The steaks we had that night,
and they were fine; and the following
morning we tasted the broth.
It seemed odd to be eating a
creature that should, by all
the laws of paleontology, have
been extinct for several million
years. It gave one a feeling
of newness that was almost embarrassing,
although it didn't seem to embarrass
our appetites. Olson ate until
I
thought he would burst.
The girl ate with us that night
at the little officers' mess
just back of the torpedo compartment.
The narrow table was unfolded;
the four stools were set out;
and for the first time in days
we sat down to eat, and for the
first time in weeks we had something
to eat other than the monotony
of the short rations of an impoverished
U-boat. Nobs sat between the
girl and me and was fed with
morsels of the Plesiosaurus steak,
at the risk of forever contaminating
his manners. He looked at me
sheepishly all the time, for
he knew that no well-bred dog
should eat at table; but the
poor fellow was so wasted from
improper food that I couldn't
enjoy my own meal had he been
denied an immediate share in
it; and anyway Lys wanted to
feed him. So there you are.
Lys was coldly
polite to me and sweetly gracious
to Bradley
and Olson. She wasn't of the
gushing type, I knew; so I didn't
expect much from her and was
duly grateful for the few morsels
of attention she threw upon the
floor to me. We had a pleasant
meal, with only one unfortunate
occurrence--when Olson suggested
that possibly the creature we
were eating was the same one
that ate the German. It was some
time before we could persuade
the girl to continue her meal,
but at last Bradley prevailed
upon her, pointing out that we
had come upstream nearly forty
miles since the boche had been
seized, and that during that
time we had seen literally thousands
of these denizens of the river,
indicating that the chances were
very remote that this was the
same Plesiosaur. "And anyway," he
concluded, "it was only a scheme
of Mr. Olson's to get all the
steaks for himself."
We discussed the future and
ventured opinions as to what
lay before us; but we could only
theorize at best, for none of
us knew. If the whole land was
infested by these and similar
horrid monsters, life would be
impossible upon it, and we decided
that we would only search long
enough to find and take aboard
fresh water and such meat and
fruits as might be safely procurable
and then retrace our way beneath
the cliffs to the open sea.
And so at last we turned into
our narrow bunks, hopeful, happy
and at peace with ourselves,
our lives and our God, to awaken
the following morning refreshed
and still optimistic. We had
an easy time getting away--as
we learned later, because the
saurians do not commence to feed
until late in the morning. From
noon to midnight their curve
of activity is at its height,
while from dawn to about nine
o'clock it is lowest. As a matter
of fact, we didn't see one of
them all the time we were getting
under way, though I had the cannon
raised to the deck and manned
against an assault. I hoped,
but I was none too sure, that
shells might discourage them.
The trees were full of monkeys
of all sizes and shades, and
once we thought we saw a manlike
creature watching us from the
depth of the forest.
Shortly after we resumed our
course upstream, we saw the mouth
of another and smaller river
emptying into the main channel
from the south--that is, upon
our right; and almost immediately
after we came upon a large island
five or six miles in length;
and at fifty miles there was
a still larger river than the
last coming in from the northwest,
the course of the main stream
having now changed to northeast
by southwest. The water was quite
free from reptiles, and the vegetation
upon the banks of the river had
altered to more open and parklike
forest, with eucalyptus and acacia
mingled with a scattering of
tree ferns, as though two distinct
periods of geologic time had
overlapped and merged. The grass,
too, was less flowering, though
there were still gorgeous patches
mottling the greensward; and
lastly, the fauna was less multitudinous.
Six or seven miles farther,
and the river widened considerably;
before us opened an expanse of
water to the farther horizon,
and then we sailed out upon an
inland sea so large that only
a shore- line upon our side was
visible to us. The waters all
about us were alive with life.
There were still a few reptiles;
but there were fish by the thousands,
by the millions.
The water of the inland sea
was very warm, almost hot, and
the atmosphere was hot and heavy
above it. It seemed strange that
beyond the buttressed walls of
Caprona icebergs floated and
the south wind was biting, for
only a gentle breeze moved across
the face of these living waters,
and that was damp and warm. Gradually,
we commenced to divest ourselves
of our clothing, retaining only
sufficient for modesty; but the
sun was not hot. It was more
the heat of a steam-room than
of an oven.
