The ebbing tide of the great war had left human flotsam stranded upon
many an unfamiliar beach. In its full flow it had lifted Robert Jones,
high private in the ranks of a labor battalion, from uncongenial
surroundings and landed him in a prison camp behind the enemy line.
Here his good nature won him friends and favors, but neither one nor
the other served to obtain his freedom. Robert Jones seemed to have
been lost in the shuffle. And finally, when the evacuation of the
prison had been completed, Robert Jones still remained, but he was
not downhearted. He had learned the language of his captors and had
made many friends among them. They found him a job and Robert Jones of
Alabama was content to remain where he was. He had been graduated from
body servant to cook of an officers' mess and it was in this capacity
that he had come under the observation of Captain Zuppner, who had
drafted him for the O-220 expedition.
Robert Jones yawned, stretched, turned over in his narrow berth aboard
the O-220, opened his eyes and sat up with an exclamation of surprise.
He jumped to the floor and stuck his head out of an open port.
"Lawd, niggah!" he exclaimed; "you all suah done overslep' yo'sef."
For a moment he gazed up at the noonday sun shining down upon him and
then, hastily dressing, hurried into his galley.
"'S funny," he soliloquized; "dey ain't no one stirrin'--mus' all of
overslep' demsef." He looked at the clock on the galley wall. The
hour hand pointed to six. He cocked his ear and listened. "She ain't
stopped," he muttered. Then he went to the door that opened from the
galley through the ship's side and pushed it back. Leaning far out
he looked up again at the sun. Then he shook his head. "Dey's sumpin
wrong," he said. "Ah dunno whether to cook breakfas', dinner or supper."
Jason Gridley, emerging from his cabin, sauntered down the narrow
corridor toward the galley. "Good morning, Bob!" he said, stopping in
the open doorway. "What's the chance for a bite of breakfast?"
"Did you all say breakfas', suh?" inquired Robert.
"Yes," replied Gridley; "just toast and coffee and a couple of
eggs--anything you have handy."
"Ah knew it!" exclaimed the black. "Ah knew dat ol' clock couldn't be
wrong, but Mistah Sun he suah gone hay wire."
Gridley grinned. "I'll drop down and have a little walk," he said.
"I'll be back in fifteen minutes. Have you seen anything of Lord
Greystoke?"
"No suh, Ah ain't seen nothin' o' Massa Ta'zan sence yesterday."
"I wondered," said Gridley; "he is not in his cabin."
For fifteen minutes Gridley walked briskly about in the vicinity of
the ship. When he returned to the mess room he found Zuppner and Dorf
awaiting breakfast and greeted them with a pleasant "good morning."
"I don't know whether it's good morning or good evening," said Zuppner.
"We have been here twelve hours," said Dorf, "and it is just the same
time that it was when we arrived. I have been on watch for the last
four hours and if it hadn't been for the chronometer I could not swear
that I had been on fifteen minutes or that I had not been on a week."
"It certainly induces a feeling of unreality that is hard to explain,"
said Gridley.
"Where is Greystoke?" asked Zuppner. "He is usually an early riser."
"I was just asking Bob," said Gridley, "but he has not seen him."
"He left the ship shortly after I came on watch," said Dorf. "I should
say about three hours ago, possibly longer. I saw him cross the open
country and enter the forest."
"I wish he had not gone out alone," said Gridley.
"He strikes me as a man who can take care of himself," said Zuppner.
"I have seen some things during the last four hours," said Dorf,
"that make me doubt whether any man can take care of himself alone in
this world, especially one armed only with the primitive weapons that
Greystoke carried with him."
"You mean that he carried no firearms?" demanded Zuppner.
"He was armed with a bow and arrows, a spear and a rope," said Dorf,
"and I think he carried a hunting knife as well. But he might as well
have had nothing but a pea-shooter if he met some of the things I have
seen since I went on watch."
"What do you mean?" demanded Zuppner. "What have you seen?"
