ter tying his
hands behind him, had hurled him viciously into the room. It had but
one entrance, though up high on one wall was a crack some two feet in
width that admitted fresh air. A little room, only some twenty feet
square; but he would not suffocate--the priests did not intend that he
should die--not yet.

He saw one of the giant yellow workers bring a big metal plate. He put
it before the doorway; then, by the red glow, he knew that they had
sealed him in.

"I got Phee-e-al," he thought. "I did that much to help. That may put
a crimp in their plans, check the invasion up above. But Gor didn't do
as I told him, or it didn't work. The twenty-four hours must have gone
by."

Then, even in that thought, he found happiness. "That means that Loah
is safe," he told himself. "The shaft is clear; she's on her way back
right now."

He pictured the _jana_ falling swiftly through that dark shaft. He saw
in his mind the beautiful figure of the girl, lithe and slender,
standing at the controls.

About him was a silence like that of the grave; his blood pounded in
his temples like a throbbing drum. It was some time before he knew
that, with that throbbing, other faint sounds were mingled.

They came from the wall beside him, sharp tappings muffled by
distance, the faintest whispering echo of rock striking upon rock.
_Tap-tap_ ... _tap_. A longer pause.... _Tap._ They were making dots
and dashes that blurred with the beating in his own brain.

In that dreadful silence he strained every nerve in an agony of
listening. There was nothing more.

He had been roughly handled by the savages. His whole body was bruised
and aching, his thoughts hazy and blurred. "Woozy," he told himself.
"Guess the old bean must have got a bad crack. Hearing things--mustn't
do that."

Again he tried to picture the girl, speeding on toward that inner
world. Was she thinking of him? Surely she was. He could hear her
calling his name. "Dean," she was saying. "Dean-San." The words were
repeated, an agonized, ghostly whisper--repeated again, "Dean-San--oh,
Dean-San," before he knew that the sound was coming from overhead.
Then a light flashed once in the little room, and he saw her face,
looking down.

She was beside him an instant later. "Dean-San," she was saying, "did
you think that I really would leave you?" She was pressing her lips to
his. Uncovering her light, she worked frenziedly at the metal cords
that bound his wrists, pausing only to