We coasted up the shore of
the lake in a north-westerly
direction, sounding all the time.
We found the lake deep and the
bottom rocky and steeply shelving
toward the center, and once when
I moved straight out from shore
to take other soundings we could
find no bottom whatsoever. In
open spaces along the shore we
caught occasional glimpses of
the distant cliffs, and here
they appeared only a trifle less
precipitous than those which
bound Caprona on the seaward
side. My theory is that in a
far distant era Caprona was a
mighty mountain--perhaps the
world's mightiest volcanic action
blew off the entire crest, blew
thousands of feet of the mountain
upward and outward and onto the
surrounding continent, leaving
a great crater; and then, possibly,
the continent sank as ancient
continents have been known to
do, leaving only the summit of
Caprona above the sea. The encircling
walls, the central lake, the
hot springs which feed the lake,
all point to a conclusion, and
the fauna and the flora bear
indisputable evidence that Caprona
was once part of some great land-mass.
As we cruised up along the
coast, the landscape continued
a more or less open forest, with
here and there a small plain
where we saw animals grazing.
With my glass I could make out
a species of large red deer,
some antelope and what appeared
to be a species of horse; and
once I saw the shaggy form of
what might have been a monstrous
bison. Here was game a plenty!
There seemed little danger of
starving upon Caprona. The game,
however, seemed wary; for the
instant the animals discovered
us, they threw up their heads
and tails and went cavorting
off, those farther inland following
the example of the others until
all were lost in the mazes of
the distant forest. Only the
great, shaggy ox stood his ground.
With lowered head he watched
us until we had passed, and then
continued feeding.
About twenty miles up the coast
from the mouth of the river we
encountered low cliffs of sandstone,
broken and tortured evidence
of the great upheaval which had
torn Caprona asunder in the past,
intermingling upon a common level
the rock formations of widely
separated eras, fusing some and
leaving others untouched.
We ran along beside them for
a matter of ten miles, arriving
off a broad cleft which led into
what appeared to be another lake.
As we were in search of pure
water, we did not wish to overlook
any portion of the coast, and
so after sounding and finding
that we had ample depth, I ran
the U-33 between head-lands into
as pretty a landlocked harbor
as sailormen could care to see,
with good water right up to within
a few yards of the shore. As
we cruised slowly along, two
of the boches again saw what
they believed to be a man, or
manlike creature, watching us
from a fringe of trees a hundred
yards inland, and shortly after
we discovered the mouth of a
small stream emptying into the
bay: It was the first stream
we had found since leaving the
river, and I at once made preparations
to test its water. To land, it
would be necessary to run the
U-33 close in to the shore, at
least as close as we could, for
even these waters were infested,
though, not so thickly, by savage
reptiles. I ordered sufficient
water let into the diving-tanks
to lower us about a foot, and
then I ran the bow slowly toward
the shore, confident that should
we run aground, we still had
sufficient lifting force to free
us when the water should be pumped
out of the tanks; but the bow
nosed its way gently into the
reeds and touched the shore with
the keel still clear.
My men were all armed now with
both rifles and pistols, each
having plenty of ammunition.
I ordered one of the Germans
ashore with a line, and sent
two of my own men to guard him,
for from what little we had seen
of Caprona, or Caspak as we learned
later to call the interior, we
realized that any instant some
new and terrible danger might
confront us. The line was made
fast to a small tree, and at
the same time I had the stern
anchor dropped.
As soon as the boche and his
guard were aboard again, I called
all hands on deck, including
von Schoenvorts, and there I
explained to them that the time
had come for us to enter into
some sort of an agreement among
ourselves that would relieve
us of the annoyance and embarrassment
of being divided into two antagonistic
parts--prisoners and captors.
I told them that it was obvious
our very existence depended upon
our unity of action, that we
were to all intent and purpose
entering a new world as far from
the seat and causes of our own
world-war as if millions of miles
of space and eons of time separated
us from our past lives and habitations.
