'In what way?' asked Gridley.
'It was fully as large as an ox,' said Dorf, 'and if I were going out after bear in this country I should want to take along field artillery.'
'Was that all you saw—just a bear?' asked Zuppner. 'No,' said Dorf, 'I saw tigers, not one but fully a dozen, and they were as much larger than our Bengal tigers as the bear was larger than any bear of the outer crust that I have ever seen. They were perfectly enormous and they were armed with the most amazing fangs you ever saw— great curved fangs that extended from their upper jaws to lengths of from eight inches to a foot. They came down to this stream here to drink and then wandered away, some of them toward the forest and some down toward the big river yonder.'
'Greystoke couldn't do much against such creatures as those even if he had carried a rifle,' said Zuppner.
'If he was in the forest, he could escape them,' said Gridley.
Zuppner shook his head. 'I don't like the looks of it,' he said. 'I wish that he had not gone out alone.'
'The bear and the tigers were bad enough,' continued Dorf, 'but I saw another creature that to me seemed infinitely worse.'
Robert, who was more or less a privileged character, had entered from the galley and was listening with wide-eyed interest to Dorf's account of the creatures he had seen, while Victor, one of the Filipino cabin-boys, served the officers.
'Yes,' continued Dorf, 'I saw a mighty strange creature. It flew directly over the ship and I had an excellent view of it. At first I thought that it was a bird, but when it approached more closely I saw that it was a winged reptile. It had a long, narrow head and it flew so close that I could see its great jaws, armed with an infinite number of long, sharp teeth. Its head was elongated above the eyes and came to a sharp point. It was perfectly immense and must have had a wing spread of at least twenty feet. While I was watching it, it dropped suddenly to earth only a short distance beyond the ship, and when it arose again it was carrying in its talons some animal that must have been fully as large as good sized sheep, with which it flew away without apparent effort. That the creature is carnivorous is evident as is also the fact that it has sufficient strength to carry away a man.'
Robert Jones covered his large mouth with a pink palm and with hunched and shaking shoulders turned and tip-toed from the room. Once in the galley with the door closed, he gave himself over to unrestrained mirth. 'What is the matter with you?' asked Victor.
'Lawd-a-massy!' exclaimed Robert. 'Ah allus thought some o' dem gem'n in dat dere Adventurous Club in Bummingham could lie some, but, shucks, dey ain't in it with this Lieutenant Dorf. Did you all heah him tell about dat flyin' snake what carries off sheep?'
But back in the mess room the white men took Dorf's statement more seriously.
'That would be a pterodactyl,' said Zuppner.
'Yes,' replied Dorf. 'I classified it as a Pteranodon.'
'Don't you think we ought to send out a search party?' asked Gridley.
'I am afraid Greystoke would not like it,' replied Zuppner.
'It could go out under the guise of a hunting party,' suggested Dorf.
'If he has not returned within an hour,' said Zuppner, 'we shall have to do something of the sort.'
Hines and Von Horst now entered the mess room, and when they learned of Tarzan's absence from the ship and had heard from Dorf a description of some of the animals that he might have encountered, they were equally as apprehensive as the others of his safety.
'We might cruise around a bit, sir,' suggested Von Horst to Zuppner.
'But suppose he returns to this spot during our absence?' asked Gridley.
'Could you return the ship to this anchorage again?' inquired Zuppner.
'I doubt it,' replied the Lieutenant. 'Our instruments are almost worthless under the conditions existing in Pellucidar.'
'Then we had better remain where we are,' said Gridley, 'until he returns.'
'But if we send a searching party after him on foot, what assurance have we that it will be able to find its way back to the ship?' demanded Zuppner.
'That will not be so difficult,' said Gridley. 'We can always blaze our trail as we go and thus easily retrace our steps.'
'Yes, that is so,' agreed Zuppner.
'Suppose,' said Gridley, 'that Von Horst and I go out with Muviro and his Waziri. They are experienced trackers, prime fighting men and they certainly know the jungle.'
'Not this jungle,' said Dorf.
'But at least they know any jungle better than the rest of us,' insisted Gridley.
'I think your plan is a good one,' said Zuppner, 'and anyway as you are in command now, the rest of us gladly place ourselves under your orders.'
'The conditions that confront us here are new to all of us,' said Gridley. 'Nothing that anyone of us can suggest or command can be based upon any personal experience or knowledge that the rest do not possess, and in matters of this kind I think that we had better reach our decision after full discussion rather than to depend blindly upon official priority of authority.'
'That has been Greystoke's policy,' said Zuppner, 'and it has made it very easy and pleasant for all of us. I quite agree with you, but I can think of no more feasible plan than that which you have suggested.'
'Very good,' said Gridley. 'Will you accompany me, Lieutenant?' he asked, turning to Von Horst.
The officer grinned. 'Will I?' he exclaimed. 'I should never have forgiven you if you had left me out of it.'
'Fine,' said Gridley. 'And now, I think, we might as well make our preparations at once and get as early a start as possible. See that the Waziri have eaten, Lieutenant, and tell Muviro that I want them armed with rifles. These fellows can use them all right, but they rather look with scorn upon anything more modern than their war spears and arrows.'
'Yes, I discovered that,' said Hines. 'Muviro told me a few days ago that his people consider firearms as something of an admission of cowardice. He told me that they use them for target practice, but when they go out after lions or rhino they leave their rifles behind and take their spears and arrows.'
'After they have seen what I saw,' said Dorf, 'they will have more respect for an express rifle.'
'See that they take plenty of ammunition, Von Horst,' said Gridley, 'for from what I have seen in this country we shall not have to carry any provisions.'
'A man who could not live off this country would starve to death in a meat market,' said Zuppner.
Von Horst left to carry out Gridley's orders while the latter returned to his cabin to prepare for the expedition.
The officers and crew remaining with the O-220 were all on hand to bid farewell to the expedition starting out in search of Tarzan of the Apes, and as the ten stalwart Waziri warriors marched away behind Gridley and Von Horst, Robert Jones, watching from the galley door, swelled with pride. 'Dem niggahs is sho nuf hot babies,' he exclaimed. 'All dem flyin' snakes bettah clear out de country now.' With the others Robert watched the little party as it crossed the plain and until it had disappeared within the dark precincts of the forest upon the opposite side. Then he glanced up at the noonday sun, shook his head, elevated his palms in resignation and turned back into his galley.
Almost immediately after the party had left the ship, Gridley directed Muviro to take the lead and watch for Tarzan's trail since, of the entire party, he was the most experienced tracker; nor did the Waziri chieftain have any difficulty in following the spoor of the ape-man across the plain and into the forest, but here, beneath a great tree, it disappeared.
'The Big Bwana took to the trees here,' said Muviro, 'and no man lives who can follow his spoor through the lower, the middle or the upper terraces.'
'What do you suggest, then, Muviro?' asked Gridley.
'If this were his own jungle,' replied the warrior, 'I should feel sure that when he took to the trees he would move in a straight line toward the place he wished to go; unless he happened to be hunting, in which case his direction would be influenced by the sign and scent of game.'
'Doubtless he was hunting here,' said Von Horst.
