"Like mummies, eh!" grunted Rocky. He sounded quite well satisfied. "Mmm-hmm! Then _that_ fits, too. Yes, I think I'm beginning to understand a lot of things ... including the reason Factor Grossman would like to rid this little world of all competitors--" "Well, don't keep secrets!" snapped Bud. "We'd like to know, too. What's it all about?" "No time now. There's the hill out yonder. Pull up here, Miss Lynn. Here's where we leave you." Lynn stopped the roller obediently. But as Bud and Rocky climbed out she asked, "What do you want me to do now? Can't I come with you?" "No. You turn the roller around and wait here. We have no idea what we're going to buck up against. We may have to retreat--suddenly. If so, I'll fire three blasts on my Haemholtz. Two short, one long. If you see that signal, get ready to start moving. We'll come on the double-quick. But if we're being pursued too closely to make it--" "Yes?" "Then don't wait for us!" ordered Rocky. "Head for the Base and bring the Patrolmen. Understand?" "All but one thing," complained the girl. "Why not send for a platoon of Patrolmen right now? Why wait until it is too late?" "Because," explained Rocky patiently, "despite our suspicions, we have as yet no actual _proof_ that the factor is involved in anything shady. The Patrol is an organization sworn to maintain the Law, not to violate it, riding roughshod over the rights and privileges of citizens. "When we are certain--as I fully expect we shall be shortly--that Grossman is implicated in some illegal scheme _then_ we can call in the Patrol. But until that time--" "Until that time," broke in an oily, taunting voice, "you will play the part of quixotic fools, eh, my dear Doctor? But has it never occurred to you that by the time you get the proof you want ... it may be too late to summon help?" Rocky whirled, as did his two companions. From the side of the road, where they had lain in dark concealment behind a low escarpment, rose a circle of shadowy figures. The largest of these, a heavy man looming even greater in his protective bulger, approached them. In his left hand he held a flash; its rays glinted upon still another instrument in his right hand ... the tube of a Haemholtz burner held steadily upon them. All recognized the newcomer's voice at once. "_Grossman!_" VIII In the gloom, Grossman's features could not be seen behind the quartzite view-pane of his bulger, but by the thick satisfaction in his voice, Rocky could guess the complacent smirk lingering on his over-red lips. "Yes, my friends," he acknowledged, "Grossman. This is somewhat of a reversal, no? The one you came to apprehend has captured you. My dear Doctor Roswell, did you consider me a perfect fool? Did you not know the driver of my roller would report to me that you had followed him to this spot?"