ound of the shrieking bell was in his ears, and his nerves were
trembling in response. He saw long arms above the casket, tearing away
the figure of a struggling girl.... And then he knew he was alone....

* * * * *

The sound of the bell rose to the piercing, nerve-shredding scream he had
heard before. He must think fast--and act!--but the numbness of brain and
muscle was creeping upon him. He tried to call out, but his throat was
tight, and would not respond. The echoes died into silence; the
vibrations, as before, passed beyond audible range. He was sinking ...
sinking....

Dimly he felt the casket shaking beneath him. In some distant corner
of his mind he knew that the earthquake shocks had turned. Then he
heard with ear-splitting plainness the shrieking discord as the tremor
shook the vibrating machine to silence.

The room was quiet; the paralysis left him; and in the instant of his
release the clear brain of Garry Connell flashed from chaos to lay
before him a full-formed plan.

"Luhra!" he called in the silent room. "Luhra!" But it seemed an age
before he heard Horab and his captive returning from the passage. Then
the touch of her hand gave him courage to continue.

"Yes?" she whispered; "yes, my dear one?"

He saw the shoulders of the black as he half-raised a spear
threateningly toward the girl, then turned to adjust the whirring
machine.

"Tell him," shouted Garry, "--tell Horab to shut off that damnable
machine!" The shriek of it was rising again to drown his voice. "Tell
him his life depends upon it. Tell him to listen to what I say or he
will die."

He heard the girl's voice raised in a high-pitched call, and he heard
the rasping snarl of Horab in reply. The girl repeated her cry above
the echoing clamor of the bell--and the intolerable, rising scream,
after a time, was stilled.

Garry experienced one raging moment when he would have given his hope
of life for the ability to talk to Horab face to face and in words
that could penetrate the black one's brain. But he could not. He must
use this girl as an interpreter, and he must give her words to say
that would make this ugly beast pause. He must speak as she would
speak; put words and sentences into her mouth that would reach the
savage superstitions of the other.

He spoke slowly, and stared impressively into the dark, fear-filled
eyes in the white face that bent above him. He must make the girl
believe.

"H