Before any one could procure a gun from the hut it was out of range, flying at an incredible speed.

A few days later another was seen, coming from the same direction.

It was flying much higher, and a few futile shots were fired at it.

Then, after a week or ten days without a single one of the monsters being seen, five of them appeared in the west and flew eastward over the island and out to sea.
"What was the name of that passenger-carrying bird they were always talking about in the 'Arabian Nights' ?" inquired Platt.
"You mean the roc," replied Knapendyke.

"If it ever really existed outside of the fairy tales, it is now extinct.