tended herding Scotty,
Zircon, and Chahda into the caves. Probably they were certain that in
the caves they would be safe from whoever had fired from the darkness.

Ko was still sitting. He had one hand pressed to his side.

The Tibetans were groping for their prisoners. Rick grinned. He aimed at
the stone under their feet and fired. There was a chorus of yells. He
levered another cartridge into the chamber and fired again.

The Tibetans fled, charging blindly toward the cave openings beyond the
tents.

Long Shadow kept yelling orders, groping around in the blackness, but
the Tibetans paid no attention. They reached the back wall of the cave.
Two of them went headlong into openings. Others crashed into the walls,
fell, crawled sideways, scrambling until they found the openings they so
frantically sought.

Long Shadow's voice could be heard screaming in fury for his men to come
back.

He couldn't see, as Rick could, that they were all now in the caves
behind their leader.

Finally, giving up, Long Shadow started for safety himself.

It would never do to allow the thin man to get away, Rick thought. He
wanted Long Shadow. He and his companions had questions to ask him, and
they needed him to get them out of the Caves of Fear. He sighted
carefully at the long legs that were feeling their way toward the back
wall. He fired.

Long Shadow stumbled headlong, then he started to crawl. Rick stood up
and yelled. "Gang! Get Long Shadow!"

His words echoed eerily through the cave.

Zircon understood and bellowed. "Where is he?"

Rick thought quickly. The three were still standing in a line. He
shouted orders.

"Right face. Forward march!"

Like a well-trained machine, his friends obeyed. They marched forward
steadily. But they were slightly off. He remembered the correct command.

"Left oblique! March!"

Scotty swung a quarter left, bumped into Zircon. Chahda stood still, not
understanding. Neither had Zircon comprehended the command. Rick yelled,
"Scotty! Turn right just a fraction."

Scotty did so. "Now," Rick called. "He's about ten feet in front of
you."

Scotty moved forward, feeling his way a step at a time. When he was
almost on Long Shadow, Rick yelled, "You're there!"

Long Shadow turned over on his back and clawed in his pockets.

"Watch out!" Rick screamed. "He's got a gun!"

Scotty jumped, feet first. He missed Long Shadow by a fraction, landing
next to his chest.

"Fall to the left!" Rick