ong and short, spaced in the
dots and dashes of the Morse code. "H-E-L-P D-A-R-L H-E-L-P D-A-R-L
H-E-L-P...."

It was like some scene out of a madman's dream, this dim-lit cavern
with its circling, dancing pigmies, the human figure lying sidewise on
the ground, the rattling, savage chant and the metallic tattoo of
Darl's hopeless message. A diabolic orgy of weird sound and
crisscrossing shadows.

* * * * *

It seemed hours that he pounded the helmet against the wall, hoping
that the sound of it would be audible above the clamor of the midgets.
His knees and hips were aching and numb, his leg ripped, almost to the
bone by the sharp edges of the jagged floor. A sudden thought struck
him. The fiber thongs that bound him were also rubbing against the
rock. His flesh was terribly torn. Perhaps the thongs, too, had been
frayed, weakened by the long continued friction.

He stopped the pounding signals and began to force his knees apart
with all the power of his burly calves. The cords cut into his bulging
muscles, cut into and through his skin. The veins stood out on his
forehead, his neck was a corded pillar, his teeth bit through his lip
as he stifled a scream of pain. Then, startlingly, the fibers snapped.
His legs at least were free! He could fight, die fighting, and take
these others with him into oblivion!

Darl leaped to his feet. Before the astounded natives realized what
was up he was charging into their circle. A well aimed kick sent one
crashing against the further wall. Another crunched against the rock.
Then they were on him, a frothing wave of tiny furies. A score or
more, they swarmed over him as a pack of African wild dogs swarms over
a huge water-buffalo marked for the kill. Their claws scratched and
tore, their sharp fangs stabbed into his flesh. His arms were still
tightly bound to his sides, and he lashed out with his sandaled feet,
swung his shoulders like battering rams, whirled in a dervish dance.
Their brittle bones cracked under his hammer blows. They dropped from
him like squashed flies. But, small as they were, he was terrifically
outnumbered. By sheer weight of numbers they dragged him down, and
piled on top of him as he lay, quivering and half-conscious, on the
blood-soaked floor.

* * * * *

Through the blackness that welled and burst in his brain, one thought
held. He had fooled the Martian, for in another instant the enraged