nd relaxed; but before he turned back
to the trail, he saw signs of a recent struggle in the matted grass
close by. It might have nothing to do with the business at hand--and,
again, it might.

A brief investigation gave him the complete picture. Here, Mog had gone
down beneath Sadu; a few paces away were the broken grasses where Alurna
had been tossed. He knew, without troubling to look, that Mog's bones
were bleaching behind yonder wall of verdure.

Well, the Hairy One was dead; it would save Tharn the task of killing
him. Now all that remained was to take the trail of the frightened girl
at the place where she had plunged blindly into the dark waste of
jungle. She could not have gotten far; and, except for the unlikely
chance that one of the big cats had pulled her down, his mission should
be finished before nightfall.

Delaying no longer, Tharn took up the trail of the princess, forging
rapidly ahead and following with ease the evidence of her hurried
flight.

Soon he came to the tiny clearing in which Alurna had spent the previous
night. Circling about, he quickly picked up her trail out of the glade,
went on across a short stretch of jungle and out onto the banks of a
little stream.

Here he found traces of small sandals in the soft mud. That these had
not been even partially obliterated by prowling beasts was evidence of
the spoor's freshness.

By this time the mid-day heat was at its strongest. Tharn paused long
enough to slake his thirst, then set out along the same pathway taken by
Alurna not long before.

A half hour later he was moving steadily ahead at a half trot, expecting
to come upon the girl at any moment.

Suddenly he came to a full stop, head thrown back, sensitive nostrils
searching the light breeze. And then he moved--as lightning moves.

Only the trembling of leaves marked where he had entered the trees
overhead.

CHAPTER XV

Treachery

In the apartment of Pryak, far beneath the temple of the Sepharian god,
a number of priests were grouped about a long table. At its head sat the
high priest, Pryak; at his right was Orbar, second in command. The
balance of the stools were occupied by six under-priests, all stern,
silent men of middle-age, with that air of inflexible righteousness
which appears to be the hallmark of their kind.

Pryak, his close-set eyes of watery blue blazing with an inner fire,
rose from his chair.

"For many moons," he began, choosing his words careful