I have ever been prone to seek adventure and to investigate and
experiment where wiser men would have left well enough alone. It
therefore now occurred to me that the surest way of learning the
exact attitude of this beast toward me would be to attempt to leave
the room. I felt fairly secure in my belief that I could escape him
should he pursue me once I was outside the building, for I had begun
to take great pride in my ability as a jumper. Furthermore, I could
see from the shortness of his legs that the brute himself was no
jumper and probably no runner.

Slowly and carefully, therefore, I gained my feet, only to see that
my watcher did the same; cautiously I advanced toward him, finding
that by moving with a shuffling gait I could retain my balance as
well as make reasonably rapid progress. As I neared the brute he
backed cautiously away from me, and when I had reached the open he
moved to one side to let me pass. He then fell in behind me and
followed about ten paces in my rear as I made my way along the
deserted street.

Evidently his mission was to protect me only, I thought, but when we
reached the edge of the city he suddenly sprang before me, uttering
strange sounds and baring his ugly and ferocious tusks. Thinking to
have some amusement at his expense, I rushed toward him, and when
almost upon him sprang into the air, alighting far beyond him and
away from the city. He wheeled instantly and charged me with the
most appalling speed I had ever beheld. I had thought his short
legs a bar to swiftness, but had he been coursing with greyhounds
the latter would have appeared as though asleep on a door mat. As I
was to learn, this is the fleetest animal on Mars, and owing to its