Days became weeks, and weeks became months, and the monthsfollowed one another in a lazy procession of hot, humid days andwarm, humid nights. The fugitives saw never a Wieroo by daythough often at night they heard the melancholy flapping of giantwings far above them.

Each day was much like its predecessor. Bradley splashed aboutfor a few minutes in the cold pool early each morning and aftera time the girl tried it and liked it. Toward the center it wasdeep enough for swimming, and so he taught her to swim--she wasprobably the first human being in all Caspak's long ages who haddone this thing. And then while she prepared breakfast, the manshaved--this he never neglected. At first it was a source ofwonderment to the girl, for the Galu men are beardless.

When they needed meat, he hunted, otherwise he busied himselfin improving their shelter, making new and better weapons,perfecting his knowledge of the girl's language and teaching herto speak and to write English--anything that would keep themboth occupied. He still sought new plans for escape, but withever-lessening enthusiasm, since each new scheme presented someinsurmountable obstacle.

And then one day as a bolt out of a clear sky came that whichblasted the peace and security of their sanctuary forever. Bradley was just emerging from the water after his morningplunge when from overhead came the sound of flapping wings. Glancing quickly up the man saw a white-robed Wieroo circlingslowly above him. That he had been discovered he could notdoubt since the creature even dropped to a lower altitude asthough to assure itself that what it saw was a man. Then itrose rapidly and winged away toward the city.

For two days Bradley and the girl lived in a constant state ofapprehension, awaiting the moment when the hunters would come forthem; but nothing happened until just after dawn of the thirdday, when the flapping of wings apprised them of the approachof Wieroos. Together they went to the edge of the wood andlooked up to see five red-robed creatures dropping slowly inever-lessening spirals toward their little amphitheater. With noattempt at concealment they came, sure of their ability tooverwhelm these two fugitives, and with the fullest measure ofself-confidence they landed in the clearing but a few yards fromthe man and the girl.

Following a plan already discussed Bradley and the girl retreatedslowly into the woods. The Wieroos advanced, calling upon themto give themselves up; but the quarry made no reply. Farther andfarther into the little wood Bradley led the hunters, permittingthem to approach ever closer; then he circled back again towardthe clearing, evidently to the great delight of the Wieroos, whonow followed more leisurely, awaiting the moment when they shouldbe beyond the trees and able to use their wings. They had openedinto semicircular formation now with the evident intention ofcutting the two off from returning into the wood. Each Wierooadvanced with his curved blade ready in his hand, each hideousface blank and expressionless.

It was then that Bradley opened fire with his pistol--threeshots, aimed with careful deliberation, for it had been longsince he had used the weapon, and he could not afford to chancewasting ammunition on misses. At each shot a Wieroo dropped; andthen the remaining two sought escape by flight, screaming andwailing after the manner of their kind. When a Wieroo runs, hiswings spread almost without any volition upon his part, sincefrom time immemorial he has always used them to balance himselfand accelerate his running speed so that in the open they appearto skim the surface of the ground when in the act of running. But here in the woods, among the close-set boles, the spreadingof their wings proved their undoing--it hindered and stopped themand threw them to the ground, and then Bradley was upon themthreatening them with instant death if they did not surrender--promising them their freedom if they did his bidding.

"As you have seen," he cried, "I can kill you when I wish and ata distance. You cannot escape me. Your only hope of life liesin obedience. Quick, or I kill!"

The Wieroos stopped and faced him. "What do you want of us?"asked one.

"Throw aside your weapons," Bradley commanded. After a moment'shesitation they obeyed.

"Now approach!" A great plan--the only plan--had suddenly cometo him like an inspiration.

The Wieroos came closer and halted at his command. Bradley turnedto the girl. "There is rope in the shelter," he said. "Fetch it!"

She did as he bid, and then he directed her to fasten one end ofa fifty-foot length to the ankle of one of the Wieroos and theopposite end to the second. The creatures gave evidence of greatfear, but they dared not attempt to prevent the act.

"Now go out into the clearing," said Bradley, "and remember thatI am walking close behind and that I will shoot the nearer oneshould either attempt to escape--that will hold the other untilI can kill him as well."

In the open he halted them. "The girl will get upon the backof the one in front," announced the Englishman. "I will mountthe other. She carries a sharp blade, and I carry this weaponthat you know kills easily at a distance. If you disobey inthe slightest, the instructions that I am about to give you, youshall both die. That we must die with you, will not deter us. If you obey, I promise to set you free without harming you.

