"It's a dinosaur!" Michaelson shouted. The scientist was wildly
excited. "It's a live dinosaur."

"It's going to be a dead one if it comes any closer," Craig said grimly.

"No, don't shoot," the scientist said. "It's one of the herbivorous
dinosaurs, a vegetation eater. It won't harm us."

The sailors in the boat were nervously fingering their tommy-guns and
staring at the mountain of flesh that was half-hidden by the jungle
growth. It, in turn, stared at them. It was bigger than any elephant
that ever walked the earth, and Craig, as he estimated the size of the
beast, was wondering whether the tommy-guns would stop it if it chose to
attack.

"If we have to shoot, aim at the head," he whispered.

In comparison to the rest of the body, the head was small. It would
present a difficult target but a hit in the head might stop the beast
whereas a hit in the huge body would pass unnoticed. The dinosaur stared
at them. Seconds ticked into minutes. It moved its head in a circle,
sniffing the air. Michaelson wanted to get out of the boat and swim to
shore so he could examine it closely.

"You stay in this boat," Craig said vigorously. "You will probably get a
chance to examine all the dinosaurs you want."

Muttering to himself, the scientist subsided.

Slowly, as though it had seen all it wanted to, the dinosaur turned and
went back into the swamp. The shaking of the shrubs marked the direction
it had taken. Craig breathed a sigh of relief.

"I told you it wasn't dangerous," Michaelson said bitterly. "You should
have let me examine it."

"Never mind," Craig said soothingly. "After we get ourselves settled
here, you can have a dinosaur for a pet. Push on, men," he said to the
crew. "I want to climb one of those hills and take a look around."

* * * * *

Reaching the spot where the boat could pass no farther, they left two
men to guard it and pushed ahead on foot. The swamp gave way to rising,
rocky ground covered with a thin growth of huge trees. There was a
whistle in the air. Looking quickly up, Craig saw a flying lizard swoop
through an opening in the trees and dive head-long at something hidden
in the rocks ahead.

A scream sounded as the dragon bird dived to the attack.

There was a human element in the scream.

"That bird is after somebody!" Craig shouted. "Come on."

If he had not known it was impossible, he would have been certain that
the scream he had heard had come