<h2 id="CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV<br/> <span class="smaller">THE PYTHON’S COILS</span></h2>
<p>Despite the relief the coolness and clear
air in the cave afforded, it was evident
that the tree people were badly frightened
at being inside the great cave that had been
the home of the formidable sabre-toothed tiger.
They cringed and whimpered and huddled in little
frightened groups as Og led them forward through
narrow passages, and they peered into the gloom
ahead with frightened eyes. Og felt the same
terror clutching at his stout heart. But the wolf
cubs went bravely on ahead, and this, added to
the fact that he had assumed the leadership and
the responsibility of taking the tree people to
safety, keyed up his courage to a certain extent
and made him at least appear bolder than he
really was.</p>
<p>Deeper and deeper he led them into the hollow
in the mountain. It was a long, narrow cave in
the beginning, hardly more than a passageway at<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</SPAN></span>
some points, and long pendant stalactites hung
from the roof while needle-like stalagmites protruded
from the floor and in some places almost
barred passage, or narrowed the cave so that Og
and his horde of followers had sometimes to crawl
under them or work their way around them. But
they kept on because slowly smoke from the great
forest fire was being drawn into the passage by
draughts, and Og and the tree people wanted to
get beyond the point where there was any smoke
at all. Another reason why the hairy boy led on
was because the wolf cubs continued to trot ahead
of him and he felt that so long as they went on
and exhibited no signs of fear whatever, it was
safe for him to proceed with his followers.</p>
<p>It was a strange and weird procession they
made as they traveled through the cave, with the
hairy boy ahead carrying his torch with its feeble
rays only partly dispelling the gloom and throwing
a weird light on the tribe of tree people strung
out behind him, chattering to each other and looking
about in the darkness with fear in their eyes.
In that procession were old ape men and young
ape men and mothers with their babies clinging
to their breasts, and all of them were trusting
to the hairy boy to take them to safety.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</SPAN></span></p>
<p>And Og felt that trust, and somehow, in a way
that he could not understand, it gave him faith
and confidence in himself, and strength to go on,
even though it was all as much of an ordeal to him
as it was to the tree people.</p>
<p>They moved forward for some little time, when
suddenly the passageway ended in a huge-vaulted
cavern; a tremendous room large enough to accommodate
them all with plenty of space to spare.</p>
<p>Coming out into this suddenly, Og stopped and
so did the tree people. It was so large, and so
filled with the gloom of night that it frightened
all of them and they cowered and huddled together
in a panicky mass and chattered softly to
themselves as their eyes roved about trying to
pierce the heavy enveloping blackness. But gradually,
with the help of Og’s torch, their eyes became
accustomed to the darkness and they could
see from one end of the cavern to the other, and
to its great dome-like roof from which hung stalactites
of tremendous length. It was a weird cave,
indeed, and the presence of great bats, almost as
big as Og himself, that swept and soared in and
out among the pillar-like pendants that reached
downward from the ceiling, only added to its
dreadfulness.</p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/illus9.jpg" width-obs="450" height-obs="600" alt="" /> <p class="caption">Great bats, almost as big as Og himself</p> </div>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</SPAN></span></p>
<p>The bats were like great black-robed spirits that
flitted softly about, or hung from convenient crevices
and glared at them with eyes that showed
green fire in the darkness. Some of the largest of
them, as if resentful of this invasion, even
swooped toward them and clicked long and ugly
teeth, and uttered shrill squeaks. Mostly they
made for Og, singling him out no doubt because
of the flickering torch he held. They did not know
what this sparkling thing was and they dived at
it repeatedly until Og, with a yell of triumph that
echoed and reechoed from wall to wall of the cavern,
brought one of them down with a lightning-like
swing of his stone hammer and crushed out
its life before it could struggle up from the stone
floor. After that the great black bats soared and
swooped at a safer distance.</p>
<p>Og threw off the fear of the great cavern first
and while the tree folk huddled in a mass in the
center of the cave and clung to each other for
protection, staring about them fearfully, the hairy
boy with his torch and the wolf cubs at his heels,
began to explore the great room.</p>
<p>It was soon apparent to him that the cave was
the center of a number of small caves that seemed
to reach out in all directions, like legs from the<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</SPAN></span>
body of a giant spider. Og wondered where these
other caves led to, and as he came to the entrance
of each of them he stopped and peered
into them, but even he was not bold enough to
attempt to explore them.</p>
<p>Presently he came to one about the entrance of
which there lingered a dreadful, sickening odor
that suddenly filled Og’s soul with terror, and
made the wolf cubs growl, while the hair on their
shoulders bristled and their tails, instead of stiffening
with the desire to fight, dropped between
their legs. Og was on the point of running away,
but, with an effort, he mastered himself and, hiding
behind a cone-shaped stalagmite, he peered
into the black entrance, holding his torch so that
it would send its light rays as far as possible
down the passage.</p>
<p>He could see nothing, but on the cool draught
that came down the passage way he got a stronger
scent of the dreadful odor. It was familiar. He
had smelled it before and it had terrorized him
then, yet for the moment he could not identify
it. What could it be? He asked the question
over and over again. Then he stopped to listen.
