[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]back stuck up above the
ground level, the ferns on the edge of the nullah masked it. James had fired
both barrels over the theropod s head and woke it up. Then the silly ass ran
forward without reloading. Another twenty feet and he d have stepped on the
tyrannosaur.
James, naturally, stopped when this thing popped up in front of him. He
remembered that he d fired both barrels and that he d left the Raja too far
behind for a clear shot.
At first, James kept his nerve. He broke open his gun, took two rounds from
his belt, and plugged them into the barrels.
But, in his haste to snap the gun shut, he caught his hand between the barrels
and the action. The painful pinch so startled
James that he dropped his gun. Then he went to pieces and bolted.
The Raja was running up with his gun at high port, ready to snap it to his
shoulder the instant he got a clear view. When he saw James running headlong
toward him, he hesitated, not wishing to shoot James by accident. The latter
plunged ahead, blundered into the Raja, and sent them both sprawling among the
ferns. The tyrannosaur collected what little wits it had and stepped forward
to snap them up.
And how about Holtzinger and me on the other side of the
palmettos? Well, the instant James yelled and the tyrannosaur s head
appeared, Holtzinger darted forward like a rabbit. I d brought my gun up for a
shot at the tyrannosaur s head, in hope of getting at least an eye;
but, before I could find it in my sights, the head was out of
sight behind the palmettos. Perhaps I should have fired at hazard, but all
my experience is against wild shots.
When I looked back in front of me, Holtzinger had already disappeared
round the curve of the palmetto clump. I d started after him when I
heard his rifle and the click of the bolt between shots:
bang
click-click
bang
click-click, like that.
He d come up on the tyrannosaur s quarter as the brute started to stoop for
James and the Raja. With his muzzle twenty feet from the tyrannosaur s hide,
Holtzinger began pumping .375s into the beast s body. He got off three shots
when the tyrannosaur gave a tremendous booming grunt and wheeled round to see
what was stinging it. The jaws came open, and the head swung round and down
again.
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Holtzinger got off one more shot and tried to leap to one side. As he
was standing on a narrow place between the palmetto clump and the
nullah, he fell into the nullah. The tyrannosaur continued its lunge and
caught him. The jaws went chomp, and up came the head with poor Holtzinger in
them, screaming like a damned soul.
I came up just then and aimed at the brute s face, but then realized that its
jaws were full of my sahib and I should be shooting him, too. As the head went
on up like the business end of a big power shovel, I fired a shot at the
heart. The tyrannosaur was already turning away, and I suspect the ball just
glanced along the ribs. The beast took a couple of steps when I gave it
the other barrel in the back. It staggered on its next step but kept on.
Another step, and it was nearly out of sight among the trees, when the Raja
fired twice. The stout fellow had untangled himself from James, got up, picked
up his gun, and let the tyrannosaur have it.
The double wallop knocked the brute over with a tremendous crash. It fell into
a dwarf magnolia, and I saw one of its huge birdlike hindlegs waving in the
midst of a shower of pink-and-white petals. But the tyrannosaur got
up again and blundered off without even dropping its victim. The last I saw
of it was Holtzinger s legs dangling out one side of its jaws
(he d stopped screaming) and its big tail banging against the tree trunks as
it swung from side to side.
The Raja and I reloaded and ran after the brute for all we were worth. I
tripped and fell once, but jumped up again and didn t notice my skinned elbow
till later. When we burst out of the copse, the tyrannosaur was already at the
far end of the glade. We each took a quick shot but probably missed, and it
was out of sight before we could fire again.
We ran on, following the tracks and spatters of blood, until we had to stop
from exhaustion. Never again did we see that tyrannosaur. Their movements look
slow and ponderous, but with those tremendous legs they don t have to step
very fast to work up considerable speed.
When we d got our breath, we got up and tried to track the tyrannosaur, on the
theory that it might be dying and we should come up to it. But, though we
found more spoor, it faded out and left us at a loss. We circled round, hoping
to pick it up, but no luck.
Hours later, we gave up and went back to the glade.
Courtney James was sitting with his back against a tree, holding his rifle and
Holtzinger s. His right hand was swollen and blue where he d pinched it, but
still usable. His first words were:
Where the hell have you two been?
I said: We ve been occupied. The late Mr. Holtzinger. Remember?
You shouldn t have gone off and left me; another of those things might have
come along. Isn t it bad enough to lose one hunter through your stupidity
without risking another one?
I d been preparing a warm wigging for James, but his attack so
astonished me that I could only bleat: What?
We lost...?
Sure, he said. You put us in front of you, so if anybody gets eaten it s
us. You send a guy up against these animals undergunned. You
You Goddamn stinking little swine! I said. If you hadn t been a blithering
idiot and blown those two barrels, and then run like the yellow coward you
are, this never would have happened. Holtzinger died trying to save your
worthless life.
By God, I wish he d failed! He was worth six of a stupid, spoiled,
muttonheaded bastard like you
I went on from there. The Raja tried to keep up with me, but ran out of
English and was reduced to cursing James in
Hindustani.
I could see by the purple color on James s face that I was getting home. He
said: Why, you and stepped forward and sloshed me one in the face with his
left fist.
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It rocked me a bit, but I said: Now then, my lad, I m glad you did that! It
gives me a chance I ve been waiting for....
So I waded into him. He was a good-sized bod, but between my sixteen stone and
his sore right hand he had no chance.
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]zanotowane.pldoc.pisz.plpdf.pisz.plkajaszek.htw.pl
