has looked into hell, was the face of a sane man.
"Come in, my friend," he said, and there was a great peace in his voice. "Come in and fear me not. The fiend has left me forever."
"But tell me, how conquered you?" I exclaimed as I grasped his hand.
"I fought a frightful battle, as I ran to the river," he answered, "for the fiend had me in its grasp and drove me to fall upon the natives. But for the first time my soul and mind gained ascendency for an instant, an instant just long enough to hold me to my purpose. And I believe the good saints came to my aid, for I was giving my life to save life.
"I leaped into the river and swam, and in an instant the crocodiles were swarming about me.
"Again in the clutch of the fiend I fought them, there in the river. Then suddenly the thing left me.
"I climbed from the river and fired the warehouse. The explosion hurled me hundreds of feet, and for days I wandered witless through the jungle.
"But the full moon came, and came again, and I felt not the influence of the fiend.
"I am free, free!" And a wondrous note of exultation, nay, exaltation, thrilled his words:
"My soul is free. Incredible as it seems, the demon lies drowned upon the bed of the river, or else inhabits the body of one of the savage reptiles that swim the ways of the Niger."
Coming Soon!
THE LOST RACE
By Robert E. Howard
Author of "Wolfshead"
A fascinating story of the cave-dwelling Picts
In WEIRD TALES
 | An image should appear at this position in the text. To use the entire page scan as a placeholder, edit this page and replace "{{missing image}}" with "{{raw image|Weird Tales Volume 7 Number 4 (1926-04).djvu/144}}". Otherwise, if you are able to provide the image then please do so. For guidance, see Wikisource:Image guidelines and Help:Adding images. |  |
