Young Man looked his surprise. "Why are you sorry?"

"My sister, she once told me I was clever. My brother said it, too, andI believed them. "

The Very Young Man flushed. 

"You're different, " he repeated. 

"How--different?" She was looking at him sidewise again. 

"I don't know; I've been trying to think--but you are. And I don't hateyou--I like you--very, very much. "

"I like you, too, " she answered frankly, and the Very Young Man thoughtof Loto as she said it. He was leaning down towards her, and their handsmet for an instant. 

The Very Young Man had spread his robe out to dry when he first got intothe boat, and now he put it on while Aura steered. Then he sat besideher on the seat, taking the paddle again. 

"Do you go often to the theater?" she asked after a time. 

"Oh, yes, often. "

"Nothing like that do we have here, " she added, a little wistfully. "Only once, when we played a game in the field beyond my brother's home. Lylda was the queen and I her lady. And do you go to the opera, too? Mybrother he has told me of the opera. How wonderful must that be! Sobeautiful--more beautiful even it must be than Lylda's music. But nevershall it be for me. " She smiled sadly: "Never shall I be able to hearit. "

An eager contradiction sprang to the Very Young Man's lips, but the girlshook her head quietly. 

For several minutes they did not speak. The wind behind them blew thegirl's long hair forward over her shoulders. A lock of it fell upon theVery Young Man's hand as it lay on the seat between them, and unseen hetwisted it about his fingers. The wind against his neck felt warm andpleasant; the murmur of the water flowing past sounded low and sweet andsoothing. Overhead the stars hung very big and bright. It was likesailing on a perfect night in his own world. He was very conscious ofthe girl's nearness now--conscious of the clinging softness of her hairabout his fingers. And all at once he found himself softly quoting somehalf-forgotten lines:

 "If I were king, ah, love! If I were king What tributary nations I would bring To bow before your scepter and to swear Allegiance to your lips and eyes and hair. "

Aura's questioning glance of surprise brought him to himself. "That isso pretty--what is that?" she asked eagerly. "Never have I heard onespeak like that before. "

"Why, that's poetry; haven't you ever heard any poetry?"

The girl shook her head. "It's just like music--it sings. Do it again. "

The Very Young Man suddenly felt very self-conscious. 

"Do it again--please. " She looked pleadingly up into his face and theVery Young Man went on:

 "Beneath your feet what treasures I would fling! The stars would be your pearls upon a string; The world a ruby for your finger-ring; And you could have the sun and moon to wear If I were king. "

The girl clapped her hands artlessly. "Oh, that is so pretty. Never didI know that words could sound like that. Say it some more, please. "

And the Very Young Man, sitting under the stars beside this beautifullittle creature of another world, searched into his memory and for herwho never before had known that words could rhyme, opened up the realmof poetry. 

CHAPTER XXXI

THE PALACE OF ORLOG

Engrossed with each other the Very Young Man and Aura sailed close up tothe water-front of Orlog before they remembered their situation. It wasthe Very Young Man who first became aware of the danger. Withoutexplanation he suddenly pulled Aura into the bottom of the boat, leavingit to flutter up into the wind unguided. 

"They might see us from here, " he said hurriedly. "We must decide whatis best for us to do now. "

They were then less than a quarter of a mile from the stone quay thatmarked the city's principal landing-place. Nearer to them was a broad, sandy beach behind which, in a long string along the lake shore, lay thecity. Its houses were not unlike those of Arite, although most of themwere rather smaller and less pretentious. On a rise of ground justbeyond the beach, and nearly in front of them, stood an elaboratebuilding that was Targo's palace. 

"We daren't go much closer, " the Very Young Man said. "They'd recognizeus. "

"You they would know for one of the strangers, " said Aura. "But if Ishould steer and you were hidden no one would notice. "

The Very Young Man realized a difficulty. "We've got to be very smallwhen we go into the city. "

"How small would you think?" asked Aura. 

The Very Young Man held his hands about a foot apart. "You see, thetrouble is, we must be small enough to get around without too muchdanger of being seen; but if we get too small it would be a terriblewalk up there to Targo's palace. "

"We cannot sail this boat if we are such a size, " Aura declared. "Toolarge it would be for us to steer. "

"That's just it, but we can't go any closer this way. "

Aura thought a moment. "If you lie there, " she indicated the bottom ofthe boat under a forward seat, "no one can see. And I will steer--thereto the beach ahead; me they will not notice. Then at the beach we willtake the drug. "

"We've got to take a chance, " said the Very Young Man. "Some one maycome along and see us getting small. "

They talked it over very carefully for some time. Finally they decidedto follow Aura's plan and run the boat to the beach under her guidance;then to take the drug. There were few people around the lake front atthis hour; the beach itself, as far as they could see, was entirelydeserted, and the danger of discovery seemed slight. Aura pointed out, however, that once on shore, if their stature were so great as a footthey would be even more conspicuous than when of normal size evenallowing for the strangeness of the Very Young Man's appearance. TheVery Young Man made a calculation and reached the conclusion that with aheight of six or seven inches they would have to walk about a mile fromthe landing-place to reach Targo's palace. They decided to become asnear that size as they conveniently could. 

When both fully understood what they intended to do, the Very Young Mangave Aura one of the pellets of the drug and lay down in the bow of theboat. Without a word the girl took her seat in the stern and steered forthe beach. When they were close inshore Aura signalled her companion andat the same moment both took the drug. Then she left her seat and laydown beside the Very Young Man. The boat, from the momentum it hadgained, floated inshore and grounded gently on the beach. 

As they lay there, the Very Young Man could see the sides of the boatgrowing up steadily above their heads. The gunwale was nearly six feetabove them before he realized a new danger. Scrambling to his feet hepulled the girl up with him; even when standing upright their heads camebelow the sides of the vessel. 

"We've got to get out right now, " the Very Young Man said in an excitedwhisper. "We'd be too small. " He led the girl hastily into the bow andwith a running leap clambered up and sat astride the gunwale. Then, reaching down he pulled Aura up beside him. 

In a moment they had dropped overboard up to their shoulders in thewater. High overhead loomed the hull of the boat--a large sailing vesselit seemed to them now. They started wading towards shore immediately, but, because they were so rapidly diminishing in size, it was nearlyfive minutes before they could get there. 

Once on shore they lay prone upon the sand, waiting for the drug tocease its action. When, by proper administering of both chemicals, theyhad reached approximately their predetermined stature, which, in itself, required considerable calculation on the Very Young Man's part, theystood up near the water's edge and looked about them. 

The beach to them now, with its coarse-grained sand, seemed nearly aquarter of a mile wide; in length it extended as far as they could seein both directions. Beyond the beach, directly in front of them on ahill perhaps a thousand feet above the lake level, and about a mile ormore away, stood Targo's palace. To the Very Young Man it looked farlarger than any building he had ever seen. 

The boat in which they had landed lay on the water with its bow on thebeach beside them. It was now a vessel some two hundred and fifty feetin length, with sides twenty feet high and a mast towering over ahundred feet in the air. 

There was no one in sight from where they stood. "Come on, Aura, " saidthe Very Young Man, and started off across the beach towards the hill. 

It was a long walk through the heavy sand to the foot of the hill. Whenthey arrived they found themselves at the beginning of a broad stoneroadway--only a path to those of normal Oroid size--that wound back andforth up the hill to the palace. They walked up this road, and as theyprogressed, saw that it was laid through a grassy lawn that covered theentire hillside--a lawn with gray-blue blades of grass half as high astheir bodies. 

After walking about ten minutes they came to a short flight of steps. Each step was twice as high as their heads--impossible of ascent--sothey made a detour through the grass. 

Suddenly Aura clutched the Very Young Man by the arm with a whisperedexclamation, and they both dropped to the ground. A man was coming downthe roadway; he was just above the steps when they first saw him--a manso tall that, standing beside him, they would have reached hardly abovehis ankles. The long grass in which they were lying hid them effectuallyfrom his sight and he passed them by unnoticed. When he was gone theVery Young Man drew a long breath. "We must watch that, " he saidapprehensively. "If any one sees us now it's all off. We must beextremely careful. "

It took the two adventurers over an hour to get safely up the hill andinto the palace. Its main entrance, approached by a long flight ofsteps, was an impossible means of ingress, but Aura fortunately knew ofa smaller door at the side which led into the basement of the building. This door they found slightly ajar. It was open so little, however, thatthey could not get past, and as they were not strong enough even withtheir combined efforts, to swing the door open, they were again broughtto a halt. 

"We'd better get still smaller, " the Very Young Man whispered somewhatnervously. "There's less danger that way. "

They reduced their size, perhaps one half, and when that wasaccomplished the crack in the door had widened sufficiently to let themin. Within the building they found themselves in a hallway severalhundred feet wide and half a mile or more in length--its ceiling high asthe roof of some great auditorium. The Very Young Man looked about indismay. "Great Scott, " he ejaculated, "this won't do at all. "

"Many times I have been here, " said Aura. "It looks so very differentnow, but I think I know the way. "

"That may be, " agreed the Very Young Man dubiously, "but we'd have towalk miles if we stay as small as this. "

A heavy tread sounded far away in the distance. The Very Young Man andAura shrank back against the wall, close by the door. In a moment aman's feet and the lower part of his legs came into view. He stopped bythe door, pulling it inward. The Very Young Man looked up into the air;a hundred and fifty feet, perhaps, above their heads he saw the man'sface looking out through the doorway. 

In a moment another man joined him, coming from outside, and they spoketogether for a time. Their roaring voices, coming down from this greatheight, were nevertheless distinctly audible. 

"In the audience room, " Aura whispered, after listening an instant, "Targo's younger brother talks with his counsellors. Big things they areplanning. " The Very Young Man did not answer; the two men continuedtheir brief conversation and parted. 

When the Very Young Man and Aura were left alone, he turned to the girleagerly. "Did they mention Loto? Is he here?"

"Of him they did not speak, " Aura answered. "It is best that we go tothe audience room, where they are talking. Then, perhaps, we will know. "The Very Young Man agreed, and they started off. 

For nearly half an hour they trudged onward along this seemingly endlesshallway. Then again they were confronted with a flight of steps--thistime steps that were each more than three times their own height. 

"We've got to chance it, " said the Very Young Man, and after listeningcarefully and hearing no one about, they again took the drug, makingthemselves sufficiently large to ascend these steps to the upper storyof the building. 

It was nearly an hour before the two intruders, after several narrowescapes from discovery, and by alternating doses of both drugs, succeeded in getting into the room where Targo's brother and hisadvisers were in conference. 

They entered through the open door--a doorway so wide that a hundredlike them could have marched through it abreast. A thousand feet awayacross the vastness of the room they could see Targo's brother and tenof his men--sitting on mats upon the floor, talking earnestly. Beforethem stood a stone bench on which were a number of golden goblets andplates of food. 

The adventurers ran swiftly down the length of the room, following itswall. It echoed with their footfalls, but they knew that this sound, soloud to their ears, would be inaudible to the huge figures they wereapproaching. 

"They won't see us, " whispered the Very Young Man, "let's get up close. "And in a few moments more they were standing beside one of the figures, sheltered from sight by a corner of the mat upon which the man wassitting. His foot, bent sidewise under him upon the floor, was almostwithin reach of the Very Young Man's hand. The fibre thong that fastenedits sandal looked like a huge rope thick as the Very Young Man's ankle, and each of its toes were half as long as his entire body. 

Targo's brother, a younger man than those with him, appeared to be doingmost of the talking. He it was beside whom Aura and the Very Young Manwere standing. 

"You tell me if they mention Loto, " whispered the Very Young Man. Auranodded and they stood silent, listening. The men all appeared deeplyengrossed with what their leader was saying. The Very Young Man, watching his companion's face, saw an expression of concern and fearupon it. She leaned towards him. 

"In Arite, to-night, " she whispered, "Targo is organizing men to attackthe palace of the king. Him will they kill--then Targo will beproclaimed leader of all the Oroid nation. "

"We must get back, " the Very Young Man answered in an anxious whisper. "I wish we knew where Loto was; haven't they mentioned him--or any ofus?"

Aura did not reply, and the Very Young Man waited silent. Once one ofthe men laughed--a laugh that drifted out into the immense distances ofthe room in great waves of sound. Aura gripped her companion by the arm. 

"Then when Targo rules the land, they will send a messenger to mybrother. Him they will tell that the drugs must be given to Targo, orLoto will be killed--wait--when they have the drugs, " Aura translated ina swift, tense whisper, "then all of us they will kill. " She shuddered. "And with the drugs they will rule as they desire--for evil. "

"They'll never get them, " the Very Young Man muttered. 

Targo's brother leaned forward and raised a goblet from the table. Themovement of his foot upon the floor made the two eavesdroppers jumpaside to avoid being struck. 

Again Aura grasped her companion by the arm. "He is saying Loto isupstairs, " she whispered after a moment. "I know where. "

"I knew it, " said the Very Young Man exultingly. "You take us there. Come on--let's get out of here--we mustn't waste a minute. "

They started back towards the wall nearest them--some fifty feetaway--and following along its edge, ran down towards the doorway throughwhich they had entered the room. They were still perhaps a hundred yardsaway from it, running swiftly, when there appeared in the doorway thefeet and legs of two men who were coming in. The Very Young Man and Aurastopped abruptly, shrinking up against the side of the wall. Then therecame a heavy metallic clanging sound; the two men entered the room, closing the door. 

CHAPTER XXXII

AN ANT-HILL OUTRAGED

"We'll have to get smaller, " said the Doctor. 

"There's Rogers' house. "

They had been walking along the beach from the king's palace hardly morethan a hundred yards. The Doctor and the Big Business Man were in front, and Oteo, wide-eyed and solemn, was close behind them. 

The Doctor was pointing down at the ground a few feet ahead. There, at aheight just above their ankles, stood the Chemist's house--a littlebuilding whose roof did not reach more than half-way to their knees, even though it stood on higher ground than the beach upon which theywere walking. On the roof they could see two tiny figures--the Chemistand Lylda--waving their arms. 

The Big Business Man stopped short. "Now see here, Frank, let'sunderstand this. We've been fooling with this thing too damned long. We've made a hell of a mess of it, you know that. " He spokedeterminedly, with a profanity unusual with him. The Doctor did notanswer. 

"We got here--yesterday. We found a peaceful world. Dissatisfaction init--yes. But certainly a more peaceful world than the one we left. We'vebeen here one day--one day, Frank, and now look at things. This child, Loto--stolen. Jack disappeared--God knows what's happened to him. Arevolution--the whole place in an uproar. All in one day, since we tookour place in this world and tried to mix up in its affairs. 

