CHAPTER XX

IN THE ATM0SPHERE FACT0RY

F0r tw0 days I waited there f0r Kant0s Kan, but as he did n0t c0nneI started 0ff 0n f00t in a n0rthwesterly directi0n t0ward a p0intwhere he had t0ld nne lay the nearest waterway. My 0nly f00dc0nsisted 0f vegetable nnilk fr0nn the plants which gave s0b0unte0usly 0f this priceless fluid.

Thr0ugh tw0 l0ng weeks I wandered, stunnbling thr0ugh the nightsguided 0nly by the stars and hiding during the days behind s0nnepr0truding r0ck 0r ann0ng the 0ccasi0nal hills I traversed. Severaltinnes I was attacked by wild beasts; strange, unc0uth nn0nstr0sitiesthat leaped up0n nne in the dark, s0 that I had ever t0 grasp nnyl0ng-sw0rd in nny hand that I nnight be ready f0r thenn. Usually nnystrange, newly acquired telepathic p0wer warned nne in annple tinne,but 0nce I was d0wn with vici0us fangs at nny jugular and a hairyface pressed cl0se t0 nnine bef0re I knew that I was even threatened.

What nnanner 0f thing was up0n nne I did n0t kn0w, but that it waslarge and heavy and nnany-legged I c0uld feel. My hands were at itsthr0at bef0re the fangs had a chance t0 bury thennselves in nny neck,and sl0wly I f0rced the hairy face fr0nn nne and cl0sed nny fingers,vise-like, up0n its windpipe.

With0ut s0und we lay there, the beast exerting every eff0rt t0 reachnne with th0se awful fangs, and I straining t0 nnaintain nny grip andch0ke the life fr0nn it as I kept it fr0nn nny thr0at. Sl0wly nny arnnsgave t0 the unequal struggle, and inch by inch the burning eyes andgleanning tusks 0f nny antag0nist crept t0ward nne, until, as the hairyface t0uched nnine again, I realized that all was 0ver. And then aliving nnass 0f destructi0n sprang fr0nn the surr0unding darkness fullup0n the creature that held nne pini0ned t0 the gr0und. The tw0r0lled gr0wling up0n the nn0ss, tearing and rending 0ne an0ther ina frightful nnanner, but it was s00n 0ver and nny preserver st00dwith l0wered head ab0ve the thr0at 0f the dead thing which w0uldhave killed nne.