"You will carry us due west, depositing us upon the shore of themainland--that is all. It is the price of your lives. Do you agree?"

Sullenly the Wieroos acquiesced. Bradley examined the knots thatheld the rope to their ankles, and feeling them secure directedthe girl to mount the back of the leading Wieroo, himself uponthe other. Then he gave the signal for the two to rise together. With loud flapping of the powerful wings the creatures took tothe air, circling once before they topped the trees upon the hilland then taking a course due west out over the waters of the sea.

Nowhere about them could Bradley see signs of other Wieroos, norof those other menaces which he had feared might bring disasterto his plans for escape--the huge, winged reptilia that are sonumerous above the southern areas of Caspak and which are oftenseen, though in lesser numbers, farther north.

Nearer and nearer loomed the mainland--a broad, parklike expansestretching inland to the foot of a low plateau spread out before them. The little dots in the foreground became grazing herds of deerand antelope and bos; a huge woolly rhinoceros wallowed in amudhole to the right, and beyond, a mighty mammoth culled thetender shoots from a tall tree. The roars and screams and growlsof giant carnivora came faintly to their ears. Ah, this was Caspak. With all of its dangers and its primal savagery it brought afullness to the throat of the Englishman as to one who sees andhears the familiar sights and sounds of home after a long absence. Then the Wieroos dropped swiftly downward to the flower-starredturf that grew almost to the water's edge, the fugitives slippedfrom their backs, and Bradley told the red-robed creatures theywere free to go.

When he had cut the ropes from their ankles they rose with thatuncanny wailing upon their lips that always brought a shudder tothe Englishman, and upon dismal wings they flapped away towardfrightful Oo-oh.

When the creatures had gone, the girl turned toward Bradley. "Why did you have them bring us here?" she asked. "Now we arefar from my country. We may never live to reach it, as we areamong enemies who, while not so horrible will kill us just assurely as would the Wieroos should they capture us, and we havebefore us many marches through lands filled with savage beasts."

"There were two reasons," replied Bradley. "You told me thatthere are two Wieroo cities at the eastern end of the island. To have passed near either of them might have been to have broughtabout our heads hundreds of the creatures from whom we could notpossibly have escaped. Again, my friends must be near this spot--it cannot be over two marches to the fort of which I have told you. It is my duty to return to them. If they still live we shall finda way to return you to your people."

"And you?" asked the girl.

"I escaped from Oo-oh," replied Bradley. "I have accomplishedthe impossible once, and so I shall accomplish it again--I shallescape from Caspak."

He was not looking at her face as he answered her, and so hedid not see the shadow of sorrow that crossed her countenance. When he raised his eyes again, she was smiling.

"What you wish, I wish," said the girl.

Southward along the coast they made their way following thebeach, where the walking was best, but always keeping closeenough to trees to insure sanctuary from the beasts and reptilesthat so often menaced them. It was late in the afternoon whenthe girl suddenly seized Bradley's arm and pointed straight aheadalong the shore. "What is that?" she whispered. "What strangereptile is it?"

Bradley looked in the direction her slim forefinger indicated. He rubbed his eyes and looked again, and then he seized her wristand drew her quickly behind a clump of bushes.

"What is it?" she asked.

"It is the most frightful reptile that the waters of the worldhave ever known," he replied. "It is a German U-boat!"

An expression of amazement and understanding lighted her features. "It is the thing of which you told me," she exclaimed, "--thething that swims under the water and carries men in its belly!"

"It is," replied Bradley.

"Then why do you hide from it?" asked the girl. "You said thatnow it belonged to your friends."

"Many months have passed since I knew what was going on among myfriends," he replied. "I cannot know what has befallen them. They should have been gone from here in this vessel long since,and so I cannot understand why it is still here. I am going toinvestigate first before I show myself. When I left, there weremore Germans on the U-33 than there were men of my own party atthe fort, and I have had sufficient experience of Germans to knowthat they will bear watching--if they have not been properlywatched since I left."

