nge Guard_

There confronted him the hugest figure of a man he had ever seen.
Hilary was not lacking in inches himself--he was well over six feet;
but the giant staring quizzically down at him was nearer seven, with
shoulders to match. The features of his face were gargantuan in their
ruggedness, yet singularly open, while a pair of mild blue eyes,
childlike in expression, looked in perpetual wonder out upon the
world.

In spite of his annoyance, Hilary instinctively liked the giant.

"What do you want?" he inquired gruffly.

The Colossus surveyed him with his child's eyes.

"Man, you are crazy." He spoke in a deep bass rumble, without emotion
or inflection. He was simply stating a fact.

A surge of annoyance swept over the returned wanderer from the far
spaces. This was the last straw.

"I may be," he admitted coldly, "but I like my particular form of
craziness."

"You know the penalty of course for what you are doing?" the big man
inquired unemotionally.

Hilary swore deeply. "Damn the penalties, whatever you mean by that.
Here's a man who has been tortured unmercifully--chained like a dog. I
intend to free him."

The mild blue eyes contained the hint of a gleam.

"But you know the penalties," he repeated. His murmur sounded like the
rumble of a distant earthquake.

Hilary straightened sharply, poked his finger at the midriff of the
giant.

"I don't know what you are talking about," he stabbed. "What is the
meaning of all this? Who is this unfortunate, and why did everyone
disappear as though I had the plague when I sat next to him?"

* * * * *

A look of bewilderment swept over the massive face, bewilderment
tinged with a dawning suspicion of the questioner's sanity.

"You mean to say you don't know?" The tone held incredulity.

"I've just told you so," Hilary pointed out. He felt a growing unease.

The giant eyed him closely. "Man, where on earth have you been these
last three years?"

Hilary grinned. "I haven't."

"You haven't?" echoed the other. Suspicion hardened the childlike eyes
into cold flame. The man was dangerous when aroused. He thrust his jaw
down at Hilary. "If you are jesting with me...." He left the sentence
unfinished, but the clenching of a huge fist left no doubt as to his
intention.

"I am not jesting," Hilary assured him grimly. "I have been away from
the Earth for five years. I've just returned."

The great hand clenched tighter. "No