umb by the
sight of all this wealth.

Charlie said: "Captain, look."

Purcell went over to him and saw the wide swathe cut through the forest
and curving out of sight. "What went through there?" he gasped.

"A Cyclops," Charlie said grimly. "A Cyclops has them. Captain, we've
got to hurry. Listen, there are two horses now. I could create horses
for all of us, but all these men coming up would probably be seen by the
Cyclops. You come on foot with your men. Let one of them come with me
on the stallions." As he spoke Charlie unslung the Mannlicher and put it
down.

"Oh, you want our more modern weapons?" Purcell asked.

Charlie shook his head. "For fun, Robin and I made the Cyclopes
invulnerable to any kind of attack except the kind mentioned in the
encyclopedia--putting out their single eye with a stake. To protect all
the other people we created, we made the Cyclopes so they'd never want
to leave their homeland. So if we can get Robin and your man Glaudot
free, they'll be safe. Now, who's the volunteer?"

"I'm already on horseback," Chandler said. Charlie nodded and mounted
the second roan stallion.

"My men will be coming as fast as they can march," Captain Purcell said.

Charlie nodded. He did not bother to tell the captain that a Cyclops
could cover in a few minutes ground a marching party could not hope to
cover in as many hours. He set off at a swift gallop with Chandler.

* * * * *

"Will he eat us now?" said Glaudot. Strangely, he was not afraid. The
unexpected nature of their impending demise he almost found amusing.

Robin shook her head. "I don't think so. He'll probably drink himself to
sleep. We made the Cyclopes great drunkards."

The Cyclops, his tree-trunk sized walking stick leaning against the
wall, was reclining and drinking from a huge bowl of wine. The cave was
torchlit. Seventy or eighty sheep milled about, settling for the night
after three of their number had supplied a meal for the giant, who had
eaten them raw.

"Isn't there anything we can do?" demanded Glaudot, whose dreams of
galactic conquest were fading before the spectre of being eaten alive.

"Reserve your strength until he sleeps," Robin said. "Of course there's
something we can do."

"Yes? What?"

"His walking stick. You see the end comes almost to a point? We harden
it in the fire--and put his eye out. Then, in the morning, when he
unrolls the stone from the cave-entrance and blindly l