Down the passageway came a peculiar scraping
sound, as if some long slender body were dragging<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</SPAN></span>
its full length along the rock floor. Suddenly
Og knew what the hideous thing was, and
he went cold as he realized the menace that was
approaching. It was a python; a giant snake,
ancestor of the present day constrictor of the
southern jungles. It had been driven by the forest
fire to take refuge in a cavern in the mountains,
and as Og and the tree people had wandered down
one of the passages to the great central cavern,
it was doing likewise.</p>
<p>Og could hardly repress a cry of fear as he
realized that all too soon the great reptile would
slide its terrible length into the central cavern.
Then woe to him and the tree people. These
ape men were the natural prey of the python, who
would lie in wait among the matted branches of
the forest and throw coils about the unfortunate
tree man who ventured near his lair. When the
python found this huddled mass of ape folk in
the central cavern, Og knew that the result
would be terrible to witness. He turned away
from his hiding place to hurry back to spread a
warning. But even as he left the shelter of the
cone-like stalagmite a great, ugly, flat head, with
cold green eyes, terrifically powerful jaws and a
darting tongue, appeared in the entrance of the<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</SPAN></span>
cavern, and a moment later the giant python began
to slide its great shining body into the central
cave, working its serpentine way among the
stalagmites swiftly and softly, save for the peculiar
scraping sound that its heavy body made
as it slid its length across the limestone floor.</p>
<p>The hairy boy had hardly time to dodge behind
another sheltering pinnacle when the huge
serpent raised its head and shining neck aloft and
glared about the cavern. Og knew instantly that
the snake had discovered the tree folk, for like
a flash its head came down, then with surprising
speed it began to slip across the cavern, sliding so
close to the hiding Og that he could have touched
the shining coils as they glided by.</p>
<p>Og, valiant despite his own fears, wanted to
rush forward and warn the tree folk, scatter them,
and tell them to take refuge wherever they could,
but the great snake had glided between and cut
him off from them.</p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/illus10.jpg" width-obs="600" height-obs="375" alt="" /> <p class="caption">The huge serpent raised its head and shining neck aloft and glared about the cavern</p> </div>
<p>On moved the big snake, and Og, cold with fear
himself, hardly knew what to do. For a moment
he was afraid to cry out for fear the serpent
would turn on him. But only for a moment did
the cowardice overcome him. Disregarding danger
to himself he voiced a ringing shout of warning<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</SPAN></span>
and with stone hammer in one hand and torch
in the other, he dashed headlong across the cave,
trying his best to turn the huge snake’s attention
from the tree folk long enough for them to get
away.</p>
<p>They heard his shout of warning and it spread
consternation among them. They saw the peril
that was traveling swiftly toward them, but so
frightened were they and so slow to act, that
the python was full upon them before the great
mass scattered and started for one of the many
hall-like caves that opened into the cavern. Like
a cyclone then the snake descended upon them,
literally hurling his long shining body among
them. Og saw it all with a shudder.</p>
<p>The shrieks that followed were deafening as
they echoed and reechoed against the walls of the
cavern, and the writhing of the big snake tossed
tree folk right and left as they strove to get
out of his way. Coil after coil the snake threw
among them and Og knew that the fate of some
of his recent companions was sealed.</p>
<p>But when the ape men moved they moved fast.
With terrific speed the mass dispersed, and in a
twinkling they were all gone, the last of them<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</SPAN></span>
disappearing through the dark mouth of one of
the smaller caves; the last but two, and Og.</p>
<p>These two Og saw struggling in the folds of
the great snake. They were big, strong, powerful
ape men; some of the warriors that Scar Face
had led, yet their struggles were puny indeed
against the folds of the big python’s body. They
screamed, and thrashed with their arms and bit
with vicious teeth, but to no avail. Suddenly the
great snake contracted the coils it had looped
about them, and Og with a sickening sensation
saw the two big ape men go limp. He could hear
the dull sound of breaking bones, and when the
snake slowly uncoiled they dropped to the floor
lifeless and almost without form, so terribly
crushed were they.</p>
<p>It was a hideous, terrifying sight, but for some
strange reason that Og could not understand it
did not frighten him as much as it angered him.
A sense of pity for those two poor mutilated
forms that a moment before had been alive welled
up in him, and he was consumed with hate for
the horrible reptile. Indeed, he was moved to
attack it and with a war cry ringing on his lips
he started to advance upon it. Like a flash the
snake turned and faced him, and in the cold, merciless<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</SPAN></span>
green eyes that Og looked into, the hairy
boy saw no hopes for victory. He knew that he
was doing a foolish, though valiant thing, and discretion
made him stop in his tracks.</p>
<p>The next instant, the snake, with a hiss that
was blood chilling, drew back its terrible head
and struck at him with lightning swiftness. But
as quick as the snake was, Og was quicker. Like
a flash he leapt aside, and with a cry of terror
he fled across the cavern, not stopping even to
look behind him until he had gained the entrance
to one of the passage ways out of the cave, into
which he plunged, the wolf cubs following him
closely.</p>
<hr />
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</SPAN></span></p>
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