d. "Come on."

I pushed open the door and entered, with Mercer close behind me. It was a
bedroom. The bed stood over by a window. I stopped in horror, for on the
bed, hunched forward in a sitting position, was the body of a man!

With the first sudden shock of surprise over, we stopped to note details.
The man's hand, lying on the blanket, clutched a revolver. A mirror
directly across from him was shattered as though by a bullet. A small
bedroom chair was overturned near the center of the room.

"He--he isn't burned." Mercer spoke the words hardly above a whisper.
"Something else killed him--there's been a fight. They--"

He stopped.

A sudden panic seized me. I wanted to run--to do something--anything--that
would get me away from the nameless, silent terror that seemed all about.

"Come on," I whispered back. "God! Let's get out of here."

As we got out into the living room we heard slow, dragging footsteps on
the porch outside. We stopped again, shrinking back against the wall.

"They--they--it's--" Mercer's whispered words died away. We were both
terrified beyond the power of reasoning. The dragging footsteps came
closer--a sound that had in it nothing of human tread. Then we heard soft
voices--words that were unintelligible.

"It's the Mercutians," I found voice to whisper. "They--"

A figure appeared in the porch doorway, outlined against the light
behind--the figure of a short, squat man. He seemed to have on some sort
of white, furry garment. He was bareheaded, with hair falling to his
shoulders.

At the sight of him my terror suddenly left me. Here was an enemy I could
cope with. The dread fear of supernatural beings that had possessed me
evaporated.

With a shout to Mercer I dashed forward directly at the doorway. I think
the Mercutian had not yet seen us; he stood quite still, his body blocking
the full width of the doorway.

I let fly with my fist as I came up and hit him full in the face. At the
same instant my body struck his. He toppled backward and I went through
the doorway. I tripped over him on the porch outside and fell sprawling.
Before I could rise three other Mercutians fell upon me and pinned me
down.

Mercer was right behind me in the doorway. I saw him pause an instant to
see what was happening. There seemed to be five Mercutians altogether. The
one I had hit lay quite still. Three others were holding me.

The fifth stood to one side, watching Mercer, but apparently inactive.