de Chahda sure that the cave
was the source. There was no other near-by place that was possible.

"That settles it," Rick said. He told Chahda what they had in mind.

Chahda glanced at the sky. "Moon in a little while," he said. "With no
moon, we could not even get there. Too rough. But if no clouds come, we
can go."

Rick was a little surprised that Chahda hadn't objected in view of his
apparent dislike of the whole idea. Then he realized that the little
Hindu boy wasn't made that way. He might be afraid, but he would go.
That was true bravery.

After some discussion, they decided not to take their full equipment,
but merely to use the trip to locate the entrance to the Caves of Fear.
Once the way was found, they could return and load up with gear and
provisions. However, each of them took a few emergency rations, a full
canteen of water, their weapons, and flashlights. Chahda was given a big
electric lamp to carry. Rick slung the dark-light camera over his
shoulder while Scotty changed his rifle sight for the infrared
telescope.

The moon was up by the time they were ready. They shook hands with Sing
and started off, Chahda leading.

The way led across the valley at a slight angle, heading toward the
river. At first it was smooth going, with only high grass underfoot.
Rick was enjoying himself. The moon gave light to the valley center, but
the sides, under the sheer mountain walls, were shrouded in shadow. The
peaks themselves, snow-capped to the west, were bright.

Then Chahda cut back away from the river toward the nearest mountain
wall. The way began to get rougher, with hillocks to climb and rocky
outcroppings to skirt.

Soon they were out of the grassland entirely, walking through rock
masses. Now and then they went from the moonlight into dense shadow and
had to use their flashlights. Except for their flashlights, no man-made
light disturbed the wild scene. They had been traveling for some time.
It was late and not even a fire in front of a herder's tent could be
seen. By Rick's watch, it was almost eleven.

It was closer to midnight when Chahda stopped. He pointed to a rocky
defile. "This is as far as I went before. My friend who showed me said
the cave is there."

Zircon took the lead. Behind him, Rick put his own flashlight away and
held his rifle ready for use. Scotty, too, was ready. Chahda, crowding
Rick's steps, had the big light ready to turn on.

Zircon's beam picked out rocky walls that r