第40章 BOOK II.(16)

"To-morrow,"said Bearwarden,"we must make it a point to get some well-fed birds;for I can roast,broil,or fricassee them to a turn.Life is too short to live on this meat in such a sportsman's paradise.In any case there can be no end of mastodons,mammoths,woolly rhinoceroses,moa birds,and all such shooting."As the sun was already near the horizon,they chose a dry,sandy place,to secure as much immunity as possible from nocturnal visits,and,after procuring a supply of water from a pool,proceeded to arrange their camp for the night.They first laid out the protection-wires,setting them while the sun still shone.Next they built a fire and prepared their evening meal.

While they ate it,twilight became night,and the fire-flies,twinkling in legions in the neighbouring valley,seemed like the lamps of a great city.

"Their lights,"said Bearwarden,pointing to them,"are not as fine as the jelly-fish Will-o'-the wisps were last night,but they are not so dangerous.No gymnotus or electric eel that Ihave ever seen compared with them,and I am convinced that any one of us they might have touched would have been in kingdom come."The balmy air soothed the travellers'brows as they reclined against mounds of sand,while the flowers in the valley sent up their dying notes.One by one the moons arose,till four--among them the Lilliputian,discovered by Prof.Barnard in 1893--were in the sky,flooding the landscape with their silvery light,and something in the surroundings touched a sympathetic cord in the men.

"Oh that I were young again,"said Cortlandt,"and had life before me!I should like to remain here and grow up with this planet,in which we already perceive the next New World.The beauties of earth are barren compared with the scenes we have here.""You remember,"replied Bearwarden,"how Cicero defends old age in his De Senectute,and shows that while it has almost everything that youth has,it has also a sense of calm and many things besides.""Yes,"answered Cortlandt,"but,while plausible,it does not convince.The pleasures of age are largely negative,the old being happy when free from pain.""Since the highest joy of life,"said Ayrault,"is coming to know our Creator,I should say the old,being further advanced,would be the happier of the two.I should never regard this material life as greatly to be prized for itself.You remember the old song:

"'O Youth!When we come to consider The pain,the toil,and the strife,The happiest man of all is The one who has finished his life.'

"I suspect,"continued Ayrault,"that the man who reaches even the lowest plane in paradise will find far more beautiful visions than any we have here."As they had but little rest the night before,they were all tired.The warm breeze swayed the long dry grass,causing it to give out a soft rustle;all birds except the flitting bats were asleep among the tall ferns or on the great trees that spread their branches towards heaven.There was nothing to recall a picture of the huge monsters they had seen that day,or of the still more to be dreaded terror these had borne witness to.Thus night closes the activities of the day,and in its serene grandeur the soul has time to think.While they thought,however,drowsiness overcame them,and in a little while all were asleep.

The double line of protection-wires encircled them like a silent guard,while the methodical ticking of the alarm-clock that was to wake them at the approach of danger,and register the hour of interruption,formed a curious contrast to the irregular cries of the night-hawks in the distance.Time and again some huge iguanodon or a hipsohopus would pass,shaking the ground with its tread;but so implicit was the travellers'trust in the vigilance of their mechanical and tireless watch,that they slept on as calmly and unconcernedly as though they had been in their beds at home,while the tick was as constant and regular as a sentry's march.The wires of course did not protect them from creatures having wings,and they ran some risk of a visitation from the blood-sucking bats.The far-away volcanoes occasionally sent up sheets of flame,which in the distance were like summer lightning;the torrents of lava and crashes that had sounded so thunderous when near,were now like the murmur of the ocean's ebb tide,lulling the terrestrials to deeper sleep.The pale moons were at intervals momentarily obscured by the rushing clouds in the upper air,only to reappear soon afterwards as serene as before.All Nature seemed at rest.

Shortly before dawn there was an unusually heavy step.A moment later the ever-vigilant batteries poured forth their current,and the clang of the alarm-bell made the still night ring.In an instant the three men were awake,each resting on one knee,with their backs towards the centre and their polished barrels raised.

It was not long before they perceived the intruder by the moonlight.A huge monster of the Triceratops prorsus species had entered the camp.It was shaped something like an elephant,but had ten or twelve times the bulk,being over forty feet in length,not including the long,thick tail.The head carried two huge horns on the forehead and one on the nose.

"A plague on my shot-gun!"said Cortlandt."Had I known how much of this kind of game we should see,I too should have brought a rifle."The monster was entangled in the wires,and in another second would have stepped on the batteries that were still causing the bell to ring.