e pair clawed frantically at each other, but their companions
pushed between them and broke up the battle.

The incident seemed to touch off a long and heated discussion, during
which Dylara was apparently forgotten. They stood in a tight knot among
the branches, their ridiculous faces pushed together in almost a solid
lump, while their keening voices went on and on with a monotonous kind
of intensity.

A slow-moving cloud stole across Uda's shining face, plunging the scene
into heavy darkness. Dylara felt sudden hope leap in her breast. Surely
they were too intent with their arguing to notice her if she slipped
away! Besides, how could even the keenest eye pierce the blackness of a
jungle night?

She took a slow step away from them, balancing herself lightly on the
broad bough. Another--and still another. The high-pitched debate went on
in full volume.

Cautiously she lowered herself to a branch immediately below, then
waited with pounding heart to learn if her move had been detected.

Nothing had changed! She bent again ... and from nowhere a sinuous arm
slithered out of the blackness, caught her about the middle and jerked
her back and into the group.

The discussion appeared to be ended. One of the creatures swept the cave
girl into his embrace and continued to climb toward the stars, leaving
his companions where they were.

A solid mass of foliage loomed suddenly in front of Dylara--and in that
moment Uda came into the open sky once more. In the few seconds left for
Dylara to drink in the scene she saw a sight she was never to forget.

* * * * *

Suspended among branches of the trees about her were conical huts of
twigs and grasses. Their floors evidently did not rest on the boughs
themselves but each separate structure bobbed lightly up and down from
the end of a thick grass rope tied to a branch overhead. In the base of
each was an opening only large enough to permit entry on only hands and
knees.

Dylara's breath went out of her in a sudden gasp. Now she knew why her
first impression of these creatures had likened them to insects. There
was a species of spider that built nests above the ground--nests conical
in shape and swung from twigs!

The hair-covered arms, legs and bodies, the pinched-in abdomens, the
round heads set flush with the shoulders. These were spider men!

A wave of unbearable nausea overwhelmed her, robbing her of all
strength. Dazed, she felt hersel