ose for a hundred feet. He
picked his way over tumbled rock, the others following. The way took a
sharp turn, then came to a dead end.

"Nothing here." Zircon's light covered the area a foot at a time. There
was no opening.

"Maybe we missed it," Scotty suggested. "Let's go back, and examine
everything on the way."

They reversed their steps. All of them used lights now, and the combined
beams illumined the steep walls brightly.

"Take a look at that," Scotty said suddenly. His light was on a pinnacle
of rock that appeared to have some sort of opening behind it. He moved
in, cautiously, the others close behind. There was an opening, sure
enough, where the pinnacle leaned against the main rock wall. There was
just barely room to squeeze through. Zircon almost got stuck.

Once past the opening, a new trail seemed to open up. And at its end an
aperture in the rock wall loomed black before them.

"That must be it," Rick said, and his voice echoed hollowly.

Scotty moved ahead to the entrance and flashed his light inside. The
beam was lost in the blackness beyond. "It's big," he said, and the
words rolled around in the emptiness.

Rick felt a shiver run down his back. "What are we waiting for?" he
demanded roughly. "Let's get inside."

The opening wasn't large. Zircon had to duck going in. Rick was right
behind him, Chahda bringing up the rear. Just inside, they stopped, all
lights going.

The cave was tremendous. The level rock floor stretched away from them,
and when they shot their lights upward, a vaulted dome reflected the
beams a good hundred feet overhead. Slowly they moved away from the
entrance, lights busy searching the cave. There was nothing near the
entrance but rock, solid and smooth. And it was so quiet Rick thought he
could hear his own heartbeat. Then his light beam picked up a green
reflection on the far side of the cave.

"There's something there," he exclaimed. In spite of himself, his voice
shook.

"We'll soon see," Scotty said. Their voices rumbled through the cave,
echoing and re-echoing.

Zircon gave a sudden exclamation. "Chahda! Where's the big light?"

The Hindu boy had been playing the bright beam on the walls to one side.
Now he swung it squarely ahead, and Rick gasped.

The Black Buddha!

It seemed to crouch against the far wall, a giant, loathsome thing of
dead black with live green eyes.

They went toward it, all lights on the thing, and as they made out more
details, Ri