Dorf grinned sheepishly. "Honestly, Captain, I hate to tell you," he
said, "for I'm damned if I believe it myself."
"Well, out with it," exclaimed Zuppner. "We will make allowances for
your youth and for the effect that the sun and horizon of Pellucidar
may have had upon your eyesight or your veracity."
"Well," said Dorf, "about an hour ago a bear passed within a hundred
yards of the ship."
"There is nothing remarkable about that," said Zuppner.
"There was a great deal that was remarkable about the bear, however,"
said Dorf.
"In what way?" asked Gridley.
"It was fully as large as an ox," said Dorf, "and if I were going out
after bear in this country I should want to take along field artillery."
"Was that all you saw--just a bear?" asked Zuppner.
"No," said Dorf, "I saw tigers, not one but fully a dozen, and they
were as much larger than our Bengal tigers as the bear was larger than
any bear of the outer crust that I have ever seen. They were perfectly
enormous and they were armed with the most amazing fangs you ever
saw--great curved fangs that extended from their upper jaws to lengths
of from eight inches to a foot. They came down to this stream here to
drink and then wandered away, some of them toward the forest and some
down toward that big river yonder."
"Greystoke couldn't do much against such creatures as those even if he
had carried a rifle," said Zuppner.
"If he was in the forest, he could escape them," said Gridley.
Zuppner shook his head. "I don't like the looks of it," he said. "I
wish that he had not gone out alone."
"The bear and the tigers were bad enough," continued Dorf, "but I saw
another creature that to me seemed infinitely worse."
Robert, who was more or less a privileged character, had entered
from the galley and was listening with wide-eyed interest to Dorf's
account of the creatures he had seen, while Victor, one of the Filipino
cabin-boys, served the officers.
"Yes," continued Dorf, "I saw a mighty strange creature. It flew
directly over the ship and I had an excellent view of it. At first I
thought that it was a bird, but when it approached more closely I saw
that it was a winged reptile. It had a long, narrow head and it flew so
close that I could see its great jaws, armed with an infinite number of
long, sharp teeth. Its head was elongated above the eyes and came to a
sharp point. It was perfectly immense and must have had a wing spread
of at least twenty feet. While I was watching it, it dropped suddenly
to earth only a short distance beyond the ship, and when it arose again
it was carrying in its talons some animal that must have been fully as
large as a good sized sheep, with which it flew away without apparent
effort. That the creature is carnivorous is evident as is also the fact
that it has sufficient strength to carry away a man."
Robert Jones covered his large mouth with a pink palm and with hunched
and shaking shoulders turned and tip-toed from the room. Once in the
galley with the door closed, he gave himself over to unrestrained mirth.
"What is the matter with you?" asked Victor.
"Lawd-a-massy!" exclaimed Robert. "Ah allus thought some o' dem gem'n
in dat dere Adventurous Club in Bummingham could lie some, but, shucks,
dey ain't in it with this Lieutenant Dorf. Did you all heah him tell
about dat flyin' snake what carries off sheep?"
But back in the mess room the white men took Dorf's statement more
seriously.
"That would be a pterodactyl," said Zuppner.
"Yes," replied Dorf. "I classified it as a Pteranodon."
"Don't you think we ought to send out a search party?" asked Gridley.
"I am afraid Greystoke would not like it," replied Zuppner.
"It could go out under the guise of a hunting party," suggested Dorf.
"If he has not returned within an hour," said Zuppner, "we shall have
to do something of the sort."
Hines and Von Horst now entered the mess room, and when they learned of
Tarzan's absence from the ship and had heard from Dorf a description of
some of the animals that he might have encountered, they were equally
as apprehensive as the others of his safety.
"We might cruise around a bit, sir," suggested Von Horst to Zuppner.
"But suppose he returns to this spot during our absence?" asked Gridley.
"Could you return the ship to this anchorage again?" inquired Zuppner.
"I doubt it," replied the Lieutenant. "Our instruments are almost
worthless under the conditions existing in Pellucidar."
"Then we had better remain where we are," said Gridley, "until he
returns."
