Chapter 2
I'll never forget my first impressions of Caspak as I circled in,
high over the surrounding cliffs. From the plane I looked down
through a mist upon the blurred landscape beneath me. The hot,
humid atmosphere of Caspak condenses as it is fanned by the cold
Antarctic air-currents which sweep across the crater's top, sending
a tenuous ribbon of vapor far out across the Pacific. Through this
the picture gave one the suggestion of a colossal impressionistic
canvas in greens and browns and scarlets and yellows surrounding
the deep blue of the inland sea--just blobs of color taking form
through the tumbling mist.
I dived close to the cliffs and skirted them for several miles
without finding the least indication of a suitable landing-place;
and then I swung back at a lower level, looking for a clearing close
to the bottom of the mighty escarpment; but I could find none of
sufficient area to insure safety. I was flying pretty low by this
time, not only looking for landing places but watching the myriad
life beneath me. I was down pretty well toward the south end
of the island, where an arm of the lake reaches far inland, and I
could see the surface of the water literally black with creatures
of some sort. I was too far up to recognize individuals, but the
general impression was of a vast army of amphibious monsters. The
land was almost equally alive with crawling, leaping, running,
flying things. It was one of the latter which nearly did for me
while my attention was fixed upon the weird scene below.
The first intimation I had of it was the sudden blotting out of
the sunlight from above, and as I glanced quickly up, I saw a most
terrific creature swooping down upon me. It must have been fully
eighty feet long from the end of its long, hideous beak to the tip
of its thick, short tail, with an equal spread of wings. It was
coming straight for me and hissing frightfully--I could hear it
above the whir of the propeller. It was coming straight down toward
the muzzle of the machine-gun and I let it have it right in the
breast; but still it came for me, so that I had to dive and turn,
though I was dangerously close to earth.
The thing didn't miss me by a dozen feet, and when I rose, it wheeled
and followed me, but only to the cooler air close to the level of
the cliff-tops; there it turned again and dropped. Something--man's
natural love of battle and the chase, I presume--impelled me to
pursue it, and so I too circled and dived. The moment I came down
into the warm atmosphere of Caspak, the creature came for me again,
rising above me so that it might swoop down upon me. Nothing could
better have suited my armament, since my machine-gun was pointed
upward at an angle of about degrees and could not be either depressed
or elevated by the pilot. If I had brought someone along with me,
we could have raked the great reptile from almost any position, but
as the creature's mode of attack was always from above, he always
found me ready with a hail of bullets. The battle must have lasted
a minute or more before the thing suddenly turned completely over
in the air and fell to the ground.
Bowen and I roomed together at college, and I learned a lot from
him outside my regular course. He was a pretty good scholar despite
his love of fun, and his particular hobby was paleontology. He
used to tell me about the various forms of animal and vegetable life
which had covered the globe during former eras, and so I was pretty
well acquainted with the fishes, amphibians, reptiles, and mammals
of paleolithic times. I knew that the thing that had attacked me
was some sort of pterodactyl which should have been extinct millions
of years ago. It was all that I needed to realize that Bowen had
exaggerated nothing in his manuscript.
Having disposed of my first foe, I set myself once more to search
for a landing-place near to the base of the cliffs beyond which my
party awaited me. I knew how anxious they would be for word from
me, and I was equally anxious to relieve their minds and also to
get them and our supplies well within Caspak, so that we might set
off about our business of finding and rescuing Bowen Tyler; but the
pterodactyl's carcass had scarcely fallen before I was surrounded
by at least a dozen of the hideous things, some large, some small,
but all bent upon my destruction. I could not cope with them all,
and so I rose rapidly from among them to the cooler strata wherein
they dared not follow; and then I recalled that Bowen's narrative
distinctly indicated that the farther north one traveled in Caspak,
the fewer were the terrible reptiles which rendered human life
impossible at the southern end of the island.
There seemed nothing now but to search out a more northerly
landing-place and then return to the Toreador and transport my
companions, two by two, over the cliffs and deposit them at the
rendezvous. As I flew north, the temptation to explore overcame
me. I knew that I could easily cover Caspak and return to the
beach with less petrol than I had in my tanks; and there was the
hope, too, that I might find Bowen or some of his party. The broad
expanse of the inland sea lured me out over its waters, and as I
crossed, I saw at either extremity of the great body of water an
island--one to the south and one to the north; but I did not alter
my course to examine either closely, leaving that to a later time.
