"I still feel that it should be destroyed--as I wanted to destroy it when it was born. But I have preserved its life because of my promise to your mother, and because it will be a living exhibit to prove the authenticity of my book: _A History of the Sorceries and Demonolatries of Creston_." Fast in a frozen sea of dread, I dimly knew that Doctor Kyle was turning toward the door. I could scarcely hear him say: "You may go back to your room, Clay. You see why you can never marry Valyne." _4. At the Mercy of--Monstrosity!_ Back in my own frosty room, I collapsed on the bed. I tried to think. But red chaos ruled my brain. Only one clear thought emerged: If I couldn't marry Valyne Kirk, then I must die. I tried to doubt what Doctor Kyle had told me. It was hideously incredible, and belief in it meant death. But the sober, convincing manner of his telling, the strangeness that had shadowed all my life, the lurking dread that festered in Creston, the hideous monster in the cellar--these combined to bring me maddening conviction. I tried to think it a lie. But what reason had Doctor Kyle to lie to me, to whom he had always been a second father? What motive could he have for a deception calculated only to drive me away from Creston, a crazed and hopeless fugitive, for ever? And what lie could have darkened all my life, and set me apart from men, even in the distant East? No! I could not escape the clutching intuition of horror. Strange and fearful blood burned through my body. In all the world was no being of my own kind--none save that chained monstrosity! And my love for Valyne could give birth only to terror, madness, and death. Distantly, from below, I heard a sound like howling, and a chain clanking, and wood splintering. The monster--my twin---- Cold, trembling, I sat up on the edge of the bed. It was struggling; perhaps it would escape. A terrible resolve steadied me. I would never see it again. I strode grimly to the window. Outside was night; the silent, immemorial forests of Creston; the gloomy, tangled slope of Blue Squaw Mountain, whose summit was crowned with that altar of frightful sacrifice. Shrinking from the darkness and the horror of it, I was suddenly conscious of the weight sagging against my chest. There was a surer way.... With a hand now steady, I slipped the automatic out of its holster. It was heavy and cold and black. Its grim steel efficiency was a match for all the festering evil of ancient Creston. I snapped back the slide and watched the bright, blunt cartridge leap into the chamber. I thrust the hard muzzle resolutely against my temple, hardly conscious of the quiet, swift rapping upon my door. But it was flung open, and Valyne rushed to me. Her urgent hand jerked my arm away. "Clay! Clay!" gasped her terrified whisper. "I came because I was afraid you would!"