were a bit like forearms, but were made up of
long spikes joined by pulsing white skin.

Gunnar reached back of his shoulder and drew his huge broadsword from its
scabbard. Then, with sword upraised, he advanced cautiously toward the
sleeping snake.

A rock must have grated beneath his feet, for suddenly the snake awoke and
its ugly head rose nearly ten feet into the air. It looked down upon the
advancing dwarf with a hungry look and its long red tongue flicked in and
out. Then with a devilish hiss it swept toward him, nearly capsizing the
boat. Gunnar's sword went halfway through the thick, scaly neck, but with
a leap it was upon him, its fore-limbs spread out fan-wise, flogging and
clawing. The head opened. Long fangs gleamed as it struck. Gunnar ducked
and dodged and the striking fangs missed. The head flashed over Gunnar's
shoulder. The weight of it sent him to his knees, and his broadsword buried
itself in the snake again. Blood spouted, but it seemed as alive and
vicious as ever.

Jack Odin had unslung his rifle as Gunnar, went forward. Now he knelt and
took aim at the swaying head that was rising above the dwarf.

The sound of the shot was deafening. Its backbone drilled just beneath the
skull, the snake dropped upon Gunnar, burying him beneath its writhing
folds. Then Gunnar was loose, and running to the boat. Above them the cliff
was groaning as though it were tired of hanging there.

"Hurry, Nors-King, hurry! The rocks tremble."

The snake's writhing tail still lay athwart the boat. Gunnar swung his
sword and severed it. It slid into the water and something that was mostly
triangular teeth and mouth hit the water and seized it. Then it was gone,
leaving a fading trail of froth and blood.

The boat was half-full of water. Gunnar climbed in and Odin came right
behind him.

* * * * *

Gunnar struggled with the controls. The boat sputtered, moved, and then
stopped. Odin was staring at the cliff above them. A huge layer of stone
was cracking and leaning outward. The boat came to life. Gunnar swung it
crazily through the rock-strewn water.

Looking back, Jack Odin watched the cliff coming down. Slowly, as though in
a dream, the cracks grew larger--and then with a roar of pain the rocks
parted and one huge section of the wall leaned outward, tore itself loose,
and came at them like a waterfall of rumbling stones.

The rocks fell just a few feet short of the fleeing, sputteri