Out of Time's Abyss

ort Dinosaur upon the west coast of the gre

nions, Sinclair, Brady, James, and Tippet, to search along the bas

, jungle grasses starred with myriad gorgeous blooms, now across open meadow-land and parklike expanses and again plunging into den

ming life. Always were they menaced by some frightful thing and seldom were their rifles cool, yet even in the brief time they had

e served on the traffic squad in Chicago; and as no one asked him wh

ed Sinclair. James and Tippet laughed, and then a hideous growl broke f

ed Tippet as they came to a halt and with gu

," said Bradley; "always tryi

on. Won't last forever. Follow me." And he set off at right angles to their former course, hoping to avert a charge. They had taken a dozen steps,

ispered Bradley. "Can

he various trees they had selected-all except Bradley. He stood watching Tippet and the bear. The man had a good start and the tree was not far away; but the speed of the enormous creature behind him was something to marvel at, yet Tippet was in a fair way to make his sanctuary when his f

ed Bradley. "Can't

on. Bradley shouted loudly. "Come on, you behemoth of Holy Writ!" he cried. "Come on, you duffer! Can't waste ammunition." And as he saw the bear apparently upon the ve

en, now safely ensconced upon various branches, watched the race with breathless interest. Would Bradley make it? It seemed scarce possible. And if he didn't! James gasped at the though

ear. Firing as he ran, Tippet raced after the great cave bear-the monstrous thing that should have been extinct ages before-ran for it and fired even as the beast was almost upon Bradley. The men in the trees scarcely breathed. It seemed to them such a futile thing for Tippet to do, and Tippet of all men! They had never looked upon Tippet as a coward-there seemed to be no cowards among that strangely assorted co

earsomely. Tippet never stopped running or firing until he stood within a foot of the brute, which lay almost touching Bradley and was already struggling to regain

"Mightily obliged to you-awful

fifteen minutes the encounter had cea

l of warm water if they followed the stream to its source; but there they were almost certain to find some of Caspak's grotesque, manlike creatures. Already since they had disembarked from the U-33 after its perilous trip through the subterranean channel beneath the barrier cliffs had brought them into the inland sea of Caspak, had they encountered what had appeared to be three distinct types of these creatures. There had been the pure apes-huge, gorillalike beasts-and those who walked, a trifle more erect and h

desire to follow up the little stream toward the pool near which were sure to be the caves of some savage tribe, but fortune played him an unkind trick, for the pool was much closer than he imagined, its southern end reac

em a hunting party evidently returning to its caves or village laden with meat. They were large men with features closely resembling those of the African Negro though their skins were white. Shor

his party south around the end of the pool, and as it was hemmed in by the jungl

hand. "We are friends," he called in the tongue of Ahm, the Bo-lu, who had been

isterous. "No," shouted one, "you will not harm us, for we shall kill you. Come!

Bradley quietly. "Pick off the

ifle both warriors lunged forward in the tall grass, pierced by the same bullet. The effect upon the rest of the band was electrical. As one man they came to a sudden halt, wheeled to the east and dashed into the

iosity than they displayed for the victim of Sinclair's bullet. When the party again took up the march around the southern end of the pool the owner of t

n took up the duties assigned them-gathering wood, building a cook-fire and preparing the evening meal. It was while they were thus engaged that Brady's attention was attracted by the dismal flapping of huge wings. He glanced up, expecting to see one of the gr

most screamed

zen gaze, nor was there one of them that was not moved by some species of terror or awe. Th

