is
time they have her again and she is locked away."

"Perhaps," Trakor admitted. "When I saw who it was Vokal's guards were
after, I gave her my knife and she crawled under one of the tables to
wait for us until we had killed the guards and could come back to get
her." He laughed shortly, bitterly. "We _would_ have killed them, Tharn,
if so many hadn't come to their aid."

"It is always thus," the cave lord said philosophically. "Tomorrow night
we shall try again."

* * * * *

While talking, they continued on up the steep rise. Now their way was
blocked by the wall they had glimpsed a few moments before. A narrow
roadway skirted its base in two directions, and to the right, several
hundred yards distant, they could make out the faint yellow rays of a
lantern above a recessed gate.

"What now?" Trakor asked shortly.

Tharn shrugged. "A tree with foliage so thick none can see us. Judging
from the size of the building beyond this wall, its grounds should
contain many trees. Let us enter and see if we can find one large enough
for our purpose."

Trakor glanced doubtfully up at the wall's edge fully fifteen feet from
the ground. "Do we go over it or through one of the gates?"

"Over it. We dare not risk arousing the guards."

"How can we reach its top?"

In answer Tharn took up a position with his back only an inch or two
from the wall. Cupping his hands together in front of him, he bent his
knees slightly, keeping his back straight. "Extend your arms above your
head," he directed, "and place your right foot in my hands, crouching a
little while I support your weight. That way I can toss you high enough
to enable your hands to catch the wall's edge."

Trakor nodded, a shade doubtfully, and followed directions. Like a
striking snake Tharn uncoiled his bent legs with a sharp upward thrust,
at the same instant jerking his locked hands up to chest level.

The youth shot upward like an arrow from a bow. Tharn heard a dull thud,
followed by a low exclamation of pain. He looked up to see Trakor
sitting astride the wall rubbing one of his shins.

At Tharn's instructions, Trakor lay chest down against the wall's top
and extended his right hand downward. The cave lord backed away, then
ran forward and leaped high, catching Trakor's fingers and swinging
lightly up beside him.

There were trees--many of them--singly and in groups, their branches
heavy with leaves. The grounds in which th