The _zanth_ paused now, the spiked head moving sinuously to and fro. The tail flicked the blood-stained sand. Its powerful, armor-scaled body seemed to draw together. Shane forgot to breathe. The _zanth_ lunged. * * * * * Shane dived as the great spiked head lanced forward. The jaws snapped shut where he had been with a clacking like the sound of monstrous castanets. After that, there was no time for anything but action. For even before the Earthman hit the ground, the thing was whirling. The claws of its eight feet sprayed the sand like a windstorm. Again, it lunged. Desperately, Shane rolled out of the way. But now the serrated, seven-foot tail lashed out at him, with a force that would have smashed through a solid brick wall. Again Shane rolled--in, towards the _zanth's_ body. One of the feet clawed for him. A six-inch talon raked a bloody path along his side. Panting, the Earthman scrambled away--back to the shadows, the wall of the pit. The _zanth_ whirled; charged. Taut-muscled, Shane waited till the diamond head hammered forward. Then, in the last instant, he leaped aside. The _zanth's_ head smashed against the wall of the pit. Savagely, Shane stabbed for the crevice where the jaw-plates met, trying for the creature's tiny brain. But the tough cartilage turned away the blade. With a roar, the _zanth_ struck at him. Shane leaped high into the air, and the awful head passed beneath him. Twisting, he landed on the writhing, tree-thick neck; balanced there for a precarious moment. The _zanth_ reared back, clawing for him, and Shane sprang clear. Again he took up his stand against the wall. This time, the _zanth_ broke off its charge to flail at him with its tail. Barely in time, the Earthman got out of the way. He was breathing hard, now--his whole body shaking under the strain. The _zanth_ lunged. Desperately, Shane snatched up a handful of sand, hurled it straight into the oncoming monster's glaring eyes. The creature came up short, shaking its head. Shane moved like a striking _quirst_. Again he snatched sand, hurled it. * * * * * The _zanth_ raised its head high, to the full length of the five-foot neck. Clawing, it leaped at the Earthman. The awful talons shredded his clothes, tore at his flesh. Shane threw himself sideways. The head lanced towards him. He slashed at the eyes with his knife, felt the steel bite in. A wild roar burst from the creature's throat. It threw itself at Shane in a frenzy, clawing and snapping and threshing. Once more, Shane sprang aside--then darted back before the creature could make the double turn. Leaping to its neck, he threw himself flat upon it, clinging to it with legs and one arm as to a writhing log, while with the other hand, the knife hand, he stabbed again and again at the bulging eyes.