hat it feeds
on. I wonder why the water isn't frozen. I suppose there must be some
internal heat left still. A few patches with lakes of lava under them.
Perhaps this valley is just over one, and that's why these creatures
have managed to survive.

"Ah! there's another of them, smaller, not so strongly formed. That
thing's mate, I suppose--female of the species. Ugh! I wonder how many
hundred of thousands of years it will take for _our_ descendants to come
to that."

"I hope our dear old earth will hit something else and be smashed to
atoms before that happens!" exclaimed Zaidie, whose curiosity had now
partly overcome her horror. "Look, it's trying to catch something!"

The larger of the two creatures had groped its way to the edge of the
sluggish, oily water and dropped, or rather rolled, quietly into it. It
was evidently cold-blooded, or nearly so, for no warm-blooded animal
would have taken to such water so naturally. Presently the other dropped
in too, and both disappeared for some moments. Then, in the midst of a
violent commotion in the water a few yards away, they rose to the
surface of the water, the larger with a wriggling, eel-like fish between
its jaws.

They both groped their way towards the edge, and had just reached it and
were pulling themselves out when a hideous shape rose out of the water
behind them. It was like the head of an octopus joined to the body of a
boa-constrictor, but head and neck were both of the same ghastly, livid
grey as the other two creatures. It was evidently blind, too, for it
took no notice of the brilliant glare of the searchlight, but it moved
rapidly towards the two scrambling forms, its long white feelers
trembling out in all directions. Then one of them touched the smaller of
the two shapes. Instantly the rest shot out and closed round it, and
with scarcely a struggle it was dragged beneath the water and vanished.

[Illustration: _A hideous shape rose out of the water behind them._]

Zaidie uttered a little low scream and covered her face again, and
Redgrave said:

"The same old brutal law you see, life preying upon life even on a dying
world, a world that is more than half dead itself. Well, I think we've
seen enough of this place. I suppose those are about the only types of
life we should meet anywhere, and I don't want to know much more about
them. I vote we go and see what the invisible hemisphere is like."

"I have had all I want of this side," said Zaidie, loo