"There is no reason why we
should carry our racial and political
hatreds into Caprona," I insisted. "The
Germans among us might kill all
the English, or the English might
kill the last German, without
affecting in the slightest degree
either the outcome of even the
smallest skirmish upon the western
front or the opinion of a single
individual in any belligerent
or neutral country. I therefore
put the issue squarely to you
all; shall we bury our animosities
and work together with and for
one another while we remain upon
Caprona, or must we continue
thus divided and but half armed,
possibly until death has claimed
the last of us? And let me tell
you, if you have not already
realized it, the chances are
a thousand to one that not one
of us ever will see the outside
world again. We are safe now
in the matter of food and water;
we could provision the U-33 for
a long cruise; but we are practically
out of fuel, and without fuel
we cannot hope to reach the ocean,
as only a submarine can pass
through the barrier cliffs. What
is your answer?" I turned toward
von Schoenvorts.
He eyed me in that disagreeable
way of his and demanded to know,
in case they accepted my suggestion,
what their status would be in
event of our finding a way to
escape with the U-33. I replied
that I felt that if we had all
worked loyally together we should
leave Caprona upon a common footing,
and to that end I suggested that
should the remote possibility
of our escape in the submarine
develop into reality, we should
then immediately make for the
nearest neutral port and give
ourselves into the hands of the
authorities, when we should all
probably be interned for the
duration of the war. To my surprise
he agreed that this was fair
and told me that they would accept
my conditions and that I could
depend upon their loyalty to
the common cause.
I thanked him and then addressed
each one of his men individually,
and each gave me his word that
he would abide by all that I
had outlined. It was further
understood that we were to act
as a military organization under
military rules and discipline--I
as commander, with Bradley as
my first lieutenant and Olson
as my second, in command of the
Englishmen; while von Schoenvorts
was to act as an additional second
lieutenant and have charge of
his own men. The four of us were
to constitute a military court
under which men might be tried
and sentenced to punishment for
infraction of military rules
and discipline, even to the passing
of the death-sentence.
I then had arms and ammunition
issued to the Germans, and leaving
Bradley and five men to guard
the U-33, the balance of us went
ashore. The first thing we did
was to taste the water of the
little stream-- which, to our
delight, we found sweet, pure
and cold. This stream was entirely
free from dangerous reptiles,
because, as I later discovered,
they became immediately dormant
when subjected to a much lower
temperature than 70 degrees Fahrenheit.
They dislike cold water and keep
as far away from it as possible.
There were countless brook-trout
here, and deep holes that invited
us to bathe, and along the bank
of the stream were trees bearing
a close resemblance to ash and
beech and oak, their characteristics
evidently induced by the lower
temperature of the air above
the cold water and by the fact
that their roots were watered
by the water from the stream
rather than from the warm springs
which we afterward found in such
abundance elsewhere.
Our first concern
was to fill the water tanks
of the U-33 with
fresh water, and that having
been accomplished, we set out
to hunt for game and explore
inland for a short distance.
Olson, von Schoenvorts, two Englishmen
and two Germans accompanied me,
leaving ten to guard the ship
and the girl. I had intended
leaving Nobs behind, but he got
away and joined me and was so
happy over it that I hadn't the
heart to send him back. We followed
the stream upward through a beautiful
country for about five miles,
and then came upon its source
in a little boulder-strewn clearing.
From among the rocks bubbled
fully twenty ice-cold springs.
North of the clearing rose sandstone
cliffs to a height of some fifty
to seventy-five feet, with tall
trees growing at their base and
almost concealing them from our
view. To the west the country
was flat and sparsely wooded,
and here it was that we saw our
first game--a large red deer.
It was grazing away from us and
had not seen us when one of my
men called my attention to it.
Motioning for silence and having
the rest of the party lie down,
I crept toward the quarry, accompanied
only by Whitely. We got within
a hundred yards of the deer when
he suddenly raised his antlered
head and pricked up his great
ears. We both fired at once and
had the satisfaction of seeing
the buck drop; then we ran forward
to finish him with our knives.
The deer lay in a small open
space close to a clump of acacias,
and we had advanced to within
several yards of our kill when
we both halted suddenly and simultaneously.
Whitely looked at me, and I looked
at Whitely, and then we both
looked back in the direction
of the deer. "Blime!' he said. "Wot
is hit, sir?"
"It looks to me, Whitely, like
an error," I said; "some assistant
god who had been creating elephants
must have been temporarily transferred
to the lizard-department."
"Hi wouldn't s'y that, sir," said
Whitely; "it sounds blasphemous."
"It is more blasphemous than
that thing which is swiping our
meat," I replied, for whatever
the thing was, it had leaped
upon our deer and was devouring
it in great mouthfuls which it
swallowed without mastication.
