How big could this cursed maze be? Too big, apparently. Then, just when despair was about to overtake him, a thin line of light gleamed far ahead. A sheen of cold sweat came to Burke's palms. He moved forward more warily, more silently, than ever. The light, it developed, shone from the crack beneath a door. Like a shadow, Burke crept close; laid his ear against the panel, listening. No sound. Ever so gently, he laid the fingers of his left hand against the portal; pressed slowly. New light appeared, washing through the crack along the jamb. A moment of taut waiting. Then Burke put his eye to the opening and peered through, into a large, sumptuously-furnished room. The room of a noble, perhaps, or even a king. The only thing strange about it that Burke could see was that what appeared to be a large tank occupied the center of the room ... a tank of shimmering, blue-white metal, utterly unlike the bronze of the Minoans; precisely the same as the material of which the great ship in the cave was made. The hair along the back of Burke's neck prickled. Moving first to one side and then the other, he checked as large a portion of the room beyond the door as possible. No occupants, so far as he could see. With a quick push, he sent the door all the way back, swinging wide, while he poised rigid in the shadows. Still no reaction. Silently, Burke crossed the threshold. Here the acrid smell was almost overpowering; and though the room itself was unoccupied, a strange, pulsating aura of evil seemed to flow through it in great waves. Burke tip-toed to the shining, blue-white tank; peered down into it. It held clear liquid only. But the stink of the stuff made Burke choke and gasp. His eyes burned. He stumbled backward, fighting for breath. In the same instant, cloth rustled behind him. Burke whirled. * * * * * A tapestry had been flung back, revealing a previously-hidden door. Framed in it, well over seven feet tall, stood a creature Burke couldn't believe even now, as he stared at it. The thing was a man, at first glance--a giant of a man, mightily muscled. He wore nothing save the traditional Minoan loin-band. But it was the creature's head that held Burke; froze him. For instead of a human head, to match a human body, this monster had the head of a gigantic bull, with monstrous horns and great glaring eyes and nostrils that flared and quivered. Burke's hand shook so his lamp almost slopped over. A slow step at a time, he tried to back away. But now, with a great bull-roar, the monster's head came down. It lunged at him. Burke hurled the lamp at it. Incredibly fast, the thing dodged. The lamp struck the wall. Flame leaped along the tapestry. But the Minotaur paid the fire no heed. Again it lunged at Burke, spearing in at him with one of the great bull horns.