is head at the sight of the flyer's twisted body and waved the
litter on into an inner chamber.

Here the walls were dull blue and in the exact center was a long block
of quartz. By this the litter was put down and the bearers disappeared.
With sharp knives the robed men cut away furs and leather to expose
Garin's broken body.

They lifted him to the quartz table and there made him fast with metal
bonds. Then one of them went to the wall and pulled a gleaming rod. From
the dome of the roof shot an eerie blue light to beat upon Garin's
helpless body. There followed a tingling through every muscle and joint,
a prickling sensation in his skin, but soon his pain vanished as if it
had never been.

The light flashed off and the three lizard-men gathered around him. He
was wrapped in a soft robe and carried to another room. This, too, was
circular, shaped like the half of a giant bubble. The floor sloped
toward the center where there was a depression filled with cushions.
There they laid Garin. At the top of the bubble, a pinkish cloud formed.
He watched it drowsily until he fell asleep.

Something warm stirred against his bare shoulder. He opened his eyes,
for a moment unable to remember where he was. Then there was a plucking
at the robe twisted about him and he looked down.

[Illustration]

If the lizard-folk had been goblin in their grotesqueness this visitor
was elfin. It was about three feet high, its monkey-like body completely
covered with silky white hair. The tiny hands were human in shape and
hairless, but its feet were much like a cat's paws. From either side of
the small round head branched large fan-shaped ears. The face was furred
and boasted stiff cat whiskers on the upper lip. These _Anas_, as Garin
learned later, were happy little creatures, each one choosing some
mistress or master among the Folk, as this one had come to him. They
were content to follow their big protector, speechless with delight at
trifling gifts. Loyal and brave, they could do simple tasks or carry
written messages for their chosen friend, and they remained with him
until death. They were neither beast nor human, but rumored to be the
result of some experiment carried out eons ago by the Ancient Ones.

After patting Garin's shoulder the Ana touched the flyer's hair
wonderingly, comparing the bronze lengths with its own white fur. Since
the Folk were hairless, hair was a strange sight in the Caverns. With a
contented purr, it rubbe