But this
creature was as impossible in its way as the horrific blue thing dragging
it out of concealment.
It walked erect on two threads of legs, with four knobby joints easily
detected. A bulging abdomen sheathed in the horny substance of a beetle's
shell ended in a sharp point. Two pairs of small legs, folded close to
the much smaller upper portion of its body, were equipped with thorn
shack terminations. The head, which constantly turned back and forth on
the armor plated shoulders, was long and narrow and split for half its
length by a mouth above which were deep pits which must harbor eyes,
though actual organs were not visible to the watching men. It was a
palish gray in color--which surprised Dane a little. His memory of the
few seconds he had seen it on the Captain's desk had suggested that it
was much darker. And erect as it was, it stood about eighteen inches
high.
With head turning rapidly, it still hesitated by the side of the vat, so
nearly the color of the metal that unless it moved it was difficult to
distinguish. As far as Dane could see the Hoobat was paying it no
attention.
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