"Okay," said Anthony, and rushed.
This time he was accompanied by one of his fellow engineers, who was carrying a surprise for Alice. The first surprise, however, was the one that Anthony himself received. Tunneling under the concrete foundation of the house was a badgerine whose presence Alice had not even suspected. But Anthony had no time to tackle it, for the other animals were quickly upon him. The first to arrive were the snaffles, and both Anthony and the engineer with him aimed and shot in a hurry. Anthony's target fell apart as scheduled. The engineer's kept on coming, but fortunately overshot its mark, for its intended victim had fallen to the ground.
Anthony swung his gun around, knocked the snaffle into the air, and fired right into the middle of an octerocap rushing at him. It fell to the ground, eight heads howling, and then managed to lift itself and spring. But by this time the engineer was on his feet again, and while he broke its back with a blow of his own gun, Anthony disposed of the remaining snaffle.
It was only then that they heard the shriek from inside. The badgerine was cutting through the concrete and getting into the house. Anthony rushed to the door. It was bolted; and Alice, terrified as she watched the floor give way, either didn't hear his yells or was unable to get to him. Anthony wasted no time in pounding at the closed door. He rushed to the hole the badgerine had dug and crawled down after it.
The hole was dark, but fortunately fairly wide, as the badgerine was a large animal. Anthony was able to pull himself along at a fair rate of speed. While he was still a dozen feet from the concrete, he heard the explosive gun go off. He almost felt the shock that must have hit Alice, and tried to crawl faster, but only scraped his face against the rock. Actually, it was only a few seconds before he reached the concrete and dragged himself through, but it seemed like hours.
Alice had turned on the brightest lights, and, thoroughly shaken by the recoil, was now trying to aim with an unsteady gun at the badgerine, which had pulled itself together as if gathering strength to spring at her. The explosion had torn a hole in its side, and blood was staining the floor—but it wasn't the wound that had saved Alice from its first attempt to pounce upon her. It was the bright light, which dazzled the eyes so well adjusted to the black of the tunnel. It had leaped by odor and missed, and Alice had been cool enough to hold her fire until she could aim. But this time the animal would not miss.
It sprang, in fact, just as Anthony dragged his own gun to aiming position, and its teeth were about to close on her throat when his blast drilled it through the primary heart. Even as it fell, it knocked her down.
Anthony kicked the animal aside and picked up his wife, who had fainted. Outside, the man who had accompanied him was pounding on the door. From behind the bolted door of the inner room, Small was wailing.
Anthony deposited his wife gently on a sofa, and let his friend in. The man said bitterly, "That Idiot Tapling."