e hoya-tree. But
they did not meet fairly, head to head, as the Dinosaur intended. Had
they done so the battle would have been decided then and there, for
the black beast's horns and unprotected front were no match for the
impenetrable armor and leveled lances of the King's colossal head. But
they did not meet fairly. The black stranger was much too crafty for
that. At the last moment he swerved nimbly aside, wheeled with an
agility that was marvelous for a creature of his bulk, and thrust at
the shoulders of the colossus with a fierce, rooting movement like the
stroke of the wild boar.

But he struck the rim of that impenetrable defense, the spreading ruff
of horn. And he might as well have struck a mountain-side. That
enormous bulk, firm-based on the wide-set columns which formed its
legs, merely staggered an instant, coughed from the jarring of the
blow, and swung about to present his terrific horns against another
such attack. The black stranger, meanwhile, as if disappointed at the
meager result of his tactics, had drawn back out of reach. He stood
rooting the turf and squealing defiance, in the hope of luring the
giant into a second charge.

The stupendous duel had two interested spectators. On the top of the
next tree sat an extraordinary-looking bird, about the size of a
pheasant, colored blue and rose like a macaw. Its tail was like a
lizard's, long and fully-vertebrated, with a pair of flat feathers
standing out opposite each other at right angles from each joint, for
all the world like an immense acacia-frond done in red. At the tips of
its wing-elbows it carried clutching, hand-like claws, resembling
those of the flying reptiles; and its straight, strong beak was armed
with pointed teeth. It kept opening and shutting its beak excitedly
and uttering sharp cries, as if calling everyone to come and see the
fight.

The other spectator was not excited at all. He was a large, ape-like
man--one would have said, rather, a manlike ape, had it not been for
the look in his eyes.

This enigmatic figure sat on a branch immediately over the combatants,
and held on with one powerful, hairy hand to the branch just above
him. He was covered with thick, brown hair, like fur, from head to
foot, but that on his head was true hair, long and waving. His
shoulders were massive, his chest of great depth, his arms so long
that if he had been standing erect they would have hung to his knees,
his legs short, massive and much bow