They were
in a big room, dimly lighted by red bulbs. Giant didn't like the
dimness and he didn't like the smell. He tried to see.

"Here he is," said the man.

There was an odd bass rambling which Grant recognized as the voice of
a Uranian. He shivered. Then there were words, and Grant knew the
Uranian, wherever he was--maybe in a different room--was using a
modifier to turn his sounds into Earth-language: "Walk closer,"
ordered the queer voice. "I want to watch your face."

It scraped the marrow in his bones, that queer voice. He saw a big
tunnel, and at the far end of it, barely discernible in the dim light,
was Relegar. Grant stared, chilled. His eyes became used to the queer
light, and then he began to make out details. The tunnel was round and
big enough so that a man could have walked into it, and at the far end
the big Uranian seemed to be standing on his side, with his sixteen
huge jointed legs supporting him, half of them on the floor and half
on the ceiling. His purple, hairy body was supported in the middle
almost as from a web. His two semi-globular eyes, seemingly opaque,
were surrounded by six smaller ones. Grant knew the smaller ones could
detect infra-red, and now he felt his face growing warm and knew they
had on infra spot on him.

"What did you find in the swamp?" asked that dissonant voice.

Grant swallowed and licked his lips. "Nothing," he said finally.

The great maw of the spider, rimmed in red, opened wide as if the
Uranian was yawning. It showed long, curving white fangs. Then Relegar
said, "You found stones of the echindul."

"I have only one," said Grant, and held it out fearfully.

A curious red began to creep over Relegar's body. His next words were
deadly: "One is no good. You found many. What did you do with them?"

Grant watched the great, gray poison-mandibles lift, and he was
terrified. He wanted to speak but he could not.

"You've hidden them somewhere," said the horrible voice. "You intended
to go back after them. Well, I am going to let you do that. But I
shall be after you. I, in person, shall be on your trail. How will you
like that?"

"I--I haven't got them. I don't know where they are," Grant insisted,
which, in a manner of speaking, was true.

Relegar's two big bulbous eyes seemed to grow bigger and bigger, but
still the light was reflected only from their surface. Grant took a
step backward. Relegar swayed his body toward him, but the legs did
not move. "Go get