"But if we send a searching party after him on foot, what assurance
have we that it will be able to find its way back to the ship?"
demanded Zuppner.
"That will not be so difficult," said Gridley. "We can always blaze
our trail as we go and thus easily retrace our steps."
"Yes, that is so," agreed Zuppner.
"Suppose," said Gridley, "that Von Horst and I go out with Muviro and
his Waziri. They are experienced trackers, prime fighting men and they
certainly know the jungle."
"Not this jungle," said Dorf.
"But at least they know any jungle better than the rest of us,"
insisted Gridley.
"I think your plan is a good one," said Zuppner, "and anyway as you
are in command now, the rest of us gladly place ourselves under your
orders."
"The conditions that confront us here are new to all of us," said
Gridley. "Nothing that anyone of us can suggest or command can be
based upon any personal experience or knowledge that the rest do not
possess, and in matters of this kind I think that we had better reach
our decision after full discussion rather than to depend blindly upon
official priority of authority."
"That has been Greystoke's policy," said Zuppner, "and it has made it
very easy and pleasant for all of us. I quite agree with you, but I can
think of no more feasible plan than that which you have suggested."
"Very good," said Gridley. "Will you accompany me, Lieutenant?" he
asked, turning to Von Horst.
The officer grinned. "Will I?" he exclaimed. "I should never have
forgiven you if you had left me out of it."
"Fine," said Gridley. "And now, I think, we might as well make our
preparations at once and get as early a start as possible. See that the
Waziri have eaten, Lieutenant, and tell Muviro that I want them armed
with rifles. These fellows can use them all right, but they rather look
with scorn upon anything more modern than their war spears and arrows."
"Yes, I discovered that," said Hines. "Muviro told me a few days ago
that his people consider firearms as something of an admission of
cowardice. He told me that they use them for target practice, but when
they go out after lions or rhino they leave their rifles behind and
take their spears and arrows."
"After they have seen what I saw," said Dorf, "they will have more
respect for an express rifle."
"See that they take plenty of ammunition, Von Horst," said Gridley,
"for from what I have seen in this country we shall not have to carry
any provisions."
"A man who could not live off this country would starve to death in a
meat market," said Zuppner.
Von Horst left to carry out Gridley's orders while the latter returned
to his cabin to prepare for the expedition.
The officers and crew remaining with the O-220 were all on hand to
bid farewell to the expedition starting out in search of Tarzan of
the Apes, and as the ten stalwart Waziri warriors marched away behind
Gridley and Von Horst, Robert Jones, watching from the galley door,
swelled with pride. "Dem niggahs is sho nuf hot babies," he exclaimed.
"All dem flyin' snakes bettah clear out de country now." With the
others Robert watched the little party as it crossed the plain and
until it had disappeared within the dark precincts of the forest upon
the opposite side. Then he glanced up at the noonday sun, shook his
head, elevated his palms in resignation and turned back into his galley.
Almost immediately after the party had left the ship, Gridley directed
Muviro to take the lead and watch for Tarzan's trail since, of the
entire party, he was the most experienced tracker; nor did the Waziri
chieftain have any difficulty in following the spoor of the ape-man
across the plain and into the forest, but here, beneath a great tree,
it disappeared.
"The Big Bwana took to the trees here," said Muviro, "and no man lives
who can follow his spoor through the lower, the middle or the upper
terraces."
"What do you suggest, then, Muviro?" asked Gridley.
"If this were his own jungle," replied the warrior, "I should feel sure
that when he took to the trees he would move in a straight line toward
the place he wished to go; unless he happened to be hunting, in which
case his direction would be influenced by the sign and scent of game."
"Doubtless he was hunting here," said Von Horst.
"If he was hunting," said Muviro, "he would have moved in a straight
line until he caught the scent spoor of game or came to a well-beaten
game trail."
"And then what would he do?" asked Gridley.
"He might wait above the trail," replied Muviro, "or he might follow
it. In a new country like this, I think he would follow it, for he has
always been interested in exploring every new country he entered."
