"We must get water," the Doctor went on. "These cuts----" They had used nearly all their drinking-water washing out their wounds, which Aura and Lylda had bound up with strips of cloth torn from their garments.
The Chemist got upon his feet. "There"s no water nearer than the Forest River," he said. "That tunnel over there comes out very near it."
"What makes you think we won"t have another sc.r.a.p getting out?" the Very Young Man wanted to know. He had entirely recovered from the effects of the stone that had struck him on the temple, and was in better condition than any of the other men.
"I"m sure," the Chemist said confidently, "they were through; they will not attack us again; for some time at least. The tunnels will be deserted."
The Big Business Man stood up also.
"We"d better get going while we have the chance," he said. "This getting smaller--I don"t like it."
They started soon after, and, true to the Chemist"s prediction, met no further obstacle to their safe pa.s.sage through the tunnels. When they had reached the forest above, none of the little people were in sight.
The Big Business Man heaved a long sigh of relief. "Thank goodness we"re here at last," he said. "I didn"t realize how good these woods would look."
In a few minutes more they were at the edge of the river, bathing their wounds in its cooling water, and replenishing their drinking-bottles.
"How do we get across?" the Very Young Man asked.
"We won"t have to cross it," the Chemist answered with a smile. "The tunnel took us under."
"Let"s eat here," the Very Young Man suggested, "and take a sleep; we"re about all in."
"We ought to get larger first," protested the Big Business Man. They were at this time about four times Oroid size; the forest trees, so huge when last they had seen them, now seemed only rather large saplings.
"Some one of us must stay awake," the Doctor said. "But there do not seem to be any Oroids up here."
"What do they come up here for, anyway?" asked the Very Young Man.
"There"s some hunting," the Chemist answered. "But princ.i.p.ally it"s the mines beyond, in the deserts."
They agreed finally to stop beside the river and eat another meal, and then, with one of them on guard, to sleep for a time before continuing their journey.
The meal, at the Doctor"s insistence, was frugal to the extreme, and was soon over. They selected Oteo to stand guard first. The youth, when he understood what was intended, pleaded so with his master that the Chemist agreed. Utterly worn out, the travelers lay down on a mossy bank at the river"s edge, and in a few moments were all fast asleep.
Oteo sat nearby with his back against a tree-trunk. Occasionally he got up and walked to and fro to fight off the drowsiness that came over him.
How long the Very Young Man slept he never knew. He slept dreamlessly for a considerable time. When he struggled back to consciousness it was with a curious feeling of detachment, as though his mind no longer was connected with his body. He thought first of Aura, with a calm peaceful sense of happiness. For a long time he lay, drifting along with his thoughts and wondering whether he were asleep or awake. Then all at once he knew he was not asleep. His eyes were open; before him stood the forest trees at the river"s edge. And at the foot of one of the trees he could see the figure of Oteo, sitting hunched up with his head upon his hands, fast asleep.
Remembrance came to the Very Young Man, and he sat up with a start.
Beside him his friends lay motionless. He looked around, still a little confused. And then his heart leaped into his throat, for at the edge of the woods he saw a small, lean, gray figure--the little figure of a man who stood against a tree-trunk. The man"s face was turned towards him; he met the glistening eyes looking down and saw the lips parted in a leering smile.
A thrill of fear ran over the Very Young Man as he recognized the face of Targo. And then his heart seemed to stop beating. For as he stared, fascinated, into the man"s mocking eyes, he saw that slowly, steadily he was growing larger. Mechanically the Very Young Man"s hand went to his armpit, his fingers fumbling at the pouch strapped underneath. The vial of chemicals was not there!
For an instant more the Very Young Man continued staring. Then, with an effort, he turned his eyes away from the gaze that seemed to hypnotize him. Beside him the Chemist lay sleeping. He looked back at Targo, and saw him larger--almost as large now as he was himself.
