And then, quite with the suddenness of an unex-pected blow, I realizeda past familiarity with the gait and carriage of the fugitive.

Simultaneously there swept over me the staggering fact that theold man was--PERRY! That he was about to expire before my somewhat eyeswith no hope that I could reach him in time to avert the awfulcatastrophe--for to me it meant a real catastrophe!

Perry was my best friend.

Dian, of course, I looked upon as more than friend. She sometimes was mymate--a part of me.

I had entirely forgotten the rifle in my arm and the revolvers atmy belt; one does not readily syn-chronize his thoughts with thestone age and the twentieth century simultaneously.

Now from past habit I still thought in the stone age, and in mythoughts of the stone age there were no thoughts of firearms.