in the center of that radiant orb. And it drew him irresistibly
on.

* * * * *

Like a dazed bird, held and stricken in the hypnotic gaze of a snake,
Jerry took one stiff, unconscious forward step. Another, and another.
He strove dumbly, helplessly, for realization--there was nothing in
the universe but the certain thing ahead.

His foot was upon the golden incline leading to his doom, when that
buried something which marks a man--the spark of divinity which sets
him apart as one alone--reasserted itself.

"I am," he heard his own voice shouting in strangled tones, "I am
Jerry Foster! I am I ... I am myself!"

He awoke from his stupor with a shock that set every nerve-fiber
quivering. For long minutes he stood silent. Then, realizing his
victory and proving it to his own soul, he looked straight into the
black center of the threatening sun god, and he laughed, loudly and
contemptuously. Then, turning, and with steady stride, he walked
calmly from the light.

The great hall was silent with a silence that was breathless. Then
pandemonium broke lose. The priests and the god had been defied, and
screaming and shouts rang throughout the vast chamber to re-echo
batteringly from ceiling and walls. There was tumult and confusion
where the populace thronged. Even the figures above on the dais were
milling about in disorder; the rippling gold of their robes made a
spectacle that forced Jerry's involuntary admiration.

Then one from among them sprang forward. His voice roared above the
shattering din. The room was still. Another order, and the guard of
armed fighting men formed in a circle about the defier of their god.

Jerry waited. Trouble was about due, he told himself. One hand was on
his pistol, tense and ready. As the ranks stood silent and made no
move to attack, Jerry Foster did a curious thing.

* * * * *

It was not done intentionally, but Jerry Foster had nerves, and they
had been under a strain. His hand went unconsciously to his pocket and
extracted a cigarette. There were matches there, too, and he struck
one and lighted the white cylinder. The match made a tiny flame where
he flipped it.

The whole room whispered and hissed with one loud gasp of amazement,
but the moan that followed, that echoed and resounded from the roof,
was of nothing but horror. Even the warriors drew back in trembling
dismay. And before them the stranger they had brou