yond it he caught a glimpse of
the white flesh of Aura's ankle as she stood beside the house. The man
put a hand on the Very Young Man's throat. The Very Young Man caught it
by the wrist, but he could feel the growing pressure of its fingers
cutting off his breath. He tried to pull the hand back, but could not;
he tried to twist his body free, but the weight of his foe held him
tightly against the floor. A great roaring filled his ears; the hallway
began fading from his sight. With a last despairing breath, he gave a
choking cry: "Aura! Aura!"

The man's fingers at his throat loosened a little; he drew another
breath, and his head cleared. His eyes were fixed on the strip of garden
he could see beyond the doorway. Suddenly Aura's enormous body came into
view, as she stooped and then lay prone upon the ground. Her face was
close to the door; she was looking in. The Very Young Man gave another
cry, half stifled. And then into the hallway he saw come swiftly a huge
hand, whose fingers gripped him and his antagonist and jerked them
hurriedly down the hall and out into the garden.

As they lay struggling on the ground outside, the Very Young Man felt
himself held less closely. He wrenched himself free and sprang to his
feet, standing close beside Aura's face. The man was up almost as
quickly, preparing again to spring upon his victim. Something moved
behind the Very Young Man, and he looked up into the air hurriedly. The
Big Business Man stood behind him; the Very Young Man met his anxious
glance.

"I'm all right," he shouted. His antagonist leaped forward and at the
same instant a huge, flat object, that was the Big Business Man's foot,
swept through the air and mashed the man down into the dirt of the
garden. The Very Young Man turned suddenly sick as he heard the agonized
shriek and the crunching of the breaking bones. The Big Business Man
lifted his foot, and the mangled figure lay still. The Very Young Man
sat down suddenly in the garden path and covered his face with his
hands.

When he raised his head his friends were all standing round him,
crowding the garden. The body of the man who had attacked him had
disappeared. The Very Young Man looked up into Aura's face--she was on
her feet now with the others and tried to smile.

"I'm all right," he repeated. "I'll go get the food and things."

In a few minutes more he had made himself as large as his companions,
and had brought with him most of the food. There stil