The further shore of the sea revealed a much narrower strip of
land between the cliffs and the water than upon the western side;
but it was a hillier and more open country. There were splendid
landing-places, and in the distance, toward the north, I thought
I descried a village; but of that I was not positive. However, as
I approached the land, I saw a number of human figures apparently
pursuing one who fled across a broad expanse of meadow. As I
dropped lower to have a better look at these people, they caught
the whirring of my propellers and looked aloft. They paused an
instant--pursuers and pursued; and then they broke and raced for
the shelter of the nearest wood. Almost instantaneously a huge
bulk swooped down upon me, and as I looked up, I realized that there
were flying reptiles even in this part of Caspak. The creature
dived for my right wing so quickly that nothing but a sheer drop
could have saved me. I was already close to the ground, so that
my maneuver was extremely dangerous; but I was in a fair way of
making it successfully when I saw that I was too closely approaching
a large tree. My effort to dodge the tree and the pterodactyl at
the same time resulted disastrously. One wing touched an upper
branch; the plane tipped and swung around, and then, out of control,
dashed into the branches of the tree, where it came to rest, battered
and torn, forty feet above the ground.
Hissing loudly, the huge reptile swept close above the tree in
which my plane had lodged, circled twice over me and then flapped
away toward the south. As I guessed then and was to learn later,
forests are the surest sanctuary from these hideous creatures,
which, with their enormous spread of wing and their great weight,
are as much out of place among trees as is a seaplane.
For a minute or so I clung there to my battered flyer, now useless
beyond redemption, my brain numbed by the frightful catastrophe
that had befallen me. All my plans for the succor of Bowen and
Miss La Rue had depended upon this craft, and in a few brief minutes
my own selfish love of adventure had wrecked their hopes and mine.
And what effect it might have upon the future of the balance of
the rescuing expedition I could not even guess. Their lives, too,
might be sacrificed to my suicidal foolishness. That I was doomed
seemed inevitable; but I can honestly say that the fate of my
friends concerned me more greatly than did my own.
Beyond the barrier cliffs my party was even now nervously awaiting
my return. Presently apprehension and fear would claim them--and
they would never know! They would attempt to scale the cliffs--of
that I was sure; but I was not so positive that they would succeed; and
after a while they would turn back, what there were left of them,
and go sadly and mournfully upon their return journey to home.
Home! I set my jaws and tried to forget the word, for I knew that
I should never again see home.
And what of Bowen and his girl? I had doomed them too. They would
never even know that an attempt had been made to rescue them. If
they still lived, they might some day come upon the ruined remnants
of this great plane hanging in its lofty sepulcher and hazard vain
guesses and be filled with wonder; but they would never know; and
I could not but be glad that they would not know that Tom Billings
had sealed their death-warrants by his criminal selfishness.
All these useless regrets were getting me in a bad way; but at last
I shook myself and tried to put such things out of my mind and take
hold of conditions as they existed and do my level best to wrest
victory from defeat. I was badly shaken up and bruised, but
considered myself mighty lucky to escape with my life. The plane
hung at a precarious angle, so that it was with difficulty and
considerable danger that I climbed from it into the tree and then
to the ground.
My predicament was grave. Between me and my friends lay an
inland sea fully sixty miles wide at this point and an estimated
land-distance of some three hundred miles around the northern end
of the sea, through such hideous dangers as I am perfectly free
to admit had me pretty well buffaloed. I had seen quite enough of
Caspak this day to assure me that Bowen had in no way exaggerated
its perils. As a matter of fact, I am inclined to believe that
he had become so accustomed to them before he started upon his
manuscript that he rather slighted them. As I stood there beneath
that tree--a tree which should have been part of a coal-bed countless
ages since--and looked out across a sea teeming with frightful
life--life which should have been fossil before God conceived of
Adam--I would not have given a minim of stale beer for my chances
of ever seeing my friends or the outside world again; yet then
and there I swore to fight my way as far through this hideous land
as circumstances would permit. I had plenty of ammunition, an
automatic pistol and a heavy rifle--the latter one of twenty added
to our equipment on the strength of Bowen's description of the
huge beasts of prey which ravaged Caspak. My greatest danger lay
in the hideous reptilia whose low nervous organizations permitted
their carnivorous instincts to function for several minutes after
they had ceased to live.
