*

Blake nodded to where the black cone-building loomed through the purple
mists outside the end wall. "Whoever or whatever the thing was that
brought us here, I have a hunch It's there in that power-house watching
us. I'd suggest that we walk down toward that end of the enclosure for a
closer look. We may at least find out whether we're guests or
prisoners."

"Listens good to me, fellah," agreed Mapes, sliding a hand up to his
shoulder holster and bringing out a squat black automatic pistol of
heavy caliber. "We'll do a prowl, over that way, and if His Nibs tries
any more funny business mebbe a few slugs outta this rod will change his
mind for him."

"Better go easy with the gun, Mapes," advised Blake as the three of them
started slowly toward the cone-building. "From what we've already seen,
there must be weapons in this world that would make your pistol look
like a kid's pop-gun. We'd better go easy till--wait, what's that?"

The thin high-pitched whine, followed promptly by the familiar growling
thunder of infra-bass, had again become audible. At the same moment a
long pencil-like beam of green light glowed into visibility, extending
from the tip of the cone to a point high within the enclosure just back
of them. As they halted abruptly and watched, they saw the interlacing
meshes of the green flame-net materialize suddenly at the end of the
beam.

The beam curved into an arc that dropped the net swiftly to the ground
some thirty yards from them. Its meshes were packed nearly full of dark,
writhing figures.

"Looks like some more tadpoles arriving for our pond!" Mapes exclaimed.
"I wonder what part of N' Yawk His Nibs yanked these babies from?"

* * * * *

Blake's answer died on his lips as the net and beam glowed blindingly
brighter for a brief second, then disappeared, leaving the dark figures
in full view. Helen choked back a gasp of horror. Mapes swore in
consternation and hurriedly swung his pistol into line with those
writhing shapes.

The net's latest captives were not from New York, nor were they from any
other part of the planet Earth. Hideous spawn of some unknown world out
in the black void of Space, they writhed for a moment in a nightmare
chaos of countless brown-furred bodies, then swiftly disentangled
themselves before the staring eyes of the three Earthlings.

The things were apparently too low in the mental scale to have any
reaction to their situati