Carruthers half whirled as he rose to his
feet and peered into the jungle behind him.

A blur of reddish brown vanished behind a tree. Man or animal
Carruthers couldn't determine. He grasped Nanette by the arm and
pulled her back to the path.

"Quick!" he whispered. "There's someone or something following us. I'm
sure of it now."

* * * * *

Nanette's voice trembled slightly. "What is it, Aaron?"

"I don't know." He turned his head again. This time he saw the thing
that was following. A low ejaculation of alarm escaped his lips. A
gigantic ape! The mouth of the creature sagged grotesquely, revealing
two rows of yellow fangs. And its orange colored eyes were burning
coals set close together. Carruthers sucked in a deep breath.

"Run, Nan," he gritted. "I'll try and scare him away."

Simultaneously with the scream of fright from the startled girl, a
huge mountain of grayish flesh and bones blocked the downward slope of
the path. Carruthers paled as he turned and faced the new menace.

Coming directly toward them he saw an immense animal so great in size
that it seemed to shut out the light. A prehistoric dinosaur! It came
slowly and leisurely, swinging its great red mouth from side to side.
Other denizens in the woods, sensing the presence of the huge killer,
fled in a panic of alarm. Their shrill cries increased the terror that
froze the hearts of the two earth people.

Nanette clung to her companion in abject terror, unable to move. Her
fear stricken eyes were wild and staring as the mountain of flesh
pushed towards them.

The animal's long neck arched far in front of its body, and its long,
pointed tail remained out of sight within the trees.

Carruthers backed off the path into the underbrush, dragging the girl
after him. The jaws of the huge animal opened wide with anticipation.
Lumberingly he turned from the path and followed. Trees crashed before
its gigantic bulk. The woods became a bedlam of snapping branches.

The horrified scream of the girl ended in a gurgling sigh. She toppled
to the ground in a dead faint. Carruthers flung himself beside her
crumpled body and gathered it into his arms. A quick glance he threw
at the spot where he had last seen the gigantic ape. The animal was no
longer there. It had disappeared.

The man's lips became a hard, straight line. Even as he straightened
to his feet the leaves and branches of an overturned tree whipped his
face. The r