lame-thrower that
was now so familiar a sight to Dean. His own escort was silent; they
had halted, watching those others expectantly.

* * * * *

In the silence of that rocky room the single red one whistled an
order. One of the two yellow men placed his weapon on the floor.
Another shrill order followed, and the remaining worker, without a
moment's hesitation, turned the green blast of his own projector upon
his comrade.

It was done in a second--a second in which the giant's shriek ended in
a flash of flame for which his own flesh was the fuel. A wisp of
drifting smoke, and that was all. And the red creatures who had Rawson
in their charge, after a moment of silence, filled the room with
shrill-voiced pandemonium, while they shrieked their approval of the
spectacle.

But Dean Rawson's lips were forming half-whispered words, so intently
was he thinking the thoughts. "The damned red beast! That poor devil's
flame hit some sulphur, I suppose--burned it to SO_2--then he got
his!"

But, even while he searched his mind for words to describe the evil of
this red race, he was realizing another fact. These yellow giants,
countless thousands of them, perhaps, were held in subjection by their
red masters. They would do as they were told. Dimly, vaguely, through
his horrified mind, came the picture of a horde of red and yellow
beasts turned loose upon the world above.

There were fears now which filled Dean Rawson, shook him with horrors
as yet only half comprehended. But the fears were not for himself, one
solitary man in the grip of these red beasts--he was fearing for all
mankind.

* * * * *

His guard was hurrying him on, but now Dean hardly saw the scenes of
feverish activity through which they passed. Another thought had come
to him.

That shaft, the hole which he himself had drilled--what damage had it
done? It was he who had broken down the barriers. His drill had told
these beasts that there was other life above. It had guided them. They
had realized that they were near to some other place where men worked
and drove tunnels through the rocks. They had followed up these
forgotten passages that led to the old craters, had ascended inside
the volcano, made their way through the top and emerged into another
world--a clean and sunlit world.

Now Rawson's eyes found with new understanding the activity about him.

The mining operations had been left b