he fight.

But the odds were far too unequal, and very slowly they pulled him down,
as a pack of dogs will pull down a wide-antlered elk. Thick vines lashed
his arms to his sides until he was trussed and helpless.

Then both captives were lifted by the loudly exultant spider-men and
borne to a conical shaped hut of grasses hanging by means of a thick
rope of that same material from a pair of stout branches above its roof.
Here they were thrown roughly to the swaying, bobbing floor on opposite
sides of the structure, then left to themselves as the long-limbed
spider-men departed.

Trakor waited until he was certain the last of them was gone, then
despite his bonds he managed to roll over until he was facing his friend
three or four yards away. The cave lord was lying motionless on his
side, swathed with strand upon strand of stout vines, his eyes open, his
expression as calm and untroubled as though he were comfortably
ensconced in his own cave.

"What will they do with us, Tharn?" whispered the youth.

Those broad shoulders moved in a faint shrug. "Who knows?"

It was far from being a satisfactory answer. Trakor was silent for a
little while, thinking unhappy thoughts. Through the hut's thin walls
came the shrill, unfamiliar chattering of many voices. Evidently the
spider-men were holding some kind of a meeting--a meeting, Trakor was
sure, concerning the eventual fate of their captives.

"Tharn...."

"Yes?"

"Can't we _do_ something? Must we lie here like two helpless old men
until they get around to k-killing us?"

Tharn caught the slight break in the youth's words and his slow smile
disclosed flashing teeth. "They will not kill us for a while--otherwise
we would have been dead before this. Perhaps they intend to torture us
first--either to enjoy our suffering or to honor their tribal god."

"But now we can do nothing. Four of them are watching our every move
through chinks in these walls; our first move toward escape would bring
them upon us."

Trakor's eyes roved about the hut's sides. He could see no signs of
gleaming eyes peering in on them, but long ago he had learned never to
doubt Tharn's ability to know things beyond the evident.

His voice went down. "Can they hear us?"

"Of course," Tharn said. "But that does not mean they can understand
us. We do not speak their tongue, so we need not worry of being
overheard."

"But what can we _do_?" Trakor demanded for the second time.

"At present, n