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far away. Only a very great city with tall buildings would be visible
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r r
from here, and the haze that hangs over the valley might even hide a
large city from us. We shall have to go down into the valley to find
out."
"I can scarcely wait," exclaimed Duare.
The trail on which we had approached the edge of the escarpment
turned sharply to the left and skirted the brink, but from it a smaller
trail branched and dropped over the edge.
This trail was little better than a faintly marked foot path, and it
zigzagged down the almost vertical face of the escarpment in a
manner calculated to send the cold chills up one's back if he happened
to be affected by such things.
"Few creatures go up and down here," remarked Duare, as she looked
over the edge of the escarpment at the dizzy trail.
"Perhaps we had better go on farther; there may be an easier way
down," I suggested, thinking that she might be fearful.
"No," she demurred. "I wanted to get out of the forest, and here is my
chance. Something has gone up and down here; and if something else
has, we can."
"Take my hands, then; it is very steep."
She did as I bid, and I also handed her my spear to use as a staff. Thus
we started the perilous descent. Even now I hate to recall it. It was not
only fraught with danger but it was exceedingly exhausting. A dozen
times I thought that we were doomed; seemingly it was impossible to
descend farther, and certainly it would have been impossible to
retrace our steps to the summit, for there had been places where we
had lowered ourselves over ledges that we could not have again
scaled.
Duare was very brave. She amazed me. Not only was her courage
remarkable, but her endurance was almost unbelievable in one so
delicately moulded. And she kept cheerful and good-natured. Often
she laughed when she would slip and almost fall, where a fall meant
death.
"I said," she recalled, once while we were resting, "that something
must have come up and down this trail. Now I wonder what manner
of creature it may be."
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r r
"Perhaps it is a mountain goat," I suggested. "I can think of nothing
else that might do it."
She did not know what a mountain goat was, and I knew of no
Venusan animal with which to compare it. She thought that a mistal
might easily go up and down such a trail. I had never heard of this
animal, but from her description I judged it to be a rat-like animal
abou the size of a house cat.
As we were starting down again after a rest, I heard a noise below us
and looked over the edge of the ledge on which we stood to see what
had caused it."
"We are about to have our curiosity satisfied," I whispered to Duare.
"Here comes the trail maker."
"Is it a mistal?" she asked.
"No, nor a mountain goat; but it is just the sort of a creature that
might most easily cling to this vertical pathway. I don't know what you
Amtorians call it. Take a look; perhaps you will recognize it."
It was a huge, hideous lizard about twenty feet in length that was
climbing sluggishly upward toward our position.
Leaning on my shoulder, Duare glanced downward over the ledge.
She voiced a low gasp of terror.
"I think it is a vere," she said, "and if it is we are in for it. I have never
seen one, but I have read of them in books and seen their pictures;
this one looks like the pictures I have seen."
"Are they dangerous?" I asked.
"They are deadly," she replied. "We wouldn't have a chance against a
vere."
"See if you can climb back out of the way," I said to Duare. "I will try
to hold it here until you are safe." Then I turned toward the creature
crawling slowly upward.
It was covered with scales of red, black, and yellow arranged in
intricate designs. Its coloration and ornamentation were beautiful,
but right there its beauty stopped. It had a head not unlike that of a
crocodile, and along each side of its upper jaw was a row of gleaming
white horns. Across the top and down the sides of its head sprawled a
single huge eye of myriad facets.
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r r
It had not discovered us yet, but in another half minute it would be
upon us. I loosened a bit of rock near my hand and hurled it down,
thinking I might turn the creature back. The missile struck it on the
snout, and with a grunt it raised its head and saw me.
Its great jaws opened and out shot the most prodigious tongue I had
ever seen. Like lightning it curled about me and snapped me toward
those gaping jaws from which was issuing a harsh screaming whistle.
All that saved me from being instantly engulfed was the fact that I was
a little too large a mouthful for the creature to negotiate with ease. I
wedged crosswise of his snout and there I fought with all my strength
to keep from being dragged into that rapacious maw.
It was a great slimy, toothless, sucking gullet that I struggled to
escape. Evidently the creature swallowed its prey whole, its horns
being probably solely for defense. From that repulsive throat issued a
fetid odor that almost overpowered me. I think that it may have been
a poisonous exhalation that was intended to anaesthetize its victims. I
felt myself growing weak and dizzy, and then I saw Duare at my side. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]