"Whee-ew!" exclaimed the Shaggy Man. "This is no place for a pleasure trip. I can see why the Nome King was thirsty when he got out of here." They were now directly under the Deadly Desert and the heat radiated by the shifting sands above them was intense. But Twink and Tom were lightly dressed, so they didn't mind the heat so much. Twiffle naturally paid not the slightest attention to the temperature. The beavers who were used to underground heat moved swiftly forward. The pine torches of the young beavers cast flickering shadows on the rough stone walls about the travelers. But suddenly the light of the torches dimmed and faded in a greater brilliance. The torch-bearing beavers stopped in their tracks and were chattering excitedly among themselves, waiting for the beaver King and his party to catch up with them. The travelers hurried forward and found to their amazement that the new light came from a rift in the rock roof. Sunlight was shining down into the tunnel! But no sooner had they recovered from this surprise than they were overwhelmed by another. Directly ahead of them, blocking their passage through the tunnel, was a group of the strangest people they had ever seen. These beings were human in shape, yet they seemed to be made of flame. The living fire that formed their bodies varied in hue from a deep, glowing red to light orange and yellow, while their finger-tips, eyes, and features gave off blue and greenish colored flames. There were perhaps ten of the creatures, standing side by side so that the beaver King and his friends found their way completely blocked by this wall of living flame. Waves of heat radiated from their flaming bodies, and Twink and Tom had to blink their eyes several times to become accustomed to the glare of flame and light. "Halt! You can go no further. Turn back at once to whence you came." One of the flame folk was speaking. He appeared to be their leader, since he was taller than his companions and his eyes glowed much more fiercely than the rest. "Who are you?" asked the beaver King calmly. "We are Dwellers of the Desert. We live on the shifting sands on the surface. Occasionally we visit the oasis just above, where there is no sand, but blue grass that glows with blue flame," the flame being answered. "An oasis on the Deadly Desert?" asked the Shaggy Man incredulously. "Certainly. Did you ever hear of a desert that didn't have an oasis?" replied the fire creature. "Maybe not," muttered the Shaggy Man. "And I suppose the flame grass keeps the deadly sand from shifting into the tunnel." "Exactly," replied the fire creature. "But we are not concerned with sand in the tunnel. There are other things much more objectionable--yourselves, for instance." "How did you find out about the tunnel?" asked the beaver King, ignoring the fire being's insult.