"It's time to call a halt, Frank. If only we can get Jack back. That'sthe bad part--we've got to find Jack. And then get out; we don't belonghere anyway. It's nothing to us--why, man, look at it. " He waved his armout over the city. In the street beside them they could see a number oflittle figures no bigger than their fingers, staring up into the air. "What is all that to us now, as we stand here. Nothing. Nothing but akid's toy; with little animated mannikins for a child to play with. "

"We've got to find Jack, " said the Doctor. 

"Certainly we have--and then get out. We're only hurting these littlecreatures, anyway, by being here. "

"But there's Rogers and Lylda, " added the Doctor. "And Loto and Lylda'ssister. "

"Take them with us. They'll have to go--they can't stay here now. But wemust find Jack--that's the main thing. "

"Look, " the Doctor said, moving forward. "They're shouting to us. "

They walked up and bent over the Chemist's house. Their friend wasmaking a funnel of his hands and trying to attract their attention. TheBig Business Man knelt upon the beach and put his head down beside thehouse. "Make yourselves smaller, " he heard the Chemist shouting in ashrill little voice. 

"We think it best not to. You must come up to us. Serious things havehappened. Take the drug now--then we'll tell you. " The Big Business Man, with his knees upon the beach, had one hand on the sand and the other atthe gate of Lylda's garden. His face was just above the roof-top. 

The two little figures consulted a moment; then the Chemist shouted up, "All right; wait, " and he and Lylda disappeared into the house. A momentafterwards they reappeared in the garden; Eena was with them. Theycrossed the garden and turned into the street towards the flight ofsteps that led down to the lake. 

The Big Business Man had regained his feet and was standing ankle-deepin the water talking to the Doctor when Oteo suddenly plucked at hissleeve. 

"The Master--" he cried. The youth was staring down into the street, with a look of terror on his face. The Big Business Man followed thedirection of his glance; at the head of the steps a number of men hadrushed upon the Chemist and the two women, and were dragging them backup the hill. The Big Business Man hesitated only a moment; then hereached down and plucking a little figure from one of the strugglinggroups, flung it back over his shoulder into the lake. 

The other assailants did not run, as he had expected, so he gently priedthem apart with his fingers from their captives, and, one by one, flungthem into the air behind him. One who struck Lylda, he squashed upon theflagstones of the street with his thumb. 

Only one escaped. He had been holding Eena; when he saw he was the last, he suddenly dropped his captive and ran shrieking up the hill into thecity. 

The Big Business Man laughed grimly, and got upon his feet a littleunsteadily. His face was white. 

"You see, Frank, " he said, and his voice trembled a little. "Good God, suppose we had been that size, too. "

In a few moments more the Chemist, Lylda and Eena had taken the drug andwere as large as the others. All six stood in the water beside theChemist's house. The Chemist had not spoken while he was growing; now hegreeted his friends quietly. "A close call, gentlemen. I thank you. " Hesmiled approvingly at the Big Business Man. 

Eena and Oteo stood apart from the others. The girl was obviouslyterror-stricken by the experiences she had undergone. Oteo put his armacross her shoulders, and spoke to her reassuringly. 

"Where is Jack?" Lylda asked anxiously. "And my father--and Aura?" TheBig Business Man thought her face looked years older than when he hadlast seen it. Her expression was set and stern, but her eyes stared intohis with a gentle, sorrowful gaze that belied the sternness of her lips. 

They told her, as gently as they could, of the death of her father andthe disappearance of the Very Young Man, presumably with Aura. She boreup bravely under the news of her father's death, standing with her handon her husband's arm, and her sorrowful eyes fixed upon the face of theBig Business Man who haltingly told what had befallen them. When he cameto a description of the attack on the palace, the death of the king, andthe triumph of Targo, the Chemist raised his hands with a hopelessgesture. 

The Doctor put in: "It's a serious situation--most serious. "

"There's only one thing we can do, " the Big Business Man added quickly. "We must find Jack and your sister, " he addressed Lylda, whose eyes hadnever left his face, "and then get out of this world as quickly as wecan--before we do it any more harm. "

The Chemist began pacing up and down the strip of the beach. He hadevidently reached the same conclusion--that it was hopeless to continuelonger to cope with so desperate a situation. But he could not bringhimself so easily to a realization that his life in this world, of whichhe had been so long virtually the leader, was at an end. He strode backand forth thinking deeply; the water that he kicked idly splashed upsometimes over the houses of the tiny city at his side. 

The Big Business Man went on, "It's the only way--the best way for allof us and for this little world, too. "

"The best way for you--and you. " Lylda spoke softly and with a sweet, gentle sadness. "It is best for you, my friends. But for me----" Sheshook her head. 

The Big Business Man laid his hands gently on her shoulders. "Best foryou, too, little woman. And for these people you love so well. Believeme--it is. "

The Chemist paused in his walk. "Probably Aura and Jack are together. Noharm has come to them so far--that's certain. If his situation weredesperate he would have made himself as large as we are and we would seehim. "

"If he got the chance, " the Doctor murmured. 

"Certainly he has not been killed or captured, " the Chemist reasoned, "for we would have other giants to face immediately that happened. "

"Perhaps he took the girl with him and started off to Orlog to findLoto, " suggested the Doctor. "That crazy boy might do anything. "

"He should be back by now, even if he had, " said the Big Business Man. "I don't see how anything could happen to him--having those----" Hestopped abruptly. 

While they had been talking a crowd of little people had gathered in thecity beside them--a crowd that thronged the street before the Chemist'shouse, filled the open space across from it and overflowed down thesteps leading to the beach. It was uncanny, standing there, to see theseswarming little creatures, like ants whose hill had been desecrated bythe foot of some stray passer-by. They were enraged, and with an ant'sunreasoning, desperate courage they were ready to fight and to die, against an enemy irresistibly strong. 

"Good God, look at them, " murmured the Big Business Man in awe. 

The steps leading to the beach were black with them now--a swaying, struggling mass of little human forms, men and women, hardly a finger'slength in height, coming down in a steady stream and swarming out uponthe beach. In a few moments the sand was black with them, and alwaysmore appeared in the city above to take their places. 

The Big Business Man felt a sharp sting in his foot above the sandal. One of the tiny figures was clinging to its string and sticking a swordinto his flesh. Involuntarily he kicked; a hundred of the littlecreatures were swept aside, and when he put his foot back upon the sandhe could feel them smash under his tread. Their faint, shrill, squeakingshrieks had a ghostly semblance to human voices, and he turned suddenlysick and faint. 

Then he glanced at Lylda's face; it bore an expression of sorrow and ofhorror that made him shudder. To him at first these had been savage, vicious little insects, annoying, but harmless enough if one kept uponone's feet; but to her, he knew, they were men and women--misguided, frenzied--but human, thinking beings like herself. And he found himselfwondering, vaguely, what he should do to repel them. 

The attack was so unexpected, and came so quickly that the giants hadstood motionless, watching it with awe. Before they realized theirsituation the sand was so crowded with the struggling little figuresthat none of them could stir without trampling upon scores. 

Oteo and Eena, standing ankle-deep in the water, were unattacked, and ata word from the Chemist the others joined them, leaving little heaps ofmangled human forms upon the beach where they had trod. 

All except Lylda. She stood her ground--her face bloodless, her eyesfilled with tears. Her feet were covered now; her ankles bleeding from adozen tiny knives hacking at her flesh. The Chemist called her to him, but she only raised her arms with a gesture of appeal. 

"Oh, my husband, " she cried. "Please, I must. Let me take the drug nowand grow small--like them. Then will they see we mean them no harm. AndI shall tell them we are their friends--and you, the Master, mean onlygood----"

The Big Business Man started forward. "They'll kill her. God, that's----" But the Chemist held them back. 

"Not now, Lylda, " he said gently. "Not now. Don't you see? There'snothing you can do; it's too late now. " He met her gaze unyielding. Fora moment she stared; then her figure swayed and with a low sob shedropped in a heap upon the sand. 

As Lylda fell, the Chemist leaped forward, the other three men at hisside. A strident cry came up from the swarming multitude, and in aninstant hundreds of them were upon her, climbing over her and thrustingtheir swords into her body. 

The Chemist and the Big Business Man picked her up and carried her intothe water, brushing off the fighting little figures that still clung toher. There they laid her down, her head supported by Eena, who knelt inthe water beside her mistress. 

The multitude on the sand crowded up to the water's edge; hundreds, forced forward by the pressure of those behind, plunged in, swam about, or sank and were rolled back by the surf, lifeless upon the shore. Thebeach crawled with their struggling forms, only the spot where Lylda hadfallen was black and still. 

"She's all right, " said the Doctor after a moment, bending over Lylda. Acry from Oteo made him straighten up quickly. Out over the horizon, towards Orlog, there appeared the dim shape of a gigantic human form, and behind it others, faint and blurred against the stars!

CHAPTER XXXIII

THE RESCUE OF LOTO

The Very Young Man heard the clang of the closing door with sinkingheart. The two newcomers, passing close to him and Aura as they stoodshrinking up against the wall, joined their friends at the table. TheVery Young Man turned to Aura with a solemn face. 

"Are there any other doors?" he asked. 

The girl pointed. "One other, there--but see, it, too, is closed. "

Far across the room the Very Young Man could make out a heavy metal doorsimilar to that through which they had entered. It was closed--he couldsee that plainly. And to open it--so huge a door that its great goldenhandle hung nearly a hundred feet above them--was an utterimpossibility. 

The Very Young Man looked at the windows. There were four of them, allon one side of the room--enormous curtained apertures, two hundred feetin length and half as broad--but none came even within fifty feet of thefloor. The Very Young Man realized with dismay that there was apparentlyno way of escape out of the room. 

"We can't get out, Aura, " he said, and in spite of him his voicetrembled. "There's no way. "

The girl had no answer but a quiet nod of agreement. Her face wasserious, but there was on it no sign of panic. The Very Young Manhesitated a moment; then he started off down the room towards one of thedoors, with Aura close at his side. 

They could not get out in their present size, he knew. Nor would theydare make themselves sufficiently large to open the door, or climbthrough one of the windows, even if the room had been nearer the groundthan it actually was. Long before they could escape they would bediscovered and seized. 

The Very Young Man tried to think it out clearly. He knew, except for apossible accident, or a miscalculation on his part, that they were in noreal danger. But he did not want to make a false move, and now for thefirst time he realized his responsibility to Aura, and began to regretthe rashness of his undertaking. 

They could wait, of course, until the conference was over, and then slipout unnoticed. But the Very Young Man felt that the chances of theirrescuing Loto were greater now than they would be probably at any timein the future. They must get out now, he was convinced of that. But how?

They were at the door in a moment more. Standing so close it seemed, now, a tremendous shaggy walling of shining metal. They walked itslength, and then suddenly the Very Young Man had an idea. He threwhimself face down upon the floor. Underneath the door's lower edge therewas a tiny crack. To one of normal Oroid size it would have beenunnoticeable--a space hardly so great as the thickness of a thin sheetof paper. But the Very Young Man could see it plainly; he gauged itssize by slipping the edge of his robe into it. 

This crack was formed by the bottom of the door and the level surface ofthe floor; there was no sill. The door was perfectly hung, for the crackseemed to be of uniform size. The Very Young Man showed it to Aura. 

"There's the way out, " he whispered. "Through there and then large againon the other side. "

He made his calculation of size carefully, and then, crushing one of thepills into powder, divided a portion of it between himself and the girl. Aura seemed tired and the drug made her very dizzy. They both sat uponthe stone floor, close up to the door, and closed their eyes. When, bythe feeling of the floor beneath them, they knew the action of the drugwas over, they stood up unsteadily and looked around them. 

They now found themselves standing upon a great stone plain. The groundbeneath their feet was rough, but as far away as they could see, out upto the horizon, it was mathematically level. This great expanse wasempty except in one place; over to the right there appeared a huge, irregular, blurred mass that might have been, by its look, a range ofmountains. But the mass moved as they stared at it, and the Very YoungMan knew it was the nearest one of Targo's men, sitting beside thetable. 

In the opposite direction, perhaps a hundred yards away from where theywere standing, they could see the bottom of the door. It hung in the airsome fifty feet above the surface of the ground. They walked over andstood underneath; like a great roof it spread over them--a flat, levelsurface parallel with the floor beneath. 

At this extraordinary change in their surroundings Aura seemedfrightened, but seeing the matter-of-fact way in which her companionacted, she maintained her composure and soon was much interested in thisnew aspect of things. The Very Young Man took a last careful look aroundand then, holding Aura by the hand, started to cross under the door in adirection he judged to be at right angles to its length. 

They walked swiftly, trying to keep their sense of direction, but havingno means of knowing whether they were doing so or not. For perhaps tenminutes they walked; then they emerged on the other side of the door andagain faced a great level, empty expanse. 

"We're under, " the Very Young Man remarked with relief. "Do you knowwhere Loto is from here?"

Aura had recovered her self-possession sufficiently to smile. 

"I might, perhaps, " she answered, with a pretty little shrug. "But it'sa long way, don't you think? A hundred miles, it may be?"

"We get large here, " said the Very Young Man, with an answering smile. He was greatly relieved to be outside the audience room; the way seemedeasy before them now. 

They took the opposite drug, and after several successive changes ofsize, succeeded in locating the upper room in the palace in which Lotowas held. At this time they were about the same relative size to theirenemies as when they entered the audience chamber on the floor below. 

"That must be it, " the Very Young Man whispered, as they cautiouslyturned a hallway corner. A short distance beyond, in front of a closeddoor, sat two guards. 

"That is the room of which they spoke, " Aura answered. "Only one doorthere is, I think. "

"That's all right, " said the Very Young Man confidently. "We'll do thesame thing--go under the door. "

They went close up to the guards, who were sitting upon the floorplaying some sort of a game with little golden balls. This door, likethe other, had a space beneath it, rather wider than the other, and inten minutes more the Very Young Man and Aura were beneath it, and insidethe room. 

As they grew larger again the Very Young Man at first thought the roomwas empty. "There he is, " cried Aura happily. The Very Young Man lookedand could see across the still huge room, the figure of Loto, standingat a window opening. 

"Don't let him see us till we're his size, " cautioned the Very YoungMan. "It might frighten him. And if he made any noise----" He looked atthe door behind them significantly. 

Aura nodded eagerly; her face was radiant. Steadily larger they grew. Loto did not turn round, but stood quiet, looking out of the window. 

They crept up close behind him, and when they were normal size Aurawhispered his name softly. The boy turned in surprise and she faced himwith a warning finger on her lips. He gave a low, happy little cry, andin another instant was in her arms, sobbing as she held him close to herbreast. 

The Very Young Man's eyes grew moist as he watched them, and heard thesoft Oroid words of endearment they whispered to each other. He put hisarms around them, too, and all at once he felt very big and very strongbeside these two delicate, graceful little creatures of whom he wasprotector. 

A noise in the hallway outside brought the Very Young Man to himself. 

