The hopelessness of any such effort, the utter impossibility of it, was plain to him. An army would be overwhelmed in a few moments by these countless hordes! What chance, then, had his friends? At most they were but four in number, and, with all their daring, they would not be able to pluck him from out the clutches of the priest. So thinking, the scientist commended his soul to his Maker, waiting, pale faced but undaunted in spirit, for the terrible death which he knew would soon be his. What form it would take he knew not; but he was aware that somewhere behind that row of bars lurked the beast to whose murderous appetite he was to be sacrificed. The suspense was terrible. Anything was better than this drawn-out agony, and he was glad when, suddenly, the high priest raised his hand. Instantly a thunderous shout of “Nordhu! Nordhu!” pealed upward from a myriad throats. It ceased abruptly, and a tense, brooding silence followed, broken a few moments later by the harsh voice of the chief priest. With many violent gestures he harangued his people, and Mervyn listened with fast-beating heart as Nordhu pronounced his doom. As his voice trailed off into silence, half a dozen of the priests sprang forward to the windlass, while the rest, opening a gate in the barrier, thrust Mervyn into the enclosure beyond. Then the scientist observed that there was a second row of bars within the den, forming a barrier before the mouth of a large cave in the temple wall. The use of the windlass without became apparent to him in a moment. Even as the thought crossed his mind, the huge wheel turned beneath the united efforts of the priests, and the rails--the only barrier between the captive and the so-called sacred beast of the wolf-men--rose, until the mouth of the cave was uncovered. As the great windlass ceased to move, another thunderous shout swelled up from the ranks of the savages. “Hail, Rahee! Rahee the terrible!” On the instant, as though in answer to the cry, a sound came from the depths of the cave. The beast was coming forth! Fascinated, Mervyn stood watching for the appearance of the redoubtable Rahee. _“My God”_ Like the wail of a soul in torment, the despairing cry trembled from the captive scientist’s lips as the sacred beast emerged from the cavern. Never in all his wildest dreams had he imagined that so hideous a creature could exist. Long afterwards the terror of the brute haunted him. Its glaring eyes seemed to be ever before him, and the gnashing of its jaws dinned in his ears for days. With a stealthy, sidelong motion the spider-like brute crept towards its fascinated victim. Every hair on its great, brown body bristled with fury; each of its eight, claw-armed legs seemed to quiver with eagerness as it advanced. The horror of the awful thing stunned Mervyn--held him powerless, as though he were fixed to the floor. He could do naught but stare.