Darkness was still about him when he awoke. But it was cool; the air was sweet on his lips. And it was not entirely dark.
He turned his head. He was in a room. On a rough-hewn table a candle was burning. Its light cast flickering shadows on walls of stone. Rumbling in his ears was the sound of the blast that had overwhelmed him. It echoed, seemingly, from far back in the stone cliff.
Jerry made a move to sit up. He found that his hands and feet were tied, his body bound to the rough board bed.
At the sound of his stirring, a figure came out from the farther shadow. It was that of a man. Jerry looked at him in silence. He was tall, his thin erectness making him seem abnormal in the low room. The lean face was unshaven, and from under a thatch of black hair a pair of deep-set eyes stared penetratingly at the figure on the rude bed.
"Well," asked Jerry, at length, "what's the big idea?"
There was no reply. Only the intent, staring eyes.
"You got me out of that man-trap of yours," Jerry continued. "You saved my life."
The tall man finally spoke. "Yes, I saved your life. You missed the hottest part of the exhaust. I pumped you full of oxygen."
"Then why tie me up like this?" Jerry Foster was frankly puzzled.
"You are lucky to be alive. Spies are not always allowed--" He interrupted himself abruptly. "You are a reporter," he stated.
"Nobody sent me. I heard the noise of your infernal blast-furnace and came down to have a look."
"Who sent you?" repeated the man. "Goodwin? The Stillwater crowd? Who was it?"
"I don't know what you are talking about," protested Jerry. "I don't know who your Goodwin or Stillwater people are. I don't know who you are--I don't give a damn. Take these ropes off and cut out the melodrama. I'll go on my way, and I don't care if I never see you again."
"That's a lie." The tall figure leaned over to shake a bony fist. "You'd report to Goodwin. He stole my last invention. He'll not get this."
Jerry considered the wild figure carefully. "He's a nut," he thought. When he spoke, his voice was controlled.
"Now, see here," he said: "I don't know anything about this. I'm Jerry Foster, live in San Francisco--"
"Confound you and your Goodwin! So do a million other people live there! I'm getting away from there; I'm heading into the hills for a short vacation. All I want is to get away from the world. I'm looking for a little peace and quiet."