into a large, circular chamber, the walls and floors of which
were covered with the skins of wild beasts and with rugs of many
colors; but what interested him most was the occupants of the
room--a Wieroo, and a girl of human proportions. She was
standing with her back against a column which rose from the
center of the apartment from floor to ceiling--a hollow column
about forty inches in diameter in which he could see an opening
some thirty inches across. The girl's side was toward Bradley,
and her face averted, for she was watching the Wieroo, who was
now advancing slowly toward her, talking as he came.

Bradley could distinctly hear the words of the creature, who was
urging the girl to accompany him to another Wieroo city. "Come with
me," he said, "and you shall have your life; remain here and He Who
Speaks for Luata will claim you for his own; and when he is done
with you, your skull will bleach at the top of a tall staff while
your body feeds the reptiles at the mouth of the River of Death.
Even though you bring into the world a female Wieroo, your fate
will be the same if you do not escape him, while with me you shall
have life and food and none shall harm you."

He was quite close to the girl when she replied by striking him
in the face with all her strength. "Until I am slain," she cried,
"I shall fight against you all." From the throat of the Wieroo
issued that dismal wail that Bradley had heard so often in the
past--it was like a scream of pain smothered to a groan--and then
the thing leaped upon the girl, its face working in hideous
grimaces as it clawed and beat at her to force her to the floor.

The Englishman was upon the point of entering to defend her when