t was the captured Atom Smasher upon the platform, and those
forms grouped in front of the dignitaries were captured Drilgoes, a
dozen or so of them. And the concealed priest was droning a chant
again. Every other sound was hushed, but from each square foot of the
great amphitheatre a pair of eyes was watching.

A myriad of eyes turned upon the platform! What was going to happen
next?

* * * * *

Suddenly the priest's voice died away, and simultaneously the three
dignitaries, who seemed to be officiating priests, from their solemn
gestures, stepped backward, passing beneath the protruding arms of the
idols. There sounded the deep whir of some mechanism somewhere, and
the same invisible force that had Jim and his two companions in its
control suddenly began to agitate the captive Drilgoes.

_It was shuffling them!_ It was forcing them into line, pushing here
and pulling there, in spite of the Drilgoes' terrified struggles. They
writhed and twisted, groaning and clicking in abject terror as they
wrestled with that unseen power, and all in vain. Slowly the foremost
of the Drilgoes was propelled forward, inch by inch, until he stood
immediately beneath the interlacing arms.

And what happened next filled Jim with sick horror and loathing. For
of a sudden the arms began to move, the iron claws cut through the
air--a shriek of terror and anguish broke from the Drilgo's mouth ...
and he was no longer a man, but a clawed and pulped mass of human
flesh!

"Aiah! Aiah! Aiah!" broke from the throats of the assembled multitude.

The weaving arms had stopped. From behind them an attendant was
gathering up what had been the Drilgo in a basket. Then the mechanism
had begun again, and again that shrill cry of the spectators was
ringing in Jim's ears.

Louder still rose the shriek of old Parrish as he understood. Jim put
forth all his strength in a mad effort to break free. A child would
have had more chance in the grip of a giant. And each time the arms of
the gods revolved, the unseen force pushed Jim, Lucille, and Parrish
nearer the platform.

Now Jim understood. This horrible sacrifice was a part of the religion
of the Atlanteans, and he, Lucille, and Parrish, were being reserved
for the final spectacle.

And at the sight of Lucille beside him, stonily unconscious, and yet
standing, and moving like a mechanical doll, in little forward
jerks--at the sight of the girl, hardly six feet distant