was still one thing he had to do, and that was permanently to do
away with Thor by dropping the idol to the bottom of the dam; he still
hadn't examined the god hidden under his sleeping pile.

One evening after returning from a solitary walk above the dam, he entered
his shack and lit a torch, then almost dropped it from shock!

His dwelling was a wreck. The place had been ransacked from top to bottom.
His sleeping pile lay in the middle of the floor--the idol was gone!

He turned and fled from the room, but before he could take a dozen steps
towards the village, several shadows glided out from behind trees and
rocks in the moonlight, resolving themselves into men.

Before he could cry out or struggle, strong arms pinned his arms to his
body and someone clapped a dirty hand over his mouth. He was forced back
into his hovel and the door slammed shut. Standing in front of him was a
very bedraggled figure whom he recognized as Thougor. He also recognized
his three other captors; all were elderly reactionaries of the tribe who
had disapproved of him from the beginning. In spite of his predicament
Builder felt a warm glow of happiness course through him. If these were
the only cronies Thougor could round up, that meant the rest of the
villagers were sympathetic with his cause. He suddenly became aware of
Thougor's grating voice:

"It took me a little time to piece things together, but once I did, it
didn't take me long to come back and find the god where I might have at
first suspected it would be--right here! For your sacrilege you will pay
with every last drop of blood you have in your scrawny old body--and now!"
Whereupon Thougor disappeared out of the hovel.

Somehow Builder had known they were going to kill him before arousing the
rest of the tribe to the fact that Thor was back. Thougor was taking no
chances of his standing in the way of him or Thor ever again. But Builder
didn't care: he had sown his few seeds of knowledge and wisdom well.
Although Thougor didn't know it, this time he wouldn't have complete
homage from all the tribe. There would now be doubts and questionings and
tests for both Thor and Thougor in the ways of truth and righteousness.

Then Thougor returned to the shack with what, Builder thought, must be
Thor. The hand over his mouth had twisted his head back so that he only
got a glimpse, but he didn't miss the long knife Thougor pulled from
beneath his tattered skins, nor the large sacrificial