us splash was plain.

"Down!" he shouted to Chet. "Down on the ground!" And he felt the
swish of another liquid mass above his head as he obeyed his own
command.

He felt for his pistol, then remembered it was gone--lost when Chet
sprang upon him. But Chet had his.

"Shoot!" he ordered. "Shoot the damned thing, Chet! Kill the spider!"

Spider! He had named it unconsciously. But the name was inadequate,
for here was a thing of horror beyond even a spider of prodigious
size. This peaceful valley!--and here was its ruler, frightful,
incredibly loathsome!

* * * * *

He waited for the sound of a shot. A cursing, instead, was the only
reply: Chet was not firing! Harkness whirled to see the pilot pinned
by one arm to the web.

The fluid had caught him; he had not dropped quickly enough. And his
right hand that had been raised, and the pistol it held, were clamped
fast to the awful stuff.

There was no word of appeal, no call for help, yet Chet Bullard must
have known what this meant. But neither did Harkness wait for that
word. One spring, and he had the pilot by the waist, and he felt the
weight of the girl's slim body added to his as her arms went about him
to help. Chet's face went chalk-white as the hand tore loose. The
pistol remained buried in the clinging stuff.

From the corner of his eye, Harkness saw the monster crouched to
spring. He was half dragging the other two as he stooped and ran for
the bow of the ship. The monstrous body thudded against the metal hull
behind them.

The leap was prodigious. He saw the sack-like body fall inert, the
great, hairy legs shaking. For the moment, the attacker was helpless:
but the respite was brief, as the glaring eyes plainly told.

Below the ledge where the beast had been was an opening in the
rocks--a bit of black shadow that was darker than the lustrous metal
of the cliff. There was a chance--

"I can make it," Chet was saying, as Harkness dragged him on; "help
Diane!" But the girl had sprung before them to gain a foothold and
extend a helping hand. And they were back in the darkness of a rocky
cave before the sunlit entrance was blocked by a hairy head and a
horrible, slavering mouth on a body too huge to enter.

CHAPTER VII

_In the Labyrinth_

Spent and shaken, the three passed onward into the cave. Harkness
searched his pockets for his neolite flash; found it--a tiny pencil
with a tip of glass--and the darkness of the