Chapter 5
The steaks we had that night, and they were fine; and the followingmorning we tasted the broth. It seemed odd to be eating a creaturethat should, by all the laws of paleontology, have been extinct forseveral million years. It gave one a feeling of newness that wasalmost embarrassing, although it didn't seem to embarrass ourappetites. Olson ate until I thought he would burst.
The girl ate with us that night at the little officers' mess just backof the torpedo compartment. The narrow table was unfolded; the fourstools 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 themonotony of the short rations of an impoverished U-boat. Nobs satbetween the girl and me and was fed with morsels of the Plesiosaurussteak, at the risk of forever contaminating his manners. He looked atme sheepishly all the time, for he knew that no well-bred dog shouldeat at table; but the poor fellow was so wasted from improper food thatI couldn't enjoy my own meal had he been denied an immediate share init; 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 fromher and was duly grateful for the few morsels of attention she threwupon the floor to me. We had a pleasant meal, with only oneunfortunate occurrence--when Olson suggested that possibly the creaturewe were eating was the same one that ate the German. It was some timebefore we could persuade the girl to continue her meal, but at lastBradley prevailed upon her, pointing out that we had come upstreamnearly forty miles since the boche had been seized, and that duringthat time we had seen literally thousands of these denizens of theriver, indicating that the chances were very remote that this was thesame Plesiosaur. "And anyway," he concluded, "it was only a scheme ofMr. 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 wholeland was infested by these and similar horrid monsters, life would beimpossible upon it, and we decided that we would only search longenough to find and take aboard fresh water and such meat and fruits asmight be safely procurable and then retrace our way beneath the cliffsto the open sea.
And so at last we turned into our narrow bunks, hopeful, happy and atpeace with ourselves, our lives and our God, to awaken the followingmorning refreshed and still optimistic. We had an easy time gettingaway--as we learned later, because the saurians do not commence to feeduntil late in the morning. From noon to midnight their curve ofactivity is at its height, while from dawn to about nine o'clock it islowest. As a matter of fact, we didn't see one of them all the time wewere getting under way, though I had the cannon raised to the deck andmanned against an assault. I hoped, but I was none too sure, thatshells might discourage them. The trees were full of monkeys of allsizes and shades, and once we thought we saw a manlike creaturewatching us from the depth of the forest.
Shortly after we resumed our course upstream, we saw the mouth ofanother and smaller river emptying into the main channel from thesouth--that is, upon our right; and almost immediately after we cameupon a large island five or six miles in length; and at fifty milesthere was a still larger river than the last coming in from thenorthwest, the course of the main stream having now changed tonortheast by southwest. The water was quite free from reptiles, andthe vegetation upon the banks of the river had altered to more open andparklike forest, with eucalyptus and acacia mingled with a scatteringof tree ferns, as though two distinct periods of geologic time hadoverlapped and merged. The grass, too, was less flowering, though therewere still gorgeous patches mottling the greensward; and lastly, thefauna was less multitudinous.
Six or seven miles farther, and the river widened considerably; beforeus opened an expanse of water to the farther horizon, and then wesailed out upon an inland sea so large that only a shore-line upon ourside 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 theatmosphere was hot and heavy above it. It seemed strange that beyondthe buttressed walls of Caprona icebergs floated and the south wind wasbiting, for only a gentle breeze moved across the face of these livingwaters, and that was damp and warm. Gradually, we commenced to divestourselves of our clothing, retaining only sufficient for modesty; butthe sun was not hot. It was more the heat of a steam-room than of anoven.
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 andsteeply shelving toward the center, and once when I moved straight outfrom shore to take other soundings we could find no bottom whatsoever.In open spaces along the shore we caught occasional glimpses of thedistant cliffs, and here they appeared only a trifle less precipitousthan those which bound Caprona on the seaward side. My theory is thatin a far distant era Caprona was a mighty mountain--perhaps the world'smightiest mountain--and that in some titanic eruption volcanic actionblew off the entire crest, blew thousands of feet of the mountain upwardand outward and onto the surrounding continent, leaving a great crater;and then, possibly, the continent sank as ancient continents have beenknown to do, leaving only the summit of Caprona above the sea. Theencircling walls, the central lake, the hot springs which feed the lake,all point to such a conclusion, and the fauna and the flora bearindisputable evidence that Caprona was once part of some great land-mass.
As we cruised up along the coast, the landscape continued a more orless open forest, with here and there a small plain where we sawanimals grazing. With my glass I could make out a species of large reddeer, some antelope and what appeared to be a species of horse; andonce I saw the shaggy form of what might have been a monstrous bison.Here was game a plenty! There seemed little danger of starving uponCaprona. The game, however, seemed wary; for the instant the animalsdiscovered us, they threw up their heads and tails and went cavortingoff, those farther inland following the example of the others until allwere lost in the mazes of the distant forest. Only the great, shaggyox stood his ground. With lowered head he watched us until we hadpassed, and then continued feeding.
