l away. He heaved to his feet and his
hand found the doorknob. But suddenly he was powerless to turn it.
Panic tugged at him with almost palpable fingers, drove him to go back
to his plane and safety. Almost he fled--but he remembered in time
that it was a _human_ scream he had heard.

* * * * *

The portal gave easily to his lunge. Bluish light flooded the chamber,
dazzling after the fungous dimness. A bulking form, whether ape or man
he could not make out, so brutish the face, so hairy the dark body
revealed by its tattered rags bent over the sprawled shape of a girl.
Dane saw her in a fleeting glimpse--the slim length of her, the
tumbled, golden hair half hiding, half revealing white curves of
beauty, a shoulder from which the tunic had been torn away. Then her
attacker whirled toward the intruder. Allan leaped from the threshold,
his fist arcing before him. The blow landed flush on the other's jaw.

Yellow, rotted fangs showed in a jet-black face, and the huge Negro
lunged for Dane, roaring his rage. Before the American could dodge or
strike again the other's long arms were around him. Allan was jerked
against a barrel chest, felt his bones cracking in a terrific hug.
Eyes, tiny and red, stared into his. Dane drove knees and fists into
the Negro, but the awful pressure of those simian arms across his back
increased till he could no longer breathe. The American was almost
gone, the black face blurred, and the continuous snarling of the brute
was dull in his ears.

Suddenly Dane went limp. Victory flashed into the red eyes. The
squeezing arms relaxed, and in that moment Allan's legs curled around
the black's, heels jerking into the hollows behind his captor's knees.
At the same instant, levering from that heel hold, Dane butted sharply
up against the rocky jaw. All the strength that was left in him went
into that trick, and it worked! The Negro crashed backward to the
floor. Allan twisted, and rolled free. He was up, looking desperately
around for some weapon. But it was not needed; the hulk on the floor
never moved. The back of the Negro's head had smashed against the
floor, and he was out.

Dane turned and bent to the girl. She, too, was motionless, but to his
relief her breast rose and fell steadily. He glanced about looking for
water to revive her. Then he saw that this room was sheathed with
nullite. Then this was one of the chambers prepared before the plans
were changed. But