s feet and
rushed toward the great beast in the hope of dislodging it before it
had succeeded in clambering aboard. At the same instant he saw that
others of the banths were racing toward them with the quite evident
intention of following their leader to the ship's deck. Should they
reach it in any numbers he would be lost. There was but a single hope.
Leaping for the altitude control Gahan pulled it wide. Simultaneously
three banths leaped for the deck. The craft rose swiftly. Gahan felt
the impact of a body against the keel, followed by the soft thuds of
the great bodies as they struck the ground beneath. His act had not
been an instant too soon. And now the leader had gained the deck and
stood at the stern with glaring eyes and snarling jaws. Gahan drew his
sword. The beast, possibly disconcerted by the novelty of its position,
did not charge. Instead it crept slowly toward its intended prey. The
craft was rising and Gahan placed a foot upon the control and stopped
the ascent. He did not wish to chance rising to some higher air current
that would bear him away. Already the craft was moving slowly toward
the tower, carried thither by the impetus of the banth's heavy body
leaping upon it from astern.

The man watched the slow approach of the monster, the slavering jowls,
the malignant expression of the devilish face. The creature, finding
the deck stable, appeared to be gaining confidence, and then the man
leaped suddenly to one side of the deck and the tiny flier heeled as
suddenly in response. The banth slipped and clutched frantically at the
deck. Gahan leaped in with his naked sword; the great beast caught
itself and reared upon its hind legs to reach forth and seize this
presumptuous mortal that dared question its right to the flesh it
craved; and then the man sprang to the opposite side of the deck. The
banth toppled sideways at the same instant that it attempted to spring;
a raking talon passed close to Gahan's head at the moment that his
sword lunged through the savage heart, and as the warrior wrenched his
blade from the carcass it slipped silently over the side of the ship.

A glance below showed that the vessel was drifting in the direction of
the tower to which Gahan had seen the prisoner led. In another moment
or two it would be directly over it. The man sprang to the control and
let the craft drop quickly toward the ground where followed the banths,
still hot for their prey. To land outside the enclosure