A Journey in Other Worlds [53]
shell."
"They would not have much to fear from us as we really are,"
replied Bearwarden, "were it not for our explosive bullets."
"I am surprised," said Ayrault, "that graminivorous animals
should be so heavily armed as these, since there can be no great
struggle in obtaining their food."
"From the looks of their jaws," replied Cortlandt, "I should say
they are omnivorous, and would doubtless prefer meat to what they
are eating now. Something seems to have gone wrong with the
animal creation hereabouts to-day."
Their war-horse clanked along like a badly rusted machine,
approaching the dinosaurs obliquely. When only about fifty yards
intervened, as the hunters were preparing to aim, their attention
was diverted by a tremendous commotion in the woods on their left
and somewhat ahead. With the crunching of dead branches and
swaying of the trees, a drove of monsters made a hasty exit and
sped across the open valley. Some showed only the tops of their
backs above the long grass, while others shambled and leaped with
their heads nearly thirty feet above the ground. The dinosaurs
instantly dropped on all-fours and joined in the flight, though
at about half-minute intervals they rose on their hind legs and
for a few seconds ran erect. The drove passed about half a mile
before the travellers, and made straight for the woods opposite;
but hardly had the monsters been out of sight two minutes when
they reappeared, even more precipitately than before, and fled up
the valley in the same direction as the tortoise.
"The animals here," said Bearwarden, "behave as though they were
going to catch a train; only our friend beneath us seems superior
to haste."
"I would give a good deal to know," said Cortlandt, "what is
pursuing those giants, and whether it is identical or similar to
the mutilator of the mastodon. Nothing but abject terror could
make them run like that."
"I have a well-formed idea," said Bearwarden, "that a hunt is
going on, with no doubt two parties, one in the woods on either
side, and that the hunters may be on a scale commensurate with
that of their victims."
"If the excitement is caused by men," replied Cortlandt, "our
exploration may turn out to be a far more difficult undertaking
than we anticipated. But why, if there are men in those woods,
do they not show themselves?--for they could certainly keep pace
with the game more easily in the open than among the trees."
"Because," replied Bearwarden, "the men in the woods are
doubtless the beaters, whose duty it is to drive the game into
and up the valley, at the end of which the killing will be done."
"We may have a chance to see it," said Ayrault, "or to take a
hand, for we are travelling straight in that direction, and shall
be able to give a good account ourselves if our rights are
challenged."
"Why," asked Cortlandt, "if the hunting parties that have been in
our vicinity were only beaters, should they have mutilated the
mastodon in such it way that he could not walk? And how were
they able to take themselves off so quickly--for man in his
natural state has never been a fast mover? I repeat, it will
upset my theories if we find men."
It was obvious to them that tortoises were not much troubled by
the apparently general foe, for the specimen in which they were
just then interested continued his course entirely unconcerned.
Soon, however, he seemed to feel fatigue, for he drew his feet
and head within his shell, which he tightly closed, and after
that no poking or prodding had the desired effect.
"I suspect we must depend on shank's mares for a time," said
Bearwarden, cheerfully, as they scrambled down.
"We can now see," said Cortlandt, "why our friend was so
unconcerned, since he has but to draw himself within himself to
become invulnerable to anything short of a stroke of lightning;
for no bird could have power enough to raise and drop him from a
great height upon rocks, as the eagles do on earth."
"I suspect, if anxious
"They would not have much to fear from us as we really are,"
replied Bearwarden, "were it not for our explosive bullets."
"I am surprised," said Ayrault, "that graminivorous animals
should be so heavily armed as these, since there can be no great
struggle in obtaining their food."
"From the looks of their jaws," replied Cortlandt, "I should say
they are omnivorous, and would doubtless prefer meat to what they
are eating now. Something seems to have gone wrong with the
animal creation hereabouts to-day."
Their war-horse clanked along like a badly rusted machine,
approaching the dinosaurs obliquely. When only about fifty yards
intervened, as the hunters were preparing to aim, their attention
was diverted by a tremendous commotion in the woods on their left
and somewhat ahead. With the crunching of dead branches and
swaying of the trees, a drove of monsters made a hasty exit and
sped across the open valley. Some showed only the tops of their
backs above the long grass, while others shambled and leaped with
their heads nearly thirty feet above the ground. The dinosaurs
instantly dropped on all-fours and joined in the flight, though
at about half-minute intervals they rose on their hind legs and
for a few seconds ran erect. The drove passed about half a mile
before the travellers, and made straight for the woods opposite;
but hardly had the monsters been out of sight two minutes when
they reappeared, even more precipitately than before, and fled up
the valley in the same direction as the tortoise.
"The animals here," said Bearwarden, "behave as though they were
going to catch a train; only our friend beneath us seems superior
to haste."
"I would give a good deal to know," said Cortlandt, "what is
pursuing those giants, and whether it is identical or similar to
the mutilator of the mastodon. Nothing but abject terror could
make them run like that."
"I have a well-formed idea," said Bearwarden, "that a hunt is
going on, with no doubt two parties, one in the woods on either
side, and that the hunters may be on a scale commensurate with
that of their victims."
"If the excitement is caused by men," replied Cortlandt, "our
exploration may turn out to be a far more difficult undertaking
than we anticipated. But why, if there are men in those woods,
do they not show themselves?--for they could certainly keep pace
with the game more easily in the open than among the trees."
"Because," replied Bearwarden, "the men in the woods are
doubtless the beaters, whose duty it is to drive the game into
and up the valley, at the end of which the killing will be done."
"We may have a chance to see it," said Ayrault, "or to take a
hand, for we are travelling straight in that direction, and shall
be able to give a good account ourselves if our rights are
challenged."
"Why," asked Cortlandt, "if the hunting parties that have been in
our vicinity were only beaters, should they have mutilated the
mastodon in such it way that he could not walk? And how were
they able to take themselves off so quickly--for man in his
natural state has never been a fast mover? I repeat, it will
upset my theories if we find men."
It was obvious to them that tortoises were not much troubled by
the apparently general foe, for the specimen in which they were
just then interested continued his course entirely unconcerned.
Soon, however, he seemed to feel fatigue, for he drew his feet
and head within his shell, which he tightly closed, and after
that no poking or prodding had the desired effect.
"I suspect we must depend on shank's mares for a time," said
Bearwarden, cheerfully, as they scrambled down.
"We can now see," said Cortlandt, "why our friend was so
unconcerned, since he has but to draw himself within himself to
become invulnerable to anything short of a stroke of lightning;
for no bird could have power enough to raise and drop him from a
great height upon rocks, as the eagles do on earth."
"I suspect, if anxious