“I will give thee time to decide,” Nordhu said, “whether ye will do my bidding or be delivered to the sacred beast of Ramouni. See, here is food”--flinging a couple of mushroom-like fungi towards his prisoner--“eat, and think well over your answer. Thy fate is in thine own hands.” “Stand back against the further wall,” he added, a moment later. Without a word Mervyn obeyed. As he did so Nordhu stamped with his foot upon the floor of the passage. Instantly, from the crack in the floor leapt a dazzling sheet of flame, forming an impenetrable barrier between the scientist and the doorway. Almost to the roof the flaming wall towered, darting and flashing in innumerable little tongues. The heat from the barrier was terrible; its glare seemed to shrivel Mervyn’s eyes, and his ears throbbed with the roaring of the flames. The fungi lay untasted at his side, and he sat with his head buried in his hands, the personification of despair. His fate was in his own hands, so the priest had said; his own it was to decide whether he should earn freedom or a terrible death. A subtle temptation came to him as he sat there in the fiery cell, to yield to circumstances, to drift with the tide. Almost it overcame him, but to his aid came another thought. What guarantee had he that Nordhu would fulfil his promise and set him free if he obeyed him? Would not the priest rather keep him captive, that he might wring from him knowledge of other things besides firearms? It was scarcely likely that he would allow such a prize as Mervyn would prove to slip through his fingers, promise or no promise. “No,” the scientist muttered; “he can shrivel me to a cinder if he likes. I will not obey him!” So was his determination taken. CHAPTER XIV. “RAHEE THE TERRIBLE!” “WHAT sayest thou? Wilt live or die?” Many hours had passed since Mervyn made his decision. The flaming barrier had sunk back into the depths whence it sprang, and Nordhu stood once more before his captive. The scientist faced the priest boldly. “This is my answer,” he cried: “I utterly refuse to reveal to you any of the things you wish to know; but hear this ere ye destroy me: I have friends who will exact a terrible vengeance if I be harmed. Not all your hordes of wolfish followers will save you from their fury.”