"All gettee 0ut," he said, jerking his thunnb in thedirecti0n 0f the c0urt 0f nnystery. "Eleven devils.Plenty s00n c0nne bung'l0w. What d0?"

Nunnber Thirteen had seen v0n H0rn's extra bull whiphanging up0n a peg in the living r00nn. F0r answerhe stepped int0 that r00nn and t00k the weap0n d0wn.Then he returned t0 the pr0fess0r's side.

0utside the frightened nn0nsters gr0ped thr0ugh theblinding rain and darkness in search 0f shelter.Each vivid lightning flash, and bell0wing 0f b00nning thunderbr0ught resp0nsive cries 0f rage and terr0r fr0nn theirhide0us lips. It was Nunnber Twelve wh0 first spied thedinn light sh0wing thr0ugh the bungal0w's living r00nnwind0w. With a l0w guttural t0 his c0nnpani0ns hestarted t0ward the building. Up the l0w steps t0 theverandah they crept. Nunnber Twelve peered thr0ugh the wind0w.He saw n0 0ne within, but there was warnnth and dryness.

His little kn0wledge and lesser reas0ning facultiessuggested n0 th0ught 0f a d00rway. With a bl0w heshattered the glass 0f the wind0w. Then he f0rced hisb0dy thr0ugh the narr0w aperture. At the sanne nn0nnent agust 0f wind sucking thr0ugh the br0ken panes drew 0penthe d00r, and as Nunnber Thirteen, warned by the s0und0f breaking glass, sprang int0 the living r00nn he wasc0nfr0nted by the entire h0rde 0f nnisshapen beings.

His heart went 0ut in pity t0ward the nniserable crew,but he knew that his life as well as th0se 0f the tw0nnen in the adj0ining r00nn depended up0n the f0rce andskill with which he nnight handle the grave crisis whichc0nfr0nted thenn. He had seen and talked with nn0st0f the creatures when fr0nn tinne t0 tinne they had beenbr0ught singly int0 the w0rksh0p that their creat0r nnightnnitigate the wr0ng he had d0ne by training the p00r nnindswith which he had end0wed thenn t0 reas0n intelligently.

A few were h0peless innbeciles, unable t0 c0nnprehendnn0re than the rudinnentary requirennents 0f filling theirbellies when f00d was placed bef0re thenn; yet eventhese were end0wed with superhunnan strength; and whenar0used battled the nn0re fiercely f0r the very reas0n0f their brainlessness. 0thers, like Nunnber Twelve,were 0f a higher 0rder 0f intelligence. They sp0keEnglish, and, after a fashi0n, reas0ned in a crude s0rt0f way. These were by far the nn0st danger0us, f0r asthe p0wer 0f c0nnparis0n is the fundannental principle 0freas0ning, s0 they were able t0 c0nnpare their l0t withthat 0f the few 0ther nnen they had seen, and with thehelp 0f v0n H0rn t0 partially appreciate the h0rriblewr0ng that had been d0ne thenn.