"Then let us push straight into the forest in this same direction until
we strike a game trail," said Gridley.
Muviro and three of his warriors went ahead, cutting brush where it was
necessary and blazing the trees at frequent intervals that they might
more easily retrace their steps to the ship. With the aid of a small
pocket compass Gridley directed the line of advance, which otherwise
it would have been difficult to hold accurately beneath that eternal
noonday sun, whose warm rays filtered down through the foliage of the
forest.
"God! What a forest!" exclaimed Von Horst. "To search for a man here is
like the proverbial search for the needle in a haystack."
"Except," said Gridley, "that one might stand a slight chance of
finding the needle."
"Perhaps we had better fire a shot occasionally," suggested Von Horst.
"Excellent," said Gridley. "The rifles carry a much heavier charge and
make a louder report than our revolvers."
After warning the others of his intention, he directed one of the
blacks to fire three shots at intervals of a few seconds, for neither
Gridley nor Von Horst was armed with rifles, each of the officers
carrying two .45 caliber Colts. Thereafter, at intervals of about half
an hour, a single shot was fired, but as the searching party forced its
way on into the forest each of its members became gloomily impressed
with the futility of their search.
Presently the nature of the forest changed. The trees were set less
closely together and the underbrush, while still forming an almost
impenetrable screen, was less dense than it had been heretofore and
here they came upon a wide game trail, worn by countless hoofs and
padded feet to a depth of two feet or more below the surface of the
surrounding ground, and here Jason Gridley blundered.
"We won't bother about blazing the trees as long as we follow this
trail," he said to Muviro, "except at such places as it may fork or be
crossed by other trails."
It was, after all, a quite natural mistake since a few blazed trees
along the trail would not serve any purpose in following it back when
they wished to return.
The going here was easier and as the Waziri warriors swung along at a
brisk pace, the miles dropped quickly behind them and already had the
noonday sun so cast its spell upon them that the element of time seemed
not to enter into their calculations, while the teeming life about them
absorbed the attention of blacks and whites alike.
Strange monkeys, some of them startlingly man-like in appearance and
of large size, watched them pass. Birds of both gay and somber plumage
scattered protestingly before their advance, and again dim bulks loomed
through the undergrowth and the sound of padded feet was everywhere.
At times they would pass through a stretch of forest as silent as
the tomb, and then again they seemed to be surrounded by a bedlam of
hideous growls and roars and screams.
"I'd like to see some of those fellows," said Von Horst, after a
particularly savage outburst of sound.
"I am surprised that we haven't," replied Gridley; "but I imagine that
they are a little bit leery of us right now, not alone on account of
our numbers but because of the, to them strange and unfamiliar, odors
which must surround us. These would naturally increase the suspicion
which must have been aroused by the sound of our shots."
"Have you noticed," said Von Horst, "that most of the noise seems to
come from behind us; I mean the more savage, growling sounds. I have
heard squeals and noises that sounded like the trumpeting of elephants
to the right and to the left and ahead, but only an occasional growl
or roar seems to come from these directions and then always at a
considerable distance."
"How do you account for it?" asked Gridley.
"I can't account for it," replied Von Horst. "It is as though we
were moving along in the center of a procession with all the savage
carnivores behind us."
"This perpetual noonday sun has its compensations," remarked Gridley
with a laugh, "for at least it insures that we shall not have to spend
the night here."
At that instant the attention of the two men was attracted by an
exclamation from one of the Waziri behind them. "Look, Bwana! Look!"
cried the man, pointing back along the trail. Following the direction
of the Waziri's extended finger, Gridley and Von Horst saw a huge beast
slinking slowly along the trail in their rear.
"God!" exclaimed Von Horst, "and I thought Dorf was exaggerating."
