es like so many loosened
cords. Blaine caught the swooning girl in his arms.

Half carrying her, he struggled on after the orange flare. The base of
one of the latticed supporting columns loomed vast in the eery twilight
gloom, and he leaned a moment against one of its vine-wrapped members.
The girl was exhausted and hung limp in his circling right arm. Still
the orange beacon danced on. If only Dantor would ease up a bit.
Couldn't he give them a little time?

* * * * *

On and on he staggered, ploughing through the sloppy footing and the
dripping clinging greens that were everywhere in his path. Slimy fronds
wrapped themselves around them, impeding his progress; clinging as if
they too were alive. The whispering silence closed in on them, vast and
mysterious. Menacing; awful....

And then he stumbled against a metallic wall. The curved side of the
Tritu Anu! His brain cleared and courage returned with a rush. The tiny
orange flame danced merrily, leading him along the wall toward the door
he knew was there.

Breathing easier now, his pace quickened as Dantor's guiding light
slithered along the gleaming wall. Sometimes it was almost hidden from
sight by the curvature of the welded plates and he was forced into a
jog trot to keep it in view.

Grimly, tenderly, he clung to the delectable creature whose soft body
drooped against him.

The door! The selfsame passage through which they had escaped opened
before him. Grateful even for this doubtful protection, he crossed the
threshold and trudged wearily along with his precious burden. Blindly
trusting in the miraculous powers of Dantor, he followed the orange
beacon which now seemed to smile cheerfully as it lighted his way
through the winding rock-walled tunnel.

Dazed and spent, he collapsed in the arms of the aged Rulan when he
reached the end of the passage.

CHAPTER VIII

_Last of the Rulans_

Bathed and fed and attired in dry clothing provided by Dantor, the
Earth man and Rulan maiden were much refreshed and heartened when,
together, they finally faced the aged scientist in the laboratory of
the secret apartment. He hadn't allowed them to talk as yet.

Blaine glanced at the ragged opening where the stone door had been
blown away. "We are safe from intrusion here?" he asked.

Dantor shrugged expressive shoulders. "The Tritu Anu is empty of life,"
he said; "a sepulchre. Those of our people who were not com