space, at the same
time clambering hand over hand up the swinging strands. As his feet left
the ledge, he heard the door of the girl's room fly open and her voice
ring out.

The echo of that call had not faded as young Tharn closed a hand on the
balcony's rail, pulled himself over and leaped through the window
beyond.

The chamber he had entered was dimly lighted by the moon's rays. Its
dense shadows might conceal a score of armed foes; but Tharn had no time
to exercise caution. Three giant strides served to close the gap between
window and doorway. To find the latch required only an instant; and
slowly, lest the door squeak a protest, he swung it back sufficiently to
look out into the corridor. Finding it empty of life, he stepped out,
gently closing the door behind him.

To his right, a short distance down the hall, were two great doors, both
closed; to his left, a long stretch of gallery with doors on either
side. The sight of these latter held Tharn's attention, for all were
barred _from the outside_. Behind one of those barred entrances, he
reasoned, might be Dylara.

Stepping quietly to the first he pressed an ear to the crack. Hearing
nothing, he lifted the bar with infinite care and looked in.

The room beyond was deserted. He shut the door, replaced the plank and
went on to the next. It, too, was empty.

Working his way gradually forward, he had covered perhaps half the
hallway and was in the act of lifting another bar from its catches, when
the double doors at the far end of the gallery were thrown open and a
swarm of soldiers came racing through. Before Tharn could attempt to
find cover, he had been seen, and with shouts of satisfaction the men
ran toward him.

* * * * *

Realizing he was greatly outnumbered, the man of the caves turned to
flee; but to his consternation another group of Sepharians appeared at
the corridor's opposite end and, warned by the shouts of their fellows,
had caught sight of the giant intruder.

Tharn knew he was trapped! To enter one of the cubicles he had been
searching would mean hopeless imprisonment. Once he was within, the
enemy had only to slip the bar into place.

It appeared his lone chance for freedom was to cut a way through a
living wall of armed men. Once past them, Tharn felt confident they
could not overtake him.

Like two angry waves, the Sepharians hurled themselves on the lone
Cro-Magnon. But the steel muscles and incred