loquently of who this intruder was.

The Abarian of the Ofridian well in search of prey. The cowardly
assassin who would now enter and find a defenseless man and a
beautiful girl who would set him aflame with lust.

Rage threw a red curtain over Bram Forest's eyes as he struggled up to
meet the intruder. But the latter never saw him because at that moment
the now-familiar nausea seized Bram Forest's vitals, doubling him
over.

And when the Abarian had advanced into the cavern, he found only an
empty bed of moss, Bram Forest having been snatched up and whirled
into darkness by the relentless hand of time put into terrifying
motion.

CHAPTER IX

_In Custody_

Bram Forest regained consciousness upon a grassy slope across which
slanted the rays of a setting sun. The same sun that had warmed him
upon the planet Tarth--of this he was certain.

He arose and glanced about quickly, realizing--while he was sure he
had returned to Earth--that he could be many miles from the mysterious
mansion under which he had spent one hundred years.

[Illustration: Screaming, Ylia offered her own body in defense of her
loved one.]

At first his heart sank because the terrain was not at all familiar.
Then it rose again as he saw the tower of the gray mansion pushing
somberly above the line of the forest top. He stood for a moment,
orienting himself with the tower the center of his calculations. Then
he moved out of the glade toward his right.

But he had gone scarcely ten feet into the wooded area when his
sharpened instincts gave him quick warning and he dropped like a stone
and lay still.

The sound of footsteps greatened until their echo came loud in his
ears and a man passed not ten feet from his outstretched hands.

The man wore the blue uniform and smart cap of a state trooper and he
was on the alert but not so much so as to detect the silent Bram
Forest.

The latter, with the first moment he had had to give thought to
himself since he had awakened in the cavern on the Plains of Ofrid,
realized suddenly that he was no longer naked. He had of course been
vaguely aware of this before but now he gave it his attention and
realized what had happened. He focused on past events.

* * * * *

During his time of unconsciousness from the treacherous Abarian's
blade thrust, the beautiful Ylia had garbed him in the brilliant
uniform of the slain Nadian, Jlomec. This uniform was both colorful