ed in the egg back in the
laboratory, but the skeleton itself was obviously that of one of the
rat-men. Could it be this grotesque horde of human-like rodents that
was holding Joan captive in the Cave of Blue Flames?

* * * * *

Powell tried desperately to think of some way of communicating with
the gray-collared leader. Then the beast shrilled a command that
brought hundreds of the beasts swarming into the clearing from every
side, and in the face of the menace of their countless glittering
eyes and bared fangs Powell abandoned all thought of attempting to
parley with the beasts.

There was another shrill command from the leader, and the horde
closed in. Both of Powell's guns flamed in a crashing leaden hail
that swept the close-packed ranks of furry bodies with murderous
effect. But he was doomed by sheer weight of numbers.

The rat-men directly in front of the blazing pistols wavered
momentarily, but the press of the hundreds behind them swept them
inexorably forward. Powell emptied both guns in a last vain effort.
Then he was swept from his feet, and the horde surged over him.

Blinded and smothered by the dozens of furry bodies that swarmed
over him, he had hardly a chance to even try to fight back. His
cartridge-belt and guns, his Silver Belts and his wrist-watch were
stripped from him by the dozens of claw-like hands that searched his
body. Other claw-hands jerked his arms behind his back and lashed
them firmly together with rope.

A blanketing sheet of some heavy fabric was crammed over his head
and tied in place so tightly that he was completely blindfolded and
half-suffocated. A noose was knotted around his neck. A suggestive
jerk of this noose brought Powell lurching to his feet; there was
another commanding jerk, and he obediently started walking.

* * * * *

The march that followed soon became torture for the captive.
Blindfolded as he was, and having only the occasional jerks of rope
to guide his footsteps, he stumbled and fell repeatedly, until his
aching body seemed one solid mass of bruises.

As nearly as he could judge, the horde had conducted him nearly two
miles when the path abruptly sloped downward. A moment later the
sudden coolness of the air and the echoes about him told him that
they had entered an underground passage of some kind. After
traversing this passage for several yards they emerged into what was
apparently a lar