SIZE

The Very Young Man stood ankle deep in the turgid little rivulet, a
tightness clutching at his chest, and with his head whirling. At his
feet his antagonist lay motionless. He stepped out of the water, putting
his foot into a tiny grove of trees that bent and crackled like twigs
under his tread. He wondered if he would faint; he knew he must not.
Away to the left he saw a line of tiny hills; beyond that a luminous
obscurity into which his sight could not penetrate; behind him there was
only darkness. He seemed to be standing in the midst of a great barren
waste, with just a little toy river and forest at his feet--a child's
plaything, set down in a man's great desert.

The Very Young Man suddenly thought of his friends. He stepped into the
middle of the river and out again on the other side. Then he bent down
with his face close to the ground, just above the tops of the tiny
little trees. He made the human figures out finally. Hardly larger than
ants they seemed, and he shuddered as he saw them. The end of his thumb
could have smashed them all, they were so small.

One of the figures seemed to be waving something, and the Very Young Man
thought he heard the squeak of its voice. He straightened upright,
standing rigid, afraid to move his feet. He wondered what he should do,
and in sudden fear felt for the vial of the diminishing drug. It was
still in place, in the pouch under his armpit. The Very Young Man
breathed a sigh of relief. He decided to take the drug and rejoin his
friends. Then as a sudden thought struck him he bent down to the ground
again, slowly, with infinite caution. The little figures were still
there; and now he thought they were not quite as tiny as before. He
watched them; slowly but unmistakably they were growing larger.

The Very Young Man carefully took a step backwards, and then sat down
heavily. The forest trees crackled under him. He pulled up his knees,
and rested his head upon them. The little rivulet diverted from its
course by the body of Targo, swept past through the woods almost at his
side. The noise it made mingled with the ringing in his head. His body
ached all over; he closed his eyes.

* * * * *

"He's all right now," the Doctor's voice said. "He'll be all right in a
moment."

The Very Young Man opened his eyes. He was lying upon the ground, with
Aura sitting beside him, and his friends--all his own size
again--standing over him.

He