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There seemed no one to dispute his claims when he said, or rather shouted, in

stentorian tones: "I am Tsa. This is my she. Who wishes her more than Tsa?"

"I do," I said in the language of Ahm, and I stepped out into the firelight before

them. Lys gave a little cry of joy and started toward me, but Tsa grasped her arm

and dragged her back.

"Who are you?" shrieked Tsa. "I kill! I kill! I kill!"

"The she is mine," I replied, "and I have come to claim her. I kill if you do not let

her come to me." And I raised my pistol to a level with his heart. Of course the

creature had no conception of the purpose of the strange little implement which I

was poking toward him. With a sound that was half human and half the growl of

a wild beast, he sprang toward me. I aimed at his heart and fired, and as he

sprawled headlong to the ground, the others of his tribe, overcome by fright at the

report of the pistol, scattered toward the cliffs--while Lys, with outstretched arms,

ran toward me.

As I crushed her to me, there rose from the black night behind us and then to our

right and to our left a series of frightful screams and shrieks, bellowings, roars

and growls. It was the night-life of this jungle world coming into its own--the

huge, carnivorous nocturnal beasts which make the nights of Caspak hideous. A

shuddering sob ran through Lys' figure. "O God," she cried, "give me the strength

to endure, for his sake!" I saw that she was upon the verge of a breakdown, after

all that she must have passed through of fear and horror that day, and I tried to

quiet and reassure her as best I might; but even to me the future looked most

unpromising, for what chance of life had we against the frightful hunters of the

night who even now were prowling closer to us?

Now I turned to see what had become of the tribe, and in the fitful glare of the fire

I perceived that the face of the cliff was pitted with large holes into which the

man-things were clambering. "Come," I said to Lys, "we must follow them. We

cannot last a half-hour out here. We must find a cave." Already we could see the

blazing green eyes of the hungry carnivora. I seized a brand from the fire and

hurled it out into the night, and there came back an answering chorus of savage

and rageful protest; but the eyes vanished for a short time. Selecting a burning

branch for each of us, we advanced toward the cliffs, where we were met by angry

threats.

They will kill us," said Lys. "We may as well keep on in search of another

refuge."

They will not kill us so surely as will those others out there," I replied. "I am

going to seek shelter in one of these caves; nor will the man-things prevent." And

The Land That Time Forgot