The planet of peril
of which was the height of one of the blocks. The crews were so
distributed that the terraced hillside constantly retained the same
general contour, for while the bottom terrace was being removed, the
next one above it was also cut away in the same proportion, and so on
to the very top.
* * * * *
Grandon's crew worked on the bottom terrace all morning, but were
ordered to the top in the afternoon to reënforce the laborers in that
section who, for some reason, had not kept up with their quota. He and
a fellow slave were removing one of the heavy blocks by means of levers
when his end slipped and fell on another block, breaking off a large
fragment. The quick-tempered driver, who was standing behind Grandon
when the accident happened, raised his whip and struck him a stinging
blow across the shoulders.
The result was almost as much of a surprise to Grandon as it was to the
driver, for quickly wheeling, Grandon landed a tremendous right hook on
the point of the man's jaw. It was a clean knock-out. Another driver,
seeing his fellow go down, came running with whip upraised, but Grandon
bowled him over with a marble fragment and ran through the group of
startled slaves toward the brow of the hill. Some one raised the alarm
and a half dozen torks were immediately pointed toward the fugitive.
Several slaves fell, struck by the missiles intended for him, and a
hail of projectiles battered the rocks around him as he disappeared
over the hilltop.
Before him stretched a dense, waving forest of tree-ferns into which
he plunged without slackening his speed, for his pursuers were close
behind him. As he dodged in and out among the tree-trunks he could hear
their halloos growing fainter and fainter, and finally no sound was
audible except the rustling of the countless, wind-shaken fern leaves.
Wearied by his exertions, he slackened his pace and, after proceeding
about a mile farther, stopped and looked about him. The fern forest
was, to the Earth-man, a most strange and impressive sight.
Huge tree-ferns with rough trunks and foliage growing out of the tops
like that of palm trees, some of them ever seventy feet in height,
towered above the shorter, more bushy varieties which were themselves
giants compared to the largest ferns of earthly jungles. Then there
were climbing ferns hanging in tangled masses, creeping ferns, and
dwarf, low-growing kinds, barely raising their fronds above the thick
carpet of moss which everywhere covered the forest floor.
Grandon was puzzled where to go or what to do. Behind him were the
cruel slave drivers who would probably inflict horrible tortures and
even death itself if they could get their hands on him. Ahead was---he
knew not what.
Would the direction he had taken carry him to safety, or into still
greater dangers? He was weary, hungry, and thirsty, and had no idea
which way to go for water or food. As for marking his course by the
sun, this was impossible, first because he knew nothing whatever of the
geography of Zarovia, and second because he did not even know whether
he was in the northern or southern hemisphere.
He noticed that the ground slanted slightly toward his right, and
intuition told him that this might lead to a valley and water. He
changed his course accordingly. He hoped also to find some fruits,
berries or nuts with which to satisfy his hunger, but he hoped in vain,
for there is no such thing in all the forests of Zarovia.
* * * * *
As he trudged wearily forward, sunset was succeeded by twilight, and
before he realized it, the black, moonless Zarovian night had spread
its impenetrable mantle about him.
Suddenly, from out the darkness behind him, came a peal of horrible,
demoniac laughter.
As he wheeled, Grandon unconsciously emitted a peculiar sound, half
roar, half growl, and every hair on his body bristled. For the moment
he had reverted to the primitive. Reason was unseated and instinct held
sway.
Two glowing phosphorescent orbs were slowly advancing as if something
were creeping or slinking toward him. Then, without warning, the
hideous noise was repeated at his left.
He turned to face another pair of menacing eyes, then leaped for the
trunk of the nearest tree-fern and climbed it as rapidly as if he had
been used to that sort of thing all his life. As it was, he was barely
in time to escape the snapping jaws that yawned beneath him.
Not until he had reached the leaf-crown, fifty feet above the ground,
did he pause or look downward. Then he saw, not two, but a dozen pairs
of eyes glancing toward him, while peal after peal of the nerve-racking
laughter smote his ears.
Time dragged along. What manner of things were these that sought
his life, he wondered? Evidently they were unable to climb, or they
would have followed him ere this. The fact that they did not leave,
even after several more hours had elapsed, made it evident that they
expected to get him.
He had been hearing a peculiar crunching sound some time before he
located it and guessed the terrible truth.
They were gnawing through the base of the tree-trunk!
CHAPTER IV.
ON THE TRAIL.
As the night wore on, and the gnawing of the invisible brutes below
him continued, Grandon tried to formulate some plan of escape. He
was without a weapon of any kind, and could not hope, barehanded, to
withstand the attack of a dozen furious beasts, even though he should
alight unhurt, when the tree should fall.
A rift in the clouds overhead gave him his first glimpse of the starry
firmament as seen by the Zarovians. For a minute he was puzzled by
the unfamiliar presence of an exceptionally brilliant heavenly body,
attended by a smaller one, very faint. Then the significance of what
he saw dawned on him. It was the planet Earth with her satellite, the
moon. There, above him, across millions of miles of trackless ether,
were his home, his loving aunt, his friends. Below him awaited a
horrible death.
