s and
left him gasping somewhat for breath. The priest looked at him with a
sort of curious wonder, which made Paullinus determine to go further.

The temple itself was large and dark, a sickly light only filtering in
through a hole in the roof. The floor was paved, and the roof was
supported by great wooden columns, the trunks of large forest trees.
The greater part of the building was shut off by a large wooden
screen, about the height of a man, close to them, so that they stood
in a kind of vestibule. The whole of the building, walls, roof, and
floor, had been painted at some time or other a black colour, which
was now faded and looked a dark slaty grey. Over the screen in the
centre was seen the head of what seemed an image, very great and
horrible. The light, which came from an opening immediately above the
image, showed a horned and bearded head, misshapen and grotesque.
Possibly at another time and place Paullinus might have smiled at the
ugly thing; but here, peering at them over the screen, in the fetid
gloom, it froze the blood in his veins.

And now behind the screen were strange sounds as well, a kind of
heavy breathing or snorting, and what seemed the scratching of some
beast. The priest went up to the screen and opened a sort of panel in
it; this was followed by a hoarse and hideous outcry within, half of
fear and half of rage. The priest took from an angle of the wall a
long pole shod with iron, and leaned within the opening, saying in a
stern tone some words that Paullinus did not understand. Presently the
noises ceased, and the priest, using a great effort, seemed to pull or
push at something with the pole, and there was the sound as of a great
gate turning on its hinges. Then he drew his head and arms out, and
said to Paullinus, "We may enter." He then threw a door open in the
middle of the screen and went in. Paullinus followed.

In front of them stood a great statue on a pedestal; the figure of a
thing, half-man half-goat, crouched as though to spring. The smell was
still more horrible within, and it became clear to Paullinus that he
was in the lair of some ravenous and filthy beast. There lay a mess of
bones underneath the statue. To the left, in the wall, there was a
strong oaken door, made like a portcullis, which seemed to close the
entrance of a den; something seemed to move and stir in the blackness,
and Paullinus heard the sound of heavy breathing within. The priest,
still holding the pole