I WAS UNCONSCIOUS LITTLE MORE THAN AN INSTANT,for as I lunged forward from the crossbeam to which Ihad been clinging, and fell with a crash to the floorof the cabin, the shock brought me to myself.

My first concern was with Perry. I was horrified at the thoughtthat upon the very threshold of salvation he might be dead.Tearing open his shirt I placed my ear to his breast.I could have cried with relief--his heart was beatingquite regularly.

At the water tank I wetted my handkerchief, slapping itsmartly across his forehead and face several times.In a moment I was rewarded by the raising of his lids.For a time he lay wide-eyed and quite uncomprehending.Then his scattered wits slowly foregathered, and he satup sniffing the air with an expression of wonderment uponhis face.

"Why, David," he cried at last, "it's air, as sure as I live.Why--why what does it mean? Where in the world are we?What has happened?"

"It means that we're back at the surface all right, Perry," Icried;"but where, I don't know. I haven't opened her up yet.Been too busy reviving you. Lord, man, but you had a closesqueak!"

"You say we're back at the surface, David? How canthat be? How long have I been unconscious?"

"Not long. We turned in the ice stratum.Don't you recall the sudden whirling of our seats?After that the drill was above you instead of below.We didn't notice it at the time; but I recall it now."

"You mean to say that we turned back in the ice stratum,David? That is not possible. The prospector cannot turnunless its nose is deflected from the outside--by someexternal force or resistance--the steering wheel withinwould have moved in response. The steering wheel hasnot budged, David, since we started. You know that."

I did know it; but here we were with our drill racing inpure air, and copious volumes of it pouring into the cabin.

"We couldn't have turned in the ice stratum, Perry, I knowas well as you," I replied; "but the fact remainsthat we did, for here we are this minute at the surfaceof the earth again, and I am going out to see just where."

"Better wait till morning, David--it must be midnight now."

I glanced at the chronometer.

"Half after twelve. We have been out seventy-two hours,so it must be midnight. Nevertheless I am going to havea look at the blessed sky that I had given up all hopeof ever seeing again," and so saying I lifted the barsfrom the inner door, and swung it open. There was quitea quantity of loose material in the jacket, and this Ihad to remove with a shovel to get at the opposite doorin the outer shell.

In a short time I had removed enough of the earth and rockto the floor of the cabin to expose the door beyond.Perry was directly behind me as I threw it open.The upper half was above the surface of the ground.With an expression of surprise I turned and looked atPerry--it was broad daylight without!

"Something seems to have gone wrong either with ourcalculations or the chronometer," I said. Perry shookhis head--there was a strange expression in his eyes.

"Let's have a look beyond that door, David," he cried.

Together we stepped out to stand in silent contemplationof a landscape at once weird and beautiful. Before usa low and level shore stretched down to a silent sea.As far as the eye could reach the surface of the waterwas dotted with countless tiny isles--some of towering,barren, granitic rock--others resplendent in gorgeoustrappings of tropical vegetation, myriad starred withthe magnificent splendor of vivid blooms.

Behind us rose a dark and forbidding wood of giantarborescent ferns intermingled with the commoner typesof a primeval tropical forest. Huge creepers dependedin great loops from tree to tree, dense under-brushovergrew a tangled mass of fallen trunks and branches.Upon the outer verge we could see the same splendidcoloring of countless blossoms that glorified the islands,but within the dense shadows all seemed dark and gloomyas the grave.

And upon all the noonday sun poured its torrid raysout of a cloudless sky.

"Where on earth can we be?" I asked, turning to Perry.

For some moments the old man did not reply. He stoodwith bowed head, buried in deep thought. But at lasthe spoke.

"David," he said, "I am not so sure that we are ON earth."

"What do you mean Perry?" I cried. "Do you think that weare dead, and this is heaven?" He smiled, and turning,pointing to the nose of the prospector protruding fromthe ground at our backs.

