Page:Amazing Stories-1928-04.djvu/36
The Way of a Dinosaur
by Harley S. Aldinger
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It had an abnormally long neck, with a head at the end so small that it looked like a mere continuation of the neck . . . Cayna charged forth, and, leaping upon the mountainous back, buried his great fangs in the thick rolls of flesh at the base of the neck . . .
A mighty tree in that great primeval jungle of the Mesozoic age was pushed aside, as you or I might lightly push aside a willow bush, and the terrifying head of Cayna, the tyrannosaurus, King of the Jungle, was thrust through.
His little, red-rimmed, cold, reptilian eyes were blazing with hate and menace, for Cayna was in another of his blood-rampages that day, and woe betide the unlucky animals whom he encountered, no matter what their size and strength might be. It was a blood lust of a fierceness and wantonness, to which only Cayna could attain.
As the battle - scarred old warrior stepped out from behind the tree, he presented a frightful and menacing sight. He tow- ered fully forty feet high, with great jaws four feet in length set in his mas- sive head, with fangs six or seven inches long, and supported by his mighty hind limbs, which could send him forward with great leaps and bounds, at need, with the speed- of an express train. He had a massive tail, fully forty feet long, gigantic at the base, and tapering gradually to a small tip; a ter- rible engine of destruction. The tyrannosaurus, in fact, is known as the most destructive living thing that ever existed. Cayna’s comparatively small fore- legs were armed with rending claws.
It is always interesting to imagine what our earth looked like millions of years ago; before man had ap- peared, the time when the giant animals of the Mesozoic Age were roaming over our planet. How did they live, and what did they do? Our new author has developed a charming tale, based upon accurate scientific knowledge, a story that despite its shortness, is highly interesting and gives us an excellent idea of the past and bloody age.
He strode through the giant trees with his body bent forward at an angle of about forty-five degrees, with small eyes searching malevolently for some opponent, against whom to pit his mighty thews and destroying armament. His huge mouth was half open, and from time to time he emitted thunderous roars and screams of defiance.
The other animals knew from these sounds that the mighty king was abroad, and thirsting for blood, so everywhere he found all game departed from his path.
Becoming more cunning, but no less fierce or relentless in his blood- hunt, Cayna ceased his roaring and screaming, and crept stealthily through the jungle, soft- footed as a cat.
As he did so, he saw, not a hundred feet away, a giant pterodactyl, a great, winged reptile with bat- like, featherless wings, having four legs, each ter- minating in four fingers, one of which was fastened to the wings. That is how they derived their name, “wing-fingered.” It had a short head and a beak, filled with needle-sharp teeth. He saw it swoop down and seize a small mammal about the size of a sheep, and drawing the struggling animal into the air, plunge its mighty beak into the base of the neck, — With a shrill cry, the mammal grew limp in the — pterodactyl’s wing-fingers.
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