But to these things I gave less thought than to the sudden frustration of
all our plans. With the bitterest of thoughts I condemned myself
for the foolish weakness that had permitted me to be drawn from the
main object of my flight into premature and useless exploration.
It seemed to me then that I must be totally eliminated from further
search for Bowen, since, as I estimated it, the three hundred miles
of Caspakian territory I must traverse to reach the base of the
cliffs beyond which my party awaited me were practically impassable
for a single individual unaccustomed to Caspakian life and ignorant
of all that lay before him. Yet I could not give up hope entirely.
My duty lay clear before me; I must follow it while life remained
to me, and so I set forth toward the north.
The country through which I took my way was as lovely as it was
unusual--I had almost said unearthly, for the plants, the trees,
the blooms were not of the earth that I knew. They were larger,
the colors more brilliant and the shapes startling, some almost to
grotesqueness, though even such added to the charm and romance of
the landscape as the giant cacti render weirdly beautiful the waste
spots of the sad Mohave. And over all the sun shone huge and round
and red, a monster sun above a monstrous world, its light dispersed
by the humid air of Caspak--the warm, moist air which lies sluggish
upon the breast of this great mother of life, Nature's mightiest
incubator.
All about me, in every direction, was life. It moved through the
tree-tops and among the boles; it displayed itself in widening and
intermingling circles upon the bosom of the sea; it leaped from
the depths; I could hear it in a dense wood at my right, the murmur
of it rising and falling in ceaseless volumes of sound, riven at
intervals by a horrid scream or a thunderous roar which shook the
earth; and always I was haunted by that inexplicable sensation that
unseen eyes were watching me, that soundless feet dogged my trail.
I am neither nervous nor highstrung; but the burden of responsibility
upon me weighed heavily, so that I was more cautious than is my
wont. I turned often to right and left and rear lest I be surprised,
and I carried my rifle at the ready in my hand. Once I could have
sworn that among the many creatures dimly perceived amidst the
shadows of the wood I saw a human figure dart from one cover to
another, but I could not be sure.
For the most part I skirted the wood, making occasional detours
rather than enter those forbidding depths of gloom, though many
times I was forced to pass through arms of the forest which extended
to the very shore of the inland sea. There was so sinister a
suggestion in the uncouth sounds and the vague glimpses of moving
things within the forest, of the menace of strange beasts and possibly
still stranger men, that I always breathed more freely when I had
passed once more into open country.
I had traveled northward for perhaps an hour, still haunted by the
conviction that I was being stalked by some creature which kept
always hidden among the trees and shrubbery to my right and a
little to my rear, when for the hundredth time I was attracted by
a sound from that direction, and turning, saw some animal running
rapidly through the forest toward me. There was no longer any
effort on its part at concealment; it came on through the underbrush
swiftly, and I was confident that whatever it was, it had finally
gathered the courage to charge me boldly. Before it finally broke
into plain view, I became aware that it was not alone, for a few
yards in its rear a second thing thrashed through the leafy jungle.
Evidently I was to be attacked in force by a pair of hunting beasts
or men.
And then through the last clump of waving ferns broke the figure of
the foremost creature, which came leaping toward me on light feet
as I stood with my rifle to my shoulder covering the point at which
I had expected it would emerge. I must have looked foolish indeed
if my surprise and consternation were in any way reflected upon
my countenance as I lowered my rifle and gazed incredulous at the
lithe figure of the girl speeding swiftly in my direction. But
I did not have long to stand thus with lowered weapon, for as she
came, I saw her cast an affrighted glance over her shoulder, and
at the same moment there broke from the jungle at the same spot at
which I had seen her, the hugest cat I had ever looked upon.