"But for that, David, I might believe that we were indeedcome to the country beyond the Styx. The prospectorrenders that theory untenable--it, certainly, could neverhave gone to heaven. However I am willing to concedethat we actually may be in another world from thatwhich we have always known. If we are not ON earth,there is every reason to believe that we may be IN it."

"We may have quartered through the earth's crust and comeout upon some tropical island of the West Indies,"I suggested. Again Perry shook his head.

"Let us wait and see, David," he replied, "and in themeantime suppose we do a bit of exploring up and downthe coast--we may find a native who can enlighten us."

As we walked along the beach Perry gazed long andearnestly across the water. Evidently he was wrestlingwith a mighty problem.

"David," he said abruptly, "do you perceive anythingunusual about the horizon?"

As I looked I began to appreciate the reason for thestrangeness of the landscape that had haunted me fromthe first with an illusive suggestion of the bizarreand unnatural--THERE WAS NO HORIZON! As far as the eyecould reach out the sea continued and upon its bosomfloated tiny islands, those in the distance reducedto mere specks; but ever beyond them was the sea,until the impression became quite real that one wasLOOKING UP at the most distant point that the eyescould fathom--the distance was lost in the distance.That was all--there was no clear-cut horizontalline marking the dip of the globe below the line of vision.

"A great light is commencing to break on me," continued Perry,taking out his watch. "I believe that I have partiallysolved the riddle. It is now two o'clock. When we emergedfrom the prospector the sun was directly above us.Where is it now?"

I glanced up to find the great orb still motionlessin the center of the heaven. And such a sun! I hadscarcely noticed it before. Fully thrice the size ofthe sun I had known throughout my life, and apparentlyso near that the sight of it carried the convictionthat one might almost reach up and touch it.

"My God, Perry, where are we?" I exclaimed. "This thingis beginning to get on my nerves."

"I think that I may state quite positively, David,"he commenced, "that we are--" but he got no further.From behind us in the vicinity of the prospector therecame the most thunderous, awe-inspiring roar that everhad fallen upon my ears. With one accord we turnedto discover the author of that fearsome noise.

Had I still retained the suspicion that we were on earth thesight that met my eyes would quite entirely have banished it.Emerging from the forest was a colossal beast which closelyresembled a bear. It was fully as large as the largestelephant and with great forepaws armed with huge claws.Its nose, or snout, depended nearly a foot below itslower jaw, much after the manner of a rudimentary trunk.The giant body was covered by a coat of thick, shaggy hair.

Roaring horribly it came toward us at a ponderous,shuffling trot. I turned to Perry to suggest that itmight be wise to seek other surroundings--the idea hadevidently occurred to Perry previously, for he was alreadya hundred paces away, and with each second his prodigiousbounds increased the distance. I had never guessedwhat latent speed possibilities the old gentleman possessed.

I saw that he was headed toward a little point of theforest which ran out toward the sea not far from where wehad been standing, and as the mighty creature, the sightof which had galvanized him into such remarkable action,was forging steadily toward me. I set off after Perry,though at a somewhat more decorous pace. It was evidentthat the massive beast pursuing us was not built for speed,so all that I considered necessary was to gain the treessufficiently ahead of it to enable me to climb to the safetyof some great branch before it came up.

Notwithstanding our danger I could not help but laugh atPerry's frantic capers as he essayed to gain the safetyof the lower branches of the trees he now had reached.The stems were bare for a distance of some fifteen feet--atleast on those trees which Perry attempted to ascend,for the suggestion of safety carried by the larger ofthe forest giants had evidently attracted him to them.A dozen times he scrambled up the trunks like a huge catonly to fall back to the ground once more, and with eachfailure he cast a horrified glance over his shoulder atthe oncoming brute, simultaneously emitting terror-strickenshrieks that awoke the echoes of the grim forest.

At length he spied a dangling creeper about the bignessof one's wrist, and when I reached the trees he was racingmadly up it, hand over hand. He had almost reached the lowestbranch of the tree from which the creeper depended whenthe thing parted beneath his weight and he fell sprawlingat my feet.

