somewhat akin to the hibernation of some animals or even the cryptobiosis of lower forms of life. Only for longer periods; yes, considerably longer."
"If your friend Warburton trailed Zarpa to his underwater lair, why then—•"
"Poor Warburton awakened the monstruo," explained the professor. "It destroyed him, returned to life and surfaced. All nine of the others in Warburton's party, including his lovely, gifted daughter, were torn to bits by Zarpa. At one time I had hoped the girl and I . . He sighed, thrust a knuckle into the corner of his eye.
"HoW," June asked him, "do you know all this?"
"I ventured into the jungle to find them," replied the old man. His fidgeting had ceased; he sat in his chair with his hands palms upward in his lap. "When she . . . when the party did not return after a reasonable time, I organized a group and went in search. Too late to . . . that is how I know. I was able to deduce what must have happened from what I found there near that dreadful lake."
"I see," said June.
Right down out of the trees.
The husky man dropped and landed, flat-footed, directly in front of June.
This tree-lined path led from the back of Professor Prolijos' office building to the San James University parking lot where June had left her borrowed car. There were no other people on this stretch of path.
Only June and the big man. And the second man, who had stepped out from behind a screen of hedge.
"Well, gents, you've succeeded in making me feel pretty much like Little Red Riding Hood," the girl told the pair in a calm voice. "What can I do for you?"
The one from the tree branches only grunted. From a pocket in his sport coat he extracted a hunting knife. He stalked toward the girl.
The second heavy was coming at her from the side and, as yet, showing no weapon.
"Give you a choice," said June while she, carefully, placed her large canvas purse on the gravel. "Go away right now and we'll forget the whole thing. Okay?"
They both moved closer to her.
"The other half of the choice is you try anything funny and I'll deck you both," the girl warned.
This caused the knife-carrying one to laugh.
"Okay," said June, "so much for the peaceful negotiations." Before the sentence was finished, she'd dived straight into the husky man with the hunting knife.
Her head rammed him hard somewhere above the groin and below the rib cage. The force ;was sufficient to cause him to emit an oofing bellows sound. He would have slashed at the girl's slim back, but found his knife hand caught in an impressive grip.
June straightened, levered the big man with his arm, sent him galloping sideways away from her.
She didn't follow him. Instead she gave a sudden dip, tackled the other assailant around the knees. This off-balanced him before he could utilize the blackjack he'd produced.
While he was spreading out on his back, June stepped on him. One foot on his throat, one on the wrist of the hand which held the sap. The pain from his hand made him want to shout; the pressure on his windpipe prevented that.
"Oops." June executed a swift somersault off and away.
The knife man's attempt to grab her from behind came to naught; he ended up stabbing air and kicking his fallen partner s stomach.
June returned while he was still wobbling. She twisted his arm behind him, shoved. He went hopping and skipping straight into the wide, unyielding trunk of the nearest decorative tree.
His partner was trying to go away, on hands and knees.
June booted him in the tailbone, and, when the man stiffened out and fell fiat, she dealt him an impressive series of sidehand chops to the neck.
With a short, somewhat surprised groan, he dropped into unconsciousness.
The other man was also out, as a result of his sudden contact with the tree.
Very deftly, and rapidly, the girl, after pushing her blonde hair back into place, frisked both of the men. Neither carried any identification at all.
Tongue in cheek, she gathered up her purse with the autographed