y
rubbed its huge, bullet head against the bars; then gripped the
ponderous bronze bars with its ridiculously small front legs to shake
the whole grille-work with a savagery that dislocated bits of plaster
and made the metal reverberate. While Nelson and Alden shrank flat
against the far wall, a scarlet tongue at least four feet long
flicked the air but a few feet from their bloodless, sweating visages.
Becoming irritated at the sturdiness of the barrier, the mountainous
reptile tugged harder and hissed, filling the cell with a foul
exhalation that stank like the reeks of smoldering rags.

Nelson's wavering consciousness reeled, and a mad, dreadful fear, like
that a dreamer suffers in the grip of nightmare, invaded his being. He
felt the hairs rising on the nape of his neck.

But, with a squall of rage, the monster abandoned its futile efforts
and leaped away. Feigning indifference, the allosaurus picked up a
half-gnawed skull with its tiny forelegs; and, while the prisoners
watched, it stuffed the head into a maw twice the size of an
elephant's and crunched the gruesome tidbit as easily as a boy would a
walnut. Presently it shuffled off to rejoin the hideous herd in the
center of the court.

"Nice kind of a jail we've been thrown into. Wish I could understand
what's happened." Alden buried his face in his hands. "It kind of
looks as though Altorius had a change of heart."

* * * * *

Nelson replied nothing, but sat staring fixedly out into the horrible
court.

"Somehow, I don't think Altorius would do such a thing," he said at
last. "Let's think back and see if we can't piece this treachery
together."

"Wish I had your faith in the Emperor--but I haven't." Alden's
handsome face twisted itself into a wry smile.

"Let's see, now," persisted Nelson, fingering a square jaw upon which
sprouted a thick growth of reddish bristles. "There was a deputation
of priests to see Altorius yesterday. They were clamoring for the
return of Altara--the Sacred Virgin--and looked pretty mad when he put
them off."

"Maybe this is the private doing of the priests," admitted Alden.
"Anyway, we're in one devil of a fix. There's certainly no way out of
this calaboose--and those damned brutes out there look hungry."

Nelson frowned, deep in thought. "Wish I could find a reasonable
explanation. I really don't think it's Altorius; still, that's what
you get for mixing in on the politics of these forgott