Doc Shoot Pterodactyl

A stutter of machine-gun shots below drew Doc's golden eyes. He hastily plucked his own compact rapid-firer from its belt holster.

The pterodactyl had released its silly hold on the falling plane and had attacked Johnny. The lanky archaeologist's bullets had driven its first dive aside. But it was coming back. The repellent jaws were widely distended. Each of the many odious, conical teeth could pierce through a man's body.

Doc's machine gun clattered. He knew where to aim. Greater even than the learning of Johnny, whose profession was knowing the world and all its past, was Doc Savage's fund of knowledge on prehistoric reptiles and vegetation. Doc realized this pterodactyl probably had little or no brain. He shot for the neck bones and shattered them.

The air reptile tumbled away. Johnny lifted a grateful face.

"My shots didn't seem to do much good!" he called.

"Try for the neck or eyes!" Doc replied.

- The Land of Terror (1933) Chapter 16