up at her and shouted: "Be out in
a minute," and then plunged into the house.

CHAPTER XXXV

GOOD-BY TO ARITE

Once inside he went swiftly to the room where they had left their
water-bottles and other paraphernalia. He found them without difficulty,
and retraced his steps to the door he had entered. Depositing his load
near it, he went back towards the room which Lylda had described to him,
and in which the food was stored.

Walking along this silent hallway, listening to the echoes of his own
footsteps on its stone floor, the Very Young Man found himself oppressed
by a feeling of impending danger. He looked back over his shoulder--once
he stood quite still and listened. But he heard nothing; the house was
quite silent, and smiling at his own fear he went on again.

Selecting the food they needed for the trip took him but a moment. He
left the storeroom, his arms loaded, and started back toward the garden
door. Several doorways opened into the hall below, and all at once the
Very Young Man found himself afraid as he passed them. He was within
sight of the garden door, not more than twenty feet away, when he
hesitated. Just ahead, at his right, an archway opened into a room
beside the hall. The Very Young Man paused only an instant; then,
ashamed of his fear, started slowly forward. He felt an impulse to run,
but he did not. And then, from out of the silence, there came a low,
growling cry that made his heart stand still, and the huge gray figure
of a man leaped upon him and bore him to the ground.

As he went down, with the packages of food flying in all directions, the
Very Young Man gripped the naked body of his antagonist tightly. He
twisted round as he fell and lay with his foe partly on top of him. He
knew instinctively that his situation was desperate. The man's huge
torso, with its powerful muscles that his arms encircled, told him that
in a contest of strength such as this, inevitably he would find himself
overcome.

The man raised his fist to strike, and the Very Young Man caught him by
the wrist. Over his foe's shoulder now he could see the open doorway
leading into the garden, not more than six or eight feet away. Beyond it
lay safety; that he knew. He gave a mighty lunge and succeeded in
rolling over toward the doorway. But he could not stay above his
opponent, for the man's greater strength lifted him up and over, and
again pinned him to the floor.

He was nearer the door now, and just be