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instant to settle him, for I struck him a single terrific blow upon the chin and as he fell I leaped upon him,
wresting his dagger from its scabbard and plunging it into his heart before he could regain his senses from
the stunning impact of my fist. Then I turned to assist Moh- goh, only to discover that he needed no
assistance, but was already arising from the body of his antagonist, whose throat was cut from ear to ear
with his own weapon.
"Quick!" I cried to Moh-goh, "drag them into the sleeping apartment before we are discovered," and a
moment later we had deposited the two corpses in the dimly lighted apartment adjoining.
"We will leave the city as Kalkar warriors," I said, commencing to strip the accoutrements and garments
from the man I had slain.
Moh-goh grinned. "Not a bad idea," he said. "If you can find the route to the crater it is possible that we
may yet escape."
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It took us but a few moments to effect the change, and after we had hidden the bodies beneath the
vegetation that had served us as a bed and stepped out into the other chamber, where we could have a
good look at one another, we realized that if we were not too closely scrutinized we might pass safely
through the corridors beneath the Kalkar city, for the Kalkars are a mongrel breed, comprising many
divergent types. My complexion, which differed outrageously from that of either the Kalkars or the
Laytheans, constituted our greatest danger, but we must take the chance, and at least we were armed.
"Lead the way," said Moh-goh, "and if you can find the crater I can assure you that I can find Laythe."
"Very good," I said, "come," and stepping into the corridor I moved off confidently in the direction that I
knew I should find the passageways and stairs along which I had been conducted from the crater tunnel.
I was as confident of success as though I were traversing the most familiar precinct of my native city.
We traveled a considerable distance without meeting anyone, and at last reached the chamber in which I
had been blindfolded. As we entered it I saw fully a score of Kalkars lolling upon benches or lying upon
vegetation that was piled upon the floor. They looked up as we entered, and at the same time Moh-goh
stepped in front of me.
"Who are you and where are you going?" demanded one of the Kalkars.
"By order of The Twentyfour," said Moh-goh, and stepped into the room. Instantly I realized that he did
not know in which direction to go, and that by his hesitancy all might be lost.
"Straight ahead, straight across the room," I whispered to him, and he stepped out briskly in the direction
of the entrance to the tunnel. Fortunately for us, the chamber was not brilliantly lighted, and the Kalkars
were at the far end of it; otherwise they must certainly have discovered my deception, at least, since any
sort of close inspection would have revealed the fact that I was not of Va-nah. However, they did not
halt us, though I was sure that I saw one of them eyeing me suspiciously, and I venture to say that I took
the last twenty steps without drawing a breath.
It was quickly over, however, and we had entered the tunnel which now led without further confusing
ramifications directly to the crater.
"We were fortunate," I said to Moh-goh.
"That we were," he replied.
In silence, then, that we might listen for pursuit, or for the sound of Kalkars ahead of us, we hastened
rapidly along the descending passageway toward the mouth of the tunnel where it opened into the crater;
and at last, as we rounded the last turn and I saw the light of day ahead of me, I breathed a deep sigh of
relief, though almost simultaneously my happiness turned to despair at the sudden recollection that there
were no hooked poles here to assist us to the summit of the crater wall. What were we to do?
"Moh-goh," I said, turning to my companion as we halted at the end of the tunnel, "there are no poles
with which to ascend. I had forgotten it, but in order to prevent the Kalkars from ascending after me, I
threw all but one into the abyss, and that one slipped from the rim and was lost also, just as my pursuers
were about to seize me."
I had not told Moh-goh that I had had a companion, since it would be difficult to answer any questions
he might propound on the subject without revealing the identity of Nah- ee-lah.
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"Oh, we can overcome that," replied my companion. "We have these two spears, which are extremely
stout, and inasmuch as we shall have plenty of time, we can easily arrange them in some way that will
permit us to ascend to the summit of the crater. It is very fortunate that we were not pursued."
The Kalkar's spears had a miniature crescent-shaped hook at the base of their point similar to the larger
ones affected by the Va-gas. Moh-goh thought that we could fasten the two spears securely together and
then catch the small hook of the upper one upon the rim of the crater, testing its hold thoroughly before
either of us attempted to ascend. Beneath his tunic he wore a rope coiled around his waist which he
explained to me was a customary part of the equipment of all Laytheans. It was his idea to tie one end of
this around the waist of whichever of us ascended first, the other going as far back into the tunnel as
possible and bracing himself, so that in the event that the climber fell, he would be saved from death,
though I figured that he would get a rather nasty shaking up and some bad bruises, under the best of
circumstances.
I volunteered to go first and began fastening one end of the rope securely about my waist while
Moh-goh made the two spears fast together with a short length that he had cut from the other end. He
worked rapidly, with deft, nimble fingers, and seemed to know pretty well what he was doing. In the
event that I reached the summit in safety, I was to pull up the spears and then haul Moh-goh up by the
rope.
Having fastened the rope to my satisfaction, I stood as far out upon the ledge before the entrance to the
tunnel as I safely could, and with my back toward the crater looked up at the rim twenty feet above me,
in a vain attempt to select from below, if possible, a reasonably secure point upon which to hook the
spear. As I stood thus upon the edge of eternity, steadying myself with one hand against the tunnel wall,
there came down to me from out of the tunnel a noise which I could not mistake. Moh-goh heard it, too,
and looked at me, with a rueful shake of his head and a shrug of his shoulders.
"Everything is against us, Earth Man," he said, for this was the name he had given me when I told him
what my world was called.
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