At first I took the beast for a saber-tooth tiger, as it was quite
the most fearsome-appearing beast one could imagine; but it was not
that dread monster of the past, though quite formidable enough to
satisfy the most fastidious thrill-hunter. On it came, grim and
terrible, its baleful eyes glaring above its distended jaws, its
lips curled in a frightful snarl which exposed a whole mouthful of
formidable teeth. At sight of me it had abandoned its impetuous
rush and was now sneaking slowly toward us; while the girl, a long
knife in her hand, took her stand bravely at my left and a little
to my rear. She had called something to me in a strange tongue as
she raced toward me, and now she spoke again; but what she said I
could not then, of course, know--only that her tones were sweet,
well modulated and free from any suggestion of panic.
Facing the huge cat, which I now saw was an enormous panther,
I waited until I could place a shot where I felt it would do the
most good, for at best a frontal shot at any of the large carnivora
is a ticklish matter. I had some advantage in that the beast was
not charging; its head was held low and its back exposed; and so
at forty yards I took careful aim at its spine at the junction of
neck and shoulders. But at the same instant, as though sensing my
intention, the great creature lifted its head and leaped forward
in full charge. To fire at that sloping forehead I knew would be
worse than useless, and so I quickly shifted my aim and pulled the
trigger, hoping against hope that the soft-nosed bullet and the
heavy charge of powder would have sufficient stopping effect to
give me time to place a second shot.
In answer to the report of the rifle I had the satisfaction of seeing
the brute spring into the air, turning a complete somersault; but
it was up again almost instantly, though in the brief second that
it took it to scramble to its feet and get its bearings, it exposed
its left side fully toward me, and a second bullet went crashing
through its heart. Down it went for the second time--and then up
and at me. The vitality of these creatures of Caspak is one of
the marvelous features of this strange world and bespeaks the low
nervous organization of the old paleolithic life which has been so
long extinct in other portions of the world.
I put a third bullet into the beast at three paces, and then I
thought that I was done for; but it rolled over and stopped at my
feet, stone dead. I found that my second bullet had torn its heart
almost completely away, and yet it had lived to charge ferociously
upon me, and but for my third shot would doubtless have slain me
before it finally expired--or as Bowen Tyler so quaintly puts it,
before it knew that it was dead.
With the panther quite evidently conscious of the fact that dissolution
had overtaken it, I turned toward the girl, who was regarding me
with evident admiration and not a little awe, though I must admit
that my rifle claimed quite as much of her attention as did I. She
was quite the most wonderful animal that I have ever looked upon,
and what few of her charms her apparel hid, it quite effectively
succeeded in accentuating. A bit of soft, undressed leather was
caught over her left shoulder and beneath her right breast, falling
upon her left side to her hip and upon the right to a metal band
which encircled her leg above the knee and to which the lowest
point of the hide was attached. About her waist was a loose leather
belt, to the center of which was attached the scabbard belonging
to her knife. There was a single armlet between her right shoulder
and elbow, and a series of them covered her left forearm from elbow
to wrist. These, I learned later, answered the purpose of a shield
against knife attack when the left arm is raised in guard across
the breast or face.
Her masses of heavy hair were held in place by a broad metal band
which bore a large triangular ornament directly in the center of
her forehead. This ornament appeared to be a huge turquoise, while
the metal of all her ornaments was beaten, virgin gold, inlaid in
intricate design with bits of mother-of-pearl and tiny pieces of
stone of various colors. From the left shoulder depended a leopard's
tail, while her feet were shod with sturdy little sandals. The
knife was her only weapon. Its blade was of iron, the grip was
wound with hide and protected by a guard of three out-bowing strips
of flat iron, and upon the top of the hilt was a knob of gold.
I took in much of this in the few seconds during which we stood
facing each other, and I also observed another salient feature of
her appearance: she was frightfully dirty! Her face and limbs and
garment were streaked with mud and perspiration, and yet even so,
I felt that I had never looked upon so perfect and beautiful a
creature as she. Her figure beggars description, and equally so,
her face. Were I one of these writer-fellows, I should probably
say that her features were Grecian, but being neither a writer nor
a poet I can do her greater justice by saying that she combined all
of the finest lines that one sees in the typical American girl's
face rather than the pronounced sheeplike physiognomy of the
Greek goddess. No, even the dirt couldn't hide that fact; she was
beautiful beyond compare.
As we stood looking at each other, a slow smile came to her face,
parting her symmetrical lips and disclosing a row of strong white
teeth.
"Galu?" she asked with rising inflection.