Making their way through a fringe of wood that grew a few yardsinland the two crept unseen toward the U-boat which lay moored tothe shore at a point which Bradley now recognized as being nearthe oil-pool north of Dinosaur. As close as possible to thevessel they halted, crouching low among the dense vegetation, andwatched the boat for signs of human life about it. The hatcheswere closed--no one could be seen or heard. For five minutesBradley watched, and then he determined to board the submarineand investigate. He had risen to carry his decision into effectwhen there suddenly broke upon his ear, uttered in loud andmenacing tones, a volley of German oaths and expletives amongwhich he heard Englische schweinhunde repeated several times. The voice did not come from the direction of the U-boat; butfrom inland. Creeping forward Bradley reached a spot where,through the creepers hanging from the trees, he could see a partyof men coming down toward the shore.

He saw Baron Friedrich von Schoenvorts and six of his men--allarmed--while marching in a little knot among them were Olson,Brady, Sinclair, Wilson, and Whitely.

Bradley knew nothing of the disappearance of Bowen Tyler and MissLa Rue, nor of the perfidy of the Germans in shelling the fortand attempting to escape in the U-33; but he was in no waysurprised at what he saw before him.

The little party came slowly onward, the prisoners staggeringbeneath heavy cans of oil, while Schwartz, one of the Germannoncommissioned officers cursed and beat them with a stick ofwood, impartially. Von Schoenvorts walked in the rear of thecolumn, encouraging Schwartz and laughing at the discomfiture ofthe Britishers. Dietz, Heinz, and Klatz also seemed to enjoy theentertainment immensely; but two of the men--Plesser and Hindle--marched with eyes straight to the front and with scowling faces.

Bradley felt his blood boil at sight of the cowardly indignitiesbeing heaped upon his men, and in the brief span of time occupiedby the column to come abreast of where he lay hidden he made hisplans, foolhardy though he knew them. Then he drew the girlclose to him. "Stay here," he whispered. "I am going out tofight those beasts; but I shall be killed. Do not let themsee you. Do not let them take you alive. They are more cruel,more cowardly, more bestial than the Wieroos."

The girl pressed close to him, her face very white. "Go, if thatis right," she whispered; "but if you die, I shall die, for Icannot live without you." He looked sharply into her eyes. "Oh!" he ejaculated. "What an idiot I have been! Nor could Ilive without you, little girl." And he drew her very close andkissed her lips. "Good-bye." He disengaged himself from herarms and looked again in time to see that the rear of the columnhad just passed him. Then he rose and leaped quickly andsilently from the jungle.

Suddenly von Schoenvorts felt an arm thrown about his neck andhis pistol jerked from its holster. He gave a cry of fright andwarning, and his men turned to see a half-naked white man holdingtheir leader securely from behind and aiming a pistol at themover his shoulder.

"Drop those guns!" came in short, sharp syllables and perfectGerman from the lips of the newcomer. "Drop them or I'll put abullet through the back of von Schoenvorts' head."

The Germans hesitated for a moment, looking first toward vonSchoenvorts and then to Schwartz, who was evidently second incommand, for orders.

"It's the English pig, Bradley," shouted the latter, "and he'salone--go and get him!"

"Go yourself," growled Plesser. Hindle moved close to the sideof Plesser and whispered something to him. The latter nodded. Suddenly von Schoenvorts wheeled about and seized Bradley'spistol arm with both hands, "Now!" he shouted. "Come and takehim, quick!"

Schwartz and three others leaped forward; but Plesser and Hindleheld back, looking questioningly toward the English prisoners. Then Plesser spoke. "Now is your chance, Englander," hecalled in low tones. "Seize Hindle and me and take our guns fromus--we will not fight hard."

Olson and Brady were not long in acting upon the suggestion. They had seen enough of the brutal treatment von Schoenvortsaccorded his men and the especially venomous attentions hehad taken great enjoyment in according Plesser and Hindleto understand that these two might be sincere in a desirefor revenge. In another moment the two Germans were unarmedand Olson and Brady were running to the support of Bradley;but already it seemed too late.

Von Schoenvorts had managed to drag the Englishman around so thathis back was toward Schwartz and the other advancing Germans. Schwartz was almost upon Bradley with gun clubbed and ready tosmash down upon the Englishman's skull. Brady and Olson werecharging the Germans in the rear with Wilson, Whitely, andSinclair supporting them with bare fists. It seemed that Bradleywas doomed when, apparently out of space, an arrow whizzed,striking Schwartz in the side, passing half-way through his bodyto crumple him to earth. With a shriek the man fell, and at thesame time Olson and Brady saw the slim figure of a young girlstanding at the edge of the jungle coolly fitting another arrowto her bow.