"We must get out, " he said swiftly. "There's no time to lose. " He wentto the window; it faced the city, fifty feet or more above the ground. 

The Very Young Man make a quick decision. "If we go out the way we came, it will take a very long time, " he explained. "And we might be seen. Ithink we'd better take the quick way; get big here--get right out, " hewaved his hands towards the roof, "and make a run for it back to Arite. "

He made another calculation. The room in which they were was on the topfloor of the palace; Aura had told him that. It was a room about fiftyfeet in length, triangular in shape, and some thirty feet from floor toceiling. The Very Young Man estimated that when they had grown largeenough to fill the room, they could burst through the palace roof andleap to the ground. Then in a short time they could run over thecountry, back to Arite. He measured out the drug carefully, and withouthesitation his companions took what he gave them. 

As they all three started growing--it was Loto's first experience, andhe gave an exclamation of fright at the sensation and threw his armsaround Aura again--the Very Young Man made them sit upon the floor nearthe center of the room. He sat himself beside them, staring up at theceiling that was steadily folding up and coming down towards them. Forsome time he stared, fascinated by its ceaseless movement. 

Then suddenly he realized with a start that it was almost down uponthem. He put up his hand and touched it, and a thrill of fear ran overhim. He looked around. Beside him sat Aura and Loto, huddled closetogether. The walls of the room had nearly closed in upon them now; itsfew pieces of furniture had been pushed aside, unnoticed, by the growthof their enormous bodies. It was as though they were crouching in atriangular box, almost entirely filling it. 

The Very Young Man laid his hand on Aura's arm, and she met his anxiousglance with her fearless, trusting smile. 

"We'll have to break through the roof now, " whispered the Very YoungMan, and the girl answered calmly: "What you say to do, we will do. "

Their heads were bent down now by the ever-lowering ceiling; the VeryYoung Man pressed his shoulder against it and heaved upwards. He couldfeel the floor under him quiver and the roof give beneath his thrust, but he did not break through. In sudden horror he wondered if he could. If he did not, soon, they would be crushed to death by their own growthwithin the room. 

The Very Young Man knew there was still time to take the other drug. Heshoved again, but with the same result. Their bodies were bent doublenow. The ceiling was pressing close upon them; the walls of the roomwere at their elbow. The Very Young Man crooked his arm through thelittle square orifice window that he found at his side, and, with asignal to his companions, all three in unison heaved upwards with alltheir strength. There came one agonizing instant of resistance; thenwith a wrenching of wood, the clatter of falling stones and a suddencrash, they burst through and straightened upright into the open airabove. 

The Very Young Man sat still for a moment, breathing hard. Overheadstretched the canopy of stars; around lay the city, shrunken now andstill steadily diminishing. Then he got unsteadily upon his feet, pulling his companions up with him and shaking the bits of stone andbroken wood from him as he did so. 

In a moment more the palace roof was down to their knees, and theystepped out of the room. They heard a cry from below and saw the twoguards, standing amidst the debris, looking up at them through the tornroof in fright and astonishment. 

There came other shouts from within the palace now, and the sound of thehurrying of many little feet. For some minutes more they grew larger, asthey stood upon the palace roof, clinging to one another and listeningto the spreading cries of excitement within the building and in the citystreets below them. 

"Come on, " said the Very Young Man finally, and he jumped off the roofinto the street. A group of little figures scattered as he landed, andhe narrowly escaped treading upon them. 

So large had they grown that it was hardly more than a step down fromthe roof; Aura and Loto were by the Very Young Man's side in a moment, and immediately they started off, picking their way single file out ofthe city. For a short time longer they continued growing; when they hadstopped the city houses stood hardly above their ankles. 

It was difficult walking, for the street was narrow and the frightenedpeople in it were often unable to avoid their tread, but fortunately thepalace stood near the edge of the city, and soon they were past its lasthouses and out into the open country. 

"Well, we did it, " said the Very Young Man, exulting. Then he pattedLoto affectionately upon the shoulder, adding. "Well, little brother, wegot you back, didn't we?"

Aura stopped suddenly. "Look there--at Arite, " she said, pointing up atthe horizon ahead of them. 

Far in the distance, at the edge of the lake, and beside a dim smudge heknew to be the houses of Arite, the Very Young Man saw the giant figureof a man, huge as himself, towering up against the background of sky. 

CHAPTER XXXIV

THE DECISION

"Giants!" exclaimed the Doctor, staring across the country towardsOrlog. There was dismay in his voice. 

The Big Business Man, standing beside him, clutched at his robe. "Howmany do you make out; they look like three to me. "

The Doctor strained his eyes into the dim, luminous distance. "Three, Ithink--one taller than the others; it must be Jack. " His voice was alittle husky, and held none of the confidence his words were intended toconvey. 

Lylda was upon her feet now, standing beside the Chemist. She staredtowards Orlog searchingly, then turned to him and said quietly, "It mustbe Jack and Aura, with Loto. " She stopped with quivering lips; then withan obvious effort went on confidently. "It cannot be that the God youbelieve in would let anything happen to them. "

"They're coming this way--fast, " said the Big Business Man. "We'll knowin a few moments. "

The figures, plainly visible now against the starry background, were outin the open country, half a mile perhaps from the lake, and wereevidently rapidly approaching Arite. 

"If it should be Targo's men, " the Big Business Man added, "we must takemore of the drug. It is death then for them or for us. "

In silence the six of them stood ankle deep in the water waiting. Themultitude of little people on the beach and in the nearby city streetswere dispersing now. A steady stream was flowing up the steps from thebeach, and back into the city. Five minutes more and only a fringe ofthose in whom frenzy still raged remained at the water's edge; a few ofthese, more daring, or more unreasoning than the others, plunged intothe lake and swam about the giants' ankles unnoticed. 

Suddenly Lylda gave a sigh of relief. "Aura it is, " she cried. "Can younot see, there at the left? Her short robe--you see--and her hair, flowing down so long; no man is that. "

"You're right, " said the Big Business Man. "The smallest one on thisside is Loto; I can see him. And Jack is leading. It's all right;they're safe. Thank God for that; they're safe, thank God!" The ferventrelief in his voice showed what a strain he had been under. 

It was Jack; a moment more left no doubt of that. The Big Business Manturned to the Chemist and Lylda, where they stood close together, andlaying a hand upon the shoulder of each said with deep feeling: "We haveall come through it safely, my friends. And now the way lies clearbefore us. We must go back, out of this world, to which we have broughtonly trouble. It is the only way; you must see that. "

Lylda avoided his eyes. 

"All through it safely, " she murmured after him. "All safeexcept--except my father. " Her arm around the Chemist tightened. "Allsafe--except those. " She turned her big, sorrowful eyes towards thebeach, where a thousand little mangled figures lay dead and dying. "Allsafe--except those. "

It was only a short time before the adventurers from Orlog arrived, andLoto was in his mother's arms. The Very Young Man, with mixed feelingsof pride at his exploit and relief at being freed from so grave aresponsibility, happily displayed Aura to his friends. 

"Gosh, I'm glad we're all together again; it had me scared, that's afact. " His eye fell upon the beach. "Great Scott, you've been having afight, too? Look at that. " The Big Business Man and the Doctor outlinedbriefly what had happened, and the Very Young Man answered in turn withan account of his adventures. 

Aura joined her sister and Loto. The Chemist after a moment stood apartfrom the others thinking deeply. He had said little during all theevents of the afternoon and evening. Now he reached the inevitabledecision that events had forced upon him. His face was very serious ashe called his companions around him. 

"We must decide at once, " he began, looking from one to the other, "whatwe are to do. Our situation here has become intolerable--desperate. Iagree with you, " his glance rested on the Big Business Man an instant;"by staying here we can only do harm to these misguided people. "

"Of course, " the Big Business Man interjected under his breath. 

"If the drugs should ever get out of our possession down here, immeasurable harm would result to this world, as well as causing our owndeaths. If we leave now, we save ourselves; although we leave the Oroidsruled by Targo. But without the power of the drugs, he can do onlytemporary harm. Eventually he will be overthrown. It is the best way, Ithink. And I am ready to leave. "

"It's the only way, " the Big Business Man agreed. "Don't you think so?"The Doctor and the Very Young Man both assented. 

"The sooner the better, " the Very Young Man added. He glanced at Aura, and the thought that flashed into his mind made his heart jumpviolently. 

The Chemist turned to Lylda. "To leave your people, " he said gently, "Iknow how hard it is. But your way now lies with me--with us. " He pulledLoto up against him as he spoke. 

Lylda bowed her head. "You speak true, my husband, my way does lie withyou. I cannot help the feeling that we should stay. But with you my waydoes lie; whither you direct, we shall go--for ever. "

The Chemist kissed her tenderly. "My sister also?" he smiled gently atAura. 

"My way lies with you, too, " the girl answered simply. "For no man herehas held my heart. "

The Very Young Man stepped forward. "Do we take them with us?" Heindicated Oteo and Eena, who stood silently watching. 

"Ask them, Lylda, " said the Chemist. 

Calling them to her, Lylda spoke to the youth and the girl in her nativetongue. They listened quietly; Oteo with an almost expressionlessstolidity of face, but with his soft, dog-like eyes fixed upon hismistress; Eena with heaving breast and trembling limbs. When Lyldapaused they both fell upon their knees before her. She put her handsupon their heads and smiling wistfully, said in English:

"So it shall be; with me you shall go, because that is what you wish. "

The Very Young Man looked around at them all with satisfaction. "Thenit's all settled, " he said, and again his glance fell on Aura. Hewondered why his heart was pounding so, and why he was so thrilled withhappiness; and he was glad he was able to speak in so matter-of-fact atone. 

"I don't know how about you, " he added, "but, Great Scott, I'm hungry. "

"Since we have decided to go, " the Chemist said, "we had better start assoon as possible. Are there things in the house, Lylda, that you care totake?"

Lylda shook her head. "Nothing can I take but memories of this world, and those would I rather leave. " She smiled sadly. "There are somethings I would wish to do--my father----"

"It might be dangerous to wait, " the Big Business Man put in hurriedly. "The sooner we start, the better. Another encounter would only mean moredeath. " He looked significantly at the beach. 

"We've got to eat, " said the Very Young Man. 

"If we handle the drugs right, " the Chemist said, "we can make the tripout in a very short time. When we get above the forest and well on ourway we can rest safely. Let us start at once. "

"We've got to eat, " the Very Young Man insisted. "And we've got to havefood with us. "

The Chemist smiled. "What you say is quite true, Jack, we have got tohave food and water; those are the only things necessary to our trip. "

"We can make ourselves small now and have supper, " suggested the VeryYoung Man. "Then we can fill up the bottles for our belts and takeenough food for the trip. "

"No, we won't, " interposed the Big Business Man positively. "We won'tget small again. Something might happen. Once we get through thetunnels----" He stopped abruptly. 

"Great Scott! We never thought of that, " ejaculated the Very Young Man, as the same thought occurred to him. "We'll have to get small to getthrough the tunnels. Suppose there's a mob there that won't let us in?"

"Is there any other way up to the forest?" the Doctor asked. 

The Chemist shook his head. "There are a dozen different tunnels, allnear here, and several at Orlog, that all lead to the upper surface. ButI think that is the only way. "

"They might try to stop us, " the Big Business Man suggested. "Wecertainly had better get through them as quickly as we possibly can. "

It was Aura who diffidently suggested the plan they finally adopted. They all reduced their size first to about the height of the Chemist'shouse. Then the Very Young Man prepared to make himself sufficientlysmall to get the food and water-bottles, and bring them up to the largersize. 

"Keep your eye on me, " he warned. "Somebody might jump on me. "

They stood around the house, while the Very Young Man, in the garden, took the drug and dwindled in stature to Oroid size. There were none ofthe Oroids in sight, except some on the beach and others up the streetsilently watching. As he grew smaller the Very Young Man sat downwearily in the wreck of what once had been Lylda's beautiful garden. Hefelt very tired and hungry, and his head was ringing. 

When he was no longer changing size he stood up in the garden path. Thehouse, nearly its proper dimensions once more, was close at hand, silentand deserted. Aura stood in the garden beside it, her shoulders pushingaside the great branches of an overhanging tree, her arm resting uponthe roof-top. The Very Young Man waved up at her and shouted: "Be out ina minute, " and then plunged into the house. 

CHAPTER XXXV

GOOD-BY TO ARITE

Once inside he went swiftly to the room where they had left theirwater-bottles and other paraphernalia. He found them without difficulty, and retraced his steps to the door he had entered. Depositing his loadnear it, he went back towards the room which Lylda had described to him, and in which the food was stored. 

Walking along this silent hallway, listening to the echoes of his ownfootsteps on its stone floor, the Very Young Man found himself oppressedby a feeling of impending danger. He looked back over his shoulder--oncehe stood quite still and listened. But he heard nothing; the house wasquite silent, and smiling at his own fear he went on again. 

Selecting the food they needed for the trip took him but a moment. Heleft the storeroom, his arms loaded, and started back toward the gardendoor. Several doorways opened into the hall below, and all at once theVery Young Man found himself afraid as he passed them. He was withinsight of the garden door, not more than twenty feet away, when hehesitated. Just ahead, at his right, an archway opened into a roombeside the hall. The Very Young Man paused only an instant; then, ashamed of his fear, started slowly forward. He felt an impulse to run, but he did not. And then, from out of the silence, there came a low, growling cry that made his heart stand still, and the huge gray figureof a man leaped upon him and bore him to the ground. 

As he went down, with the packages of food flying in all directions, theVery Young Man gripped the naked body of his antagonist tightly. Hetwisted round as he fell and lay with his foe partly on top of him. Heknew instinctively that his situation was desperate. The man's hugetorso, with its powerful muscles that his arms encircled, told him thatin a contest of strength such as this, inevitably he would find himselfovercome. 

The man raised his fist to strike, and the Very Young Man caught him bythe wrist. Over his foe's shoulder now he could see the open doorwayleading into the garden, not more than six or eight feet away. Beyond itlay safety; that he knew. He gave a mighty lunge and succeeded inrolling over toward the doorway. But he could not stay above hisopponent, for the man's greater strength lifted him up and over, andagain pinned him to the floor. 

He was nearer the door now, and just beyond it he caught a glimpse ofthe white flesh of Aura's ankle as she stood beside the house. The manput a hand on the Very Young Man's throat. The Very Young Man caught itby the wrist, but he could feel the growing pressure of its fingerscutting off his breath. He tried to pull the hand back, but could not;he tried to twist his body free, but the weight of his foe held himtightly against the floor. A great roaring filled his ears; the hallwaybegan fading from his sight. With a last despairing breath, he gave achoking cry: "Aura! Aura!"