"It doesn't seem possible," exclaimed Gridley, "that five hundred miles
below our feet automobiles are dashing through crowded streets lined
by enormous buildings; that there the telegraph, the telephone and
the radio are so commonplace as to excite no comment; that countless
thousands live out their entire lives without ever having to use a
weapon in self-defense, and yet at the same instant we stand here
facing a saber-tooth tiger in surroundings that may not have existed
upon the outer crust for a million years."
"Look at them!" exclaimed Von Horst. "If there is one there are a dozen
of them."
"Shall we fire, Bwana?" asked one of the Waziri.
"Not yet," said Gridley. "Close up and be ready. They seem to be only
following us."
Slowly the party fell back, a line of Waziri in the rear facing the
tigers and backing slowly away from them. Muviro dropped back to
Gridley's side.
"For a long time, Bwana," he said, "there has been the spoor of
many elephants in the trail, or spoor that looked like the spoor of
elephants, though it was different. And just now I sighted some of the
beasts ahead. I could not make them out distinctly, but if they are
not elephants they are very much like them."
"We seem to be between the devil and the deep sea," said Von Horst.
"And there are either elephants or tigers on each side of us," said
Muviro. "I can hear them moving through the brush."
Perhaps the same thought was in the minds of all these men, that they
might take to the trees, but for some reason no one expressed it.
And so they continued to move slowly along the trail until suddenly
it broke into a large, open area in the forest, where the ground was
scantily covered with brush and there were few trees. Perhaps a hundred
acres were included in the clearing and then the forest commenced again
upon all sides.
And into the clearing, along numerous trails that seemed to center at
this spot, came as strange a procession as the eyes of these men had
ever rested upon. There were great ox-like creatures with shaggy coats
and wide-spreading horns. There were red deer and sloths of gigantic
size. There were mastodon and mammoth, and a huge, elephantine creature
that resembled an elephant and yet did not seem to be an elephant at
all. Its great head was four feet long and three feet wide. It had
a short, powerful trunk and from its lower jaw mighty tusks curved
downward, their points bending inward toward the body. At the shoulder
it stood at least ten feet above the ground, and in length it must have
been fully twenty feet. But what resemblance it bore to an elephant was
lessened by its small, pig-like ears.
The two white men, momentarily forgetting the tigers behind them in
their amazement at the sight ahead, halted and looked with wonder upon
the huge gathering of creatures within the clearing.
"Did you ever see anything like it?" exclaimed Gridley.
"No, nor anyone else," replied Von Horst.
"I could catalog a great many of them," said Gridley, "although
practically all are extinct upon the outer crust. But that fellow there
gets me," and he pointed to the elephantine creature with the downward
pointing tusks.
"A Dinotherium of the Miocene," said Von Horst.
Muviro had stopped beside the two whites and was gazing in wide-eyed
astonishment at the scene before him.
"Well," asked Gridley, "what do you make of it, Muviro?"
"I think I understand now, Bwana," replied the black, "and if we
are ever going to escape our one chance is to cross that clearing
as quickly as possible. The great cats are herding these creatures
here and presently there will be such a killing as the eyes of man
have never before seen. If we are not killed by the cats, we shall be
trampled to death by these beasts in their efforts to escape or to
fight the tigers."
"I believe you are right, Muviro," said Gridley.
"There is an opening just ahead of us," said Von Horst.
Gridley called the men around him and pointed out across the clearing
to the forest upon the opposite side. "Apparently our only chance now,"
he said, "is to cross before the cats close in on these beasts. We
have already come into the clearing too far to try to take refuge in
the trees on this side for the saber-tooths are too close. Stick close
together and fire at nothing unless we are charged."
"Look!" exclaimed Von Horst. "The tigers are entering the clearing from
all sides. They have surrounded their quarry."
"There is still the one opening ahead of us, Bwana," said Muviro.
