Rainsford is horrified by Zaroff's revelation. Zaroff invites Rainsford to hunt with him but Rainsford declines citing exhaustion. That night Rainsford is unable to sleep. The next day he learns that he is either to serve as Zaroff's newest prey or fall into the burly, violent hands of Ivan. He elects the former and immediately sets off into the jungle.
After a few hours of zigzagging through the dense jungle, he climbs a tree to hide from his adversary. Incredibly, despite the elusive trail, Zaroff is able to easily find Rainsford.
However, in order to prolong the fun of the game, Zaroff leaves Rainsford without harming him. Rainsford panics and is subject to a few other encounters with Zaroff. Each time he gets closer and closer to defeating his foe through the use of primitive traps. Unfortunately, he is unable to trap his pursuer. He does manage to kill one of Zaroff's prized dogs and Ivan. In the final chase, Rainsford dives off the edge of the cliff into the ocean. Zaroff is disappointed to have lost his worthy adversary and returns to his house crestfallen.
After a hearty meal and much reminiscing of the day's events, Zaroff decides to retire for the evening. They are traveling on a boat and discussing an infamous island that should be somewhere nearby, Ship-Trap Island. Whitney explains to Rainsford that the island is known as a place of dread. Rainsford tries to find the island through the thick, leafy jungle but is unable to spot it. Whitney remarks on the depth of darkness in the region of the Caribbean that they are sailing through.
Whitney reveals that the ship is headed to Rio de Janiero in Brazil, and should arrive in a few days. The two men then launch into a discussion of jaguar hunting in the Amazon.
Rainsford remarks that hunting is the best sport in the world. Rainsford pushes aside his commentary as foolishness for he feels that animals have no understanding of the hunt.
Rainsford, once again, casts aside his statement as nonsense. Rainsford tells Whitney that the heat has made him emotionally soft. The reality of the world, as Rainsford sees it, is that there are two groups—the hunted and the hunters. Rainsford and Whitney then return to the subject of the island. Rainsford inquires more about the rumors surrounding the mysterious island. Whitney explains that the island simply radiates evil—even the captain and the crew of the boat were on edge as the boat approached the island.
The captain had told Whitney that he felt a profound sense of dread on passing through the waters that surrounded the island. Rainsford thinks that the captain is simply being overdramatic. He explains to Rainsford that even though that might be the case, there is still something to be said for the ability of evil to be perceived, especially by those who face danger constantly.
The door opened to reveal a gigantic man with no shirt on pointing a revolver at Rainsford. Sanger Rainsford told the man his name and explained that he had fallen off his yacht.
Suddenly, General Zaroff appeared, called off the man with the rifle, shook Rainsford's hand, and told him he had read his book. He explained that his assistant Ivan was deaf then he invited him in. Ivan helped to show Rainsford to a bedroom where he was able to change his clothes.
He noticed the many mounted animal heads along the walls. When he returned, General Zaroff offered Rainsford a cocktail and some soup.
They talk about hunting, and General Zaroff says he likes to hunt the biggest game available: people. Rainsford protests that what he says refers to murder, but Zaroff insists there's a difference. He treats his "guests" kindly, providing them with food, shelter, and exercise. Of course, he is the one who lures these guests to his house by causing their ships to have accidents, leaving them stranded on his island.
He tells Rainsford he has about a dozen people currently in his training school that he can show him. When it is time to go hunting, he supplies his adversary with food, a knife, and a three-hour head start. After a fitful night of insomnia and light dozing, the sound of a distant pistol shot awakens him in the early morning. General Zaroff reappears at the chateau at lunchtime, sad that hunting humans no longer satisfies him. He laments that the sailors he lures to the island present less and less of a challenge.
Rainsford demands to leave the island at once, but the general refuses and forces Rainsford to be his new prey in the next hunt, hoping that Rainsford, as a renowned big-game hunter, will provide the challenge he seeks. Zaroff promises to set Rainsford free if he lives through the next three days.
Rainsford sets off into the jungle after receiving food, clothes, and a knife from Ivan. He cuts a complicated, twisting path through the undergrowth to confuse Zaroff and then climbs a tree to wait as darkness approaches.
Zaroff finds Rainsford easily but lets him escape to prolong the pleasure of the hunt. Unsettled that Zaroff found him so quickly, Rainsford runs to another part of the jungle and makes a booby-trap called a Malayan mancatcher to kill Zaroff. The trap only wounds Zaroff, who returns to the chateau and promises to kill Rainsford the following night.
Rainsford runs for hours until he mistakenly steps into a bed of quicksand. He manages to wrest free, then digs a pit in the soft mud a few feet in front of the quicksand. He lines the bottom of the pit with sharp wooden stakes, covers it with foliage, and then hides in the brush nearby.
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