et we watch. Every minute of the 'day' and 'night.'"

He examined the two chronometers, assuring himself that they were well
wound, and congratulated himself that they were not dependent on the
defunct power plant for energy. They were his only means of measuring
the passage of time. The sun, which theoretically would seem to travel
round and round the horizon, rarely succeeded in making its exact
location known, but appeared to shift strangely from side to side at
the whim of the fog and water.

"Th' fellas," Gunga remarked, coming out of a study. "Why not come?"
He referred to the Inranians.

"Probably know something's wrong. They can tell the quartz oscillator
is stopped. Afraid of the Ul-lul, I suppose."

"'Squeer," demurred the Martian. "Ul-lul not bother fellas."

"You mean it doesn't follow them into the underbrush. But it would
find tough going there. Not enough water; trees there, four hundred
feet high with thorny roots and rough bark--they wouldn't like that.
Oh no, these natives ought to be pretty snug in their dens. Why,
they're as hard to catch as a muskrat! Don't know what a muskrat is,
huh? Well, it's the same as the Inranians, only different, and not so
ugly."

* * * * *

For the next six days they existed in their straitened quarters, one
guarding while the other slept, but such alarms as they experienced
were of a minor nature, easily disposed of by their flash pistol. It
had not been intended for continuous service, and under the frequent
drains it showed an alarming loss of power. Forepaugh repeatedly
warned Gunga to be more sparing in its use, but that worthy persisted
in his practice of using it against every trifling invasion of the
poisonous Inranian cave moss that threatened them, or the warm, soggy
water-spiders that hopefully explored the ventilator shaft in search
of living food.

"Bash 'em with a broom, or something! Never mind if it isn't nice.
Save our flash gun for something bigger."

Gunga only looked distressed.

On the seventh day their position became untenable. Some kind of sea
creature, hidden under the ever-replenished storm waters, had found
the concrete emplacements of their trading post to its liking. Just
how it was done was never learned. It is doubtful that the creatures
could gnaw away the solid stone--more likely the process was chemical,
but none the less it was effective. The foundations crumbled; the
metal shell subsided, roll