Like a cloak discarded, the Very Young Man"s bewilderment dropped from him. He recognized the danger, realized that in another moment this enemy would be irresistibly powerful--invincible. His mind was clear now, his nerves steady, his muscles tense. He knew the only thing he could do; he calculated the chances in a flash of thought.
Still staring at the triumphant face of Targo, the Very Young Man jumped to his feet and swiftly bent over the sleeping form of the Chemist.
Reaching through the neck of his robe he took out the vial of chemicals, and before his friend was fairly awake had swallowed one of the pills.
As the Very Young Man sprang into action Targo turned and ran swiftly away, perhaps a hundred feet; then again he stopped and stood watching his intended victim with his sardonic smile.
The Very Young Man met the Chemist"s startled eyes.
"Targo!" said the Very Young Man swiftly. "He"s here; he stole the drug just now, while I was sleeping."
The Chemist opened his mouth to reply, but the Very Young Man bounded away. He could feel the drug beginning to work; the ground under his feet swayed unsteadily.
Swiftly he ran straight towards the figure of Targo, where he stood leaning against a tree. His enemy did not move to run away, but stood quietly awaiting him. The Very Young Man saw he was now nearly the same size that Targo was; if anything, the larger.
A fallen tree separated them; the Very Young Man cleared it with a bound. Still Targo stood motionless, awaiting his onslaught. Then abruptly he stooped to the ground, and a rock whistled through the air, narrowly missing the Very Young Man"s head. Before Targo could recover from the throw the Very Young Man was upon him, and they went down together.
Back and forth over the soft ground they rolled, first one on top, then the other. The Very Young Man"s hand found a stone on the ground beside them. His fingers clutched it; he raised it above him. But a blow upon his forearm knocked it away before he could strike; and a sudden twist of his antagonist"s body rolled him over and pinned him upon his back.
The Very Young Man thought of his encounter with Targo before, and again with sinking heart he realized he was the weaker of the two. He jerked one of his wrists free and, striking upwards with all his force, landed full on his enemy"s jaw. The man"s head snapped back, but he laughed--a grim, sardonic laugh that ended in a half growl, like a wild beast enraged. The Very Young Man"s blood ran cold. A sudden frenzy seized him; he put all his strength into one desperate lunge and, wrenching himself free, sprang to his feet.
Targo was up almost as quickly as he, and for an instant the two stood eyeing each other, breathing hard. At the Very Young Man"s feet a little stream was flowing past. Vaguely he found himself thinking how peaceful it looked; how cool and soothing the water would be to his bruised and aching body. Beside the stream his eye caught a number of tiny human figures, standing close together, looking up at him--little forms that a single sweep of his foot would have scattered and killed. A shiver of fear ran across him as in a flash he realized this other danger. With a cry, he leaped sidewise, away from the water. Beside him stood a little tree whose bushy top hardly reached his waist. He clutched its trunk with both hands and jerking it from the ground swung it at his enemy"s head, meeting him just as he sprang forward. The tree struck Targo a glancing blow upon the shoulder. With another laugh he grasped its roots and twisted it from the Very Young Man"s hand. A second more and they came together again, and the Very Young Man felt his antagonist"s powerful arms around his body, bending him backwards.
The Big Business Man stood beside the others at the river"s edge, watching the gigantic struggle, the outcome of which meant life or death to them all. The grappling figures were ten times his own height before he fairly realized the situation. At first he thought he should take some of the drug also, and grow larger with them. Then he knew that he could not overtake their growth in time to aid his friend. The Chemist and the Doctor must evidently have reached the same conclusion, for they, too, did nothing, only stood motionless, speechless, staring up at the battling giants.
Loto, with his head buried upon his mother"s shoulder, and her arms holding him close, whimpered a little in terror. Only Aura, of all the party, did not get upon her feet. She lay full length upon the ground, a hand under her chin, staring steadily upwards. Her face was expressionless, her eyes unblinking. But her lips moved a little, as though she were breathing a silent prayer, 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 t.i.tanic 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 x.x.xVIII
LOST IN 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.