Astounding Stories of Super-Science, August 1930

The guards disappeared; the Moon man, as if propelled by some invisible force, moved forward jerkily to the lake's edge. Instantly one of the saurians had seized him in its jaws, and another had wrenched half the body away, and the whole fighting, squirming mass vanished in the depths. And from far away came the screeching chant of the Moon men, as if in invocation to some hideous deity. And, moving perceptibly, the huge black orb of Eros's dark satellite crept over the sky, completely covering it. Axelson stepped forward to where Nat stood, supporting Madge in his arms. The girl had fainted with horror at the scene. "Your answer Nathaniel Lee," he said softly. "I know you have been postponing the decision. Now I will take the girl, and you shall give me your answer. Will you and these men join me, or will you die as the Moon man died?" He spoke wheezily, as if he, like Nat, had a cold. And he put his arm around Madge. Next moment something happened to him that had never happened in his life before. The Black Caesar went down under a well-directed blow to the jaw. He leaped to his feet trembling with fury and barked a command. Instantly the old guards had hurled themselves forward. And behind them a horde of Moon men came, ambling. While the guards covered their prisoners with their ray-rods, two Moon men seized each of them, imprisoning him in their unbreakable grasp. Axelson pointed upward. "When the reign of Erebos is past," he said, "you become food for the denizens of the lake, unless you have agreed to serve me."