he trickle of water until, as the passage widened, a gurgling
torrent ran along beside them. Suddenly Gerry realized where they were.
This was the sewerage system that carried away the waste of the city's
many flowing fountains!

At last they came to the main drain, a vaulted stone passage where a
twenty-foot stream of black water flowed along beside the narrow
foot-path. Tied up there, looking like a sea-monster in the dim light of
the lanterns carried by the Scaly Men, was a metal boat that had only a
narrow deck and a round dome above the water. A crude submarine!

The three prisoners were forced aboard. Their gags were removed, now
that silence no longer mattered, but their arms remained bound and they
were chained by the necks to a steel bar as they sat in a row at one
side of the narrow hull. The raiders cast off, came aboard, and closed
the dome behind them. Motors hummed softly, and then the submarine moved
sluggishly down the stream.

At the moment the three of them were alone. They could see the scaly
skins of some of their captors busied at various tasks in adjoining
compartments, but there was no one within hearing. After twisting
futilely at his bonds for a moment, Gerry leaned back against the steel
bulkhead behind him and looked over at Angus.

"Well--here we are!" he said.

"Aye--so it seems!" The Scot's broad face was grim. "I should have known
that black-haired witch had some deviltry in mind when she asked me to
walk in the garden with her!"

"But where does she fit into the picture? How does she get her control
over these scaly devils?"

"How do I know?" snorted McTavish angrily. "Ask me some more riddles!
What's more to the point is where they're taking us in this queer
craft."

"I can guess that," Closana said quietly. The girl was very pale, but
she smiled faintly as she met Gerry's eyes. "This drain empties into the
Giri river, and a few miles farther along that river forms the boundary
between Savissa and the lands of the Scaly Ones. We have never known
they could travel beneath the water this way."

"What will happen after they get us there?"

"Torture and death. Once any of our people are taken across into the
land of Giri-Vaaka, they never return alive."

"Nice little trip we're taking, Gerry lad!" McTavish growled. "Too bad
you didn't bring your cinema camera along!"

* * * * *

The submarine moved sluggishly ahead, silent except for the hum of