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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
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