And remembering that I read in Bowen's manuscript that Galu seemed
to indicate a higher type of man, I answered by pointing to myself
and repeating the word. Then she started off on a regular catechism,
if I could judge by her inflection, for I certainly understood no
word of what she said. All the time the girl kept glancing toward
the forest, and at last she touched my arm and pointed in that
direction.
Turning, I saw a hairy figure of a manlike thing standing watching
us, and presently another and another emerged from the jungle and
joined the leader until there must have been at least twenty of
them. They were entirely naked. Their bodies were covered with
hair, and though they stood upon their feet without touching their
hands to the ground, they had a very ape-like appearance, since they
stooped forward and had very long arms and quite apish features.
They were not pretty to look upon with their close-set eyes, flat
noses, long upper lips and protruding yellow fangs.
"Alus!" said the girl.
I had reread Bowen's adventures so often that I knew them almost by
heart, and so now I knew that I was looking upon the last remnant
of that ancient man-race--the Alus of a forgotten period--the
speechless man of antiquity.
"Kazor!" cried the girl, and at the same moment the Alus came
jabbering toward us. They made strange growling, barking noises,
as with much baring of fangs they advanced upon us. They were
armed only with nature's weapons--powerful muscles and giant fangs;
yet I knew that these were quite sufficient to overcome us had we
nothing better to offer in defense, and so I drew my pistol and
fired at the leader. He dropped like a stone, and the others turned
and fled. Once again the girl smiled her slow smile and stepping
closer, caressed the barrel of my automatic. As she did so, her
fingers came in contact with mine, and a sudden thrill ran through
me, which I attributed to the fact that it had been so long since
I had seen a woman of any sort or kind.
She said something to me in her low, liquid tones; but I could not
understand her, and then she pointed toward the north and started
away. I followed her, for my way was north too; but had it been
south I still should have followed, so hungry was I for human
companionship in this world of beasts and reptiles and half-men.
We walked along, the girl talking a great deal and seeming mystified
that I could not understand her. Her silvery laugh rang merrily
when I in turn essayed to speak to her, as though my language was
the quaintest thing she ever had heard. Often after fruitless
attempts to make me understand she would hold her palm toward me,
saying, "Galu!" and then touch my breast or arm and cry, "Alu, alu!"
I knew what she meant, for I had learned from Bowen's narrative the
negative gesture and the two words which she repeated. She meant
that I was no Galu, as I claimed, but an Alu, or speechless one.
Yet every time she said this she laughed again, and so infectious
were her tones that I could only join her. It was only natural,
too, that she should be mystified by my inability to comprehend
her or to make her comprehend me, for from the club-men, the lowest
human type in Caspak to have speech, to the golden race of Galus,
the tongues of the various tribes are identical--except for
amplifications in the rising scale of evolution. She, who is a
Galu, can understand one of the Bo-lu and make herself understood
to him, or to a hatchet-man, a spear-man or an archer. The Ho-lus,
or apes, the Alus and myself were the only creatures of human
semblance with which she could hold no converse; yet it was evident
that her intelligence told her that I was neither Ho-lu nor Alu,
neither anthropoid ape nor speechless man.
Yet she did not despair, but set out to teach me her language; and
had it not been that I worried so greatly over the fate of Bowen
and my companions of the Toreador, I could have wished the period
of instruction prolonged.
I never have been what one might call a ladies' man, though I like
their company immensely, and during my college days and since have
made various friends among the sex. I think that I rather appeal
to a certain type of girl for the reason that I never make love
to them; I leave that to the numerous others who do it infinitely
better than I could hope to, and take my pleasure out of girls'
society in what seem to be more rational ways--dancing, golfing,
boating, riding, tennis, and the like. Yet in the company of this
half-naked little savage I found a new pleasure that was entirely
distinct from any that I ever had experienced. When she touched me,
I thrilled as I had never before thrilled in contact with another
woman. I could not quite understand it, for I am sufficiently
sophisticated to know that this is a symptom of love and I certainly
did not love this filthy little barbarian with her broken, unkempt
nails and her skin so besmeared with mud and the green of crushed
foliage that it was difficult to say what color it originally had
been. But if she was outwardly uncouth, her clear eyes and strong
white, even teeth, her silvery laugh and her queenly carriage,
bespoke an innate fineness which dirt could not quite successfully
conceal.
