needed rest.
He fedon some of the dried meat from Eu-La's bag. But itwas hard to choke down even a few mouthfuls of thatwithout water. And where was he going to find water?
Determinedly Furtig prowled among those metalboxes set in the first chamber, finding nothing useful.Stubbornly" he went on to explore the next room.
This was different in that it had tables, long ones,and those tables were crowded with masses of thingshe did not understand at all. He backed away fromone where the brush of his tail had knocked off a largebasin. The basin shattered on the floor, and the soundof the crash was magnified a hundred times by echoes.
Furtig's startled jump almost brought him to disaster. For he struck against what seemed a smallertable, and that moved! He whirled around, expectingan attack, snarling. The table went on until it bumped against one of the larger tables.
Warily Furtig hooked his claws lightly about one ofits slender legs. Very cautiously he pulled the smalltable back. It answered so readily, he was again startled. Then he mastered surprise, and experimented.
The surface was high; he could barely touch the topwith his chin when he stood at his tallest.
There was amass of brittle stuff lying across it, and when he triedto investigate, it broke and powdered, so that heswept it off, leaving a bare surface.
But he could move the table!
Pushing and pulling, he brought it out of the room,back to the side of the rumbler. Luckily there wasonly a short space between the two levels, the tablebeing a little lower. He was sure he could get Foskattfrom one to the other.
Blood was seeping again from the matted fur aboutFoskatt's wound by the time Furtig had finished. Hesettled the unconscious tribesman in the center of thetable, hoping he would not roll, as there was no anchorage here.
He fastened his belt to the two front legs of thetable and then slung the end over one shoulder. It wasa tight fit, the table bumping continually against hisback and legs, and if it had not rolled so easily he could not have moved it. Resolutely he set out downthe corridor.
There were times following, which could have beennight and day, or day and night, since Furtig could nolonger measure time so here—times when he believedthat he could not go on. He would hunch down, thetable looming over him, breathing so hard it hurt hislower ribs. His whole body was so devoted to pullingthe table that he was not really aware of anythingsave that he had not yet reached the place to whichhe must go.
On and on, and there was no end, from corridor toroom, across room, to another hall. The lights grewbrighter, the strange smells stronger. He was neversure when the vibration in the walls began. It mighthave started long before his dulled senses recorded it.There was a feeling of life here ...
Furtig leaned against the wall. At least there wasno smell of Ratton. And they were still heading in theright direction.
Then he really looked about him. The corridordown which they had just come ended at a wall.
Andif this was like the wall the servant had opened, well,he did not have the ability to get through it.
Leavingthe table, he shambled forward to examine it better.
What was happening to him? This was the bottomof a shaft, much the same as the one he had fallen down earlier. But now—he was going up! Gently, as ifthe air itself was pushing him.
Frantically Furtig fought, managed to catch hold ofthe shaft entrance and pull out of that upward current. As he dropped to the ground, he was shaken outof that half-stupor which had possessed him.
It was plain, as plain as such a marvel could be, and thathere the shaft reversed the process of the other one.And it was also plain that Gammage—or what hissearch sense had fastened on as Gammage was above.
Would this mysterious upward current take thetable also? He could only try. Pulling, he got it into the shaft. Foskatt's body stirred, drifting up from thesurface. So—it worked on him, but not on the
He fedon some of the dried meat from Eu-La's bag. But itwas hard to choke down even a few mouthfuls of thatwithout water. And where was he going to find water?
Determinedly Furtig prowled among those metalboxes set in the first chamber, finding nothing useful.Stubbornly" he went on to explore the next room.
This was different in that it had tables, long ones,and those tables were crowded with masses of thingshe did not understand at all. He backed away fromone where the brush of his tail had knocked off a largebasin. The basin shattered on the floor, and the soundof the crash was magnified a hundred times by echoes.
Furtig's startled jump almost brought him to disaster. For he struck against what seemed a smallertable, and that moved! He whirled around, expectingan attack, snarling. The table went on until it bumped against one of the larger tables.
Warily Furtig hooked his claws lightly about one ofits slender legs. Very cautiously he pulled the smalltable back. It answered so readily, he was again startled. Then he mastered surprise, and experimented.
The surface was high; he could barely touch the topwith his chin when he stood at his tallest.
There was amass of brittle stuff lying across it, and when he triedto investigate, it broke and powdered, so that heswept it off, leaving a bare surface.
But he could move the table!
Pushing and pulling, he brought it out of the room,back to the side of the rumbler. Luckily there wasonly a short space between the two levels, the tablebeing a little lower. He was sure he could get Foskattfrom one to the other.
Blood was seeping again from the matted fur aboutFoskatt's wound by the time Furtig had finished. Hesettled the unconscious tribesman in the center of thetable, hoping he would not roll, as there was no anchorage here.
He fastened his belt to the two front legs of thetable and then slung the end over one shoulder. It wasa tight fit, the table bumping continually against hisback and legs, and if it had not rolled so easily he could not have moved it. Resolutely he set out downthe corridor.
There were times following, which could have beennight and day, or day and night, since Furtig could nolonger measure time so here—times when he believedthat he could not go on. He would hunch down, thetable looming over him, breathing so hard it hurt hislower ribs. His whole body was so devoted to pullingthe table that he was not really aware of anythingsave that he had not yet reached the place to whichhe must go.
On and on, and there was no end, from corridor toroom, across room, to another hall. The lights grewbrighter, the strange smells stronger. He was neversure when the vibration in the walls began. It mighthave started long before his dulled senses recorded it.There was a feeling of life here ...
Furtig leaned against the wall. At least there wasno smell of Ratton. And they were still heading in theright direction.
Then he really looked about him. The corridordown which they had just come ended at a wall.
Andif this was like the wall the servant had opened, well,he did not have the ability to get through it.
Leavingthe table, he shambled forward to examine it better.
What was happening to him? This was the bottomof a shaft, much the same as the one he had fallen down earlier. But now—he was going up! Gently, as ifthe air itself was pushing him.
Frantically Furtig fought, managed to catch hold ofthe shaft entrance and pull out of that upward current. As he dropped to the ground, he was shaken outof that half-stupor which had possessed him.
It was plain, as plain as such a marvel could be, and thathere the shaft reversed the process of the other one.And it was also plain that Gammage—or what hissearch sense had fastened on as Gammage was above.
Would this mysterious upward current take thetable also? He could only try. Pulling, he got it into the shaft. Foskatt's body stirred, drifting up from thesurface. So—it worked on him, but not on the
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