He had lost all sense of reason. After a fall he had picked up a club, and now he went sneaking along, alert to every sound, gripping the club in his right hand, his left hand extended ahead of him, feeling out into the darkness.
Gone was all fear of the darkness, of wild animals. Rex Morgan had reverted to the primitive. Another cave man had stolen his woman, and he was going to get her. On and on he went, climbing boulders, stumbling over exposed roots, until he came to a spot where he could go no farther.
In the darkness he discovered that he was at the bottom of what had been an ancient waterfall. There were high banks all around him, but he found a way out. It was a sort of trail up the left bank, twisting between giant boulders.
He reached what seemed to be the cañon level again, and sank back on his haunches to listen. Then he heard voices. They were very indistinct, and he strained his ears. The wind whined among the boulders, drowning out the sound, but he thought he had located it.
Gripping his club tightly, he began working up the slope to the left, under the towering cliffs. It was slow work, this climbing in the darkness. He slipped and sprawled full length on a sloping rock, losing his club; but got back to his hands and knees and kept going up over the ledges.
Then he saw the flicker of a fire, the scent of burning meat. Pulling himself up to the rim of the rock he looked into a cave. In reality he was in the cave himself, as the ledge above him projected twenty feet farther out over the cañon.
Nan was huddled on the floor near the fire, while Briggs towered over her, bulking huge in the firelight. Their shadows were huge, goblin-like things against the wall of the cave. On the fire sizzled a huge hunk of raw meat, which was sending off a strong odor.
Briggs was talking to Nan, but Rex could not hear what was said. Finally Briggs left her and came shambling past where Rex crouched on the rock, and disappeared in the darkness. Rex slid off the rock and crossed the entrance of the cave to the fire, and Nan looked up at him wonderingly.
‘How did you get here?’ she asked.
Rex brushed a hand across his eyes and stared back at the entrance, as though seeking an answer to her question.