Slipping over the side Gahan descended by the trailing anchor-rope until his feet touched the top of the wall, where he had no difficulty in arresting the slow drifting of the ship.  Then he drew up the anchor and lowered it inside the enclosure.  Still there was no movement upon the part of the sleepers beneath—­they lay as dead men.  Dull lights shone from openings in the tower; but there was no sign of guard or waking inmate.  Clinging to the rope Gahan lowered himself within the enclosure, where he had his first close view of the creatures lying there in what he had thought sleep.  With a half smothered exclamation of horror the man drew back from the headless bodies of the rykors.  At first he thought them the corpses of decapitated humans like himself, which was quite bad enough; but when he saw them move and realized that they were endowed with life, his horror and disgust became even greater.

Here then was the explanation of the thing he had witnessed that afternoon, when Tara of Helium had struck the back to its body.  And to think that the pearl of Helium was in the power of such hideous things as these.  Again the man shuddered, but he hastened to make fast the flier, clamber again to its deck and lower it to the floor of the enclosure.  Then he strode toward a door in the base of the tower, stepping lightly over the recumbent forms of the unconscious rykors, and crossing the threshold disappeared within.

CHAPTER VIII

CLOSE WORK

Ghek, in his happier days third foreman of the fields of Luud, sat nursing his anger and his humiliation.  Recently something had awakened within him the existence of which he had never before even dreamed.  Had the influence of the strange captive woman aught to do with this unrest and dissatisfaction?  He did not know.  He missed the soothing influence of the noise she called singing.  Could it be that there were other things more desirable than cold logic and undefiled brain power?  Was well balanced imperfection more to be sought after then, than the high development of a single characteristic?  He thought of the great, ultimate brain toward which all kaldanes were striving.  It would be deaf, and dumb, and blind.  A thousand beautiful strangers might sing and dance about it, but it could derive no pleasure from the singing or the dancing since it would possess no perceptive faculties.  Already had the kaldanes shut themselves off from most of the gratifications of the senses.  Ghek wondered if much was to be gained by denying themselves still further, and with the thought came a question as to the whole fabric of their theory.  After all perhaps the girl was right; what purpose could a great brain serve sealed in the bowels of the earth?