Bradley had now succeeded in wrestling his arm free from vonSchoenvorts' grip and in dropping the latter with a blow from thebutt of his pistol. The rest of the English and Germans wereengaged in a hand-to-hand encounter. Plesser and Hindle standingaside from the melee and urging their comrades to surrender andjoin with the English against the tyranny of von Schoenvorts. Heinz and Klatz, possibly influenced by their exhortation, wereputting up but a half-hearted resistance; but Dietz, a huge,bearded, bull-necked Prussian, yelling like a maniac, sought toexterminate the Englische schweinhunde with his bayonet,fearing to fire his piece lest he kill some of his comrades.

It was Olson who engaged him, and though unused to the longGerman rifle and bayonet, he met the bull-rush of the Hun withthe cold, cruel precision and science of English bayonet-fighting. There was no feinting, no retiring and no parrying that was notalso an attack. Bayonet-fighting today is not a pretty thing tosee--it is not an artistic fencing-match in which men give andtake--it is slaughter inevitable and quickly over.

Dietz lunged once madly at Olson's throat. A short point, withjust a twist of the bayonet to the left sent the sharp blade overthe Englishman's left shoulder. Instantly he stepped close in,dropped his rifle through his hands and grasped it with bothhands close below the muzzle and with a short, sharp jab sent hisblade up beneath Dietz's chin to the brain. So quickly was thething done and so quick the withdrawal that Olson had wheeled totake on another adversary before the German's corpse had toppledto the ground.

But there were no more adversaries to take on. Heinz and Klatzhad thrown down their rifles and with hands above their headswere crying "Kamerad! Kamerad!" at the tops of their voices. Von Schoenvorts still lay where he had fallen. Plesser andHindle were explaining to Bradley that they were glad of theoutcome of the fight, as they could no longer endure thebrutality of the U-boat commander.

The remainder of the men were looking at the girl who nowadvanced slowly, her bow ready, when Bradley turned toward herand held out his hand.

"Co-Tan," he said, "unstring your bow--these are my friends,and yours." And to the Englishmen: "This is Co-Tan. You whosaw her save me from Schwartz know a part of what I owe her."

The rough men gathered about the girl, and when she spoke to themin broken English, with a smile upon her lips enhancing the charmof her irresistible accent, each and every one of them promptlyfell in love with her and constituted himself henceforth herguardian and her slave.

A moment later the attention of each was called to Plesser by avolley of invective. They turned in time to see the man runningtoward von Schoenvorts who was just rising from the ground. Plesser carried a rifle with bayonet fixed, that he had snatchedfrom the side of Dietz's corpse. Von Schoenvorts' face was lividwith fear, his jaws working as though he would call for help; butno sound came from his blue lips.

"You struck me," shrieked Plesser. "Once, twice, three times,you struck me, pig. You murdered Schwerke--you drove him insaneby your cruelty until he took his own life. You are only one ofyour kind--they are all like you from the Kaiser down. I wishthat you were the Kaiser. Thus would I do!" And he lunged hisbayonet through von Schoenvorts' chest. Then he let his riflefall with the dying man and wheeled toward Bradley. "Here I am,"he said. "Do with me as you like. All my life I have beenkicked and cuffed by such as that, and yet always have I gone outwhen they commanded, singing, to give up my life if need be tokeep them in power. Only lately have I come to know what a foolI have been. But now I am no longer a fool, and besides, I amavenged and Schwerke is avenged, so you can kill me if you wish. Here I am."

"If I was after bein' the king," said Olson, "I'd pin the V.C. onyour noble chist; but bein' only an Irishman with a Swede name,for which God forgive me, the bist I can do is shake your hand."

"You will not be punished," said Bradley. "There are four of youleft--if you four want to come along and work with us, we willtake you; but you will come as prisoners."

"It suits me," said Plesser. "Now that the captain-lieutenant isdead you need not fear us. All our lives we have known nothingbut to obey his class. If I had not killed him, I suppose Iwould be fool enough to obey him again; but he is dead. Now wewill obey you--we must obey some one."

"And you?" Bradley turned to the other survivors of the originalcrew of the U-33. Each promised obedience.

