se. Then Victor Nelson, fighting to control his
strumming nerves, deliberately sighted into a great, orange colored
eye, saw the narrow black iris over the Winchester's front sight and
knew the huge warty head was not ten feet away.

* * * * *

He pressed the trigger and never heard the report, but felt the blast
of a furnace-hot breath in his face--a breath that stank like the foul
reek of burning rubber.

With a detached sense of surprise he saw the eye miraculously and
dreadfully disintegrate; then, as the bitter smell of burned cordite
stung his nostrils, he sprang violently sidewise to find himself
staring up at the howdah, now towering at least forty feet above.

The next few moments were indescribable. Horrible roars and bellows,
loud as those of a thousand angered bulls, shattered the air. The
diplodocus halted, stunned by pain and the partial loss of eyesight;
then, its infinitesimal brain becoming gripped with fear, it plunged
and lumbered sidewise, nearly shaking the warriors from the howdah,
where they clung for dear life. Nelson was barely able to avoid the
sweep of the powerful tail as the diplodocus wheeled about on hind
legs, reeled and started blindly back towards the Jarmuthian ranks.
Suddenly it stood stock still, shaking with super-elephantine motions.
Then, for all the world like a balky mule, it sank to the earth and
cowered there, despite the frantic efforts of the surviving
Jarmuthians to stir it to obedience.

By the strong amber light of the sun flare Nelson had a vision of the
last two warriors swinging in apelike agility to the ground. They were
giants, those two men of Jarmuth, and their conical helmets added
additional stature. One of them, shouting an unintelligible taunt,
reached for his belt to snatch out a fungus bomb, but Nelson, dropping
on one knee, sent a bullet crashing between the Jarmuthian's scowling
eyes. Even as he fell, the last of the six champions unwisely ignored
his retortii and frantically sprang forward, razor-edged sword
upraised.

Nelson frantically worked the ejector lever but only an empty click
resulted! His heart sank. "Hell! the magazine's empty!"

* * * * *

He had just time to swing the Winchester about and grasp its barrel as
the Jarmuthian, with a loud shout, sprang in, slashing viciously at
Nelson's unprotected neck. Using the clubbed rifle like a baseball
bat, the American struck out wi