Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-03-14
At THE |! E! E!ARTHS \! !;:7..5'' CORE
BY EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS, AUTHOR osTARzAN"

strata had slipped down n matter of 90
feet The result was that the continu.
alton of my ledge lay 20 feet below me
where 1t ended as abruptly as did the
end upon which l stood
And here. evidently halted in flight by
this insurmountabe break in the ledge,
stood the object of the creatures attack
"a girl covering upon the narrow plat
form, her face buried In her arms. as
though to shut out the sight of the
frightful death which lowered Just above
her.
the dragon was circling lower. and
seemed about to dart in upon its prey
There was no time to be lost scarce an
instant in which to weigh the possible
chances that | had against the awfully
armed creature; but the sight Of that
frightened girl below me called out to
all that was best In me, and the instinct
for protection Of the other sex, which
must have nearly equaled the instinct of
self-preservation I'm primeval man, drew
me to the girls side like an Irresistible
magnet.
Almost thoughtless of the consequences.
| leaped from the end of the ledge upon
which | stood for the tiny shelf, 20 feet
below AT the same instant the dragon
started in toward the girl, but my sudden
advent upon the scene must have startled
HlIIlt LOT ne Neeteu 10 one side and then
rose above us once more.
The noise I made as I landed beside
her convinced the girl that her end had
come, for she thought that was the
dragon; but finally, when no cruel fangs
closed upon her. she raised her eyes in as
constituent.
As they fell upon me the expression
that came into them would be difficult to
describe; but her feelings could scarcely
have been one whit more complicated than
my own. For the wide eyes that looked
into mine were those of Dian the Beau
tful.
"Dian!" cried. Dian! Thank Heaven
that ] came in time"
Your" she whispered. and then she hid
her face again; nor could | tell whether
she were glad or angry that I had come.
Once more the dragon was sweeping to-
ward us, and so rapidly that | had no
time to unsling my bow. All that / could
do was to snatch up n rock and hurl 1t
at the things hldeous face. Again my
aim was true, and with a hiss of pain
and rage the reptile wheeled once more
and scared away.
Quickly I fitted an arrow now. that
might be ready at the next attack and
as / did 50 | looked down at the girl, so
that l surprised her in a surreptitous
glance which she was stealing at me;
but Immediately she again covered her
face with her hands.
Look at me, Dian" l pleaded. "Are
you not glad to see me?"
She looked straight into my eyes.
II hate you" she said. and then, as
was about to beg her for fair hearing,
she pointed over my shoulder.
THE thipdar comes" she said, and I
turned again to meet the reptile
So this was a thipdar. / might have
known It, The cruel bloodhounds of the
Mahars, the long extinct ptcrodactyl of
the outer world. But this time | met 1t
with a weapon it had never faced before
/ had selected my longest arrow, and
with all my strength had bent the bow
until the very tip of the shaft rested upon
the thumb of my left hand, and then, as
the great creature darted toward us,
let drive straight for that tough breast
Kissing like the escape valve Of a steam
engine, the mighty creature fell, turning
and twisting, into the sea below my arrow
buried completely in it's carcass
/ turned toward the girl. She was
looking past me. 1t was evident that she
had seen the thpdar die.