The two dead Germans were buried in a single grave, and then theparty boarded the submarine and stowed away the oil.

Here Bradley told the men what had befallen him since the nightof September 14th when he had disappeared so mysteriously fromthe camp upon the plateau. Now he learned for the first timethat Bowen J. Tyler, Jr., and Miss La Rue had been missing evenlonger than he and that no faintest trace of them had been discovered.

Olson told him of how the Germans had returned and waited inambush for them outside the fort, capturing them that they mightbe used to assist in the work of refining the oil and later inmanning the U-33, and Plesser told briefly of the experiences ofthe German crew under von Schoenvorts since they had escaped fromCaspak months before--of how they lost their bearings afterhaving been shelled by ships they had attempted to sneak farthernorth and how at last with provisions gone and fuel almostexhausted they had sought and at last found, more by accidentthan design, the mysterious island they had once been so glad toleave behind.

"Now," announced Bradley, "we'll plan for the future. The boathas fuel, provisions and water for a month, I believe you said,Plesser; there are ten of us to man it. We have a last sad dutyhere--we must search for Miss La Rue and Mr. Tyler. I say a sadduty because we know that we shall not find them; but it is nonethe less our duty to comb the shoreline, firing signal shells atintervals, that we at least may leave at last with full knowledgethat we have done all that men might do to locate them."

None dissented from this conviction, nor was there a voice raisedin protest against the plan to at least make assurance doublysure before quitting Caspak forever.

And so they started, cruising slowly up the coast and firing anoccasional shot from the gun. Often the vessel was brought to astop, and always there were anxious eyes scanning the shore foran answering signal. Late in the afternoon they caught sight ofa number of Band-lu warriors; but when the vessel approached theshore and the natives realized that human beings stood upon theback of the strange monster of the sea, they fled in terrorbefore Bradley could come within hailing distance.

That night they dropped anchor at the mouth of a sluggish streamwhose warm waters swarmed with millions of tiny tadpolelikeorganisms--minute human spawn starting on their precariousjourney from some inland pool toward "the beginning"--a journeywhich one in millions, perhaps, might survive to complete. Already almost at the inception of life they were being greetedby thousands of voracious mouths as fish and reptiles of manykinds fought to devour them, the while other and larger creaturespursued the devourers, to be, in turn, preyed upon by some otherof the countless forms that inhabit the deeps of Caprona'sfrightful sea.

The second day was practically a repetition of the first. They moved very slowly with frequent stops and once they landedin the Kro-lu country to hunt. Here they were attacked by thebow-and-arrow men, whom they could not persuade to palaverwith them. So belligerent were the natives that it becamenecessary to fire into them in order to escape their persistentand ferocious attentions.

"What chance," asked Bradley, as they were returning to the boatwith their game, "could Tyler and Miss La Rue have had among suchas these?"

But they continued on their fruitless quest, and the third day,after cruising along the shore of a deep inlet, they passed aline of lofty cliffs that formed the southern shore of the inletand rounded a sharp promontory about noon. Co-Tan and Bradleywere on deck alone, and as the new shoreline appeared beyond thepoint, the girl gave an exclamation of joy and seized the man'shand in hers.

"Oh, look!" she cried. "The Galu country! The Galu country! It is my country that I never thought to see again."

"You are glad to come again, Co-Tan?" asked Bradley.

"Oh, so glad!" she cried. "And you will come with me to my people? We may live here among them, and you will be a great warrior--oh,when Jor dies you may even be chief, for there is none so mightyas my warrior. You will come?"

Bradley shook his head. "I cannot, little Co-Tan," he answered. "My country needs me, and I must go back. Maybe someday Ishall return. You will not forget me, Co-Tan?"

She looked at him in wide-eyed wonder. "You are going away fromme?" she asked in a very small voice. "You are going away from Co-Tan?"

Bradley looked down upon the little bowed head. He felt the softcheek against his bare arm; and he felt something else there too--hot drops of moisture that ran down to his very finger-tips andsplashed, but each one wrung from a woman's heart.

He bent low and raised the tear-stained face to his own. "No, Co-Tan," he said, "I am not going away from you--for youare going with me. You are going back to my own country to bemy wife. Tell me that you will, Co-Tan." And he bent still loweryet from his height and kissed her lips. Nor did he need morethan the wonderful new light in her eyes to tell him that shewould go to the end of the world with him if he would but take her. And then the gun-crew came up from below again to fire a signalshot, and the two were brought down from the high heaven of theirnew happiness to the scarred and weather-beaten deck of the U-33.

