The professor was suddenly seized and lifted close to one of the terrifying faces for an inquisitive inspection! The creature sniffed at him with flat, distended nostrils. Huge fingers, seven in number, clutched him tightly. He saw that the thing had two arms and that their hairless bodies were roughly criss-crossed with deep lines. Another interesting feature next claimed his attention. A web of elastic membrane extended halfway down each arm to the body. A muttering gabble issued from these gargantuans of Ajiat as they examined the machine men. "Do not act alive," the professor radiated, "and they may become disinterested in us." Although subtracting from the interest of the great brutes, this plan did not prevent their seizure. One of the things emitted a bellowing roar, which the machine men found themselves at a loss to properly interpret. The creature turned and dashed away in the direction from which the machine men had come. Far off, the huge beast had seen the gleaming, metal ball which had contained the helium. The others waited patiently, gently pulling at the legs and tentacles of the strange, metal contraptions they had found, until he returned with it. Then they all set out at whirlwind speed to join the main body, setting up a cloud of dust behind them and passing by the black, smoking embers of last night's fire. With the rest, they made their way to the mountain, climbing up to a plateau. Cliffs loomed on two sides, and in tunnels and rocky defiles splitting into the side of the mountain, these creatures made their homes. CHAPTER FOUR A Race With the Nova The machine men were given over for inspection by hundreds of the great creatures which they had automatically designated as Ajirs. Tiring of the inspection, the brutes handed them back to their original owners. Professor Jameson was carried into a cavern and unceremoniously thrown on a rocky ledge with a strange collection of objects which had evidently caught the fancy of the Ajir. There were bright bits of fused metal, evidently of volcanic origin, and odd-shaped bones littered the ledge. Most curious of all was an entire skeleton about twice the professor's size. As soon as the cavern's owner went out and left him alone, he fell to examining it. The skeleton was entire, each bone loosely interlocking with another so that it was impossible to remove one of them, except by force. The skeleton had been that of a four-legged animal. The professor found that his companions had met with fates similar to his own. They communicated with one another and decided that for the present it was best to bide their time--never letting the Ajirs know that they were living creatures--and watch for the first good chance to escape. In the several days that followed, the machine men learned many things about their captors and the world on which they lived.