The creature appeared to be a
great lizard at least ten feet
high, with a huge, powerful tail
as long as its torso, mighty
hind legs and short forelegs.
When it had advanced from the
wood, it hopped much after the
fashion of a kangaroo, using
its hind feet and tail to propel
it, and when it stood erect,
it sat upon its tail. Its head
was long and thick, with a blunt
muzzle, and the opening of the
jaws ran back to a point behind
the eyes, and the jaws were armed
with long sharp teeth. The scaly
body was covered with black and
yellow spots about a foot in
diameter and irregular in contour.
These spots were outlined in
red with edgings about an inch
wide. The underside of the chest,
body and tail were a greenish
white.
"Wot s'y we pot the bloomin'
bird, sir?" suggested Whitely.
I told him to wait until I
gave the word; then we would
fire simultaneously, he at the
heart and I at the spine.
"Hat the 'eart, sir--yes, sir," he
replied, and raised his piece
to his shoulder.
Our shots rang out together.
The thing raised its head and
looked about until its eyes rested
upon us; then it gave vent to
a most appalling hiss that rose
to the crescendo of a terrific
shriek and came for us.
"Beat it, Whitely!" I
cried as I turned to run.
We were about a quarter of
a mile from the rest of our party,
and in full sight of them as
they lay in the tall grass watching
us. That they saw all that had
happened was evidenced by the
fact that they now rose and ran
toward us, and at their head
leaped Nobs. The creature in
our rear was gaining on us rapidly
when Nobs flew past me like a
meteor and rushed straight for
the frightful reptile. I tried
to recall him, but he would pay
no attention to me, and as I
couldn't see him sacrificed,
I, too, stopped and faced the
monster. The creature appeared
to be more impressed with Nobs
than by us and our firearms,
for it stopped as the Airedale
dashed at it growling, and struck
at him viciously with its powerful
jaws.
Nobs, though, was lightning
by comparison with the slow thinking
beast and dodged his opponent's
thrust with ease. Then he raced
to the rear of the tremendous
thing and seized it by the tail.
There Nobs made the error of
his life. Within that mottled
organ were the muscles of a Titan,
the force of a dozen mighty catapults,
and the owner of the tail was
fully aware of the possibilities
which it contained. With a single
flip of the tip it sent poor
Nobs sailing through the air
a hundred feet above the ground,
straight back into the clump
of acacias from which the beast
had leaped upon our kill--and
then the grotesque thing sank
lifeless to the ground.
Olson and von Schoenvorts came
up a minute later with their
men; then we all cautiously approached
the still form upon the ground.
The creature was quite dead,
and an examination resulted in
disclosing the fact that Whitely's
bullet had pierced its heart,
and mine had severed the spinal
cord.
"But why didn't it die instantly?" I
exclaimed.
"Because," said von Schoenvorts
in his disagreeable way, "the
beast is so large, and its nervous
organization of so low a caliber,
that it took all this time for
the intelligence of death to
reach and be impressed upon the
minute brain. The thing was dead
when your bullets struck it;
but it did not know it for several
seconds--possibly a minute. If
I am not mistaken, it is an Allosaurus
of the Upper Jurassic, remains
of which have been found in Central
Wyoming, in the suburbs of New
York."
An Irishman by the name of
Brady grinned. I afterward learned
that he had served three years
on the traffic-squad of the Chicago
police force.
I had been calling Nobs in
the meantime and was about to
set out in search of him, fearing,
to tell the truth, to do so lest
I find him mangled and dead among
the trees of the acacia grove,
when he suddenly emerged from
among the boles, his ears flattened,
his tail between his legs and
his body screwed into a suppliant
S. He was unharmed except for
minor bruises; but he was the
most chastened dog I have ever
seen.
We gathered up what was left
of the red deer after skinning
and cleaning it, and set out
upon our return journey toward
the U-boat. On the way Olson,
von Schoenvorts and I discussed
the needs of our immediate future,
and we were unanimous in placing
foremost the necessity of a permanent
camp on shore. The interior of
a U-boat is about as impossible
and uncomfortable an abiding-place
as one can well imagine, and
in this warm climate, and in
warm water, it was almost unendurable.
So we decided to construct a
palisaded camp.
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