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all his faculties. The lights were on again and in their glow there was revealed to
the man the figure of a giant Martian rat crouching upon the table and gnawing
upon his arm. Snatching his arm away he reached for his short-sword, while the
rat, growling, sought to seize his arm again. It was then that Turan discovered
that his weapons had been removed--short-sword, long-sword, dagger, and pistol.
The rat charged him then and striking the creature away with his hand the man
rose and backed off, searching for something with which to strike a harder blow.
Again the rat charged and as Turan stepped quickly back to avoid the menacing
jaws, something seemed to jerk suddenly upon his right ankle, and as he drew
his left foot back to regain his equilibrium his heel caught upon a taut chain and
he fell heavily backward to the floor just as the rat leaped upon his breast and
sought his throat.
The Martian rat is a fierce and unlovely thing. It is many-legged and hairless, its
hide resembling that of a newborn mouse in repulsiveness. In size and weight it is
comparable to a large Airedale terrier. Its eyes are small and close-set, and almost
hidden in deep, fleshy apertures. But its most ferocious and repulsive feature is
its jaws, the entire bony structure of which protrudes several inches beyond the
flesh, revealing five sharp, spadelike teeth in the upper jaw and the same number
of similar teeth in the lower, the whole suggesting the appearance of a rotting face
from which much of the flesh has sloughed away.
It was such a thing that leaped upon the breast of the panthan to tear at his
jugular. Twice Turan struck it away as he sought to regain his feet, but both
times it returned with increased ferocity to renew the attack. Its only weapons are
its jaws since its broad, splay feet are armed with blunt talons. With its
protruding jaws it excavates its winding burrows and with its broad feet it pushes
the dirt behind it. To keep the jaws from his flesh then was Turan's only concern
and this he succeeded in doing until chance gave him a hold upon the creature's
throat. After that the end was but a matter of moments. Rising at last he flung
the lifeless thing from him with a shudder of disgust.
Now he turned his attention to a hurried inventory of the new conditions which
surrounded him since the moment of his incarceration. He realized vaguely what
had happened. He had been anaesthetized and stripped of his weapons, and as
he rose to his feet he saw that one ankle was fettered to a chain in the wall. He
looked about the room. All the doors swung wide open! His captors would render
his imprisonment the more cruel by leaving ever before him tempting glimpses of
open aisles to the freedom he could not attain. Upon the end of the table and
within easy reach was food and drink. This at least was attainable and at sight of
it his starved stomach seemed almost to cry aloud for sustenance. It was with
difficulty that he ate and drank in moderation.
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