thought of the machine, and of the giant sleeping. A desperate
plan came to him, and his jaws set decisively. "I'll do it!" he
exclaimed aloud.

The lever which controlled both increase and decrease could be worked
from inside the chamber if he rigged up a system of turning it with a
wire or rope. If he pulled it to the increase only part way, he would,
he knew, have sufficient power over his muscles to pull it back off,
or slide again from the chamber, as he had done before. Whether or not
he could do this depended on Hagendorff's being asleep. Possibly he
could be locked in the living room, if he were there. Or tied. The
increase, even at half speed, would only take about forty seconds.
Once back to his size there would be a fight without odds, Garth
thought grimly.

* * * * *

It was a big risk, and there was probably only a small chance of
succeeding, but it meant getting back to six feet, back to a normal
world, back to equal terms. That was the magnet which drew him
presently toward the cabin laboratory.

He went slowly, to allow Hagendorff plenty of time to fall soundly
asleep. The giant, as he had said, needed sleep--needed it badly--for,
like Garth Howard, he had done without it for forty-eight hours under
the excitement of imminent success in their work. Garth considered
that his move would be totally unexpected, being made right into the
other's territory. There was a chance.

And so, cold and weariness banished by thoughts of the goal ahead, he
prowled back along the trail like any small creature of the forest.

It was half an hour later when he came in sight of the cabin. His
heart drummed excitedly as he stood in the shadows surveying it. He
wondered if Hagendorff was still awake; if he was, perhaps, waiting
for him. Certainly he did not seem to be: the cabin was dark and
silent, and the only door was tightly closed. Still--it might be
wiser to retreat while still free....

"No, by heaven!" Garth Howard exclaimed in his thoughts. "I'm going
through with it!" Stooping slightly, he left the shadows and ran
boldly into the starlight.

He half expected to hear a scuffle of feet and see the giant come
leaping out at him; but nothing broke the silence. He made his careful
way along the side of the cabin to the place where a trough for waste
liquids led through a small hole at the level of the floor, and with
great care wormed through.

* * * *