nt, as if
seeing a thing that could not be real. And when one of them reached
down to lift the tiny body aboard, his eyes went wider with added
surprise. His lift was inadequate. The dwarf's weight was that of a
normal-sized man!

This was mystery on mystery. But they got the uncannily heavy figure
aboard at last and ascertained that, though the skin showed many
wounds and was blue from long exposure, the heart was still beating.
And realizing that the life might flicker out beneath their eyes
unless they took action immediately, they proceeded to work over him.

After some minutes, the dwarf gave signs of returning consciousness.
His lids fluttered and opened, disclosing eyes that filled suddenly
with terror as they stared into the faces, huge in comparison, that
leaned over his. One of the officers said reassuringly:

"You're all right, buddy: you're on a harbor police launch. But who in
the devil are you? D'you speak English? Where'd you come from?"

* * * * *

The midget struggled to speak; struggled desperately to tell something
of great importance. They bent closer. Gasping, high-pitched words
came to their ears, and the story that those words told held them
spellbound. When the shrill voice ceased and the dwarf sank back into
the coat they had thrown around him, the two policemen gazed at each
other. One whistled softly, and his companion said soberly:

"We'd better phone up and have the local police tend to this right
away, Bill."

Thus, two hours later, several miles up the river, another launch
containing three officers came to its destination, a solitary,
thickly-wooded island that brooded under a cloak of silence where the
river leaves broad Lake St. Clair. The launch crept up to a mooring
post a few feet from a small, rough beach, and was tied there.
Quickly, the men waded ashore and tiptoed up a winding trail that was
barred from the sun by dank foliage. They soon came to a clearing
where a large cabin had been built. There, one of them whispered,
"Guns out!"

Then the three men crossed the clearing and cautiously entered the
cabin.

For a moment there was silence. Then came a terrified shout, followed
by the bunched thunder of a succession of pistol shots. The
reverberations slowly died away, and some time later the policemen
reappeared and stood outside the door.

One of them, dazed, kept repeating over and over, "I wouldn't have
believed it! I wouldn't have b