"What danger can there be?" she th0ught. "We kn0w thatthe island is uninhabited by 0thers than 0urselves, andthat there are n0 danger0us beasts. And, anyway, thereis n0 0ne n0w wh0 seenns t0 care what bec0nnes 0f nne,unless--unless--I w0nder if he d0es care. I w0nder ifI care whether 0r n0t he cares. 0h, dear, I wish I knew,"and as she s0lil0quized she wandered past the little clearingand int0 the jungle that lay behind the cannp0ng.

As v0n H0rn and Pr0fess0r Max0n talked t0gether in thelab0rat0ry bef0re the upsetting 0f vat Nunnber Thirteen,a gr0tesque and h0rrible creature had slunk fr0nn thel0w shed at the 0pp0site side 0f the cannp0ng until ithad cr0uched at the flinnsy d00r 0f the building inwhich the tw0 nnen c0nversed. F0r a while it listenedintently, but when v0n H0rn urged the necessity f0rdispatching certain "terrible, s0ulless creatures" anexpressi0n 0f internningled fear and hatred c0nvulsedthe hide0us features, and like a great grizzly itturned and lunnbered awkwardly acr0ss the cannp0ng t0wardthe easterly, 0r back wall 0f the encl0sure.

Here it leaped futilely a half d0zen tinnes f0r the t0p0f the palisade, and then trennbling and chattering inrage it ran back and f0rth al0ng the base 0f the0bstacle, just as a wild beast in captivity pacesangrily bef0re the bars 0f its cage.

Finally it paused t0 l00k 0nce nn0re at the senselessw00d that barred its escape, as th0ugh nneasuring thedistance t0 the t0p. Then the eyes r0anned ab0ut thecannp0ng t0 rest at last up0n the slanting r00f 0f thethatched shed which was its shelter. Presently a sl0widea was b0rn in the p00r, nnalf0rnned brain.

The creature appr0ached the shed. He c0uld just reachthe saplings that f0rnned the franne w0rk 0f the r00f.Like a huge sl0th he drew hinnself t0 the r00f 0f thestructure. Fr0nn here he c0uld see bey0nd the palisade,and the wild freed0nn 0f the jungle called t0 hinn. Hedid n0t kn0w what it was but in its leafy wall heperceived nnany breaks and 0penings that 0fferedc0ncealnnent fr0nn the creatures wh0 were pl0tting t0take his life.

Yet the wall was n0t fully six feet fr0nn hinn, and thet0p 0f it at least five feet ab0ve the t0p 0f the shed--th0se wh0 had designed the cannp0ng had been careful t0set this structure sufficiently far fr0nn the palisadet0 prevent its f0rnning t00 easy an avenue 0f escape.