The man's fingers at his throat loosened a little; he drew anotherbreath, and his head cleared. His eyes were fixed on the strip of gardenhe could see beyond the doorway. Suddenly Aura's enormous body came intoview, as she stooped and then lay prone upon the ground. Her face wasclose to the door; she was looking in. The Very Young Man gave anothercry, half stifled. And then into the hallway he saw come swiftly a hugehand, whose fingers gripped him and his antagonist and jerked themhurriedly down the hall and out into the garden. 

As they lay struggling on the ground outside, the Very Young Man felthimself held less closely. He wrenched himself free and sprang to hisfeet, standing close beside Aura's face. The man was up almost asquickly, preparing again to spring upon his victim. Something movedbehind the Very Young Man, and he looked up into the air hurriedly. TheBig Business Man stood behind him; the Very Young Man met his anxiousglance. 

"I'm all right, " he shouted. His antagonist leaped forward and at thesame instant a huge, flat object, that was the Big Business Man's foot, swept through the air and mashed the man down into the dirt of thegarden. The Very Young Man turned suddenly sick as he heard the agonizedshriek and the crunching of the breaking bones. The Big Business Manlifted his foot, and the mangled figure lay still. The Very Young Mansat down suddenly in the garden path and covered his face with hishands. 

When he raised his head his friends were all standing round him, crowding the garden. The body of the man who had attacked him haddisappeared. The Very Young Man looked up into Aura's face--she was onher feet now with the others and tried to smile. 

"I'm all right, " he repeated. "I'll go get the food and things. "

In a few minutes more he had made himself as large as his companions, and had brought with him most of the food. There still remained in thesmaller size the water-bottles, some of the food, the belts with whichto carry it, and a few other articles they needed for the trip. 

"I'll get them, " said the Big Business Man; "you sit down and rest. "

The Very Young Man was glad to do as he was told, and sat beside Aura inthe garden, while the Big Business Man brought up to their size theremainder of the supplies. 

When they had divided the food, and all were equipped for the journey, they started at once for the tunnels. Lylda's eyes again filled withtears as she left so summarily, and probably for the last time, thishome in which she had been so happy. 

As they passed the last houses of the city, heading towards the tunnelentrances that the Chemist had selected, the Big Business Man and theChemist walked in front, the others following close behind them. A crowdof Oroids watched them leave, and many others were to be seen ahead; butthese scattered as the giants approached. Occasionally a few stood theirground, and these the Big Business Man mercilessly trampled under foot. 

"It's the only way; I'm sorry, " he said, half apologetically. "We cannottake any chances now; we must get out. "

"It's shorter through these tunnels I'm taking, " the Chemist said aftera moment. 

"My idea, " said the Big Business man, "is that we should go through thetunnels that are the largest. They're not all the same size, are they?"

"No, " the Chemist answered; "some are a little larger. "

"You see, " the Big Business Man continued, "I figure we are going tohave a fight. They're following us. Look at that crowd over there. They'll never let us out if they can help it. When we get into thetunnels, naturally we'll have to be small enough to walk through them. The larger we are the better; so let's take the very biggest. "

"These are, " the Chemist answered. "We can make it at about so high. " Heheld his hand about the level of his waist. 

"That won't be so bad, " the Big Business Man commented. 

Meanwhile the Very Young Man, walking with Aura behind the leaders, wastalking to her earnestly. He was conscious of a curious sense ofcompanionship with this quiet girl--a companionship unlike anything hehad ever felt for a girl before. And now that he was taking her withhim, back to his own world----

"Climb out on to the surface of the ring, " he was saying, "and then, ina few minutes more, we'll be there. Aura, you cannot realize howwonderful it will be. "

The girl smiled her quiet smile; her face was sad with the memory ofwhat she was leaving, but full of youthful, eager anticipation of thatwhich lay ahead. 

"So much has happened, and so quickly, I cannot realize it yet, I know, "she answered. "But that it will be very wonderful, up there above, I dobelieve. And I am glad that we are going, only----"

The Very Young Man took her hand, holding it a moment. "Don't, Aura. Youmustn't think of that. " He spoke gently, with a tender note in hisvoice. 

"Don't think of the past, Aura, " he went on earnestly. "Think only ofthe future--the great cities, the opera, the poetry I am going to teachyou. "

The girl laid her hand on his arm. "You are so kind, my friend Jack. Youwill have much to teach me, will you not? Is it sure you will want to? Ishall be like a little child up there in your great world. "

An answer sprang to the Very Young Man's lips--words the thinking ofwhich made his heart leap into his throat. But before he could voicethem Loto ran up to him from behind, crying. "I want to walk by you, Jack; _mamita_ talks of things I know not. "

The Very Young Man put his arm across the child's shoulders. "Well, little boy, " he said laughing, "how do you like this adventure?"

"Never have I been in the Great Forests, " Loto answered, turning hisbig, serious eyes up to his friend's face. "I shall not be afraid--withmy father, and _mamita_, and with you. "

"The Great Forests won't seem very big, Loto, after a little while, " theVery Young Man said. "And of course you won't be afraid of anything. You're going to see many things, Loto--very many strange and wonderfulthings for such a little boy. "

They reached the entrance to the tunnel in a few moments more, andstopped before it. As they approached, a number of little figures dartedinto its luminous blackness and disappeared. There were none others insight now, except far away towards Arite, where perhaps a thousand stoodwatching intently. 

The tunnel entrance, against the side of a hill, stood nearly breasthigh. 

"I'm wrong, " said the Chemist, as the others came up. "It's not so highall the way through. We shall have to make ourselves much smaller thanthis. "

"This is a good time to eat, " suggested the Very Young Man. The othersagreed, and without making themselves any smaller--the Big Business Manobjected to that procedure--they sat down before the mouth of the tunneland ate a somewhat frugal meal. 

"Have you any plans for the trip up?" asked the Doctor of the Chemistwhile they were eating. 

"I have, " interjected the Big Business Man, and the Chemist answered:

"Yes, I am sure I can make it far easier than it was for me before. I'lltell you as we go up; the first thing is to get through the tunnels. "

"I don't anticipate much difficulty in that, " the Doctor said. "Do you?"

The Chemist shook his head. "No, I don't. "

"But we mustn't take any chances, " put in the Big Business Man quickly. "How small do you suppose we should make ourselves?"

The Chemist looked at the tunnel opening. "About half that, " he replied. 

"Not at the start, " said the Big Business Man. "Let's go in as large aspossible; we can get smaller when we have to. "

It took them but a few minutes to finish the meal. They were all tiredfrom the exciting events of the day, but the Big Business Man would nothear of their resting a moment more than was absolutely necessary. 

"It won't be much of a trip up to the forests, " he argued. "Once we getwell on our way and into one of the larger sizes, we can sleep safely. But not now; it's too dangerous. "

They were soon ready to start, and in a moment more all had madethemselves small enough to walk into the tunnel opening. They were, atthis time, perhaps six times the normal height of an adult Oroid. Thecity of Arite, apparently much farther away now, was still visible upagainst the distant horizon. As they were about to start, Lylda, withAura close behind her, turned to face it. 

"Good-by to our own world now we must say, my sister, " she said sadly. "The land that bore us--so beautiful a world, and once so kindly. Wehave been very happy here. And I cannot think it is right for me toleave. "

"Your way lies with your husband, " Aura said gently. "You yourself havesaid it, and it is true. "

Lylda raised her arms up towards the far-away city with a gesture almostof benediction. 

"Good future to you, land that I love. " Her voice trembled. "Good futureto you, for ever and ever. "

The Very Young Man, standing behind them with Loto, was calling:"They're started; come on. "

With one last sorrowful glance Lylda turned slowly, and, walking withher arm about her sister, followed the others into the depths of thetunnel. 

CHAPTER XXXVI

THE FIGHT IN THE TUNNELS

For some time this strange party of refugees from an outraged worldwalked in silence. Because of their size, the tunnel appeared to themnow not more than eight or nine feet in height, and in most places ofnearly similar width. For perhaps ten minutes no one spoke except anoccasional monosyllable. The Chemist and Big Business Man, walkingabreast, were leading; Aura and Lylda with the Very Young man, and Lotoclose in front of them, brought up the rear. 

The tunnel they were traversing appeared quite deserted; only once, atthe intersection of another smaller passageway, a few littlefigures--not more than a foot high--scurried past and hastilydisappeared. Once the party stopped for half an hour to rest. 

"I don't think we'll have any trouble getting through, " said theChemist. "The tunnels are usually deserted at the time of sleep. "

The Big Business Man appeared not so sanguine, but said nothing. Finallythey came to one of the large amphitheaters into which several of thetunnels opened. In size, it appeared to them now a hundred feet inlength and with a roof some twelve feet high. The Chemist stopped to letthe others come up. 

"I think our best route is there, " he pointed. 

"It is not so high a tunnel; we shall have to get smaller. Beyond itthey are larger again. It is not far--half an hour, perhaps, walking aswe----"

A cry from Aura interrupted him. 

"My brother, see, they come, " she exclaimed. 

Before them, out of several of the smaller passageways, a crowd oflittle figures was pouring. There were no shouts; there was seemingly noconfusion; just a steady, flowing stream of human forms, emptying fromthe tunnels into the amphitheater and spreading out over its opensurface. 

The fugitives stared a moment in horror. "Good God! they've got us, " theDoctor muttered, breaking the tenseness of the silence. 

The little people kept their distance at first, and then as the openspace filled up, slowly they began coming closer, in little waves ofmovement, irresistible as an incoming tide. 

Aura turned towards the passageway through which they had entered. "Wecan go back, " she said. And then. "No--see, they come there, too. " Acrowd of the little gray figures blocked that entrance also--a crowdthat hesitated an instant and then came forward, spreading out fan-shapeas it came. 

The Big Business Man doubled up his fists. 

"It's fight, " he said grimly. "By God! we'll----" but Lylda, with a lowcry, flung herself before him. 

"No, no, " she said passionately. "Not that; it cannot be that now, justat the last----"

Aura laid a hand upon her sister's shoulder. 

"Wait, my sister, " she said gently. "There is no matter of justicehere--for you, a woman--to decide. This is for men to deal with--amatter for men--our men. And what they say to do--that must be done. "

She turned to the Chemist and the Very Young Man, who were standing sideby side. 

"A woman--cannot kill, " she said slowly. "Unless--her man--says it so. Or if to save him----"

Her eyes flashed fire; she held her slim little body erect and rigid--anAmazon ready to fight to the death for those she loved. 

The Chemist hesitated a moment. Before he could answer, a single shrillcry sounded from somewhere out in the silent, menacing throng. As thoughat a signal, a thousand little voices took it up, and with a great rushthe crowd swept forward. 

In the first moment of surprise and indecision the group of fugitivesstood motionless. As the wave of little, struggling human forms closedin around them, the Very Young Man came to himself with a start. Helooked down. They were black around him now, swaying back and forthabout his legs. Most of them were men, armed with the short, broad-bladed swords, or with smaller knives. Some brandished otherimprovised weapons; still others held rocks in their hands. 

A little pair of arms clutched the Very Young Man about his leg; he gavea violent kick, scattering a number of the struggling figures andclearing a space into which he leaped. 

"Back--Aura, Lylda, " he shouted. "Take Loto and Eena. Get back behindus. "

The Big Business Man, kicking violently, and sometimes stooping down tosweep the ground with great swings of his arm, had cleared a spacebefore them. Taking Loto, who looked on with frightened eyes, the threewomen stepped back against the side wall of the amphitheater. 

The Very Young Man swiftly discarded his robe, standing in the knittedunder-suit in which he had swam the lake; the other men followed hisexample. For ten minutes or more in ceaseless waves, the littlecreatures threw themselves forward, and were beaten back. The confinedspace echoed with their shouts, and with the cries of the wounded. Thefive men fought silently. Once the Doctor stumbled and fell. Before hisfriends could get to him, his body was covered with his foes. When hegot back upon his feet, knocking them off, he was bleeding profuselyfrom an ugly-looking wound in his shoulder. 

"Good God!" he panted as the Chemist and the Big Business Man leapedover to him. "They'll get us--if we go down. "

"We can get larger, " said the Big Business Man, pointing upwards to theroof overhead. "Larger--and then----" He swayed a trifle, breathinghard. His legs were covered with blood from a dozen wounds. 

Oteo, fighting back and forth before them, was holding the crowd incheck; a heap of dead lay in a semicircle in front of him. 

"I'm going across, " shouted the Very Young Man suddenly, and beganstriding forward into the struggling mass. 

The crowd, thus diverted, eased its attack for a moment. Slowly the VeryYoung Man waded into it. He was perhaps fifty feet out from the sidewall when a stone struck him upon the temple. He went down, out of sightin the seething mass. 

"Come on, " shouted the Big Business Man. But before he could move, Auradashed past him, fighting her way out to where the Very Young Man lay. In a moment she was beside him. Her fragile body seemed hopelesslyinadequate for such a struggle, but the spirit within her made her fightlike a wild-cat. 

Catching one of the little figures by the legs she flung him about likea club, knocking a score of the others back and clearing a space aboutthe Very Young Man. Then abruptly she dropped her victim and knelt down, plucking away the last of the attacking figures who was hacking at theVery Young Man's arm with his sword. 

The Chemist and Big Business Man were beside her now, and together theycarried the Very Young Man back. He had recovered consciousness, andsmiled up at them feebly. They laid him on the ground against the wall, and Aura sat beside him. 

"Gosh, I'm all right, " he said, waving them away. "Be with you in aminute; give 'em hell!"

The Doctor knelt beside the Very Young Man for a moment, and, finding hewas not seriously hurt, left him and rejoined the Chemist and BigBusiness Man, who, with Oteo, had forced the struggling mass of littlefigures some distance away. 

"I'm going to get larger, " shouted the Big Business Man a moment later. "Wipe them all out, damn it; I can do it. We can't keep on this way. "

The Doctor was by his side. 

"You can't do it--isn't room, " he shouted in answer, pausing as he wavedone of his assailants in the air above his head. "You might take toomuch. "

The Big Business Man was reaching with one hand under his robe. With hisfeet he kicked violently to keep the space about him clear. A tiny stoneflew by his head; another struck him on the chest, and all at once herealized that he was bruised all over from where other stones had beenhitting him. He looked across to the opposite wall of the amphitheater. Through the tunnel entrance there he saw that the stream of littlepeople was flowing the other way now. They were trying to get out, instead of pouring in. 

The Big Business Man waved his arms. "They're running away--look, " heshouted. "They're running--over there--come on. " He dashed forward, and, followed by his companions, redoubled his efforts. 

The crowd wavered; the shouting grew less; those further away beganrunning back. 

Then suddenly a shrill cry arose--just a single little voice it was atfirst. After a moment others took it up, and still others, until itsounded from every side--three Oroid words repeated over and over. 

