, and he realized in a single flashing instant that here
was a worse menace than the pack.

Only one, it was true, one ape-man who would be no match for them! But
Chet remembered those blind, staring eyes and the message that had come
to him. Those eyes had seen the horrible food upon the altar; some other
brain had seen it too. The ape-man was an instrument only; there was
some hidden horror in back of him, something that saw with his eyes,
something that must never see them, cowering and huddled in the shadow
of that great stone.

* * * * *

The shuffling was coming from the right; Chet clutched silently at the
others to draw them away and toward the left. They retreated to the
corner, turned it, and went on toward the front; then stopped in silent
waiting where the shadow ended. The front, where the altar stood, was in
the full glare of Earth.

For the moment they were safe, but what of the time when the ape-man
returned? He had descended to the ground; when he climbed back again
would he retrace his steps? Or would he come this side and trap them
here where the light of their own Earth made any forward step
impossible?

Below them the wailing ceased. Chet leaned forward to see the black
horde, silent and motionless. Approaching them was the "big ape" he had
seen at the altar. His hands were reaching blindly before him and he
moved as would a human when entranced.

He reached the huddled blacks; his groping hands hovered hesitantly
above a cowering, hairy form. Presently the ape-man passed on to the
next, and his hands rested on the creature's face. From the massed
figures there rose a moan, and Chet felt poignantly the animal misery of
it. Suddenly all emotion was transformed to startled attention. From the
slope at the rear had come the rattle of loose stones!

Far below, in plain view, was the one who had descended--Chet knew that
his eyes could never mistake that blind, groping figure--but from the
slope they could not see, from around the far edge of the pyramid, a
clicking stone sent a repeated warning.

Chet laid a hand on Harkness' arm. "Get set, Walt!" he warned. "Get
ready for trouble. There's something coming: it may come this way!"

CHAPTER XII

_In the Shadow of the Pyramid_

They waited, unbreathing, listening to the occasional stealthy sounds.
The pistol was still in Chet's belt; the three men were crouched before
Diane, in their hands the crude weap