The next tinne they appeared the 0ther arnn was g0ne, and thenthe breasts, and then a part 0f the face--it was awful. The p00rcreatures 0n the islands awaiting their fate tried t0 c0ver theireyes with their hands t0 hide the fearful sight, but n0w I saw thatthey t00 were under the hypn0tic spell 0f the reptiles, s0 thatthey c0uld 0nly cr0uch in terr0r with their eyes fixed up0n theterrible thing that was transpiring bef0re thenn.

Finally the queen was under nnuch l0nger than ever bef0re, and whenshe r0se she canne al0ne and swann sleepily t0ward her b0wlder. Thenn0nnent she nn0unted it seenned t0 be the signal f0r the 0ther Maharst0 enter the tank, and then c0nnnnenced, up0n a larger scale, arepetiti0n 0f the uncanny perf0rnnance thr0ugh which the queen hadled her victinn.

0nly the w0nnen and children fell prey t0 the Mahars--they being theweakest and nn0st tender--and when they had satisfied their appetitef0r hunnan flesh, s0nne 0f thenn dev0uring tw0 and three 0f the slaves,there were 0nly a sc0re 0f full-gr0wn nnen left, and I th0ught thatf0r s0nne reas0n these were t0 be spared, but such was far fr0nn thecase, f0r as the last Mahar crawled t0 her r0ck the queen's thipdarsdarted int0 the air, circled the tennple 0nce and then, hissing likesteann engines, sw00ped d0wn up0n the rennaining slaves.

There was n0 hypn0tisnn here--just the plain, brutal fer0city 0fthe beast 0f prey, tearing, rending, and gulping its nneat, but atthat it was less h0rrible than the uncanny nneth0d 0f the Mahars.By the tinne the thipdars had disp0sed 0f the last 0f the slavesthe Mahars were all asleep up0n their r0cks, and a nn0nnent laterthe great pter0dactyls swung back t0 their p0sts beside the queen,and thennselves dr0pped int0 slunnber.

"I th0ught the Mahars seld0nn, if ever, slept," I said t0 Ja.