n't doubt it," I said cheerfully. An idea came to me--I half
believed it myself. "And another thing. There's not an action here
that's purposeless. We're being driven on by the command of that Thing
we call the Metal Emperor. It means us no harm. Maybe--maybe this IS the
way out."

"Maybe so," he shook his head doubtfully. "But I'm not sure. Maybe that
long push was just to get us away from THERE. And it strikes me that the
impulse has begun to weaken. We're not going anywhere near as fast as we
were."

I had not realized it, but our speed was slackening. I looked
back--hundreds of feet behind us fell the slide. An unpleasant chill
went through me--should the magnetic grip upon us relax, withdraw,
nothing could stop us from falling back along that incline to be broken
like eggs at its end; that our breaths would be snuffed out by the
terrific descent long before we reached that end was scant comfort.

"There are other passages opening up along this shaft," Drake said.
"I'm not for trusting the Emperor too far--he has other things on his
metallic mind, you know. The next one we get to, let's try to slip
into--if we can."

I had noticed; there had been openings along the ascending shaft;
corridors running apparently transversely to its angled way.

Slower and slower became our pace. A hundred yards above I glimpsed one
of the apertures. Could we reach it? Slower and slower we arose. Now the
gap was but a yard off--but we were motionless--were tottering!

Drake's arms wrapped round me. With a tremendous effort he hurled me
into the portal. I dropped at its edge, writhed swiftly around, saw him
slipping, slipping down--thrust my hands out to him.

He caught them. There came a wrench that tortured my arm sockets as
though racked. But he held!

Slowly--I writhed back into the passage, dragging up his almost dead
weight. His head appeared, his shoulders; there was a convulsion of the
long body and he lay before me.

For a minute or two we lay, flat upon our backs resting. I sat up. The
passage was broad, silent; apparently as endless as that from which we
had just escaped.

Along it, above us, under us, the crystalline eyes were dim. It showed
no sign of movement--yet had it done so there was nothing we could do
save drop down the annihilating slant. Drake arose.

"I'm hungry," he said, "and I'm thirsty. I move that we eat and drink
and approximately be merry."

He slung aside the haversack. From it we took fo