h told me all about it when Cherkis had
us. And I'm very glad. It's time she was having a home of her own and
not running around the lost places with me. I'll miss her--miss her
damnably, of course. But I'm glad, boy--glad!"

There was a little silence while each looked deep into each other's
hearts. Then Ventnor dropped Dick's hand.

"And that's all of THAT," he said. "The problem before us is--how are we
going to get back home?"

"The--THING--is dead." I spoke from an absolute conviction that
surprised me, based as it was upon no really tangible, known evidence.

"I think so," he said. "No--I KNOW so. Yet even if we can pass over its
body, how can we climb out of its lair? That slide down which we rode
with Norhala is unclimbable. The walls are unscalable. And there is that
chasm--she--spanned for us. How can we cross THAT? The tunnel to the
ruins was sealed. There remains of possible roads the way through the
forest to what was the City of Cherkis. Frankly I am loathe to take it.

"I am not at all sure that all the armored men were slain--that some few
may not have escaped and be lurking there. It would be short shrift for
us if we fell into their hands now."

"And I'm not sure of THAT," objected Drake. "I think their pep and push
must be pretty thoroughly knocked out--if any do remain. I think if
they saw us coming they'd beat it so fast that they'd smoke with the
friction."

"There's something to that," Ventnor smiled. "Still I'm not keen on
taking the chance. At any rate, the first thing to do is to see what
happened down there in the Pit. Maybe we'll have some other idea after
that."

"I know what happened there," announced Drake, surprisingly. "It was a
short circuit!"

We gaped at him, mystified.

"Burned out!" said Drake. "Every damned one of them--burned out. What
were they, after all? A lot of living dynamos. Dynamotors--rather.
And all of a sudden they had too much juice turned on. Bang went their
insulations--whatever they were.

"Bang went they. Burned out--short circuited. I don't pretend to know
why or how. Nonsense! I do know. The cones were some kind of immensely
concentrated force--electric, magnetic; either or both or more. I myself
believe that they were probably solid--in a way of speaking--coronium.

"If about twenty of the greatest scientists the world has ever known
are right, coronium is--well, call it curdled energy. The electric
potentiality of Niagara in a pin point of dust o