An hour later the vessel was running close in by a shore ofwondrous beauty beside a parklike meadow that stretched back amile inland to the foot of a plateau when Whitely calledattention to a score of figures clambering downward from theelevation to the lowland below. The engines were reversed andthe boat brought to a stop while all hands gathered on deck towatch the little party coming toward them across the meadow.

"They are Galus," cried Co-Tan; "they are my own people. Let mespeak to them lest they think we come to fight them. Put meashore, my man, and I will go meet them."

The nose of the U-boat was run close in to the steep bank; butwhen Co-Tan would have run forward alone, Bradley seized her handand held her back. "I will go with you, Co-Tan," he said; andtogether they advanced to meet the oncoming party.

There were about twenty warriors moving forward in a thin line,as our infantry advance as skirmishers. Bradley could not butnotice the marked difference between this formation and themoblike methods of the lower tribes he had come in contact with,and he commented upon it to Co-Tan.

"Galu warriors always advance into battle thus," she said. "The lesser people remain in a huddled group where they can scarceuse their weapons the while they present so big a mark to us thatour spears and arrows cannot miss them; but when they hurl theirsat our warriors, if they miss the first man, there is no chance thatthey will kill some one behind him.

"Stand still now," she cautioned, "and fold your arms. They willnot harm us then."

Bradley did as he was bid, and the two stood with arms folded asthe line of warriors approached. When they had come within somefifty yards, they halted and one spoke. "Who are you and fromwhence do you come?" he asked; and then Co-Tan gave a little,glad cry and sprang forward with out-stretched arms.

"Oh, Tan!" she exclaimed. "Do you not know your little Co-Tan?"

The warrior stared, incredulous, for a moment, and then he, too,ran forward and when they met, took the girl in his arms. It wasthen that Bradley experienced to the full a sensation that wasnew to him--a sudden hatred for the strange warrior before himand a desire to kill without knowing why he would kill. He movedquickly to the girl's side and grasped her wrist.

"Who is this man?" he demanded in cold tones.

Co-Tan turned a surprised face toward the Englishman and then ofa sudden broke forth into a merry peal of laughter. "This is myfather, Brad-lee," she cried.

"And who is Brad-lee?" demanded the warrior.

"He is my man," replied Co-Tan simply.

"By what right?" insisted Tan.

And then she told him briefly of all that she had passed throughsince the Wieroos had stolen her and of how Bradley had rescuedher and sought to rescue An-Tak, her brother.

"You are satisfied with him?" asked Tan.

"Yes," replied the girl proudly.

It was then that Bradley's attention was attracted to the edge ofthe plateau by a movement there, and looking closely he saw ahorse bearing two figures sliding down the steep declivity. Once at the bottom, the animal came charging across the meadowlandat a rapid run. It was a magnificent animal--a great bay stallionwith a white-blazed face and white forelegs to the knees, itsbarrel encircled by a broad surcingle of white; and as it came toa sudden stop beside Tan, the Englishman saw that it bore a manand a girl--a tall man and a girl as beautiful as Co-Tan. When thegirl espied the latter, she slid from the horse and ran toward her,fairly screaming for joy.

The man dismounted and stood beside Tan. Like Bradley he wasgarbed after the fashion of the surrounding warriors; butthere was a subtle difference between him and his companion. Possibly he detected a similar difference in Bradley, for hisfirst question was, "From what country?" and though he spoke inGalu Bradley thought he detected an accent.

"England," replied Bradley.

A broad smile lighted the newcomer's face as he held out his hand. "I am Tom Billings of Santa Monica, California," he said. "I knowall about you, and I'm mighty glad to find you alive."

"How did you get here?" asked Bradley. "I thought ours was theonly party of men from the outer world ever to enter Caprona."

"It was, until we came in search of Bowen J. Tyler, Jr.,"replied Billings. "We found him and sent him home with hisbride; but I was kept a prisoner here."

Bradley's face darkened--then they were not among friendsafter all. "There are ten of us down there on a German subwith small-arms and a gun," he said quickly in English. "It will be no trick to get away from these people."