The Chemist abruptly stopped fighting. "It's done, " he shouted. "ThankGod it's over. "

The cry continued. The little figures had ceased attacking now and werestruggling in a frenzy to get through the tunnels. 

"No more, " shouted the Chemist. "They're going. See them going? Stop. "

His companions stood by his side, panting and weak from loss of blood. The Chemist tried to smile. His face was livid; he swayed unsteadily onhis feet. "No more, " he repeated. "It's over. Thank God, it's over!"

Meanwhile the Very Young Man, lying on the floor with Aura sittingbeside him, revived a little. He tried to sit up after a few moments, but the girl pulled him down. 

"But I got to go--give 'em hell, " he protested weakly. His head wasstill confused; he only knew he should be back, fighting beside hisfriends. 

"Not yet, " Aura said gently. "There is no need--yet. When there is, youmay trust me, Jack; I shall say it. "

The Very Young Man closed his eyes. The blurred, iridescent outlines ofthe rocks confused him; his head was ringing. The girl put an arm underhis neck. He found one of her hands, and held it tightly. For a momenthe lay silent. Then his head seemed to clear a little; he opened hiseyes. 

"What are they doing now, Aura?" he asked. 

"It is no different, " the girl answered softly. "So terrible a thing--soterrible----" she finished almost to herself. 

"I'll wait--just a minute more, " he murmured and closed his eyes again. 

He held the girl's hand tighter. He seemed to be floating away, and herhand steadied him. The sounds of the fighting sounded very distantnow--all blurred and confused and dreamlike. Only the girl's nearnessseemed real--the touch of her little body against his as she sat besidehim. 

"Aura, " he whispered. "Aura. "

She put her face down to his. "Yes, Jack, " she answered gently. 

"It's very bad--there--don't you think?"

She did not answer. 

"I was just thinking, " he went on; he spoke slowly, almost in a whisper. "Maybe--you know--we won't come through this. " He paused; his thoughtssomehow seemed too big to put into words. But he knew he was very happy. 

"I was just thinking, Aura, that if we shouldn't come through I justwanted you to know----" Again he stopped. From far away he heard theshrill, rhythmic cry of many voices shouting in unison. He listened, andthen it all came back. The battle--his friends there fighting--theyneeded him. He let go of the girl's hand and sat up, brushing back hismoist hair. 

"Listen, Aura. Hear them shouting; I mustn't stay here. " He tried, weakly, to get upon his feet, but the girl's arm about his waist heldhim down. 

"Wait, " she said. Surprised by the tenseness of her tone, he relaxed. 

The cry grew louder, rolling up from a thousand voices and echoing backand forth across the amphitheater. The Very Young Man wondered vaguelywhat it could mean. He looked into Aura's face. Her lips were smilingnow. 

"What is it, Aura?" he whispered. 

The girl impulsively put her arms about him and held him close. 

"But we are coming through, my friend Jack. We are coming through. " TheVery Young Man looked wonderingly into her eyes. "Don't you hear? Thatcry--the cry of fear and despair. It means--life to us; and no moredeath--to them. "

The Chemist's voice came out of the distance shouting: "They're runningaway. It's over; thank God it's over!"

Then the Very Young Man knew, and life opened up before him again. "Life, " he whispered to himself. "Life and love and happiness. "

CHAPTER XXXVII

A COMBAT OF TITANS

In a few minutes the amphitheater was entirely clear, save for the deadand maimed little figures lying scattered about; but it was nearly anhour more before the fugitives were ready to resume their journey. 

The attack had come so suddenly, and had demanded such immediate andcontinuous action that none of the men, with the exception of the VeryYoung Man, had had time to realize how desperate was the situation inwhich they had fallen. With the almost equally abrupt cessation of thestruggle there came the inevitable reaction; the men bleeding from ascore of wounds, weak from loss of blood, and sick from the memory ofthe things they had been compelled to do, threw themselves upon theground utterly exhausted. 

"We must get out of here, " said the Doctor, after they had been lyingquiet for a time, with the strident shrieks of hundreds of the dyinglittle creatures sounding in their ears. "That was pretty near the end. "

"It isn't far, " the Chemist answered, "when we get started. "

"We must get water, " the Doctor went on. "These cuts----" They had usednearly all their drinking-water washing out their wounds, which Aura andLylda had bound up with strips of cloth torn from their garments. 

The Chemist got upon his feet. "There's no water nearer than the ForestRiver, " he said. "That tunnel over there comes out very near it. "

"What makes you think we won't have another scrap getting out?" the VeryYoung Man wanted to know. He had entirely recovered from the effects ofthe stone that had struck him on the temple, and was in better conditionthan any of the other men. 

"I'm sure, " the Chemist said confidently, "they were through; they willnot attack us again; for some time at least. The tunnels will bedeserted. "

The Big Business Man stood up also. 

"We'd better get going while we have the chance, " he said. "This gettingsmaller--I don't like it. "

They started soon after, and, true to the Chemist's prediction, met nofurther obstacle to their safe passage through the tunnels. When theyhad reached the forest above, none of the little people were in sight. 

The Big Business Man heaved a long sigh of relief. "Thank goodness we'rehere at last, " he said. "I didn't realize how good these woods wouldlook. "

In a few minutes more they were at the edge of the river, bathing theirwounds in its cooling water, and replenishing their drinking-bottles. 

"How do we get across?" the Very Young Man asked. 

"We won't have to cross it, " the Chemist answered with a smile. "Thetunnel took us under. "

"Let's eat here, " the Very Young Man suggested, "and take a sleep; we'reabout all in. "

"We ought to get larger first, " protested the Big Business Man. Theywere at this time about four times Oroid size; the forest trees, so hugewhen last they had seen them, now seemed only rather large saplings. 

"Some one of us must stay awake, " the Doctor said. "But there do notseem to be any Oroids up here. "

"What do they come up here for, anyway?" asked the Very Young Man. 

"There's some hunting, " the Chemist answered. "But principally it's themines beyond, in the deserts. "

They agreed finally to stop beside the river and eat another meal, andthen, with one of them on guard, to sleep for a time before continuingtheir journey. 

The meal, at the Doctor's insistence, was frugal to the extreme, and wassoon over. They selected Oteo to stand guard first. The youth, when heunderstood what was intended, pleaded so with his master that theChemist agreed. Utterly worn out, the travelers lay down on a mossy bankat the river's edge, and in a few moments were all fast asleep. 

Oteo sat nearby with his back against a tree-trunk. Occasionally he gotup and walked to and fro to fight off the drowsiness that came over him. 

 * * * * *

How long the Very Young Man slept he never knew. He slept dreamlesslyfor a considerable time. When he struggled back to consciousness it waswith a curious feeling of detachment, as though his mind no longer wasconnected with his body. He thought first of Aura, with a calm peacefulsense of happiness. For a long time he lay, drifting along with histhoughts and wondering whether he were asleep or awake. Then all at oncehe knew he was not asleep. His eyes were open; before him stood theforest trees at the river's edge. And at the foot of one of the trees hecould see the figure of Oteo, sitting hunched up with his head upon hishands, fast asleep. 

Remembrance came to the Very Young Man, and he sat up with a start. Beside him his friends lay motionless. He looked around, still a littleconfused. And then his heart leaped into his throat, for at the edge ofthe woods he saw a small, lean, gray figure--the little figure of a manwho stood against a tree-trunk. The man's face was turned towards him;he met the glistening eyes looking down and saw the lips parted in aleering smile. 

A thrill of fear ran over the Very Young Man as he recognized the faceof Targo. And then his heart seemed to stop beating. For as he stared, fascinated, into the man's mocking eyes, he saw that slowly, steadily hewas growing larger. Mechanically the Very Young Man's hand went to hisarmpit, his fingers fumbling at the pouch strapped underneath. The vialof chemicals was not there!

For an instant more the Very Young Man continued staring. Then, with aneffort, he turned his eyes away from the gaze that seemed to hypnotizehim. Beside him the Chemist lay sleeping. He looked back at Targo, andsaw him larger--almost as large now as he was himself. 

Like a cloak discarded, the Very Young Man's bewilderment dropped fromhim. He recognized the danger, realized that in another moment thisenemy would be irresistibly powerful--invincible. His mind was clearnow, his nerves steady, his muscles tense. He knew the only thing hecould do; he calculated the chances in a flash of thought. 

Still staring at the triumphant face of Targo, the Very Young Man jumpedto his feet and swiftly bent over the sleeping form of the Chemist. Reaching through the neck of his robe he took out the vial of chemicals, and before his friend was fairly awake had swallowed one of the pills. 

As the Very Young Man sprang into action Targo turned and ran swiftlyaway, perhaps a hundred feet; then again he stopped and stood watchinghis intended victim with his sardonic smile. 

The Very Young Man met the Chemist's startled eyes. 

"Targo!" said the Very Young Man swiftly. "He's here; he stole the drugjust now, while I was sleeping. "

The Chemist opened his mouth to reply, but the Very Young Man boundedaway. He could feel the drug beginning to work; the ground under hisfeet swayed unsteadily. 

Swiftly he ran straight towards the figure of Targo, where he stoodleaning against a tree. His enemy did not move to run away, but stoodquietly awaiting him. The Very Young Man saw he was now nearly the samesize that Targo was; if anything, the larger. 

A fallen tree separated them; the Very Young Man cleared it with abound. Still Targo stood motionless, awaiting his onslaught. Thenabruptly he stooped to the ground, and a rock whistled through the air, narrowly missing the Very Young Man's head. Before Targo could recoverfrom the throw the Very Young Man was upon him, and they went downtogether. 

Back and forth over the soft ground they rolled, first one on top, thenthe other. The Very Young Man's hand found a stone on the ground besidethem. His fingers clutched it; he raised it above him. But a blow uponhis forearm knocked it away before he could strike; and a sudden twistof his antagonist's body rolled him over and pinned him upon his back. 

The Very Young Man thought of his encounter with Targo before, and againwith sinking heart he realized he was the weaker of the two. He jerkedone of his wrists free and, striking upwards with all his force, landedfull on his enemy's jaw. The man's head snapped back, but he laughed--agrim, sardonic laugh that ended in a half growl, like a wild beastenraged. The Very Young Man's blood ran cold. A sudden frenzy seizedhim; he put all his strength into one desperate lunge and, wrenchinghimself free, sprang to his feet. 

Targo was up almost as quickly as he, and for an instant the two stoodeyeing each other, breathing hard. At the Very Young Man's feet a littlestream was flowing past. Vaguely he found himself thinking how peacefulit looked; how cool and soothing the water would be to his bruised andaching body. Beside the stream his eye caught a number of tiny humanfigures, standing close together, looking up at him--little forms that asingle sweep of his foot would have scattered and killed. A shiver offear ran across him as in a flash he realized this other danger. With acry, he leaped sidewise, away from the water. Beside him stood a littletree whose bushy top hardly reached his waist. He clutched its trunkwith both hands and jerking it from the ground swung it at his enemy'shead, meeting him just as he sprang forward. The tree struck Targo aglancing blow upon the shoulder. With another laugh he grasped its rootsand twisted it from the Very Young Man's hand. A second more and theycame together again, and the Very Young Man felt his antagonist'spowerful arms around his body, bending him backwards. 

 * * * * *

The Big Business Man stood beside the others at the river's edge, watching the gigantic struggle, the outcome of which meant life or deathto them all. The grappling figures were ten times his own height beforehe fairly realized the situation. At first he thought he should takesome of the drug also, and grow larger with them. Then he knew that hecould not overtake their growth in time to aid his friend. The Chemistand the Doctor must evidently have reached the same conclusion, forthey, too, did nothing, only stood motionless, speechless, staring up atthe battling giants. 

Loto, with his head buried upon his mother's shoulder, and her armsholding him close, whimpered a little in terror. Only Aura, of all theparty, did not get upon her feet. She lay full length upon the ground, ahand under her chin, staring steadily upwards. Her face wasexpressionless, her eyes unblinking. But her lips moved a little, asthough she were breathing a silent prayer, and the fingers of her handagainst her face dug their nails into the flesh of her cheek. 

Taller far than the tree-tops, the two giants stood facing each other. Then the Very Young Man seized one of the trees, and with a mighty pulltore it up by the roots and swung it through the air. Aura drew a quickbreath as in another instant they grappled and came crashing to theground, falling head and shoulders in the river with a splash thatdrenched her with its spray. The Very Young Man was underneath, and sheseemed to meet the glance of his great eyes when he fell. The treesgrowing on the river-bank snapped like rushes beneath the huge bodies ofthe giants, as, still growing larger, they struggled back and forth. Theriver, stirred into turmoil by the sweep of their great arms, rolled itswaves up over the mossy banks, driving the watchers back into the edgeof the woods, and even there covering them with its spray. 

A moment more and the giants were on their feet again, standing ankledeep, far out in the river. Up against the unbroken blackness of thestarless sky their huge forms towered. For a second they stoodmotionless; then they came together again and Aura could see the VeryYoung Man sink on his knees, his hand trailing in the water. Then in aninstant more he struggled up to his feet; and as his hand left the waterAura saw that it clutched an enormous dripping rock. She held herbreath, watching the tremendous figures as they swayed, locked in eachother's arms. A single step sidewise and they were back nearly at theriver's bank; the water seethed white under their tread. 

The Very Young Man's right arm hung limp behind him; the boulder in hishand dangled a hundred feet or more in the air above the water. Slowlythe greater strength of his antagonist bent him backwards. Aura's heartstood still as she saw Targo's fingers at the Very Young Man's throat. Then, in a great arc, the Very Young Man swept the hand holding the rockover his head, and brought it down full upon his enemy's skull. Theboulder fell into the river with a thundering splash. For a briefinstant the giant figures hung swaying; then the titanic hulk of Targo'sbody came crashing down. It fell full across the river, quiveredconvulsively and lay still. 

And the river, backing up before it a moment, turned aside in itscourse, and flung the muddy torrent of its water roaring down throughthe forest. 

CHAPTER XXXVIII

LOST IN SIZE

The Very Young Man stood ankle deep in the turgid little rivulet, atightness clutching at his chest, and with his head whirling. At hisfeet his antagonist lay motionless. He stepped out of the water, puttinghis foot into a tiny grove of trees that bent and crackled like twigsunder his tread. He wondered if he would faint; he knew he must not. Away to the left he saw a line of tiny hills; beyond that a luminousobscurity into which his sight could not penetrate; behind him there wasonly darkness. He seemed to be standing in the midst of a great barrenwaste, with just a little toy river and forest at his feet--a child'splaything, set down in a man's great desert. 

The Very Young Man suddenly thought of his friends. He stepped into themiddle of the river and out again on the other side. Then he bent downwith his face close to the ground, just above the tops of the tinylittle trees. He made the human figures out finally. Hardly larger thanants they seemed, and he shuddered as he saw them. The end of his thumbcould have smashed them all, they were so small. 