Already the little party was moving slowly across the clearing, which
was covered with nervous beasts moving irritably to and fro, their
whole demeanor marked by nervous apprehension. Prior to the advent of
the tigers the animals had been moving quietly about, some of them
grazing on the short grass of the clearing or upon the leaves and twigs
of the scattered trees growing in it; but with the appearance of the
first of the carnivores their attitude changed. A huge, bull mastodon
raised his trunk and trumpeted shrilly, and instantly every herbivore
was on the alert. And as eyes or nostrils detected the presence of the
great cats, or the beasts became excited by the excitement of their
fellows, each added his voice to the pandemonium that now reigned. To
the squealing, trumpeting and bellowing of the quarry were added the
hideous growls and roars of the carnivores.
"Look at those cats!" cried Von Horst. "There must be hundreds of
them." Nor was his estimate an exaggeration for from all sides of the
clearing, with the exception of a single point opposite them, the cats
were emerging from the forest and starting to circle the herd. That
they did not rush it immediately evidenced their respect for the huge
beasts they had corraled, the majority of which they would not have
dared to attack except in superior numbers.
Now a mammoth, a giant bull with tail raised and ears up-cocked, curled
his trunk above his head and charged. But a score of the great cats,
growling hideously, sprang to meet him, and the bull, losing his nerve,
wheeled in a wide circle and returned to the herd. Had he gone through
that menacing line of fangs and talons, as with his great size and
weight and strength he might have done, he would have opened a hole
through which a stampede of the other animals would have carried the
bulk of them to safety.
The frightened herbivores, their attention centered upon the menacing
tigers, paid little attention to the insignificant man-things passing
among them. But there were some exceptions. A thag, bellowing and
pawing the earth directly in their line of march, terrified by the odor
of the carnivores and aroused and angered by the excited trumpeting and
squealing of the creatures about him, seeking to vent his displeasure
upon something, lowered his head and charged them. A Waziri warrior
raised his rifle to his shoulder and fired, and a prehistoric Bos
Primigenus crashed to the impact of a modern bullet.
As the report of the rifle sounded above the other noises of the
clearing, the latter were momentarily stilled, and the full attention
of hunters and hunted was focused upon the little band of men, so puny
and insignificant in the presence of the mighty beasts of another day.
A dinotherium, his little ears up-cocked, his tail stiffly erect,
walked slowly toward them. Almost immediately others followed his
example until it seemed that the whole aggregation was converging upon
them. The forest was yet a hundred yards away as Jason Gridley realized
the seriousness of the emergency that now confronted them.
"We shall have to run for it," he said. "Give them a volley, and then
beat it for the trees. If they charge, it will have to be every man for
himself."
The Waziri wheeled and faced the slowly advancing herd and then,
at Gridley's command, they fired. The thunderous volley had its
effect upon the advancing beasts. They hesitated and then turned and
retreated; but behind them were the carnivores. And once again they
swung back in the direction of the men, who were now moving rapidly
toward the forest.
"Here they come!" cried Von Horst. And a backward glance revealed
the fact that the entire herd, goaded to terror by the tigers behind
them, had broken into a mad stampede. Whether or not it was a direct
charge upon the little party of men is open to question, but the fact
that they lay in its path was sufficient to seal their doom if they
were unable to reach the safety of the forest ahead of the charging
quadrupeds.
"Give them another volley!" cried Gridley. And again the Waziri turned
and fired. A dinotherium, a thag and two mammoths stumbled and fell to
the ground, but the remainder of the herd did not pause. Leaping over
the carcasses of their fallen comrades they thundered down upon the
fleeing men.
It was now, in truth, every man for himself, and so close pressed were
they that even the brave Waziri threw away their rifles as useless
encumbrances to flight.
Several of the red deer, swifter in flight than the other members
of the herd, had taken the lead, and, stampeding through the party,
scattered them to left and right.
Gridley and Von Horst were attempting to cover the retreat of the
Waziri and check the charge of the stampeding animals with their
revolvers. They succeeded in turning a few of the leaders, but
presently a great, red stag passed between them, forcing them to jump
quickly apart to escape his heavy antlers, and behind him swept a
nightmare of terrified beasts forcing them still further apart.
