It was a sad leave-taking as in silence I shook hands with each of the three remaining
men. Even poor Nobs appeared dejected as we quit the compound and set out upon the
well-marked spoor of the abductor. Not once did I turn my eyes backward toward Fort
Dinosaur. I have not looked upon it since--nor in all likelihood shall I ever look upon it
again. The trail led northwest until it reached the western end of the sandstone cliffs to
the north of the fort; there it ran into a well-defined path which wound northward into a
country we had not as yet explored. It was a beautiful, gently rolling country, broken by
occasional outcroppings of sandstone and by patches of dense forest relieved by open,
park-like stretches and broad meadows whereon grazed countless herbivorous animals--
red deer, aurochs, and infinite variety of antelope and at least three distinct species of
horse, the latter ranging in size from a creature about as large as Nobs to a magnificent
animal fourteen to sixteen hands high. These creatures fed together in perfect amity; nor
did they show any great indications of terror when Nobs and I approached. They moved
out of our way and kept their eyes upon us until we had passed; then they resumed their
feeding.
The path led straight across the clearing into another forest, lying upon the verge of
which I saw a bit of white. It appeared to stand out in marked contrast and incongruity to
all its surroundings, and when I stopped to examine it, I found that it was a small strip of
muslin--part of the hem of a garment. At once I was all excitement, for I knew that it was
a sign left by Lys that she had been carried this way; it was a tiny bit torn from the hem
of the undergarment that she wore in lieu of the night-robes she had lost with the sinking
of the liner. Crushing the bit of fabric to my lips, I pressed on even more rapidly than
before, because I now knew that I was upon the right trail and that up to this, point at
least, Lys still had lived.
I made over twenty miles that day, for I was now hardened to fatigue and accustomed to
long hikes, having spent considerable time hunting and exploring in the immediate
vicinity of camp. A dozen times that day was my life threatened by fearsome creatures of
the earth or sky, though I could not but note that the farther north I traveled, the fewer
were the great dinosaurs, though they still persisted in lesser numbers. On the other hand
the quantity of ruminants and the variety and frequency of carnivorous animals increased.
Each square mile of Caspak harbored its terrors.
At intervals along the way I found bits of muslin, and often they reassured me when
otherwise I should have been doubtful of the trail to take where two crossed or where
there were forks, as occurred at several points. And so, as night was drawing on, I came
to the southern end of a line of cliffs loftier than any I had seen before, and as I
approached them, there was wafted to my nostrils the pungent aroma of woodsmoke.
What could it mean? There could, to my mind, be but a single solution: man abided close
by, a higher order of man than we had as yet seen, other than Ahm, the Neanderthal man.
I wondered again as I had so many times that day if it had not been Ahm who stole Lys.
