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Soether they approached Pine Tree Gate, leading directly out into the Horde

The girl, rosier than ever, held her Krag loosely in the hollow of her bare, warht arm One of Stern's revolvers lay in its holster The other balanced itself in his right hand His left held the precious water-pail, so vital now to all their plans and hopes

Girt in his garb of fur, belted and sandaled, well over six feet tall and broad of shoulder, the nificent His red beard and e air that noell fitted hih

That Beatrice should suffer in any way, even froe resentht not be possible to gain access to the spring at all, that these foul Things ht powerfully on hiirl it ho now preoccupied his every thought And as they h the litter of the explosion, toward the exit, slowly and cautiously, he spied out every foot of the place for possible danger

If fight he ht--slaughter, extermination without any liht Already they could see daylight gliate, past ht--and with it came a thin and acrid smoke--and sounds of the uproused Horde in Madison Forest

"Slow! Slohispered Stern "Don't let 'eot 'eht, who knows but the whole infernal mob may duck and run? Don't shoot till you have to; but when you do--!"

"I know!" breathed she

Then, all at once, there they were at the gate, at the big tree, standing out there in the open, on the thick carpet of pine-spills

And before them lay the mossy, shaded forest aisles--hat a horror caasped Beatrice The engineer stopped as though frozen His hand tightened on the revolver-butt till the knuckles whitened And thus, face to face with the Horde, they stood for a long minute

Neither of them realized exactly the details of that first iot through the crack in the wall had only very i of what these Things really were, en masse