The sun was low in the heavens when we came upon a little river
which emptied into a large bay at the foot of low cliffs. Our
journey so far had been beset with constant danger, as is every
journey in this frightful land. I have not bored you with a
recital of the wearying successions of attacks by the multitude of
creatures which were constantly crossing our path or deliberately
stalking us. We were always upon the alert; for here, to paraphrase,
eternal vigilance is indeed the price of life.
I had managed to progress a little in the acquisition of a knowledge
of her tongue, so that I knew many of the animals and reptiles by
their Caspakian names, and trees and ferns and grasses. I knew
the words for sea and river and cliff, for sky and sun and cloud.
Yes, I was getting along finely, and then it occurred to me that I
didn't know my companion's name; so I pointed to myself and said,
"Tom," and to her and raised my eyebrows in interrogation. The
girl ran her fingers into that mass of hair and looked puzzled. I
repeated the action a dozen times.
"Tom," she said finally in that clear, sweet, liquid voice. "Tom!"
I had never thought much of my name before; but when she spoke it,
it sounded to me for the first time in my life like a mighty nice
name, and then she brightened suddenly and tapped her own breast
and said: "Ajor!"
"Ajor!" I repeated, and she laughed and struck her palms together.
Well, we knew each other's names now, and that was some satisfaction.
I rather liked hers--Ajor! And she seemed to like mine, for she
repeated it.
We came to the cliffs beside the little river where it empties
into the bay with the great inland sea beyond. The cliffs were
weather-worn and rotted, and in one place a deep hollow ran back
beneath the overhanging stone for several feet, suggesting shelter
for the night. There were loose rocks strewn all about with which
I might build a barricade across the entrance to the cave, and so
I halted there and pointed out the place to Ajor, trying to make
her understand that we would spend the night there.
As soon as she grasped my meaning, she assented with the Caspakian
equivalent of an affirmative nod, and then touching my rifle,
motioned me to follow her to the river. At the bank she paused,
removed her belt and dagger, dropping them to the ground at her
side; then unfastening the lower edge of her garment from the metal
leg-band to which it was attached, slipped it off her left shoulder
and let it drop to the ground around her feet. It was done so
naturally, so simply and so quickly that it left me gasping like
a fish out of water. Turning, she flashed a smile at me and then
dived into the river, and there she bathed while I stood guard
over her. For five or ten minutes she splashed about, and when
she emerged her glistening skin was smooth and white and beautiful.
Without means of drying herself, she simply ignored what to me
would have seemed a necessity, and in a moment was arrayed in her
simple though effective costume.
It was now within an hour of darkness, and as I was nearly famished,
I led the way back about a quarter of a mile to a low meadow where
we had seen antelope and small horses a short time before. Here
I brought down a young buck, the report of my rifle sending the
balance of the herd scampering for the woods, where they were met
by a chorus of hideous roars as the carnivora took advantage of
their panic and leaped among them.
With my hunting-knife I removed a hind-quarter, and then we returned
to camp. Here I gathered a great quantity of wood from fallen
trees, Ajor helping me; but before I built a fire, I also gathered
sufficient loose rock to build my barricade against the frightful
terrors of the night to come.
I shall never forget the expression upon Ajor's face as she saw
me strike a match and light the kindling beneath our camp-fire.
It was such an expression as might transform a mortal face with
awe as its owner beheld the mysterious workings of divinity. It
was evident that Ajor was quite unfamiliar with modern methods of
fire-making. She had thought my rifle and pistol wonderful; but
these tiny slivers of wood which from a magic rub brought flame to
the camp hearth were indeed miracles to her.
As the meat roasted above the fire, Ajor and I tried once again
to talk; but though copiously filled with incentive, gestures and
sounds, the conversation did not flourish notably. And then Ajor
took up in earnest the task of teaching me her language. She
commenced, as I later learned, with the simplest form of speech
known to Caspak or for that matter to the world--that employed by
the Bo-lu. I found it far from difficult, and even though it was
a great handicap upon my instructor that she could not speak my
language, she did remarkably well and demonstrated that she possessed
ingenuity and intelligence of a high order.
