Out of Time's Abyss

procession of hot, humid days and warm, humid nights. The fugitives saw never a Wieroo by

Toward the center it was deep enough for swimming, and so he taught her to swim-she was probably the first human being in all Caspak's long ages who had done this thi

his knowledge of the girl's language and teaching her to speak and to write English-anything that would keep them both occupied. He

ning plunge when from overhead came the sound of flapping wings. Glancing quickly up the man saw a white-robed Wieroo circling slowly above him. That he had been discovered he

f wings apprised them of the approach of Wieroos. Together they went to the edge of the wood and looked up to see five red-robed creatures dropping slowly in ever-lessening spirals toward their little amphitheater.

s, permitting them to approach ever closer; then he circled back again toward the clearing, evidently to the great delight of the Wieroos, who now followed more leisurely, awaiting the moment when they should be beyond the trees and able to use

wailing after the manner of their kind. When a Wieroo runs, his wings spread almost without any volition upon his part, since from time immemorial he has always used them to balance himself and accelerate his running speed so that in the open they appear to skim the surface of the ground when in the act of run

wish and at a distance. You cannot escape me. Your on

faced him. "What do yo

radley commanded. After a mom

the only plan-had suddenly co

ommand. Bradley turned to the girl. "There

gth to the ankle of one of the Wieroos and the opposite end to the second. The cr

alking close behind and that I will shoot the nearer one should either

es a sharp blade, and I carry this weapon that you know kills easily at a distance. If you disobey in the slightest, the instructions that I am

pon the shore of the mainland-that is all. I

back of the leading Wieroo, himself upon the other. Then he gave the signal for the two to rise together. With loud flapping of the powerful wings th

feared might bring disaster to his plans for escape-the huge, winged reptilia that are so numerous

beyond, a mighty mammoth culled the tender shoots from a tall tree. The roars and screams and growls of giant carnivora came faintly to their ears. Ah, this was Caspak. With all of its dangers and its primal savagery it brought a fullness to the throat of the Englishman as to one who

ny wailing upon their lips that always brought a shudder to the Engli

r from my country. We may never live to reach it, as we are among enemies who, while not so horrible will kill us just as sur

have been to have brought about our heads hundreds of the creatures from whom we could not possibly have escaped. Again, my friends must be near this spot-it cann

?" asked

accomplished the impossible once, and so I shal

he did not see the shadow of sorrow that crossed her cou

h, I wish," s

trees to insure sanctuary from the beasts and reptiles that so often menaced them. It was late in the afternoon when the girl sudd

ted. He rubbed his eyes and looked again, and then he seiz

it?" sh

the waters of the world have ever known

es. "It is the thing of which you told me," she exclaimed, "-th

replied

asked the girl. "You said that n

l long since, and so I cannot understand why it is still here. I am going to investigate first before I show myself. When I left, there were more Germans on the U-33 than there

ed the boat for signs of human life about it. The hatches were closed-no one could be seen or heard. For five minutes Bradley watched, and then he determined to board the submarine and investigate. He had risen to carry his decision into effect when there suddenly broke upon his ear, uttered in loud and menacing tones, a vo

men-all armed-while marching in a little knot among

nor of the perfidy of the Germans in shelling the fort and attempting to e

m with a stick of wood, impartially. Von Schoenvorts walked in the rear of the column, encouraging Schwartz and laughing at the discomfiture of the Britishers. Dietz,

of where he lay hidden he made his plans, foolhardy though he knew them. Then he drew the girl close to him. "Stay here," he whispered. "I am going out to fight

nto her eyes. "Oh!" he ejaculated. "What an idiot I have been! Nor could I live without you, little girl." And he drew her very close and kissed her lips. "Good-bye." He di

olster. He gave a cry of fright and warning, and his men turned to see a half-naked white m

ect German from the lips of the newcomer. "Drop them or I'

st toward von Schoenvorts and then to Schwartz,

ey," shouted the latter, "an

d something to him. The latter nodded. Suddenly von Schoenvorts wheeled about and seiz

ingly toward the English prisoners. Then Plesser spoke. "Now is your chance, Englander," he

pecially venomous attentions he had taken great enjoyment in according Plesser and Hindle to understand that these two might be sincere in a desire f

dy and Olson were charging the Germans in the rear with Wilson, Whitely, and Sinclair supporting them with bare fists. It seemed that Bradley was doomed when, apparently out of space, an arrow whizzed, striking Schwartz in the side, p

sser and Hindle standing aside from the melee and urging their comrades to surrender and join with the English against the tyranny of von Schoenvorts. Heinz and Klatz, possibly influenced by their exhortation, were putting up bu

ision and science of English bayonet-fighting. There was no feinting, no retiring and no parrying that was not also an attack. Bayonet-fighting

tepped close in, dropped his rifle through his hands and grasped it with both hands close below the muzzle and with a short, sharp jab sent his blade up beneath Dietz's chin t

ying "Kamerad! Kamerad!" at the tops of their voices. Von Schoenvorts still lay where he had fallen. Plesser and Hindle were explain

rl who now advanced slowly, her bow ready, when

and yours." And to the Englishmen: "This is Co-Tan. You who

mile upon her lips enhancing the charm of her irresistible accent, each and every one of them