The misfortune now was no longer amusing, for the beastwas already too close to us for comfort. Seizing Perryby the shoulder I dragged him to his feet, and rushingto a smaller tree--one that he could easily encircle withhis arms and legs--I boosted him as far up as I could,and then left him to his fate, for a glance over myshoulder revealed the awful beast almost upon me.

It was the great size of the thing alone that saved me.Its enormous bulk rendered it too slow upon its feetto cope with the agility of my young muscles, and so I wasenabled to dodge out of its way and run completely behindit before its slow wits could direct it in pursuit.

The few seconds of grace that this gave me found mesafely lodged in the branches of a tree a few pacesfrom that in which Perry had at last found a haven.

Did I say safely lodged? At the time I thought we werequite safe, and so did Perry. He was praying--raisinghis voice in thanksgiving at our deliverance--and hadjust completed a sort of paeon of gratitude that the thingcouldn't climb a tree when without warning it reared upbeneath him on its enormous tail and hind feet, and reachedthose fearfully armed paws quite to the branch uponwhich he crouched.

The accompanying roar was all but drowned in Perry'sscream of fright, and he came near tumbling headlonginto the gaping jaws beneath him, so precipitate washis impetuous haste to vacate the dangerous limb.It was with a deep sigh of relief that I saw him gaina higher branch in safety.

And then the brute did that which froze us both anewwith horror. Grasping the tree's stem with his powerfulpaws he dragged down with all the great weight of hishuge bulk and all the irresistible force of thosemighty muscles. Slowly, but surely, the stem began tobend toward him. Inch by inch he worked his paws upwardas the tree leaned more and more from the perpendicular.Perry clung chattering in a panic of terror. Higher andhigher into the bending and swaying tree he clambered.More and more rapidly was the tree top inclining towardthe ground.

I saw now why the great brute was armed with suchenormous paws. The use that he was putting them to wasprecisely that for which nature had intended them.The sloth-like creature was herbivorous, and to feed that mightycarcass entire trees must be stripped of their foliage.The reason for its attacking us might easily be accountedfor on the supposition of an ugly disposition such as thatwhich the fierce and stupid rhinoceros of Africa possesses.But these were later reflections. At the moment I was toofrantic with apprehension on Perry's behalf to consider aughtother than a means to save him from the death that loomed soclose.

Realizing that I could outdistance the clumsy brute inthe open, I dropped from my leafy sanctuary intent only ondistracting the thing's attention from Perry long enoughto enable the old man to gain the safety of a larger tree.There were many close by which not even the terrificstrength of that titanic monster could bend.

As I touched the ground I snatched a broken limb fromthe tangled mass that matted the jungle-like floor of theforest and, leaping unnoticed behind the shaggy back,dealt the brute a terrific blow. My plan worked like magic.From the previous slowness of the beast I had been ledto look for no such marvelous agility as he now displayed.Releasing his hold upon the tree he dropped on all foursand at the same time swung his great, wicked tail with aforce that would have broken every bone in my body had itstruck me; but, fortunately, I had turned to flee at thevery instant that I felt my blow land upon the towering back.

As it started in pursuit of me I made the mistake of runningalong the edge of the forest rather than making for theopen beach. In a moment I was knee-deep in rotting vegetation,and the awful thing behind me was gaining rapidlyas I floundered and fell in my efforts to extricate myself.

A fallen log gave me an instant's advantage, for climbingupon it I leaped to another a few paces farther on,and in this way was able to keep clear of the mush thatcarpeted the surrounding ground. But the zigzag coursethat this necessitated was placing such a heavy handicapupon me that my pursuer was steadily gaining upon me.

Suddenly from behind I heard a tumult of howls, and sharp,piercing barks--much the sound that a pack of wolvesraises when in full cry. Involuntarily I glancedbackward to discover the origin of this new and menacingnote with the result that I missed my footing and wentsprawling once more upon my face in the deep muck.