A cracking sound and an inclination of the tree warmed him that the
end was near, as it told that hungry horde below, who redoubled
their hideous cries in anticipation of the feast which had long been
patiently awaited. Then the tree crashed to the ground. As he felt his
perch going from under him, Grandon made a wild leap in the opposite
direction from that in which it fell.
He hoped to alight on the ground, and, if his legs were not broken by
the fall, climb another tree-fern before the beasts apprehended him. To
his surprise and delight, however, he landed in the middle of a leaf
crown similar to the one he had just vacated, but about ten feet nearer
the ground.
The cries of the baffled brutes were terrible to hear when they learned
that their intended victim was not among the branches of the fallen
tree. In a few minutes, however, they located him again, by scent, no
doubt, and the sounds which floated up told him they were once more
cutting a tree from under him. If there were only a little moonlight so
he could see the trees about him, he felt that he might make another
leap with a reasonable chance of safety, but he knew he could not
expect to find a leaf crown under him every time he leaped blindly into
the darkness, for it was by sheer good luck that he had alighted on
this one, and luck often changes unexpectedly.
A quick gust of wind came up, shaking the branches violently, and
Grandon almost fell from his perch. As he recovered his balance
something struck him sharply in the face. He reached up and grasped an
object that felt like a coarse, thick rope, but which he recognized as
the stem of one of the large climbing ferns he had seen that day.
He eased his weight onto it, found it firm, and then began silently to
ascend, hand over hand. After climbing a distance of what he judged
to be about thirty feet, he came to a leaf crown which was apparently
twice as large as the one he had just vacated. He smiled grimly as he
thought of the beasts gnawing futilely at the base of the smaller tree.
Feeling secure for the time being, he fell asleep, exhausted.
Some time during the night he was partially awakened by the crash of
the second tree-fern and the howls of rage that followed it, but full
consciousness did not come to him until morning. For a moment he could
not realize where he was. Then he remembered, and looked downward.
On the ground beneath his leafy dormitory he beheld twelve of the most
fearsome creatures he had ever seen. In form they were something like
hyenas, but twice as large as any hyena that ever walked the earth,
and much more hideous. In lieu of hair, their bodies were covered with
thick scales, and were black mottled with spots of deep, golden orange.
Each beast had three horns, one projecting from either temple and one
sprouting out between the eyes.
Six of them were tearing at the base of the tree with their sharp teeth
while the other six lay on the ground, their tongues lolling from their
mouths much after the manner of a pack of hounds that has just returned
from the chase. No doubt they were working shifts, he thought, and to
some purpose, too, for the tree was already deeply incised on all sides.
* * * * *
While looking about for the most likely tree for his next leap, which
he knew must come soon, Grandon was surprised to see a man about two
hundred yards away, walking with his eyes on the ground as if following
a trail. The newcomer was armed with a scarbo, tork and knife, and
carried a long bundle strapped to his back.
"I suppose he was sent to bring me back, dead or alive," thought
Grandon. "He's a good trailer, all right, but I am afraid he will bump
up against something he doesn't expect and soon, too. Wait until he
mixes it with those horned hyenas."
He had not long to wait, for the next minute one of the beasts scented
the stranger and gave vent to one of the unearthly laughs with which
Grandon had now become familiar. Immediately the animals at the base of
the tree ceased their gnawing, and the pack charged the stranger.
He did not seem alarmed in the least, although he stopped and awaited
the oncoming beasts with the muzzle of his tork in position.
Grandon had expected to witness a bloody, hand-to-hand fight, but what
he actually did see was a demonstration of the efficacy of a tork, in
skilled hands.
The leader of the pack fell a full fifty feet from its intended victim,
seven more met a similar fate in as many seconds, and the rest turned
and fled. The man then drew his knife and coolly and deliberately cut
the throat of each animal. He glanced at the two fallen trees, then
walked over to the one in which Grandon was perched.
"Come down, Robert Grandon," he said, in English.
Grandon was so surprised he nearly fell out of the tree.
"Who are you," he asked, "and where did you learn my language?"
"Come down and I will explain."
"You might come up," suggested Grandon. "I don't fancy the climate down
there--too damp and muggy. I suppose you have instructions to bring
me back dead or alive. I am frank in telling you that I won't go back
alive."
"You are mistaken, Robert Grandon. I am not of Reabon or of Uxpo. I am
friendly to you and have come to your aid. To prove this, I need only
mention that I have communicated with Dr. Morgan of your planet for
several years. Now will you come?"
Grandon slid down the rough tree-trunk. When he reached the ground, the
stranger advanced.
"Permit me to introduce myself," he said, pleasantly, "I am Vorn
Vangal, and my home is in the distant country of Olba."
"How do you do, Mr. Vangal," replied Grandon, extending his hand.
Vorn Vangal looked puzzled.