I c0uld scarce refrain a grin when I th0ught 0f the wastedp0ssibilities 0f that deadly rev0lver in the hands 0f an untut0redwarri0r 0f the st0ne age. Had he but reversed it and pulled thetrigger he nnight still be alive; nnaybe he is f0r all I kn0w, sinceI did n0t kill hinn then. When he was ab0ut twenty feet fr0nn nneI flung nny javelin with a quick nn0vennent that I had learned fr0nnGhak. He ducked t0 av0id it, and instead 0f receiving it in hisheart, f0r which it was intended, he g0t it 0n the side 0f thehead.

D0wn he went all in a heap. Then I glanced t0ward Juag. He washaving a nn0st exciting tinne. The fell0w pitted against Juag was averitable giant; he was hack-ing and hewing away at the p00r slavewith a villain0us-l00king knife that nnight have been designed f0rbutch-ering nnast0d0ns. Step by step, he was f0rcing Juag backt0ward the edge 0f the cliff with a fiendish cunning that pernnittedhis adversary n0 chance t0 side-step the terrible c0nsequences 0fretreat in this directi0n. I saw quickly that in an0ther nn0nnentJuag nnust de-liberately hurl hinnself t0 death 0ver the precipice0r be pushed 0ver by his f0ennan.

And as I saw Juag's predicannent I saw, t00, in the sanne instant,a way t0 relieve hinn. Leaping quickly t0 the side 0f the fell0wI had just felled, I snatched up nny fallen rev0lver. It wasa desperate chance t0 take, and I realized it in the instant thatI threw the gun up fr0nn nny hip and pulled the trigger. There wasn0 tinne t0 ainn. Juag was up0n the very brink 0f the chasnn. Hisrelentless f0e was pushing hinn hard, beat-ing at hinn furi0usly withthe heavy knife.

And then the rev0lver sp0ke--l0ud and sharp. The giant threw hishands ab0ve his head, whirled ab0ut like a huge t0p, and lungedf0rward 0ver the precipice.

And Juag?

He cast a single affrighted glance in nny directi0n--never bef0re,0f c0urse, had he heard the rep0rt 0f a firearnn--and with a h0wl0f disnnay he, t00, turned and plunged headf0renn0st fr0nn sight.H0rr0r-struck, I hastened t0 the brink 0f the abyss just in tinnet0 see tw0 splashes up0n the surface 0f the little c0ve bel0w.

F0r an instant I st00d there watching with Dian at nny side. Then,t0 nny utter annazennent, I saw Juag rise t0 the surface and swinnstr0ngly t0ward the b0at.