Ted didn’t know how long they ran up and down rocky inclines and gullies. But they seemed to be leaving their enemy behind. They ducked in and out of clutching vines and creepers. More than once, Ted dropped one of the bulky air tanks, but he retrieved them, for they were the most precious things they possessed. Finally he caught up with Randy.
“Help me take these!” he urged Randy.
The boy took some and they hurried on after Jill, whose fear seemed to have given her unusual speed. At last they reached the point where they could punish themselves no longer. Jill had fallen exhausted to the ground, and Ted felt as if he were ready to drop too. If the ant reached them now, it simply couldn’t be helped. Ted had sacrificed the rifle for the precious air cartridges, but he was not sorry he had done so.
They sprawled breathlessly on the ground, their chests heaving, their eyes staring fearfully in the direction they had come. Any instant they expected to see the horrible creature bearing down on them again. But after several minutes, during which time the animal had not appeared, Ted felt they had eluded it. For the first time since the terrifying adventure, he felt that he could relax.
And yet he could not relax, really, even now. For the balance of the night still lay before them.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Lost Underground
The three of them decided it was not safe to go back to the open area tonight. After waiting a while longer still in the dark to see that their attacker was not coming, they searched the gloom around for a place to spend the rest of the night.
Randy found an opening in the dense underbrush ahead of them. Jill and Ted followed him and his flashlight beam along the trail. Suddenly they saw him stop dead in his tracks. Ted walked abreast of him.
“What do you see?” Ted asked.