though not paralyzed as were the
other captives there, were held so helpless by the dried and hardened
fluid that escape was out of the question.

* * * * *

The misshapen burden of the termite team seemed to relax a little,
lethargically, as though so gorged with food as to render almost
inactive the grotesquely exaggerated brain. The stony eyes became
duller. Plainly the captives were to have a brief respite while the huge
meal was assimilated.

"If I could get loose for just one minute," Jim took the opportunity to
whisper to Denny, "and get at my spear--I think there would be one
termite-ruler less in the world!"

Denny nodded. He had been thinking along the same lines as Jim: that
bloated, swollen brain seemed a very vulnerable thing. Soft and boneless
and formless, contained only by the dirty-white, membranous skin, it did
appear a tempting target for a spear thrust. And now, sluggish with its
meal, it seemed less alert and on guard.

Jim went on with his thought.

"I think you scientists are wrong about _all_ the termites having
intelligence," he whispered. "I believe that thing has the only
reasoning mind in the mound. Look at those two guards at the door, for
instance. There's no earthly need for them to keep guard as eternally as
they do. We can't even move, let alone try to escape. They're utterly
brainless, commanded to guard the entrance with their mandibles, and
continuing to guard it accordingly although the need for it is past."

Jim worked almost unthinkingly at his bonds. "If we could kill the
wizened, little, big-headed thing, we might have a chance. There'd be
nothing left to guide the tribe, no ruling power to direct them against
us. We might even ... escape!"

"Through the entire city--with untold thousands of these horrible things
on our trail?" objected Denny gloomily.

"But if the untold thousands were dummies, used to being directed in
every move by this master brain," urged Jim, "they might just blunder
around while we slipped through the lines...."

His words trailed into silence. Escape seemed so improbable as to be
hardly worth talking about. Quiet reigned for a long time.

* * * * *

It was broken finally by Dennis.

"Jim," he breathed suddenly, "can you see my legs?"

With difficulty Jim turned his head. "Yes," he said. "Why?"

"It seems to me I can move my left knee--just a little!"

Jim looked more closely