attering sound outside. It seemed as if
soft hands were pushing and pulling at the wreck. The tree branch shook
and a portion of the cabin wall dropped away with a clang.

Garin turned his head slowly. Through the aperture was clambering a
goblin figure.

It stood about five feet tall, and it walked upon its hind legs in human
fashion, but the legs were short and stumpy, ending in feet with five
toes of equal length. Slender, shapely arms possessed small hands with
only four digits. The creature had a high, well-rounded forehead but no
chin, the face being distinctly lizard-like in contour. The skin was a
dull black, with a velvety surface. About its loins it wore a short kilt
of metallic cloth, the garment being supported by a jeweled belt of
exquisite workmanship.

For a long moment the apparition eyed Garin. And it was those golden
eyes, fixed unwinkingly on his, which banished the flyer's fear. There
was nothing but great pity in their depths.

The lizard-man stooped and brushed the sweat-dampened hair from Garin's
forehead. Then he fingered the bonds of metal which held the flyer, as
if estimating their strength. Having done so, he turned to the opening
and apparently gave an order, returning again to squat by Garin.

Two more of his kind appeared to tear away the ruins of the cockpit.
Though they were very careful, Garin fainted twice before they had freed
him. He was placed on a litter swung between two clumsy beasts which
might have been small elephants, except that they lacked trunks and
possessed four tusks each.

They crossed the plain to the towering mouth of a huge cavern where the
litter was taken up by four of the lizard-folk. The flyer lay staring up
at the roof of the cavern. In the black stone had been carved fronds and
flowers in bewildering profusion. Shining motes, giving off faint light,
sifted through the air. At times as they advanced, these gathered in
clusters and the light grew brighter.

Midway down a long corridor the bearers halted while their leader pulled
upon a knob on the wall. An oval door swung back and the party passed
through.

They came into a round room, the walls of which had been fashioned of
creamy quartz veined with violet. At the highest point in the ceiling a
large globe of the motes hung, furnishing soft light below.

Two lizard-men, clad in long robes, conferred with the leader of the
flyer's party before coming to stand over Garin. One of the robed ones
shook h