"Quiet," he whispered. "Listen."
The slight disturbance had bothered the Cyclops. He was half awake. Hemade noises with his lips. One great arm lifted and fell. It could havecrushed the four of them.
"There's a stake," Robin said. "Just like in the book."
They got it and took it to the embers of the fire between them. Glaudot,who brought up the rear, dragged his end, the wood scraping on the rockyfloor.
"Lift it up," Charlie said.
Glaudot giggled and then began to cry. He was hysterical. "The three ofus?" Charlie asked.
"I don't know," Robin said.
Glaudot laughed hysterically. The Cyclops stirred. That made upCharlie's mind. He placed his end of the stake carefully on the floorand went back to Glaudot. He struck Glaudot neatly and precisely on thepoint of the jaw and Glaudot collapsed in his arms.
Then they returned with the stake to the fire. Charlie scraped andpushed the embers together with a charcoal log. They began to toast thepoint of the stake.
"We've got to hurry," Robin said.
"The skin of his eyelid is like armor plate," Charlie told her. "We'vegot to make sure it doesn't turn the point aside."
The flock stirred and began to grow more lively. It was now dawnoutside. The Cyclops yawned in his sleep and stretched out an arm thesize of an oak tree.
"Hurry!" Robin said urgently.
The Cyclops rolled over, its face to the wall.
"The eye!" Charlie groaned. "We'll never be able to reach the eye now."
They kept at their work, though. There was nothing else they could do.The surface wood of the big stake was taking on a dull cherry-red color.Finally Charlie said: "That's enough, I guess."
The Cyclops rolled over again. They were in luck, Charlie thought, butchanged his mind immediately. The Cyclops sat up, its eye blinkingsleepily. It yawned and stretched mightily, then stared stupidly for afew moments at the flock of sheep. Charlie and the others stood frozen,not daring to move. The Cyclops brushed at the sheep with its hand, andtwo of them crashed with bone-crushing thuds and death-rattle bleatsagainst the wall. The Cyclops glared stupidly about, its one great eyesquinting. Clearly, it was looking for something else to eat. Not sheep.People ...
It got down on hands and knees and groped on the floor. The arm sweptout. The hand flashed ponderously by, missing Robin by only a few feet.The Cyclops advanced on its knees, searching, its mouth slavering now.It was hungry and soon it would eat ...
The hand swept by again, caught a sheep. The hand lifted, the sheepbleated, the jaws crunched once and the sheep disappeared. The Cyclopswiped a trace of blood from its lips. The hand came down again,closer ...
* * * * *
"The stake!" Charlie whispered fiercely.
They brought it up horizontally. Charlie stood just behind the point,Robin behind him, Chandler in the rear. They jabbed with the stake asthe Cyclops's hand swept along the floor again. The Cyclops roared withpain and rage and beat both mighty hands on the rocky floor, attemptingto crush its tormentors.
Just then Glaudot regained consciousness and stood up groggily. "Don'tmove!" Charlie warned, taking the chance of revealing their own positionin an attempt to save Glaudot's life.
But Glaudot, seeing the huge creature so close, began to run. It waslike running on a treadmill. He ran and he ran and after a while theCyclops reached down and plucked him off the floor. He screamed thinly.There was the same crunching as before--and no Glaudot ...
Now the Cyclops, its appetite whetted, searched the floor in a frenzy ofearnest on hands and knees. The great head swung low, close to thefloor, the single eye stared myopically. Once the huge hand clubbed therock so close to them that Charlie could feel the floor shaking. Theyretreated slowly toward the far wall of the cave, the monster followingrelentlessly. They still held the heavy stake between them but had notyet gathered either the strength or the courage for their one try. Ifthey failed--
They had backed up as far as they could. The wall was behind them. Themonster came on, its head low, its nose practically scraping the ground.It swept the floor with a giant hand, a fingertip barely touchingCharlie and almost knocking him senseless. He shook his head and tookdeep breaths until his strength returned.
"Now," he said, as the hand began its swinging arc again.
* * * * *
They ran forward toward the creature's single eye with the stake.
Charlie barely remembered the contact, or the bath of eye-fluid andblood which followed, or the wild roaring of the brute creature, or itsfrantic charging back and forth, blinded, across the cave, while theflock bleated and stampeded. After a while the crazed Cyclops ran to thecave entrance and shouldered the great door-rock aside, rushing out intothe day.
It went tearing down the slope and did not stop until, battered andbleeding, it reached the sea. It stood on the narrow strand of beach fora moment, scooping great handfuls of water for its stricken eye. Thenit plunged into the surf.
They went outside and watched it. They made their way down the slopewhile it advanced into the sea. Finally only the great head remainedabove the waves.
They reached the shore.
The Cyclops was gone.
Moments later, Captain Purcell and the others joined them.
* * * * *
"Then you mean you won't come back to Earth with us?" Purcell askedlater, in the spaceship.
"Not if all you say about this world is true," Charlie said. "We'reneeded here."
"Yes," Purcell agreed. "With your help, the galaxy could be made into auniverse of plenty for everyone."
"Besides," said Robin. "We'll have to think of training children to takeover after we're gone." She looked at Charlie. She blushed. "Such as ourown," she said, very quickly, and added: "You can marry us, can't you,Captain?"
Purcell beamed, and nodded, and did so.
Later, Charlie said: "It isn't only that we're needed here, is it,darling?"
Robin shook her head. "We like it here," she said.
THE END
Transcriber's Note:
This etext was produced from _Amazing Stories_ September 1956. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed. Minor spelling and typographical errors have been corrected without note.
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