He turned and found he could see the rest of the corridor plainly through the door, lit by the reflection of torches. It grew brighter as a young Raydower thrust a light and his head cautiously above the level of the floor. Yorgh twisted the light off and drew Vaneen to one side. "You know," he whispered, "when one follows a loppa trail to a waterhole, and finds only ponadu tracks going away, one asks no questions as to exactly how it came about. If they do not have a little light like mine, I think they will not get past that door." It turned out that he was right. The voices outside were almost inaudible, but the torch light shone in the corridor. Someone finally laid the palm of a sweating hand against the door. When he found that he could not push it open he quickly retreated. After a while Yorgh peeped out in time to see the last of the pursuers descending the steps. Then it was dark again. "I can see the stars," murmured Vaneen. Yorgh looked up. It was true. "And, Yorgh...?" "Yes?" he asked, feeling light of heart at having succeeded in escaping the Raydowers for the time being. "I ... am beginning to believe your story about finding the metal stick in the desert. I'm sorry I said what I did." Yorgh chuckled and reached out for her in the dark. He pulled her to him and found her soft lips with his. After the first instant, she slipped strong young arms about his waist and strained her body against his. "That's ninety-nine you owe me," said Yorgh, taking a deep breath. Vaneen pretended to pull back from him, with a low laugh. Abruptly, following a quiet click, the place was flooded by a white glare that was like a blow on his eyes. When he could see again, they were still the only ones there ... except for a skeleton on a couch across the wide, cluttered chamber ... and another on the floor beside a long table with many drawers. "What is it?" gasped Yorgh. "I don't know. My shoulder touched something on the wall beside the door, and--" The place was filled with strange furnishings. Some were wooden and seemed to sag here and there; most were queer things of metal. Overhead, a transparent roof offered a good view of the stars. Cautiously, with Vaneen crowding close, Yorgh walked around the chamber. There were other doors, and he tried his light at one of them. It obediently swung open to reveal what must have been sleeping quarters. Yorgh saw more bones, and let the door close again. It was Vaneen who discovered the books. The writing and pictures on the smooth, pliable pages put to shame the few parchment records they had seen in the village of the Sea People. Yorgh never remembered how many awed hours they spent looking at the strange instruments and colored maps and other curiosities. The sky, he did recall later, was showing light when he made his little mistake. "This must be a place of the Old Ones of the legends," Vaneen was murmuring as Yorgh fingered a series of little studs on one of the machines.