roof. A quick glance assured him that
there was none near enough to observe his movements, nor, in fact,
as far as he could see, was anyone in sight.

Drawing himself quickly through the aperture he replaced the cover
and endeavored to regain his bearings. Directly to the south of him
the low roof he stood upon adjoined a much loftier portion of the
building, which rose several stories above his head. A few yards
to the west he could see the flickering light of the flares of a
winding street, and toward this he made his way.

From the edge of the roof he looked down upon the night life of
the mad city. He saw men and women and children and lions, and of
all that he saw it was quite evident to him that only the lions were
sane. With the aid of the stars he easily picked out the points of
the compass, and following carefully in his memory the steps that
had led him into the city and to the roof upon which he now stood,
he knew that the thoroughfare upon which he looked was the same
along which he and Bertha Kircher had been led as prisoners earlier
in the day.

If he could reach this he might be able to pass undetected in the
shadows of the arcade to the city gate. He had already given up as
futile the thought of seeking out the girl and attempting to succor
her, for he knew that alone and with the few remaining rounds of
ammunition he possessed, he could do nothing against this city-full
of armed men. That he could live to cross the lion-infested forest
beyond the city was doubtful, and having, by some miracle, won to
the desert beyond, his fate would be certainly sealed; but yet he
was consumed with but one desire--to leave behind him as far as
possible this horrid city of maniacs.

He saw that the roofs rose to the same level as that upon which
he stood unbroken to the north to the next street intersection.
Directly below him was a flare. To reach the pavement in safety
it was necessary that he find as dark a portion of the avenue as
possible. And so he sought along the edge of the roofs for a place
where he might descend in comparative concealment.

He had proceeded some little way beyond a point where the street curved
abruptly to the east before he discovered a location sufficiently
to his liking. But even here he was compelled to wait a considerable
time for a satisfactory moment for his descent, which he had
decided to make down one of the pillars of the arcade. Each time
he prepared to lower himself over t