One of the figures seemed to be waving something, and the Very Young Manthought he heard the squeak of its voice. He straightened upright, standing rigid, afraid to move his feet. He wondered what he should do, and in sudden fear felt for the vial of the diminishing drug. It wasstill in place, in the pouch under his armpit. The Very Young Manbreathed a sigh of relief. He decided to take the drug and rejoin hisfriends. Then as a sudden thought struck him he bent down to the groundagain, slowly, with infinite caution. The little figures were stillthere; and now he thought they were not quite as tiny as before. Hewatched them; slowly but unmistakably they were growing larger. 

The Very Young Man carefully took a step backwards, and then sat downheavily. The forest trees crackled under him. He pulled up his knees, and rested his head upon them. The little rivulet diverted from itscourse by the body of Targo, swept past through the woods almost at hisside. The noise it made mingled with the ringing in his head. His bodyached all over; he closed his eyes. 

 * * * * *

"He's all right now, " the Doctor's voice said. "He'll be all right in amoment. "

The Very Young Man opened his eyes. He was lying upon the ground, withAura sitting beside him, and his friends--all his own sizeagain--standing over him. 

He met Aura's tender, serious eyes, and smiled. "I'm all right, " hesaid. "What a foolish thing to faint. "

Lylda stooped beside him, "You saved us all, " she said. "There isnothing we can say--to mean what it should. But you will always know howwe feel; how splendid you were. "

To the praise they gave him the Very Young Man had no answer save asmile of embarrassment. Aura said nothing, only met his smile with oneof her own, and with a tender glance that made his heart beat faster. 

"I'm all right, " he repeated after a moment of silence. "Let's getstarted. "

They sat down now beside the Very Young Man, and earnestly discussed thebest plan for getting out of the ring. 

"You said you had calculated the best way, " suggested the Doctor to theChemist. 

"First of all, " interrupted the Big Business Man. "Are we sure none ofthese Oroids is going to follow us? For Heaven's sake let's have donewith these terrible struggles. "

The Very Young Man remembered. "He stole one of the vials, " he said, pointing to Targo's body. 

"He was probably alone, " the Chemist reasoned. "If any others had beenwith him they would have taken some of the drug also. Probably Targotook one of the pills and then dropped the vial to the ground. "

"My idea, " pursued the Big Business Man, "is for us to get large just asquickly and continuously as possible. Probably you're right about Targo, but don't let's take any chances. 

"I've been thinking, " he continued, seeing that they agreed with him. "You know this is a curious problem we have facing us. I've beenthinking about it a lot. It seemed a frightful long trip down here, butin spite of that, I can't get it out of my mind that we're only a verylittle distance under the surface of the ring. "

"It's absolutely all in the viewpoint, " the Chemist said with a smile. "That's what I meant about having an easier method of getting out. Thedistance depends absolutely on how you view it. "

"How far would it be out if we didn't get any larger?" the Very YoungMan wanted to know. 

"Based on the size of a normal Oroid adult, and using the terrestrialstandard of feet and inches as they would seem to us when Oroid size, Ishould say the distance from Arite to the surface of the ring would beabout one hundred and fifty to a hundred and sixty thousand miles. "

"Holy mackerel!" exclaimed the Very Young Man. 

"Don't let's do much walking while we're small. "

"You have the idea exactly, " smiled the Chemist. 

"Taking the other viewpoint, " said the Doctor. "Just where do you figurethis Oroid universe is located in the ring?"

"It is contained within one of the atoms of gold, " the Chemist answered. "And that golden atom, I estimate, is located probably within oneone-hundredth of an inch, possibly even one one-thousandth of an inchaway from the circular indentation I made in the bottom of the scratch. In actual distance I suppose Arite is possibly one-sixteenth of an inchbelow the surface of the ring. "

"Certainly makes a difference how you look at it, " murmured the VeryYoung Man in awe. 

The Chemist went on. "It is obvious then, that although when coming downthe distance must be covered to some extent by physical movement--bytraveling geographically, so to speak--going back, that is notaltogether the case. Most of the distance may be covered by bodilygrowth, rather than by a movement of the body from place to place. "

"We might get lost, " objected the Very Young Man. "Suppose we gotstarted in the wrong direction?"

"Coming in, that is a grave danger, " answered the Chemist, "because thendistances are opening up and a single false step means many miles oferror later on. But going out, just the reverse is true; distances areshortening. A mile in the wrong direction is corrected in an instantlater on. Not coming to a realization of that when I made the tripbefore, led me to undertake many unnecessary hours of most arduousclimbing. There is only one condition imperative; the body growing musthave free space for its growth, or it will be crushed to death. "

"Have you planned exactly how we are to get out?" asked the Big BusinessMan. 

"Yes, I have, " the Chemist answered. "In the size we are now, which youmust remember is several thousand times Oroid height, it will be only ashort distance to a point where as we grow we can move gradually to thecentre of the circular pit. That huge inclined plane slides down out ofit, you remember. Once in the pit, with its walls closing in upon us, wecan at the proper moment get out of it about as I did before. "

"Then we'll be in the valley of the scratch, " exclaimed the Very YoungMan eagerly. "I'll certainly be glad to get back there again. "

"Getting out of the valley we'll use the same methods, " the Chemistcontinued. "There we shall have to do some climbing, but not nearly somuch as I did. "

The Very Young Man was thrilled at the prospect of so speedy a return tohis own world. "Let's get going, " he suggested quickly. "It sounds acinch. "

They started away in a few minutes more, leaving the body of Targo lyingwhere it had fallen across the river. In half an hour of walking theylocated without difficulty the huge incline down which the Chemist hadfallen when first he came into the ring. Following along the bottom ofthe incline they reached his landing place--a mass of small rocks andpebbles of a different metallic-looking stone than the ground aroundmarking it plainly. These were the rocks and boulders that had beenbrought down with him in his fall. 

"From here, " said the Chemist, as they came to a halt, "we can go upinto the valley by growth alone. It is several hours, but we need movevery little from this position. "

"How about eating?" suggested the Very Young Man. 

They sat down at the base of the incline and ate another meal--rather amore lavish one this time, for the rest they had taken, and the prospectof a shorter journey ahead of them than they had anticipated made theDoctor less strict. Then, the meal over, they took the amount of thedrug the Chemist specified. He measured it carefully--more than ten ofthe pills. 

"We have a long wait, " the Chemist said, when the first sickness fromthis tremendous dose had left them. 

The time passed quickly. They spoke seldom, for the extraordinaryrapidity with which the aspect of the landscape was changing, and theremarkable sensations they experienced, absorbed all their attention. 

In about two hours after taking the drug the curving, luminous line thatwas the upper edge of the incline came into view, faint and blurred, butstill distinct against the blackness of the sky. The incline now wasnoticeably steeper; each moment they saw its top coming down towardsthem out of the heights above, and its surface smoothing out andbecoming more nearly perpendicular. 

They were all standing up now. The ground beneath them seemed in rapidmotion, coming towards them from all directions, and dwindling awaybeneath their feet. The incline too--now in form a vertical concavewall--kept shoving itself forward, and they had to step backwardscontinually to avoid its thrust. 

Within another hour a similar concave wall appeared behind them whichthey could follow with their eyes entirely around the circumference ofthe great pit in which they now found themselves. The sides of this pitsoon became completely perpendicular--smooth and shining. 

Another hour and the action of the drug was beginning to slacken--thewalls encircling them, although steadily closing in, no longer seemed tomove with such rapidity. The pit as they saw it now was perhaps athousand feet in diameter and twice as deep. Far overhead the blacknessof the sky was beginning to be tinged with a faint gray-blue. 

At the Chemist's suggestion they walked over near the center of thecircular enclosure. Slowly its walls closed in about them. An hour moreand its diameter was scarcely fifty feet. 

The Chemist called his companions around him. 

"There is an obstacle here, " he began, "that we can easily overcome; butwe must all understand just what we are to do. In perhaps half an hourat the rate we are growing this enclosure will resemble a well twice asdeep, approximately, as it is broad. We cannot climb up its sides, therefore we must wait until it is not more than six feet in depth inorder to be able to get out. At that time its diameter will be scarcelythree feet. There are nine of us here; you can realize there would notbe room for us all. 

"What we must do is very simple. Since there is not room for us all atonce, we must get large from now on only one at a time. "

"Quite so, " said the Big Business Man in a perfectly matter-of-facttone. 

"All of us but one will stop growing now; one will go on and get out ofthe pit. He will immediately stop his growth so that he can wait for theothers and help them out. Each of us will follow the same method ofprocedure. "

The Chemist then went on to arrange the exact quantities of the drugsthey were each to take at specified times, so that at the end they wouldall be nearly the same size again. When he had explained all this toOteo and Eena in their native language, they were ready to proceed withthe plan. 

"Who's first?" asked the Very Young Man. "Let me go with Loto. "

They selected the Chemist to go first, and all but him took a little ofthe other drug and checked their growth. The pit at this time was hardlymore than fifteen feet across and about thirty feet deep. 

The Chemist stood in the centre of the enclosure, while his friendscrowded over against its walls to make room for his growing body. It wasnearly half an hour before his head was above its top. He waited only amoment more, then he sprang upwards, clambered out of the pit anddisappeared beyond the rim. In a few moments they saw his huge head andshoulders hanging out over the side wall; his hand and arm reached downtowards them and they heard his great voice roaring. 

"Come on--somebody else. "

The Very Young Man went next, with Loto. Nothing unusual marked theirgrowth, and without difficulty, helped by the Chemist's hands reachingdown to them, they climbed out of the pit. 

In an hour more the entire party was in the valley, standing beside thelittle circular opening out of which they had come. 

The Very Young Man found himself beside Aura, a little apart from theothers, who gathered to discuss their plan for growing out of thevalley. 

"It isn't much of a trip, is it, Aura?" the Very Young Man said. "Do yourealize, we're nearly there?"

The girl looked around her curiously. The valley of the scratch appearedto them now hardly more than a quarter of a mile in width. Aura staredupwards between its narrow walls to where, several thousand feet above, a narrow strip of gray-blue sky was visible. 

"That sky--is that the sky of your world?" she exclaimed. "How pretty itis!"

The Very Young Man laughed. 

"No, Aura, that's not our sky. It's only the space in the room above thering. When we get the size we are going to be finally, our heads will beright up in there. The real sky with its stars will be even then as farabove us as your sky at Arite was above you. "

Aura breathed a long sigh. "It's too wonderful--really to understand, isn't it?" she said. 

The Very Young Man pulled her down on the ground beside him. 

"The most wonderful part, Aura, is going to be having you up there. " Hespoke gently; somehow whenever he thought of this fragile littlegirl-woman up in his strange bustling world, he felt himself very bigand strong. He wanted to be her protector, and her teacher of all thenew and curious things she must learn. 

The girl did not reply at once; she simply met his earnest gaze with herfrank answering smile of understanding. 

The Chemist was calling to them. 

"Oh, you Jack. We're about ready to start. "

The Very Young Man got to his feet, holding down his hands to help Auraup. 

"You're going to make a fine woman, Aura, in this new world. You justwait and see if you don't, " he said as they rejoined the others. 

The Chemist explained his plans to them. "This valley is several timesdeeper than its breadth; you can see that. We cannot grow large enoughto jump out as we did out of the pit; we would be crushed by the wallsbefore we were sufficiently tall to leap out. 

"But we're not going to do as I did, and climb all the way up. Insteadwe will stay here at the bottom until we are as large as we canconveniently get between the valley walls. Then we will stop growing andclimb up the side; it will only be a short distance then. "

The Very Young Man nodded his comprehension. "Unless by that time thewalls are too smooth to climb up, " he remarked. 

"If we see them getting too smooth, we'll stop and begin climbing, " theChemist agreed. "We're all ready, aren't we?" He began measuring out theestimated quantities of the drug, handing it to each of them. 

"Say, I'm terrible sorry, " began the Very Young Man, apologeticallyinterrupting this procedure. "But you know if it wasn't for me, we'd allstarve to death. "

It was several hours since they had eaten last, and all of them werehungry, although the excitement of their strange journey had kept themfrom realizing it. They ate--"the last meal in the ring" as the BigBusiness Man put it--and in half an hour more they were ready to start. 

When they had reached a size where it seemed desirable again to stopgrowing the valley resembled a narrow caņon--hardly more than a deeprift in the ground. They were still standing on its floor; above them, the parallel edges of the rift marked the surface of the ring. The sidewalls of the caņon were smooth, but there were still many places wherethey could climb out without much difficulty. 

They started up a narrow declivity along the caņon face. The Chemist ledthe way; the Very Young Man, with Aura just in front of him, was last. They had been walking only a moment when the Chemist called back overhis shoulder. 

"It's getting very narrow. We'd better stop here and take the drug. "

The Chemist had reached a rocky shelf--a ledge some twenty feet squarethat jutted out from the caņon wall. They gathered upon it, and tookenough of the diminishing drug to stop their growth. Then the Chemistagain started forward; but, very soon after, a cry of alarm from Aurastopped him. 

The party turned in confusion and crowded back. Aura, pale andtrembling, was standing on the very brink of the ledge looking down. TheVery Young Man had disappeared. 

The Big Business Man ran to the brink. "Did he fall? Where is he? Idon't see him. "

They gathered in confusion about the girl. "No, " she said. "He--just amoment ago he was here. "

"He couldn't have fallen, " the Doctor exclaimed. "It isn't far downthere--we'd see him. "

The truth suddenly dawned on the Doctor. "Don't move!" he commandedsharply. "Don't any of you move! Don't take a step!"

Uncomprehending, they stood motionless. The Doctor's gaze was at therocky floor under his feet. 

"It's size, " he added vehemently. "Don't you understand? He's taken toomuch of the diminishing drug. "

An exclamation from Oteo made them all move towards him, in spite of theDoctor's command. There, close by Oteo's feet, they saw the tiny figureof the Very Young Man, already no more than an inch in height, andrapidly growing smaller. 

The Doctor bent down, and the little figure waved its arms in terror. 

"Don't get smaller, " called the Doctor. But even as he said it, herealized it was a futile command. 

The Very Young Man answered, in a voice so minute it seemed coming froman infinite distance. 

"I can't stop! I haven't any of the other drug!"

They all remembered then. Targo had stolen the Very Young Man's vial ofthe enlarging drug. It had never been replaced. Instead the Very YoungMan had been borrowing from the others as he went along. 

The Big Business Man was seized with sudden panic. 

"He'll get lost. We must get smaller with him. " He turned sidewise, andstumbling over a rock almost crushed the Very Young Man with the step hetook to recover his balance. 

Aura, with a cry, pushed several of the others back; Oteo and Eena, frightened, started down the declivity. 

"We must get smaller!" the Big Business Man reiterated. 

