forcing him to the wall, his hands pawing in futile
attempts to prevent them from touching him. For some reason this made
them angry. Their hands clenched and spiteful words came from their
lips, and several turned aside and called something to the children,
who after a moment returned, with stones and sticks.

"Hey!" Allerdyce called in alarm. "Take it easy...."

The alarm in his voice was the signal for them to attack. In a moment
he was the center of a mob of women all bent, it seemed, on his
destruction. He fought at first as gently as he could. But as some of
the stones hit and some of the clubs struck vulnerable parts of his
anatomy, he fought with less gentleness. Finally, he was forced to
club one of the women with his fist. She went flying backward and
landed flat on her back.

* * * * *

Instantly the attack ceased.

He watched them move away from him and wondered why. His question was
answered as the woman he had struck crawled to him and embraced his
legs. He tried to withdraw her hands but she held only tighter and
said:

"We are mated. You made the choice. I am Sala...."

"You're nuts!" Allerdyce said sharply. He turned to call the guards to
help him with the woman when he discovered that they were gone.

"Are customs different in your tribe?" Sala asked. "Do you not mate
with a woman in this manner?"

The beginning of a hope came to him in a rush as he realized the
consequences of what had happened. He was free now. He tried to put
the proper authority in his voice, when he said:

"Go woman! Find me a corner and bring me food...."

Without the slightest hesitation Sala rose and trotted to a far corner
of the cave. Allerdyce followed and squatted beside her. He had always
been a shy man and had never known many women, especially women with
as little clothes as Sala wore. She was beautiful by any standard he
thought. But only for a moment. His thoughts for the first time
centered on his predicament.

His mind allowed for but a single conclusion. That the plane had run
into a time-fault and that he and Ed Finster had been drawn into it.
The others must have died in the plane crash. Since the giant ship was
over the Atlantic at the time of the crash it was reasonable to assume
that time only was involved and not space. Therefore, by the same line
of reasoning, he and Ed were to be here for the rest of their lives.
That is unless somehow they found the same fault a