prodigious size of his head, planted as it was directly upon his
shoulders; for he had no neck. His eyes were set so close together that
at first glance they seemed to be but one. His nose was flat and African
in type, while his mouth, devoid of curves, was simply revolting in its
huge, thick-lipped lack of proportion. His chin was square and
aggressive; his forehead, strangely enough, extremely high and narrow,
rather than low and broad.

His victim lay in an attitude that indicated the most agonizing torture;
his head was bent completely back, and around behind his shoulders. On
the ground lay two battle-axes, huge affairs almost as heavy as the
massively muscled men who had used them.

But the eyes of the explorers kept coming back to the fearsome face of
the conqueror. From the brows down, he was simply a huge, brutal giant;
above his eyes, he was an intellectual. The combination was absolutely
frightful; the beast looked capable of anything, of overcoming any
obstacle, mental or physical, internal or external, in order to assert
his apparently enormous will. He could control himself or dominate
others with equal ease and assurance.

"It can't be that he was drawn from life," said the doctor, with an
effort. It wasn't easy to criticize that figure, lifeless though it was.
"On a planet like this, with such slight gravitation, there is no need
for such huge strength. The typical Mercurian should be tall and flimsy
in build, rather than short and compact."

But the geologist differed. "We want to remember that the earth has no
standard type. Think what a difference there is between the mosquito and
the elephant, the snake and the spider! One would suppose that they had