ad been growing louder by degrees for some time. He
looked up. In and out among the trees which bordered that solid wall of
nothingness little, indistinguishable figures were flitting. The
tree-men had returned. Queerly grateful for their presence, he went on a
bit more cheerfully, paying no heed to their timid dartings to and fro,
for Smith was wise in the ways of wild life.

Presently, when they saw how little heed he paid them, they began to
grow bolder, their whispers louder. And among those rustling voices he
thought he was beginning to catch threads of familiarity. Now and again
a word reached his ears that he seemed to recognize, lost amidst the
gibberish of their speech. He kept his head down and his hands quiet,
plodding along with a cunning stillness that began to bear results.

From the corner of his eye he could see that a little dark tree-man had
darted out from cover and paused midway between bush and tree to inspect
the queer, tall stranger. Nothing happened to this daring venturer, and
soon another risked a pause in the open to stare at the quiet walker
among the trees. In a little while a small crowd of the tree-people was
moving slowly parallel with his course, staring with all the avid
curiosity of wild things at Smith's plodding figure. And among them the
rustling whispers grew louder.

Presently the ground dipped down into a little hollow ringed with trees.
It was a bit darker here than it had been on the higher level, and as he
went down the slope of its side he saw that among the underbrush which
filled it were cunningly hidden huts twined together out of the living
bushes. Obviously the hollow was a tiny village where the tree-folk
dwelt.

He was surer of this when they began to grow bolder as he went down into
the dimness of the place. The whispers shrilled a little, and the
boldest among his watchers ran almost at his elbow, twittering their
queer, broken speech in hushed syllables whose familiarity still
bothered him with its haunting echo of words he knew. When he had
reached the center of the hollow he became aware that the little folk
had spread out in a ring to surround him. Wherever he looked their
small, anxious faces and staring eyes confronted him. He grinned to
himself and came to a halt, waiting gravely.

None of them seemed quite brave enough to constitute himself spokesman,
but among several a hurried whispering broke out in which he caught the
words "Thag" and "danger" and "b