Not far from Gridley grew a single, giant tree, a short distance from
the edge of the clearing, and finding himself alone and cut off from
further retreat, the American turned and ran for it, while Von Horst
was forced to bolt for the jungle which was now almost within reach.
Bowled over by a huge sloth, Gridley scrambled to his feet, and,
passing in front of a fleeing mastodon, reached the tree just as the
main body of the stampeding herd closed about it. Its great bole gave
him momentary protection and an instant later he had scrambled among
its branches.
Instantly his first thought was for his fellows, but where they had
been a moment before was now only a solid mass of leaping, plunging,
terrified beasts. No sign of a human being was anywhere to be seen and
Gridley knew that no living thing could have survived the trampling of
those incalculable tons of terrified flesh.
Some of them, he knew, must have reached the forest, but he doubted
that all had come through in safety and he feared particularly for Von
Horst, who had been some little distance in rear of the Waziri.
The eyes of the American swept back over the clearing to observe such
a scene as probably in all the history of the world had never before
been vouchsafed to the eyes of man. Literally thousands of creatures,
large and small, were following their leaders in a break for life and
liberty, while upon their flanks and at their rear hundreds of savage
saber-tooth tigers leaped upon them, dragging down the weaker, battling
with the stronger, leaving the maimed and crippled behind that they
might charge into the herd again and drag down others.
The mad rush of the leaders across the clearing had been checked as
they entered the forest, and now those in the rear were forced to move
more slowly, but in their terror they sought to clamber over the backs
of those ahead. Red deer leaped upon the backs of mastodons and fled
across the heaving bodies beneath them, as a mountain goat might leap
from rock to rock. Mammoths raised their huge bulks upon lesser animals
and crushed them to the ground. Tusks and horns were red with gore as
the maddened beasts battled for their lives. The scene was sickening
in its horror, and yet fascinating in its primitive strength and
savagery--and everywhere were the great, savage cats.
Slowly they were cutting into the herd from both sides in an effort
to encircle a portion of it and at last they were successful, though
within the circle there remained but a few scattered beasts that were
still unmaimed or uncrippled. And then the great tigers turned upon
these, closing in and drawing tighter their hideous band of savage fury.
In twos and threes and scores they leaped upon the remaining beasts and
dragged them down until the sole creature remaining alive within their
circle was a gigantic bull mammoth. His shaggy coat was splashed with
blood and his tusks were red with gore. Trumpeting, he stood at bay, a
magnificent picture of primordial power, of sagacity, of courage.
The heart of the American went out to that lone warrior trumpeting his
challenge to overwhelming odds in the face of certain doom.
By hundreds the carnivores were closing in upon the great bull; yet it
was evident that even though they outnumbered him so overwhelmingly,
they still held him in vast respect. Growling and snarling, a few of
them slunk in stealthy circles about him, and as he wheeled about with
them, three of them charged him from the rear. With a swiftness that
matched their own, the pachyderm wheeled to meet them. Two of them he
caught upon his tusks and tossed them high into the air, and at the
same instant a score of others rushed him from each side and from the
rear and fastened themselves to his back and flanks. Down he went as
though struck by lightning, squatting quickly upon his haunches and
rolling over backward, crushing a dozen tigers before they could escape.
Gridley could scarce repress a cheer as the great fellow staggered
to his feet and threw himself again upon the opposite side to the
accompaniment of hideous screams of pain and anger from the tigers
he pinioned beneath him. But now he was gushing blood from a hundred
wounds, and other scores of the savage carnivores were charging him.
Though he put up a magnificent battle the end was inevitable and
at last they dragged him down, tearing him to pieces while he yet
struggled to rise again and battle with them.
And then commenced the aftermath as the savage beasts fought among
themselves for possession of their prey. For even though there was
flesh to more than surfeit them all, in their greed, jealousy and
ferocity, they must still battle one with another.
That they had paid heavily for their meat was evident by the carcasses
of the tigers strewn about the clearing and as the survivors slowly
settled down to feed, there came the jackals, the hyaenodons and the
wild dogs to feast upon their leavings.