That night we spent beside a little stream in the Sto-lu country. We
found a tiny cave in the rock bank, so hidden away that only chance
could direct a beast of prey to it, and after we had eaten of the
deer-meat and some fruit which Ajor gathered, we crawled into the
little hole, and with sticks and stones which I had gathered for the
purpose I erected a strong barricade inside the entrance. Nothing
could reach us without swimming and wading through the stream, and I
felt quite secure from attack. Our quarters were rather cramped. The
ceiling was so low that we could not stand up, and the floor so narrow
that it was with difficulty that we both wedged into it together; but
we were very tired, and so we made the most of it; and so great was the
feeling of security that I am sure I fell asleep as soon as I had
stretched myself beside Ajor.
During the three days which followed, our progress was exasperatingly
slow. I doubt if we made ten miles in the entire three days. The
country was hideously savage, so that we were forced to spend hours at
a time in hiding from one or another of the great beasts which menaced
us continually. There were fewer reptiles; but the quantity of
carnivora seemed to have increased, and the reptiles that we did see
were perfectly gigantic. I shall never forget one enormous specimen
which we came upon browsing upon water-reeds at the edge of the great
sea. It stood well over twelve feet high at the rump, its highest
point, and with its enormously long tail and neck it was somewhere
between seventy-five and a hundred feet in length. Its head was
ridiculously small; its body was unarmored, but its great bulk gave it
a most formidable appearance. My experience of Caspakian life led me
to believe that the gigantic creature would but have to see us to
attack us, and so I raised my rifle and at the same time drew away
toward some brush which offered concealment; but Ajor only laughed, and
picking up a stick, ran toward the great thing, shouting. The little
head was raised high upon the long neck as the animal stupidly looked
here and there in search of the author of the disturbance. At last its
eyes discovered tiny little Ajor, and then she hurled the stick at the
diminutive head. With a cry that sounded not unlike the bleat of a
sheep, the colossal creature shuffled into the water and was soon
submerged.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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