, and he was swung out over the
edge. A rope was above him: he was lowered steadily into the dark
shaft.

Jerry breathed a sigh of relief. This was not death--not yet. And
Winslow? Safe, perhaps, for he had traveled this same road.

There was figures outlined above against the circle of light, figures
that clambered like apes down swaying ropes. The light glinted and
sparkled from their shining armor. His escort was still with him.

The circle of light changed to a glowing ring, where only the rim was
lighted. Above was the deep black of the lunar sky. Then the circle
faded to a mere point as he went down into the pit.

The rope basket came to rest upon a rock floor, and Jerry was lifted
out. He saw plainly the figures about him, and he wondered vaguely at
the light that came from the walls of the cavern. There were long
lines of soft light, leading off into the dark, lines that marked
plainly a labyrinth of passageways, leading in all directions.

* * * * *

Beyond a narrow entrance was one brighter than the rest, a broad
avenue that led downward still further into the depths. Here he was
carried. He tried vainly to keep some mental map of their course. He
would return some day--he _must_ return--he and Winslow. They would
escape.... But the passage turned and twisted; there were many
branching corridors, each with its lines of light. Jerry gave up the
attempt. It was a maze of serpentine streets beyond his power to
remember and recall.

Before him the passage was still wider. It was opening into a great
room.... Jerry found himself upon the floor. He strained cruelly at
the cords about his head as he twisted and turned to get a view of his
surroundings.

The room was a cave, its vast vaulted ceiling sprung high above a
level floor, where the figures of men--odd, plaster-white figures like
animated statues--were small in the distance. His eyes were drawn
quickly to the brilliant glow of the farther wall. There was the
bright black of basaltic formation, and in it--though he knew the
impossibility--was shining the sun.

Jerry blinked his eyes to look again and again; the golden circle was
dazzling. It was set at a point well above the smooth floor, and up to
it there led a sloping pathway of gold. It was as if they had indeed
captured their god, these worshipers of the sun, had captured and held
it for the adoration of the grovelling people.

Jerry saw them upon the floor. The