When morning comes, they prepare to leave, when Diane notices the fragments of the flame-orchid. During the night, each one had grown, until they now have fifty the size of the original. They gather them up, and Tim wraps up some of the rock dust from the cave floor for later analysis. The two resume climbing, but they are still a mile below the summit when the wind dies, and a thousand feet below when the wind starts blowing in their faces. They find themselves being pushed back down the face of the mountain, and pass out. Tim awakens to find the two of them in a hollow a quarter mile below the summit. He resumes climbing, dragging the unconscious Diane with him, until he passes the summit and starts down the far side, with the lights of Nivia visible in the foothills below. Despite a severe bashing from the wind, near unconsciousness and severe frostbite, Tim reaches the settlement in time to save himself and his wife. The Vicks are now rich from the fragments of the smashed, priceless flame-orchid that have all grown to the size of the original.