About twenty miles up the coast from the mouth of the river weencountered low cliffs of sandstone, broken and tortured evidence ofthe great upheaval which had torn Caprona asunder in the past,intermingling upon a common level the rock formations of widelyseparated eras, fusing some and leaving others untouched.
We ran along beside them for a matter of ten miles, arriving off abroad cleft which led into what appeared to be another lake. As we werein search of pure water, we did not wish to overlook any portion of thecoast, and so after sounding and finding that we had ample depth, I ranthe U-33 between head-lands into as pretty a landlocked harbor assailormen could care to see, with good water right up to within a fewyards of the shore. As we cruised slowly along, two of the bochesagain saw what they believed to be a man, or manlike creature, watchingus from a fringe of trees a hundred yards inland, and shortly after wediscovered the mouth of a small stream emptying into the bay. It wasthe first stream we had found since leaving the river, and I at oncemade preparations to test its water. To land, it would be necessary torun the U-33 close in to the shore, at least as close as we could, foreven these waters were infested, though, not so thickly, by savagereptiles. I ordered sufficient water let into the diving-tanks tolower us about a foot, and then I ran the bow slowly toward the shore,confident that should we run aground, we still had sufficient liftingforce to free us when the water should be pumped out of the tanks; butthe bow nosed its way gently into the reeds and touched the shore withthe keel still clear.
My men were all armed now with both rifles and pistols, each havingplenty 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 hadseen of Caprona, or Caspak as we learned later to call the interior, werealized that
any instant some new and terrible danger might confrontus. The line was made fast to a small tree, and at the same time I hadthe stern anchor dropped.
As soon as the boche and his guard were aboard again, I called allhands on deck, including von Schoenvorts, and there I explained to themthat the time had come for us to enter into some sort of an agreementamong ourselves that would relieve us of the annoyance andembarrassment of being divided into two antagonistic parts--prisonersand captors. I told them that it was obvious our very existencedepended upon our unity of action, that we were to all intent andpurpose entering a new world as far from the seat and causes of our ownworld-war as if millions of miles of space and eons of time separatedus from our past lives and habitations.
"There is no reason why we should carry our racial and politicalhatreds into Caprona," I insisted. "The Germans among us might killall the English, or the English might kill the last German, withoutaffecting in the slightest degree either the outcome of even thesmallest skirmish upon the western front or the opinion of a singleindividual in any belligerent or neutral country. I therefore put theissue squarely to you all; shall we bury our animosities and worktogether with and for one another while we remain upon Caprona, or mustwe continue thus divided and but half armed, possibly until death hasclaimed the last of us? And let me tell you, if you have not alreadyrealized it, the chances are a thousand to one that not one of us everwill see the outside world again. We are safe now in the matter offood and water; we could provision the U-33 for a long cruise; but weare practically out of fuel, and without fuel we cannot hope to reachthe 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, incase they accepted my suggestion, what their status would be in eventof our finding a way to escape with the U-33. I replied that I feltthat if we had all worked loyally together we should leave Caprona upona common footing, and to that end I suggested that should the remotepossibility of our escape in the submarine develop into reality, weshould then immediately make for the nearest neutral port and giveourselves into the hands of the authorities, when we should allprobably be interned for the duration of the war. To my surprise heagreed that this was fair and told me that they would accept myconditions and that I could depend upon their loyalty to the commoncause.
I thanked him and then addressed each one of his men individually, andeach 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 militaryorganization under military rules and discipline--I as commander, withBradley as my first lieutenant and Olson as my second, in command ofthe Englishmen; while von Schoenvorts was to act as an additionalsecond lieutenant and have charge of his own men. The four of us wereto constitute a military court under which men might be tried andsentenced to punishment for infraction of military rules anddiscipline, even to the passing of the death-sentence.
I then had arms and ammunition issued to the Germans, and leavingBradley 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 littlestream--which, to our delight, we found sweet, pure and cold. Thisstream was entirely free from dangerous reptiles, because, as I laterdiscovered, they became immediately dormant when subjected to a muchlower temperature than 70 degrees Fahrenheit. They dislike cold waterand keep as far away from it as possible. There were countlessbrook-trout here, and deep holes that invited us to bathe, and alongthe bank of the stream were trees bearing a close resemblance to ashand beech and oak, their characteristics evidently induced by the lowertemperature of the air above the cold water and by the fact that theirroots were watered by the water from the stream rather than from thewarm springs which we afterward found in such abundance elsewhere.
