at
full speed for the hole whereby he had entered.

Like a mouse he wriggled through, leaped to the ground, scrambled up
and made for the forest. He ran with all the speed at his command, and
was almost surprised when he reached the black fringe of the forest in
safety. In the protecting gloom, he dared to pause and look back.

Hagendorff was not pursuing him. From the sound, he was merely
boarding shut the drain hole, to prevent another entrance in that way;
then, afterwards, the windows.

Garth was puzzled. "I don't understand it," he said aloud. "Why is he
so sure he can get me in the morning? Isn't he afraid I'll leave the
island? Why I've _got_ to try to get away, now. It would be death to
be here after the dawn!"

He stood there making his plans. They had a rowboat below, powered
with an outboard motor. Even in his present size, he might possibly
run it, if he could get it started. He would strike down-river for
Detroit, and when the gas gave out, the current would carry him on.
Some river boat might pick him up and carry him to friends in the
city. His grotesquely dwarfed body would prove his story, and they
would bring him back and end Hagendorff's mad dream of fame, and help
him to regain his normal size. He could superintend the construction
of another machine if the present one was wrecked.

When he started down the trail to the river, he seemed to be walking
through a haze. He felt curiously light-headed, and his body was
completely numb. The long exposure was telling on him, and there was
much more of it to come. He wondered if he could hold out until he
reached the mainland.

But his mind cleared of the daze the cold and near-exhaustion had
brought it to when at last he came to the beach and realized that
again Hagendorff had anticipated him. The rowboat was gone! No wonder
the giant could afford to wait until daylight.

* * * * *

Garth floundered down to the beach and ran to where the craft usually
lay. There was only a groove in the rough, pebbly surface, a groove
left by the boat's keel. He followed it up the bank, and twenty yards
in found the dinghy chained and locked firmly to a large tree.

The midget's face grew suddenly very haggard as he stood there,
staring at what looked like his death sentence. He should have known
Hagendorff would secure the boat, he told himself bitterly. It was a
cruel blow, and sheer misery of mind and body gripped him as he turne