"In the corridor of the second door you will step upon a hidden spring that will cause long, sharp spikes to be released upon you from all directions; and upon these you will be impaled and die. "In the third corridor a similar spring will ignite a gas that will consume you in flames. In the fourth, r-rays will be loosed upon you, and you will die instantly. In the fifth, another door will open at the far end and admit a tharban." "What is a tharban?" I asked. Sov looked at me in astonishment. "You know as well as I," he growled. "I have told you that I am from another world," I snapped. "I do not know what the word means." "It will do no harm to tell him," suggested Vilor; "for if, by chance, he does not know, some of the horror of the room of the seven doors may be lost upon him." "Not a bad thought," interjected Moosko. "Describe the tharban, Friend Sov." "It is a terrible beast," explained Sov, "a huge and terrible beast. It is covered with stiff hair, like bristles, and is of a reddish color with white stripes running lengthwise of its body, its belly being of a bluish tinge. It has great jaws and terrible talons, and it eats naught but flesh." * * * * * At that instant a terrific roar that seemed to shake the building broke upon our ears. "That is the tharban," said Hokal with a grin. "He has not eaten for three days, and he is not only very hungry, but he is very angry." "And what lies beyond the sixth door?" I demanded. "In the corridor beyond the sixth door hidden jets will deluge you with a corrosive acid. It will fill your eyes and burn them out; and it will consume your flesh slowly, but you will not die too quickly. You will have ample time in which to repent the crimes that brought you to the room of the seven doors. The sixth door, I think, is the most terrible of all." "To my mind the seventh is worse," remarked Hokal. "Perhaps," admitted Sov. "In the seventh, death is longer in coming, and the mental agony is protracted. When you step upon the concealed spring in the corridor beyond the seventh door the walls commence to move slowly toward you. Their movement is so slow as to be almost imperceptible, but eventually they will reach you and slowly crush you between them." "And what is the purpose of the noose above the table?" I asked. "In the agony of indecision as to which door is the door to life," explained Sov, "you will be tempted to destroy yourself, and the noose is there for that purpose. But it is cunningly arranged at such a distance above the table that you cannot utilize it to break your neck and bring death quickly; you can only strangle to death." "It appears to me that you have gone to considerable pains to destroy your enemies," I suggested. "The room of the seven doors was not designed primarily to inflict death," explained Sov. "It is used as a means for converting unbelievers to Thorism, and you would be surprised to know how efficacious it has been."