"You don't know my jailer," replied Billings, "or you'd not beso sure. Wait, I'll introduce you." And then turning to the girlwho had accompanied him he called her by name. "Ajor," he said,"permit me to introduce Lieutenant Bradley; Lieutenant, Mrs.Billings--my jailer!"

The Englishman laughed as he shook hands with the girl. "You arenot as good a soldier as I," he said to Billings. "Instead ofbeing taken prisoner myself I have taken one--Mrs. Bradley, thisis Mr. Billings."

Ajor, quick to understand, turned toward Co-Tan. "You are goingback with him to his country?" she asked. Co-Tan admitted it.

"You dare?" asked Ajor. "But your father will not permit it--Jor, my father, High Chief of the Galus, will not permit it, forlike me you are cos-ata-lo. Oh, Co-Tan, if we but could! How I would love to see all the strange and wonderful things ofwhich my Tom tells me!"

Bradley bent and whispered in her ear. "Say the word and you mayboth go with us."

Billings heard and speaking in English, asked Ajor if she would go.

"Yes," she answered, "If you wish it; but you know, my Tom, thatif Jor captures us, both you and Co-Tan's man will pay thepenalty with your lives--not even his love for me nor hisadmiration for you can save you."

Bradley noticed that she spoke in English--broken English likeCo-Tan's but equally appealing. "We can easily get you aboardthe ship," he said, "on some pretext or other, and then we cansteam away. They can neither harm nor detain us, nor will wehave to fire a shot at them."

And so it was done, Bradley and Co-Tan taking Ajor and Billingsaboard to "show" them the vessel, which almost immediately raisedanchor and moved slowly out into the sea.

"I hate to do it," said Billings. "They have been fine to me. Jor and Tan are splendid men and they will think me an ingrate;but I can't waste my life here when there is so much to be donein the outer world."

As they steamed down the inland sea past the island of Oo-oh, thestories of their adventures were retold, and Bradley learned thatBowen Tyler and his bride had left the Galu country but afortnight before and that there was every reason to believe thatthe Toreador might still be lying in the Pacific not far offthe subterranean mouth of the river which emitted Caprona'sheated waters into the ocean.

Late in the second day, after running through swarms of hideousreptiles, they submerged at the point where the river enteredbeneath the cliffs and shortly after rose to the sunlit surfaceof the Pacific; but nowhere as far as they could see was sign ofanother craft. Down the coast they steamed toward the beachwhere Billings had made his crossing in the hydro-aeroplane andjust at dusk the lookout announced a light dead ahead. It provedto be aboard the Toreador, and a half-hour later there wassuch a reunion on the deck of the trim little yacht as no onethere had ever dreamed might be possible. Of the Allies therewere only Tippet and James to be mourned, and no one mourned anyof the Germans dead nor Benson, the traitor, whose ugly story wasfirst told in Bowen Tyler's manuscript.

Tyler and the rescue party had but just reached the yachtthat afternoon. They had heard, faintly, the signal shots firedby the U-33 but had been unable to locate their direction and sohad assumed that they had come from the guns of the Toreador.

It was a happy party that sailed north toward sunny, southernCalifornia, the old U-33 trailing in the wake of the Toreadorand flying with the latter the glorious Stars and Stripesbeneath which she had been born in the shipyard at Santa Monica. Three newly married couples, their bonds now duly solemnized bythe master of the ship, joyed in the peace and security of theuntracked waters of the south Pacific and the unique honeymoonwhich, had it not been for stern duty ahead, they could havewished protracted till the end of time.

And so they came one day to dock at the shipyard which BowenTyler now controlled, and here the U-33 still lies while thosewho passed so many eventful days within and because of her, havegone their various ways.

The end of Project Gutenberg etext of "Out of Time's Abyss"

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PAGE LINE ORIGINAL CHANGED TO10 12 of or14 19 of animals life of animals31 26 is arms his arms37 14 above this above his37 23 Bradley, Bradley54 18 man man57 14 and of Oo-oh of Oo-oh62 18 spend spent63 31 and mumbled the mumbled64 9 things thing80 30 east cast104 16 proaching proached106 30 cos-at-lu cos-ata-lu126 17 not artistic not an artistic126 25 close below hands close below130 1 internals intervals132 9 than that132 10 splashes splashed134 3 know know not know

The end of Project Gutenberg etext of "Out of Time's Abyss"