Used as Nick was to all kinds of sights that only few men are privileged to see, this one gave him a sinking feel inside that he could not have described, but which indubitably was there.
The Scarab moved with incredible swiftness, and the man was obliged to leap about with the agility of a pantomimic dancer to keep out of its reach.
The insect—or reptile, whichever it might be called—measured a good six feet in length, and was about half as broad. The shell back resembled that of a turtle. But this creature was much more supple. Besides, the plates that composed its shell slipped about with an ease and smoothness never seen in the commoner animal.
It had six legs, with two horns, the length of a tall man’s arm. These were furnished at the ends with hooked claws and incisors of a most vicious aspect.
As it darted here and there, its whole body rippled sinuously, while its scaly back glistened and flashed in the rays of the bright morning sun.
Its method of attack was peculiarly its own. Every time it approached its adversary it would raise its horns and the fore part of its body, strike with the speed of a cat, and retreat before it could suffer a reprisal.
Not that it seemed to fear anything the man could do. Several of his stones had struck it, but without any noticeable effect. The stones made no impression on its hard shell.
Four times the man dodged around the great ring, his uncanny foe close behind him. Although he was making a better showing against the Scarab than most persons ever had, it was evidently only a question of how long he could hold out.
At last he tripped over a sharp rock that he had hurled at his enemy only just before. Down he went, and the blood flowed from a gash in his foot where he had struck the edge of the stone.
In a flash the Golden Scarab was upon him. Before he could scramble to his feet, the two great horns were flung wide and came together with a clash. The incisors drove deeply into his chest. He dropped to the ground, senseless, a stone still clenched between his stiffening fingers.