er, and the fingers of her hand
against her face dug their nails into the flesh of her cheek.

Taller far than the tree-tops, the two giants stood facing each other.
Then the Very Young Man seized one of the trees, and with a mighty pull
tore it up by the roots and swung it through the air. Aura drew a quick
breath as in another instant they grappled and came crashing to the
ground, falling head and shoulders in the river with a splash that
drenched her with its spray. The Very Young Man was underneath, and she
seemed to meet the glance of his great eyes when he fell. The trees
growing on the river-bank snapped like rushes beneath the huge bodies of
the giants, as, still growing larger, they struggled back and forth. The
river, stirred into turmoil by the sweep of their great arms, rolled its
waves up over the mossy banks, driving the watchers back into the edge
of the woods, and even there covering them with its spray.

A moment more and the giants were on their feet again, standing ankle
deep, far out in the river. Up against the unbroken blackness of the
starless sky their huge forms towered. For a second they stood
motionless; then they came together again and Aura could see the Very
Young Man sink on his knees, his hand trailing in the water. Then in an
instant more he struggled up to his feet; and as his hand left the water
Aura saw that it clutched an enormous dripping rock. She held her
breath, watching the tremendous figures as they swayed, locked in each
other's arms. A single step sidewise and they were back nearly at the
river's bank; the water seethed white under their tread.

The Very Young Man's right arm hung limp behind him; the boulder in his
hand dangled a hundred feet or more in the air above the water. Slowly
the greater strength of his antagonist bent him backwards. Aura's heart
stood still as she saw Targo's fingers at the Very Young Man's throat.
Then, in a great arc, the Very Young Man swept the hand holding the rock
over his head, and brought it down full upon his enemy's skull. The
boulder fell into the river with a thundering splash. For a brief
instant the giant figures hung swaying; then the titanic hulk of Targo's
body came crashing down. It fell full across the river, quivered
convulsively and lay still.

And the river, backing up before it a moment, turned aside in its
course, and flung the muddy torrent of its water roaring down through
the forest.

CHAPTER XXXVIII

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