the heavy heat the snake-devils relished next to food.

"Then--" Dalgard did not like to think of what might be the answer to
that "then."

Sssuri shrugged. "It is plain that these are not wild roamers. They
are here for a purpose. And that purpose--" Suddenly his arm shot out
so that his fingers protruded through the slits in the stone grille.
"See?"

Dalgard had already seen, in seeing he knew hot and terrible anger.
Out of the filthy mess in which the snake-devils wallowed, something
had rolled, perhaps thrown about in play by the unspeakable offspring.
A skull, dried scraps of fur and flesh still clinging to it, stared
hollow-eyed up at them. At least one merman had fallen prey to the
nightmares who ruled the arena.

Sssuri hissed and the red rage in his mind was plain to Dalgard. "Once
more they deal death here--" His eyes went from the skull to the
monsters. "Kill!" The command was imperative and sharp.

Dalgard had qualified as a master bowman before he had first gone
roving. And the killing of snake-devils was a task which had been set
every colonist since their first brush with the creatures.

He snapped the cap off the glass splinter point, designed to pin and
then break off in the hide so that any clawing foot which tore out an
arrow could not rid the victim of the poisonous head. The archer's
mark was under the throat where the scales were soft and there was a
chance of piercing the skin with the first shot.

The growls of the two feeding youngsters covered the snap of the bow
cord as Dalgard shot. And he did not miss. The brilliant scarlet
feather of the arrow quivered in the baggy roll of flesh.

With a scream which tore at the human's eardrums, the snake-devil
reared to its hind feet. It made a tearing motion with the banded
forearm which scraped across the back of one of its companions. And
then it fell back to the blood-stained sand, limp, a greenish foam
drooling from its fangs.

As the monster that the dead devil had raked roused, Dalgard had his
chance for another good mark. And the second scarlet shaft sped
straight to the target.

But the third creature which had been sleeping belly down on the sand
presented only its armored back, a hopeless surface for an arrow to
pierce. It had opened its eyes and was watching the now motionless
bodies of its fellows. But it showed no disposition to move. It was
almost as if it somehow understood that as long as it remained in its
present position