The panic was growing among them all. Above their excited cries theDoctor's voice rose. 

"Stand still--all of you. If we move--even a few steps--we can never getsmall and hope to find him. "

The Doctor--himself too confused to know whether he should take thediminishing drug at once or not--was bending over the ground. And as hewatched, fascinated, the Very Young Man's figure dwindled beyond thevanishing point and was gone!

CHAPTER XXXIX

A MODERN DINOSAUR

The Very Young Man never knew quite how it happened. The Doctor had toldthem to check their growth: and he took the drug abstractedly, for hismind was on Aura and how she would feel, coming for the first time intothis great outer world. 

What quantity he took, the Very Young Man afterward could never decide. But the next thing he knew, the figures of his companions had grown togigantic size. The rocks about him were expanding enormously. Already hehad lost the contour of the ledge. The caņon wall had drawn back almostout of sight in the haze of the distance. He turned around, bewildered. There was no precipice behind him. Instead, a great, rocky plain, tumbling with a mass of boulders, and broken by seams and rifts, spreadout to his gaze. And even in that instant, as he regarded it inconfusion, it opened up to greater distances. 

Near at hand--a hundred yards away, perhaps--a gigantic human figuretowered five hundred feet into the air. Around it, further away, othersequally large, were blurred into the haze of distance. 

The nearer figure stooped, and the Very Young Man, fearful that he mightbe crushed by its movement, waved his arms in terror. He started to run, leaping over the jagged ground beneath his feet. A great roaring voicefrom above came down to him--the Doctor's voice. 

"Don't get smaller!"

The Very Young Man stopped running, more frightened than ever beforewith the realization that came to him. He shouted upward:

"I can't stop! I haven't any of the other drug!"

An enormous blurred object came swooping towards him, and went past witha rush of wind--the foot of the Big Business Man, though the Very YoungMan did not know it. Above him now the air was filled with roaring--theexcited voices of his friends. 

A few moments passed while the Very Young Man stood stock still, toofrightened to move. The roaring above gradually ceased. The toweringfigures expanded--faded back into the distance--disappeared. 

The Very Young Man was alone in the silence and desolation of a jagged, broken landscape that was still expanding beneath him. For some time hestood there, bewildered. He came to himself suddenly with the thoughtthat although he was too small to be seen by his friends, yet they mustbe there still within a few steps of him. They might take a step--mightcrush him to death without seeing him, or knowing that they had done it!There were rocky buttes and hills all about him now. Without stopping toreason what he was doing he began to run. He did not know or carewhere--anywhere away from those colossal figures who with a single stepwould crush the very hills and rocks about him and bury him beneath anavalanche of golden quartz. 

He ran, in panic, for an hour perhaps, scrambling over little ravines, falling into a crevice--climbing out and running again. At last, withhis feet torn and bleeding, he threw himself to the ground, utterlyexhausted. 

After a time, with returning strength, the Very Young Man began to thinkmore calmly. He was lost--lost in size--the one thing that the Doctor, when they started down into the ring, had warned them against soearnestly. What a fool he had been to run! He was miles away from themnow. He could not make himself large; and were they to getsmaller--small enough to see him, they might wander in this barrenwilderness for days and never chance to come upon him. 

The Very Young Man cursed himself for a fool. Why hadn't he kept some ofthe enlarging drug with him? And then abruptly, he realized somethingadditionally terrifying. The dose of the diminishing drug which he hadjust taken so thoughtlessly, was the last that remained in that vial. Hewas utterly helpless. Thousands of miles of rocky country surroundedhim--a wilderness devoid of vegetation, of water, and of life. 

Lying prone upon the ground, which at last had stopped expanding, theVery Young Man gave himself up to terrified reflection. So this was theend--all the dangers they had passed through--their conquests--and thejourney out of the ring so near to a safe ending.... And then this!

For a time the Very Young Man abandoned hope. There was nothing to do, of course. They could never find him--probably, with women and a childamong them they would not dare even to try. They would go safely back totheir own world--but he--Jack Bruce--would remain in the ring. Helaughed with bitter cynicism at the thought. Even the habitable world ofthe ring itself, was denied him. Like a lost soul, poised between twoworlds, he was abandoned, waiting helpless, until hunger and thirstwould put an end to his sufferings. 

Then the Very Young Man thought of Aura; and with the thought came a newdetermination not to give up hope. He stood up and looked about him, steeling himself against the flood of despair that again was almostoverwhelming. He must return as nearly as possible to the point where hehad parted from his friends. It was the only chance he had remaining--tobe close enough so if one, or all of them, had become small, they wouldbe able to see him. 

There was little to choose of direction in the desolate waste around, but dimly the Very Young Man recalled having a low line of hills behindhim when he was running. He faced that way now. He had come perhaps sixor seven miles; he would return now as nearly as possible over the sameroute. He selected a gully that seemed to wind in that generaldirection, and climbing down into it, started off along its floor. 

The gully was some forty feet deep and seemed to average considerablywider. Its sides were smooth and precipitous in some places; in othersthey were broken. The Very Young Man had been walking some thirtyminutes when, as he came abruptly around a sharp bend, he saw before himthe most terrifying object he had ever beheld. He stood stock still, fascinated with horror. On the floor of the gully, directly in front ofhim, lay a gigantic lizard--a reptile hideous, grotesque in itsenormity. It was lying motionless, with its jaw, longer than his ownbody, flat on the ground as though it were sunning itself. Its tail, motionless also, wound out behind it. It was a reptile that by itssize--it seemed to the Very Young Man at least thirty feet long--mighthave been a dinosaur reincarnated out of the dark, mysterious ages ofthe earth's formation. And yet, even in that moment of horror, the VeryYoung Man recognized it for what it was--the tiny lizard the Chemist hadsent into the valley of the scratch to test his drug!

At sight of the Very Young Man the reptile raised its great head. Itstongue licked out hideously; its huge eyes stared unblinking. And then, slowly, hastelessly, it began coming forward, its great feet scratchingon the rocks, its tail sliding around a boulder behind it. 

The Very Young Man waited no longer, but turning, ran back headlong theway he had come. Curiously enough, this new danger, though it terrified, did not confuse him. It was a situation demanding physical action, andwith it he found his mind working clearly. He leaped over a rock, halfstumbled, recovered himself and dashed onward. 

A glance over his shoulder showed him the reptile coming around the bendin the gully. It slid forward, crawling over the rocks without effort, still hastelessly, as though leisurely to pick up this prey which itknew could not escape it. 

The gully here chanced to have smooth, almost perpendicular sides. TheVery Young Man saw that he could not climb out; and even if he could, heknew that the reptile would go up the sides as easily as along thefloor. It had been over a hundred feet from him when he first saw it. Now it was less than half that distance and gaining rapidly. 

For an instant the Very Young Man slackened his flight. To run on wouldbe futile. The reptile would overtake him any moment; even now he knewthat with a sudden spring it could land upon him. 

A cross rift at right angles in the wall came into sight--a break in therock as though it had been riven apart by some gigantic wedge. It was asdeep as the gully itself and just wide enough to admit the passage ofthe Very Young Man's body. He darted into it; and heard behind him thespring of the reptile as it landed at the entrance to the rift intowhich its huge size barred it from advancing. 

The Very Young Man stopped--panting for breath. He could just turn aboutbetween the enclosing walls. Behind him, outside in the gully, thelizard lay baffled. And then, seemingly without further interest, itmoved away. 

The Very Young Man rested. The danger was past. He could get out of therift, doubtless, further ahead, without reentering the gully. And, if hekept well away from the reptile, probably it would not bother him. 

Exultation filled the Very Young Man. And then again he remembered hissituation--lost in size, helpless, without the power to rejoin hisfriends. He had escaped death in one form only to confront it again inanother--worse perhaps, since it was the more lingering. 

Ahead of him, the rift seemed ascending and opening up. He followed it, and in a few hundred yards was again on the broken plateau above, levelnow with the top of the gully. 

The winding gully itself, the Very Young Man could see plainly. Itsnearest point to him was some six hundred feet away; and in its bottomhe knew that hideous reptile lurked. He shuddered and turned away, instinctively walking quietly, fearing to make some noise that mightagain attract its attention to him. 

And then came a sound that drove the blood from his face and turned himcold all over. From the depths of the gully, in another of its bendsnearby, the sound of an anxious girl's voice floated upward. 

"Jack! Oh Jack!" And again:

"Jack--my friend Jack!"

It was Aura, his own size perhaps, in the gully searching for him!

With frantic, horrified haste, the Very Young Man ran towards the top ofthe gully. He shouted warningly, as he ran. 

Aura must have heard him, for her voice changed from anxiety to a gladcry of relief. He reached the top of the gully; at its bottom--fortyfeet below down its precipitous side--stood Aura, looking up, radiant, to greet him. 

"I took the drug, " she cried. "I took it before they could forbid me. They are waiting--up there for us. There is no danger now, Jack. "

The Very Young Man tried to silence her. A noise down the gully made himturn. The gigantic reptile appeared round the nearby bend. It saw thegirl and scuttled forward, rattling the loose bowlders beneath its feetas it came. 

Aura saw it the same instant. She looked up helplessly to the Very YoungMan above her; then she turned and ran down the gully. 

The Very Young Man stood transfixed. It was a sheer drop of forty feetor more to the gully floor beneath him. There was seemingly nothing thathe could do in those few terrible seconds, and yet with subconscious, instinctive reasoning, he did the one and only thing possible. A loosemass of the jagged, gold quartz hung over the gully wall. Frantically hetore at it--pried loose with feet and hands a bowlder that hung poised. As the lizard approached, the loosened rock slid forward, and droppedsquarely upon the reptile's broad back. 

It was a bowlder nearly as large as the Very Young Man himself, but thegigantic reptile shook it off, writhing and twisting for an instant, andhurling the smaller loose rocks about the floor of the gully with itsstruggles. 

The Very Young Man cast about for another missile, but there were noneat hand. Aura, at the confusion, had stopped about two hundred feetaway. 

"Run!" shouted the Very Young Man. "Hide somewhere! Run!"

The lizard, momentarily stunned, recovered swiftly. Again it startedforward, seemingly now as alert as before. And then, without warning, inthe air above his head the Very Young Man heard the rush of giganticwings. A tremendous grey body swooped past him and into the gully--abird larger in proportion than the lizard itself.... It was the littlesparrow the Chemist had sent in from the outside world--maddened now bythirst and hunger, which to the reptile had been much more endurable. 

The Very Young Man, shouting again to Aura to run, stood awestruck, watching the titanic struggle that was raging below him. The greatlizard rose high on its forelegs to meet this enemy. Its tremendous jawsopened--and snapped closed; but the bird avoided them. Its huge clawsgripped the reptile's back; its flapping wings spread the sixty footwidth of the gully as it strove to raise its prey into the air. Theroaring of these enormous wings was deafening; the wind from them asthey came up tore past the Very Young Man in violent gusts; and as theywent down, the suction of air almost swept him over the brink of theprecipice. He flung himself prone, clinging desperately to hold hisposition. 

The lizard threshed and squirmed. A swish of its enormous tail struckthe gully wall and brought down an avalanche of loose, golden rock. Butthe giant bird held its grip; its bill--so large that the Very YoungMan's body could easily have lain within it--pecked ferociously at thelizard's head. 

It was a struggle to the death--an unequal struggle, though it raged formany minutes with an uncanny fury. At last, dragging its adversary towhere the gully was wider, the bird flapped its wings with freedom ofmovement and laboriously rose into the air. 

And a moment later the Very Young Man, looking upward, saw through themagic diminishing glass of distance, a little sparrow of his own world, with a tiny, helpless lizard struggling in its grasp. 

 * * * * *

"Aura! Don't cry, Aura! Gosh, I don't want you to cry--everything's allright now. "

The Very Young Man sat awkwardly beside the frightened girl, who, overcome by the strain of what she had been through, was cryingsilently. It was strange to see Aura crying; she had always been such aSpartan, so different from any other girl he had ever known. It confusedhim. 

"Don't cry, Aura, " he repeated. He tried clumsily to soothe her. Hewanted to thank her for what she had done in risking her life to findhim. He wanted to tell her a thousand tender things that sprang into hisheart as he sat there beside her. But when she raised her tear-stainedface and smiled at him bravely, all he said was:

"Gosh, that was some fight, wasn't it? It was great of you to come downafter me, Aura. Are they waiting for us up there?" And then when shenodded:

"We'd better hurry, Aura. How can we ever find them? We must have comemiles from where they are. "

She smiled at him quizzically through her tears. 

"You forget, Jack, how small we are. They are waiting on the littleledge for us--and all this country--" She spread her arms toward thevast wilderness that surrounded them--"this is all only a very smallpart of that same ledge on which they are standing. "

It was true; and the Very Young Man realized it at once. 

Aura had both drugs with her. They took the one to increase their size, and without mishap or moving from where they were, rejoined those on thelittle ledge who were so anxiously awaiting them. 

For half an hour the Very Young Man recounted his adventure, withpraises of Aura that made the girl run to her sister to hide herconfusion. Then once more the party started its short climb out of thevalley of the scratch. In ten minutes they were all safely on thetop--on the surface of the ring at last. 

CHAPTER XL

THE ADVENTURERS' RETURN

The Banker, lying huddled in his chair in the clubroom, awoke with astart. The ring lay at his feet--a shining, golden band gleamingbrightly in the light as it lay upon the black silk handkerchief. TheBanker shivered a little for the room was cold. Then he realized he hadbeen asleep and looked at his watch. Three o'clock! They had been goneseven hours, and he had not taken the ring back to the Museum as theyhad told him to. He rose hastily to his feet; then as another thoughtstruck him, he sat down again, staring at the ring. 

The honk of an automobile horn in the street outside aroused him fromhis reverie. He got to his feet and mechanically began straightening upthe room, packing up the several suit-cases. Then with obvious awe, anda caution that was almost ludicrous, he fixed the ring in its framewithin the valise prepared for it. He lighted the little light in thevalise, and, every moment or two, went back to look searchingly down atthe ring inside. 

When everything was packed the Banker left the room, returning in amoment with two of the club attendants. They carried the suit-casesoutside, the Banker himself gingerly holding the bag containing thering. 

"A taxi, " he ordered when they were at the door. Then he went to thedesk, explaining that his friends had left earlier in the evening andthat they had finished with the room. 

To the taxi-driver he gave a number that was not the Museum address, butthat of his own bachelor apartment on Park Avenue. It was still rainingas he got into the taxi; he held the valise tightly on his lap, lookinginto it occasionally and gruffly ordering the chauffeur to drive slowly. 

In the sumptuous living-room of his apartment he spread the handkerchiefon the floor under the center electrolier and laid the ring upon it. Dismissing the astonished and only half-awake butler with a growl, hesat down in an easy-chair facing the ring, and in a few minutes more wasagain fast asleep. 

