Ramey nodded. "They didn't seem to be particularly fond of Ravana. I don't blame them much. There's a brutal streak in the guy. His first idea, when the idol spoke, was to pacify it with a human sacrifice. If we hadn't spiked that deal, I'm afraid this young lady--" He nodded toward the chestnut-haired beauty clinging close to Barrett's side--"wouldn't be with us now. "Well, Sugriva, I'm beginning to understand the setup now. It's not so unusual. The world we left behind was being sadly muddled by a mob with pretty much the same idea as the Videlians. They want to be top-dogs or nothing. So, now that we're here, what can we do to help you out? You want us to continue playing gods while you hold your round table conferences with the boys in the back room?" But Sugriva shook his head. "Not now, my friend. I shall explain that later. First you must have food, rest, time to collect your thoughts. Meanwhile, guard carefully the Bow. It is of vital importance. Kohrisan--" The ape-captain saluted smartly--"Show our guests to chambers where they may rest and refresh themselves." The time-farers allowed themselves to be led away. * * * * * So began the incredible adventure, the "strange journey" of which Johnny Grinnell, in the prescience of life's ending, had spoken. It was Syd O'Brien's idea when, that evening, after having bathed, napped or refreshed themselves as each saw fit, they gathered again in the garden-close outside their quarters, that they should bring this episode to a close. The gloomy twin looked--if such a thing were possible--more disgruntled than ever. "If you ask me," he said, "we ought to get going." "Going?" repeated his brother. "That's what I said. I don't like this business of messing around in things that happened five thousand years before we were born. It's not normal and it's not right. No good will come of it. I'm for getting back to the time-cabinet and pulling out of there before something happens and we can never get back." Sheila gasped, "And miss this marvelous opportunity to discover the truth about things men have always wondered about, argued over? Why, Syd, we haven't even begun to discover the marvels of Angkor!" Dr. Aiken said seriously, "Yes, Sydney, Sheila is right. Fate has granted us an opportunity to solve more of the mysteries of Man's beginnings than all earth's savants have been able to uncover in two thousand years. It is more than an opportunity; it is an obligation! We cannot leave yet. Why--" His fine old eyes glowed--"this afternoon as the rest of you slept, I wandered through the courts and the temples, conversing in their ancient tongues with men whose races were vanished before the first recorded history was written! Already I have learned enough to establish an entirely new chronology of history. And I have merely skimmed the surface!" "Just the same--" grumbled Syd.