f tumbling masonry. The monstrous fly,
its hideous face mashed and oozing, reared itself up and, with broken
torn wings, tried to soar away. But it could not. It slipped back. The
drone and buzz of its fright sounded over the chaos of noise. Other
things came lurching and twisting upward, slithering out....

The expanding body of the fly was pushing the palace walls outward. In a
moment it collapsed and the fly emerged.

To Alan and his companions the scene was all shrinking into a miniature
chaos of horror at their shoe tops. A diminuendo of screams mingled down
there. Overhead were the stars, shining peacefully remote. Nearby lay a
rapidly narrowing channel of shining water. A tiny city was across it.
Lights were moving. The panic had spread from the island to Orena.
Beyond the tiny city, was a range of mountains, a cliff, gleaming in the
starlight, and tunnel-mouths.

Suddenly against the stars off there, Alan saw the enlarging figure of
Polter, his hunched shape unmistakable. He was facing the other way. He
lunged and scrambled into a yawning black hole in the mountains. Polter
was escaping! None of these people except himself had the drugs. He was
escaping with the golden cage, out of this doomed atomic world to the
Earth above.

Glora murmured, "There is our way out. Your way. And that is Polter
going. I do not think he saw us. So much is growing gigantic here."

Dr. Kent muttered, "We will wait a moment--wade across--or leap over,
and follow him out. Babs is with him--dear God I hope so! This is a
doomed realm!"

Alan held Glora close. And suddenly he was laughing--a madness, half
hysterical. "Why, this, all this--why look, Glora, it's funny! This
little world all excited, an ant-hill, outraged! Look! There's our giant
sailboat!"

Down near their feet the inch-long sailboat stood at its dock. Tiny
human figures were rushing for it; others, floundering in the water,
were trying to climb upon it. Dr. Kent had stepped a foot or two from
the shore, and tiny, lashing white rollers rocked the boat, almost
engulfing it.

Alan's laugh rang out. "God! It's funny, isn't it? All those little
creatures so excited!"

"Steady, lad!" Dr. Kent touched him. "Don't let yourself laugh! A moment
now, then we'll wade across. Polter won't have much start on us. We
mustn't get too close to him in size, but try and attack him unawares.
We've got to get Babs away from him."

The narrowing passage rose hardly to their knees.