After we had eaten, I added to the pile of firewood so that I could
replenish the fire before the entrance to our barricade, believing
this as good a protection against the carnivora as we could have;
and then Ajor and I sat down before it, and the lesson proceeded,
while from all about us came the weird and awesome noises of the
Caspakian night--the moaning and the coughing and roaring of the
tigers, the panthers and the lions, the barking and the dismal
howling of a wolf, jackal and hyaenadon, the shrill shrieks of
stricken prey and the hissing of the great reptiles; the voice of
man alone was silent.
But though the voice of this choir-terrible rose and fell from
far and near in all directions, reaching at time such a tremendous
volume of sound that the earth shook to it, yet so engrossed was
I in my lesson and in my teacher that often I was deaf to what at
another time would have filled me with awe. The face and voice of
the beautiful girl who leaned so eagerly toward me as she tried to
explain the meaning of some word or correct my pronunciation of
another quite entirely occupied my every faculty of perception.
The firelight shone upon her animated features and sparkling eyes;
it accentuated the graceful motions of her gesturing arms and hands;
it sparkled from her white teeth and from her golden ornaments, and
glistened on the smooth firmness of her perfect skin. I am afraid
that often I was more occupied with admiration of this beautiful
animal than with a desire for knowledge; but be that as it may,
I nevertheless learned much that evening, though part of what I
learned had naught to do with any new language.
Ajor seemed determined that I should speak Caspakian as quickly
as possible, and I thought I saw in her desire a little of that
all-feminine trait which has come down through all the ages from
the first lady of the world--curiosity. Ajor desired that I should
speak her tongue in order that she might satisfy a curiosity concerning
me that was filling her to a point where she was in danger of
bursting; of that I was positive. She was a regular little animated
question-mark. She bubbled over with interrogations which were
never to be satisfied unless I learned to speak her tongue. Her
eyes sparkled with excitement; her hand flew in expressive gestures;
her little tongue raced with time; yet all to no avail. I could
say man and tree and cliff and lion and a number of other words in
perfect Caspakian; but such a vocabulary was only tantalizing; it
did not lend itself well to a very general conversation, and the
result was that Ajor would wax so wroth that she would clench her
little fists and beat me on the breast as hard as ever she could,
and then she would sink back laughing as the humor of the situation
captured her.
She was trying to teach me some verbs by going through the actions
herself as she repeated the proper word. We were very much
engrossed--so much so that we were giving no heed to what went on
beyond our cave--when Ajor stopped very suddenly, crying: "Kazor!"
Now she had been trying to teach me that ju meant stop; so when she
cried kazor and at the same time stopped, I thought for a moment
that this was part of my lesson--for the moment I forgot that kazor
means beware. I therefore repeated the word after her; but when
I saw the expression in her eyes as they were directed past me and
saw her point toward the entrance to the cave, I turned quickly--to
see a hideous face at the small aperture leading out into the night.
It was the fierce and snarling countenance of a gigantic bear. I
have hunted silvertips in the White Mountains of Arizona and thought
them quite the largest and most formidable of big game; but from
the appearance of the head of this awful creature I judged that
the largest grizzly I had ever seen would shrink by comparison to
the dimensions of a Newfoundland dog.
Our fire was just within the cave, the smoke rising through the
apertures between the rocks that I had piled in such a way that
they arched inward toward the cliff at the top. The opening by
means of which we were to reach the outside was barricaded with a
few large fragments which did not by any means close it entirely;
but through the apertures thus left no large animal could gain
ingress. I had depended most, however, upon our fire, feeling
that none of the dangerous nocturnal beasts of prey would venture
close to the flames. In this, however, I was quite evidently
in error, for the great bear stood with his nose not a foot from
the blaze, which was now low, owing to the fact that I had been
so occupied with my lesson and my teacher that I had neglected to
replenish it.
Ajor whipped out her futile little knife and pointed to my rifle.
At the same time she spoke in a quite level voice entirely devoid
of nervousness or any evidence of fear or panic. I knew she was
exhorting me to fire upon the beast; but this I did not wish to
do other than as a last resort, for I was quite sure that even my
heavy bullets would not more than further enrage him--in which case
he might easily force an entrance to our cave.
