The Genial Dinosaur by John Russell Fearn

Author:John Russell Fearn
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: science fiction, adventure, dinosaurs, prehistoric world, pulp fiction
ISBN: 9781434447104
Publisher: Wildside Press LLC
Published: 2013-02-18T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIVE

CONDEMNED TO DEATH

Joan had little chance to worry much further over Cliff, for the following morning, after she had spent a more or less sleepless night, she received notification that she must appear in court that afternoon to answer the charges being brought against her and her absent husband concerning “Diplodocus Carnegii.” The case had apparently been rushed through due to the desire of the law to show the public that it was quick to deal with matters of social danger.

Thus ordered what to do, Joan cast around for help. She appealed first to the Reverend Grimsby Maxwell, but although he was full of sympathy for her predicament, there was little he could do. Certainly he would refer the matter to the Archbishop once again, but since the Church had already said its piece in regard to Herbert, there did not seem to be much hope from that quarter. Herbert had now transgressed the law: he had become a killer. And therefore he must die.

In face of this, Joan made the next best move and employed the most able lawyer she could find to defend her case. This was going to cost a good deal, she realised, mainly because the lawyer had to drop everything else and prepare his brief right away. By afternoon he had to be ready to take up the cudgels.

And he was. Joan sat and listened to the back-and-forth arguments in the stuffy courtroom, and wondered vaguely how men could take the time to wrangle over a Jurassic Age dinosaur when the whole world was threatened with invasion from space. It struck her very much as an interpretation of fiddling whilst Rome burned. Certainly she did not realise that the business of the world must still go on—on the legal side as much as any other—until the moment of crisis came.

And her husband? Where was he? The darkening dread in her mind concerning him made her completely disinterested in the court proceedings, and her mind wandered persistently from the legal arguments being thrashed to a finish.

“I assume, Mrs. Brooks, that the upkeep of this—er—animal is the responsibility of yourself and your husband?” the judge asked abruptly, and Joan forced herself to attention.

“Yes, my lord, he is,” she assented. “And a very expensive pet he is. That’s why we loaned him to the circus.”

“Quite so. Your counsel has already made that fact clear. I am endeavouring to establish exact ownership of this monster, and you have provided all the verification I need. Proceed, Mr. Taylor, if you please.”

Again came the legal wrangling, to which Joan had to force herself to pay attention. She did not understand the majority of the legal points raised, but the decision of the Judge was crystal clear.

“It is plain to me, Mrs. Brooks,” he said gravely, “that neither you nor your husband have had any real idea of the inherent danger of harbouring a monstrosity from pre­historic times. I am well aware that pressure from eccle­siastical sources resulted in this dinosaur

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