ume until they beat as a steady
roar, filling the entire arena with ominous sound. Armed priests,
stationed at the upper edge of the retaining wall, began to move
uneasily among the seats to restore order.

Suddenly the mounting crescendo stilled, as action on the arena sands
seemed imminent.

Sunlight, flooding the huge oval, bathed in golden glory the calm figure
of the man and the tan coat of the jungle king. With striking clarity it
picked out the corded muscles and swelling muscles of this cave-god. His
handsome, finely-shaped head with its crowning mop of straight black
hair; his shoulders, wide and erect; his mighty chest, narrow waist and
tapering hips--all made up a picture of physical perfection that no
observer was likely to forget.

And yet, invincible though this Cro-Magnard appeared, he seemed puny and
pitiable when compared with the huge beast that Wotar had sent against
him. Never before had so magnificent a lion appeared in Sephar's Games.
Even Tharn, jungle traveler for most of his life, had blinked
disbelievingly when Sadu made his entrance.

Sadu padded gently forward, the lithe sinews of his giant body rolling
smoothly beneath a shimmering hide. He seemed unruffled and serene; only
the angry lash of his sinuous tail told of a seething ferocity within
that lordly head.

Armed only with his painfully inadequate knife, Tharn advanced slowly to
meet certain destruction. He knew his chances for victory were so slim
as to be almost non-existent; yet the self-confidence and
resourcefulness born of a hundred battles against overwhelming odds were
weapons more dependable than the flint blade he carried.

Sadu stopped his own advance when the hated man-thing started toward
him. For several days now, he had been underfed, goaded about with sharp
sticks and shouting voices, harassed and annoyed until he was angry
enough to have charged a regiment. Yet that unfathomable sense of
caution, so strong a part of every wild creature, held him motionless
before the deliberate approach of this two-legged enemy.

Tharn halted. Only a few paces separated the two as they stood unmoving.
The man's eyes were riveted on the lion's restless tail; by its
movements could he know what was taking place in Sadu's brain.

Slowly Sadu settled into a crouching position, head flattened,
hindquarters drawn beneath his taut frame, tail twitching in jerky
undulations. A vagrant breeze ruffled the thick mane at his neck....