Our first concern was to fill the water tanks of the U-33 with freshwater, and that having been accomplished, we set out to hunt for gameand explore inland for a short distance. Olson, von Schoenvorts, twoEnglishmen and two Germans accompanied me, leaving ten to guard theship and the girl. I had intended leaving Nobs behind, but he got awayand joined me and was so happy over it that I hadn't the heart to sendhim back. We followed the stream upward through a beautiful countryfor about five miles, and then came upon its source in a littleboulder-strewn clearing. From among the rocks bubbled fully twentyice-cold springs. North of the clearing rose sandstone cliffs to aheight of some fifty to seventy-five feet, with tall trees growing attheir base and almost concealing them from our view. To the west thecountry was flat and sparsely wooded, and here it was that we saw ourfirst game--a large red deer. It was grazing away from us and had notseen us when one of my men called my attention to it. Motioning forsilence and having the rest of the party lie down, I crept toward thequarry, accompanied only by Whitely. We got within a hundred yards ofthe deer when he suddenly raised his antlered head and pricked up hisgreat ears. We both fired at once and had the satisfaction of seeingthe buck drop; then we ran forward to finish him with our knives. Thedeer lay in a small open space close to a clump of acacias, and we hadadvanced to within several yards of our kill when we both haltedsuddenly and simultaneously. Whitely looked at me, and I looked atWhitely, 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 godwho had been creating elephants must have been temporarily transferredto the lizard-department."
"Hi wouldn't s'y that, sir," said Whitely; "it sounds blasphemous."
"It is no more blasphemous than that thing which is swiping our meat," Ireplied, for whatever the thing was, it had leaped upon our deer andwas devouring it in great mouthfuls which it swallowed withoutmastication. The creature appeared to be a great lizard at least tenfeet high, with a huge, powerful tail as long as its torso, mighty hindlegs and short forelegs. When it had advanced from the wood, it hoppedmuch after the fashion of a kangaroo, using its hind feet and tail topropel it, and when it stood erect, it sat upon its tail. Its head waslong and thick, with a blunt muzzle, and the opening of the jaws ranback to a point behind the eyes, and the jaws were armed with longsharp teeth. The scaly body was covered with black and yellow spotsabout a foot in diameter and irregular in contour. These spots wereoutlined in red with edgings about an inch wide. The underside of thechest, 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 firesimultaneously, he at the heart and I at the spine.
"Hat the 'eart, sir--yes, sir," he replied, and raised his piece to hisshoulder.
Our shots rang out together. The thing raised its head and lookedabout until its eyes rested upon us; then it gave vent to a mostappalling hiss that rose to the crescendo of a terrific shriek and camefor 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 infull sight of them as they lay in the tall grass watching us. That theysaw all that had happened was evidenced by the fact that they now roseand ran toward us, and at their head leaped Nobs. The creature in ourrear was gaining on us rapidly when Nobs flew past me like a meteor andrushed straight for the frightful reptile. I tried to recall him, buthe 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 moreimpressed with Nobs than by us and our firearms, for it stopped as theAiredale dashed at it growling, and struck at him viciously with itspowerful jaws.
Nobs, though, was lightning by comparison with the slow thinking beastand dodged his opponent's thrust with ease. Then he raced to the rearof the tremendous thing and seized it by the tail. There Nobs made theerror of his life. Within that mottled organ were the muscles of aTitan, the force of a dozen mighty catapults, and the owner of the tailwas fully aware of the possibilities which it contained. Wi
th a singleflip of the tip it sent poor Nobs sailing through the air a hundredfeet above the ground, straight back into the clump of acacias fromwhich the beast had leaped upon our kill--and then the grotesque thingsank lifeless to the ground.
Olson and von Schoenvorts came up a minute later with their men; thenwe all cautiously approached the still form upon the ground. Thecreature was quite dead, and an examination resulted in disclosing thefact that Whitely's bullet had pierced its heart, and mine had severedthe spinal cord.
"But why didn't it die instantly?" I exclaimed.
"Because," said von Schoenvorts in his disagreeable way, "the beast isso large, and its nervous organization of so low a caliber, that ittook all this time for the intelligence of death to reach and beimpressed upon the minute brain. The thing was dead when your bulletsstruck it; but it did not know it for several seconds--possibly aminute. If I am not mistaken, it is an Allosaurus of the UpperJurassic, remains of which have been found in Central Wyoming, in thesuburbs of New York."
An Irishman by the name of Brady grinned. I afterward learned that hehad 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 insearch of him, fearing, to tell the truth, to do so lest I find himmangled and dead among the trees of the acacia grove, when he suddenlyemerged from among the boles, his ears flattened, his tail between hislegs and his body screwed into a suppliant S. He was unharmed exceptfor 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 andcleaning it, and set out upon our return journey toward the U-boat. Onthe way Olson, von Schoenvorts and I discussed the needs of ourimmediate future, and we were unanimous in placing foremost thenecessity of a permanent camp on shore. The interior of a U-boat isabout as impossible and uncomfortable an abiding-place as one can wellimagine, and in this warm climate, and in warm water, it was almostunendurable. So we decided to construct a palisaded camp.
The Land That Time Forgot Page 5
