r--far too much to spill from the king's
suit. A quick look around showed him where it came from. There was a
long crack in the side of the glass jar, at the place where he had
been crashed against it--and water was pouring in!

Keith flung himself against the crack, jammed his arm into the
broadest part of the leak. But still the water rushed in. The octopus
was in its death throes, weakening steadily--but just as steadily the
water poured in and rose up the sides of its body. In a flash Wells
saw that the liquid would win the race to cover it and allow the
monster to resume breathing.

"Oh, damn it!" he cursed fervently. "Now I've got to run for it!"

* * * * *

He stumbled to the port, snapping shut his face-shield as he went. In
a moment he had solved the working of the mechanism and was in the
water chamber, then outside in the room itself. Fortunately his
sea-suit was unhurt. He thanked heaven for that as he tore away a
boardlike piece of apparatus and jammed it over the leak in the jar.

Keith paused a moment to plan. The king of the octopi was still
writhing in ever weakening struggles, but the water was halfway up his
body. "It'll cover him soon," thought the commander, "and then it's a
question how long it'll take him to come to. I've got to move
fast--slip out into the corridor and run the gauntlet back to the
men." His eyes rested on a large knife, and he appropriated it, since
he saw nothing else he might use.

For the first time since the beginning of the fight he answered the
questions and exclamations that had constantly sounded in his ears
from the distant crew. Tersely he told them what had happened, and of
the gauntlet he had to run.

"Make ready for a dash to the _NX-1_," he finished. "It's now or
never. Wait three minutes for me, and if I don't make it, go ahead
anyway. Remember--three minutes. This is an order. So long, fellows!"

He shut his ears to the bedlam of comment that followed. His knife
ready, he took a few steps to the door and pushed out--right into the
tentacles of a waiting octopus.

* * * * *

His knife was useless. While locked motionless by three arms of his
captor, another streaked out and wrenched it from his hand. Once again
Keith was absolutely helpless.

Great confusion resulted in the laboratory. The commander heard no
sound, but the guard must have called, for five more octopi darted
rapidly out of a