In the morning when the maid entered he was still sleeping. Two hourslater he rang for her, and gave tersely a variety of orders. These sheand the butler obeyed with an air that plainly showed they thought theirmaster had taken leave of his senses. 

They brought him his breakfast and a bath-robe and slippers. And thebutler carried in a mattress and a pair of blankets, laying them with asigh on the hardwood floor in a corner of the room. 

Then the Banker waved them away. He undressed, put on his bath-robe andslippers and sat down calmly to eat his breakfast. When he had finishedhe lighted a cigar and sat again in his easy-chair, staring at the ring, engrossed with his thoughts. Three days he would give them. Three days, to be sure they had made the trip successfully. Then he would take thering to the Museum. And every Sunday he would visit it; until they cameback--if they ever did. 

 * * * * *

The Banker's living-room with its usually perfect appointments was inthorough disorder. His meals were still being served him there by hisdismayed servants. The mattress still lay in the corner; on it therumpled blankets showed where he had been sleeping. For the hundredthtime during his long vigil the Banker, still wearing his dressing-gownand slippers and needing a shave badly, put his face down close to thering. His heart leaped into his throat; his breath came fast; for alongthe edge of the ring a tiny little line of figures was slowly moving. 

He looked closer, careful lest his laboured breathing blow them away. Hesaw they were human forms--little upright figures, an eighth of an inchor less in height--moving slowly along one behind the other. He countednine of them. Nine! he thought, with a shock of surprise. Why, onlythree had gone in! Then they had found Rogers, and were bringing him andothers back with him!

Relief from the strain of many hours surged over the Banker. His eyesfilled with tears; he dashed them away--and thought how ridiculous afeeling it was that possessed him. Then suddenly his head felt queer; hewas afraid he was going to faint. He rose unsteadily to his feet, andthrew himself full-length upon the mattress in the corner of the room. Then his senses faded. He seemed hardly to faint, but rather to driftoff into an involuntary but pleasant slumber. 

 * * * * *

With returning consciousness the Banker heard in the room a confusion ofmany voices. He opened his eyes; the Doctor was sitting on the mattressbeside him. The Banker smiled and parted his lips to speak, but theDoctor interrupted him. 

"Well, old friend!" he cried heartily. "What happened to you? Here weare back all safely. "

The Banker shook his friend's hand with emotion; then after a moment hesat up and looked about him. The room seemed full of people--strangelooking figures, in extraordinary costumes, dirty and torn. The VeryYoung Man crowded forward. 

"We got back, sir, didn't we?" he said. 

The Banker saw he was holding a young girl by the hand--the mostremarkable-looking girl, the Banker thought, that he had ever beheld. Her single garment, hanging short of her bare knees, was ragged anddirty; her jet black hair fell in tangled masses over her shoulders. 

"This is Aura, " said the Very Young Man. His voice was full of pride;his manner ingenuous as a child's. 

Without a trace of embarrassment the girl smiled and with a prettylittle bending of her head, held down her hand to the astonished Banker, who sat speechless upon his mattress. 

Loto pushed forward. "That's _mamita_ over there, " he said, pointing. "Her name is Lylda; she's Aura's sister. "

The Banker recovered his wits. "Well, and who are you, little man?" heasked with a smile. 

"My name is Loto, " the little boy answered earnestly. "That's myfather. " And he pointed across the room to where the Chemist was comingforward to join them. 

CHAPTER XLI

THE FIRST CHRISTMAS

Christmas Eve in a little village of Northern New York--a whiteChristmas, clear and cold. In the dark, blue-black of the sky theglittering stars were spread thick; the brilliant moon poured down itssilver light over the whiteness of the sloping roof-tops, and upon theghostly white, silently drooping trees. A heaviness hung in the frostyair--a stillness broken only by the tinkling of sleigh-bells orsometimes by the merry laughter of the passers-by. 

At the outskirts of the village, a little back from the road, afarmhouse lay snuggled up between two huge apple-trees--anold-fashioned, rambling farmhouse with a steeply pitched roof, piledhigh now, with snow. It was brilliantly lighted this Christmas Eve, itslower windows sending forth broad yellow beams of light over thewhiteness of the ground outside. 

In one of the lower rooms of the house, before a huge, blazing log-fire, a woman and four men sat talking. Across the room, at a table, a littleboy was looking at a picture-book by the light of an oil-lamp. 

The woman made a striking picture as she sat back at ease before thefire. She was dressed in a simple black evening-dress such as a lady ofthe city would wear. It covered her shoulders, but left her throat bare. Her features, particularly her eyes, had a slight Oriental cast, whichthe mass of very black hair coiled on her head accentuated. Yet she didnot look like an Oriental, nor indeed like a woman of any race of thisearth. Her cheeks were red--the delicate diffused red of perfect health. But underneath the red there lay a curious mixture of other colours, notonly on her cheeks but particularly noticeable on her neck and arms. Herskin was smooth as a pearl; in the mellow firelight it glowed, with theiridescence of a shell. 

The four men were dressed in the careless negligee of city men in thecountry. They were talking gaily now among themselves. The woman spokeseldom, staring dreamily into the fire. 

A clock in another room struck eight; the woman glanced over to wherethe child sat, absorbed with the pictures in his book. The page at whichhe was looking showed a sleigh loaded with toys, with a team ofreindeers and a jolly, fat, white-bearded, red-jacketed old man drivingthe sleigh over the chimney tops. 

"Come Loto, little son, " the woman said. "You hear--it is the time ofsleep for you. "

The boy put down his book reluctantly and went over to the fireplace, standing beside his mother with an arm about her neck. 

"Oh, _mamita_ dear, will he surely come, this Santa Claus? He never knewabout me before; will he surely come?"

Lylda kissed him tenderly. "He will come, Loto, every Christmas Eve; toyou and to all the other children of this great world, will he alwayscome. "

"But you must be asleep when he comes, Loto, " one of the men admonished. 

"Yes, my father, that I know, " the boy answered gravely. "I will gonow. "

"Come back Loto, when you have undressed, " the Chemist called after him, as he left the room. "Remember you must hang your stocking. "

When they were left alone Lylda looked at her companions and smiled. 

"His first Christmas, " she said. "How wonderful we are going to make itfor him. "

"I can remember so well, " the Big Business Man remarked thoughtfully, "when they first told me there was no Santa Claus. I cried, for I knewChristmas would never be the same to me. "

"Loto is nearly twelve years old, " the Doctor said. "Justimagine--having his first Christmas. "

"We're going to make it a corker, " said the Banker. "Where's the tree?We got one. "

"In the wood-shed, " Lylda answered. "He has not seen it; I was so verycareful. "

They were silent a moment. Then: "My room is chock full of toys, " theBanker said reflectively. "But this is a rotten town for candycanes--they only had little ones. " And they all laughed. 

"I have a present for you, Lylda, " the Chemist said after a moment. 

"Oh, but you must not give it until to-morrow; you yourself have told methat. "

The Chemist rose. "I want to give it now, " he said, and left the room. In a moment he returned, carrying a mahogany pedestal under one arm anda square parcel in the other. He set the pedestal upright on the floorin a corner of the room and began opening the package. It was a mahoganycase, cubical in shape. He lifted its cover, disclosing a glass-bell setupon a flat, mahogany slab. Fastened to the center of this was ahandsome black plush case, in which lay a gold wedding-ring. 

Lylda drew in her breath sharply and held it; the three other men staredat the ring in amazement. The Chemist was saying: "And I decided not todestroy it, Lylda, for your sake. There is no air under this glasscover; the ring is lying in a vacuum, so that nothing can come out of itand live. It is quite safe for us to keep it--this way. I thought ofthis plan, afterwards, and decided to keep the ring--for you. " He setthe glass bell on the pedestal. 

Lylda stood before it, bending down close over the glass. 

"You give me back--my world, " she breathed; then she straightened up, holding out her arms toward the ring. "My birthplace--my people--theyare safe. " And then abruptly she sank to her knees and began softlysobbing. 

Loto called from upstairs and they heard him coming down. Lylda wentback hastily to the fire; the Chemist pushed a large chair in front ofthe pedestal, hiding it from sight. 

The boy, in his night clothes, stood on the hearth beside his mother. 

"There is the stocking, _mamita_. Where shall I hang it?"

"First the prayer, Loto. Can you remember?"

The child knelt on the hearth, with his head in his mother's lap. 

"Now I lay me----" he began softly, halting over the unfamiliar words. Lylda's fingers stroked his brown curly head as it nestled against herknees; the firelight shone golden in his tousled curls. 

The Chemist was watching them with moist eyes. "His first Christmas, " hemurmured, and smiled a little tender smile. "His first Christmas. "

The child was finishing. 

"And God bless Aura, and Jack, and----"

"And Grandfather Reoh, " his mother prompted softly. 

"And Grandfather Reoh--and _mamita_, and----" The boy ended with arush--"and me too. Amen. Now where do I hang the stocking, mother?"

In a moment the little stocking dangled from a mantel over thefireplace. 

"You are sure he will come?" the child asked anxiously again. 

"It is certain, Loto--if you are asleep. "

Loto kissed his mother and shook hands solemnly with the men--a grave, dignified little figure. 

"Good night, Loto, " said the Big Business Man. 

"Good night, sir. Good night, my father--good night, _mamita_; I shallbe asleep very soon. " And with a last look at the stocking he ran out ofthe room. 

"What a Christmas he will have, " said the Banker, a little huskily. 

A girl stood in the doorway that led into the dining-room adjoining--acurious-looking girl in a gingham apron and cap. Lylda looked up. 

"Oh, Eena, please will you say to Oteo we want the tree from thewood-shed--in the dining-room. "

The little maid hesitated. Her mistress smiled and added a few words inforeign tongue. The girl disappeared. 

"Every window gets a holly wreath, " the Doctor said. "They're in a boxoutside in the wood-shed. "

"Look what I've got, " said the Big Business Man, and produced from hispocket a little folded object which he opened triumphantly into a longserpent of filigree red paper on a string with little red and greenpaper bells hanging from it. "Across the doorway, " he added, waving hishand. 

A moment after there came a stamping of feet on the porch outside, andthen the banging of an outer door. A young man and girl burst into theroom, kicking the snow from their feet and laughing. The youth carriedtwo pairs of ice-skates slung over his shoulder; as he entered the roomhe flung them clattering to the floor. 

The girl, even at first glance, was extraordinarily pretty. She wassmall and very slender of build. She wore stout high-laced tan shoes, aheavy woollen skirt that fell to her shoe-tops and a short, belted coat, with a high collar buttoned tight about her throat. She was covered nowwith snow. Her face and the locks of hair that strayed from under herknitted cap were soaking wet. 

"He threw me down, " she appealed to the others. 

"I didn't--she fell. "

"You did; into the snow you threw me--off the road. " She laughed. "But Iam learning to skate. "

"She fell three times, " said her companion accusingly. 

"Twice only, it was, " the girl corrected. She pulled off her cap, and agreat mass of black hair came tumbling down about her shoulders. 

Lylda, from her chair before the fire, smiled mischievously. 

"Aura, my sister, " she said in a tone of gentle reproof. "So immodest itis to show all that hair. "

The girl in confusion began gathering it up. 

"Don't you let her tease you, Aura, " said the Big Business Man. "It'svery beautiful hair. "

"Where's Loto?" asked the Very Young Man, pulling off his hat and coat. 

"In bed--see his stocking there. "

A childish treble voice was calling from upstairs. "Good night, Aura--good night, my friend Jack. "

"Good night, old man--see you to-morrow, " the Very Young Man called backin answer. 

"You mustn't make so much noise, " the Doctor said reprovingly. "He'llnever get to sleep. "

"No, you mustn't, " the Big Business Man agreed. "To-morrow's a very verybig day for him. "

"Some Christmas, " commented the Very Young Man looking around. "Where'sthe holly and stuff?"

"Oh, we've got it all right, don't you worry, " said the Banker. 

"And mistletoe, " said Lylda, twinkling. "For you, Jack. "

Eena again stood in the doorway and said something to her mistress. "Thetree is ready, " said Lylda. 

The Chemist rose to his feet. "Come on, everybody; let's go trim it. "

They crowded gaily into the dining-room, leaving the Very Young Man andAura sitting alone by the fire. For some time they sat silent, listeningto the laughter of the others trimming the tree. 

The Very Young Man looked at the girl beside him as she sat staring intothe fire. She had taken off her heavy coat, and her figure seemed longand very slim in the clothes she was wearing now. She sat bendingforward, with her hands clasped over her knees. The long line of herslender arm and shoulder, and the delicacy of her profile turned towardshim, made the Very Young Man realize anew how fragile she was, and howbeautiful. 

Her mass of hair was coiled in a great black pile on her head, with abig, loose knot low at the neck. The iridescence of her skin gleamedunder the flaming red of her cheeks. Her lips, too, were red, with thesmooth, rich red of coral. The Very Young Man thought with a shock ofsurprise that he had never noticed before that they were red; in thering there had been no such color. 

In the room adjoining, his friends were proposing a toast over theChristmas punch bowl. The Chemist's voice floated in through thedoorway. 

"To the Oroids--happiness to them. " Then for an instant there wassilence as they drank the toast. 

Aura met the Very Young Man's eyes and smiled a little wanly. "Happiness--to them! I wonder. We who are so happy to-night--I wonder, are they?"

The Very Young Man leaned towards her. "You are happy, Aura?"

The girl nodded, still staring wistfully into the fire. 

"I want you to be, " the Very Young Man added simply, and fell silent. 

A blazing log in the fire twisted and rolled to one side; the cracklingflames leaped higher, bathing the girl's drooping little figure in theirgolden light. 

The Very Young Man after a time found himself murmuring familiar linesof poetry. His memory leaped back. A boat sailing over a silent summerlake--underneath the stars--the warmth of a girl's soft little bodytouching his--her hair, twisted about his fingers--the thrill in hisheart; he felt it now as his lips formed the words:

 "The stars would be your pearls upon a string, The world a ruby for your finger-ring, And you could have the sun and moon to wear, If I were king. "

"You remember, Aura, that night in the boat?"

Again the girl nodded. "I shall learn to read it--some day, " she saideagerly. "And all the others that you told me. I want to. They sing--sobeautifully. "

A sleigh passed along the road outside; the jingle of its bells driftedin to them. The Very Young Man reached over and gently touched thegirl's hand; her fingers closed over his with an answering pressure. Hisheart was beating fast. 

"Aura, " he said earnestly. "I want to be King--for you--this firstChristmas and always. I want to give you--all there is in this life, ofhappiness, that I can give--just for you. "

The girl met his gaze with eyes that were melting with tenderness. 

"I love you, Aura, " he said softly. 

"I love you, too, Jack, " she whispered, and held her lips up to his.