Habu clutched for his wand. He was a very minor warlock and needed a wand to do anything more complicated than the three-shell trick. His hand never reached the ebony stick. Godwin picked him up and threw him contemptuously at the wall, which he hit so hard that his backbone was telescoped into itself and some twenty-nine of his other bones were fractured in more or less intricate ways. Pepi woke up, saw the tip of El Sareuk's sword held steadily at the hollow of his throat, and closed his eyes as if he had been sand-bagged. "One move of those lips, witch-man," said the old Arab pleasantly, "one small spell begun, and you will be breathing through several more orifices than nature intended." Pepi lay as silent and motionless as a defunct stork, which he vaguely resembled. Mufaddal was waving his scimitar in arcs before him, bellowing for his soldiers, calling on Allah to smite these heathen devils, and cursing the magic of Heraj that had turned a plain man into this ghastly demon-thing advancing on him. He had entirely forgotten that it had been his idea to change Godwin to an animal for vengeance's sake. Ramizail lay on her back and drummed her heels on the floor and laughed with delight at the spectacle of her beloved--and despite his present shape, he _was_ her beloved--wading in amongst the enemy in such headlong fashion. "Smear the big hellhound all over the wall, darling!" "Ramizail," said the gorilla, maneuvering for advantage, "that is not ladylike. Get up off the floor and stop swearing." He then feinted with one paw, caught the scimitar by the flats with the steel fingers of his other, twitched it out of Mufaddal's horrified grasp, stepped up to him and gave him a splendid uppercut on the point of the jaw. Mufaddal joined his sorcerers on the floor. "Now then," said Godwin, rubbing his paws briskly together, "fetch me that necromancer, El Sareuk!" Pepi, milk-faced and shaking, was led into the center of the room. Had he been Heraj, he could have mumbled a spell ventriloquially and relegated them all to the top of a pyramid. Luckily he was not Heraj. Godwin regarded him for a moment. Pepi found that the direct gaze of an angry gorilla is not a thing to put heart in a man. He gave a tiny moan, almost a squeak. The gorilla expanded his chest, which measured seventy inches, and said, "You're Pepi, if I recall correctly?" "Y-y-yes, O Magnificent One," said Pepi. "Pepi, I want you to transport me to the plague ship. Instanter." "Oh, I couldn't do that," said the bony wizard, turning if possible a little paler than before. "I can only do small things, such as--" "Then I guess you may as well die too," said Godwin regretfully, and reached out a paw. Pepi nearly collapsed. "Wait a m-m-m-m," he said. "I mean wait a s-s-s-s. Maybe there's a way." "Think of it fast, scrawny one," said El Sareuk. "I'm thinking," said Pepi hurriedly. "I'm thinking." * * * * *