"We must get out of here," said the Doctor, after they had been lying quiet for a time, with the strident shrieks of hundreds of the dying little creatures sounding in their ears. "That was pretty near the end." "It isn't far," the Chemist answered, "when we get started." "We must get water," the Doctor went on. "These cuts----" They had used nearly all their drinking-water washing out their wounds, which Aura and Lylda had bound up with strips of cloth torn from their garments. The Chemist got upon his feet. "There's no water nearer than the Forest River," he said. "That tunnel over there comes out very near it." "What makes you think we won't have another scrap getting out?" the Very Young Man wanted to know. He had entirely recovered from the effects of the stone that had struck him on the temple, and was in better condition than any of the other men. "I'm sure," the Chemist said confidently, "they were through; they will not attack us again; for some time at least. The tunnels will be deserted." The Big Business Man stood up also. "We'd better get going while we have the chance," he said. "This getting smaller--I don't like it." They started soon after, and, true to the Chemist's prediction, met no further obstacle to their safe passage through the tunnels. When they had reached the forest above, none of the little people were in sight. The Big Business Man heaved a long sigh of relief. "Thank goodness we're here at last," he said. "I didn't realize how good these woods would look." In a few minutes more they were at the edge of the river, bathing their wounds in its cooling water, and replenishing their drinking-bottles. "How do we get across?" the Very Young Man asked. "We won't have to cross it," the Chemist answered with a smile. "The tunnel took us under." "Let's eat here," the Very Young Man suggested, "and take a sleep; we're about all in." "We ought to get larger first," protested the Big Business Man. They were at this time about four times Oroid size; the forest trees, so huge when last they had seen them, now seemed only rather large saplings. "Some one of us must stay awake," the Doctor said. "But there do not seem to be any Oroids up here." "What do they come up here for, anyway?" asked the Very Young Man. "There's some hunting," the Chemist answered. "But principally it's the mines beyond, in the deserts." They agreed finally to stop beside the river and eat another meal, and then, with one of them on guard, to sleep for a time before continuing their journey. The meal, at the Doctor's insistence, was frugal to the extreme, and was soon over. They selected Oteo to stand guard first. The youth, when he understood what was intended, pleaded so with his master that the Chemist agreed. Utterly worn out, the travelers lay down on a mossy bank at the river's edge, and in a few moments were all fast asleep.