Schoenvorts who was just rising from the ground. Plesser carried a rifle with bayonet fixed, that he had snatched from the side of Dietz's

Thus would I do!" And he lunged his bayonet through von Schoenvorts' chest. Then he let his rifle fall with the dying man and wheeled toward Bradley. "Here I am," he said. "Do with me as you like. All my life I have been kicked and cuffed by such as that, and yet always have

n your noble chist; but bein' only an Irishman with a Swede name

r of you left-if you four want to come along and work wi

our lives we have known nothing but to obey his class. If I had not killed him, I suppose I woul

her survivors of the original crew

ingle grave, and then the party boarded

o mysteriously from the camp upon the plateau. Now he learned for the first time that Bowen J. Tyler, Jr.,

sser told briefly of the experiences of the German crew under von Schoenvorts since they had escaped from Caspak months before-of how they lost their bearings after having been shelled by ships they had attempted t

e have a last sad duty here-we must search for Miss La Rue and Mr. Tyler. I say a sad duty because we know that we shall not find them; but it is none the less our duty

oice raised in protest against the plan to at least ma

yes scanning the shore for an answering signal. Late in the afternoon they caught sight of a number of Band-lu warriors; but when the vessel approached the shore and

l toward "the beginning"-a journey which one in millions, perhaps, might survive to complete. Already almost at the inception of life they were being greeted by thousands of voracious mouths as fish and reptiles

ro-lu country to hunt. Here they were attacked by the bow-and-arrow men, whom they could not persuade to palaver with them. So bel

rning to the boat with their game, "could Tyler

of lofty cliffs that formed the southern shore of the inlet and rounded a sharp promontory about noon. Co-Tan and Bradley were on d

try! The Galu country! It is my count

come again, Co-Ta

ive here among them, and you will be a great warrior-oh, when Jor dies you

swered. "My country needs me, and I must go back. Maybe

re going away from me?" she asked in a very s

s bare arm; and he felt something else there too-hot drops of moisture that ran d

, Co-Tan." And he bent still lower yet from his height and kissed her lips. Nor did he need more than the wonderful new light in her eyes to tell him that she would go to the end of the world with him if he wou

foot of a plateau when Whitely called attention to a score of figures clambering downward from the elevation to the lowland below. The engines

. Let me speak to them lest they think we come to fight

have run forward alone, Bradley seized her hand and held her back. "I will go w

mishers. Bradley could not but notice the marked difference between this formation and the mobl

carce use their weapons the while they present so big a mark to us that our spears and arrows cannot miss them; but when

ioned, "and fold your arms.

n they had come within some fifty yards, they halted and one spoke. "Who are you and from whence do y

med. "Do you not know

It was then that Bradley experienced to the full a sensation that was new to him-a sudden hatred for the strange warrior be

n?" he demanded

and then of a sudden broke forth into a merry peal

ad-lee?" deman

n," replied

ight?" ins

hrough since the Wieroos had stolen her and of how Bradley

sfied with hi

lied the g

charging across the meadowland at a rapid run. It was a magnificent animal-a great bay stallion with a white-blazed face and white forelegs to the knees, its barrel encircled by a broad surcingle of white; and as it came t

ut there was a subtle difference between him and his companion. Possibly he detected a similar difference in Bradley

" replied

and. "I am Tom Billings of Santa Monica, California," he said.

thought ours was the only party of men f

Jr.," replied Billings. "We found him and sent him h

are ten of us down there on a German sub with small-arms and a gun," he s

e you." And then turning to the girl who had accompanied him he called her by name. "Ajor,"

as good a soldier as I," he said to Billings. "Instead of being taken

Co-Tan. "You are going back with him to h

the Galus, will not permit it, for like me you are cos-ata-lo. Oh, Co-Tan, if we but cou

in her ear. "Say the word a

aking in English, aske

captures us, both you and Co-Tan's man will pay the penalty with your

. "We can easily get you aboard the ship," he said, "on some pretext or other, and then we c

llings aboard to "show" them the vessel, which almost imm

Tan are splendid men and they will think me an ingrate; but I can't wa

en Tyler and his bride had left the Galu country but a fortnight before and that there was every reason to believe that the Toreador mi

aft. Down the coast they steamed toward the beach where Billings had made his crossing in the hydro-aeroplane and just at dusk the lookout announced a light dead ahead. It proved to be aboard the Toreador, and a half-hour later there was such a reunion on the deck

heard, faintly, the signal shots fired by the U-33 but had been unable to locate

es beneath which she had been born in the shipyard at Santa Monica. Three newly married couples, their bonds now duly solemnized by the master of the ship, joyed in the peace and

controlled, and here the U-33 still lies while those who passed so many

have made the followi

ORIGINAL

12

nimals lif

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radley,

8 ma

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spen

mumbled

thing

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roaching

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artistic no

below hands

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ow know