heir
quarry and driving it so that it had to pass close to one of their
number. The little horses and the smaller antelope they secured in
sufficient numbers to support life, and they also ate numerous
varieties of fruits and vegetables. They never brought in more than
sufficient food for their immediate needs; but why bother? The food
problem of Caspak is not one to cause worry to her inhabitants.

The fourth day Lys told me that she thought she felt equal to
attempting the return journey on the morrow, and so I set out for the
hunt in high spirits, for I was anxious to return to the fort and learn
if Bradley and his party had returned and what had been the result of
his expedition. I also wanted to relieve their minds as to Lys and
myself, as I knew that they must have already given us up for dead. It
was a cloudy day, though warm, as it always is in Caspak. It seemed
odd to realize that just a few miles away winter lay upon the
storm-tossed ocean, and that snow might be falling all about Caprona;
but no snow could ever penetrate the damp, hot atmosphere of the great
crater.

We had to go quite a bit farther than usual before we could surround a
little bunch of antelope, and as I was helping drive them, I saw a fine
red deer a couple of hundred yards behind me. He must have been asleep
in the long grass, for I saw him rise and look about him in a
bewildered way, and then I raised my gun and let him have it. He
dropped, and I ran forward to finish him with the long thin knife,
which one of the men had given me; but just as I reached him, he
staggered to his feet and ran on for another two hundred yards--when I
dropped him again. Once more was this repeated before I was able to
reach him and cut his throat; then I looked around for my companions,
as I wanted them to come and carry the meat home; but I could see
nothing of them. I called a few times and waited, but there was no
response and no one came. At last I became disgusted, and cutting off
all the meat that I could conveniently carry, I set off in the
direction of the cliffs. I must have gone about a mile before the
truth dawn upon me--I was lost, hopelessly lost.

The entire sky was still completely blotted out by dense clouds; nor
was there any landmark visible by which I might have taken my bearings.
I went on in the direction I thought was south but which I now imagine
must have been about due north, without detecting a single familiar
object. I