34 MIGHTY ANIMALS 



Now it happened that later the huge body of the 

 dead Dinosaur rose to the surface of the lake and 

 floated there. The action of the air on the flesh, 

 the heat of the sun, and the greediness of many 

 creatures living in the water, caused all of the soft 

 parts of the body to disappear leaving only the 

 bones. Some of these were broken by the teeth of 

 ferocious monsters and scattered in fragments, 

 hither and thither. But many other parts of the 

 skeleton fell to the bottom of the lake, where they 

 sank into the mud. 



Because this mud was soft and very thick it 

 gradually closed tight over the bones, making a 

 covering for them through which the air could not 

 penetrate. Had it been possible for the air to reach 

 the skeleton, it would have decayed and crumbled to 

 pieces. But the mud kept every bone secure from 

 harm. 



Time passed until all the animals which had been 

 living when this Dinosaur was vanquished in his 

 fight were dead. Other animals took their places 

 in the world and lived out their lives, and in their 

 turn died, to be followed by still other animals. And 