, the thing flapped itself across the sky, its huge, round eyes glaring down upon them. And until it disappeared over the tops of the trees of a near-by wood the

this orful plice." Brady, recovered from the first shock, swore loud and luridly. He called upon all the saints to witness that he was unafraid and t

sarcasm, "we've saw so many of

dy. "If you know so much, tell u

adley. "What was it, sir

ed to me; but what it really was I can't even guess, for such a creature is as far beyond my experience or knowledge as it is beyond yours. All that I am sure of is that whatever els

ried. "Hi seen hit. Blime, Hi seen hit. Hit was ha dead man flyin' th

s face plain as I see yours. It had big round eyes that looked all cold and dead, and its cheeks were sunken in deep, and I could s

which he uttered-rather a series of articulate gasps. "Yes-dead-a-long-while. It-means something. It

o. Won't do at all. Get to work, all of

t until they had eaten and to each had been issued the little ration of smoking tobacco allowed after each evening meal did any sign of a relaxation of taut nerves appear. It was Brady who showed the first signs of returning go

a sudden rush by some maddened beast of the jungle. Beyond the fire, yellow-green spots of flame appeared, moved restlessly about, disappeared and reappeared, accomp

ome callous. They sang or talked as unconcernedly as they m

r at night. The fire crackled cheerily. The owners of the yellow-green eyes raised their frightful chorus to the heavens. Conditions seemed again

light of the flaring camp-fire. Sinclair raised his rifle and fired. An eerie wail floated down from above and the apparition, whatever it might have been, was swallowe

n't waste ammunition." But there was no note of censure in his tone. It was as

it would take an iron man to keep from shootin' a

Bradley. "No

as a woman murdered over on the prairie near Br

" snapped

ey were a hold ruined castle on a 'ill near by, hand at midnight

dley. "You fools will have yourselves sca

overtook the harassed men toward morning; nor was there any return

hward in an effort to discover a break in the frowning abutment that raised its rocky face almost per

direction, indicating to Bradley that they were approaching the northern extremity of the island. According to the best of his calculations they had made sufficient easting during the past two days to have brought them t

lay smoking and chatting among themselves. Tippet was on guard. Fewer night prowlers threatened them, and the men were commenting upon the fact that the farther north they had traveled the smaller the number of all species of animals became, though it was still present i

was brought to his feet, wide awake, by a piercing scream which was punctuated by the sharp report of a rifle from the direction of the fire where Tippet stood guard. As he ran toward the man, Bradley heard above him the same uncanny w

g form, carried his hand to the butt of his pistol; but after he had d

ckly to where Tippet lay sprawled upon his face. By this time James,

ed James as Bradley kneele

s shirt at the throat and when the water was brought, threw a cupful in the man's face. Slowly Tippet regained consciousness and sat up. At first he looked curiously into the faces of the

ley. "Buck up! Can't play cry-baby

ir; strite hat me, sir; hand with long w'ite 'ands it clawed for me. Oh, Gord! Hit almost caught me, sir.

napped Bradley. "Did yo

thing had almost clutched him, and he had looked straight int

bein', do you thin

shuddering, and again a pall of

attention. He insisted that he was already a dead man, for if the thing didn't come for him during the day he would never live through another night of agonized apprehension, wai

lity of it; nor could he take the man's weapons from him without subjecting him

ally, it aroused within them superstitious fear which Tippet's attitude only tended to augment. To add further to their gloom, their way led through a dense forest, where, on account of the underbrush, it was difficult to make even a mile an hour. Constant watchfuln

ghtful jaws to the tip of its long tail it was fully forty feet in length. Its body was covered with plates of thick skin which bore a striking resemblance to armor-plate. The creature saw Bradley almost at the same instant that he saw it and reared up on its e

ting a new note which rose in a shrill whistle and ended in a wail. It was then that Tippet appeared to come out of his trance, for with a cry of terror he turned and fled to the left. Bradley, seeing that he had as good an opportunity as the others to escape, now turned his attention to extricating himself; and as the woods seemed dense on the right, he ra

monster lunged its great weight forward upon the doomed man. The sharp, three-toed talons of the forelimbs seized poor Tippet, and Bradley saw the unfortunate fellow lifted high above the ground as th

that the reptile was not looking in his direction, and so he slipped noiselessly behind the bole of a large tree and thence quietly faded away in the direction he believed the others to have taken. At what he considered a safe distance he halted and looked back. Half hidden by the intervening trees he

reature lay and after convincing themselves that it was quite dead, came close to it. It was an arduous and grue

e all right," muttered Brady.

