Suddenly Chenobi checked his steed, raising his hand as a warning to his friends. Wondering what new peril threatened, the three moved cautiously alongside the elk. Parting the fungi, they peered through. Before them lay a clearing—an open space of some sixty square yards in area. At first sight it appeared to be empty, but in a few seconds they became aware of the presence of a monstrous black shape, sharply outlined against the glistening wall of the encircling jungle. Ere they could observe more, the hounds, who had been trailing at heel, burst into a savage bay, and broke through the fungi. Only a glimpse the explorers had of a huge, hairy body which lumbered awkwardly into the shelter of the jungle, with the hounds snarling at its heels, but it sufficed for the professor.
“Megatherium!” he yelled in amazement, “the giant sloth!”
With a bound he leapt from his seat and darted across the clearing; but sloth and hounds had already vanished, the latter in full cry.
“Call your brutes off,” Mervyn cried to the king, as he forced his steed into the clearing; “the creature’s perfectly harmless, and it seems a shame for the dogs to worry it.”
A piercing call rang from the Ayuti’s lips, the baying ceased as though by magic, and ere long the hounds slid out of the undergrowth, panting from their fruitless chase.
“It is unfortunate that the creature disappeared so quickly,” muttered the scientist. “I had not time to make a proper observation, but its presence here appears to me to imply that the monsters of prehistoric days are far from extinct. Were we to make a thorough search, I do not doubt that we should find representatives of all the tribes of vast creatures which once inhabited the upper world.”
“Except the birds,” retorted Seymour; “as yet we have seen no trace of them, which seems rather remarkable since, according to Maori tradition, the moa birds were existent in New Zealand up to the end of the seventeenth century.”
“It don’t seem extra remarkable,” put in Haverly, “when you reckon megalosaurus as an item on the programme. Seems to me as a bird, however large, ’ud stand a poor chance against him. What’s your idea, professor?”
“The same,” returned the scientist; “but we have not yet learned that they are non-existent. However, I will question Chenobi on the subject. It may be that he can enlighten us.”
But the king could supply no information as to the existence of giant birds, although Mervyn helped out his explanation with the aid of a rough sketch. If there were any such, they were unknown to him.