138 Ancient Giants 



the speed of its flight, the lightning itself lags be- 

 hind, and the swift winged arrows of light." Yes! 

 modern science claims that three millon years 

 have sped away since the end of the Age of Rep- 

 tiles, since the Dinosaurs perished from the earth. 

 Yet I was here. I could not doubt my own senses. 

 I saw in the east the Queen of Night rise slowly 

 from the bosom of old ocean, while to the west 

 the last streak of departing day, glimmered once 

 more and disappeared. Overhead the constella- 

 tions of the temperate zone shone in undimmed 

 splendor, as they did last night above the Al- 

 bertian plains. Yes! there to the north was the 

 Great Dipper; its pointers as of yore, still led 

 my eyes to the North Star. Venus too, shone as 

 the "Star of the evening, beautiful star." Who 

 knows but some tiger of the everglades, some 

 huge Carniverous Dinosaur, may be prowling 

 about for prey. A Fossil Hunter might prove a 

 rare tidbit to him. It were better in my unpro- 

 tected condition to seek a place of safety. I no- 

 ticed that some of the bushes that lined the thick 

 jungles around me had long powerful thorns, 

 while running vines, had fibers as tough as hemp. 

 I had my collection bag still with me, with its 

 chisels, knives and small hand-pick. So quickly 

 cutting some long thorns and binding them to 

 my shoes with the vines, I sought a small tree, 

 the crown of which was hidden among the lower 

 branches of the redwood* I climbed by forcing 

 the thorns into the bark of the tree, around which 



