roused him. He tried to open his
eyes, whose lids were too heavy for his strength. And by that he knew
he was dreaming. Yet from under those lowered lids he seemed to see a
wild medley of red warriors, their faces blotched and ghastly in the
green light of their weapons. They were carrying a charred body which
they threw heavily upon the floor beside him as if to compare the two.
He saw the face which the flames had not touched, the face of Jack
Downer--Downer, the sheriff of Cocos County. His sandy hair had been
scorched to the scalp.

Dreams ... and the steady beat of metal-shod feet of marching men. He
saw them passing some distance away. The repeated _thud-thud_ of metal
on stone echoed maddeningly through his brain for hours.... Dreams,
all of them.

And once there came to him a vision which beyond all doubt was unreal.

* * * * *

Silence had surrounded him. For what seemed hours not one of the red
mole-men had come near. And then, in the silence, he heard whisperings
and the sound of stealthy feet; and, for a moment, the same white
figure that had met him in his flight stood where he could see.

Only the merest trace of dim light relieved the utter darkness of the
room. The girl's figure was ghostly, unreal. Yet he saw the dull
sparkle of jeweled breast-plates against her creamy white skin. Loose
folds of cloth were gathered about her waist; her golden hair was
drawn back except for vagrant curls that only accentuated the perfect
oval of her face.

There were others with her, dim shapes of men; how many Rawson could
not tell. They looked down at him, whispering softly, excitedly,
amongst themselves; but their words were like nothing he had ever
heard.

For an instant Dean felt his stupefied mind coming almost to
wakefulness. Phantom figures, ghostly and unreal--but the faces were
human, and the eyes looked down upon him pityingly. He tried to rouse
himself, tried to call out, then settled limply back, for the girl was
speaking--or he was catching her thoughts. It seemed almost that he
heard her whispered words:

"They take him to _Gevarro_, to the Lake of Fire which never dies!
Gor told me--he overheard their plans. But, by the Mountain I
swear...." Then footsteps echoed in a far-off passage, and the white
ones vanished like drifting smoke.

Dreams, all of them. Yet the time came when Dean knew that he was
awake--knew too that further experiences awaited him in this demo