"Alus!" said the girl.
I had reread Bowen's adventures so often that I knew them almost by
heart, and so now I knew that I was looking upon the last remnant
of that ancient man-race--the Alus of a forgotten period--the
speechless man of antiquity.
"Kazor!" cried the girl, and at the same moment the Alus came
jabbering toward us. They made strange growling, barking noises,
as with much baring of fangs they advanced upon us. They were
armed only with nature's weapons--powerful muscles and giant fangs;
yet I knew that these were quite sufficient to overcome us had we
nothing better to offer in defense, and so I drew my pistol and
fired at the leader. He dropped like a stone, and the others turned
and fled. Once again the girl smiled her slow smile and stepping
closer, caressed the barrel of my automatic. As she did so, her
fingers came in contact with mine, and a sudden thrill ran through
me, which I attributed to the fact that it had been so long since
I had seen a woman of any sort or kind.
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