Instead of firing, I piled some more wood upon the fire, and as the
smoke and blaze arose in the beast's face, it backed away, growling
most frightfully; but I still could see two ugly points of light
blazing in the outer darkness and hear its growls rumbling terrifically
without. For some time the creature stood there watching the
entrance to our frail sanctuary while I racked my brains in futile
endeavor to plan some method of defense or escape. I knew full
well that should the bear make a determined effort to get at us,
the rocks I had piled as a barrier would come tumbling down about
his giant shoulders like a house of cards, and that he would walk
directly in upon us.
Ajor, having less knowledge of the effectiveness of firearms than
I, and therefore greater confidence in them, entreated me to shoot
the beast; but I knew that the chance that I could stop it with a
single shot was most remote, while that I should but infuriate it
was real and present; and so I waited for what seemed an eternity,
watching those devilish points of fire glaring balefully at us, and
listening to the ever-increasing volume of those seismic growls which
seemed to rumble upward from the bowels of the earth, shaking the
very cliffs beneath which we cowered, until at last I saw that the
brute was again approaching the aperture. It availed me nothing
that I piled the blaze high with firewood, until Ajor and I were
near to roasting; on came that mighty engine of destruction until
once again the hideous face yawned its fanged yawn directly within
the barrier's opening. It stood thus a moment, and then the head
was withdrawn. I breathed a sigh of relief, the thing had altered
its intention and was going on in search of other and more easily
procurable prey; the fire had been too much for it.
But my joy was short-lived, and my heart sank once again as a
moment later I saw a mighty paw insinuated into the opening--a paw
as large around as a large dishpan. Very gently the paw toyed with
the great rock that partly closed the entrance, pushed and pulled
upon it and then very deliberately drew it outward and to one side.
Again came the head, and this time much farther into the cavern;
but still the great shoulders would not pass through the opening.
Ajor moved closer to me until her shoulder touched my side, and I
thought I felt a slight tremor run through her body, but otherwise
she gave no indication of fear. Involuntarily I threw my left
arm about her and drew her to me for an instant. It was an act of
reassurance rather than a caress, though I must admit that again
and even in the face of death I thrilled at the contact with her;
and then I released her and threw my rifle to my shoulder, for at
last I had reached the conclusion that nothing more could be gained
by waiting. My only hope was to get as many shots into the creature
as I could before it was upon me. Already it had torn away a second
rock and was in the very act of forcing its huge bulk through the
opening it had now made.
So now I took careful aim between its eyes; my right fingers
closed firmly and evenly upon the small of the stock, drawing back
my trigger-finger by the muscular action of the hand. The bullet
could not fail to hit its mark! I held my breath lest I swerve
the muzzle a hair by my breathing. I was as steady and cool as I
ever had been upon a target-range, and I had the full consciousness of
a perfect hit in anticipation; I knew that I could not miss. And
then, as the bear surged forward toward me, the hammer fell--futilely,
upon an imperfect cartridge.
Almost simultaneously I heard from without a perfectly hellish
roar; the bear gave voice to a series of growls far transcending
in volume and ferocity anything that he had yet essayed and at the
same time backed quickly from the cave. For an instant I couldn't
understand what had happened to cause this sudden retreat when
his prey was practically within his clutches. The idea that the
harmless clicking of the hammer had frightened him was too ridiculous
to entertain. However, we had not long to wait before we could at
least guess at the cause of the diversion, for from without came
mingled growls and roars and the sound of great bodies thrashing
about until the earth shook. The bear had been attacked in the
rear by some other mighty beast, and the two were now locked in a
titanic struggle for supremacy. With brief respites, during which
we could hear the labored breathing of the contestants, the battle
continued for the better part of an hour until the sounds of combat
grew gradually less and finally ceased entirely.
At Ajor's suggestion, made by signs and a few of the words we knew
in common, I moved the fire directly to the entrance to the cave
so that a beast would have to pass directly through the flames to
reach us, and then we sat and waited for the victor of the battle
to come and claim his reward; but though we sat for a long time
with our eyes glued to the opening, we saw no sign of any beast.
At last I signed to Ajor to lie down, for I knew that she must
have sleep, and I sat on guard until nearly morning, when the girl
awoke and insisted that I take some rest; nor would she be denied,
but dragged me down as she laughingly menaced me with her knife.