My mammoth enemy was so close by this time that I knew Imust feel the weight of one of his terrible paws before Icould rise, but to my surprise the blow did not fall upon me.The howling and snapping and barking of the new elementwhich had been infused into the melee now seemed centeredquite close behind me, and as I raised myself upon my handsand glanced around I saw what it was that had distractedthe DYRYTH, as I afterward learned the thing is called,from my trail.

It was surrounded by a pack of some hundred wolf-likecreatures--wild dogs they seemed--that rushed growlingand snapping in upon it from all sides, so that they sanktheir white fangs into the slow brute and were away againbefore it could reach them with its huge paws or sweeping tail.

But these were not all that my startled eyes perceived.Chattering and gibbering through the lower branches ofthe trees came a company of manlike creatures evidentlyurging on the dog pack. They were to all appearancesstrikingly similar in aspect to the Negro of Africa.Their skins were very black, and their features muchlike those of the more pronounced Negroid type exceptthat the head receded more rapidly above the eyes,leaving little or no forehead. Their arms were ratherlonger and their legs shorter in proportion to the torsothan in man, and later I noticed that their great toesprotruded at right angles from their feet--because of theirarboreal habits, I presume. Behind them trailed long,slender tails which they used in climbing quite as much asthey did either their hands or feet.

I had stumbled to my feet the moment that I discoveredthat the wolf-dogs were holding the dyryth at bay.At sight of me several of the savage creatures left offworrying the great brute to come slinking with bared fangstoward me, and as I turned to run toward the trees againto seek safety among the lower branches, I saw a numberof the man-apes leaping and chattering in the foliageof the nearest tree.

Between them and the beasts behind me there was little choice,but at least there was a doubt as to the receptionthese grotesque parodies on humanity would accord me,while there was none as to the fate which awaited mebeneath the grinning fangs of my fierce pursuers.

And so I raced on toward the trees intending to passbeneath that which held the man-things and take refugein another farther on; but the wolf-dogs were very closebehind me--so close that I had despaired of escaping them,when one of the creatures in the tree above swungdown headforemost, his tail looped about a great limb,and grasping me beneath my armpits swung me in safety upamong his fellows.

There they fell to examining me with the utmost excitementand curiosity. They picked at my clothing, my hair,and my flesh. They turned me about to see if I had a tail,and when they discovered that I was not so equipped theyfell into roars of laughter. Their teeth were very largeand white and even, except for the upper canines which werea trifle longer than the others--protruding just a bitwhen the mouth was closed.

When they had examined me for a few moments one of themdiscovered that my clothing was not a part of me, with theresult that garment by garment they tore it from me amidstpeals of the wildest laughter. Apelike, they essayedto don the apparel themselves, but their ingenuitywas not sufficient to the task and so they gave it up.

In the meantime I had been straining my eyes to catcha glimpse of Perry, but nowhere about could I see him,although the clump of trees in which he had first takenrefuge was in full view. I was much exercised by fearthat something had befallen him, and though I called hisname aloud several times there was no response.

Tired at last of playing with my clothing the creaturesthrew it to the ground, and catching me, one on either side,by an arm, started off at a most terrifying pace throughthe tree tops. Never have I experienced such a journeybefore or since--even now I oftentimes awake from a deepsleep haunted by the horrid remembrance of that awful experience.

From tree to tree the agile creatures sprang like flyingsquirrels, while the cold sweat stood upon my brow as Iglimpsed the depths beneath, into which a single misstepon the part of either of my bearers would hurl me.As they bore me along, my mind was occupied with a thousandbewildering thoughts. What had become of Perry? WouldI ever see him again? What were the intentions of thesehalf-human things into whose hands I had fallen? Were theyinhabitants of the same world into which I had been born?No! It could not be. But yet where else? I had not leftthat earth--of that I was sure. Still neither could Ireconcile the things which I had seen to a belief thatI was still in the world of my birth. With a sigh I gave it up.