clawed the hard rock, until the skin hung in shreds from my fingers, and
the blood pattered on the dark soil, that in all probability had never
tasted moisture before. All this amused my pursuer vastly; it watched
with the leisure of one who knows its fish will be landed in safety, and
there suddenly came to me, through my olfactory nerves, a knowledge that
it was speaking to me in the language of scents--the language I never
understood till now was the language of all animals.

"'Reach, a little higher,' it said; 'there are niches up there, and you
must stretch your limbs. Ha! ha! Do you remember how you used to make me
stretch mine? You do! Well, you needn't shiver. Explain to me how it is
I find you here.'

"'I cannot comprehend,' I gasped with a gesticulation that was
grotesque.

"The great beast laughed in my face. 'How so?' it queried. 'You used to
quibble me upon my dull wits; must I now return the compliment? Ha!
There's blood on your hands. Blood! I will lick it up.' And with a
mocking grin it advanced.

"'Keep off! Keep off!' I shouted. 'My God, will this dream never cease?'

"'The dream, as you call it,' the gorilla jeered, 'has only just begun;
the climax of your horrors has yet to come. If you cannot tell me the
purport of your visit I will tell you mine. Can your lordship spare the
time to listen?'

"I gave no answer. I clutched the wall and uttered incoherent cries like
some frightened madman.

"The gorilla felt the muscles in its hairy fingers, and showed its huge
teeth. I looked eagerly at my enemy.

"'Come, you haven't yet guessed my riddle; you are dull to-night,' it
said lightly. 'That old wine of yours made you sleep too soundly. Don't
let me disturb you. I will explain. This moon is now my home--I share it
with the spirits of all the animals and insects that were once on your
earth. And now that we are free from such as you--free to wander
anywhere we like without fear of being shot, or caught and caged--we are
happy. And what makes us still happier is the knowledge that the
majority of men and women will never have a joyous after-state like
ours. They will be earth-bound in that miserable world of theirs, and
compelled to keep to their old haunts, scaring to death with their ugly
faces all who have the misfortune to see them. There is another fate in
store for you, however. Do you know what it is?'

"It paused. No sound other than that occasioned by his bumping on the
soil broke the im