incongruity, of this monstrous inhumanness allied with the
human form of their bodies. And throughout he observed, with a curious
sense of detachment, the furious beating of the wings, almost useless in
the thin air, and the expansion and contraction of sac-like membranes on
each side of the necks which he took to be auxiliary lungs.

* * * * *

It was the girl's action that brought Chet to his senses. She moved
slowly across the smooth table of rock toward the three or four beasts
who had gained its level. Her head was bowed in utter dejection; Chet
sensed it as plainly as if she had spoken. She held out her hands
helplessly toward the creatures--and in that instant Chet's pistol
spoke.

Tiny shells, those of a detonite pistol, and the grain of explosive in
the tip of each bullet is microscopic. But no body, human or inhuman, be
it made of flesh, can withstand the shattering concussion of that
exploding shell.

The beasts beside that figure, slenderly girlish even in its metal
sheath, fell into the pit beyond; their screams rang horribly as they
fell. There were others who took their places, and they, too, vanished
under the smashing shots.

And then, after timeless moments of waiting, while the only sound was
the half-audible voice of the girl who sobbed: "Now you are surely lost.
They will kill you--you should not have fired--I should never have
brought you here"--there came the familiar thunder of a ship's exhausts.

Down from above, a black shadow came silently crashing; a blaze of light
terrific in its brilliance brought an exclamation to Chet's lips and
hope to his heart.

"Spud! You old fool, you're coming to get us!"

But the words ended with an avalanche of bodies that threw themselves
down the black slope. There were others coming from below, leaping from
the stones. The ledge was filled with them.

Chet was firing blindly as he felt himself borne down--felt long fingers
that ripped, then closed about his throat and jammed the metal of his
suit in chokingly. He heard the beating of giant wings about him; felt
himself half-carried and half-thrown toward a floor of rock far below.

There was an opening that loomed blackly in that floor; one glimpse of
his surroundings Chet had before the press of bodies closed him in. They
were forcing the shining, silvery figure of a girl into that black
opening--dropping her! Then he felt himself hurled into the same void,
while abov