hand hit'll kill some more of us,"

t might have turned itself into this thing, which ain't no natural thing at all, just to get poor Tippet. If it had of been a lion o

e this creature. Just succeeded. It's a tyrannosaurus. Saw picture of skeleton in magazine. There's one in New York Natural History Museum. See

s in Wyoming, an' I've heard of Hell Creek. Do you s'pose that

that the island of Caprona has stood almost wi

e the spirits of the men; and then came another diversion in the form of ravenous meat-eaters attracted to the sp

ave then; but remained to fashion a rude headstone from a crumbling out-cropping of sandstone and to gather a mass of the gorgeous flowers growing in

ES JOHN

LIS

BY TYRA

T. A.D

I.

ort prayer before they le

ecca, the smallest species of Caspakian horse, about the size of a rabbit. There were other horses too; but all were small, the largest being not above eight hands in height. Preying co

ter with the tribe that inhabited the numerous caves which pitted the face of the escarpment. That night they camped upon a rocky plateau which was spa

o see James, with clubbed rifle, battling with a white-robed figure that hovered on widespread wings on a level with the Englishman's head. As they ran, shouting, forward, it was obvious to them that the weird and terrible apparition was

cored a hit or not, none could tell, though, following the shot, there was wafted

l them how the thing must have swooped silently upon him from above and behind as the first premonition of danger he had received was when the long, clawlike fingers had clutched

, nor could any amount of argument or raillery convince him to the contrary. He had seen Tippet marked and claimed and now he had been marked. Nor were his constant reiterations of this

1916. Beneath a jarrah tree on the stony plateau on the northern edge of the Sto-lu cou

ss overtook them. With comparative safety fifteen miles away, they made camp at last; but there was no singing now and no joking. In the bottom of his heart each prayed that they might come safely through just this night, for they knew t

ght to ten, followed by Sinclair from ten to twelve, then Bradley had been awakened. Brady would stand the last guard from tw

g to his feet, his rifle ready in his hand, Sinclair awoke and took in the scene in a single swift glance. The fire was out and Bradley was nowhere in sight. For a long moment the lion and

e had not been visible; and so they did what they had learned by long experience was best to do. Each covered a front leg, and as the tail snapped aloft, fired. With a hideous roar the mighty flesh-eater lurched forward to the ground with both front legs broken. It was

hich had lain about ten yards beyond the fire-it was Bradley's cap. Again the two looked questioningly at one another, and then, simultaneously, both pairs of eyes swung upward and searched the sky. A moment later Brady was examining the ground about the spot where Bradley's cap had lain. It was one of those little barren, sandy st

her die than spend another night in the hideous open of that frightful land. Vivid in the mind of each was a picture of Bradley's end, for though neither had witnessed the tragedy, both could imagine almost precisely what had occu

inder them. Again and again they fell; but be it to their credit that the one always waited and helped the other and that into the mind of neit

ith a courageous recklessness born of desperation, and by virtue of the very madness

, in the distance, they could see the waters of the great inland sea that covers a considerable portion of the area of the crater isl

e spot where Dinosaur had stood. Was the fort still there, or did the smoke arise from the smolderi

again they struck off upon level ground toward their goal. The closer they approached the fort the greater became their apprehension that all would not be well. They pictured the barracks deserted or the small c

"They are still there!" And h

he sturdy ramparts of Dinosaur and from inside the inclosure rose a thin spiral of smoke that marked t

g that presently heads appeared above the top of the parapet and soon answering shouts were rising from within Fort Dinosaur. A moment later three men issued from the inclosure and came forward to meet the survivors and listen to the hurr

ley and his party had marched away on September 4th. They told them of the infamous act of Baron Friedrich von Schoenvorts and his German crew who had stolen the U-33, breaking their parole,

rs after her capture by the crew of the English tug there were but five now to be accounted for at Fort Dinosaur. Benson, Tippet, James, and one of the Germans were known to be dead. It was assumed that Bradley, Tyler and the girl had already succumbed to some of the savage denizens of Caspak, while the